The Acadiana Advocate 08-16-2026 by The Advocate

THE

ACADIANA

ADVOCATE

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

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

$2.50X

La. waits to see how Trump, Congress regulate AI Political pressure mounts over industry concerns

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS BY LESLIE WESTBROOK

A worker drives a backhoe loader across North Eola Road as construction work on the new Eola Place subdivision in Broussard continues on Friday. Residents have expressed concerns about the accelerated growth of rural Acadiana.

Officials grapple with Lafayette’s explosive growth How, and where, development should spread is debated

Robert Bixenman is pictured on his front porch on Friday in Milton. Bixenmen, president of the Milton Water System, is among residents raising concerns about the continued expansion of housing developments into rural Acadiana.

BY ADAM DAIGLE

Acadiana business editor, and staff reports

Could the city of Lafayette simply annex Milton? Longtime Milton resident Bob Bixenman is serious. He says the unincorporated community in southwest Lafayette Parish has little, if any, say in how it is dealing with the accelerated growth. The 180-lot Milton Commons development illustrates the problem. Residents spoke against the project when it came before Lafayette Consolidated Government’s planning commission last month, but the commission approved it because, under existing parish regulations, it had little legal authority to deny it. But, Bixenman noted, another 550 lots are planned elsewhere. And more will the Milton Water System. “Youngsville Government. likely come after that along Gallet Road. stops at Verot School Road. If Youngsville He has to convince others in Milton. Should Milton form its own government? “Lafayette is a very progressive and would take part of that (area of Milton) and Two attempts at that failed. Bixenman says he’s already talked annexation with the growing community, and it’s clean,” said ä See GROWTH, page 4A administration at Lafayette Consolidated Bixenman, 76, who is also president of

During its recent legislative session, Louisiana parked many bipartisan bills regulating artificial intelligence after President Donald Trump’s administration urged states against passing them, arguing that it would be better to have a national regulatory framework. So far, Congress and the president — who also threatened states’ broadband funding to stop them from passing certain AI regulations — have taken a mostly hands-off approach. But as AI causes rising public concern across the political spectrum — and with midterm elections on the horizon — pressure is mounting on Congress to act. Though many politicians on both sides of the aisle say that at least some AI regulations are necessary, the exact nature of the laws Congress may pass remains murky. Top Republican members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation have offered few details on measures they would support, as have major candidates for Louisiana’s two wide-open congressional seats. And many politicians have argued that too many regulations would stiﬂe innovation and hobble the United States in its race against China. “As we see abuses (of AI) we will make sure we address them, but you also don’t want to limit innovation,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, told the press on Aug. 7 after qualifying to run for reelection in November. “One thing government really likes to do a good job of is regulating to the point where they crush innovation, and you’ve seen that in a lot of industry,” he added. “Luckily the

ä See CONGRESS, page 1A

Louisiana’s push for wind power off the Gulf Coast stalls

reality facing the industry. gy ﬁrms to buy out offshore wind was determined there is no path German firm sees ‘no path forward’ after settlement a stark Offshore wind in the Gulf — and leases, including RWE, which in forward to permit these projects

BY MIKE SMITH

ter — at least for now. The recent announcement that Staff writer German ﬁrm RWE had reached a The prospect of wind power off $1.22 billion settlement with PresLouisiana’s Gulf Coast, once touted ident Donald Trump’s administraas a boon for local companies and tion to relinquish its offshore wind a way to reduce climate-warming leases, including off Louisiana’s emissions, appears dead in the wa- southwestern coast, has laid bare

WEATHER HIGH 96 LOW 77 PAGE 6B

nationwide — is up against enormous odds under Trump, industry analysts say. The president has loudly proclaimed his opposition to offshore wind and issued an executive order on his ﬁrst day in ofﬁce halting new leases. More recently, the Interior Department has negotiated with ener-

2023 won a bid to develop an area 36 miles off the coast of Cameron Parish. The settlement announced Aug. 6 will see RWE relinquish that lease — the ﬁrst ever in the Gulf’s federal waters — and others off New York and California, then invest in other energy projects. “After careful consideration, it

Business ......................1E Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Classified .....................2B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A

in the U.S. for the foreseeable future,” RWE said in a statement. The Gulf project was a closely watched indicator of the future of offshore wind power in the region. Louisiana companies, already contracted for wind projects in other

ä See WIND, page 5A

102Nd YEAR, NO. 47

2A ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Teen boy among victims in Michigan shootings

A teenage boy and four adults were killed Friday in shootings that prompted a wide search for the ﬂeeing gunman, whose body was ultimately found in a wooded area alongside one of his victims, authorities said. A teenage girl survived and was in stable condition, police said. Chad Hickman, 39, was found dead after a wide search in Missaukee County, police said. Police released the ages and genders of the victims on Saturday but did not specify whether they were related to each other or the suspect. Officers responded Friday morning to reports of a shooting at a home about 170 miles northwest of Detroit, where they found the bodies of a 16-year-old boy, a 45-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, and a 13-year-old girl in critical condition, Michigan State Police said. Authorities say Hickman ﬂed that scene, leading to a largescale search. Police found the body of a 53-year-old man at a second home, and then a 29-yearold woman, dead alongside Hickman, in the woods. All the victims died of gunshot wounds, police said. “This situation is heartbreaking for the community and challenging for the investigators involved,” Lt. Ashley Miller said in a Friday statement. Miller said Saturday the investigation is ongoing. Hickman was convicted in 2024 of misdemeanor fourthdegree child abuse, according to court records. He was sentenced to one year in jail. In the same case, the court dismissed felony assault and criminal sexual conduct charges.

Death toll rises to 72 in Zimbabwe ferry disaster

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Eighteen children were among more than 70 people killed when an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe this week, police said Saturday after rescuers recovered more bodies. The ferry capsized in strong waves on Tuesday. Police said that 26 more bodies had been recovered since then, bringing the death toll to 72. The aging ferry was traveling from the town of Kariba to rural and ﬁshing communities in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transportation is scarce. Authorities have not said how many people were aboard or how many remain missing. Estimates have put the number of passengers as high as 153, while authorities say the ferry’s capacity is 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency has said 77 people were rescued. Authorities initially said the number of children aboard was unknown because those below ticketing age were not included in passenger estimates. A police list released later showed that 16 of the child victims were aged 10 or younger, with the youngest just 1.

Giant Virgin Mary statue inaugurated in Poland

KONOTOPIE, Poland — An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of legendary anti-communist leader Lech Walesa. Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 182 feet over Konotopie in central Poland, the home of fewer than 150 people. While helicopters scattered miniature red roses over the crowd, priests in white robes celebrated Mass and the popular Mazowsze folk ensemble sang and danced to traditional Polish music. The Polish statue is taller — if less dramatically located — than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which measures some 125 feet including its pedestal. Its height includes a crown-shaped 49-foot pedestal. It also surpasses another recent large-scale religious monument in Poland, the Christ the King statue in the western town of Swiebodzin, which was unveiled in 2010 and — complete with the mound it stands on — rises some 170 feet above the ground.

lll

Earthquake strikes off Indonesia Authorities say at least 47 killed

BY YACOB HERIN Associated Press

MAUMERE, Indonesia — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 47 people, collapsing buildings and causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes. Authorities said dozens more residents were injured and warned that the death toll would almost certainly rise. Authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground, but later lifted the warning when Indonesia’s meteorological agency said monitoring showed no signiﬁcant sealevel changes that posed a threat to coastal communities. Some smaller tsunamis were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit eastern Indonesia’s Flores region at a depth of 6 miles at 5:58 a.m. local time. Its epicenter was 42 miles north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The meteorological agency said the quake was followed by at least 235 aftershocks, with the largest recorded at magnitude 6.2. The agency’s sea-level monitoring stations ac-

PHOTO PROVIdEd BY INdONESIAN NATIONAL SEARCH ANd RESCUE AGENCY

Rescuers attempt to clear debris Saturday at a building damaged by an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. knowledged some small tsunamis reached coastal villages in Manggarai and East Manggarai regencies. Videos obtained by The Associated Press showed the coastal village of Riung in Ngada regency blanketed in mud and debris after what the agency described as a 5.3 feet tsunami. Fishing boats were stranded ashore, infrastructure damaged, and homes surrounded by sediment left by receding waters. Waves measuring 3.1 feet were observed in Maurole, Ende Regency. Tsunami waves exceed-

ing 1.6 feet were detected in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, and Sape in Bima Regency. A strong, land-based earthquake of 6.9 magnitude hit North Sumatra province in western Indonesia on Saturday afternoon, according to the USGS. It struck 107 miles beneath the earth’s surface, meaning it was too deep to cause signiﬁcant damage or casualties, Indonesian authorities said. East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said power outages hampered the spread of infor-

mation about the impact of the earthquake in cities and villages, complicating search and rescue efforts. “We are continuing to collect reports of damage and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,” Darmoko said. He said quake-triggered landslides in Ende regency blocked the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 435mile paved mountain road spanning Flores Island, from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka. The head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Suharyanto, said

rescuers have recovered at least 47 bodies, mostly in Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai, and at least 50 people were taken to hospitals. Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, said the quake ﬂattened at least 157 houses and damaged nearly 200 more, forcing about 2,000 villagers to abandon their homes and move to temporary shelters. The powerful temblor also destroyed more than 100 public facilities, including schools, medical centers and churches. The death toll could rise because landslides triggered by the earthquake buried or cut off many remote villages across six regencies on Flores Island, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Search and Rescue Ofﬁce in Maumere, the capital of Sikka. Some remote villages are completely buried, he said, and damaged infrastructure and a lack of heavy equipment were hindering rescue efforts. Authorities deployed three helicopters and a rescue vessel to support logistics and emergency response operations, including potential evacuations. East Nusa Tenggara consists of numerous islands and presents significant transportation and access challenges.

Iran, Oman work on strait deal amid ship attacks BY ARSALAN SHAHLA, SARA GHARAIBEH and CATHERINE LUCEY Bloomberg News (TNS)

Iran and Oman appear to be edging closer to a deal on how the Strait of Hormuz should be managed, agreeing on routes through the key waterway that’s proved a major stumbling block in efforts to end almost six months of war between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. The finalization of a “shipping map” forms part of a broader accord to govern trafﬁc through the strait and constitutes an independent arrangement between the two states that will uphold their sovereignty and ensure the safe transit of vessels, Defa Press cited Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying. The state-run news agency didn’t spell out whether ships will be charged transit fees or what security arrangements would be made for them, saying another phase of talks would be held. The move follows a series of attacks in Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited before the war. The U.S. wasn’t party to its negotiation and is unlikely to agree to terms that don’t restore free passage along

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO BY VAHId SALEMI

A man rides on his motorbike on Saturday in Tehran, Iran, past a billboard with a message that reads in Farsi: ‘We must rise up’ and an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the U.S. and Israel strikes on Feb. 28. the route linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose almost 6% this week as hopes faded of a quick resolution to a deadlock that’s disrupted the ﬂow of oil and other key commodities to global markets. There had been some 65 confirmed incidents involving vessels in Hormuz and the broader Middle East during the conflict and 17 seafarers had died as of Aug. 11, according to the International Maritime Organization. Attacks have continued since then, with the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations saying on Saturday that it had been notified

of a projectile striking the hull of a bulk carrier. And two Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. vessels were struck while transiting Hormuz on Thursday and another was hit on Friday evening, according to reports from the United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news. Meanwhile, the U.S. is readying new economic measures to force Tehran to capitulate in the war, which began when America and Israel launched airstrikes against the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28 and has claimed thousands of lives — most of them in Iran. President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that the U.S. plans to hit

At least 1 student among 5 people shot at Virginia State University BY PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

Five people were wounded in a shooting involving multiple suspects at Virginia State University early Saturday, prompting a campus lockdown and police investigation just as students got ready for a new school year. It happened near the university’s Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers discovered ﬁve people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. At least one of the wounded people was later conﬁrmed to be a stu-

dent, the university said in a statement. The shooting was still under investigation later Saturday and happened as Virginia State’s academic year begins. According to the university’s website, residence halls opened for students a week ago, and classes resume on Monday. Many students had just completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students. Police and university officials have not identified any of the victims. The five were taken to hospitals, and one initially listed as having life-threatening injuries has been upgraded

to critical condition, county police said. The others suffered injuries that were not lifethreatening, police said. The person conﬁrmed to be a student was among those whose injuries were not life-threatening, and the student has been released from a hospital, the university said. The university said in a statement Saturday that the shooting involves “multiple suspects.” It said in a statement later in the day that law enforcement did not believe there was an immediate threat to the campus community, and a campus lockdown had been lifted.

Iran’s economy hard and he didn’t care if the conﬂict ends before the November U.S. midterm elections, which will hinge on voter perceptions of the economy. In a speech on Long Island Friday, Trump said a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports was a “wall of steel” that enabled Washington to effectively govern Hormuz. “Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States,” he said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said an agreement with Oman wouldn’t translate into the strait’s reopening. That “is a separate issue. It depends on fulﬁlling oth-

er conditions that the U.S. must abide by for it to take place,” he said on his Telegram channel on Saturday. While Iran is in contact with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, who are passing messages between Tehran and Washington, “this does not constitute negotiation. We have not yet made a decision to resume negotiations with the U.S.,” he added. Trump has struggled to ﬁnd an off-ramp to the war and his push for renewed economic pressure on Iran comes as the U.S. faces a shortfall of key munitions and mounting domestic opposition to an expanded military campaign.

GET IN TOUCH Customer Service: HELP@THEADVOCATE.COM or 337-234-0800 News Tips / Stories: NEWSTIPS@THEADVOCATE.COM Obituaries: 225-388-0289 • Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-5; Closed Sun Advertising Sales: 337-234-0174 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Classiﬁed Advertising: 225-383-0111 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Subscribe: theadvocate.com/subscribe E-Edition: theadvocate.com/eedition Archives: theadvocate.newsbank.com The Acadiana Advocate (USPS # 25-866) is published daily by Capital City Press, LLC at 203 W. Third St., Lafayette, LA 70501. Periodicals postage paid at Lafayette, LA ISSN 2643-7252 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Acadiana Advocate, Circulation Accounting, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821. Newspaper carriers are independent contractors and not employees of Capital City Press.

All home delivery subscription sales are non-refundable. Should you discontinue your subscription during term, the subscription will end with the expiration date on your subscription, and there will not be a refund of a prorated amount. Subscribers who purchased their subscription before Feb. 1, 2023 and wish to cancel can request a refund of a remaining balance at https://www.nola.com/app/forms/refund-request-form/. Refunds are considered on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of Capital City Press, LLC or its designee. All subscriptions purchased that include a special edition will have the special edition value deducted prior to any refund provided to subscriber upon cancellation of service. Standard subscription rates may be effective upon renewal. All standard subscriptions include digital access and e-Edition, a digital replica of the printed Advocate edition(s). The apps are free for tablets and smartphones. Smartphone apps may not be supported on all devices. The Advocate standard subscription rate is $80.89 per 4-week period, plus tax. The Acadiana Advocate standard subscription rate is $68.48 per 4-week period, plus tax. Standard digital subscriptions include e-Edition with the rate of $31.15 per 4-week period, plus tax starting 1/1/25. Special editions included in home delivery subscriptions are 1/30/26, 3/11/26, 4/15/26, 5/27/26, 7/8/26, 8/19/26, 9/30/26 11/26/26, 1/22/27, 3/10/27, 4/14/27, 5/26/27, 7/14/27, 8/18/27, 9/29/27 and 11/25/27 and are billed at $6.23 each. The Thanksgiving Day edition will be billed at your regular Thursday rate plus $6.23. To opt out of special edition delivery, email help@theadvocate.com or call 225-388-0395. By opting out of special editions you will not receive that day’s newspaper. Thanksgiving Day is not a special edition and opting out for that edition isn’t permitted. Prices shown are in U.S. dollars. Prices subject to change. Other restrictions may apply. We no longer provide credit for temporary delivery stops of 14 days or less. During a temporary delivery stop donations are made to our News in Education program. This program provides newspapers and digital access to schools across Louisiana. This program is paid for by sponsors and temporary stops so that students may use the newspaper for educational purposes in the classroom. During a temporary delivery stop of the print edition subscribers have unlimited digital access to theadvocate.com, nola.com and the apps for tablet and smartphone. Seasonal delivery times from August 2025 through February 2026 will extend to 8:00 a.m. on weekends. Subscribers may also choose to access our digital replica e-Edition of the printed Advocate, Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate and Acadiana Advocate only. As a highly valued customer, we also value your privacy. All personal information collected by The Advocate will be used for administration and customer verification; it may be used for promotional purposes in accordance with The Advocate’s privacy policy. Please refer to our policy located at https://www.theadvocate.com/new_policy/ for information regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. By providing your phone number and email address you agree that we can call or email you to confirm delivery service, satisfaction and/or sales promotions as they may occur from The Advocate. The Acadiana Advocate: 203 W. Third Street, Lafayette, LA 70501

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 3A

lll

U.S. pulls last carrier in Asia as Trump shifts focus President concentrating on Iran, Western Hemisphere

BY BEN FINLEY and DIDI TANG

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s war against Iran is stretching the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression. The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran. The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be shortlived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere. “The administration says that the Pacific is supposed to be the most important behind the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Instead, the U.S. is “doing the exact opposite” of its previously expressed goal of pulling out of the Middle East. American allies in the Pacific are unsettled over the unpredictability of the Republican administration, Poling said, while Beijing “is quite happy with U.S. distraction, with the frustration of U.S. allies and partners.” Beijing sees the U.S. military presence in the region as a threat to China’s rise

and an obstacle to its ambition to seize Taiwan, the selfgoverning island it claims as its own. But the United States has argued that the Paciﬁc region is too important economically to lose. No one expects China to invade Taiwan because an American aircraft carrier has left the region. But the carrier’s absence gives the Chinese another opportunity to show its strength, said Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner who is a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute. “They’re using this as part of the narrative to demonstrate to the Philippines, to Japan, to Indonesia and others that the U.S. is not the big dog in the western Pacific anymore,” Clark said. “They would just prefer that countries in the region decide that China is the bigger power and the U.S. is not able to guarantee their security anymore.” China conducted naval exercises this week with Indonesia and recently has shown signs of aggression toward Japan and the Philippines, two key U.S. allies that also have territorial disputes with Beijing. China carried out military drills this month near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Both China and the Philippines have claims over the shoal. Last month, a Chinese guidedmissile destroyer conducted a live-fire exercise off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinotori. Adm. Frank Bradley, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, has been trying to reassure regional allies of Washington’s commitment. He was in Manila on Thursday, telling his Filipino counterparts that U.S. special operations forces are ready to step up joint exercises to strengthen the countries’ alliance. He also is expected to travel to Japan. Evan Sankey, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute who focuses on U.S. policy toward China, said aircraft carriers provide psychological assurance to U.S. allies. The absence of carriers in the

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO BY GIANNIS ANGELAKIS

The USS Gerald R. Ford departs from Souda Naval Base near Chania on the island of Crete, Greece, on Feb. 26. region, he said, “adds to the general sense that the U.S. is distracted by events in the Middle East.” Trump has relied heavily on aircraft carriers to support military operations during his second term. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford returned home in midMay after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, during which it supported the U.S. fight against Iran and the capture of Venezuela’s thenleader, Nicolás Maduro. The Ford had experienced a fire in a laundry space that forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs and left hundreds of sailors without places to sleep. Meanwhile, the Lincoln has spent a record uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Democratic lawmakers have been calling for investigations and greater visibility into conditions aboard the ship. Warships and their crews can only handle so much, said Robert Farley, who teaches national security and diplomacy at the University of Kentucky and often writes about aircraft carriers. “People don’t get enough rest. It’s psychologically ex-

hausting. And R&R is part of keeping the crew healthy,” Farley said. “Sometimes it’s framed as, ‘These people haven’t had a vacation.’ But we are dealing with wellknown limits on the capacity of a crew to operate at top efﬁciency over time. And that just declines.” Clark, of the Hudson Institute, said the squeeze on the nation’s aircraft carriers stems from the lack of preparation and planning for the

Iran war. “If we were going to mobilize to do this kind of conﬂict, and we anticipated it might go this long, we might have done some changes to the carrier schedule to make sure more would be available,” Clark said. Clark said the Navy has 11 aircraft carriers and typically deploys two or three at a time. But it could soon deploy four if the USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves San Diego

for the Middle East, allowing the Washington to return to Paciﬁc. But the massive warships will need maintenance, likely causing a bottleneck at the nation’s only two carrier shipyards. “We’ll end up with a maintenance debt that needs to be paid for the next few years,” Clark said. “We’ll probably have less carrier presence than we’ve had in the previous years because carriers will be lined up to get into the shipyard.” Michael Swaine, a senior research fellow in the Quincy Institute’s East Asia Program, questions the future need for aircraft carriers as warfare rapidly changes. Carriers can be more easily targeted with drones and missiles, particularly by an adversary such as China, Swaine said, while smaller ships and submarines can be as effective in striking targets as the ﬁghter jets that launch off a carrier. Top Navy officials have indicated a desire to move away from a heavy reliance on carriers. Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, told The Associated Press in February that he wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer ships and other assets instead of consistently turning to huge aircraft carriers.

Did your bank change names and forget yours?

Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 11

BY BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press

BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people Saturday, in the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on June 20. Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said an airstrike that targeted a home on the edge of Ansar village killed seven people, including three children, and wounded two. The second, on the village of Deir al-Zahrani, killed four and wounded 17. Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment. Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the deal. Lebanese Prime Minister

Nawaf Salam criticized Israel’s airstrikes on southern Lebanon, saying they intimidate “residents in their homes” and undermine efforts to stabilize the situation in the south. “The seven martyrs of the Israeli airstrike on the town of Ansar are not military infrastructure and the children and women killed were not military targets,” Salam said on X. He added that it is the job of the Lebanese state to deal with any military infrastructure in the country. President Joseph Aoun said in comments released by his ofﬁce that the strikes are “a clear message to the negotiation track and to the American efforts aimed at implementing this agreement.” Intense Israeli airstrikes early Saturday also hit the strategic Ali Taher hill, which overlooks parts of the southern city of Nabatiyeh and main roads leading to it, NNA reported. Despite the truce, Israel’s military has continued near-daily attacks in the area north of the Litani River, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control. The Israeli military said in

a statement it struck Hezbollah infrastructure in the areas of Ali Taher and Ansar in response to an action against Israeli soldiers in the area. The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah violated the ceasefire by attacking Israeli soldiers inside Lebanon, seriously wounding three. It said the military responded by striking the Hezbollah headquarters which ordered the attack, learning only later that Hezbollah “deliberately put civilians” in that military compound. Israel’s military later said the soldiers were hurt by an explosive drone. The Israeli military issued another statement later Saturday saying the strike on Ansar killed Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan, whom it described as a battalion commander with Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force unit. The military said Haj Hassan’s family was with him and was harmed, but emphasized that the family was not targeted. Hezbollah supporters posted photographs on social media of the commander, his wife, three sons and one daughter and said they were all killed in the strike.

Free premium checking for a year. If recent changes have you rethinking your banking relationship, BankPlus is ready to welcome you with a full year of no monthly service fees on qualifying premium personal and business checking accounts designed to give you more from your everyday banking. Let’s talk about what BankPlus can do for you. bankplus.net/switch Business owners, please bring in a current bank statement so we can recommend the best possible solutions and services tailored to the unique needs of your business. QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS: ANY PERSONAL VALUEPLUS CHECKING BUSINESS PREMIER CHECKING • BUSINESS ELITE CHECKING

Member FDIC. Offer available to new qualifying checking customers only. Subject to account approval and eligibility requirements. Other account fees may apply. After 12 months, standard account fees and terms apply. Offer may be withdrawn at any time. See a banker for complete details.

4A ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

GROWTH

Home construction in Lafayette Parish

As the population has swelled in Lafayette Parish in the last five years, so has new home construction. Here’s a breakdown over the last 15 years. Total number of newly built homes in Lafayette Parish by year:

Continued from page 1A

850

675

2011: 625

STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK

Construction on the new Eola Place subdivision is underway Friday along North Eola Road in Broussard.

Where they’re building homes

500

2025: 1,012

’11

’13

’15

’17

’19

’21

’23

Source: MLS, Market Scope Consulting

’25

Staff graphic

Since 2020, 6,656 homes have been built and sold in Lafayette Parish. Here is a breakdown of where the homes were built:

munity is heard in terms of haven’t been proactive.” what types of regulations Now the Boulet adminand policies may need to be istration will use the input B put in place.” gathered at the meetings 49 and by CPEX to devise a Total new construction for Vermilion River What to do growth plan with recomCARENCRO each area of Lafayette Since 2020, more than mendations they hope to Gloria Switch Rd. Parish since 2020: 6,500 single-family homes bring to council members have been built across La- by the end of the year, GoC 93 D fayette Parish. More than deaux said. 10 E 1,000 were built in both 2021 One example, CPEX offiand 2022, when interest cials noted, was the urban 10 rates were at historic lows, growth plan in St. Tamand annual construction many Parish, where parish Cameron DUSON 90 SCOTT topped 1,000 again last year. officials put in regulations LAFAYETTE More than half of those to encourage growth in G3 homes were built in the the southern half. And in F 93 southern part of the par- Ascension Parish, officials ish along La. 92, making it there created a conservaG2 Ridge Rd. the area’s most active cor- tion district in areas where 342 G1 ridor for residential devel- they wanted to discourage H Gol den Grai opment, according to data growth. n Rd. 90 167 K “We have to make this from Bill Bacque, of Market BROUSSARD conversation go full circle Scope Consulting. Vermilion River But a survey of 1,000 and find that right formuO N residents conducted by the la,” Boulet said. “I do think ZONE TOTAL Baton Rouge-based Center there is one. I don’t think P 1,643 for Planning Excellence it’s one extreme or the oth92 YOUNGSVILLE O 1,206 suggests many people do er, but I think if we craft it D 883 not believe infrastructure properly it’ll fit Lafayette.” K 722 has kept pace with growth. For Bixenman, the quesP Traffic was by far the big- tion is more immediate. As F 589 gest concern, followed by development moves south N 565 and new subdivisions conflooding. C 412 “I was at the Milton meettinue to replace open land, G3 294 ing, and all I hear is impact Milton and other commuH 160 and it’s like we’re not do- nities will have to decide E 69 ing anything,” said District whether they want to shape G1 59 Staff graphic 4 Parish Council member that growth themselves — B 30 John Guilbeau, who repre- or find someone else to do it G2 24 Source: MLS, Market Scope Consulting sents the Milton area. “We for them. can go back 20 or 30 years got turned down in 2024 due missioners OK’d it because appropriate development — we didn’t plan properly. Email Adam Daigle at to issues with drainage and of few regulations in place and making sure our com- We’re so far behind. We adaigle@theadvocate.com. for the unincorporated arsubstandard roads. The land for Eola Place, eas. Preston said, had historicalIn Milton, Jeremy Hidalgo, ly held water. The best way president of the Milton Civic SELF-SCH to avoid flooding the neigh- Organization, said residents TO borhood, she said, would be are not trying to stop develhaving lot sizes no smaller opment. They want more than half an acre. say in what it looks like. “If you increase the lot “Our organization beR AP P N T M sizes, it helps out with your lieves that growth is ineviOI drainage, it helps out with table, and our goal is not everything,” Patin said told to stop it,” he said. “Of all Godeaux during Monday’s things our members have meeting. “Why not put (that) mentioned to me in converin? If someone wants to de- sation, the No. 1 thing that velop (now), they don’t have was important to them was to ask for any variances. If preserving our identity you would increase the lot no matter what happens. sizes, all it does is give you That’s who we are, and who time to breathe. You can we are is why people want still approve these develop- to move here. It’s still a very safe, comfortable and ments.” † Milton is facing a similar welcoming place.” Other projects across the debate over Milton Commons, a 180-lot develop- parish have brought out ment proposed between similar opposition. A 237East Broussard and Picard lot development along the EVERY WINDOW* roads. The project would southwest edge of Lafayette feature shotgun-style de- city limits and adjacent to tached homes on lots rough- neighborhoods that are outly 50 feet wide and 100 feet side the city limits got an deep, Bixenman said. initial OK in June despite Several residents spoke residents’ objections. against the matter during “This is not an anti-develLCG’s parish planning com- opment conversation,” Gomission meeting, but com- deaux said. “This is about ve Uni

rsit

YOUR SOURCE FOR PRECIOUS THINGS

Free Professional Appraisals Available Gold and Silver Bullion Bars & Coin ns Rolex watches • Sterling Silver atware flatware

Bought • Sold • Traded Our 44 t h Year

2472 WEST CONGRESS

EVERY DOOR*

$0 down,0 payments,0% interest for12months* Schedule Your FREE Multi-Point Window & Door Inspection before August 31

225-605-9679

*Offer not available in all areas. Discount applied by retailer representative at time of contract execution and applies to purchase of 4 or more windows and/or entry or patio doors. To qualify for discount offer, initial contact for a free Window and Door Diagnosis must be made and documented between 8/1/26 and 8/31/26, with the appointment then occurring no more than 10 days after the initial contact. 12-Month Promo Period financing available to well-qualified buyers on approved credit only. During the Promo Period, no payments are required and interest accrues but will be waived if the promo balance is paid in full before the Promo Period expires. Any unpaid balance remaining after the Promo Period, including accrued interest, will be repaid under the terms outlined in the customer’s loan agreement. Not all buyers will qualify. Higher interest rates may apply for customers with lower credit ratings. Financing is not valid with other offers or prior purchases. Renewal by Andersen retailers are neither brokers nor lenders. Any finance terms advertised are estimates only, and all financing is provided by third-party lenders unaffiliated with Renewal by Andersen retailers, under terms and conditions arranged directly between the customer and such lender, all subject to credit requirements. Renewal by Andersen retailers do not assist with, counsel or negotiate financing, other than providing customers an introduction to lenders interested in financing. By responding to this offer, you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and consent to receive marketing communications from Renewal by Andersen and its affiliates, including calls, prerecorded messages, AI-assisted calls, emails, and text messages (SMS/MMS) at the phone number and email address provided, even if your number is listed on a state or federal Do Not Call registry. Consent is not required as a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply. Calls may be recorded. Renewal by Andersen is an independently owned and operated retailer. HICPA registration #003807. “Renewal by Andersen” and all other marks where denoted are marks of Andersen Corporation. ©2026 Andersen Corporation. All rights reserved. †It is the only warranty among top selling window companies that meets all of the following requirements: easy to understand terms, unrestricted transferability, installation coverage, labor coverage, geographically unrestricted, coverage for exterior color, insect screens and hardware, and no maintenance requirement. Visit renewalbyandersen.com/nationsbest for details. For J.D. Power 2025 award information, visit jdpower.com/awards.

337-232-2573

Appointments Preferred - Walk-In’s Welcome

Renewal by Andersen has the Nation’s Best Warranty coverage

10414 Plaza Americana Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70816

Coin & Treasure

WE BUY, WE SELL

$385 O F OFF $785 OFF

ULE ED

SCAN

Verot Scho

ol R

Jo hn st on

For residents in Broussard, Milton and other unincorporated parts of the parish, the concern isn’t simply that development is coming. It’s that they worry existing roads and drainage systems — and the character of their communities — aren’t prepared for the pace and type of development being proposed. Sally Preston’s home dates back to 1904, but it’s been at its current spot on her family’s land along North Eola Road in Broussard since 1984. The property has never taken on water like it has lately, she said, now that site work has begun on the 149-lot Eola Place development over 39.2 acres that’s will surround her home just outside the Broussard city limits. One day she went outside with ankle-high water boots on to see how high the water had gotten. It overtook the boots and soaked her feet. “I’ve never had standing water on my property — never ever,” Preston said. “My house is up on piers, so I know it’s not going to ﬂood my house, but what good does it do if you can’t walk out onto your property? What good is it if my house has a moat?” The subdivision drew enough complaints from residents at the Broussard meeting last week that Boulet and her chief administrative officer, Rachel Godeaux, huddled with them afterward. It’s not just the drainage that’s begin affected, residents said. The roads are substandard and cannot handle the increased traffic, said Brett Patin, who lives next door to Preston. It’s one of the reasons why a similar development, Ivywood, slated for nearby along Bayou Tortue Road,

1,025

Richfield Rd.

Growth problems

1,200

Raceland Rd.

Lafayette would take the rest up to Vermilion Parish, then we could solve our problems. “My view in all this is Lafayette Parish should have zero unincorporated areas. Bring it in so everyone gets a fair shake in all this.” Bixenman’s proposal reflects a larger question facing Milton and other unincorporated parts of Lafayette Parish: As development pushes farther into the countryside, who gets to decide what that growth looks like? It’s become a large enough issue that Mayor-President Monique Boulet and her staff held public meetings in Milton, Carencro and Broussard to discuss the challenges and gather input. Lafayette Parish has led Louisiana in population growth since 2020, adding 16,179 residents. Its growth outpaced that of traditional hot spots Livingston and St. Tammany parishes, even though those parishes are roughly three and five times larger geographically. In many parts of Lafayette Parish, the boundaries between the cities and countryside are beginning to blur as development pushes outward. “There’s real frustration,” Boulet said. “We really have to figure out what are the right specifics for Lafayette Parish. We do need to take some steps. We’re one of the few parishes without at least land use guidelines in the unincorporated areas. It’s pretty much the Wild West.” That was evident with the Milton Commons project, but others have surfaced, including a 149-lot project just outside the city limits in Broussard. Similar projects have gone up in and around Carencro, as well. Every year since 2020 about 1,000 homes have been built and sold in Lafayette Parish, and this year looks more of the same. If the SpaceX project happens in Vermilion Parish, that number is likely to accelerate. “You’re not going to stop these projects,” Bixenman said. “They’re going to happen. Where is Lafayette Parish going to grow? You’ve got areas south of the Lafayette city limits coming into Milton that haven’t been developed.”

Renewal by Andersen Impact Resistant Windows

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 5A

lll

WIND

Continued from page 1A parts of the country due to the state’s long experience offshore, stood to gain from a burgeoning new industry in their backyard. But Trump and other opponents have cited a range of grievances related to wind power — from costs to national security claims — and focused heavily on opening up new areas for oil and gas drilling instead. The Trump administration has also put an emphasis on developing nuclear power. Des Allemands-based Otto Candies LLC, which began business in 1942 servicing oil rigs, has recently branched out into the wind sector, currently operating three vessels off the East Coast. The company’s main source of business remains the oil-and-gas sector, but it saw prospects for future growth in wind. “It is disappointing to us from our company’s perspective,” said CEO Otto Candies III. “The offshore wind is a burgeoning new market for us.” He said he hoped for a turnaround in the future, but “pushback from the current administration has been difﬁcult on our clients.”

‘Very important’ In addition to the RWE lease, the state under previous Gov. John Bel Edwards had entered into two agreements with companies for wind farms in nearshore state waters. One of them, for a project off Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, was withdrawn in 2025. The second, for the “Cajun Wind” project off Cameron Parish, remains in effect. But the state Department of Conservation and Energy was not aware of any imminent construction related to it. The U.S. arm of Danish company Vestas, which is behind the project, did not respond to requests for comment. Gov. Jeff Landry is a close ally of Trump and has backed away from his predecessor’s

PHOTO PROVIdEd BY U.S. dEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The Block Island Wind Farm near Rhode Island takes a beating from waves in 2016. The wind farm was the first to operate in U.S. waters. Several Louisiana companies with roots in the offshore oil and gas industry helped design and build the farm. climate action plan, which was the first in the Gulf South. The state’s economic development arm did not respond to a request for comment. Regional economic development organization GNO Inc., once a strong proponent of the wind sector, also did not respond to a request for comment. Those keeping a close eye on the offshore wind industry say they believe the pendulum could swing back once Trump exits office but hold little hope for now. “All-of-the-above energy is very important for Louisiana,” said state Rep. Joe Orgeron, R-Cut Off, whose former company Montco supplied lift boats to help build the nation’s first-ever offshore wind farm off Block Island in the northeast. “Our inherent evolved skills of working in offshore energy support lend perfectly to a broad offshore wind industry continuing to grow.” One 2024 study found that Louisiana could see 3,700 more jobs by 2031 in connection with the wind industry. RWE’s settlement with the Trump administration was the fifth such deal with wind developers, industry watchers said. It will see RWE instead invest $900 million for a 16% stake in Woodside Energy’s Louisiana LNG

Project near Lake Charles, among other investments. Louisiana has embraced liquefied natural gas development and positioned itself as a hub for the industry, with major projects in the state’s southwest and in Plaquemines Parish. LNG plants supercool gas to liquefy it, allowing it to be stored on vessels for export. The industry is an important emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gases, though it produces signiﬁcant jobs during plant construction and provides the nation with economic leverage abroad. “Americans deserve an energy system built on common sense, not one dependent on costly subsidies or technologies that can’t meet our country’s current demand,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in announcing the RWE settlement.

climate impacts, said Madelyn Smith, senior program manager for the Southeast Wind Coalition nonproﬁt. The RWE project was expected to produce 2 gigawatts of electricity once built out. That would be enough to power around

350,000 homes, but a primary focus of the project was expected to be power supply agreements. Such agreements help pay for large-scale renewable electricity projects by allowing companies to effectively buy clean energy. Industry faces increasing pressure, particularly those exporting to Europe, to produce products using at least some renewable energy. The European Union has, for one, instituted a carbon fee on certain imported goods. Not all renewable projects have been scuttled. Onshore wind has not faced as tough a time as offshore projects, and solar has seen some success despite pushback from residents. In Louisiana, at least two onshore wind projects are moving ahead, said Smith. One is in Morehouse Parish and another is in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes, she said. But for offshore wind, the Trump administration has left little doubt that it will

stand in the way, she said. “The federal government just stopped issuing any sort of permits, so these leases became functionally just not valuable anymore,” Smith said. “And they’re expensive, so it makes sense that developers would return those assets and reinvest money in something that could actually move forward.” Greg Upton, executive director of the Energy Institute at LSU, said a favorable political climate, reduced costs and regulatory certainty could see Gulf offshore wind reemerge in the future. “Economics has a way of driving policy,” he said. “If natural gas prices were to meaningfully increase and people were to anticipate that that was going to continue, it’s absolutely plausible that offshore wind could happen in the Gulf of America in the future.” Email Mike Smith at msmith@theadvocate.com.

‘Not valuable anymore’ The cost of offshore wind power is relatively high for now, though it is expected to drop once the technology matures in the United States. There are also no fuel requirements once the turbines are up and running. They can also help provide a hedge against gas price volatility and allow industrial plants to sign virtual power supply agreements to show they are reducing their

METALMARTS.COM

4401 NW Evangeline Thrwy, Carencro, LA

337-886-7944

metalmart35@mcelroymetal.com

PUBLIC NOTICE TO LAFAYETTE PARISH CITIZENS Louis J. Perret, Clerk of Court and Chief Election Official for the Parish of Lafayette will hold five (5) meetings for persons interested in becoming certified to serve as follows:

COMMISSIONER

Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 5:30 pm Thursday, August 27, 2026 at 10:30 am and 5:30 pm Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at 5:30 pm Thursday, September 3, 2026 at 5:30 pm Location: Lafayette Parish Courthouse 1st Floor, Jury Assembly Room Please attend one meeting that is at the most convenient time for you! This meeting is for those who have NEVER SERVED as an election commissioner. Pay is $200 per Election with required school attendance. QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED: 1. A Lafayette Parish registered voter who is able to perform the essential duties of a commissioner. 2. A seventeen (17) year old who is participating at a 12th grade level or has completed a 12th grade education 3. A qualified voter of this state or a registered voter of another state who is a student at an institution of higher learning in Lafayette Parish (Must provide student identification or fee bill showing current enrollment and a copy of his/her proof of voter registration) 4. Must not have been convicted of an election offense as defined in Chapter 10 of the Louisiana Election Code 5. Must not be required to register as a sex offender or child predator pursuant to R.S. 15:542. 6. Law enforcement officers shall not be eligible to serve. Please call our Election Department at 337-291-6368 if more information is needed.

PLEASE NOTE: CAMERA PHONES ARE NOT PERMITTED IN THE LAFAYETTE PARISH COURTHOUSE.

6A ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

EDUCATION Making the most of back-to-school parent-teacher talks Tips can end the rush and tension for all involved

BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP education writer

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Parent-teacher conferences can conjure a familiar scene: adults crammed into childsize chairs, listening to teachers run through a list of students’ achievements and struggles. For many families, they can also mean frustration. Today’s school conferences are sometimes 15 to 20 minutes, with little time for parents to ask their own questions. Adults may arrive with their own baggage about their time in school. They may be worried about being judged or dreading what a teacher may say about their child. For teachers, conferences can mean pressure to give a snapshot of a child’s progress, with the next opportunity to connect months away — if at all. The conference may be brief, but it can set the tone for a family’s relationship and partnership with the teacher. Parents, teachers and school administrators have these tips to make the conference productive and help build a stronger connection between home and school.

Communicate early Schools typically offer several early opportunities for parents and teachers to connect, from meet-the-teacher events and backto-school nights to open houses. By the time conferences are on the calendar, parents and teachers should already be communicating. But sometimes it can take weeks, or even months, to hear from your child’s teacher, who must establish relationships with dozens of families. Don’t wait, say parents and teachers alike. Take the initiative and reach out yourself. “Do you want to set your child up for success? It’s a yes or no. And if

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

Emily Henderson sits at her desk in her first and second grade classroom ahead of the school year at BASIS Flagstaff in Flagstaff, Ariz. it’s a yes, then you have to be very involved,” said Bell White, a Houston mother of two. When her son Lennox, now 8, was in preschool, four teachers came and went during the school year. White quickly learned how important it was to stay engaged with the school. Since then, she has introduced herself to each of her son’s teachers at the ﬁrst opportunity, even if virtually. She tells them how she prefers to communicate — whether over email, phone or via a school app — and when she’s most reachable. Technology can make it easier for parents with multiple children or busy schedules to stay connected and for teachers to send quick messages or reminders. But with schools using multiple platforms, some parents say it helps to establish a preferred way to communicate. Early in the relationship, parents and teachers should focus on building trust, said J.B. Robinson, a clinical psychologist and dean of students at National University in San Diego. Positive interactions are like putting money into a relationship bank that can be drawn on when challenges arise, he said. For

parents, that can mean showing interest in the classroom and recognizing the effort that goes into creating a positive learning environment. Teachers can similarly begin with questions about the individual child, rather than immediately moving into classroom expectations or academic performance. Whatever the nature of your ﬁrst communication with a teacher, try not to worry that you’re bothering the teacher. Your child’s growth is the priority, and communicating with you is part of the teacher’s job.

Make the time count Parent-teacher conferences are designed to address students’ academic and social progress, identify concerns and discuss what comes next, but there may not be time to cover everything parents or teachers want to discuss. “The teacher and the parent need to go in with realistic expectations as to what can actually be accomplished in one parent-teacher conference and see that more as a starting point for a conversation,” said Robinson, the psychologist. The meetings can also be ripe for tension. Teachers may be having dozens of back-to-back confer-

ences, while parents may arrive with weeks’ worth of questions, all seemingly valid. Depending on the school and the child’s grade, some teachers follow a set agenda, with presentation slides, packets or lists of topics to cover. Emily Henderson, who teaches ﬁrst and second grade at BASIS Charter School in Flagstaff, Arizona, says her conversations are mostly individualized, with some focusing more on academics and others on social-emotional needs. “We use parent-teacher conferences to really talk about strengths, talk about weaknesses of students, and then come up with a plan together to address those concerns or address those needs,” Henderson said. Given time constraints, parents should come with just a few thoughtful questions, teachers say. But remember this is a starting point. It’s totally reasonable to set up another conference later in the year, even if your school doesn’t have one scheduled. Or you can continue the conversation online or over the phone.

What to do if your kid is present Some schools recommend that students join the conference, and in other cases, a parent may want to bring them along — or need to, if they lack child care. For younger students, teachers recommend asking in advance whether they should attend, if that is an option. If you do plan to bring the student or younger siblings, let the teacher know ahead of time so they can prepare for a more engaging meeting or set up a few distractions. If younger students are present, it is up to administrators and teachers to engage them and speak directly to them, said Kellie Hintze, head of school at BASIS Flagstaff. “When I have younger students at a meeting, we typically have a mini meeting with the student and the parent,” she said. “Then we can dive a little deeper or have those long, drawn-out conversations that a student wouldn’t want to be a part of or be able to focus

through.” Older students have more agency over their learning and are better positioned to contribute to discussions about their progress, challenges and possible next steps, experts say. “We’re doing students a disservice when we’re not teaching them how to advocate, when we are not teaching them those communication skills, to have the tough conversations when they need to be had,” said Kendrick Friendly, who is a high school assistant principal with Denver Public Schools. “This is a safe space for those conversations to happen.”

Questions to consider Parents don’t need to arrive with a long list of questions. A few thoughtful ones can help clarify what a teacher considers success, what they are seeing in the classroom, what support is available and how to stay connected throughout the year. Consider asking: 1. How do you prefer to communicate with parents, and how often should we check in? 2. What does success look like for my child this year? 3. How do you identify when a student is falling behind, and who should I speak with about getting additional support? 4. What are you noticing about my child that I might not see at home?

Leave with a plan Parent-teacher conferences do not resolve every concern, but they should identify next steps, whether those are regular checkins, strategies for improved behavior or additional resources, such as tutors, specialized instruction or extracurricular activities. Before leaving, make sure everyone knows what happens next, who is responsible for it and when you’ll check back in. Don’t be afraid to request another conference later in the year. Remember: Your child’s growth is the priority, and it will take everyone in the room to get there.

DEADLINE FOR TICKET PURCHASE

2026

SEPTEMBER 28

WIN THIS HOUSE!

BUY TICKETS NOW FOR EARLY BIRD PRIZES

DONATED BY

Erie Roofing Since 1976

LOT DONATION

Trust the Nation’s #1 Rooﬁng Contractor

Free CANE’S FOR A YEAR

Award-Winning Roofing and Customer Service

Reward Card

$5,000 Cash

TICKET DEADLINE

AUGUST 31

AUGUST 17

LIMITED TIME OFFER

50% 50 % OFF Installation

Buy Now TICKETS

TAG HEUER watch

$50

Select either a men’s OR women’s TAG HEUER watch

TICKET DEADLINE

SEPTEMBER 14 SPONSORS

MEDIA PARTNERS

LoveOurSchoolsFoundation.org PROCEEDS BENEFIT STUDENTS, TEACHERS, STAFF, AND SCHOOLS WITHIN LAFAYETTE PARISH SCHOOL SYSTEM.

FREE ESTIMATE

SCHEDULE TODAY! Call 1.855.877.0633 • $0 Down Today • Same Day Financing Available • Premium Warranty Protection

Join over 400,000 satisﬁed homeowners with an ultra-durable roof from Erie Home.

CALL TODAY! 1.855.877.0633 New orders only. Does not include material costs. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Minimum purchase required. Other restrictions may apply. This is an advertisement placedon behalf of Erie Construction Mid-West, Inc (“Erie”). Offer terms and conditions may apply and the offer may not be available in your area. If you call the number provided, you consent to being contacted by telephone, SMS text message, email, pre-recorded messages by Erie or its affiliates and service providers using automated technologies notwithstanding if you are on a DO NOT CALL list or register. Please review our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use on homeservicescompliance.com. All rights reserved. License numbers available at eriehome.com/erielicenses/

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 7A

lll

2026 Chevrolett 0’s Silverado 1500 0% APR for 60 Months +

No Monthly Payments for 90 Days

STK 26124 Duramax Diesel

Disclaimer: 2026 Cheverolet Silverado 1500’s: 0% APR for 60 Months. With Approved Credit. Must Finance thru GM Financial. No monthly payments for 90 days: Finance charges accrue from date of financing. See dealer for full details. Offer Ends 8/31/26.

2026 Chevrolet Trailblazer LS

Great Selection On The Lot! STK 26180

2026 Chevrolet Trax LT

STK 26169

90 YEARS OF HANDSHAKES ZERO ADD ON’S - ZERO HIDDEN FEES! Pre-Owned Dealer Specials 2022 Chevrolet Equinox

Stk # 22178P

$317/month

SUV 261751

2024ChevyTrax2RS..........................................................................1-Owner.............................$19,995

22178P

2022ChevyEquinox .........................................................................Low Miles...........................$23,940

261581

2026ChevyTraxRS.......................................................................Only 1,100 Miles!....................$24,995

23188P 2023ChevyEquinoxLT..................................................................Low Miles...........................$25,995 24228P 2024ChevyBlazer..............................................................................................................................$27,995 25201P

2025ChevyBlazerLT......................................................................................................................$28,995

24234P 2024ChevyBlazerLT......................................................................................................................$29,995

2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LT Stk # 23197P

$490/month 2024 Chevrolet Trax Stk # 261751

$265/month

24233P 2024ChevyBlazerLT......................................................................................................................$29,995 24232P 2024ChevyBlazerLT.................................................................Convenience Pkge....................$29,995 24237P 2024ChevyBlazer...............................................................Color: Sterling Gray Metallic...........$29,995 24238P 2024ChevyBlazer...........................................................................Color: Red Hot.......................$29,995 242401 2024ChevySuburbanLTZ...........................................................1-Owner............................$59,995

TRUCK 261861

2021GMCSierraSLTCrewCab4X4................................................................................$29,995

23197P

2023ChevySilveradoLTCrewCab4X4.....................................................................$38,995

23198P 2023ChevySilveradoLTCrewCab4X4.....................................................................$38,995 24236P 2024ChevySilveradoLTCrewCab4X4.....................................................................$40,995 251861

2024ChevySilverado2500HDDuramax...............................................................$53,980

CAR 261131

2008MercedesBenzCLS550..................................................Local Trade.............................$9,995

Disclaimer: STK 22178P, 23197P, 261751. 20% Down. TT&L Not Included. With Approved Credit. 6% APR for 72 Months. Offer Ends 8/31/26

Serving Acadiana for over 90 years...

CHEVROLET DISCOUNT PROGRAMS $

There is a reason!

500 BONUS CASH

STACKABLE WITH MOST CURRENT OFFERS. SEE DEALER FOR FULL DETAILS.

John “JC” Carpenter Sales Manager

929 North Main St., Opelousas, LA 337-942-9701 • 1-800-960-6537 www.roychevy.com

Burley Lemon

Joseph Mouret

8A ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

LOUISIANA POLITICS Cassidy’s efforts to reform Social Security nearly out of time WASHINGTON — With the primary losses of Democratic Connecticut Rep. John Larson on Tuesday and Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in May, two of the top agitators for fixing Social Security, which is expected to run out of money in six years, will be out of Congress in four months. “I got limited time left,” Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said Aug. 7 on the Senate floor before leaving for a five-week recess. “I don’t feel like sitting back and being a good politician when I should be a good senator working to fix Social Security, because every day Mark it gets worse.” Ballard Social Security benefits, generally, are paid out of taxes that are collected on a share of each worker’s paycheck. For workers making more than $184,500 annually, those payroll tax collections end once that share is reached — translating into higher take-home pay for the few months after the cap is reached. A separate trust fund covers what benefits the payroll taxes can’t. That’s the fund running out of money in 2032. Once the trust fund is empty, benefits will be reduced by 22.5% on average, according to estimates by the actuaries on whom Social Security administrators. An average monthly check is about $2,400. Benefits will decrease by about $450 to $500 per month — unless Congress shores up the program’s finances. Politically, that’s easier said than done. The last significant effort to address Social Security solvency began in 1981 and took two years. For years, Cassidy and Larson, who has chaired the House Social Security subcommittee, have

Landry says he’s not speaking to N.O. leaders

Gov. Jeff Landry made clear Friday that he is still distancing himself from New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and other city leaders after a grand jury in the city indicted Attorney General Liz Murrill last month. “She’s always free to have a discussion with my staff,” Landry told host Jim Engster on WRKF’s Talk Louisiana. Landry “I’m not going to be speaking to them personally until this investigation is done, until I know who did what, what happened and why it happened in the way that it transpired. No one believes that this grand jury just, on its own, took up this matter.” Tensions have been high between state and city leaders. During the legislative session earlier this year, Landry helped push a law merging the city’s criminal clerk of court ofﬁce into its civil clerk of court, preventing Calvin Duncan from taking ofﬁce as criminal clerk after an overwhelming election win. City leaders argued that this created

by Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who is also leaving the Senate on January 3. They decided to “make a run” at jumpstarting the debate with a bill that would circumvent some of the Senate’s baked-in rules that slows down legislative progress to allow more deliberation. “It doesn’t pick a solution,” Durbin said of his and Cassidy’s resolution. “It just says ‘don’t waste any time. Start talking about it.” But even that idea ran into political headwinds. “This proposal, in my view, is effectively a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, also a frequent collaborator on fixing Social Security finances. Wyden noted that, because only the House can begin bills that levy taxes, the proposal to lift the $184,500 cap and continue collecting payroll taxes from well-off workers is off the table. “Each time Republicans get their hands on Social Security, it seems that cuts get made, life gets worse for seniors,” Wyden ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO BY ROd LAMKEY JR. said. Friday was the 91st anniversary Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, departs the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 7 in Washington, d.C. of President Franklin D. Roosbeen on a kind of traveling show cratic Party primary Tuesday the trust fund. evelt’s signing of the law that crehawking their different plans to night largely on arguments that, A couple other ideas are also ated Social Security. keep Social Security afloat. at age 78, he had gotten too old. on the table, including a package “As policymakers blow out Cassidy has A handful of bills have been that would create a commission to the candles on Social Security’s been in Congress filed, but none have enough suprecommend solutions. 91st birthday, they are doing far since 2009, first in port to continue the process. “The history of special commis- too little to ensure its continued the House, then longevity,” Maya MacGuineas, Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren, sions is littered with very good for two six-year president of the Committee for D-Massachusetts, is working with intentions and failed results,” terms in the Sena Responsible Federal Budget, conservative Sen. Bernie Moreno, AARP Executive Vice President a Washington-based centrist R-Ohio, on one package that Nancy LeaMond told the Senate ate. He lost the business-supported think tank would continue to collect payroll committee Aug. 5. May 16 Republiseeking lower deficits, said in a taxes after reaching the $184,500 There’s a little more than four can Party primaLarson statement. months to go before this 119th ry after President cap. “Social Security won’t make it Cassidy is working with VirCongress adjourns and the 120th Donald Trump endorsed a GOP past age 97 as things currently challenger, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, ginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine Congress — sans Cassidy and of Baton Rouge. on another plan that would create Larson — takes office. All legisla- stand,” she added. Larson, an insurance agent who a sovereign wealth fund, allowing tion needs to start again once the entered Congress in 1999, lost his administrators to invest the pronew Congress is seated. Email Mark Ballard at reelection in Connecticut’s Demo- ceeds and dedicate the profits to Cassidy said he was approached mballard@theadvocate.com.

a new, vacant position and moved actions. to appoint their own interim Some critics have accused clerk and call for a speLandry of using the indictcial election, a move later ment to score political overturned by the state points by railing against Supreme Court. New Orleans. But he arMurrill sent a letter to gued that trying to throw city leaders arguing they the sitting attorney genwere usurping the current eral in jail was a major Capitol threat to the rule of law. clerk and warning their Buzz jobs were at risk. Then a “We can’t just, like, STAFF grand jury indicted the gloss over it,” Landry said REPORTS attorney general on 16 felFriday. “We need to hold people accountable when ony counts of malfeasance they use our criminal justice in ofﬁce and public intimidation. system for their own personal axThat indictment was later grinding.” dropped after Moreno and other The governor also said, “Those city leaders issued a letter saying folks in New Orleans have played they were not intimidated and that footloose and fancy-free with their criminal justice system for the charges were far too long at a great expense of causing politilife and property and taxpayer cal havoc for the money.” city. But Landry Landry said there are “ample and Murrill have lines of communication” if the pushed for an city has problems that need state investigation into Moreno help. the grand jury “We’re not leaving, we’re not proceedings that abandoning New Orleans,” he led to the indictment. Landry ordered Louisiana State said. Police to investigate, while Murrill has called for a joint state and federal investigation. Last week, Murrill said she didn’t know the status of any investigation. Louisiana residents are more inMoreno has said she had nothterested in politics and talk about it more often than most Ameriing to do with the grand jury’s

Study examines political polarization

Less Retirement. More Community.

cans, and they are equally or slightly less polarized along partisan lines, a new survey found. The 2026 Louisiana Common Ground Survey, conducted by the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at LSU and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, surveyed 1,046 people on a range of questions about politics and partisanship. “On an abstract level, people in Louisiana appear to feel just as negatively about the opposing political party as they do nationwide, but there are more positive signs when you take it out of the realm of the abstract,” said Michael DiResto, director of the Reilly Center, in a news release. The study analyzed the polarization score — the difference between how a respondent rated their own party and the rival party on a scale from zero to 100. It found Louisiana residents saw a wide gap of 48.2 points, slightly lower than the 49.9 found in a similar national survey. When asked to picture a supporter of the opposite party who they personally know, that score dropped by more than 10 points to 38. Of those surveyed, 70% said they had a conversation in the past month with someone who has different political opinions

than their own. And 57% said they discussed government and politics with others either a few times a week or nearly every day, compared to 45% reported in national surveys. And the survey found broad agreement on many central questions about politics, including 81% saying they want elected officials to work harder to find common ground across the aisle. “These findings show that Louisianans can disagree on politics while still sharing important democratic values. That broad commitment to free speech, equal opportunity and constitutional principles creates space for more constructive debate and cooperation,” Steven Procopio, president of PAR, said in the release. Among other findings: only 8% of people said they posted frequently about politics on social media, and 70% said violence is never justified to achieve political goals, while 14% said it is sometimes justified. When asked if they would feel comfortable if their child married someone from the opposite political party, 46% reported feeling somewhat or very comfortable, 25% said they would be somewhat or very uncomfortable, and 29% said it wouldn’t matter either way.

The Vincent is more than just a place to live, it’s a neighborhood dedicated to providing exceptional senior living experiences. Our enchanting community invites you to explore life’s exciting opportunities and deﬁes your expectations of what senior living should be. We are dedicated to providing outstanding senior living experiences for those seeking the best in life. At The Vincent, you enjoy an exciting, adventurous, social, and enriching lifestyle. Come by for a tour and sample the warmth and support of our community for yourself!

Lease today and get $750 off your ﬁrst three months’rent!* Call for information or a tour.

337.345.4105

SENIOR LIVING VincentSeniorLiving.com

*Must sign a lease by August 31, 2026. Excludes Memory Care.

2201 Verot School Road | Lafayette, LA 70508

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 9A

lll

Indiana authorities: At least 5 killed in severe weather BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press

Indiana authorities said at least five people have died as a result of severe storms and ﬂooding across the state this week, as ﬁrst responders used boats to rescue more people Saturday from rising waters in neighborhoods along the White River in Indianapolis. The state has been hammered over the past week by heavy rains, resulting in rivers reaching record levels and sending residents in search of higher ground. More than a dozen counties have declared local disasters, with much of the latest damage concentrated along river corridors from Hamilton County heading into the northern Indianapolis suburbs. Farther east in Delaware County, sheriff deputies on Friday found the body of a 58-year-old woman who they believe died after trying to drive through floodwaters.

PHOTO PROVIdEd BY INdIANAPOLIS FIRE dEPARTMENT

Floodwaters rise Saturday in northern Indianapolis, Ind. They also recovered the body of a teen who was ﬁrst reported missing on Wednesday after jumping into a river. Earlier in the week, a 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his home in Jennings County. “My heart is with the fami-

lies and loved ones of the five Hoosiers we have lost and every family whose life has been changed by these storms,” Gov. Mike Braun said in a statement issued Saturday. “Please continue to take ﬂooding seriously and stay away from ﬂoodwaters.”

pable of destructive flooding and even the possibility of wildfires kicked up by strong winds across the island chain. Electricity was knocked out for nearly 20% of customers on the Big Island, according to poweroutage.us. Bobby Camara, a 75-yearold lifelong resident, said he planned to “hunker down, cross my fingers, hope the lights don’t go out” at a care home just outside Hilo. He said gas stations were busy as people sought fuel for chain saws and vehicles. “I think stocking up is part of life over here. ... You learn to be self-reliant,” Camara said. Mike Caputo, who lives in Keaau, near the Big Island’s east coast, said his power generator was ready and a 10,000-gallon home water tank was full. He said the main concern was flash flooding and fallen trees, especially albizia, a common tree. “They’re not very sturdy, but they grow extremely large,” said Caputo, 50, a local fire captain. “They can make roads impassable. I made sure my trees were trimmed a few days ago.” The Big Island was under a

hurricane warning, and tropical storm warnings were issued for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. A Category 3 hurricane hit the northeast corner of the Big Island in 1871, according to research by a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist. The latest forecast has Lala striking “very close to the southern tip of the Big Island,” said Vanessa Almanza, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu. Shelters were opened, events were canceled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures, rather than structures that might collapse. “It doesn’t take landfall to create destruction,” Almanza said. The hurricane center predicted 8 to 12 inches of total rainfall across Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island, and 4 to 6 inches across the island chain. Many Hawaii residents are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating ﬂoods in March. Growers still recovering are worried about more damage, according to Hawaii Farm Bureau director Brian Miyamoto.

Braun conﬁrmed Saturday that President Donald Trump intends to approve his request for federal resources to help in response to the ﬂooding and the recovery. Indianapolis Mayor Joe

Hogsett was joined by emergency managers during a briefing Saturday as he urged residents along the White River to evacuate. He said the city was experiencing its most severe ﬂooding in more than 30 years, noting that conditions were shifting rapidly. Jacob Spence, director of Marion County Emergency Management, called it a once-in-a-lifetime type ﬂood. “This is an unprecedented event, and unfortunately we’re setting some new records,” he told The Associated Press. The National Weather Service reported that more than 11 inches of rain fell over a two-day period in some areas. The White River crested at more than 24 feet in the communities of Anderson and Noblesville, surpassing records set in 1913. Flash-flood warnings and watches remained in place Saturday across a swath of

central Indiana. Forecasters expected the White River to crest Saturday evening in the Indianapolis area, where National Guard vehicles were among those helping with the rescue efforts. Rita Reith, a spokesperson with the Indianapolis Fire Department, put the number of rescues at 91 people and 45 pets as of early afternoon. “The water is still rising, so heed the warnings,” said Todd Wilson, director of the city’s public works department. Authorities estimated that about 400 people evacuated parts of northern Indianapolis on their own, while the governor’s office reported more than 350 evacuations have occurred in Delaware County and that a senior mobile home community in Tipton County was being evacuated. Rescues and welfare checks also were happening in Fayette County.

Where monarchs take Lala strengthens into hurricane, ﬂight: The Vincent Senior bears down on Hawaii’s Big Island Living residents create a butterﬂy haven, with big expansion plans

BY ALEXA ST. JOHN and ED WHITE Associated Press

Hawaii’s Big Island was threatened Saturday with its ﬁrst possible direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years as Hurricane Lala roared in the Paciﬁc Ocean and gusty wind, waves and rain pounded the region. The National Hurricane Center said Lala’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. The eyewall was forecast to move over or near the island’s southern end by the evening, lashing its worst winds at volcanic slopes thousands of feet above sea level. Gov. Josh Green, noting rainfall of 2 inches an hour, said “people should be sheltering in place now.” Forecasters said higher elevations on the island, dominated by the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could get as much as 25 inches of rain. That could cause lifethreatening mudslides in a mountainous area where people live off the grid in improvised housing. Earlier the governor called it an “enormous storm,” ca-

Ukraine attacks Russian industrial site By The Associated Press A large-scale Ukrainian attack struck industrial infrastructure in Russia’s southwestern Samara region Saturday, a Russian ofﬁcial said. Ivan Noskov, head of the region’s capital, Samara, said air defense forces had repelled a “massive” missile attack, with “localized damage” to the city’s industrial sites. He also said that medical assistance has been provided to those injured in the attack, but did not give

further details. Ukraine has stepped up its long-range aerial attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion, now in its ﬁfth year. Writing on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s forces had carried out a strike against Samara’s Progress Center, which operates under Russian space agency Roscosmos and is involved in

producing rocket technology and electronics. He said that the strike used Ukraine’s domestically produced Flamingo missiles to hit the site, which is approximately 560 miles from the Ukrainian border. Zelenskyy also said Russia’s Savasleyka air base, some 430 miles from the front line, had also been hit. “Peace is needed, and this must be evident in Russia — through concrete damage to speciﬁc facilities,” Zelenskyy wrote.

WIN

BIG!

By Amanda McElfresh | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This article is brought to you by The Vincent Senior Living.

Years before Judy McIntyre was leading residents planting milkweed, lantana and Mexican sunflowers around The Vincent Senior Living, she was using monarch butterflies to teach students about science, research and the world around them. McIntyre spent her career as a teacher and education administrator, primarily working with gifted and talented students. While working with elementary students one year in Prairieville, she was tasked with finding enrichment activities that would introduce them to new subjects. A chance viewing of a documentary on butterflies gave her an idea. “That topic was a hit because it was something they weren’t learning in their science classes,” McIntyre said. “The kids did research and found facts, and learned how to write reports with that information. The parents and kids both loved studying butterflies because they felt like they were doing something to protect the Earth.” McIntyre is still teaching and learning through butterflies – only now her classroom stretches across The Vincent’s property on Verot School Road in Lafayette. A longtime resident of an Independent Living cottage at The Vincent, McIntyre is a key leader for the community’s Butterfly Club. The club was designed to help create a better environment for monarch butterf lies, whose numbers have steadily declined due to land use development and new agricultural methods limiting the supply of milkweed and other natural plants that are crucial for them to survive. “You have to have two kinds of plants if you want monarch butterflies – a host plant and a nectar plant,” McIntyre explained. “The milkweed is vital because it is the only plant where a monarch butterfly will lay eggs and where the babies will eat. The sunflowers and lantana we have planted serve as the nectar plants. We now have all of those planted around The Vincent near the irrigation systems. The administration here has been so supportive. They have said yes to everything we have asked.” That support has helped the Butterfly Club steadily grow. When Clayelle Dalfares moved to The Vincent in February, the Club quickly captured her attention. Dalfares is a Lafayette native who grew up on South College Road when it was still a dirt road in the 1950s and wildlife was abundant around her home. “I’ve always loved butterflies, but I had never known much about them,” she said. “Because of where I grew up, I was always interested in nature and wildlife, and my mother was a wonderful gardener.” Dalfares’ interest in nature took a backseat after she fell in love with New York City and moved there after earning a master’s degree in music from LSU. Her career included voice work in theater, television and radio. At one point, a production studio asked her to narrate a series of educational videos about butterflies for the National Audubon Society.

“The videos were about how to raise butterflies, how to build butterfly gardens and how to attract butterf lies,” Dalfares recalled. “It was a nice reminder of how beautiful butterflies are. It’s a miracle that these beautiful monarchs develop from these little caterpillars.” Thanks to the Butterfly Club’s efforts, residents and visitors to The Vincent are seeing more monarchs than ever around the property. Community leaders are preparing to take those conservation efforts even further in the coming months. Plans are underway for a dedicated butterfly garden at The Vincent, with the goal of having the community recognized as a Certified Monarch Waystation. The broader initiative is expected to include butterf ly tagging as well as opportunities for gardening, photography, conservation and education. Visitors will also be offered milkweed seeds, extending the effort beyond The Vincent and potentially creating additional monarch habitats throughout the community. “To see the transformation from a caterpillar to a monarch is almost like witnessing a birth and then a rebirth. The new body can do things the old body never could,” McIntyre said. “It’s a spiritual birth. It’s like a Bible study in nature. It thrills us to see it every time, and we’re excited about helping other people witness that as well.”

10A ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

THE GULF COAST

Sunken ships, artificial reefs could attract more tourists As programs grow, so do some concerns

In Okaloosa County, some local divers say visitors from California, the Northeast and the Midwest are already coming to explore the county’s wrecks. “It’s been huge,” said Savanna Christy, who owns a dive shop in Destin. Fogg said the program is also helping fishermen. Ten years ago, he said, most boats would pile around a few good offshore fishing sites. Now boats leave in different directions, heading for various artificial reefs. Advocates say the spread prevents overfishing and bolsters the local economy. One estimate by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggests every dollar spent on artificial reefs in Florida’s Panhandle creates about $138 — a return on investment of more than 13,000%.

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

Under the waves, miles from the coastline, Alex Fogg keeps finding opportunity. He and his colleagues have sunk thousands of tons of concrete and nearly two dozen old ships off the Florida Panhandle in recent years as part of a vast and growing network of artificial reefs. They are planning to send dozens more structures to the bottom of the Gulf. And they are betting their endeavor will lure thousands more visitors throughout the year and bring millions of dollars to the cities of Destin and Fort Walton Beach. “We’re going to become even more discovered,” said Fogg, who manages the county’s artificial reef program, which is now among the largest in the world. The region “has always been considered a summertime beach destination, but when we started to do the artificial reefs, we realized it was a year-round destination,” said Jennifer Adams, the county’s tourism director. “That’s been the biggest change for us — trying to develop these products that will help the local economy but really embrace more than just the beach.” The county has sunk more than $20 million worth of artificial reefs over the last five years, including many funded by grants and partnerships. Leaders and some local businesses say the underwater network is beginning to catch the attention of divers and anglers from Louisiana and around the country as more fish move in. The county is also in the midst of its largest and most controversial step yet: In the fall, it plans to sink a famed ocean liner called the SS United States. Fogg and his colleagues are confident the ship’s addition to their growing program will turn the Destin area into one of the world’s

‘Where does it stop?’

PROVIdEd PHOTO BY OKALOOSA BOARd OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Okaloosa County sunk the Skippin Sue, a 118-foot offshore utility supply vessel, as an artificial reef south of destin and Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in 2025. most popular spots to dive and ﬁsh. And their efforts are one sign of a surging trend around the region, where many local governments are sinking man-made reefs to build new ecosystems, reshape economies and bridge the needs of man and nature along the Gulf Coast. The idea has always attracted some skeptics. One prominent group racing to keep the SS United States above water is also questioning the safety of sunken ships and how many visitors they attract. “Sinking vessels is essentially dumping,” Carlos Camacho Jr., cofounder of the nonproﬁt SS United States Preservation Foundation, said. But research over the last several decades has convinced many scientists that the right kind of structures placed underwater can

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

attract marine life and help species’ populations grow. “We have built a sustainable fishery,” said Stewart Walter, who runs an Alabama company called Walter Marine that has sunk more than 60,000 artificial reefs since the 1980s. “The scientists that were a little on the fence about whether we were just attracting fish or building the producing of fish have come around to the production side now,” he added. “It’s going to mean a good future.”

‘It’s been huge’ Okaloosa County, home to Destin and Fort Walton, has been sinking reefs for decades. But leaders decided to start turning reefs into tourist attractions almost ten years ago, and now the program is moving faster than even Fogg predicted.

FREE Back by Pop SHOW ular De ER P mand! AC K A GE !

1Selling Walk-In Tub

He expected to sink one or two large ships each year. In recent years, he said, the team has sunk 23. They livestream some reef deployments to thousands of viewers. And the seafloor off Destin’s coastline is now dotted with nearly 600 manmade structures, including several armored tanks, hundreds of concrete slabs that look like pyramids and a Sept. 11 memorial with pieces of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Hundreds more structures exist elsewhere in the Gulf. Texas wants to turn more old oil rigs into coral reefs. Louisiana has three-dimensional printed concrete reefs called “Cajun coral.” Alabama added another reef last month when it sunk a former riverboat casino. Two years ago, a Mississippi pest control company reefed a 70-footlong steel cockroach sculpture.

Still, the idea of sinking ships — the SS United States in particular — is attracting the attention of some preservationists who say they fear it will erase history and harm the environment. The county says it cleans ships of all toxins and follows rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Leaders near Destin are still studying where divers and fishermen are visiting from and how much the artificial reef program is impacting tourism. Adams, the tourism director, expects the SS United States will lead to a boom and said an economic impact study on the existing reef program will be ready in the next several months. Camacho, at the SS United States Preservation Foundation, said clean, concrete artificial reefs are generally “a great idea.” “The question is what are they going to sink next?” he said. “How far is this going to extend?” Fogg is used to questions about when enough is enough. But he said more reefs bring more fish. And plenty of open space still exists in the Gulf. So the answer, Fogg said, is “really never.”

Featuring our Free Shower Package Plus 15% Off

Now relaxing warm bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing shower while seated or standing with Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s FREE Shower Package! ✓ First walk-in tub available with a customizable shower ✓ Fixed rainfall shower head is adjustable for your height and pivots ✓ High-quality tub complete with a comprehensive lifetime warranty on the entire tub ✓ Top-of-the-line installation and service, all included at one

Now you can have the best of both worlds–there isn’t a better,

FREE SHOWER PACKAGE PLUS $1600 OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY

Call Toll-Free 337-221-0958

With purchase of a new Safe Step Walk-In Tub. Not applicable with any previous walk-in tub purchase. Offer available while supplies last. No cash value. Must present offer at time of purchase.

Call Today for Your Free Shower Package

337-221-0958

FINANCING AVAILABLE WITH APPROVED CREDIT CSLB 1082165 NSCB 0082999 0083445 13VH11096000

OVER 50? UNLIMITED FOR JUST $35/MONTH.

Backed by #1 Network Coverage and Customer Satisfaction.*

100% U.S. BASED CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Ranked #1 in customer satisfaction by ACSI®.*

FAST, RELIABLE NATIONWIDE COVERAGE. Ranked #1 in network coverage by ACSI®.*

Switch & Save Today.

844-238-7868

© 2026 Consumer Cellular, Inc. Terms and Conditions subject to change. Plans shown include $5 credit for AutoPay and E-billing. Taxes and other fees apply. Credit approval required for new service. Cellular service is not available in all areas and is subject to system limitations. For unlimited plans, high-speed data is reduced after 35GB on single-line plans and 50GB of combined usage on multi-line plans for the remainder of your billing cycle. Unlimited data plans only for customers age 50+. Age validation required. *2025 ACSI® Survey of customers rating their own wireless service provider. ACSI® and its logo are registered trademarks of the American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC. For more about the ACSI®, visit www.theacsi.org.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 11A

lll

CONGRESS

Continued from page 1A technology industry moves so fast that government hasn’t figured out how to regulate it into extermination, and it’s one of the reasons why it’s probably the fastest-growing industry in America, and one of the areas America dominates the world.” How Congress handles AI could inﬂuence Louisiana’s legislative session next year, as some state lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, have expressed interest in reconsidering some AI regulations if Congress does not step in. Over the past year, AI has grown ever more prevalent in American society, raising questions about how to responsibly use the technology, which impacts everything from healthcare, education and journalism to political campaigns and warfare. AI is already being used to record and transcribe doctors’ visits and review health insurance claims. Accusations that AI systems are harvesting user data to help companies price items differently for individual shoppers have caused widespread concern. And observers worried about national security note that AI can create viruses and has major implications for modern warfare.

The mood in D.C. In recent weeks, news has surfaced that advanced AI systems for three of the country’s leading AI firms broke out of their controls, went beyond human instructions and hacked other companies. The tech giants involved in those incidents were Meta, Anthropic and OpenAI. The breaches have sparked major cybersecurity concerns and alarmed members of Congress from both parties, prompting renewed calls for regulation. Last month, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, a Democrat from California, and U.S. Rep. Nathaniel Moran, a Republican from Texas, introduced a “Kill Switch” bill that would require developers to maintain ways to shut down AI systems to prevent them from causing catastrophic harm. It would also authorize the Department of Homeland Security to order the slowdown or shutdown of an AI system in order to prevent such harm. The bipartisan measure, along with apparent changes in the Trump administration’s approach to AI, may be a sign that regulations are ahead. That a Republican and a Democrat sponsored the Kill Switch bill shows “there is a path for this bill and other bills that focus on protecting Americans from loss of control incidents and other national security threats,” said Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of the Alliance for Secure AI, a nonproﬁt based in Washington, D.C., that aims to build bipartisan support for AI safeguards. Steinhauser also has worked as a

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO BY ROd LAMKEY

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, center, has said he supports national AI guardrails to protect Americans but that the federal government should ‘regulate only where we must and pave the way for American dominance.’ Republican strategist.

Response from Trump The fate of AI regulations also depends on congressional leadership, the midterm elections and what stance Trump takes. For now, Louisiana has two of Congress’ highestranking ofﬁcials in its delegation: Scalise, the House majority leader, and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Both are Republicans. Spokespeople for Johnson and Scalise did not answer questions about whether the congressmen would support the Kill Switch bill. Johnson’s spokesperson shared remarks the speaker made earlier this year, in which he said he supported national guardrails to protect Americans but that the federal government should “regulate only where we must and pave the way for American dominance.” U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, who is likely to be the only Louisiana Democrat in Congress after the midterm elections, also did not answer a question about whether he supported the Kill Switch bill. He did, however, issue a statement saying he supports measures that would require AI chatbots to disclose to children that they are not real human beings, along with regulations that would protect Americans from AI abuse and from being deceived by AI-generated content. In previous statements, both Johnson and Scalise have expressed support for regulations that align with Trump’s plans. In March, the Trump administration released its AI policy agenda, which says Congress should block state AI laws that “impose undue burdens” in order to ensure “a minimally burdensome national standard” that promotes American dominance in the technology. But the framework endorses regulations that protect children, and it suggests there is also room for laws that protect consumers, prevent fraud and govern the placement of AI infrastructure.

Throughout much of his term, Trump has been reluctant to curb the use of AI, arguing that restrictions would hinder U.S. innovation. The president has strong ties to tech billionaires, and tech companies donated millions of dollars to his reelection bid and inauguration. But Steinhauser said there are signs that the White House is shifting its approach — and he believes that concerns about AI from Trump’s base may push the president toward regulations. Trump recently issued an executive order establishing a national framework for the government to test advanced AI models before their release, though that testing is voluntary. And in June, the Trump administration temporarily halted the release of one of Anthropic’s AI models due to cybersecurity concerns. The White House did not answer a question about whether the president would support the Kill Switch bill, but a White House official did issue a general statement citing the national policy framework the Trump administration released in March. “The Trump Administration is committed to implementing a comprehensive AI framework that serves all Americans,” the statement said. “This approach will protect children, prevent censorship, respect intellectual property, and safeguard communities while ensuring America remains the undisputed leader in AI and technological innovation.” The statement also reaffirmed the president’s strong opposition to “restrictive” state regulations.

AI, the race for Congress AI is becoming a focal point in the midterm elections, especially as opposition to AI data centers crops up across the country. A Gallup poll recently found that 70% of Americans oppose the construction of such data centers in their local communities, and data center development has become

IRS Back Taxes Got You Worried? These guys helped so much!! Helped me navigate my unfortunate situation with such ease. A BIG thank you... A huge blessing.

“

- Catherine

Our Tax Professionals will get you on the phone with the IRS in minutes for FREE. We will help negotiate the best solution for your tax challenge. At PRIORITY TAX, WE'VE GOT YOUR BACK!

CALL NOW FOR FREE CONSULTATION!

844.426.1495

Priority Tax is a private company that identifies qualified consumers who require tax assistance. They are not the IRS, nor a State Taxing Authority. They are not a debt relief company or attorney referral service. Costs and results will vary. RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED. Hiring a tax resolution company is an important decision and should not be based solely on advertisements. There is no charge for a consultation. Call for complete details.

a key issue in the Texas governor’s race. Louisiana has two wideopen congressional seats, both of which favor Republicans. Those seats are in the 5th and 6th districts; in the 5th, Meta’s plan to build a massive data center — and the power needs associated with that plan — has stoked controversy across the state. It is unclear how prominently AI will feature in Louisiana’s congressional races. The ﬁelds are crowded, with nine candidates in the 5th District and 10 candidates in

the 6th District; after qualifying for those races earlier this month, most candidates said there ought to be some national regulations on AI. In the 5th District, state Sen. Stewart Cathey, RMonroe, and state Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, both said AI needs guardrails — but that those guardrails should not be overly burdensome. State Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, said he was committed to putting a national framework in place to keep AI from being abused; and Misti Cordell, another Republican who chairs the Board of Regents, said she was concerned about how quickly AI was advancing; the country needs to find a way to manage it, she added. Those four Republicans have the best odds of winning the Fifth District race. State Rep. Pat Moore, DMonroe, who is the only major Democrat in the running, said AI was an important tool but that regulations were needed to minimize the harm it could cause. The 6th District’s biggest candidates are state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and state Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge. Edmonds said he would work hard to protect constituents while also ensuring Louisiana could reap the economic beneﬁts of AI. Miguez called AI the “new space race” and said it was imperative that the United States stay ahead of China in that race, but that he would work to protect children from harms associated with AI and to prevent utility costs from going up because

of data centers. Lindsay Rubia Garcia, one of three Democrats vying for the 6th District seat, said she did not oppose AI but felt “we are going too fast without the regulational safeguards.” Garcia, a former teacher and recent law school graduate, won the Louisiana Democrats’ endorsement when she was running for the 5th District earlier this year, before the state delayed elections and redrew its congressional map. In a statement, Chauna Banks, another Democrat running in the 6th District, said she would support a bipartisan approach to AI that “protects the public, preserves constitutional rights, encourages American innovation, and holds bad actors accountable without creating unnecessary barriers.” Banks previously served on the Baton Rouge Metro Council. And Pat Forbes, a Democratic candidate who worked for the state for 20 years, mostly handling disaster recovery efforts, shared a concern that differed from those many of the other candidates expressed: He was worried AI would widen the wealth gap in the country. “How can we with good conscience not look at that and pass laws that make sure (AI) beneﬁts the country and the people of the country, and not just some billionaires?” he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan.friedmann@ theadvocate.com.

Annual Acadian memberships keep emergency personnel ready to respond when it matters most

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This article is brought to you by Acadian. When Acadian Ambulance began serving South Louisiana communities in 1971, its ﬂeet consisted of just two ambulances. But, the young company had something else its founders believed would be critical to its future: the support of the communities it served. During Acadian’s early days, cofounders Richard Zuschlag, Roland Dugas, and Richard Sturlese frequently heard how essential their service had become. Staffed largely by military veterans, the private ambulance company quickly established itself as a vital healthcare provider and a crucial lifesaver for the community. That made it easy for people to support a subscription-based membership model to support the company’s services, based on a similar program Zuschlag knew about from his home state of Pennsylvania. Acadian’s ﬁrst membership drive enrolled 8,400 members. As the company marks its 55th anniversary on September 1, 2026, the membership program continues today, supporting a mission that extends beyond responding to emergency calls. Membership funds help the company invest in equipment and training while supporting community services such as free ambulance standbys at high school football games, fairs and festivals. Today, there are approximately 13,000 Acadian members across its service area. Enrollment is now underway for the 2026-27 membership year, which runs Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027. Individuals can renew or sign up for a membership online at acadian. com/membership or by calling 1-800-256JOIN (5646). The annual membership drive concludes on September 11, 2026. In a 2024 podcast interview with Dr. Craig Greene, Zuschlag recalled how Acadian quickly expanded and responded to local needs – especially in small rural communities where health care can be many miles away. Today, thanks in large part to membership support, Acadian strategically positions ambulance stations and uses onboard computers, GPS mapping and advanced tracking technology to help its Communication Center identify and dispatch the nearest appropriate ambulance.

For Acadian members, the direct benefits are numerous: • A 30 percent discount on billed ambulance charges • A VIP Phone Line with exclusive access to specialized customer service and billing assistance • Enrollment in a savings network that allows members to save thousands on discounted products and services from local and national businesses • Free doorbell camera with the purchase of a monitored security system through Acadian Total Security • Save 10 percent on monthly monitoring rates of Acadian On Call medical alert systems Acadian’s membership program also helps the company continue to invest in the most advanced equipment and training. Every ambulance carries state-of-the-art life-saving technology, and every medic is rigorously trained in the latest procedures. Acadian’s fleet includes more than 750 ambulances, along with helicopters and fixed wing aircraft that are ready to respond in the most dire circumstances. It is work that hasn’t gone unnoticed – Acadian Ambulance has earned the gold standard and is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, and Acadian Air Med is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems. Because of the membership program, this unsurpassed level of service is available 24/7 to thousands of people. Whether its crews are responding to a personal medical emergency, standing ready to help young athletes at high school games or providing support at one-ofa-kind community festivals, Acadian is there when and where people need it. Through the Membership Program, Louisianans can continue to support the equipment, training and services that keep Acadian ready to respond, wherever the call comes from. Sign up or renew your Acadian membership for 2026-27 online at acadian.com/membership or by calling 1-800-256-JOIN (5646).

12A ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

THANK YOU FOR VOTING US

the best grocery store -Donny Rouse, CEO, 3rd Generation -

ACCEPTED IN-STORE AND ONLINE! SNAP/EBT is accepted in-store and online for Curbside Pickup and for delivery through Instacart, DoorDash, and UberEats.

SAVE $ 03 2

SAVE 32 ¢

SAVE $ 00 5 LB

— ONLY —

$ 96

3 - 4 LB AVERAGE PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

Chicken Breast Tenders

$ 77

Whole Shortloin (T-Bone)

Baby Back IT 3 Pork Ribs LIM PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

USDA PRIME BEEF

USDA PRIME BEEF VALUE PACK

T-Bone Steaks

— ONLY —

$ 68

When You Buy 2

2/$$ 2/

or Fuji Apples

SAVE UP TO 7 Pepsi, (MUST BUY 2) Diet Pepsi or Mountain Dew

$ 49

SAVE 48 OZ CLASSICS up $ 98 Blue Ribbon to 2 Frozen Dairy

STATE GROWN 6.67 - 8 OZ PACK SAVE WASHINGTON SAVE Premium Sargento up $ 22 ¢ 2 Granny Smith Slices to 91 LB

6 PACK HALF LITERS

Hass Avocados

13 99

FRESH

SAVE $ 66 2

Dessert

$ 99

UP dinner GRILL DAY for dad! GAME GIVEAWAY SIX

WINNERS!

EACH WILL RECEIVE:

1 Monument Mesa 4-Burner Propane Grill

6 packs of Johnsonville Fresh Sausage or Brats

SCAN TO ENTER

No purchase necessary. Giveaway runs 8/11/26 - 9/9/26. See official rules for details. Enter at Rouses.com/GrillGiveaway.

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE

— ONLY —

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE ONLY $1

$ 00

PREFERRED

PARTNER

5.2 OZ

3 OZ BAG

Always Save Pizza

Andy Capp’s Hot Fries

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE

15.5 – 16 OZ

2.54 – 4 OZ

Hunt’s Manwich

Nissin Ramen Bowls

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE ONLY $3

— ONLY — 16 OZ BAG 20 OZ

Sara Lee Honey Wheat Bread

Reddi Wip Topping

Juicy Juice

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE

Rouses All-Natural Frozen Fruit

6.5 OZ

64 OZ

Dollar Days Sale

YOUR CHOICE ONLY $5

— ONLY —

PREFERRED

PARTNER

2-PACK 24.8 – 32.6 OZ

Pillsbury Grands Biscuits or Cinnamon Rolls

16 - 16.9 OZ

New Orleans CoolBrew Coffee

Bonanza or Greenwing Wine

Coffee Mate Creamer

8.25 – 10.3 OZ

Amy’s Single Serve Entrées

largest selection & lowest prices on wine, spirits & beer

SAVE up $ 00 to 6

750 ML SELECTED

10.2 – 15 OZ

750 ML SELECTED

Bonterra Organic Wine

99 Barefoot

1.5 LITER SELECTED

$ 99

Wine

12 PACK 12 OZ

Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud Light or Yuengling

30 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Busch or Busch Light

2299

NEW!

THC GENS ADAPTO

750 ML

Corazon Blanco Tequila

1.75 LITER

Taaka Vodka

750 ML

Malibu Coconut Rum

12 PACK 12 OZ

Mike’s Hard Lemonade

Prices good at Lafayette, New Iberia and Youngsville locations August 12th thru August 19th, 2026.

4 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Brez THC Seltzer

19 99

METRO

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

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

1Bn

Ex-Grand Coteau police chief arrested Danny Heitman AT RANdOM

In La. in August, nature works in shifts I’m writing from the front lines of another Louisiana August, perched in an armchair while moths beat against the living room window. They’re drawn each night to the light of my reading lamp, pelting the glass like a faint spray of hail. The stir reminds me each evening that I’m straddling two places. Mentally, I’m in the provinces of 19thcentury England, anchored in another time and country by the heavy copy of “Middlemarch” on my lap. But the buzz of life just beyond the drapes tugs at my sleeve as I wade through George Eliot’s epic novel, pointing me to the present patch of the planet where I actually happen to be. I’m really in the trough of summer in my small corner of Louisiana, a world of such fierce vitality that it’s hard to ignore. Summer is so alive in August that not even the closing curtain of nightfall seems to slow its pace. The flutter at my window after dusk tells me this is so, and so do the frogs that bellow like bagpipes as I drift off to sleep. While putting the house to bed the other night, I glanced across the patio and saw a mouse at the bird feeder, savoring his supper by the light of the moon. Summer does its work in shifts where we live, a roundthe-clock affair that involves wild things in courtship and competition without pause. As the heat of the night meets the cool of our old house, the windows grow slick with dew, and we rise each morning to find them fogged like a bathroom mirror. My wife and I eat breakfast in the front room while the clouded panes slowly clarify, and as our views resolve, it’s as if the house is quietly opening its eyes. What we first see are birds at the feeder. It’s been a banner time for rose finches this summer, but we get other gifts of color, too. With many birds in seasonal molt, the summer palette for birdwatchers can be uneven. A red-bellied woodpecker who arrived the other day was nearly bald, but as a bald guy myself, I felt more sympathy than disdain as he helped himself to hulled sunflower seeds. Minus their best plumage, the molting woodpeckers and cardinals who graze beneath the canopy of our crepe myrtle look a bit like their dinosaur ancestors, which chimes with the primordial quality of August in Louisiana. That feeling deepened the other afternoon when I reached toward the mailbox and found a green lizard dozing on the lid. He looked like a fitting companion for the skink who lives in one of our bluebird houses, peeping out sometimes like a cuckoo sprung from a clock. The school buses combing the neighborhood tell me that summer is fading, which is news I take to heart. August has its wonders, but I’m seldom sad to see it go. Email Danny Heitman at danny@dannyheitman.com.

Officer accused of mishandling drug

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON

Staff writer

Former Grand Coteau Police Chief Michael Buck, who now serves as an ofﬁcer with the department, was arrested following a narcotics investigation and accused of mishandling fentanyl evidence, according to the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce. Buck, 69, was booked on a count

of malfeasance in ofﬁce following an investigation that began Aug. 3, Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said. Authorities have not released additional details about the allegations. Buck has since been released from the St. Landry Parish Jail on a $10,000 bail. The Grand Coteau Police Department conﬁrmed Buck’s arrest in a statement but said the department would not comment because the investigation remains active. In a post on his Facebook page, Buck appeared to address the circumstances surrounding the

charge, saying the allegation involved a pill bottle that he said he secured in his vehicle rather than attempting to wake the police chief at 1 a.m. to place it in the department’s evidence storage. “The only thing I did wrong is not attempting to wake up the chief to come to the station to lock up a pill bottle at 1 a.m.,” Buck wrote. He said he left for vacation at 4:30 a.m. and later contacted another ofﬁcer to retrieve the bottle from his home and secure it. Buck said he expects to be exonerated.

Buck previously served as acting chief of the Grand Coteau Police Department following the departure of former Chief Jeffrey Guilbeau, who pleaded guilty in June 2024 to two counts of malfeasance in ofﬁce and one count of obstruction of justice. In January 2025, Buck announced that he would step away from his duties as chief and continue working for the department as an ofﬁcer. Email Kristin Askelson at kaskelson@theadvocate.com.

Fêtedieu du Teche PHOTOS BY ROBIN MAY

The annual Fête-dieu du Teche makes a stop on the banks of the Bayou Teche at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cecilia on Saturday.

The annual Fête-dieu du Teche, the Eucharistic Procession by boat down the Bayou Teche on the Feast of the Assumption, proceeds through a cemetery Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cecilia. Fête-dieu du Teche attendees followed the Eucharistic Procession from the banks of the Bayou Teche into St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cecilia on Saturday.

ä More from the Fête-Dieu du Teche. PAGE 2B

Former Prairie Elementary School site sold Businessman plans upgrades in $2 million deal

nessman who is planning a signiﬁcant upgrade of the property. Lee Venable, the former owner of Cajun Palms RV Resort in St. Martin Parish, closed on a deal to buy the 22-acre site at 2910 AmBY ADAM DAIGLE bassador Caffery Parkway for $2 million from the Lafayette Parish Acadiana business editor School Board, land records show. Venable is planning to house The former Prairie Elementary School site was sold to a local busi- multiple businesses at the site that

“will enhance Lafayette and the general area and generate quite a bit of income for the city,” said Compass real estate agent Mary Ann Mirian, who represented him during the sale. Efforts to reach Venable were unsuccessful. Mirian declined to give details but noted it would take two to three years for the site to be fully

operational. Some of the buildings will be demolished while others will be remodeled, she said. “I can’t wait to see the ﬁnal outcome,” Mirian said. “It’s going to be an amazing venture, and he’s excited about it.” The site has been vacant for some time. School officials

ä See SCHOOL, page 2B

Basin Bridge crackdown cites 26 truck drivers BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

Louisiana State Police cited 26 commercial truck drivers Thursday during a targeted enforcement operation on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge aimed at keeping trucks out of the left lane. The joint operation, which covered portions of the bridge in St. Martin and Iberville parishes, was launched after State Police received numerous complaints about commercial vehicles traveling in the left lane. Commercial vehicles are re-

quired to remain in the right lane while crossing the bridge. State Police said violations can create safety hazards and contribute to traffic delays. Troopers from Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Regions I and II worked with air support units during the operation. Officers conducted 26 commercial vehicle inspections and issued 26 citations STAFF FILE PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS for disregarding traffic control devices requiring trucks to remain Vehicles drive through the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge in 2024. in the right lane. Troopers also identified four of service. along the Atchafalaya Basin additional safety violations and State Police said proactive en- Bridge to improve safety and keep placed one commercial driver out forcement efforts will continue traffic moving.

2B ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

Quarter police program getting more drones Funding secured to expand emergency response

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

The New Orleans Police & Justice Foundation, a police booster organization, has committed to providing $500,000 to purchase an additional three emergencyresponse drones for the New Orleans Police Department, allowing the program to expand more quickly than previously known. The funding supplements $250,000 allocated by the French Quarter Management District in March for a single remote-piloted police drone and docking station that can respond to 911 calls in the historic neighborhood. Foundation spokesperson Matthew Stone said the funding will support deployment of three drones, mostly in and around the French Quarter. But he said they could also be used in other parts of the city and that the foundation is seeking more donors. The technology has the potential to serve “as a force multiplier” given the NOPD’s staffing issues, according to Michael Harrison, the city’s deputy mayor for public safety, and will let commanders deploy officers and other public-safety offi-

cials more efﬁciently. “NOPD could dispatch drones to quickly assess a situation,” Harrison said in a prepared statement Friday, “allowing ofﬁcers to receive information more quickly, potentially saving valuable time and allowing police resources to be focused where they are most needed.” New Orleans police were told about the additional money in January after the FQMD declined to provide their full request for $740,000, foundation leaders said. The donation wasn’t publicly announced, but it represents a boon for department leaders who’ve said it will help them respond more quickly to dangerous incidents. They are hoping to launch the first French Quarter drone in the coming months and want to expand what’s known as the Drone as First Responder Program in a fashion similar to the recent deployment in Jefferson Parish. To ACLU Louisiana and Eye on Surveillance, advocacy groups that have worked to halt the program and put guardrails around it in recent months, the expanded funding adds to concerns that the program will operate without enough public scrutiny. “They have to be held accountable,” said Sarah Whittington, advocacy director of the ACLU of Louisiana. Meanwhile, public safety groups like the Metropolitan

lll

Crime Commission and the NOLA Coalition, an advocacy group focused on crime and quality-of-life issues, have said the drone technology, deployed properly, can help offset NOPD staffing shortages. “When the city is struggling to hire more officers and find funding for more officers. ... you don’t pay overtime to drones,” said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission. “At some point the police department is not going to be able to do more with less.”

Expanded funding New Orleans police publicly proposed the program in January and sought $740,000 from the FQMD to purchase up to four drones. It came after Jefferson Parish purchased a fleet of 23 first responder drones last year that have been deployed to emergencies, and as part of a broader push in other parts of the U.S. Cities in New York, Arizona, California and several other states have incorporated drones during emergencies, using them to evaluate whether 911 calls are legitimate before dedicating stafﬁng, and giving ofﬁcers information to enter an emergency situation safely. After FQMD board members decided to fund the purchase of one drone at a meeting in early March, 8th District Capt. Samuel Palumbo said that other part-

ners would instead support further expansion. At that point, the foundation’s leaders had made a verbal commitment that they would raise $500,000 to cover five years of costs for four drones, said Melanie Talia, CEO of the Police & Justice Foundation in an interview Thursday. In a letter to NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick in late March, Talia wrote that the foundation was prepared to deposit an initial $95,900 donation and that the city attorney would need to draft a formal agreement. “I remember saying ‘Why didn’t you say us’?” said Talia of Palumbo’s comments about financial support. “We had already committed to these funds.” That agreement “is still a work in progress,” Talia said, but the foundation sent a check to the city from the first donation in March “so they could move forward.” The City Council voted 4-3 in April to approve the FQMD funding for the program. Mayor Helena Moreno said in an April interview with local data analyst Jeff Asher that in addition to launching first-responder drones in the French Quarter, the city is “expanding that over to the 7th District and New Orleans East.” “We’re not just deploying drones just to go watch; it’s about specific response to an ongoing already dangerous situation,” Moreno said. She

said she would get “as much information as possible from our NOPD about the very speciﬁc use of the technology” to make a “decision on whether it aligns with my views on what is really necessary as far as crime ﬁghting in New Orleans.”

‘What are you going to do?’

As NOPD has neared launch, advocates have raised alarms over the program and changes to the department’s drone policy. The Drone as First Responder Program will allow 8th District officers to pilot the drones to the site of emergencies and support first responders. Police have said they will not be used for broader surveillance. But in June, a revision to the department’s 2024 policy was made public that said drones could be equipped with weapons. That provision was quickly removed after public criticism, and the department said it was a “draft policy and had not been officially adopted.” Last week, the City Council voted unanimously for an ordinance requiring quarterly reports to the council on drone flights. Still, critics say the rules don’t go far enough, and have also blasted a July 1 change that removed a required quarterly review of drone use by the NOPD’s Professional Standards and Accountability Bureau. Email Sophie Kasakove In an interview Thursday, at sophie.kasakove@ Edith Romero, an organizer theadvocate.com.

SCHOOL

Teen pleads guilty in paid hit

Continued from page 1B

He says he was ‘struggling’ at the time BY QUINN COFFMAN Staff writer

Anthony Torregano Hayes was 18 when police say he accepted $2,000 in cash to carry out an afternoon hit on a 44-year-old man because the teen was “struggling.” Hayes, now 20, pleaded guilty Wednesday to reduced charges of manslaughter and possession of a stolen firearm. His sentencing is scheduled for later this month. Just after 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2024, Baton Rouge police responded to a call at a residence in the 3500 block of Brady Street. There, they found Johnny Green dead from multiple gunshot wounds. After arriving on scene, detectives learned that Green had just arrived at his residence when an unknown man fired multiple shots at him, according to Hayes’ arrest affidavit. Multiple .223 caliber rifle shells were found on scene. Witnesses told detectives the suspect was seen fleeing on a bicycle and carrying a rifle. Surveillance footage of the suspect and bicycle was posted to CrimeStoppers, and a witness identified the shooter as Hayes. The witness, identified as a family member, said they confronted Hayes and that he admitted to carrying out the killing in exchange for $2,000 cash. When asked why he agreed, Hayes said “because he was struggling,” according to the affidavit. Hayes was also arrested for a separate crime in October 2024 and admitted to police to possessing a .223 caliber rifle. It is unclear if Hayes knew Green before agreeing to kill him, and police have not identified the person who paid Hayes the $2,000. Email Quinn Coffman at quinn. coffman@theadvocate.com.

PHOTOS BY ROBIN MAY

The annual Fête-dieu du Teche, the Eucharistic Procession by boat down the Bayou Teche on the Feast of the Assumption, makes a stop on the banks of the Bayou Teche on Saturday.

BLESSEd dAY ON THE BAYOU Attendees gather for the annual Fête-dieu du Teche at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cecilia on Saturday.

Public Notices

Pets

FINANCIAL Staff Accountant (SP26): 12-month ex‐ perience in accounting field using GAAP accounting principles, Quick‐ Books, and EasyACCT. Job Site: Breaux Bridge, LA. Mail CV: Zina International Inc, 2987 Grand Point Hwy, Breaux Bridge, LA, 70517.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

SPORTS

24/7

Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received either electroni‐ cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico. com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ ﬁce of the Purchasing Di‐ vision at the Lafayette Consolidated Govern‐ ment Building, located at 705 West University Av‐ enue, Lafayette, Louisiana, until 10:00 am Central Time on the 27th day of August 2026 for the following:

ALUMINUM SIGN

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

BLANKS and will, shortly there‐ after, be opened and read aloud in a room lo‐ cated at 705 West Univer‐ sity Avenue, Lafayette, LA. Bids received after the above speciﬁed time for opening shall not be considered and shall be returned unopened to the sender. Bidders are encouraged to attend the bid opening virtually by using the following link https://us02web.zoom. us/j/86888638457? pwd=FGkxJXiFFNzwOW7 lb73LeJH3xGrHRh.1 Meet‐ ing ID: 868 8863 8457 Passcode: 768829

In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. vendors may submit their bid electronically at the website listed above. Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must ﬁrst be regis‐ d i hi d

Public Notices Bids/Proposals y g tered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The regis‐ tration process can take some time; therefore, LCG recommends regis‐ tering days in advance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole respon‐ sibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is deliv‐ ered (whether electroni‐ cally via Vendor Access, in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid opening. Vendors may request the bid package electronically from Heather Kestler at hkestler@lafayettela.gov.

Vendors submitting bids electronically are re‐ quired to provide the same documents as bid‐ ders submitting through the mail as soon as avail‐ able. Only a bid bond, certiﬁed check or

LOTTERY

FRIDAY,AUG. 14, 2026 PICK 3: 8-4-0 PICK 4: 2-9-1-5 PICK 5: 9-4-2-2-0 MEGA MILLIONS: 3-23-27-46-60 MEGA BALL: 11

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

CLASSIFIEDS WORK

cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid se‐ curity. Electronic copies of both the front and back of the check or bid bond shall be included with the electronic bid.

.theacadianaadvocate.com

NEWS 24/7 ON

announced in 2023 that it would house its SOAR program, which helps elementary students who are experiencing behavioral issues. It had been listed for $3.8 million, records show. Venable founded Cajun Palms, which was once named one of the top 100 RV parks in the U.S. He also owned the Fast Track and Dinosaur Park next door. He sold all of it to Michigan-based Northgate Resorts and EBR Properties in 2021 at an undisclosed price. Venable also owns two commercial properties in Lafayette, including the building that houses HTea0 and a medical center near Broussard, records show. Email Adam Daigle at adaigle@theadvocate. com.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Employment

with Eye on Surveillance, said the additional money raised more issues for her about the motivations of the funders. “This adds even more concern to this program and to the use of police drones in the city,” she said. In a statement on Tuesday, an NOPD spokesperson said that the department is “committed to ensuring our ofﬁcers have the tools they need while maintaining clear policies, responsible deployment practices, and open communication with the residents we serve.” NOPD officials said in their Tuesday statement that they are “awaiting procurement of necessary equipment” to launch the program but didn’t detail the number of drones it had yet purchased. For residents and business owners, that means it’s still unclear when the drones may begin responding to emergencies and how broadly they’ll be used. It has also left some wondering if the technology will balance public safety against the potential for misuse. “On the one hand, it sounds invasive,” said Mona Lisa Savoy, president of the 7th Ward neighborhood association. “But on the other hand, when there are not enough cops, what are you going to do?”

Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or Cer‐ tificate of Authority au‐ thorizing the person signing the bid is re‐ quired to be submitted with bid. Failure to sub‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ tion or Certificate of Au‐ thority with the bid shall be cause for rejection of bid. Copies of the bidding documents are available at the Purchasing Office located at 705 West Uni‐ versity Avenue, Lafayette, LA 70506. Tele‐ phone number (337) 2918071 (Attn: Heather Kestler). Bidding docu‐ ments shall be available until twenty-four (24) hours before the bid opening date. Each bid shall be accom‐ panied by a certified check, cashier’s check in the amount of $500.00 or bid bond payable to the Lafayette Consolidated Government, the amount of which shall be five percent (5%) of the base bid plus additive alter‐ nates. If a bid bond is used, it shall be written by a surety or insurance l

Public Notices Bids/Proposals y y company currently on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service list of approved bonding companies which is pub‐ lished annually in the Federal Register, or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-Rating in the latest printing of the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide to write individual bonds up to ten percent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as shown in the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide, or by an insurance com‐ pany in good standing li‐ censed to write bid bonds which is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana resi‐ dents. The bid bond shall be issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana and counter‐ signed by a person who is under contract with re‐ siding in this state. The certified check, cashier’s check, or bid bond shall be given as a guarantee that the bidder shall exe‐ cute the contract, should it be awarded to him, in conformity with the con‐ tract documents within ten (10) days. No bidder may withdraw his bid for at least fortyfive (45) days after the time scheduled for the opening of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided with the specifications.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Bids will be evaluated by the Purchaser based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid sub‐ mitted which is also in compliance with the bid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in ac‐ cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. The Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government strongly encourages the participation of DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) in all con‐ tracts or procurements let by the Lafayette Con‐ solidated Government for goods and services and labor and material. To that end, all contrac‐ tors and suppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐ prises in the purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐ rials, supplies, services and labor and material in which disadvantaged business are available. Assistance in identifying said businesses may be obtained by calling 2918410. PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 3B

lll

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Government

thority with the bid shall be cause for rejection of bid.

y g said businesses may be obtained by calling 2918410.

PUBLISH DATES: 8/12, 8/16 DPR # 1007752 196613 Aug. 12, 16, 2t $100.82 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO BIDDERS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received either electroni‐ cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico. com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ fice of the Purchasing Di‐ vision at the Lafayette Consolidated Govern‐ ment Building, located at 705 West University Av‐ enue, Lafayette, Louisiana, until 3:00 pm Central Time on the 26th day of August, 2026 for the following: 2026 SIGN POSTS and will, shortly there‐ after, be opened and read aloud in City Hall lo‐ cated at 705 West Univer‐ sity Avenue, Lafayette, LA. Bids received after the above specified time for opening shall not be considered and shall be returned unopened to the sender. Bidders are encouraged to attend the bid opening virtually by using the following link https://us02web.zoom. us/j/81089132262? pwd=2Ux1Ey6zCANb3RS eQISrRGGPoZCiVN.1 Meeting ID: 810 8913 2262 Passcode: 420103 In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. vendors may submit their bid electronically at the website listed above. Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must first be regis‐ tered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The regis‐ tration process can take some time; therefore, LCG recommends regis‐ tering days in advance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole respon‐ sibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is deliv‐ ered (whether electroni‐ cally via Vendor Access, in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid opening. Vendors may request the bid package electronically from Thomas Metrejean at tg‐ metrejean@lafayettela. gov. Vendors submitting bids electronically are re‐ quired to provide the same documents as bid‐ ders submitting through the mail as soon as avail‐ able. Only a bid bond, certified check or cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid se‐ curity. Electronic copies of both the front and back of the check or bid bond shall be included with the electronic bid. Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or Cer‐ tificate of Authority au‐ thorizing the person signing the bid is re‐ quired to be submitted with bid. Failure to sub‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ tion or Certificate of Au‐

Copies of the bidding documents are available at the Purchasing Office located at 705 West Uni‐ versity Avenue, Lafayette, LA 70506. Tele‐ phone number (337) 2917187 (Attn: Thomas Me‐ trejean). Bidding docu‐ ments shall be available until twenty-four (24) hours before the bid opening date. Each bid shall be accom‐ panied by a certified check, cashier’s check or bid bond payable to the Lafayette Consolidated Government, in the amount of $500.00. If a bid bond is used, it shall be written by a surety or insurance company cur‐ rently on the U.S. Depart‐ ment of the Treasury Fi‐ nancial Management Service list of approved bonding companies which is published annu‐ ally in the Federal Regis‐ ter, or by a Louisiana domiciled insurance company with at least an A-Rating in the latest printing of the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide to write individual bonds up to ten percent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as shown in the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide, or by an insurance com‐ pany in good standing li‐ censed to write bid bonds which is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana resi‐ dents. The bid bond shall be issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana and counter‐ signed by a person who is under contract with re‐ siding in this state. The certified check, cashier’s check, or bid bond shall be given as a guarantee that the bidder shall exe‐ cute the contract, should it be awarded to him, in conformity with the con‐ tract documents within ten (10) days. No bidder may withdraw his bid for at least fortyfive (45) days after the time scheduled for the opening of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided with the specifications. Bids will be evaluated by the Purchaser based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid sub‐ mitted which is also in compliance with the bid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in ac‐ cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. The Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government strongly encourages the participation of DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) in all con‐ tracts or procurements let by the Lafayette Con‐ solidated Government for goods and services and labor and material. To that end, all contrac‐ tors and suppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐ prises in the purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐ rials, supplies, services and labor and material in which disadvantaged business are available. Assistance in identifying id b i b

PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISH DATES: 8/11/26, 8/16/26 DPR # 1007751 196782 Aug. 11, 16 2t $99.54 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received either electroni‐ cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico. com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ ﬁce of the Purchasing Di‐ vision at the Lafayette Consolidated Govern‐ ment Building, located at 705 W. University Avenue, Lafayette, Louisiana, 70506 until 2:00 PM Cen‐ tral Time on the 2nd day of September, 2026 for the following: Modernization & Upgrades to Elevator at Lafayette Utilities System Administration Building For Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government and will, shortly there‐ after, be opened and read aloud in a room lo‐ cated at 705 West Univer‐ sity Avenue, Lafayette, LA. Bids received after the above speciﬁed time for opening shall not be considered and shall be returned unopened to the sender. Bidders are encouraged to attend the bid opening virtually via ZOOM using the follow‐ ing link: https://us02web. zoom.us/j/82098561524? pwd=tp6PCogzxI6F1Ab CVnZ1pCMMoiFcws.1 Meeting ID:820 9856 1524 Passcode: 903106

Scope of Services: The work shall consist of, but is not limited to, furnish‐ ing all material, labor, tools, and supervision for the Modernization & Up‐ grades to Elevator and associated work includ‐ ing upgrades to elevator equipment room as out‐ lined in the plans and speciﬁcation at Lafayette Utilities System Adminis‐ tration Building. Work shall be completed within ONE HUNDRED FIFTY (150) calendar days from issuance of Notice to Proceed. In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. vendors may submit their bid electronically at the website listed above. Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must ﬁrst be regis‐ tered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The regis‐ tration process can take some time; therefore, LCG recommends regis‐ tering days in advance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole respon‐ sibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is deliv‐ ered (whether electroni‐ cally via Vendor Access, in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid

List of jurors randomly drawn and to serve for the term beginning on August 24, 2026: ACOSTA, ALEXIS ENEMENCIO ADAMS, RAY CHARLES ADEN, HUNTER PATRICK ALBARADO, TYLER PAUL ALLEMAN, IRENE R ALMANDHARI, MAZIN SAID SULAIMAN ANDERSON, DERRICK JEROME ANDERSON, BRENDA M ANDERSON, JUSTIN JOSEPH ANDRE, LINDSAY PATRICIA ARCENEAUX, JAMES ARCHAMBEAULT, YOLANDA B ATKINS, EDWARD BRYAN BARES, JACOB DAVID BASHFUL-BUCKNER, CHRISTINA ELAINE BATISTADURAN, ANACRISTINA BATISTE, ELISE MARAE BELAIRE, SCOTT DELCAMBRE BENOIT, BRITTANY M BERAN, SUSAN CROSBY BERGERON, TAMMY S BERNARD, TROY A BERNAT, BROOKLYN GRACE BLOUNT, JALEIGH MICHELLE BOBO, JENNIFER N BODIN, EDWARD JOSEPH BORDELON, JESSICA RENEE BOUTTE, SHAWN LYNETTE BOWN, WARREN BRUCE BRANTLEY, SHELLEY REED BREAUX, ABEL BREAUX, DWIGHT A BRITTEN, HANNAH ELISE BROUSSARD, CHRISTOPHER MORRIS BROUSSARD, RICHARD L BROUSSARD, CHRISTOPHER BROUSSARD, DIANNA MARIE BROUSSARD, CRAIG M BROWN, ROBERT I BROWN, WALTER DWAYNE BROWN, WILBUR BRUCE, SUSAN BRUNO, CLARISSA ANN BYNUM, ANTRIE WILLIAMS CAMPBELL, ALLEN CAMPOS, CARLOS S CARDINALE, MARIO LUCIEN CARRIERE, KEITHA JANELLE CASSIDY, LUKE B CASTILLE, ERIN CLEMENT CHAMPAGNE, SCOTT M CHAMPAGNE, WOODROW JOSEPH CLARK, SHELLIE RANEE COMEAUX, GRACE L CONLEY, DEBORAH LAVETT CORMIER, SHARON S CORRADO, TONY JOE CORTESE, EMILY BROUSSARD COUNCIL, SHANE DAVID COX, HEATHER H CREDEUR, LEE JOHN CROUCH, SUELLYN BARRAS CRUSAN, DEREK JAMES CUDIHY, DAMON THOMAS CURLEY, MARK ELLIOT DAIGLE, TRISTON DANIEL DAIGLE, KRISTEN NICOLE DAIGLE, HAROLD J DALFREY, LEAH K DAUPHINE, BRANDI SHAE DAVID, JONI V DAVIDSON, HOLANE ABLES DAWN, GYPSY DAY, KAYLA D DECULUS, KYLER WINGATE DOMINICK, SHANETTE L DOUCET, MARION D DRONET, JEANEL D DUGAS, HUEY P DUHON, CHRISTIAN DAVID DUPUIS, HOLLEE NICOLE DUPUY, PATRICIA E DUTEL, CARISA PELLERIN EDWARDS, KIERRA DYJANEE MARIE EID, PIERRE EMPERLEY, STANLEY A FABACHER, BRENDA G FAULK, MORRIS G FERNANDEZ, RALPH J FERNANDEZ, ANDRES

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

opening. Vendors may request the bid package electronically from Heather Kestler @ hkestler@lafayettela.gov.

domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana resi‐ dents. The bid bond shall be issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana. The certi‐ ﬁed check, cashier’s check, or bid bond shall be given as a guarantee that the bidder shall exe‐ cute the contract, should it be awarded to him, in conformity with the con‐ tract documents within ten (10) days.

Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must ﬁrst be regis‐ tered online with Lafayette Consolidated Government as a poten‐ tial supplier at the web‐ site listed above. Bidders submitting bids electron‐ ically are required to pro‐ vide the same docu‐ ments as bidders sub‐ mitting through the mail as soon as available. Only a bid bond, certiﬁed check or cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid security. Electronic copies of both the front and back of the check or bid bond shall be in‐ cluded with the elec‐ tronic bid.

Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or Cer‐ tificate of Authority au‐ thorizing the person signing the bid is re‐ quired to be submitted with bid. Failure to sub‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ tion or Certificate of Au‐ thority with the bid shall be cause for rejection of bid. Pre-ordered copies of the bidding documents will be available with a de‐ posit of $50.00 per set at the Office of Purchasing located at 705 W. Univer‐ sity Ave., Lafayette, LA 70506. (NOTE: NO CASH WILL BE ACCEPTED— ONLY CHECK OR MONEY ORDERS MADE PAYABLE TO LAFAYETTE CONSOLI‐ DATED GOVERNMENT. Bid Documents shall be available until twentyfour hours before the bid opening date. Questions relative to the bidding documents shall be ad‐ dressed to Heather hkestler@ Kestler at lafayettela.gov.

Contractors are re‐ quested to attend a mandatory pre-bid meet‐ ing, which will be held on Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM. at the Lafayette Utilities Sys‐ tem Administration Building site location, lo‐ cated at 1314 Walker Rd., Lafayette, LA 70506. Each bid shall be accom‐ panied by a certiﬁed check, cashier’s check, or bid bond payable to the Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government, the amount of which shall be ﬁve percent (5%) of the base bid plus additive al‐ ternates. If a bid bond is used, it shall be written by a surety or insurance company currently on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service list bonding of approved companies which is pub‐ lished annually in the Federal Register, or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-Rating in the latest printing of the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide to write individual bonds up to ten percent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as shown in the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide, or by an insurance com‐ pany in good standing li‐ censed to write bid bonds which is either

No contractor may with‐ draw its bid prior to the deadline for submission of bids. Withdrawal of bids thereafter shall be allowed only pursuant to LA R.S. 38§2214.C. Other‐ wise, no bidder may withdraw his bid for at least forty-five (45) days after the time scheduled for the bid opening of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided within the specifications. The successful bidder will be required to execute per‐ formance and labor and material payment bonds in the full amount of the contract as more fully defined in the bid docu‐ ments. No contractors may withdraw his bid for at least forty-five (45) days after the time scheduled for the open‐ ing of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided with the specifications. The contractor successful will be required to exe‐ cute performance and labor and material pay‐ ment bonds in the full amount of the contract as more fully defined in the bid documents. Bids will be evaluated by the Purchaser based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid sub‐ mitted which is also in compliance with the bid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in ac‐ cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. Contractors or contract‐ ing firms submitting bids in the amount of $50,000.00 or more shall certify that they are li‐ censed contractors under Chapter 24 of Title 37 of the Louisiana Re‐ vised Statutes of 1950 and show their license number on the front of the sealed envelope in which their bid is en‐ closed. Contractors shall be licensed for the clas‐ sification of “BUILDING CONSTRUCTION”. Bids in the amounts specified above which have not bid in accordance with the requirements, shall be rejected and shall not be read. Additional informa‐ tion relative to licensing may be obtained from the Louisiana State Li‐ censing Board for Con‐ tractors, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government strongly encourages the participation of DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) in all con‐ tracts or procurements let by the Lafayette Con‐ solidated Government for goods and services and labor and material. To that end, all contrac‐ tors and suppliers are d ili

FERNANDEZVELASQUEZ, JESUS MIGUEL FINCH, JEAN LANDRY FINLEY, JAMES M FONTENOT, THOMAS ADAM FOX, BRITTNEY DENISE FREDERICK, MISTY MCDANIEL FRITZ, GAGE MICHEAL FUGLER, HEATHER ANN GARCIA, JOHN JOSEPH GARDNER, KEEGAN MICHAEL GARY, PAMELA R GARZOTTO, PHILLIP J GENTRY, ROBERT BOYD GEORGE, NGUNANA SHERRILL GERARD, ELI ANDRE GLEASON, DAVID ALAN GOSS, KAITLIN PREVOST GOTTUMUKKALA, NARASIMHA RAJU GREEN, KENNETH JAMES GREMILLION, KEITH J GRIFFIN, EVANGELYNN BEATRICE GRIMM, BRANDILYNN JEANE GUEVARA, TAYLOR BROOKE GUIDRY, LOGAN CHARLES GUILLORY, VINCENT RAY GUYETTE, KEVIN RICHARD GUZMAN, FERNANDO HUMBERTO HAGOOD, JUDITH F HAMILTON, EDWARD C HAMMER, HERBERT A HANKS, GAGE SHAWN HATEM, MARIA F HAYES, ERICA LYNN HEBERT, TRACIA NEWMAN HEBERT, GRIFFIN CARL HENDERSON, DANIEL MATHEW HERPIN, MARK CHRISTIAN HESTER, ROBERT J HIGGINBOTHAM, ALEX LAKE HIGHTOWER, JAMES A HILL, ERIN FRUGE HOLLAND, GABRIELLE LYNN HOLLIER, KIRBIE ASHTON COLLINS HUNTER, GABRIELLE DUBOIS HUVAL, CODY MARTIN IBACH, RICHARD A JEANSONNE, BROOKE NICOLE JOHN, VINCENT FRANK JOHNNIE, LENSLY EARL COX JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER ERNEST JOHNSON, STEVEN C JONES, LAUREN KRISTINE JOSEPH, SHEMERE LASHAE JOSEPH, BLAIR ELISE KELLY, LANCE KEPHART, CARL LEE KIDDER, VICTORIA AVERITT LABIT, ARLENE BIRD LANDRY, LOGAN MICHAEL LANGLINAIS, RHONDA M LATIOLAIS, DEAN LOUIS LE, QUYNH NHU LEBLANC, ANNE B LEBLANC, CYNTHIA HEBERT LEBLANC, COREY JUDE LECOMPTE, MARY ROZALYN LEDET, CLARANETTER A SHONDRA MARIE LEGER, THERESA DIANA LEGER, GINA MICHELLE LEMON, MARIE A LEWIS, KAREN B LINDEN, CHRYSTAL RENEE LITTLE, ELIZABETH TROMP LOFTON, CYNTHIA S LOWRY, TRAVIS JOHN LUTE, PEYTON ALEXIS ROSE LYONS, PAUL B MADDUX, ROBBY LEE MAISE, TIMOTHY ANTHONY MANGION, GREGORY S MARTIN, JOANASHA R MARTIN, WILLIAM E MATA, JOSEPH ANTHONY MATHIEU, ANGELA MARIE MAYO, NORMAN MCCANE, CARRIE LAINE MCCLELLAND, DEENA BURFORD MCGEHEE, MICHAEL REID MELANCON, MATTHEW J MELARA, ISABELLA MIGUEZ, STEPHANIE M ALLEMAN MILLER, LEAH AMANDA MITCHELL, ARSENIO DEBU

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

pp encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐ prises in the purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐ rials, supplies, services and labor and material in which disadvantaged businesses are available. Assistance in identifying said businesses may be obtained by calling 2918410.

y in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid opening. Vendors may request the bid package electronically from Dabne Dover at dabne‐ dover@lafayettela.gov.

PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISH DATES: 8/7/26, 8/9/26, 8/16/26 DPR 997977 195396 Aug. 7, 9, 16 2026 3t $225.84 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE TO CONTRACTORS Notice is hereby given that sealed bids will be received either electroni‐ cally at https://lafayet tecsdgovla.tylerportico. com/va/vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ fice of the Purchasing Di‐ vision at the Lafayette Consolidated Govern‐ ment Building, located at 705 West University Av‐ enue, Lafayette, Louisiana, until 2:00 PM Central Time on the 9th day of SEPTEMBER, 2026 for the following: AS-NEEDED INSTALLATION OF BACKFLOW PREVENTERS AND HOSE BIBS AT WATER/WASTE‐ WATER/ELECTRIC FACILITIES and will, shortly there‐ after, be opened and read aloud in a room lo‐ cated at 705 West Univer‐ sity Avenue, Lafayette, LA. Bids received after the above specified time for opening shall not be considered and shall be returned unopened to the sender. Bidders are encouraged to virtually join the bid opening via ZOOM using the follow‐ ing link: https://us02web. zoom.us/j/88608687802? pwd=4EGy1Mjwg5jlZjB y56YHzUsCrgok8R.1 Scope of Services: The scope of work shall con‐ sist of, but not limited to, the installation of back‐ flow preventer assem‐ blies, hose bib assem‐ blies, customer cutoff valves, and 1-inch ser‐ vice lines on an asneeded basis at waste‐ water facilities, as di‐ rected by LUS and identi‐ fied in individual Work Authorizations. In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. vendors may submit their bid electronically at the website listed above. Bidders wishing to sub‐ mit their bid electroni‐ cally must first be regis‐ tered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The regis‐ tration process can take some time; therefore, LCG recommends regis‐ tering days in advance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole respon‐ sibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is deliv‐ ered (whether electroni‐ cally via Vendor Access, i i il)

Bidders submitting bids electronically are re‐ quired to provide the same documents as bid‐ ders submitting through the mail as soon as avail‐ able. Only a bid bond, certified check or cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid se‐ curity. Electronic copies of both the front and back of the check or bid bond shall be included with the electronic bid. Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or Cer‐ tificate of Authority au‐ thorizing the person signing the bid is re‐ quired to be submitted with bid. Failure to sub‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ tion or Certificate of Au‐ thority with the bid shall be cause for rejection of bid. Copies of the bidding documents are available at the office of Purchas‐ ing & Property Manage‐ ment, Attn: Dabne Dover (337) 291-8262 located at 705 W. University Avenue, Lafayette, LA 70506. Bid documents shall be available until twentyfour hours before the bid opening date. Questions relative to the bidding documents shall be ad‐ dressed to Dabne Dover dabnedover@ at lafayettela.gov or (337) 291-8262. Each bid shall be accom‐ panied by a certified check, cashier’s check, or bid bond payable to the Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government, the amount of which shall be five percent (5%) of the base bid plus additive al‐ ternates. If a bid bond is used, it shall be written by a surety or insurance company currently on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service list of approved bonding companies which is pub‐ lished annually in the Federal Register, or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-Rating in the latest printing of the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide to write individual bonds up to ten percent (10%) of policyholders’ surplus as shown in the A.M. Best’s Key Rating Guide, or by an insurance com‐ pany in good standing li‐ censed to write bid bonds which is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana resi‐ dents. The bid bond shall be issued by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana. The certi‐ fied check, cashier’s check, or bid bond shall be given as a guarantee that the bidder shall exe‐ cute the contract, should it be awarded to him, in conformity with the con‐ tract documents within ten (10) days. No contractor may with‐ draw its bid prior to the deadline for submission of bids. Withdrawal of

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

bids thereafter shall be allowed only pursuant to LA R.S. 38§2214.C. Other‐ wise, no bidder may withdraw his bid for at least forty-five (45) days after the time scheduled for the bid opening of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided within the specifications. The successful bidder will be required to execute per‐ formance and labor and material payment bonds in the full amount of the contract as more fully defined in the bid docu‐ ments. No contractors may withdraw his bid for at least forty-five (45) days after the time scheduled for the open‐ ing of bids. Each bid shall be submitted only on the bid form provided with the specifications. The successful contractor will be required to exe‐ cute performance and labor and material pay‐ ment bonds in the full amount of the contract as more fully defined in the bid documents. Bids will be evaluated by the Purchaser based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid sub‐ mitted which is also in compliance with the bid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in ac‐ cordance with LA R.S. 38§2214.B. Contractors or contract‐ ing firms submitting bids in the amount of $50,000.00 or more shall certify that they are li‐ censed contractors under Chapter 24 of Title 37 of the Louisiana Re‐ vised Statutes of 1950 and show their license number on the front of the sealed envelope in which their bid is en‐ closed. Contractors shall be licensed for the clas‐ sification of “PLUMBING”. Bids in the amounts specified above which have not bid in accor‐ dance with the require‐ ments, shall be rejected and shall not be read. Additional information relative to licensing may be obtained from the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Lafayette Consoli‐ dated Government strongly encourages the participation of DBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) in all con‐ tracts or procurements let by the Lafayette Con‐ solidated Government for goods and services and labor and material. To that end, all contrac‐ tors and suppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐ prises in the purchase or sub-contracting of mate‐ rials, supplies, services and labor and material in which disadvantaged businesses are available. Assistance in identifying said businesses may be obtained by calling 2918410.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Government PUBLISH DATES: 8/16, 8/23 DPR 1008123

8/14,

197056 Aug. 14, 16, 23 3T $203.97

Clemency I, JUANE HARRIS, DOC #536066 have applied for clemency for my conviction of FORCIBLE RAPE. If you have any comments, contact the Board of Pardons (225)342-5421. 197460 - AUG 16-18 $310

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --Agenda City Zoning Commission Public Meeting Monday, August 17, 2026 5:30 P.M., or immediately following the conclusion of the Lafayette City Planning Commission, whichever occurs later Community Development and Planning Department 220 West Willow Street, Building C Town Hall Auditorium I. Call to Order II. Chair’s Opening Remarks III. Approval of the Minutes July 20, 2026 IV. New Business 1. Case No. 2026-16-REZ Lots 4-12, Block 6, Gen‐ eral Mouton Avenue Re‐ zoning A request to rezone Lots 4 through 12, Block 6, General Mouton Avenue, from CH (CommercialHeavy) to MN-1 (MixedUse Neighborhood) lo‐ cated generally north of Rose Street, west of Gen‐ eral Mouton Avenue, and south of Violet Street. V. Other Business 1. Director’s Report and review of Lafayette City Council action on mat‐ ters previously consid‐ ered by the Zoning Com‐ mission. 2. Continuation and Com‐ pletion of Zoning Work‐ shop 3. Resolution Afﬁrming Commissioner Training VI. Adjournment 195633 Aug. 2, 12, 16, 3t $43.20

PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated

Looking for the right hire?

1-800-960-6397

MOORE, EVELYNN ABILAYNE MORTON, NICHOLAS WILLIAM MORVANT, ASHLEY NICOLE MOUTON, BRENDA S MOUTON, BRITNI DUPLANTIS MUGUIRA, CHAD AUSTIN MURTLAND, TAJ NERO, TIMOTHY P NEWLAND, ANNE M NGUYEN, MAK V NOEL, DONTAY MATTHEW NOEL, VICTOR OCCHIPINTI, MICHAELLA MARI OLIVIER, FARRIS CHARLES PARHAM, STACI LYNN PATTON, FRANCES G PEARCE, PHILIP E PELTIER, JOSHUA JAMES PERRY, JEFFREY WAYNE PERRY, SHARON E PESCHIER, BRANDON JOSEPH PITTILLO, JIMMY DWAYNE PIZZA, JASON ROY PLAUCHE, GEORGE ALEXANDER PLOUHAR, KYLE JOSEPH POLITO, FREDERICK M PORTER, PERCY PRATHER, JARED MARK PREJEAN, BENEDICT M PRUDHOMME, RONNIE MICHAEL PRYOR, NATHAN PUJOL, ERRON D PURSLEY, ANGELA M QUEEN, CHRYSTAL WEBER RICARDOCRUZ, PEDRO ANTONIO RICE, APRIL DELENE RICHARD, PATRICK LANCE RICHARD, ALYSSA NICOLE RICHARD, MADISON QUINN RICHARD, BLAKE AARON RION, MICHAEL CAIN RIVERS, HAILIE RENE ROBERTSON, LINDA ANNE RODRIGUE, JUSTIN A ROMERO, EMMA SCOUT ROMERO, MAMIE ELIZABETH ROY, GINGER DARLENE SANFORD, GLERISCHA LEE SARA, AMJAD A SCOTT, DARREN PAUL SCOTT, SHAYLYN ELIZABETH SELLERS, CECILIA BREAUX SHORT, TRE MICHAEL SION, JOY L SION, LELA SKERCZAK, MELISSA LYNN SMITH, KALEB PAUL SMITH, BRANDON BOYD SOILEAU, RANDALL CHRIS SOILEAU, JEAN FELIX SONGY, JONATHAN DAVID SONNIER, DAVID JUDE STAFFORD, JEANPAUL PRINZ STANDER, MARY LEIGH STANLEY, CORY JAMES STINSON, VICTORIA LYNN SYRIE, MARY G TABOR, ALEXANDRA FRANCES TAPO, LEAH FLUGENCE THACKER, RONNIE JOE THIBODEAUX, JEBBY JERARD THOMAS, THAIRREN JOSEPH USIE, NICHOLAS VINSON, DAVID REYNALDO WALKER, JUDY A WATERS, LORIE ANNE OLIVIER WATSON, DAVID P WEBSTER, JACOB STEVEN WELCH, SANDRA A HAYES WELLS, TREY ANTHONY WHITTINGTON, ANGELA SAVANT WILKE, KATHERINE LYON LEGER WILLIAMS, DEION LEONARD WILTZ, GARY P WIRTH, BRITTANY LAYNE YI, YIMIN YOUNG, TYRONE ZAPATA, CYNTHIA J ZIMMER, TRENT J 195314-671493-AUG 16-1T $ 291.06

4B ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

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

OUR VIEWS

Ten years ago, community faced flood together When the rains finally stopped in August 2016, we looked around and barely knew where we were. A vast swath of south Louisiana from Baton Rouge to Lafayette and towns and cities nearby had been pounded for 50 hours straight after a flash flood warning on Aug. 11 sounded the alarm. It would become known simply as The Great Flood of 2016, and it broke rainfall records many thought impossible outside of a hurricane. Around 7 trillion gallons of water was dumped on the region, with an average of 18 inches of rain over three days in some hard-hit areas. When it was over, nearly 91,630 homes were damaged and 13 deaths were reported statewide. The landscape of entire neighborhoods was completely transformed. It was hard to make out major landmarks or identify where a neighbor’s yard began or ended. But out of this chaos, community blossomed. If we forgot where we were amid the unceasing waters, we would never forget who we were. Soon, boats were out, neighbors began helping neighbors, checking on shut-ins and bringing food to those in need. The road to recovery would be long and arduous, with some homes taking more than a year to rebuild. It was through that long haul that communities across the state came together in big and small ways. Volunteers pulled up soggy carpets from flooded homes. Those on high ground offered rooms for storm victims to stay long term. Everyone shared what they had and never counted the cost. Last week, we marked the 10th anniversary of that catastrophic event, and it is worth reflecting on the lessons it left us today. While all that water came as a shock to many, the reality of the risks we live with every day in coastal Louisiana should be very real, even for those further inland. It should be clear that all our fates are connected, just like the rivers and bayous that crisscross our environment. It also should be clear that we need to make strategic investments at every juncture to make our coast more resilient. We can never let up. Several projects after the Flood of 2016 have been completed, but many more are underway but still not finished, including the Comite River Diversion Canal and the “Five Bayous” project in Baton Rouge. Billions in federal dollars paid for raising houses and other flood-control projects. We have said before and say again that a state like Louisiana relies on a robust federal disaster response and relief system. We urge our lawmakers in Congress to remember this when efforts to roll back the national safety net periodically gain traction. Yet we know, as Louisianans, we can always face any challenge together. Our strong ties to community and family have gotten us through many a storm. Ten years ago, an unexpected flood proved that once again.

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

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

TO SENd US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

House looks like blight, but there’s more to it Vegetation and neglect are trying to erase a little-known — but important — link between Louisiana and the Harlem Renaissance, the Black cultural and intellectual movement that blossomed in the 1920s. Arna Bontemps, a key Faimon ﬁgure in the movement, Roberts was born in Alexandria in 1902. His family lived in the city for only three years before joining the Great Migration to the West Coast. In the 1920s, Bontemps landed in New York, where he wrote acclaimed books, poems and essays. He also befriended other Black luminaries like W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. So his time in Louisiana was short. But in the 1990s, his childhood home was moved from its original location to Third Street in downtown Alexandria, just steps from the Red River. There, it opened as a museum, where it served to recount Bontemps’ life and the Renaissance’s story. Over time, however, funding became an issue. The museum went to being open by appointment only, then permanently closed. A news story in

2018 featured a plea for community help to maintain it. Today, it looks like blight. Bushes grow around its historical marker, and the plaques are faded and difficult to read. Overgrowth obscures the front porch and door. Some siding has fallen off and at least one window is missing. I reached out to Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy’s office. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Michael Caffery told me that the city owns the lot, but the Arna Bontemps Foundation owns and is responsible for the house. “We have actively sought to make contact with the point person for the foundation since we entered office in 2022, unsuccessfully,” Caffery told me. “We’ve made numerous attempts to speak to people about it.” Periodically, people have told city officials they are in contact with the family, but those efforts have generally resulted in little or no improvement, Caffery said. The Louisiana secretary of state’s website says the foundation’s status as a Louisiana nonprofit was revoked in 2024. The most recent audit on file with the Louisiana legislative auditor is from the fiscal year that ended in July 2017.

My efforts to contact anyone connected to the foundation were also unsuccessful. All of that is a shame. Arna Bontemps may not have been in Louisiana for long, but he is an important example — among scores of good ones — of how people forged in the Bayou State affected the country and the world through their creative or intellectual expression. Part of the problem is that Arna Bontemps is not a household name. He’s not Louis Armstrong, Jon Batiste or Irma Thomas. I had never heard of him before reading a recent column by longtime Alexandria journalist Bob Tompkins in the online publication Rapides Parish Journal. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t important, or that his house shouldn’t be preserved so that the public will continue to learn Bontemps’ story. If the foundation can’t do it, the city should step in. If the city is unable, then the state should get involved. Like all good writers, Bontemps’ words will endure. It’s only right that his house be allowed to do the same. Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Learning to appreciate view from afar It’s often said that familiarity breeds contempt. That certainly seems to be the case in today’s political environment. The long-standing political parties are being spurned by all sides as voters seek new ideas and new voices. But it’s also true that when you look around at other political systems, Arnessa there’s much that works Garrett in our own despite the current dysfunction. Travel often provides an up-close look at the beneﬁts and drawbacks of how other countries run. And often when I return from traveling abroad, I am struck by how much the rights and freedoms we take for granted here are unparalleled elsewhere in the world. Indeed, it’s not only the freedom to express our views that sets this country apart, but also there is a broad

freedom from government intrusion that our Constitution guarantees. The beneﬁts of American citizenship cannot be overstated, and it’s no doubt why we attract immigrants from all over the world. Still, it’s easy to lose sight of that when we have serious debates over the direction of our country. Let’s hope that even those who are on opposing sides of the political spectrum have an interest in maintaining the foundational freedoms we have come to enjoy. Having debates is good, but they should be predicated on a healthy respect for the systems of government that have long sustained us. Nowadays, from the fringes, we are seeing arguments that the basic ideals on which this country was founded are no longer valid. Let’s hope we don’t have to learn the lesson of “absence makes the heart grow fonder” when it comes to our freedoms. Turning to our letters inbox, it seems

that many of you may have been traveling as well in recent weeks, as we received fewer letters than usual. The week of July 23-29, we counted 30 letters. The topic that most concerned you was the fight between New Orleans officials and state officials over the indictment of Attorney General Liz Murrill. We logged five letters on the topic. Then there were several topics that got two letters each, including Mardi Gras, Meta ads on our website, socialism and voting. For the week of July 29-Aug. 6, we received 49 letters. We received five letters that fell into the miscellaneous category, but voting was the most popular topic, with four letters received. Then a number of topics prompted two letters, including a potential SpaceX development in Vermilion Parish. Arnessa Garrett is Managing Editor | Opinion Page Editor. Email her at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR LOCAL REPORTING

KEVIN HALL

President & Publisher

RENE SANCHEZ

VP/News, Executive Editor

KARYN KEARNEY EVP/Strategic Partnerships

ARNESSA GARRETT Managing Editor/ Opinion

JUSTIN MITCHELL

Managing Editor/ Audience

HANK STUEVER

Managing Editor/ Enterprise

FRED KALMBACH

JENNIFER BROWN

JERRY DICOLO

EMMA DISCHER

Managing Editor

Managing Editor, New Orleans

KRISTIN ASKELSON Managing Editor, Acadiana

BARBARA LEADER Managing Editor, Shreveport

Senior Editor Senior Editor

ANDREA GALLO

ROGER HOLMES

Chief Revenue Ofﬁcer

ASHLEY WHITCHER

VP/ Consumer Sales

JIM MYERS

General Manager/ Advertising

VP/IT

Senior Editor/ Investigations

VP/Finance

JESSICA WILLIAMS

ROBERT STOLL

Senior Editor

CHASE HEATHERLY

Executive VP, Operations

VP/Distribution

KYLE WHITFIELD

GEORGES MEDIA GROUP JOHN D. GEORGES Owner

JUDI TERZOTIS

ROBERT YOUNG

Chief Executive Ofﬁcer

LOU HUDSON

Editorial Page

VP/ Majors & Nationals

DAN SHEA

Chairman

ARNESSA GARRETT STEPHANIE GRACE WILL SUTTON QUIN HILLYER FAIMON ROBERTS

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 5B

lll

COMMENTARY

Helping Ukraine can mean beaucoup jobs for La. When it comes to helping Ukraine, striking while the drones are hot also could beneﬁt Louisiana. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and indeed the entire Louisiana delegation, should help. This past week, a group from the internationally acclaimed nonproﬁt group Razom for Quin Ukraine, led locally Hillyer by former Saints executive and city councilman Arnie Fielkow, traveled throughout Louisiana on a goodwill tour for that brave but beleaguered nation. Razom was doing more than just spreading kumbaya, however. It also was promoting important economic development opportunities for Louisiana. The timing is certainly right. As has been well reported, Ukraine seems to have gained a slight but tenuous upper hand in its existential war against Russian attackers. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate on Aug. 7 overwhelmingly passed a major bill allowing tough sanctions to be levied on countries that purchase Russian oil and other products — but the bill still must pass the House, where Johnson and Scalise hold sway. It was in the immediate wake of that Senate vote that the Razom group toured Louisiana, urging House passage of that bill, plus requesting more assistance. But the newest part of the pitch was

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO BY TETIANA dZHAFAROVA

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a news conference in Kyiv in 2025. the bit about Bayou State business opportunities. “The most obvious [opportunity] is in defense tech,” said Daryna Lesniak, the D.C.-based “advocacy coordinator” for Razom. “We are seeing a lot of partnerships already with the Ukrainian drone manufacturers entering the U.S. market,” including a manufacturing plant in Ohio and completion of “a phase of the U.S. drone dominance program” that will help meet the defense needs of the U.S. itself. Remember, the quality of Ukrainian drone technology in some ways exceeds that of the American military, so this is a way Ukrainian know-how can be put to work with U.S. employees

to bolster American defenses. It’s a prototypical win-win scenario for everybody. “Louisiana is actually very well positioned to beneﬁt from this,” Lesniak continued, envisioning possible production or spinoffs here, “because the state already has a strong manufacturing and industrial base, and obviously major port infrastructure and an aerospace and defense presence.” She also stressed that, with Ukraine being one of the world’s greatest agricultural producers, a big opportunity exists for partnership with American agricultural technology programs. But how does that help Louisiana?

Postwar rehabilitation, that’s how. “Ukraine’s agricultural exports are dependent on ports in Odessa that Russia has [signiﬁcantly damaged], and this has really reduced Ukraine’s export capacity,” she said. “So Ukraine really needs investment and things like grain terminals and loading equipment. … Louisiana companies have the expertise that Ukraine would need to rebuild its agricultural export infrastructure.” Pushing these and similar messages, Razom’s team met on Aug. 11 with a group of greater New Orleans economic development executives, and it held similar meetings in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Harrison Crabtree, executive director of the World Trade Center of New Orleans, said he was intrigued and impressed. “I think Louisiana companies can absolutely play a role on the defense side,” he said, speciﬁcally citing drone-related opportunities “through both private companies and also our number of major military installations.” He also is particularly interested in how Louisiana can help Ukraine in the area of “rapid recovery.” “As we well know, in Louisiana we have extensive experience in rebuilding after major disasters: everything from setting up new school systems to creating a new energy grid, to preserving culture, to rebuilding the basic infrastructure that a society needs,” Crabtree said. “So, taking those experiences that we’ve learned

through decades of hard work, and really lending that expertise and that technical knowledge to the Ukrainian government, is a huge opportunity.” All of which is even more reason for the Louisiana delegation to ramp up assistance for Ukraine. Indeed, Johnson and Scalise should make passage of the anti-Russian sanctions bill the House’s ﬁrst order of business when Congress’ August “recess” is over. The sooner the U.S. can squeeze Russia and thus help bolster Ukraine’s bargaining position, the better. The sanctions bill should be easy and quick. But there’s plenty more the U.S. ought to do — and again, support from Johnson and Scalise is key. Most urgently, not only should the U.S. give Ukraine permission to build its own defensive Patriot missiles, but we should pour more money, quickly, into U.S. domestic Patriot production both for our own needs and to sell to Ukraine immediately. Russia, alas, is increasingly successful at launching missiles to kill Ukrainian civilians and destroy hospitals, energy infrastructure and cultural heritage areas. There is absolutely no good reason to refuse to help Ukraine this way. And, as Razom’s Louisiana tour made clear, the downstream opportunities for Louisiana alone could well repay whatever aid America provides. Email Quin Hillyer at quin. hillyer@theadvocate.com.

Landry’s trashing New Orleans? Must be election time In the beginning of Jeff Landry’s quest to become governor of Louisiana in 2023, there was New Orleans. The city featured prominently in his tough-on-crime ads and in mocking rhetoric that played well among his base, but terribly in the city that was the butt of his attacks. After Landry won, the city and state saw several Stephanie years of productive detente Grace and even some actual joining of hands and minds on hosting last year’s Superbowl and ﬁghting crime, which started dropping before he sent Louisiana State Police’s Troop Nola to town and continues to wane. So why is the governor now back to trashing the city? Must be time for the next election. Sure, we’re more than a year out from the 2027 vote. But now is the time when potential challengers are watching and weighing, trying to assess the governor’s strength, and insiders are wondering if there’s an opening for former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, or a more moderate Republican like Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser or former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, either of whom could attract Democratic votes. And while incumbents are generally

hard to knock off, particularly in a state dominated by one party — well, Landry’s numbers could be better. One poll from last spring showed him with just a 43% approval rating. Late last year, another had him at 39%. Early in his tenure he did muscle through some major legislation, including to undo bipartisan criminal justice reforms that reduced the state’s nationtopping mass incarceration rate, and that was targeted to nonviolent offenders. He also leaned on lawmakers to change the way Louisianans vote. Landry wasn’t able to secure party primaries for all, but he did get the Legislature to switch to a more restrictive system for Congress and a few other ofﬁces, despite polls showing that few voters wanted their choices at the ballot box limited. They haven’t had a chance to weigh in on that, but they have been able to vote on a host of constitutional amendments the governor pushed. For two years in a row, every one of them went down to defeat. And by the way, what exactly was Louisiana supposed to get out of Landry’s trek to Greenland as President Donald Trump’s absurdly titled “special envoy,” where he got dissed in front of the television cameras by children? Of course Landry can claim some victories, the biggest being the attraction of ma-

jor investments capped by the giant Meta AI data center in remote Richland Parish. These AI centers have become increasingly controversial around the country, but less in Louisiana, at least so far. Yet there are signs of unease, including over his broad use of non-disclosure agreements. Several of his GOP allies in the Legislature have pushed back, noting that the people they represent expect their elected ofﬁcials to level with them on matters that impact their communities. And so, with another election on the horizon, his focus turned back to New Orleans. This past legislative session, he and his allies pushed beyond all reason to eliminate judicial ofﬁces in the city, most dramatically the clerk of Criminal District Court and also several judgeships. The idea wasn’t unreasonable, but the way Landry and legislative Republicans pushed it — including invalidating an election that had already happened without analysis of the potential savings, as if it were some sort of emergency — was the stuff of political theater, not sober rightsizing. Same for Landry’s recent rhetoric following the indictment of his ally Attorney General Liz Murrill, which should never have happened and was quickly quashed — but which never would have happened

had Murrill not threatened to remove the mayor, district attorney and City Council majority. Rather than cool things down, Landry went ballistic, painting Mayor Helena Moreno and the city’s other newly elected leaders with the managerial sins of their predecessors, when in fact they’re working responsibly to dig themselves out of the hole. Then came his condescending comments about a place that still drives much of the state’s economic activity and, as always, lives in the world’s imagination. Forget Drew Brees’ emotional tribute to the city’s soul at that Hall of Fame speech; the governor of the state said mockingly that “New Orleans thinks they’re so special” — a line that instantly appeared on T-shirts and entered New Orleans’ vast lexicon. So, frankly, should the ever-quotable James Carville’s assessment of the situation, as told to my colleague Tyler Bridges: “Lawyers have a saying: If you have the law, pound the law. If you have the facts, pound the facts. If you have neither, pound the table. If your approval rating is stuck in the 40s, pound New Orleans.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

Forthcoming munitions crisis is both foreseeable and dire During the 1979-1980 hostage crisis, a defiant Iran starkly demonstrated the limits of American power. Forty-five years later, it is doing the same thing, although in vastly different circumstances. Back then, when the postVietnam military was at a low ebb, we didn’t strike Iran, and a long-shot rescue operation ended in abject Rich failure. Lowry Now, with the U.S. military at its most proficient and professional in history, we have inflicted punishing blows against the regime but still haven’t been able to impose our will, in part because we are running low on the munitions necessary to prosecute the war. Not only is this embarrassing, it is dangerous. If Operation Midnight Hammer — last year’s lightning strike against Iranian nuclear facilities — demonstrated the prowess of the U.S. military and sent a useful deterrent message to our enemies, the Iran War is now doing the opposite. We’re running low on missiles and inter-

ceptors in a months-long conflict with a beleaguered second-rate power. What would happen in a drawn-out war with a major adversary? President Donald Trump has posted a thunderous denunciation of leaks to the media about our depleted weapons stocks, and the leaks are indeed irresponsible. But this problem is a matter of public record and has been tracked by outside organizations. At the end of July, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that, out of an arsenal of 2,330 Patriot interceptors before the Iran war, we had roughly 800 remaining. We were down to roughly 250 THAAD interceptors from 450 at the start of the war. On top of this, news organizations are reporting that we are almost out of ATACMS — a ground-launched precision-strike missile — and Precision Strike Missiles, the newer, longer-range successor to ATACMS. This isn’t comforting at a time when a war with China could be in the offing. Even before Operation Epic Fury, a war game involving a conflict in the Taiwan Strait conducted by CSIS had the U.S. running

out of key munitions in days or weeks. What happened? This is a crisis a long time in the making. As defense analyst Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute has warned for years, skimping on the acquisition of munitions was an easy way to meet constrained Pentagon budgets, and we relied on optimistic scenarios about potential wars to justify chronically insufficient production. For some understandable reasons, we also emphasized sophisticated missiles and interceptors over “good enough” systems. This led to Iran, for instance, forcing us to use highly expensive, difficult-toreplace interceptors against cheap, bulk threats from drones. All this means that we’ve expended ordnance that it will take us years to build again. According to media reports, we’ve used about half our supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles, when we’ve been manufacturing fewer than 100 a year. We need to put missile production on a wartime footing, and leverage hungry new defense firms to produce cheaper precision missiles and interceptors at scale.

In World War II terms, it’s the difference between the easy-to-maintain and massproduced Sherman tank and the exquisite and powerful but ultimately impractical Tiger. Whatever advantages the Tiger had in armor and punch, you’d still rather be the U.S. with 50,000 Shermans than the Germans with 1,500 Tigers. The Trump administration has been talking the right game, and there have been encouraging moves. It has signed agreements to acquire 10,000 cruise missiles over three years at a cost of a few hundred thousand dollars each, far less than a Tomahawk at more than $2 million. Wars always bring surprises. It should have been a shock to no one, though, that contemporary military conﬂict is largely missile warfare, or that we’d have trouble sustaining prolonged hostilities given that we started out with inadequate stocks. The American way of warfare is often to mess it up before adjusting and getting it right. The course correction here should be considered the most urgent priority of U.S. national security. Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry.

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

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

TO SENd US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

6B ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

A t-storm around in the p.m.

A stray afternoon thunderstorm

A t-storm around in the p.m.

An afternoon shower in spots

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

96° 77°

LOW

HIGH

98° 78°

LOW

HIGH

High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low

Hattiesburg 102/77

Alexandria 102/76 Baton Rouge 99/76

Lafayette 96/77

Beaumont 96/75 Port Arthur 95/75

Lake Charles 96/77

10s

20s

30s

Houma 95/76

40s

LOW

YESTERDAY

50s

60s

70s

80s

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

90s 100s 110s

FIRST

City

Austin Boston dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

12:16p 7:08a 7:14a 8:50a 2:19a 1:15a 3:27a

6:36 a.m. 7:48 p.m. 10:34 a.m. 10:06 p.m.

FULL

AUG 19

PRECIPITATION

97°/77° 93°/75° 92°/74° 102° in 2023 58° in 2004

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

New Orleans 97/79

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

HIGH

95° 77°

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Saturday

Jackson 102/76 Many 100/74

LOW

96° 76°

TEMPERATURE

Longview 104/75

-0s

LOW

94° 77°

Monroe 102/77

Shreveport 103/76

-10s

HIGH

95° 78°

Once again today, the heat is your biggest weather issue. In fact, Acadiana is under either a moderate or major heat risk. Heat index values could rise to 111 or higher while the actual temperatures will be in the mid- to upper 90s. Expect a mostly sunny, very hot and humid day with a slight chance of rain. The high heat risk means heat illnesses are a real possibility today. Be sure to stay hydrated and take frequent breaks if exerting yourself outdoors and remember the very high UVI index.

LAST

AUG 27

102 79 103 74 84 100 94 94 101

TODAY Lo

74 69 80 55 78 83 75 80 78

NEW

SEP 4

s s s pc r pc t pc s

SEP 10

102 74 105 65 88 104 87 96 95

MON. Lo

77 68 82 52 76 85 69 79 74

s sh s sh sh s t t t

FT.

0.4 1.0 1.6 1.5 0.8 0.9 1.0

LOW

7:22a 12:44a 12:06p 2:53a 10:15a 7:48a 11:17a

0.00” 1.18” 2.89” 41.97” 40.31”

FT.

HIGH

0.3 0.6 0.6 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.7

MOdERATE

REAdING 56 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SOURCE: LOUISIANA dEQ ANd AIRNOW.GOV

FT.

LOW

FT.

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near darlington denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

--- --- 8:22p 0.3 8:56p 0.8 1:40p 0.6 8:30p 1.5 11:59p 1.1 10:43p 1.4 3:31p 0.6 --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---

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

Today Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

City

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

2:47a 3:38a 4:27a 5:16a 6:05a 6:53a 7:39a

8:59a 9:49a 10:39a 11:28a 12:17p 12:40a 1:27a

97 96 80 107 81 91 93 78 94

TODAY Lo

79 78 72 87 72 76 72 70 80

TODAY

MOdERATE

3:10p 9:21p 4:00p 10:12p 4:51p 11:02p 5:40p 11:52p 6:29p ---7:18p 1:05p 8:05p 1:52p

t t t t t t t pc t

MON. Lo

97 97 89 113 80 97 86 79 94

79 79 72 92 62 75 71 69 80

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

SAT. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

1.20 18.60 21.30 7.80 4.20 3.71 2.50

-0.10 +0.28 +0.20 +0.10 none -0.13 +0.01

22.14

+4.15

-1.53

+0.11

18 29 8

-1.22 10.00 1.36

-0.02 -0.04 +0.02

13 15

1.40 0.81

-0.03 -0.02

47 34 29 20 12 6

8.19 5.22 3.94 4.02 2.90 2.52

+0.65 +0.35 +0.21 +0.17 none +0.16

data as of 7 a.m. Saturday

t t c s sh t t pc t

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

CELEBRATE A LEGEND 8th year, No. 215

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2021

$1.00

72,103 OUR SAINT

6th year, No. 58

NEWO LEANS ADVOCATE THENEWORLEANSAdVOCATE.COM

THE

SEVEN dAYS

HOME dELIVEREd

LOUISIANA OWNEd

Drew Brees retires after record-breaking career

DREW BREES

AAMENN! M O n day,

F E B R u a Ry

8 ,

SupER BOWL EdItIOn • 75¢

2 0 1 0

31 SAINTS 17 COLTS S U P E R B O W L X L I V

Bre ees’ MVP effort wins Saints first Super Bowl

DR RE CR RE A loook has be b receiivi of Brree

It’s all about an all-time great on historic night in the dome

SCOTT RABALAIS

KING NEWSS AT NOLA.COM

AfTEER 43 yEARS, OUR pRAyERS ARE ANSWEREd

BREAKS NFL RECORD FOR PASSING YARDS

TIME OUT

1nn01nMa0208 C M Y K

Pagee 8

Before it all unfolded Monday night, all the chills and the tears and the sound of one of sports’ most immense records shattering, a mic’d up Drew Brees gathered his New Orleans Saints teammates around him like he always does in the end zone for some fervent words of encouragement. “Tonight, it’s about us!” Brees shouted. “It’s about us!” Sorry, Drew. Noble sentiments, sir. But on this night, it was all about you. The man. The legend. The saint of Saints. Now, the most proliﬁc NFL quarterback of all time. It happened just before halftime before the madding “Monday Night Football” crowd inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. A little fake to give a Brees freeze to the Washington Redskins’ helpless-looking defense and a deep pass up the

ER D TO THE ROA the NFLL car his way to breaking On Brees connected Saints QB Drew C WHO CONTR THE PLAYERS

COL STON

2011

2016-2018

As of Oct. 8

SPROLE S

T HOM A S

GR AHAM

SNE AD I V

Darren Sproles

Michael Thomas TDs

6 TDs 1,991 yds 16

Willie Snead

2,827 yds 17

1,934 yds 7

frrom Includes 10 yds ger Brees as a Charg

TDs

INGR A M II

MOORE

WAT SON

K AMAR A

HENDERSON Mark Ingram

1,379 yds 4

Alvin Kamara

1,162 yds 6

TDs

Ben Watson

1,277 yds 10

TDs

ME ACHEM COLEMAN GINN JR.

FLEENER

Coby Fleener

DE T CADE CA

BUSH

Brandon Coleman

Ted Ginn Jr

926 yds 5 TDs

1,090 yds 8

922 yds 6 TDs

TDs

Travaris

SHOC

772 yds

HIL L

T HOM AS

HIGHTOWER

Josh Hill

704 yds 10

Tim Hightower

MO M

TDs

COPPE R

JONE S

94 yds 0 TDs

43 yds 1 TD

JO HN SO N JOHNSON

Austin Johns

32 yds 0 TDs 44 yds 0 TDs

11 yds 0 TDs

Justin Hardee 10 yds 0 TDs

32 yds 0 TDs

T.J. Graham

27 2 yds 1 TD

GILMORE

SAUNDERS GRIFFIN

4 yds 0 TDs

Marcus Murphy 3 yds 0 TDs

JONE S

LEONARD

20 yds 1 TD

MURPH Y

Garrett Griffin

NWELL ROBY

John Gilmore

9 yds 0 TDs

4 yds 0 TDs

BE T TS

K A NE Y

E VAN

E Lorig Erik

24 yds 0 TDs

Mike Gillislee

PE TERSON

Adrian Peterson

AMPBELL

RI G LO LORIG

Chris Ivory

GR A H AM

Daniel Lasco

GILLISLEE

45 yds 1 T

IVORY

Greg Camarillo

L ASCO

18 yds 0 TDs

J HN

Julius Jones

59 yds 0 TDs

CAMARILLO

John Phillips

SMITH

Tre'Quan Smith

HARDEE

M ALLISTE

Adrian Arrington

PHILLIPS

Cameron Meredith

INE LLINE

STECK ER

170 yds 0 T

162 yds 4 TDs

70 yds 1 TD

Austin Carr

Khir y Robins

Jed Collins

ARRINGTON

Zach Line

RN T HOM AS

ROB O ROBINSON COLLINS

KUHN

John Kuhn

MEREDIT H

18 yds 2 TDs

PAT T EN

Nick Toon

283 yds 1 TD

C.J. Spiller

217 yds 2 TDs

128 yds 4 TDs

CARR

45 yds 0 TDs

MILLE

SPILLER HOOMANAWANUI

Michael Hoomanawanui

192 yds 1 TD

TOON

279 yds 0 TDs

LEWIS

Tommylee Lewis

Brian Leonard 15 yds 0 TDs

Jalen Saunders

OWEN

Courtney R 15 yds 0

7 yds 0 TDs

BELL M INT YRE L AWRIE

HUMPHRREY HUMPHREY

HIGGINS

HAMILT N

WILL IAMS

SOBOMEHIN

Michael Higgins 1 yd 0 TDs

Jonathan Williams

Tory Humphrey 12 ydss 0 TDs

ECKEL

1 yd 0 TDs

RYAN

ORT EG A

Sean R

7 yds 0

DINKIN

AdVOCATE STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELd

ä See RABALAIS, page 4A

GRAHAM

Jeff Gr

71 yds

Drew Brees

JONES

ä COMPLETE COVERAGE OF BREES’ BIG NIGHT AND THE SAINTS’ 43-19 WIN OVER THE REDSKINS IN SPORTS S, P5

MARQUEE RECORDS HUNT

Florida prep for Hurricane Michael

BY JENNIFER KAY and GARY FINEOUT Associated Press

MIAMI — Residents of Florida’s Panhandle frantically filled sandbags, boarded up homes and secured boats Monday as they anxiously awaited Hurricane Michael, which forecasters warned could smash into the state’s Gulf Coast as a dangerous major hurricane within days. Fueled by warm tropical waters, Michael gained new strength by nightfall and could

reach major hurricane status with winds topping 111 mph before its anticipated landfall Wednesday on the Panhandle or Big Bend area of Florida, forecasters warn. Florida Gov. Rick Scott called Michael a “monstrous hurricane” with a devastating potential from high winds, storm surge and heavy rains. Scott declared a state of emergency for 35 Florida counties from the Panhandle to Tampa Bay, activated hundreds of Florida National Guard members and waived tolls to encourage those near the coast to evacuate inland. Scott also said

doctors challenge recent court ruling

BY MARK BALLARD

mballard@theadvocate.com

THE ASSOCIATEd PRESS

Bobby Smith boards up the windows Monday at Jani’s

ä See STORM, page 4A Ceramics in Panama City, Fla.

Enforcement of new antiabortion restrictions will have to wait as the physicians who challenged Act 620’s constitutionality asked for a review of an appellate court decision upholding the law. The doctors argue in June Medical Services, et al., v. Dr. Rebekah Gee, et al., that requiring them to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic

Business ................... 8A

Comics...................... 6D

deaths ...................... 3B

Opinion ..................... 4B

Television................... 5D

Classified .................. 9A

Commentary ............. 5B

EatPlayLive................ 1D

Puzzles ...................... 4D

Weather..................... 6B

likely wo oul state’s th hre and leave eo the prop per form the e m that endss p They wa w of the 5tth of Appea als decision by before alllo force the e la Two o f judges on o Smith, of H Brown Cle C leans — f Louisian na’

THREE T E S R E T POS $

LETIONS

La. anti-abortiio on hold for appp

Gulf Coast bracing for ‘monstrous’ storm

MICHAEL DEMOCKER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

ees holds alo oft the Lombardi Trophy at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. Brees threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns in a dominating performance against the Colts.

ä Se

a SupER day HIGH H LOW 6 63° 49°

DREW BREES PENS FAREWELL LETTER, Page 3A

CLASSIFIED ComICS DEATHS

C-6 C-5 B-8

EDITorIAL LIvIng nATIonAL

B-3 C A-5

SporTS TELEvISIon wASHIngTon

D C-3 A-4

worLD

A-13

173rd YEAR NO. 19

12393 11111

COMPLETE COVERAGE IN SPORTS , Page 1C

Celebrate the legendary career of an all-time great with this collector’s three-poster set

STORE.NOLA.COM

OFFICIAL NEWS PARTNER OF THE LOUISIANA RAGIN’ CAJUNS

SPORTS

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

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

1Cn

UL expects transfer LB to make impact

NFL PRESEASON: JAGUARS 24, SAINTS 20

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT dUKE

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, right, loses the ball as he is brought down by Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Yasir Abdullah during a preseason game on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome.

WHO’S NO. 2? QB Wilson shows more than Rattler in Saints’ preseason loss

BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

Spencer Rattler earned the start for the New Orleans Saints’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, but it was Zach Wilson who looked the part. With Tyler Shough watching the Saints’ 24-20 loss from the Caesars Superdome sidelines with the rest of the starting offense and defense, Rattler left the field with a 10-6 lead, but he looked shaky against the Jaguars. The Saints offense did not start to find life until Wilson took over late in the first half. The Saints are obviously familiar with who Rattler is. The third-year quarterback has started 14 games since New Orleans selected him in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, showing some signs of promise despite playing on a depleted roster that went 1-13 in those starts. He entered camp firmly entrenched as the No. 2 option behind Shough. Wilson came into training camp as a bit of a wild card. His talent has never been a question — he was the No. 2 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft — but he has never put it together as a pro. While he is still relatively young at 27, the Saints are the fourth team that has given him an opportunity. On Saturday, Wilson’s talent was on display. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown, good for a 118 passer rating. While Rattler completed more than 70% of his passes, he also turned the ball over and managed just 42 yards on his eight completions. The Saints jumped out to an early lead after Ty Chandler took the opening kickoff back 86 yards, setting up a 9-yard Audric Estime touchdown run on New Orleans’ first play from scrimmage. The fast start fizzled out quickly for the Saints offense.

Rattler’s first three dropbacks featured an overthrow and a pair of sacks, both of which ended drives. The second of those sacks featured Rattler losing control of the football inside his own 10-yard line. The Jaguars recovered the fumble but were forced to settle for a field goal after the Saints defense stiffened up. Rattler was on the field for five possessions, and he did find a rhythm eventually. On his final drive, he worked the short area of the field, completing seven of his first eight passes on that drive for 48 yards to push the ball to the Jaguars’ 25-yard line. But then the Saints went backward when a Rattler pass to the flat was snuffed out for a 6-yard loss, and New Orleans ended up settling for a long field goal. Rattler finished the game completing 8 of 11 pass attempts, but he managed only 3.8 yards per attempt. Three of his five possessions resulted in either a three-and-out or a turnover. New Orleans turned the offense over to Wilson midway through the second quarter. He didn’t fare much better than Rattler on his first series, throwing a pair of incompletions as the Saints went three-and-out, but he quickly got New Orleans going from there. With 3:22 remaining in the first half, Wilson benefited from a well-executed play design on the first play after a Jayden Price interception. Jacksonville bit hard on his play-action fake, and he floated a ball down the sideline for a wide-open Bub Means. The play was initially ruled a 28-yard touchdown, but referees determined on video review that Means stepped out of bounds before crossing the plane. No matter, Wilson hit rookie tight end Oscar Delp for a touchdown on the next play, putting the Saints ahead 17-6.

ä See SAINTS, page 3C

Deep down, Tito Chikere always felt like he was an FBS football player. Two weeks into August camp for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns, the native of Sugarland, Texas, can’t wait to prove it on the ﬁeld. Take this recent conversation with his brother. “I was telling him, ‘Nobody is going to outwork me in the Sun Belt.’ That’s just how I feel,” Chikere said. “He said, ‘Man, just take it one day at a time ... just play your ball.’” The East Texas A&M transfer didn’t take much more than a day to make quite an impression on his UL coaching staff and teammates. “Tito is a mature young man,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “I would say we’re leaning heavily on him.” Defensive coordinator Jim Salgado described the 6-foot-3, 247-pound outside linebacker as “a great young man who has been a great addition to that room. He’s a very physical player, very strong and he’s learning our system.” As exciting as the transition has been in Lafayette for Chikere, it hasn’t been without some challenges. He had to learn new schemes, new duties, new coaches and new teammates. “I’m not going to say it’s been hard, but I’ll say it’s been tough,” Chikere said. “This is my ﬁrst real D-I program where I’m actually playing. The coach and the staff have been phenomenal, just making sure people are harping on the little things.” After visiting UL out of high school with his longtime buddy Cameron Whitfield, Chikere signed with Fresno State. An injury and a coaching staff change quickly ended that tenure before he also had stints at Prairie View and East Texas A&M. “I like the scheme coach Salgado and (outside linebackers coach) Mike G (Giuliani) have for me,” he said. After primarily being a defensive end at previous stops with more traditional duties, Chikere has had to brush up on coverage and other new skills with the Cajuns. “Rushing the passer is just second nature

ä See UL, page 2C

STAFF PHOTO BY BRAd KEMP

UL outside linebacker Tito Chikere, left, shown going through a drill with linebacker AJ Spencer, is expected to be a playmaker and a leader on defense this season for the Ragin’ Cajuns.

No. 5 has deep roots in Pickett family Cornerback’s jersey choice has nothing to do with former LSU quarterback daniels LSU cornerback dJ Pickett

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

The committee had just begun a new session with its youngest member. In the Pickett family, wearing the No. 5 isn’t just a tradition; it’s a promise to uphold a standard of athletic excellence. And though Jonathan, 14, is only in middle school, his older brothers DJ and Jaylen wanted to remind him what the jersey means to their household. The committee itself — made up of Pickett siblings who wear the number — is an inside joke within the family. The panel doesn’t have the jurisdictional power to strip or bar kinfolk from wearing the number. But what isn’t a laughing matter is the high bar the number represents. “Something I mess with my brother Jonathan about is he hasn’t won a Super Bowl,”

ä Scott Rabalais: Daniels commits unforced error in No. 5 squabble. PAGE 3C

Jaylen said. “And me and DJ, when he came to town recently, we were like, ‘Hey man, we need to have a committee meeting.’ “And we basically sat my brother down and told him, ‘Yo, we need to see a championship, conference championship or something. You need to keep this going.’ ” A championship standard. That’s what the No. 5 has meant to the Pickett family since Jaylen, now 28, started wearing the number when he was in eighth grade. DJ, a sophomore cornerback at LSU, was no older than 5 when he started donning his older brother’s number. He didn’t wear it last season as a freshman with the Tigers, but

ä See PICKETT, page 3C

2C ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV AUTO RACING 7:30 a.m. NTT IndyCar Series FS1 9 a.m. Motocross Championship CBSSN 11 a.m. NTT IndyCar Series FOX BEACH VOLLEYBALL noon Manhattan Beach Open CBSSN 3 p.m. Manhattan Beach Open CW WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER 11 a.m. Ohio St. at Clemson ACCN FISHING 7 a.m. Bassmaster Elite Series FS1 GOLF 11 a.m. St. Jude Championship GOLF 1 p.m. St. Jude Championship CBS

1 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m.

LPGA: Portland Classic USGA: U.S.Amateur USGA: U.S.Amateur PGA: Boeing Classic HORSE RACING noon Saratoga Live MEN’S LACROSSE noon Maryland at Philadelphia MLB 11 a.m. Baltimore at Tampa Bay 12:30 p.m.N.Y.Yankees at Toronto 2 p.m. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs 6 p.m. Seattle at Houston RODEO 11 a.m. PBR: Team Series 12:30 p.m.PBR: Team Series

IN BRIEF

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

GOLF NBCSN NBC GOLF FS1 ABC NBCSN MLBN ABC NBC CBS CW

MEN’S SOCCER 8:55 a.m. Arsenal vs. Manchester City ESPN 10 a.m. West Ham United at Burnley CBSSN 2:15 p.m. Mantova at Lazio CBSSN 6 p.m. Richmond at Omaha CBSSN WOMEN’S SOCCER 8 p.m. Washington at Angel City ESPN SOFTBALL 7 p.m. Team Brown vs.Team Klinger MLBN SWIMMING 1 p.m. Pan Pacific Championships NBC TENNIS 10 a.m. Cincinnati-ATP/WTA TENNIS WNBA 4 p.m. Indiana at Atlanta ESPN 6 p.m. Portland at Phoenix ESPN

These games hold most intrigue for Pels The NBA released its schedule for the 2026-27 season on Thursday. The New Orleans Pelicans will look to rebound after back-to-back seasons of winning less than 30 Rod Walker games. Here are the 10 most intriguing games on the Pelicans’ schedule.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays put six-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the seven-day IL Saturday because of concussion symptoms and selected outfielder Daz Cameron from Triple-A Buffalo. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Lazaro Estrada was designated for assignment. Also Saturday, Toronto recalled left-hander Ricky Tiedemann from Buffalo and optioned right-hander Chase Lee to Triple-A. Guerrero left Friday’s 3-1 victory over the Yankees following a collision with New York rookie shortstop George Lombard on a chaotic play at third base in the sixth inning. Lombard was trying to leap over a sliding Guerrero at third base when his knee and thigh struck Guerrero’s head.

The Jamahl Mosley era begins in the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans lost last season’s season opener on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. Prior to that loss, the Pels had won their previous three openers. Can Mosley get the team off to a good start and win his Pelicans’ debut? For what it’s worth, Mosley won his last three season openers in Orlando. Tyrese Haliburton, who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles, is expected to make his return for Indiana.

Oct. 31: Hawks at Pels As crazy as it may sound, STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER CJ McCollum has yet to play a game in the Smoothie King San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, center, holds the ball in front of New Orleans Pelicans Center since being traded from forward Zion Williamson, left, and Pelicans forward Trey Murphy, right, during a game at the Smoothie King the Pelicans to the Washington Center on Oct. 24. Wizards after the 2024-25 season. McCollum is now with the Hawks (along with former Pels get lots of love in his first game ery other arena in the league) to Feb. 14: Clippers at Pels players Dyson Daniels, Nickeil in New Orleans since being be buzzing whenever the Sixers Alexander-Walker and Buddy traded in February. show up. This isn’t just Valentine’s Day; Hield). McCollum finally gets it’s also Super Bowl Sunday. It’s Jan. 14: Pels vs. Spurs Feb. 2: Pels at Magic his tribute video. a 1 p.m. tipoff, so fans will have The Pelicans, like the Saints, Mosley returns to Orlando a chance to catch the Pels and Nov. 20: Pels at Thunder will play a game in Paris. While to face the Magic team that then get home in time for the There is no team that has New Orleans is a city with deep he was in charge of for the Super Bowl. Obviously, this gets had its way with the Pelicans French roots, the crowd at the previous five seasons. Mosley a little more interesting if the quite like Oklahoma City. The Accor Center will be heav- had plenty of success against Saints are in Inglewood, CaliPelicans have lost their last ily pro-Spurs. The Spurs, who the Pels when he was with the fornia, playing in the NFL’s big 13 games against the Thunder. reached the NBA Finals last Magic, with Orlando winning game. That includes the first-round season, are led by French su- nine consecutive games against New Orleans. Can Mosley flip April 11: Bulls at Pels sweep in the playoffs in 2024. perstar Victor Wembanyama. the script now that he’s on the The Thunder will once again The past two season finales other side and give the Pels have been irrelevant. The Pelibe among the favorites to win it Jan. 28: 76ers at Pels all in June. This is the Pelicans The 76ers will be one of the their first win over the Magic cans’ playoff hopes had been first chance to end their skid league’s most watched teams since December 2021? dashed long before getting to the against a team they haven’t de- now that they have added LeBsecond week in April. Will this year be different? Will the Pelifeated since November 2023. ron James and Jaylen Brown Feb. 12: Rockets at Pels to their roster. The lineup of Kevin Durant and the Hous- cans be jockeying for playoff Dec. 16: Knicks at Pels James, Brown, Joel Embiid, ton Rockets come to the position or at least a spot in the The NBA champion Knicks, Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edge- Smoothie King Center the day play-in tournament at season’s fresh off winning their first combe is one of the most star- after the Feb. 11 trade dead- end? If they are, then consider title since 1973, make the trip studded lineups the NBA has line. Will the Pelicans make a this season a success. If not, from the Big Apple to the Big ever seen. LeBron signed a two- move and shake things up at the surely major roster changes will Easy. It’ll be Jose Alvarado’s year deal, so this isn’t expected deadline like they did last sea- follow. first game in the Smoothie King to be his last ever game in New son with the Alvarado trade? Center as a member of another Orleans. But you can expect the If they do, this will be the first Email Rod Walker at team. Expect the fan favorite to Smoothie King Center (and ev- glimpse of a different roster. rwalker@theadvocate.com.

Continued from page 1C to me,” said Chikere, who had his best collegiate season with 34 tackles, one quarterback sack and 21/ 2 stops behind the line in 11 games last season. “Coverages and just things like that, working with the DB room and making sure that we have the same guy moving in motion. That’s where I can make the biggest jumps.” Salgado is excited to see Chikere help his defense stop the run. “He’s going to help us with how physical he is,” Salgado said. “We’re talking about stopping the run, man. That guy, he’s going to hold the point, and he’s going to create double teams on him where it’s going to be hard to move him.” Chikere especially likes the way Salgado teaches his system. “I love coach Salgado because he relays it back to life,” he said. Chikere is also pumped about the potential fellow linebackers Ashley Williams, Na’Tori Brown, Lester Jones and AJ Spencer possess. “Man, we can be special,” he said. “I look at Tori (Brown) and I’m like, ‘Man, how old are you?’ Like dude, Tori’s big (6-5, 250 pounds). We can be a special, special room. I really feel like we can be the best unit in the Sun Belt. I

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love will not practice this week because of a sore ankle. Love — the No. 3 overall draft pick out of Notre Dame — hurt the ankle during the team’s preseason 27-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday. Love was impressive in his debut, running for 58 yards on 11 carries. The Cardinals do have considerable depth at running back with James Conner, Tyler Allgeier, Trey Benson and Bam Knight on the roster. Benson is dealing with a left knee injury while Conner is coming back from a foot injury that caused him to miss most of last season. Also Saturday, the Cardinals put rookie guard Chase Bisontis on injured reserve, ending his season.

Blue Jays place All-Star Guerrero on injured list

Oct. 21: Pacers at Pels

Cardinals rookie RB Love to miss a week of practice

really believe that.” Despite being a newcomer and still learning the playbook, Chikere appreciates how his teammates have allowed him to ﬁt in and even take a leadership role as a redshirt senior. “I really feel like my role on this team is really an enforcer,” he said. “I feel I can step up more vocally, but I’ve always just been a leader-by-example type of dude. “The team has really rallied behind me, because they respect my work ethic. They know how hard I work, and they know what I’ve been through, and they know I’m working so hard for it. Not only for myself but for the team. “I really just see my work do the talking.” Chikere hopes watching UL game ﬁlm from last season helps him learn the scheme and where the defense can improve. “Last year we had a lot of missed tackles that I was seeing,” he said. “A lot of times it would be like a lot of missed coverages and that’s like a communication issue. I really feel like, man, we can talk to one another. “We’ve been doing tackling circuits ever since I got here, ever since like the winter conditioning. So I really feel like, ‘Man, we’re going to have it straightened out come the season.’”

Yankees OF Judge plays catch for first time during rehab

TORONTO — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge played catch in New York on Friday as he continues working toward a return from a broken right rib. “Just part of the ramp-up to baseball activity,” manager Aaron Boone said of Judge before Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Judge hasn’t played since May 31, but the three-time AL MVP and eight-time All-Star has said he intends to return this season. He was cleared to begin light workout activity on Aug. 5. Boone spoke to Judge and said the slugger responded well to throwing for the ﬁrst time in his rehab. However, Boone didn’t know when Judge might be ready to rejoin the Yankees.

Seahawks, CB Witherspoon agree to four-year deal

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks and cornerback Devon Witherspoon have agreed to a four-year, $132 million contract extension, with $101 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday. On March 26, the Seahawks exercised their ﬁfth-year option on Witherspoon, but elected to sign him to a long-term deal on the same day they started preseason play against the Dallas Cowboys. Witherspoon, 25, was selected No. 5 overall by the Seahawks in the 2023 draft. In the same round of that draft, the Seahawks selected wide receiver Jaxon SmithNjigba, who in March agreed to a four-year, $168.8 million contract with $120 million guaranteed.

Cardinals’ Báez first to hit 3 homers in first 3 at-bats

STAFF PHOTO BY BRAd KEMP

UL linebackers Tito Chikere, right and Lester Jones practice during preseason camp on Aug. 6.

CHICAGO — Joshua Báez became the first player to hit three home runs in his first three at-bats in the major leagues, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. The 23-year-old left fielder, called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, hit the first pitch he saw into the Wrigley Field bleachers, then homered in his next two at-bats. He also drove in five runs. Blaze Jordan and Alec Burleson added solo home runs to help the Cardinals win a day after dropping the opener of the three-game series. Báez is the first St. Louis player to homer in his first career plate appearance since Lane Thomas in June 2019.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 3C

lll

No. 5 quarrel subtracts from Daniels’ reputation I don’t know whether Jayden Daniels ever stepped on an ant hill on the practice ﬁeld while he was at LSU, but he certainly kicked one over last week. The former LSU Heisman Trophy winner and now Washington Commanders quarterback and/or his team (not the Commanders) sent LSU a cease-and-desist letter demanding the school stop using his name, image and likeness. Why? Because the school issued the No. 5 to current Scott Tigers sophomore Rabalais cornerback DJ Pickett for this season. The number is the one Daniels wore during his two seasons at LSU, seasons capped by his remarkable 2023 season in which he won the Heisman. He doesn’t own the number, though, just like he doesn’t own the copy of the Heisman Trophy LSU got and that he now apparently wants to go to his high school. The trophy still was displayed Friday in the lobby of the LSU football complex. And the No. 5 is still on Pickett’s jersey. All Daniels has earned from this episode is widespread scorn and heaps of jokes at his expense. A talented, apparently affable young man has become a meme with countless derogatory references on social media and in the media to his surprising act. Father Michael Alello of St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge posted on X that the church was changing 5:30 p.m. Mass to 6:30 p.m. and that the ﬁfth commandment was under further review. Former NFL star Chad Ochocinco said Daniels needs to move on and focus on his role as an NFL starting quarterback. When a priest and a guy who literally changed his name to a number aren’t on your side, you’re losing. Allow me to tick off a few observations if I may:

PICKETT

Continued from page 1C the Freshman All-SEC selection changed his number from No. 3 to No. 5 once LSU began preseason camp Aug. 5. But little did he know that a simple jersey swap would create such controversy.

Daniels’ reaction On Wednesday, ESPN reported that Washington Commanders quarterback and former LSU star Jayden Daniels sent a cease-anddesist letter to LSU on Aug. 5, informing the school that it could no longer use his name, image and likeness. The letter is the result of LSU allowing Pickett to wear No. 5, the same jersey Daniels wore during his two seasons in Baton Rouge. The number has not been retired, but no LSU player has worn it since Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in his second year with the program in 2023. LSU declined to comment on the matter Thursday. In a statement to ESPN, a spokesperson for Daniels said the “family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player.” DJ shared his perspective on the situation with reporters on Thursday, saying: “I’ve been wearing the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old. That was the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player, he did real good here.” Pickett’s father, Damien, told The Advocate on Thursday that DJ does not plan on changing his number, adding that LSU had not told the family he could no longer

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK

LSU quarterback Jayden daniels, left, takes the field with offensive lineman Charles Turner, center, and tight end Mason Taylor before kickoff against Florida on Nov. 11, 2023, at Tiger Stadium. While the court of public opinion is, like Daniels’ cease-anddesist letter, not legally binding — and though he has his supporters — overall his reputation has been greatly damaged by this episode. Either Daniels got bad advice — a lot of ﬁngers are being pointed at his helicopter mom and agent Regina Jackson — or he is just being petulant about the whole thing. Since he displayed no such character traits in his time at LSU, I’ll default to the bad advice theory. On top of being turned into a national laughingstock over this, Daniels comes off looking like he’s not focused on his job as Washington’s starting quarterback in the middle of training camp. Daniels did not play Friday in the Commanders’ 20-7 preseason win over Miami and did not speak to reporters in Washington afterward.

Team Jayden has a point in all of this: His number is being treated differently than the No. 9 worn by 2019 Heisman winner Joe Burrow. No LSU player has worn No. 9 since Burrow left LSU in January 2020, the national championship trophy in one hand and a victory cigar in the other. LSU has made it clear it is no longer in the business of retiring football numbers and has not except for Billy Cannon’s No. 20 after he played his last game in the 1960 Sugar Bowl. Burrow said last week he was told by LSU that his number wouldn’t be used again. The school should have a more consistent policy about using or not using numbers of highly accomplished players. The anti-Lane Kifﬁn crowd will use his decision to let Pickett wear No. 5 as promised as another opportunity to bash him.

That’s wrong. He made the right decision, especially if it turns out that keeping Pickett out of the transfer portal meant giving him the number. LSU may permanently lose the benefit of Daniels’ goodwill and ability to tout him to future prospects, but Kiffin has to side with his current player. How could he have done otherwise? What if he didn’t and it came to light that Pickett transferred over not getting the number? I can’t find blame with Pickett in this situation. He said he’s worn No. 5 since he was 4 years old, so not surprisingly he wanted it again. Frankly, Daniels should be flattered to share the number with such a talented player. Pickett was a five-star high school recruit, a freshman All-American in 2025, a second-team preseason All-Southeastern Conference

wear it. “Honestly, man, this right here makes us want to wear the number more,” Damien said. “LSU has not said anything to us about the number, about us being able to wear the number. Coach (Lane Kiffin) has been in full support of my son through this process.” When asked about the jersey swap, Kiffin told the media last week that a promise was made to Pickett during the former fivestar prospect’s recruitment that he could wear the number at LSU. That pledge was made under coach Brian Kelly’s regime, not Kiffin’s. Kelly told ESPN that the number was promised to Pickett during his recruitment, but he decided against giving it to him because Daniels didn’t approve. Damien told The Advocate that the family asked the four finalists in DJ’s recruitment — LSU, Oregon, Miami and Georgia — whether DJ could have the number, and each school had no issue with him wearing the jersey. But once DJ’s freshman year began, Damien suspected that acquiring the jersey could be an issue. He said the family doesn’t appreciate how Kelly and his staff handled the situation, believing that their lack of transparency contributed to the family finding itself in the middle of this controversy. “If we would have been told during our recruiting process and they had said, ‘Hey, No. 5 is not being issued. We can’t promise you No. 5, but we can talk to Jayden and see what Jayden has to say. If he gives his blessing, he does. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t,’ (we would have) moved forward,” ‘ Damien said. “If we were to have had a situation like that, it probably would not have blown up like this.” According to Damien, his son’s

wish to wear Daniels’ jersey is not meant as a sign of disrespect toward the quarterback and what he accomplished at LSU. DJ wearing No. 5 is personal; the number is tattooed on his left arm. “He never looked at the number like, ‘Oh, I want to wear ﬁve because of X, Y and Z,’ ” Damien said. “ ‘The only reason I wear this number is because of my family, because of my brother, because of what we do, because of what I do.’ ”

What Jaylen couldn’t have anticipated was that his siblings eagerly would follow in his footsteps. Besides DJ and Jonathan, four sisters and two cousins either wear the No. 5 or want to. Janet, 16, dons the jersey for her high school basketball team. Jaz wears the number on her high school dance team. Maya, now 21, wore it in high school while earning scholarship offers in three different sports: basketball, track and volleyball. “She deﬁnitely has the argument for best athlete in the household,” Jaylen said. “Maya has it because she has offers in three different sports, and DJ had offers in two. I only had offers in football.” As the oldest of 11, Jaylen has in some ways become a parental figure for his younger siblings. That’s certainly been the case with DJ, who would sometimes stay at Jaylen’s house for three weeks at a time during the summer when he was in high school. One morning, while DJ was staying with Jaylen, he missed a summer workout because a teammate — who lived in the area and usually drove him to sessions — didn’t pick him up from the house. Instead of giving DJ the morning off, Jaylen made his brother work out with him. He didn’t go easy on the future LSU cornerback. “He ended up throwing up that day,” Jaylen said. “And I deﬁnitely had a conversation with him like, you would rather do your school workouts than pull that stunt. “It was almost in a sense, like, you’re not going to have the perception, especially to our father, that you’re going to come over here and just hang out and not handle your business.” DJ, an eighth grader at the time, wasn’t happy with his brother that day. But he had learned a valuable

New Orleans gave Wilson one more drive in the third quarter, which he nearly derailed by taking an ugly 14-yard loss on a sack. But Wilson responded by firing completions of 8 and 14 yards, setting up kicker Charlie Smyth for a 52-yard ﬁeld goal that he missed wide right. Wilson yielded the ﬁeld to developmental quarterback Hunter Dekkers for the fourth quarter, with the Saints holding a 20-17 lead. Dekkers nearly pulled off a game-winning drive, but his pass to Jalen Cropper fell incomplete in the end zone as time expired.

He followed that up by leading a scoring drive to close out the ﬁrst half. Starting from his own 5-yard line with 1:02 on the clock, Wilson connected on a pair of explosive pass plays — one perfect throw down the sideline to Means for a gain of 37, then another sideline shot to rookie Barion Brown for a gain of 28. Wilson’s third-down pass to Means from the Jaguars’ 11 fell incomplete with four seconds remaining, but the Saints were able to collect a ﬁeld goal on the drive Email Luke Johnson at to push their halftime lead to 20-6. ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

History of No. 5 Both DJ and Jaylen were football stars at Zephyrhills High in Zephyrhills, Florida. Jaylen went on to play four seasons at Eastern Michigan, while DJ was the No. 11 player and No. 2 cornerback in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite, when LSU landed him. Before either Pickett wore the No. 5 and starred at Zephyrhills, their father also played at the school but wore No. 12. The Pickett family had developed a reputation for gridiron excellence in the Florida town years before Jayden and DJ began their careers. Their uncle, Ryan, played 14 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2011. When he began his football career, Jaylen wore No. 12 in honor of his father. But for as much as he looked up to him, he also wanted to carve out his own path. That’s how he decided to start wearing the No. 5 instead, in part as an ode to Reggie Bush — the star Southern Cal running back was his favorite player growing up — but mostly as a way to start his own legacy. “I had started to get comparisons to my father,” Jaylen said. “And something I told myself was, ‘I want to be like my dad, but I also want to make a name for myself.’ ”

pick at SEC media days and likely will play in the NFL himself. It isn’t as if LSU decided to give No. 5 to some random walk-on. In 2020, I wrote a book called “LSU By the Numbers” (shameless plug), choosing the best Tiger who wore each number in program history, 1-99. My No. 5 was two-time All-American Skyler Green. As great as Green was, if I revised the book I’d have to pick Daniels, who would deserve that honor as much as he deserved the Heisman three years ago. I don’t believe most of us understand just what a number means to a lot of athletes, how big a part of their identity it is. “Your number means a lot,” LSU great Marcus Spears (No. 84) said in the forward for my book. “For a lot of guys, it’s the number you had since little league. Guys put a lot of pride in it. It matters.” Pickett is far from the ﬁrst LSU player, or player anywhere, to be promised his special number while being recruited. “In recruiting, they promise you everything,” LSU All-SEC quarterback Rohan Davey (No. 6) told me. “ ‘Can I get 6?’ ‘Of course!’ ” Davey arrived at LSU and found another quarterback, Bryan Sparacino, had the number. “I went up to him and was like, ‘I’ve got to get 6 from you, Sparky.’ He looked at me like, ‘Who the hell is this freshman?’ ” Davey got the number. So did Pickett. Daniels should make amends with LSU and take to heart something another LSU great said last week. “I know Joe’s (number) hasn’t been worn, but somebody will wear it,” Leonard Fournette (No. 7) said. “I promise you, no player is bigger than the brand. No player is bigger than the LSU brand.” For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

lesson, and Jaylen had fulﬁlled his duty as a role model. “I wasn’t perfect. I had my hiccups in high school, had my fun in college,” Jaylen said. “But I just wanted to balance that out. It was in a sense of, like, we (as siblings) can have our own accountability.” Since that day, Jaylen hasn’t seen his brother trip up once as he’s ascended to the top of the LSU cornerback depth chart. Jaylen plans on attending at least four LSU games this season. That’s when he’ll be able to watch his brother continue the No. 5 legacy underneath the bright lights of Tiger Stadium. “I think DJ’s done a lot more for the No. 5 than I ever could have imagined, even to the point where kids are looking up to him, wanting to wear No. 5, that aren’t even related to us,” Jaylen said. “It (started) with just our siblings, but now it’s on a national level.” Wednesday’s news made sure it would stay that way, turning a tale about family pride into a narrative about cease-and-desist letters and NIL. But this latest development in the story was never part of the Pickett family’s plans. DJ wears the number to honor his brother and family, not to follow in the footsteps of an LSU legend. No committee is needed to ﬁnd that truth. “We never thought it would come to something like this,” Damien said. “We never looked at it as being an issue. “Jayden has his legacy. That’s the last thing we want to try and take away from him.” Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter

New Orleans Saints quarterback Hunter dekkers throws to wide receiver Jalen MorenoCropper during a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome. STAFF PHOTO BY dAVId GRUNFELd

4C ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

PREP FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW

Acadiana

2026 SCHEDULE Date

Opponent

Sept. 4 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Oct. Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 6

Central ZACHARY Carencro ST. THOMAS MORE NEW IBERIA Barbe Sam Houston SULPHUR SOUTHSIdE Lafayette

PLAYERS TO WATCH Collin DiBetta WR, 5-10, 180, Sr. diBetta is a gamer, and the coaches rave about his ability to be a difference-maker. He has the ability to shine on both sides of the ball, and he will be counted on to step up in big moments for the Rams.

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

PAST FIVE YEARS 2025: 8-4 2024: 9-2 2023: 11-3 (state runner-up) 2022: 8-4 2021: 11-3

STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC NARCISSE

Acadiana High players, from left, include Axel Cruz, Ethan Pitmon, Isaias Avalos, Nicholas Cooper, Landon LaVergne, Keddric Bourgeois, Brandon Neazy and Nathan Mendoza.

PROJECTED STARTERS Offense WR Gabriel decuir (6-1, 170, Sr.) WR Collin dibetta (5-10, 180, Sr.)* TE Axel Cruz (6-5, 240, Sr.) LT Brandon Neazy (6-4, 280, Sr.) LG Keddric Bourgeois (5-9, 235, Sr.)* C Landon Lavergne (5-9, 240, Sr.) RG Nicholas Cooper (5-9, 230, Sr.) RT Isaias Avalos (6-1, 260, Sr.)* QB Cohen dibetta (6-3, 195, Jr.) RB Syrian Joseph (6-1, 205, Sr.)* RB dashun Lightfoot (5-10, 195, Sr.) Defense dE Joel dorion (6-1, 230, Sr.)* dE Aedon Pierce (6-2, 230, Sr.) N Carderian Brown (6-0, 265, Jr.) LB Tylan Nolan (6-0, 200, Jr.)* LB Kamron Bourgeois (6-0, 200, Jr.)* OLB Beckham Guidry (5-10, 185, Jr.) OLB Brooklyn Lewis (5-9, 180, So.) CB Tavien Gallien (6-2, 175, Jr.) CB Ty Thomas (5-11, 185, Sr.) SS Jaden Hebert (6-0, 175, Jr.) FS Makel Narcisse (6-1, 185, Jr.) * RETURNING STARTER

COACHES Head coach: doug dotson (60-65) Assistant coaches: James Estes (OC/ RB), Jordan Romero (dC/LB), Ceasar Trahan (ST/LB), Matt McCullough (RB/QB), Jake Zbydniewski (OL), John Simmons (OL), Ronald Gunner (OL), George Harris (OL/TE), Rob Chapman (QB), Xzavier Johnson (WR), Trace Sutton (dL), Bralen Trahan (Safety) and Tim Sensley (CB)

What we know

Last season, the Acadiana Wreckin’ Rams went 8-4 overall, won the district 3-5A title and advanced to the second round of the division I select playoffs where they were defeated by No. 3 seed and eventual state runner-up St. Augustine. And that was in a transitional year for the Rams, whose head coach doug dotson was in his first season leading the program along with Dotson several new assistant coaches. With a full season under his belt, it’s understandable why dotson is excited about the possibilities this season. “I’m hoping that we can be better than we were last year. That’s always the goal. But we’re certainly ahead of where we were last year at this point in time,” dotson said. “Even though I was there, we had some new coaches, brought in some new people and there’s always a transition. The kids learning the coaches and the coaches learning the kids. “It took us a little while to get rolling, but I know that we’re further ahead now with this football team than we were last year, for sure.” The Rams return an experienced and senior-laden offense led by receiver Collin diBetta, running back Syrian Joseph, and offensive linemen Keddric Bourgeois and Isaias Avalos. “It’s always good to have a senior-laden offense,” dotson said. “It’s easier to play with seniors than it is with sophomores or juniors. “It’s kind of flipped from where it was last year. Last year, the only returning starter we had on offense was Collin and now it’s kind of flipped. This year, we have a lot of returning starters or guys that played a lot on offense.” Joseph and running back dashun Lightfoot also have dotson eager to see what they can accomplish. Joseph was moved to running back from receiver during the season, and both he and Lightfoot possess gamebreaking speed out of the backfield. “Sy had only ever played wide receiver, so teaching him what to do in this offense was a steep curve last year,” dotson said. “But every week he got better and better. Where he is now compared to last year, it’s night and day. He knows how to be a running back, and he’s had a tremendous off season.”

What we don’t know

For all of the experience the Rams have returning on offense, it’s the exact opposite on defense. The Rams have three returning starters in defensive end Joel dorion, and linebackers Tylan Nolan and Kamron Bourgeois. “We have some good young talent on defense,” dotson said. “We also have a lot of speed over on that side of the football. If you’re going to be young, it’s good to at least be young and fast.” Among the new starters with lofty expectations are linebackers Brooklyn Lewis and Beckham Guidry, and defensive backs Tavien Gallien, Ty Thomas and Jaden Hebert. “Beckham is a kid that’s very talented. He can run, and I’m looking for big things out of both he and Brooklyn,” dotson said. “Brooklyn is a sophomore who has drawn comparisons to (former Rams player) Micah Eugene. He’s a really good running back, but we have him on defense because he’s a football player. We have some talent in the secondary and a lot of kids are going to get an opportunity. I think we got a lot of kids that if we step up, we’re going to be good.“ That’s another reason why dotson is happy to have an experienced offense. “The best thing for us is to have an offense because sometimes our offense is our best defense,” dotson said. “We’re a ball-control offense, and a lot of times we can take the ball for eight or nine minutes on a possession, which can make the other team press on offense because they may not get many opportunities. So, our offense helps our defense a whole lot just because of the style that we play.”

Dashun Lightfoot RB, 5-10, 195, Sr. When Rams head coach doug dotson talks about the running backs, Lightfoot is among the reasons why his excitement level rises. He is explosive and a threat to score every time he touches the football. Syrian Joseph RB, 6-2, 205, Sr. One of the bigger backs the Rams have had in a while, Joseph is new to the position having been moved there last season. But Joseph is miles ahead of where he was as a junior, and he is among the players tabbed to have a breakout season with his combination of size and speed. Tylan Nolan LB, 6-0, 200, Jr. described as a tackling machine, Nolan is expected to be among the Rams’ leaders in that category. Equipped with sideline-to-sideline speed, Nolan is a physical tackler who also more than holds his own in coverage. Joel Dorion DE, 6-1, 230, Sr. dorion is a highmotor guy who showed the ability to be disruptive along the defensive front last year. The Rams expect him to be a tone-setter against the run while wreaking havoc as a pass rusher.

How we see it

The Rams are always going to be a threat to contend not only for the district title but also for a state championship. This year will be no different as the Rams will be quite explosive offensively with diBetta, Joseph, Lightfoot and a solid offensive line. If the defense can come together quickly, Acadiana could avoid the slow start that hampered it a year ago. “We have told the kids that we have won six state championships here and only one of those teams was undefeated,” dotson said. “What we do on offense, it takes time. It takes us a minute to get cranked up. I think we have the talent to make a run.” Eric Narcisse

SCOREBOARD Odds

Indiana at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Portland at Phoenix, 6 p.m..

Sports Betting Line MLB

Pro football

Sunday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -142 N.Y Yankees -123 Chi White Sox -114 Texas -143 Kansas City -124 at HOUSTON -136 National League FAVORITE LINE at ATLANTA -130 Miami -127 at N.Y METS -174 at CHI CUBS -162 at SAN FRAN -134 at LA DODGERS -172 Interleague FAVORITE LINE Boston -121 San Diego -115 Philadelphia -115

UNDERDOG Baltimore at TORONTO at DETROIT at ATHLETICS at LA ANGELS Seattle

LINE +116 -100 -106 +117 +101 +110

UNDERDOG Arizona at CINCINNATI Washington St. Louis Colorado Milwaukee

LINE +106 +104 +140 +130 +109 +139

UNDERDOG at PITTSBURGH at CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

LINE -102 -108 -107

Pro basketball WNBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Indiana Atlanta New York Washington Chicago Toronto Connecticut

W 22 21 22 19 12 10 8

L 12 12 14 14 22 23 25

Pct .647 .636 .611 .576 .353 .303 .242

GB — ½ 1 2½ 10 11½ 13½

x-Minnesota Golden State x-Las Vegas Dallas Portland Phoenix Los Angeles Seattle

W 28 24 24 20 14 13 12 7

L 7 9 11 15 20 22 21 29

Pct .800 .727 .686 .571 .412 .371 .364 .194

GB — 3 4 8 13½ 15 15 21½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

x-clinched playoff spot Friday’s Games

Indiana 98, Dallas 87 Portland 84, Seattle 82

Saturday’s Games

New York 82, Connecticut 75 Los Angeles at Washington, n Minnesota at Las Vegas, n

Sunday’s Games

Chicago at Seattle, 4 p.m.

New Orleans, Estime 5-28, Chandler 6-24, Dekkers 1-4, Donaldson 4-0. PASSING_Jacksonville, Bradley 10-17-1-105, Aguilar 1-1-0-43, Mullens 3-7-1-33. New Orleans, Z.Wilson 11-16-0-145, Dekkers 8-150-69, Rattler 8-11-0-42. RECEIVING_Jacksonville, Pena 3-58, C.Williams 2-28, Brayboy 2-25, Trammell 2-18, Boyd 1-19, Cameron 1-17, Wortham 1-9, Dallas 1-6, Long 1-1. New Orleans, Means 4-77, B.Brown 4-53, Palmer 4-33, MorenoCropper 3-49, Austin 3-24, Welch 3-16, Delp 3-10, Chandler 1-0, Donaldson 1-0, Estime 1-(minus 6). MISSED FIELD GOALS_New Orleans, Smyth 52.

NFL Preseason Glance Thursday’s Games

Cincinnati 16, Detroit 14 Pittsburgh 28, Green Bay 9 Indianapolis 13, New England 13 Arizona 27, Las Vegas 14 L.A. Chargers 27, Houston 7 Tennessee 19, San Francisco 13

Friday’s Games

Denver 27, Atlanta 7 Tampa Bay 24, N.Y. Jets 16 Washington 20, Miami 7

Major League Baseball

Saturday’s Games

Buffalo 29, Carolina 14 Chicago 34, Cleveland 10 Minnesota 13, N.Y. Giants 10 Jacksonville 24, New Orleans 20 L.A. Rams 20, Kansas City 12 Philadelphia at Baltimore, n Dallas at Seattle, n

Jac 19 275 36-118 157 2-18 4-100 0-0 14-25-2 4-24 4-43.5 0-0 8-50 35:12

NO 18 277 16-56 221 3--6 5-185 2-26 27-42-0 4-35 5-42.6 1-1 8-66 24:48

First downs Total Net Yards Rushes-yards Passing Punt Returns Kickoff Returns Interceptions Ret. Comp-Att-Int Sacked-Yards Lost Punts Fumbles-Lost Penalties-Yards Time of Possession INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Jacksonville, Taylor 22-78, Dallas 10-26, Pena 1-8, Bradley 2-4, Mullens 1-2.

East Division

Tampa Bay New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

W 74 68 65 61 59

L 47 55 57 64 63

Pct .612 .553 .533 .488 .484

GB — 7 9½ 15 15½

Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 73 65 62 60 54

L 49 58 61 64 69

Pct .598 .528 .504 .484 .439

GB — 8½ 11½ 14 19½

Chicago Detroit Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City

W 64 60 60 59 50

L 58 63 63 64 73

Pct .525 .488 .488 .480 .407

GB — 4½ 4½ 5½ 14½

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh

W 75 72 62 59 60

L 48 52 61 62 64

Pct .610 .581 .504 .488 .484

GB — 3½ 13 15 15½

Houston Texas Seattle Athletics Los Angeles

W 63 60 57 48 48

L 60 63 66 74 75

Pct .512 .488 .463 .393 .390

GB — 3 6 14½ 15

Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

East Division

Jacksonville 6 0 8 10 — 24 New Orleans 7 13 0 0 — 20 First Quarter NO_Estime 9 run (Smyth kick), 14:39. Jac_FG C.Little 54, 1:55. Jac_FG C.Little 32, :17. Second Quarter NO_FG T.Brown 49, 7:49. NO_Delp 1 pass from Z.Wilson (Smyth kick), 3:02. NO_FG T.Brown 29, :00. Third Quarter Jac_Long 1 pass from Bradley (J.Taylor run), 8:53. Fourth Quarter Jac_FG C.Little 36, 8:35. Jac_J.Taylor 2 run (C.Little kick), 4:55.

A_70,011.

National League

American League

Jacksonville 24, New Orleans 20

Baltimore (Rogers 7-8) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 5-9), 11:15 a.m. Boston (Sandoval 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Weathers 5-7) at Toronto (Cease 7-5), 12:37 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Burke 7-6) at Detroit (Anderson 4-4), 12:40 p.m. San Diego (Mize 4-7) at Cleveland (Bibee 4-12), 12:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Painter 2-8) at Minnesota (Kremer 2-4), 1:10 p.m. Texas (Bradford 0-1) at Athletics (Lopez 5-4), 3:05 p.m. Kansas City (Cameron 6-8) at L.A. Angels (Johnson 2-6), 3:07 p.m. Seattle (Woo 8-8) at Houston (Brown 3-2), 6:20 p.m.

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

Chicago White Sox 9, Detroit 5 Pittsburgh 8, Boston 4 Toronto 3, N.Y. Yankees 1 San Diego 7, Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 5 Houston 10, Seattle 7, 10 innings Kansas City 7, L.A. Angels 6 Athletics 8, Texas 3

Saturday’s Games

Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 3 Toronto 4, N.Y. Yankees 1 Baltimore at Tampa Bay, n Philadelphia at Minnesota, n San Diego at Cleveland, n Seattle at Houston, n Boston at Pittsburgh, n Kansas City at L.A. Angels, n Texas at Athletics, n

Sunday’s Games

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

W 74 66 65 51 49

L 49 57 58 72 74

Pct .602 .537 .528 .415 .398

GB — 8 9 23 25

Chicago Cubs 3, St. Louis 0 Cincinnati 1, Miami 0 Pittsburgh 8, Boston 4 N.Y. Mets 4, Washington 1 Arizona 2, Atlanta 0 San Diego 7, Cleveland 5 Colorado 5, San Francisco 2 L.A. Dodgers 3, Milwaukee 1

Saturday’s Games

St. Louis 8, Chicago Cubs 4 San Francisco 7, Colorado 1 N.Y. Mets 5, Washington 4 Miami at Cincinnati, n Philadelphia at Minnesota, n San Diego at Cleveland, n Arizona at Atlanta, n Boston at Pittsburgh, n Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, n

Sunday’s Games

Arizona (Soroka 8-3) at Atlanta (Elder 8-7),

12:35 p.m. Boston (Sandoval 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. Miami (Pérez 6-9) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 3-2), 12:40 p.m. San Diego (Mize 4-7) at Cleveland (Bibee 4-12), 12:40 p.m. Washington (Irvin 2-6) at N.Y. Mets (Scott 3-3), 12:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Painter 2-8) at Minnesota (Kremer 2-4), 1:10 p.m. St. Louis (Dobbins 2-3) at Chicago Cubs (Cabrera 5-4), 2:15 p.m. Colorado (Hughes 0-4) at San Francisco (Tidwell 0-0), 3:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Henderson 6-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Skubal 7-6), 3:10 p.m.

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Activated C Jake Rogers. Optioned C Edgar Quero to Charlotte (IL). LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Sent LHP Yusei Kikuchi on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga (CAL). SEATTLE MARINERS — Claimed RHP Troy Watson off waivers from Detroit. TAMPA BAY RAYS — Optioned RHP Chris Roycroft to Durham (IL). Recalled RHP Joe Boyle from Durham. TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Placed 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the 7-day IL. Designated RHP Lazaro Estrada for assignment. Selected the contract of OF Daz Cameron from Buffalo (IL). Optioned RHP Chase Lee to Buffalo. Recalled LHP Ricky Tiedemann from Buffalo. National League MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Designated OF Jihwan Bae for assignment. Acquired SS Jonathan Ornelas from the Athletics in exchange for cash. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Recalled OF Joshua Báez from Memphis (IL). Optioned 3B César Prieto to Memphis.

FOOTBALL

National Football League ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed TE Baylor Cupp, DL Keveion’ta Spears and RB Tre Stewart. Placed OL Chase Bisontis, TE Jameson Geers and LB Austin Keys on injured reserve. CINCINNATI BENGALS — Signed CB Matthew McDoom. Placed CB Ceyair Wright on the exempt/left list. Reinstated DT B.J. Hill from the physically unable to perform list. GREEN BAY PACKERS — Released QB Kyron Drones. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Signed OLs Darrian Dalcourt and Joe Michalski. Released LS Niko Lalos. Placed G Andrew Rupcich on injured reserve. PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Agreed to terms with DT Keeanu Benton on a four-year contract extension.

FAITH: Sister Helen Prejean continues her work — and her writing 4D

LIVING

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

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

1dn

Jan Risher

Apparently, I needed a $10 flyswatter I have bought more things in the last 11 months than I have in the last 11 years. I am not happy about that claim, but it’s true. The purchases — from a longer chain pull for a ceiling fan to an oven, refrigerator, sofa and bed — have been necessary because of our house fire in August 2025. Shopping in the wake of a fire is largely utilitarian: light fixtures, socks, rug pads, a can of spray starch, all the furniture, doors, latches, knobs, tile, sinks, flanges. I didn’t even know what a flange was, but I do know that the list goes on and on. Whatever joy I once derived from shopping is long gone. (Except for purses. I still enjoy my quest for the perfect purse.) All that said, there is one item that arrived last week that has me rejoicing — a flyswatter. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to own something that has the sole purpose of smacking a fly. For reasons not fully understood, flyswatters have been missing from our lives for years — and I’m so happy I have one again. Flyswatters played a much larger role in my childhood than they have in recent decades. I’m not exactly sure what happened to them. Where did they go? What happened to the flyswatter, a word that rhymes so perfectly with ice water — thank you, Lyle Lovett? They used to be everywhere, but my family hasn’t owned one for years. Until last week. That absence doesn’t make a lot of sense since flyswatters are quite effective at the task at hand, and flies are very much still around. Maybe because I’ve spent a lot of time at a construction site lately, I’ve noticed the glaring hole in life more. Maybe it’s because air conditioning works so much better now than it did when I was a kid. Maybe more windows have screens. My quest to learn more about the decline of flyswatters led me to Iza van Riemsdijk, a Dutch internal medicine and nephrology specialist who owns more than 3,300 of them. Her collection of very ordinary and very exceptional swats from all over the globe has been turned into a museum display in multiple countries. She launched her collection in 1989 in Japan when she spotted a bow tie-shaped pink swatter with tweezers in the handle for picking up dead flies. Riemsdijk’s internet footprint is a strange one. Along with information about interesting and mundane swatters, her website includes scholarly

PROVIdEd PHOTOS

‘Pointe Noire,’ a film from Pat Mire and Rebecca Hudsmith, features scenes shot on locations around southwest Louisiana.

on the Director Pat Mire shows Cajun culture in Acadiana movie with Louisiana, Canadian stars BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Stories can be found everywhere off of Acadiana’s back roads. The sun setting over crawfish ponds, dim dance halls full of life and secrets, the raucous colors of a rural Courir de Mardi Gras — it all creates an ideal background for the scenes of drama and retribution that make the world of “Pointe Noire” feel so true to life in southwest Louisiana. “Pointe Noire” is the newest release from Louisiana director Pat Mire, who produced the film with writer and partner Rebecca Hudsmith. The couple are the force behind Cinema on the Bayou, an international film festival that highlights independent work from across the Francophone world, with a special focus on this corner of French-speaking Louisiana. The fictional Cajun prairie community of Pointe Noire is home to crawfish farmer and filmmaker Louis Leger, who teams up with attorney Dolores Arceneaux in a classic murder-mystery arc — the fight to free an innocent man, before it’s too late. The film stars Canadian actors Roy Dupuis and Myriam Cyr, with Cajun actor Michael Bienvenu in the role of Joel Richard, who is sitting on death row.

Writer-director Pat Mire works on the set of his latest film, ‘Pointe Noire.’ Louisiana music icon Zachary Richard also makes a star turn in “Pointe Noire” as a rice farmer with secrets, lending even more cultural and aesthetic authenticity to a movie that was filmed in Acadiana’s backyard. “Our audience was not limited to a local audience or Cajun audience, but we wanted to make a film that they would look at and go, ‘I’m proud of this,’” said Hudsmith. “This lady at our screening in Crowley said, ‘This is the best film I’ve ever seen in my life.’ The film goes in and out of French and English, and she was almost crying

and says, ‘That’s what it was for us. That was normal in my family.’” Core scenes take place at the Whirlybird Compound, a dance hall, artists’ co-op and home in St. Landry Parish — the location is a secret kept for those who inquire — giving the viewer even more immersion into the world. It feels like a tale you could stumble into in the hidden corners of Acadiana, where every story has deep roots. “When I saw the Whirlybird, I said, ‘This is my Cajun Warner Brothers lot,’ ” Mire said.

ä See ‘NOIRE’, page 6D

ä See FLYSWATTER, page 6D

Teen photographer goes viral with water park photo shoot Glen Oaks High School football players jump into a pool at Blue Bayou during a photo shoot for the team’s media day. PHOTO BY KEITH JOSEPH

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

At 18 years old, Baton Rouge local Keith Joseph is experiencing his 15 minutes of fame. A 2026 Liberty Magnet graduate and former linebacker, Joseph is making waves on social media for his creative high school football team media shoots. His aquatic shots of the Glen Oaks High School football team at Blue Bayou Water Park have generated over 113,000

When I see the picture and it looks good, I just get excited.” KEITH JOSEPH

views on Instagram and even made it to SportscenterNext’s Instagram page. Joseph’s photography business, Shot By Mane, has been busy this summer. Joseph said that he’s photographed about seven Baton Rouge high school football teams so far for their media day pictures — something that has become increasingly more extravagant as social media has captured the attention of athletes and fans. NFL, college and high school

teams and players are connecting with photographers to create out-of-the-box photo shoots at unorthodox locations. The flashy photos help players get seen. Of the high school football teams Joseph has photographed, he has shot at Raising Cane’s for Brusly High School, Perkins Rowe for McKinley High School and Topgolf for Liberty Magnet High School. Joseph said the players are

ä See PHOTOS, page 6D

2D ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

BOOKS

‘A VESSEL AND CONDUIT OF DIVINE POWER’ New biography sheds light on Mahalia Jackson’s role in the Civil Rights Movement

BY RIEN FERTEL Contributing writer

”Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer,” by Timothy B.Tyson and Mary D.Williams, Liveright, 256 pages. Of the many celebrities and civil rights luminaries who attended and performed at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, Mahalia JackReview son was a singular, uniting force. The “World’s Greatest Gospel Singer” was a superstar of stage, screen and the recording studio, having launched a niche musical genre to mainstream success two decades earlier. Before that, the New Orleansborn artist had become a leading civil rights champion, bridging the sacred with the unholy realm that is American politics. The march’s organizers scheduled Jackson toward the end of a long day, knowing her rendition of “I’ve Been ’Buked and I’ve Been Scorned” — never shy to sing, she added an impromptu performance of “How I Got Over” — would reenergize the crowd of 250,000-plus for the program’s final speaker, her friend Martin Luther King Jr. As the reverend wrapped up his prepared notes, Jackson, seated on the dais to his immediate left, shouted out in the interactive, call-and-response exchange of the Black church: “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!” For the next six minutes, King improvised, expanding on a theme explored in his recent speeches: “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” Though there’s debate whether King registered Jackson’s rallying call, his speech would become one of the most famous in history. This flip side of the celebrated singer, the unsung political activist, is the subject of Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams’ new biography, “Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher.” “Tragically neglected as a major civil rights pioneer,” they write, Jackson “deserves to be remembered in the same breath

Martin Luther King Jr.

FILE PHOTO

as many of the most prominent leaders in the movement.” More scholarship on Jackson is sorely needed, and Tyson and Williams make for an interesting team. He is a bestselling historian, most recently of “The Blood of Emmett Till” (2017), a book that resulted in the reopening of a Justice Department investigation into Till’s 1955 Mississippi lynching, as well as charges of spurious research on the author’s part. She is a gospel singer and civil rights scholar. Together they have taught a series of community courses throughout North Carolina titled “The South in Black and White,” which led to their most recent collaboration. Mahala Jackson — she would add the ‘i’ later in life, as if willing herself to stardom — was born in 1911, in a three-room shotgun brimming with her mother’s sisters and their children, located along the levee of the Black Pearl section of Uptown New Orleans. At age 5, Halie, as she was called, was orphaned and left to the watchful eyes of her network of aunts and the family’s two houses of worship: Plymouth Rock Baptist, where she’d started singing in the children’s choir a year earlier, and Mt. Moriah Baptist (unfortunately, the authors mistakenly conﬂate the two churches, both of which remain in operation today). At the time, the Black church, in the authors’ telling, was hardly the place for a young civil rights activist in the making. Jackson’s version of the gospel blues — heavily inﬂuenced by Blues Empress Bessie Smith, her guiding light of a more secular sort — would forever earn the derision of more conservative congrega-

tions, who accused her of sneaking “the devil’s music” into the Lord’s sanctuary. Tyson and Williams credit a teacher at McDonough 24, Orlando Capitola Ward, a Black activist who would later become the founding editor of the Louisiana Weekly (still one of the nation’s most notable Black newspapers), for Jackson’s early political awakening. He exposed the teenager to “a passionate sympathy for the Black working class and a rare openness to interracial coalition politics.” In the winter of 1931, a 20-yearold Mahalia accompanied an aunt to Chicago, joining the more than half a million Black Southerners who relocated to the Windy City during the Great Migration. Homesick and freezing, she again found refuge in the House of the Lord, joining the congregation

and choir at the Greater Salem Baptist Church. There, Jackson quickly linked up with two tireless men who had ﬂed Jim Crow Georgia for Chicago: Thomas Dorsey and William L. Dawson. The former was a prodigious composer of gospel songs, the latter the leader in the city’s burgeoning Black political machine. Together, they pushed the young New Orleans transplant in the dual directions that would deﬁne the rest of her life. From these beginnings, Tyson and Williams trace Jackson’s twin trajectories at a dizzying pace. Dawson encouraged her to stump for politicians near and far, including presidential hopeful Franklin D. Roosevelt. Alongside Dorsey, Jackson traveled the Baptist circuit, performing for churches and conventions nationwide.

In 1947 Jackson would record the song that made her an icon: “Move On Up a Little Higher.” Written by Memphis minister William Herbert Brewster, the smash hit anticipated the era of nonviolent mobilization to come: “March all around God’s altar / Gonna walk and never get tired / Gonna fly, Lord, and never falter / I’m gonna move up a little higher.” It remains the bestselling gospel single of all time, with upward of eight million copies sold. For the next quarter-century, until her death in 1972, Jackson was a bona fide celebrity and civil rights champion. She used her gravitas to insist on Black political power and economic uplift, and her capital to fund Mahalia Jackson’s Glori-Fried Chicken, a fast-food franchise that aimed to foster entrepreneurship and build wealth within the Black community. Despite Tyson and Williams’s best efforts to recast their subject as a preeminent civil rights activist, their biography too often feels like a career highlight reel. They portray Jackson’s principles but not her passions — what she did but not who she was. While reading this book, I often found myself returning to Mark Burford’s award-winning “Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field” (2018), which offers a deeper account of Jackson’s glory-bound trajectory, as well as Jackson’s 1966 unfortunately neglected autobiography, “Movin’ On Up.” Curiously, though both Tyson and Williams are credited as coauthors, their book ends with an afterword solely attributed to the latter. These brief pages show what could have been — a more personal reflection on why Jackson matters today. “Mahalia remains a vessel and conduit of Divine power,” Williams writes. “She is the love that transformed her into God’s guiding light for the freedom movement that will never let us turn away.” Rien Fertel is the author of four books. He recently won his fifth Best Critical Review Award from the New Orleans Press Club.

THIS WEEK’S BESTSELLERS FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY HARDCOVER FICTION

1. “Daggermouth” by H.M. Wolfe 2. “The Calamity Club” by Kathryn Stockett 3. “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke 4. “Sea of Charms” by Sarah Beth Durst 5. “Whistler” by Ann Patchett 6. “Meet Me in Paris” by Kristin Harmel 7. “Getting Away with Murder” by Shari Lapena. Viking/Dorman 8. “The Country Road Murders” by Patterson/Lupica 9. “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, Vol. 8” by Hirohiko Araki 10. “Cool Machine” by Colson Whitehead

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. “How Lucky Am I” by Christian Watson 2. “Regime Change” by Haberman/ Swan 3. “Biological War” by Annie Jacobsen 4. “Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About” by Isabel Klee 5. “Strangers” by Belle Burden 6. “This Is the Plan” by Ben Wikler 7. “Communion” by JD Vance 8. “The Land and Its People” by David Sedaris 9. “London Falling” by Patrick Radden Keefe 10. “Birth Vibes” by Jen Hamilton

TRADE PAPERBACK

1. “Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi 2. “Just for the Plot” by Meghan Quinn 3. “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman 4. “The Divorce” by Freida McFadden 5. “Murdoku” by Manuel Garand 6. “The Housemaid’s Wedding” by Freida McFadden 7. “Daybreak” by Autumn Woods 8. “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid 9. “Dolly All the Time” by Annabel Monaghan 10. “Game On” by Navessa Allen

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 3D

lll

TRAVEL

Expert advice, hacks for rising travel costs Amid inflation, consumers looking to save money

“Cruise lines and resorts release their lowest pricing and best perks, such as free drink packages, onboard credit, and kids-sail-free promos, at the opening of booking windows,” Bixler explains. Waiting even a few months usually means paying more for the same cabin or room category on a cruise or at a resort. And not to worry, if a lower-cost promotion comes out at a later date, you may still be able to get that promotional deal applied retroactively to the cost you paid earlier.

BY MIA TAYLOR TravelPulse (TNS)

Whether it’s gas, groceries, energy bills, or yes, travel costs, it’s hard to avoid the sticker shock of rising prices these days. When it comes to travel expenses, in particular, the July Travel Inflation Report from NerdWallet reveals that average U.S. travel costs are 10% higher compared to this time in 2025. The report, which combines data from individual travel categories tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (such as airfares, lodging, meals and rental cars), also indicates that airfare is far steeper in 2026 than it was last year, up a staggering 26.5%. The price tag for eating out and entertainment is also up, but more modestly at 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively. Lodging prices, meanwhile, have increased about 4.8%. Despite these price hikes, Americans are not interested in giving up on travel. And who can blame them?A survey of more than 3,000 people conducted by travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth found that more than half of respondents (54%) plan to cut spending on other areas of their lives to prioritize travel in 2026. Which areas are getting the axe exactly? About 19% of survey respondents said they’ll reduce retail shopping and 12% said they’ll cut back on dining out in order to make more money available for travel. If you’re reluctant to put a pause on travel as well, but would like to find ways to rein in the especially steep costs of a vacation, read on. We asked travel industry insiders to share their top tips for scaling back travel expenses amid inflation. Here’s what they had to say. Shift your flight budget toward more budget-friendly and dollarstrong countries Booking flights is likely the deci-

Use hyper-local travel experts

dREAMSTIME “Shifting a Disney or Universal trip by even two or three weeks, before or after spring break or the first weeks of summer, can cut airfare and even hotel rates by a quite a bit,” says Bixler. “Families with any flexibility with school Shoulder and off-season calendars are saving the most by This tried-and-true hack has moving off already popular travel been around for quite some time dates.” and is often relied upon by freCruises and all-inclusive resorts quent globetrotters. Instead of visiting a destination Another way to help combat risduring its peak season, such as ing travel costs is by booking a summer in Europe, try visiting cruise vacation or an all-inclusive during a time that’s less popular resort, advises Bixler. Here too, with travelers. Think: October or package deals can help cap your November in the case of Europe, spending and make budgeting for for instance. your trip more predictable. “Traveling during the off-season “With airfare up and discount or shoulder season is one of my options limited this year, a cruise top recommendations for travel- or an all-inclusive resort locks in ers looking to stretch their budget food, resort and entertainment without compromising the overall before it climbs any further,” Bixexperience,” says Julie Crotts, a ler explains. “I’m steering more travel advisor with Fora. budget-conscious families toward “I typically suggest dates outside these because there’s no surprise of peak periods, when travelers bill or resort fee after you have can often find more competitive paid.” rates on accommodations, flights and activities while enjoying few- Book your vacation early er crowds.” Crotts adds. This tip may not be for everyone This hack also works for theme (procrastinators, we’re looking park vacations, says Bethany Bix- at you), but if you’re comfortable ler, travel advisor with Wish and locking in a vacation for 2027 now, Wayfinder Travel, who specializes it may save you a great deal of money, says Bixler. in Disney vacations.

sion with the largest marginal impact on your travel budget, says Evelyn Duran, of the tour company Ecuador & Galapagos Insiders. Consumers can help reduce this cost by looking for less expensive flight destinations. “Round-trip flights to Ecuador from Miami or Houston are currently some of the least expensive international flights, costing $400 to $600, while flights to Europe range from $900 to $1,400,” explains Duran. Many of the countries that are less expensive to fly to also offer an especially favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar (meaning your vacation dollars will go further)

Duran. Moreover, by doing a little research online, it may even be possible to ﬁnd tour operators offering sales or special promotions on all-inclusive packages.

All-inclusive tour packages You can protect yourself against continually rising travel costs by booking an all-inclusive tour package for your next vacation. In most cases, when you travel via a package tour (offered by companies like Intrepid, Trafalgar, G Adventures, Contiki, Ecuador & Galapagos Insiders, and the like), everything from restaurants to activities and accommodations is included for one set price. “When you book an all-inclusive trip ... you can lock in current prices for your entire family,” explains

During an inflationary travel environment, it can be helpful to work with local travel experts to craft your travel experience. “Local travel experts have the best pricing because they have relationships with the lodges, guides, transportation providers, and activity providers, and they have the most pricing options available,” explains Vummy Kihaule, a travel expert with Tanzania Safaris. When a local travel expert does the travel planning, you can also avoid the retail cost of booking transfers, activities, and accommodations, adds Kihaule. “Local travel experts even provide authentic activities that travelers miss when they travel plan on their own,” says Kihaule.

Practice ‘slow travel’ Another increasingly popular hack to help scale back the cost of travel is to visit fewer places during the course of a trip and stay longer in each place. This approach is known as “slow travel.” “Attempting to travel to more places only adds to the cost of travel due to the hidden costs that come with moving around more like the cost of checking luggage, flights, and transfers,” says Kihaule. Slow travel also offers the beneﬁt of allowing you to get to know each place you visit more deeply and provides more support for local economies and businesses. It’s an approach that Kihaule says will make your journey even richer and more memorable.

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER By Christopher Elliott

After flight was canceled, $844 refund sent to wrong bank I booked flights with Viva Aerobus from Tijuana to Hermosillo, Mexico.The airline canceled the flights, and I requested a refund.Viva Aerobus would not refund to my American Express card. Instead, it said it had to wire the money to my U.S. bank account. Christopher I sent the airline the details for an internaElliott tional transfer. My bank is Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union. I found a SWIFT code for the bank online and included it in the forms. It turns out my bank does not use a SWIFT code or an intermediary bank.To make matters worse,Viva Aerobus performed the transfer but used a different SWIFT code than the one I provided. It sent the money to Navy Federal Credit Union. I

ment set the stage for the confusion that followed. You admitted in your correspondence that you searched for your bank’s SWIFT code online. That is dangerous. You should always contact your bank to verify wire instructions. As you found out, your credit union does not use the SWIFT system. However, Viva Aerobus made a significant error as well. You provided a specific code, but the airline’s records show it sent the money to a different one. As you correctly point out, it directed your refund to Navy Federal Credit Union instead of Northrop Grumman. When a wire transfer hits a bank where the beneficiary has no account, the funds are typically

am not a member there, so that bank will not help me. I have sent several emails to customer service and the CEO, but nobody will reply. I also filed a formal complaint with PROFECO, Mexico’s consumer protection agency. Can you help me get my $844 refund? — Carol Bartell, Carlsbad, Calif. When an airline cancels a ﬂight, it’s required under federal rules to refund you if you decide not to travel. But what we have here is a comedy (or maybe a tragedy) of banking errors, and it is difﬁcult to know who gets the blame. Let’s start with the refund itself. Viva Aerobus should have simply reversed the charge on your American Express card. It is unclear why the airline insisted on a wire transfer, but that require-

e al

S Supe

%* 35

up ave to

m mer S

rejected and returned to the sender. This process can take time, and money often sits in limbo while banks reconcile the error. You did the right thing by escalating your complaint. You contacted the airline’s executives (I list the names and numbers for Viva Aerobus executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott. org). You also ﬁled a complaint with PROFECO, Mexico’s consumer protection agency. For Mexican airlines, PROFECO is often the most effective route to a resolution because it has regulatory authority over carriers like Viva Aerobus. Since the airline stopped responding to you, it may have been ignoring you. When a consumer

protection agency gets involved, your case may get transferred to a different department that handles government complaints. Unfortunately, that often freezes direct communication with the customer to instead handle the issue through ofﬁcial legal channels. I contacted Viva Aerobus several times on your behalf. Finally, Viva Aerobus responded to you via your PROFECO complaint. It processed a new refund for $844, the full amount of your ticket. Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonproﬁt organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.

Easy A

sp Back to school

ecial

Goodbye Clogged Gutters Upgrade your gutters this summer! LeafFilter blocks out common debris.

Before LeafFilter

Save up-to*

After LeafFilter

+ Free gutter inspection, quote good for 1 year Promo code: 285

35% Oﬀ Call 1-877-582-6101

*Promotional offer includes 25% off plus an additional 10% off for qualified veterans and/or seniors. Cannot be combined with other offers. See representative for full warranty details. AR 366920925, AZ ROC 344027, CA 1035795, CT HIC.0671520, DC 4.20223E+11, FL CBC056678, IA C127230, ID RCE-51604, LA 559544, MA 213292, MD MHIC111225, HIC164488, MI 262300331, 262300330, 262300329, 262300328, 262300318, 262300173, MN IR810524, MT 2661922, ND 47304, NE 50145-24, 50145-23, NJ 13VH13285000, NM 408693, NV 86990, OR 218294, PA PA179643, RI GC-41354, TN 10981, UT 10783658-5501, VA 2705169445, VT 174.0000871, WA LEAFFLH-763PG, WI No. 537-DCFRR WV WV056912. Promotion exp: 8/31/2026.

One dozen petit fours for $12 8646 GOODWOOD BOULEVARD (225) 928-7000

4D ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

FAITH

‘The dignity of all life’ At 87, Sister Helen Prejean continues her work and her writing

Sister Helen Prejean

BY BOB WARREN

seem to some that she is taking sides. Now, in addition to the advocacy work, she also tries to prioritize the needs of a victim’s family, making sure to reach out to them when she becomes a prisoner’s adviser. “It’s just unbelievable, the dark mystery they’ve been plunged into,” she says of the families. “Here, your loved one’s alive, and by that night at 10 o’clock, they’re dead … And they (the victims’ families) need healing help.”

Staff writer

It’s been more than three decades since Sister Helen Prejean’s ﬁrst book, “Dead Man Walking,” chronicled her experiences as spiritual adviser to two men on Louisiana’s death row. Her gritty depiction of their executions renewed the nation’s debate over capital punishment. Prejean is 87 now, an age where most folks have long called it a career. Not her. The Catholic nun, a Baton Rouge native and New Orleans resident, recently helped produce a graphicnovel adaptation of her best-known book with the aim of reaching a new, younger audience. She’s also writing a new book, about another man on Louisiana’s death row, Manuel Ortiz, who was convicted in the 1992 murder of his wife and another woman in Kenner. Do nuns ever retire? “This one doesn’t,” she said during a recent interview in the small New Orleans apartment where she lives and works amid her many books and papers. Next year will mark 70 years since she joined the Congregation of St. Joseph. She doesn’t plan to slow down. But a quick nap isn’t a bad idea between appointments. “That chair right there,” she said, pointing to an upholstered recliner, next to a TV tray covered with books. “It kicks out.” She is committed as ever to talking about her work and the death penalty. The speaking engagements continue, probably “20 or 30 a year,” though more are now done online. And, of course, there’s the new book. “Well, Random House is cutting me a lot of slack,” she said. “So I kind of decided we’re going to try to get a manuscript to them by the end of December.” She said she draws strength and inspiration from prayer. Some of the art on the walls of her ofﬁce also carry spiritual messages. A print of Fra Angelico’s “Annunciation” hangs near her computer — the Archangel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary she will give birth to Jesus. “But we get small annunciations to do God’s work all the time,” Prejean says. “Dead Man Walking” has sold more than 800,000 copies, she says. The 1995 movie version starred Sean Penn as a death-row inmate and Susan Sarandon as Prejean. Sarandon won an Academy Award for it. Prejean still marvels at the reach her book has had. She said she spoke recently with a student, an eighth grader, who

‘Trust your artist’

STAFF PHOTOS BY dAVId GRUNFELd

Some items in Sister Helen Prejean’s home office in New Orleans include a photo from the 1995 film based on her book, ‘dead Man Walking.’ told her she had read “Dead Man Walking” three times. Prejean was ﬂoored. “It’s a heavy book,” she said. As she often does in interviews, Prejean refers to her Cajun roots as she describes the feelings she had when that ﬁrst book was conceived. In short, she thought it would be a waste of time. “It just seemed passive,” she said of the thought that people would want to read what she wrote. “We’re from Louisiana — we talk. We tell stories.”

‘God woke me up’ Prejean says public opinion continues to shift toward opposing the death penalty, and notes that keeping the debate going helps move it further in that direction. The Catholic Church has increasingly opposed capital punishment and supports abolishing it; in 2018 Pope Francis revised the catechism to affirm that all uses of the death penalty are “inadmissible.” Prejean cites recent Gallup polls showing a 52% approval rate for the death penalty, down from a peak of 84% in 1994. Twenty-three states do not allow capital punishment. Nineteen people have been executed in four states in the U.S in 2026, all by lethal injection. Twelve were in Florida and four were in Texas. The last person to be executed in Louisiana was Jessie Dean Hoffman Jr., who was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of a woman

in St. Tammany Parish. His March 2025 execution was Louisiana’s first in 15 years. Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill both support the death penalty, saying it fulfills promises made to victims’ families. Prejean, who joined her order in 1957, describes her early life as one with blinders on, a life where she had very little recognition of issues such as racial prejudice, even though she lived in the segregated South. Moving into the St. Thomas public housing development in New Orleans in 1982, where she worked with the poor and saw the difficulties in their lives, was pivotal. “I’m still so grateful God woke me up,” she said, explaining her transformation from someone who talked about religion to a person who tries to live the teachings of

Jesus. Another eye-opener came later that year, when she began corresponding with Patrick Sonnier, who was on death row after being convicted in the rape and murder of a teenage couple in New Iberia. After witnessing Sonnier’s 1984 execution in the electric chair, Prejean initially said, “Never again.” She vomited after the execution. But months later she was back at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, this time corresponding with and visiting Robert Lee Willie, another man convicted of murder. “Dead Man Walking” chronicles Prejean’s time with Sonnier and Willie, but since then, she has been spiritual adviser for six additional executed inmates. “You have to be really clear: What’s your job and what’s God’s job?” she said when asked to describe her work with death-row inmates, including accompanying them their executions. “What’s your job? What’s the boundary of what you can do? I know my job is to give dignity and to respect them. That’s what I do.” As the new adaptation makes clear, Prejean doesn’t shy away from what she considers the missteps in her early work. She said she very painfully learned the devastation felt by crime victims’ families, and the hurt they sometimes feel over her work with the men on death row. She said she understands it can

The graphic novel took six years to complete. Rose Vines wrote the book’s script and Catherine Anyango Grünewald did the illustrations. It includes some updated information on the death penalty and decades of court decisions surrounding it. Two recurring characters, an owl and an ant, make appearances to offer comment throughout the book. Any good book can transport a reader to another place, Prejean said. “But the difference here is that you can go between the picture and thinking about it, and the words about it.” S h e p r a i s e d Vi n e s a n d Grünewald’s work. The three conferred often, “but they really did the work.” Prejean spent less time with Grünewald on the illustrations. She recalled Sarandon’s advice to her, decades ago, about such matters: “Here’s the thing you gotta do. You gotta trust your artist,” Prejean said. Prejean spends much of her day writing in her apartment-ofﬁce, at a computer with a view of the bird feeder on a small patio outside. The working title of the book she is now writing is “Cry Justice: The Ordeal of Manuel Ortiz and the Louisiana Justice System.” Ortiz, a native of El Salvador, was convicted of ﬁrst- and seconddegree murder in the 1992 killings of his wife, Tracie Williams Ortiz, and Cheryl Mallory, in Kenner. Prosecutors said Ortiz hired someone to kill his wife so he could collect insurance money. Prejean believes he is innocent and has been his spiritual adviser for a couple of decades. As she advocates for Ortiz, Prejean says she will continue to work to abolish the death penalty. “I’ve got a lot more to go ahead (of me),” she said. “And I feel there’s hope in the Gospel message about the dignity of all life, and that we can grow. So mostly, I do have hope.” Reporter Bob Warren writes about faith and spirituality in Louisiana. Contact him at bwarren@theadvocate.com.

Five north La. priests move step closer to canonization BY LIZ SWAINE

Staff writer

SHREVEPORT — While it is true that New Orleans is the home of the Saints, it may not always be the only Louisiana city to make that claim. Five priests who lived and died in north Louisiana in 1873 have been formally accepted by the Vatican and are currently in the “Roman Phase” of the process of sainthood. For years, the story of the men, who are also referred to as the Five Martyrs, was little known. They were young priests from Europe who volunteered to come to Shreveport to minister to the sick and dying during a virulent Yellow Fever epidemic. Each knew the dangers, and each, eventually, died in the short outbreak that also killed a quarter of the city’s population.

The story of the priests is now the subject of three books and a graphic novel, but was mostly unknown until the work of historian and retired Louisiana State University Shreveport history professor Cheryl White and others. A documentary, “The Five Priests,” was named the 2021 Best Feature Documentary at the White Cannes World Film Festival. Their story is one worth repeating, said the Rev. Duane Trombetta of downtown’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which is home to a Minor Shrine to the Five Priests. “They were serving people regardless of the people’s faith practices. They just wanted to be there to offer a word of kindness, intercessory prayers, a cold compress,

a glass of water, and they were doing so without regard to others’ backgrounds, histories, or faith practices,” Trombetta said. “So, we believe that alone is an important part of their legacy.” Another part of the legacy of the ﬁve — Isidore Quemerais, Louis Gergaud, Jean Pierre, Jean-Marie Biler, and François LeVézouët — is that each knew they were coming to a place they would likely never leave. Trombetta said the Minor Shrine has drawn visitors from across the U.S. and Europe to their 130-yearold church, which was also named a Pilgrimage Destination for the church’s Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025. Sainthood for the priests could bring many more visitors. It is never a quick process, said White. The deeds of the ﬁve are making their way through the steps to canonization. Right now,

they are considered “Servants of God.” “At this phase, what it means is that it’s no longer Shreveport, Louisiana. It’s no longer a diocesan process. It is now under the authority of the Holy See. So they will take everything that we sent and will now begin the process of producing a scientiﬁc biography of all ﬁve of our priests that will be presented to Pope Leo,” explained White. “Venerable is the next title,” and is a decision of the pope, said White. “But once they are venerable, then you know it’s the matter of just waiting on a miracle.” Louisiana currently has no canonized saints, nor do Texas or Arkansas. There are only 11 in the United States, which includes Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who did not live in the United States but did establish missionary houses here. White is hopeful: “We have been

told, verbally told this by people within the dicastery, that ours is ‘a beautiful cause.’ They were very struck by the actions of our ﬁve priests, you know, in those extreme historical conditions. That every single one of them made the decision to offer their life in succession is a truly remarkable, and I think standout story.” Trombetta said the speed of the canonizations doesn’t matter as much as the narrative the ﬁve created for Shreveport and northwest Louisiana. “The story remains that they truly lived lives of heroic virtue, and they did serve the sick, and it made our city something that we would consider a city of heroes.” “Their mark, their legacy on the city of Shreveport makes their story far beyond just a Catholic story or just a story of priests,” he said. “That really leaves its mark on our city.”

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 5D

lll

LOUISIANA INSPIRED

‘A pull on my heart’ BY JENNA ROSS

Staff writer

Nichole Robichaux was a real estate agent in Slidell. Now, she’s a medic in Ukraine. Six months after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, her family welcomed a pair of refugees into their Louisiana home. She advocated for Ukraine in Washington, D.C. She studied the Ukrainian language. But she felt a deep calling — one she has trouble explaining, still — to do more. Last year, she traveled to Kharkiv to deliver medical supplies: bandages and splints, hand warmers and antibacterial ointment. She experienced the country’s cities and met its people. As sirens wailed, she got a tattoo. “It felt like I was completely at home,” she said back in October, during an interview in a Slidell coffee shop. “Nothing felt foreign to me. … “I actually felt more at home in Ukraine, really, than I do here.” So she made a decision: She’d study to become a medic, then join the war effort. In February, she enlisted in the Ukrainian army. The 46-year-old spoke by phone in late July about work, fear and the sirens that no longer keep her up at night. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. Could you place me where you are in the country, in the city, in the room? I’m in eastern Ukraine, on the border of the Donbas and Kharkiv regions. My unit operates mostly in the Donetsk area. So I stay out here and do evacuations when we have injuries or, unfortunately, deaths. And then I also do a lot of tactical medicine training for soldiers. Did you expect training to be a piece of what you would do? I didn’t, actually. Most of my days are in the classroom. I ﬁnished my EMT program

Slidell real estate agent joined Ukraine’s army, aiding soldiers as a medic on the front line

Q&A WITH NICHOLE ROBICHAUX

soldiers who are hurt. Or we also go on reconnaissance missions. Two weeks ago, we had to do one on foot, which was miserable because we were being followed by Russian drones the whole time. We had to cross a big, open field, which is the worst thing to be doing with drones in the area. About two minutes after we crossed the field, a drone came over us. Luckily, we were hidden in the tree line by that time. What does that feel like, in your body and in your mind? It’s kind of an out-of-body experience, because you’re like, ‘What am I doing? This drone is trying to kill me.’ It’s hard to explain. I didn’t even get scared at the time, which is really weird. It’s just so bizarre, the feeling of having PROVIdEd PHOTO someone hunting you. Russia’s Rubicon unit, which is Slidell resident Nichole Robichaux studied to be an EMT in order to their big drone force, is operatserve in Ukraine as a medic. ing in our area now, so we are getting a lot more injuries lately. and took my tests. Then I had to Remind me: What was your medical train- Two guys in my battalion died do video testing to complete the two weeks ago, and it was pretty ing or experience before this? program, as I was getting here. gruesome. They were guys I had I had worked for my dad, who Then I went on to do some more worked with, because they were was a doctor. Medicine has altraining in tactical medicine once ways been in my blood. on the evacuation team. So it was I came to Ukraine, because those disheartening to learn about their My sister had a bone marrow are more useful skills for what passing. It just makes you angry, transplant when she was 9 years we’re doing over here. It’s called old and I was 25. I lived in the hos- because it’s just all so tragic. Tactical Combat Casualty Care What are you seeing there on the front pital with her as she went through training, and it was created by the that process, which was about lines? What do you want people to know U.S. military and adapted to this about what you’re seeing? three months in isolation in the war. We teach these skills to as There’s actually people still children’s oncology unit. many soldiers as possible, so that living in some of these villages, So when you were thinking about how to they can provide first aid and first be of service to Ukraine, it made sense to some civilians. We, in the milicare until a medic can arrive. do so as a medic? tary, don’t understand. Why are That way, they can keep each I just kind of felt the pull on my you still living here? other alive. heart. Especially once I visited But they don’t want to leave Can you give me an example of a tactical here. When I came here and met their homes. A lot of them are elmedicine approach? Something you hadn’t the people here and saw what derly and they don’t feel like they learned while training to be an EMT? they were living with every day should have to leave, even though It starts with stopping massive — that’s when I knew I had to do it’s extremely dangerous. bleeding. Something like 85 to something major. When you’re driving in, you’re 88% of preventable battlefield When you’re not in the classroom, what’s driving past destroyed car after deaths here are caused by masa typical day like? destroyed car, and you’re just Some days, if we have a call hoping your car isn’t the next one sive hemorrhage. So stopping of an injury, we have to go close to get hit. Your driver drives fast, massive bleeding is the No. 1 to the front line and pick up our and you hold onto your seat. priority.

Who are you serving alongside? Are they mostly international? Mostly Ukrainian? In my department, it’s all Ukrainians. But I have a lot of international soldiers in my unit. So it’s a mix. Ukrainians are always so grateful to meet someone who comes here just to help, for the idealism of it. I wish we had more support in the U.S. for Ukraine. It’s difficult being here and not being able to explain it. But they appreciate my individual contributions and understand the difference between the person and the country. And they’re appreciative of the past support. That’s one thing that always touches me. I see a lot of troops wearing American flags on their plate carriers, their body armor, still. You held off on leaving Louisiana until your two kids were a little older and could better understand your reasons. How has it been for them? It’s been difficult. I missed my son’s graduation from high school, and that was really hard. And my younger son is not happy I’m here. They both support Ukraine and understand the reasons I’m here. But it’s really hard to have your mom go and sign up for this work. Do you still feel at home there? Definitely. I definitely do feel very much at home here. Now that I live closer to the front, we get constant sirens — all the time. It’s more trying. Although much of it fades into the background. The aerial sirens I don’t even hear anymore. If it’s at night, I just kind of roll over and fall asleep. But it’s harrowing, living in a situation where you’re constantly hearing about people in your city being injured. Contact reporter Jenna Ross at jenna.ross@theadvocate.com.

Powering Progress A New Home for Discovery, Research and Collaboration at LSU

Shell Research Laboratories

Pictured L to R: Rob Stuart, LSU Real Estate and Facilities Foundation President & CEO; Wade Rousse, LSU President; Rochelle Touchard, Shell, Corporate Relations Regional Lead; Colette Hirstius, Shell USA, President; Lee Stockwell, Shell, General Manager, Carbon Capture and Storage North America; Krista Raney, LSU Foundation President & CEO; Robb Brumﬁeld, LSU College of Science Interim Dean

“The opening of the LSU Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building is a testament to the power of partnership and what can be achieved when industry and academia come together around a shared vision.

Shell USA, Inc. committed $2.5 million to the Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building as part of a $27.5 million investment in energy-related initiatives at LSU. Shell Research Laboratories offers advanced research environments to enable faculty and students to work together on complex, real world challenges.

We are proud to support a space where students, faculty and industry can collaborate to drive discovery, explore new frontiers and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers and energy leaders.” – Colette Hirstius, President, Shell USA

shell.us/louisiana | #PoweringProgress

6D ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Man wonders how to introduce boyfriend to parents family still asks me when I’m goDear Harriette: I am a gay man who’s been in a relationship for ing to bring a nice girl home, and two and a half years. My I just brush it off. Now partner is deﬁnitely a that my boyfriend wants great match for me. He to meet them, I am not recently asked to meet my sure what to do. Should parents, expressing his I have a conversation desire to get to know my before they meet him, or family and roots a little should I break the news Harriette once we get there? — Commore. I appreciate his inCole terest in my background, ing Out SENSE ANd as I think it indicates that Dear Coming Out: Start with SENSITIVITY we are moving onto the your boyfriend. Let him next step in our relationknow that you are still in the closet with your family. ship. However, I never told him Next, you must tell your parents that my parents don’t know I’m gay. I came out after I graduated that you are gay before springcollege and moved out of my ing your boyfriend on them — it hometown, so the conversation wouldn’t be fair to anyone to do about my sexuality never really both at the same time. Maybe came up when I was home. My your partner can draw on his own

experiences to help you figure out a strategy for this conversation. Out of respect for your parents, give them a chance to take in the news before introducing your boyfriend. While telling them may be difficult, the good news is that you have a partner to lean on if it gets rocky. Dear Harriette: I’m struggling with a colleague I’m closely partnered with on several projects. His work habits are inconsistent at best, and his lack of followthrough directly affects my ability to do my job well. I’ve tried addressing it respectfully, but whenever I bring up specific issues, he shuts down the conversation and says he doesn’t like to dwell on “the past.” Instead, he pivots to

what we can do moving forward — without really acknowledging that he alone created these problems. I want to maintain a positive working relationship, but it’s frustrating to feel like I’m carrying the weight of his professional shortcomings while also not being heard. I don’t want to escalate things unnecessarily, but I also don’t see improvement. How can I hold this person accountable in a productive way without damaging our partnership? — Feeling Undermined Dear Feeling Undermined: Schedule a formal time to meet with your colleague. Tell him you need to address some work concerns. When he deﬂects, don’t give in. Make it clear that you need him

Scenes from ‘Pointe Noire’ were filmed in the Whirlybird, a secret honkytonk and art co-op in St. Landry Parish.

‘NOIRE’

Continued from page 1d

ers — especially lovers of Cajun music — will recognize a cultural depth that goes beyond just nailing the accent. Mire said that his great-uncle, Angelas LeJeune (also uncle to musician Iry LeJeune) recorded the tune “La Valse de Pointe-Noire” in 1929, which opens the film. “That brings it all back to the center. ‘Pointe Noire’ is itself a character in the film, without being a character in the movie,” he said. “So it’s fictitious in a way, but where Richard is, between Eunice and Church Point — that’s the place we called Pointe Noire, before the ’40s. It’s where my family comes from. It’s where my father was born, at home in 1922. I pulled all of that out, to bring in the way I grew up.” “Pointe Noire” is streaming now on services like YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play and Apple TV.

Mire, who was raised in Eunice and now works out of Lafayette, said he doesn’t see himself as only a “Cajun filmmaker” — but his work, like Louisiana drama “Dirty Rice” and music documentary “Sushi & Sauce Piquante: The Life & Music of Gerry McGee” has found an audience that connects with his unique perspective. “In ‘Pointe Noire,’ I brought a lot of myself into it, naturally, because I’m just such a bona fide Cajun, you know? I was raised bilingual, I grew up bilingual, and that came from me,” said Mire. He even recorded all of Roy Dupuis’ lines in his voice, which the actor used to absorb the local accent on his 28 hour drive from Canada to Louisiana. The film has garnered a lot of praise Email Joanna Brown at joanna. for its authentic feel, but local view- brown@theadvocate.com.

to pull his weight and do his job and that he often slacks. Provide clear examples of what you mean, including what he has or has not done that impacted the bottom line. Add what you need him to do moving forward. Assure him you want to work with him and know that he can do his part. But also, if he continues to dodge responsibility, talk to your manager. You should not have to shoulder the responsibility of this co-worker. Each of you has things to do. He should do his part. Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

PROVIdEd PHOTOS

‘Pointe Noire’ is the newest release from Louisiana director Pat Mire, who produced the film with writer and partner Rebecca Hudsmith. The film is set in the fictional Cajun prairie community of Pointe Noire and follows a classic murder-mystery arc.

PHOTOS

Continued from page 1d often ready with poses they’ve already practiced and ideas for group shots. If they’re hesitant, he helps them come up with ideas. “It just comes down to them being creative. I like what’s different,” Joseph said. “I try to get something that’s going to shock the eye.” The Blue Bayou location was Joseph’s concept. He reached out to a former classmate who worked at the water park this past summer and asked for the manager’s contact. The manager then passed along Leisure Sports managing partner Glenn Haggerty’s information. Joseph called and emailed him, and after some back and forth, Haggerty and Joseph agreed to a date and time. PHOTO BY KEITH JOSEPH Joseph said the team had a Glen Oaks High School football players float down the lazy river at blast. He knows the Glen Oaks head coach, Byron Wade, and Blue Bayou for the team’s media day photo shoot. Joseph said that Wade is surprised by all the attention but catch the eye. fall when he attends the Univer“When I was playing football, sity of Louisiana at Lafayette. He feels blessed. I brought my camera to a JV hopes to join UL’s media team. Sports photography is the way game and started taking pic- “When I take pictures, espeAlthough Joseph took photog- tures there. From there, it just cially sports photography beraphy his senior year at Liberty, took off,” Joseph said. cause I played football, I know Since then, Joseph has ex- what to look for,” Joseph said. he had already gotten into the hobby through making football panded his business into lifestyle “When I see the picture and it mixtapes. He started making shoots, prom photos, graduation looks good, I just get excited.” them for himself and then for pictures and senior portraits. friends. Crafting the mixtapes He plans to branch out into La- Email Joy Holden at joy. taught him to ﬁnd images that fayette and Lake Charles this holden@theadvocate.com.

FLYSWATTER

Crumbine eventually named the device the “flyswatter.” Continued from page 1d For decades, flyswatters were standard household equipment. Then came air conditioning, better papers with titles like “Steroid-With- window screens and bug zappers, drawal at 3 Days After Renal Trans- which killed insects without requirplantation with Anti-IL-2 Receptor ing anyone to get up from the couch. (alpha) Therapy: A Prospective, Bug zappers had their own problem, Randomized, Multiof course: They killed indiscriminately, good center Study.” bugs along with the I have a feeling she pests. and I could be friends. But I’m still not I do love a person sure what happened willing to be dedicatto the flyswatter. At ed to varied interests. some point, my famApparently, humans have been annoyed ily simply stopped by flies for a very having one. There long time. Three was no great decision. thousand years ago, No moment when we Egyptians may have announced that we used ceremonial fly were a flyswatter-free whisks made from household. ox tails or horsehair. This summer, I One, made of ostrich decided the time had STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER come to bring back feathers, was even found in Tutankhathe old technology. A new flyswatter Finding a flyswatmen’s tomb. In 1900, Robert R. Montgomery ter to purchase wasn’t as easy as it patented a contraption called a “flyused to be. Eventually, I found a $10 killer.” Fortunately, the name got leather number that, I must say, is better. incredibly effective. A few decades later, according to Turns out purses aren’t the only a 1948 account in The New Yorker, thing I can still get excited about Kansas health official Dr. Samuel purchasing. Crumbine was at a Topeka softball Apparently, a flyswatter will do it too. game when he heard the crowd I swung it at a fly on the kitchen chanting, “Swat the ball.” counter last night. He began urging Kansans to “swat I missed. the fly,” and, in the spirit of the game, I didn’t care. a schoolteacher named Frank H. Rose created a “fly bat” by attaching Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ a piece of screen to a yardstick. theadvocate.com.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 7D

lll

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Sunday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2026. There are 137 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 42; 41 years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76. Also on this date: In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War. In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Native American forces in the War of 1812. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion — i.e., the Confederacy. In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparking the “Klondike Fever” that would draw tens of thousands to the region in search of fortune. In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53. In 1954, the first issue of “Sports Illustrated” was released. In 1962, the Beatles fired their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr. In 1978, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he’d been set up by a mysterious man called “Raoul.” In 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the “Harmonic Convergence,” which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind. In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week after a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a White police officer. In 2020, lightning sparked the August Complex wildfire in California. More than 1,600 square miles — greater than the size of Rhode Island — would burn over the following three months. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Julie Newmar is 93. Film director Bruce Beresford is 86. Actor Bob Balaban is 81. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 81. Actor Lesley Ann Warren is 80. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 74. Singer/author/TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 73. Singer J.T. Taylor (Kool and the Gang) is 73. Movie director James Cameron is 72. Singer/actor Madonna is 68. Actor Angela Bassett is 68. Actor Timothy Hutton is 66. Actor Steve Carell is 64. Country musician Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 54. Actor/ filmmaker Taika Waititi is 51. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 46. Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 39. Actor Rumer Willis is 38. U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Caeleb Dressel is 30. Actor Piper Curda is 29. Tennis player Jannik Sinner is 25. Actor Seth Carr is 19.

Guests never compliment her cooking food that was being eaten. The assumpDear Miss Manners: For years, I have entertained and loved every moment of it. tion was that anyone who could afford to But lately, when having people over, they entertain dinner guests could also afford just spend time talking about an underpaid cook. Any signs of restaurants they have been to enthusiasm for the meal created and what a wonderful experience suspicions of cook-napping. it was. So when cooks demanded real I am a good cook, schoolwages, prompting many hosts to trained, and take pride in what I take an interest in cooking their serve. I am fed up with nobody own food, the rule had to be canJudith making comments about what I celed to allow the guests to offer Martin compliments. have prepared and instead raving MISS about a restaurant. Unfortunately, that also unMANNERS My husband says I am too critileashed endless talk, not only about restaurants, but also about cal and should lighten up. I say, diets, nutrition, gastric symptoms, prefI am fed up. One of these days, I am going to serve arsenic, and that will serve erences, prohibitions and other unappethem right! tizing subjects. It is not just your friends, Gentle reader: Well, that would shut them so it might be difficult to find more interup, and get people — even strangers, no esting guests. doubt — talking about your meals. To keep you from poisoning the ones Yet Miss Manners sympathizes with you have, Miss Manners will allow you you, mainly on the grounds of how to do some shameless fishing, prompting deadly dull those conversations must be. them to be more gracious. She remembers when any discussion of After listening to yet another paean to food at the dinner table was considered a restaurant, you might say, “Oh, dear, impolite. that all sounds so good. I can never comThat rule would not have helped you, pete with those wonderful chefs they because it also banned talk about the have.”

Dear Miss Manners: Referring to “guys” has become a constant refrain during newscasts: “Now over to you guys” for every opening, and “Back to you guys” for every conclusion. No matter how formal and expensive a restaurant is, the server will greet customers with “How are you guys?” They will then come around during the meal to inquire “How are you guys doing?” and end with, “You guys have a nice night” — regardless of the gender of the diners. Is anyone else bothered by this? It is getting worse every day. Once you start noticing it, it can drive you crazy. Gentle reader: Indeed. And the widespread use of “guys” to address women is particularly mystifying after the fraught learning process of changing job titles from masculine to neutral — “fireman” to “firefighter,” “stewardess” to “flight attendant,” and such. Miss Manners is just grateful she is not the language police. Email Miss Manners at dearmissmanners@gmail.com.

See a doctor for advice on best diet plan Dear Heloise: I’m trying to lose some weight before my son’s wedding in December. There’s so much controversy about what to stop eating and which diet plan is best. At 61, with bad knees, I am not going to the gym, not running in a marathon, and wouldn’t last on a diet that starve a gerbil. Any Hints from would hints for a chubby woman Heloise in her 60s? — Patty W., in River Falls,Wisconsin Patty, please make it your ﬁrst priority to see a doctor and get a clean bill of health, as well as suggestions for a diet that you can stick to without spending a small fortune. Most diets that use common sense and healthy eating, along with some form of mild exercise, will usually work. Stay away from TV ads that promise miracles for weight loss. I wish there was a magic pill for weight loss, but from the letters we get, there are too many scammers who promise results and only deliver empty promises. — Heloise

Here comes the bride Dear Heloise: I’m getting married in November with the white dress, veil,

ﬂowers, and all the rest that goes into a church wedding. I normally don’t wear makeup, and I’d rather not wear it on my wedding day. But my mother’s insisting that I need a full face of makeup and big hair, both of which I don’t care for at all. Why’s it so important ton your wedding day? — Chloe H., in Lima, Ohio Chloe, I think your mother’s correct on this one. A little makeup — especially some lipstick, a light blush, and mascara — will bring out your features in photographs. If you want to skip foundation and all the other things, this is ﬁne. But I believe you’ll be surprised at how nice you’ll look with just a hint of makeup to enhance your natural beauty. As for “poofy” hair, well, just explain that you aren’t comfortable with this look. — Heloise

Ladder safety rules

where on the ladder. Read it! n Use both hands to climb. Carry tools inside a tool belt. n Paint every other step a bright color to use as a visual when climbing. n Do not overextend your reach while on a ladder. It’s safer to just move the ladder. n If you’re working with or near electricity, use a wooden or ﬁberglass ladder. Do not use a metal ladder. n Inspect the ladder rungs to make certain that none are broken or cracked. — Jean D., in New Jersey

Washing food Dear Heloise: I’ve been hearing a lot about how to properly clean fruit before eating it. Just running it under the tap isn’t enough apparently. My doctor said that he runs his fruit under tap water but also scrubs each piece with baking soda to rub off the coatings that are sprayed on fruit and vegetables. Does this really work? — Ellen Y., in Indiana Ellen, yes, baking soda removes about 99% of pesticides and residue; however, it isn’t a disinfectant and doesn’t kill bacteria. — Heloise

Dear Heloise: Last week, my husband fell off a ladder when one of the rungs broke in half. He broke his wrist, but it could’ve been much worse. The clinic that we went to gave my husband a list of ladder safety tips, and I thought that I’d pass these tips onto your readers: n All ladders have a weight and height limit. It’s usually printed on a label some- Send a hint to heloise@heloise.com.

FIND OUT WHAT

Safety. Style. Stress-Free Installation. CALL NOW 1.833.472.5859

SPECIAL OFFER

Waiving All Installation Costs! Add’l terms apply. Offer subject to change and vary by dealer. Expires 12/27/26. Licenses at JBRLicenses.com.

YOUR HOME

IS WORTH Call Today for an Expert Valuation and Make Your Next Move

1-833-671-6635

CALL TODAY

THINKING

OF SELLING? A home evaluation is a great place to start

addresslafayettela.com DRE#01901536 This website is a marketing and information program that sends all inquiries to state-licensed real estate professionals.

8D ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

AT THE TABLE Two versions of south La.’s sweetest treat: bread pudding Bread pudding may be one of south Louisiana’s most beloved desserts, but its roots lie in simple thrift. Originating in medieval Europe, cooks found a practical way to transform stale bread into something delicious. The tradition crossed the AtlanOlivia tic with French and Regard Spanish settlers and found a lasting home in Louisiana. Today, bread pudding is anything but humble. From the French Quarter to cafes along the Bayou Teche, chefs continue to reinvent the classic with creativity and flair. During a recent visit to New Orleans, I sampled two memorable versions: a traditional bread pudding with bourbon sauce at Beggars Banquet in the Lower Garden District and Commander’s Palace’s inventive bread pudding soufflé, a lightened take on the classic achieved by folding whipped egg whites into a traditional bread pudding. Inspired by these desserts, I revisited “Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans,” the post-Katrina cookbook created to preserve the city’s culinary heritage. Among its six bread pudding recipes, we first baked the traditional Creole Bread Pudding, reminiscent of the one served at Beggars Banquet. Then we ventured into decadence with Palace Café’s White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Ganache. Introduced when the restaurant opened in 1991, the Brennan family’s over-thetop creation proves just how far bread pudding can rise from its modest beginnings. Whether classic or lavishly reimagined, bread pudding remains a delicious reminder that Louisiana’s greatest culinary treasures often begin with simple ingredients, cherished traditions and a determination never to waste good food.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Ganache

Makes about 16 servings. Recipe is from “Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The TimesPicayune of New Orleans.” Bread Pudding: 6 cups heavy cream 2 cups whole milk 1 cup sugar 1 1/4 pounds white chocolate (morsels or small pieces) 4 large eggs plus 15 egg yolks One 24-inch loaf stale French bread (see note) White Chocolate Ganache: 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 pound white chocolate (morsels or small pieces) 2 ounces dark chocolate, grated, for garnish PROVIdEd PHOTOS

Creole Bread Pudding

Creole Bread Pudding Makes 8-10 servings. Recipe is from “Cooking Up a Storm: Recipes Lost and Found from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.” Bread pudding: Butter for greasing 3 large eggs 1 cup sugar 1 quart milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 10 cups stale French bread cubes (1-inch cubes) 1 cup raisins Bourbon Whiskey Sauce: 1 1/4 cups water 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 cup bourbon 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons unsalted butter 1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 2. Generously butter a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish. 3. In a large mixing bowl,

beat the eggs with an electric mixer or a whisk until frothy. 4. Beat in sugar, milk, vanilla and nutmeg until thoroughly incorporated. 5. Add the bread and raisins and stir well by hand. Set aside and let the bread soak for 15 minutes. 6. Pour the bread mixture into the prepared dish and smooth the top. 7. Bake until set, approximately 45 minutes. 8. While the mixture bakes (or prior to serving if baking ahead of time), combine the water, brown sugar and nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over high heat. 9. In a small bowl, stir together the bourbon and cornstarch, then stir into the sugar mixture and cook until the mixture thickens and is smooth, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the butter and serve warm. 10. Serve the bread pudding at room temperature with the warm sauce drizzled on top.

1. Stir together the cream, milk and sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from the heat and carefully add the white chocolate pieces. Allow the chocolate to melt for several minutes, then stir until smooth. 2. Whisk together the whole eggs and egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Slowly pour the hot cream and chocolate mixture into the eggs in a steady stream, whisking constantly as you pour. Use a rubber spatula to scrape out all of the chocolate from the warm pot. Set the pudding mixture aside. 3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thin-

ly slice the stale French bread and place in a 9-inch-by-13-inch metal baking pan. 4. Pour half of the pudding mixture over the bread and allow it to cool for about 5 minutes. Use your ﬁngers or a rubber spatula to press the bread into the pudding so that the liquid is absorbed and the bread becomes very soggy. Pour the remaining pudding over the bread and stir. 5. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes, or until the bread pudding is golden brown. 6. While the bread pudding is baking, make the ganache. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and carefully add the white chocolate. Allow the chocolate to melt for several minutes, then stir until smooth. 7. Allow the bread pudding to chill for 6 to 8 hours to allow it to set completely. 8. When ready to serve, preheat the oven to 275 F. Run a knife around the inside of the pan and invert the pudding onto a wooden board. Cut into squares for serving or cut into squares, then halve the squares to make triangular slices. 9. Place on a cooking sheet and heat in the oven for 15 minutes, or until warm. Serve the pudding topped with warm White Chocolate Ganache and garnished with the grated dark chocolate. Baker’s note: If you don’t have stale French bread on hand, thinly slice a fresh loaf and dry in a 275 F oven.

White Chocolate Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Ganache

ARTS & CULTURE Bill Maudlin’s WWII cartoons on display in N.O. There are a couple of striking set-pieces in the traveling exhibit “Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin and the Art of War,” on view through April 18 at the National WWII Museum. One is the title wall, which features a photo of cartoonist Dave Mauldin in Walker June 1945. He had become the youngest-ever Pulitzer Prize winner for his wartime cartoons and received a Purple Heart for taking shrapnel from a German mortar. Ahead for him was a bestselling memoir, “Up Front,” that Hollywood would make into a movie of the same title. Also ahead was a run for Congress, then a long career as a political cartoonist for newspapers in St. Louis and Chicago. To the photo’s right, through a simulated artillery-made passageway, wait life-size cartoon renditions of the iconic Willie and Bill characters Mauldin created to convey the “exhaustion, cynicism and humanity of the ordinary soldier,” the wall text says. “His disheveled, muddy infantrymen Willie and Joe became the voice of the American GI during World War II, speaking blunt truths about combat, leadership, fear and survival.” The second piece comes a little later in the exhibit and is a further study in mud and its meaning during the ﬁghting in Italy, where Mauldin spent most of his war. Framed by wall-sized photos of soldiers wrestling with stuck Jeeps, an anguished cartoon cavalry sergeant holds a revolver to the hood

Bill Mauldin’s cartoons addressed the everyday frustrations of life on the front line. “Some of what we try to do as well is give the visitor some environmental treatment to have them step into Mauldin’s work and engage with it in new and unexpected ways.”

Early and late Mauldin

PHOTOS BY dAVE WALKER

‘drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin and the Art of War’ is now on display at the National WWII Museum. of a real WWII-era Jeep, just above a broken axle that had disabled the vehicle. The Mauldin cartoon that inspired the tableau sits just to the left, taken from a Stars and Stripes compilation of his work from the Mediterranean Theater. There is no caption, just an editor’s note explaining that it was one of the cartoonist’s personal favorites. Earlier in life, Mauldin knew a time when cavalry troops rode actual horses and not Jeeps. Both displays combine real photos and artifacts with ink-on-paper illustrations. In the ﬁrst, Mauldin’s right foot emerges from the photo as if

he’d drawn it onto the wall. In the Jeep tableau, rocks from the simulated wall, presumably dislodged by the now-broken axle, tumble into the foreground in black and white.

Stepping into his work The exhibit originated at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The challenge for the team at the WWII Museum was to ﬁnd ways to expand the exhibit’s presentation from mostly two-dimensional cartoons and a few objects (including Mauldin’s Purple Heart) to ﬁll the expansive Alario Spe-

cial Exhibition Hall. Using macro-artifacts like the doomed Jeep also added emphasis on Mauldin’s wartime work, which would be more of a focus for museum visitors than the sequences on his early life and later newspaper successes (for which he won a second Pulitzer). “There’s a much larger portion of the material related to works both before and after the war,” said WWII Museum Curator Chase Tomlin. “So, we did have to conceive of a way to kind of draw attention to his WWII years given our mission and the scope of our work.

The prewar sequences of the exhibit display his early artwork, starting with his New Mexico childhood during the Depression (he once said he could draw before he could talk) and continuing on to cartooning for his high school newspaper in Phoenix. Two days before President Franklin Roosevelt federalized the 45th Infantry Division in anticipation of eventual American involvement in the war already underway on the other side of the world, Mauldin joined the Arizona National Guard. His study of the idiosyncrasies of Army life began in cartoons for his unit’s newspaper, the 45th Division News. The postwar sequences of the exhibit track Mauldin’s career as a political cartoonist. Perhaps the best-known work from those days was

composed after returning from lunch on Nov. 22, 1963. It depicts the statue inside the Lincoln Memorial holding his head in his hands in grief at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The exhibit concludes with letters of admiration from U.S. presidents and senators, and ﬁnally similar notes from service members from World War II and beyond. Wrote one of the veterans: “I don’t have much to say, other than wishing you well and thanking you for saying in your drawing what we all felt.” A recording of a July 16 panel presentation that opened “Drawn to Combat” is archived at nationalww2museum.org. A Museumgoer Podcast episode, recorded in the gallery with curator Tomlin, historian Todd DePastino, and Bill Mauldin’s son, Nat, can be found at themuseumgoer.com. Dave Walker focuses on behind-the-scenes coverage of the region’s many museums here and at www.themuseumgoer. com. Email Dave at dave@ themuseumgoer.com.

TALKING BUSINESS Architect duo are big

fans of mass timber building material 3E

MAdE IN LOUISIANA Big Easy Blend makes a big jump with shift to kids’ drinks 9E

BUSINESS

‘

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

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

It’s a pretty

1En

compelling proposition

’

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEdIAK

Mechanical engineer Guillermo Ochoa, left, looks over Chris Thompson’s shoulder at Search Fund Accelerator’s New Orleans office. The firm offers a program in which it will pay a salary to ‘searchers’ interesting in looking for companies to buy and will front the money to make the deal.

New Orleans ﬁrm pays entrepreneurs as they search for companies worth buying BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

In 2021, former New Orleanian Rachel McGrath knew she wanted to be her own boss, but she didn’t want to start her own company. So she became a “searcher” instead. McGrath accepted an invite into a program run by the New Orleans-based ﬁrm Search Fund Accelerator, which paid her a salary and covered her expenses during a yearlong hunt for a business to buy. The ﬁrm coached her through the acquisition process and fronted the money to make the deal. The result? Since 2023, McGrath has

IdEAS &

INNOVATION

McGrath

been the CEO and part-owner of a specialty chemicals company in a small town in Pennsylvania, and she’s already grown the business by acquiring a Florida-based competitor. McGrath, who first moved to New Orleans in 2013 to work for Chevron, said the search fund financing model — where investors gamble on promising entrepreneurs’ ability to find and run profitable businesses — was a great fit for her. “Buying a company wasn’t on my radar until an oil and gas engineer like me came to one of my MBA classes and talked about doing it,” said McGrath, who has degrees from MIT and Harvard’s business school. “People don’t want to sell to some private equity guy

in a sweater vest, and it’s a lot easier to convince them if you’ve had a real job.” McGrath isn’t the only one who believes she has what it takes to run a company and is looking for innovative ways to make it happen. Though search funds trace their roots back to Stanford University in the 1980s, the ﬁnancing model has exploded in popularity this decade as classes on the topic have proliferated at the nation’s top business schools and a robust ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship through acquisition has developed outside of academia. There are nearly 900 funds supporting

ä See ENTREPRENEURS, page 2E

Bernhard Capital is reaching ‘a big, big milestone’ several this year alone for BerWith more acquisitions, exits, south La. ofnhard Capital, the largest private equity ﬁrm between Houston and private equity firm is bucking the trend Atlanta with nearly $6.5 billion in

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

On Monday, Baton Rouge-based Bernhard Capital Partners announced it had finalized a $1 billion deal to purchase a Virginiabased engineering and consulting firm, Bowman Consulting Group, that works with utilities, governments and large industrial clients around the world. Two days later, the private equity firm closed on its purchase of New Mexico Gas Co., a $1.25

billion acquisition that brings the number of regulated utilities Bernhard Capital owns to ﬁve, not including the upcoming purchase with partner Stonepeak of CLECO for nearly $6 billion. And in September, the firm is expected to launch its fourth infrastructure services fund with a target of $1.5 billion — money the ﬁrm will use to acquire and invest in more companies that design, build and service utilities and industrial facilities. The developments are the latest

assets under management and 22 active portfolio companies with some 28,000 employees across the U.S., including 3,500 in Louisiana. At a time when many private equity firms are struggling to do deals and generate attractive returns to their institutional investors — as of June 30, private equity ﬁrms had more than 33,500 unsold companies in their portfolios, Pitchbook reported, twice as many as a decade ago — Bernhard Capital is bucking the trend.

ä See BERNHARD, page 2E

Sparks fly during fabrication at the Epic Piping facility in Livingston. Bernhard Capital Partners has sold the parent company of Epic Piping and has exited all of the companies that it invested in through its first infrastructure services fund launched in 2014, which raised $750 million. STAFF FILE PHOTO BY BILL FEIG

2E ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

One question to ask before you consolidate debt When you’re struggling to pay off high-interest credit card debt, taking out a consolidation loan can feel like a smart financial move. A personal Michelle loan Singletary carrycan an THE COLOR interest rate OF MONEY of about 7% if you have a good credit history, compared with credit cards charging 20% to 30%. Personal loans lock borrowers into fixed monthly installments over three to five years, making monthly payments more affordable. If you stick to the scheduled payments, you come out ahead. But what happens when everything doesn’t go as planned? In my experience, when people get a consolidation loan, they get a false sense of relief. Using an installment loan to clear your cards without addressing the underlying problem often turns into a financial game of whack-a-mole. You swing the mallet and knock down your credit card balances. But if your paycheck still isn’t enough to cover your expenses, your money problems persist. So you start reaching for those cleared-off credit cards again just to survive. Before you realize it, you’re stuck paying off the new loan along with fresh card balances. You haven’t won the game; you’re now swinging at twice as many targets. According to a new report from the nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International, a staggering 45% of new clients seeking help with their debt have personal loans. Among these clients, the average loan balance is nearly $19,000, up 11% from 2025. “Sometimes this becomes a bit of a shell game,” said Ted Rossman, principal consumer finance analyst for MMI. “The problem is when you pay off debt with more debt, and then you run up the cards again, you might actually be even worse off than before, unfortunately, and that’s a trend that we’re seeing.” More than half of the agency’s clients are millennials (ages 30 to 45), with an average debt of $43,533. Gen Xers (ages 46 to 61) carry the heaviest debt load of any group, averaging $53,350. Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 29) make up only 16% of clients, with an average balance of $22,848, but their indebtedness is growing faster than anyone else’s. Over the past year, MMI’s clients in this age group grew by 35%, and their average debt rose 12%. For people in their 20s, Rossman said, “There’s not as much of a cushion. They haven’t had time to amass a lot of savings. Their early-career salary is not keeping pace with student loans and housing and childcare.” Before you apply for a personal loan, ask yourself one critical question: Have I permanently fixed the cash-flow gap that created this debt? For millions of households, debt isn’t driven by reckless spending but by inflation. Higher prices for food, housing and utilities continue to outpace people’s paychecks, forcing them to rely on credit to make ends meet even after consolidating their debt. “People are in debt often for very valid reasons,” Rossman pointed out. “It’s medical bills, it’s car repairs, it’s groceries. It’s not usually a vacation or a shopping spree. ... A lot of

times it’s just day-to-day living outpacing their paycheck.” If you’re looking for debt relief, stop swapping one loan for another. Consider working with a nonprofit credit counseling agency. You can find a reputable one through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at nfcc.org or by calling (844) 865-2828. Specifically, look into what’s called a debt management plan. Here is why it often succeeds where a consolidation loan fails. Help negotiating lower rates: The average personal loan rate as of May was close to 12%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The average client working with MMI in 2025 had about $24,000 in debt. The agency says it was able to help its clients reduce their interest rate, on average, from 27.91% to 7.66%. Although you can find a comparable rate on your own for a consolidation loan, you’ll need to shop around and have a good credit score to qualify for one. Built-in guardrails: Under a debt management plan, creditors require you to close the credit cards enrolled in the program. This eliminates the temptation to run up balances again while you pay off your debt. Credit score recovery: Initially, you might see a drop in your score due to closing accounts, but it will recover. Successfully completing the debt management plan can help improve your credit history over time. A study conducted by researchers from Ohio State University on behalf of the NFCC found an average 50-point increase in credit scores after about 18 months of counseling, according to Bruce McClary, a spokesman for NFCC. That boost can push you into a scoring tier with better rates when you need to borrow again. Affordable relief: Stay away from for-profit debt settlement companies. Their promise of a quick fix or of being able to “pay pennies on the dollar” is a costly trap. These companies often charge thousands of dollars in fees and instruct you to stop paying your bills to pressure creditors into negotiating a lower payoff. But this strategy can severely damage your credit score. Many borrowers end up deeper in debt than when they started. With a debt management plan, most people can expect an average activation or setup fee of $35 to $55 and an average monthly maintenance fee of $25 to $40, McClary said, noting that fees can be waived in cases of extreme hardship. Accountability and coaching: Maybe you were a spendthrift, or perhaps you struggle with budgeting. Counselors take a holistic look at your finances. If you want, a counselor can help you manage your expenses and track your spending throughout the payback process. “That level of ongoing support is not provided through a debt consolidation loan,” McClary said. Think of a counselor as the angel on your shoulder, helping you adjust your spending and steering you in the right direction. Stop playing whack-amole with your money. Working with a nonprofit credit counselor gives you the support and structure to finally end the cycle of trying to borrow your way out of debt. Email Michelle Singletary at michelle. singletary@washpost. com.

lll

ENTREPRENEURS Continued from page 1E

searchers in North America, according to a new Stanford report. And more than 100 of those have launched in the last three years as private equity ﬁrms with money to spend look for new ways to buy into main street businesses. Search Fund Accelerator, founded in 2015, is a pioneer in the industry, bolting together a network of investors with intensive, hands-on coaching. The firm’s headquarters is in New Orleans because its founder, Tim Bovard, married a local a decade ago and moved his operation to town from its former home in Boston. Though located far Bovard from the nation’s private equity hotspots, Search Fund Accelerator was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article as it has built a portfolio of 19 ventures, including two worth over $100 million — and its current batch of searchers hopes to add to that number. “There are a lot of younger people who want to run a business,” Bovard said. “They can either launch a startup, where the probability of failure is 90%, or there’s entrepreneurship by acquisition, where you buy a business from a retiring owner or someone who wants to transition out. It’s a pretty compelling proposition.”

Needle in a haystack There are multiple ways to buy a small business. Some entrepreneurs save or raise enough money for a down payment and apply to borrow the rest from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Others turn to family or friends. And a third category, the searchers, seeks investment from a group of traditional search funds that follow practices that have coalesced since the model was pioneered by Stanford professor Irving Grousbeck and other industry icons. Searchers usually pitch many funds in the hopes of raising money from about a dozen of them to cover two years of salary, rent, data costs and travel related to a search. If the process uncovers a viable company, searchers go back to the funds to ask for the cash to buy it in exchange for a major stake in the venture. Funds usually take 70% to 75% ownership, and a searcher becomes the company’s new CEO, unlocking levels of ownership by meeting predeter-

mined milestones. Bovard’s Search Fund Accelerator goes a step further, providing office space, training, data, mentoring and feedback to members of each year’s cohort. The firm helps them write letters of intent, negotiate acquisitions and acquire bank financing. It provides all the capital required to make a purchase, negating the need for entrepreneurs to cobble together investments from multiple sources. The only catch? Search Fund Accelerator is highly selective, choosing only a handful of candidates out of hundreds of applicants each year. Bovard said the key to success is pairing these hand-picked entrepreneurs with businesses boasting recurring revenue, low ongoing capital investment needs and a national market. Not every hotshot MBA grad has the requisite real-world experience and willingness to “jump into the void,” he said. Successes from previous Search Fund Accelerator cohorts include a psychologist and former U.S. Army officer who purchased and grew a behavioral health business in Arizona, an engineer who bought a pump repair company in Houston and more than doubled its annual revenue, and an entrepreneur who bought and sold an Arabi-based elevator service company. In all, the firm and its searchers have made 27 acquisitions. Guillermo Ochoa, a native of Mexico City who is working out of Search Fund Accelerator’s New Orleans office this year, hopes to add another one to the list. The mechanical engineer moved to Los Angeles in 2018 while working for Bimbo, the massive global commercial bakery. In his off-hours, he earned his MBA from UCLA, where a search fund class changed his career’s trajectory. “It was one of those moments when things clicked,” he said. “I didn’t have the background to launch a startup, but I always wanted to have my own business.” After earning his degree, Ochoa considered buying a company on his own with help from an SBA loan or investors. In the end, though, he chose to partner with Search Fund Accelerator. He set his sights on manufacturing and industrial services companies nationwide and entered into negotiations with about eight of them, from hot sauce manufacturers to makers of plastic car parts. Earlier this summer, he signed a letter of intent to make a purchase. He’s doing due diligence that could lead to a closing in October. “I hope it works out,” he said. “It will

be nice to stop cold calling people and start running a business.”

Interest in search funds growing One of the factors fueling the growth of search funds is the “silver tsunami” of baby boomers approaching retirement age, meaning more than 1 million businesses may hit the market between now and 2035. “A few of the retirees just want to get the biggest payday they can get, but the vast majority of them care about who’s going to take over their baby,” Bovard said. “They’re looking for a younger version of themselves if they don’t have a child who wants to take over.” But as the number of searchers grows, so does the industry’s failure rate, which hovers around 50% — although Bovard said his firm’s is closer to 20%. “A lot of the people who are going into this are probably perceived by sellers as too young with backgrounds too focused on consulting, investment banking or private equity,” he said. “Those are wonderful CVs coming out of an MBA program, but do they know how to run an elevator company?” The rising popularity of social media influencers promoting the benefits of buying businesses has also created more searchers, as has Harvard’s wellattended annual conference focused on “entrepreneurship through acquisition.” It all adds up to a process that McGrath said looks different from five years ago. “When I was searching, we were Googling and emailing people before making a connection and eventually visiting strong leads,” she said. “But the increased volume of emails and new filters have made it harder to get through.” She said today’s searchers are relying more on business brokers, trade shows visits and other creative measures to raise their profile. Some are starting their own podcasts to get attention. Les Alexander, a New Orleans native who teaches at the University of Virginia’s business school, said things won’t be slowing down any time soon. “I think this trend is going to continue at least for the next five years,” he said. “The rate of return for investors in this space is almost 34%, and for every dollar investors are putting in, they are getting nearly five back. You can’t get that from any other asset class I’m aware of.” Email Rich Collins at rich.collins@ theadvocate.com.

BERNHARD

Continued from page 1E Since the beginning of this year, the firm has sold Gray Casualty and Surety, United Utility Services and the parent company of Epic Piping, one of its original portfolio companies. The deals mean Bernhard Capital has now exited all of the companies that it invested in through its first infrastructure services fund launched in 2014, which raised $750 million. “We’re very excited about that,” said Bernhard Capital managing partner Jeff Jenkins, who co-founded the firm in 2013 with the late Jim Bernhard. “To exit all the companies from our first fund and meet the targeted return for our investors is a big, big milestone.”

PROVIdEd PHOTO BY JEFF JENKINS

Jeff Jenkins, left, and the late Jim Bernhard, co-founders of private equity firm When Bernhard and Jenkins launched Bernhard Capital Partners, attend the closing dinner of The Shaw Group in 2012 Bernhard Capital nearly 13 years ago, at the Windsor Court in New Orleans.

A bet on the ‘re-industrial revolution’

the Gulf Coast was on the cusp of what experts correctly predicted would be an industrial construction boom predicated on the abundance of cheap natural gas. Bernhard, who had grown The Shaw Group over two decades into a publicly traded energy and industrial services juggernaut before selling it to CB&I for $3 billion, and his younger mentee, Jenkins, saw an opportunity to leverage their experience and capitalize on the growing demand for companies that provide industrial and infrastructure services and power. In the years since, tens of billions have been spent across the country — including along the Gulf Coast — on the construction of new liquefied natural gas export terminals, petrochemical facilities and artificial intelligence data centers, fueling the need for more power plants to keep them running. At the same time, nuclear power plants are being recommissioned and new technologies are opening the door for small modular reactors to be built behind the fence lines of large industrial facilities. Bernhard Capital’s portfolio companies are doing work in all those spaces. “Their thesis has always been around infrastructure and services businesses and they have consistently focused on that, coming from an operational background with deep insight into energy and other industries,” said Gay Le Breton, managing director at investment banking firm Chaffe and Associates. “These days, we see a lot of private equity firms interested in these areas but when Bernhard Capital was formed that wasn’t so much the case.” So far, the firm has successfully closed its first three infrastructure ser-

vices funds, which raised $750 million, $1.2 billion and $1.42 billion respectively. The fourth fund, announced last week by the trade pub Pitchbook, seeks to raise $1.5 billion as it looks to capitalize on surging power demand across the U.S. Bernhard Capital ofﬁcials declined to comment on the report. Separately, the firm has two infrastructure utility funds that have funded its investments in regulated utilities — a $530 million fund that closed in 2020 and a second fund that is set to close early next year and is targeting $2 billion. Speaking broadly about the opportunities the ﬁrm sees in its future, Jenkins said, “We think growth prospects in front of us are large. Spending will be big in this re-industrial revolution.”

The other deal, the acquisition of New Mexico Gas, came after a nearly twoyear battle with opponents, including environmental activists and several key elected officials in the state who argued that Bernhard’s financing model could lead to rate hikes and that its “complex web” of holding companies could make regulatory oversight more difficult. The company is New Mexico’s largest natural gas distribution company with more than 530,000 customers and more than 12,000 miles of pipelines. Bernhard Capital eventually won over regulators, committing to keep the utility’s corporate headquarters in the state and to providing the capital for upgrades to the company’s infrastructure. The firm also agreed to a rate freeze until 2028. “New Mexico is an amazing community,” Jenkins said. “We think there is a New acquisitions lot of opportunity there. We are interThe two newest acquisitions will grow ested in investing in states and utilities Bernhard Capital’s holdings on both the that have the opportunity for growth.” infrastructure services side and in the regulated utilities sector. Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie. The Bowman deal will give Bernhard riegel@theadvocate.com. Capital an engineering services and consulting firm with 2,500 employees worldwide and clients that include regulated utilities, governments and large data center developers. In 2021, the firm’s founder, Gary Bowman, took the company public. Now, it’s going private again, and Bowman will stay on in an executive leadership role, a model Bernhard Capital has adopted with many of the companies it has purchased. “We are institutionalizing founderowned businesses and we are fortunate that some of the best in the industry THEADVOCATE.COM/SUBSCRIBE want to partner with us,” Jenkins said.

HOME DELIVERED

EVERY DAY

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 3E

lll

TALKING BUSINESS A S K T H E E X P E RT S

Century-old building material mass timber is having a moment Q&A WITH CHRISTOPHER ANd SHAWNA MEYER

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

When husband-and-wife architects Christopher and Shawna Meyer — cofounders of the firm Atelier Mey — moved from Miami to New Orleans last year to join the faculty at Tulane University, they brought with them their appreciation for mass timber, a natural building material popular in Europe and Canada but still finding a foothold in the U.S. Essentially “plywood on steroids,” according to the Meyers, mass timber is an engineered wood product that can be used to make beams, wall panels and other components of commercial structures, apartments and single-family homes. Early forms date back more than a century, but modern breakthroughs have made it stronger and more versatile. Christopher Meyer is leading a course on the benefits and uses of mass timber this semester and hosting a symposium on the topic this fall. The Meyers also plan to start construction on a mixed-use building in New Orleans, though they won’t be the first to deploy mass timber in Louisiana. It’s been used to create the frame for a 2-year-old chapel on the campus of Loyola University and — on a much bigger scale — several buildings at Meta’s Hyperion data center in Richland Parish. In this week’s Talking Biz, the Meyers explain why they hope to see more implementation. This conversation has been edited for brevity and

FOUNdERS OF ATELIER MEY

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Haley Smith, from left, former project architect at Atelier Mey, and Shawna and Christopher Meyer built ‘House in the Garden’ in Miami using mass timber, used in the shelf behind them, a natural building material the Meyers describe as ‘plywood on steroids.’ clarity. First off, what exactly is mass timber? Christopher Meyer: It’s an engineered product that’s assembled by gluing together layers of solid wood to produce a structural panel. It is most readily understood as a very large piece of plywood that can be anywhere from a few feet to 60 feet in length. Its thickness is based on structural needs, and it can be cut to form beams as well as panels. Where and how is it made? Shawna Meyer: In the Southeast, we have manufacturers of cross-laminated timber in Dothan, Alabama, and Conway, Arkansas, using Southern yellow pine, which has only been used this way since about 2019. What are the benefits and best uses of it? CM: The best use for it in building is when we can expose it to the interior as much as possible. This allows the structural system to also serve as the interior ﬁnish, eliminating other

materials, reducing environmental impact and construction costs. It’s a biogenic material, meaning it originated from living organisms. No toxic chemicals are added. Studies have shown that being surrounded by wood often provides a comforting feeling. Also, a building made from mass timber, by default, eliminates some paint, drywall and other offgassing materials. It also has other applications — to create temporary roads during construction, for instance. Mass timber is often used in commercial construction, but it’s less common in residential. Do you hope to change that? SM: Most people who are building are thinking about cost, so we highlight the economy of working with mass timber for a couple of different reasons. One is it’s milled in a factory and comes on-site as parts that are craned off a truck and put into place … in some cases, in just a few days.

That speed means savings on labor costs. When you scale up to larger projects, savings are ampliﬁed. How did you become interested in this? SM: In 2018, we moved to Miami. Chris took an assistant professor position at the University of Miami, and we launched our practice. Through that process, being immersed in both local academics and curriculum, we saw a huge void: wood was basically a bad word there because, after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Miami made it its mission to change the code, which was great at that time. But this was 2018, and none of those codes had been reviewed based on advances in material building methodologies over the last 30 years. We applied for a wood innovation grant from the U.S. Forest Service in 2019 that was really focused on an education platform in Miami and Southern Flori-

da, building networks that linked academics, practitioners, professionals with this emerging network of mills and mass timber. As we were settling in Miami, we decided to test the material out by building a structure, which was a big risk for us because it wasn’t funded by grants. But we were able to lean on the business and knowledge networks we had developed. Where is mass timber most used today, and where is it still emerging? SM: In Europe, it’s used everywhere in a lot of ways, including single-family homes. In the United States, it’s used a lot in the Northwest. In the Southeast, Atlanta has really been the urban hub that’s leading its deployment. CM: The most common use is in two-, three-, and four-story, mixed-use buildings. Right now, some of the biggest usage in Louisiana is at data centers. There’s a building under construction at Louisiana Tech using the timber, and the chapel at Loyola uses it, although it is hidden from view. What’s your plan to build something this way in New Orleans? SM: We’re planning a mixed-use structure in the Irish Channel that will include a home, studio ofﬁce and an apartment. It’s two stories on a narrow lot, so we’re building up. CM: We want to be an open book for the city to see a project like this happen. We

want this to be a prototype, and we also want to familiarize suppliers and erectors with the territory. We’re hoping to break ground in October and be ﬁnished by next summer. What about extreme weather — and termites? CM: Mass timber is solid, which means it will be harder for objects to penetrate your house during a storm. The fastening and hold-downs are just as strong as any other material, like concrete. SM: Every house has organic materials that termites want, so the best prevention is mitigation. In Miami, we didn’t put the vegetation right next to the house so we’re not encouraging those sorts of habitats. And the walls are exposed on the inside, so we’re going to see if there’s anything happening. I don’t think anything is termite-proof, but you can manage it by being aware and taking preventive actions. How is the transition from Miami to New Orleans going? CM: This city is incredible because of the people who live in it. The quick description is “good people, good food and good music,” and that’s an easy thing to be around. But the community bonds together to understand itself as a larger entity, almost like a family. Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

$2.8 billion in customer savings. And that’s just the beginning. Over the next 20 years, Entergy Louisiana customers will see $2.8 billion in bill savings from Entergy data center service agreements under our Fair Share Plus pledge. Our Fair Share Plus pledge protects existing customers and ensures data centers pay their fair share for the power they use. Customers across the state will also see economic beneﬁts, including millions in new community investments and tax revenues, new jobs, and stronger local infrastructure. We’re committed to powering the families and businesses we serve – today and for future generations – while keeping energy affordable and reliable for all. Learn more at Entergy.com/DataCenters/Louisiana. A message from Entergy Louisiana, LLC © 2026 Entergy Services, LLC. All rights reserved. Not paid for at customer expense.

4E ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

ACROSS THE REGION

Shreveport accounting ﬁrm expands to India as revenue, ranking grow BY LIZ SWAINE Staff writer

After 80 years in business, the Shreveport-based accounting firm Heard, McElroy & Vestal has gone multinational with an office in Ahmedabad, India. The India office, which opened Aug. 3, will join the company’s roughly 170 employees in Shreveport, Monroe and Longview, Texas. Ahmedabad is the largest city in the western Indian province of Gujarat and a prime location to find sharp accounting professionals, said Roy Prestwood, HMV’s managing partner. According to Prestwood CPA|Trendlines, the number of U.S. accounting graduates has fallen to its lowest level in roughly 20 years. The tax profession is facing a severe and deepening talent drought. HMV has job postings for experienced team members in all three U.S. offices. The trend encouraged Prestwood to look beyond traditional hiring markets. “We were looking for teammates, and so it adds an additional level of capacity for us. We’ve hired folks that are CPAs, chartered accountants, enrolled agents, and so they have credentials all of their own and they’re there to support our team here in the United States,” he said. Though new to Shreveport, offices in India are not new to the industry, said Prestwood. The country’s largest accounting firms — Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG — all have locations in India, most in every major commercial hub. According to Reuters, these centers employ upward of 160,000 people who work in auditing and tax processing. “We started looking into it for ourselves, like, oh, if we could add

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY LIZ SWAINE

Heard, McElroy & Vestal employees help in a downtown Shreveport cleanup in 2021.

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Heard, McElroy & Vestal, with employees in Shreveport, Monroe and Longview, started as an accounting firm in Shreveport in 1946, but now includes a family of companies that offer accounting for businesses and individuals, including tax planning and preparation, audit and assurance, business valuation, wealth advisement, mineral management and retirement plan services.

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Heard, McElroy & Vestal employees change wreath lights on downtown Shreveport Christmas decorations in 2021. some capacity, it would really help our team in our busiest times of the year,” said Prestwood. “So far, it’s been a delightful process, and I think a very successful one.” The ﬁrm is also celebrating revenue growth. HMV was recently alerted that it has moved up on the

INSIDE Public Accounting annual ranking of ﬁrms across the country. It is now at No. 173 with revenues of $31.8 million.

Changes along the way HMV was started as an accounting ﬁrm in Shreveport in 1946 by

C. Berton Heard, Charles McElroy and Charles Vestal, but now includes a family of companies: HMV Wealth Advisors, Business Valuation Consultants, Align Mineral Management and HMV Retirement Plan Advisors. These related companies offer accounting for businesses and individuals, including tax planning and preparation, audit and assurance, business valuation, wealth advisement, mineral management and retirement plan services. Though tax, audit and accounting work is the “heart” of what they do, Prestwood said, “We really think of ourselves now as more of a professional services ﬁrm.” The latest of those services has been created to help businesses navigate artiﬁcial intelligence. “We’ve started up an innovation

group that is helping our clients figure out all the new changes that are occurring in technology driven by AI,” he said. That includes educating firms on AI, figuring out the right AI tools for each company, and setting up security and rules around the use of it. Prestwood said the company is always looking for new growth and hiring opportunities. He is quick to give credit for the firm’s growth to HMV’s employees. “I mean, day in and day out, they’re coming to work and with an attitude of being a servant leader, and just taking care of people’s needs, and when you do that, good things come,” he said. Email Liz Swaine at Liz. Swaine@theadvocate.com.

Working What’s

in Greater New Orleans business

with Michael Hecht President & CEO GNO Inc.

Good News on Homeowners’ Insurance For the better part of a decade, GNO, Inc. has partnered with state and federal officials to try to lower homeowners’ insurance rates. Our effort to lower rates even went international - GNO, Inc., Commissioner Temple, LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois, and others traveled to meet with Lloyd’s of London to discuss ways to reduce exposure and lower rates for homeowners. This work, combined with a recovering reinsurance market, is paying off: • • • • • •

Premium growth has nearly stopped, with annual increases essentially flat so far in 2026, down from 4.6% in 2025, 6.6% in 2024, and double digits the two years before that Fewer carriers are asking for more money: only four have filed for rate increases this year, down from 27 last year and 50 in 2024. Nine have filed for decreases 21 new carriers have been licensed to do business in Louisiana over the past three years, seven of them in 2026 alone. Homeowners who used to get two or three quotes can now get six or seven Commercial real estate rates are down about 30% on average, according to Ben Albright of the Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana Fortified roofs have grown to roughly 14,000 statewide, among the fastest-growing counts in the country Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort, has seen enrollment drop nearly 20% from its 2022 peak, down to roughly 114,000 policies as of June

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple points to two main drivers of this improvement. First, Temple, GNO, Inc., and others successfully advocated for regulatory reform. Our reform package curbed excessive bad faith claims, eliminated rules that scared away insurers, and funded new incentives for fortiﬁed roofs. Second, the reinsurance market that backs most Louisiana carriers has recapitalized after several storm-free years, pushing global catastrophe reinsurance prices down 16% year over year as of June, the steepest annual drop in 25 years. We are seeing the results on the ground: home sales in Greater New Orleans rose 10% in the ﬁrst half of 2026 over the same period last year, a rebound

You can read more from Biz New Orleans here

brokers tie directly to easing insurance costs. Site selectors and company executives routinely cite insurance costs as a factor in location decisions, which makes a healthier market relevant well beyond individual homeowners. The work continues. At the federal level, GNO, Inc. leads the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance, a national coalition it founded in 2013 that now counts more than 900 member organizations, pushing for reform and reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program ahead of its September 30 deadline. GNO, Inc. also built an online resource for homeowners trying to navigate the improving market: the Louisiana Insurance Discount Guide walks through wind mitigation credits, FORTIFIED roof discounts, the $10,000 tax credit, and grant programs available at the state, parish, and federal level, including up to $35,000 in city-funded roof grants for eligible New Orleans homeowners. Visit gnoinc.org/insure.

You can read more from the NOLA.com here

A greater choice for business

gnoinc.org

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 5E

lll

CONNECTING LOUISIANA TALENT WITH LOUISIANA OPPORTUNITY

Find Your Next Opportunity. Visit LouisianaNow.jobs

Your next career could be closer than you think. Discover opportunities with Louisiana companies looking for talent like you.

6E ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

NATION & WORLD Today’s children could prosper in tomorrow’s shortage of young workers BY TIM HENDERSON Stateline.org (TNS)

Today’s children could be the first generation since the 1970s to do better than their parents, as young workers become more sought after and well paid. They may even see a surplus of housing to make their lives even easier after recent shortages. An abundance of young workers will turn into an undersupply by 2040, with better pay and a surplus of housing, demographers predict. Immigration and artificial intelligence are wild cards, and young workers will still be saddled with taxes to support aging boomers for a while. Some states are already seeing a shortage of young workers. North Dakota and South Dakota routinely have twice as many job openings as people looking for work, and those jobs often require physical labor that AI could never replace. Oil fracking in North Dakota, for instance, is hard, sweaty work, and truck drivers have to move the oil. “Really a lot of the Midwest is still investigating things like autonomous systems, but we’re not really there yet. So labor shortages are a thing and are an issue,” said David Flynn, an economics professor at the University of North Dakota. Those issues will hit more states, including Washington and Nevada, where people looking for work still outnumber job openings by almost 2 to 1. Today’s small children have a brighter future economically than any generation since the surge of baby boomers aged into adulthood in the early 1970s, swamping the job market and dampening pay for 20-somethings ever since, said Steven Ruggles, director of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota. “The second half of the boomers were particularly the victims of this,” Ruggles said. “They got here after things had been going great after World War II and wages had been going through the roof, and

GETTY IMAGES/TNS FILE PHOTO BY ROBYN BECK

Pump jacks are seen on the Bakken Shale Formation, near Williston, N.d. A recent report is predicting that the future labor market will see a shortage of young workers for the first time since before baby boomers became of working age.

“Americans born in the 2020s might be the first cohort in a half century that earns significantly more than their parents did.” STEVEN RUGGLES, director of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota and author then all of a sudden the bottom falls out because there’s too many of them.” Ruggles in May published a paper titled “The pig in the python” about the slow progression of baby boomers through the national economy, maintaining that a coming shortage of young workers will give them more prosperity. “We are on the verge of a radical reshaping of labor markets in which new workers will be in extremely short supply,” Ruggles wrote in the report. “We may ﬁ-

nally see real (inflation-adjusted) wages of the young exceed the levels of the early 1970s. Americans born in the 2020s might be the first cohort in a half century that earns significantly more than their parents did.” For the first time since at least 1910, people leaving the labor market will outnumber young newcomers by 2040, and rising pay may not be the only change. Housing could become more affordable too. “If construction activity remains elevated, changing demographic trends could lead to a growing oversupply of housing in more markets,” the Mortgage Bankers of America concluded in a June white paper. “We expect that this will lead to falling prices for both single-family and multifamily housing at the national level.” The “potential for oversupply and falling prices” will affect

house prices most in states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas because of fast construction — more than Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, where building has been slowed by costs and restrictive zoning, the paper noted. While the prospect of better pay and lower housing costs is something to look forward to, demographers caution that such a turnaround has been predicted before. Some “really smart economists” turned out to be “dreadfully wrong” in the 1990s when they predicated a housing market crash based on lower demand from aging boomers, said Richard Jackson, president of the Global Aging Institute, a Virginia-based research ﬁrm. “The thesis was that the baby boom was moving beyond its household formation years and there’d be a collapse in housing prices. It never happened,” Jackson said. Labor supply was also un-

expectedly boosted by women and immigrants, he noted, putting a lid on wages for the young. Still, the future drop in the numbers of young people is fairly certain, he said. “Most of the relevant demographics is already locked in. These people have already been born and so absent some Hollywood catastrophe like a colliding comet, we know how many 30-year-olds there are going to be 15 years from now,” Jackson said. Immigration is also a wild card, with many recent arrivals drawn by the need for skilled young workers in construction and other trades. “It definitely helped prolong the glut of labor,” Ruggles said. “Wages might have turned around a little quicker if there had been less of a boom in immigration, but to some extent the immigrant jobs were ones that didn’t directly compete with U.S. workers like farm labor.” It’s hard to predict the effect of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda on future arrivals. Ruggles said his analysis holds across a wide range of possible immigration outcomes. The population of young adults could grow “a bit” or shrink over the next 20 years depending on immigration policy, said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Without immigrants and their children, the population of children and young adults would have shrunk by 5 million after the year 2000, according to a 2024 MPI report co-authored by Gelatt. “Whether any of that translates to higher wages seems pretty uncertain to me,” Gelatt said. “With slower population growth, or population stagnation, labor demand is unlikely to keep growing at the pace it has been. There will not be the same growth in the number of people buying goods and services. And nobody is sure yet of how AI will affect labor markets.”

LOOKING BEYOND:

Jones Walker on Representing Louisiana’s Construction Industry Leaders Pt. I

Beyond Blueprints. Few industries depend on such a vast array of raw materials and high-tech products, or have such complex business relationships among suppliers, designers, vendors, or contractors as the construction industry. Jones Walker’s Construction Team helps clients from across the industry manage all of these moving parts. We understand the complex dynamics between — and the unique priorities of — industry participants and craft solutions that minimize disputes, manage risks, and help keep projects moving from conception to completion. Our clients’ projects are equally diverse and include major infrastructure, manufacturing facilities and plants, hospitals, marine facilities, and airports, as well as the products and services necessary to complete such facilities.

Strategies to Protect Owners in High-Stakes Construction Disputes. Large commercial construction projects often face disputes over delays, defective work, cost overruns, and subcontractor failures. For Louisiana project owners, resolving these conﬂicts is a legal obligation and business Chris strategy. Early planning, contracts, and claims Cazenave can turn setbacks into recovery opportunities, protecting investments and strengthening delivery. Effective preparation evaluates project risk and contract structure, since delivery methods and pricing shape responsibility. Indemniﬁcation provisions, schedules, and liquidated damages provide leverage, while aligned litigation strategy and early insurer involvement support business objectives. Documenting issues, preserving evidence, meeting bond requirements, and presenting supported claims enhance credibility, resolve disputes, and safeguard project success. Jones Walker is proud to help lead the way for Louisiana’s construction industry as it navigates a complex legal environment.

William H. Hines Managing Partner bhines@joneswalker.com 504.582.8000

201 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA 70170-5100 joneswalker.com

Attorney Advertising. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other attorneys.

Scan the QR code to read the full article.

LA-26-20226

lll

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● 7E

NATION & WORLD

Lab testing plasticware created from sugar Researchers hopeful of engineering biodegradable packaging alternative BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT

Associated Press

WOBURN, Mass. — At a Massachusetts lab, pebble-sized pellets are transformed into forks and films that won’t leave persistent microplastics in the environment. These are bioplastic pellets. CJ Biomaterials ferments sugar to make plant-based polymers that microbes will consume. These alternatives to traditional plastics made of fossil fuels are seen by some as one of many solutions needed to confront global plastic pollution. At the company’s Woburn research facility, lab technicians recently poured pellets into a molding machine to make forks. The test forks were thin enough for home composting, though too bendy for stabbing a steak. Other batches have been rigid, similar to a typical plastic fork. The technicians melted pellets to roll out flexible films for food packaging, like a bag for baby carrots. The film was quite strong but not stretchy like cling wrap. They are figuring out how their biopolymers can make products with attributes similar to conventional plastics, but that can go in a composting bin instead of a trash can. Forks and films are breaking down in the lab’s compost bin. Straws that were added are long gone. A recently tossed-in knife showed pitting on the surface as bacteria colonized it, starting to consume the material. Plastics have never really fundamentally been disrupted. Now, interest in bioplastics is growing because of concern over microplastics. It’s the new “wild card” in this market, said the company’s marketing director Leah Ford. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and the compostability has always been a really strong driver. But with the greater understanding of microplastics, I think, that’s

going to change how people think about materials,” she said. Traditional plastics last for decades or even centuries as they fragment into harmful microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics. Microplastics have been found in the ocean and the air, in our food and water, and in a wide range of body tissues. The Trump administration, while rolling back many environmental regulations, says it will address contamination from microplastics. Bioplastics are biobased, meaning they are made completely or partially from a renewable resource, commonly corn or sugar cane; or they are biodegradable, meaning that they break down completely via a natural process. They can also be both, like the polymers made by CJ Biomaterials. It’s a leader in manufacturing polyhydroxyalkanoates as a polymer that is marine and soil biodegradable. CJ Biomaterials is trying to replace conventional plastics that are single-use or can’t be recycled when contaminated with food scraps. Food waste decomposing in landﬁlls emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the planet. A container made of pellets from CJ Biomaterials with food scraps could be sent to a composter, unlike a traditional plastic container. The Woburn lab’s shelves display the company’s successes: compostable cutlery, straws, coated cups for hot beverages and frozen food pouches used in the United States, sushi trays, ramen containers and reusable paper towels. Lab employees dine with compostable cutlery, drink from compostable cups and make coffee with compostable pods. These products last on shelves because they are not exposed to microorganisms in water or soil. CJ Biomaterials feeds sugar to microbes that convert it to PHA

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO BY CHARLES KRUPA

Katie Byun holds up a compostable knife, which was made with plastic made from plants, that was starting to break down after about two months in a home composting test bin at CJ Biomaterials in Woburn, Mass. for energy. The company collects the PHA and turns it into granules. Pellets of this are then sold to other companies that can melt them down and mold them into products. These same bacteria will consume PHA in a compost pile, breaking it down within six months, Ford said. CJ Biomaterials is part of the $32 billion South Korean conglomerate CJ Group. It has been producing PHA at a manufacturing facility in Pasuruan, Indonesia, since 2022. World Wildlife Fund sees biobased plastics as part of a suite of solutions that are needed. They can reduce the world’s dependency on fossil fuels that cause climate change, said Erin Simon, a WWF vice president. She said the world needs to reduce the amount of plastic being produced, then make the rest sustainably. Nations are trying to confront the spiraling plastic pollution crisis by crafting a landmark treaty. They

have yet to agree on any effective methods to stop plastic pollution, though negotiators plan to meet again early next year. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., has held congressional hearings on plastic pollution, including one exploring alternatives for single-use plastics. He also views bioplastics as one option with potential, among many that are needed. But, he said, more information is needed about how they break down and impact ecosystems and health. Environmental groups, including the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, argue that bioplastics maintain the single-use paradigm and distract from real solutions. Some say farmland shouldn’t be used to grow crops for plastic instead of food. Globally, biobased plastics represent roughly 0.5% of the more than 440 million tons of plastics produced annually, according to the in-

Never bet against american grit. or american energy.

Through innovation, Venture Global is building some of the largest energy facilities right here in Louisiana. And delivering energy to the world at a fraction of the cost, in a fraction of the time.

dustry group European Bioplastics. Production is projected to double by 2030 due to rising demand and the emergence of more advanced applications and products, it said. There are obstacles to widespread adoption. Bioplastics typically cost more than conventional plastics. Major cities have municipal composting programs, but they are limited elsewhere. A growing number of composting facilities accept compostable bioplastic products, though some refuse out of concern about degraded soil quality. And because bioplastics and conventional plastics often look and feel identical, they can be mixed up and cause problems for composters. Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute and a researcher, said people should use biodegradable options, especially for packaging. Otherwise, he said, “we’re going to ﬂood the entire biosphere with micro- and nanoplastics.”

8E ● Sunday,August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

BUSINESS BRIEFS

Luxury home deals push up average sale prices

The ﬂurry of luxury homes that have sold recently in Lafayette Parish has pushed the average sale price for a house to well above $300,000. In July, 10 homes with a price tag at $1 million or higher sold — three of which for a combined $12.8 million — to push the total homes sold in that price range to 40. That matches the number of $1 million homes sold for all of 2025, according to data from Bill Bacque, of Market Scope Consulting. One of the July deals was the former Mike Moreno mansion in River Ranch that sold for $8.5 million. The luxury home sales pushed the average sale price up more than 6% from a year ago to $312,034. Yet the median sale, which is more indicative of what most buyers are paying, has risen 2% to $256,741. “These increasing high-end sales are signiﬁcantly impacting the av-

Fool’s Take: Considering Microsoft

Microsoft shareholders have had a disappointing year, with shares up about 4% as of early August. But Microsoft shares are rather attractively priced for would-be investors. The stock’s Motley forward-looking Fool price-to-earnings ratio was around 25 in early August, below the fiveyear average of roughly 29. The company has a lot going for it: It encompasses not only the ubiquitous Windows operating system, but also the dominant Office 365 suite of applications, the second-largest cloud computing platform Azure, the Xbox gaming platform and even LinkedIn, among many other offerings. Like other huge tech companies, Microsoft has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence and incorporating it into many of its products and services. Some investors are concerned that it has been spending billions of dollars on AI infrastructure,

erage sale price, distorting the applicability of average sale price,” Bacque wrote. The overall market remains hot as sales in the parish totaled 344 in July, the largest amount in any month since 2022, data shows. Homes are also spending on average three fewer days on the market compared to a year ago.

Games and comics store moves to new location A Lafayette comic book store has moved to a new location near the Oil Center. Sanctuary Games & Comics, previously at 1512 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, has moved to 133 S. Audubon Blvd. in a former art gallery, owner Dan Boudreaux said. The space is more than double the size of the former location, he said. Sanctuary opened in 2022 offering games and comics and a safe haven for playing, collecting and socializing, Boudreaux said.

but it will take a while to see how those investments pay off. In the meantime, its Azure platform is growing robustly, and the company’s contracted backlog (a source of future revenue) recently doubled year over year to $627 billion. Microsoft is also a dividend-paying stock. Though it recently yielded only a bit over 0.7%, the payout has been growing at an average annual rate of 10% over the past ﬁve years. Long-term, risk-tolerant investors are likely to do well investing in Microsoft. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Microsoft.)

Fool’s School: Think twice before renting out property Buying properties and renting them out may seem like a ticket to great wealth. It certainly has helped plenty of people get rich, but it’s generally not as easy as it may seem. The upside is clear: You can collect regular rent payments from tenants and can deduct many expenses related to your real estate business, such as repairs. The income you receive can offset the mortgage and other costs. Over

BUILDING PERMITS Issued July 29 to Aug. 11

Commercial alterations

AUTO: 125 Southcity Parkway, description, detail/service building at Sterling Kia; applicant, James Broussard & Associates; contractor, J.B. Mouton; $1.7 million. SALON: 1807 Jefferson St., description, renovation for The Temple wellness center; applicant and contractor, The Temple; $10,000. OFFICE: 105 E. Kaliste Saloom Road, description, renovation for FedEx office; applicant, Alachua Development Corp.; contractor, S1 Construction; $151,000. INDUSTRIAL: 3906 U.S. 90 E., Broussard; description, create an office; applicant, Hydraquip; contractor, Ste. Marie Home Builders; $45,000. OFFICE: 2727 S.E. Evangeline Thruway, Broussard; description, re-roof; applicant, SLEMCO; contractor, Grizzly Roofing; $550,000. SCHOOL: 2901 E. Milton Ave., Youngsville, unspecified project at Ernest Gallet Elementary School; applicant, Jordan Guillotte; contractor, Trahan Construction; $5.4 million.

time, the value of your property should (but may not!) increase, and, if you’re a handy sort, you might save money on repairs and upkeep by doing much of the work yourself. But you won’t just start out collecting checks. You’ll first need to find and buy the right kind of property. Then you’ll need to find good tenants, and it’s not always easy to tell the good from the bad. Bad tenants can deliver massive headaches, perhaps being delinquent in payments or damaging your property. You might hire a property management company to find tenants and manage them and the property, but that can cost you around 8% to 12% of the rent collected. If you need or want to evict a tenant, it can be trickier than you expect, as tenants generally have legal protections. Even when things are going well, you’ll occasionally have a month or two between tenants when the property is uninhabited and not generating rental income. And, of course, you’ll be on the hook for not only any mortgage payments, but also expenses for property taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs. (For

New commercial

SCHOOL: 222 W. Milton Ave., description, academic multi-use building at Milton Elementary; applicant, Fusion Architects; contractor, The Lemoine Co.; $3.9 million. RETAIL: 3400 Louisiana Ave., description, convenience store with fuel sales for Buc-ee’s; applicant, Lawrence S. Levinson AIA; contractor, Cleveland Construction; $72.1 million.

Commercial demolition

HOTEL: 2100 N.E. Evangeline Thruway, description, demolition of former La Quinta Inn; applicant and contractor, Construction Management Enterprises; $196,400.

New residential

623 GUNTER GRASS COURT: Khalil Alrefaey, $678,125. 102 WHITCOMB CIRCLE: Brian S. Guidry, $757,000. 432 P MOLBERT ROAD, DUSON: Lafayette Design Build, $172,500. 117 GIDEON ROAD, YOUNGSVILLE: Redemptive Construction, $392,625. 100 PERIDOT ROAD: Momentum Design Build, $689,875.

example, you may need to repaint between tenants and occasionally replace carpeting.) You may even be paying for utilities, unless you have your tenants doing that. Read up on local investment property laws — and perhaps also read a book such as “Real Estate Investing for Dummies,” by Eric Tyson and Robert S. Griswold. Remember that you can always invest in stocks or funds focusing on real estate instead.

Ask the Fool: Valuing stocks How is a stock’s real value determined? — G.C., Flagstaff,Arizona That’s a great question, because a stock’s current price is not necessarily equal to its intrinsic, or fair, value. Overenthusiastic investors may have bid the price up into overvalued territory. Or it may be undervalued, with most investors not interested or conﬁdent in the stock. It’s smart to seek out and invest in undervalued high-quality companies. There’s no way to determine a stock’s exact fair value, because you’ll always have to estimate some numbers, such as future growth rates. Even experienced

501 JUDICE LANE, DUSON: DSLD, $299,750. 503 JUDICE LANE, DUSON: DSLD, $274,250. 201 GUN RUNNER DRIVE: Carencro: Manuel Builders, $316,500. 111 HILL CREEK DRIVE: DR Horton, $427,375. 223 KELLOGG AVE.: Bailey Home Builders, $259,875. 103 GOSLING WAY: Manuel Builders, $358,375. 301 JUDICE LANE, DUSON: DSLD, $274,250. 309 HIDDEN MEADOWS DRIVE: DSLD, $326,750. 105 STEEP MEADOWS LANE: DSLD, $436,625. 148 LAKE RIDGE DRIVE, BROUSSARD: DR Horton, $118,195. 146 LAKE RIDGE DRIVE, BROUSSARD: DR Horton, $117,000. 312 OLD SUGAR MILL DRIVE, YOUNGSVILLE: Level Construction & Development, $244,218. 119 PROVINCETOWN LANE, YOUNGSVILLE: Manuel Builders, $263,680. 103 HIDDEN GATE LANE, YOUNGSVILLE: McLain Homes, $170,000. 101 RUSTIC OAK WAY, CARENCRO: DSLD, $197,772.

stock analysts will often value a stock differently. They may employ a fancy “discounted cash ﬂow” analysis, estimating future cash ﬂows and calculating present values assuming varying discount rates. (This looks impressive, but it’s still an educated guess.) Many individual investors use simpler ways to estimate a stock’s valuation, such as the price-toearnings ratio, which divides the current stock price by the last 12 months of earnings per share. The lower the P/E ratio, the more attractive the price (though it’s important to remember that P/E ratios vary by industry). Don’t rely on any one valuation metric alone, though, and consider reading up on more ways to value stocks. Do I need to work for a company to buy its stock? — C.M., Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Not at all. Any of us are free to buy any stock that’s publicly traded. You’ll probably need a brokerage account, though. (Learn more about brokerages at Broker.Fool.com.) If you work for a publicly traded company, you might receive shares of its stock or employee stock options, or you might be able to buy its shares at a discount.

The biggest stories in business, delivered to you every weekday

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 9E

lll

MADE IN LOUISIANA

Big Easy Blends rolling out kids’ breakfast drinks Company moves to make more of it own products BY GRACE MAYER

Staff writer

In the nearly 20 years that Big Easy Blends has been blending juices, frozen drinks and pouched cocktails, the manufacturer has become better known for making private-label products for big national brands like Welch’s and ICEE than for its own beverages. That may be starting to change. Earlier this year, the Elmwoodbased company launched a new brand, Blendology, that makes a line of breakfast and lunch drinks — fruit slushies and yogurt smoothies — for school kids. Packaged in the company’s signature pouches, Big Easy Blends has started selling the Blendology drinks to K-12 school districts and distributors around the country. Since its launch in July, the company has already inked deals with school systems in over a dozen states, including California, Texas and Florida. And the company’s three founders expect the pivot to be big for the business, which did $20 million in sales last year. Every day on average, just over 12 million students in K-12 schools in the U.S. receive breakfast for free or at a reduced price at school, according to data from the Food Research and Action Center, a nonproﬁt that publishes research and data on federal nutrition programs. Lunch participation is nearly double that amount. Big Easy Blends’ products are also meeting a particular health moment, as parents express concern about artiﬁcial food dyes and added sugars. Blendology products have none. “A lot of people say schools are the largest restaurant chain in the nation,” co-founder Sal LaMartina said.

Craig Cordes and Sal and Antonio LaMartina began Big Easy Blends manufacturing Cordina freezable alcoholic drinks. Their Elmwood Big Easy Blends launched their new juice slushie and yogurt smoothie operation eventually pivoted to making private-label products but are product line, Blendology, in July. changing focus back to their own brand — this time pouch products for ers were being lauded in Inc. Mag- school kids. Blending business strategies PROVIdEd PHOTOS BY BIG EASY BLENdS

Big Easy Blends got its start in 2007, when Antonio LaMartina pitched his brother Sal LaMartina and Craig Cordes, a high school friend, on a plan to sell alcohol in Capri Sun-style pouches — a vision born from college and young adult years spent partying. At the time, the trio were early in their careers in auditing, sales and the financial services, yet undeterred by their inexperience. They faced a significant learning curve building Big Easy Blends, they say now. “We had no experience in alcohol. That’s when my brother would say, ‘Wrong, I have a lot of experience in alcohol,’ ” Sal LaMartina said. The result was Cordina Frozen Cocktails, a product line that included Mar-GO-Rita and Pina-GOLada drinks. Working in the alcohol space was exciting for the founders, and it helped build their company’s name recognition and reputation. In those first five years, Big Easy Blends built its own manufacturing facility — later growing the factory from 55,000 to 95,000 square feet in Elmwood. It also became clear in that time making their own alcohol products wasn’t sustainable. “We lost a ton of money,” LaMartina said. “We never made money in the alcohol space.” In 2012, while Big Easy Blends’ agave-based cocktails and found-

azine’s 30 under 30 list and sold in Walmart and Walgreens locations around the country, the founders were plotting a new direction. They pivoted away from making their own frozen cocktails to building a robust business licensing and manufacturing juice and alcohol products for well-known brands, including Aldi and Airheads. Their ﬁrst big client was Slush Puppie’s ICEE frozen slushies. “We thought we would sell maybe 20,000 cases of ICEE product the first year,” LaMartina said. “We sold like 200,000 cases in 90 days.”

Adult cocktails to kids juice About a year ago, Big Easy Blends’ leadership team sat down and reflected on where they wanted to go as a business and what they wanted to be known for. They knew their strengths were in creating flexible pouch packaging and creating frozen products. They also knew they wanted to create healthier products. They realized their company was built for kids, said LaMartina. “Alcohol to kids’ drinks. It’s a pretty far spectrum from where we started,” said Cordes, the chief financial owner. “It’s kind of indicative of how we’ve grown as people as well as owners.” Developing their first products — a fruit juice slushie and a yogurt smoothie — began a year ago. They

wanted to create a healthy product line with real fruit and no added sugars. The team was also operating under tight time constraints, aiming to get products in schools before the start of the 2026 school year. Creating a yogurt smoothie that was shelf-stable, key for school kitchens with limited fridge storage, was a new challenge. They hired a former Unilever food scientist who spent months developing the smoothie, conducting countless trials, adjusting fill levels and product formulations, before finally landing on a combination that worked. “All the way up until our very first production run, the smoothie was foaming out of the pouch. It was a complete mess,” LaMartina said. “We threw away six figures worth of product.” On the factory floor, 18 tanks that can hold 2,000 gallons of product blend liquids together, yielding a sorbet-like texture for Blendology’s products and Big Easy Blends’ other licensed products. “There’s some secret sauce in our equipment that helps us bind all of the ingredients together so that the ice and flavor are not just separating,” LaMartina said. Then, two production lines, one for the juice slushie and another for the smoothie, fill and seal 360 pouches per minute, five days a

week, 24 hours a day. The smoothie and juice pouches are filled upside down. When kids tear off the tops of their frozen juice pouches — which come in four flavors — they can collect 40 finger puppet cartoon characters. Blendology products are currently being shipped to schools in 15 states, including California, Florida, Texas, Maine, Georgia and Colorado. The Big Easy Blends team is working on sending bids to school districts in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana. And it’s waiting to hear back from bids in around 42 states, said Morgan Ebersole, customer service sales coordinator. Big Easy Blends’ 40-person team is already working on more products for schools. Currently, around 90% of the company’s business comes from making licensed products, while 10% is from the Blendology brand. Over time, Big Easy Blends hopes to get those figures closer to an even fifty-fifty split, LaMartina said. “We’ve never seen so many yeses,” LaMartina said of the Blendology products. “Our biggest concern right now isn’t, can we create a good product? We’re starting to worry, can we keep up?” Email Grace Mayer at grace. mayer@theadvocate.com.

Our underground pipelines deliver reliability when it matters most. With natural gas, you can cook a homemade meal or take a hot shower – even when the power goes out. During hurricane season, that’s not just convenient, it’s essential.

deltautilities.com

Louisiana born. Louisiana based.

Backed by 950+

600,000 customers

local employees

across the Gulf Coast

10E ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Why Louisiana? The Risk and Reward Behind a $32 Billion Data Center Push

In less than 18 months, Louisiana has transformed from virtually no hyperscale data center presence to hosting three of the largest projects in the country, led by major digital leaders. A $10 billion campus in Richland Parish,1 a $12 billion investment across Caddo and Bossier Parishes,2 and a $10 billion River Bend facility in West Feliciana Parish1 represent a combined $32 billion commitment that places Louisiana at the center of the national data center boom. Construction is now underway. Developers chose Louisiana for good reasons. The state’s industrial

With conﬁrmed projects now spread across the northwest, northeast

contractors have spent decades building reﬁneries, chemical

and southeast of the state, underwriters are watching how that

plants and LNG facilities — complex, high-stakes work at scale.

geographic concentration accumulates across their books.

This expertise transfers directly to data center construction, and

Power and water draw are legitimate community concerns. Data

it’s a meaningful edge. Louisiana contractors are already building

centers consume both at a scale that strains local grids and utility

data centers across the country because they’re among the best

capacity. Some Louisiana power companies are already planning

at this type of work. Siting a project in the state keeps that talent

upgrades to support the new demand. Longer term, on-site

close, resulting in faster project delivery and tighter cost control.

generation, including small modular reactors, may reduce grid

Site selection also reﬂects a clear-eyed insurance calculation. Two of the three major projects sit in North Louisiana, near the Arkansas border. Locating away from the Gulf Coast hurricane corridor materially changes the underwriting math.

dependency for future builds. These aren’t unsolvable problems. But they need to be part of the project plan from day one.

Building success: What it takes to get it right Done right, projects of this scale bring lasting returns. The tax revenue will ﬂow into Louisiana communities over decades, into

“

These facilities are in North Louisiana because it’s more affordable to secure the coverage and limits required — it’s an insurance decision as much as a location one.

”

Troy Wagener, Area Executive Vice President, Gallagher

education, infrastructure and economic development, well beyond what direct employment from a data center operation alone would deliver. Louisiana moved early in this cycle and secured a strong position. Getting that right starts before ﬁnancing closes, with construction risk, supply chain exposures, power strategy and operational coverage all aligned from day one. That includes parametric triggers for business interruption — coverage that activates without a

The risk picture in Louisiana

physical loss — which matters when a grid failure or supply chain

Louisiana’s broader property and casualty market, by Wagener’s

delay can cost millions before a single claim is ﬁled.

current read, is stable. The insurance market is absorbing an

Gallagher’s Data Center Solutions team works with developers,

unprecedented volume of high-limit construction requests as data

contractors and operators across the full project lifecycle. To

center builds accelerate nationwide. Excess liability and commercial

connect with our Louisiana team, visit AJG.com/louisiana.

automobile liability for contractor ﬂeets — already under pressure in large construction programs — face genuine capacity constraints when a single site is worth $10 billion to $15 billion. In Louisiana speciﬁcally, those pressures are sharper: commercial automobile liability rates for construction rank among the highest in the country, and excess liability capacity for large industrial programs is genuinely constrained. That friction shows up in pricing, deductibles and what carriers will actually put on the table.

Troy Wagener

Area Executive Vice President

Scan the code to connect with us.

Climate perils compound that scrutiny. North Louisiana avoids the worst of the Gulf Coast hurricane corridor, but major storms still push wind and rain well inland. Inland ﬂooding and severe convective storms are live perils across all three project locations.

1“Louisiana’s Growing Data Center Pipeline,” BIZ Magazine, 3 Mar 2026. 2“Amazon Selects Louisiana for $12 Billion Data Center Campuses in Major U.S. Expansion,” Louisiana Economic Development, 23 Feb 2026.

AJG.com/Louisiana | The Gallagher Way. Since 1927.

What the research says about erythritol PAGE 3

dISCOVERY | INNOVATION | LIVING WELL

HEALTH

LOUISIANA

N O L A.C O M & T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

S U N D AY, AU g U S t 16, 2026

Angela Laisure, left, administers chemotherapy to Victoria Autin in July at the University Medical Center in New Orleans.

Molly Kimball 1N

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEdIAK

‘LIKE A GIFT FROM GOD’ As Louisiana seeks bigger role in cancer drug trials, a patient discusses her treatment

BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

Victoria Autin started college, determined to become a veterinarian. “I loved horses,” she said. In her second year at school, away from home, Autin’s gynecologist found a cyst on her ovary and recommended surgery to remove it. “That’s how it started,” she said. “Before then I just rode horses. I rode four-wheelers. I did pretty much what any 19-year-old would be doing, not expecting a bombshell to be dropped in

my lap.” Her surgery went well, and the recovery was not terrible, Autin said. But she’ll never forget Dec. 2, 2019, when she walked into her gynecologist’s ofﬁce with her grandmother, and he told her she had cancer. “I guess you could say I just went numb,” she said. “I think a part of me, I feel, was left in that room that day.” Autin has a juvenile granulosa cell tumor, a rare gynecologic cancer in the hormone-producing connective tissues of the ovaries. “The granular cell tumors and juve-

nile granular cell tumors tend to happen in younger patients than more common ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Amelia Jernigan, a gynecologic oncologist at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Between initial oncology appointments, Autin, the oldest of seven children, found out she was five weeks pregnant with her ﬁrst child. She chose to hold out on chemotherapy and radiation until it was safe. In the next five years, Autin, who lives in Amite, traveled multiple times a week for lab work and chemotherapy.

She lost all of her curly chestnut hair ﬁve separate times. She gave birth to two children. She had four surgeries to remove tumors that had grown back and, eventually, a complete hysterectomy. The cancer would always leave. But it would always come back. “I appeared strong, but I was broken,” Autin said. In 2025, Autin and her family started shopping for better options. They went to Little Rock and Shreveport and

ä See TRIALS, page 2X

At BR hospital, magnets step in for stitches and staples BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

First doctors sewed organs together. Then, they stapled. Now, they’re using magnets. In April, surgeons at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge performed the hospital’s first magnetic small bowel resection and connection, or anastomosis, in a patient. Since then, the hospital has performed 10 surgeries using the new technology. An anastomosis is commonly performed in gastrointestinal surgery when surgeons need to reconnect sections of the digestive tract. “We were one of the ﬁrst ﬁve in-

stitutions in the country to access it,” said Dr. Mark Hausmann, a bariatric surgeon at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge. There’s been discussion about connecting organs using magnets over the years in the surgical community, according to Hausmann Hausmann, but the tech has been awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The magnets are more consistent than sewing or suturing or stapling and require less time under

anesthesia. “This may be the next step for more consistency, less scarring, less bleeding and more consistent healing,” Hausmann said. “There are fewer variables here.” The octagon-shaped magnets were developed by GI Windows Surgical, a medical device company. In the minimally invasive robotic surgery, an incision is made through the tissue of the bowel. Then, the robotic tool shoots out the otolock, or magnet-holder, in the inside of the bowel. The surgeon then pulls the otolock tight

STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN BALLANCE

GI Windows’ magnetic anastomosis platform is an innovative surgical technology that uses magnets to create anastomosis, or surgical ä See MAGNETS, page 3X connection between two parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

The care you need. The compassion you deserve.

ochsner.org/CCA

2X ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

HEALTH MAKER Parents seek pediatric sleep advice from N.O. expert Contributing writer

BY MATT HAINES

Q&A WITH dR. NILONG VYAS

Dr. Nilong Vyas is a pediatric sleep consultant in Gretna who has patients in Louisiana and around the world. She received her medical degree from LSU, a master’s of public health from Tulane University, and completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans before beginning work as a general pediatrician at Lake Vista Pediatrics. In 2014, after seeing how central good sleep was to nearly all of the challenges her patients and their families faced, Vyas began her own pediatric sleep practice: Sleepless in NOLA. She was named a Women in White Coats Hero of the Year as well as Top Sleep Consultant in the U.S. and has worked with countless families and individuals — including celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Mahershala Ali — to help improve the sleep habits of their children. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you get into the field of pediatric sleep consulting? It started while I was working at Lake Vista Pediatrics. Over the last two decades, our society is becoming much more aware of the importance of sleep. That’s partly because of all the talk about sleep on the news and in social media, for example, but also because of the popularity of wearables that allow individuals to track their sleep. I noticed an increasing number of families coming in to discuss their children’s sleep issues. But doctors are so overburdened. When you get 15 minutes to discuss the entirety of a child’s health, it simply isn’t

and healthy metabolism. If a child is hyperactive, they’re probably not a bad kid — they’re just not getting enough sleep. If a child is obese, a lack of sleep may also play a role. It affects everything. I tell parents that it’s not like their child will never learn to read and write if they don’t sleep well. But they probably won’t reach their full potential. Yikes. So then what are the common pitfalls that get in the way of children getting good sleep? For infants, pitfalls can include inconsistent sleep windows, leading to overtiredness that creates a barrier to good sleep. Another issue is what we call “sleep onset associations,” meaning the baby is unable to sleep without a certain action or behavior. For example, if a mother always feeds their child when it’s time to go to sleep — maybe because the baby is crying — then the child will associate nursing with sleep. This can lead to sleep problems and overfeeding. Toddlers can also suffer from sleep onset associations, which might include thinking they can only fall asleep if they’re in the same room or bed with one or both parents. This is also an age where we see bedtime resistance and stalling — I call it “shenanigans” — where children ask for one more hug, or one more book, or one more sip of water or potty before bed. They might expose inconsistency between caregivers and this can all lead to an inconsistent bedtime and inconsistent sleep. For school-age children, too much screen time or caffeine before bed can cause

dr. Nilong Vyas, right, helps improve the sleep habits of children. enough time to deal with complicated problems like sleep. The quick advice we would give was what we were taught at the time: let the child cry it out. For a newer generation of parents, “cry it out,” felt a little harsh. And, as I raised kids of my own, I felt similarly. I thought there had to be a different way, and that’s when I began to develop my own methodology, which linked childhood sleep to nutrition, the behavior of parents, and the behavior of the child. I started Sleepless in NOLA more than 12 years ago, and these are factors I address with the families I work with. Can you tell us a little more this shift from “cry it out?” Over the course of generations, society has shifted from households that involved extended families caring for children together,

toward the nuclear families of modern life. Increasingly, that involved both parents working. With less time, busy and tired parents were taught to put their kid in the crib, close the door, and let them cry until they ﬁgured it out and eventually fell asleep. In the last 15 years, however, parents are armed with more information. They want an approach that gets to the root of their child’s sleep issues while matching their values as parents. That can still involve “cry it out,” but it usually involves something gentler. What I have learned over the years is that kids have the ability to get great sleep. We as parents, however, do things to interrupt that because the knowledge isn’t there. My goal is to increase that knowledge and work

PROVIdEd PHOTO

with parents to understand what habits we need to alter to allow our children to get the sleep they need. Which brings us to an important question: Why is sleep so important for children? Famous British neuroscientist Dr. Matthew Walker said, “Sleep is the greatest legal performance-enhancing ‘drug’ that most people are probably neglecting.” And it’s true. For infants, sleep is when development happens. It’s crucial, and newborns should be sleeping up to 17 hours each day. During deep sleep, speciﬁcally, is when growth hormones are secreted, which leads to actual physical growth and immunity strengthening. For toddlers and for older children, sleep drives a host of important functions: memory consolidation and learning, mood, memory,

a problem. So can “social jet lag.” One example of this is when parents let their children sleep late on the weekend. If the child wakes up at noon, they will also stay up later, likely resulting in too little sleep on Sunday night and creating a sleep deficit on Monday and throughout the week. Too often I find that parents succumb to children who resist naps or bedtimes. They throw up their hands and say, “Maybe my kid doesn’t need that much sleep.” But they do, for the sake of their development. It’s important that the adult sets those boundaries for them. How do you work to solve these challenges? People like to toss around the word “guru” when talking about sleep, and I think that comes from these Instagram sleep coaches who found some success with a solution that worked for their specific child. But there is no guarantee that a so-called “magic bullet” will work for your child. I consider myself a pediatric behavioral sleep expert because I work with parents to seek out behavioral modifications that they can implement for their child. It’s more of a partnership between us than a one-sized approach or secret. After a consultation, we look at the child’s sleep schedule, their sleeping environment, and the family’s belief systems and goals around sleep. Sometimes you just need someone in your corner to help you find and enact the right behavioral modifications for your family. To me, that’s what a good pediatric behavioral sleep expert can be.

TRIALS

Continued from page 1X ﬁnally New Orleans. Jernigan introduced her to a new clinical trial using targeted chemotherapies. “Meeting her was like a gift from God,” Autin said about Jernigan. “If I had to choose it all over again, I’d go back to her each time.”

Finding the glitter and glue Autin was introduced to a clinical trial, the first use of potential drugs on human patients, at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Every 21 days, she packs a bag and travels to the hospital for treatment that uses antibody drug conjugates, a new class of chemotherapy drugs. The formulas can identify specific receptors, or beacons, expressed by cancerous tissues in the body. Once the drug finds those receptors, the chemotherapy can isolate cancerous cells and begin to attack them. “It’s like putting glitter on glue,” Jernigan said. “The [chemotherapy] actually sticks to the tumor to deliver these hefty doses of chemotherapy right to the tumor. We can get really therapeutic doses at the tumor level without it being as toxic to the person as a whole.” So far, the treatment has worked for some of Jernigan’s endometrial cancer patients. “It worked really nicely in the GYN malignancies,” she said. “In my world, antibody drug conjugates are what immunotherapies were five years ago.” Dr. Shou-Ching Tang leads the charge for Phase 1 clinical trials at LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center, building out early drug developments in Louisiana. “Phase 1 is the bottleneck of all drug development,” he said. “Most importantly, it enables us to bring drugs to our patients in need of drugs that are never marketed. It’s before FDA approval.” For Autin, the clinical trial

STAFF PHOTOS BY ENAN CHEdIAK

Shelinda Brown, right, performs an electrocardiogram on Victoria Autin in July during cancer treatment at the University Medical Center in New Orleans. has been tough, but effective. Her tumor is notoriously resistant to any standard care, Tang said. “Fortunately, her tumor responded,” Tang said. Her tumor not only responded, but responded so well that she has taken 16 cycles of the new chemotherapy since September. Autin’s tumor shrank after two cycles of chemotherapy by more than 60%. “It’s a testament to how well this type of drug could work,” Tang said. The day after her first treatment in the clinical trial, Autin was out riding horses. “I felt OK,” she said. But, between her third and fifth sessions, symptoms started to hit her harder. She experienced morning sickness from morning until 3 p.m., then she was back to herself until 10 p.m. Mouth sores started popping up. By the time the symptoms go away, it’s already time to

pack her bags for her next session. In current chemotherapy treatments, it’s expected to experience hair loss, numbness and tingling, nausea and vomiting, anemia, low platelets, low white counts and, sometimes, admissions to the hospital. “This is all the side effects of the poison,” Jernigan said. Autin expects to be on the drug until the cancer’s gone.

Building a cancer hub Phase 1 clinical trials are just one element in expanding the cancer care for Louisianans. In July 2022, Louisiana leaders announced their intentions to become a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, joining 74 other centers in 36 states given that designation by the National Institutes of Health. An NCI designation has several criteria: laboratory research in several fields; transferring research into

clinical practice; innovative clinical trials in the community; outreach to residents; education of health professionals and showing improvement in specific, measurable areas, such as lowering smoking rates or increasing lung cancer screenings. Over 30,000 Louisianans are diagnosed with cancer each year. The goal of the NCI designation is to bring cancer care closer to those who need it, said Dr. Lucio Miele, the director of the LSU-LCMC Health Cancer Center. “The patients here are not going to move to Boston to be studied,” Miele said. “This is a competition. There are other institution applying. But we’re Louisiana, and we’re going for it.” To become a national institute, LSU-LCMC needs to prove that they have the infrastructure and funding to last. Because of LSU’s statewide footprint, they have taken the lead for the state.

Victoria Autin shows off a photograph of herself, Fred Soileau and two of their children daesyn, 6, and Rayleigh Soileau, 3. In the initial application, only LSU-LCMC’s facilities will be measured for NCI designation. “The NCI needs a ‘winwin’ situation,” Miele said. “They can’t take over infrastructure.” The application process itself takes years and thousands of pages of documented progress in all levels of cancer care, Miele said. The team at LSU-LCMC has already begun collecting their accomplishments, but will begin writing a formal application in 2029. It’s common for clinicians to hover in the Phase 2 to Phase 3 arena when it comes to studying new drugs and medicines for treatment. Expanding the Phase 1 trials, however, is what sets institutions apart nationally. “No one’s going to hand it to us,” Miele said. “If we can handle one of these, it’s a sign that we can handle complicated clinical trials as well.”

Clinical trials beneﬁt more than just science. Patients who enroll in clinical trials often do better than those who do not, even if they receive a placebo treatment. “That’s probably because of all the eyes on your chart and the extra care you get on a trial,” Jernigan said. Autin has fought cancer for over six years. And she doesn’t plan to stop. “My whole life, I had everything planned. I knew what I wanted out of life. Being told those three words, ‘You have cancer’ changed everything,” she said. “Going through another option that could possibly save many other people’s lives. I thought, ‘Why not?’ I have two beautiful babies that need me here, and if this is the medicine that saves my life, then I would choose to do it all over again.” Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney @theadvocate.com.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● 3X

lll

Eat Fit Live Fit B R O U G H T TO YO U BY

Molly Kimball RD, CSSD

Erythritol: what the research really says

he evidence linking excess added sugar to negative health effects is extensive, spanning far beyond weight and blood sugar. A consistently high intake is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, anxiety and certain cancers. For many people, reducing added sugar may be one of the most impactful changes they can make for their long-term health. But that raises an obvious question: What should we use instead? Aside from providing sweetness, sugar contributes moisture, browning, caramelization and texture – especially important in baked goods. Stevia and monk fruit can work well in coffee, tea, yogurt and smoothies. But because they are intensely sweet, they do not work well as the sole sugar replacement in baking. Erythritol helps fill that gap. It provides bulk and structure with little to no effect on blood sugar, making it useful in baking and lower-sugar products. You will find it in many “zerosugar” foods, beverages and sweetener blends such as Truvia, Swerve and Lakanto, as well as in recipes and products featured in this column. But some readers have asked about headlines linking erythritol to heart attacks and strokes.

What Does the Research Show and How Concerned Should We Be?

people are routinely advised to reduce added sugar, lose weight and improve metabolic health. Yet they are also warned about alternative sweeteners, leaving many with conﬂicting messages and no practical path forward. For now, the evidence linking excess added sugar to adverse health outcomes is far more robust than the evidence raising concerns about erythritol. That does not mean erythritol is risk-free. It means we are still learning.

less attention. Many blood samples used in the study were collected between 2001 and 2007, before erythritolcontaining products and baking blends even existed.

Why Does That Matter?

Because erythritol is not only something we consume. Our bodies also produce it naturally. In fact, one of the most surprising aspects of the 2023 research, at least for me, was learning that our bodies make erythritol on their own. Researchers acknowledged that many of the elevated blood levels observed in those earlier samples likely reﬂected erythritol produced within the body rather than consumed through food. In other words, the study found an association between higher blood levels and cardiovascular risk, but it did not show that consuming erythritol caused heart attacks or strokes. Since then, several other studies have shown that erythritol may increase platelet activity and clotting potential under certain conditions. Those ﬁndings

The question stems largely from a widely publicized 2023 study in Nature Medicine. Researchers found that people with higher blood levels of erythritol were more likely to experience heart attacks, strokes and other major cardiovascular events. The headlines understandably raised alarm. But one important detail received

So, Should You Use Erythritol?

deserve further study. At the same time, we have decades of evidence showing that excess added sugar contributes to many of the health conditions we are trying to prevent. Preventive cardiologist Dr. Carl “Chip” Lavie is the medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at Ochsner Health. He noted that erythritol is not a topic he follows closely and is not a major focus among fellow cardiologists. He emphasized, however, that “the harms of added sugars are very high.” That perspective highlights the challenge consumers face. As Joanne Slavin, PhD, RD, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota, points out,

Molly Kimball, RD, CSSD, is a registered dietitian with Ochsner Health and founder of Ochsner’s Eat Fit nonproﬁt initiative. For more wellness content, tune in to Molly’s podcast, FUELED Wellness + Nutrition, and follow @MollykimballRD and @EatFitOchsner on social media. Email nutrition@ochsner.org to connect with Molly or schedule a consult with her team.

Those with a history of stroke, cardiovascular disease or clotting disorders, as well as those taking medications that affect clotting, should discuss signiﬁcant dietary changes with their healthcare provider. For most people, erythritol remains one of several tools that may help reduce added sugar intake while researchers continue to study its long-term effects.

The Bigger Goal: Resetting Your Sweet Tooth

I don’t think the ultimate goal is ﬁnding the perfect sugar replacer. A better long-term strategy is gradually retraining our taste buds to expect – and crave – less sweetness. Start small. Reduce the sugar in coffee, tea or other beverages by 25%. Once that feels normal, reduce it further. The same approach works in baking. Our taste buds can adapt. Foods that once tasted only mildly sweet begin to taste plenty sweet, and the craving for intensely sweet foods can start to fade. That’s the direction I continue to encourage, not because any one sweetener is perfect, but because learning to enjoy less sugary sweetness overall may offer the greatest beneﬁt.

BY THE NUMBERS

TWIN BIRTH RATES dOWN IN U.S., BUT LA. SEES RISE TWIN BIRTHS

Although Louisiana saw an uptick in the last year, the state is still on a decline overall since 2014: 38

Louisiana twin birth rate

U.S. twin birth rate

36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28

’14 ’15 ’16 ’17

’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24

Source: National Center of Health Statistics via March of dimes

The twin birth rate, or twin births per 1,000 total births, rose nearly 80% from 1980 to 2014, then began a steady decline into the last decade. In Louisiana, however, the twin birth rate declined overall in the last 10 years, but jumped from 2023 to 2024, according to data collected by the Centers for disease Control and Prevention. Trends in twin childbearing are collected by the National Center of Health Statistics and the CdC as a public health interest for increased maternal and neonatal risks compared to single pregnancies. In the U.S., the twin birth rate declined an average 1% per year from 2014 to 2024, from 33.9 twins per 1,000 births to 30.1 twins per 1,000 births. In 2024, 109,195 babies

Staff graphic

were born as twins in the U.S. Louisiana’s twin birth rate, however, fluctuated greatly over the last decade with: n 35.6 twin deliveries per 1,000 live births in 2014; n 33.2 in 2015; n 34.1 in 2016; n 34.4 in 2017; n 34 in 2018; n 32 in 2019; n 33.2 in 2020; n 33.9 in 2021; n 32.4 in 2022; n 31.7 in 2023; n 34.8 in 2024. One frequent explanation pinpointed by research is the improvement in IVF techniques and policies that encourage single-embryo transfers. Michigan and Mississippi have the highest twin birth rates. And as of 2024, mothers between the ages of 45 to 54 had the highest twin birth rates in the United States.

STAFF PHOTOS BY JOHN BALLANCE

ABOVE: dr. Mark Hausmann talks about the GI Windows magnetic anastomosis platform. BELOW: Hausmann shows off the device.

MAGNETS

resections. “Indications are going to expand,” Hausmann said. Continued from page 1X “I think over time it will be able to connect stomach to against the exposed lin- bowel tissues. We’re curing of the small bowel and rently only using it for gasattaches the eight-sided tric bypasses with small magnet. bowel anastomosis.” They repeat the process on another section of the Email Margaret DeLaney small bowel, then connect at margaret.delaney the two parts with the @theadvocate.com. magnets. Over time, between 10 days and two weeks, scar WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU tissue will grow around the organs and heal the small bowel. Once the The Louisiana Health section is Health editions will also profile scar tissue has formed, focused on providing in-depth, people who are advancing health for the magnets have nothpersonal accounts of health in the the state of Louisiana. ing left to attach to and will fall away into the state. This section looks at medical do you have a health story? We small bowel to be passed innovations, health discoveries, state want to hear from you. through. Currently, the FDA has and national health statistics and re- Email margaret.delaney@ only approved the use of examining tried and true methods on theadvocate.com to submit health the magnets to connect ways to live well. questions, stories and more. parts of the small bowel, most commonly in bowel

4X ● Sunday, August 16, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Complete cancer care in onevisit

Shaunda Grisby, MD Breast Surgical Oncology

Molly Thomas, MD Hematology Oncology

At Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana, we believe that every individual’s journey with cancer is unique. With compassion and expertise, we collaborate with you to develop a comprehensive treatment plan tailored to your speciﬁc diagnosis. We understand that the road to remission can be challenging, but with us by your side, hope and healing converge along your path, and — in the face of cancer — you are never alone. Learn more at ochsner.org/CCA.

Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center Ochsner American Legion Hospital Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana – New Iberia Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana – Radiation Oncology Ochsner Cancer Center of Acadiana – Crowley Ochsner University Hospital & Clinics Ochsner Lafayette General Breast Center

SUNDAY, AUgUSt 16, 2026

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr.

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

ROSEBUDS / by Supr Dee

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE / by Stephan Pastis

wonderword

scrabble grams

word game

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — tenderest: TEN-derest: Most easily chewed; most succulent. Average mark 39 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 67 or more words in TENDEREST?

For more information on tournaments and clubs, email NASPA – North American SCRABBLE Players Association: info@scrabbleplayers.org. Visit our website: www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzle inquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com. Hasbro and its logo SCRABBLE associated logo, the design of the distinctive SCRABBLE brand game card, and the distinctive letter tile designs are trademarks of Hasbro in the United States and Canada. ©2026 Hasbro. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

cryptoquote AxyDLBAAxR iS LONgFELLOW One letter stands for another. in this sample, A is used for the three L’s, x for the two O’s, etc. Single letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of the words are all hints. Each day the code letters are different.

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

Sudoku

ken ken instructions: 1 - Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 through 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 - The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 - Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner.

instructions: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

hidato directions: Complete the grid so that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

Los angeLes Times sunday Crossword puzzLe — Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis “THree’s Company” By riCH KaTz aCross 1 Best of the best 5 Syrup source 10 That partner 14 Fistfuls of dollars 18 Authorize 19 Cookies with a “You asked for it” collaboration with 29-Across 20 Surrounding glow 21 La Scala solo 22 Ron + (Kristen + Alexander Graham) 24 Clint + (Francis Scott + KeeganMichael) 26 NYC drama award 27 Slangy contraction 28 Land between Can. and Mex. 29 Peanut butter cup brand 30 Sally + (Julia + Philip) 34 Like stress balls and fidget spinners 35 End of term? 36 “Knock yourself out!” 39 Suzuki who won nine batting titles in two countries 43 Knocked out 44 Some reservoir residents 48 Barry + (Elliot + Jimmy) 51 Nia + (Elton + Tommy) 54 Othello’s betrayer 55 Bulgarian, e.g. 56 Endow with, as authority 58 Autonomous vacuum 59 Utmost degree 60 Aligned 62 Labors mightily to accomplish

63 Grover + (Alton + Helen Gurley) 68 Term of endearment? 71 Leveraged __: corporate acquisition 72 “Print to” option 75 Really sad 76 Sound from a kettle or a snake 78 Actor Epps 80 Island home of the Hana Highway 81 (Adam + Minnie) + Helms 83 Fiona + (Lemmon + London) 85 Speaker brand 86 Theater reviewers 89 Plug’s place 90 Channel that rarely fails to make one cry 92 Matinee hrs. 94 “The Return of the King” king 98 Cleary + (Faith + Jonah) 104 Small donkeys 105 Ballerina’s turning point 107 Ancient France 108 “So Sick” R&B singer 109 Keith + (Garfunkel + Carney) 111 (Underwood + Fisher) + Johnny 114 New Mexico art hub 115 Santa’s specialty 116 Leading 117 Nikon rival 118 Nikon products 119 Novelist Émile 120 Baking gloves 121 Pt. of IMF down 1 Defense witness, often 2 Basic skateboard trick

3 Many a Seanan McGuire work 4 Sheepish sort? 5 Crib accessory 6 Venues that often have corporate names 7 Nails, as with snowballs 8 “U r 2 funny!” 9 Start at the beginning? 10 Guitar player’s aid 11 Hawaiian dance 12 Nest egg letters 13 Holy 14 Boat trailers? 15 Schoolyard retort 16 Certain hardware store patron, casually 17 Smart-alecky 18 Lead-up to a date? 23 Convertibles 25 Lotto game 28 Thrifted, perhaps 31 Bleak 32 Spots for scrubs 33 “ManningCast” brother 34 In stitches 37 “__ well that ends well” 38 Smokestack dust 39 “Game, set, match” 40 Puss, in Paris 41 Top temperature 42 Skater Midori 43 101, for one 44 Tricks 45 Measures of resistance 46 Liberty org. 47 Hurdle for a DAto-be 49 Pain relief brand 50 Donated 52 “Oh, __ up!” 53 Connect 56 Williams with five Wimbledon singles titles 57 Whirlpool 61 Captures 62 Completely wreck

63 Eggnog spice 64 Concede a golden goal, say 65 Of all time 66 Nose-tapping sounds 67 Kind of roast 68 Site for film fans 69 Lawnmower brand 70 Sanskrit honorifics 72 Rat or Brat follower

goren Bridge

73 Team led by Mike Krzyzewski for 42 seasons 74 Clenched hand 76 Munich mister 77 Terse affirmative 79 Provide a new look 80 Prefix in many a Scottish surname 82 Printer function 83 Closer at the Globe 84 Kid

wuzzLes

97 Wimbledon surface 99 Everglades wader 100 Like Machu Picchu 101 Listed, to a Brit 102 Antibacterial brand 103 Kind of Kind, in Köln 105 Texter’s “Bye for now” 106 Peak near Olympus

110 Aussie hopper 111 Vid taker 112 Sashimi choice 113 Ecol. or geol.

super Quiz Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

Good bidding, good playing Today’s deal is from a tournament in Brighton, England. South was the late Nissan Rand, from Israel. East’s preemptive raise to five diamonds, vulnerable, might have been too aggressive. It might have been badly punished. Rand, however, had no interest in defending five diamonds. He made a “forcing pass”, ostensibly asking partner to decide whether to bid on or double. Rand’s bid of five hearts, pulling partner’s penalty double, was a show of strength. It showed a hand that would be happy to be raised to six if North thought he had a suitable hand for slam. A weaker hand would have bid five hearts directly over the five-diamond bid. North, with all prime values, raised to six hearts. Rand ruffed the opening ace of diamonds lead and drew trumps in one round. Expecting West to have the ace of clubs, Rand led a low club to dummy’s king. He discarded the 10 of clubs on the king of diamonds and led a club to his queen and West’s ace. West

87 __ sock 88 Winter puddle topper 90 Many a “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” character 91 Fake 92 Landing spot of Noah’s Ark 93 Liquids 94 Borders 95 Like most farmland 96 Shady spot

SUBJECT: WORDS How is your vocabulary? (Example: “Cheval” is French for what animal? Answer: Horse.) FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. Regicide is the act of killing what? Answer________ 2. What is a pollywog? Answer________ 3. Word for a hand in which all the cards are of the same suit but not in numerical sequence. Answer________ 4. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of what? Answer________ 5. What word for a specific time of day can be spelled the same forward and backward? Answer________

was helpless. He had to lead a spade, yield a ruff-sluff, or set up dummy’s nine of clubs. Had the clubs split 3-3, one club ruff would establish dummy’s nine as the twelfth trick. Very well done! Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny. 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

GRADUATE LEVEL 6. “Postbellum” refers to the period after a ____. Answer________ 7. What word refers to the fear or dislike of strangers or people from other countries? Answer________

8. If something is superfluous it is not ____. Answer________ 9. “Caveat emptor” warns the ____ to beware. Answer________ 10. A protractor is used to measure ____. Answer________ PH.D. LEVEL 11. What word means a gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom? Answer________ 12. “Staple” is to “fasten” as “knife” is to “____.” Answer________ 13. Correct the misspelled word: “He definitely attempted to accommodate the seperate couples.” Answer________ 14. What four-letter word can go in both blanks? “pitch____” and “___lift” Answer________ 15. “Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase for “seize the ____.” Answer________

ANSWERS TO ALL PUZZLES ARE ON NEXT PAGE

zodiaC LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Take positive steps toward your goals. Live, learn and execute your plans with passion and charisma. How you prepare and promote something will determine your returns. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) What you observe will serve you far better than jumping in and interacting without sufficient background information. Someone’s actions or emotional responses will be far more informative than a conversation. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Pay attention to how you present yourself to others. A simple but elegant look will attract many, and a kind word will

help you seal whatever deal you are trying to make. Don’t let impatience ruin the mood. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Be cognizant of what you say or the promises you make. Don’t back yourself into a corner that might jeopardize your reputation or authenticity regarding what you do for a living. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Get in the game and show everyone what you can do. Your insight and ability to get things done will attract attention and the help you need to reach your objective. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Designate more time and effort into your rela-

tionships. Protect against those trying to lead you astray or emotionally manipulate you. Guard your reputation, and offer only verified facts. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Get into the driver’s seat and start moving in a direction that satisfies your soul. Partnerships can turn into profits. Choose someone who is moving in a similar direction. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Improve your surroundings. If you feel comfortable, you’ll achieve more. Refuse to let criticism daunt you. Stand alone, follow your heart and live life pursuing what makes you happy.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don’t let anger take over. Pay attention to how you look, feel and get along with loved ones. Nurture relationships, and explore options that offer a positive and lucrative way to earn a living. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Take a pause to reevaluate your situation. Overreacting will leave you at a loss. Focus on self-improvement and discarding what you don’t need or is standing in your way. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Reach out to someone from your past you want to reconnect with. Engage in projects

that make your surroundings more convenient. Practical changes will put your mind at ease and help you gain clarity. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Think twice before you say something in anger. Channel your energy into personal growth, improvement or a positive lifestyle change. You’ll gain the most by pursuing something you can do alone. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

dustin / by Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker

Answers to puzzles super quiz 1. A monarch (king or queen). 2. A tadpole. 3. A flush. 4. The number 13. 5. Noon. 6. War. 7. Xenophobia. 8. Needed (necessary). 9. Buyer. 10. Angles. 11. Ennui. 12. Cut. 13. Separate. 14. Fork. 15. Day.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points — congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points — honors graduate; 13 to 17 points — you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 5 to 12 points — you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 4 points — enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0 points — who reads the questions to you?

Cryptoquote Answer Saturday's Cryptoquote: Summer is delicately made. While it is, it is ceasing. — Genevieve Taggard

word GAme Answer teed teen teeter tend tender tenet tense tenser tent tented tern terse test tested tester tree trend

enter entered entree erne need nerd nest nested nester netted deer deet dense denser dent desert detente

deter detest reed rend rent rented reseed resend resent resented reset rest rested retest retested seder seed

seen seer send sender sent serene settee setter sneer sneered steed steer stent stern stet street

sudoKu Answer jumble Answer

Crossword Answers

jeFF mACnelly’s shoe / by Gary Brookins & Susie MacNelly

sCrAbble Answers

FoXtrot / by Bill Amend

wuzzles Answers

Ken Ken Answers

hidAto Answers