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An empty lot is advertised for sale along Beach Boulevard in Long Beach, Miss., on Friday, nearly 21 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall. STAFF PHOTOS By dAVId GRUNFELd

VACANT REMINDERS 21 years after Hurricane Katrina, dozens of empty lots still linger along Mississippi beachfront

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Researchers exploring treatment for Usher syndrome Acadians more prone to disease that causes vision, hearing loss BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

A lot sits empty 20 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall along Beach Boulevard in Biloxi, Miss., on Friday. BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

Along Mississippi’s coastal highway, between new homes built high above the old flood lines, scars of a storm two decades past still endure. Dozens of beachfront lots wiped bare by Hurricane Katrina remain empty except for grass and encroaching weeds. In some spots, the remnants of former driveways off U.S. 90 lead nowhere. And for-sale signs keep beckoning new buyers. New Orleans native Gregory Bertucci, 78, has

been trying to sell his waterfront lot in Gulfport that was once the site of his eye clinic for more than a decade. He has ﬁelded some interest over the years — from churches, a casino and even a drive-thru Starbucks — but nothing stuck. “We don’t know what to do with it,” he said. The vacant lots that line Mississippi’s Gulf Coast are a somber reminder of Katrina’s ruins across this region, where soaring insurance rates and new rules about building elevations have forever changed the once-packed stretch of U.S. 90.

26-mile stretch of beach highway. 59 Real estate agents say 10 Biloxi beachfront lots are beginning to sell at a faster pace. Waveland Many gleaming new homes 10 The Gulf 90 are rising on pilings more LA. than 20 feet off the ground. A few waterfront hotels Stretch of some Lake have also recently opened Borgne beachfront lots or are under construction. vacant since And a $105 million mixedKatrina use development at a longStaff map vacant corner in downtown Gulfport is expected to But as a surge of wealthy open next year. Similar scenes of hope newcomers arrive in coastal Mississippi from Louisi- and struggle are unfolding ana and around the country, across all of the Gulf Coast some signs of change are ä See VACANT, page 4A at last emerging along the

MISS.

Nearly half a century after Louisiana researchers began looking for the genetic cause of Usher syndrome among Acadian families, scientists are now trying to turn decades of laboratory research into a treatment for people living with the disease. For Lafayette native Mia Brasseaux, 19, living with Usher syndrome means navigating progressive hearing and vision loss while attending dental school and running her own nonprofit. The genetic disease causes combined hearing and vision loss. In some forms, it also affects balance. The condition can vary in severity, but for people with the most severe form, hearing loss is present at birth and vision loss develops progressively. Brasseaux “The only time I bring up I have it is when I bump into someone, and I have to explain to them that I have tunnel vision and I have no peripheral vision,” Brasseaux said. “Otherwise, if I say it beforehand, they prejudge.” Jennifer Lentz, a professor of otorhinolaryngology and a member of the Neuroscience Center at LSU Health Sciences Center who has spent more than two decades studying the disease, said people living with it can experience a full life and can be overlooked when the disease is described only by its sensory losses. Brasseaux’s experience reflects that reality. Her vision loss affects how she navigates the world, but it has not stopped her from pursuing a career or being a part of the community. Her story also reflects why Usher syndrome is of particular significance in Louisiana, where a specific genetic mutation has been traced to Acadian ancestry. Usher syndrome occurs in populations around the world. But Acadiana residents have a connection to one form of the disease: Usher syndrome Type 1C. John Doucet, a professor at Nicholls State University who worked on the LSU Health

ä See SYNDROME, page 5A

Iran official says support for new sanctions would be an ‘act of war’ New U.S. measures anticipated

By The Associated Press The new head of Iran’s top security body warned Sunday that Tehran will see any country’s support for new U.S. economic measures against the Islamic Republic

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extensive public as an “act of war,” while CO ONFLICT of economic warfare and comments since isolation on a country that Iran’s president defended IN T THE being named to the has lived for decades under a memorandum of underpost this month. sanctions. standing with the United MIIDDLE AST “ I f ( Tr u m p ) The hard line leader of States as the best way out EAST wants to do someIran’s Supreme National of the stalled conﬂict. Security Council, Mohsen U.S. Treasury Secrething, we will retaliate in a seistary Scott Bessent on Monday is Rezaei, issued his latest warning expected to announce the new on X, with the comments quickly Rezaei mic manner,” he measures after the U.S. vowed to shared by Iranian state media. had told the state It came a day after Rezaei’s most broadcaster in an interview that impose an “unprecedented” level

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

aired late Saturday. He said Iran would target other oil-shipping routes from the Persian Gulf — alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz. Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard commander and military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, was part of senior appointments widely seen

ä See IRAN, page 4A

102Nd yEAR, NO. 55

2A ● Monday, August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Trump waves green flag to start the IndyCar race

WASHINGTON — For once, things were moving fast in the nation’s capital. Washington was hosting an IndyCar race through its streets Sunday, with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump kicking off the Freedom 250 Grand Prix by leading a slow lap in the presidential limousine through the course. Soon after, the president waved the green flag to start the race and drivers began whipping through downtown, including a stretch along Pennsylvania Avenue not too far from the White House. “I’m going to make a little circle in a nice, secure car, slightly slower than the ones we’re going to witness, but we’re going to have fun,” Trump said in an interview on Fox shortly before the ride. The open-wheel race, with cars whizzing past Washington’s monuments at speeds approaching 200 mph, is the latest of Trump’s celebrations this year to mark America’s 250th birthday. Trump’s other events to mark the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independence’s signing have included a UFC fight on the White House lawn, military aircraft flyovers, a massive July Fourth fireworks show on the National Mall and a Great American State Fair that the president headlined after scores of ’90s-era musical acts dropped out. The events have all had a Trumpian flair, featuring appearances from his friends and the aim of showcasing spectacle, Americana and power. Sunday included some of Trump’s favorite flourishes. One of his favorite singers, tenor Christopher Macchio, performed, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” A trained bald eagle was dramatically released near the start line, and it swooped and flew overhead before returning to its handler.

Landslide at Guinea landfill kills 30

CONAKRY, Guinea — A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea’s capital Conakry early Sunday killing 30 people, according to an updated toll released by the central government. Authorities said heavy rains, which started at around 2 a.m. washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam, triggering a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors. Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed. The site, an open-air waste dump which is the largest in the city, had been designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion. Locals living around the landfill had been given eviction notices, which forced many to vacate the area, but many were still around at the time of the disaster, according to authorities.

China postpones lunar mission launch

HAIKOU, China — China said on Sunday it was postponing its planned ambitious Chang’e-7 lunar mission, which was set to carry out explorations including searching for water ice on the moon. The Chang’e-7 spacecraft was originally set to lift off in the coming days from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on China’s southern Hainan island. The mission does not meet the launch conditions, said the China Manned Space Agency in a brief statement, and “cannot take place during the planned window this year.” The decision was made following a “comprehensive assessment,” the agency added, and was based on the principles of “prudence, reliability and absolute mission success.” It did not further elaborate on the reasons behind the decision. Preparations have been carried out at the Wenchang launch site for the Chang’e-7 mission over the past weeks, the seventh in the Chang’e moon exploration program. It aimed at making breakthroughs in key technologies, the ofﬁcial Xinhua News Agency previously reported.

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Wildfire approaches Reno, Nevada Human-caused blaze forces thousands of evacuations

BY JOHN RABY, JACK BROOK and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

A fast-growing wildfire destroying homes in northwest Reno, Nevada, on Sunday was human-caused and uncontained, authorities said, as they encouraged some 90,000 people to evacuate. At least six people were injured. The Hawk Fire began Saturday and quickly grew to 20 square miles as it spread across the Peavine Peak area of the Humboldt — Toiyabe National Forest, where rugged foothills are ringed by homes and businesses near the California state line. The fire moved exceptionally fast Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for responders to get to hotspots while residents were trying to get out, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said. “It was extremely confusing,” the sheriff said, describing how changing winds sent the flames in different directions. Several structures were destroyed and the injured included three civilians and three first responders, officials said. They did not provide additional details on how the fire was started, saying it was under investigation.

PROVIdEd IMAGE FROM VIdEO By CARI KIEFFER

Part of the Hawk Fire burns Sunday in Reno, Nev. Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the “GO NOW” zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Authorities implored all of them to leave and be prepared to stay away for several days, because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the ﬁre even more unpredictable. “Please get out if you can right now,” the sheriff said. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombar-

do declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the Nevada National Guard to support aerial firefighting with two helicopter crews as well as 60 troops to help police safeguard evacuated neighborhoods. Also responding were 800 fire personnel. Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Portions of U.S. 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire. Reno, with more than 280,000 residents, is

the largest city in Nevada outside of metro Las Vegas. Washoe County emergency ofﬁcials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to evacuees, but said they couldn’t bring their pets — small animals and large animals were to be left at two other locations. Casinos in Reno offered discounts on hotel rooms to evacuees. Cari Kieffer said a video posted on social media showed her house entirely burned down, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing.

“I woke up this morning and just started crying — all my kids, they lost everything,” Kieffer said Sunday. “We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone.” Kieffer had been watching her son’s football game Saturday when she learned that their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An application the family used to track the fire’s progress had been lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, so they thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighborhood. Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Ash rained down, and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighborhood, she said. “I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked,” Kieffer said. “I was like, we gotta go like now.” Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mother’s ashes. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her family’s birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos. The family drove to a friend’s home but had to evacuate again. They learned later Saturday evening that their own home was gone.

Zelenskyy details rift with dismissed defense chief BY SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he believes actions taken by dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, including his involvement in mass protests and calls for an election, were misguided, as he publicly detailed their dispute for the first time. Zelenskyy also alluded to problematic deciZelenskyy sions over defense spending and said that inaccurate information provided by the Defense Ministry contributed to an awkward encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of Starlink in Russia. Zelenskyy disclosed ﬁgures showing Ukraine’s growing shortage of Patriot air-defense missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic attacks, with deliveries from Western allies declining in the past three years even as Russian missile strikes intensiﬁed.

ultimately failed to force a reversal of the decision. Fedorov later called for an election. Zelenskyy said that he had offered Fedorov four different options to continue working in the government. Fedorov, he said, rejected all of them. The Ukrainian leader told journalists that he believes holding an election during ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By FRANCISCO SECO the war would be a huge risk with the potential to “split

A woman walks across the debris in the aftermath of an overnight Russian missile and drone attack on Thursday on Kyiv, Ukraine. He highlighted battleﬁeld gains, however, saying Ukrainian forces have almost completely recaptured the Dnipropetrovsk region, with only around 4 square miles remaining under Russian control. The Ukrainian president made the remarks during a two-hour off-the-record meeting with reporters on Saturday, with a transcript released publicly on Sunday. His comments ranged widely, covering the latest battlefield developments, efforts to counter Russian ballistic attacks, the state of peace negotiations, Ukraine’s budgetary challenges and the politi-

cal turmoil surrounding Fedorov’s dismissal. “I really had and still have a very positive attitude toward Mykhailo. We have been through a lot together. But I believe that he himself goes, or is pushed, into the wrong things,” he said. Fedorov, a popular minister credited with modernizing Ukraine’s armed forces and accelerating the military’s embrace of technology and drone warfare, was dismissed last month after reportedly falling out with the country’s top military commander. His removal triggered mass protests that lasted for weeks, but

Two Phoenix officers arrested, fired after violent traffic stop By The Associated Press PHOENIX — Two Phoenix police officers were fired and arrested after an unreported traffic stop in which they assaulted a man and woman and shocked them with a Taser, the police chief said. Officers Antonio Felix and Luis Vasquez were arrested on charges including aggravated assault and kidnapping, police chief Matt Giordano said at a news conference Saturday. “Detectives have con-

firmed that the two former officers physically assaulted both the man and woman during the traffic stop,” Giordano said. “The investigation also shows that a Taser was used on the victims during the stop.” The officers did not report the Aug. 5 traffic stop and did not activate their body-worn cameras, police said. “There is no video evidence, but we established what we believe is probable cause that these crimes

were committed,” Giordano said, adding there was no indication that the ofﬁcers knew the victims. Dave Evans, a spokesperson for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said Sunday that Vasquez had been released from custody while Felix remained incarcerated at the Lower Buckeye Jail in Phoenix. Attempts by The Associated Press to determine who their defense attorneys were to request comment were unsuccessful.

Ukraine apart.” “I believe elections during a war like this would generally pose enormous risks. Holding elections right now would be a tsunami for the state that would split Ukraine apart,” he said.vZelenskyy said he had previously faced pressure to hold an election during the war, but no partners had come up with a plan for how a poll could be held safely, legitimately and democratically.

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Trump testing Canadian PM in trade fight navigate a world Carney previously incountries which long-standing allioffer less protection cautioned about ances and economic ties themselves become sources of economic leverage. It could also shape how coercion

BY ROB GILLIES Associated Press

TORONTO — Mark Carney drew international attention as Canada’s prime minister by warning that middle powers must resist economic coercion by more powerful countries. Now President Donald Trump is putting that warning to the test with sweeping new tariffs that could show how much economic pain Canada can absorb. Tensions escalated late Friday when Canada walked away from negotiations after Carney concluded the United States was demanding too much in exchange for tariff relief. The U.S. imposed 50% duties Saturday on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, and Carney announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning Sept. 8. “We’re going to hit back,” Carney said. Carney is doing what many other American allies have so far avoided: risking economic pain rather than yielding to tariff pressure. For Carney, the showdown is the clearest test yet of his argument that middle powers must stand up to economic pressure from great powers such as the United States and China, even when it comes at a cost. Canada’s response could show how

Carney is viewed at home and abroad, and how other U.S. allies respond to the Republican president. The trade dispute also has become a test of sovereignty. Carney said Washington introduced language in the ﬁnal hours of negotiations that would have restricted Canada’s ability to make trade deals with other countries. He said that demand was “unacceptable” and “a question of sovereignty.” British Columbia Premier David Eby said accepting such a condition would have reduced Canada “to the economic equivalent of the 51st state” — a status Trump has mused about often. Carney’s message resonated in January when he addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as Europe braced for Trump’s threats over Greenland and new tariffs. Carney said the international order was undergoing “a rupture, not a transition.” He argued that sovereignty would depend increasingly on a country’s ability to “withstand pressure” and warned that middle powers negotiating alone with great powers do so from weakness. Trump responded a day later by stressing Canada’s dependence on the United

CANAdIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO By AdRIAN WyLd

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, and President donald Trump hold a news conference on Oct. 7 at the White House in Washington, d.C. States. “ Canada lives because of the United States,” he said. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements.” The president has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st U.S. state and dismissed the allies’ border as artiﬁcial. On Sunday, Trump returned to that theme, writing on Truth Social that “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!” and accusing Canada of charging U.S. farmers “massive amounts” of tariffs for years. “No more!!!” he wrote. Seven months since Davos, Canada has become a test case for the world Carney described. “Our government understood, before many, that America would transform all its commercial relation-

ships,” Carney said Saturday. He accused Washington of using “economic integration as a weapon” and said its “signature was written in pencil.” Historian Robert Bothwell said Canada is uniquely vulnerable to U.S. pressure. “No country is more exposed than Canada,” Bothwell said. “Other countries have to fear American misbehavior, but none as much as Canada.” Bothwell said success ultimately means Canada retaining its independence “in the face of Trump’s desire to subordinate it and absorb it.” He said Carney “sees that very well.” But Canada’s dependence on the U.S. market makes that difﬁcult. Nearly three-quarters of Canadian exports go to

the United States, whose economy is roughly 10 times larger. Canada can sign new trade agreements, but replacing customers and supply chains built around the enormous U.S. market over decades is considerably harder. Carney acknowledged retaliation would “raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians.” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer rejected Canada’s account of the breakdown in talks, saying Ottawa introduced new demands and backed away from commitments even after Washington offered to reduce tariffs on steel, autos, lumber and other goods. He said the United States was moving ahead with additional measures in response to Canada’s retaliation, rais-

ing the prospect of further escalation. The European Union prepared retaliatory tariffs against the United States last year but repeatedly suspended them while negotiating with Washington. Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, said Canada is providing the biggest test yet of whether Carney’s strategy can work and whether resistance by one middle power could change the calculations of others. “Will there be a domino effect? We’ll see,” Wiseman said. Carney’s defiance also drew notice in Europe. Former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who later served as the European Union’s economy commissioner, shared video of Carney’s Saturday remarks on social media and wrote, “Here is a speech I would like to hear in Europe.” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, said Americans underestimate how angry Canadians are with the Trump administration. “Taking a hard line in response to U.S. policy perceived as predatory — even with major economic cost to Canada — is popular among most Canadians,” he said in a social media post. The confrontation is also reviving calls to shun U.S. goods. Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette urged residents to buy local, calling it “a nationalistic action” and “an action of solidarity.”

Moke set to dump Kushner meets with Democratic leader Jeffries heavy rain on Hawaii BY LISA MASCARO

By The Associated Press HONOLULU — Tropical Storm Moke was swirling past Hawaii on Sunday, close enough to dump heavy rain on Big Island communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Lala. The National Hurricane Center located Moke’s center about 320 miles southsouthwest of Hilo around midday. Top sustained winds were around 40 mph, though the real impact was expected from rainfall in places where last weekend’s hurricane flooded communities, triggered mudslides and damaged roads and power lines. Two deaths linked to the hurricane have been reported in Hawaii. Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda advised residents in a social media post Sunday they “should stay off the roads and shelter in place” as a precaution. He said anyone in need could take refuge at shelters that the county had opened at several locations. Forecasters expected Moke to produce as much as 10 inches of total rain across the Big Island, and up to 15 inches in some isolated places, enough to cause life-threatening ﬂooding and mudslides for

the windward and southeast slopes, especially in steep terrain and over areas affected by Lala. The center of the storm was expected to pass south of the Big Island starting later in the day, then south of the smaller main islands of Hawaii early in the week. In eastern Maui, the next in the island chain, up to 6 inches of rain was expected, and the other islands may get an inch or two, according to the hurricane center. As with Hurricane Lala, the Big Island was expected to bear the brunt of Moke’s rain and winds as the storm moves westward, south of the island chain. After moving away from the islands, Lala was downgraded and remained a strong tropical storm on Sunday far out in the Central Paciﬁc. The northeast coast of the Big Island saw the heaviest total rainfall from Lala, at 43.54 inches, according to the weather service. Ahead of Moke’s approach, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green urged people to prepare by restocking food, medicine and other essentials. More than 6,500 customers in the county remained without power Sunday stemming from Lala, according to poweroutage.us.

Kazakhstan votes in parliamentary election BY YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia — Kazakhstan voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election that is expected to further strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s grip on power in Central Asia’s largest nation. The pro-presidential Adilet party is widely predicted to win an overwhelming majority, with several smaller parties loyal to Tokayev also anticipated to enter parliament. The vote was the country’s ﬁrst election to a new, single-chamber parliament called the Kurultai. The 73-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet ofﬁcial and Kazakh diplomat who previously worked at the United

Nations, has been in ofﬁce since 2019. Sunday’s vote was the culmination of a constitutional overhaul that Tokayev initiated in March, when 87% of voters supported a referendum to merge the two chambers of parliament into one and grant the president authority to appoint key ofﬁcials, subject to parliamentary approval, including reestablishing the vice presidency. Tokayev, who has sought to maintain a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since sanctions were imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, has justified the changes by citing the need for rapid decision-making in a fastchanging world.

you better not bet against about,” Johnson said. “I White House.” The White House did not the House Republicans,” know Jared has interests Johnson, R-Benton, told Fox in lots of other things going respond to a request for WASHINGTON — House Dem- News Channel’s “The Sun- on. He’s not really directly comment. A representative involved in the admin, at for Kushner also did not reocratic leader Hakeem Jef- day Briefing.” “I don’t know what that’s least in the day-to-day in the spond. fries and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and outside adviser Jared Kushner met privately recently in New York, a signal that the White House is seeking ways to work with DemoFINF OUT WHAT crats if they wrest majority control from Republicans in YOUR HOME the midterm elections. The meeting, first reported Sunday by The New York Times, touched on issues ranging from housing, immigration to the high costs of living. People in the United States are struggling under inflationary prices that Democrats blame on Republicans, alongside Trump, for failing to get under control. Kushner suggested that Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats regain power in November, meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles as a follow-up. Jeffries, in a statement Sunday, did not mention the private conversation but said the Republican administration needed to drop the GOP’s “my-way-or-thehighway” approach that “has failed the American people.” “To stop the madness, we have repeatedly made clear that an extremist approach will not work and will be met with forceful opposition,” the New York congressman said. “The question is whether Republicans will join us.” The meeting shows the depth of Republican Party angst over losing their congressional majority, particularly the House, and the need to make inroads with the opposing party as the White House seeks to stem A home evaluation any potential political fallout is a great place on the president. to start If Democrats retake power, the White House can expect an aggressive oversight agenda into what Jeffries has called the “crooks” in the administration, with the threat of impeachment among the many tools at the party’s disposal. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a close ally of Trump, bristled Sunday when asked about the meeting. He miniDRE#01901536 mized the role that Kushner, who he said “hedges This website is a marketing and information program that his bets,” plays in the White sends all inquiries to state-licensed real estate professionals. House. “I’m telling you what, AP congressional correspondent

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Navy soldier’s father detained by immigration authorities Military families face deportation threats under Trump administration policies BY SAFIYAH RIDDLE, AMY TAXIN and JACK BROOK Associated Press

When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers. Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit

to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years. “He dedicates himself only to work so he can put food on the table at home. He is a good father. He loves his children with all his soul,” said Argelia, 47. Aviles’ arrest comes as the Trump administration rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda, detaining at least dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops. At least six family members have been deported and one self-deported, the AP found in the first accounting of such detentions, which the government does not track. One spouse, the wife of a U.S. soldier who spent more than a month in federal immigration detention, was removed from a deportation ﬂight to Brazil after the AP’s reporting. One of the military’s most highly advertised immigration beneﬁts is “military parole-in-place,” which allows the spouses, children and

parents of active-duty service members and veterans to obtain legal immigration status from within the country. Not everyone qualiﬁes: those who overstayed visas or who already applied for legal status at the border, for example. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol agents arrested Luis Aviles on Saturday in Key West and that he will remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the department said Sunday, adding that the Trump administration “does not pick and choose which laws to enforce.” Aviles’ son said he has been working 12-hour work shifts for more than 250 days without a break on the USS Lincoln, which is deployed in the Middle East. The deployment has raised widespread concerns about the impact on service members who are away from land for long periods, food shortages, as well as the increasing strain on the

ship and its equipment. The Pentagon referred all questions to the Navy. The Navy didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Sunday afternoon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously called conditions aboard the Lincoln “completely misrepresented.” Joshua Aviles wrote in a Facebook post Saturday that he was still on the USS Lincoln “ﬁghting for a country that has given me everything” when he got a call about his father’s detention on Saturday morning. “This is heartbreaking for me. I don’t know how I can mentally continue working 12+ hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere, possibly treated like a criminal,” Joshua Aviles wrote. Katherine Delgado, 28, Joshua Aviles’ sister, said that Joshua joined the military in part because he thought it would improve his father’s chances of getting citizenship and so that he would “no longer be living in fear of being arrested.”

She said being apart from Joshua, who she calls her “best friend” and her “ride-or-die,” has been devastating. “I spent weeks without knowing where he was,” Delgado said. Once she heard from him, and was told that he wasn’t getting enough food, she said, she has spent hundreds of dollars to send him care packages with food and hygiene products — some of which never arrived. Joshua is “supposed to come home soon,” Delgado said, referring to news that the ship her brother is on will soon be brought out of service in the Middle East. “And he’s gonna come home without his father.” The son’s lengthy deployment has been challenging for Luis Aviles, according to his wife. He told her that he was looking forward to the deployment finally coming to an end. When six months passed and his son didn’t come back, Aviles was distraught, she said. “He was excited,” she said. “He wanted to hug his son, as he hadn’t seen him for nine months.”

VACANT

mille in 1969 recall many concrete slabs along the beach in spots that once held homes and businesses. Bertucci said he built his old eye clinic in 1982 — before the federal government rewrote elevation requirements — on the site of a gas station destroyed in Camille. Betty Shaw, who founded the Gulfport Historical Society, still recalls the smaller homes, motels and amusement parks that ﬁlled U.S. 90 long ago. She said some locals feel resigned about the future of the waterfront even though they see the beneﬁt of new development. “It’s not going to be the same as it was,” she said.

Continued from page 1A as beachfront investments boost local economies but also stir lament that life on the water is becoming too expensive. In coastal Mississippi, where hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed by Katrina’s force, some leaders believe restoring vacant coastal lots is a last vital step in a long process of recovery. “After a catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, everyone is gun-shy,” said Tim Carlson, who helped found a commercial real estate ﬁrm that has been selling the lots for more than a decade. “But eventually, they come back,” he said.

‘Your hands were tied’

Buyers and movers Some real estate agents say they are witnessing two STAFF PHOTOS By dAVId GRUNFELd migrations shaping the waSoaring insurance rates and new rules about building elevations have forever changed the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s onceterfront’s future. Many longtime coastal res- packed stretch of U.S. 90. idents are moving to higher ground to escape insurance on the beach more viable. rates. And buyers and deAnd once big development velopers who can afford to comes, it could snowball pay more than $1 million to quickly. build on beachfront lots are “It takes one person to opening their wallets and inhave the faith,” Lee said. The city of Long Beach vesting along the coastline. has the same hope. Its leadVacant lots on the Mississippi coast are also being ers are sprucing up several swept up for vacation homes empty beachfront blocks for families from Louisiana, with palm trees, parking and while others are turning into pavilions in hopes it will lure vacation rentals. new businesses to the land. Sandi Sawyer Dulaney, a Long Beach Mayor Tim real estate broker, said sales Pierce said the investment have closed on more than 30 could help the city raise salempty beach lots between aries for teachers and ﬁrst Pass Christian and Biloxi responders. But attracting in the last two years. But at developers has been difﬁcult least 50 lots are still on the because many do not want to market. build businesses so high in “Before Katrina, you could the air. be in one income bracket “We’re trying to reestaband been able to have a lish ourself as a great little beachfront lot and build a The vacant lots that line Mississippi’s Gulf Coast are a somber reminder of Hurricane town,” Pierce said this week. house there,” Dulaney said. Katrina’s ruins. “It’s a matter of necessity.” “Now, you have to really But the challenges are be willing to spend a good U.S. 90 could transform the tax bases. But the return Gulf Coast Association of steep and cyclical, espeamount of money.” Mississippi coast. of waterfront development Realtors, said the region’s cially on the lowest-lying Katrina’s destruction of could reinvigorate those growing number of resi- land. Some who grew up on ‘Matter of necessity’ dents and visitors are mak- the Mississippi coast in the hotels and condos erased a economies. The investments along crucial part of many cities’ Danny Lee, who leads the ing commercial investment years after Hurricane Ca-

The region still has a way to go. Many empty lots remain overgrown and wild. Others are grassy and sandy. Some, including Bertucci’s, have become popular hangouts where friends park motor homes to watch Cruisin’ the Coast, or fireworks on the Fourth of July. Bertucci’s eye clinic stood at ground level, and he did not consider rebuilding it after Katrina. He cares for older patients — some in wheelchairs — who would struggle to visit a clinic so high off the ground. He is still practicing ophthalmology a few days a week at a newer clinic farther away from the beach. “Once you had to put things in the air, you couldn’t do it,” Bertucci said. “You couldn’t get them ﬁnanced. Your hands were tied.” These days, Bertucci’s motive to ﬁnd a buyer is growing. He would like to retire, he said, and liquidate his assets so he can provide for his family. Some friends still mow the grass for him, and his lot remains well-kept. But he is uncertain of its fate — and unsure that the coastal highway will ever feel fully revived. “There are areas that are not going to recover,” he said, “at least as we know it.”

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That period ended last Iran and Oman, on the week with no signs of com- strait’s other side, are disContinued from page 1A promise or extension. cussing management of it, which likely will include No attacks on strait ships paying fees. as hardening Tehran’s poMeanwhile, there were litical and military stance. no confirmed attacks in the Envoy to visit Tehran Iranian President Masoud Strait of Hormuz over the Pakistani Field Marshal Pezeshkian earlier Sunday past 48 hours, a multination- Asim Munir will lead a delsaid the memorandum of al coalition overseen by the egation to Tehran on Monunderstanding signed in U.S. Navy said Sunday, with day, Iranian state television mid-June was the shipping traffic still reported, citing Iran’s Forbest way to move at reduced levels. eign Ministry spokesperbeyond a situation The U.S. military son, Esmail Baghaei. of “neither war nor said its blockade of Two regional officials peace,” adding that Iranian ports had said the visit was part of Tehran can’t attract redirected 70 com- Islamabad’s efforts to deinvestment nearly mercial ships and escalate tensions between six months after the disabled three as of the United States and Iran war began. and urge them to return to Sunday. “There is not a sin- Pezeshkian Iran’s recently the negotiating table. The created Persian officials spoke on condition gle provision in this agreement that amounts to Gulf Strait Authority, sanc- of anonymity because they capitulation,” Pezeshkian tioned by the U.S., pub- were not authorized to dissaid in a speech published lished a list of dozens of cuss the matter publicly. by state-run IRNA. “The ships it said had violated supreme leader sets the arrangements for transiting policies, and we will follow the strait and would face futhat path.” ture restrictions like fines The interim deal opened or seizures. The strait had a 60-day period for talks been considered an interaimed at ending the war national waterway before and reaching an accord on the U.S. and Israel attacked THEADVOCATE.COM/SUBSCRIBE Iran’s nuclear program. Iran on Feb. 28.

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● 5A

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SYNDROME

Continued from page 1A Sciences Center team that helped discover the gene causing Acadian Usher syndrome, said Usher syndrome Type 1 is the most severe form. “Usher Type 1 is the most severe, with profound deafness occurring at birth and blindness coming within the ﬁrst decade of life,” Doucet said. The “1” identifies the broad clinical category based on the severity and pattern of symptoms, while the “C” refers to the speciﬁc gene involved, Lentz said. The connection to Acadiana families is rooted in what scientists call the “founder effect.” In simple terms, Doucet said, a founder effect can occur when a small population becomes separated from a larger population. The smaller population carries a limited pool of genes, including genetic changes that may become more common as the population grows. In the case of Usher syndrome Type 1C, Doucet said one or two ancestral couples in the Acadian population carried a mutation in one copy of the gene without having the disease themselves. As their descendants grew and intermarried, the mutation became more prevalent. A child who inherits a mutated copy of the gene from both parents develops Usher syndrome. But the disease is not exclusive to Acadian descendants. “Usher syndrome, including Type 1C, actually happens in different populations around the world,” Doucet said. He pointed to populations in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and South Africa as examples, explaining that those populations likely developed their own founder effects. Doucet also emphasized that Usher syndrome remains rare even among people with Acadian ancestry. “We’re only talking about a number of families, a very small population,” he said. That distinction is important, he said, because describing Usher syndrome as occurring in the Acadiana population does not mean that most, or even many, Acadians have the disease.

A path to treatment Louisiana’s research effort began in 1975, when Lentz’s and Doucet’s former mentor, Bronya Keats, began looking for the genetic cause of deaf-blindness among Acadiana families. Families were enrolled in research between 1978 and 1983. After years of research, scientists discovered the specific genetic mutation responsible for Acadian Usher syndrome Type 1C in 2000. Doucet was a postdoctoral student working with Keats beginning in 1993. Lentz joined the laboratory as a graduate student in 2003. One of Lentz’s first major projects was creating a mouse model carrying the Acadian USH1C mutation. The model allowed researchers to study the disease and test potential therapies.

ciated with Usher syndrome Type 1C, the form linked to the Acadian population. Ush One See will host its 11th annual 5K and 1-mile fun run Sept. 19 at River Ranch Town Square in Lafayette. The 1-mile fun run begins at 8 a.m. Registration and information are available on Ush One See’s website, ushonesee.com. Proceeds from the event support the organization’s efforts to raise awareness and fund research into a potential treatment for vision loss associated with Usher syndrome Type 1C. When asked what keeps her motivated, Brasseaux pointed to the Usher syndrome community. “Having our community that we have and seeing us get together and just be happy and just living in the moment makes everything so worth it because we have PROVIdEd PHOTOS Kayden Badeaux, from left, Mia Brasseaux, Lanie Hebert, each other,” she said. Zander Aube, Trexton Aube and Hunter Faucheaux raise Katheryne Hebert, 22, from left, Aca Buillis, 20, and Mia For Brasseaux, the posBrasseaax, 19, attend Mia’s Ush One See fish fry fundraiser. funds to attend the USH This summer camp. sibility that decades of research could one day lead to a Youngsville child who was a treatment offers another The mouse model allowed Mia’s USH Mission, Bras- vision loss progresses. She has also found ways to born with the condition. The reason to look toward the researchers to study the dis- seaux works to raise awareease and test potential ther- ness of Usher syndrome and connect with others affect- organization raises aware- future with hope. apies, work that eventually help break down financial ed by the condition, includ- ness of Usher syndrome in led to the development of a barriers so members of the ing through Ush One See, Acadiana and funds efforts Email Ja’kori Madison promising treatment. Begin- deaf-blind community can a local nonprofit created in aimed at finding a treatment at jakori.madison@ ning around 2010, Lentz and experience the world before honor of Hunter Faucheaux, to stop the vision loss asso- theadvocate.com. her colleagues began testing therapies aimed at preventing the hearing, vision and balance problems associated with Usher syndrome. In 2013, they reported a treatment that improved hearing, vision and balance in the USH1C mice. For years, Lentz’s research has focused on understanding the mechanisms behind the hearing loss, balance problems and Employment Pets vision loss associated with Usher syndrome and devel- BUSINESS OPERATIONS oping potential treatments. Positions Available: The goal now is to deter- ** Accounting th Bookkeeper Account Coordinator mine whether that research ** Finance can ultimately lead to a * Payroll Officer Representatives in observance of treatment patients can ac- ** Sales Customer Service * Business Admin cess. Lentz said her team Representative CATS is focused on developing RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS As part of our ongoing expansion, we www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens therapies for the hearing are seeking part-time, work-from$1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty candidates. The position offers a 337-230-3150 loss, vision loss and imbal- home monthly salary of $1,300, in addition to And will be observing the following Early Deadline: ance associated with Usher benefits, and requires minimal time commitment. The role involves just 2-3 syndrome and moving those hours of internet access per week. discoveries “from the re- Requirements: Deadline: Display Ads Run Date * Must be computer literate search bench to patients.” Thursday 9/3 @ 3pm Tuesday 9/8 * Must have 2-3 hours of internet More than a decade after access per week Wednesday 9/9 the findings in mice, the re- * Must be efficient and dedicated Interested candidates may search is moving closer to reach out via email at human testing. michelle.appliedit@gmail.com for further information Lentz said her team met As always, you may place your ad 7 days a week, with the U.S. Food and Drug 24 hours a day online at www.theadvocate.com or call Administration this year to Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM discuss testing the potential therapy in patients and is NEWS 24/7 ON now preparing for a clinical STORE.THEADVOCATE.COM trial. The questions facing Public Notices Public Notices Public Notices Public Notices Public Notices Public Notices the laboratory have also Bids/Proposals Bids/Proposals Bids/Proposals Bids/Proposals Bids/Proposals changed. Researchers are now focused less on whether p y y p q of both the front and dated Government The Lafayette Consoli‐ the treatment can work in a some time; therefore, with bid. Failure to sub‐ back of the check or bid encourages the strongly dated Government Public Notices LCG recommends regis‐ mit a Corporate Resolu‐ bond shall be included participation of DBEs laboratory model and more strongly encourages the days in advance of tering tion or Certificate of Au‐ with the electronic bid. Business (Disadvantaged Bids/Proposals participation of DBEs the time that bids are thority with the bid shall Enterprises) in all con‐ on questions that could de(Disadvantaged Business due. It is the sole respon‐ be cause for rejection of Bids must be signed in tracts or procurements Enterprise) in all con‐ sibility of the bidder to bid. accordance with LRS let by the Lafayette Con‐ termine how it would be tracts or procurements ensure their bid is deliv‐ Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ Government solidated let by the Lafayette Con‐ ered (whether electroni‐ PUBLIC NOTICE Copies of the bidding porate Resolution or Cer‐ for goods and services used in people: When should solidated Government cally via Vendor Access, --documents are available tificate of Authority au‐ and labor and material. for goods and services in person, or via mail) to upon request by contact‐ thorizing the person To that end, all bidders treatment begin? What dose and labor and material. the Purchasing Division NOTICE TO BIDDERS ing Purchasing & Prop‐ signing the bid is re‐ and suppliers are en‐ To that end, all contrac‐ prior to the scheduled erty Management Divi‐ should patients receive? quired to be submitted couraged to utilize DBEs tors and suppliers are and time of the bid date Notice is hereby given located at 705 West sion, with bid. Failure to sub‐ business enterprises in encouraged to utilize How long would the treat- that sealed bids will be mit a Corporate Resolu‐ DBEs opening. Official Bid Doc‐ Avenue, University the purchase or sub-con‐ business enter‐ uments are available at received either electroni‐ Louisiana Lafayette, tion or Certificate of Au‐ tracting of materials, prises in the purchase or ment last? Access (https:// Vendor cally https://lafayettecs payment of Fifty upon thority with the bid shall supplies, services and sub-contracting of mate‐ lafayettecsdgovla.tyl dgovla.tylerportico.com/ Dollars ($50.00) per set, be cause for rejection of labor and material in rials, supplies, services “I would say we remain va/vendor-access/ erportico.com/va/ made non-refundable, bid. disadvantaged which and labor and material in vendor-access/ registration or in the of‐ payable to the Lafayette are available. businesses steadfastly focused on turn- fice of the Purchasing Di‐ Copies of the bidding which disadvantaged registration). For ques‐ Consolidated Govern‐ Assistance in identifying are available. business tions related to the elec‐ vision at the Lafayette ment. NOTE: NO CASH are available documents businesses may be said ing this discovery of a new Consolidated Govern‐ at the Purchasing Office Assistance in identifying tronic bidding process, WILL BE ACCEPTED - obtained by calling 337businesses may be said please call the office of ment Building, located at ONLY CHECKS OR MONEY located at 705 West Uni‐ 291-8410. drug into a medicine that 705 by calling (337) obtained Purchasing at 337-291West University Av‐ ORDERS MADE PAYABLE Avenue, versity 291-8410. 8258. Bidders may re‐ Lafayette, enue, TO LAFAYETTE CONSOLI‐ Lafayette, LA 70506. Tele‐ PURCHASING DIVISION patients can access,” Lentz Louisiana, quest the electronic bid until 3:00 pm DATED GOVERNMENT. Bid phone number (337) 291Lafayette Consolidated PURCHASING DIVISION from Dabne package Central Time on the 21st shall be Documents (Attn: Laycia 7173 Government said. Lafayette Consolidated Dover at dabnedover@ day of September, 2026 available until twentyBatiste). Bidding docu‐ Government lafayettela.gov. four hours before the bid ments shall be available PUBLISH DATES: For Brasseaux, the possi- for the following: opening date. Questions until twenty-four (24) 8-24-26; 8-30-26 PUBLISH DATES: Bidders submitting bids AS-NEEDED relative to the bidding hours before the bid DPR 1007046 bility of a treatment is per08/24/2026; 08/30/2026 are re‐ electronically FILCRETE RE-BID documents shall be di‐ opening date. DPR 1008125 quired to provide the rected to Dabne Dover by sonal. She is already build198189 Aug. 24, 30, 2t same documents as bid‐ and will, shortly there‐ email at dabnedover@ bid shall be accom‐ $138.56 198276 Aug. 24, 30, 2t ing a future that includes after, be opened and Each ders submitting through lafayettela.gov. panied by a certified $105.98 the mail as soon as avail‐ read aloud in the Office check, cashier’s check or advocating for people with of Purchasing located at bid bond payable to the able. Within one (1) week upon Public Notices West University Av‐ receipt of the Invitation Lafayette Consolidated Usher syndrome and build- 705 Successions PUBLIC NOTICE Bidders submitting bids enue, Lafayette, LA. Bids to Bid, Bidders are en‐ Government, the amount --electronically shall in‐ received after the above couraged to confirm in‐ of which shall be five ing a community for those specified time for open‐ hundred clude all documents in tent to submit a bid by dollars NOTICE TO BIDDERS one (1) combined PDF file ing shall not be consid‐ replying to the "Invita‐ ($500.00). If a bid bond is affected by the disease. with bookmark(s) and ered and shall be re‐ tion to Bid" email sent by used, it shall be written PUBLIC NOTICE Notice is hereby given are required to provide unopened to the Dabne Dover (dabne‐ by a surety or insurance Through her nonprofit, turned --sealed bids will be (1) hard copy that one sender. Bidders may at‐ dover@lafayettela.gov). company currently on

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In accordance with RS 38:2212 Louisiana electronic Bids may be submitted on Vendor Ac‐ cess (https://lafayettecs dgovla.tylerportico.com/ va/vendor-access/ registration). Bidders wishing to submit their bid electronically must first be registered within LCG Vendor Access at the website listed above. The registration process can take some time; there‐ fore, LCG recommends registering days in ad‐ vance of the time that bids are due. It is the sole responsibility of the bidder to ensure their bid is delivered (whether electronically via Vendor Access, in person, or via mail) to the Purchasing Division prior to the scheduled date and time of the bid opening. Ven‐ dors may request the bid electronically from Lay‐ cia Batiste at lbatiste@ lafayettela.gov. Official Bid Documents are avail‐ able on Vendor Access (https://lafayettecsdgov la.tylerportico.com/va/ vendor-access/ registration). For ques‐ tions related to the elec‐ tronic bidding process, please call Laycia Batiste at 337-291-7173. Vendors submitting bids are re‐ electronically quired to provide the same documents as bid‐ ders submitting through the mail as soon as avail‐ able. Only a bid bond, check or certified cashier’s check shall be submitted as the bid se‐ curity. Electronic copies f b h h f d

the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service list approved bonding of 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 quotation form provided with the speci‐ fications. 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 The documents. 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.

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 Govern‐ Consolidated ment Building, located at 705 West University Av‐ Lafayette, enue, Louisiana, until 2:00 p.m. Central Time on the 14th day of SEPTEMBER, 2026 for the following: 167118.5.5430 BATTERIES & UPS

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/85026249007? pwd=CaXfFJby4Dp00SZ b1p4L2DycEnynxO.1. Scope of Work: The scope of Work shall con‐ sist of all engineering, design, fabrication, test‐ ing, packaging and deliv‐ ery of a Batteries & UPS and its accessories and including manufacturer's field services at the Job Site. All Work shall be completed between July 1, 2028, and October 1, 2028. In accordance with Louisiana RS 38:2212. may submit vendors 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 i h f

through the mail. Bidders providing bids my mail, shall include one (1) hard copy with all documents in one (1) combined PDF ﬁle with bookmark(s) and are required to pro‐ vide an electronic copy in one (1) USB ﬂash drive.

SUBMISSION OF CONFI‐ DENTIAL, PROPRIETARY, OR TRADESECRET INFOR‐ MATION (SEE LA. R.S. 44:3.2(D) As a public entity, Lafayette Consolidated Government is subject to the Louisiana Public Records Law, which may require submissions of Bidders to be a public record. Pursuant to La. R.S. 44:3.2(D), Bidders who submit documents or information they be‐ lieve to be proprietary or trade secret must clearly mark each page or piece of information which is, in the Bidder’s opinion, proprietary or trade se‐ cret and must also sub‐ mit with such informa‐ tion a cover sheet that reads as follows in bold type: DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL PROPRI‐ ETARY OR TRADE SECRET INFORMATION A sample cover sheet with this statement is in‐ cluded with the bid docu‐ ments. La. R.S. 44:3.2(D) requires Lafayette Consolidated Government to make a determination as to whether a Bidders sub‐ mission is in fact propri‐ etary or trade secret in‐ formation within thirty (30) calendar days of the Bidder’s submission. Bids must be signed in accordance with LRS Title 38:2212(B)5. A Cor‐ porate Resolution or written evidence of au‐ thority authorizing the person signing the bid is required to be submitted i h bid il b

Bidders are requested to attend a non-mandatory pre-bid meeting, which will be held on August 31, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. CST in the Executive Conference Room at the LUS Opera‐ tions Center located at 1314 Walker Rd., Lafayette, LA 70506. Bid‐ ders unable to attend the pre-bid in person can at‐ tend by joining through ZOOM using the follow‐ ing link: https://us02web. zoom.us/j/87162729727? pwd=dYr8JwTutLFaw9A Jkwa9fdK6HcgZQq.1. Al‐ ternatively, a meeting in‐ vite can be forwarded to you via email by contact‐ ing Dabne Dover at (337) 291-8262 or dabnedover@ lafayettela.gov. No bidder may withdraw his bid for at least fortyfive (45) calendar days after the time scheduled for the opening of bids. Each bid shall be submit‐ ted only on the bid form provided with the speci‐ fications. The successful bidder will be required to performance execute and labor and material payment bonds in the full amount of the contract as more fully defined in the bid documents. In accordance with Pub‐ lic Bid Law, bids are valid for a period of forty-five (45) calendar days from the time of the opening of bids. Bids will be evaluated by the Owner based on the lowest responsible and responsive bid submitted which is also in compli‐ ance with the bid docu‐ ments. The Lafayette Govern‐ Consolidated ment reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause in accor‐ with LA R.S. dance 38§2214.B. The Lafayette d d

Consoli‐

NOTICE Administrator for the Succession of Mary Fern Cobb Briggs gives notice of his intent to sell via private sale, the follow‐ ing: 1. The immovable estate home and property lo‐ cated at 311 Sunny Lane, Louisiana Lafayette, 70506, Being the same property acquired by Mary C. Briggs by Cash Sale from Jeanie Slay Mellinger dated April 29, 1994, recorded on May 2, 1994, under instrument no. 1994-00016195 of the records of public Louisiana.; Lafayette, and 2. All movables within the estate home at 311 Sunny Lane, consisting of home furnishings, deco‐ rations, and kitchenware. Any objections to the sale of the above prop‐ erty can be ﬁled with the Judicial District 15th – Parish of Court Lafayette under probate docket number 20250640, pursuant to LA C.C.P. art 3282. 198202 Aug. 22 to Sept. 20, 30t $456.60

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Mom turns passion into kids’ series

Book follows a trip to the library for recipes BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

For Stacey Dempsey, it all started with a cake she wasn’t sure she could make. More than a decade later, that ﬁrst birthday cake has led to a career in cake decorating and a children’s book series designed to bring kids into the kitchen. Dempsey, a New Iberia native,

Southern considers deal for energy facility

has released her second children’s book, “A Sprinkle of Library Fun: Let’s Get a Cookbook,” as part of her Frosted Apron brand. In the story, children make their way to the library with a goal: Find a cookbook. As families read, they learn about Louisiana birds they might see outside, practice library manners and discover what they can ﬁnd inside the library. By the end

of the story, the children have accomplished their goal of ﬁnding a cookbook to take home, along with a recipe for berry cups that families can make together. The book is illustrated by local artist Lexi Renard, who also illustrated Dempsey’s first book. Renard created colorful, playful images that illustrate the hands-on lessons throughout the story. Surprisingly, Dempsey’s journey

to becoming an author did not begin with writing. At 25, Dempsey had never considered herself a baker. Then she saw a cake in a magazine that changed the way she saw baking. Her son was turning 2, and Dempsey came across a picture of a 3D Jeep cake. “I said I’m going to make this for his second birthday,” Dempsey recalled. “Just finding my way as I go, it turned out it’s a skill of

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Stacey dempsey, with Charlie, is a ä See MOM, page 4B baker and author.

GOT GAME?

University could earn revenue from stored power

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Southern University is exploring a deal to build a 300-megawatt battery energy storage facility on campus where Entergy could store power generated during off-peak hours to use when demand for electricity is high. Southern would be an equity partner on the project, meaning the university could earn millions in continuous revenue from the energy site, proponents of the deal said. “There’s an energy revolution going on, and there’s an energy strain down here,” said Claude Tellis Jr., a founder of the nonprofit that would facilitate the partnership and build the storage system. “The data centers are pretty much going to use more energy in one week than the city of New Orleans uses in one year. With that kind of strain, there’s also a big opportunity to solve that problem.” Entergy did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. If realized, the facility would sit on a 50-acre tract of land at the Baton Rouge campus currently held by the Southern Ag Center. The exact location was not specified. What Entergy generates during times of low power use could be held at the Southern facility in batteries and utilized during peak demand, according to the proposal. According to federal regulators, 300 megawatts of power is enough energy to power 54,000 homes for a year in the South. Negotiations are in the early stages and being handled by the Land Grant Energy Security Alliance, a nonprofit based in North Carolina that seeks to establish public-private partnerships between energy companies and landgrant historically Black colleges and universities. The Southern University Board of Supervisors approved a letter of intent Friday for a “partnership and equity position” with the Land Grant Energy Security Alliance. The university is also listed as part of the nonprofit’s advisory committee, according to organization’s website. Southern emphasized in a statement that Friday’s approval is an “important next step” but “does not constitute final approval of a proposed battery storage project.” “The potential projects could strengthen the power grid in this region while creating a new revenue source for the university,” the statement said. The letter of intent was necessary for the nonprofit’s application to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the power grid operator for the central U.S., representatives for the organization

ä See SOUTHERN, page 4B

STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

Trey Bourque, left, and James dansdill, volunteers with The Refinery Mission, unload frozen game that was donated during Hunters For The Hungry Louisiana’s donation drive Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium in Lafayette. Hunters For The Hungry aims to encourage hunters and fishermen to share their wild game and fish in order to combat hunger.

ä See more on 4B.

Olympic medalist launches event anthem Lafayette High grad pairing sports, music By The Associated Press Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis is singing about his favorite color in a promotion for the ﬁrst Ultimate Championship. The two-time Olympic champion, who graduated from Lafayette High and attended LSU, released “Gold” with World Athletics on Friday as the anthem of the upcoming meet that boasts a total prize fund of $10 million. Ultimate Championship will be staged in Budapest from Sept. 1113, showcasing Olympic, world and Diamond League champions

over three evening sessions. Gold medalists in individual events will win $150,000. The 26-year-old Duplantis has dabbled in music for several years and released his ﬁrst single, “Bop,” in 2025. Duplantis, the world-record holder, says he dreams of winning a Grammy. “Gold” was written by Duplantis with Carl Silvergran and Oscar Chase, and was produced by Chase, the World Athletics announcement said. “I wrote the song around representing something that’s a lot bigger than yourself,” Duplantis said in the announcement. “I think that’s what we all do when we’re on

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO

Armand duplantis bites his gold medal as he celebrates winning the men’s pole vault final at the European Athletics Championships in ä See DUPLANTIS, page 4B Birmingham, England, on Aug. 16.

2B ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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

Fauci had power with little accountability, and then the bill came due

Utility projects must truly serve Louisiana families, not just corporations

Dr. David Elizardi’s recent letter is a master class in selective amnesia and institutional loyalty. He scolds Cal Thomas for “throwing stones” while treating Anthony Fauci as some secular saint who merely “adapted” as science evolved. That is not how history works. Fauci didn’t just “change recommendations.” He systematically misled the public, suppressed debate and protected a catastrophic origin theory while millions suffered the consequences of his policies. He told Americans masks were useless, then demanded they wear them. He said the lab-leak hypothesis was a conspiracy theory while his own emails showed he was frantically managing the fallout from alleged gain-of-function research his institute, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, had funded. He pushed lockdowns and school closures with near-religious fervor long after the data showed that damage to children, small businesses and the working class far outweighed the beneﬁts for most people. He promoted vaccine mandates and social coercion while the shots failed to stop transmission the way the public was led to believe. The “80-90% of hospitalized patients were unvaccinated” talking point from August 2021 is not the knockout blow Elizardi thinks it is. By that point, the most vulnerable had already been hit hard, and the vaccines’ protection was visibly declining. Citing hospital occupancy while ignoring excess deaths among the young, the mental-health catastrophe, the learning loss and the economic wreckage is the classic technocrat’s dodge: Look only at the one metric that ﬂatters the policy. Calling criticism of Fauci “political retribution” is rich. The man spent decades as the unelected face of public health, wielding enormous power with almost no accountability. When that power produced catastrophic errors and he responded with arrogance and institutional cover, people noticed. That is not retribution. That is the delayed bill coming due.

Recent reporting on Entergy’s proposed multi-billion-dollar investment tied to Meta’s planned data center should concern residents across Louisiana. At a time when many families are already struggling with high electricity bills, utility companies and state leaders must prioritize everyday ratepayers before expanding infrastructure for large corporations. Louisiana residents already pay some of the highest electricity costs in the region while dealing with an unreliable power grid. After repeated hurricanes, heat waves and outages, many households are still trying to recover financially. Yet Entergy is now proposing massive new energy investments connected to one of the wealthiest technology companies in the world. Before these projects move forward, the public deserves clear answers. Who will ultimately pay for these upgrades? Will residential customers face even higher monthly bills? And will these investments improve reliability for Louisiana communities or mainly benefit corporate interests? For New Orleans residents, reliable infrastructure is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Our communities face flooding, extreme heat, stronger storms and aging utility systems every year. Investments in the power grid should focus first on improving reliability and keeping energy affordable for working families. Economic development matters, but it should not come at the expense of residents already struggling to afford basic necessities. Louisiana leaders must ensure that utility projects truly serve the public, not just corporations seeking cheap energy and tax incentives. The people paying monthly utility bills deserve transparency, accountability and a stronger voice in these decisions.

TIM EATON New Orleans

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

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

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

A poster displaying the Ten Commandments is posted in a second grade classroom at a Lafayette Parish public school.

Johnson got a promotion with the 10 Commandments

Ten Commandments? Looks like 11 on the page. Besides the fact that we should keep a separation of church and state, there seem to be greater issues associated with the posting of the “10” Commandments in schools per state law. First, how about we post the foundational set of moral, religious or ethical teachings from other religions too, e.g., Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism to name a selection? It would give Christian and Jewish students a comparative basis against their own foundational commandments and allow for inclusion of other religious beliefs into our classrooms. After all, isn’t the classroom a place of cooperative learning? Second, why is there a picture of Speaker Mike Johnson on the display poster across from Moses the Lawgiver? Johnson is a politician and a transient ﬁgure in a political party. Is the Louisiana

Family Forum, the group responsible for this ﬁasco, implying that Johnson is akin to Moses? If not, are we making an erroneous inference? Without more detailed information, it seems it could be either of the two; it just seems like Mike Johnson is rising in status. It’s also interesting that the Family Forum is pushing the view that the commandments are a cornerstone of Western civilization. True, “don’t kill or steal” shouldn’t be controversial per comments from Attorney General Liz Murrill, but then again, the Native Americans and maybe the slaves would have a different take on how those two cornerstones of Western civilization worked out for them. Lastly, no matter how I read this poster, I keep coming up with a count of 11 commandments as listed and printed on the poster. Maybe it’s just the punctuation.

WILLIAM R. FAULK Baton Rouge

AVERY PASCAL New Orleans

Politicians need to stop the blame game Call it amusement, call it chicken poop; I call it shameful. The current city of New Orleans mayor and council are trying their best to manage a city and its various departments to save them from ﬁnancial insolvency. Now, Governor, your idol in D.C. won’t be there next term. Do you aspire to a next term as governor? Then stop dangling New Orleans as a municipal business over impossible, hot, bubbling oil. To me, the shame goes to both city and state. The current mayor and council are virtually the same people who sat on the council and ran the city business, all while amassing a huge budgetary shortfall. How is that possible? They tend to shift the blame to the previous mayor, whom I am no fan of as far as managing — but come on, council members. Where were you when the light went off? And now, because of some “short-sighted-

A different slant on newspaper bias?

ness,” a grand jury sends a poison dart up to Attorney General Liz Murrill. Come on! I grew up in Chicago, under the municipal accountability of Mayors Daley, Bilandic, Byrne, Washington, Sawyer and Daley (son of). When you made a mistake, when you were part of a problem or maybe the cause, you raised your hand and showed you were a human being, able to make errors — not happy about it, but accountable. Blaming past administrations while on their council watch is loathsome. And, Governor! Grow up! Start governing based upon the overall responsibility you have to every citizen in Louisiana. Start managing your business in Louisiana — just like the many Republican governors of the state of Illinois governed with objectivity for the good of the people of Chicago and Illinois.

I read the letter from a reader registering his continuing disappointment with “your blatant bias” and had to laugh. A friend of mine in Covington told me she doesn’t read The TimesPicayune because “it’s too liberal.” A New Orleans friend told me she discontinued her Times-Picayune subscription because “it’s too conservative.” And a Mandeville friend told me how pleased she was to ﬁnd such a balance of views in The Times-Picayune!

CHARLOTTE SEIDENBERG Covington

PATRICK DUFFY New Orleans

We’ll remember Trump long after term ends

Pickett, daniels can both be in that number As I picked up the Sports section of the paper recently, I was faced with the problem of a jersey number for an LSU football player. I am sure that DJ Pickett is a talented player who deserves to have a special number on his jersey. He was promised this number by former coach Brian Kelly. Of course, we all know about former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy and who also wore No. 5 on

People are speculating on what President Donald Trump’s legacy will be after his term is over (ﬁnally) in 2028. Here are a few suggestions: A big hole in the White House lawn; a green reﬂecting pool on the National Mall. A closed Strait of Hormuz. Two impeachments (so far). A failed coup attempt. Separated families. Earth too hot to live on and a huge national debt.

his jersey during his time at LSU. So it seems the parties are going to bring in lawyers to solve this dispute. I suggest there is no need for lawyers to get involved, because they will probably drag it out so they can make some money. My recommendation is to give Pickett No. 05. NCAA rules state that any number between 0 and 99 can be chosen.

BRIAN ALMON Metairie

THOMAS DIEMER Kenner

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COMMENTARY Leader quietly, selflessly saved UNO and LSU New Orleans The University of New Orleans’ return to the LSU System last month as LSU New Orleans brought due fanfare to the Lakefront campus. The occasion was also celebrated more than 5,000 miles away — at LSU New Orleans’ 50th annual summer session in the historic alpine city of Innsbruck, Austria. I was honored to join the festivities there as both a UNO alumnus and a firsttime adjunct professor. We had several reaClancy sons to celebrate in InnsDuBos bruck. In addition to rejoining the LSU System and reaching the summer program’s half-century mark, we got to see outgoing UNO President Kathy Johnson spend her final days at the university’s helm mixing with students, faculty and alumni. Johnson’s presence in Innsbruck meant a lot to those who know how tirelessly she worked to help UNO resolve the massive deficit that she inherited — and how selflessly she ensured UNO’s smooth transition back into the LSU System. “Kathy Johnson discovered UNO’s deep financial and enrollment crisis soon after her arrival,” said National WWII Museum co-founder and former UNO history professor Nick Mueller, who founded the UNO-Innsbruck summer program in 1976. “Instead of sweeping it under the rug, she courageously dug into the books and disclosed the depth of the problem to the higher-ed community, to the public and to elected leaders. She was transparent at every step.” Johnson addressed the crisis on several fronts. She convinced legislative leaders to provide state funding to keep UNO open and took the hits for making painful but necessary cuts. She also began teaching classes, signaling to faculty who now had to take on larger teaching loads that she would share that load. “I recall meeting a student who had taken her class and was very impressed that the university president would teach a course,” said Deb Karhson, who, like Johnson, earned her doctorate in psychology. “It foreshadowed the kind of president that Kathy was. She led by her example. It was inspiring to watch her.” Among Johnson’s examples: When staffing cuts impeded efforts to remove furniture before demolishing the Liberal Arts Building, Johnson and her husband Richard helped student workers move the furniture themselves. Richard, who was not a UNO employee, even obtained a commercial driver’s

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

UNO president Kathy Johnson answers questions from the community about UNO’s financial issues in 2024. license so he could haul the furniture away. “The most impactful thing about Kathy was seeing her and her husband put sweat equity into this university,” Karhson said. “I will always attribute the university’s survival and transition into LSU to her.” I met Karhson and more than a dozen other LSU New Orleans faculty and staff during my stint as a novice instructor in Innsbruck. That experience taught me why so many program alumni described their summers studying abroad — an opportunity I didn’t have as a college student — as “lifechanging.” Since its founding 50 years ago, UNOInnsbruck has served more than 12,000 students and blossomed into one of the nation’s most successful summerabroad programs. It merits strong support from the LSU System because its continued success represents a win for LSU. Looking ahead, Mueller will chair the committee searching for Johnson’s successor. Finding the right leader will not be easy, but it will be critical to the success of LSU New Orleans — and to LSU itself. “Kathy saved the university and set it on a new path with her best wishes,” Mueller said. “That’s her legacy. Now it is the search committee’s job to help LSU leaders ﬁnd the best chancellor to serve the current and future generations of students.” For her part, Johnson now serves as St. Louis University’s executive vice

president and provost, the institution’s second-highest office. I recently spoke with her about LSU New Orleans’ future. She offered some sage advice. “The first thing LSU New Orleans needs to do is realign its budget to make sure it’s fiscally strong and healthy without duplicating what’s going on in Baton Rouge but leans into its mission, focusing on access and affordability. If you live your mission and shine a light on what’s going well, it will be good for all. Recognize when opportunities arise, don’t duplicate — and have strong research programs.” There’s a lot to shine a light on at LSU New Orleans. It’s the state’s only urban research university. It has the state’s only School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management, its only School of Naval Architecture, the only School of Engineering in southeast Louisiana and the state’s best public university jazz studies program — to name just a few. The LSU System would be wise to pump resources into LSU New Orleans’ research programs and all of its centers of excellence. Doing so would help rebuild LSU New Orleans and help raise LSU into the Top 50 universities in America. It would also be a fitting “thank you” to Kathy Johnson for saving UNO — and LSU New Orleans. Clancy DuBos formerly wrote political columns in Gambit and The Times-Picayune. Contact him at clancydubos@icloud.com.

Why can’t we fix the oil problem? “We are the United States of America and there is nothing we can’t do if we do it together.” — President Joe Biden

ter, Andy Burnham, urging him to tap more light, sweet crude from the North Sea. Trump says Burnham responded that he would take a “pragmatic I am not in the habit of favorapproach” to opening up the region, which is rich in oil and ably quoting the former presigas. Trump said if he did, it dent, but he was right when would massively boost the UK he said this. Why, then, are we economy. still beholden to Iran and Saudi Not only has the U.S. been Arabia for so much of our oil Cal held for years to Middle needs? Thomas East captive oil, we have allowed farA Wall Street Journal headline left environmentalists to set says: “Gulf States are Resigned To Iran Control of Strait (of Hormuz).” the agenda, depriving us of oil from offshore California and Florida. Critics Must we also be resigned to an unalways raise the specter of oil spills ending dependence on Middle East and damage to wildlife and beaches, oil? Presidents since Jimmy Carter but improved technology has reduced have said we must overcome that the likelihood of such events. The aldependence and loosen their grip on our economy. The problem is the difternative is more of what we have now: ference between American production continued spending of billions of doland that which comes from the Middle lars, along with the cost in human lives East. while trying to keep the oil flowing While the U.S. mostly produces light, from the Persian Gulf region. sweet crude from shale formations, the Iran has the U.S. over an oil barrel. Middle East largely supplies heavier, They are betting Democrats will take higher-sulfur crude. Old U.S refinerover Congress in the fall election and deny the president funds to continue ies were not built to process heavier targeting their country. Depending on crude. Building new ones would cost who you ask, the U.S. naval blockade billions of dollars. They would also seems to be working. Iran’s economy be hampered by environmental laws. is in shambles, but the ayatollahs don’t Some consider new refineries a bad care about their people, or they would financial risk as the country shifts not slaughter anti-government demontoward renewable energy and electric vehicles. strators and engage in public hangings. That sounds like defeatism to me. Putting Democrats back in a conPresident Donald Trump says he has gressional majority won’t solve the spoken to the UK’s new prime minisproblem. Gas prices and inflation were

higher during the Biden administration. If the U.S. is forced to stop attacking Iran due to lack of funds, Iran is likely to resume its effort to create a nuclear weapon and the rockets to deliver them to Israel and the U.S. We will not likely see gas prices signiﬁcantly decline as the president said they would after what he wrongly predicted would be a two-week war. Besides, there will always be a need — at least as far as anyone can see — for petroleum, which is in thousands of everyday products we use, including cosmetics, medicines, plastics and synthetic fabrics like nylon. Rather than accepting defeat and wringing our hands, I prefer the approach of President John F. Kennedy, who said in a 1962 speech at Rice University in Houston: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” Many have started this sentence to encourage others to do the hard things: “If we can go to the moon…” You can ﬁnish it.

Trump’s Iran struggle comes through on campaign stump One interesting thing about listening to President Donald Trump’s speeches, as opposed to just reading about them later, is that the listener not only gets to hear what Trump said, he also gets to hear Trump commenting in real time on what the speechwriters intended for him to say. That’s the beauty of Trump’s longtime issue with the teleprompter; he never sticks precisely to the script. “I hate reading these boring speeches, because, to be honest with you ... isn’t it nice to have a president that doesn’t have to read a teleprompter?” Trump told the crowd at a law-enforcement-themed campaign rally Byron in Garden City, New York, reYork cently. “Teleprompters are easy. They’re boring.” A small but notable example: When Trump’s written speech called for him to take credit for building up the military, the words that actually came out of the president’s mouth were: “You know, I built the military, and now I used it — a little bit more than I wanted to, frankly, but that’s OK, because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.” It was a revealing moment when the war in Iran popped up in a speech devoted mostly to public safety and the economy. The “a little bit more than I wanted to, frankly” aside seemed a reference to Iran in a number of ways. First, it referred to Trump’s determination that a second, large-scale attack was necessary after the first U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 apparently failed to fully do the job. Second, it referred to the fact that the current war has taken several unexpected turns, to say the least. And third, it referred to the length of the war — nearly six months so far, much longer than Trump originally predicted. Now, with the war in a stalemate and midterm elections less than three months away, Trump is asking voters for time. Just a while longer, he suggested, and Iran will be like his other successes. “How about Venezuela?” Trump said. “Venezuela was a one-day war, and now we work great with them. We’ve taken in millions and millions of barrels of oil ... we’re doing good in every way.” The way Trump framed the story was that the American economy was going gangbusters, doing extremely well earlier this year, when he reluctantly decided the U.S. had to take a “journey” to Iran. “I said to my guys, I said to Howard, Scott, Marco” — a reference to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — “I said, fellas, we have just had the best month ever, anyone’s ever had as president,” Trump said. The price of gas was low and the future was bright. “I said, I have bad news for you guys; we have to make a little journey to the Middle East because we have to put out a potential disaster, a very big fire, fire like you’ve never seen.” But the war is not settled, and Trump made a big ask for the voters’ patience. “So I just say this, for you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember, you’re doing it so that a very evil country cannot have — a country, really, it’s the No. 1 state sponsor of terror in the world. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. So remember that, when you have to pay a little bit more. You’re at $4 [a gallon]. It’s OK. I mean, it’s — I’m not — I’m not, I’ll never apologize. I did the right thing, but you could — you know, if you didn’t have [the war] you’d be at, I mean, I had it down to below $2 in many states.” It was an extraordinary moment. Talk to any Republican strategist handling midterm races, and he will tell you that GOP voters’ biggest concern about the war is the fact that it has resulted in higher gas prices. So for Trump to minimize the problem in the way that he did — “a tiny little bit more for your gasoline” — seemed tone deaf, at best. The big picture of the speech is that it showed Trump struggling with the war at a time when he needs to present a picture of strength and confidence to voters deciding what Congress will look like for the next two years. And that struggle will likely not stop until Trump can figure out a way to extricate himself from the mess in Iran. Byron York is on X, @Bryon York.

Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com.

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4B ● Monday, August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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SOUTHERN

MEAT FOR THE MASSES

Continued from page 1B said. MISO manages the wholesale energy markets and approves the addition of new energy sources to the transmission network. Under the proposal, Southern would enter into an equity partnership, with the university system’s capital contribution being the land itself, Land Grant Energy Security Alliance co-founder Andrew East said.

‘An opportunity’ The founders of the nonproﬁt said the goal is to remedy the longstanding funding gap between HBCUs and other public universities through business opportunities in energy storage. In 2023, the then-secretaries of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in a letter to former Gov. John Bel Edwards that Southern would have received an additional $1.1 billion from the state over the previous three decades if its funding per student had been equal to that of LSU. “We see it as an opportunity for land-grant universities to use their land as assets to create public-private partnerships with utility companies that would allow us to have contracts with the utility, the land from HBCUs and then also have major financing partners come in and invest behind that deal,” Tellis said. “The net beneﬁt, in our opinion, will be scholarships to the universities.” Partnerships with energy companies would allow landgrant institutions to undercut peaker plants, he said. Peaker plants supply energy during peak demand at a high cost to the utility provider and typically rely on fossil fuels to generate power quickly.

Evolving deal

became the beginning of a series and led to her “A Sprinkle of Library Fun.” The second book also reﬂects Dempsey’s belief in the role libraries can play in helping children discover new interests. She wants children to see the library as more than a place to read, but as a place where they can find something useful, take it home and turn what they learn into an experience with their families. “I just hope after reading my books, families try to go in the kitchen and make memories together all while learning,” she said. A third Frosted Apron children’s book is in the works, with camping as its central theme.

The proposal for the Ag Center land originally was presented to the board as an option-to-lease agreement with the Land Grant Energy Security Alliance. The term would have been 25 years at $500,000 per year, according to the draft agreement. However, Southern board members expressed hesitation over whether a lease was the best position for the university ﬁnancially. “The ambiguity in this scares the living daylights out of me,” board Chair Tony Clayton said. The nonprofit officials said the option-to-lease agreement was considered in order to meet MISO’s September deadline and get Southern paid upfront, but more recent discussions had shifted toward the equity partner proposal. “That allows us to have a further conversation with the utility provider and see what their interest is,” Southern board member Edwin Shorty said. “Because if there is no interest from the utility provider, then the deal can’t happen. But this is just the ﬁrst step in starting a conversation.”

Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

Email Haley Miller at haley.miller@theadvocate. com.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

An ice chest full of game is donated to Volunteers with The Refinery Mission during a Hunters for the Hungry Louisiana event Sunday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium in Lafayette.

MOM

In 2025, Dempsey wrote her first children’s book, “A Stir of Imagination: Let’s Bake a Cake,” the first book in The Frosted Apron Children’s Book Series. The book introduces young readers to the basics of baking and decorating a cake. It also includes a frosting recipe and a hidden character, Charlie, a puppy based on Dempsey’s own dog. The young girl in the books, Amy, is named after Dempsey’s friend Amy Alleman, a library employee Dempsey met through community events. Alleman encouraged Dempsey as she worked on ideas for a cookbook before her death. Dempsey dedicated the character to Alleman’s memory. After the release of her first book, Dempsey realized she had more lessons she wanted to share. That

Continued from page 1B mine.” The cake revealed a talent Dempsey didn’t know she had and became the beginning of a 10-year journey of teaching herself how to bake and decorate cakes. Dempsey began practicing on her own, baking for friends and family and experimenting with techniques, and gradually began creating increasingly elaborate 3D cakes. By 2016, Dempsey began thinking beyond making cakes for fun. She wanted to share what she had learned and help others discover their own creativity through cake decorating. “I want to share my passion with the community,” she said, and that vision became The Frosted Apron brand. Dempsey opened the business in New Iberia in 2017 as a small venue where children and adults could celebrate birthdays while learning how to decorate cakes. “I wanted to do it mainly for kids because I wanted to introduce children to cake decorating at an earlier age

DUPLANTIS

Continued from page 1B the track. We represent our family, our team, our coaches, and I love that concept. Music and sports are the two things that bring people together in the best way, and ‘Gold’ is an expression of that.” The accompanying music video was ﬁlmed in the Hungarian capital and includes archival footage of Duplantis as a young athlete. The Louisiana-born Duplantis told the Olympics channel last year he uses his music “as a way of therapy. I really love to have some-

PROVIdEd PHOTO

Baker dempsyhas written two books in The Frosted Apron’s children’s book series: ‘A Stir of Imagination: Let’s Bake a Cake’ and more recently ‘A Sprinkle of Library Fun: Let’s Get a Cookbook.’ A third entry is planned.

That shift eventually because I wished someone would’ve shown me my opened the door to another passion at a young age,” way of reaching children: writing. Dempsey said.

thing else to be able to do, and to kind of take myself away from sports a little bit.” At the Ultimate Championship, his new song “will be woven into the broadcast and live-event experience, connecting fans in-stadium with audiences around the world,” World Athletics said. Duplantis is scheduled to perform “Gold” live in-stadium to close out the event. “The Ultimate is purposefully designed to showcase the talents and passions of our sport’s biggest stars, on and off the track,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. “Mondo is one of our most recognizable and accomplished athletes,

and we could not be more excited that he is the one who created the Ultimate Anthem.” The championship will be a biennial event.

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M o n d ay, au g u s t 24, 2026

1Cn

Orgeron more than feel-good hire for Tigers BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Dress rehearsal

LSU wide receiver Jayce Brown spins around to make the catch during a preseason practice on Aug. 17.

As LSU embarks on ‘mock’ game week, questions linger ahead of Clemson

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

This week will end with a college football Saturday. That includes LSU. Even though the Tigers don’t have a Week 0 game, Lane Kifﬁn has scheduled a “mock” game week in advance of the Sept. 5 opener against Clemson. LSU will install its Clemson game plan and experience a “mock” game, complete with a trip to the pregame hotel and a rehearsal from the LSU band. “We got everything on there to make

sure that when we run out there on Saturday in Tiger Stadium,” Kiffin said, “outside of the fans, we’ve gone through everything else.” Kifﬁn seems to be checking every box as a season of immense expectations approaches. He’s not only running a transfer-heavy roster through its paces, he’s still working to add players made eligible by a Louisiana court ruling last week. Notre Dame edge rusher Junior Tuihalamaka committed to LSU on Friday. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, who was just cut from the Cleve-

land Browns’ roster, will land at LSU if he clears waivers. That could happen some time Monday. The days leading up to an opener rarely have been so eventful, but LSU has two weeks to sort everything out. Here are some of the questions that remain:

Is the roster set? Kifﬁn said in the spring he wished there was a second portal window because he didn’t have a complete sense of LSU’s transfer needs when the ﬁrst one was

ä See LSU, page 3C

Last Monday morning at the Charles McClendon Practice Facility, Ed Orgeron was finally silent. An illness had left the boisterous Orgeron unavailable for LSU’s ninth preseason practice. Coach Lane Kiffin sent him home that day, but Kiffin doesn’t expect his gregarious assistant coach to stay quiet often this season. “I’m trying to find a word. I don’t know,” Ole Miss transfer edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen said when asked about Orgeron. “He was loud though, Orgeron that’s what I can say … he was real passionate.” After four seasons away from the sidelines, Orgeron is back at LSU for a second stint with the program. He spent six seasons at LSU in his first tenure, arriving as the defensive line coach and eventually finishing his first year as the interim head coach. He was head coach for the next five seasons, leading the Tigers to a national championship in 2019 before an 11-11 record over his last two campaigns ended his tenure in 2021. Orgeron did not take another coaching job after his dismissal from LSU. He returns to Baton Rouge as Kiffin’s special assistant to recruiting and defense. He has maintained a strong relationship with Kiffin since he worked under him as an assistant coach at Southern Cal and Tennessee from 2009-13. His recruiting chops — arguably his strongest asset during his initial tenure — have already helped LSU since he returned in May. “We have a background,” Kiffin said, “and it’s pretty easy for him to sit and sell to a kid why to come to LSU and why to play for his head coach — more than anyone else on the planet could sell — so it’s really just a perfect situation.” As a coach, Orgeron can be heard barking orders at practice, mostly directing his words toward an LSU defensive line that is talented but young. Freshmen La-

ä See ORGERON, page 3C

These Saints seem best positioned to make ﬁrst cut BY MATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By LINdSEy WASSON

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Kade Anderson is greeted in the dugout after facing the Chicago Cubs in the first inning of his major league debut on Saturday in Seattle.

Anderson soaked in moment before debut

day. Ex-LSU ace arrives fewThefans’22-year-old Anderson got done with his warmup routine for playoff chase on Saturday quicker than usual

before his much-ballyhooed big league debut against the Chicago Cubs. So rather than ignore the AP sportswriter young fans who watched his bullSEATTLE — Well before Kade An- pen session, Anderson did a little derson threw his ﬁrst MLB pitch, something out of the ordinary and the Seattle Mariners’ prized leftä See ANDERSON, page 3C hander took some time to make a

BY ANDREW DESTIN

Kellen Moore said he believes game ﬁlm is the ultimate resume in the NFL. Not to speak for the New Orleans Saints coach, but a a beatdown like Saturday’s 34-0 preseason loss to the Los Angeles Rams may cause quite a few to seek a new line of work here soon. ä Saints Roster cuts are looming at Cowboys, 7 P.M. FRIdAy, KATC as the league’s Sunday deadline fast approaches. Entering the ﬁnal week of the preseason, the Saints are coming off an ugly game that didn’t help those on the bubble. “When I was with the Giants under (Bill) Parcells, he said preseason games make cuts easy,” former Giants executive Greg Gabriel tweeted. “He said players cut themselves with their performance. That was almost 40 years ago but it still stands true.” Luckily for the Saints, there’s still a week of practice and one more game — Friday at the Dallas Cowboys — to leave a better impression before New Orleans has to set a 53-man roster and 16-man

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT dUKE

Saints wide receiver Barion Brown runs with the ball as Jacksonville Jaguars safety Jalen Huskey defends during a preseason game at the Caesars Superdome on Aug. 15. practice squad. Let’s take a stab at predicting what the Saints might do when cuts are due.

needs on the roster. But injuries at other positions, namely wide receiver, could create enough ﬂexibility to open spots elsewhere, such as quarterback. Quarterback (3) Wilson may not have snatched Tyler Shough, Spencer Rattler, Zach Wil- the backup job from Rattler after son: There was a time when keep- a disappointing outing against the ing three quarterbacks might ä See SAINTS, page 3C have been a luxury given other

2C ● Monday, August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Blaney nabs New Hampshire win By The Associated Press LOUDON, N.H. — Ryan Blaney and his team wound up making the most of a major mistake Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Team Penske star just needed a moment to vent on his team radio about a pit crew blunder before charging from 17th to first for his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “Whenever I say those things after something bad happens, it’s my relief valve,” Blaney said about scolding his team with an expletive. “I have to get it out in the open, or I’ll be stewing over it a while. That’s how I have to get over things. I wish I wasn’t that way, but I’d rather it be that way than have it be in the back of my mind the rest of the race, not thinking of the main goal. It takes me five or 10 seconds to move on.” After shaking it off, Blaney recovered to lead the final 74 laps on the 1.058-mile oval, fending off runner-up Bubba Wallace by 0.586 seconds. Josh Berry, who is trying to find a ride for the 2027 season, finished a season-best third, the fourth consecutive top 10 for the Wood Brothers Racing driver. The top five was rounded out by Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. Ryan Preece finished ninth and kept his Chase hopes alive by gaining 19 points on Shane van Gisbergen, who finished 20th and remains in the 16th and final spot for the 10-race title run. It’s the 20th career victory and third this season for Blaney, who led a race-high 115 of 301 laps. He had cruised to a big lead when a lug nut fell off the left front tire of his No. 12 Ford during a pit stop under caution with 111 laps remaining. The 2023 Cup Series champion picked his way through traffic and was back up to seventh when the yellow flag flew on the 226th lap for a three-car crash. Crew chief Jonathan Hassler made an aggressive strategy call for two right-side tires, and Blaney gained six spots in the pits to retake first place. Hassler said the error “maybe was a little bit of a blessing in disguise” because Blaney emerged several spots ahead of the contenders who took four tires. Of

ST. LOUIS — Wyndham Clark has been through this before — losing a big lead in the final round, playing alongside a gallery favorite. He finished strong Sunday at the BMW Championship, just like he did at the U.S. Open, and closed with an even-par 70 for a threeshot victory at Bellerive. Clark won for the third time this year, putting him squarely in the conversation for PGA Tour player of the year considering one was a major and the other was a FedEx Cup playoff event. But just like at Shinnecock Hills, it wasn’t easy. He lost his five-shot lead to Rory McIlroy in 11 holes and it was tense down the final hour until Clark — without a birdie all day — holed a birdie putt from just outside 15 feet on the par-3 16th. McIlroy had a putt to match birdies and stay tied but missed.

Yankees activate Bellinger after 25-game absence

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By STEVEN SENNE

Ryan Blaney, center front, displays a lobster, a victory lane tradition at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, after winning a NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday in Loudon, N.H., as david McGrath, right, executive vice president and general manager of the speedway, looks on. the top 12 finishers, Blaney was the only driver who took two tires on his last stop. His crew struggled often on stops earlier this season, losing 128 spots in the pits, but has been better with three top-five finishes in the past six races. “It’s really competitive on pit road, and if you’re going to have any speed, you’re going to have these sort of miscues,” Hassler said. “With the speed we’ve had, our goal has certainly been to eliminate those, even if we give up a little bit of speed to do that. But it’s still going to happen to each of the best teams. We’re fortunate that we’re fast enough and up front enough that people take notice when that’s going to happen.” NASCAR started the race on wetweather tires after a midafternoon rain shower, but the track dried quickly, and drivers switched back to slick tires after 40 laps.

Hamlin top seed Points leader Denny Hamlin

also rebounded from a pit stop miscue that dropped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver outside the top 15 with less than 100 laps remaining. Hamlin rallied for a seventh-place ﬁnish that clinched the top seed for the Chase. “We were just pedestrian today,” Hamlin said. “We just didn’t quite have it, but ultimately a decent crawl back.”

it. I’m super grateful for all the pit crew members, especially my team. They do a real good job. I’m glad Blake is OK.”

Chastain eliminated

A last-place ﬁnish extinguished the dim Chase hopes for Ross Chastain, whose No. 1 Chevrolet suffered a mechanical problem after only 40 laps. “The speed has gotten better, Scary moment so we’ll hopefully keep moving Bell dropped to 31st on a safe- forward on that,” Chastain said. ty violation penalty after front “That’s the important part. With tire changer Blake Houston got the things in our control, we were dragged from the team’s pit stall able to make them better through while tightening the right-side the summer. I’ve learned that’s tire. Bell said he exited the pits really tough to do in the NASCAR as the jack dropped, and Houston Cup Series. We did get better, but wasn’t able to get back across the we’ve got a ways to go.” front of the No. 20 Toyota. “I saw him kind of flopping Up next around in my rearview camera,” The NASCAR Cup Series will Bell said. “I didn’t feel my car jump conclude its regular season at up in the air, so I knew I didn’t run Daytona International Speedway him over. It’s alarming and very with a 160-lap race on Saturday eye-opening that these guys jump- at the 2.5-mile oval, setting the ing across pit wall, they’re risking 16-driver ﬁeld for the Chase.

American Kirkwood ﬁttingly wins Freedom 250 BY NOAH TRISTER

he’s stopping.” After another caution, Kirkwood pulled off a strong restart with 13 laps to go, and Lundgaard didn’t mount much of a threat as the 250-mile race wound down. Nicknamed the “King of the Streets” because of his success on tracks like this, Kirkwood looked right at home on the 1.7-mile circuit that was being used this weekend for the ﬁrst time.

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — On the streets of downtown Washington, an American led almost the whole way. Kyle Kirkwood raced to his second victory of the IndyCar season Sunday, dominating the Freedom 250 in his No. 27 Honda. Kirkwood crossed the finish line in front of the U.S. Capitol 3.09 seconds ahead of Christian Lundgaard after leading for 128 of a possible 147 laps. “This likely is the most satisfying win that I’ve had, just the magnitude of it. This one and my first are pretty similar,” said Kirkwood, who now has seven career IndyCar victories. “When you think about the magnitude, what this means, having this race here in D.C., being the Freedom 250, as an American, it might top the first win for me.” The race was set up as part of the country’s 250th birthday celebration. President Donald Trump gave drivers the green flag at the start, and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser served as grand marshal. Organizers could hardly have asked for better weather, with plenty of sun but not so much heat that fans would stay away. The area was awash in red, white and blue. Even the Canadian flags on that country’s embassy — located along the track’s Pennsylvania Avenue straightaway — featured two of those three colors. “This was not a race. It was an event,” race chair Bud Denker said. Will Power and Marcus Ericsson, Kirkwood’s teammates with

Clark finds footing after stumble, wins BMW event

Misplaced blame?

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By ALEX BRANdON

Kyle Kirkwood makes a pit stop for gas during the IndyCar Freedom 250 Grand Prix on Sunday in Washington. Andretti Global, finished third and fourth. Pole winner Alex Palou, who had a chance to clinch the series title, finished 20th in his second-worst showing of the year. After several prerace flyovers and Trump’s green flag, the field quickly went under caution because of debris on the track. The first big wreck came when David Malukas went into the wall and Sting Ray Robb could do little to avoid crashing into him coming around a turn. Just like that, two of the race’s eight American drivers were out. Several cars went onto pit road, and that’s when the day started to fall apart for Palou. He appeared to hit a tire in someone else’s area while exiting, and he was assessed a drive-through penalty. On a subsequent pit stop, one of Palou’s tires was loose when

he started driving. That caused another delay, and he ended up off the lead lap. Palou later spun coming through a turn. His lead in the standings dropped from 133 points over second-place Kirkwood to 91 with three races to go. “Things happen. I’m at least kind of happy that everything happened at the same day instead of spreading out throughout different races,” Palou said. “We had some issues in pit lane — one my fault, one out of my control.” Kirkwood had a commanding lead before Palou’s spin caused a caution. On a restart with 19 laps remaining, Scott McLaughlin tried to pass Kirkwood and went into a tire barrier. “Quite honestly, I thought he was going to make it stick initially,” Kirkwood said. “Once he got alongside me, there’s no way

Marcus Armstrong was penalized for avoidable contact when he sent Christian Rasmussen into a spin. Rinus VeeKay went into the wall during that incident but appeared unaware of Armstrong’s culpability when he went on TV for an interview. “If Rasmussen’s around, you know you’re going to crash. Either he does or you do,” VeeKay said. “It sucks. It’s stupid. It’s a long race, and some people seemingly don’t know that.”

The race’s future Denker had plenty of impressive stats ready for his postrace news conference: over 215,000 people attending over the last two days, and over $969,000 in merchandise sold Saturday. As for whether the race will continue in the future, Denker said he’ll discuss it with series owner Roger Penske. “Mr. Trump hit me 15 times today about having to have this,” Denker said. “‘Let’s do it for ﬁve years’ is what he’s saying, ‘because that guarantees you’re going to be here through my term, then two more years for whoever is in ofﬁce next.’ ”

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees activated Cody Bellinger from the injured list Sunday after the outfielder missed 25 games with a strained left hamstring. Bellinger batted fourth and started in left field for his first game since July 25 in Philadelphia. Bellinger suffered a Grade 2 strain after running the bases following a double. Bellinger is hitting .259 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs in 102 games this season. He batted .228 in New York’s first month after losing Aaron Judge to a stress fracture in his right rib but was hitting .372 in 12 games before getting injured, though he entered Sunday with a 31-game homerless streak — the second-longest of his career. Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees last winter for $162.5 million over ﬁve years.

49ers star TE Kittle might return for season opener

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco 49ers star tight end George Kittle was taken off the physically unable to perform list on Sunday, providing hope that he might be able to return from a ruptured right Achilles tendon before the season opener. The 49ers got good news on the injury front 10 days before the team was set to depart for Australia for a Week 1 game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 11 with Kittle and All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey back at practice. The Niners are scheduled to leave for Australia on Sept. 2, and Kittle said last week that he needed to get practice time in pads before then to determine whether he would make the trip and try to play Week 1.

Raiders RB Jeanty suffers apparent injury at practice

HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty had to be helped off the ﬁeld after apparently being injured late in Sunday’s practice and was unable to put pressure on his right leg. The Raiders did not provide a statement on Jeanty’s status and there was no indication of when an update would come. Jeanty went down after trying to catch a pass, and his teammates at the club’s indoor practice facility quickly went quiet. The entire team then knelt and prayed. Drafted sixth overall out of Boise State last year, Jeanty had hoped to build on a rookie season in which he rushed for 975 yards despite playing behind what was statistically the NFL’s worst offensive line.

All-America RB Hardy out for Mizzou season opener

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Ahmad Hardy, an Associated Press All-America running back, will miss Missouri’s season-opening game as he recovers from being shot in the leg three months ago. “Hopefully, he can keep working and try to get back as soon as possible,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said Saturday. “Really don’t have a timetable on that. It’s up to his body and his response.” The 25th-ranked Tigers will start the season at home on Sept. 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff without Hardy on the ﬁeld. Hardy was shot in his home state while attending a concert in Laurel, Mississippi, on May 10.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● 3C

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SAINTS

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, right, blocks LSU offensive lineman Ja’Mard Jones during a drill at a preseason practice on Friday.

LSU

Continued from page 1C active in January. A temporary restraining order pried opened up a second one, just a couple of weeks before the opener. How far does Kiffin want to go with this? There is wiggle room with scholarship numbers nowadays depending on how many former walk-ons, who don’t need to count toward the 105-man roster, are on the books. Even so, it’s unlikely LSU has room for more than a couple of touch-ups. Tuihalamaka, who started three games at Notre Dame last season, adds to a defensive end rotation that’s spearheaded by Ole Miss transfer Princewill Umanmielen but was relying heavily on the untapped potential of Tennessee transfer Jordan Ross and five-star freshman Lamar Brown. Wright would help round out a tight end room that stars Trey’Dez Green, essentially a 6-foot-7, 237-pound receiver, but doesn’t have much experience otherwise. Could LSU also add 6-8, 330-pound defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, an All-SEC performer at Ole Miss? The emergence of Deuce Geralds and Richard Anderson has created buzz, but is it a tad concerning that veterans Dominick McKinley, Stephiylan Green and Malik Blocton have played second fiddle to freshmen? And could the Tigers bring back Jack Pyburn? The LSU product has

ANDERSON

Continued from page 1C scribbled his signature a handful of times before the Mariners beat the Cubs 5-4 in walk-off fashion. Growing up in Slidell, the ace of the 2025 LSU national championship team didn’t go to many major league games. But Anderson used to hound LSU baseball players for autographs as a kid, so he was more than willing to lend a few minutes of his time. “That’s what it’s all about at the end of the day, to go out there and pitch for the fans,” Anderson said. “... You just got to give back to those kids.” Anderson, the third pick in the 2025 draft, became the ﬁrst player from his draft class to make his major league debut. He looked the part of one of the top pitching prospects in baseball for most of the evening. Anderson yielded three earned runs in 52/ 3 innings, two on backto-back solo homers in the sixth, which caused the end to his night after 81 pitches. The southpaw departed to a standing ovation from the 45,681 on hand, a ﬁgure which included roughly 20 family members and friends.

ORGERON

Continued from page 1C mar Brown, Richard Anderson and Deuce Geralds all have a chance to earn significant snaps out of the gates. Orgeron also has been an asset for a defensive line coaching room that is mostly ﬁlled with new faces. “Obviously, his bread and butter

yet to be cut by the Bucs but he’s a plus run defender as a defensive end. Whether it’s healthy for college sports to bring NFL cuts back to campus, and whether it’s truly worthwhile to add players this late, is worth discussion. Kifﬁn seems intent on exploring every avenue to strengthen his roster — all the way up to the ﬁnal bell.

Is Leavitt synced with WRs?

to the top in game action. But it appears that Jackson Harris, Jayce Brown, Winston Watkins and Eugene Wilson are the top four heading into the opener.

Is the team deep enough? The starting 11 on both sides appears mostly set, including an offensive line that’s still Jordan Seaton, Bo Bordelon, Braelin Moore, Aliou Bah and Weston Davis from left to right. But Kiffin admitted “concern” last week about the line’s depth. Transfers Devin Harper (Ole Miss), Sean Thompkins (Baylor) and William Satterwhite (Tennessee) project as LSU’s top reserves, but they couldn’t overtake Davis, an inconsistent performer as a redshirt freshman, and Bordelon, who played 23 offensive snaps as a redshirt junior. The latter pair may have made a considerable jump, but it’s also possible they are just the best LSU could muster and its January portal adds haven’t hit. Similar concerns remain at cornerback behind DJ Pickett and PJ Woodland, where Ja’Keem Jackson and Michael Turner remain unproven. If LSU stays healthy, there’s enough there to live up to expectations. An injury at the wrong position, and the Tigers could falter. Only real game weeks — not the “mock” one underway — will tell the tale.

Set aside whether quarterback Sam Leavitt could develop a chemistry with Wright if he landed in Baton Rouge days before an opener. How connected has Leavitt become with the receivers he currently has in camp? There have been ample cut-back scrambles to suggest Leavitt’s surgically repaired foot is fine, and he’s looked good throwing on air while media members have been in attendance. But all 11-on-11 periods, including two scrimmages, were closed to the public. Where exactly Leavitt stands in grasping LSU’s uptempo offense is a mystery. There have been positive assessments from Kifﬁn, who said Leavitt tried too hard to impress teammates in the spring but has made sounder decisions in August. LSU stands to benefit from Leavitt’s fearlessness in attacking deep, but Kifﬁn also needs him to make quick decisions and pick apart defenses to make the most of this scheme. As far as the receiver room, LSU Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ seems content to let the cream rise theadvocate.com

It could have been worse for Anderson, if not for left fielder Randy Arozarena robbing Miguel Amaya of a solo shot in the third. “I thought it was way gone,” Anderson said of Arozarena’s heroics. “I’m honestly grateful that ball stayed in the park.” Pete Crow-Armstrong, who led off the sixth with a double, came inches away from starting that frame with a solo home run, too. On the whole, Anderson coasted his first two times through the Chicago lineup. He struck out five Cubs hitters, three of them with a slider that generated six whiffs in the game. Manager Dan Wilson elected to send Anderson back out for the sixth because he thought the young lefty was throwing the ball “extremely well,” and he was pleased with how he handled adversity. “The way he used all of his stuff, you saw everything today,” Wilson said. “He wasn’t afraid to throw anything in any count, and I just thought for a first time out there, he looked very, very comfortable, and that’s a great sign.” Anderson pitched in plenty of high-leverage games while starring for LSU, too. At the professional level, though, he faced little resistance from opposing hitters before Saturday night. In 18 starts for Double-A Arkan-

sas this year, Anderson went 10-1 with a 1.06 ERA while striking out 135 batters and walking 13 in 931/ 3 innings. Anderson’s arrival in Seattle coincided with the club being in need of reinforcements. After Saturday’s win, the Mariners (62-68) moved three games behind Houston in the AL West and two games back in the race for the ﬁnal wildcard spot. Going into his outing, Anderson fully understood the magnitude of his debut, not just on a personal level but also within the context of what it meant for the reigning AL West champions. “The team was counting on me for a big game today,” Anderson said. “These games matter, especially when the season is getting shorter and shorter. These games matter. I understood that going in. Obviously, it’s a big day for me, but it’s an even bigger day for this org.” That didn’t stop Anderson, though, from taking a second to look around T-Mobile Park and take it all in before he became the center of attention. “I’ve only been to Seattle a couple times, but this place is really cool,” Anderson said. “The weather here is really nice, so that’s a plus. It’s a really special city. I really like it so far.”

is the defensive line. Just giving (us) a different set of eyes,” said defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who worked under Orgeron for a season at LSU as his linebackers coach. “But I think all those guys work really well together: (Interior defensive line coach) Kevin Peoples and (defensive line coach) Sterling Lucas and (assistant defensive line/pass rush specialist coach) Lou Spanos and (defensive line assistant) De’Andre Williams.

“We have a really, really good group of defensive line coaches. And he’s done a good job kind of feeling his way in there.” Orgeron’s impact has been felt beyond the defensive line. Baker said his ability to see things from a “big picture point of view” has helped, and his rambunctious nature has even been felt on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. “Coach O is probably the loudest

dan,Tyree Wilson,Anfernee Jennings: The Saints have been coy about how Continued from page 1C much time Jordan might miss for his hamstring injury. But knowing the pass rusher’s relentless Rams, but his body of work this history of doing everything he summer has made the case he can to play, he could avoid indeserves to stick around. Plus, jured reserve to start the season Rattler hasn’t been lights out. — even if he has to miss a few Keeping both players in the event weeks. But it sure seems like Wilson Shough goes down with an injury and Jennings are going to make seems reasonable. The backup battle isn’t over. the roster regardless of Jordan’s Friday’s finale should go a long status. It was a good sign for Jennings that the Saints felt no way toward settling it. need to play the veteran this past Running back (4) weekend. Travis Etienne, Alvin Kamara, Audric Estime, Kendre Miller: Injuries make Defensive tackle (5) this position tricky to evaluate. Davon Godchaux, Vernon Broughton, NaKamara (knee) and Estime (foot) than Shepherd, Christen Miller, Khristian are both hurt. Will either be ready Boyd: The logjam that the Saints for Week 1? If not, do the Saints entered training camp with has keep five instead? Does Estime, sorted itself out. Bryan Bresee who had a terrific camp before was lost for the season due to a his injury, lose his spot by land- torn ACL. Broughton has seized ing on injured reserve? the starting job in his absence. Elsewhere, Miller gets the nod Shepherd and Godchaux no lonover Ty Chandler, C.J. Donaldson ger look like they could be surand Devin Neal. This may be the prise cap casualties. result of recency bias, but the The biggest remaining mys2023 third-rounder still runs hard tery has to do with reserve John despite his lengthy injury history, Ridgeway, who was spotted with which includes missing nearly a medical boot around his foot two weeks in camp because of a after getting hurt in Thursday’s bad back. Chandler had a very joint practice against the Rams. costly fumble in the red zone on If Ridgeway has to miss extendSaturday. ed time, Boyd stands to benefit. Relying on Miller comes with a If Ridgeway is healthy, swap the risk. But it could be easier to stash two. Chandler on the practice squad, whereas cutting Miller may lead Linebacker (5) the running back to seek a fresh Kaden Elliss, Pete Werner, Danny Stutstart elsewhere given all the ob- sman, Jaylan Ford, Isaiah Stalbird: Destacles he’s faced in New Orleans. spite adding Deion Jones in trainAs for Neal, the second-year ing camp, this five could be pretty back suffered another hamstring set. There was a question about injury Saturday. While Moore did whether Chris Rumph, converted not have an update on the sever- from edge rusher, could earn a ity, an injured reserve stint would spot over Ford or Stalbird, but the make sense given the frequency. veteran hasn’t practiced in nearly The running back had just re- three weeks because of an ankle turned to practice last week be- injury. That’s too much ground to cause of the ailment, which also make up, even if Rumph returns cut his rookie season short when to practice soon. he got injured in Week 15.

Wide receiver (5)

Cornerback (6)

Kool-Aid McKinstry, Quincy Riley, Martin Emerson, Isaac Yiadom, Jayden Price, Lorenzo Styles: ESPN recently ranked the Saints as having the 11th best cornerback room in the NFL. Has it seen the depth? The Rams’ relentless targeting of Emerson in Saturday’s exhibition raises fresh concerns about how New Orleans will get by without Riley, whose groin injury could linger into the regular season. Price is rewarded with a spot after a standout camp. Styles is a wild card. What’s the status of the calf injury he suffered Saturday? The fifth-round rookie could very well stand to benefit from a redshirt year, but it’s unclear if he’ll land on injured reserve. This is another position that feels like it could be tinkered with before Week 1, whether Tight ends (3) that’s trimming a spot or claimJuwan Johnson, Noah Fant, Oscar Delp: ing somebody off waivers. Here’s another position in flux because of injuries. Moliki Matavao Safety (5) hurt his knee in Saturday’s game Justin Reid, Jonas Sanker, Julian Blackand the severity is unknown. But mon, Jordan Howden, Terrell Burgess: if he has to miss extended time, Sanker, after moving to inside at that could cost him his chance nickel, hasn’t played much safety of making the roster — which is in training camp. With him acting unfortunate for the second-year as a corner, that could open the tight end, given he had noticeably door for someone like Burgess — improved from his rookie season. a special teams contributor and a If healthy, he looked worthy of a reliable backup who is well liked spot. in the locker room. Blackmon’s injury history could also warrant Offensive line (9) keeping five safeties. Keeping 11 defensive backs Kelvin Banks, David Edwards, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Taliese Fuaga, Asim Rich- feels like one too many on paards, Jeremiah Wright,Will Sherman, Xavier per, but it’s worth remembering Truss: It felt telling that Sherman the Saints did that initially when started Saturday’s contest over setting last year’s 53-man roster. Toricelli Simpkins, who hasn’t The Saints changed this soon afhad the same kind of feel-good ter when they surprisingly cut camp as last year when the of- J.T. Gray. fensive lineman made the roster as an undrafted free agent. The Specialists (3) Saints value versatility upfront, Kicker not on roster, Ryan Wright, Zach and Sherman’s ability to play all Wood: Yes, not picking between three interior spots helps solidify Tanner Brown and Charlie his case. Smyth is a bit of a cop out. But Likewise, Truss has been used how can the Saints feel good at tackle and guard. He makes it about heading into the season over Easton Kilty and undrafted with either one of these kickers? rookie Alan Herron, each of Brown missed a 39-yard field whom should fit nicely on the goal against the Rams, coughing practice squad. up whatever lead he had built on This could also be a position Smyth over the last few weeks. the Saints seek to improve after And Smyth, as intriguing as his cuts. Remember last year when leg strength is and as charming the Saints made two trades — one as his story is, hasn’t been confor center Luke Fortner and an- sistent enough to win this comother for Richards — and claimed petition. The Saints might be betTruss off waivers from the Bron- ter off monitoring the market, as cos. bleak as it is. Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, Bryce Lance, Barion Brown, Kevin Austin: For these purposes, rookie Jordyn Tyson lands on injured reserve because of the hamstring injury he suffered earlier this month. The first-rounder is expected to miss two months, which would put him on track to be back in mid-October. Players on injured reserve must miss a minimum of four games. Otherwise, this group seems pretty clear-cut. Bub Means was the Saints’ leading receiver in New Orleans’ preseason opener, but he didn’t carry the momentum into the next game and hurt his hamstring against the Rams. That makes room for Austin, who might have been a lock anyway.

Edge (5)

Email Matthew Paras at matt. Chase Young, Carl Granderson, Cam Jor- paras@theadvocate.com

coach I’ve ever heard,” Colorado transfer left tackle Jordan Seaton said. “But he’s also the funnest, and he means business. He means well.” Orgeron’s return isn’t just a feel-good story. It’s not meant to be a swan song for the 65-year-old coach, either. He’s back in Baton Rouge with the same ﬁre and energy that helped deliver a national championship just seven years ago. “I like that he just doesn’t take

— excuse my French — but he doesn’t take BS,” Seaton said. “And I think we need that from all our coaches, and he’s a big part of that. He’d been in this program before, so he knows what it looks like to win.” Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter

4C ● Monday, August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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PREP FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW

Northwest

2026 SCHEDULE Date

Opponent

Sept. 4 Sept. 11 Sept. 18 Sept. 25 Oct. 2 Oct. 8 Oct. 16 Oct. 22 Oct 30 Nov. 6

NOTRE dAME Kinder Opelousas CROWLEy IOTA Mamou Eunice Rayne CHURCH POINT Ville Platte

PLAYERS TO WATCH Markez Davis WR/CB, 6-4, 180, Sr. First known as a basketball star and receiver in football, davis committed to LSU as a defensive back. The freakish athlete is ranked as a four-star prospect and No. 13 player in Louisiana by 247Sports, which lists his position as athlete and receiver.

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

Frederick Niner LB, 5-10, 210, Sr. Niner anchors the linebackers and can make plays on offense at H-back. He has led the team in tackles the past two years and is getting recruited by FCS programs. He has exceptional strength and will lead a defense that performed well in the scrimmage against Lafayette Christian.

PAST FIVE YEARS 2025: 7-5 2024: 9-3 2023: 10-4 2022: 6-5 2021: 5-5

PROJECTED STARTERS Offense WR Peyton Johnson (6-3, 170, Sr.) WR Mykeal Richard (6-4, 170, Sr.)* WR Jayden Lazard (5-8, 150, Sr.)* WR Christ Cane (5-8, 170, So.) OT Carson Frilot (6-3, 240, Jr.) OG Nicholas Jackson (5-10, 215, Sr.)* C Logan Moore (5-10, 220, Sr.) OG Justin Manuel (6-0, 230, Sr.)* OT Christian Huerta (5-11, 235, Sr.)* QB Justin Chavis (5-8, 165, Sr.)* RB Adrian Lazard (5-6, 165, Jr.) Defense dE Cameron dawkins (6-2, 190, Sr.)* NG Carson Williams (5-9, 230, Sr.)* dT Tye Savoy (5-11, 230, Jr.)* LB Fred Nimer (5-10, 210, Sr.)* LB Marcus Sam (5-9, 180, Sr.)* LB Jermaine Clark (6-0, 190, Jr.)* LB Mason Johnson (6-1, 200, Jr.) CB Jonreyon Freeman (5-9, 160, Sr.)* CB Markez davis (6-4, 180, Sr.)* SS Kaedon Jenkins (6-3, 175, Sr.)* SS Landon James (6-0, 185, Sr.) * RETURNING STARTER

COACHES Head coach: Chris Edwards (87-51) Assistant coaches: Mark Cassimere (dC/dL), Malcolm Sam (WR/QB), Scottie Williams (OL/TE), Lee Issac (ILB), daniel Francis (dB), Terrance Moore (dB), Josh Edwards (OLB), Raymond Batiste (OL), Javian Reese (RB/HB) and Alex Fontenot (Quality Control)

STAFF PHOTO By MIKE COPPAGE

Northwest defensive leaders include, from left, Kaedon Jenkins, Jonreyon Freeman, Marcis Sam, Jermaine Clark and Cameron dawkins.

Damon Jones OL/DL, 6-1, 225, Sr. Jones is the team’s best interior offensive lineman. He’ll also rotate on defense where he can play end or tackle.

“We’ve moved some players to new positions,” he said. “While there will be a learning curve, I’m confident this group will continue to improve as they gain experience.” The defensive and offensive lines don’t have great size (217-pound average on defense, 228-pound average on offense), but the three-man defensive front is made up of returning starters, and the linebacking corps is especially active.

What we know

Experience matters, and the Northwest Raiders have lots of it. Coach Chris Edwards has more than 20 seniors on a team that won seven straight games after an 0-4 start last season. “I’m not looking to start off that slowly with a seniorladen group,” Edwards said. With nine returning starters, led by LSU defensive back commitment Markez davis, the defense looks especially good. “Markez is a four-year starter, a leader and great football player,” Edwards Edwards said. “Because of his situation with getting highly recruited, everyone on our defense feels like they have a chance.” Though davis led the team in receiving and averaged 29 yards per catch, the Raiders are so deep at receiver that they have four other contributors, which include 6-foot-3 Peyton Johnson, 6-4 Mhy’Kael Richard, Jayden Lazard and Chris Cane, a sophomore. “Cane would’ve played a lot last year but got injured early in camp,” Edwards said. “He’s a super sophomore, very quick and very smart.” The Raiders bring back two quarterbacks with starting experience in senior Justin Chavis and sophomore Chaise dupre (12 Td passes). After beginning the year as the starter, Chavis was injured but returned before the season ended. “They’ll definitely both take snaps,” Edwards said. “I’ll go with the hot hand.” Edwards said he has installed packages to get both on the field at the same time, with dupre at quarterback and Chavis playing running back or receiver.

Mhy’Kael Richard WR, 6-4, 170, Sr. A longtime basketball standout, Richard is still gaining experience on the gridiron. The outside receiver flashed his ability in the Lafayette Christian scrimmage with a big catch. “This year, he knows what he’s doing and will take the pressure off Markez,” Edwards said.

How we see it

A few years ago, Northwest made a run to the semifinals behind a bruising running attack. The Raiders have high hopes of a similar playoff run with a 2026 squad that will throw the ball a lot and play tough defense. Northwest opens the season with nondistrict games against Notre dame at home, followed by road trips to Kinder and Opelousas. “I told the guys if we can come out of there with a 2-1 record, I’ll be very, very excited,” Edwards said. “If we can come out of there 3-0, we’re going to bang our chests a little bit.” There is another nondistrict game against Rayne later in the season, and the Raiders welcome Eunice to the district. Payback will be on Northwest’s mind after losing by a total of five points against those programs last year. While six regular-season games are on the road, the Raiders get Church Point at home in Week 9. That’s the only home game over the final five weeks. Northwest, which lost to state champion Iowa in the second round of the division II nonselect playoffs, returns kicker/punter Gavon Fontenot. And with so many seniors, this could be the year for Northwest. “We expect the seniors to set the standard in preparation, accountability and leadership,” Edwards said. “Their experience and commitment will be instrumental.”

What we don’t know

Edwards said his chief concern is the offensive line, which returns three starters and has four seniors and one junior.

Chris Cane WR, 5-8, 170, So. you name it, Cane will do it this fall, whether it’s at receiver, running back, special teams or in the secondary. “I can’t wait to coach him for the next three years,” Edwards said.

Mike Coppage

SCOREBOARD Prep football

(At Clark Field, Lafayette)

Kiwanis Jamboree

6 p.m. — Northwood-Lena vs Berchman’s

Thursday, Aug. 27

(at Hoss Memtsas Stadium, Harvey)

(At Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium) 6 p.m. — Cecilia vs Lafayette 7:30 p.m. — Breaux Bridge vs St. Thomas More 9 p.m. — Carencro vs Southside

Friday, Aug. 28

6 p.m. — Northside vs Notre Dame 7:30 p.m. — Acadiana vs Teurlings Catholic 9 p.m. — St. Martinville vs Lafayette Christian

North Vermilion Jamboree Thursday, Aug. 27

(At North Vermilion High) Gueydan vs North Vermilion (JV), 5:15 pm Vermilion Catholic vs North Vermilion, 7 pm

Sugar Cane Jamboree Thursday, Aug. 27

(at Acadiana Renaissance) 5:15 p.m. — Lake Arthur vs Hanson6:30 p.m. — Catholic-PC vs Ascension Episcopal{p7:45 p.m. — Catholic High-NI vs Acadiana Renaissance Sugar Cane Jamboree

Thursday, Aug. 27

(at New Iberia Sr. High)7 p.m. — Westgate at New Iberia

Friday, Aug. 28

6 p.m. — Highland Baptist vs Delcambre 7:30 p.m. — Jeanerette vs Loreauville Ascension Christian Jamboree

Thursday, Aug. 27

(at Ascension Christian) 7 p.m. — Westminster-Lafayette vs Ascension Christian

Welsh Jamboree Thursday, Aug. 27

(at Welsh High) 5:30 p.m, — Crowley vs Grand Lake

Friday, Aug. 28

5:30 p.m. — Westminster vs. Patrick Taylor

Friday, Aug. 28

5:30 p.m. — Rayne vs. Abbeville7 p.m. — Church Point vs. Kaplan 8:30 p.m. — Lafayette Renaissance vs. Erath

Joe Nagata Jamboree (At St. Edmund, Eunice)

Friday, Aug. 28

6 p.m. — Elton vs. St. Edmund 7:15 p.m. — Donaldsonville vs. Opelousas Catholic 8:30 p.m. — Iota vs. Sacred Heart-VP

Berchman’s Jamboree

New York 109, Indiana 102 Los Angeles 77, Connecticut 68 Atlanta 99, Phoenix 89

Monday’s Games

Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at TCU 6½ 7½ (47½)N. Carolina at USC 35½ 38½ (60½)San Jose St at VIRGINIA 5½ 5½ (53½) NC State at NDSU 8½ 6½ (46½) Jax State at E. MICHIGN 7½ 8½ (52½) Sac St. at STANFORD 3½ 5½ (49½) Hawaii at FSU 30½ 31½ (53½)New Mex St. at UNLV 3½ 5½ (57½) Memphis

MLB

Monday

American League FAVORITE LINE at DETROIT OFF at WHITE SOX OFF at LA ANGELS OFF at ATHLETICS OFF National League FAVORITE LINE at WASHINGTON OFF at ARIZONA OFF at SAN DIEGO OFF at SAN FRAN OFF Interleague FAVORITE LINE at MIAMI OFF at SEATTLE OFF

UNDERDOG Tampa Bay Texas Cleveland Minnesota

LINE OFF OFF OFF OFF

UNDERDOG LINE Colorado OFF Chicago Cubs OFF Pittsburgh OFF Cincinnati OFF UNDERDOG Boston Philadelphia

WNBA Glance

(At Erath High)

.351 17½ .351 17½ .189 23½

Dallas 92, Seattle 70 Indiana at Chicago, n Las Vegas at Toronto, n Washington at Portland, n

Sports Betting Line College Football

Friday, Aug. 28

Vermilion-Acadia Jamboree

24 24 30

Sunday’s Games

Odds

Pro basketball

6 p.m. — Northwest vs. Beau Chene7:15 p.m. — Eunice vs. Opelousas 8:30 p.m. — North Central vs. Port Barre

13 13 7

x-clinched playoff spot Saturday’s Games

Thomas Jefferson Jamboree

St. Landry Parish Jamboree

(At Donald Gardner Stadium, Opelousa

Los Angeles Phoenix Seattle

Friday, Aug. 28

EASTERN CONFERENCE

LINE OFF OFF

x-Atlanta x-Indiana New York Washington Chicago Toronto Connecticut

W 24 24 23 21 15 11 9

L 13 14 15 15 22 25 27

Pct GB .649 — .632 ½ .605 1½ .583 2½ .405 9 .306 12½ .250 14½

x-Minnesota x-Golden State x-Las Vegas Dallas Portland

W 31 25 25 21 15

L 7 11 13 16 21

Pct .816 .694 .658 .568 .417

WESTERN CONFERENCE

GB — 5 6 9½ 15

American League Tampa Bay New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

W 77 74 70 64 63

L 53 56 59 68 68

Pct .592 .569 .543 .485 .481

GB — 3 6½ 14 14½

Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City

W 67 64 63 61 57

L 62 66 67 68 74

Pct .519 .492 .485 .473 .435

GB — 3½ 4½ 6 11

Houston Texas Seattle Los Angeles Athletics

W 65 64 62 52 50

L 65 66 68 78 80

Pct .500 .492 .477 .400 .385

GB — 1 3 13 15

West Division

Saturday’s Games

Toronto 4, N.Y. Yankees 3 Kansas City 3, Detroit 1 L.A. Angels 3, Texas 0 Baltimore 3, Tampa Bay 2, 10 innings Seattle 5, Chicago Cubs 4 Athletics 4, Houston 3 Boston 3, San Francisco 2 N.Y. Mets 10, Chicago White Sox 5 Cleveland 4, Colorado 3 San Diego 7, Minnesota 5

Sunday’s Games

Tampa Bay 3, Baltimore 1 N.Y. Yankees 8, Toronto 3 Chicago White Sox 2, N.Y. Mets 1 Kansas City 11, Detroit 7 Texas 5, L.A. Angels 3 Athletics 7, Houston 6 Boston 5, San Francisco 4 Cleveland 7, Colorado 2 San Diego 8, Minnesota 1

Boston (Suarez 5-3) at Miami (TBD), 5:40 p.m. Tampa Bay (Rasmussen 13-5) at Detroit (Valdez 8-8), 5:40 p.m. Texas (Rocker 4-10) at Chicago White Sox (TBD), 6:40 p.m. Cleveland (Messick 9-8) at L.A. Angels (Klassen 2-1), 8:38 p.m. Minnesota (Matthews 7-8) at Athletics (Springs 3-11), 8:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Wheeler 10-4) at Seattle (Gilbert 10-7), 8:40 p.m.

East Division

Major League Baseball

Central Division

Monday’s Games

National League

Golden State at Minnesota, 7 p.m. Atlanta at Los Angeles, 9 p.m.

East Division

Chicago Cubs 19, Seattle 2

Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 75 73 67 61 59

Central Division Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati

West Division Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

W 81 74 66 63 62

W 79 70 68 52 50

Saturday’s Games

L 55 58 64 71 71

Pct .577 .557 .511 .462 .454

GB — 2½ 8½ 15 16

L 49 56 66 68 68

Pct .623 .569 .500 .481 .477

GB — 7 16 18½ 19

Pct .608 .538 .523 .403 .388

GB — 9 11 26½ 28½

L 51 60 62 77 79

Milwaukee 4, Atlanta 1 Miami 4, Washington 2 Philadelphia 12, St. Louis 3 Seattle 5, Chicago Cubs 4 L.A. Dodgers 4, Pittsburgh 3 Boston 3, San Francisco 2 N.Y. Mets 10, Chicago White Sox 5 Cleveland 4, Colorado 3 Cincinnati 11, Arizona 5 San Diego 7, Minnesota 5

Sunday’s Games

Philadelphia 6, St. Louis 4 Miami 6, Washington 2 Chicago White Sox 2, N.Y. Mets 1 Boston 5, San Francisco 4 Cleveland 7, Colorado 2 L.A. Dodgers 4, Pittsburgh 0 San Diego 8, Minnesota 1 Arizona 5, Cincinnati 3 Chicago Cubs 19, Seattle 2 Atlanta at Milwaukee, n

Monday’s Games

Boston (Suarez 5-3) at Miami (TBD), 5:40 p.m. Colorado (Feltner 5-7) at Washington (Cavalli 11-5), 5:45 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Gausman 6-11) at Arizona (Kelly 8-11), 8:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Wheeler 10-4) at Seattle (Gilbert 10-7), 8:40 p.m. Pittsburgh (Ashcraft 13-5) at San Diego (Ray 11-7), 8:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Burns 14-2) at San Francisco (Whisenhunt 3-4), 8:45 p.m.

Pro football NFL Glance Thursday’s Games

Las Vegas 22, Houston 20 San Francisco 41, L.A. Chargers 17

Friday’s Games

N.Y. Jets 17, Pittsburgh 0 Carolina 34, Jacksonville 17 Green Bay 33, Denver 13 Saturday’s Games Detroit 17, Washington 13 Atlanta 34, Indianapolis 6 Baltimore 13, Minnesota 3 Buffalo 31, Cleveland 7 L.A. Rams 34, New Orleans 0 N.Y. Giants 26, Miami 3 Cincinnati 27, Chicago 9 New England 24, Philadelphia 21 Tampa Bay 16, Kansas City 15 Dallas 34, Arizona 13

Sunday’s Games

Seattle at Tennessee, n

Thursday, Aug. 27

Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 6 p.m. New England at Cleveland, 7 p.m. San Francisco at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. L.A. Rams at L.A. Chargers, 9 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 28

Washington at Baltimore, 5 p.m. Atlanta at Miami, 6 p.m. Houston at Carolina, 6 p.m. N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets, 6:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m. Arizona at Green Bay, 7 p.m. Cincinnati at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. New Orleans at Dallas, 7 p.m. Seattle at Kansas City, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Denver, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29

Detroit at Indianapolis, noon Chicago at Tennessee, 5 p.m.

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Sent RHP Félix Bautista on a rehab assignment to Chesapeake (EL). DETROIT TIGERS — Selected the contract of LHP Andrew Sears from Toledo (IL). Optioned LHP Enmanuel De Jesus to Toledo.

LIVING

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

M o n d ay, au g u s t 24, 2026

5Cn

Here’s the scoop on ice cream cones

Which way?

American immigrants credited for ingenious invention

BY DEE-ANN DURBIN Associated Press

Why do so many people in Louisiana back into parking spaces, especially trucks?

BY IZZY WOLLFARTH

ä See CURIOUS, page 6C

GETTy IMAGES PHOTO

Minutes after Amy King ﬂew into Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, she stopped for a cup of coffee. She was visiting from Liberty, Missouri, and couldn’t help but wonder why all the trucks in the parking lot had pulled into the parking spaces backwards. “Is this a Louisiana thing?” she asked her friend. She decided to pose the question to Curious Louisiana — why do so many people in Louisiana back into parking spaces? “For me, it takes so much more effort to back into a parking space that I’m just curious why people do it — why they take the extra time to do it?” King asked. Turns out, back-in parking is a practice linked to decades-old industries in the world — the military, oil and gas companies and even healthcare. For Louisiana businesses, reverse parking is about safety. Acadian Ambulance Service, a private ambulance company covering emergency transport in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee, encourages back-in parking for safety reasons. Ashley Matthews, a National Registry Advanced Emergency Medical Technician at Acadian Ambulance Service, explained that every second counts in an emergency situation. “If the scene is not safe anymore for whatever reason, if we need to respond really quickly to an emergency, it’s really easier and cuts down on a few minutes on time to be able to pull out versus backing out,” said Matthews. Other companies like American Automobile Association, a nationwide company providing roadside assistance, also urge drivers to reverse into parking spaces whenever possible. While the exact date of reverse parking is unknown, it appears to have started in the military back in the mid-20th century. “They introduced back-end parking to help build military tactical habits or behaviors in

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO

Staff writer

DETROIT — Read this quickly, before it melts. Ice cream was a rare and expensive treat for centuries because of the difficulty of storing ice. In the summer of 1790, President George Washington spent $200 on ice cream, the equivalent of $7,259 today, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. By the 1800s, inventions like mechanical refrigeration had made ice cream cheaper and more accessible. But America’s pushcart vendors needed a way to serve ice cream to customers. Enter “penny licks.” Customers would pay a penny for a scoop of ice cream served in a thick glass, which they would lick clean and hand back to the vendor. The glass — sometimes rinsed, sometimes not — was then filled for the next customer. But vendors were frustrated by broken glass and cities were concerned about the spread of disease. London banned penny licks in 1898. Italian immigrants came to the rescue. In 1902, Antonio Valvona, an ice-cream maker living in Manchester, England, was granted a U.S. patent for a metal mold that could form edible waffle-like cups. He quickly started selling the cups on both sides of the Atlantic. The following year, Italo Marchiony, an ice cream vendor in New York, was granted a patent for a similar device. Marchiony went on to develop the ice-cream sandwich. But it was the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair that gave the ice-cream cone its now-familiar shape and vaulted it to popularity. Several concessionaires at the fair have been touted as the inventors of the ice-cream cone. Joy Baking Group, founded in 1918 and currently making 2 billion cones a year, credits Ernest Hamwi, a 20-year-old Syrian immigrant. Hamwi was selling zalabiyeh — a crisp, fried pastry — in a booth next to Albert Aboussie, a Lebanese-born ice cream vendor. When Aboussie ran out of paper cups, Hamwi began rolling his pastries into cones dubbed “cornucopias.” They were an instant hit. By 1910, “cornucopia” had been simplified to “cone,” and Hamwi

ä See CONES, page 6C

Artisans endure behind Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar BY FRANCISCO SECO Associated Press

ISTANBUL — For centuries, Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar has been more than a marketplace. Behind its crowded passageways, generations of craftspeople have made, repaired and restored the objects that eventually emerge for sale. In workshops and in narrow streets surrounding the bazaar, casters shape molten metal over

ﬁre. Engravers add detail. Polishers bring ﬁnished pieces to a shine. A single object can pass through several specialists before reaching a merchant’s counter. Much of that work happens out of sight, in rooms crowded with tools and machinery and darkened by years of dust, smoke and heat. The artisans’ quarter is also a community. Tea circulates through

ä See ARTISANS, page 6C

Master sand casters Mevlut, left, and Ahmet yildirim make molds for pouring molten metal in their workshop in the Buyukhan artisan quarter in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 6. ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By FRANCISCO SECO

6C ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Tonsillectomy can help sleep apnea Dear Doctors: My 22-year-old son was tested for sleep apnea because of his snoring. The ENT suggested a tonsillectomy as an option. He also has a severe nut allergy with anaphylaxis reactions. I was wondering if removing his tonsils would affect the immune system and his allergic reaction. Dear Reader: Let’s begin with tonsils. Those twin mounds of tissue look unassuming, like a physiological afterthought. But as your question suggests, they are front-line organs of the immune system. Perched at the entrance to the respiratory tract, tonsils intercept incoming bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Then, by producing antibodies and activating certain types of immune cells, they help teach the body’s defenses to recognize potential

Dr. Elizabeth Ko Dr. Eve Glazier ASK THE dOCTORS

threats in the future. Building this kind of long-term immune memory is crucial in a child’s early years. By the time we reach our late teens and early 20s, though, tonsils have completed most of that work. At the same time, due to their shape and location, they can become a source of health problems. Tonsils can become chronically inﬂamed or infected, interfere

with breathing or swallowing, contribute to snoring or even cause obstructive sleep apnea. This is a potentially dangerous condition in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. In those cases, a tonsillectomy may be helpful. Considering the role that tonsils play in immune function, your concern about your son’s nut allergy is understandable. However, food allergies are driven by immune pathways that do not depend on the tonsils. As a result, a tonsillectomy would not worsen — or ease — an existing food allergy. What it could do is free up room in the back of his throat. That additional space could widen his airway, which is likely why his doctor has presented it as an option. Although tonsillectomy is often associated with childhood, adults

like your son often undergo the procedure. Beneﬁts include less snoring, lowered risk of obstructive sleep apnea and fewer recurring infections. The most common risks of the surgery include excessive bleeding during or after the surgery, swelling of the surgical area, infection and reaction to anesthesia. As with all surgeries, the process begins with a health evaluation to make sure the person can withstand the rigors of surgery. A pre-op assessment typically includes a medical history, a physical exam and diagnostic testing. This may consist of blood work, urinalysis and in some cases, cardiac testing. The surgery itself takes about 30 minutes. The entire visit for the operation, from check-in to discharge, typically takes several

hours. Recovery from a tonsillectomy takes about two weeks. Unfortunately, post-surgical pain is common. Removing the tonsils leaves raw, open surfaces, which can remain painful for up to two weeks. Most people notice improvements in snoring and breathing within a few weeks. However, postsurgical swelling can temporarily mask the full beneﬁt. That means it can take a month or longer to judge the results. If sleep apnea remains a concern, a follow-up sleep study may be recommended. Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet.ucla. edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Monday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2026. There are 129 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida; the storm resulted in 65 deaths and caused more than $26 billion in damage across Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas. Also on this date: In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the still-under-construction Capitol and the White House, as well as other public buildings. In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, nonstop, from coast to coast. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force. In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States. In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon; he has repeatedly been denied parole. In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. In 1991, in response to a coup attempt by hard-line Communist leaders attempting to reassert control over the Soviet Union, Ukrainian parliamentarians voted to approve a Declaration of Independence for the state of Ukraine. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a fullfledged planet, demoting it to the status of a “dwarf planet.” In 2012, a Norwegian court found Anders Behring Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for twin attacks on July 22, 2011, that killed 77 people; he received a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended as long as he is considered dangerous to society. In 2018, the family of Arizona Sen. John McCain announced that he had discontinued medical treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer; McCain died the following day. In 2019, police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and was later taken off life support and died. Today’s Birthdays: Composermusician Mason Williams is 88. R&B singer Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites) is 84. WWE co-founder Vince McMahon is 81. Author Paulo Coelho is 79. Actor Anne Archer is 79. Author Alexander McCall Smith is 78. Composer Jean-Michel Jarre is 78. Author Orson Scott Card is 75. Poet Linton Kwesi Johnson is 74. Actor-writer Stephen Fry is 69. Actor Steve Guttenberg is 68. Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is 66. Actor Jared Harris is 65. Actor Marlee Matlin is 61. Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is 61. Film director Ava DuVernay is 54. Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 53. Actor James D’Arcy is 52. Actor Alex O’Loughlin is 50. Author John Green is 49. Actor Chad Michael Murray is 45.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTOS By FRANCISCO SECO

Master polisher yucel Gur polishes a metal object in his workshop in the Buyukhan artisan quarter in Istanbul, Turkey.

ARTISANS

Continued from page 5C its courtyards and workshops. Craftsmen stop for lunch, gather over games of backgammon or smoke a water pipe between jobs. But that world is changing. Some production has moved away from Istanbul’s historic center to larger, more modern workshops. Technology has changed how and where goods are made. Some traditional trades struggle to attract younger people willing to spend years learning the work. Others have adapted, sustained by repair work, tourism and continued demand for objects made or ﬁnished by hand.

ABOVE: Master craftsmen specializing in inlay and relief work, Nejat Kilic, right, and Halit Cakar work in their workshop in Istanbul’s Eminonu commercial district earlier this month. RIGHT: A wall clock hangs in the workshop of polishers yucel and Murat Gur.

CURIOUS

Continued from page 5C soldiers, airmen, and Navy personnel to get them in a better mode in case something happened — evacuation, incoming ﬁre, emergency, medical needs,” said Jonas “JJ” Johnnie, vice president of safety and training at Industrial Safety Solutions, a company in charge of safety management systems, headquartered in Youngsville. In the military, reverse parking, also known as tactical or combat parking, enhances security in operational situations — offering a quick departure in the case of an emergency. Johnnie said reverse parking has organically grown in popularity thanks to the oil and gas industry’s safety standards and practices. Within some companies and industry cultures, the reverse parking practice is so common that new hires often quickly make it their habit as well — hence, the practice’s continued growth throughout the region.

Backing into parking spots and reversing, however is not always a point of confidence for new and inexperienced drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that in 2021, an estimated 3,990 people were killed in nontraffic crashes, with 23% of those deaths resulting from people being struck by vehicles backing up. Similarly, data shows that 64,838 people were injured in nontraffic crashes in 2021, with 37% of injuries resulting from vehicles backing up. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Transportation mandated backup camera technology in all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds by May 2018, after data showed that both children and seniors were the primary victims of back-over accidents. The percentage of back-over deaths since 2017 has fluctuated but ultimately decreased as of 2021. Brian Wolshon, professor of engineering at Louisiana State University, thinks there may be a generational gap in how reverse parking is done because of new technology. “My daughter who’s 18, I don’t

even think she relies on her mirrors. She only looks at her backup camera, and I rely on my mirrors because I grew up and became a driver without a backup camera,” said Wolshon. Still, some local Louisiana infrastructure could discourage back-in parking. For example, parking metered spaces and lots often require cars to park their vehicles head ﬁrst or facing the meter. Louisiana law leaves this to the discretion of local city governments and lawmakers to impose a fee on vehicles that park opposite the meter Although reader King doesn’t reverse as often as others she sees, she still can’t help but back into parking spaces for emergencies of her own. Months after her trip to Louisiana, King said she found herself backing into a parking space. “I was going with a friend to a show and I backed in so that I could get out faster after the show,” King said. “I just didn’t want to wait in a long line to exit the parking garage.” Perhaps King’s question turned into a self-fulﬁlling prophecy.

CONES

Continued from page 5C founded the Missouri Cone Co. Cone technology quickly advanced, with machines replacing hand-rolling. For those who wanted a lighter texture, the cake cone arrived in the early 1940s — around the time Dairy Queen and BaskinRobbins emerged. Increasingly healthconscious Americans eat less ice cream than they used to. In 1984, the average American consumed 17.8 pounds of regular ice cream each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By 2024, that had fallen to 12 pounds. But as anyone from George Washington to Ben & Jerry could tell you, on a hot summer night it’s a treat that’s hard to beat.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

For better or For WorSe

zodIAC VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Distance yourself from impulsive situations, temptation and erratic decisions. Refuse to feel cornered or vulnerable. Use your intelligence to guide you forward. LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Listen to your inner voice. Now is not the time to waffle. Take the time to research and find answers and solutions before committing to something that can affect your personal or professional life. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Tone it down. Too much of anything will work against you. Distance yourself from those pressuring you to go big or go home. Put more effort into doing what's best for you. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Change begins with you and your lifestyle. Don't limit yourself. When there's a will, there's a way to satisfy your heart's desire. Focus on home, comfort and convenience. cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Welcome a life lesson. Learn to express yourself with thought and patience. An act in haste will lead to setbacks and regret, and it will send the wrong message. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Positive change is within reach. Don't sell yourself short; go after what you want. Control the outcome instead of waiting for things to happen. Trust and believe in your talent and skills. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Put your energy where it counts. How you relate to others will make a difference in what you get

back from the conversations you have and the truths you speak. Stick to your beliefs. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Precision and detail, along with good timing, will be necessary if you want to succeed. Use your connections and experience to zigzag your way through the dips and dives you face professionally and financially. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Take charge, put a plan of action in place and pursue your dreams. Refuse to let obstacles stand in your way. Deal with matters head-on, and clear your path to freedom. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Push for change. Do your research, and forge ahead with the intent of making a difference. A commitment to yourself or someone you love is favored. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Analyze every situation before you engage. Having a clear picture of what's unfolding is critical to the outcome. Refuse to let anyone talk you into something that isn't in your best interest. Know when to say no. LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Reach out, be supportive and get involved. Taking an active role in bringing about change will satisfy your soul and encourage you to engage with like-minded people. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY CeLebrItY CIpher Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

toDAy's cLuE: W EQuALs A

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● 9C

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B.C.

Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Nancy Mitford, an English novelist who was perhaps best known for her essay about U and non-U English (upper class and non-upper class), said, “Surely a king who loves pleasure is less dangerous than one who loves glory.” At the bridge table, a king who takes a trick is more pleasurable than one who proves powerless. Worse, though, is a king who does not take a trick when it should have done. In this deal, East has to make the key plays. Defending against four hearts, how should East plan the defense after West leads the club queen? South’s two-heart rebid guaranteed at least a six-card suit and promised 12-14 high-card points. One of the keys of good defensive play is that if you lead a low card from length, you are promising at least one honor in that suit and expressing an interest in trying to win tricks in that suit. And this applies right through the deal, not just at trick one. Sometimes, though, your low card is not so low. Then you need to hope that partner is alive to the possibility. East takes the first trick with his club ace; ducking cannot be right, because declarer might have a singleton king. Then, though, returning a club probably will not help. Dummy’s spades are threatening to provide declarer with discards. Instead, East should shift to the

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

diamond eight. If partner does not have the ace, this play will at worst concede an unnecessary overtrick. Here, though, West should win the trick and return the diamond two, lowest from three remaining cards. This gives the defenders the first four tricks for down one. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

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

toDAy’s WoRD — LAconIc: lah-KON-ik: Concise to the point of seeming rude or

Bizarro

marmaduKe

mysterious. Average mark 12 words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find 19 or more words in LACONIC? sAtuRDAy’s WoRD — VInEGAR vain vainer vane vang vegan vein vier vine virga naive nave

near earing earn gain gainer gave gear give given giver gnar

grain grave grin ager anger aver rage ragi rain rang range

rani rave raven ravine raving regain reign rein ring rive riven

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.” Proverbs 13:3

Think before you speak. — G.E. Dean

10C ● Monday,August 24, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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TODAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Showers and a heavier t-storm

A t-storm around in the p.m.

Some rain and a thunderstorm

Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm

Some rain and a thunderstorm

A stray afternoon thunderstorm

HIGH

LOW

96° 78°

LOW

94° 78°

LOW

95° 78°

Beaumont 97/77 Port Arthur 96/77

Baton Rouge 95/76

Lake Charles 94/79

New Orleans 96/78 Houma 95/76

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

Hattiesburg 90/74

Alexandria 98/76

Lafayette 96/78

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

90° 73°

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

YESTERDAY

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

AUG 27

City

Austin Boston dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

PRECIPITATION

99°/81° 92°/74° 92°/74° 105° in 2023 59° in 1956

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

FULL

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

LOW

91° 76°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 92/74

Many 102/77

LOW

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Sunday

Longview 105/79

-0s

93° 76°

Monroe 92/75

Shreveport 102/78

-10s

LOW

Once again today across southwest Louisiana, we’re under a major or an extreme heat risk. Heat index values this afternoon could rise to 110 or higher while the actual temperatures will be above average, rising to the upper 90s. The brutal heat that we’re expecting has also prompted another heat advisory issued by the National Weather Service for all of Acadiana. If you are working or playing outdoors, take frequent breaks, find the shade, stay hydrated and apply the sunscreen.

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

HIGH

6:09p 12:11p 5:24a 7:25a 7:52a 7:08a 9:00a

6:40 a.m. 7:40 p.m. 5:45 p.m. 3:09 a.m.

LAST

NEW

SEP 4

106 82 107 61 89 105 82 93 88

TODAY Lo

76 65 83 51 79 83 61 80 61

FIRST

SEP 10

s s pc c r s pc t pc

SEP 18

104 79 105 58 89 108 83 93 89

TUE. Lo

76 64 81 46 75 87 63 80 65

s s pc r sh s pc t t

FT.

LOW

0.00” 2.10” 4.61” 42.89” 42.03”

FT.

HIGH

0.8 5:21a 0.0 1.7 11:32p 0.0 2.0 6:59p 0.0 2.1 11:00p 0.3 1.5 7:13p 0.1 1.7 5:27p 0.0 1.8 8:15p 0.1

FT.

---------------

MOdERATE

REAdING 64 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SOURCE: LOUISIANA dEQ ANd AIRNOW.GOV

LOW

---------------

FT.

---------------

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 9:11a Tuesday 9:55a Wednesday 10:38a Thursday 11:21a Friday 12:05p Saturday 12:29a Sunday 1:16a

City

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

96 94 82 109 71 88 83 82 91

2:58a 3:43a 4:26a 5:10a 5:54a 6:40a 7:27a

TODAY Lo

78 76 64 89 57 64 65 71 78

9:35p 10:19p 11:01p 11:44p ---12:50p 1:39p

t t s t pc s pc s t

TODAY

MOdERATE

90 93 82 114 75 88 86 83 92

3:23p 4:07p 4:50p 5:32p 6:16p 7:01p 7:50p

TUE. Lo

77 77 67 90 58 66 69 73 77

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

t t s s pc s pc s t

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

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

SUN. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

12.90 24.20 25.20 9.80 5.10 3.82 3.30

+0.74 +1.62 +1.10 +0.90 +0.30 +0.50 +0.22

29.88

+1.10

-1.45

-0.09

18 29 8

-0.65 10.36 1.30

+0.58 +0.27 +0.16

13 15

2.40 0.80

+0.96 +0.08

47 34 29 20 12 6

9.54 6.01 4.57 4.22 3.00 1.63

+0.74 +0.58 +0.53 +0.31 +0.20 +0.16

data as of 7 a.m. Sunday

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