ABOVE: Runners fillFourth Street at the start of the LouisianaMarathon in Baton Rouge on Sunday BELOWLEFT: Rhianwedd Prince-Weimer holds up the finish lineafter winning the Louisiana Marathon on Sunday. BELOWRIGHT: Jacob Plocher celebrates Sunday after winning the Louisiana Marathon,completing therace in about 2hours, 28 minutes sTAFF PHoTosByMICHAEL
Academyprepares students forcareers in TV,movie production
BYCHARLES LUSSIER staff writer
Along-plannedfilm school for Baton Rouge teenagers is conducting alastminute hunt for aplace to hold classes when it opens this fall.
ripple effectsfromlawsuit
BY ALEX LUBBEN staff writer
TheU.S. SupremeCourt waded into alandmarklawsuit last week that seeks to hold oil companiestoaccountfor allegedly damaging the Louisiana coastline, but the justices’ eventual ruling may not be as clear cut as either side hopes.
Aruling in ChevronU.S.A. Inc.v.Plaquemines Parish is expected by this summer. There are likely four distinct ways theruling couldplay out following Jan. 12 oral arguments, according to attorneysinvolved in the case and law professors watching it. The high court is ruling notonthe merits of thecase itself, but on ajurisdictional question: whether the case belongs in federal or state court. That ruling will likely impact the 41 lawsuits that Baton Rouge law firm Talbot, Carmouche &Marcello have filed on behalf of coastal parishes againstoil companies, each of which is seeking millions for damage to the coast.
“I still think we are going to prevail,” said Vic Marcello, one of the attorneys forthe parishes. “Wehave astrong case.” Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne likewise said that the company “remains confident that afederal court is the proper forum forthese cases.”
The companies argue the cases belong in federal court, avenue seen as friendlier to their
ä see COASTAL, page 3A Marcello
Cassidy, already facing four majorchallengers, says he’s notdroppingout
BY TYLER BRIDGES staff writer
President Donald Trump’sendorsement
Letlow
“The goal is to have asolid location by Jan.31,” said Fallon BucknerWard, executivedirector of the Louisiana Academy of Production Thespecialized high school originally was set to settleatCeltic Studios, butmorerecentlyithad shifted to Baton Rouge Community College’sFrazier campus as itslikely home. The555 JuliaSt. property,7miles east of Celtic and just south of downtown, wasvacatedayearago
andisupfor sale. Before that sale can go through, though, theLegislature has to approve it. This year’slegislative session runs from March 9toJune 1.
“We’re not going to be able torenovate that building by August,” Ward said. The newschool is part of awaveof public high schools preparing teenagers for careers in theproduction side of film and television, including postproduction, technical,craft andbusiness jobs in the industry
ä see FILM, page 4A
Saturday night of U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow to be Louisiana’s next senator has dramatically shaken up arace where Sen. Bill Cassidy already had four major Republican challengers, political insiders said Sunday Trump’sdecision makes it likely that Letlow will formally enter the race in the coming days and adds to the headwinds that Cassidy wasfacing to wina third six-year term
Trump
For months, given the president’s dominantroleinRepublican politics, thebiggest question in Louisianapolitics has been whether Trumpwould endorse Letlow,one of Cassidy’s already-announced challengers or stay neutral in the race. Letlow has been expected to get in only if Trumpendorsed her Trump’sdecision indicates that he has not forgiven Cassidy for voting to convict the president
ä see LETLOW, page 4A
Group says 3,919 killed during Iran protests
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates A
U.S.-based activist agency said Sunday it has verified at least 3,919 deaths during a wave of protests that swept Iran and led to a bloody crackdown, and fears the number could be significantly higher
The Human Rights Activists News Agency posted the revised figure, up from the previous toll of 3,308. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding the 1979 revolution.
The agency has been accurate throughout the years of demonstrations in Iran, relying on a network of activists inside the country that confirms all reported fatalities. The Associated Press has been unable to independently confirm the toll.
Iranian officials have not given a clear death toll, although on Saturday the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests had left “several thousand” people dead — and blamed the United States for the deaths. It was the first indication from an Iranian leader of the extent of the casualties from the wave of protests that began Dec. 28 over Iran’s ailing economy
The Human Rights Activists News Agency says 24,669 protesters have been arrested in the crackdown.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the United States and Israel of fomenting unrest in the country
Trains collide in Spain, killing at least 21
BARCELONA Spain — A high-speed train derailed, jumped onto the track in the opposite direction and slammed into an oncoming train Sunday in southern Spain, killing at least people 21 and injuring dozens more, the country’s transport minister said.
The tail end of an evening train traveling from Malaga to Madrid with some 300 passengers went off the rails near Córdoba at 7:45 p.m. local time and slammed into a train with some 200 passengers coming from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city according to rail operator Adif.
Spain’s Transport Minister Óscar Puente updated the death toll to 21 after midnight when he said that rescuers had removed all the survivors. But Puente said there could be more victims still to be confirmed.
Andalusia regional President Juanma Moreno said 75 passengers were hospitalized, with most taken to the nearby city of Cordoba, including 15 people with serious injuries.
Moreno said emergency workers would work all night to remove bodies from the wreckage. “We have a very difficult night ahead,” Andalusia’s regional health chief Antonio Sanz said
Big purple star sapphire unveiled in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Sri Lanka A purple star sapphire weighing 3,563 carats which is claimed to be the world’s biggest of its kind was unveiled on Saturday in the Sri Lankan capital by the owners, who are ready to sell the precious stone which is estimated to be worth at least $300 million.
The round shaped gem named “Star of Pure Land” is the world’s largest documented natural purple star sapphire, said Ashan Amarasinghe, a consultant gemologist.
“This is the largest purple star sapphire of its kind,” he told the media, adding that the gem “shows a well-defined asterism. It has six rays asterism. That’s something special out of all the other stones.”
The gem, which has been polished, is owned by the Star of Pure Land Team, who want to remain anonymous for security reasons.
One of the owners said the gem was found in a gem pit near the remote Sri Lankan town of Rathnapura, known as the “city of gems,” in 2023. It was purchased together with other gems in 2023 and about two years later, the owners found that it was a special stone. They then got it certified by two laboratories
Minneapolis leader says sending soldiers to city would be unconstitutional
BY JACK BROOK and SARAH RAZA Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS The mayor of Minneapolis said Sunday that sending active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea as he urged protesters to remain peaceful so the president won’t see a need to send in the U.S. military
Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.
Three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying in the area stopped taking reservations Sunday
In a diverse neighborhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, U.S. postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.”
Soldiers told to be ready
The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military plans, said two infantry battalions of the Army’s 11th Airborne Division have been given prepare-to-deploy orders.
One defense official said the troops are standing by to deploy to Minnesota should President Donald Trump invoke the Insurrection Act.
The rarely used 19th century law would allow the president to send military troops into Minnesota, where protesters have been confronting federal immigration agents for weeks. He has since backed off the threat, at least for now
It’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.”
Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights and the protests have been peaceful, Frey said.
“We are not going to take the bait. We will not counter Donald Trump’s chaos with our
own brand of chaos here,” Frey said.
Gov Tim Walz has mobilized the Minnesota National Guard, although no units have been deployed to the streets.
Some hotels close
At least three hotels in Minneapolis-St. Paul that protesters said housed officers in the immigrant crackdown were not accepting reservations Sunday Rooms could not be booked online before early February at the Hilton DoubleTree and IHG InterContinental hotels in downtown St. Paul and at the Hilton Canopy hotel in Minneapolis.
Over the phone, an InterContinental hotel front desk employee said it was closing for the safety of the staff, but declined to comment on the specific concerns. The DoubleTree and InterContinental hotels had empty lobbies with signs out front saying they were “temporarily closed for business until further notice.” The Canopy hotel was open, but not accepting reservations.
The Canopy has been the site of noisy protests by anti-ICE demonstrators aimed to prevent agents from sleeping.
“The owner of the independently owned and operated InterContinental St. Paul has decided to temporarily close their hotels to prioritize the safety of guests and team members given ongoing safety concerns in the area,” IHG Hotels & Resorts spokesperson Taylor Solomon said in a statement Sunday. “All guests with existing reservations can contact the hotel team for assistance with alternative accommodations.”
Postal workers march, protest
Peter Noble joined dozens of other U.S. Post Office workers Sunday on their only day off from their mail routes to march against the immigration crackdown. They passed by the place where an immigration officer shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen and mother of three, during a Jan. 7 confrontation.
“I’ve seen them driving recklessly around the streets while I am on my route, putting lives in danger,” Noble said.
Letter carrier Susan Becker said she came out to march on the coldest day since the crackdown started because it’s important to keep telling the federal government she thinks what it is doing is wrong. She said people on her route have reported ICE breaking into apartment buildings and tackling people in the parking lot of shopping centers.
“These people are by and large citizens and immigrants. But they’re citizens, and they deserve to be here; they’ve earned their place and they are good people,” Becker said.
Countries caution of ‘dangerous downward spiral’
BY STEFANIE DAZIO, JILL LAWLESS and EMMA BURROWS Associated Press
BERLIN The eight European countries targeted by President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that his threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
The joint statement by some of America’s closest allies signaled a possible turning point in the recent tensions over sovereignty and security nearly 24 hours after Trump’s threat. It was also the most forceful rebuke of Trump from the European allies since he returned to the White House almost a year ago. In recent months, Europeans have mostly opted for diplomacy and flattery around him, even when seeking an end to the war in Ukraine. Sunday’s statement, as well as some European countries sending troops to Greenland for a Danish military training exercise, appeared to be a step away from that strategy
The unusually strong joint statement from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland said troops sent to Greenland for operation “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters in Oslo that a dialogue was opened with the U.S. last week and “we will not give up on that. So we will stay on track — unless U.S. decides differently.” Added Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide at the same news conference: “We will not allow ourselves to be put under pressure, and those types of threats (of U.S. tariffs) are unacceptable between
close allies.” Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade.
Following emergency talks among the EU’s national envoys Sunday, EU Council President Antonio Costa said the bloc’s leaders agree “that tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.”
They expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion,” Costa said in a statement. He is expected to convene a summit of the bloc’s leaders later this week.
Trump’s Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe He appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security
“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,” the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”
There are immediate questions about how the White House could implement tariffs against the EU. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
By The Associated Press
PENSACOLA, Fla A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State. Elsewhere, the winter weather promised to interfere with playoff football in places Boston and Chicago more accustomed to it, although the visiting teams come from warmer climes. And in the upper Midwest, residents braced for blizzard conditions. The Southern snow wasn’t a once-in-alifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of the same areas of Florida that briefly saw frosty lawns received up to 8 inches of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s
Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.
The rare snow in the South wasn’t just in Florida. Southeastern Alabama and southern Georgia also reported snow in some areas as they also celebrated a second winter wonderland in less than a year Snow covered the ground in Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and officials warned enough might fall to make travel treacherous in spots. Heavier snowfall was expected to hit New England. Three to 5 inches of afternoon and evening snow was predicted in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, where the New England Patriots were hosting the Houston Texans. Florida gets snow for 2nd year in a row
BY KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press
ATLANTA Against a backdrop of political division and upheaval, the Rev Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter said the holiday honoring her father’s legacy comes as “somewhat of a saving grace” this year
“I say that because it inserts a sense of sanity and morality into our very troubling climate right now,” the Rev Bernice King said in an interview with The Associated Press. “With everything going on, the one thing that I think Dr King reminds people of is hope and the ability to challenge injustice and inhumanity.” The holiday comes as President Donald Trump is about to mark the first anniversary of his second term in office on Tuesday The “three evils” — poverty, racism and militarism — that the civil rights
Continued from page 1A
interests, on the grounds that the companies were producing oil for the war effort during World War II, and so were operating under federal orders. The parishes, meanwhile, contend that the cases should be tried in state court, where local juries with direct knowledge of the impacts of oil production on their localities can decide.
The ruling could also affect a $745 million jury verdict, rendered after a threeweek trial that took place in Plaquemines Parish court last year
What to expect
One possible outcome: The Supreme Court’s ruling could straightforwardly side with Chevron. If it does so, a federal judge could vacate last year’s jury verdict and retry the case in federal court. Or, the justices could side with the parishes, ruling that the cases belong in state court. In that case last year’s jury verdict would stand In a last-minute development before last week’s oral arguments, Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case because he holds stock in ConocoPhillips, a subsidiary of which is involved in the lawsuit.
That means the justices — including Louisiana native Amy Coney Barrett, who asked technical questions that demonstrated a deep knowledge of the case — could render a split, 4-4 ruling. If that happens, the lower court’s ruling that the cases belong in state court will stand, as will last year’s
leader identified in a 1967 speech as threats to a democratic society “are very present and manifesting through a lot of what’s happening” under Trump’s leadership, Bernice King said King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, cited efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; directives to scrub key parts of history from government websites and remove “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums; and immigration enforcement operations in multiple cities that have turned violent and resulted in the separation of families.
“Everything President Trump does is in the best interest of the American people,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in an email. “That includes rolling back harmful DEI agendas, deporting dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities, or ensuring we are being honest about our country’s great history.”
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation’s
jury verdict. And the other cases could also proceed in state court.
Another possible outcome is that the justices could develop a legal test to determine whether the cases belong in state or federal court, but allow the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to apply that test to the specifics of the coastal lawsuits.
To Marcello, that may be the likeliest outcome.
“If you go by the nature of the questions the justices asked, that seemed to be a distinct possibility,” he said “The Supreme Court reviews and decides on issues of law They don’t determine facts. They were, I think, more interested in how you should structure the law on applying the ‘relating to’ test.”
‘Butterfly effect’
Many of the justices’ questions during oral arguments focused on a 2011 amendment to a law that governs when a case can be moved to federal court, known as the federal officer removal law That law allows defendants, including people or companies acting under a federal officer, to remove a case to federal court when the lawsuit is related to acts taken under the officer’s authority
To Marcello, those questions indicated that they might not explicitly side with either party but rather put forward a kind of legal litmus test to allow the lower court to rule on the specifics of the case. Indeed, some of the justices wondered aloud whether, if they were to side with Chevron, how far the ripple effects of the decision would extend. Would any company or person doing any kind of business for the
oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, said King’s words “ring more true today.”
“We’re at a period in our history where we literally have a regime actively working to erase the Civil Rights movement,” she said. “This has been an administration dismantling intentionally and with ideological fervor every advancement we have made since the Civil War.”
Wiley also recalled that King warned that “the prospect of war abroad was un-
dermining to the beloved community globally and it was taking away from the ability for us to take care of all our people.” Trump’s administration has engaged in military strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats and captured Venezuela’s president in a surprise raid earlier this month.
Bernice King said she’s not sure what her father would make of the United States today, nearly six decades after his assassination.
“He’s not here. It’s a different world,” she said. “But what I can say is his teachings transcend time and he taught us, I think, the way to address injustice through his nonviolent philosophy and methodology.” Nonviolence should be embraced not just by those who are protesting and fighting against what they believe are injustices, but should also be adopted by immigration agents and other law enforcement officers, she said. To that end, she added, the King Center previously developed a curriculum that it now plans to redevelop to help officers see that they can carry out their duties while also respecting people’s humanity Even amid the “troubling climate” in the country right now, Bernice King said there is no question that “we have made so much progress as a nation.” The civil rights movement that her parents helped lead brought more people into mainstream politics who have sensitivity and compassion, she said. Despite efforts to scrap DEI initiatives and the deportation of people from around
federal government only be subject to prosecution in federal court?
“It’s hard to see where you stop,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. “Is it a butterfly effect? You know, a butterfly flaps its wings and it has an end result halfway around the world?”
Justice Neil Gorsuch later quipped that the Big Bang was “related to” Chevron’s attorney’s presence in the courtroom.
If the justices do create a test and send the decision back to the lower court, that could create further delays in litigation that has already dragged on for over a decade. The first of the coastal lawsuits was filed in 2013.
Keith Hall, the director of the Energy Law Center at LSU, said he believed that those statements indicate that the justices will put guardrails on their decision if they side with Chevron.
“If a plaintiff was hurt while using a lawn mower and the lawn mower manufacturer said, ‘Well, we sold some lawn mowers to the Army,’ I don’t think the court would want that case removed to federal court,” he said. “They want there to
be some limit.” To Hall, there’s a compelling argument for removing the case to federal court.
Canals carved by oil and gas companies over the past 100 years, like these in Plaquemines Parish, have eroded into open water and contributed to the Louisiana coastal land loss crisis.
PHoTo PRoVIDED By LA’sHANCE PERRy, THE LENs
In his view the oil production the companies were engaged in was closely related enough to the production of
the world, “the inevitability is we’re so far into our diversity you can’t put that back in a box,” she said. To honor her father’s legacy this year, she urged people to look inward.
“I think we spend a lot of time looking at everybody else and what everybody else is not doing or doing, and we’re looking out the window at all the problems of the world and talking about how bad they are and we don’t spend a lot of time on ourselves personally,” she said. King endorsed participation in service projects to observe the holiday because they foster connection, sensitize people to the struggles of others and help us to understand each other better But she said people should also look at what they can do in the year to come to further her father’s teachings.
“I think we have the opportunity to use this as a measuring point from year to year in terms of what we’re doing to move our society in
aviation fuel during World War II to justify doing so
Blaine LeCesne, a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans, took the opposite view
“Selling oil that happens to be used for aviation fuel is not the material component of their business. They would’ve been in Louisiana tearing up the marshlands regardless,” he said “The legal conclusion should be crystal clear: This is not a case that needs to be heard in federal court. The federal government’s interest is not the predominant issue.”
Email Alex Lubben at alex.lubben@theadvocate. com.
on impeachment charges for instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by his supporters. Cassidy has tried to offset that by being asteadfastsupporter of Trump since he began his second term ayear ago and has said lately that the presidentwould stay outof the race. “I don’tunderstand the president’sdeal,” saidEddie Rispone, aBaton Rouge business owner and major Republican fundraiser who was nearly elected governor in 2019 and is supporting Cassidy.“Ithink it’spretty ridiculous. Youhave agreat guy making adifference. He chairs amajor committee and is on the Finance Committee. She’sobviously asmart person, but she’snot even aseasoned congresswoman. It doesn’tmake senseto me. They’re all running on one vote he made on impeachment.” If Letlow doesindeedannounce her candidacy,Cassidy’schallengers —state Treasurer John Fleming, stateSen.BlakeMiguez, state Rep. Julie Emerson and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta— must then decide whether to stay in the race. Cassidy also faces that decision, although he has a massive fundraising advantage over his Republican opponents and Letlow,at least at this point. His campaign said it has $11 million in cash, while asupportive super PAC, Louisiana Freedom Fund, had another $2.4 million on hand as of July 30, when it last reported to the Federal Election Commission.
11-13. The closed-party primary is on May 16, and undernew election rules, the top twofinishers wouldvie for the Republican nomination on June 27 to face the top Democrat in the fall.
Peoplewho spoke to Cassidy on Sunday said he has no plans to get out
“I’mproudly running for reelection as aprincipled conservativewho gets things done forthe people of Louisiana,” Cassidy said in astatement Saturday evening. “I am confident I will win if Congresswoman Letlowdecides to run.”
ScramblingLa. politics
Letlow’slikely entry into therace also will scramble Louisiana politics because of the number of elected officials whohavebeen eyeingher House seat if shejumped into the Senate campaign.
In the minds of many politicalanalysts, Trump’sendorsement makes Letlow a formidable candidate.
Formerly asenior official at theUniversityofLouisiana at Monroe, she has been elected to the House twice after takingover for her husband, Luke, who died from COVID in December 2020 just after winningthe seat. Last year,she moved from northeast Louisiana to Baton Rouge withher two children
In December, JuliaLetlow, 44, got engaged at the White House to Kevin Ainsworth, aBaton Rouge lawyerand lobbyist.
Trump called them up to thestagetocongratulate them andinhis TruthSocial post Saturday night wrote, “Shouldshe decide to enter this Race,Julia Letlow has my Complete and TotalEndorsement.”
He’s made afabulous public servant formany years,” Lipsey said, addingthat he also is afan of Letlow JamesDavison, amajor business owner and donor in Ruston, said he had thought Trumpwould stay neutral.
“I likeher alot and am close to her,” Davison said, adding, “I think Cassidy has done alot forus. I’mall right either way.I hate to see two Republicans running against each other whoare strong.” On Sunday, Fleming said in atext that he’sstaying in the race and that polls show him thumping Cassidy headto-head in aRepublican Party runoff.
The decision on whether any candidate will run must come soon because qualifying for the race occurs Feb.
Continued from page1A
The first was the Roybal Film and Television Magnet School in Los Angeles.It opened in fall 2022 and hasa bevy of prominent backers, including actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney Similarschools havesince opened in New York City and in nearby Yonkers, New York.
Unlike those other schools, which areall part of traditionalschooldistricts,the LouisianaAcademyofProduction is an independent charter school. Its charter, approved by state educational leaders in October 2024,allows it to enroll students not only from Baton Rouge but from anywhere in Louisiana. Celtic origins
PatrickMulhearn,who guided Celtic Studios from 2009 to 2017, led the prospective film school early on. He said the idea grew out of efforts to revive and solidify Louisiana’sfilm industry after its downturn in 2015, when the state reduced the generosity of its film tax credits.
“You can’tdepend upon Hollywood to sendyou work,” Mulhearn concluded. “You need to be able to create your own.”
One obstacle to such independence has been the state’s difficulty in building its own film crews and providing them with enough work to remain in Louisiana.
Mulhearn said he first thought of creating the LouisianaAcademy of Production after reading anews story about the new film schoolin Los Angeles. He said he mentioned it during ameeting he had with newly appointed Baton Rouge Area Foundation CEO Chris Meyer,who expressed interest.
Mulhearn said he then reached out to Bryan Lourd, aNew Iberia native who is now CEO and co-chairman of Creative Artists Agency
CAA is an influential talent agency in Los Angeles that represents top Hollywood talent, including Clooney Lourd is also abacker of the Roybal school in Los Ange-
She’sinanenviable position, said Scott Wilfong, a Republican campaign operative.
“Now it’s perfect timing
for her to comeinand say, ‘I can’tignorethe call from the greatest president of ourlifetime andthe people from the greatest state in the country,’” said Wilfong. “The race may be over.How do youbeat theperson endorsed by Trump? She has acompellinglifestory.She losther husband. I’mjust objectively talking. She will be asuper candidate.”
Letlow hadbeen expected to announce herplans by Jan.28, when Washington Mardi Gras —anannual extravaganza with parties and fundraisers for Louisiana’s political world —kicks off.
“It’sgoing to make an interesting line of conversation in Washington Mardi Gras, with thebuzz that’s always there,” saidRodney Alexander,alobbyistwho formerly held Letlow’scongressionalseat. “There are alwaysalot of influential people in business and politics together there at one time.”
Asurpriseannouncement
Republican insiders have been complaining privately for weeks aboutLetlow’s
inaction over whetherto run for afull third term in the House or give up that seat and challenge Cassidy, as qualifying for the Senate andcongressionalraces grew closer Rumors heated up during the Christmasholidays that she would take on Cassidy, but that talk died down. It was not abig topic of discussion Friday night when Gov.Jeff Landry held areception at the Governor’sMansionfor membersof the Republican State Central Committee, saidtwo people who attended —nor at the committee’squarterly meetingonSaturday in Baton Rouge. That Trumpannounced thedecision Saturdaynight caught most people by surprise.
event in New Orleans the night before.)
Miguez and Emerson have both been touting themselves as young MAGAwarriors. They didn’trespond to texts on Sunday Skrmetta hasn’traised any money, leading to doubts that he’llactually qualify But on Sunday, he said he is about to hold his first fundraiser
Landry, Fleming, Miguez andEmerson were allattending an annual fundraising gala for LouisianaRight to Life at Le Pavillion in Lafayette when news broke. Word spread like wildfire in the room. (Cassidy had attended the group’sgala
Anew film-oriented charter school, the Louisiana Academy of Production,
the Fraziercampus located at 555 Julia st.,but the sale firstrequireslegislative
les. He was immediately on board.
“I was just talkingwith George (Clooney) about how this would be perfect for Louisiana,” Mulhearn recalled Lourd saying. “Could youset up acall?”
“So we set up this call,” Mulhearn continued. “It became obvious thatBaton Rouge checked all the boxes.”
Less Celtic
Theoriginal charter application called for the productionschool to locate onavailable property at Celtic’s large campusoff AirlineHighway Mulhearn, however,departed in summer 2024 after his initialcontract expired with school funder,New Schools forBaton Rouge Ward replaced him,and not long after, the idea of locating at Celtic was dropped.
“Wewouldhavebeen in a smallerbuildingthat would have only housed us for two years,” Ward explained. To growtocapacity,the school would have needed to add temporarybuildings to the site,she said. Instead, the schoolisforgingapartnership where students willvisit Celtic weekly to learn their respective crafts.
Cory Parker,Celtic’scurrent executive director, said the doorremains open for the film school to locate at Celtic,but he is ready to work with the new school to give its students truework
experience.
“The goal is not just have them in classlearning about the industry,but have them here, actually have people here, learning on the ground,” Parker said.
Search forahome
The Louisiana Academy of Production’sinitial opening in August —a year later than originally planned will include only ninth graders, about75ofthem. Consequently,the school needs limited space for thatfirst year It will need morespace over time.Itplans to adda grade at atimeuntil it has all the traditional high school grades by fall 2029.Itplans to reach capacity by 2033, with about600 students.
For that first year,Ward said she is looking for a school willing to share its extraspace.
Afterthat, thevacant BRCC Frazier campus is likely the next, perhaps the permanent, home for the charter school.
Building 1onthe BRCC property is twostoriestall and50,700 square feet. It hasclassrooms, offices,labs, aconference room and student support areas.Building 2isan11,310-square-foot, single-story metal building. It housedanautomotive training center andwas renovated in 2014for arts classes.
“There’salot of transformational areas in that par-
ticular building,”Wardsaid Transformingitwon’t be cheap. The film school is hopingtoraise $9 million over thenextseven years, much of which will pay for renovating andoutfitting the place.
“We’re talking about afilm andtelevision production
Some stillbackCassidy Trump’sendorsement cameasanodd juxtaposition to amajor fundraiser Cassidy held at the Baton Rouge Renaissance Hotel, where Senate Majority Leader JohnThune, of South Dakota, was the star attraction. Cassidy’steamsaidhe raised $650,000 that night. Rispone introduced Cassidy to the big crowd. Other heavy-hitters who showed their support forCassidy were Baton Rouge business owner Lane Grigsby,Baton Rouge trial attorney Gordon McKernan and state Senate President CameronHenry,R-Metairie
“It does not change my support (of Cassidy),” Henry said Sunday,referring to Trump’sendorsement.
Richard Lipsey,another Baton Rouge business owner and major fundraiser, echoed Henry’sstatement.
Cassidy “has done alot for the state and our country
facility,” shesaid. “That’sa pretty expensive endeavor.”
Louisianapotential
Akey goal of the new high school is to supply Celtic and otherstudios with the skilled workforcetheywill need to workonfutureproductions.
Parker said he saw the potentialfor suchworkforce development during avisit to theRoybalschoolinLos Angeles after it opened.
“IntheirEnglishclass, they were breaking down scripts. In math,theywere drawing up budgets,”Parker recalled. “It was pretty cool. Iwas jealous.”
He said the plans he has seen so far show the Louisiana school could prove to be an even better training ground.
“I think it’sgoing to be alot more involved and alot more intensefor thestudents,” Parker said. “Theyare going to feel like they are filmmakers when they graduate, or ready to be.”
Kathy Seiden, afirst-term St. TammanyParish Council member,announced in Octoberthatshe’s also challenging Cassidy
Three little-knownDemocrats have saidthey planto run as well.
If Letlow runs forthe Senate, thatwill createa wideopen race forher 5thCongressionalDistrict, which wasbased in northeast Louisiana whenLetlowwas first seated in 2021 but has been reconfigured and now includesthe Florida Parishes and predominantly White precincts in Baton Rouge. StateSen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, on Sunday said he would run, while state Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, texted an advertising logo he has already designed forhis campaign.
State Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe; state Rep.Daryl Deshotel, R-Hessmer; and state Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, all said on Sunday they are considering the race.
This is Ward’sfirst time running aschool. She arrives with avaried background. She got her start working as atelevision news producer in several cities, including BatonRouge and New Orleans. She then shifted to schools, workingasa teacher and girls’ basketball coach at Lutcher High. She went on to work with the Louisiana High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics Louisiana. Students will learnvia project-based learning and can graduate with not only adiploma, but also an industry-based credential. Ward said the school will offer sometraditional high school sports, including basketball, volleyball, crosscountry,track and field, and will add more down the road as theschool adds grades and students.
“It’snot just aschool for kids who are interested in film andproduction,” she said. “It’sschool for all kids. It’sjust amorefocuseddirection.”
Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate. com.
BY STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press
WASHINGTON Republican lawmakers are scrambling to contain President Donald Trump’s threats of taking possession of Greenland, with some showing the most strident opposition to almost anything the Trump administration has done since taking office.
They gave floor speeches on the importance of NATO last week. They introduced bills meant to prevent the U.S. from attacking Denmark. And several traveled to Copenhagen to meet with Danish counterparts.
But it’s not clear that will be enough, as the president continues to insist that he will take control of the Arctic island. It’s raised fears of an end to NATO a decades-old alliance that has been a pillar of American strength in Europe and around the globe — and raised questions on Capitol Hill and around the world about what Trump’s aggressive, go-it-alone foreign policy will mean for world order.
“When the most powerful military nation on earth threatens your territory through its president over and over and over again, you start to take it seriously,”
Sen Chris Coons told The Associated Press.
The Delaware Democrat organized the bipartisan trip to Denmark to “bring the temperature down a bit,” he said, as well as further talks about mutual military agreements in the Arctic. Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska accompanied a handful of Democrats on the trip.
Also, Republican lawmakers joined in meetings in Washington last week with the Danish foreign minister and
his Greenlandic counterpart where they discussed security agreements. Yet it’s clear Trump has other ideas. He said Saturday he will charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to his Greenland plans.
Trump said on social media that because of modern weapons systems “the need to ACQUIRE is especially important.”
The pushback
Key Republicans have made clear they think that forcefully taking Greenland is out of the question. But so far, they’ve avoided directly rebuking Trump for his talk of possessing the island Tillis on social media called Trumps tariff plans “bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Thursday that “there’s certainly not an appetite here for some of the options that have been talked about or considered.”
In a floor speech, Thune’s predecessor as Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, warned that an attempt to seize Greenland would “shatter the trust of allies” and tarnish Trump’s legacy with a disastrous foreign policy decision
Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike see an obvious path to bolstering American interests in Greenland while keeping the relationship with NATOally Denmark intact In a meeting with lawmakers Thursday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt discussed how
By The Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainian drone strikes damaged energy networks in Russiaoccupied parts of southern Ukraine, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power on Sunday according to Kremlin-installed authorities there.
Meanwhile, Moscow has kept up its hammering of Ukraine’s energy grid in overnight attacks that killed at least two people, according to Ukrainian officials.
More than 200,000 households in the Russia-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday according to the Kremlin-installed local governor In a Telegram post, Yevgeny Balitsky said that nearly 400 settlements have had their supply cut, because of damage to power networks from Ukrainian drone
strikes.
Russia has hammered Ukraine’s power grid, especially in winter throughout the nearly four-year war The strikes aim to weaken Ukrainians’ will to resist in a strategy that Kyiv officials call “weaponizing winter.” Russia targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service. A fire broke out and was promptly extinguished. At least six people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region from Russian attacks, the emergency service said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that repairing the country’s energy system remains challenging, “but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible.”
He said that two people were killed in overnight at-
the countries could work together to develop critical mineral industries and military cooperation, Coons said. The diplomats also told the senators there is no evidence of Chinese or Russian activity in Greenland.
Trump has made the argument that the U.S. should take Greenland before China or Russia do, prompting worry across Europe. Troops from several nations have been sent to Greenland in support of Denmark.
Murkowski said on social media that “our NATO allies are being forced to divert attention and resources to Greenland, a dynamic that plays directly into Putin’s hands by threatening the stability of the strongest coalition of democracies the world has ever seen.”
What can Congress do?
Lawmakers are looking at a few options for taking
a military attack on Greenland off the table. Still, the Trump administration has shown little if any willingness to get congressional approval before taking military action.
Lawmakers, including Republicans like Murkowski, are pushing legislation that would prohibit Department of Defense funds from being used to attack or occupy territory that belongs to other NATO members without their consent.
The Alaska senator also suggested Congress could act to nullify Trump’s tariffs. Murkowski and several other Republicans have already helped pass resolutions last year meant to undo tariffs around the globe, but those pieces of legislation did not gain traction in the House. They would have also required Trump’s signature or support from two-thirds of both chambers to override
tacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.
In total, more than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types were used by Russia to strike Ukraine this week, Zelenskyy said.
“If Russia deliberately delays the diplomatic process, the world’s response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor,” Zelenskyy said.
He spoke the day after a Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States for talks on a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the war
On Friday Zelenskyy said that the delegation would try to finalize with U.S officials documents for a proposed peace settlement that relate to postwar security guarantees and economic recovery If American officials approve the proposals, the U.S. and Ukraine could sign the documents next week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy said at a Kyiv news conference with Czech President Petr Pavel. Trump plans to be in Davos, according to organizers.
Russia would still need to be consulted on the proposals.
his veto.
Democrats have also found some traction with war powers resolutions meant to force the president to get congressional approval before engaging in hostilities. Republicans last week narrowly defeated one such resolution that would prohibit Trump from attacking Venezuela again, and Democrats think there could potentially be more Republicans who would support one applying to Greenland.
“What I’ve noticed is these war powers resolutions, they do put some pressure on Republicans,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat who has forced votes on several similar resolutions. He said the tactic has also compelled the Trump administration to provide lawmakers with briefings and commitments to get congressional approval before deploying troops.
Still, while dismissing the Venezuela war powers resolution on Wednesday, Republican leaders made the argument that the legislation should be ruled out of order because the Trump administration has said there are currently no U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela. That argument may set a precedent for future war powers resolutions, giving Republicans a way to avoid voting against Trump’s wishes. “If you don’t have boots on the ground, it’s a moot point,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, a South Dakota Republican, about war powers resolutions in general. He also argued that the prospect of taking Greenland over the objections of Denmark is nothing “more than a hypothetical.”
Other Republicans have expressed support for Trump’s insistence that the U.S. possess Greenland, though they have downplayed the idea that the U.S. would take it by force. That’s left the strongest objections on the Republican side of the aisle coming from a handful of lawmakers who are leaving Congress next year
Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told The Omaha World Herald that an invasion of Greenland would lead to Trump’s impeachment — something he would “lean” towards supporting. Tillis, another retiring Republican, has directed his criticism at Trump advisers like White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “The fact that a small handful of ‘advisers’ are actively pushing for coercive action to seize territory of an ally is beyond stupid,” he said.
BY JAVIER TORRES Associated Press
PENCO, Chile Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, authorities said, as the South American country swelters under a heat wave.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighboring Ñuble region, around 300 miles south of Santiago, the capital.
The emergency designation allows greater coordination with the military to rein in over two dozen active wildfires that have so far blazed through 21,000 acres, according to the national forestry agency In a press conference from the hard-hit city of Concepción in the Biobio region, Boric expressed his support and condolences to the victims and warned that
the government’s initial reports of 18 people killed and 300 houses destroyed were expected to rise as the extent of the losses came into focus. He estimated the total number of affected homes in the Biobio region alone to be “certainly more than a thousand, just so far.” Already the fires ravaging the hillsides forced 50,000 people to evacuate.
“The first priority, as you know, in these emergencies is always to fight and extinguish the fire. But we cannot forget, at any time, that there are human tragedies here, families who are suffering,” he said. “These are difficult times.”
His address followed complaints from local authorities that for hours, destruction was everywhere and help was nowhere.
Firefighters struggled to extinguish the flames, with the heat and strong winds hampering their efforts Temperatures topped 100 degrees on Sunday
BY MORGAN KING
Contributing writer
Patricia Ceaser traveled from Lafayette to attend this year’s MLK Fest in Baton Rouge with her fellow Cox Communication co-workers to support the community Ceaser, alongside her co-worker Frances Lewis, painted murals at the Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and BREC’s Mary J. Lands Park to honor Martin Luther King Jr Day as an act of service.
“When you root for something, you just go for it, especially for this cause because I just want to spread the wealth,” Ceaser said during events in observance of Martin Luther King Day on Saturday
The two-day MLK Fest is organized by the Walls Project, a community reactivation organization stimulating the local art and culture economy in the city This year’s festivities began with volunteering Saturday More volunteer activities are planned from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, and the event will wrap up with the MLK Fest 2026 Block Party & Resource Fair from noon to 2 p.m. at the Park Medical Academy, 2680 Bogan Walk Saturday’s activities focused on philanthropic work to strengthen the community The events ranged from mural painting and art for living galleries to blight and litter removal and home repairs for senior citizens.
As volunteers poured into the check-in center awaiting their task instructions and supplies at 4000 Gus Young Ave., Nickeyia Johnson, 27, helped volunteers create paintings to be displayed later at the Baton Roots Community Farm.
“These kids will have their little signs they made here at our MLK Day event next to the herbs and plants at the farm,” Johnson said Johnson, a north Baton Rouge native, has been working with the Walls Project in after-school projects in the Scotlandville area to share her artistic abilities with students.
“The high school group I work with is so interested in career things now. They’re willing to help out as much as they can in the community,” Johnson said. “Getting them excited early on as much as you can for service is great.” Ashlyn Harrison, executive director of the Walls Project, said the project’s work to address blight has moved this year farther into the Dixie area. The blight and litter removal efforts span across 800 acres of land, she said, and will continue to spread
across north Baton Rouge with the goal of eventually reaching the Scotlandville area.
“We have everyone out here from our youth who paint signs to us painting older homes for an 80-yearold who is currently immobile,” Harrison said.
“I feel like our goal in this is to make sure we have generational impacts. Not just for the day, but for the year.”
Morgan Udoh pulled up in a U-Haul truck to a home beautification site in the 2500 block of Gracie Street, ready to dive into work
Udoh serves as the Walls Projects Mural Arts senior program coordinator and has spent four years in the Gus Young Corridor neighborhoods. The partnership with Envision BR allowed the Walls Project to get a clear indication of the needs of the area
“Envision BR handled all the communication with the elders and helped us to identify eight homes in a tight impact area so that we could make a real visual difference,” Udoh said Not only were the homeowners able to pick out the color paint they wanted for the home, but the Baton Roots team also has done landscaping improvements for each home. Habitat for Humanity is another partner in this project to help with other small repairs, such as door replacements.
“One of the things we don’t want to do while developing the area is for it to lose its cultural meaning and value,” Udoh said She said she loves the history and information that is held by older folks and doesn’t want it to be lost.
Her curiosity has spurred her for 15 years to study the history of north Baton Rouge.
“It is my home and I just want to see it prosper and make sure that as it develops and prospers we don’t leave the legacies behind,”
Udoh said
Ella Morgan, a member of the Envision BR board said she’s grateful to the Walls Project because of the work it has done for her family The project enabled her father’s grocery store, Morgan’s Quality Grocery, to be painted, she said
“We are getting back to neighbors taking care of neighbors,” Udoh said, “and I want to be a part of that development.”
Morgan King is a student reported on this story with the support of the nonprofit Louisiana Collegiate News Collaborative, an LSU-led coalition of eight universities funded by the Henry Luce and John D. and Catherine T MacArthur foundations
ABOVE: Ainsley’s Angels participants race along Fourth Street at the start of the Louisiana Marathon on Sunday in Baton Rouge LEFT: Participants Tess Danos and Devon Lockfield cheer as Destin Ware crosses the finish line in the assisted halfmarathon.
Great-grandfather’s home had been central for tight-knit family
BY QUINN COFFMAN staff writer
After a tragic house fire
Saturday morning, a tightknit Denham Springs family spent the day mourning three lost loved ones and recovering family mementos from the home’s still-warm ashes.
James Garrett, 96; his great-gr anddaughter, 22-year-old Kirsten Vidrine; and her best friend, 20-yearold Danielle Ricard, died in the blaze.
Amanda Broussard, Vidrine’s aunt and Garrett’s granddaughter said the three were trapped as the house burned.
“There was no way for them to physically get out,” Broussard said.
She believes flames blocked the path from their bedrooms to the front or back doors.
Vidrine’s father, James Vidrine, was able to crawl to safety out the house’s back door He was in a hospital burn unit Saturday afternoon, his family said.
The home, which has been in the family for nearly 60 years, caught fire around 6 a.m. and was almost completely burned to the ground.
The Louisiana State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire, but family members said they were told it was electrical in nature and started in the living room near the home’s southern corner
Neighbors said it was too hot to even step onto the yard when the fire was still
Trent Broussard’s wife and Ricard’s friend “I know she was studying to be EMS, going to school. I think she was almost finished with that. We actually found her bag with all her schoolwork in there.” Janett Broussard described Ricard as down to earth, but with a big personality like Kirtsen Vidrine. She said the two were twin flames.
burning.
One car in the driveway was reduced to a burned chassis. James Vidrine’s truck, which was parked farther back, had the plastic on the front headlights and grille melted by the heat.
Wooden benches, made by James Vidrine for his son’s upcoming wedding, sat in the front yard. Their sides facing the house were charred.
Always together Kirsten Vidrine was in her second year at Southeastern Louisiana University on a path to study law She was the first of her cousins to go to college, her aunt said. She was described as nononsense and deeply loving to those close to her “She did not hold her tongue for nobody If she liked you, she liked you; if she didn’t, you could tell. Her face said it all for her,” Broussard said. “She was just one of those people. She wasn’t fake. She was there for anybody and everybody If she loved you, she was there for you. She loved you hard.”
Vidrine was also a fan of F1 racing, said her cousin Trent Broussard. She often would get up early to watch races held on European courses and broadcast at 1 or 2 a.m. in Louisiana. Her favorite team was McLaren. “A lot of her little collectible cars and little action figures made it,” Trent Broussard said. Almost everything hanging on the walls of the house was burned, but the family was able to recover some photos and documents.
A pet bearded lizard was also recovered alive, while a cat died in the fire.
Vidrine and Ricard were best friends and basically inseparable, their loved ones said. Only hours before the fire, the two had just returned from a night out together Ricard even called Vidrine’s parents Mom and Dad.
“She was family, so she could open the door any moment. She didn’t, never had to knock, never had to say she was coming over,” said Janett Broussard,
“They were both very sweet and always together,” Janett Broussard said. “Even in their last moments, they were together, and that was very in character for them. You would always see them together.” Amanda Broussard said her grandfather, James Garrett, was the last of his 13 siblings. The house on Wanda Avenue was his and had long been a family gathering place for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“I don’t think we’ll rebuild,” she said. “It’s been in the family for so long, and we all wanted to keep it in the family But, after this, I don’t know if they’ll want to.”
Email Quinn Coffman at quinn.coffman@ theadvocate.com.
BY CARA ANNA and JOSH BOAK Associated Press
At least seven more countries said Sunday the United States has invited them to join President Donald Trump’s“Board of Peace,” anew body of world leaders meant to oversee next steps in Gaza that shows ambitions for abroader mandate in global affairs Twocountries, Hungary and Vietnam, said they have accepted.
A$1billion contribution secures permanentmembership on the Trump-led board instead of athreeyear appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to aU.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter,which hasn’tbeen made public
The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.
Hungarian Prime Minister ViktorOrbán hasaccepted an invitation to join the board, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told state radio on Sunday.Orbán is one of Trump’smost ardent supporters in Europe.
Vietnam’sCommunist Party chief, To Lam, also has accepted, aforeign ministry statement said.
India has received an invitation, asenior government official with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as theinformation hadn’tbeen made public by authorities.
Jordan,Greece,Cyprus and Pakistan also said Sun-
day they had received invitations. Canada, Turkey, Egypt, Paraguay,Argentina and Albania have already said they were invited. It wasnot clearhow many have been invitedinall.
The U.S. is expectedto announce its official list of members in thecomingdays, likely during the World Economic Forum meetinginDavos, Switzerland.
Those on the board will oversee nextstepsin Gaza as theceasefirethat took effect on Oct. 10 moves intoits challenging second phase.Itincludes anew Palestinian committee in Gaza, the deployment of an internationalsecurityforce, disarmament of Hamas and reconstruction of thewarbattered territory.
In letterssentFriday to world leadersinviting them to be “founding members,” Trump said theBoardof Peace would “embarkon aboldnew approach to resolvingglobalconflict.”
Thatcould become apotential rival to the United Nations Security Council, the most powerful body of theglobalentitycreated in the wake of World War II. The 15-seat council has been blocked by U.S. vetoes from takingaction to end the war inGaza, while the U.N.’sclout has beendiminishedbymajor funding cuts bythe Trump administration and other donors.
Trump’sinvitation letters for the Board of Peace notedthatthe Security Council had endorsedthe U.S. 20-pointGazaceasefire plan, whichincludes the board’screation. The letters were posted on social media by some invitees
BYJULIA FRANKEL Associated Press
JERUSALEM Israeli settlers rampaged through a Palestinian village in the West Bank, setting fire to aseries of structures,according to security camera footage obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday,inanovernight onslaught thathas become acommon phenomenon in the occupied territory
In the video, timestamped at about 10 p.m. Saturday,several structures in the village go up in flames as the sound of gunfire, screaming andbarking echoes in the background. At one point in the video, the fires grow so large that they illuminate the bands of settlers, dressed in black, pacing freely throughthe village. Meanwhile, an Israeli Cabinet minister said that he’d ordered officials to disconnect the waterand electricityfor facilities of the U.N. Relief and Works Agencyfor Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA.It’s the latest action in Israel’s long-running campaign to shut down the agency UNRWA fears the shutdown could hamper its work in east Jerusalem.
The footage obtained by the AP showedthe moment dozens of settlers descended on the small Bedouin hamlet of Khirbet al-Sidra, north of Jerusalem, at-
Kinchen, Francis
LouisianaNationalCemetery, 303 W. Mt.PleasantRd., Zachary, LAat 9am. Yarbrough, John
ResthavenFuneral Home,11817 JeffersonHighway,at2:30p.m
Obituaries
Himel,Juanita Goulas 'AuntNita'
She was aresident and nativeofPlaquemine,LA. She passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at theage of 93.
Visitation willbeatBayou Plaquemine Baptist Church on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 from10:00am until servicetime at 12:00pm. Serviceswillbe conducted by Rev. Tom Shepard. Interment will follow at Grace Memorial Park.
She is survivedbyher daughter: Jana Kristi Himel of Plaquemine; Brother: Arthur Adonis "Bro" Goulas and wife Dianne of Central;Brother in law: Charles Templetof Plaquemine; Sister in law: Rosalie Goulas; and her honorary children- her Niecesand Nephews
She is preceded in death by her husband:John I. Himel; Parents: Adonisand Nettie Gilmore Goulas; 2 sisters:Doris Goulas Templet &PollyGoulas Verret; Brother:James Hale Goulas.
Juanitawas best known for her baking skills. Every member of the family and many of herfriends received acakeoftheir choosing fortheir birthday. She lovedher family,living on the bayou, western movies, and reminiscing aboutthe good oledays. She wasthe last living charter member of the Bayou Plaquemine Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be madetoBayou Plaquemine Baptist Church: 29215 Highway 75, Plaquemine, LA 70764
tacking Palestinians and international activistsand burning cars and homes according to the Palestinian Authority’sJerusalem governate, which monitors Palestinian affairsinthe area. In astatement, it said that eight homesand atleast two cars were burned in theattack.
Israel’smilitary said that soldiers dispatchedtothe village found anIsraeli vehicle with clubs inside. It said that Palestinians, Israelis and foreign nationals were injured, and troops were searching the area to make arrests.AsofSunday afternoon, no arrests had beenreported. It marked the latest assault in the tenseterritory as settler violence spikes in recent months.
Around 500,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank since Israel captured the territory,along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war.Theirpresence is viewed by most of theinternational communityas illegal and amajor obstacle to peace. The Palestinians seek all three areas for afuture state. Israel has sought to play down the violence as the work of asmall, radical minority.But Israel’sfarright government, dominated by settlers and their supporters, has done little to stop theattacks.
April3,1939, in NewRoads, LA,Shirley was known for her supportive, protective, wise, and kind-hearted nature Throughout her life, Shirleyworked in various office administrativejobs. She had aprofound love forlearning and was alwayseager to tryanything that piqued her interest. A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother,Shirley was amember of theSt. Joseph Cathedral Parish and alifelong Catholic. Herpassions included gardening, cooking,and sewing, askillshe learned fromher mother. Shirleywas averysupportivemotherand grandmother, and nothing came betweenher and her children and grandchildren. Shirleyissurvived by her son, Jerome Keith Little (MichelleRivet), and her daughter, JenniferAnn LittleArdis.She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, ClydeJudeLittle, as wellasher parents, Albanie St.Amant Ricard and Maceo Ricard. She was also preceded in death by her siblings, Maceo Ricard Jr., SylviaMae Ricard Honore, Dolores Ricard Chustz, Marilyn Ricard Wells, and Anthony Ricard, along with her daughter, Donna Blanche Little Sonnier. Funeral serviceswillbe held at St. JosephCathedral,located at 412 North Street, BatonRouge, LA, 70802. Visitation willtake place on January21, 2026, from 9:00 am to 9:40 am, followedbythe Rosary from 9:40 am to 10:00 am. The FuneralMass will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00 am. Burial willfollow at Immaculate Conception CatholicChurch, 12369 LA416, Lakeland, LA,70752. Pallbearers willbePaul Chustz, Robert Decuir, Shane Sonnier, Joseph SonnierJr.,Greg Metoyer Jr Jason Sajardo, HonoraryPallbearers willbe, Timothy and Dillon Chustz. In lieu of flowers please send donations to West Towne Assisted Living in Port Allen, Bridgeway Healthcare and Hospice,or St.Joseph Church.
On Sunday, January11, 2026, at theButterfly Wing of BatonRouge General Hospital,surrounded by her family at theage of 66 years old. God call Mrs. Linda Raby Johnson to her eternal resting place.She leavestocherish her precious memory to her step mother Lucille Raby,husband Minister Caster D. Johnson, sons, Dante' L. and Captain Dantrey L. Johnson, siblings, JoeRaby, Georgia Johnson, Emily Philips, and Patricia MaGee,also Jonathan Nelsonwho she reared as her own son, and ahost of aunts, nieces, nephews, otherrelativesand friends.
CelebrationService will be held on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 11:00a.m. at UnitedChristian Faith Ministry. 9229 N. Ridgewood Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70814, Dr. Mark Ellis, Sr. Officiant. Visitation on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, from9:30am until service time. Interment Green Oak Cemetery. Baton Rouge, LA Professional Service entrusted to caring staff of Hobson Brown Funeral Home 134 Daisy Street Garyville, La 70051
ber of the Kilties andoften shared stories of hertime on theall-girl marching drum corps, even performingatthe Sugar Bowl! Nita is preceded in death by herparents;her husband; theirbeloved son, Jeffrey Brian Vicari; herbrothers, Wilburand Corky Cretini;and hersisterDianneCretini Beeson. Sheissurvivedbyher devotedchildrenPam Vicari Wingate(Bill), Frank V. Vicari(Roberta), andTina VicariGrant (Richard); her fifteengrandchildren, who lovingly called her "Grannie", Jennifer WingateRobertson (Shaun), Brandon Wingate (Leah), Joseph Vicari (Shannon), Jessica Vicari, Jean Vicari Moore (Daniel), John Vicari, Aaron Vicari (Amber), KristinVicari (Nicolas), Michael Vicari (Courtney), Katie Vicari, Stephen Vicari(Trisha), Matthew Vicari, Austin Vicari, Abby Grant Toohey (Kieran) andDaniel Grant; hereleven great-grandchildren DillonWingate, Brianna Vicari, JosieMoore ZacharyVicari, Zoe Vicari Myka Vicari, Courtlyn Vicari, Sasha Levant, Sandro Levant, Frankie Vicariand Liam Toohey. She is also survived by hersister,Dot Stelley; as well as numerousother loving familyand friends.
Thefamilywould like to thank Amedisys Hospice Care, and Deborah, Demetria, Kendraand Tammy, theamazing caregivers whohave blessed ourfamilywith the care they provided Nita. Your compassion wasabove andbeyondanything we could have askedfor Nita wasa parishioner of OurLady of Mercy Catholic Church for over 65 years, fillingmanyroles at thechurchduringthat time,includingworkingas acoordinator for thealtar servers. Hercommitment to church wasevident to all that knew her, and she wasfaithfulinattending Mass daily. Sheoften joked that she maintainedher 30 -year tenureinthe workforce to ensure that her childrenreceivedthe best private school education. Thehard work shows in all theirsuccesses. Shewas an avidreader became aden motherwith theCub Scouts when her sons joined,and learned needlepoint- making a Christmas stockingfor eachofher grandchildren Frank and Nita traveled, enjoyed regularFriday datenights andrarely missed an opportunity to watch theTigersplayfootball, especially if tailgating precluded it.After Frank passedin1988, she began to dabble in gardening and as with everythingshe did,
sheexcelled,and had othersmarvel at hergreen thumb capabilities.However,all these adventures paled in comparison to her most cherishedhobby...her grandchildren! Sheattended everygrandparent'sevent, andshe hosted slumber parties for them at herhome, creating unique andcherished qualitytimewith each of her grandchildrenand providingthemwith aspecial bondthatcan never be broken. To herchildren, Nita wasthe epitome of a mother- funny, loyal, sweet andindependent. Shewas faith-filled, a friendtoeveryoneshe met, compassionate and helpful...ourmotherwas a sainttousall.Wewill miss hersmileand are confident that we will see heragain in heaven,where she will greetuswitha 'let me puta pot of coffee on.' Untilthenmom, it is us whosay, 'welove you more.'
Relativesand friends are invited to attendthe Funeral Mass at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January20, 2026, at OurLady of Mercy Catholic Church,445 Marquette AvenueinBaton Rouge.A Visitation willbe held at thechurchbeginning at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow at Resthaven GardensofMemory. HonoringNita as pallbearers and honorary pallbearers will be hergrandsons and granddaughters. For those so desiring, memorialsinhonor of Juanita M. "Nita" Cretini Vicarimay be made to Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church andSchool (giving.parishsoft.com/ App/Form/f2ccc1ee-403846a5-8e22-8aa5f8ca0cb2) Familyand friends may sign theonline guestbook or leave apersonal note to thefamilyatwww.resthav enbatonrouge.com
JuanitaM."Nita"Cretini Vicari passed away on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at theage of 93. We willforevermiss her but found comfort and peace in being able to be with her when she passed at her home -where so many memories as afamily were made. Nita was born on August 5, 1932, in Lake Charles, Louisiana to Pierre M. Cretini and Datile Naquin Cretini.A 1950 graduateofLake Charles High School, it was while receiving hereducation that she met thelove of her life,Frank JosephVicari, her husband of over 55 years. She was amem-
On the one-year anniversary of the Bourbon Street attack, our hearts went out to the innocent victims and their families. They, like the victims in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, becamethe targetsofaterrorist attack simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Bourbon Street victims, no less than the 9/11 victims, should be compensated by our nation. Ipropose that afund similar to the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund be created to compensate the BourbonStreet attack victims.
Congress created the VCF shortly after 9/11 to compensate the 9/11 victims with federal monies with the quid pro quo they would not file lawsuits against the airline corporations involved.
Like 9/11, this was an act of terrorism against the United States. The perpetrator was aHouston resident who chose New Orleans as the locus of his attack only because it presented asoft target with large pedestrian crowds. In videos posted minutes before the attack, theterrorist pledged his allegiance to ISIS and stated that he wanted his act to highlight the “war between the believers and the disbelievers”.
Asimilar VCF should be created to compensate the Bourbon Street attack victims and their families with the quid pro quo of their agreement to dismiss their lawsuits against the City of New Orleans and its contractors. This fundwould provideimmediate compensation and closure to the victims and their families instead of years of uncertain litigation.
This bill should be coauthored by U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, bothof whom represent New Orleans in Congress.
Even in today’shighly polarized political environment, this is abill that all Americans can unite behind, just as we all united afterthe 9/11 attacks.
THOMAS MILLINER Neworleans
AssoCIATED PREss FILE PHoTo By EMILIo MoRENATTI
TheNorthernLights shimmer over homes in Nuuk, Greenland, in February.
Putting oneself in another person’sshoes is agood way to seetheir point of view.The followingishow Greenlanders might see Greenlandbecoming an American colony, territory,state, district or whatever:
Gov. Jeff Landry,since President Donald Trump chose you as the envoy,hemust wantGreenlanders to use your stateofLouisiana to represent what Americabrings. We acceptTrump’sdecision.
Like Louisiana, Greenland has poverty and hunger,but we worktoeliminate those deficiencies rather than burdenand hinder support to those in need. And we certainly wouldnot trade our free healthcarefor America’shigh-cost and Louisiana’sthird worst-in-America systems Greenland is pristine. We have no interest in Louisiana’sand Trump’spursuit of polluting industrieswhile deregulating pollution controls. Greenland doesn’twant arecreation of Louisiana’s“cancer alley.”
By comparison, our public education is excellent, and we seenoway to reconcile yours with ours. Then thereisthe sensitive
subject of image. Greenland’stourism is growing. Visitorsencounter afriendly,relaxed, free, safe atmosphere. Greenlanders don’twant the intimidating, chilling image of nameless, masked, armed personnel roaming our cities that you and Trump promote. Plus,weare terrifiedbyLouisiana’s and America’sgun violence, which would bring Greenlanders extinction.
Yearly,American gun deaths equal 85% of Greenland’spopulation. 85%! Greenland is an independent territory of Denmarkwithdiverse native ethnicities. We bask in Denmark’sworldwide image and reputation of inclusion, respect and peace. America’spervasive bigotries and Trump’sdenigrations and aggressions towardcitizens, immigrants, neighbors, allies (and us!) are not in line withDenmark’simage and reputation.Nor Greenland’s. Gov.Landry, Greenlandersare flattered by America’sinterest, though unrequited. So, as Louisiana youths say,“We good.” CHARLES MOSLEY Morgan City
Iamwriting to express concern about the Louisianasecretary of state’soffice not providing online access to voter address of record information. This lack of digital accessibility creates unnecessary barriers for Louisiana citizens trying to verify their voter registration details.
theadministrative burden on the secretary of state’soffice by reducing phone and in-person inquiries. Third, it would bring Louisianainline with modern standards of government transparency and digital service delivery that citizens have come to expect.
Iamhonored to be afinalist forLouisianan of the Year.Our state is full of people whoquietly give their timeand hearts to others, and to be listed among them is humbling. Still, if Icould hand back every bit of recognition foreven one momentofpeace forour libraries and the people whowork in them,I would.
Our libraries and their staffhave been under constant attack. These are the samepeople whohelp children learn to read, support families, connect neighbors to information and create places where everyone belongs. They deserve respect and gratitude, not mistrust. Igrew up on “Reading Rainbow,” Jesus and “SesameStreet.” Ilearned to love my neighbor,stand with the underdog and defend the Constitution. That is what Iamtrying to do. What moves me mostabout this honor is being mentioned alongside first responders. They are true heroes. When my husband washit by adrunk driver, first responders were there. They brought calm, compassion and courage when everything felt uncertain. They walk toward danger so the rest of us can live our lives, often forfar less pay than their service deserves. In my book, they are the Louisianans of the Year every year
If this recognition shines even asmall light on the people whokeep our communities safeand supported, in our libraries and in our emergency services, that will be the greatest honor of all.
AMANDAJONES co-founder,Livingston Parish LibraryAlliance
In rush to builddata centers, we must respect waterresources
OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name and the writer’scity of residence.The Advocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.o. Box 588 Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com. To sEND Us ALETTER, sCAN HERE
In an era where most states offer robust online voter portals, Louisianavoters must resort to phone calls, in-person visits or written requests to confirm their registered address. This is particularly problematic given that address accuracy is crucial for receiving election materials and ensuring one votes at the correct polling location.
Online access to one’sown voter registration information,includingaddress of record, would provide several benefits: First, it would allow voters to quickly verify their information is current and correct, reducing the risk of Election Day complications. Second, it would decrease
Many states have successfully implemented secure online voter portalsthat allow individuals to access their ownregistration information while protecting privacy and security. Louisianashould follow this example and invest in providing this basic digital service to itscitizens.
Iurge thesecretary of state’soffice to prioritize thedevelopment of an online voter information portal that includes address of record access. Louisiana voters deserve thesame convenient, transparent access to their registration information that citizens in other states already enjoy
DAVID LEVY chair,IberiaParish Democratic Party
Why can’tthe state of Louisiana build atunnel under the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge instead of abridge that will destroy the historic cypress forests? Many countries worldwide have built large underwater tunnels able to handle large amountsoftrafficand not destroy the environment
New York City built one in thecity and did not disrupt traffic.
Isuggestthe LouisianaDepartment of Transportation or someonetake the time to explorethis method of crossing the Mississippi River at Baton Rouge.
DAVID RUBENSTEIN Neworleans
It is my opinion that any large facility with the capability of affecting Louisiana residents’ health and well-being needs to have awater management plan. Ialso believe that this project has a great enough scale that the residents should be allowed to learn about how it could affect their access to water.This is especially true in this age of misinformation curated by social media. At the Monroe facility where Iwork, we are required by federal, state and local jurisdictions to have amanagementplan that incorporates remediation when the status quo is upset. These management plans and records are monitored continuously.This is something that Ihope our state will continue to monitor after the initial five years mentioned in the original article. Water is the mostbasic resource forlife. I challenge us as Louisiana residents not take it forgranted.
Currently being aRichland Parish resident, Ihave driven through the Meta site in Holly Ridge. It gave me hope to see different retention ponds and measures taken to manage water effectively.Region 8isapredominantly rural area with people drawing water using personal wells on their property Iguarantee the majority of these wells are not deep enough to support astain on the Mississippi alluvial aquifer.This is just another cost that residents will incur to be able to access the mostbasic resource. From the rivers to the marsh, we have benefited from water; it is ingrained in our heritage. It has always provided us, so let us protect and respect it.
JOSHUAFLOYD Rayville
on Martin Luther King Day, we asked for reflections from around the state on the life of the civil rightsleader and the lessons he left for us today.
Martin Luther King Jr.didn’tjust have adream;hebuilt one. It was forged in the pews of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where faith and strategy met. It took shape in the halls of Morehouse College, where Benjamin Mays taught him that religion without action is just noise. It wastested in asegregated America determined to break him before he ever spoke aword. That’swhat made his dream powerful. It wasn’twishful thinking; it was the disciplinedbelief that organized people could bend injustice until it cracked.
erty,the war in Vietnam draining young lives and anation eager to quote him on Sunday while betraying his message by Monday.His “nightmare” wasn’tdespair; it was clarity.America wanted his poetry, not his pressure. Then camethe warning that echoes today: “I fear Ihave integrated my people into aburning house.”
By 1967, King began sayingwhatfew wanted to hear: The dream was turning into anightmare. He saw Black families boxed intopov-
He didn’tregret the struggle. He meant America’shouse, its systems of greed, racism and war,was on fire. Equalitywithout transformation would only let us burn together in comfort. Kingdidn’tstop dreaming; he realized freedom had to mean more than access.Ithad to mean healing anation’s soul. Baton Rouge helped teach that lesson early.In1953, ayoungwoman named Martha White
refused to give up her seat
The Rev.T.J. Jemison helped turn that courage into strategy,building acarpool network that hit thebus system where it hurt, in its profits, and proved protest could be organized.
Twoyears later,when Montgomery rose, King called Jemison for advice. He later cametoBaton Rouge himself, acknowledging that what was tested here helped light thepath for the wider movement. King’sdream never died; it demanded moreofus, right now
The question isn’twhether we remember it.It’swhether we are ready to fight thefire he warned us about Eugene Collinsisacommunity advocate and aformer presidentofthe NAACP Baton Rouge chapter
Idon’tremember learningaboutMartinLutherKing Jr He was just like the lyrics toThe Temptations’ “My Girl.” Ijust woke up one day already knowing. And that familiarity makes it easy to take his greatness for granted.
I’m sure I’m not alone. My entire life, his birthday was a holiday.Streets in every city bear his name. Every February, like clockwork, the firstperson we’d talk about in school was MLK. Honoring him was natural, almost automatic.
Honoring and continuing to observe Martin Luther King Jr.’sbirthday remains essential because it is not merely ahistorical observance; it functions as amoral checkpoint for the nation. MLK Daycalls each generation to examine whether the country is moving closer to the ideals King championed or drifting further from them.The day carries ongoing relevance because he represented unfinished work, not a completed victory King wasassassinated while organizing foreconomic justice, labor rights and opposition to militarism.His lifeand death underscore that civil rights were never “solved” in the 1960s. Persistent challenges such as racial inequality,voter access, wealth gaps, massincarceration, housing discrimination and educational inequity remain unresolved. Observing his birthday keeps these realities in clear view and prevents society from treating progress as final when significant work remains. He modeled moral courage and disciplined nonviolence. In an era marked by hostility, backlash and personal risk, King maintained that nonviolence wasnot only amoral conviction but also astrategic force. His example affirmsthat how justice is pursued matters just as much as whether it is pursued.
King did not only advocate policy reform; he challenged the nation’sconscience. He called foratransformation of values. Observing his birthday reinforces the truth that democracy requires ethical participation, empathy and responsibility from everyday citizens, not solely from elected officials.
Collective memoryshapes collective behavior.When societies lose sight of their truthtellers, they often repeat the sameinjustices. MLK Dayserves as asafeguard against historical amnesia and against the temptation to sanitize or oversimplifythe past.
Because of that, it never crossed my mind that his birthday would not be a holiday or that his image would be used for partyflyers and comical AI renderings, yet here we are. He’sbecome so common that we don’trealize how uncommon he truly was
Acursoryeducation teaches us that King spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement and, of course, everyone knows his “I Have aDream” speech. But takeamoment to dive deeper Kingwasn’tdoing these things easily.His work was not always welcomed or widely embraced at thetime. Despite how he now stands as asymbol of peace, many thought of him then as radical, disruptive, dangerous and a threat.
This year,aswecelebrate Martin Luther King Day,try viewing it through adifferent lens than we’re used to.
Yes, remember the Nobel Peace Prize andthe marches, but also remember how controversial that award and those actionswere at the time. Read his wordsbeyondthe sound bites. Listen to themessage for what it is and not as
history has softened it
Reflect on how far this country has come because of people like King, but recognize these struggles aren’tancient history.Progress is indeed fragile, and, without collective courage to stand up and fight injustices, regression is apossibility. Anyone of us could be amodern Civil Rightsleader
Andifsomeone tells you you’re being too radical, remember that they said that to King, too.
Martin Luther KingJr. is not just a figurehead of atime passed. He’s areminder that the fight continues today As we remember him, we are reminded of the responsibility we’ve inherited to continue to build abetter tomorrow, just as he helped build for us today
Keah Moffett workswith theOffice of AlumniAffairs at Hampton University She is amember of the New Orleans Baby Doll Ladies.
This year,King’slegacy can be considered through three important lenses. First, nonviolence in an age of outrage and dehumanization. Today’sclimate, shaped by social media, misinformation and political hostility,often rewards outrage over understanding. King’s philosophy calls for resisting dehumanization and pursuing justice without surrendering our humanity.Second, interconnected struggles. King increasingly emphasized globaljustice and solidarity across race, class and national boundaries, reinforcing the truth thatinjustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere. Third, civic responsibility.Heconsistently taught that lasting change is driven by everyday people Honoring his life should prompt reflection on voting, organizing, learning, serving and speaking up, even whenuncomfortable Observing King’sbirthday also requires honest self-examination. It asks whether society is choosing comfort over justice, mistaking symbolic progress forstructural change and whether citizens are willing to be, as King said, “creatively maladjusted” to injustice. To honor King rightly is not merely to praise his dream,but to wrestle with his demands and decide what action is required now
StateRep.Adrian Fisher,D-Monroe, represents District 16. He is co-pastorof LivingWater Ministries withhis wife in Monroe.
The 1979 Iranian Revolution was one of the most stingingU.S setbacks of the Cold War era. Alongtime ally that the U.S. depended on as apillar of regionalsecurity, the shah, gave way to a theocratic regime based on hostility to America.
The revolutionaries stormed the U.S. embassy and seized our diplomatic personnelinNovember1979. If that wasn’tenough of anational embarrassment, adramatic rescue attempt by the U.S. military in April 1980 ended in abject failure at astaging area in Iran dubbed Desert One. As the Islamic Republic totters on the precipice, struggling to put down country-wide proteststhat aremore threatening than anyit has ever faced, it is possible to imagine that we could be about to experience abookend, from 1979
to 2026. The first Iranian revolution cameinthe context of a U.S.brought low by its exit from Vietnam, of a hollow U.S. military, of the advance of our enemies aroundthe world (from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to theSandinista takeover in Nicaragua), and of afeckless president in the person of Jimmy Carter, whose administration was associatedwith U.S. retreat.
AsecondIranian revolution, which is obviously not aguarantee, would underline the opposite dynamic onall counts.
It’snot truethat Jimmy Carter threw the shah overboard. The Iranian ruler’sown incompetence and indecisiondid him in.He couldn’t decide tosuppress or placate theprotest movement, and provedunabletodoeither By some estimates, it was —as
a share of the population —the largest revolutionary movement in modernhistory.Inechoes of thecurrent situation in Iran, rampant inflation, regimeself-dealing, middle-class disaffection, and ideological and regional priorities that didn’talign with what most Iranians wanted fueled therevolt.
In acrucial dynamic that we haven’tyet seen in contemporary Iran, themilitary began to melt away,and it wasn’tclear if the shah had tried toshoot his way into stayinginpower,how many troops would have been ready to carry out their orders.
Once in charge, themullahs undertook alow-level, ongoing war against theUnited States via terrorist proxies and spread its maligntentacles throughout the Middle East in abid for regional dominance.
U.S. administrations tended to believe that it was too difficult to do much aboutthis, and Barack
Obama actively sought to accommodate Iranian power
Now,though, the dynamic has changed. As Trumphas said in a different context, thehunter has becomethe hunted.
After Oct. 7, the Israelis systematically neutered Iran’sproxies, and Tehran lost asignificant ally with the fall of Bashar alAssad.
Whereas Iran humiliated us in 1979 with the embassy seizure, we humiliated Iran last year with thestrikes on its nuclear sites that made the regime’spainful, decades-longeffort to get anuke seem acostly misadventure.
The contrast in U.S. military proficiency,itisworth noting, between Operation Eagle Claw theaborted Delta Force operation in 1980, and Operation Midnight Hammer couldn’tbestarker
At thesame time, the U.S. has apresident very different from Jimmy Carter
No one will ever find Donald Trumpwearing asweater and talking to the nation about malaise. Trump’smode is pure assertion, based on an impulse toward personal and national dominance alien to Carter The Iranians may be able to cajole Trumpinto negotiations, but they will never be able to push him around, and they disregard his threats at their peril. If the regimeactually falls and is replaced by an allied or nonhostile government in Iran, it would movealarge piece off the strategic chessboard forour enemies, and change the geopolitical balance of the Middle East. As much as the 1979 revolution was adebacle fthe West, afavorable 2026 revolution would be aboon —tothe Iranians and to us and our allies.
Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry
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As sons head to CFP, former LsU coach feels ready to return to the sidelines
BY WILSON ALEXANDER staff writer
MIAMI BEACH,Fla.— Ed Orgeron walked shirtless with his wife through the crowds, past bright yellow and pink restaurant awnings and the nearby ocean. They made their way down a cement path that traces the shoreline Saturday morning, then circled back behind the workout equipment and volleyball courts on Muscle Beach
Orgeron peeled his shirt back on before he sat down in News Cafe, pointing out it’s the restaurant where designer Gianni Versace ate before he was murdered on his way home in 1997. Orgeron stops by every weekend when he’s in town. It’s within walking distance of the high-rise where he and his wife, Brandy, lived until last month, a condo on the 37th floor that overlooks the ocean The waiter knows him.
“Whadda ya say, my friend?” Orgeron said. “How you doing?”
“All good, capitán,” the waiter said. “I love this guy.”
Orgeron, 64, and his wife moved back to Baton Rouge when their lease ended in early December, thinking he might get a job for the first time since LSU fired him in 2021. He started looking for work over the past year, but nothing has materialized. Lane Kiffin never called about coming back to LSU. He spoke to the Arkansas athletic director once about the head coach opening. He said some people may be interested in hiring him as an NFL defensive line coach.
ä see ORGERON, page 6B
Miami, Indiana meet for a title matchup nobody saw coming
BY EDDIE PELLS AP national writer
MIAMI GARDENS,
Indiana vs: Miami 6:30 P.M. MoNDAy EsPN
— One program long lived with the distinction of losing more games in the history of college football than anyone. The other has enjoyed its fair share of glory and contempt — albeit all of it old enough to be packaged in grainy documentaries, or retold among the tall tales of an era long gone by. Indiana and Miami are playing for the national title Monday night, and if that has you scratching your head thinking “Who?” or “What?” then you are not alone. Even though a new world of paying players and rapid-fire transfers from school to school has shuffled the deck in college sports, nobody thought it would get mixed up this much. And even though both schools have been trending upward of late both were listed as 100-1 long shots to win the championship at some point this season.
“When I got here,” explained Indiana’s second-year coach and turnaround artist
LsU swarms
BY REED DARCEY staff writer
Once the LSU women’s basketball team knocked off Texas, it couldn’t breathe easy Another matchup with one of the SEC’s top teams was on deck. And this one was on the road. But the No. 6 Tigers handled it well. They played crisp, clean offense and sharp, disruptive defense on Sunday in a 91-72 win over Oklahoma — a victory that can propel them even farther past their 0-2 start to SEC play
The No. 13 Sooners kept battling. They pulled within 13 points of LSU at the 5:28 mark of the fourth.
Then MiLaysia Fulwiley put away the game for good, sparking a quick 9-0 run by pickpocketing a Sooner ballhandler on back-to-back possessions. She scored a layup and a free throw off those giveaways. Mikaylah Williams then lasered a pass down to sophomore center Kate Koval, who banked in a layup that pushed the Tigers’ lead back up to 20.
BY ROD WALKER staff writer
reacts after a play during her first-round match
Australia.
BY JOHN PYE AP sportswriter
MELBOURNE, Australia Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on opening night of the Australian Open, the No. 1 seeds advancing in straight sets in a Sunday session that started with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Roger Federer in the crowd. Rod Laver Arena was heaving for their first-round matches, capping a day when a record total of 100,763 fans packed into Melbourne Park.
The 45-year-old Venus Williams set a record, too, becoming the oldest player ever in the women’s singles draw at the Australian Open. Out on John Cain Arena, the socalled People’s Court because it’s open to fans with ground passes, Williams was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the third set before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory
The seven-time major winner, playing on a wild-card entry in the singles in just her second major since returning to the tour last year, plans to continue in doubles.
“I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the
places that I want to get to,” she said. “Right now I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself.”
Sabalenka fended off left-handed wild-card entry Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 6-4 6-1 after dropping the opening service game.
“I didn’t start my best. She showed up. Fired on. She was playing great,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian title in 2023 and ’24 and was runner-up last year “It was a tricky start.”
Sabalenka prepared for the first major of the season with a title in Brisbane but was a little more nervous than usual because Laver, the Australian great, and 20time major winner Federer were watching
“I’m a huge fan I wanted to show great tennis so you guys enjoyed watching me play,” she said.
“There was definitely a lot of pressure. I was walking, thinking ‘don’t look there, don’t look there!’”
Her next round is against Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan, who outlasted 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10) in a 2-hour, 43-minute match. No. 28 Emma Raducanu, who could potentially meet Sabalenka in the third round, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.
Day 1 of a scheduled 15 closed with Alcaraz winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Adam Walton, beginning his bid to set a record for being the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam.
Zverev advances Alexander Zverev, runner-up here last year to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year “Definitely, when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said of the tricky challenge presented by No. 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.” No. 10 Alexander Bublik advanced over Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, No. 29 Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-rounder Zheng, a college star at Columbia who advanced through qualifying to make his tour-level debut, will next face No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his underarm serve on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.
Two of the women’s seeds went out in the opening afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No. 20 Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez upsetting No 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Sönmez halted her match briefly in the second set to help a ballkid who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the tournament medical team took over Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, No. 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari all advanced in straight sets.
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste.
In a 2 1/2-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Monday matches
Coco Gauff will open play Monday on Rod Laver Arena against Kamilla Rakhimova. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic have night matches.
Ticket prices remain hot for CFP title game
Ticket prices for Monday night’s College Football Playoff national championship game between Indiana and Miami have dropped only slightly from their peaks, with supply obviously low and demand obviously high.
Ticketdata, which tracks resale pricing of tickets across major marketplaces, said the lowest getin price for the game at Hard Rock Stadium was $3,652 at midday Sunday That number based on a two-ticket purchase, including fees — was down about 8% from where it was at midday Saturday
Many sites still showed some tickets topping $10,000 apiece in the best sections of the lower bowl of the stadium, and some parking passes no game ticket included — were topping $1,000 online, though a few could be found in remote lots for as little as $100 or so.
NBA spectator in London: ‘Leave Greenland alone!’ LONDON Mounting tensions between Europe and the United States moved into the sporting arena on Sunday when a member of the crowd disrupted the U.S. national anthem during an NBA game.
A spectator yelled, “Leave Greenland alone!” while songstress Vanessa Williams sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before tipoff between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Orlando Magic at O2 Arena.
U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”
Elvira capitalizes on errors to win Dubai Invitational
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Nacho Elvira benefitted from dramatic final-hole mishaps by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry to win the Dubai Invitational by one shot on Sunday, securing his third title on the European tour
The 190th-ranked Elvira did what the two Ryder Cup stars couldn’t and kept out of the trouble down No. 18, making a stress-free par and shooting 69 to finish on 10 under in the first tournament of 2026.
“It means the world,” said Elvira, whose wife and children ran onto the green to celebrate with the 38-year-old Spaniard. “You tell me on Tuesday I would be winning this, I’d never believe you.
“Anything that happens after this, nothing can compare.”
RHP Cavalli, Nationals agree to $870K contract
WASHINGTON Right-hander Cade Cavalli and the Washington National avoided salary arbitration Sunday when they agreed to a one-year contract worth $870,000, a deal that includes a 2027 team option.
When the sides exchanged proposed arbitration salaries on Jan 8, Cavalli asked for $900,000 and the Nationals offered $825,000. The $75,000 gap was the smallest among the 18 players who failed to reach agreements with their clubs on the swap day
BY JOHN PYE AP sportswriter
MELBOURNE, Australia
Coren-
tin Moutet sliced in an underarm serve on match point and sealed his first-round victory at the Australian Open on Sunday when Tristan Schoolkate floated his forehand return too long.
The crowd at Kia Arena booed loudly but the No. 32-seeded Moutet didn’t flinch, later saying he did what he needed to do to complete the 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win
He said the choice of serve was more instinctual than planned
“I did it because I thought it would be I could win the point,” he said. “I won the point actually Of course, no disrespect or anything.” The underarm (also known as underhand) serve is within the rules but is rarely used in the highest ranks of men’s tennis, particularly on match point. There’s been some high-profile underarm serves in big matches, but this one caught Moutet’s Australian rival off guard.
“I decided to do this, so I thought it was the better option in the moment,” Moutet said
The 26-year-old Frenchman had struggled at times in the heat on Day 1 of the seasonopening major and needed a medical timeout in the third set for what appeared to be a leg problem.
He explained that it was more of a “global” issue, saying it was a combination of sickness and soreness and lack of quality sleep over the previous few days.
“We all have some kind of pain every day that we have to deal with,” he said. “So, yeah, I was trying to handle it the best way possible.
“I’m glad that I did well, you know, proud of myself. It wasn’t easy, obviously, it’s the first match of the year, so it’s always hard.”
Moutet’s best run in 26 previous major tournaments was a fourthround finish at the 2024 French Open. His best run in Australia was to the third round last year If he wins his next round and
Corentin Moutet reacts after a play during his fi
Tristan schoolkate at the Australian open on
top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz advances as expected, the pair could meet in the third round at Melbourne Park. Moutet was confident he’d be able to overcome the issues
that bothered him in the first round when he lines up again. “I really know the most important is to get through it and deal with it in the best way,” he said, “and I can leave it behind me.”
His agreement calls for an $862,500 salary this year the midpoint between the filing numbers. The team option is for $4 million with a $7,500 buyout.
Pulcini wins Latin America Amateur in a playoff LIMA, Peru Mateo Pulcini made a pair of big par putts over the final hour and finished with a 3-foot par save on the second playoff hole to win the Latin America Amateur Championship on Sunday, earning the Argentine a spot in the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. Pulcini, at 25 the oldest winner of the Latin America Amateur since it began in 2015, closed with a 2-under 68 and outlasted Missouri senior Virgilio Paz, who was trying to become the first winner from Venezuela.
“We dream to play and to win this,” Pulcini said. “I have no words right now I’m so happy, and so grateful for the people around me.” Pulcini is the third Argentine winner
‘Brotherhood’carries
LsUthrough tough losses,big wins
BY TOYLOYBROWN III staff writer
The entire LSU rostergot apiece of Max Mackinnon’shead or shoulders
The 6-foot-6 guard was swarmed by his basketball teammates when he removed the headphones for his interview with analysts on the SEC Network. The team barely could restrain its excitementtocelebrate his 20-point performance and his team’s78-70 win against Missouri Saturday at the Pete Maravich AssemblyCenter
“Really neat for me as acoach, to see them all huddled up around Max for the post-game interview on SEC Network,” coach Matt McMahon said. “That’sareally closeknit group.”
Unbridled joy was displayed earlier.Asthe final buzzer sounded, Mazi Mosley ran toward Marquel Sutton, who had 26 points, to exchange achest bump. Assistant coach and former LSU player JalenCourtney-Williams chanted L-S-U with araucous student section after walking throughthe endof-game handshake line.
The team’sbond was on display because of the joyous occasion. However, its closeness as agroup of 13 new players remainedintact during the low momentsasit struggled without its injured top player,Dedan Thomas.LSU’sto-
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“I feel like we did agoodjob of running time off the clock,” Flau’jae Johnson said, “andeven a good job of making them runtheir sets. Ifeel like alot of theeasy baskets they got wereintransition, but in the halfcourt, we really madethem run their sets.” LSU and Oklahoma are two of thenation’sbest offensive teams. Both know how to scorearound the rim. Both like to play in transition When the two teams met inthe Pete Maravich AssemblyCenter last season, they each scored 100 points, and the Tigers wonafter Williams drained apull-up3-pointer late in the fourth quarter Sunday’smatchup initially looked like it’d follow asimilar script. The Sooners (14-2, 2-3 SEC)buried three fast-break 3-pointers in just the first two minutes of the game Then the Tigers (17-2, 3-2) settled in on offense andlimited Oklahoma’stransition opportunities,quickly turning anine-point first-quarter deficit into a12-point second-quarter lead. Star forward Raegan Beers picked up twoearly fouls, which allowed LSUtostart attacking the rim. The Sooners made eight more 3s than the Tigers, but the Tigers converted21more free throws than the Sooners. Johnson finished with 23 points
ä LSU at Florida 6P.M.TUEsDAy,EsPN2
gethernesstook shape starting in thesummer,and it’sa reason why players stayed ready to meet the moment and win three days after adramatic 75-74 homelosstoKentuckyonWednesday
“You cansee this group behind me,” Mackinnon said on the SEC Network. “We’re allsuperconnected.We’re likebrothers, it’s abrotherhood here, anditshowed today.”
McMahon said the win against Missouri is the product of his diligent preparation and mental fortitude after losing to Kentucky on a game-winning shot as time expired.
“I’ll start by just saying how proud Iam of ourteam coming off the heartbreaking game earlierthis week,” the fourth-year coach said.“Ithink lesser men wouldhave folded up shop, andI think ourguysreally responded the right way.I’ve told you from Day 1, we have great people in our locker room. They’re areally connected group.”
That connection wasevident immediately on the defensive end on Saturday. LSU opened the gameahead 10-0 after five minutes. Defenders were well-positioned andinsync, communicatingassignments as Missouri struggled to get quality looks.
Not onlydid LSU’sfast start mirror how it opened againstKentucky,but theTigers similarly faceda furious comeback from Missouri, whichchippedaway in thesecondhalf.
With 8:49remaining in thecon-
after convertingnine of her15 field-goal attempts andthree of her five 3-point tries. She also grabbed 10 rebounds, assistedthreeshots and blocked three others. Sophomore point guard Jada Richard chipped in acareer-high 21 points, to pair with fiverebounds, three assistsand two steals. Freshman forwardGrace Knox added13, and Fulwileyadded12.
Williams tallied ashot, only 1of8 from the field, but shestill earned eighttripstothe stripe, corralled six rebounds andassistedfive buckets. Koval hadnine points and seven rebounds.
“It was kind of reminiscent of our game with Duke,”associate head coachBob Starkey said. “We got off to aslow start. Ithought (Johnson) really did agreat job when we were struggling to score, to make some buckets for us, hit some toughshotsand getsome3s.”
In the first half, LSU fell intoan 11-2holebut climbed out of it by bridging a20-3 runacross thelast five minutesofthe first andclosing the second on a10-4run. Johnson scored eightof those points. Oklahoma thenbegan to rediscoverits long-range shooting touch.The Sooners drained three more 3s in the third, but they couldn’t pair thoseshots with easy looks forcenter Raegan Beers around the rim.She took only two field goalsinthatframe, andshe was even whistled for her third foul with just under two minutes
By The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. Imari Berry
scored 33 points and No. 9Louisville ralliedfroma13-point second-half deficittobeat North Carolina State 88-80 in overtime Sunday for its 11th consecutive victory Skylar Jones’17points helped carry theCardinals(18-3,8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who went from trailing by 13 to leading 54-51 in aspan of less than 41/2 minutes bridging the third and fourth quarters.
Mackenly Randoph scored four of her 12 points in overtime. Berry,who had agame-high 12 rebounds, made two free throws with10.5secondsleftfor thefinal pointsofregulation.
Khamil Pierre scored five of herseason-high 26 points in the final twominutes of regulation, but N.C.State (13-6, 6-2) couldn’t overcomemishaps down the stretch. ZamareyaJones added 20 points, including akey 3-pointer in the fourth quarter after returning to action wearing protective mask, andZoe Brookshad 17 points for the Wolfpack (14-5, 7-1).
14 after onequarter,but South Carolina outscored the Eagles 22-5 in the second and it was never close after that.
Tessa Johnson scored 17 points forthe Gamecocks, shooting 5of 8from3-point range.Ta’Niya Latson had 15 points, five assists and six steals.
KhilaMorris ledCoppinState with 20 points.
NO.3 UCLA 97, NO.12MARYLAND67: In Los Angeles, Gabriela Jaquez scored 22 points, andUCLA pulled away in adominant third quarter to beat Maryland.
test, LSUonly led 55-52. When the Tigers, who led by as many as 14 points, needed ascorelate in the shotclock, Pablo Tamba drove to thehoop around the restricted area andkicked the ball out to King, whomadealeft-wing 3-pointer with less than asecond on the shot clock.Thatwas followed by aMike Nwoko block that inspired afastbreak layup McMahon saidthat was one of the most important sequences of thegame.
“Especially coming off the way the game finishedinthe second half theother night, it’s just human nature thinking, ‘Here we go again,’ McMahon said. “Wehad a 10-point lead,it’sdown to three. How are you going to respond in that situation? And Rashad King madesome big shots for us late in theshot clock.”
LSU protected theballagainst more intense second-half pressure, finishingwith seven in total. Other possessions, it hustled for back-toback offensive rebounds, which ran theclock and resulted in aMackinnon score and asix-point lead with just under three minutes remaining
Thosemoments were crucial to LSU’sfirst conference success, andthe happiness followed suit Thatpleasure shouldn’tbemisconstrued for satisfaction.
“Wegot to keep building,”McMahon said. “Wegot to getalot betterand keep improvingaswe go hit theroad here in league play.”
LSU’snext game is against Florida (13-5, 4-1) at 6p.m Tuesday at theStephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida.
left until the fourth. The Tigers took their largest lead of thegame three minutes later,when Knox converted alayup to give them a76-52 edge.
Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst, afifth-year senior,scored aseason-high 21 pointsafter she hitfive of her 11 3-pointers. Beers scoredonly 10 points on 5of8 shooting and pulled down only two offensiveboards. Star freshman Aaliyah Chavezshotjust3of14 from the field.
LSUisnow 5-7 in regular-season league games against AP top-15 teams under coach Kim Mulkey TheTigerslast defeated ranked opponents in consecutive contests in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, when they knocked off No. 4Virginia Tech and No. 2Iowa in the FinalFour to win their first national championship. LSU took on four AP top-15 opponents in itsfirstfive gamesof SEC play.Now the schedule will lighten up. Each of thenext three games the Tigers will play,starting Thursday on the road against Texas A&M, is against an unranked team. They won’tface another ranked opponent until theybegin February with ahome contest against No. 21 Alabama and aroad matchup with No. 4Texas. Mulkey did not speak to reporters after thegamebecause shehad to attend to apersonal family matter,anLSU spokesperson said.
Louisville followed Thursday’s victory at No.23Notre Dame by ending asix-gamelosing skid in theseries with N.C. State. A14-2 spurt in the third quarter stretched theWolfpack’s edge to 47-34. Berry scored the last eight pointsofthe third in a53-second span as theCardinals pulledwithin 50-47. Louisville went ahead with thefirst five points of the fourth.
Skylar Jones scored the first five points of a7-0 spurt that lifted Louisville to a64-58 lead before the Wolfpack rallied.
NO.2 SOUTHCAROLINA 90, COPPINSTATE 48: In Baltimore, Joyce Edwards had 26 points and five steals,and South Carolina beat Coppin State. TheGamecocks (19-1) madethe trip to Baltimore after the Eagles (4-16)playedatSouth Carolina last season. As expected, there was agood crowd at 4,100-seat PEC Arena, although manyofthe them werewearing garnetinsupport of theGamecocks. Coppin State was downjust 22-
The Bruins (17-1, 7-0 Big Ten) won their 11th in arow since their only loss to then-No. 4Texas on Nov. 26.Duringthatstretch, they’ve wonbyawhopping 33.7-point margin, with their only close gamebeing aseven-point winatthen-No. 19 Ohio State. Oluchi Okananwa led the Terrapins with 25 points and Saylor Poffenbarger added15. Maryland (17-3, 5-3) split its trip to Los Angeles, winning by seven points at USConThursday NO.4 TEXAS 80, TEXAS A&M 35: In Austin, Texas, Kyla Oldacre had acareer-best 18 rebounds along with five blocks and 10 points and Texas routed Texas A&M to end a atwo-gamelosing streak. Texas (19-2, 4-2 Southeastern Conference) pulledaway for its 37th straight home winby outscoring A&M 23-3 in the third quarter.The Aggies(86, 1-4)made theironlybasket fromthe field with 10 seconds remaining aftermissing their first 13 shots of the quarter and committing seventurnovers Rori Harmonscored10points in the quarter
GEORGIA 82,NO. 16 OLE MISS 59: In Athens,Georgia, Dani Carnegie hadacareer-high32 points and 11 rebounds, Trinity Turner added 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and GeorgiabeatNo. 16 OleMiss on Sunday Georgia (16-3, 2-3 SEC) earned its first Quad 1win of the season. The Lady Bulldogs snapped a11-game homeskid against teams in the AP Top25and beat arankedopponentby20-plus points for the first time since 2006.
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defensive stopper Herb Jones, whoisdealing with an ankleinjury.Intheir 133-128 overtime victory over the Rockets on Dec. 18 in the Smoothie King Center Jones’ presence helped frustrate Kevin Durant. But this nightbelonged to Houston’sJabari Smith anyway.Smith scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half. He made seven 3-pointers. Durant finished with 18 points andbecamethe NBA’s sixth alltimeleading scorer.Hepassed former Dallas Mavericks’ star Dirk Nowitzki on thelistwitha free throw with 15.2 seconds left. ThePels were just 3-of-12 on 3-pointers in the first half and got outrebounded 29-19 to trail 64-54 at the break. In the third quarter, the Pels got solid minutesfrom the benchtocut the deficit to 8780 goinginto the fourth quarter The bench, which got 13 points from Jordan Poole and 10 from
Yves Missi, outscored the Rockets’ bench 41-23 in the game. Theyalso gotvaluable minutes, particularly on the defensive end, from rookie Micah Peavy
“Huge impact,” said Borrego. “The bench was great. They cameinand gave us great effort andturnedthe game forus and gave us achance. I’mreally proud of that group.” Saddiq Bey finished with 11 points.Startingpoint guardJeremiah Fearsscored just two points and logged just 10 minutes because of Houston’s big lineup Borrego tried to match Houston’s size in the second half by starting Missi instead of Fears. But it wasn’tenough. The Rockets outscored the Pels 12-0 during afourth-quarterstretchtopull away The Pelicans have lost 13 of their last 15 games heading into Wednesday’shome gameagainst the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
Email RodWalkerat rwalker@theadvocate.com.
BY KYLE HIGHTOWER AP sportswriter
FOXBOROUGH, Mass Drake Maye
threw three touchdown passes, Marcus Jones returned one of C.J. Stroud’s four interceptions for a score and the New England Patriots defeated the Houston Texans 28-16 on Sunday to advance to the AFC championship game for the first time in seven years. In Mike Vrabel’s first season as coach, the Patriots (16-3) will take on the Broncos (15-3) in Denver next Sunday, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.
The Patriots will make their 16th conference championship game appearance and first since their run to their sixth Super Bowl title under Bill Belichick in the 2018 season. New England has won its last nine divisional round games.
Maye finished 16 of 27 for 179 yards, but had an interception and fumbled four times, losing two in cold conditions in which snow and rain fell throughout the game. One of Maye’s fumbles set up Houston’s first touchdown.
“Just proud of the guys,” Maye said. “Battled the elements. This is New England. This is what we’re trying to embrace and we want to embrace all season long. Props to our defense, played a hell of a game. We’ve got to protect the football better, but we made enough plays to win it.” Carlton Davis III had two interceptions for New England. Craig Woodson added an interception and fumble recovery
“They bring it every week,” Maye said of his defense. “It’s fun to watch. And we could help them out some more, but just proud of the guys. Enjoy this one, and we’re
back on the road.” The eight combined turnovers — Woody Marks also lost a fumble for Houston were the most in a playoff game since 2015 when the Cardinals and Panthers combined for eight in the NFC championship game. The Texans (13-6) have lost in the divisional round in three straight seasons under coach DeMeco Ryans. The franchise is now 0-7 alltime in this round Stroud finished 20 of 47 with a TD pass. All of his interceptions came in the first half as he became the first player with five or more
INTs and five or more fumbles in a single postseason. Will Anderson forced two fumbles for the Texans.
Leading 21-16 in the fourth quarter, the Patriots stretched their lead to 27-16 when Kayshon Boutte got behind Derek Stingley Jr and pulled in a diving, onehand catch in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
The Texans had the ball with 5:48 to play, but punted on fourthand-18 at their own 21 with 4:18 remaining.
New England’s next drive took the clock under two minutes But the Texans turned it over
BY ANDREW SELIGMAN AP sportswriter
CHICAGO Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams survived an incredible throw by Caleb Williams that forced overtime, beating the Chicago Bears 20-17 on Sunday night to advance to the NFC championship game.
Harrison Mevis kicked a 42yard field goal in OT after Kam Curl intercepted a deep pass by Williams on the Bears’ first possession of the extra period. Stafford completed a 16-yard pass to Puka Nacua to get the Rams into field-goal range and set up Mevis, known as the “Thiccer Kicker,” for the game-ending kick He was mobbed by teammates while a crowd that was rocking earlier watched in near silence.
The Rams (14-5) will visit NFC West rival Seattle next Sunday in their first trip to the conference championship game since the 2021 team won the Super Bowl The Seahawks beat San Francisco 41-6 on Saturday “It was crazy,” Stafford said. “It was back and forth. We didn’t
play our best on offense Our defense dominated the game. It was unbelievable to watch. Hell of a play on fourth down by Caleb to get his team to overtime. And just glad we got the ball back.”
Los Angeles led 17-10 in the final minute and the Bears faced
fourth-and-4 from the 14-yard line when Williams backpedaled to avoid the pass rush and heaved the ball to Cole Kmet for the tying touchdown with 18 seconds left. Although officially a 14-yard pass, the ball traveled 51.2 yards in the air, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA Kevin Stefanski was hired as coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday night, getting a second chance to lead an NFL team less than two weeks after he was fired by the Cleveland Browns. Stefanski spent six seasons with Cleveland, where he twice was named AP Coach of the Year and had a 45-56 record. He was fired on Jan. 5 after the Browns finished a 5-12 season. Stefanski replaces Raheem Morris, who was fired alongside general manager Terry Fontenot after an 8-9 campaign in his second season leading the franchise. He will report to newly appointed team president Matt Ryan, who also holds most of the Falcons’ major passing records
“We’re thrilled to land a lead-byexample leader in Kevin Stefanski, who brings a clear vision for
his staff, our team and a closely aligned focus on building this team on fundamentals, toughness and active collaboration with every area of the football operation,” Ryan said in a statement Falcons owner Arthur Blank brought Ryan on as his secondin-command and the leading decision-maker for the franchise.
“Coach Stefanski is a teamfirst leader who puts a premium on accountability for everyone and a player-driven culture,” Ryan said. “His experience in Cleveland and Minnesota has given him a great understanding of the importance of working in sync with scouting, personnel and the rest of the football staff to maximize talent across the roster and in doing everything possible to put our players in the best position to succeed.” Stefanski was named AP Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading
the Browns to an 11-5 record, their first playoff appearance since 2002 and their first postseason win since 1994. He was honored again in 2023 when the Browns finished 11-6 and made the playoffs, but those were his only two winning seasons with Cleveland.
The coach climbed the ranks in Minnesota for 14 years with the Vikings before being hired by Cleveland in 2020. He overlapped with Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins in 2018 and 2019.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be charged with leading this iconic franchise,” Stefanski said. “I am grateful to Mr Blank and Matt Ryan for trusting me to coach this football team and there are many talented players on our roster that I cannot wait to coach. We share a vision for this football team that I believe will make Falcons fans everywhere proud.”
Davis III.
Maye fumbled again when he attempted to run on a busted play and had the ball stripped by Tommy Togiai and recovered by Azeez Al-Shaair. Six plays later, Stroud linked up with Christian Kirk on a 10-yard touchdown pass. But on Houston’s next drive, Stroud was rushed up the middle by K’Lavon Chaisson and he lofted a pass that was intercepted by Jones and returned for the score to put New England back in front. Later in the quarter, the Patriots’ lead increased to 21-10 when they capped a five-play, 56-yard drive with a 7-yard TD pass from Maye to Stefon Diggs.
Mr. Pick-6
Jones scored on an interception return for the second time this season. It was the first of his career in the playoffs and first for New England in the postseason since Asante Samuel had one vs. Indianapolis on Jan. 21, 2007, in the AFC championship game.
Injuries
on downs when Stroud’s fourthdown pass to Xavier Hutchinson was batted down by Robert Spillane.
Early action
With the Patriots leading 7-3 early, a series of miscues produced the next two scores. Maye was strip-sacked by Danielle Hunter deep in Patriots territory, but left tackle Will Campbell fell on the ball and the Patriots punted.
The Texans gave it right back when Stroud’s deep pass along the sideline was intercepted by
Texans: TE Dalton Schultz (calf) left in the first quarter and didn’t return. LG Tytus Howard limped off and RB Woody Marks exited with a shoulder injury in the second quarter TE Cade Stover left in the fourth with a knee injury and didn’t return. Patriots: LB Robert Spillane left in the first quarter with a thumb injury, but returned. RB TreVeyon Henderson was shaken up after a second quarter run before jogging off. S Craig Woodson exited after his INT with a head injury, but returned. RB Rhamondre Stevenson left in the second quarter with an eye issue. Davis left in the fourth quarter with a head injury
BY ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer
DENVER Bo Nix broke his right ankle late in overtime of the Denver Broncos’ divisional-round victory over Buffalo on Saturday and will have surgery that will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs.
Coach Sean Payton delivered the stunning news about his secondyear quarterback in the aftermath of Denver’s biggest win in a decade. Backup Jarrett Stidham, who is 1-3 as a starter in six seasons, will start the AFC championship game next weekend.
“Stiddy’s ready,” Payton said after returning to the postgame lectern to discuss the injury following Denver’s 33-30 victory over Josh Allen and the Bills.
Payton said Nix got hurt on a keeper where he lost 2 yards and was tackled by safety Cole Bishop. Nix was limping after the play, but there was no indication that he suffered such a serious injury
On the next play, Nix threw a deep pass to Marvin Mims Jr that drew a 30-yard pass-interference flag and got the Broncos well into field-goal range. Nix then took a knee to center the ball for Wil Lutz’s game-ending 23-yard field goal.
Payton said Nix will have surgery Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama.
“He’s such a strong, faith-based
guy,” Payton said. “He’s sitting in the hallway with his family and coming over and we’re all talking to him. He knows that God’s got a plan for him and he said he had (a broken ankle) in high school and then he said he had one at Auburn.
“And I said I didn’t realize that. I said if I had known that I wouldn’t have drafted you,” Payton cracked. Nix said nothing about being hurt during a postgame interview with CBS, and he sounded like he was looking forward to the next game.
“It’s great to have home-field advantage in a situation like this. It’s exciting. This is why you play the game, this is why you compete. You get to playoff football, and good things happen,” Nix said. The locker room had cleared out and reporters were waiting in an interview room for Nix when Payton returned and delivered the news.
Nix, the 12th overall pick out of Oregon in the 2024 NFL draft, tied Russell Wilson’s NFL record with two dozen victories in his first two seasons. Saturday’s victory was his first in the playoffs. The Broncos lost last year at Buffalo, but Nix led Denver to the AFC’s top seed this season.
“He’s a tough cookie,” Payton said. “And this team all year has lost key players and will rise up for the next challenge.”
1
Indiana coachCurtCignetti and Miami coach Mario Cristobal were asked during a joint news conference sunday morning what it would mean to theirprograms to win anational championship. Indiana has never wona national title, and Miami could win its first since 2001. Theirprograms have very different histories,but their answers were the same. Cignetti responded, “Itwould mean we’rethe national champion. Cristobal added:“It would mean we’rethe national champions.
2
There are ongoing discussions about expandingthe College Football Playoff before nextseason, butnothing has changed yet. No resolution came from ameeting sundaybetween the FBs conference commissionersand Notre Dame’s athletic director.The sEC remains in supportofa16-team field,and the BigTen wantstogoto24teams. The disagreement between those leagues, which have authority over format decisions, has created a stalemate approaching aFriday deadline set by EsPN.
Afterinterviewing with Indiana leadership twoyears ago, Cignetti thought about staying at James Madison. Indiana athletic director scott Dolson didn’t give him the chance,calling him and saying, “Congratulations, you’re the new head coach at Indiana, and we’re going to kick somebutt.”Indiana has done that ever since, and Cignetti doesn’tplan on going anywhere. He recently signed acontract extension, and he said,“I’m not an NFL guy.I madethat decision along time ago. WilsonAlexander
Indianahopes to lean on itsoffensive line vs fierce Miamidefense
BY MAURA CAREY Associated Press
MIAMI When Indiana rolled past Alabama 38-3 in theRose Bowl,it wasn’tHeisman Trophy winnerFernando Mendoza or dynamic receiver Elijah Sarratt whowas named MVP Instead, it wascenter Pat Coogan —one of the five men on the offensive line Mendoza affectionatelycalls his “Hoggies.” They are responsible for keeping the QB upright and maximizing opportunities for Indiana’sskill players. It was the firsttime since 1944 that an offensive lineman —typically overlooked and underappreciated —won MVP at the GranddaddyofThem All, andMendoza wasoverjoyed when heheard the news.
With Indiana hoping to make more history in Monday night’sCollege FootballPlayofftitle gameagainst Miami, Mendoza and his teammates believe thesecrettothe Hoosiers’ success can be found in thetrenches —even though only oneplayer,left tackle Carter Smith,gets much buzz as an NFL prospect.
ball away much, just because they’vebeen efficientupfront. Also, Ihave such great teammates, such great receivers, tight ends, running backs .the offensive line, Ijust get to be a point guard.”
Roman Hemby,who leads the Hoosiers with 1,060 rushing yards, cametoasimilar conclusion.
able run. Miamihas an FBS-high 47 sacks,two morethan Indiana. Ahkeem Mesidor leads theteam with 15 1/2 tacklesfor loss, 10 1/2 sacksand four forced fumbles.RuebenBainJr. has13 tackles for loss, 8 1/2 sacks, an interception and aforced fumble. Coogan acknowledged the challenge ahead.
“I would diefor thoseguys,” MendozasaidSaturday.“Those guys put their bodies on the line to protect myself or therunning backs every single play, anditmeanssomuch to not only havegreat skill and talent butalsogreat character It’s just such aspecial connection that we have with each other.” Mendoza hasthrown for3,349 yards, 41 touchdowns andonly six interceptions while completing 73%ofhis passes. He’s been praised for his accuracy anddecision-making, but he says it’sthe protection that makeshis success possible.
“Without those guys, I wouldn’t be able to do it. With them, I’m able to get through my entire progression,” Mendoza said.“Ithink that’s why my completion percentage has been so high, because I haven’treally had to throw the
“The offensive line is really great,” Hemby said. “I feel like we wouldn’tbeinthis position without them, without them protecting Fernando,without them opening up holes to kind of make it easy for myself and Kaelon Black to run. Without them, Idon’tthink Iwould have thesuccess that I’m having.
Indiana (15-0) is seeking the program’sfirst nationaltitle, having dominatedits two CFP opponents by acombined score of 94-25. Meanwhile, Miami (13-2) squeaked into the playoff and knocked off Texas A&M, defending champ Ohio State andMississippi en route to the championship game —and the Hurricanes canthank astandoutdefense for their improb-
College Football Playoff staff predictions
Curt Cignetti, “I was tryingtofigure out if the fan base was dead or just on life support.”
Who could blame them?
BeforeCignetti’sarrival to start the 2024 season, the Hoosiers had compiled 713 losses over 130-plus years of football.For some, buying seats for football wasa walletsqueezing requirement togain access to tickets for the basketball games coached by Bob Knight and astring of successors —amuch better team and better draw
Cignetti, whose resume looks like aDelta Airlines departures board, arrived with virtually zero fanfare, at least on anational level. Askeddifferent versionsofthe same question time and again at asigning-daynews conference in his first season that surprised many for how good it was, Cignetti landed the punch that will end up on his tombstone: “It’spretty simple. Iwin. Google me.” In one way,the Indiana resurgence is aproduct of the new era of college football,inwhichplayers get paid and move freely betweenschools. Cignetti started this
Wilson Alexander Indiana31, Miami 20: Miami can keep itself withinstriking distance inside its home stadium because of howwell its defense has played throughout the College Football Playoff. It’s holding teamsto17 points per game in the CFP.But thisIndiana team is clickingonall cylinders,having just steamrolled Alabama and Oregon on itsway here. Who wouldhaveever thought the Hoosierswould winanational title in football? It’llhappen Mondaynight. Scott Rabalais Indiana25, Miami 17: Prepare, LSU fans, for endlesscomparisons of Indiana to the 2019 Tigers, because the Hoosiers aregoing to be national champions. Miami’s defensive frontwill keep FernandoMendoza from going nuts and Hurricanes RB Mark Fletcher, an underappreciated heroofthe CFP,willget his yards. Butthere’s been nothing to indicatethat Indiana will be denied its remarkablerun, especiallywhen Miami coachMarioCristobal makes some questionable in-game decision late to cost his team.
Koki Riley Indiana21-Miami 17: Miami has achancetopulloff the upset because of howgood the Hurricanes areonbothlines of scrimmage. After bullying TexasA&M, OhioState and OleMiss, Miami has shownthatitcan stand toe-to-toe with anyoffensiveordefensivefront in the country.But Indiana’splayupfront has been justasimpressive, and Fernando Mendoza is the superior quarterbackincomparison to Miami’s inconsistent signal caller, Carson Beck. Reed Darcey Indiana27, Miami 20: This one feels likeacoronation. Fernando Mendoza justneeds to navigate the pressurethatthe Miami front can throw at him. If he does,then Indiana should win on the strength of adefense that can bottle up Mark Fletcher, tackle Malachi Toney in space andbait Carson Beck into an interception or two. Hoosierswin,closingthe last chapter on one of thebest storiesinthe historyofcollege football.
resurgence by bringing 13 players with him from his former job,at James Madison. In another way,thisisabout a coach commandeering aprogram and rebuilding it theold-fashioned way Quarterback Fernando Mendoza moved from Cal to Indiana last yearbecause “I felt like Coach Cignetti could help me getto where it thought Icould be as a quarterback.” Atwo-star recruit out of high school,hewon the Heisman Trophy this season. The Hoosiers, who call themselves the
“misfits,” have,atmost, two fourstar recruitsontheir roster
“I’ve neverlooked at astarinmy life,” Cignetti said of the impreciseranking systemthat means nothing until those players put on pads. “Ifa guy can play hardand has the right stuffand the intangibles, we can work withhim and he’ll develop.”
Indianadoesclaim theworld’s largest living alumni base, several thousand of whom are gobbling up what’sturning out to be potentially thetoughestticket ever for atitle game that will, ironically,
“It’s an elite front. Across the board, theirfront four is just extremely explosive,” Coogan said.“Certainly, youknow, just the caliber of players on the outside andthe inside —just across theboard, just extremely violent, twitchy, explosive, long, great with their hands, great at working an edge.”
For Indiana, finishing its season with achampionship will mean doing what it’sdone all year,evenagainsttraditional powerslike Alabama:winning thebattle in the trenches.
“It all starts up front with those guys,” offensive coordinatorMikeShanahansaid, “and we’regoing to need them to have abig game for us on Monday night.”
beplayed on Miami’shome field.
They also have Mark Cuban, who hasadded multiple millions to the effort.Indiana’sfootball budget hasgrown from $24 million to $61 million since 2021.
“Ittakes avillage andthere’s money,” Cignetti said. “But it’snot all about money.”
Same story, differentblueprint
To some extent,Miami would agree with that.
This is aprogram with deep, colorful roots. The 2018 ESPN documentary about the Notre DameMiami rivalry is called“Catholics vs. Convicts.” Notre Dame is the Catholic school.
Names from the‘80s and’90s
Michael Irvin, Jimmy Johnson, Bernie Kosar andinfamous booster Nevin Shapiro —faded away to be replaced by essentially nothing.
Not until aproduct of that ‘80s and’90sheyday, MarioCristobal, arrived in 2021 did things start looking up again for the ‘Canes.
“I thought we were agroup of guys who nobody believed in who changed history by playing with unbelievable effort,” Cristobal saidofhis oldteams. “It wasalittle wild, alittle edgy,but no one could question the brotherhood.”
Like Indiana, the ‘Canes are a product of the new name-image-
likeness era in college football, combined withsome tough love from acoach whowas around long before that started.
“Absolutely zero,” Cristobal said when askedwhathechangedas acoach once the dollars started flowing and the players started moving.
“If youhavetochange the way youcoach because you’re afraid of the portal, you’re not doing it right to begin with,” he said. “You have to push people, be demanding but not demeaning, don’tcompromise. Idon’tbelieve that has to change.”
The biggest portalstoriesinvolving Miami are about players who came, not left.
Ayear ago, in two episodes that felt revolutionary at the timebut are now morelike business as usual, quarterback Carson Beck and defensive back XavierLucas left their old schools for Miami. Beck raised eyebrowsbecause he wasleaving Georgia —a perennialcontender— to playa fifth season at aschool that hadn’tsniffed atitle in decades. The reported $4 million in NIL probably helped. Lucas became alitmus test of sorts whenhis old school, Wisconsin,
ficials of the Kennedy-Johnson
Before Martin Luther King Jr. becamea Civil Rightsicon with his likeness fixed in stoneor bronze, he developed adeep affinity for New Orleans—its food, andespecially its people
Is aromatherapybeneficial forsomeonewith Alzheimer’sdisease?
Tammy C. Barney
When King cametothe cityin thelate 1950s,hefounda network of locals working diligently,believing thatchangecould be built in churches and diningrooms, in whispered strategy,and in shared risks taken after nightfall.
As we observe the King holiday this week,weshould also remember the organizers, churchleaders andeveryday activists whose work mightnot carry King’siconic recognition, butwho nonetheless carried the CivilRights Movement forward In February 1957, Kingarrived at Central City’s New Zion BaptistChurch fresh from the triumph of the Montgomery bus boycott, joined by other Black ministers determinedtobuild on that momentum. By the meeting’send, theyhad established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. King
FILEPHoTo By BRyAN s. BERTEAUX
Dr.T.J.Jemison, left, then president of the National Baptist Convention, speaks at Union Bethel AME Church in Neworleans.
waselected president,while New Zion’spastor,Abraham Lincoln “A.L.” Davis, was named second vice president —apairing that reflected the movement’sreliance on strong local leadership. Davis worked closely with King to shape theSCLC’searly strategy,linking local churches across theSouth to push for national change through nonviolent protest. In New Orleans, Davis’
leadership extended beyond strategy.In1963, he led amarch on CityHall to protestsegregation and was later arrested during a sit-in. Beforehis deathin1978, he became New Orleans’ first Black CityCouncil member sinceReconstruction.
Davis was one of many Black ministers whose local battles
ä see ACTIVISTS, page 2C
BY ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
with vitiligo, and other models the toymakeradded to make its fashion dolls more inclusive. Mattel said it developedthe autistic doll overmorethan 18 months in partnershipwith the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, anonprofit organization that advocates for therights andbettermediarepresentation of people with autism. The goal:tocreate aBarbie that
reflected some of the ways autistic people may experience and process the world around them, accordingtoaMattel news release. Thatwas achallenge because autism encompasses abroad range of behaviors and difficultiesthat vary widely in degree, andmanyofthe traits associated with the disorder arenot immediately visible, according to Noor Pervez,who is the Autistic Self Advocacy Network’s community engagement manager andworked closely with Mattel on the Barbieprototype Likemany disabilities, “autism doesn’tlook any oneway,” Pervez said “But we can try and show
ä see DOLL, page 2C
The term “aromatherapy” originated in 1928 with RenéMaurice Gattefossé, aFrench chemist whodiscovered by accident that lavender oil had a healing effect on burns. However,the use of essential oils really dates back as faras the Egyptians, whoentombed their Pharaohs with jars of essential oils foruse in the afterlife. Essentially,aromatherapy is the use of aromatic plant oils, including essential oils, forpsychological and/or physical well-being. Sometimes the term can be misleading, since it is not necessarily the aroma of oils used that creates the desired effect, but rather adirect effect that the oils have on the body,i.e., contact with the lungs (breathing), or the skin (massage or body oils and lotions). Aging and Alzheimer’sordementia can diminish the olfactory sense; however,since adirect pharmacological effect of the oils is responsible forthe healing effects, adiminished sense of smell should not be a concern when considering aromatherapy Professor Elaine Perry with the Institute of Aging and Health in Newcastle conducted studies in the use of aromatherapy and found that all aromatherapy treatments forpsychiatric disorders and Alzheimer’sdisease and related dementia resulted in significant benefits, including reductions in agitation, sleeplessness, wandering and unsociable behavior
SomeofPerry’sfindings of the use of essential oils and lotions included:
n Lemon balm oil and lavender aroma increased functional abilities and communication and reduced difficult behaviors; n Lavender aroma (massaged lotion in the skin), significantly reduced frequency or excessive motor behaviors; n Lemon balm lotion showed reductions in social withdrawal and an increase in constructive activities; n Lavender,marjoram, patchouli and vetiver applied as acream or lotion increased alertness and scores on the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Essential oils are most commonly inhaled and absorbed into the linings of the lungs and can also be applied directly to, and absorbed through, the skin. Care should be exercised when using and administering essential oils as only diluted oils should be directly applied to the skin. Additionally,since aromatherapy potentially affects all systems of the body,itisimperative to develop an awareness of whichessential oils do, or do not, have contraindications (something, as asymptom or condition, that makes aparticular treatment or procedure inadvisable) that interact with other medications.
THE DoCToRs
Dear Doctors: My brother says the hangover foods that people swear by don’treallyhelp. Ihaveto disagree. When I’ve had too much to drink and am paying theprice the next day,afew tacos always make me feelbetter.Isthere any science behind either of our views on this? Dear Reader: Would it surprise you to learn that you are bothright? To understand why,weneed to begin with the dreaded hangover. For anyone fortunate enough never to have had one, ahangover is aunique set of symptoms that result from drinking too much alcohol. It usually involvesnausea, headache, dry mouth, dizziness and fatigue. Rapid heartbeat, anxiety,low mood, disturbed sleep andincreased sensitivity tosound andlightare also possible. For some people, just aglass of wine can lead to arough morning after. Othersonlyfeel theeffects after anight of heavy drinking. Regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed, theunderlying culprits are thesame. Chief amongthem is acetaldehyde, atoxicbyproduct made by the liver as it metabolizes alcohol for removal from thebody.
Continued from page1C
helped inform King’sbroader vision. In Baton Rouge, the Rev.Theodore Judson “T.J.” Jemison had already made history,leadingthe 1953 Baton Rouge busboycott. As King prepared for Montgomery,itwas Jemison he turned to for guidance In “Stride Toward Freedom,” published in 1958, King called Jemison’s “painstaking description of the Baton Rouge experience” an invaluableguide. For more than five decades, Jemison shepherded his Mount Zion First Baptist Church congregation, but it was his work as SCLC secretary that deepened his bond with King. Beyond marches and meetings, King also relied on women whose professional networks became engines of political power. Kathleen“Katie” Whickam helped thousands of Black Americans gain the right to vote as abeautician. She served as president of the National Beauty Culturists’ League and co-founded the Metropolitan Women’sVoters League, national platforms that brought her into King’scircle.
Black beauticians occupied arare position of independence in the Jim Crow era, historian Tiffany Gill notes, operating salons and schools beyond White controlwhere Black women could speak freely and organize safely. Katie’sSchool of Beauty Culture and Barbering became
Continued from page1C
some of the ways that autism expressesitself.”
For example, the eyes of thenew Barbie shift slightly to the side to represent how some people with autism sometimesavoid direct eye contact, he said. The dollalso was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to processsensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel. The development team debated whether to dress the doll in atight or aloosefitting outfit, Pervez said. Some autistic peoplewear looseclothes becausethey aresensitivetothe feel of fabric seams, while others wear figure-hugginggarments to give them asense of where their bodies are, he said.
The team endedupchoosing an A-line dresswith short sleevesand aflowy skirt that provides less
Continued from page1C
Beekley Medical (www beekley.com) has recently developed aromatabs for use in clinical and longterm care settings and the company has been seeing positive results in the use of these aromatabs in individuals with Alzheimer’s or dementia. These selfadhesive tabs are 100%
students released on bond after being jailed for their part in sitdown demonstrations against segregated lunch counters in 1960.
one of those havens, allowing Whickam to mobilize thousands of Black voters. Just as beauty shopsand schools became organizing hubs, so too didinformal spaces where activists gathered,planned andrestored their spirits. Whenever King cameto New Orleans, hestopped at DookyChase’sRestaurant. Chef Leah Chase told WDSU-TV that King would dine in aprivateupstairs room, wherehestrategized with other activistswhile eatinggumboand shrimp or oyster po-boys.
“They would come here and eat after they went to jail, and Iwould say,‘Go take abath,’”Chase recalled. “I feel in some way inthis restaurant, people changed the
fabric-to-skin contact. The doll alsowears flatshoes to promote stability and ease of movement,according to Mattel.
Each dollcomes with a pink fingerclip fidget spinner, noise-cancelingheadphones and apink tablet modeled after the devices some autistic people who struggle to speak use to communicate.
The additionofthe autistic doll to the Barbie Fashionistas line also became an occasion forMattel to create adoll with facial features inspired by the company’s employeesinIndiaand mood boards reflecting a range of women withIndian backgrounds. Pervez said it was important to have the doll represent asegment of theautistic community that is generally underrepresented Mattel introducedits first doll with Down syndromein 2023 and brought out aBarbie representing aperson with Type 1diabetes last summer.The Fashionistas also includeaBarbieand a Ken with aprostheticleg, and aBarbie withhearing aids, but the line also encom-
pure essential oils andare placedonthe clothing on the individual’supperchest andthe effectiveness lasts up to eighthours.The lavender and lavender/sandalwood promotes relaxation, comfort andsleep andthe orange/peppermintuplifts, energizes, andcan soothe queasiness.
More research is needed to fully access thevalueof aromatherapyinindividuals with Alzheimer’sdisease or dementia in order
Although theliver converts acetaldehydeintoharmless acetate in the end, that process takes time. When we drink alcohol faster than the liver can complete that conversion —about onedrink perhour —acetaldehydebuilds up. This contributestoinflammationinthe liver,pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and brain, thebiologicalbasis of hangoversymptoms. Alcohol is also adiuretic, adding to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Theselead to headache, fatigue anddizzinessthe next day Which brings us to thefood question. Your brother is correct that nothing you eat, whether before, during or after drinking, can speed up how fast theliver processes alcohol. Butyou are also correct that the right food
course of America.”
If Dooky Chase’snourished the movement’s body,others preserved its memory. The Rev.Samson “Skip” Alexander used his camera to capture King’s life —playful moments at apool table, and the solemn grief of CorettaScottKing with her daughter at her husband’s1968 funeral.
Though thatimage is often credited to Ebony photographer MonetaSleet Jr., Alexander was the only person allowed inside withacamera, atestament to the trust he earned in thestruggle. Together,leaders like Chase, Davis, Jemison, Whickam and Alexander formed thebackbone of amovement too often reduced to asingle name. They built networks, nurtured communities and risked livelihoods —and lives —toadvance justice. The civil rights movement was never thework of one man alone. It was forged in local struggle, sustained by collective courage, and carried forward by people whose names deserve to stand alongside King’s.
Tammy C. Barney is an award-winning columnist and veteran journalist whosework has been shaped by alifelong connectiontoNew Orleans.Agraduateof McDonogh No. 35, Loyola University,and Tulane University,she spent the bulk of her newspaper career telling stories at The Times-Picayune and The Orlando Sentinel
passes tall, petite and curvy body types andnumerous hair types and skin colors.
“Barbie has always strived to reflect the world kids see andthe possibilitiesthey imagine, and we’re proud to introduceour first autistic Barbie as part of that ongoingwork,”Jamie Cygielman,Mattel’sglobal head of dolls, said in astatement.
Thedollwas expected to be available at Mattel’s online shop and at Target stores starting Monday for asuggestedretailprice of $11.87. Walmartstoresare expected to startcarrying the newBarbie in March, Mattel said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reportedlastyear that theestimated prevalence of autism among8-year-old children in the U.S. was 1in31. The estimate from theCDC’sAutism andDevelopmental Disabilities Monitoring Network said Black,Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islander childreninthe U.S.weremore likely than white children to have adiagnosis, and the prevalence more thanthree times higher among boys than girls.
to give people thechance to makeinformed choices between conventional medicine and aromatherapy, based on reliable evidence.
Dana Territo is an Alzheimer’s advocate and author of “What My Grandchildren Taught Me About Alzheimer’s Disease.” She hosts“The Memory Whisperer.” Emailher at thememorywhisperer@ gmail.com.
and fluids can help ease the discomfort that follows. The tacos you crave hit the hangover food trifecta: salt, fatand protein. Salt helps retainfluids and replenish electrolytes. Fat slowsstomach emptying. Protein helps blood sugar levelsstay stable, which can dip after drinking alcohol. Otherfoods people have found to be helpful include eggs, which contain cysteine,anamino acid. Researchers have found this amino acid helps the liver process alcohol. Broth-based soups offer asuperfood boost of fluids, salt, minerals and other nutrients in a way the body can absorb easily Fruits, whichare already high in needed water,are also rich in antioxidants. These can help with the inflammation that comes with a
By The Associated Press
Today is Monday
Jan. 19, the 19th day of 2026. There are 346 days left in the year
Todayinhistory: On Jan. 19, 1937, Howard Hughes set anew transcontinental speed record in his H-1 Racer aircraft, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey,in seven hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds.
Also on this date:
In 1853, Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il trovatore” premiered in Rome.
In 1861, Georgia became thefifth state to secede from theUnion; it would join theConfederacy the following month.
In 1942, aGerman submarine sank the Canadian liner RMS Lady Hawkins off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, killing 251 people; 71 survived.
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower held the first televised presidential news conference.
In 1966, Indira Gandhi was elected to her first term as primeminister of India.
hangover.Berries are particularly high in antioxidants, and bananas will give youapotassium boost. And speaking of water,staying hydrated before, during and after drinking alcohol is also key Despiteaquest that dates back millennia, there is still no cure fora hangover. There remains onlyone waytopreventone,whichisnot to drink. The food youeat andbeverages youdrink can’t change how fast alcohol leaves your system Buttheymay helpease the landing.
Sendyour questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask theDoctors c/oUCLA HealthSciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd.,Suite1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.
In 1987, H. GuyHunt becameAlabama’sfirst Republican governor since 1874 as he wassworninto office, succeeding Democrat George C. Wallace.
In 2012, Rupert Murdoch’smedia empire apologized and agreed to cash payouts to 37 people whose telephones had been hacked by its tabloid press.
In 2024, Japan became the fifth country to reach the moon when its unmanned spacecraft touched downonthe lunar surface with apinpoint landing. The milestone put Japan in aclub previously occupied by the United States, the Soviet Union, India and China.
cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Turn up the volume and dance your way into the life youwanttolive. It's up to you to take advantage of opportunities. Discipline andingenuity will help you complete your mission.
AQuARIus(Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Turn your words into actions, andmakethings happen. Get fit,find your niche and discover new people, places and possibilities. Romance is in the stars.
PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Set goals and work to reach them. Askexperts for guidance and use theinformation to learn andexperiment. Whatyou accomplish will boost your confidence and encourage you to use your strengths in rewarding ways.
ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Lend ahelping hand. Do what you can to makeadifference. Giving back will make you feel goodandbringyouincontactwithpeople you'llwant to get to know better. Say no to temptation andexcessive behavior.
tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Rely on your speed,accuracyandintelligence,andyou will come out on top. Implement domestic changes that give you the space you need to do the best job possible. Choose apath and march forward.
GEMInI (May 21-June20) Avoid letting anyone drain your energy. Focuson what you can do to keep up financially andprofessionally.Update your look to enhance your appeal.
cAncER (June 21-July 22) Setyoursights on what gives you the most relieffrom stress. Don't wait for someone else to
step in and take charge; ownthe solution, process and result. When opportunity arises, run to meet it.
LEo(July 23-Aug. 22) Let your actions lead the way. Akind gesture can makea difference and change someone's life. Do your part, and the rewards will be just as life-altering for you. Give-and-take is your ticket to better relationships and peace of mind.
VIRGo(Aug. 23-sept. 22) Set acourse and forge ahead. Work your magic at events that offer introductions to people who can give yousomethingyou need. Be willing to go thedistance, meet demands and complete your mission
LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Whatyou do will have more of an impact than what you say or acknowledge. Size up what's possible, set abudget and proceed with the changes that will bring the highest returns.
scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Pay attention to detail; mapout apath that offers information, connects you with others and sparks your imagination. Ashort trip or learningexpedition will turn into an exciting journey.
sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) It'stimeto shake things up and to initiate change. Procrastination will lead to trouble and regret. Set your sights on what interests you and head in that direction.
The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. ©2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication
Celebrity Ciphercryptograms are createdfrom quotations by famous people, past and present. Eachletter in the cipherstands foranother.
toDAy's cLuE:W EQuALs V
InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 gridwith several given numbers The object is to place the numbers 1to9inthe 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
By PHILLIP ALDER
Phyllis Diller said, “We spend thefirst 12 months of ourchildren’slivesteaching them to walk and talk and the next 12 tellingthem to sit down and shut up.”
At the bridge table, some players are scared of 12 —the number of tricks needed forasmall slam.Otherszoom that high whenever thereisthe faintest aroma of slam in the air.But theideal is between those two extremes. This week, let’s study some of thefactorsfor accurate slam bidding.
First, when two balanced hands face each other, combined point-count is a surprisingly reliable indicator. Some years ago, Iran acomputer analysis. I gave the partnership’s hands no fivecardsuitand no 4-4 fit. Ifound that when thetotalpoint-countwas33,sixno-trump was afavorite; but when it was only 32, that slam was an underdog.
Here is an easy example forthe bidding, but not so simple in theplay. How can South make sixno-trump after West leads theclub10?
South’s two-no-trump rebid shows a balanced hand with 18, 19 or apoor 20 points. It is in principle forcing to game and does not deny fourspades. South cannotriskanonforcingone-spaderebid with that strong ahand.
South has11top tricks: threespades, four hearts, two diamonds and two clubs.
The clubs might split 3-3, but that is unlikely bothmathematically and given theopening lead. However, thecontract is assured if declarer takes trick one, unblocks dummy’sdiamond ace-king, returnstohishandwith,say,aspade,and leads thediamond jack to drive outthe queen. The diamond 10 is trick 12. ©2026 by NEA,Inc.,dist.
By Andrews McMeel Syndication
is aword riddle which creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON
Previous answers:
word game
InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2.
Averagemark
Timelimit
youshall seek me, and find me, when youshall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
p 58, said lot subjectto thoseservitudesas shownonthe said offi‐cial subdivisionmap TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish ADVERTISEDDATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $237.23
LODGEAKA
allofthe rights,ways, privileges, servitudes appurtenances. andad‐vantages thereuntobe‐longingorinanywise ap‐pertaining situated in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Stateof Louisiana. in that subdi‐vision knownasSuburb lstrouma andbeing des‐ignatedonthe official plan thereofon file and of record in theoffice of theclerk andrecorder forthe Parish of East BatonRouge,aslot num‐bers one(1) andtwo (2), square twohundred twenty (220),saidsubdi‐vision,saidlot having such measurements and dimensions as shownon said map.
TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $234.71
SHERIFF'SSALE Suit No:(17) 767060 ROCKET MORTGAGE,LLC F/KIAQUICKEN LOANS, LLCVSTRIMANI AN‐THONYRILEY,SR. A/KIA TRIMANIA.RILEY,SR. AKIA TRIMANIANTHONY RILEYA/K/A TRIMANIA RILEYA/K/A TRIMANI RILEY
BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton RougeState of Louisiana
Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, September 16, 2025 andtomedi‐rected,I didseize and will,beginning at 10:00 o'clocka.m.onJanuary 21, 2026,via an online auctionsiteatwww bid4assets.com/EBR SOsheriffsales,offerfor sale at public auctionthe followingdescribed mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: TRIMANIAN‐THONYRILEY,SR. A/K/A TRIMANIA.RILEY,SR. A/K/ATRIMANI ANTHONY RILEYA/K/ATRIMANI A. RILEYA/K/A TRIMANI RILEY
766913
Onecertain lotorparcel of ground,togetherwith allthe buildingsand im‐provements thereon, and allofthe rights,ways, privileges, servitudes appurtenancesand ad‐vantages thereuntobe‐longingorinanywise ap‐pertaining,situatedin theParishofEastBaton Rouge, Stateof Louisiana, in that subdi‐vision knownasBonaire andbeing designated ac‐cordingtothe official mapofsaidsubdivision on file andofrecordin theoffice of theClerk andRecorderfor that parishand state, as Lot id l bj
SHERIFF'SSALE Suit No:(17) 767482 U.S. BANK TRUSTCOM‐PANY,NATIONALASSOCI‐ATION, AS TRUSTEE, AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO U.S. BANK NATION‐ALASSOCAITION, AS TRUSTEEFOR CITIGROUP MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST INC.,ASSET-BACKED PASS-THROUGHCERTIFI‐CATES, SERIES 2006-HE2 vs LARRYJACKSON (A/KIA KEITHJACKSON LARRYKEITH JACKSON) ANDCASSANDRA W. JACKSON(A/K/ACAS‐SANDRA WILLIAMS JACK‐SON, CASSANDRA WILLIAMS) Baton Rouge, LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton RougeState of Louisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, September 19, 2025 andtomedi‐rected,I didseize and will,beginning at 10:00 o'clocka.m.onJanuary 21, 2026, viaanonline auctionsiteatwww bid4assets.com/EBR SOsheriffsales,offerfor sale at public auctionthe followingdescribed mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: LARRYJACK‐SON(A/K/AKEITH JACK‐SON, LARRYKEITH JACK‐SON) ANDCASSANDRA W. JACKSON(A/K/ACAS‐SANDRA WILLIAMS JACK‐SON, CASSANDRA WILLIAMS) Onecertain lotorparcel of ground,together with allthe buildingsand im‐provements thereon, sit‐uatedinthe Parish of East BatonRouge,State of Louisiana, in that sub‐division knownasOAK CRESTSUBDIVISION and designated on theoffi‐cial plan thereof, on file andofrecordinthe of‐fice of theClerk andre‐orderofthe Parish of East BatonRouge,State of Louisiana, as LOT NUMBER TWENTY-FIVE (25),saidsubdivision; said lothavingsuch measurements anddi‐mensions andbeing sub‐ject to such servitudes as aremoreparticularly describedonsaidsubdi‐vision map. Whichhas theaddressof 3036 Oakcrest Drive, BatonRouge,LA70814 TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $272.96
LEETILLMAN HAYNES JR BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton RougeState of Louisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, September 24, 2025 andtome di‐rected,I didseize and will,beginning at 10:00 o'clocka.m.onJanuary 21, 2026, viaanonline auctionsiteatwww bid4assets.com/EBR SOsheriffsales,offerfor sale at public auctionthe followingdescribed mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: THEUN‐OPENED SUCCESSION OF LEET HAYNES JR AKALEE TILLMANHAYNESJR That certainpiece or por‐tion of ground,together with allthe buildingsand improvements thereon. situated in theParishof East BatonRouge Louisiana, in that subdi‐vision thereofknown as HolidayWoods, FirstFil‐ing, anddesignatedac‐cordingtothe official mapthereof:a copy of whichison file andof record in theoffice of the Clerkand Recorder of said Parish andState,as LotNo56, said subdivi‐sion,saidlot having such measurements anddi‐mensionsasare shown on theofficial subdivi‐sion map, beingsubject to such servitudes and restrictions as areof record or areshown on said map. Whichhas theaddressof 6720 East Upland Avenue, BatonRouge,LA70812
TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish
ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $229.60
SHERIFF'SSALE
Suit No:(17) 767975 THEBANKOFNEW YORK MELLON TRUSTCOM‐PANY,NATIONALASSOCI‐ATIONFKA THEBANKOF NEWYORKTRUST COM‐PANY,NA, AS SUCCESSOR TO JPMORGAN CHASE BANK,NA, AS TRUSTEE FORRESIDENTIAL ASSET MORTGAGE PRODUCTS INC.,MORTGAGEASSETBACKED PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES,SERIES 2006-RS4vsROSIE LODGE AKAROSIE MARIELEE LODGEAKA ROSIEMARIE LEEAKA ROSIEM.LEE AKAROSIE LEEAKA ROSIEMARIELODGE AKA ROSIEM.LODGE AKA ROSIELEE LODGEAKA ROSIEL.LODGE
BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton Rouge StateofLouisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, September 29, 2025 andtomedi‐rected,I didseize and will,beginning at 10:00 o'clocka.m.onJanuary 21, 2026, viaanonline auctionsiteatwww bid4assets.com/EBR SOsheriffsales,offerfor sale at public auctionthe followingdescribed mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: ROSIELODGE AKAROSIE MARIELEE
AKA ROSIELEE LODGEAKA ROSIEL.LODGE One(1) certainlot or par‐celoflandtogether with allofthe buildings and improvements thereon, situated in that subdivi‐sion of theParishofEast BatonRouge,State of Louisiana, as shownon theofficial plat of the subdivision filedand made of record in theof‐fice of theclerk and recorder,ParishofEast BatonRouge as Lot80, Forest Oaks Subdivision, andhavingthose mea‐surementsasshown on theofficial plat
TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish
ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $260.22
SHERIFF'SSALE Suit No:(17) 768436
PENNYMACLOANSER‐VICES, LLCvsANTOINA BARNES MALONEYAND CARL DANIEL MALONEY BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton RougeState of Louisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, October09, 2025 andtomedirected, Idid seizeand will,be‐ginningat10:00 o'clock a.m. on January21, 2026, viaanonlineauction site at www.bid4assets.com/ EBRSOsheriffsales, offer forsaleatpublicauction thefollowing described mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: ANTOINA BARNES MALONEYAND CARL DANIEL MALONEY Lot16, SUNSHINE GAR‐DENS,PHASE 1a certain parcel of ground,to‐gether with allthe build‐ings andimprovements thereon, andall of the rights;ways, privileges, servitudes,appurte‐nances andadvantages thereuntobelonging to or in anywiseappertain‐ing, situated in the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Stateof Louisiana, as shownon theplatrecordedat ORIG:822 BNDL:13281, on October26, 2023, of the ClerkofCourtsofEast BatonRouge,Louisiana; subjecttorestrictions, servitudes,rights-ofwayand outstanding mineralrightsofrecord affectingthe property TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITHOUTAppraisement andaccording to law. SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $211.71
JR. ANDAMY VANDEVEER CHRISTINAA/K/A AMYV CHRISTINAA/K/A AMY CHRISTINA BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton Rouge StateofLouisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, October13, 2025 andtomedirected, Idid seizeand will,be‐ginningat10:00 o'clock a.m. on January21, 2026, viaanonlineauction site at www.bid4assets.com/ EBRSOsheriffsales, offer forsaleatpublicauction thefollowing described mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: SALVADORE CHRISTINAJR. ANDAMY VANDEVEER CHRISTINA A/K/AAMY V. CHRISTINA A/K/AAMY CHRISTINA One(1) certainlot or par‐celofground,together with allthe buildingsand improvements thereon, andall therights, ways privileges, servitudes appurtenancesand ad‐vantages thereuntobe‐longing, or in anywise appertaining,situatedin theParishofEastBaton Rouge, Stateof Louisiana, in that subdi‐vision knownas Cloverdale,and desig‐natedonthe official plan thereof, on file andof record in theoffice of the clerkand recorder of the Parish of East Baton Rouge, Stateof Louisiana, as lotnumber twelve (12),SquareA said subdivision, said lot having such measure‐mentsand dimensions andbeing subjectto such servitudes as are more particularly de‐scribedonsaidsubdivi‐sion map.
TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighestbid‐der, at Public Auction WITH Appraisement and accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff East BatonRouge Parish ADVERTISED DATE December 19, 2025 January19, 2026 $252.56
SHERIFF'SSALE Suit No:(17) 769130 ROCKET MORTGAGE LLC FKAQUICKEN LOANSLLC FKAQUICKEN LOANSINC vs JEFFREYPAULBROUS‐SARD
BatonRouge,LA 19thJudicialDistrict Parish of East Baton RougeState of Louisiana Acting under andby virtue of Writ of Seizure andSaleissuedout of thehonorable court aforesaid,inthe above entitled andnumbered cause, dated, October20, 2025 andtomedirected, Idid seizeand will,be‐ginningat10:00 o'clock a.m. on January21, 2026, viaanonlineauction site at www.bid4assets.com/ EBRSOsheriffsales, offer forsaleatpublicauction thefollowing described mortgagedpropertybe‐longingto: JEFFREYPAUL BROUSSARD ONE(1) CERTAINLOT OR PARCEL OF GROUND,to‐gether with allthe build‐ings andimprovements thereon, situated in that subdivision of theParish of East BatonRouge StateofLouisiana knownasBERNARD GROVE, andbeing desig‐natedonthe official sub‐division map,on file and f d i h ffi f
Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember Dr.Atley Walker Sr Vice President
Mr.Ronald LeBlanc, BoardMember
Ms. Sonceria Evans, BoardMember
Ms. Chareeka Grace, BoardMember
Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember
Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember
Mr.Alden Chustz, President
Blanchard,
p of record intheoffice of theClerk andRecorder forsaidparishand state, as LOTNUMBER THIRTYFOUR (34),saidsubdivi‐sion;saidlot having such measurements anddi‐mensions as shownon said map; subjecttore‐strictions,servitudes, rights-of-way andout‐standing mineralrights of record affectingthe property
TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der, at Public Auction WITHOUTAppraisement andaccording
BoardMember
•Mrs. Hayley Clouatre,BoardMember
•Dr. Atley Walker Sr Vice President
•Mr. Ronald LeBlanc, BoardMember •Ms. Sonceria Evans, BoardMember
•Ms. Chareeka Grace, BoardMember
•Mr. Michael Maranto, BoardMember
Motionmade by: Mr.Alden Chustz
Motionseconded by: Mr.Burke Fiscus
Voting: UnanimouslyApproved
3. Consideration of Request to approve policy updates: Dr.Smith went over the changes forthe policiesA-F
The chairman declared the flooropen for publiccomment
That the boardapprove agenda itemsA-F
Motionmade by: Mrs.Teri Bergeron
Motionseconded by: Mrs.Hayley Clouatre Voting: UnanimouslyApproved a. IFA- Instructional Materials b. IFBGA- Computer and Internet Use by students c. JBD-Student Absences and Excuses d. JCDAF- Bullying and Hazing e. JDE-Expulsion f. JGCE- Child Abuse
4. Consideration of Approval of the Hearing Officerand Procedures (Barbara Burke) Mrs.Burke went of the Hearing Office and Procedures that we needed to update.
The chairman declared the flooropen for publiccomment That theboardapproves of the hearing officer and Procedures.
Motionmade by: Dr.Atley WalkerSr.
Motionseconded by: Mrs.Teri Bergeron
Voting: UnanimouslyApproved
5. Consideration of Request to approve the WBR Personnel Evaluation Plan October 2025 (Barbara Burke)
Mrs.Burke explained that when she attended thelaw conference we had afew updates to make to our WBRPersonnel Evaluation Plan and she went over those.
The chairman declared the flooropen for publiccomment That the boardapproves the WBRPersonnel Evaluation Plan October 2025
Motionmade by: Mr.AldenChustz Motion seconded by: Mr.Burke Fiscus Voting: UnanimouslyApproved
6. Consideration of Request to approve of the CEAwith Parks and Rec
Dr.Smith went over the CooperativeEndeavor Agreement with the boardthat is between the School Boardand Parks and Rec. That the chairman declared the floor open forpubliccomment That the boardapproves the CEAwithParks and Rec
Motionmade by: Mr.Burke Fiscus
Motionseconded by: Dr.Atley WalkerSr.
Voting: UnanimouslyApproved
5. Adjourn That the Finance committee is adjourned.
Motionmade by: Dr.Atley WalkerSr.
Motionseconded by: Mrs.Hayley Clouatre
Voting: UnanimouslyApproved
The Chairman declaredthe floor open for public comment. That the boardapproves the2026-2027 HeadStartGrant Application and Budget
19-1t $103.95
MEETINGMINUTES
Scan theabove QR code with your phone to view this meeting agenda on yourphone
Please silence allcellphones Attendance
Voting Members
Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember
Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Vice President
Mr.Ronald LeBlanc, BoardMember
Ms. SonceriaEvans, BoardMember Ms. Chareeka Grace,Board Member
Mr.Michael Maranto, BoardMember
Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember Mr.AldenChustz,President
Non-Voting Members
Dr.ChandlerSmith, Superintendent Jessica Blanchard, Executive Secretary
1. Call Meeting to Order The chairman called themeeting to order
2. Pledge of Allegiance The ChairmanDispense withThe Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call Jessica Blanchardconducteda roll call The following boardmembers were present:
•Mr. Burke Fiscus, BoardMember •Mrs. Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember •Dr. AtleyWalker Sr., Vice President •Mr. RonaldLeBlanc, BoardMember •Ms. SonceriaEvans, BoardMember •Ms. Chareeka Grace,Board Member •Mr. Michael Maranto, BoardMember
Regular Meeting of the WBRParish SchoolBoard 10/15/2025 05:00 PM BoardRoom Central Office 3761 RosedaleRd, PortAllen, LA MEETINGMINUTES
CONSIDER ANY AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA 7. STATEOFTHE PARISH REPORT 8. PUBLIC COMMENTS 9. COMMUNICATIONS WITH COUNCILMEMBERS AND/OR ELECTED OR AP‐POINTEDOFFICIALS A. AnnualDepartmentOf Revenue &Taxation DelinquentSales TaxRe‐port...Mrs.Melanie David 10. PUBLIC HEARINGON PREVIOUSLY INTRO‐DUCED ORDINANCES A. An OrdinanceTo AmendAnd ReenactThe West BatonRouge Parish Code Of Ordinances,Part II (General Code of Ordi‐nances), Chapter70 (“Roadsand Drainage”) Section70-5 (“Bridge Standardsand Permit‐ting). B. An OrdinanceTo AmendAnd ReenactSec‐tions28-1(“Created;Pur‐pose;Boundaries”)And 28-4(“Narrative Descrip‐tion of Subdistrict),Of Article1 (“West Baton RougeParishFireProtec‐tion District No.1”),Of Chapter28(“FireProtec‐tion AndPrevention”), Part II (“Code Of Ordi‐nances”) Of TheWest BatonRouge Parish Code Of Ordinances To Elimi‐nate Industrial Areasof theFireDistrict. C. An OrdinanceTo AmendAnd ReenactThe West BatonRouge Parish Code Of Ordinances,Part III (“Unified Development Code”),Chapter 109 (“Property Mainte‐nance”), ArticleV,(Aban‐donedVehiclesand Junk), AndReenactSec 109-104, Sec. 109-106 and Sec. 109-109. 11. NEWBUSINESS A. Consider Cost Of Liv‐ingIncreaseRecommen‐dation forParishEmploy‐ees B. ApproveAnnualSales TaxPercentageAdjust‐mentsfor 2026. 12. RESOLUTIONS 13. CONSIDER STATUS RE‐PORT,CHANGEORDER AND/OR OTHERMATTERS AS REQUIRED ON CUR‐RENT PROJECTS 14. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES A. An OrdinanceTo AmendAnd ReenactThe West BatonRouge Parish Code Of Ordinances,Part III (“UNIFIEDDEVELOP‐MENT CODE”) Chapter 105 (“Subdivisions”),Ar‐ticleI (“In General”)Sec‐tion 105-7(“Minor Subdi‐visions”), To ProvideFor Clarification On Minor SubdivisionRegulations Public HearingDate: Feb‐ruary26, 2026 B. An OrdinanceAmend‐ingChapter 104 Zoning To Incorporate Amended Zoning DesignationMap (ZoningPlan) UnderSec‐tion 104-3Establishment Of Districts, Official Zon‐ingMap ForRezoningRe‐questOfWoodrowWil‐sonConstructionLLC.Lo‐catedat3784 MetroDr. Port Allen, La 70767. File #PJ#26-0002 as de‐scribedbythe WBRAs‐sessor site:LOT 25 GREATERBATON ROUGE INDUSTRIALPARK(PLAT MAP108A)AND TRACT FS-3AINSEC 76 &101; T7S R12E 1.846 ACRES 54C-118 CB144 E248 CB300 E96CB326 E4.Re‐zoning TractFS-3A (.97ac) From AG (Agricul‐tural) to I-1(LightIndus‐trial) with lotarea waiver.MasterPlan Change Public Hearing Date:February26, 2026
Scan the above QR code with your phone to view this meeting agenda on your phone. Attendance
Voting Members
Mrs.Hayley Clouatre, BoardMember
Dr.Atley WalkerSr.,VicePresident
Mr.RonaldLeBlanc, BoardMember
Mr.Matthew Daigrepont, BoardMember
Mrs.Teri Bergeron, BoardMember
Mr.Alden Chustz,President
Non-Voting Members
Jessica Blanchard, Executive Secretary
Jared Gibbs, Supervisor of Business
Dr.Chandler Smith, Superintendent
1. Call to Order
The chairman called themeeting to order
2. PledgeofAllegiance
Mr.Chustz Led us in The Pledge of Allegiance
3. Roll Call
Jessica Blanchardconducted arollcall:
The following boardmembers werepresent:
•Mrs. Hayley Clouatre,BoardMember
•Dr. Atley WalkerSr.,VicePresident
•Mr. RonaldLeBlanc, BoardMember
•Mr. Matthew Daigrepont,BoardMember
•Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember
•Mr. Alden Chustz,President
Aquorum was made
The following boardmembers wereabsent:
Mr.Burke Fiscus, BoardMember
Ms.Sonceria Evans, BoardMember
Ms.Chareeka Grace, BoardMember
Mr.MikeMaranto, BoardMember
4. Approval of Minutes
The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.
Be it Resolved, That the approval of the minutes of the Regular BoardMeeting and EFID held September 17, 2025 be approved as presented.
The Chairman declared the floor open for public comment.
Motionmade by: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr. Motionseconded by: Mrs. Teri Bergeron
Voting: Unanimously Approved
5. Superintendent’s Report
Dr.Smith went over his attached Superinteden’tReport
Chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment
4. Approval of Minutes Be it Resolved, That the approval of theminutes of the Regular Board Meeting held October 15, 2025 be approved as
the flooropen for
Motionmade by: Dr.AtleyWalkerSr.
Motionseconded by: Mrs.Teri Bergeron
Voting:
Mr.Burke Fiscus -Absent
Mrs.Hayley Clouatre -Yes
Dr.Atley WalkerSr. -Yes
Mr.RonaldLeBlanc -Yes
Ms.SonceriaEvans -Yes
Ms.Chareeka Grace -Absent
Mr.Matthew Daigrepont -Yes
Mr.Michael Maranto- Yes
Mrs.Teri Bergeron -Yes
Mr.Alden Chustz-Yes
5. Superintendent’sReport
Mr.Fiscus arrives at 5:01pm
Ms.Grace arrives at 5:04pm
Dr.Smith went over the attached report
The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment Informational Item,Noaction necessary
6. ReportfromCommunityCommittees/Agencies
7. Unfinished Business
8. Presentation of Consent Agenda None
9. Approval of Consent Agenda
10. End of Consent Agenda 1. Receiveand review
The chairman declared the floor open for publiccomment Informational Item, No ActionNecessary 2. Consideration of request for approvalofthe monthly expenditures and financial reports forSeptember 2025 (Jared Gibbs) Mr.Gibbs went over the September
Approvalofthe proclamation for Red Ribbon Week will be recognized in West Baton Rouge from October27th—October31st.
Motion made by: Mrs. HayleyClouatre
Motion seconded by: Mr.MatthewDaigrepont
Voting: Unanimously Approved
6. ReportfromCommunity Committees/Agencies
7. Unfinished Business
8. Presentation of Consent Agenda
1. Approval of the 2026-2027Head Start Grant Application and Budget.(Crystal Leon)
2. Consideration of Requesttoapprove policy updates:
1. IFA- Instructional Materials
2. IFBGA- Computer and Internet Use by students
3. JBD- Student Absences and Excuses
4. JCDAF- Bullying and Hazing
5. JDE- Expulsion
3. Consideration of Approval of the Hearing Officer and Procedures (Barbara Burke)
4. Consideration of Requesttoapprove the WBR Personnel Evaluation Plan October 2025 (Barbara Burke)
5. Consideration of Request to approve of the CEA with Parks and Rec
9. Approval of Consent Agenda
The Chairmandeclared the floor open for publiccomment.
Be it resolved thatthe Boarddoesherebyapprove andadopt the Above Consent
Motion made by: Dr.AtleyWalkerSr.
10.
11. OrganizationItems CommitteeMeeting: Tuesday,November11, 2025 RegularBoard Meeting: Wednesday,November19, 2025
12. Any other business unanimously approvedbythe boardfor consideration
13. Adjourn The Chairmandeclared the floor openfor publiccomment. Be it Resolved, That the meeting be adjourned.
Motion made by: Mr.Ronald LeBlanc Motion seconded by: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Voting: Unanimously Approved
Thechairmandeclared the floor open forpubliccomment.
Informational item no action necessary
4. Consideration of Request to approve policy updates: Considerationofrequest to approve the followingpolicies1-6
Thechairmandeclared the floor open forpubliccomment
Thatthe boardapproves policies1-6
Motion made by: Mr.Burke Fiscus Motion seconded by: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Voting: Unanimously Approved 1. GAAA: Equal Opportunity Employment 2. IDDFC:Special Education: Audio/Video Recording 3. JAA: Equal Education Opportunities 4. JD:Discipline
5. IDDF: Education of Students with Exceptionalities
6. IFD: Parent and Family Engagement with AppendixA
5. FacilitiesUpdates (Chad Fontenot)
Mr.Fontenot went overhis Facilitiesupdate attached
Thechairmandeclared the floor open forpubliccomment
InformationalItem, No action necessary
6. Consideration of requestfor approval of a13thcheck (supplemental payment) for employees to be paidinDecember 2025.(Jared Gibbs) Dr.Smith andMr. Gibbs recommendation is $1200 for the13th Check
Thechairmandeclared the floor open forpubliccomment
Thatthe boardapprove $1200for the13thCheck.
Motion made by: Mr.Ronald LeBlanc Motion secondedby: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Voting: Mr.Burke Fiscus -Yes Mrs. Hayley Clouatre- Yes
Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Yes
Mr.Ronald LeBlanc-Yes
Ms. SonceriaEvans -No
Ms. Chareeka Grace -Yes Mr.MatthewDaigrepont-Yes
Mr.Michael Maranto -Yes
Mrs. Teri Bergeron-Yes
Mr.AldenChustz -Yes
11. Organization Items
12. Any otherbusiness unanimouslyapproved by the boardfor consideration
13. Adjourn The Chairmandeclared the floor open forpubliccomment.
•Ms. Chareeka Grace, BoardMember
•Mr. Matthew Daigrepont, BoardMember
•Mr. Michael Maranto, BoardMember
•Mrs. Teri Bergeron, BoardMember
•Mr. Alden Chustz, President
Be it Resolved, That themeeting be adjourned.
Motion made by: Dr.AtleyWalker Sr Motion secondedby: Mr.Ronald LeBlanc Voting: Unanimously Approved
