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M o n d ay, J a n u a ry 12, 2026

Oh, Rio, Rio

$2.00X

Former ADA Haynes remains in jail

Others convicted in bribery scheme are serving sentences out of state

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR

Staff writer

PHOTOS By ROBIN MAy

Queen Isabel XXI Monique Rachal, left, and King Dom Pedro John Slaughter are presented during the 2026 Krewe of Carnivale en Rio Ball at the Cajundome Convention Center on Saturday.

The ball, always held around Twelfth Night, marks the start of Carnival in Acadiana.

ABOVE: The 2026 Krewe of Carnivale en Rio Ball Lieutenant Brian Crutchfield is introduced on Saturday. LEFT: A dancer entertains the crowd during the ball, which channeled a movie premiere with the theme ‘Now Showing Rio.’

Two of the men who pleaded guilty to their roles in a bribery scheme at the Lafayette District Attorney’s Office are serving their sentences out of state. Two others remain in custody in Louisiana, including former Assistant District Attorney Gary Haynes.

Haynes, 68, of Lafayette, was found guilty in September on six federal felony charges for his role in a kickback scheme involving the pretrial intervention program in the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Lafayette, which he ran.

He and Dusty Guidry, a contract employee in the pretrial program, allegedly loos- Haynes ened the guidelines to qualify defendants for the pretrial intervention program, which allows defendants to take classes and treatment and have their criminal charges removed from their records.

They directed the new participants to companies owned by Lafayette businessman Leonard Franques that provided online classes and treatment, which the defendants paid for personally. Franques split the proceeds from the new business with Haynes and Guidry.

U.S. District Judge David Joseph on Dec. 12 sentenced Haynes to seven years in prison.

U.S. marshals took him into custody the same day.

Nearly a month later, Haynes remains in the St. Martin Parish Jail, while others who cooperated with investigators or pleaded guilty are being held farther from home.

Haynes’ defense attorney Todd Clemons

ä See HAYNES, page 4A

Multistate invasive species network launched

other animals with parasites. Their vines, crowding out native plants.

LSU AgCenter gets A new multistate initiative led by the presence can spell ruin for a rice crop LSU AgCenter aims to detect these or a crawfish pond. $1M to fight pink snails, Hot and humid climates of the Mis- and other invasive species before sissippi River Valley are teeming their populations reach exponential feral hogs and more with invaders like the apple snail that levels — and manage the numbers of

BY HALEY MILLER

wreak havoc on ecosystems and agriculture.

There’s the milky larva of the MexiClusters of hot pink apple snail eggs can rice borer, which tunnels through cling to reeds and cypress trunks, a rice stems and sugar cane stalks. backdrop fitting for either an alien in- There are packs of the notorious feral vasion movie or a Floam commercial. hog, infamous for its destruction of As the snails advance in Louisiana’s crop fields by rooting around the soil in waterways, they destroy aquatic eco- search of plants and grubs. And there systems, eating their way through are “air potatoes,” a kind of yam that native flora and fauna and infecting grows above ground on fast-growing Staff writer

WEATHER HIGH 55 LOW 34 PAGE 10C

those already established. The Mississippi River Invasive Species Consortium will develop and implement techniques for monitoring and removing nonnative organisms, with eradication being the goal for some emergent species.

“We’re moving goods across the nation so rapidly,” LSU AgCenter

PHOTO PROVIDED By THE LSU AGCENTER

Bright pink apple snail eggs are seen in a waterway. The LSU AgCenter is tackling the problem of invasive species in the Mississippi River Valley with a new consortium to detect and ä See INVASIVE, page 4A eradicate destructive non-native organisms.

Classified .....................4B Living............................5C Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Lottery ..........................4B Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

101ST yEAR, NO. 196

2A ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Ukrainian drone attack in Russia kills 1

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday. Meanwhile, thousands of residents were still without power in Kyiv, following an intense Russian bombardment.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, Voronezh regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 155 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine’s General Staff said Sunday said its forces hit three drilling platforms operated

by Russian oil giant Lukoil in the waters of the Caspian Sea. Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian energy sites aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion.

Thousands stranded in Finland amid freeze

HELSINKI — Thousands of tourists were stranded in northern Finland on Sunday after flights at Kittilä airport were canceled due to severe cold.

The temperature at the airport dropped to minus 34.6 degrees on Sunday morning, after several days of similar frigid weather, making de-icing of aircraft and other operations difficult, Finland’s national public broadcaster Yle reported.

The deep freeze is expected to continue in Kittilä, which is located in Finnish Lapland in the sparsely populated north, on Monday, when the Finnish Meteorological Institute predicts temperatures of almost minus 40.

Finns are generally used to frosty winter temperatures but this year’s cold, which has affected wide regions of northern, central and eastern Europe, is more severe than in other years.

Heavy snowfall, high winds and icy roads have made travel difficult in parts of Europe.

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Crackdown continues on Iran protests Death toll spikes to at least 538, activists say

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed at least 538 people and even more are feared dead, activists said Sunday, while Tehran warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

Another over 10,600 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous rounds of unrest in Iran in recent years. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said of those killed, 490 were protesters and 48 were members of security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll.

The Iranian government has not offered overall casualty figures for the demonstrations.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to

PROVIDED IMAGE FROM VIDEO

A frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets Saturday in Tehran, Iran, despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world. launch a bloody crackdown.

Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city again Sunday morning.

U.S. President Donald Trump has offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before.

The USA stands ready to help!!!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by either U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

CORRECTION In a story published Saturday about U.S. forces boarding another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea, The Associated Press erroneously reported that five tankers have been seized since the United States ousted Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s president.

The U.S. has seized three tankers since Maduro was removed from power.

military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”

Lawmakers rushed the dais in parliament, shouting: “Death to America!”

It remains unclear how serious Iran is about launching a strike, particularly after its air defenses were destroyed during the 12-day war in June with Israel. Any decision to go to war would rest with Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The U.S. military has said in the Mideast it is “postured with forces that span the full range of combat capability to defend our

Trump warns Cuba to make ‘deal’ before it’s too late

BY SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ABDEL KAREEM HANA

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches Saturday across an area in Deir al-Balah in Gaza.

Hamas says it Nobel group: Peace Prize will dissolve its can’t be given away Gaza government

WASHINGTON — The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize is throwing cold water on talk of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado giving her recent award to President Donald Trump.

Once the Nobel Peace Prize is announced, it can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others, the Norwegian Nobel Institute said in a short statement on Friday.

“The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said.

The statement comes after Machado said she’d like to give or share the prize with Trump, who oversaw the successful U.S. operation to capture authoritarian Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. He is facing drug trafficking charges in New York.

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado told Fox News host Sean Hannity last week.

“What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step towards a democratic transition.”

Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and has openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office.

The White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has not indicated it has made any decisions.

The massive ongoing U.S. military deployment to the Caribbean has created another factor that the Pentagon and Trump’s national security planners must consider.

The threat to strike the U.S. military and Israel came during a parliamentary speech by Mohammad Baagher Qalibaf, the hardliner speaker of the body who has run for the presidency in the past.

He directly threatened Israel, calling it “the occupied territory.”

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American

forces, our partners and allies and U.S. interests.” Iran targeted U.S. forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in June, while the U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet is stationed in the island kingdom of Bahrain.

Israel, meanwhile, is “watching closely” the situation between the U.S. and Iran, said an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to not being authorized to speak to journalists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio overnight on topics including Iran, the official added.

“The people of Israel, the entire world, are in awe of the tremendous heroism of the citizens of Iran,” said Netanyahu, a longtime Iran hawk.

At the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV mentioned Iran as a place “where ongoing tensions continue to claim many lives,” adding that “I hope and pray that dialogue and peace may be patiently nurtured in pursuit of the common good of the whole of society.”

Demonstrations were held in some international capitals in support of the protesters. A spokesperson said U.N. SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres was “shocked” by reports of violence against protesters resulting in “scores of deaths” and called on Iranian authorities to use maximum restraint and restore communications.

Group says it will do so when new body takes over

BY SAMY MAGDY and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

CAIRO — Hamas said Sunday it will dissolve its existing government in Gaza once a Palestinian technocratic leadership committee takes over the territory, as mandated under the U.S.-brokered peace plan. But the group gave no specifics on when the change will occur.

Hamas and the rival Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians’ internationally recognized representative, have not announced the names of the technocrats, who are not supposed to be politically affiliated, and it remains unclear if they will be cleared by Israel and the U.S. The “Board of Peace,” an international body led

by Trump, is supposed to oversee the government and other aspects of the ceasefire that took effect on Oct. 10, including disarming Hamas and deploying an international security force. The board’s members have not been announced.

Meanwhile, the postceasefire death toll continued to rise in Gaza, with Israeli gunfire killing three Palestinians, according to Palestinian

hospital officials.

The ceasefire began with a halt in fighting and the release of hostages held in Gaza in exchange for thousands of Palestinians held by Israel.

The deal is still in its first phase as efforts continue to recover the remains of the final hostage left in Gaza.

An Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door information, said Hamas was sending a delegation to talks with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish officials about moving to the second phase.

In comments posted on his Telegram channel Sunday, Hazem Kassem, a Hamas spokesperson, called for speeding up the establishment of the technocratic committee.

The Egyptian official said Hamas will meet with other Palestinian factions this week to finalize the committee’s formation. The Hamas delegation will be chaired by top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, the official said.

Trump has said the “Board of Peace” will monitor the committee and handle the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international security force, additional pullbacks of Israeli troops and Gaza’s reconstruction. The U.S. has reported little progress on any of these fronts, though the members of the board are expected to be announced this week.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela’s leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country’s oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!” “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA — ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

Hours later, Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded on X by saying “those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.”

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!”

Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat

by Venezuela. Long before Maduro’s capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas sta-

tions and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

“Those who hysterically accuse our nation today do so out of rage at this people’s sovereign decision to choose their political model,” DíazCanel said in his post. He added that “those who blame the Revolution for the severe economic shortages we suffer should be ashamed to keep quiet” and he railed against the “draconian measures” imposed by the U.S. on Cuba.

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MISSISSIPPI

Suspect arrested after fire damages synagogue

BY CHARLOTTE KRAMON and JAKE OFFENHARTZ Associated Press

Congregants and leaders vowed to rebuild a historic Mississippi synagogue that was heavily damaged by fire and an individual was taken into custody for what authorities said Sunday was an act of arson.

The fire ripped through the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson shortly after 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. No congregants were injured in the blaze.

Photos showed the charred remains of an administrative office and synagogue library, where several Torahs were destroyed or damaged.

Jackson Mayor John Horhn confirmed that a person was taken into custody following an investigation that also included the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“Acts of antisemitism, racism, and religious hatred are attacks on Jackson as a

whole and will be treated as acts of terror against residents’ safety and freedom to worship,” Horhn said in a statement.

He did not provide the name of the suspect or the charges that the person is facing. A spokesperson for the Jackson FBI said they are “working with law enforcement partners on this investigation.”

The 160-year-old synagogue, the largest in Mississippi and the only one in Jackson, was the site of a Ku Klux Klan bombing in 1967 — a response to the congregation’s role in civil rights activities, according to the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which also houses its office in the building.

“That history reminds us that attacks on houses of worship, whatever their cause, strike at the heart of our shared moral life,” said CJ Rhodes, a prominent Black Baptist pastor in Jackson, in a Facebook post.

“This wasn’t random van-

MISSISSIPPI TODAy PHOTO By ALLEN SIEGLER

Zach Shemper, president of Beth Israel Congregation, stands in ashes Saturday outside the congregation’s temple in Jackson, Miss., hours after the building was damaged by fire. dalism — it was a deliberate, targeted attack on the Jewish community,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of The Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement.

“That it has been attacked

again, amid a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, is a stark reminder: antisemitic violence is escalating, and it demands total condemnation and swift action from everyone,” Green-

blatt said.

The congregation is still assessing the damage and received outreach from other houses of worship, said Michele Schipper, CEO of the Institute of Southern

Jewish Life and past president of the congregation.

The synagogue will continue its regular worship programs and services for Shabbat, the weekly Jewish Sabbath, likely at one of the local churches that reached out.

“We are a resilient people,” said Beth Israel Congregation President Zach Shemper in a statement.

“With support from our community, we will rebuild.”

One Torah that survived the Holocaust was behind glass not damaged in the fire, Schipper said. Five Torahs inside the sanctuary are being assessed for smoke damage. Two Torahs inside the library, where the most severe damage was done, were destroyed, according to a synagogue representative.

The floors, walls and ceiling of the sanctuary were covered in soot, and the synagogue will have to replace upholstery and carpeting.

Greenland faces many difficulties in rare earth mining Harsh environment, lack of infrastructure hinder efforts

BY JOSH FUNK and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

Greenland’s harsh environment, lack of key infrastructure and difficult geology have so far prevented anyone from building a mine to extract the sought-after rare earth elements that many high-tech products require.

Even if President Donald Trump prevails in his effort to take control of the Arctic island, those challenges won’t go away.

Trump has prioritized breaking China’s stranglehold on the global supply of rare earths ever since the world’s number two economy sharply restricted who could buy them after the United States imposed widespread tariffs last spring.

The Trump administration has invested hundreds of millions of dollars and even taken stakes in several companies. Now the president is again pitching the idea that wresting control of Greenland away from Denmark could solve the problem.

“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday.

But Greenland may not be able to produce rare earths for years — if ever. Some companies are trying anyway, but their efforts to unearth some of the 1.5 million tons of rare earths encased in rock in Greenland generally haven’t advanced beyond the exploratory stage.

Trump’s fascination with the island nation may be more about countering Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic than securing any of the hard-to-pronounce elements like neodymium and terbium that are used to produce the high-powered magnets needed in electric

ments of Power.”

Last week, Critical Metals’ stock price more than doubled after it said it plans to build a pilot plant in Greenland this year. But that company and more than a dozen others exploring deposits on the island remain far away from actually building a mine and would still need to raise at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

Even the most promising projects can struggle to turn a profit, particularly when ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By KWIyEON HA China resorts to dumping extra materials onto the market Tourists kayak on June 16 in front of Nuuk Cathedral in to depress prices and drive Nuuk, Greenland. Greenland’s harsh environment, lack of competitors out of business key infrastructure and difficult geology have so far prevented as it has done many times in anyone from building a mine to extract rare earth elements. the past. And currently most critical minerals have to be vehicles, wind turbines, ro- earths in the fragile Arctic bots and fighter jets among environment just as Greenother products. land tries to build a thriving “The fixation on Greenland tourism industry, said Pathas always been more about rick Schröder, a senior fellow geopolitical posturing — a in the Environment and Socimilitary-strategic interest ety program at the Chatham and stock-promotion narra- House think tank in London.

“Toxic chemicals needed tive — than a realistic supply solution for the tech sector,” to separate the minerals out said Tracy Hughes, founder from the rock, so that can be and executive director of the highly polluting and further Critical Minerals Institute. downstream as well, the pro“The hype far outstrips the cessing,” Shröder said. Plus, hard science and economics rare earths are often found behind these critical miner- alongside radioactive uranium. als.”

Besides the unforgiving Trump confirmed those geopolitical concerns at the climate that encases much of Greenland under layers of White House Friday.

“We don’t want Russia or ice and freezes the northern China going to Greenland, fjords for much of the year, which if we don’t take Green- the rare earths found there land, you can have Russia tend to be encased in a comor China as your next door plex type of rock called eudianeighbor. That’s not going to lyte, and no one has ever dehappen,” Trump said veloped a profitable process The main challenge to mine to extract rare earths from in Greenland is, “of course, that type of rock. Elsewhere, the remoteness. Even in the these elements are normally south where it’s populated, found in different rock forthere are few roads and no mation called carbonatites, railways, so any mining ven- and there are proven methture would have to create ods to work with that.

“If we’re in a race for rethese accessibilities,” said Diogo Rosa, an economic ge- sources — for critical minology researcher at the Geo- erals — then we should be logical Survey of Denmark focusing on the resources and Greenland. Power would that are most easily able to also have to be generated lo- get to market,” said David cally, and expert manpower Abraham, a rare earths exwould have to be brought in. pert who has followed the Another concern is the industry for decades and prospect of mining rare wrote the book “The Ele-

Associated Press

ALEPPO, Syria — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main

fessor who focuses on rare earths at the Colorado School of Mines.

Many in the industry, too, think America should focus on helping proven companies instead of trying to build new rare earth mines in Greenland, Ukraine, Africa or elsewhere. A number of other mining projects in the U.S. and friendly nations like Australia are farther along and in much more accessible locations.

The U.S. government has invested directly in the company that runs the only rare earths mine in the U.S., MP Materials, and a lithium miner and a company that recycles batteries and other products with rare earths.

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First responders enter devastated Aleppo neighborhood after fighting

BY GHAITH ALSAYED

processed in China.

The U.S. is scrambling to expand the supply of rare earths outside of China during the one-year reprieve from even tougher restrictions that Trump said Xi Jinping agreed to in October. A number of companies around the world are already producing rare earths or magnets and can deliver more quickly than anything in Greenland, which Trump has threatened to seize with military power if Denmark doesn’t agree to sell it.

“Everybody’s just been running to get to this endpoint. And if you go to Greenland, it’s like you’re going back to the beginning,” said Ian Lange, an economics pro-

Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army.

Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of thenPresident Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths

of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria’s national army.

Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkishbacked insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

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Minneapolis on edge after shooting of Renee Good

BY REBECCA SANTANA, MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and MARK VANCLEAVE

after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

Who should handle investigation?

Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily-armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officer only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have done extensive “know-yourrights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away and soon gone.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEN GOLBECK

People stand near a memorial on Sunday at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest in Minneapolis on Sunday.

shot and killed by an immigration officer Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigraThe Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s tion enforcement across Minneimmigration enforcement cam- apolis and across the state, fedpaign — is bracing for what is next eral agents just swarming around after 37-year-old Renee Good was our neighborhoods,” said Jason

Minneapolis still tense

Chavez, a Minneapolis city council member. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitor-

ing information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization.

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week

INVASIVE

Continued from page 1A entomologist Rodrigo Diaz said. “In that process, some of our ecosystems don’t have a way to defend themselves.”

The new consortium, launched with $1 million in federal funding that was announced Tuesday, will include the University of Arkansas and Mississippi State University. Experts from other land-grant institutions in the Mississippi River Valley will join the consortium as it develops, Diaz said.

The initiative will address the abundant invasive species in Louisiana such as giant salvinia, feral hogs, Chinese tallow trees, air potatoes, apple snails, Mexican rice borers, Asian carp, citrus greening, guava rootknot nematodes and emerald ash borers. The invading plants and animals, often introduced through trade and travel, can crowd native species, alter ecosystems and present challenges for agriculture.

HAYNES

Continued from page 1A

said on Friday it usually takes two to three months for the Bureau of Prisons to determine where a convicted person will serve their time.

A source with the U.S. Marshals Service also said it is not unusual for someone convicted in federal court to be held in a local facility for a month or longer while the Bureau of Prisons goes through its procedures and they are transferred.

Guidry, 54, the alleged architect behind the bribery scheme, is being held in a federal minimum security prison in Talladega, Florida, according to the Bureau of Prisons online inmate search.

He testified against Haynes, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to three

PHOTOS PROVIDED By THE LSU AGCENTER

A pack of feral hogs runs through a field at the LSU AgCenter Bob R. Jones-Idlewild Research Station in Clinton on June 6, 2023.

A billion-dollar problem Invasive species cost North America over $26 billion annually in recent years, according to the National Invasive Species Information Center.

“This funding will allow us to coordinate detection, identification, research and best management practices to mitigate these threats and protect our region’s vi-

tal agricultural and natural resources,” LSU AgCenter Senior Vice Chancellor Matt Lee said in a release about the consortium.

Diaz said the AgCenter set its sights on launching the consortium in the past three years. The idea was to address the problem of invasive species across states in the Mississippi River Valley as a team, he said.

“Several colleagues at the

federal charges and was sentenced by Joseph to four years in prison.

Guidry reported to U.S. marshals on Nov. 14. The Bureau of Prisons indicates online that he is scheduled for release on April 10, 2029.

Franques, 65, was implicated in the same bribery scheme but pleaded guilty only to another involving kickbacks from contracts with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

He cooperated with investigators and is currently being held at a low-security prison in Oakdale.

In October, Joseph sentenced Franques to 12 months in prison for one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

He reported to prison on Jan. 6.

A fourth man involved in the District Attorney’s Office kickback scheme, Joseph Prejean Jr., 59, of

Carencro, also reported to federal authorities on Jan. 6 to begin a 12-month sentence. He is being held at a low-security prison in Beaumont, Texas.

The federal investigation, dubbed by the FBI as “Operation Cajun Hustle,” started after a defense attorney reported Prejean told one of his clients he could have his criminal charges dismissed for $30,000, an FBI agent testified during Haynes’ trial.

Jack Montoucet, the former head of the LDWF, is accused of signing a contract with Franques’ companies to provide online classes for those seeking hunting, fishing and boating licenses and those ordered to take classes because of violations. He allegedly was to receive kickbacks from Franques, Guidry and Haynes.

Montoucet is set for trial in federal court in Lafayette on May 11.

The Mexican rice borer is seen feeding on a rice plant.

LSU AgCenter thought, you know, other states are also dealing with the same problems,” Diaz said. “So, we need to be getting together.”

Rep. Julia Letlow, who sits on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, helped secure the funding.

The dollars will reach the

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good’s shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened,” Smith said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

“That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn’t be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.

Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.

consortium through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

“I’m committed to protecting our agricultural resources and natural habitats and love seeing LSU on the cutting edge of such important work,” Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, said in a release.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, and Sen. John Kennedy, R-Madisonville, also played a part in obtaining the funds, said LSU AgCenter Chief Administrative Officer Hampton Grunewald.

“Every state is seeing effects of nonnative species on the food and fiber sector, affecting agricultural economies,” Grunewald said. “This is a plan to work with other universities to try to help reduce that impact and give our producers the most tools that they can possibly have to remain economically viable.”

Louisiana is particularly vulnerable to invasive species because of the Mississippi River and the region’s

mild winters, Diaz said. The situation is worse in Florida and Hawaii, but still a significant challenge for the Bayou State, he said.

“That’s fascinating, how the ecosystem facilitates or prevents the establishment of an invasive species,” Diaz said. “It’s beautiful, it’s complex.”

The consortium’s work will be a mix of applied research and outreach efforts, Diaz said. It is still in the early stages, with researchers currently focused on developing priorities and deciding how best to allocate funds.

“We’re going to be working on programs about early detection, thinking about how we develop better monitoring techniques so we can find invasive species in the landscape and start implementing control measures early,” Diaz said. “Once these invasive species become out of control, think about apple snails or the nutria, management becomes really expensive.”

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Transgender sports ban case heads for Supreme Court wide battle over the particiTeen athlete pation of transgender girls in that has played out in case knows athletics at both the state and federal as Republicans have upcoming season levels leveraged the issue as a fight for athletic fairness for womcould be her last en and girls.

BY MARK SHERMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Becky Pepper-Jackson finished third in the discus throw in West Virginia last year though she was in just her first year of high school. Now a 15-yearold sophomore, Pepper-Jackson is aware that her upcoming season could be her last.

West Virginia has banned transgender girls like Pepper-Jackson from competing in girls and women’s sports, and is among the more than two dozen states with similar laws. Though the West Virginia law has been blocked by lower courts, the outcome could be different at the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which has allowed multiple restrictions on transgender people to be enforced in the past year.

The justices are hearing arguments Tuesday in two cases over whether the sports bans violate the Constitution or the landmark federal law known as Title IX that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

The second case comes from Idaho, where college student Lindsay Hecox challenged that state’s law.

Decisions are expected by early summer.

President Donald Trump’s Republican administration has targeted transgender Americans from the first day of his second term, including ousting transgender people from the military and declaring that gender is immutable and determined at birth.

Pepper-Jackson has become the face of the nation-

“I think it’s something that needs to be done,” PepperJackson said in an interview with The Associated Press that was conducted over Zoom. “It’s something I’m here to do because ... this is important to me. I know it’s important to other people. So, like, I’m here for it.”

She sat alongside her mother, Heather Jackson, on a sofa in their home just outside Bridgeport, a rural West Virginia community about 40 miles southwest of Morgantown, to talk about a legal fight that began when she was a middle schooler who finished near the back of the pack in cross-country races.

Pepper-Jackson has grown into a competitive discus and shot put thrower. In addition to the bronze medal in the discus, she finished eighth among shot putters.

She attributes her success to hard work, practicing at school and in her backyard, and lifting weights. PepperJackson has been taking puberty-blocking medication and has publicly identified as a girl since she was in the third grade, though the Supreme Court’s decision in June upholding state bans on gender-affirming medical treatment for minors has forced her to go out of state for care.

Her very improvement as an athlete has been cited as a reason she should not be allowed to compete against girls.

“There are immutable physical and biological characteristic differences between men and women that make men bigger, stron-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOSE LUIS MAGANA

Heather Jackson, left, and Becky Pepper-Jackson sit Sunday outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. ger, and faster than women.

And if we allow biological males to play sports against biological females, those differences will erode the ability and the places for women in these sports which we have fought so hard for over the last 50 years,” West Virginia’s attorney general, JB McCuskey, said in an AP interview. McCuskey said he is not aware of any other transgender athlete in the state who has competed or is trying to compete in girls or women’s sports.

Despite the small numbers of transgender athletes, the issue has taken on outsize importance. The NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees banned transgender women from women’s sports after Trump signed an executive order aimed at barring their participation.

The public generally is supportive of the limits. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

poll conducted in October 2025 found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favored requiring transgender children and teenagers to only compete on sports teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with, while about 2 in 10 were “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed and about one-quarter did not have an opinion.

About 2.1 million adults, or 0.8%, and 724,000 people age 13 to 17, or 3.3%, identify as transgender in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Those allied with the administration on the issue paint it in broader terms than just sports, pointing to state laws, Trump administration policies and court rulings against transgender people.

“I think there are cultural, political, legal headwinds all supporting this notion that it’s just a lie that a man

can be a woman,” said John Bursch, a lawyer with the conservative Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom that has led the legal campaign against transgender people. “And if we want a society that respects women and girls, then we need to come to terms with that truth. And the sooner that we do that, the better it will be for women everywhere, whether that be in high school sports teams, high school locker rooms and showers, abused women’s shelters, women’s prisons.”

But Jackson offered different terms to describe the effort to keep her daughter off West Virginia’s playing fields.

“Hatred. It’s nothing but hatred,” she said. “This community is the community du jour. We have a long history of isolating marginalized parts of the community.”

Pepper-Jackson has seen some of the uglier side of the debate on display, including

when a competitor wore a T-shirt at the championship meet that said, “Men Don’t Belong in Women’s Sports.”

“I wish these people would educate themselves. Just so they would know that I’m just there to have a good time. That’s it. But it just, it hurts sometimes, like, it gets to me sometimes, but I try to brush it off,” she said.

One schoolmate, identified as A.C. in court papers, said Pepper-Jackson has herself used graphic language in sexually bullying her teammates.

Asked whether she said any of what is alleged, Pepper-Jackson said, “I did not.

And the school ruled that there was no evidence to prove that it was true.”

The legal fight will turn on whether the Constitution’s equal protection clause or the Title IX anti-discrimination law protects transgender people.

The court ruled in 2020 that workplace discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination, but refused to extend the logic of that decision to the case over health care for transgender minors.

The court has been deluged by dueling legal briefs from Republican- and Democratic-led states, members of Congress, athletes, doctors, scientists and scholars.

The outcome also could influence separate legal efforts seeking to bar transgender athletes in states that have continued to allow them to compete.

If Pepper-Jackson is forced to stop competing, she said she will still be able to lift weights and continue playing trumpet in the school concert and jazz bands.

“It will hurt a lot, and I know it will, but that’s what I’ll have to do,” she said.

Thousands of New York City nurses set to strike Monday

BY JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK — Thousands of nurses at some of New York City’s biggest hospitals could go on strike Monday during a severe flu season, three years after a similar walkout forced some of the same medical facilities to transfer some patients and divert ambulances.

The looming strike could impact operations at several of the city’s major private hospitals, including Mount Sinai in Manhattan, Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Nearly 15,000 nurses could walk off the job early Monday if a deal is not reached, amounting to the largest nurses strike in city history, according to Nancy Hagans, president of the New York State Nurses Association.

As of Sunday morning, little progress had been made at the bargaining table, Hagans said. A vast majority of the union’s nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.

Like the 2023 labor fight, this year’s dispute involves a complicated array of issues, claims, counterclaims and hospital-by-hospital particulars. Once again, staffing levels are a major flashpoint: Nurses say the big-budget

medical centers are refusing to commit to — or even backsliding on — provisions for manageable, safe workloads.

This time, the nurses’ union also wants guardrails on hospitals using artificial intelligence, plus more workplace security measures. A gunman strode into Mount Sinai in November, and a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room this week; both men ultimately were killed by police.

The private, nonprofit hospitals involved in the current negotiations say they’ve made strides in staffing since 2023. Some of them suggest the union’s demands, taken as a whole, are far too expensive.

Scores of nurses rallied Friday in Manhattan, insisting their primary concern was proper caregiving and accusing the medical centers — whose top executives make millions of dollars a year — of greed and intransigence.

“My hospital tries to cut corners on staffing every day, and then they try to fight historic gains we made three years ago,” said Sophie Boland, a pediatric intensive care nurse in the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system.

The hospitals, meanwhile,

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARy ALTAFFER

A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital in New york in 2020. Thousands of nurses at some of New york City’s biggest hospitals could go on strike Monday. have called the union’s strike threat “reckless.”

They vowed in a statement Thursday to “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.”

Hagans, the union president, has also stressed that patients should not delay care during a potential strike.

Still, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed concern that a strike could affect patient care, urging both sides on Friday “to stay at the table and get a deal done.”

Mount Sinai has hired over 1,000 temporary nurses and held preparatory drills for a strike that could affect its

1,100-bed main hospital and two affiliates — Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West — with about 500 beds each.

NewYork-Presbyterian said it also had arranged for temporary nurses but, if the strike happens, some patients might be moved to new rooms or advised to transfer to another facility.

Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.

The same union mounted a three-day strike at the Mount Sinai flagship facility and Montefiore in 2023, when nurses emphasized their sacrifices during the exhausting, frightening height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national nurse staffing crisis that followed.

The walkout prompted those hospitals to postpone nonemergency surgeries, tell many ambulances to go elsewhere and transfer some intensive-care infants and other patients. Temporary nurses and even administrators with clinical backgrounds were tapped to fill in, but some patients noticed longer waits and more sparsely staffed wards.

The strike ended with an agreement on raises totaling 19% over three years and staffing improvements, including the possibility of extra pay if nurses had to work short-handed.

Now, the union says, the hospitals are retreating from those guarantees and falling short on other promises.

Montefiore, for example, agreed to “make all reasonable efforts” to stop keeping some emergency room patients in hallways while they wait for space to open up in other wards. Yet three years later, nurses still scramble to treat “hallway patients,” Montefiore intensive care nurse Michelle Gonzalez said Friday.

Montefiore has suggested it’s made some progress: The hospital told elected officials in a letter in October that there has been a 35% reduction in the time it takes from emergency admission to a clinical unit bed.

Overall, the hospitals say they have greatly reduced nursing job vacancy rates in the last three years, and Mount Sinai and NewYorkPresbyterian/Columbia Irving University Medical Center say they also have added hundreds of nursing positions.

Is New Iberia the Padookie Capital of the World?

And what’s a padookie?

Britain in talks with NATO to counter Russia, China in Arctic

BY BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press

LONDON — Britain is discussing with NATO allies how it can help beef up security in the Arctic to counter threats from Russia and China, a government minister said Sunday.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the talks are “business as usual” rather than a response to recent threats by President Donald Trump to take over Greenland.

Trump said Friday that he

would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from taking it over.

“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not,” Trump said Friday.

Greenland, with a population of around 57,000, is defended by Denmark, whose military is dwarfed by that of the U.S., which has a military base on the island.

Denmark’s prime minister has warned that a takeover

would threaten NATO. The U.K. agrees with Trump that Russia and China are increasingly becoming more competitive in the Arctic Circle, Alexander said.

“Whilst we haven’t seen the appalling consequences in that part of the world that we’ve seen in Ukraine, it is really important that we do everything that we can with all of our NATO allies to ensure that we have an effective deterrent in that part of the globe against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Alexander told the BBC.

has the answers to all your questions!

Submit your questions today! or email: curiouslouisiana@theadvocate.com

6A ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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‘Heated Rivalry’ actor has Lafayette ties Dylan Walsh on show’s success: ‘The boys are so good’

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR

Staff writer

Former Lafayette resident and actor Dylan Walsh had no idea the low-budget series where he portrays the father of a gay hockey player who falls in love with his biggest rival would be an international sensation.

But “Heated Rivalry” was a hit with gays and women even before

the first episode aired on Nov. 28, catapulting lead actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams from restaurant waitstaff to rising stars appearing on late night talk shows and presenters at high-profile industry awards ceremonies.

Williams, a Canadian, plays Shane Hollander, the son of Walsh’s character, David. His rival and love, Ilya Rozanov, a Russian, is portrayed by Storrie, who grew

up in west Texas and learned to speak Russian for the role.

The six-part series written and directed by Jacob Tierney, based on a series by Rachel Reid, was beautifully shot, said Walsh, perhaps best known for co-starring in the FX series “Nip/Tuck” from 2003-10.

“I so underestimated it,” Walsh said of the popularity of “Heated Rivalry.”

“The boys,” Storrie and Williams, had an inkling even before the premiere that they had a hit.

And Walsh’s wife, Lafayette native Leslie Bourque-Walsh, knew shortly after.

She recalls her husband returning from the premiere in Toronto and saying he was shocked that Storrie and Williams, after a trip to Montreal, already were talking about a huge following of young women and gay people.

Then when her social media blew up about “Heated Rivalry,”

Bourque-Walsh said she watched it.

“I was blown away,” she said. “I watched it two times.”

It’s difficult to define what it is about “Heated Rivalry” that’s attracted so many fans so quickly.

“It’s the boys,” Walsh said. “The boys are so good. I saw that. The boys are everything.”

Walsh’s isn’t a main character on “Heated Rivalry” so he wasn’t on set every day. Still he saw the

ä See ACTOR, page 4B

Men plead guilty to vehicle theft ring

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

Two men from Lafayette in December admitted in federal court to their roles in a multistate vehicle theft and firearm trafficking conspiracy, following an investigation that began in Livingston Parish.

Dennis Sizemore, 54, and Gregory Brazell, 41, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick to charges that included conspiracy to transport stolen vehicles and possession of unauthorized access devices, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt L. Wall.

According to admissions made as part of their guilty pleas, between October 2021 and March 2022, Sizemore, Brazell and their co-conspirators, Christopher Don Byerley and Adrienne Marie King, carried out a coordinated and complex operation extending across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.

The scheme involved stealing and altering vehicles like tractors

ä See GUILTY, page 4B

Feds target N.Y. AG James’ hairdresser in fraud Woman indicted in La., accused of stealing identification

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD BOWIE

Johnny Dean, left, and Rondell Ledet apply a fresh coat of paint during a Love Our Schools Serve Day on Saturday at Northside High School, where volunteers renovated a teacher’s lounge.

For our future ABOVE: Brandon Benoit applies a fresh coat of paint to a door.

RIGHT: Mike Jones sands a door for a new coat of paint.

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR

Staff writer

The longtime hairdresser of New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted by a Louisiana grand jury, accused of using someone else’s identification to obtain a $48,697 bank loan to buy a 2019 Land Rover.

Iyesata Marsh, a resident of Jamaica, Queens, New York, and her nephew Thomas Coates were indicted in December in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Monroe. Marsh was arrested and released on $50,000 bail.

The case may have ties to a federal investigation into James by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The New York Times reported federal prosecutors are investigating financial transactions between James and Marsh, James’ longtime hairdresser. They cite anonymous sources saying federal prosecutors

ä See FEDS, page 4B

LEFT: Workers complete various tasks.

2B ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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

Can La. follow Florida’s strategy of bringing insurance costs down?

Louisiana homeowners have been facing an ongoing insurance crisis since 2023, but Florida homeowners are now seeing rates decrease. So, what is Florida doing differently?

Reinsurance is insurance bought by insurance companies.

Insurance is the management and assessment of risk. Home insurers in high-risk states like Florida and Louisiana must be able to buy reinsurance to transfer some of their risks to the reinsurer.

In Florida, reinsurance takes up almost two-thirds of the average local insurance company’s premium.

After 2022, Florida reinsurance premiums increased 65%, which had to be passed on to the policyholders. To provide an additional source of reinsurance capacity for Florida insurers, the legislature created the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (FHCF) in 1993 and by 2022, had capitalized it with $11.3 billion. In 2024, Florida designed a complex strategy using layers of coverage to attract more reinsurance companies. Its 2025 “risk transfer tower,” with coverage extending up to $12.9 billion, put state-run Citizens Insurance at risk for the first $2.6 billion of losses; the second layer has FHCF liable for $3.6 billion and reinsurance for $400 million; and the third layer covers $4.2 billion of losses with reinsurance and capital markets using catastrophe bonds. If a massive, rare event happens with losses above the $10.8 billion covered by the above layers, then policyholders might face extra charges totaling $560 million, with reinsurance covering the remaining $1.440 billion.

In summary, Florida is at risk for $6.2 billion of the first $6.6 billion of storm losses. The result: Florida home insurers are cutting rates with one of the state’s largest insurers filing for an 8.4% statewide rate cut. Since January 2024, 33 insurers have filed for rate decreases, and 17 new insurance companies have entered the Florida market. Florida has solved their reinsurance problem; has Louisiana?

Look at what administration has done at home, abroad The U.S. has invaded another country without a Congressional declaration of war, planning to profit from its oil. The U.S. is sinking alleged drug dealers at sea, then killing any survivors. The U.S. is using jack-booted, masked and armed ICE agents to attack and jail citizens and immigrants. The U.S. claims that these immigrants are murderers, rapists and other criminals, when research demonstrates that about 3% have criminal records in the U.S. or their country of origin.

Through Supreme Court-approved gerrymandering and legislative action, the U.S. is making sure that Black and Brown people do not have meaningful representation in Congress. Through administrative actions, the U.S. is lying about the role of racism in our present and past functioning. Through legislation and administrative action, the U.S. is denying global warming, giving China and India leadership in alternative energy production and helping to harm our world through carbon fuel and petrochemical pollution. Through administrative and legislative actions, the U.S. is suppressing the use of vaccinations, leading to more illnesses, death and lost wages. And through blatant corruption, the U.S. is allowing President Donald Trump’s family, political supporters and friends to profit from nice governmental deals and decisions. And the Republicans are supporting the president accused of over 15 sexual assaults of women when they voted to impeach Bill Clinton for inappropriate, consensual sex with an adult intern.

Through it all, Republicans are either supportive or silent. Republicans are people of the lie, who support neither good governance, truth, Christian values or patriotism.

STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Meeting attendees listen as opposition to a data center proposal is discussed during the public comment portion of a combined administrative conference and regular meeting held by the Shreveport City Council on Dec. 18 in Shreveport.

Elected officials need to listen to constituents We need economic development in so many ways. Seeing the economic situation in Shreveport improve can help with things like crime, deteriorated infrastructure and a stagnant economy.

I believe that we had a golden opportunity to make this happen with the recent data center debate.

Many people agreed that this data center would be a great move in evolving the city of Shreveport and Caddo Parish. The main problems that people had revolved around issues with noise, its dependence on our drinking water source at Cross Lake and the fact that it would increase traffic congestion dramatically.

For this reason, the majority of residents were in opposition to this move. Commissioner Kenneth Epperson held a meeting in which many people came out in support and opposition of this plan. During this meeting, a plan was presented, with maps, identifying a location that would allow the company

to come here to Caddo Parish but would address every concern that the citizens brought to the committee. This area would not interfere with a neighborhood because it was located far away. It also would address the concerns with noise and traffic. The location is situated between the Red River and Wallace Lake. This would satisfy the concerns regarding Cross Lake, our drinking water source.

To me, this was a no-brainer. After hearing this, if I were on the city council, I would have been inclined to vote against the current plan and to postpone a vote so that we could look at the new location. Instead, as if the decision had been made ahead of time, the council unanimously approved this plan.

While I’ll likely never understand what made them ignore the people that elected them and the plan that seemed to gain instant traction, I do understand the weight of my vote.

TONY WILLIAMS Shreveport

Leave national debt worries behind, since Congress seems OK with it Letter writer Eric Kalivoda was correct: Both parties, the Democrats and Republicans, contribute to the ever-increasing national debt. I, too, was once concerned with this issue. Then, one day like a bolt of lightning out of the blue, it occurred to me that none of the billions, trillions — whatever it is — of dollars is real. It’s all imaginary!

It would seem that Congress has figured

STEVE GARDES Lafayette

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

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

JOSEPH KEEGAN Baton Rouge

Looking at a silver lining in Greenland

this out as well, since they don’t seem to be at all concerned about it, and, in fact, they never even talk about it, much less do anything about it.

I sleep so much better since I had this epiphany, or possibly, as some wise person once said, ignorance is bliss.

Initially, the newspaper headline “Landry to press Greenland to join U.S.” made me angry. After all, doesn’t Gov. Jeff Landry have enough on his plate here in Louisiana? But I quickly revised my position due to practical reasons: The longer Landry is in Greenland, the less damage he can do in Louisiana.

My sincere apologies to the good folks in Greenland.

JOE T. SMITH Baton Rouge

Partisanship makes our politics unrecognizable For many years, I have watched with some degree of fascination the dialogue between our two major political parties as they expressed what direction the country should follow.

While the discussions were often heated, many of our legislators would attempt to work together to find some compromise to bring about a common good. That process seems to be lost now. The anger and hatred that permeate our political system now, the pointing of the finger at the other party, the accusations of why things fail when both parties practice the same actions have become shameful events in the way our government functions.

However, what has become even more fascinating to me is how a political group claims a connection to the Christian faith when its practices have little to do with the teachings of Jesus. The letter to the Galatians 5:22-23 lists the “fruits of the Holy Spirit,” practices that are characteristics of the faith and spirit

that would indicate that we are practicing what we preach.

How many politicians today are defined by those characteristics of love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Even differing opinions once were coupled with integrity. No longer.

Perhaps if politicians were not allowed to blame the other party verbally, things would change. Perhaps if it were illegal for them to overspend a budget, things would change.

Perhaps if they were not paid during government shutdowns, things would change.

Perhaps if their salaries and the extra monies they receive were limited to a reasonable amount, things would change. Sadly, except for the ballot box, those who might make a reasonable change are the ones who are in our government.

Is it time to clean house in favor of those who care for their citizens?

JOHN SINGLETON Baton Rouge

Ask tough questions of illegal immigrants I read your long, sympathetic article on the illegal immigrant who went to nursing school.

I have a few questions: Did she or her parents receive welfare, SNAP or housing assistance? Did she receive grants or reduced tuition? Did she receive other taxpayer assistance? If the answer to any of these is yes, she should have to pay it all back and then be deported.

RALPH HOWE Baton Rouge

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COMMENTARY What did the right vote for?

“The voters that voted for me are thrilled,” insists President Donald Trump. “They said, ‘This is what we voted for.’ ” But is that true? Above all, Trump supporters voted for lower grocery prices, more jobs and a brighter economic future. Not a single U.S. family is better off today because Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro sits in a Brooklyn jail. And this profound disconnect — between what Trump is focused on and what voters care about — gives Democrats an enormous opportunity as the Steve Roberts midterm election year begins.

Before American forces captured Maduro, a CBS poll found that 70% of voters opposed military action in Venezuela and 87% did not consider that country a “major threat” to U.S. interests. Right afterward, a Reuters Ipsos survey reported that only 1 in 3 supported the raid while 72% expressed concern that the U.S. “will become too involved” in that South American country.

Meanwhile, financial frustration is intensifying. In the CBS survey, only 1 in 3 rated the economy as good. Fully two-thirds of voters said Trump’s policies were driving grocery prices up, while only 14% gave him credit for bringing them down.

Rep. Ro Khanna of California expressed this emerging Democratic campaign theme in the Washington Post: “What Americans want is an American president that’s going to care about them ... and I think what this shows is the president’s more concerned about what’s going on in Venezuela, what’s going on in Argentina than he is on what’s going on in Pennsylvania and Ohio.”

Of course, many MAGA True Believers will support Trump no matter what he does or says. And as GOP pollster Whit Ayres noted in the Post after the Maduro raid, “One of Trump’s strengths in public opinion polls is that he’s viewed as strong, and not indecisive or weak, and in that sense this plays to his strength.”

Trump also argues that in the long run, American control of Venezuela will benefit voters by increasing energy supplies and reducing illicit drugs. Perhaps. But in the short run, in this election cycle, economic woes remain the dominant political issue.

As the new year began, those troubles deepened for 24 million Americans who buy health insurance on the public marketplace.

COVID-19-era subsidies that reduced premiums were allowed to expire by the Republican-controlled Congress, and policyholders are fac-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVAN VUCCI

President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat last week in Washington, D.C. ing an average increase of 114% on those premiums, according to the authoritative website KFF. Close to 5 million people will have to give up insurance coverage entirely.

Democrats are already running ads featuring this quote from Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Trump supporter who broke with the president and quit Congress: “Not a single Republican ... has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING.” Trump’s Venezuelan adventure poses another huge political problem with his own supporters — he promised to do exactly the opposite, to avoid new foreign entanglements. As he vowed to a room full of West Point graduates in 2020: “We are ending the era of endless wars.”

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, one of the few Republican lawmakers willing to criticize Trump openly, said he was making the same fatal mistake that led other presidents to invade countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Those we claim to be liberating suffer worse than under the previous regime,” Paul wrote on his website. “Will we ever learn?”

“This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” Taylor Greene posted on X. “Boy were we wrong.”

Trump also ran as a born-again

populist denouncing “the Swamp,” the K Street lobbyists and their corporate masters who exploited ordinary hardworking Americans. And yet Trump has openly boasted that by deposing Maduro, he’s enabling American oil companies to exert control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the largest in the world.

“VENEZUELA is not about drugs; it’s about OIL and REGIME CHANGE,” Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, another rare Republican willing to criticize Trump, wrote on social media. “This is not what we voted for.”

Moreover, there is growing fear in Republican ranks that Trump’s appetite for regime change will trigger further attempts to destabilize the leadership in places like Colombia, Cuba and even Greenland.

“I don’t think our nation wants to be into nation-building and to be trying to create a government for another country, especially after the Afghanistan situation,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia told The Hill.

So, are Trump voters really “thrilled” with his latest outburst of outrage? Is this what they voted for?

For a growing number, the answer is no.

Email Steven V. Roberts at stevecokie@gmail.com.

There are times to put down cellphones making visual.

The year opened with what could be Ordinary police actions now one of the most horrifying viddraw swarms of novices trying eos of 2026. to nab good video of violence.

At 1:30 a.m. in a basement Sometimes they interfere with bar at a Swiss ski resort, flames police work. started dancing on the ceiling.

Among other stock commands, Instead of rushing upstairs to police tell the photogs to “Move flee the room, many celebrants Froma back,” “Get behind the tape,” lifted their cellphones toward Harrop and “Back up for your own the blaze, eager to record the safety.” thrilling moment to share with Sometimes the amateurs put themfriends worldwide.

And their videos show other raised selves in danger, especially when arms holding phones to capture a scene there’s an active shooter. Sometimes that quickly turned horrific. At least 40 they interfere with evidence — shell people died as the initially small fire casings, blood trail, dropped items. exploded to quickly engulf the entire Sometimes they interfere with pararoom — a terrifying event bearing medics trying to get through. the hallmarks of a flashover. Some of Everyone, it seems, can play paparazthe dead and badly burned surely inzi. Some wannabes hang out at nightcluded patrons at Le Constellation bar clubs to get a shot of a celebrity, local in Crans-Montana who stayed back to or international. The rules vary. Many take video. clubs ask cellphone videographers to So many of us these days seem to get consent from the subject before fancy ourselves news photographers. taking pictures. Clubs generally don’t We go nowhere without video equiplike flashes. And, nowadays, they may ment, our cellphone and can easily load allow phone cameras but ban bulky the images onto our social media feeds, photographic gear.

That’s a reversal from the preaffording us automatic ability to pubcellphone days when clubs routinely lish widely. banned cameras to protect the privacy But in dangerous or violent situations, the amateurs are not necessarily of their guests. Copacabana didn’t alequipped to assess risk. In chaotic war low unauthorized cameras. Nor did the conditions, such as the recent conflicts original Stork Club. That’s why there’s in Gaza and Ukraine, several profesno photographic record of Ernest Hemingway getting in a fist fight with sional photojournalists have died.

Lewis E. Lawes, then warden of Sing Thirteen were killed covering the Sing prison.

Vietnam War. Some were ambitious Studio 54 had strict rules on guests or freelancers trying to capture a career-

anyone else taking pictures. Cameras were forbidden to stop clubgoers from pestering the famous attendees, particularly the celebrities who wanted to let their hair down and didn’t want to get caught in an unflattering angle or at otherwise awkward moments.

Club owner Steve Rubell also wanted control of the visual record. The nocamera rule is why there are surprisingly few photos of the goings-on. The photo record emphasizes just raffish fun, like that overused picture of Bianca Jagger riding through the club on a white horse.

Back then, there were no pocket cellphones. Cameras couldn’t be easily hidden. (You needed specialized cameras for that.) With cellphones, there’s little way of knowing from a distance whether someone is making a phone call, sending a text or taking videos.

For those reasons, health clubs establish no-cellphone zones in women’s locker rooms. That means doing nothing that could justify using phone/ camera.

There is a market for amateur celebrity pics. They usually must be taken in a public location, be unusual — not youknow-who walking along the street — and be of good quality. California has an especially strict anti-harassment law covering such matters.

There are clearly times to put down the cellphone. Lots of times.

Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.

Email her at fharrop@gmail.com.

Venezuela: It all depends on the meaning of the word ‘run’ There have been two parts to the political world’s reaction to the American operation that deposed and captured Nicolas Maduro.

The first part was to marvel at what Brit Hume called the “extraordinary level of skill, technology and daring” on the part of American forces and leadership. Hume noted that the U.S. performance, when considered Byron alongside the flawless attack on York Iran’s nuclear program, sent to the world “precisely the opposite signal from that sent by the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

The second reaction emerged after President Donald Trump’s press conference announcing the action. “We’re going to run [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. “…So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

With that, much of the attention to the Venezuela matter turned away from the military and intelligence aspects of the operation to a simple and absolutely vital question: What did Trump mean by “run”?

The president explained to some degree but still left a lot of questions. A reporter asked, “What is the mechanism by which you’re going to run the country? Are you going to designate U.S. officials to coordinate?” “Yes,” answered Trump. “It’s all being done right now. We’re designating people. We’re talking to people. ... We’re going to let you know who those people are.” When asked who would take part, Trump said, “It’s largely going to be, for a period of time, the people that are standing behind me.” Behind Trump at that moment were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine.

The next morning, Rubio hit the morning shows to flesh out the administration’s position. He explained that the United States will not be “running” Venezuela in the sense of appointing its officials, rewriting its laws and manning its offices. Instead, the U.S. aims to steer Venezuelan officials away from corruption in the nation’s oil business, away from narcotics trafficking, away from mass migration and toward better relations with the United States.

“Right now we have to take the first steps, and the first steps are securing what’s in the national interest of the United States and also beneficial to the people of Venezuela,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Rubio stressed that the key to the plan is the oil that supports the country’s entire economy.

“We don’t need Venezuela’s oil,” he said on NBC. “We have plenty of oil in the United States. What we’re not going to allow is for the oil industry in Venezuela to be controlled by adversaries of the United States. Why does China need their oil? Why does Russia need their oil? Why does Iran need their oil?

They’re not even in this continent. …This is where we live, and we’re not going to allow the Western Hemisphere to be a base of operation for adversaries, competitors and rivals of the United States.”

The United States has tremendous “leverage” over Venezuela, Rubio said, because the U.S. can block the country’s oil transactions.

“We have a quarantine on their oil,” he told ABC’s “This Week.” “That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interests of the Venezuelan people are met.”

Will the plan work? The early statements about it, both from Trump and Rubio, are at such a level of generalization that it is hard to visualize what the proposal will really involve.

But the key to things, at least from the perspective of U.S. politics, is how much, and for how long, Venezuela will require intense U.S. effort and attention. The important thing is for Trump to stabilize the situation in Venezuela quickly.

The sooner Trump can accomplish a “safe, proper and judicious transition,” the better.

If Trump can pull that off, the critics will in retrospect seem alarmist, Trump’s opponents will be wrong again, and Trump will have a success, even as he focuses on domestic issues in midterm campaigning. If he can’t pull it off, he’ll have big trouble.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.

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

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

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4B ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Bird spotted near Slidell sparks debate dead,” Capranica said. He conAnimal’s death raises tacted someone with the Orleans Audubon Society, and another permore questions son who had shown up contacted a

BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

Birders in southeast Louisiana had been in a flurry in recent days over images circulating online that show what some believed to be a rare, melanistic great blue heron on the northshore.

Wildlife photographers flocked to Davis Landing Road near Slidell to document the bird with unusual black feathers, which earned it the nickname “Goth Heron.”

Meanwhile, birders debated online whether the bird was in fact a heron or an egret — and whether its feathers were naturally black or were covered in oil.

But those questions soon took on a different tone after news of the bird’s death spread last week.

Greg Capranica, a landscaper and beekeeper in St. Tammany Parish, was passing through Slidell and made a detour to check out the bird, which he had seen in photos online. “I was hoping it was a melanistic, rare genetic mutation,” said Capranica.

Capranica, an avid birder, called it a potentially “once-in-a-lifetime sighting.” A friend in Alaska had even heard about the bird, he said.

But when he arrived to the bird’s location last week, he found it belly up in a ditch.

“I was kind of heartbroken because I didn’t expect to find it

wildlife rehabilitator.

Jonathan Roberts, a veterinarian with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said in a statement late Wednesday that he had received the bird’s body. He identified it as a great blue heron.

Roberts said the bird was “severely emaciated” and “covered with an oily black/brown substance.”

However, he said the bird was not a “typical oiled bird seen with crude oil spills,” and said that “from a distance, the bird likely looked black or melanistic.”

The cause of death is unknown at this time, Roberts said, as is the substance that was on it.

The bird’s body has been submitted to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study Laboratory for a necropsy, Roberts said, which will provide insight into the cause of death.

Capranica said that when the wildlife rehabber lifted the bird out of the ditch, the substance on the bird smelled like creosote.

The Orleans Audubon Society issued a news release Wednesday, saying the bird was a great egret with stained plumage, based on its behavior, bill shape and the colors that can be seen be seen between the staining.

“It’s definitely not melanistic,” said Jennifer Coulson, president of the society, in an interview. She

PHOTO PROVIDED By ERIC McVICKER

A bird spotted near Slidell prompted debate among birders about whether it was great blue heron, tricolored heron, or a great egret. said the bird had a sheen on its feathers, which herons and egrets don’t normally have. That was a “dead giveaway” of staining, she said.

Eric McVicker, a photographer who lives in Mandeville and took photos of the bird before its death, said at the time he didn’t think the bird was stained with anything and said the bird appeared to be behaving normally.

But if the bird was in fact stained, McVicker said, “I think this opens up even a worse can of worms, which is, ‘How did this happen?’ ” Jessica Gauley, a board member of Pearl Riverkeeper, a nonprofit focused on improving the

Pearl River, said it was “pretty devastating” to hear news of the bird’s death. When she saw the bird on Davis Landing in Slidell, she too had thought it was healthy.

Gauley had been planning a trash cleanup of the area near Davis Landing Road for Saturday.

The area is in the Pearl River’s watershed, Gauley said.

After some consideration, she and her co-host decided to go forward with the cleanup, despite the bird’s death.

In fact, she said, they agreed it was more important than ever.

Email Willie Swett at willie. swett@theadvocate.com.

Four Foundation pledges $1.3M in grants Orleans deputies arrested

BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer

All accused of battering an inmate

BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

Four Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies were arrested Friday and are accused of battering an inmate, Sheriff Susan Hutson said.

Sgt. Kurt Coulon Jr., 38, and Detective Bruce Dave, 53, were arrested on counts of simple battery and malfeasance in office. Detective Damien Anthony, 42, and Detective Bryant Parish, 42, were each booked on counts of principal to simple battery and malfeasance in office.

All four were terminated before being booked into the Orleans Justice Center shortly before 5 p.m. Friday, jail records show. The investigation began around Nov. 20, after a citizen complaint to the agency’s Investigative Services Bureau. OPSO did not provide any additional details about the incident that prompted the charges.

“These allegations, if proved true, violate the very core of our mission which promises humane and compassionate treatment of those in our care and custody,” Huston said in a written statement.

FEDS

Continued from page 1B want to discuss with Marsh some financial transactions involving James or her campaign.

The newspaper reports the investigation is a new attack by the Trump administration against James, whose office sued Trump and his company for financial fraud.

Federal court documents in Louisiana suggest Coates, of Ohio, stole identifying information from his former girlfriend, also an Ohio resident.

Marsh is accused of using the stolen driver’s license and Social Security information on a loan application processed by a J.P. Morgan Chase bank in Monroe to

The Pro Bono Publico Foundation, the charitable arm of the Rex Organization, has pledged another $1.3 million to New Orleans public schools and nonprofits, continuing its philanthropic efforts to improve local education.

The financial commitment marks the 11th consecutive year that the organization has pledged more than $1 million to local education groups.

This year, 77 schools and nonprofit organizations received grants, including more than 20 public schools in New Orleans.

“Beyond the direct impact of this funding, this level of commitment signals to national funders that local funders remain financially supportive and engaged,” Merritt Lane, a member of the foundation’s board, said at a news conference at the Rex den Saturday morning. “This encourages them to continue to invest in New Orleans.”

The foundation was created after Hurricane Katrina to aid local education groups as the city worked to rebuild. Since its founding in 2006, the foundation has distributed more than $16 million to schools and other educational causes.

The 2026 grants were announced before an audience of several dozen school leaders, education and nonprofit representatives and Rex members.

Nearby, Rex’s Carnival floats for the parade season, which this year is themed “Rebirth and Renewal,” stood ready to roll.

buy a 2019 Land Rover Range Rover Sport from a dealership in Florida.

Authorities said the victim was alerted to the fraud when she started receiving mail at her residence thanking her for applying for loans. Inquiring with Chase, a bank employee asked how long she served in the Navy.

She had never served in the Navy.

They found a $2,000 payment record from a Navy Federal Credit Union account under Marsh’s name.

The victim provided cellphone metadata and photos, and social media posts showing she was in Ohio and California in December 2022 when Marsh purchased the vehicle in Florida, court records show.

Federal officials said Marsh still has possession of the Range Rover in New

ACTOR

Continued from page 1B commitment, the talent and the chemistry Storrie and Williams showed.

The young men stayed together all the time on set, he said.

“They were funny. They had fun. They played a lot of games,” Walsh said.

Storrie was so committed to his character, Ilya, that he often spoke Russian while not shooting.

And that scene at Shane’s parents’ house with the spaghetti, Storrie really ate all that spaghetti, Walsh said.

“He kept eating,” he said.

“This is part of who he is as an actor. He’s all in. He made a choice. And we did so many scenes. He’s a great actor.”

Williams and Storrie, he said, got this far on their own instincts and he sees great careers for them.

“These guys are going to be big stars. I’m really happy for them,” he said.

Spoiler alert: Walsh’s character is the first to find out his son is gay when he discovers Shane and Ilya embracing and kissing at Shane’s cottage. David Hollander quickly gets in his car and drives away before Shane can catch up to him.

That scene, Walsh said, is his favorite. Tierney, the director, told Walsh from the beginning he wasn’t going to have the typical father’s reaction to learning his son is gay.

“I feel like the best thing I did in the show was what I didn’t do,” Walsh said.

David Hollander, he said, acted the way Walsh believes he would have acted in that situation.

At 62, Walsh finds hope in the positive reaction to “Heated Rivalry.”

“I think it’s beautiful that people have embraced this show regardless of their sexuality. It’s beautiful,” he said. “I expected a certain reaction to it. That didn’t happen. It’s the opposite.”

“I am amazed that love wins the day,” he added.

GUILTY

Continued from page 1B

STAFF PHOTO By MARIE FAZIO

The Rex Organization’s Pro Bono Publico Foundation has pledged $1.3 million in grants to New Orleans schools and nonprofits.

The foundation continued its recent trend of giving installments of larger scale strategic grants that tackle pressing challenges facing New Orleans students and “help New Orleans’ school children reach their full educational potential,” according to the group.

Manning Family Children’s Hospital and ThriveKids, a comprehensive student wellness program in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish schools, was awarded $50,000, the second installment of a $250,000 two-year grant.

Emily Wolff, vice president for community impact for Manning Children’s, shared the story of a sixth grade New Orleans East student who lost a caregiver and began exhibiting signs of a mental health crisis. ThriveKids allowed his school to pro-

York City. FBI agents said they observed her immediate family member driving the vehicle several times and saw it parked near Marsh’s home.

A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 21 in federal court in Monroe.

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vide counseling, coordinate specialized care and organize transportation for the student and his guardian.

“At the end of this year, his guardian reported that he’s made a complete turnaround,” Wolff said. “With the support of the foundation of this work the goal is to impact more kids like Joseph to provide that wraparound support.”

New Schools for New Orleans, a nonprofit that supports New Orleans charter schools, was awarded $100,000, the first installment of a $300,000 grant to recruit and retain teachers. Lane said the organization had been putting the money toward its “grow your own” initiative, which offers high school students interested in teaching real classroom

experience.

Lift All Boats, an organization that trains school leaders, was awarded $100,000, the first of a three-year, $400,000 grant.

The foundation also awarded 74 organizations with grants intended to enhance their budgets and provide additional experiences for students. Those organizations include charter schools, private schools and nonprofits.

“The Pro Bono Publico Foundation’s donors, as well as other local foundations we partner with, recognize the importance of this investment in our children and our future,” Lane said. “We have made tremendous progress, but we recognize there is much work still to do to ensure excellence in all of our schools.”

and forklifts valued at over $250,000. Sizemore and Brazell tampered with vehicle identification numbers to disguise the identity of stolen property. The group used a chop shop, fraudulent documentation and false business fronts such as Hevyquip LLC to sell stolen equipment and unauthorized possession of over 400 identities and access devices to further conceal their criminal activities.

The investigation revealed that the pair used a third party to illegally purchase a firearm, later sold to a convicted felon, Christopher Byerley. He was found with the gun and an unregistered silencer during a shoplifting investigation in February 2022.

Byerley, who played a major role in the conspiracy, was sentenced to 115 months in federal prison.

The case was a collaborative effort by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local sheriffs’ offices across Louisiana.

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M o n d ay, J a n u a ry 12, 2026

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‘Hungry’ LSU outlasts Texas in first-class hoops thriller

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard MiLaysia Fulwiley finishes a layup at the buzzer past Texas guard Bryanna Preston in the third quarter on Sunday at the PMAC. LSU won 70-65.

HOLD ’EM

The chartered bus that carried the Texas women’s basketball team to LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center had the name “Champion” stamped on all sides.

Maybe the Longhorns will end up that way, cutting down Southeastern Conference and/or NCAA title nets.

On this Sunday, it was a dream deferred, a prayer unanswered against an LSU team hungry — and perhaps desperate — for a signature victory.

Scott “It doesn’t matter how Rabalais much talent we have,” Tigers point guard Jada Richard said.

“In games like this, the hungry teams win.”

After an 0-2 SEC start, the Tigers showed they are not dead. Not to be counted out.

Not after this signature 70-65 victory over No. 2-ranked Texas on an electric Sunday afternoon inside a packed PMAC. “Kim challenged her kids and they played with more juice today,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.

The atmosphere for Sunday’s game was appropriately electric, given that it came during football playoff season. LSU distributed white “We Back Pat” T-shirts for Alzheimer’s awareness on all the seats in the PMAC’s lower bowl and electronic light-up wristbands that filled the entire arena with purple lights. The late Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead would have felt right at home. It was a rock show from tip to horn.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey was a light-up

ä See RABALAIS, page 3C

LSU stuns Texas, picks up elusive win over SEC’s top-ranked team

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

Once the LSU women’s basketball team beat Georgia, coach Kim Mulkey and Flau’jae Johnson could breathe easy and repeat the refrain. They said the sky wasn’t falling on their season — even though they had lost their first two SEC matchups for the first time in the past five years.

Then they proved it.

On Sunday, the No. 12 Tigers survived their semiannual rock fight with Texas in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU won 70-65, picking up one of the most impressive regular-season wins of the Mulkey era.

“They were tough tonight,” Mulkey said. “We were tough tonight, start to finish. Even if we would have lost,

Pels fizzle in fourth quarter, fall to Magic

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

For a little over three quarters Sunday, it was the New Orleans Pelicans who had all the magic.

Even Jordan Poole’s off-balanced, lefthanded 3-pointer as the shot clock expired late in the third quarter found its way through the nets at Kia Center.

But none of it mattered in the end.

The Pelicans unraveled in the fourth quarter and saw their misery continue against the Orlando Magic with a 128-118 loss.

“Same thing,” said Pelicans interim head coach James Borrego. “We just keep putting ourselves in these positions. You’ve got to make plays.”

Late in this game, the Pelicans didn’t.

They couldn’t make enough shots. They turned the ball over. And on the other end of the court, Orlando’s duo of Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane took over.

“It happened in (last week’s) Lakers’ game,” Borrego said. “Their two guys (LeBron James and Luka Doncic) made plays and

ä See PELICANS, page 3C

Jay Johnson

STAFF FILE PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK

we were tougher than we were a couple of games ago.”

This kind of victory has eluded LSU in recent years.

Before Sunday, the Tigers (16-2, 2-2 SEC) had dropped all seven games they’ve played against AP top-five SEC opponents since Mulkey’s tenure began in 2021. Her LSU teams were 0-5 against South Carolina and 0-2 against Texas, but 58-10 against the league’s other 13 teams.

Two of those losses came in the past two weeks. LSU lost to top-12 Kentucky and Vanderbilt to begin this season’s SEC slate, which upped the stakes for the first half of its scheduled doubleheader with No. 2 Texas.

The Tigers needed to play better defense and grab more rebounds. They did both on Sunday. The Longhorns’

ä See LSU, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard Mikaylah Williams, left, celebrates with teammate Flau’jae Johnson after a Texas foul in the first quarter on Sunday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

L coach Johnson talks LSU uupcoming baseball season Discussing Tigers’ health, starting battles and more

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSU baseball’s 2026 season will officially get underway on Monday, the first day coach Jay Johnson and his coaching staff will be allowed to instruct their team in the new year.

To preview the upcoming season, Johnson sat down with The Advocate to discuss LSU’s rotation, starting battles on the position player side, LSU’s health and more.

Starting rotation spots Senior right-hander Zac Cowan, sophomore right-handers Casan Evans and William Schmidt, junior right-hander Cooper Moore, redshirt junior right-hander

Jaden Noot, sophomore left-hander Cooper Williams and freshman right-handers Marcos Paz and Reagan Ricken will begin the season working in multi-inning roles, Johnson said.

Redshirt junior right-hander Gavin Guidry may also join that group, but Johnson noted that his buildup heading into the season will be different from the group of potential starters because he missed all of last season with a back injury.

“I believe he has the pitch mix to go deep in the game,” Johnson said, “but we also need to keep him healthy.”

Position battles After losing Michael Braswell, Daniel Dickinson and Ethan Frey, the Tigers added three transfers — senior Brayden Simpson,

ä See JOHNSON, page 3C

2C ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 6 p.m.

Navy at American U. CBSSN WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 6 p.m.

Alabama at Missouri SECN GOLF 1 p.m.

Bahamas Golf Classic Golf

NBA 6:30 p.m. Boston at Indiana NFL 7:15 p.m. Houston at Pittsburgh NHL 6 p.m.

Seattle at N.y. Rangers MEN’S SOCCER 11:15 a.m. Al Nassr at Al Hilal

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FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Peacock ABC, ESPN NHLN FS2

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Paris FC at Paris Saint-Germain FS2 TENNIS 5 a.m.

ATP and WTA Tennis 4:30 p.m. ATP and WTA Tennis UNRIVALED BASKETBALL 6:30 p.m. Mist vs. Phantom TNT 7:45 p.m. Laces vs. Lunar Owls TRUTV

STM wins its first Ken Cole title Cougars have four champions at invitational

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

Despite having some good showings at several wrestling tournaments this season, the St. Thomas More Cougars had been still searching for their first tournament win as a team.

On Saturday, that search ended as the Cougars cruised to the championship at the 49th annual Ken Cole Invitational held at Comeaux High.

“This year, we have only won this tournament,” Cougars coach Kerry Boumans said. “We have placed in several tournaments.

We’ve placed pretty high in several tournaments, but we won this one. So, this is good.”

It is the first time the Cougars have won the Ken Cole, and they did so in convincing fashion as they finished with 247.5 points, while Archbishop Rummel was runner-up with 190, Jesuit was third with 175.5, North DeSoto was fourth with 167 and Teurlings Catholic was fifth with 157.5.

“It’s a great stepping stone for us,” Boumans said. “It’s a good test and a good gauge to see where we are at. We’re getting towards the end of the season, so it is a good tournament for us to win.

There’s a lot of things we saw that we need to work on, but it is a good ego boost for these guys.”

A year ago, the Cougars had one champion at the Ken Cole, but this year they had four in Foster Peterson at 132, Jonas Rebstock at 144, Zach Cestia at 175 and Jules Deshotels at 190. Peterson pinned Comeaux’s Cooper Richard in 3:52, and Deshotels pinned Catholic High of Baton Rouge’s Matthew Robin in 1:49.

“Our program is still kind of new and we’re trying to build it up,” said Rebstock, who pinned St. Edmund’s Cooper Berzas in

Ken Cole Invitational results Friday-Saturday at Comeaux High

Team standings 1. St. Thomas More 247.5, 2. Rummel 190, 3.

Jesuit 175.5, 4. North DeSoto 167, 5. Teurlings 157.5, 6. Lafayette High 139, 7. Acadiana 121.5, 8. Southside 115, 9. Brusly 112, 10. Zachary 110, 11. Sam Houston 107.5, 12.

Catholic-BR 105, 13. Parkway 102, 14. Slidell 94.5, 15. Covington 90.5, 16. Basile 90, 17. Comeaux 85, 18. Rayne 78.5, 19. Belle Chasse 64, 20. Milton, Fla. 63.5, 21. Rosepine 62.5, 22.

Byrd 60.5, 23. Carencro 57, T24. Shaw 54.5, T24. Sulphur 54.5, 26. St. Edmund 43.5, 27.

Haughton 32.5, 28. North Vermilion 21.5, 29.

Opelousas Catholic 19, 30. Bossier 16, 31.

Kaplan 11, 32, Dunham 10, T33. Erath 9, T33.

Vinton 9, T33. Westgate 9, 36. Woodlawn 8, 37. Notre Dame 7, 38. South Terrebonne 4, T39. Church Point 3, T39. Vermilion Catholic 3, 41. Westlake 1, 42. South Beauregard 0.

Outstanding Wrestler (lower classes) — Alex Rozas, Teurlings

Contributing writer

Alexandria showed why it has been one of Louisiana’s most consistent teams this season, turning a tight first half into a decisive second-half performance to defeat Westgate 61-52 in the championship game of the Rebel Roundball Classic on Saturday at Teurlings Catholic School.

The Trojans leaned on balance, physicality and timely execution after halftime to pull away from a Westgate team that entered the night riding a seven-game winning streak and fresh off a dramatic semifinal victory over St. Thomas More.

Alexandria (19-1) extended its winning streak to 11 games, while Westgate fell to 10-3.

For Alexandria coach Lance Brasher, the difference came down to mindset.

“I just felt like in the first half we were so worried about their pressure and just trying to break it, instead of breaking it and attacking to go score,” Brasher said. “That was the adjustment in the second half. If they’re going to give us two passes and a layup, let’s go take the layup. And if they

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Sunday that he spoke briefly with team president and CEO Ed Policy after the Packers’ 31-27 NFC wild-card playoff loss to the Chicago Bears on Saturday night in the biggest playoff collapse in franchise history.

LaFleur expected to meet with Policy again either later Sunday night or Monday. But he declined to comment on whether he expected to keep his job after the Packers (9-8-1) made their third straight playoff appearance but lost their final five games.

“That’s not the focus right now, to be honest with you,” LaFleur said. “We’re fresh off this loss. My sole focus is on our players, our team and just trying to find ways to get better.”

Vonn’s World Cup race canceled due to weather

PHOTO By LEE BALL

Jonas Rebstock of St. Thomas More, right, wrestles St. Edmund’s Cooper Berzas at the Ken Cole Invitational on Saturday at Comeaux High School. Rebstock pinned Berzas in 44 seconds.

44 seconds. “Last year, we had one champion and this year we have four and a team title, so that means a lot to us.

“As for my performance, I was just attacking off of the whistle,” Rebstock said. “If I had to make a mistake, I knew I could come back and make up for it. So, throughout the whistle, I wanted to attack and attack fast because I knew I’d get the pin eventually.”

Cestia was equally thrilled by the Cougars’ performance, calling it a “huge accomplishment.”

“It feels really good,” said Cestia, who won via major decision over Southside’s Dylan Talbot 164. “I’ve seen this program go from not really accomplishing much to a team that comes here and wins a big tournament like this. So, it feels really good to be a part of that.”

Teurlings, which had won three of the past four Ken Coles, saw its top wrestler, Alex Rozas, move one step closer to making state history. Rozas defeated Jesuit’s Max Belsome via technical fall 17-2.

“I think I did great,” said Rozas, who will continue his wrestling career at Virginia Tech. “There is always stuff to work on, but once you dominate like that, it is kind of hard to figure out what you need to work on.”

Rebels coach Kent Masson said, “Nothing Alex does surprises me.”

“He never ceases to amaze us,” Masson said. “He is a kid that you can always trust that when he gets on the mat that he is going to do what he needs to do. I don’t think that there’s really anybody that when he steps on the mat that he

looks at with worry at all. He’s just a special kid and a special wrestler.”

Rozas, who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the lower weight classes after going 5-0 in the tournament, has now won the Ken Cole four consecutive years. If Rozas can win the Louisiana Classics next week and the state championship this year, he would become the first wrestler in Louisiana history to win all three tournaments for four years.

“That would be pretty impressive,” Masson said. “He would leave Louisiana as the most decorated wrestler in Louisiana history, and that’s pretty substantial when it comes to wrestling in Louisiana.”

Outstanding Wrestler (upper classes) — Dominic Durham, Rummel Most pins, least time — Conner Allen, Milton, Fla.

132 – 1. Foster Peterson, St. Thomas More pinned Cooper Richard, Comeaux, 3:52; 3.

Hayden Boudreaux, Southside dec. Hunner Glaze, Rosepine, 6-4; 5. 2. Dominic Schopfer, Rummel dec. Phillip Adams, Shaw, 12-7.

138 – 1. Ozias Gray, Acadiana tech. 2. Parker Richard, Comeaux, 21-6; 3. Eli Roberts, Zachary maj. dec. James Treadway, St. Thomas More, 16-6; 5. Sebastian Clark, Teurlings, pinned Brady Hunter, Jesuit, 2:33.

144 – 1. Jonas Rebstock, St. Thomas More pinned Cooper Berzas, St. Edmund, 0:44; 3. Benjamin Ebling, Brusly maj. dec. Gavin Stevens, Sam Houston (34-10), 12-3; 5. Gage Olds, Acadiana dec. Joseph Robichaux, Brusly, 13-8.

150 – 1. Jacob Kershaw, North DeSoto maj. dec. 2. Dylan Ricks, Brusly, 13-4; 3. Gage Robinson, Lafayette dec. Dominic Ruggieri, Southside, 15-9; 5. Landon Ardeneaux, Covington forfeit over Gage Ahysen, Rummel.

157 – 1. Dominick Durham, Rummel pinned Enzo Lopez, St. Thomas More, 2:40; 3.

Connor Allen, Milton, Fla. Pinned Matthew Pierce, Slidell, 2:10; 5. Charlie Montgomery, Jesuit dec. Hunter Reeves, Haughton, 8-4.

165 – 1. Zayden Normandin, Parkway dec.

William O’Neal, Lafayette, 8-4; 3. Harrison Hudson, Sam Houston dec. Gannon Sheffield, St. Thomas More, 8-6; 5. Kaleb Sonnier, Teurlings tech. Jamyrick Chaisson, Carencro, 18-1.

175 – 1. Zach Cestia, St. Thomas More maj. dec. Dylan Talbot, Southside, 16-4; 3.

Greyson Bernard, Lafayette maj. dec. Evan Poole, Brusly, 13-2; 5. Alex Hernandez, Rummel, maj. dec. Avery Price, Parkway, 17-6.

190 – 1. Jules Deshotels, St. Thomas More pinned Matthew Robin, Catholic-BR, 1:49; 3. Cruz LeBlanc, Belle Chasse, pinned Ja’Michael Treadwell, Covington, 2:41; 5.

Cayden Marshall, Milton, Fla. Pinned Wade Prejean, Brusly, 1:18.

215 – 1. Hayden Bell, North DeSoto pinned Landon Olds, Acadiana, 3:31; 3. 2. Brennen McGill, St. Thomas More dec. Caleb Preece, Rosepine, 4-3; 5. Evan Dupre, Teurlings pinned Always Hebert, Rayne, 4:39.

285 – 1. Romyn Cortez, Basile pinned Dylan Mesloh, Parkway, 1:09; 3. Will Berrym Jesuit dec. Jayvier Hollis, Slidell, 9-4; 5. Kade Tinsley, North DeSoto pinned Khaymen George, Carencro, 1:14.

Individual results

106 – 1. Zander Hollis, Slidell tech. Landon Blackwell, Zachary, 17-1; 3. Matty Bennett, Jesuit dec. Bennett Leonards, Rayne, 7-0; 5.

Jake McDaniel, Byrd def. Hunter Coleman, Sam Houston.

113 – 1. Sy Stoute, North DeSoto tech. Jase Seguin, Sam Houston, 16-1; 3. William Roniger, Jesuit dec. John Thiele, Rummel, 5-2; 5.

Shane Roddy, Jesuit dec. Russell Maturin, Teurlings, 8-1.

120 – 1. Zane Blanchard, Southside dec.

Michael Barnett, Jesuit, 11-7; 3. Landen Modica, Rummel tech. Vincent Morvant, Lafayette, 15-0; 5. Rylan Bowers, Belle Chasse dec. Logan Bergeron, Basile, 4-1 (sudden victory).

126 – 1. Alex Rozas, Teurlings tech. Max Belsome, Jesuit, 17-2; 3. Kale Muscarello, Shaw maj. dec. Jayden Jamison, Shaw, 9-0; 5. Josh Guhman, Rummel pinned Christian Gentry, Parkway dec. Josh Guhman, Rummel, 1:43.

Email Eric Narcisse at enarcisse@theadvocate.com.

Westgate falls to Alexandria in tourney final

BY MATTHEW LOUVIERE

LaFleur expects to meet with GB exec to talk future

call charges, they call charges, but let’s be aggressive. If we’re going to lose, we’ll lose being aggressive instead of just being passive.”

That aggression began to show late in the third quarter and fully surfaced in the fourth, as Alexandria turned a six-point edge into a comfortable cushion at the freethrow line.

Westgate opened the game with energy, using pressure defense and quick ball movement to build early momentum. The Tigers led 16-13 at the end of the first quarter, thanks in part to a strong start by sophomore Cayden Lancelin.

Lancelin finished with a gamehigh 20 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists.

Westgate tried to control tempo early on, but Alexandria countered with interior touches and patience.

Alexandria grabbed its first lead at 18-16 midway through the second quarter, but Westgate responded and reclaimed momentum behind Lancelin and Shadon Lee. A Brock Mitchell free throw with three seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 25-24 halftime lead.

Despite trailing at the break, Brasher was encouraged by his

team’s defensive effort and rebounding discipline.

“Coach (Oliver) Winston does a great job. Those guys play extremely hard,” Brasher said. “The main thing for us was trying to limit turnovers. You know you’re going to have some when you play their style, but we wanted to make sure that when we did get shots, if they made them, they made them, but we needed to make sure we secured the first rebound and could get layups out of that. That was really the focus tonight.”

Alexandria opened the second half with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, then gradually extended the margin behind Jarvell Bordelon’s relentless drives and Trey Doty’s trips to the free-throw line.

Bordelon finished with a gamehigh 26 points, scoring 11 times from inside the arc and repeatedly attacking gaps in Westgate’s defense. Doty added 13 points, including seven free throws, as Alexandria capitalized on Westgate’s aggressiveness.

Still, the Tigers refused to go quietly. Dakylin Joseph drilled a deep 3-pointer just before the third-quarter buzzer to cut the deficit to 42-36 and keep the Tigers within striking distance heading

into the final period.

Alexandria opened the fourth quarter by pushing the lead to double digits at 52-38 midway through the frame. Defensive stops turned into transition opportunities, and Westgate struggled to regain its offensive rhythm.

Westgate received solid contributions beyond Lancelin, including 12 points from Lee and six points and four rebounds from Antonio Quetel. Brock Mitchell pulled down five rebounds, while Rylin Rollins chipped in four points.

Despite the loss, the Tigers’ résumé remains strong. Westgate entered the championship game with two wins over perennial power St. Thomas More, along with victories against Lafayette Christian, Catholic-New Iberia and a double dose of victories over Lafayette Renaissance.

Saturday’s defeat snapped a seven-game winning streak but provided another measuring stick for a roster heavy on sophomores.

Alexandria’s only blemish this season remains a Dec. 16 home loss to Marksville. Since then, the Trojans have rattled off 11 straight wins, combining physical defense with balanced scoring and depth.

ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria — Lindsey Vonn lost the chance for another World Cup race win Sunday when a super-G was canceled because of the weather conditions.

The 41-year-old United States star won a downhill on the same course Saturday but “strong snowfall in the night and strong wind on the top” prevented Sunday’s race, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation said.

“The current conditions do not meet the necessary safety standards,” FIS said. No details were given of rescheduling the race later in the season.

The cancellation leaves just two women’s super-G races before the Milan Cortina Olympics open Feb. 6. The first is at Tarvisio, Italy, next Sunday and the other is Jan. 31 at Swiss resort Crans-Montana.

No. 1 Sabalenka wins Brisbane final vs. Kostyuk

BRISBANE, Australia — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka won her second consecutive Brisbane International title and 22nd career singles crown after a straight-sets victory over Marta Kostyuk on Sunday.

Sabalanka appeared in her third straight Brisbane final and the Belarusian looked comfortable as she won 6-4, 6-3 in Pat Rafter Arena.

Kostyuk went hard early by attacking Sabalenka’s second serve, clawing back an early break with sublime drop shots that briefly rattled the world No. 1.

However, Sabalenka’s relentless intensity and match smarts proved decisive as she exploited the oppressive Brisbane humidity with punishing baseline rallies to clinch the opening set in 40 minutes.

Poland beats Switzerland in United Cup final

SYDNEY — Poland bounced back from two consecutive runner-up finishes to win the United Cup after Jan Zielinski and Katarzyna Kawa beat Jakub Paul and Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-3 in the deciding mixed doubles match to complete a 2-1 comeback victory over Switzerland on Sunday.

Earlier, Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz beat Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to even the final after Belinda Bencic rallied from a set down to stun No. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, giving Switzerland a surprise lead.

Hurkacz was playing in a tournament for the first time in seven months after knee surgery sidelined the former No. 6-ranked player. He won four of his five singles matches, including victories over Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz.

Kim qualifies for LIV Golf by earning his way back

LECANTO, Fla. — Anthony Kim gets another season on LIV Golf, finishing among the top three players over the final 36 holes of the qualifying tournament at Black Diamond who get a full year on the Saudi-funded league.

Kim, who stepped away from golf for 12 years amid drug and alcohol struggles, had a 1-under 69 to make it with two shots to spare.

“I’m not here to prove everybody wrong, I’m here to prove myself right,” Kim said.

Richard T. Lee of Canada had a 65 and was medalist by five shots over Bjorn Hellgren of Sweden, who had a 64. Lee finished at 11-under 129. Kim was six shots behind.

Kim, 40, reached as high as No. 6 in the world in 2008, the year he played on a winning U.S. team at the Ryder Cup.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● 3C

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RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C wristband herself, decked out head to toe in gold lamé, complete with wet, matted blonde hair in the postgame news conference from a post-win locker room dousing.

This was her first regularseason win at LSU against a top five-ranked SEC rival. But to say this was her biggest win in five seasons on the bayou? Well, she was having none of that.

“Why, because they were ranked second in the country?” Mulkey asked. Then she mockingly patted herself on the back. “Every game in my world is big. All of them. I respect every opponent.”

And she demands that her opponents respect her Tigers.

“If we’re going to get beat, they’re going to have to make plays to beat us,” she said. “The first two losses, they did. But it wasn’t for a lack of preparation.”

This was, predictably, a tightly contested affair. ESPN gave LSU a scant 51% chance of winning, which spoke to what it would take for either team to pull out a crucial SEC victory.

The beautiful game it was not.

This was not Arsenal versus Aston Villa. But a premier matchup in a premier women’s basketball league, it certainly was. A tough, physical, best two-out-of-three falls fight (A rock fight? At times) that reestablished LSU as an SEC and national contender after sobering back-to-back losses to start the month to Kentucky and Vanderbilt.

How did LSU do it? As former Tiger great Angel Reese said, LSU assistant Bob Starkey once told the team, “No rebounds, no rings.” LSU trailed in the rebounding fight early and was outscored 12-2 in the paint at one point. But the Tigers roared back to win the rebounding battle 44-35 and closed the paint points deficit to 34-32. This with massive reserve Texas center Kyla Oldacre pounding LSU inside for 16 points and 16 rebounds.

“It’s what I try to preach to them,” Mulkey said. “It’s like the holy trinity we cook with — onions, celery, bell peppers. I tried to put some humor into this game.

If you protect the ball, rebound and defend, that’s the holy trinity.

“I’m sure that was kind of a hard game to watch, but if you’re a true basketball junkie, that was

an enjoyable game to watch. Both teams played defense and it was good hard-nosed basketball.”

The hard-nosed basketball will have to continue. For both teams.

LSU’s next game is next Sunday at current No. 5 Oklahoma — both teams will likely be in the AP top 10 — while Texas has to go to South Carolina on Thursday.

That’s scheduling double jeopardy that had Schaefer blasting the SEC office throughout his postgame news conference.

“There are people in the (SEC) office paid to run women’s basketball,” Schaefer said.

“But that’s fine.”

This won’t be the last time LSU and Texas meet this season. The Tigers go to Austin on Feb. 5 for the second half of their home-andhome regular-season series. That they could meet in the SEC tournament or deep into the NCAA tournament would not be surprising in the least.

Maybe a championship will be on the line then.

After this win, you have to include LSU in that conversation once again.

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

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By BEN MCKEOWN

Elon quarterback Landen Clark carries the ball during the second half against Duke on Aug. 28 in Durham, N.C. Clark is the first quarterback LSU has added out of the transfer portal.

LSU football signs first QB under Kiffin

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

ern Cal transfer Husan Longstreet. Sorsby has committed to Texas Tech, but Leavitt and Longstreet are still potential starting options for the Tigers.

The Tigers needed to rebuild their quarterback room this offseason after their remaining scholarship quarterbacks — sophomore Michael Van Buren and redshirt freshman Colin Hurley — entered the transfer portal and fifth-year senior starter Garrett Nussmeier ran out of eligibility.

LSU has also failed to sign a quarterback in each of its last two recruiting classes. The Tigers do, however, hold a commitment from Class of 2027 four-star recruit Peyton Houston.

Staff writer Wilson Alexander contributed to this report.

Elon redshirt freshman quarterback Landen Clark is transferring to LSU, he told The Advocate Sunday.

Clark threw for 2,321 yards and had 18 touchdown passes this past season. He also ran for 614 yards and 11 scores en route to becoming the CAA Co-Offensive Rookie of the Year and a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award. The latter honor recognizes the top FCS freshman in the nation.

LSU beat out Michigan, Kentucky and James Madison for Clark’s services. Clark is the first quarterback LSU has added out of the transfer portal.

LSU has brought multiple quarterbacks onto campus for visits, including Cincinnati transfer Brendan Sorsby, Arizona State Email Koki Riley at transfer Sam Leavitt and South- koki.riley@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU guard ZaKiyah Johnson makes a move to the hoop against Texas guard Ashton Judd in the second quarter on Sunday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU

Continued from page 1C star point guard, senior Rori Harmon, scored only two points in 28 minutes, and their star forward, junior Madison Booker committed six turnovers. Texas (18-1, 3-1) shot 44% from the field and turned the ball over 17 times. LSU, on the other hand, pulled 19 boards off the offensive glass, which it used to score 13 second-chance points.

Mikaylah Williams led the Tigers to the win. She tallied 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a career-high five steals after shooting 7 of 13 from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. Star senior Flau’jae Johnson, freshman forward ZaKiyah Johnson, sophomore guard Jada Richard and junior transfer guard MiLaysia Fulwiley each chipped in 10 points. Fulwiley also forced three turnovers.

“That was kind of a hard game to watch in the first half,” Mulkey said, “but if you’re a true basketball junkie, that was an enjoyable game to watch. Because both teams (played) hard-nosed defense. Everything came hard in what you tried to do. It was just good, hard-nosed basketball.”

Mulkey’s right. The Tigers and

PELICANS

Continued from page 1C tonight Orlando’s two guys made plays. Paolo and Bane drove on us and got to the rim. We can look at our offense, but we gave up 37 points (in the fourth quarter).”

Borrego’s team got outscored 37-20 in the final quarter. The Pels led 98-91 going into the fourth quarter. Poole made a 3-pointer with 9:04 left that gave the Pelicans a 107-98 lead. But the Magic answered with a 22-8 run. Bane and Banchero scored 21 of the Magic’s last 23 points and finished with 27 and 23 points, respectively. Orlando’s Anthony Black finished with 26.

Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 22 points, while Trey Murphy

Longhorns tend to play physical, low-scoring games. Sunday’s clash was no exception.

Texas wouldn’t let LSU score around the rim in the first half.

Each time a Tiger drove the lane, she’d meet a taller, longer defender — one of the Longhorns who teamed up to force LSU to miss each of its first five layups and 11 of its first 15 field goals.

The Tigers eventually figured out how to score, however, thanks in large part to their active defense. Texas turned the ball over 11 times in the first half alone, equaling its season average, and LSU converted eight of its last nine field goals of the second quarter.

That hot stretch included the freethrow-line jumper that Richard drained to beat the halftime buzzer and ignite the PMAC crowd.

In the third, LSU kept its offense rolling. Williams stepped into a transition 3-pointer on the right wing. Fulwiley found freshman forward Grace Knox open for a layup that put the Tigers ahead by 11. Then Fulwiley sprinted down the floor and euro-stepped into a runner, beating the third-quarter buzzer and giving the Tigers a 5039 lead to bring into the fourth.

Williams then helped LSU seal the win. First, she drove the lane and dropped a bounce pass to ZaKiyah Johnson, setting up a layup

that gave the Tigers a 63-57 lead.

Then she saved a broken possession by draining a fadeaway 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock. That shot widened the LSU lead to seven at the 1:20 mark of the fourth.

“That’s what great players do,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said.

“They make plays. She had to make a play in that moment, and boy, she did.”

LSU’s 19 offensive rebounds were the most they’ve grabbed against an SEC opponent so far this season.

Before Sunday, no Division I team turned the ball over fewer times per game than Texas, which was averaging only 10 giveaways per game. The Longhorns committed that many turnovers in the first half of Sunday’s game alone and wound up with a season-high 17.

The Tigers last picked up a regular-season win over an AP top-two team in 2008, when it went on the road in February to beat No. 1 Tennessee.

Next up for LSU is a road game against No. 5 Oklahoma set to tip off at 2 p.m. next Sunday. The Sooners lost at home to No. 18 Ole Miss on Thursday and on the road to No. 6 Kentucky on Sunday.

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

JOHNSON

Continued from page 1C fifth-year senior Seth Dardar and junior Trent Caraway — and brought back fifth-year senior Tanner Reaves to help fill voids at second base, third base and designated hitter.

Those three positions are up for grabs heading into the year.

“I really like where Tanner is at as a fifth-year senior,” Johnson said. “I like the experience that he got, so he’s obviously right at the forefront of that.

“We brought Seth and Brayden in, with the belief that the amount of college at-bats that they have, the experience, the maturity, that they can make a positive contribution.”

Johnson views Dardar and Simpson as capable defenders at first, second and third base. Sophomore John Pearson, who earned some playing time as a freshman, may also figure into the mix at first, third and DH. Caraway played 64 games at third for Oregon State a year ago.

Healthy Tigers Johnson didn’t have any new injuries to report following the Tigers’ winter break. Except for freshman left-hander Jonah Aase, LSU was also healthy throughout the fall.

Aase — the No. 35 left-handed

6-for-8 on 3-pointers. Poole wasn’t the only major contributor off the bench. Karlo Matkovic scored 11 points and Yves Missi scored seven points to go with his five rebounds and four blocked shots.

“I thought they were great,” Borrego said about the bench. “Poole made some big plays, and obviously, he got going offensively. Yves was fantastic in the first half. “ Rookie center Derik Queen, fresh off his second career double-double in Friday’s win over the Washington Wizards, had 10 points and six assists. Jeremiah ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By KEVIN KOLCZyNSKI Fears, the other rookie starter, finished with 16 points, four rePelicans forward Zion Williamson, right, tries to grab the ball away from bounds and three assists. Fears Orlando Magic forward Noah Penda during the first half on Sunday in missed a layup with 2:01 left that Orlando, Fla. would have cut it to 120-119. Instead, the Magic scored four and Poole scored 21 points each. had one of his best shooting games straight points to push Orlando’s Poole, who has struggled lately, since joining the Pelicans. He went lead to 124-117. It was one of

pitcher in the nation, according to Perfect Game — underwent Tommy John surgery last March and will likely miss the entire 2026 season.

Fewer positional players LSU will enter this season with three fewer positional players than it had a year ago. The Tigers had 21 players on the positional player side in 2025. This year, they only have 18.

“I think it helps,” Johnson said, “as long as, again, you stay healthy.”

A Tennessee transfer has left Redshirt freshman left-hander Ryler Smart has transferred to a junior college after spending the fall with LSU, Johnson said.

Smart transferred to LSU over the summer after sitting out his freshman year due to injury.

Sliding into his spot on the roster is senior right-hander John Shahrdar, who transferred to LSU from Northwestern State and is with the team as a walk-on.

“This time of year is really important to get the team ready,” Johnson said. “He threw strikes, helped us scrimmage more often in the fall, and is going to do that (in the preseason).”

Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate. com/lsunewsletter

several Pelicans’ miscues in the fourth quarter.

The Pelicans have lost their last eight games against the Magic.

Their last win against Orlando came in December of 2021. The Pelicans now hit the midway point of the season with a 9-32 record and have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

They return home to play back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets and Brooklyn Nets.

“We’ve got to have more poise and execute down the stretch,” Borrego said. “But you’ve got to make plays. Bottom line. All of us.

That’s my job to keep helping put us in position, but ultimately, we’ve got to go make plays.”

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@theadvocate.com.

4C ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

NFL PLAYOFFS

Allen leads Bills over Jags on the road

BY MARK LONG

ten combined for 118 yards on just 14 carries.

Allen, meanwhile, showed his toughness. He twice ended up in the medical tent in the first half but didn’t miss a snap. He got hammered in the head twice during one play, with Josh Hines-Allen landing on the side of his helmet right after teammate Travon Walker tackled him to the ground. His left ear appeared to be bleeding, but he got checked out and returned.

Allen later slammed his right hand into the helmet of right guard O’Cyrus Torrence after releasing the ball. And he completed the injury trifecta when his left leg got bent awkwardly on his 2-yard TD run.

Allen stayed on the ground following that last hit from HinesAllen and gingerly walked to the sideline and back into the tent. But, as usual, the 6-foot-5, 237-pounder powered through and was back on the field making plays.

AP pro football writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Josh Allen took a pounding, doled out punishment and delivered Buffalo its first road playoff victory in more than three decades, 27-24 over Jacksonville in the AFC’s wild-card opener Sunday.

With linebacker Devin Lloyd bearing down on him, Allen found Brandin Cooks for 36 yards just before the two-minute warning and then capped the go-ahead drive with a 1-yard touchdown run in which Jacksonville let him score.

On the play before his score, Allen gained 10 yards on a sneak, refusing to go down while being pushed and pulled to the goal line.

“Just trusting everybody on the field,” Allen said. “Great win, great team win. All we’ve got to do is play our game, find a way to win a football game. We’re on to the next.”

Buffalo will play at Denver or New England next week, a chance to build a road winning streak after a decades-long skid.

“We got to go do it again. We got to go do it again,” Allen said.

Focused on getting rid of the ball quickly and negating Jacksonville’s pass rush most of the game, Allen completed 28 of 35 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown. He ran for two scores, was sacked just once and played turnover-free football. Khalil Shakir caught 12 passes for 82 yards for the Bills.

It was necessary considering NFL rushing leader James Cook was mostly bottled up, finishing with 46 yards on 15 carries.

“You know, we’re going to play

A missed opportunity ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHRIS O’MEARA

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets up after collecting a first down near the Jacksonville Jaguars end zone in the second half of an AFC wild-card playoff game on Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla. for each other, we’re gonna fight to the very last second, and you saw that here today,” Allen said.

Buffalo (13-5) intercepted a deflected pass on Jacksonville’s final drive to seal the victory.

The Bills had been 0-5 on the road in the playoffs under coach Sean McDermott, starting with a 10-3 loss at Jacksonville in the 2017 wild-card round. The Bills

had dropped eight consecutive postseason games on the road since winning at Miami in the 1992 AFC championship game. It had been the NFL’s second-longest, active road playoff skid.

The Jaguars (13-5) took the lead with 4:03 to play on Trevor Lawrence’s third TD pass of the game, but they couldn’t hold it against the NFL’s reigning MVP.

Lawrence completed 18 of 30 passes for 207 yards, with TD throws to Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington and Travis Etienne.

Washington finished with seven catches for 107 yards.

Coach Liam Coen surely will get questioned for not running the ball more against one of the league’s most porous run defenses.

Etienne and rookie Bhayshul Tu-

The Jaguars had a chance to tie the game at the end of the first half, but Cam Little was wide left on a 54-yarder. The miss ended a streak of 20 consecutive field goals made for the second-year pro from Arkansas.

Little kicked the two longest field goals in NFL history this season — a 68-yarder at Las Vegas and a 67-yarder last week against Tennessee.

He got a chance after the Bills were flagged for being offside following a 34-yard completion that got Little into range.

PREP REPORT Boys basketball

Lancelin 20, Shadon Lee 12, Dakylin Joseph 5, Jackilin Robertson 2, Antonio Quetel 6, Rylen Rollins 4, Chance Archangel 2. Totals; 21 (2) 4-12.

Alexandria 13 11 18 19 — 61 Westgate 16 9 11 16 — 52 3-pointers — ALEX: Wright 1, Bolden 1; WEST: Lee 1, Joseph 1. Total Fouls — ALEX 14, WEST 21.

Rebel Roundball Classic (Boys at Teurlings Catholic)

Saturday’s Games

Carencro 52, Westminster 46 New Iberia 44, St. Michael 40 Lake Charles Prep 39, St. Louis 29 Teurlings 49, St. Thomas More 43 Alexandria 61, Westgate 52

Teurlings 49, St. Thomas More 43

Alexandria 61, Westgate 52

ALEXANDRIA (61) Tyshawn Duncan 8, Kory Wright 9, Marcus Bolden 5, Trey Doty 13, Jarvill Bordelon 26. Totals: 22 (2) 11-16.

WESTGATE (52) Brock Mitchell 1, Cayden

ST. THOMAS MORE (43) LG Carbo 1, Mac Tasman 12, John Michael Charbonnet 2, Matthew Cooks 13, Ryan Robertson 8, Xarian Babineaux 7. Totals: 5 (9) 6-8.

TEURLINGS (49) Teyrence Alfred 3, Jordan Sinegal 15, AJ Price 6, Trey Olivier 4, Riley

Stout 1, De’Von Warren 20. Totals: 16 (2) 11-22.

STM 5 6 13 19 — 43 Teurlings 12 13 8 16 — 49 3-pointers — STM: Tasman 4, Cook 3, Robertson 2; TEUR: Olivier 1, Warren 1. Total Fouls — STM 15, TEUR 11.

Monday’s Schedule BOYS BASKETBALL Eunice at Breaux Bridge, Church Point at Opelousas, Westgate at Terrebonne, Central Catholic at Acadiana Renaissance, Berwick at Erath, Basile at Iota, Glencoe at Loreauville, West St. Mary at Jeanerette, Ascension

Episcopal at Gueydan, Westminster at Menard, Westminster-LAF at Grace Christian.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

East Feliciana at Acadiana, Terrebonne at New Iberia, Eunice at DeQuincy, Westlake at Northside, Opelousas at Church Point, Berwick at Crowley, Lafayette Renaissance at Lafayette Christian, Ascension Episcopal at Gueydan, Westminster at Menard, Westminster-LAF at Grace Christian.

BOYS SOCCER

Vermilion Catholic at Ascension Episcopal, Highland Baptist at Episcopal of Acadiana, St. Martinville at Lafayette Renaissance, Westminster at Westminster-LAF, Carencro at New Iberia.

Ascension Episcopal 7, Catholic-NI 1 Goals — AES: Rusty Trotter 1, Hayes Trotter 3, Cameron Foret 1, Lane Girouard 1, Andrew McCormick 1. Assists — AES: Cameron Foret 2, JP Rholdon 1, Hayes Trotter 1, Lane Girouard 2. Next: Ascension hosts Vermilion Catholic at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

GIRLS SOCCER Comeaux at Lafayette Christian, Plaquemine at Lafayette Renaissance, University Lab at Acadiana Renaissance, David Thibodaux at St. Martinville, Kaplan at Erath, Teurlings at Alexandria, Barbe at Acadiana, Cecilia at Highland Baptist.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Sacramento

Sports Betting Line NFL Monday

FAVORITE Houston

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 3 (38) at PIT

College Football Monday, Jan. 19

CFP National Championship Miami Gardens, Fla. FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U Indiana 7½ 7½ (48½)

NBA

Monday

FAVORITE LINE O/U at CLEVELAND 13½ (250½) at INDIANA OFF (OFF) at TORONTO OFF (OFF) at DALLAS OFF (OFF) at SACRAMENTO OFF (OFF) at LA CLIPPERS OFF (OFF)

FAVORITE LINE North Carolina Cent.

1½ Grambling 2½ at SE LOUISIANA 1½ at HOWARD 10½ at LAMAR 7½ at SFA 8½ Navy 1½ at BETHUNE-COOK. 3½ at NORFOLK STATE 5½ South Carolina State 1½ at PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 2½ at ALABAMA STATE 7½ Texas A&M-CC 4½ at MCNEESE 13½ UT Rio Grande Valley 2½ at ALABAMA A&M 6½ at TEXAS SOUTHERN 12½

NHL

UNDERDOG Miami (FL)

UNDERDOG Utah Boston Philadelphia Brooklyn LA Lakers Charlotte

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Monday

FAVORITE LINE UNDERDOG at N.Y RANGERS -142 Seattle Tampa Bay -153 at PHILADELPHIA Carolina -153 at DETROIT at BUFFALO -113 Florida at MONTREAL -184 Vancouver at MINNESOTA -182 New Jersey Edmonton -170 at CHICAGO Dallas -118 at LOS ANGELES at COLORADO -254 Toronto

LINE +119 +128 +128 -107 +152 +152 +142 -102 +206

Pro basketball NBA Conference glance W 28 24 24 23 21 22 22 20 19 18 17 14 11 10 8

L 10 14 14 16 15 18 18 18 21 20 21 25 25 27 31

Pct .737 .632 .632 .590 .583 .550 .550 .526 .475 .474 .447 .359 .306 .270 .205

GB — 4 4 5½ 6 7 7 8 10 10 11 14½ 16 17½ 20½

W Oklahoma City 32 27 San Antonio Denver 25 Minnesota 25 L.A. Lakers 23 Houston 22 Phoenix 23 Golden State 21 Portland 19 Memphis 17 L.A. Clippers 15 Dallas 14 Utah 13 New Orleans 9

L 7 11 13 14 13 13 15 18 20 22 23 25 25 32

Pct .821 .711 .658 .641 .639 .629 .605 .538 .487 .436 .395 .359 .342 .220

GB — 4½ 6½ 7 7½ 8 8½ 11 13 15 16½ 18 18½ 24

Detroit New York Boston Toronto Philadelphia Orlando Cleveland Miami Atlanta Chicago Milwaukee Charlotte Brooklyn Washington Indiana

WESTERN CONFERENCE

30

.211

23½

Cleveland 146, Minnesota 134 Indiana 123, Miami 99 Chicago 125, Dallas 107 L.A. Clippers 98, Detroit 92 San Antonio 100, Boston 95 Charlotte 150, Utah 95

Sunday’s games

Orlando 128, New Orleans 118 Memphis 103, Brooklyn 98 New York at Portland, n Philadelphia at Toronto, n Miami at Oklahoma City, n San Antonio at Minnesota, n Milwaukee at Denver, n Washington at Phoenix, n Atlanta at Golden State, n Houston at Sacramento, n

G 32 33 30 29 36 35 29 35 36 30

330 396 369 303 287 AST 351 321 270 254 297 278 226 262 263 211

10.6 10.4 10.2 9.8 9.6 AVG 11.0 9.7 9.0 8.8 8.3 7.9 7.8 7.5 7.3 7.0

L.A Rams 34 Carolina 31 Chicago 31, Green Bay 27

Sunday’s games

Buffalo 27, Jacksonville 24 San Francisco 23, Philadelphia 19 L.A Chargers at New England, n

NEW ORLEANS (118)

Murphy III 8-15 2-2 21, Williamson 9-14 4-5 22, Queen 4-8 2-3 10, Fears 7-12 0-0 16, McGowens 2-4 0-0 6, Matkovic 4-4 2-2 11, Peavy 1-6 0-0 2, Missi 3-4 1-1 7, Hawkins 1-2 0-0 2, Poole 7-11 1-2 21. Totals 46-80 12-15 118.

ORLANDO (128)

Banchero 7-16 9-10 23, Penda 2-6 3-4 9, Bitadze 7-10 0-0 14, Bane 9-18 8-8 27, Black 9-10 5-7 26, Cain 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac 0-1 0-0 0, da Silva 4-7 4-4 16, M.Wagner 3-7 2-2 8, Richardson 1-3 0-0 3, T.Jones 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 43-82 31-35 128.

New Orleans 26 33 39 20 — 118 Orlando 26 32 33 37 — 128 3-Point Goals—New Orleans 14-26 (Poole 6-8, Murphy III 3-7, Fears 2-3, McGowens 2-4, Matkovic 1-1, Peavy 0-3), Orlando 11-24 (da Silva 4-5, Black 3-4, Penda 2-3, Richardson 1-2, Bane 1-4, Bitadze 0-1, T.Jones 0-1, Banchero 0-2, M.Wagner 0-2). Fouled Out—None.

Rebounds—New Orleans 26 (Murphy III 7), Orlando 39 (Bitadze 13). Assists—New Orleans 27 (Murphy III, Queen 6), Orlando 27 (Banchero 8). Total Fouls—New Orleans 25, Orlando 16. A—19,059 (18,846)

NBA Leaders

Monday’s game

Houston at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. (ESPN/ABC)

Divisional Playoffs Saturday, Jan. 17 and Sunday, Jan. 18

AFC lowest remaining seed at Denver, TBD NFC lowest remaining seed at Seattle, TBD AFC two remaining seeds at higher seed, TBD NFC two remaining seeds at higher seed, TBD

Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 25 AFC

AFC lowest remaining seed at AFC highest remaining seed

NFC

NFC lowest remaining seed at NFC highest remaining seed

Super Bowl LIX Sunday, Feb. 8 At Santa Clara.

Conference Championships winners, 5:30 p.m. (NBC/Peacock)

College football

Scoring

G Doncic, LAL 29 G.-Alexan., OKC 37 Maxey, PHI 34 Mitchell, CLE 36 Jokic, DEN 32 Brown, BOS 36 Edwards, MIN 32 Brunson, NY 35 Curry, GS 29 Markkanen, UTA 32 Leonard, LAC 28 Cunningh., DET 33 Durant, HOU 33 Avdija, POR 39 Porter, BKN 29 Harden, LAC 35 Booker, PHO 35 Murray, DEN 35 Powell, MIA 33 Johnson, ATL 36

FG Percentage

FG 299 403 364 374 339 391 319 360 272 306 272 306 304 309 266 257 295 315 261 318

Gobert, MIN Ayton, LAL Williams, PHO Queta, BOS Antetokounmpo, MIL Duren, DET Jokic, DEN Zubac, LAC Allen, CLE Claxton, BKN G 32 35 39 35 33

Jokic, DEN Cunningham, DET Giddey, CHI Doncic, LAL Johnson, ATL Harden, LAC Ball, CHA Murray, DEN Mitchell, MIA Nembhard, IND

203 267 317 218 237

Wild-card Playoffs Saturday’s games

Utah at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Boston at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Brooklyn at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

L.A. Lakers at Sacramento, 9 p.m.

Charlotte at L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m.

Rebounds

127 129 52 85 50

Pro football

Monday’s games

Jokic, DEN Towns, NY Gobert, MIN Clingan, POR Zubac, LAC

Duren, DET 31 Ware, MIA 38 Johnson, ATL 36 Nurkic, UTA 31 Adebayo, MIA 30

Assists

Orlando 128, New Orleans 118

UNDERDOG at MORGAN ST. at FLORIDA A&M New Orleans Delaware State Hou. Christian Incarnate Word at AMERICAN Southern Maryl.-E. Shore at COPPIN STATE UAPB Alcorn State at E. TEXAS A&M Nicholls State at NW STATE Jackson State Miss. Valley St.

Monday

EASTERN CONFERENCE

8

Saturday’s games

OFF 97 102 152 158 115

FT 273 302 188 184 203 201 183 187 151 189 160 202 185 309 110 268 244 136 162 157

FG 181 208 157 157 269 216 339 211 154 174 DEF 292 299 288 220 238

PTS 967 1182 1043 1071 948 1062 930 1015 833 894 779 882 864 1018 750 895 893 886 784 853

AVG 33.3 31.9 30.7 29.8 29.6 29.5 29.1 29.0 28.7 27.9 27.8 26.7 26.2 26.1 25.9 25.6 25.5 25.3 23.8 23.7

FGA 250 305 239 241 414 341 560 349 259 298

PCT .724 .682 .657 .651 .650 .633 .605 .605 .595 .584

TOT 389 401 440 378 353

AVG 12.2 11.5 11.3 10.8 10.7

College Football Playoff Semifinals

Thursday Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, Ariz.

No. 10 Miami 31, No. 6 Ole Miss 27 Friday Peach Bowl, Atlanta No. 1 Indiana 56, No. 5 Oregon 22

National Championship

Miami Jan. 19 No. 10 Miami vs. No. 1 Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

(ESPN)

College basketball Men’s state schedule, scores Saturday’s games

Troy 90, UL 70 Vanderbilt 84, LSU 73 Southern Miss 70, UL-Monroe 60 Louisiana Tech 70, Delaware 68 NW State 79, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 78 McNeese 73, Southeastern 61 Tulane 85, Texas-San Antonio 42 Bethune-Cookman 74, Grambling 65 Nicholls State 90, UNO 77 Florida A&M 67, Southern 59

Sunday’s games

No games scheduled.

Monday’s games

Grambling at Florida A&M, TBA Southern at Bethune-Cookman, 6 p.m.

UNO at Southeastern, 6 p.m.

Nicholls at McNeese, 6:30 p.m.

Texas-Rio Grande Valley at Northwestern State, 6:30 p.m.

Men’s national scores Sunday’s games EAST

Iona 74, Canisius 48 Manhattan 79, Niagara 70 Marist 71, Rider 49 Purdue Fort Wayne 79, Robert Morris 74 Quinnipiac 70, Sacred Heart 60 Saint Peter’s 76, Merrimack 63 Siena 67, Mount St Marys 50

SOUTH

Florida Atlantic 89, Memphis 78 Saint Joseph’s 67, Richmond 65 UAB 87, East Carolina 85, OT UCF 73, Cincinnati 72

MIDWEST

Detroit Mercy 94, Cleveland State 84 Green Bay 80, Northern Kentucky 78 Illinois 75, Iowa 69 Milwaukee 95, IU Indianapolis 83 Wichita State 78, North Texas 67 Wright State 94, Oakland 84

SOUTHWEST

MIDWEST

Bradley 79, Indiana State 74 IUPUI 70, Wright State 59 Illinois State 82, Evansville 71 Iowa 56, Indiana 53 Loyola Chicago 71, Saint Louis 64 Michigan 86, Wisconsin 60 Minnesota 63, USC 62 Northwestern 73, Rutgers 54 Notre Dame 73, North Carolina 50 Purdue 78, Washington 72, OT UConn 95, Creighton 54 West Virginia 83, Iowa State 70

SOUTHWEST

Baylor 79, Kansas 64 Oklahoma State 63, Colorado 56 TCU 77, Arizona State 46 Vanderbilt 91, Texas A&M 51

FAR WEST

California 61, Wake Forest 52 Duke 67, Stanford 60 Michigan State 85, Oregon 81

Charlotte 74, Rice 73

Pro hockey

Hawai’i 67, UC Irvine 66

NHL Conference glance

FAR WEST

Women’s state schedule Saturday’s games

Northwestern State 65, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 49 McNeese 77, Southeastern 55 North Texas 59, Tulane 53 Nicholls 79, UNO 64 South Alabama 73, UL-Monroe 67 Grambling 67, Bethune-Cookman 60 Texas State 55, UL 43 Florida A&M 60, Southern 57

Sunday’s games

Louisiana Tech 86, Liberty 72 LSU 70, Texas 65

Monday’s games None scheduled.

No. 12 LSU 70, No. 2 Texas 65 TEXAS (18-1)

Booker 10-16 2-3 24, Carlton 3-3 1-2 7, Cunningham 0-4 0-0 0, Harmon 1-7 0-0 2, Lee 3-11 4-5 12, Sidberry 0-0 0-0 0, Oldacre 6-9 4-6 16, Judd 0-5 0-0 0, Preston 2-2 0-2 4, Totals 25-57 11-18 65

LSU (16-2)

Joyner 3-8 0-0 6, Knox 2-5 0-2 4, Flau’jae Johnson 4-14 1-1 10, Richard 2-7 6-6 10, Williams 7-13 4-6 20, Koval 0-0 0-0 0, Fulwiley 3-13 4-4 10, Hines 0-0 0-0 0, ZaKiyah Johnson 5-7 0-0 10, Totals 26-67 15-19 70 Texas 11 14 14 26 — 65 LSU 11 19 20 20 — 70 3-Point Goals—Texas 4-12 (Booker 2-4, Lee 2-7, Judd 0-1), LSU 3-13 (F.Johnson 1-3, Richard 0-4, Williams 2-4, Fulwiley 0-2). Assists—Texas 9 (Harmon 3, Preston 3), LSU 12 (Williams 4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds— Texas 35 (Oldacre 16), LSU 44 (Joyner 9).

Total Fouls—Texas 17, LSU 15. Technical Fouls—None. A—13,200.

Women’s national scores Sunday’s games EAST

Drexel 67, Hofstra 38 George Mason 59, George Washington 46 Illinois 92, Penn State 76 Northeastern 72, Monmouth 67 Ohio State 89, Maryland 76 Stony Brook 56, North Carolina A&T 51 Towson 79, UNC Wilmington 68 Villanova 85, Providence 55

SOUTH

Auburn 60, Florida 50 Belmont 81, Northern Iowa 62 Campbell 45, William & Mary 43 Charleston 88, Hampton 75 Georgia Tech 58, Clemson 55 Kentucky 63, Oklahoma 57 Louisiana Tech 86, Liberty 72 Louisville 86, Pittsburgh 46 Miami (FL) 89, Florida State 73 Murray State 95, Drake 67 South Carolina 65, Georgia 43 Syracuse 79, Virginia 60 Tennessee 85, Arkansas 50 VCU 61, Duquesne 54 Virginia Tech 78, Boston College 56

EASTERN CONFERENCE Carolina Detroit Tampa Bay Montreal N.Y. Islanders Buffalo Philadelphia Washington Pittsburgh Toronto Boston Florida New Jersey N.Y. Rangers Ottawa Columbus

GP 45 46 43 45 45 43 43 45 43 44 45 44 45 46 44 44

W 28 27 27 25 25 24 22 23 21 22 24 23 22 20 20 18

L OT Pts GF GA 14 3 59 155 135 15 4 58 145 142 13 3 57 153 114 14 6 56 151 148 15 5 55 134 125 15 4 52 140 134 13 8 52 132 127 16 6 52 148 130 13 9 51 140 134 15 7 51 148 140 19 2 50 151 146 18 3 49 135 142 21 2 46 118 141 20 6 46 120 135 19 5 45 141 148 19 7 43 132 151

Colorado Dallas Minnesota Vegas Edmonton San Jose Seattle Los Angeles Utah Chicago Anaheim Nashville Calgary St. Louis Winnipeg Vancouver

GP 44 45 46 43 45 44 43 44 45 45 45 44 45 46 44 44

W 33 26 26 20 22 23 20 19 22 19 21 20 19 17 17 16

L OT Pts GF GA 4 7 73 179 99 10 9 61 157 129 11 9 61 146 125 11 12 52 137 134 16 7 51 152 152 18 3 49 141 155 15 8 48 119 126 15 10 48 119 125 20 3 47 137 127 19 7 45 129 142 21 3 45 150 168 20 4 44 122 146 22 4 42 116 135 21 8 42 114 161 22 5 39 130 138 23 5 37 121 158

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Saturday’s games

Boston 10, N.Y. Rangers 2 Calgary 2, Pittsburgh 1 Colorado 4, Columbus 0 San Jose 5, Dallas 4, OT Tampa Bay 7, Philadelphia 2 Carolina 3, Seattle 2 Buffalo 5, Anaheim 3 Detroit 4, Montreal 0 Toronto 5, Vancouver 0 Florida 3, Ottawa 2 Chicago 3, Nashville 0 N.Y. Islanders 4, Minnesota 3, OT Vegas 4, St. Louis 2 Los Angeles 4, Edmonton 3, SO

Sunday’s games

Winnipeg 4, New Jersey 3 Pittsburgh at Boston, n Columbus at Utah, n Washington at Nashville, n Vegas at San Jose, n

Monday’s games

Carolina at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Florida at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

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

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Vancouver at Montreal, 6:30 p.m.

New Jersey at Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Edmonton at Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Dallas at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

Toronto at Colorado, 9 p.m.

LIVING

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

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M o n d ay, J a n u a ry 12, 2026

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ALZHEIMER’S Q&A

A TAS T E OF NAT URE CAN PROVIDE BALANCE AND CAL M DURING T HE WORK DAy Ways to work with loved ones to keep their assets safe, secure How can I prevent my loved one, who has younger-onset Alzheimer’s, from giving away his money all the time?

GETTy IMAGES ILLUSTRATION

Harmony on the job

T

BY CATHY BUSSEWITZ

|

Wellness writer

NEW YORK

he crisp crinkle of fallen leaves beneath your feet. The swish and trickle of water moving through a stream. A breath of crisp, fresh air.

Spending time in nature can be invigorating or produce feelings of peace and calm.

But many professions allow little time or access to the outdoors during the workday.

After a youth spent climbing trees and playing soccer, Anna Rose Smith found it difficult when her first job as a psychotherapist in Utah required working in a windowless office.

So she spent her lunch breaks outside, walking to nearby fountains or gardens. She picked up flower petals or leaves from the ground and brought them back to her desk, where she would listen to recorded bird songs, sometimes incorporating the soothing chirps into sessions with clients. ä See BALANCE, page 6C

Taylor Swift leads iHeartRadio award nominations

BY MARIA SHERMAN AP music writer

NEW YORK — Pledge allegiance to her hands, her team, her vibes: Taylor Swift once again leads the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Bad Bunny Carpenter Swift Award nominees with nine.

She’s followed by Bad Bunny, Sa- honor the most played artists of brina Carpenter and Alex War- the year on its stations and app. ren, who are tied with eight each. Last year, Swift and country singThe iHeartRadio Music Awards er Morgan Wallen led the nomi-

nees with 10 each.

She also led the nominees in 2024 and in 2023, when she tied with Lizzo and Harry Styles.

This time around, Swift is up for song, artist, pop artist, pop song of the year, best lyrics, best music video, favorite on screen, favorite tour style as well as the new to 2026, fan-voted category favorite TikTok dance.

“This is an annual awards show made exclusively for fans, celebrating the biggest songs and artists they’ve loved listening to on iHeartRadio stations and our iHeartRadio app all year long,” said John Sykes, president of entertainment enterprises and Tom Poleman, chief programming officer of iHeartMedia in a joint statement.

ä See AWARDS, page 6C

Giving away money is common in individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia.

Whether it is writing checks to various charities or just giving dollar bills to family members, the practice can be very troublesome to caregivers.

Investigate serving as your loved one’s durable power of attorney for finances. This will enable you to have control over his assets and to monitor how he is spending them. Allow him to be a part of this decision, if possible, and explain your concerns about organizing and paying the bills. If he is resistant to your assistance, perhaps another family member or friend could talk to him and convince him that giving you power of attorney would be beneficial.

Make notes of the organizations and/or individuals requesting money from him and contact them to remove your loved one from their mailing list. You may have to be persistent and make this request many times before the solicitation eventually stops.

Your loved one may have specific groups or organizations to which he would like to donate money, so work together with him to assure him that this will be handled. Additionally, make sure his phone number is listed on the DO NOT CALL registry, (888) 382-1222.

You can also assist your loved one in his financial transactions by setting up automatic payments for bills that are due on a regular basis. Sorting through his mail to protect him from scams, setting up a post office box to eliminate solicitations, and even changing his phone number can all assist in preventing your brother from being a victim of financial abuse or fraud.

You should also limit your loved one’s access to credit cards and/or checkbooks.

Sometimes it is helpful to give just a small amount of cash to affected individuals as this can ease his/her worry over finances. A “dummy” checkbook can also be created that your loved one could carry with him and write checks to anyone without having to worry about him misusing funds.

Money means control and being diagnosed with younger-onset Alzheimer’s means that this control will someday fade. It is the last bit of independence for affected individuals and careless spending occurs when they want to continually maintain that sense of independence and manage their personal finances.

It is important that you work together with your loved one to keep assets safe and secure.

Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.”

She hosts “The Memory Whisperer.” Email her at thememorywhisperer@gmail. com.

6C ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Turmeric not a likely cause of gastrointestinal issues Dear Doctors: I am a 67-year-old physically active man. I was taking turmeric three times a day for several weeks to reduce workoutrelated inflammation. I ended up in the hospital with an abscess and small intestine perforation. I have read excess turmeric may cause this. Please comment.

Dear reader: Turmeric is a flowering plant in the ginger family.

This plant is native to India and has been used as a spice for more than 4,000 years. In addition to lending a sweet, earthy flavor to a wide range of dishes, turmeric contains a number of biologically active compounds. Perhaps best known of these is curcumin. Curcumin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and possibly antiviral properties.

Historically, traditional Chinese,

Dr. Elizabeth Ko Dr. Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

Indian and Thai medicine have used turmeric. More recently, it has become a go-to in alternative medicine in the U.S. Turmeric and curcumin are used for a number of health conditions. They can ease pain and inflammation and reduce stiffness. They can also help with the decreased movement from conditions such as osteoarthritis.

A body of research has found

that curcumin can derail some biochemical pathways involved in inflammation. This includes blocking the activity of signaling molecules that contribute to joint pain and swelling. These mechanisms, along with the antioxidant qualities it has, have increased interest in curcumin. It may be an aid in managing the chronic lowgrade inflammation and oxidative stress that are biomarkers of metabolic disease.

One problem researchers have bumped into is that, when taken by mouth, curcumin is poorly absorbed by the body. The ability for a substance to be absorbed is known as bioavailability. This is an important aspect of any kind of medication. When someone ingests turmeric, only small amounts of the curcumin it con-

tains can enter the bloodstream.

So dietary supplements add certain substances to improve absorption. This can include piperine, which is a black pepper extract, and dietary fat.

Although turmeric and curcumin can be beneficial, it is possible for overuse to cause gastrointestinal side effects. These can include stomach discomfort, indigestion, nausea, loose stools and diarrhea. That said, there is no credible evidence that this would lead to an intestinal perforation or abscess. These are serious conditions that typically arise from infection, obstruction, reduced blood flow or underlying disease.

Also, an abscess or an intestinal perforation would take far longer to develop than a few weeks of turmeric use.

When a serious medical event occurs with, or closely follows, a change in routine, like adding a supplement, it is understandable to infer a connection. Based on what we know about turmeric and curcumin and the timing in your case, this connection seems unlikely.

They are probably not the direct cause of your intestinal issues.

However, because turmeric can affect bleeding risk and interact with certain medications, we urge you to let your medical care providers know you have been using it.

Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

Mix, match fashion Dress code for common areas when tucking shirts Dear Heloise: Recently, someone asked why someone would just tuck the front of their shirt into their pants. This is done to show off the belt buckle. A belt buckle can be a fine piece of jewelry, so one shouldn’t have it covered up by an untucked shirt. But one might not like having their whole shirt tucked in because it may cause wrinkles under your pants. — David B., in Camarillo, California

carcass, including the skin, into the original container with the lovely “juice” that remains. Instead of discarding the remains, I pop it into a small covered pot with a few inches of water and simmer for 10-20 minutes. After it cools, I strain it and am always amazed at what a savory broth I have and how much tender chicken I can glean from the bones in the strainer.

I refrigerate or freeze Hints from this, and it produces at Vinegar to the rescue Heloise least 2 servings of deliDear Heloise: For about cious soup! I often add four days straight, my husband some onion, celery or whatever found animal feces on our back tidbits I have on hand. — Fran C., in deck, up toward the house in a Tucson,Arizona rural location. The only animal Cursive is important that he had seen was a raccoon.

At my suggestion, he rinsed the Dear Heloise: Both manuscript deck with vinegar and water at and cursive writing should be a about a 1:4 ratio. The next day — part of a child’s education. Each and ever since — there were no one contributes to a child’s fine more feces. — Lynda S., in Ohio motor development, as well as Lynda, vinegar has many uses their ability to write and deciand will kill a number of odors. pher sounds, words and eventuNot only will raccoons stay ally language. All of this contribaway, opossums, skunks and arutes to their ability to express themselves, think critically, and madillos also find vinegar unfasocialize within all the framemiliar and unappealing. — Heloise works of their life.

Rotisserie chicken hint Teach cursive because the child gains — not loses — no Dear Heloise: When I purchase matter where they are in life! a rotisserie chicken, as soon as And grandparents, you will be the other groceries have been able to communicate with ease put away, I start the process of rendering as much of the tender, in cursive language, which is savory meat while the product is very important when teaching children about their ancestry. — still warm. The meat separates from the carcass so much easier Janice S., via email this way. Then I immediately use it or refrigerate it for later use.

Send a hint to heloise@heloise.

I return the remainder of the com.

TODAY IN HISTORY

By The Associated Press Today is Monday, Jan. 12, the 12th day of 2026. There are 353 days left in the year.

Today in history: On Jan. 12, 1969, the biggest upset in Super Bowl history occurred as the New York Jets of the American Football League defeated the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League 16-7 in Super Bowl III, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Also on this date: In 1932, Hattie W. Caraway, of Arkansas, became the first woman to win election to the U.S. Senate after initially being appointed to serve out the remainder of the term of her late husband, Thaddeus.

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma, unanimously ruled that state law schools could not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race.

AWARDS

Continued from page 5C Squaring off against Swift in the artist of the year category are Wallen, Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Benson Boone, Chris Brown, Jelly Roll, Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Tate McRae. And in song of the year, Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” will face off against Wallen’s “Love Somebody,” Carpenter’s “Manchild,” Boone’s “Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else,” Doechii’s “Anxiety,” Shaboozey’s “Good News,” Warren’s “Ordinary,” Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther,” Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” and Myles

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. founded Motown Records (originally Tamla Records) in Detroit.

In 2010, Haiti was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that the Haitian government estimated killed some 300,000 people.

Today’s birthdays: Author Haruki Murakami is 77. Filmmaker Wayne Wang is 77. Football Hall of Famer Drew Pearson is 75.

Writer Walter Mosley is 74. Media personality Howard Stern is 72. Filmmaker John Lasseter is 69. Broadcast journalist Christiane Amanpour is 68. Actor Oliver Platt is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins is 66.

Entrepreneur Jeff Bezos is 62.

Musician-filmmaker Rob Zombie is 61. Rock singer Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) is 56. Rapper Raekwon (Wu Tang Clan) is 56. Singer Melanie Chisholm (Spice Girls) is 52. Hockey Hall of Famer Marián Hossa is 47. Actor Issa Rae is 41. Singer Zayn Malik is 33. Actor Nathan Gamble is 27.

Smith’s “Stargazing.”

Fans can vote in several categories including favorite Broadway debut, favorite TikTok dance, favorite debut album, best lyrics, best music video, favorite on screen, favorite tour photographer, favorite soundtrack, favorite tour style, favorite tour tradition and favorite K-pop collab.

Social voting takes place at iHeartRadio.com/awards and will close March 19 at 11:59 p.m. PDT for all categories.

The 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards broadcasts live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on March 26 on Fox. It will also air on iHeartRadio stations across the U.S. and on the app.

Dear Miss Manners: In my high-rise anyhow.

It was based on the polite fiction condominium building, I must that the porch appearance is not leave my flat and travel (generpublic, but only a momentary deally via carpeted hallways and elevators) to various common tour from bed to breakfast, where areas in the building to robes and slippers are perdeposit trash and collect missible. mail. The whole building, In your case, the availincluding all common arable fiction is that of using the swimming pool. Or eas, has a single, guarded gym, if the building has entrance, through which one. You know that the reonly residents and guests Judith may pass. lated outfits are customarMartin ily tolerated in your buildWhat must I wear in MISS these common areas? May ing, whereas you would MANNERS I dash down in stocking not know what might of(or bare) feet to mail a letfend guests in a hotel.

But Miss Manners cautions ter or empty my garbage? (Most you not to test your neighbors’ people are shod in the hallways.) limits. Being even rudimentarily Must I (a male) wear a shirt and/ dressed requires sparing them or proper shorts? Not all resiyour bare chest and feet. dents do this, as we have a pool, Dear Miss Manners: For several too. years, it has been my pleasure to Does it matter if the area is carpeted? Closed to the public? Is host three longtime friends — a married couple and her brother, there a general rule? Is the rule a particular friend of mine — to a different in a hotel or apartment collective birthday dinner at our building? favorite restaurant. We do this in I am aware of Miss Manners’ lieu of separate birthday lunches rule regarding collection of one’s at a lesser establishment. The morning newspaper from one’s restaurant we go to is considered driveway — to wit, neighbors doupscale for our rural area, which ing so are considered invisible.

But I do not see how to apply it in I mention only to show that this is a special occasion. this context.

It has always been most enjoyGentle reader: We’ll make it apply.

It’s just been sitting around idly, able, until this past year. All was

BALANCE

Continued from page 5C “It helps to just have that reminder that these things are going on outside,” Smith said. “I can remember, no matter what happens in this room or with my job today, there’s still going to be birds singing.”

Getting to trees or shorelines can be challenging during work hours, especially in cold weather and urban environments. But there are ways to enjoy the outdoors and to bring the natural world into your place of work, even if it’s a windowless cubicle.

Al fresco meetings Scheduled meetings don’t have to take place indoors. An in-person appointment can happen on a park bench. Smith sometimes suggests a “walk and talk” meeting at a nearby greenway.

Mobile devices mean virtual get-togethers also aren’t limited to conventional work spaces. You can also attend Zoom meetings while walking a woody path.

Smith will ask if she can participate in an online meeting with her smartphone and headphones, allowing her to “still be able to get sunlight on my face or see water and plants and birds,” she said.

“I do definitely feel more calm,” Smith, who grew up in South Dakota but now lives in a more moderate climate in North Carolina, said.

“I think it helps with focus as well.

I’m just feeling more peaceful and optimistic.”

Atlantic Packaging, a sustainable packaging manufacturer headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, encourages employees to hold meetings in the courtyards of its facilities or while taking a walk, said Becca Schusler, the company’s wellness director.

The company added fig trees and native plants to its Charlotte location. It launched a nature challenge in 2024 in which employees tracked the time they spent outdoors while dog walking, eating meals, attending meetings or watching a sunset.

Participants uploaded photos into a group chat from their workstations around the U.S. “It was just so wonderful because we got sunrises in the mornings, sunsets at night from all different areas, from the beach to the mountains in Nevada,” Schusler

AP ILLUSTRATION By PETER HAMLIN

Getting to trees or shorelines can be challenging during work hours, especially in cold weather and urban environments.

said.

Some employees reported they felt like they handled stress better as a result of spending more time outside, she said.

Just walk

fine until the wife struck up a political conversation with a man at a nearby table. The two conversed for a considerable time.

I felt sure this man’s companion must have been irritated. I certainly was, but I didn’t know how to politely redirect the wife’s attention to our table. Nor did her husband or brother say anything. My feelings were hurt to be treated so.

Fortunately, the couple soon finished their meal and left the restaurant. I still wonder what I might have said.

Gentle reader: “Sophie! Shall we ask to have your dinner reheated?” “Sophie, we’re ready to order dessert now.” Or the most enticing, although it requires a prepared follow-up: “Sophie! We need your opinion on something!”

Miss Manners suggests this only to repair the immediate situation, for yourself and your other guests. Let’s not talk about the content of the overheard talk.

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www. missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

dows can provide a connection with nature.

The designers who laid out Ford’s new headquarters placed offices in the center of floors so exterior walls with tall windows could be enjoyed by everyone in collaborative spaces, Kolstad said.

During Smith’s windowless office days, she kept a pothos plant in the room. The greenery didn’t need much light and survived with the dose it got when Smith moved it to spend weekends in a colleague’s office that had a window.

“If it’s really ugly weather, extreme, then I think that’s where windows are truly a godsend,” she said.

To catch some sunshine and feel the wind on your face during a commute, consider biking all or part of the way. Many cities and towns have bicycle sharing programs. A warm coat and mittens can keep you from getting too cold while pedaling. Layer up with a neck gaiter, balaclava or hat under your helmet.

Erin Mantz, who works in Washington, D.C., as vice president of marketing for public relations firm Zeno Group, walks to a Pilates class before work four times a week, often before the sun rises.

On the days she works from home, she takes breaks to walk her dog on the meandering paths in her neighborhood.

Mantz said that as a child living in Chicago, she often played at the park with neighborhood friends while bundled up in winter gear.

She found it difficult to maintain her connection with nature when she had prior jobs that called for working in an office full-time.

“Growing up Gen X, we were always running around outside, and you have that great feeling of freedom and fresh air,” she said.

Now that she has a hybrid work schedule, she’s realized that spending time outdoors helps her feel relaxed and destressed.

“It’s so good for me,” Mantz said.

“The fresh air reminds me of that youthfulness of being outside, and I think it’s physical and mental, honestly. I feel reinvigorated.”

Separate from meetings, a group of Atlantic Packaging employees get together for “Walk it out Wednesdays,” a weekly time to take strolls together. “It helps provide a quick break in the day where they can reset and refocus,” Schusler said.

The Ford Motor Company also has encouraged employees to move outdoors. When it redesigned its Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters in 2025, the automaker included native plants, walking paths and outdoor pavilions, and suggested people use the grounds for meetings. The parking lot was put further away from the main building by design so people would walk for a few minutes by tall grasses, rocky outcroppings, bridges and flowers.

“We are very careful about how we are engineering space so that our brains and our bodies react positively,” said Jennifer Kolstad, Ford’s global and brand design director. “Designing for human Share your stories and questions health is our priority, our respon- about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow sibility.”

AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing Find the light on wellness, fitness, diet and When temperatures dip and mental health at https://apnews. more time is spent indoors, win- com/hub/be-well.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

bIG nAte

zItS

zodIAC cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Reach out to someone who has something to offer you in return. Networking events will change how you see yourself and encourage you to finish what you start.

AQuARIuS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Dig deep; get to the bottom of any issue that arises before you add your opinion. It's best to have clarity regarding hidden financial or emotional costs before you discuss lifealtering matters with someone.

PIScES (Feb. 20-March 20) Take the plunge and try something new. A positive attitude will give you the edge in competitive situations. Confidence, along with dedication and discipline, will help you bring about positive change.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Go over every detail with care. An opportunity may have hidden costs or fail to deliver what you expect. You are best off doing the work yourself rather than depending on others to do things for you. Protect your reputation.

TAuRuS (April 20-May 20) You are in a good position; all you have to do is follow through. Initiate the changes that will benefit you most, and don't hesitate to reshape your surroundings to suit your needs. Personal growth is favored.

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Acting in desperation or initiating change without a proper plan in place will slow you down or cost you. Take your time, observe and work on details that can affect the outcome. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Procrastination is the enemy. Size up situations and make changes without hesitation. You stand

to gain ground whether you are dealing with relationships, interest groups, work, institutions or government agencies.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Pent-up anxiety will wear you down. It's best to address emotional issues as they arise rather than stewing about them. Communication is key in keeping matters at home or at work running smoothly.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Talks will lead to positive change. Participate in networking functions or activities that encourage you to interact with like-minded people.

Travel, learning and broadening your circle of friends will pay off.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) Take your time, relax, rethink your next move and pour your energy into making your space conducive to the things you enjoy doing most. Avoid people trying to push you in a direction that you don't like.

ScoRPIo(oct.24-nov.22)Embracechange.

Do your research, communicate, position yourself and take the initiative to make things happen. Leave nothing to chance or up to someone else. Self-improvement and love are in the stars.

SAGITTARIuS (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Choose your battles wisely. Get your facts straight before you sign up for or agree to domestic changes. Put your energy into improvements you can do yourself that will lower your overhead.

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: S EQuALS J

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers.

The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● 9C

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B.C.

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER As regular readers know, I do a lot of bridge teaching. In the summer, I travel around the country running “bridge camps without tents.” They usually last three days, but I did one for only two days in Birmingham, Ala., in October one year. In the winter, I teach in Florida and

garfield

my car gets almost as good a workout as I do.

The first lesson I taught that season featured deals in which declarer had to handle the trump suit with care. This week, let’s look at six of them.

First, how should South try to make four spades after West takes the first three tricks with his high clubs, then shifts to a heart?

Pearls Before swiNe

In the auction, South might rebid three no-trump, which works well here

of the tricks, must draw trumps without

as long as North takes a spade finesse.

loss. With eight cards missing only the

And, yes, South might initially respond

queen, declarer should finesse, not play

two spades, a strong jump shift show-

for the drop — “eight ever.” But should

ing 13-16 high-card points and either an

he finesse immediately, or only after

excellent one-suiter or a good two-suiter

first cashing the ace?

with length in both responder’s suit and opener’s suit. South, who needs the rest

hagar the horriBle

© 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 — VARSITy: VAHR-sih-tee: The principal squad representing a

Bizarro

marmaduKe

school, especially in a sport.

Average mark 14 words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find 20 or more words in VARSITY? SATuRDAy’S WoRD — SoPHoMoRIc scoop scrim scrimp shim ship shoo shop shrimp smirch smooch spoor

oomph pooh poor porch posh prim primo prism prom promo hoop

hops micro miso mooch moor morph mosh rich romp room chimp

chip chirp choir chomp chop coho coir comp coop corm corps

crimp crisp crop

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Quench not the Spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19

When God speaks, obey. — G.E. Dean

10C ● Monday, January 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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ALMANAC

AIR QUALITY

LAFAyETTE THROUGH 5 P.M. SUNDAy

YESTERDAY

TEMPERATURE

High/low Normal high/low Record high Record low

GOOD

62°/41° 62°/43° 81° in 2023 10° in 1982

TODAY

PRECIPITATION

UNHEALTHY SENSITIVE GROUP

24 hours through 5 p.m. Sun. 0.00” Month to date (normal) 2.42” (2.16”) year to date (normal) 2.42” (2.16”)

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

READING 37

7:05 a.m.

5:27 p.m.

1:54 a.m.

12:34 p.m.

SOURCE: AIRNOW.GOV

NEW

FIRST

FULL

LAST

JAN 18

JAN 25

FEB 1

FEB 9

THE NATION AND WORLD Today City

LOUISIANA FORECAST

RIVER STAGES MISSISSIPPI

Monroe 55/34

Shreveport 57/37

Jackson 54/32

Longview 58/36

Many 57/33

Hattiesburg 54/31

Alexandria 57/34

Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO

Cairo COMITE

Near Olive

Baton Rouge 57/35 Beaumont 59/41

Port Arthur 59/45

Lafayette

AMITE

Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent

New Orleans 55/42

Lake Charles 58/38

TICKFAW

Montpelier Holden

Houma 59/36

ATCHAFALAYA

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

TIDES HIGH

Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) 2:42a Shell Beach 8:39p South Point, Marsh Island 3:09p Cypremort Point 5:38p Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) 5:00p Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) 4:15p Wine Island 6:08p

First FT. LOW

FT.

HIGH

Second FT. LOW

FT.

0.3 1.0 1.3 0.9 0.7 0.9 0.8

-0.2 -0.4 -0.5 -0.6 -0.4 -0.5 -0.5

---------------

---------------

---------------

3:10p 8:07a 4:09a 7:44a 4:09a 2:36a 5:11a

---------------

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

Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD STAGE 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

-5.50 15.40 18.60 6.90 3.60 3.03 1.90

-0.70 +0.05 +0.30 -0.10 none -0.08 -0.03

40

13.34

+2.09

19

7.86

+3.99

18 29 8

10.25 23.34 2.70

+8.57 +4.71 +0.39

13 15

9.84 6.39

+4.73 +5.18

47 34 29 20 12 6

6.78 4.60 3.85 3.22 3.40 1.35

+0.52 +0.27 -0.11 +0.06 +1.00 -0.66

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

Tuesday

Hi

Lo

W

Hi

Lo

W

City

63 40 64 -26 80 63 48 78 52

45 31 41 -46 63 42 34 68 33

pc pc s c sh s s c s

64 44 67 -28 80 67 57 79 60

44 37 46 -32 69 46 42 67 43

pc pc s sn s s pc sh pc

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

44 86 58 31 49 67 51 38 82 68 54

41 68 44 28 45 51 41 35 63 59 40

r pc pc sn r pc pc i pc c s

48 88 60 36 50 63 45 42 82 75 45

42 70 44 33 44 53 33 36 62 62 43

c pc c c c pc r c pc pc sh

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

Hi

Today

Tuesday

Lo

W

Hi

Lo

W

55 70 45 73 38 52 52 72 68

42 54 31 46 29 28 38 43 54

pc pc s s pc s s s pc

59 74 50 71 46 59 60 73 71

48 58 40 47 39 39 40 47 58

s c s s pc s c s c

69 53 52 67 33 25 62 52 53 23 48

55 47 36 42 30 9 42 43 41 18 38

s c c s sn sn pc r pc c s

73 51 53 68 36 17 64 53 60 27 61

54 39 42 45 33 6 41 44 48 21 43

c r r c c sn pc c c c s

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

-10

-0s

0s

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

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

Today Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat. Sun.

Major

Minor

Major

6:12a 12:23p 6:35p 6:54a 12:42a 7:17p 7:37a 1:24a 8:01p 8:22a 2:09a 8:47p 9:09a 2:55a 9:35p 9:57a 3:44a 10:23p 10:47a 4:34a 11:13p

Minor

---1:06p 1:49p 2:34p 3:22p 4:10p 5:00p

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

PRESERVE YOUR MEMORIES AND PUT THE KEEPSAKE ON DISPLAY

Memorialize your special day with quality reprints of any newspaper page.

Reproduced directly from our original newspaper, these custom-printed reproductions make an ideal gift to mark birthdays, anniversaries and other important dates.

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