The Acadiana Advocate 08-29-2026 by The Advocate

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La. GOP stays bullish on data centers Other states taking steps to block or tighten regulations

BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAd KEMP

The Lafayette High football team takes the field for their game against Cecilia during their matchup in the 74th Annual Kiwanis Jamboree at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium on Thursday in Lafayette.

READY, SET, HUT

74th Annual Kiwanis Jamboree kicks off 2026-27 high school football season

The massive build-out of data centers to power the AI industry is stirring a political reckoning across the country, with Republican and Democratic elected officials alike taking new steps to either block or more tightly regulate data centers as voter attitudes shift against them. You wouldn’t know it by looking at Louisiana. Republican leaders here, led by Gov. Jeff Landry, sound as bullish as ever on luring data centers to the state, using confidentiality agreements to offer tax breaks and fast-tracking approvals for the electric infrastructure that the world’s biggest AI companies need for the projects. Even as politicians across the country turn against data centers, Landry and others here are standing firm in their view that data centers will be

ä See DATA, page 4A

Southside student Nevaeh Ire Williams is crowned queen of the 74th Annual Kiwanis Jamboree at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium on Thursday. ABOVE: St. Thomas More cheerleaders run with flags after a touchdown against Breaux Bridge during their matchup in the jamboree on Thursday. RIGHT: Southside students and cheerleaders hype up the team against Carencro during their game in the 74th Annual Kiwanis Jamboree at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

Republican Party’s backings provoke backlash ‘We should be more independent’ BY TYLER BRIDGES

Staff writer

“That is going to be exceptionally difﬁcult to deal with, to say the least,” she said. Iran’s “conﬁdence has grown over the months that it cannot only survive, but it can prevail, it can reset the regional landscape.” In the runup to the war, the Islamic Republic appeared more vulnerable than at any point since Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded in 1980. Iran’s currency had cratered, setting off some of the biggest

Louisiana Republican Party leaders hoped to provide clarity for rank-and-file voters by making endorsements Thursday in two hotly contested congressional races. Instead, they sowed discord and anger within the party. State Rep. Michael Echols, of Monroe, who didn’t receive one of the coveted endorsements, called the process an “embarrassing backroom political gathering.” Meanwhile, Coy Fortenberry, a member of the party’s state central committee, emailed his 227 colleagues on Friday to call for a revamp of the endorsement process, questioned actions by the party chair and executive director and said Gov. Jeff Landry has too much influence over its decisions. “The endorsement process is flawed,” said Michael Chittom, a longtime state central committee member from Baton Rouge. “We should straighten it out. We should be more independent than we are from outside forces.” The conflict is causing a political

ä See WAR, page 5A

ä See ENDORSEMENT, page 4A

Middle East transformed by war in unexpected ways U.S., Israel dealing with ‘hardened regime’

The Islamic Republic survived the assassination of its top leaders and weeks of heavy bombing, and found a potent form of leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. Gulf Arab nations saw worrying gaps open up in the American security BY JOSEPH KRAUSS umbrella they have relied on for Associated Press decades — and some are looking It’s been six months since at alternatives. Israel has once again thrashed the United States and Israel attacked Iran with the perennial its enemies without defeating goal of transforming the Middle them, and after nearly three East through military force. The years of war in Gaza and new region has changed, but not in the land seizures, is at risk of a genway they had hoped. erational rupture with the U.S.,

WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 74 PAGE 6A

its closest ally. Hopes of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia — another enduring U.S. and Israeli aspiration — have dimmed even further. When they attacked Iran on Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel hoped to topple its clerical leadership and replace it with a pro-Western government. Instead, they’ve ended up with a “hardened and very radical regime,” said Barbara Leaf, a former ambassador who served as assistant secretary of state for the Middle East in the Biden administration.

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102Nd yEAR, NO. 60

2A ● Saturday, August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Israeli strikes kill 5 in Gaza, 3 in West Bank

Israeli airstrikes killed five people in Gaza and three in the West Bank on Friday, hospital officials said, despite a fragile ceasefire brokered by the United States. Two brothers and another relative died in a strike on the family’s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Two separate Israeli strikes killed one person each in Gaza City, according to health officials at Shifa hospital. Israel’s military confirmed the Gaza strikes but said it was not aware of the one in Khan Younis. The five deaths are among more than 1,300 Palestinians killed in airstrikes since an October ceasefire deal, Gaza health officials say. Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it killed three Palestinians in an airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, describing one of the dead as a Hamas operative and the two others as accomplices. The military identified one of the targets as Qais Bitawi who was alleged to be “involved in advancing significant terrorist activity.” The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Bitawi had been killed, along with two others. Hamas condemned the strike as a “heinous crime.” Violence has escalated in the West Bank, where at least 87 Palestinians have been killed in attacks while three Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in 2026.

Ebola outbreak in Congo spreads

BUNIA, Congo — The fastestgrowing Ebola outbreak in history has spread to two new health zones in eastern Congo, with a total of 60 now affected, according to the latest government figures published on Friday. The two new zones affected are Biena and Manguredjipa in Congo’s North Kivu province, where the case fatality rate is much higher than the overall rate of 48%, due in part to delayed response efforts, according to Congo’s Ministry of Health data. It said the outbreak has recorded 5,794 confirmed cases, including 2,786 deaths, as it is spreading at an unprecedented speed, faster than efforts to track and slow it. The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The World Health Organization has said that it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Aid group Doctors Without Borders said on Friday it had opened a new treatment center in Beni in North Kivu to enable a faster response in what it said was one of the hardest-hit areas. While the large majority of cases are concentrated in northeastern Ituri province, North Kivu has an Ebola fatality rate of close to 69%, one of the highest in the country, according to the latest government figures.

SpaceX recovers Starship from ocean

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX has pulled off its biggest salvage operation yet, recovering its most recently launched Starship from the Indian Ocean. Elon Musk’s company is now in the process of shipping Starship back to its home base in Texas, a trip expected to take several months. SpaceX shared pictures of the recovery effort near Christmas Island late this week. Starship — the biggest and most powerful rocket in the world — blasted off July 24 from Starbase, Texas. It was the 13th test flight of a full-up Starship, but unlike all the others, it survived the hourlong spaceskimming flight and remained floating and intact. “Congratulations to the entire SpaceX Recovery team for battling through challenging conditions to give our engineers access to a wealth of data to continue rapidly developing Starship,” the company said via X.

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FLOODING IN THE HIMALAYAS

Rescuers retrieve flood survivors death toll climbs in disaster

BY NIRANJAN SHRESTHA and SHRISTI KAFLE Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Rescuers pulled out survivors caked in dark brown mud and helicopters lifted stranded people to safety, as Nepal and China raced to respond to catastrophic flash floods that killed nearly 600 people and left almost 2,500 missing. The rescue efforts included a team that rappelled into a severely damaged checkpoint area on the Chinese side of the border between the two countries. Rescuers were on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up in the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow. Nepal’s army was deployed to help rescue more than 100 people believed trapped inside a tunnel at a hydropower plant located in the country’s worst-hit district. Like elsewhere in the disaster zone, their work was complicated by thick layers of mud that covered the site. The rappelling rescue team descended into the once-bustling bordercrossing area from wooded mountain slopes, the state broadcaster China Central Television said. “As far as I can see, it’s nothing but debris,” rescue official Zou Mingqi told state media. The area where travelers went through border control to enter or leave China has been flattened to a muddy area, according to satellite images.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By dAR yASIN

A relative consoles Sabina dangal on Friday outside a government hospital as she waits for news of her brother, who is missing after flash floods, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The floods have killed 579 in Nepal, the country’s disaster-management authority said Friday. Nepali police later put the number of deaths at 553. There was little information on survivors on the Chinese side, where the death toll rose to seven Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders’ efforts to direct the relief response. More than 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far. Meanwhile, the number of people who were unaccounted for in the country nearly doubled to 1,924 as more local residents were added to the tally. China’s state media said 554 people were missing on the Chinese side. Hundreds of the missing are foreigners in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak. In other developments, Nepal on Friday reversed an earlier decision and said it would allow foreign teams and experts to help with rescue efforts, appar-

ently under pressure from other countries, especially those whose citizens are unaccounted for, a leading English-language newspaper, The Kathmandu Post, reported. Nepali police issued a fresh alert Friday after receiving information that a dam on the Tibet side had burst. Security personnel and rescue and relief workers were told to stay on high alert and move to a safe location if necessary. It was unclear if the dam bursting was related to flooding concerns over the lake that formed after the initial flash floods. Chinese broadcaster CCTV said the newly formed lake, located more than 6 miles from Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal, sits at an elevation of 9,680 feet. Nepali and Chinese authorities earlier warned of more flooding from the lake, which was already overflowing. Rescue workers heading to the disaster zone were ordered to stop temporarily Friday due

to concern the lake would release more water and debris, and people in potentially affected areas were urged to move to safer ground. Monitoring data from the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources later showed that the lake had dwindled in size. The water level dropped by 32 feet from the high point on Thursday morning, the state broadcaster said. Some 680 rescuers eventually reached the Gyirong area by foot and via rafts. Some were dropped down from drones flown to the area, CCTV footage showed. “Anyone, anyone?” rescuers yelled, according to footage by the broadcaster. It was not immediately known how many people were at the border checkpoint building when the ﬂoods hit. In Nepal’s Rasuwa district, Nepali army rescuers struggled to help more than 100 people believed to be trapped by thick mud in a tunnel that’s part of the Up-

per Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project. The army said it had rescued 350 people from the tunnel so far. Video from the scene showed rescuers helping a man covered in mud out of the tunnel by pulling and pushing. “It is complicated to find the entry and exit points of the tunnel because everything has been covered by mud,” Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said. Nepal’s disaster-management authority said 3,253 people had been airlifted by helicopter from the disaster area. The search-and-rescue efforts have been supported by an outpouring of financial support from neighboring countries, including small, poorer countries like Sri Lanka, said Kanni Wignaraja, the United Nations development agency’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific. “Sri Lanka has its own huge fiscal problems, but it has just sent $1 million immediately to the Nepal government,” Wignaraja said. Nepal’s tourism board has said that among the missing are more than 500 foreigners. While the Nepal government shared a public list of people they rescued, there was little information about victims on the Chinese side of the border. Chinese government officials stuck to their tight media controls. Information about major disasters is typically released with a delay and without personal stories of victims. State media has focused on stories of rescuers working to reach the disaster site or reporting on instructions from top leaders. About 90 Americans were unaccounted for.

Trump administration appeals ruling on order Judge blocked new limitations on mail voting

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is appealing a judge’s ruling that blocked limitations on mail voting before the midterm elections, the latest twist in a court ﬁght unfolding days before the ﬁrst states begin sending out mail ballots for the pivotal Novem-

ber elections. The notice of appeal ﬁled Friday comes after a federal judge in Boston handed down a new decision blocking implementation of an executive order from President Donald Trump for the next two weeks. The Supreme Court previously allowed the plan to move ahead on procedural grounds, but hasn’t decided whether it’s legal. The U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals will next consider the case, though it could soon be back before the nation’s highest court.

Under Trump’s executive order, the U.S. Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not submit lists of eligible voters and follow a uniform envelope style. The White House calls the plan a set of “commonsense measures” aimed at protecting ballot security, and calls the order blocking it “unreasoned and unlawful.” The plaintiffs didn’t have immediate comment on the appeal. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani found that

Report: Chemical tank was called unfit for service before failure BY CLAIRE RUSH Associated Press

An inspection contractor found a chemical tank at a Washington state paper mill “not ﬁt for continued service” 10 months before it failed in May, killing 11 in one of the deadliest U.S. workplace disasters in recent decades, according to a federal report released Friday. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s update about the May 26 failure in Longview, which expelled enough caustic liquid to blow out building walls, is part of an ongoing investigation. The federal agency said it is still determining the cause of the failure. The board found that the contractor provided Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company with recommendations for internal inspections and shell repairs, but the company did none between a July 2025 inspection and the May 2026 failure. “Because the investigation remains ongoing, we will not comment on individual ﬁndings or documents at this time,” an emailed statement from Nippon spokesperson Sam Jefferies said Friday. “Our focus remains on supporting affected families and employees and taking the necessary steps toward fully reopening the Longview facility.” Jefferies said the company will contin-

SEATTLE TIMES FILE PHOTO By KAREN dUCEy

damage is seen on May 26 at Nippon dynawave Packaging Co. after a tank containing hazardous liquid imploded in Longview, Wash.

ue to cooperate fully with the board. The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers released a statement on Friday saying the board’s ﬁndings were “deeply troubling.” “The update raises urgent questions about how technical ﬁndings and recommendations concerning the tank were communicated, evaluated and incorporated into decisions about its continued operation,” the statement said. “The families and workforce deserve a complete accounting of that process.”

states don’t have the time or money to design and produce new ballots, update their systems and train ofﬁcials to upload voter data to the Postal Service in the short time be-

fore the midterm elections. The first mail ballots of the general election to determine control of Congress are scheduled to be sent out next Friday.

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Russian drones batter Ukraine’s Kyiv region BY HANNA ARHIROVA and BARRY HATTON Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces on Friday resumed their drone barrage of Ukraine’s Kyiv region, hitting more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots in a second straight day of aerial attacks, ofﬁcials said. Prolonged air raids in Kyiv on Thursday essentially locked down the Ukrainian capital for 15 hours, the Foreign Ministry said, choking the economy and severely disrupting civilian life more than 41/2 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Even longer alerts are a daily reality in regions closer to the front line, the ministry said. Russian drone and missile attacks are also taking aim at the power grid in what Ukrainian ofﬁcials say is an annual campaign to “weaponize winter.” In Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on the Black Sea, where glide bombs a day earlier forced a combined heat and power plant to shut down, officials predicted a winter of extended outages and told

people to move elsewhere if they could. Russian strikes in the Kyiv region damaged 14 warehouses, 16 private houses, three apartment buildings and 16 vehicles, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration, said Friday. A second drone hit one location after emergency crews were deployed, the State Emergency Service said, in what is termed by the military as a “double tap” that targets first responders. The attacks killed one person and wounded two others, according to ofﬁcials. The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces overnight struck a warehouse in the Kyiv region that stores Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missiles and fuel for rocket boosters. Ukrainian officials didn’t immediately confirm the Russian claim, and The Associated Press couldn’t verify it. Recent strikes have damaged numerous warehouses across Kyiv and the wider region, including facilities storing books, food and other consumer goods.

PROVIdEd PHOTO By UKRAINIAN EMERGENCy SERVICE

Cars burn Friday as firefighters try to put out a blaze following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine. The attacks stretched into daylight hours, and Tkachenko urged residents to stay in safe locations and heed air raid alerts. Russia is launching small numbers of fast-moving jetpowered drones in waves in an attempt to paralyze the capital, according to Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disin-

formation at the National Security and Defense Council. “The goal is to exhaust air defenses and the population,” he said on social media on Friday. Kyiv region authorities said that air quality worsened because of the attacks and warned people in some areas to keep their windows closed and limit their time

outdoors. Four Russian glide bombs destroyed a sorting center belonging to the postal service Nova Poshta in the northern Sumy region, and a drone smashed one of its depots in the Kyiv region, the company said. In the southern Kherson region, which is about 70% under Russian control, of-

ficials urged tens of thousands of residents to move to safer regions because of the possibility of prolonged power and heating outages this winter. “Kherson may be without electricity and heat not for hours or days, but for a long time. And we need to prepare for this now,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, in a social media post late Thursday. Russia has intensified attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, with 170 glide bombs dropped on the Kherson region since July 1 — more than in the ﬁrst six months of the year, Prokudin said. Russia has also launched more than 1,700 attack drones over the past two months, increasingly using jet-powered Shahed and Gerbera drones against critical infrastructure, he said, and attacks by smaller drones rose to 6,500 in the past week alone. Authorities will offer help with evacuation, transportation, resettlement and social support for those who decide to leave, he said.

Trump loses again in bid to erase hush money conviction BY MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday once again spurned Donald Trump’s effort to erase his hush money conviction, rejecting the president’s bid to move the state court case to federal court and have it dismissed on presidential immunity grounds. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein said Trump’s reasons for renewing his request were “neither new nor legally sufﬁcient,” particularly his claims that trial testimony by former aides and a lawyer, along with his Twitter state-

ments, infringe on presidential immunity. “They do not; paying hush money to an adult ﬁlm star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity,” the judge said, referring to the $130,000 Trump payoff to adult ﬁlm actor Stormy Daniels. At one point, Hellerstein noted that Trump’s lawyers thought it was his job to merely certify the record in the state trial court to the

2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Federal district courts are not certifying clerks,” the judge wrote. It is the third time Hellerstein has blocked Trump from having the U.S. District Court in Manhattan seize control of the case from the New York court where he was tried and convicted. By midafternoon Friday, Trump’s legal team had notiﬁed the lower court it was appealing the ruling, which a spokesperson for the team called “baseless and lawless.” “The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York

Judge: Pentagon’s measures against Anthropic were ‘illegal and baseless’ BY KAITLYN HUAMANI AP technology writer

A federal judge has ruled in favor of artiﬁcial intelligence company Anthropic in its legal battle against the Pentagon after the government labeled the company as a supply chain risk earlier this year. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin issued a written order Thursday night that the Pentagon acted illegally by punishing the AI company for its criticism of the Department of Defense’s views on AI use. The government is expected to ﬁght the ruling. The dispute between the AI company and the government broke out in February when President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused Anthropic of endangering national security and designated the company a supply chain risk. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company’s products

could be used for mass surveillance or autonomous armed drones. Lin wrote that the government’s actions “were based on a desire to make a public example out of Anthropic for its ‘arrogance’ in criticizing the government, not based on any articulable basis to believe that Anthropic would actually sabotage its model.” An Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement that they welcome the judge’s ruling: “We remain focused on working productively with the government to harness AI for our national security so all Americans benefit from this technology.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the 59-page ruling, Lin, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, wrote that neither the Constitution nor the federal statute the government invoked allows them to “impose sweeping penalties based principally

on Anthropic’s critique of the Administration’s views.” Anthropic sued the Pentagon over the supply chain risk designation in March for what it called an “unlawful campaign of retaliation” over its refusal to allow unrestricted military use of its technology. The legal challenge intensiﬁed an unusually public dispute over how AI can be used in warfare and mass surveillance. Anthropic’s primary tech industry rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, made its own deal to work with the Pentagon just hours after the government punished Anthropic for its stance. Anthropic and OpenAI are each ramping up for buzzy initial public offerings. Anthropic has also filed a separate and narrower case that is still pending in the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. That case involves a different rule the Pentagon is using to try to declare Anthropic a supply chain risk.

National Park Service backs Trump’s arch, despite impact on D.C. sightline BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A new National Park Service report backs President Donald Trump’s proposed arch, despite what it says are adverse effects to the sightline between a host of iconic landmarks in Washington, including the Washington Monument and Lincoln and Jefferson memorials. The report released Friday says the 250-foot-tall memorial arch is likely to disrupt the historical signiﬁcance of dozens of sites near its planned location adjacent

to Memorial Bridge. Many of Washington’s monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reﬂect signiﬁcant moments in the nation’s history and to evoke symbolism through sightlines that connect them to other sites. The arch will disturb the sightline between more iconic Washington landmarks than anticipated, the report said. But the Park Service report says “the same characteristics that make Memorial Circle sensitive from a preservation perspective

are also the characteristics that make it the historically appropriate location for the undertaking.” The project’s effects cannot be “fully avoided without either relocating the Arch away from the historically identiﬁed site or eliminating the principal commemorative feature, both of which would fail to meet the undertaking’s purpose and need,” the report said. “For this reason, alternative locations outside Memorial Circle are not reasonable avoidance alternatives,” the report said.

State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that the Witch Hunt perpetrated by the Manhattan DA be removed to federal court, and immediately overturned and dismissed,” a statement issued on behalf of the legal team said. “President Trump will be ﬁling a powerful appeal, and will continue defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn.” The guilty verdict, reached in May 2024 while Trump was between terms, made him the ﬁrst former — and now current — U.S. president to be convicted of a crime.

Trump is also challenging his conviction through the state court appellate process, which is pending. Hellerstein’s decision came after the 2nd Circuit last year ordered him to reconsider his prior denial. The judge previewed his ruling during oral arguments in February, slamming Trump’s lawyers for legal maneuvers that amounted to taking “two bites at the apple.” State prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump was convicted in May 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business re-

cords to conceal the hush money payment to Daniels, whose claim of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier had threatened to upend his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, which left his conviction intact but spared him any punishment. He had long denied Daniels’ claim and said he did nothing wrong. He has sought to get the conviction overturned both by attempting to move the case to federal court and through the appeals process in state court, which is pending.

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DATA

Continued from page 1A an extraordinary economic boom for Louisiana, which has struggled to make employment and population gains over the past two decades, while other Southern states have prospered. They argue that concerns about electric bills and water use are overblown and that the state has put in place guardrails to prevent problems. By contrast, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced a moratorium on data centers earlier this month as regulators audit the industry. Landry is taking the opposite approach. “We don’t need a moratorium when we can have responsible growth,” the governor said in a statement. In an interview with Fox News last week, Landry continued to double down, saying he didn’t know if “people understand the value of those data centers.” Groups that help elect Republican and Democratic officials across the nation are warning, though, that data centers are becoming a perilous political issue, and several political scientists say Louisiana officials may change their tune if the national backlash makes its way to the state. Legislatures in at least 15 states are considering banning them entirely, according to the National Center for State Courts, and a host of municipalities have sought to prevent them from being built. In Texas, where Abbott is up for reelection this year, politicians are being hit from both sides with data center criticisms. After welcoming data center developments for years, Abbott said recently that data center companies “dug their own graves” and “got the backlash they deserve.” Rural Republican voters feel like their quality of life is being trampled without their consultation, said James Hensen, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, citing polling his organization has done. Democrats there, meanwhile, are capitalizing on an “anticorporate” sentiment among their base. “The problem that Republicans have, particularly at the legislative and congressional level, is that the phone calls are coming from inside the house,” Hensen said. “I don’t see why we would expect rural Louisianans to respond any differently,” he added. There are some signs that data center unease is starting to appear among Louisiana voters. Advocates from the right and left, as well as some residents near proposed data centers, are beginning to pack town halls and regulatory meetings to oppose the build-out. “It is picking up,” said a Republican state lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid upsetting various political factions. “It has not hit the fever pitch it has hit in other (states). But I’ve started to see the chirping.” Landry and state lawmakers are up for reelection in 2027. Robert Collins, political science professor at Dillard University, said Louisiana may simply be a year behind

ENDORSEMENT Continued from page 1A

headache for Landry, who is attempting to reunite conservatives behind him as he gears up for reelection next year. Landry created a split among conservatives when he endorsed and raised money for U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow when she ran in this year’s Senate primary against U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and state Treasurer John Fleming. Landry scored at least a short-term political victory when Letlow defeated both men. Multiple Cassidy and Fleming supporters on the Republican State Central Committee said privately that they believed he intervened in the two endorsements on Thursday by the party’s eightmember executive committee. Rumors that Landry threatened committee members to secure the endorsements spread through Republican ranks on Friday, but no one produced any speciﬁc evidence of this.

A week of political wrangling All of the commotion Friday came after the Louisiana Republican Party’s executive committee on Thursday reconsidered a vote from four days earlier to endorse only state Sen. Blake Miguez in the 6th Congressional District race. The district includes East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes. In the reconsidered vote, the executive committee issued a dual endorsement of Miguez and state Sen. Rick Edmonds. The executive committee also

STAFF PHOTO By JILL PICKETT

Gov. Jeff Landry, center, speaks at an event in February to announce that Amazon plans to build data centers in Caddo and Bossier parishes. He is joined by Roger Wehner, left, vice president of economic development for Amazon, and Matt Vanderzanden, CEO of STACK Infrastructure. the rest of the country. “I do predict as they are built and as people see the environmental effects, a year from now or so you will start seeing new opposition,” Collins said. “The ordinary citizen doesn’t really understand what they do yet.” Several recent national polls show that large majorities of Americans, including Republicans and independents, oppose data centers being built in their area. No polls on the issue have been released publicly in Louisiana. Data centers appear to be a salient issue for Democrats as the fall midterms approach: New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul issued the nation’s ﬁrst statewide moratorium on data centers in July. Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro issued sweeping new regulations for them last week. And the Republican candidate for Senate in Michigan, Mike Rogers, said on Thursday he supports a one-year moratorium, as candidates across the country began launching attack ads on opponents that have supported data centers in the past. Amid some signs of unease in Louisiana, Landry issued an executive order in late June seeking to quell voter fears about electric bills rising because of data centers. The action came after a consultant for state regulators concluded that a proposed Entergy transaction would effectively mean residential ratepayers footing some of the bill for Meta’s data center. Meta disputed the report, and Entergy postponed the plans to acquire the plant. But Landry has also drawn a line in his messaging, saying data centers are not the same as other industries that have pilfered the state. Landry told WRKF radio host Jim Engster last week that he understands that Louisianans have seen industries come into the state for “generations.” “Basically they just extract wealth, right? They cut our forest, they mined our minerals, drilled oil and gas, and sometimes they would come and then they would leave,” he said. “The economic boom we’re having right now. ... It’s here to stay.” Not all residents are on board. At a Public Service Commission meeting earlier this month, dozens spoke out against Meta’s $50 billion data center, citing skepticism that it would be an economic benefit and concern that electric bills will

rise. In a sign of Louisiana leaders’ ongoing support for data centers, the three Republicans on the PSC voted to overturn a judge’s ruling that Meta be forced to turn over more details about its job creation and electric use at the “Hyperion” data center. Commissioner Davante Lewis, D-Baton Rouge, the only member who voted to force Meta to turn over information about the data center’s job creation and electric use, said the issue is “bubbling,” even if it hasn’t become a dominant political issue in Louisiana. He noted that the governor and Legislature aren’t on the ballot until next year. “There’s a complete disconnect from the political class in Louisiana versus the people on the ground,” Lewis said in an interview. “When I’m in communities outside the commission rooms … (Voters) are very deeply concerned with data centers.” “The tide is turning,” he added.

voted to endorse Misti Cordell of West Monroe in the 5th Congressional District race. That district includes Monroe, Alexandria and Hammond and is the one that Letlow is vacating. Miguez, Edmonds and Cordell each had to present signatures from a majority of the members of the state central committee who reside in their districts to request an endorsement from the executive committee. In the case of Miguez and Edmonds, some state central committee members endorsed both men. Getting an endorsement from the executive committee allows a candidate to tell voters that he or she has the ofﬁcial stamp of approval from the Louisiana Republican Party. The endorsed candidate is also potentially eligible to receive funding from the Republican National Party. Miguez and Edmonds are running in a 10-candidate ﬁeld in the 6th Congressional District with the open primary to be held on Nov. 3. Cordell is one of nine candidates in the 5th Congressional District open primary that also will be held on Nov. 3. The latest events began when Miguez received the executive committee’s endorsement Sunday on a 5-1 vote. Political insiders immediately said that that result wouldn’t sit well with Landry. Landry and Miguez have been at odds since Miguez posted on X in November 2024 that the governor needed to do more to cut government spending. Landry immediately slapped back at Miguez.

Before Sunday’s vote by the executive committee, Landry chief of staff Julie Emerson said she told party chair Derek Babcock that the governor favored no endorsement since he believed that voters should decide races with multiple Republican candidates. Instead, the executive committee issued the endorsement for Miguez on the 5-1 vote. Afterward, Babcock said Emerson called him to say that the governor now favored a dual endorsement, since Edmonds had presented 25 signatures for an endorsement compared to 23 for Miguez. Edmonds represents a Baton Rouge district in the state Senate, while Miguez lives in Acadiana outside of the congressional district but owns a home in Baton Rouge. Before Thursday’s vote, Landry called at least one executive committee member, Gena Gore, who is the national committeewoman from Louisiana. “I stood up for myself,” said Gore. “We both expressed our frustrations. We’ve known each other long enough to be able to do that.” Babcock voted for the dual endorsement of Miguez and Edmonds while Gore did not. Also voting for the dual endorsement were Jerry Brouillette, the vice chair; Rick Payton, the ﬁnance chair; Charlie Davis, the secretary; and Roby Dyer, the president of the Louisiana Federation of Republican Women. Besides Gore, voting against the dual endorsement were Roger Villere, the national committeeman, and Dexter Duhon, the treasurer.

Donations and dinners Publicly, Meta has been in lockstep with Landry and a host of Republican political leaders over its “Hyperion” data center, set to be the largest in the world when it’s complete in Richland Parish. And the tech giant’s leaders have taken steps to ingratiate themselves with political leaders here. Last fall, the company donated $76,000 to the Louisiana Republican Party, making it one of the top donors to the party last year. It donated another $10,000 to a Republican legislative committee and $24,000 to Landry himself, the maximum amount allowed under state law. Candidates can take $12,000 from a donor for the primary and another $12,000 for the general election. Landry and Meta declined to comment on the donations. The LAGOP didn’t respond to queries. Meta has spent far more in Texas, which has far more data centers than Louisiana. The donations came as Meta sought to highlight charitable contributions and other beneﬁts the company says its massive data center will bring to Louisiana. In a recent essay on AI, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to create a $1 billion fund to invest in communities where Meta puts data centers. The company hosted a dinner last month at Galatoire’s in the French Quarter with Georges Me-

dia Group, the parent company of The Advocate | The Times-Picayune. It was another opportunity to pitch its message to movers and shakers from the state: Landry, New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and other high-profile Louisianans, including Mitch Landrieu and Archie Manning, attended. The Times-Picayune | Advocate newsroom had no role in planning the dinner. At a news conference announcing an expansion of the project earlier this summer, Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said Louisiana is the “envy of every state.” “We are here for the long haul, and we could not be more proud,” she said. Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan said in an interview that the Legislature voted with bipartisan majorities to approve tax breaks for data centers, well before the donations to the LAGOP and Landry. And he said leaders here support the data center because of its economic benefits. The company says it will bring 1,000 new jobs once complete, on top of thousands of temporary construction jobs. “I don’t think we’re going to say there isn’t criticism of data centers,” Brennan said. “There’s also a lot of positive being done by this massive economic development in the state. … We’re there for the long haul and want to be good partners in this community.” Meta and Landry have highlighted $50,000 bonuses to teachers in Richland Parish because of an influx of property tax revenue, as well as economic activity from the construction phase of the project. Louisiana Economic Development has also continued to embrace Meta. After The New York Times reported last month on Meta’s data center here, including the state’s use of tax incentives and NDAs, LED sent talking points to some officials countering that the data center represents “one of the largest economic development projects in American history,” according to a copy of the document shared by a lawmaker. The company also largely has the support of the Public Service Commission, the five-member elected body that regulates the massive electricity build out needed to power data centers. The PSC has supported Entergy’s plans to build 11 new power plants to power Hyperion, and sided with Meta so far in the fight over data on jobs and electric use. Commissioner JP Coussan, RLafayette, said he’s been upset with a “lack of communication” from Meta to the PSC, especially surrounding the controversial planned acquisition by Entergy of Cottonwood, a Texas natural gas plant. A PSC consultant found the deal would effectively mean residents subsidize some of Meta’s power needs, which Meta and Entergy dispute. Still, Coussan said he’s supportive of the wave of data centers here, and he said Louisiana can’t be compared to Texas, which has hundreds of data centers and unique problems with its electric grid and water resources. “(Other states) might have the good fortune to already have a bunch of Fortune 500 companies

and economic prosperity,” Coussan said. “We’re in a position where we’re still courting (companies). … We’re not going to take a page out of their playbook.”

Endorsement roils race

call making that statement. The other two major Republicans in the race are state Sen. Stewart Cathey of Monroe and state Rep. Gabe Firment of Pollock. Neither returned phone calls on Friday.

Amid the dispute over who the party would endorse for the 6th Congressional District, Cordell was getting the final signatures needed to ask the executive committee to endorse her for the 5th Congressional District. She secured the endorsement on a 4-3 vote. Gore, Dyer, Duhon and Payton voted in favor of that, while Villere, Brouillette and Davis voted no. Babcock did not vote. Landry immediately faced questions about this vote because he and his wife Sharon are close personal friends of Cordell, and he appointed her to chair the Louisiana Board of Regents, which sets policy for higher education in the state. No one has shown that the governor intervened in the vote. Villere, who served as the party chair for 14 years, said he voted against Cordell’s endorsement because he and the other executive committee members received notice of the endorsement meeting only six hours in advance. Echols, who is one of the other Republicans running for that congressional seat, pointed to the quick vote in calling it an unfair process. “This is the stuff that deﬁnes the Huey Long era,” Echols said, adding that he has won the endorsement of numerous sheriffs, mayors and local Republican Party organizations. Echols said he had not attempted to collect signatures because Babcock had told his campaign manager that the party would not endorse in the 5th Congressional District race. Babcock said he doesn’t re-

‘Dereliction of duty’ Across the country, polling shows data centers are beset by opposition from both the left and the right. A Gallup poll conducted earlier this year found that 7 in 10 Americans would oppose a data center being built in their area. Early signs of the trend are starting to emerge in Louisiana as well. The Louisiana Citizens Advocacy Group, a conservative organization that monitors the Legislature and promotes right-wing views on vaccines, voting machines and other topics, has railed against nondisclosure agreements and Republicans’ support for data centers including Hyperion. After PSC members sided with Meta in the fight over whether it had to turn over more information about jobs and electricity use, Chris Alexander, the head of LACAG, hosted a live podcast after the meeting where he slammed the move. “I consider it to be a massive dereliction of public duty precisely because of the potential adverse effects that this can have on local communities,” he said. In Shreveport, some incumbent elected officials are facing new criticism over their support of Amazon’s plans to build a series of data centers. At a town hall hosted by a challenger to a city council member who voted for the data center, Nathaniel Manning, a former community college teacher who lives near one of the proposed facilities, said regular people are being left in the dark. In an interview, Manning said he and his neighbors haven’t seen any transparency about the deal. He lamented that the deal was done before the public had a chance to weigh in. “That’s what degrades the trust when the residents weren’t even considered to be part of the discussions and now they ask to accept this and we find out they’ve signed these NDAs,” Manning said. “There goes the trust.” The concerns come as Amazon continues to announce expansions of the project, including one recently that brought the total investment to $18 billion. In response to the pushback, local officials in Caddo Parish introduced resolutions to issue a moratorium on data centers and to require data centers to produce environmental impact studies. Those resolutions have not been approved. Manning said officials with SWEPCO, the electric utility for the area, as well as the city and the water utility held a recent meeting near his house, billed as an opportunity to have questions answered about the data center. Instead, he called it an “informercial for SWEPCO,” where officials spent most of the time touting the benefits of data centers. He said residents peppered them with questions about jobs, electricity and water. “We never got straight answers on that,” he said.

Members call for change The two endorsements on Thursday led Fortenberry to write the other state central committee members to question the hiring by Babcock and executive director Cory Dennis of several outside consultants who are close to Landry. Fortenberry also questioned the decision by Dennis to fire Rhett Davis, an outside consultant who is well-liked by many state central committee members, because Davis had assisted Miguez in trying to secure the endorsement. Rick Payton, the party’s ﬁnance chair, said he is rewriting the party’s rules to make the endorsement process more transparent and clear. One proposed change: State central committee members cannot endorse more than one candidate in the signature-gathering process for an endorsement. Babcock acknowledged the strife but said reports of Landry’s involvement were overblown. He said he thought it made sense to include the endorsement process for the 5th Congressional District on short notice since the executive committee was already meeting that day to consider the dual endorsement for the 6th Congressional District. Babcock added that he would favor letting Echols, Firment or Cathey also receive an endorsement if they secure enough signatures.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday, August 29, 2026 ● 5A

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Norway’s King Harald V dies at 89 His son becomes King Haakon VIII

BY MARK LEWIS Associated Press

STAVANGER, Norway — King Harald V of Norway, who went into exile in the United States as a child during the Nazi occupation of his homeland and refused a string of potential brides from the European nobility so he could marry his longtime sweetheart, died Friday. He was 89. The palace said he died at the National Hospital in Oslo at 6:35 a.m. Harald was Europe’s oldest monarch. The popular king modernized the royal house but refused to follow in the footsteps of other aging monarchs who have abdicated in recent times. His son automatically became King Haakon VIII. Like other royal houses in Europe, the Norwegian monarchs serve a largely symbolic role, enjoying celebrity status while real power in the democracy of 5.5 million rests with an elected parliament. Harald was crowned after his British-born father, King Olav V, died in January 1991, and reigned during an oil-and-gas-driven economic boom in his country. “A whole nation is in mourning and the people of Norway are left with a deep sense of gratitude for a long life in the service of Norway,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a statement. “For more than three decades as monarch, Harald V demonstrated an unwavering faith in the Norwegian people. He helped us to see the best in ourselves — and in one another.” Funeral arrangements were not immediately released. Harald was born in 1937 in Asker, near Oslo, becoming the ﬁrst Norwegian prince to be born in the country since King Olav IV in 1370. In the following centuries, Norway

PATRIOT LEdGER PHOTO By GREG dERR

Lindsay Clancy watches jurors enter the courtroom on Friday for their second day of deliberations as defense attorney Kevin Reddington sits to her right at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass. ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO By FRANCISCO SECO

King Harald V of Norway died Friday at age 89, authorities said Friday. didn’t have a king of its own until Harald’s grandfather, Haakon VII, was elected king following the 1905 dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway. Harald was 3 years old when the Nazis occupied Norway at the start of World War II. To avoid capture, his mother fled with him and his sisters, Ragnhild and Astrid, ﬁrst to Sweden and then by boat to the U.S., while Harald’s father and grandfather went into exile in Britain with Norway’s government. Haakon’s refusal to go along with German demands garnered respect among his people. During their time in the U.S., the Norwegian royals were often guests at the White House. Harald was 6 when he carried out his ﬁrst official duty, christening new warplanes at a Norwegian air base in Canada. The family was reunited in Norway in June 1945, shortly after the end of the war in Europe. Harald attended public schools, the Norwegian military college and Oxford University. Like his father — an Olympic champion sailor in 1928 — Harald loved the sea and sailboats. He represented Norway at several Olympics, and in 1987 he skippered his yacht to gold in the

World Championships. As a young man, Harald was urged to find a bride among Europe’s noblewomen and princesses. For nine years he shunned a series of prospects, holding out until he ﬁnally won his father’s permission to marry his longtime sweetheart, Sonja Haraldsen, the daughter of a successful businessman. King Olav had feared the marriage would weaken Norway’s still-young monarchy. Instead, Norwegians greeted the Aug. 29, 1968, wedding with jubilation, and later embraced Sonja as their queen. The couple had two children, Haakon and his older sister, Märtha Louise. The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow the ﬁrst born, regardless of gender, to take precedence in the line of succession. However, it was not applied retroactively, meaning that Haakon continued to take precedence over his sister. When Harald assumed the throne on Jan. 21, 1991, he adopted the same motto his father and grandfather had used: “All for Norway.” He spent the next years trying to modernize the monarchy. “It has been my experience that the monarchy stands strong,” he once said.

“This is not least because my father and grandfather did most things right. That puts me under pressure, but I take it as a challenge.” Harald won the praise of the country with an emotional speech at a memorial service after a right-wing extremist, Anders Behring Breivik, killed 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway in 2011. “I remain convinced that the belief in freedom is stronger than fear. I remain convinced in the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society. I remain convinced in the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country,” the king said. In 2016, Harald gave an unexpected and impassioned speech in support of LGBTQ+ equality, refugees and religious tolerance, saying “Norwegians are girls who love girls, boys who love boys, and girls and boys who love each other.” He added that many Norwegians have emigrated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Poland and other countries and that they “believe in God, Allah, the universe and nothing.” The public speech extolled the diversity of the Scandinavian nation and was viewed on social media by millions.

Groups make plea for voting rights in D.C. demonstrators march at National Mall

BY MATT BROWN and MATTHEW JUNKROSKI Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Voting rights, the work of the civil rights movement and racial justice took center stage on the National Mall Friday, with protesters gathering ahead of midterm elections and following a wave of changes to voting laws and redistricting that some have condemned as detrimental to Black Americans. Hundreds of people gathered near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for the 2026 “Defend the Vote” March on Washington, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III, echoing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 march. The event follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark April decision in Louisiana v. Callais that reinterpreted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing Southern states to redraw their congressional maps in a way that erodes equal representation in Black communities. “We’ve been doing these marches for years, but this is

WAR

Continued from page 1A anti-government protests in its history, which were brutally suppressed in January, with thousands killed. Israel and the U.S. had pounded its military and nuclear sites during a 12-day war the previous summer, and its militant allies had been throttled in the wars that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza. But the tide changed shortly after the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes, as Iran’s leaders were quickly re-

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB

demonstrators shout to speakers Friday during the March on Washington, near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. probably the most important because this is the first year we are marching that the voting rights bill has been nullified by the Supreme Court,” Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network, said in an interview with The Associated Press. Friday’s event harkened back to King Jr.’s historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, when more than 200,000 people gathered at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. That march, an inflection point in the Civil Rights Movement, came at a fraught moment, when economic headwinds, civil unrest, political division and the Vietnam War bitterly

divided Americans. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., one of dozens of speakers at the event, said that now is a “very dangerous moment in American history” and that the “dream of a more just and equitable society has never been under greater threat than it is right now.” He placed blame on Republican President Donald Trump and the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, listing attempts to purge voter rolls, obtain sensitive voter data, restrict mail-in and early voting, and redraw congressional districts as part of threats to voting rights. “Today, we have a president

along with the Supreme Court members he appointed carrying out the most signiﬁcant assault on voting rights since segregation, targeting virtually every aspect of the electoral system,” Sanders said. Martin Luther King III told the AP the Civil Rights Movement’s work “is further eroding” in the wake of the April ruling. He said his father would be disappointed with the state of the country, but current civil rights advocates should be undaunted. “Had he lived, we’d be on a totally different trajectory,” the younger King said. “These would not be issues; they would have been resolved. I don’t think he would be surprised because he understands our history and understands those who are trying to retain power. But the challenge is challenging our communities to engage even more.”

Jury in Clancy trial ends second day of deliberations BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial ended a second day of deliberations on Friday without a verdict in the case of the Massachusetts woman charged with killing her three children in 2023. Clancy doesn’t deny strangling her children, but her lawyer said she did it because she had lost her grip on reality due to postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth. In the months before the killings, Clancy sought treatment for her worsening mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors said Clancy knew what she was doing. They say she strangled the children because she was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to kill them before attempting suicide. The jury began deliberating Thursday afternoon and met again Friday, asking at one point to take a look at a knife that Clancy used to cut herself and bags with empty prescription pill

bottles found in her house. Jurors are expected to return to the courthouse Monday. Members of the panel could ﬁnd her guilty of murder or the lesser crime of manslaughter, or acquit her if they decide she wasn’t in control of herself due to her psychiatric problems. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. She did not testify during the trial, but jurors heard at length from medical professionals who treated her, as well as from friends and relatives she had told about her mental health problems. Jurors also heard from medical experts called by prosecutors and the defense who disagreed about her likely state of mind when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months, at their Massachusetts home. The killings happened less than three weeks after Clancy was discharged from a psychiatric hospital. She cut herself before jumping from a secondfloor window after strangling the children. She remains paralyzed from the waist down.

UNITED KINGDOM

4 men plead guilty to torching 4 ambulances By The Associated Press LONDON — Four men pleaded guilty Friday to destroying four Jewish community ambulances in an arson attack in north London earlier this year that many said was a direct result of the start of the Iran war. Sentencing will take place in the spring of 2027 at the conclusion of a separate trial involving another man charged in connection with the ambulance attack, Justice Bobbie CheemaGrubb said at London’s Central Criminal Court. Hamza Iqbal, 20, Rehan Khan, 19, Judex Atshatshi, and Saif Ali, both 18, faced a charge of destroying or damaging property

and of being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. The four ambulances torched in the early hours of March 23 were owned by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer-led charity operating in the Golders Green area of north London. The ambulances each cost around $340,000. The attack was one of several incidents deemed to have been antisemitic that took place in the weeks after the U.S. and Israel first launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Three of the defendants were said to have set ﬁre to the fully stocked vehicles, while a fourth waited in a car.

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placed and its people — sheltering from the war — ignored exhortations from the attackers to rise up again. Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for oil and gas, and attacked Gulf countries hosting U.S. troops, rattling the global economy. U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to a ceaseﬁre in April and signed a deal with Iran in June, which crumbled weeks later. Iran is now determined to exert permanent control over the strait, to use it to ward off future attacks and secure other concessions, while giving no ground on its disputed

nuclear program. It’s a risky gamble, especially as the U.S. tightens its blockade and vows new sanctions on Iran’s already battered economy. “Iran has demonstrated that Hormuz gives it significant leverage, but prolonged disruption also hurts its neighbors, China, and the global economy, while encouraging alternatives to the strait,” said Yoel Guzansky, an expert on Iran and the Gulf at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. “Tehran’s danger is confusing its ability to survive with victory and demanding more than its leverage can deliver,” he said.

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6A ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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TODAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

A t-storm around in the p.m.

Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm

Humid with a stray t-storm

Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm

A couple of t-storms; humid

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

94° 74°

LOW

HIGH

93° 75°

LOW

88° 74°

Beaumont 95/75 Port Arthur 95/77

Baton Rouge 95/73

Lake Charles 96/75

New Orleans 93/79 Houma 94/73

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

Hattiesburg 95/72

Alexandria 97/72

Lafayette 94/74

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

LOW

HIGH

LOW

93° 75°

YESTERDAY

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Friday

Jackson 96/71 Many 98/71

HIGH

92° 74°

TEMPERATURE

Longview 102/74

-0s

LOW

Monroe 97/69

Shreveport 99/74

-10s

HIGH

90° 74°

Saturday will be a mostly sunny to partly cloudy, hot and humid day with a light breeze. Temperatures will be about where they should be this afternoon, in the mid-90s. The heat index values will rise to 105 or higher this afternoon, and I’m expecting a few isolated showers but not more than a few. The UV index will be at the very high level today. The heat risk the next several days will rise, so be sure to stay hydrated, take frequent breaks and apply sunscreen.

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

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

94°/78° 92°/74° 90°/75° 100° in 2011 61° in 1896

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

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

HIGH

10:17p 7:20a 5:54a 7:51a 12:08p 11:16a 1:16p

6:43 a.m. 7:34 p.m. 8:24 p.m. 8:03 a.m.

LAST

NEW

FIRST

FULL

SEP 4

SEP 10

SEP 18

SEP 26

City

Austin Boston dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

PRECIPITATION

100 75 102 55 88 104 89 91 94

TODAY Lo

74 64 80 41 77 84 68 81 73

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Today 12:29a 6:40a 12:50p 7:01p Sunday 1:16a 7:27a 1:39p 7:50p Monday 2:07a 8:18a 2:30p 8:42p Tuesday 3:00a 9:13a 3:25p 9:38p Wednesday 3:57a 10:11a 4:24p 10:38p Thursday 4:56a 11:11a 5:25p 11:40p Friday 5:57a 12:12p 6:27p ----

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Faculty question UL budget report President said university turned $26M deficit into $3.6M surplus BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

A week after University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Ramesh Kolluru announced the university was starting ﬁscal year 2027 with a surplus and a balanced budget, faculty members are asking how those claims square with a previously projected deﬁcit of as much as $26 million.

The questions come after Kolluru said UL was beKolluru described a sigginning fiscal year 2027 with a $3.6 million surplus nificant improvement in and a “balanced budget for the university’s finances. the ﬁrst time in over a deWhen the last fiscal year began July 1, 2025, the unicade.” Members of the UL versity faced a $50 million chapter of the American budget deficit, including Association of Univer$25 million in debt and a Kolluru recurring structural deﬁsity Professors, however, cit of $25 million. At his Aug. 19 are asking how that assessment State of the University address, squares with the university’s ear-

lier projection that it could face a deﬁcit of about $26 million this year. In a letter sent to Kolluru on Aug. 26, the faculty group is seeking answers about the university’s ﬁnances, future budget cuts, research ambitions and athletic spending. “We appreciate the updates shared at the most recent State of the University. However, there

was no opportunity to ask questions before or during the event, as there has been in years past,” according to the AAUP’s letter. The group’s first question was direct: “What is the current predicted deﬁcit for FY27?” UL began the academic year after months of cost-cutting, including eliminating the Ofﬁce of Sustainability and Community Engagement, the Cecil J. Picard Center for Child Development and

ä See REPORT, page 2B

Lawsuit alleges continued overdetention Agency keeps holding prisoners beyond limits, it says

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

A sweet spot

PHOTOS By LEE BALL

ABOVE: Sugar cane is cut at Ted Broussard Farms in Iberia Parish on

Monday. Farmers throughout south Louisiana are busy planting sugar cane for the 2027 harvest. The 2026 harvest of sugar cane, planted in 2025, will start this September. Sugar cane takes about one year to fully grow. BELOW: A ﬁeld is prepared for planting at Ted Broussard Farms.

For years, Louisiana’s prison system often failed to release inmates on time, holding them past their release dates — sometimes for months. Under Gov. Jeff Landry and Gary Westcott, the state prisons chief for most of Landry’s tenure, the Department of Public Safety & Corrections said it had resolved the problem, commonly known as overdetention, thanks to technological advances that sped up the release date calculation process. Now, a new lawsuit ﬁled by criminal justice advocates says that isn’t true. Landry It accuses the agency of continuing to routinely hold prisoners beyond the limits of their sentences. “DOC employs a meandering bureaucratic process that delays release by days, weeks, and even months,” says the lawsuit, which was ﬁled Friday in Westcott the Middle District Court of Louisiana and names Westcott as the main defendant. The two plaintiffs in the case, Lisa Andres and Jaren Brignac, say Louisiana violated their constitutional rights by overdetaining them. Andres claims she was kept 101 days too long, and Brignac alleges the state kept him in custody for nine days after he was supposed to get out of prison. Attorney General Liz Murrill, who represents the state in civil matters, has called allegations of systemic overdetention overblown, outdated or out of context.

ä See LAWSUIT, page 2B

Youngsville woman dies in electric scooter crash Staff report

Man arrested in distributing child sex abuse material A Youngsville man alleged distribution of has been arrested on 50 CRIME child sexual abuse macounts of distributing BLOTTER terial by the Louisiana child sexual abuse maBureau of Investigation under the Louisiana Atterial and animal sex Advocate staff abuse. torney General’s Ofﬁce, Jeremy Scott Bellard, reports according to a news re40, of Gilmore Road in lease. Youngsville, was idenThe Louisiana Bureau of Investigation, along tified through a peerwith Homeland Securito-peer network during a proactive investigation into ty Investigations, the Lafayette

Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce and the Youngsville Police Department on Aug. 25 executed a search warrant at Bellard’s residence, according to the news release from Attorney General Liz Murrill’s ofﬁce. During the search, law enforcement investigators found evidence connecting Bellard, according to the release, to the distribution of child sexual

abuse material and animal sexual abuse media. Bellard was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center in Lafayette on 50 counts of child sexual abuse material under age 13 and one count of sexual abuse of an animal, according to the Attorney General’s Ofﬁce.

ä See BLOTTER, page 2B

A 30-year-old Youngsville woman died Thursday night after an electric scooter crash on Savoy Road, according to the Youngsville Police Department. Police responded to the 1200 block of Savoy Road at 8:32 p.m. Thursday following a reported crash involving an electric scooter and a vehicle. The preliminary investigation found that the scooter operator, identiﬁed as Kourtney Picou, was traveling on a dark portion of the roadway. Picou was wearing dark clothing, and the scooter was not equipped with or displaying lights at the time of the crash, police said. Picou was taken by Acadian Ambulance to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, where she later died from her injuries. The driver of the other vehicle was evaluated at the scene. Police said impairment or intoxication is not suspected as a contributing factor in the crash. The investigation remains ongoing.

2B ● Saturday, August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE in La. Far-right speaker missed hearing

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Milo Yiannopoulos, a prominent far-right speaker and media personality, was being held in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana after federal agents arrested him this week at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to U.S. ofﬁcials and ICE records. ICE agents arrested Yiannopoulos, a British national, at the airport on Thursday after he received a ﬁnal order of removal for missing a July 22 immigration court hearing, a U.S. Department of

Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement. The DHS statement said Yiannopoulos entered the U.S. legally in 2019 but “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.” It did not elaborate on his immigration status. Yiannopoulos’ talent agency did not immediately respond to inquiries. He was being held Friday in an ICE detention facility in Alexandria, according to ICE records. Yiannopoulos gained notoriety as an outspoken conservative provocateur whose history of racist comments spurred headline-grabbing protests at college campuses. He most recently worked for Ye, the controversial rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who is in New Orleans for a Friday concert at the Caesars Superdome. He

Ex-LSU football player indicted in crash that killed two in BR BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

Former LSU and NFL running back Richard Murphy was indicted Thursday in connection with a June crash that killed a 95-year-old man and his 75-yearold daughter-in-law, according to court records. A grand jury indicted the 39-year-old Murphy on two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring. He also faced counts of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and reckless operation of a vehicle, according to a Baton Rouge police afﬁdavit. The crash occurred about 4:30 p.m. June 14 in the 900 block of Main Street in downtown Baton Rouge.

Police investigators say Murphy, driving a 2017 Ford F250, ran a red light and crashed into another truck, killing passengers Robert Tarver and his daughterin-law, Carla Tarver. The driver of the second truck, Carla Tarver’s husband, Bobby Tarver, was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Detectives obtained video that showed Murphy running the red light; other surveillance video showed Murphy had run at least one other red light on Main Street before the crash, according to the afﬁdavit. Ofﬁcers also learned from the air bag control module of Murphy’s truck that at the time of impact he had been traveling about 58 mph in a 30-mph zone. A test of Murphy’s blood on the

day of the crash, obtained at the hospital with a warrant, showed a blood alcohol content of 0.13%, over the legal limit of 0.08%, according to the afﬁdavit. Murphy also was driving without vehicle insurance and with a suspended driver’s license on the day of the crash, according to arrest records. Murphy is out on bail from East Baton Rouge Parish Prison. Murphy, of Rayville, was a running back with the Tigers from 2007 to 2010. He was selected to wear the No. 18 jersey in his senior year, an honor bestowed on upperclassmen who are team leaders, according to his biography on the LSU Athletics website. He went on to play professionally in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

JEFFERSON PARISH

Former teacher charged with touching teen Moves comes three years after arrest

BY MICHELLE HUNTER Staff writer

The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Ofﬁce on Monday formally charged a former music teacher accused of inappropriately touching a teenager, more than three years after he was arrested, according to court records. Kyle Aucoin, 53, of Metairie, was charged with one count of sexual battery, according to records. His arraignment was scheduled for Sept. 24. The victim, who was 14 at the time of the alleged assault, says Aucoin touched his genitals and other private areas on several occasions around 2015 while Aucoin was working as a music teacher for the Jefferson Parish public

school district and the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Society, according to authorities. The victim told investigators he met Aucoin after being cast in a play that Aucoin was directing at the Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Center. The victim didn’t come forward until 2022, after investigators in St. Charles Parish arrested Aucoin and booked him with molestation of a juvenile in a separate case. At the time of his 2022 arrest, Aucoin was working as a theater teacher at Destrehan High School. The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce opened its investigation in December of that year after receiving an anonymous tip about Aucoin, according to the department. Detectives determined Aucoin had “inappropriate sexual contact” with a student between

the ages of 16 and 17, sometime between 2017 and 2020, the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office said. Aucoin was charged Feb. 24, 2023, with molestation of a juvenile and prohibited sexual contact between a student and educator, according to St. Charles Parish court records. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of obscenity on Nov. 21, 2023, and was sentenced to three years of active probation. Though Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested Aucoin as part of their investigation on Feb. 13, 2023, the District Attorney’s Office did not formally file charges until this week. It’s not clear why there was a delay. The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office said it does not comment on open cases or investigations. Aucoin is free on a $50,000 bond, according to court records.

N.O. officer convicted in stalking ex-boyfriend BY MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writer

A New Orleans police ofﬁcer who was arrested earlier this year and accused of calling an ex-boyfriend incessantly and showing up at their home uninvited was convicted this month on stalking charges. Adam Zoeller, 31, was found guilty on charges of stalking and obscene phone calls on Aug. 6 in a judge trial overseen by Orleans Parish Magistrate Judge Juana Lombard. Lombard sentenced Zoeller to a year of probation on

REPORT

Continued from page 1B Lifelong Learning, and the Marine Survival Training Center; reducing athletics spending; canceling contracts; and cutting every department’s budget by 10%. The university also received a $9 million allocation from the Louisiana Legislature to support operational spending in FY27. But even with these cuts, Kolluru told the UL System Board of Supervisors this summer that the university could face a “worstcase” deficit of $26 million this year, with $323 million in expenses and expected revenue of

Milo yiannopoulos, a prominent farright speaker and media personality, was being held Friday in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Alexandria, ICE records show.

has professed support for President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, writing last June that ICE agents deserve “total legal immunity … when they’re on duty.” Yiannopoulos became embroiled in recent weeks in a feud with Laura Loomer, a conservative social media personality with her own history of controversial remarks. Loomer, who is close to Trump, has called for Yiannopoulos’ deportation. Loomer celebrated his detention in a post on X Friday. She said she had urged his arrest after he allegedly threatened her. “When Milo called for me to be assassinated, I reported him to ICE and the FBI,” Loomer said. Yiannopoulos will remain in ICE custody “pending removal,” DHS ofﬁcials said.

Tuesday. Neither the New Orleans Police Department nor Zoeller’s attorney responded to questions about the ofﬁcer’s employment status. Zoeller, a Slidell resident, was accused of having unwanted contact with his ex for months after their relationship ended in March 2025. According to his arrest affidavit, Zoeller would show up at his ex-boyfriend’s home and bang on the door at all hours, occasionally while wearing his uniform and police weapon. He also called the ex from a private “No Caller ID” num-

ber between 30 and 100 times a day after they blocked him on social media. The ex ﬁled a citizen complaint with NOPD accusing Zoeller of harassment and threats. The complaint was referred to the agency’s Public Integrity Bureau, and Zoeller was arrested in January. Zoeller’s former boyfriend claimed the constant calls only stopped once the investigation started. As part of the conviction, a protective order remains in place through Feb. 25, 2028.

$297 million. Those projections were not discussed during the State of the University address. Instead, Kolluru announced $500,000 in cost-ofliving adjustments for classiﬁed workers and $500,000 in salary adjustments for faculty at the lower end of the pay scale, both taking effect Oct. 1. He also announced $1 million to expand academic counseling and advising services and said UL Lafayette was “among the few universities” not to increase tuition and housing rates this fall. Kolluru’s speech emphasized the need to “live within our budget” while promoting investments in faculty, research, innovation and student success. AAUP mem-

bers, however, are concerned about how the university’s continued cost-cutting efforts could affect its research goals, particularly with planned cuts to the library budget that could limit access to databases needed for research. “At the State of the University, you suggested that we’d be striving for SREB1 status after our recent R1 redesignation. However, we have concerns about losing the already limited resources required to maintain R1 status, let alone pursuing an additional research designation,” the letter states. R1 status denotes a university with the highest tier of research activity, while SREB1 is an additional classification focused

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARy ALTAFFER

LAWSUIT

Continued from page 1B “My office has worked with the LDOC tirelessly for several years to build and implement a new system, train staff, train sheriffs, and train court and clerk staff across our state,” Murrill said in a statement Friday. “These lawsuits are nothing more than an attempt at a money grab. The activists behind these suits do not want progress and actively obstruct it. That’s a shame because LDOC continually works at improving its systems.” The Promise of Justice Initiative, a criminal justice advocacy group based in New Orleans, is handling the case alongside several other firms. The plaintiffs’ attorneys are requesting that a judge certify the case as a class-action lawsuit, meaning more people with overdetention claims could join as plaintiffs. In recent years, state officials have blamed Louisiana’s record of overdetaining inmates on delays in sentencing paperwork submissions by sheriff’s offices and clerks of court offices. They also have argued they adequately addressed those issues by implementing technological advances that reduced bureaucratic delays. But Friday’s lawsuit argues the advances have not fixed the problem — and it says the state has failed to make any policy changes or set deadlines that actually require officials to release inmates in a timely manner. Between August 2024 and the end of 2025, approximately 1,200 people were held past their release dates, it says. Murrill’s statement also said, “Calculating time is a complex task due to the plainly evident fact that detainees do not come into state custody legally or physically until after they are sentenced.” The Department of Public Safety & Corrections declined to comment on pending litigation.

A long-running dispute

to release date calculations have been described in the state’s own reviews and lamented in federal court decisions. The practice has sparked numerous civil lawsuits and even a federal investigation. Both civil rights attorneys and the DOC previously agreed the problem was largely related to inmates who are held long enough pretrial that they are due for release on the day they are sentenced. But even when inmates were ordered released by judges, the state would wait to let them out until it processed sentencing paperwork. Critics said that process moved far too slowly. Friday’s lawsuit also says the state has a sluggish system for processing parole revocation paperwork, which exacerbates the problem. In the past few years, the Department of Public Safety and Corrections has set up an online portal where sheriffs can submit sentencing paperwork instead of mailing it. And in February, the agency rolled out a new software that performs automated release date calculations. Still, Friday’s lawsuit alleges, “none of these tools ensures DOC promptly obtains files from the courts or requires a single Department or jail employee to release individuals entitled to immediate release within any period of time, and Secretary Westcott has never required any of those things,” the lawsuit says. The lawsuit takes aim specifically at Westcott, alleging he has not taken overdetention seriously enough. Citing pending litigation, the state previously declined to provide data showing that overdetention was no longer a problem. Last year, a federal judge allowed two older yet similar lawsuits, which name former prisons chief Jimmy LeBlanc as the lead defendant, to move forward as class action lawsuits. The state has appealed that decision. Staff writer Blake Leschber contributed to this story.

Allegations of overdetention Email Meghan Friedmann in Louisiana are not new: Since at meghan.friedmann@ at least 2012, problems related theadvocate.com.

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B He remains in LPCC. Bond was set at $250,000 on the child sexual abuse material charge and $50,000 on the animal sexual abuse charge. The investigation remains ongoing.

Cecilia High student arrested in threat St. Martin Parish sheriff’s deputies arrested a 15-year-old Cecilia High School student Thursday after investigating a threat against the school that circulated on social media, Sheriff Becket Breaux said.

on the number and distribution of doctoral degrees awarded. In Louisiana, Tulane University and Louisiana State University are the only SREB1 institutions. The letter also asks for confirmation of the total FY26 athletics deficit and the university’s plan for keeping athletic spending within budget in FY27, citing athletics’ “history of overspending.” UL reported a $12.6 million deficit in athletics in fiscal year 2024, and the department’s staffing was cut by 25% this year. The UL administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The AAUP also is asking Kolluru to freeze upper-level administrative hiring and raises until

St. Martin Crime Stoppers received a tip about the threat at about 7:54 a.m. Aug. 27, prompting deputies with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce to launch an investigation. Deputies identiﬁed a 15-year-old female student at Cecilia High School as the person who allegedly made the threat, Breaux said. An arrest warrant was issued, and the juvenile was arrested on a charge of terrorizing and menacing under Louisiana law. After booking, she was released into her mother’s custody. Breaux said threats made on social media are taken seriously and urged people, particularly young people, to consider the potential consequences before posting or sharing threats online.

faculty compensation concerns are addressed. The UL AAUP chapter is asking Kolluru to respond to its questions by Friday and to give faculty a “seat at the table” in future decisions involving budget allocations, staff restructuring, research activity and other issues raised in the letter.

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THURSDAY, AUG. 27, 2026 PICK 3: 4-9-5 PICK 4: 2-4-5-7 PICK 5: 3-9-2-4-9

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

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I, WILLIAM BROWN, DOC #313947 have applied for clemency for my conviction of SECOND DEGREE MURDER; SIMPLE ROBBERY. If you have any comments, contact the Board of Pardons (225)342-5421. 198186 - AUG 27-29 3T $310

TO: THE ESTATE OF RUSSELL J. TOUCHET EULA STRODE TOUCHET THIS NOTICE BY PUBLICA‐ TION IS NOTIFICATION THAT YOUR RIGHTS OR INTEREST IN THE FOL‐ LOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE CITY AND PARISH OF LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA MAY BE TERMINATED BY OPERATION OF LAW IF YOU DO NOT TAKE FUR‐ THER ACTION IN ACCOR‐ DANCE WITH LAW: Lot 1A (1.0 acre) by refer‐ l f

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y ence to plat of survey prepared by Edmond E. Dupre, L.S. dated July 22, 1977, recorded under Entry No. 77-17914, records of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. Improvements thereon bear the municipal ad‐ dress of 904 La Maison Road Duson, Louisiana 70529 Tax sale title to the above-described prop‐ erty has been sold for failure to pay taxes. You have been identiﬁed as a person who may have an interest in this property. Your interest in the prop‐ i d if ill b

ORDINANCE NUMBER 2026-11 AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE SCOTT MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD SECTIONS TO CHAPTER 10 ARTICLE II. -OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING WHEREAS, the City Council for the City of Scott desires to amend Chapter 10 Article II. - Occupational Licensing in the municipal code, to add sections as hereinafter set forth; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and City Council for the City of Scott, in regular session assembled, that Chapter 10 Article II. Occupational Licensing is amended to read as follows: Sec. 10-30. - Occupational License. Every business and/or occupation located within the city limits, which is required by this Article to pay a license tax, shall obtain an occupational license issued by the City before the commencement or continuance of business operations. In order for an occupational license to be issued by the City, the business and/or occupation shall in full compliance with all city ordinances and shall have paid in full the license tax due under this Article. Sec. 10-31. - Occupational License - Non Compliance Any business and/or occupation operating or conducting business without a valid occupational license shall immediately be ordered to cease and desist all and any business operations at that location, this is in addition to any other penalties provided under this Article. Once the business and/or occupation is in compliance with this Article the cease and desist order shall be lifted and the business and/or occupation shall be allowed to commence operating or conducting business at that location. Sec. 10-32. - Penalty Any persons, manager, owner, operator or employee operating or conducting business without a valid occupational license shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than $100.00 or more than the maximum amount allowed by State law or imprisonment for not more than 60 days, or both. This ordinance shall not affect or repeal any other section of this Chapter. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption. Any provisions of the code of ordinances which are in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

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p p erty will be terminated if you do not redeem the property by making all required payments to the tax collector listed below or ﬁle a lawsuit in accor‐ dance with law within sixty (60) days of the date of this notice, or the recording of an act trans‐ ferring ownership, if later. The Lafayette Utilities System Customer Ser‐ vices/Tax Collection Divi‐ sion 1875 W. Pinhook Rd., Suite B Lafayette, LA 70508 (337) 291-8272 The Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Ofﬁce 316 W. Main Street Lafayette, LA 70501 (337) 232-9211 198975 Aug. 29 1t $196.93

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PUBLIC NOTICE --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, Lafayette, Louisiana 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 public records of Lafayette, Louisiana.; 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 h di i l i i

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This ordinance having been submitted to a vote in regular session assembled of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Scott, the vote thereon being as follows: YEAS:

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING APPENDIX C OF THE SCOTT MUNICIPAL CODE TO REVISE, ENACT AND ADOPT FINES AND PENALTIES FOR TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANOR VIOLATIONS COMMITTED WITHIN THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF SCOTT WHEREAS, Appendix C of the Scott Municipal Code SCHEDULE OF FINES AND PENALTIES should be amended to revise, enact and adopt fines and penalties for traffic and misdemeanor violations committed within the corporate limits of the City of Scott; WHEREAS, pursuant to Act 697 (2026), the Court Case Management Information Fund (CMIS FEE) authorized by Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 887(F)(l) payable to the Louisiana Supreme Court has been increased to $7.00, effective August 1, 2026. WHEREAS, said revised fines and penalties are set forth on the attached 2026 Revised Schedule of Fines and Penalties; BE IT ORDAINED by the Mayor and City Council for the City of Scott, Louisiana, in regular session assembled, that the following ordinance is adopted, to wit: SECTION I. - ADOPTION OF FINES AND PENALTIES The City of Scott hereby amends Appendix C SCHEDULE OF FINES AND PENALTIES of the Municipal Code to revise, enact and adopt the fines and penalties for traffic and misdemeanor violations committed within the corporate limits of the City of Scott, which revised fines and penalties are set forth on the 2026 Revised Schedule of Fines and Penalties attached hereto and made a part hereof. SECTION II. - EFFECTIVE DATE This ordinance shall become effective on the____day of_____________, 2026. SECTION III. REPEAL OF CONFLICTING ORDINANCES Ordinance number 2026-2 is hereby repealed. All ordinances or parts of ordinances in direct conflict herewith are hereby repealed. This ordinance having been submitted to a vote in regular session of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Scott, Louisiana, the vote thereon being as follows: YEAS:

NAYS:

ABSENT:

ABSTAIN: WHEREUPON, the presiding officer declared the above Ordinance duly adopted on this______day of___________________, 2026. _________________________ SHELLEY M. GAUTREAU CITY CLERK

_________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARDMAYOR

I certify that the above Ordinance was presented to the Mayor by me on the_____day of_________________, 2026. __________________________________ SHELLEY M. GAUTREAU-CITY CLERK I acknowledge receipt of the above Ordinance from the City Clerk on the_____day of_________________, 2026.

ABSTAIN: WHEREUPON, the presiding officer declared the above Ordinance duly adopted on this______day of___________________, 2026. _________________________ SHELLEY M. GAUTREAU CITY CLERK

_____________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARD-MAYOR I hereby approve the of_________________, 2026

above

Ordinance

this_____day

_____________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARD-MAYOR I certify that the above Ordinance was received by me from the Mayor on the_____day of_________________, 2026.

_____________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARD-MAYOR I hereby approve the above Ordinance on this_____day of_________________, 2026 _____________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARD-MAYOR I certify that the above Ordinance was received by me from the Mayor on the_____day of_________________, 2026.

__________________________________ SHELLEY M. GAUTREAU-CITY CLERK 198931-682054-aug 29-1t $ 159.39

_________________________ JAN-SCOTT RICHARDMAYOR

__________________________________ SHELLEY M. GAUTREAU-CITY CLERK 198924-682041-aug 29-1t $ 131.67

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4B ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate Legal Notices

Legal Notices

The following ordinance, having been previously introduced on August 13, 2026 and a public hearing held thereon on this date, was offered for final adoption by Councilman ______________ and seconded by Councilman ______________ : ORDINANCE NUMBER 2026-10 An ordinance authorizing the issuance of not exceeding Twenty Million ($20,000,000) of Taxable Sales Tax Bonds (DEQ) of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana, and providing for other matters in connection therewith. WHEREAS, the United States of America, pursuant to the Clean Water Act of 1972, as amended by the Water Quality Act of 1987, specifically Subchapter VI, Chapter 26 of Title 33 of the United States Code (the “Federal Act”), is authorized to make capitalization grants to states to be used for the purpose of establishing a water pollution control revolving fund for providing assistance (i) for construction of treatment works (as defined in Section 1292 of the Federal Act) which are publicly owned, (ii) for implementing a management program under Section 1329 of the Federal Act and (iii) for developing and implementing a conservation and management plan under Section 1330 of the Federal Act; and WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana (the “State”), pursuant to Subtitle II, Chapter 14 of Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, specifically La. R.S. 30:2301, et seq.) (the “State Act”), has established a Clean Water State Revolving Fund (the “State Revolving Fund”) in the custody of the Department of Environmental Quality (the “Department”) to be used for the purpose of providing financial assistance for the improvement of wastewater treatment facilities in the State, as more fully described in Section 2302 of the State Act, and has authorized the Department to administer the State Revolving Fund in accordance with applicable federal and state law; and WHEREAS, the City of Scott, State of Louisiana (the “City”) has made application to the Department for a loan from the State Revolving Fund to finance a portion of the costs of the Project and the Department has approved the City’s application for such loan; and WHEREAS, the City now levies and collects a special one percent (1 %) sales and use tax (the “Tax”), pursuant to an election held in the City on October 14, 2023 (the “Election”), at which Election the following proposition was approved by a majority of the qualified electors voting in such election: PROPOSITION (SALES TAX) Shall the City of Scott, State of Louisiana (the “City”), be authorized to levy and collect a tax of 1 % (the “Tax”) (an estimated $3,250,000 reasonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the Tax for an entire year), in perpetuity, beginning January 1, 2024, in accordance with Louisiana law, with the proceeds of the Tax (after paying the reasonable and necessary expenses of collecting and administering the Tax), to be used for the purpose of constructing, improving, maintaining, and operating the City’s sewerage system, including the construction of a new treatment plant and the acquisition of equipment therefor, and to help pay for improvements to infrastructure such as roads, drainage, and utility services? WHEREAS, pursuant to the authority of the aforesaid Election, the City approved an ordinance on December 7, 2023, as amended and supplemented (the “Sales Tax Ordinance”), providing for the levy and collection of the Tax; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the provisions of the Sales Tax Ordinance, the net avails or proceeds of the Tax (after provision has been made for the payment therefrom of all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax) (the “Net Revenues of the Tax”) shall be available for appropriatio~ and expenditure by the City for the purposes designated in the proposition authorizing the levy of the Tax, which shall include the payment of bonds authorized to be issued in accordance with Louisiana law; and WHEREAS, the City now desires to proceed with the issuance of the first emission of $50,000,000 of bonds that were approved by the State Bond Commission on July 16, 2026, consisting of not exceeding Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000) of Taxable Sales Tax Bonds of the City (the “Bonds”), to be payable solely from and secured by an irrevocable pledge and dedication of the Net Revenues of the Tax, all in accordance with Part II of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority (the “Act”), for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, extending, and improving the sewers and sewage disposal facilities of the City and acquiring equipment therefor, and paying the costs of issuance thereof; and WHEREAS, other than the Bonds herein authorized, the City has no outstanding bonds or other obligations of any kind or nature payable from or enjoying a lien on the revenues of the Tax herein pledged; and WHEREAS, it is now desired to fix the details necessary with respect to the issuance of the Bonds, and to provide for the authorization and issuance thereof, as hereinafter provided; NOW, THEREFORE, BE. IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana (the “Governing Authority”), acting as governing authority of the City, hereby ordains that: SECTION 1. Definitions. As used herein, the following terms shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires: “Act” means Part II of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority. “Additional Parity Bonds” means any bonds or other obligations of the City on a parity with the Bonds pursuant to Section 16 hereof. “Administrative Fee” means the annual fee equal to one-half of one percent (0.50%) per annum of the outstanding principal amount of the Bonds, or such lesser amount as the Department may approve from time to time. “Bond” or “Bonds” means the Taxable Sales Tax Bonds (DEQ) of the City issued pursuant to this Bond Ordinance in the total aggregate principal amount of not exceeding Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000), and any bond of said issue, whether initially delivered or issued in exchange for, upon transfer of, or in lieu of any previously issued Bond. “Bond Register” means the registration books of the Paying Agent in which registration of the Bonds and transfers of the Bonds shall be made as provided herein. “Bond Ordinance” means this ordinance authorizing the issuance of the Bonds. “Bond Year” means the one-year period ending on each Principal Payment Date. “Business Day” means each Monday through Friday of each week, excluding days on which the offices of the City or the New York Stock Exchange are required or authorized to remain closed. “City” means the City of Scott, State of Louisiana. “Completion Date” means the earlier of (i) the date of the final disbursement of the purchase price of the Bonds to the City, or (ii) the date the operation of the project ( or portion thereof) that is being financed with the Bonds is initiated or capable of being initiated, as certified by an Authorized Officer in accordance with the Loan Agreement. “Date of Delivery” means the first date on which any of the Bonds are delivered to the Department in exchange for payment therefor. “Department” means the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, an executive department and agency of the State of Louisiana, and any successor to the duties and functions thereof. “Election” means the election held within the corporate boundaries of the City on October 14, 2023, which authorized the Tax. “Executive Officers” means collectively the Mayor and the City Clerk of the City. “Fiscal Year” means the twelve-month accounting period commencing on the first day of January or any other twelve-month accounting period determined by the Governing Authority as the fiscal year of the City. “Governing Authority” means the City Council of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana, in its capacity as governing authority of the City. “Government Securities” means direct obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America, which are non-callable prior to the respective maturities of the Bonds and may be United States Treasury Obligations such as the State and Local Government Series and may be in book entry form. “Interest Payment Date” shall have the meaning given such term in the Bonds. “Loan Agreement” means the Loan and Pledge Agreement to be entered into by and between the Department and the City prior to the delivery of the Bonds which will contain certain additional agreements relating to the Bonds and the project that is being financed with the Bonds, which Loan Agreement shall be in substantially the form presented at this meeting, as it may be supplemented or amended from time to time in accordance with the provisions thereof. “Net Revenues of the Tax,” means the avails or proceeds of the Tax available to the City after provision has been made for the payment therefrom of all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax. “Outstanding” when used with respect to Bonds means, as of the date of determination, all Bonds or portions thereof theretofore issued and delivered pursuant to this Bond Ordinance, except: (a) Bonds theretofore canceled by the Paying Agent or delivered to the Paying Agent for cancellation; (b) Bonds or portions thereof for whose payment or redemption sufficient funds have been paid or deposited in trust for the Owners of such Bonds as provided herein; (c) Bonds in exchange for or in lieu of which other Bonds have been registered and delivered pursuant to this Bond Ordinance; and (d) Bonds alleged to have been mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen which have been replaced as provided in this Bond Ordinance.

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Legal Notices

“Owner” or “Owners” when used with respect to any Bond means the Person in whose name such Bond is registered in the Bond Register. “Paying Agent” means the Clerk of the City, unless and until a successor Paying Agent shall have become such pursuant to the applicable provisions of this Bond Ordinance, and thereafter “Paying Agent” shall mean such successor Paying Agent. “Person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated organization, or government or any agency or political subdivision thereof. “Principal Payment Date” shall have the meaning given such term in the Bonds. “Record Date” for the interest payable on any Interest Payment Date means the 15th calendar day of the month next preceding such interest payment date, whether or not such day is a Business Day. “Qualified Investments” means those investments which are legally permitted for political subdivisions such as the City pursuant to Louisiana law, including but not limited to those provided in Section 33:2955 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended. “Reserve Fund Requirement” means as of any date of calculation, a sum equal to onehalf of the maximum principal,interest, and Administrative Fee requirements for any succeeding Bond Year on the Bonds. The reserve fund requirement, if any, for any issue(s) of Additional Parity Bonds shall be defined in the ordinance(s) authorizing the issuance of such Additional Parity Bonds. “Sales Tax Ordinance” means the ordinance adopted by the Governing Authority on December 7, 2023, as amended and supplemented, providing for the levy and collection of the Tax. “Tax” means the one per cent (1 %) sales and use tax being levied and collected by the City pursuant to the Election and the Sales Tax Ordinance. SECTION 2. Authorization of Bonds. In compliance with and under the authority of the Act, there is hereby authorized the incurring of an indebtedness of not exceeding Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000) for, on behalf of and in the name of the City, for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, extending, and improving sewers and sewage disposal facilities and acquiring equipment therefor, and paying the costs of issuance thereof, and to represent the said indebtedness, the City does hereby authorize the issuance of its “Taxable Sales Tax Bond (DEQ), Series 2026,” in an amount not to exceed $20,000,000. The Bonds are the first emission of $50,000,000 of bonds that were approved by the State Bond Commission on July 16, 2026. The Bonds shall be initially issued in the form of a single fully registered Bond numbered R-1, shall be dated the Date of Delivery thereof. The Executive Officers may approve a different series designation if the Bond is delivered in a calendar year other than 2026. The Bonds shall mature in twenty (20) installments of principal, payable annually on each Principal Payment Date as set forth in the Loan Agreement and the Bond. The unpaid principal of the Bonds shall bear interest from the Date of Delivery, or the most recent Interest Payment Date to which interest has been paid or duly provided for, at the rate of forty-five hundredths percent (0.45%) per annum, said interest to be calculated on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve thirty-day months and payable on each Interest Payment Date. Interest on the Bonds on any Interest Payment Date shall be payable only on the aggregate amount of the purchase price which shall have been paid theretofore to the City and is outstanding and shall accrue with respect to each purchase price installment only from the date of payment of such installment. In addition to interest at the rate set forth above, at any time that the Department owns the Bonds the City will pay the Administrative Fee to the Department on each Interest Payment Date. In the event (i) the Department owns any Bonds or the Department has pledged or assigned any Bonds in connection with its State Revolving Fund and (ii) the Administrative Fee payable by the City to the Department under the terms of the Loan Agreement is declared illegal or unenforceable by a court or an administrative body of competent jurisdiction, the interest rate borne by the Bonds shall be increased by one-half of one percent (0.50%) per annum, effective as of the date declared to be the date from which the Administrative Fee is no longer owed because of such illegality or unenforceability. The principal of the Bonds, upon maturity or redemption, shall be payable by check mailed by the Paying Agent to the Owner ( determined as of the Record Date) at the address shown on the Bond Register. Each Bond delivered under this Bond Ordinance upon transfer or in exchange for or in lieu of any other Bond shall carry all the rights to interest accrued and unpaid, and to accrue, which were carried by such other Bond, and each such Bond shall bear interest (as herein set forth) so that neither gain nor loss in interest shall result from such transfer, exchange or substitution. No Bond shall be entitled to any right or benefit under this Bond Ordinance, or be valid or obligatory for any purpose, unless there appears on such Bond a certificate of registration, substantially in the form provided in this Bond Ordinance, executed by the Paying Agent by manual signature. SECTION 3. Prepayment of Bonds. The principal installments of the Bonds are subject to prepayment at the option of the City at any time, in whole or in part, at a prepayment price of par plus accrued interest and accrued Administrative Fee, if any, to the prepayment date and in such case the remaining principal of the Bonds shall continue to mature in installments as set forth in the Loan Agreement and the Bond. Official notice of such call for prepayment shall be given by means of first class mail, postage prepaid by notice deposited in the United States Mail or via accepted means of electronic communication not less than thirty (30) days prior to the prepayment date addressed to the Owner of each Bond to be prepaid at his address as shown on the registration records of the Paying Agent. In the event a portion of the Bonds is to be prepaid, such Bonds shall be surrendered to the Paying Agent, who shall note the date and amount of such prepayment in the space provided therefor on the Bonds. SECTION 4. Registration, Transfer and Exchange of Bonds. The City shall cause the Bond Register to be kept at the principal office of the Paying Agent. The Bonds may be transferred, registered and assigned only on the Bond Register, and such registration shall be at the expense of the City. A Bond may be assigned by the execution of an assignment form on the Bonds or by other instruments of transfer and assignment acceptable to the Paying Agent. A new Bond or Bonds will be delivered by the Paying Agent to the last assignee (the new Owner) in exchange for such transferred and assigned Bonds after receipt of the Bonds to be transferred in proper form. Such new Bond or Bonds shall be in the denomination of $5,000 or any integral multiple thereof within a single maturity. Neither the City nor the Paying Agent shall be required to issue, register the transfer of, or exchange any Bond during a period beginning at the opening of business on the 15th day of the month next preceding an interest payment date or any date of redemption and ending at the close of business on such interest payment date or date of redemption. SECTION 5. Sale and Delivery of Bonds; Execution of Documents. The Bonds are hereby awarded to and sold to the Department at a price of par under the terms and conditions set forth in the Loan Agreement, and after their execution and authentication by the Paying Agent, the Bonds shall be delivered to the Department or its agents or assigns, upon receipt by the City of the agreed first advance of the purchase price of the Bonds. It is understood that the purchase price of the Bonds will be paid by the Department to the City in installments, and a portion of the principal amount advanced by the Department may be forgiven by the Department, each in the manner and under the terms and conditions set forth in the Loan Agreement. The Executive Officers are hereby empowered, authorized and directed to do any and all things necessary and incidental to carry out all of the provisions of this Bond Ordinance, to execute and deliver the Loan Agreement, to cause the necessary Bonds to be printed, to issue, execute and seal the Bonds and to effect delivery thereof as hereinafter provided. SECTION 6. Form of Bonds. The Bonds and the endorsements to appear thereon shall be in substantially in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, with such necessary or appropriate variations, omissions and insertions as are required or permitted by the Act and this Bond Ordinance. SECTION 7. Execution of Bonds. The Bonds shall be signed by the Executive Officers for, on behalf of, in the name of the City. SECTION 8. Statutory Lien. As provided in R.S. 39:504, the Bonds shall be secured debt entitled to the highest possible protection and priority afforded by the bankruptcy laws of the United States and the State of Louisiana, and the Owners shall have a statutory lien on and a security interest in the Net Revenues of the Tax pledged to the payment of the Bonds in this Bond Ordinance, to the fullest extent and in the manner stated in the Act and this Bond Ordinance, and any pledge or grant of a lien or security interest in the Net Revenues of the Tax made by the City in connection with the issuance of the Bonds shall be valid, binding and perfected from the time when the pledge or grant of lien or security interest is made. The Net Revenues of the Tax shall immediately be subject to the lien of such pledge and security interest without any physical delivery therefor or further act and the lien of such pledge and security interest shall be first priority and valid and binding as against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract, bankruptcy or otherwise against the City, whether or not such parties have notice thereof. The Owner or Owners of the Bonds shall be secured creditors with respect to the Net Revenues of the Tax. As provided by R.S. 39:504(D), the statutory lien provided in the Act shall also apply to and secure the Administrative Fee. SECTION 9. Recital of Regularity. This Governing Authority having investigated and determined the regularity of the proceedings had in connection with the Bonds and having determined the same to be regular as provided by La. R.S. 39:507, the Bonds shall contain the following recital, to wit: “It is certified that this indebtedness is authorized by and is issued in conformity with the requirements of the constitution and statutes of this State.” SECTION 10. Pledge of Net Revenues of the Tax. The Bonds shall be secured by and payable in principal and interest solely from an irrevocable pledge and dedication of the Net Revenues of the Tax, which are hereby irrevocably and irrepealably pledged and dedicated in an amount

Legal Notices

sufficient for the payment of the Bonds and any Additional Parity Bonds in principal and interest as they shall respectively become due and payable, and for the other purposes hereinafter set forth in this Bond Ordinance. In compliance with the Sales Tax Ordinance, all of the Net Revenues of the Tax shall be set aside in a separate fund as herein provided and shall be and remain pledged for the security and payment of the Bonds and any Additional Parity Bonds in principal and interest and for all other payments provided for in this Bond Ordinance until the Bonds shall have been fully paid and discharged. SECTION 11. Flow of Funds. In order that the principal of and the interest and Administrative Fee on the Bonds will be paid in accordance with their terms and for the other objects and purposes hereinafter provided, the City covenants that in compliance with the Sales Tax Ordinance, all of the Net Revenues of the Tax shall continue to be deposited daily as the same may be collected in the separate and special bank account maintained with the regularly designated fiscal agent of the City, hereby designated for purposes of the Bonds as the “2026 Sales Tax Fund” (the “Sales Tax Fund”). The Sales Tax Fund constitutes a dedicated fund of the City, from which appropriations and expenditures by the City shall be made solely for the payment of the Bonds and the purposes designated in. the proposition authorizing the levy of the Tax. Out of the funds on deposit in the Sales Tax Fund, the City shall first pay all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax. After payment of such expenses, the remaining balance of the proceeds of the Tax shall be used in the following order of priority and for the following express purposes: (a) The maintenance with the regularly designated fiscal agent of the City of the “2023 Sales Tax Bond Sinking Fund” (hereinafter called the “Sinking Fund”), hereby established, sufficient in amount to pay promptly and fully the principal of and the interest and Administrative Fee on the Bonds herein authorized, including any Additional Parity Bonds issued hereafter, as they severally become due and payable, by transferring from the Sales Tax Fund to the regularly designated fiscal agent of the City, monthly in advance on or before the 20th day of each month, a sum equal to one-sixth (1/6) of the total interest and Administrative Fee falling due on the next Interest Payment Date and one-twelfth (1/12) of the total principal falling due on the next Principal Payment Date, together with such additional proportionate sum as may be required to pay said principal and interest and Administrative Fee as the same respectively become due. Said fiscal agent shall transfer from the Sinking Fund to the paying agent bank or banks for all bonds payable from the Sinking Fund, at least one (1) day in advance of the date on which payment of principal or interest falls due, funds fully sufficient to pay promptly the principal and interest and Administrative Fee so falling due on such date. (b) The maintenance with the regularly designated fiscal agent of the City of the “2023 Sales Tax Bond Reserve Fund” (the “Reserve Fund”), hereby established. The Reserve Fund shall contain a separate account for the Bonds and each future series of the Bonds, each such account to be designated as the “Series (insert series designation) Account,” and the money in each account of Reserve Fund shall be retained solely for the purpose of paying debt service on the respective series of bonds benefiting therefrom as to which there would otherwise be default. The Series 2026 Account is hereby established for the benefit of the Bonds and shall be funded as set forth below. On or before the 20th day of each month, commencing on the first such date to occur following the Date of Delivery, the City shall make periodic deposits into the Series 2026 Account such that the amount on deposit in the Series 2026 Account will equal the Reserve Fund Requirement not later than the fifth anniversary of the Date of Delivery. In the event that Additional Parity Bonds are issued hereafter in the manner provided by this Bond Ordinance, there shall be transferred from said Sales Tax Fund on the 20th day of each month (after making the payments required in subsection (a) above), or from the proceeds of such bonds, into the Reserve Fund monthly or annually, such amounts (as may be designated in the ordinance authorizing the issuance of such Additional Parity Bonds) as will increase the total amount on deposit in the Reserve Fund upon the issuance of such Additional Parity Bonds to a sum equal to the reserve fund requirement for such bonds; provided, however, that in the event of the issuance of Additional Parity Bonds, the reserve fund requirement for such bonds may be satisfied by cash, Government Securities of sufficient value or one or more surety bonds or insurance policies ( each a “Reserve Policy”), or any combination of the foregoing. If at any time it shall be necessary to use moneys in any account in the Reserve Fund or to draw upon a Reserve Policy for the purpose of paying debt service payable from the Sinking Fund as to which there would otherwise be default, then the moneys so used shall be transferred to each account in the Reserve Fund in which there is a deficiency, on a pro rata basis, from said Sales Tax Fund on the 20th day of each month (after making the payments required in subsection (a) above), it being the intention hereof that there shall as nearly as possible be at all times in the various accounts in the Reserve Fund the amount required for each. The obligation of the City to reimburse the provider of any Reserve Policy shall enjoy the same priority as the obligation of the City to replenish the cash or investments in any account in the Reserve Fund. All moneys remaining in the Sales Tax Fund on the 20th day of each month in excess of (i) all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax, and (ii) after making the payments required by subsections (a) and (b) of this Section (including payments for prior months during which the required payments may not have been made), shall be considered as surplus. Such surplus may be used by the City for any of the purposes for which the Tax is authorized. The Sales Tax Fund, the Sinking Fund, and the Reserve Fund provided for in this Section shall all be and constitute trust funds for the purposes and to the extent provided in this Ordinance, and the Owners of Bonds issued pursuant to this Ordinance are granted a lien on all such funds until applied in the manner provided herein. The moneys in such funds shall at all times be secured to the full extent thereof by tlie bank or trust company holding such funds in the manner required by the laws of the State of Louisiana. SECTION 12. City Obligated to Continue to Collect Tax. In compliance with the laws of Louisiana and this Bond Ordinance, the City, through its governing authority, by proper resolutions and/or ordinances, is obligated to cause the Tax to continue to be levied and collected until all of the Bonds have been retired as to both principal and interest and Administrative Fee, and further the City shall not discontinue or decrease or permit to be discontinued or decreased the Tax in anticipation of the collection of which the Bonds have been issued, nor in any way make any change which would diminish the amount of the revenues of the Tax to be received by the City until all of the Bonds have been retired as to both principal and interest. Nothing contained in this Bond Ordinance shall be construed to prevent the City from altering, amending or repealing from time to time as may be necessary the Sales Tax Ordinance or any subsequent ordinance providing with respect to the Tax, said alterations, amendments or repeals to be conditioned upon the continued preservation of the rights of the Owners with respect to the revenues from the Tax. Except as provided in the following paragraph, the Sales Tax Ordinance pursuant to which the Tax is being levied, collected and allocated, and the obligations to continue to levy, collect and allocate the Tax and to apply the revenues therefrom in accordance with the provisions of this Bond Ordinance, shall be irrevocable until the Bonds have been paid in full as to both principal and. interest, and shall not be subject to amendment in any manner which would impair the rights of the Owners from time to time of the Bonds or which would in any way jeopardize the prompt payment of principal thereof and interest thereon. SECTION 13. Covenants of the City. In providing for the issuance of the Bonds, the City does hereby covenant that it has a legal right to levy and collect the Tax, to issue the Bonds and to pledge the Net Revenues of the Tax as herein provided, and that the Bonds will have a lien and privilege on the Net Revenues of the Tax subject only to the prior payment of the reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of administering and collecting the Tax. SECTION 14. Bond Ordinance a Contract. The provisions of this Bond Ordinance shall constitute a contract between the City and the Owner or Owners from time to time of the Bonds, and any Owner of any of the Bonds may either at law or in equity, by suit, action, mandamus or other proceedings, enforce and compel the performance of all duties required to be performed by the City as a result of issuing the Bonds, and may similarly enforce the provisions of the Sales Tax Ordinance imposing the Tax and this Bond Ordinance. SECTION 15. Records and Accounts Relating to Tax. So long as any of the Bonds are outstanding and unpaid in principal or interest, the City shall maintain and keep proper books of records and accounts separate and apart from all other records and accounts in which shall be made full and correct entries of all transactions relating to the collection and expenditure of the Net Revenues of the Tax, including specifically but without limitation, all reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collection. Not later than six (6) months after the close of each Fiscal Year, or such later time as may be allowed by the Legislative Auditor, the City shall cause an audit of such books and accounts to be made by the Legislative Auditor of the State of Louisiana (or his successor) or by a recognized independent firm of certified public accountants showing the receipts of and disbursements made for the account of the Sales Tax Fund. Such audit shall be available for inspection upon request by the Owners of any of the Bonds. The City further agrees that the Paying Agent and the Owners of any of the Bonds shall have at all reasonable times the right to inspect the records, accounts and data of the City relating to the Tax. SECTION 16. Issuance of Refunding and Additional Parity Bonds. All of the Bonds shall enjoy complete parity of lien on the Net Revenues of the Tax despite the fact that any of the Bonds may be delivered at an earlier date than any other of the Bonds. The City shall issue no other bonds or obligations of any kind or nature payable from or enjoying a lien on the Net Revenues of the Tax having priority over or parity with the Bonds , except that (1) the City expressly authorized to issue the remaining principal amount of the $50,000,000 in bonds secured by the Tax as approved by the Louisiana State Bond Commission on July 16, 2026 in one or more additional tranches on a parity with the Bonds, and

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● 5B

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Legal Notices

each tranche shall be considered Additional Parity Bonds for purposes of this Bond Ordinance, and (2) bonds secured by the Tax may hereafter be issued on a parity with the Bonds under the following conditions: (a) The Bonds and any Additional Parity Bonds, or any part thereof, including interest, Administrative Fee, and redemption premiums thereon, may be refunded and the refunding bonds so issued shall enjoy complete equality of lien with the portion of the Bonds which is not refunded, if there be any, and the refunding bonds shall continue to enjoy whatever priority of lien over subsequent issues that may have been enjoyed by the Bonds refunded, provided, however, that if only a portion of Bonds outstanding is so refunded and the refunding bonds require total principal and interest payments during any Bond Year in excess of the principal and interest which would have been required in such Bond Year to pay the Bonds refunded thereby, then such Bonds may not be refunded without the consent of the Owners of the unrefunded portion of the Bonds issued hereunder (provided such consent shall not be required if such refunding bonds meet the requirements set forth in clause (b) below). (b) Additional Parity Bonds may also be issued, and such Additional Parity Bonds shall be on a parity with the Bonds herein authorized, if all of the following conditions are met: (i) The average annual revenues derived by the City from the Tax when computed for the last two (2) calendar years immediately preceding the issuance of the bonds must have been not less than 1.35 times the highest combined principal and interest requirements for any succeeding calendar year period on all Bonds then outstanding, including any additional parity bonds theretofore issued and then outstanding, and any other bonds or other obligations whatsoever then outstanding which are payable from the Tax (but not including bonds which have been refunded or provision otherwise made for their full payment and redemption) and the additional bonds so proposed to be issued; (ii) The payments to be made into the various funds provided for in Section 10 hereof must be current; (iii) The existence of the facts required by paragraphs (i) and (ii) above must be determined and certified to by an Executive Officer or by an independent firm of certified public accountants who have previously audited the books of the City or by such successors thereof as may have been employed for that purpose. SECTION 17. Fidelity Bonds for Officers and Employees. So long as any of the Bonds are outstanding and unpaid, the City shall require all of its officers and employees who may be in a position of authority or in possession of money derived from the collection of the Tax, to obtain or be covered by a blanket fidelity or faithful performance bond, or independent fidelity bonds written by a responsible indemnity company in amounts adequate to protect the City from loss. SECTION 18. Amendments to Bond Ordinance. No material modification or amendment of this Bond Ordinance, or of any ordinance amendatory hereof or supplemental hereto, may be made without the consent in writing of the Owners of two-thirds (2/3) of the aggregate principal amount of the Bonds then outstanding; provided, however, that no such modification or amendment shall permit a change in the maturity of the Bonds or the redemption provisions thereof, or a reduction in the rate of interest thereon, or the promise of the City to pay the principal of and the interest on the Bonds as the same shall come due from the Net Revenues of the Tax, or reduce the percentage of owners required to consent to any material modification or amendment of this Bond Ordinance, without the consent of the Owner or Owners of the Bonds. SECTION 19. Mutilated, Destroyed, Lost or Stolen Bonds. Lost, destroyed or improperly cancelled Bonds may be replaced in the manner set forth in the Act. In case any such lost, destroyed or improperly cancelled Bond has become or is about to become due and payable, the City in its discretion may, instead of issuing a new Bond, pay such Bond. Upon the issuance of any replacement Bond under this Section, the City may require the payment by the Owner of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge that may be imposed in relation thereto and any other expenses (including the fees and expenses of the Paying Agent) connected therewith. Every new Bond issued pursuant to this section in lieu of any lost, destroyed or improperly cancelled bond shall constitute a replacement of the prior obligation of the City, whether or not the lost, destroyed or improperly cancelled bond shall be at any time enforceable by anyone. The obligation of the City on any replacement bonds shall be identical as its obligation upon the original bonds, and the rights of the holder shall be the same as those conferred by the original bonds. SECTION 20. Discharge of Bond Ordinance. If the City shall pay or cause to be paid, or there shall be paid to the Owners, the principal of and interest and Administrative Fee on the Bonds, at the times and in the manner stipulated in this Bond Ordinance, then the pledge of the Tax or any other money, securities, and funds pledged under this Bond Ordinance and all covenants, agreements, and other obligations of the City to the Owners of Bonds shall thereupon cease, terminate, and become void and be discharged and satisfied, and the Paying Agent shall pay over or deliver all money held by it under this Bond Ordinance to the City. SECTION 21. Defeasance. Bonds or interest installments for the payment of which money or Government Securities shall have been set aside and shall be held in trust (through deposit by the City of funds for such payment or otherwise) at the maturity date thereof shall be deemed to have been paid within the meaning and with the effect expressed above in this Section. Bonds shall be deemed to have been paid, prior to their maturity, within the meaning and with the effect expressed above in this Section if they have been defeased pursuant to Chapter 14 of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, or any successor provisions thereto. SECTION 22. Events of Default. Each of the following events shall be “Events of Default” under this Bond Ordinance: (i) if default shall be made in the due and punctual payment of the principal of any Bond when and as the same shall become due and payable, whether at maturity or otherwise; or (ii) if default shall be made in the due and punctual payment of any installment of interest on any Bond when and as such interest installment shall become due and payable; or (iii) if default shall be made by the City in the performance or observance of any other of the covenants, agreements or conditions on its part in this Bond Ordinance, any supplemental ordinance or in the Bond, and such default shall continue for a period of forty-five (45) days after written notice thereof to the City by the Owners of not less than 25% of the Bond Obligation; or (iv) if the City shall file a petition or otherwise seek relief under any Federal or State bankruptcy law or similar law. Upon the happening and continuance of any Event of Default, the Owners of the Bond shall be entitled to exercise all rights and powers for which provision is made under State law. Under no circumstances may the principal or interest of the Bonds or any portion thereof be accelerated. All remedies shall be cumulative with respect to the Paying Agent and the Owners; if any remedial action is discontinued or abandoned, the Paying Agent and the Owners shall be restored to the former positions. SECTION 23. Successor Paying Agent; Paying Agent Agreement. The City will at all times maintain a Paying Agent meeting the qualifications hereinafter described for the performance of the duties hereunder for the Bonds. The designation of the initial Paying Agent in this Bond Ordinance is hereby confirmed and approved. The City reserves the right to appoint a successor Paying Agent by (a) filing with the Person then performing such function a certified copy of an ordinance or ordinance giving notice of the termination of the Agreement and appointing a successor and (b) causing notice to be given to each Owner. Every Paying Agent appointed hereunder shall at all times be a bank or trust company organized and doing business under the laws of the United States of America or of any state, authorized under such laws to exercise trust powers, and subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authority. The Executive Officers are hereby authorized to execute an appropriate Agreement with the Paying Agent for and on behalf of the City, if required, in such form as may be satisfactory to said officers, the signatures of said officers on such Agreement to be conclusive evidence of the due exercise of the authority granted hereunder. SECTION 24. Effect of Registration. The City, the Paying Agent, and any agent of either of them may treat the Owner in whose name any Bond is registered as the Owner of such Bond for the purpose of receiving payment of the principal ( and redemption price) of and interest on such Bond and for all other purposes whatsoever, and to the extent permitted by law, neither the City, the Paying Agent, nor any agent of either of them shall be affected by notice to the contrary. SECTION 25. Notices to Owners. Wherever this Bond Ordinance provides for notice to Owners of Bonds of any event, such notice shall be sufficiently given (unless otherwise herein expressly provided) if in writing and mailed, first class postage prepaid, or delivered via accepted means of electronic communication to each Owner of such Bonds at the address of such Owner as it appears in the Bond Register. In any case where notice to Owners of Bonds is given by mail, neither the failure to mail such notice to any particular Owner of Bonds, nor any defect in any notice so mailed, shall affect the sufficiency of such notice with respect to all other Bonds. Where this Bond Ordinance provides for notice in any manner, such notice may be waived in writing by the Owner entitled to receive such notice, either before or after the event, and such waiver shall be the equivalent of such notice. Waivers of notice by Owners shall be filed with the Paying Agent, but such filing shall not be a condition precedent to the validity of any action taken in reliance upon such waiver. SECTION 26. Cancellation of Bonds. All Bonds surrendered for payment, redemption, transfer, exchange or replacement, if surrendered to the Paying Agent, shall be promptly cancelled by it and, if surrendered to the City, shall be delivered to the Paying Agent and, if not already cancelled, shall be promptly cancelled by the Paying Agent. The City may at any time deliver to the Paying Agent for cancellation any Bonds previously registered and delivered which the City may have acquired in any manner whatsoever, and all Bonds so delivered shall be promptly cancelled by the Paying Agent. All cancelled Bonds held by the Paying Agent shall be disposed of as directed in writing by the City.

Legal Notices

SECTION 27. Deposit of Bond Proceeds. All of the proceeds derived from the sale of the Bonds, which shall be paid in installments by the Department in the manner set forth in the Loan Agreement, shall be deposited by the City in a Construction Fund (the “Construction Fund”). The funds in the Construction Fund shall be used solely for the purposes for which the Bonds were issued and in the manner set forth in the Loan Agreement. SECTION 28. Davis-Bacon Wage Rate Requirements. The City agrees that all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on the portion of the project that is funded in whole or in part with the Bonds purchased by the Department shall be paid wages at rates not less than those prevailing on projects of a character similar in the locality of the City as determined by the Secretary of the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) in accordance with Subchapter IV of Chapter 31 of Title 40, United States Code. DOL provides all pertinent information related to compliance with the foregoing requirements, including prevailing wage rates and instructions for reporting. The City will ensure that all construction contracts relating to the portion of the Project that is funded in whole or in part with Bonds purchased by the Department will require that the contractor comply with the aforesaid wage and reporting requirements. This section shall not apply to ‘’force account” work where the City may perform construction work using its own employees rather than any contractor or subcontractor. SECTION 29. Publication. A copy of this Bond Ordinance shall be published immediately after its adoption in one issue of the official journal of the City. It shall not be necessary to publish the exhibits to this Bond Ordinance but such exhibits shall be made available for public inspection at the offices of the City at reasonable times and such fact must be stated in the publication within the official journal. SECTION 30. Disclosure Under SEC Rule 15c2-12. The City is not required at this time to comply with the continuing disclosure requirements described in the Rule 15c2-12(b) of the Securities and Exchange Commission [17 CFR 240.15c2-12(b)]. SECTION 31. Section Headings. The headings of the various sections hereof are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions hereof. SECTION 32. Severability. In case any one or more of the provisions of this Bond Ordinance or of the Bonds issued hereunder shall for any reason be held to be illegal or invalid, such illegality or invalidity shall not affect any other provision of this Bond Ordinance or of the Bonds, but this Bond Ordinance and the Bonds shall be construed and enforced as if such illegal or invalid provisions had not been contained therein. Any constitutional or statutory provision enacted after the date of this Bond Ordinance which validates or makes legal any provision of this Bond Ordinance and/or the Bonds which would not otherwise be valid or legal, shall be deemed to apply to this Bond Ordinance and to the Bonds. SECTION 33. Effective Date. This Bond Ordinance shall become effective upon signature of the Mayor, or, in the event of veto, upon readoption by the Governing Authority. The foregoing ordinance having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows: YEAS: NAYS: ABSTAIN: ABSENT: And the ordinance was declared adopted, on this, the 3rd day of September, 2026. /s/ Shelley M. Gautreau City Clerk

/s/ Jan-Scott Richard Mayor

Legal Notices

this Bond to be prepaid at his address as shown on the registration books of the Paying Agent, which notice may be waived by any registered owner. The City shall cause to be kept at the office of the Paying Agent a register in which registration of this Bond and of transfers of this Bond shall be made as provided herein and in the Bond Ordinance. This Bond may be transferred, registered and assigned only on such registration records of the Paying Agent, and such registration shall be at the expense of the City. This Bond represents the entire issue of an authorized issue of bonds of the City aggregating in principal the sum of Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000) (the “Bond”), having been issued by the City pursuant to an ordinance adopted by the City Council of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana (the “Governing Authority”), acting as governing authority of the City, on [September 3, 2026] (the “Bond Ordinance”), for the purpose of constructing, acquiring, extending, and improving the sewers and sewage disposal facilities of the City and acquiring equipment therefor, under the authority conferred by Part II of Chapter 4 of Subtitle II of Title 39 of the Louisiana Revised Statues of 1950, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority, pursuant to all requirements therein specified, including the authorization of a majority of the qualified electors voting at election held on October 14, 2023 (the “Election”), the results of which Election has been duly promulgated in accordance with law. As provided in the Bond Ordinance, and subject to certain limitations set forth therein, this Bond is exchangeable for an equal aggregate principal amount of bonds of the same maturity of any other authorized denomination. The City and the Paying Agent shall not be required to issue, register the transfer of or exchange any Bond during a period beginning at the opening of business on the 15th day of the month next preceding an interest payment date or any date of redemption and ending at the close of business on such interest payment date or date of redemption. This Bond is payable from a pledge and dedication of the avails or proceeds of the special one percent (1%) sales and use tax being levied and collected by the Governing Authority pursuant to the Election (the “Tax”), and now being levied and collected by the City, pursuant to Article VI, Section 29 of the Constitution of the State of Louisiana of 1974, and other constitutional and statutory authority, subject only to the prior payment of the reasonable and necessary costs and expenses of collecting and administering the Tax, all as provided in the Bond Ordinance. This Bond has been duly registered with the Secretary of State of Louisiana as provided by law. This Bond shall not be valid or become obligatory for any purpose or be entitled to any security or benefit under the Bond Ordinance until the Certificate of Registration hereon shall have been signed by the Paying Agent. It is certified that this indebtedness is authorized by and is issued in conformity with the requirements of the constitution and statutes of this State. It is further certified, recited and declared that all acts, conditions and things required to exist, to happen and to be performed precedent to and in the issuance of this Bond and the issue of which it forms a part necessary to constitute the same legal, binding and valid obligations of the City have existed, have happened and have been performed in due time, form and manner as required by law, and that the indebtedness of the City, including this Bond and the issue of which it forms a part, does not exceed any limitation prescribed by the Constitution and statutes of the State of Louisiana, and that this Bond shall not be invalid for any irregularity or defect in the proceedings for the issuance and sale thereof and shall be incontestable in the hands of bona fide purchasers or owners for value thereof. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City Council of the City, acting as the governing authority of the City, have caused this Bond to be executed in the name of the City by the manual signatures of its Mayor and City Clerk, to be dated the date of delivery hereof.

EXHIBIT A (FORM OF BOND) INTEREST ON THIS BOND WILL BE INCLUDED IN GROSS INCOME FOR FEDERAL INCOME TAX PURPOSES AND IS NOT EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA STATE OF LOUISIANA PARISH OF LAFAYETTE

Bond Date ___ ,2026

Interest Rate 0.45%

Principal Amount $20,000,000

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, CITY OF SCOTT, STATE OF LOUISIANA (the “City”), promises to pay, but solely from the source and as hereinafter provided, to: REGISTERED OWNER: Department of Environmental Quality (the “Department”) Attn: Financial Services Division, Accounts Receivable P. 0. Box 4311 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-4311 or registered assigns noted on the registration record attached hereto on the Maturity Date set forth above the Principal Amount set forth above unless a lesser amount is owed at such time in accordance with the terms contained herein. This Bond shall bear interest, payable semi-annually on _____ 1 and _____ 1 of each year, commencing [ ______1, 2027] (each, an “Interest Payment Date”), at the Interest Rate shown above, said interest to be calculated on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30day months. Interest on this Bond on any Interest Payment Date shall be payable only on the aggregate amount of the purchase price which shall have been paid theretofore and not forgiven by the Department, as noted on Schedule A hereto, and shall accrue with respect to each purchase price installment only from the date of payment of such installment. If the Department is the registered owner of this Bond, the City will additionally pay an Administrative Fee to the Department at the annual rate of one-half of one percent (0.5%) on the outstanding principal amount of the Bond, payable on each Interest Payment Date. In the event (i) the Department owns this Bond or the Department has pledged or assigned this Bond in connection with its Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program and (ii) the Administrative Fee payable to the Department is declared illegal or unenforceable by a court or an administrative body of competent jurisdiction, then the “Annual Interest Rate” shown in the foregoing table and borne by this Bond shall be increased by one-half of one percent (0.5%) per annum, effective as of the date declared to be the date from which the Administrative Fee is no longer owed because of such illegality or unenforceability. This Bond shall mature in twenty (20) installments of principal, payable annually on each 1 (each, a “Principal Payment Date”), and each annual installment shall be the applicable percentage shown in the following table, rounded to the nearest One Thousand Dollars ($1,000), of the outstanding principal amount of this Bond on the day before the applicable Principal Payment Date: Date (_____1) 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037

Percentage of Principal 4.564% 4.827 5.120 5.448 5.817 6.235 6.712 7.264 7.907 8.667

Date (_____1) 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047

(FORM OF BOND) (Manual Signature) City Clerk

(Manual Signature) Mayor * * * * * * *

REGISTRATION RECORD TAXABLE SALES TAX BOND (DEQ), SERIES 2026 CITY OF SCOTT, STATE OF LOUISIANA

TAXABLE SALES TAX BOND (DEQ), SERIES 2026 OF THE CITY OF SCOTT, STATE OF LOUISIANA Bond Number R-1

Legal Notices

Percentage of Principal 9.580% 10.696 12.090 13.884 16.275 19.624 24.647 33.019 49.764 100.000

In the event that the Completion Date of the Project is on or after ______ 1, 20___, the principal payment schedule set forth above may be adjusted so that each payment shall be due on the ______ 1 that is one year later than shown above, provided that in no event shall the final principal payment be more than twenty-two (22) years from the Bond Date set forth above. To exercise the option to defer the principal repayment schedule, the City must so notify the Department in writing prior to ______ 1, 20___, and certify that the Completion Date will not have occurred prior to ______ 1, 20___. The principal and interest on this Bond shall be payable by check mailed to the registered owner of this Bond (determined as of the Interest Payment Date) at the address shown on the registration books kept by the Paying Agent (hereinafter defined) for such purpose, provided that payment of the final installment of principal on this Bond shall be made only upon presentation and surrender of this Bond to the Paying Agent. The principal installments of this Bond are subject to prepayment at the option of the City at any time, in whole or in part, at a prepayment price of par plus accrued interest and accrued Administrative Fee, if any, to the prepayment date. In the event a portion of this Bond is to be prepaid, this Bond shall be surrendered to the City Clerk of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana, as initial Paying Agent for this Bond (the “Paying Agent”), who shall note the amount of such prepayment in the space provided therefor on the prepayment schedule attached to this Bond. Official notice of such call of this Bond for prepayment shall be given by means of first class mail, postage prepaid by notice deposited in the United States Mail or via accepted means of electronic communication not less than thirty (30) days prior to the prepayment date addressed to the registered owner of

Name and Address Of Registered Owner

Date of Registration

Signature of City Clerk As Paying Agent

Department of Environmental Quality Clean Water State Revolving Fund P.O. Box 4311 Baton Rouge, La. 70821-4311

SCHEDULE OF PREPAYMENTS TAXABLE SALES TAX BOND (DEQ), SERIES 2026 CITY OF SCOTT, STATE OF LOUISIANA Prepayment Date

Prepayment Amount

Remaining Balance Due

* * * * * * * SCHEDULE A SCHEDULE OF PRINCIPAL DRAWS AND PRINCIPAL BALANCE TAXABLE SALES TAX BOND (DEQ), SERIES 2026 CITY OF SCOTT, STATE OF LOUISIANA Date: ________________ Draw Number: ___________________________ Principal Draw Paid to City this Date: $ ____________________________ Amount of Principal Forgiveness this Date: $ _______________________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Draws Paid to Date: $ ______________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Forgiveness to Date: $ ______________ Outstanding Balance of Principal $ ________________________________ Signature of Authorized Officer of Department: _____________________ Date: ________________ Draw Number: ___________________________ Principal Draw Paid to City this Date: $ ____________________________ Amount of Principal Forgiveness this Date: $ _______________________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Draws Paid to Date: $ ______________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Forgiveness to Date: $ ______________ Outstanding Balance of Principal $ ________________________________ Signature of Authorized Officer of Department: _____________________ Date: ________________ Draw Number: ___________________________ Principal Draw Paid to City this Date: $ ____________________________ Amount of Principal Forgiveness this Date: $ _______________________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Draws Paid to Date: $ ______________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Forgiveness to Date: $ ______________ Outstanding Balance of Principal $ ________________________________ Signature of Authorized Officer of Department: _____________________ Date: ________________ Draw Number: ___________________________ Principal Draw Paid to City this Date: $ ____________________________ Amount of Principal Forgiveness this Date: $ _______________________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Draws Paid to Date: $ ______________ Cumulative Amount of Principal Forgiveness to Date: $ ______________ Outstanding Balance of Principal $ ________________________________ Signature of Authorized Officer of Department: _____________________ * * * * * * * STATE OF LOUISIANA PARISH OF LAFAYETTE I, the undersigned City Clerk of the City Council of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana (the “Governing Authority”), do hereby certify that the foregoing pages constitute a true and correct copy of an ordinance adopted by the Governing Authority on September 3, 2026, authorizing the issuance of not exceeding Twenty Million ($20,000,000) of Taxable Sales Tax Bonds (DEQ), of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana; and providing for other matters in connection therewith. IN FAITH WHEREOF, witness my official signature on this the 3rd day of September, 2026. ___________________________ City Clerk

198927-682047-aug 29-1t $ 1,663.20

6B ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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ARTISTS’ VIEWS

America shrugs as the national debt hits $40T To say the federal government spends money like drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors. When I started writing this column three days ago, the national debt was a bit more than $40 trillion. To be exact, $40,062,093,479,677. Not only is that an astronomical number — 1 billion, 40,000 times — the debt was half that, $20 trillion, just nine years ago. As the saying goes, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” Of course, billions have become chump change. We’re in the trillions now. The national debt is skyrocketing and most Americans just shrug. Worse, so do most members of Congress. When will voters care — and demand action? Carolyn Bourdeaux, executive director of the Concord Coalition, told NPR, “$40 trillion should be a wake-up call. Both parties helped bring us here, and both parties now have a responsibility to change course.” I wish the Concord Coalition would buy Bourdeaux a megaphone and send her up and down Pennsylvania Avenue to repeat Ron that message to anyone who will listen. Faucheux In 1980, the national debt was about 35% of the size of the U.S. economy. Today, it’s roughly 123%. Who is the debt owed to? While 20% is owed to a variety of government trust funds, the rest is held by U.S. and foreign investors, banks, mutual funds, pension systems and the Federal Reserve. Foreign countries, for example, hold $9 trillion to $10 trillion. China was once the largest foreign creditor, but Japan and the United Kingdom now lead — $1.1 trillion for Japan, $940 billion for United Kingdom and $633 billion for China. Surprisingly, Luxembourg is fourth. Why does the debt keeps rising? Because government keeps spending more than it collects. Annual revenue is $5.6 trillion and spending is $7.4 trillion. The $1.8 trillion hole is filled with borrowed money. What about DOGE? Wasn’t the “department of government efficiency” supposed to fix the spending problem? It was, but it didn’t. When Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 20, 2025, the National Debt Clock stood at $36.2 trillion. Since then, the debt has climbed nearly $4 trillion — and we’re not even at the midpoint of his second term. The national debt is a bipartisan affair. It increased by $9.1 trillion during Joe Biden’s presidency, $8 trillion during Trump’s first term, $8.4 trillion during Barack Obama’s two terms and $4.2 trillion during George W. Bush’s two terms. The last balanced budget was passed during Bill Clinton’s presidency. So what’s the big deal? As long as the federal government can pay the interest, is there a problem? There are plenty. First, heavy government borrowing puts upward pressure on interest rates that could increase the cost of car loans, mortgages and credit cards. It could also compete with the private sector for investment capital. All of this could slow economic growth and ultimately devalue the nation’s currency. Second, interest on the national debt now consumes $1.1 trillion of the annual federal budget. That’s more than is spent on national defense or Medicare. Excessive interest payments skew priorities and make balancing budgets nearly impossible. Third, the burden falls on future generations. Young Americans could face higher taxes and fewer services. By the way, a $40 trillion national debt works out to be $360,794 per taxpayer. A July survey conducted for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation shows that 88% of voters believe reducing the debt should be among Congress’ top three priorities. Yet, it doesn’t happen. Candidates for Congress and prospective presidential contenders have remarkably little to say about the issue. Democrats and Republicans, alike, have decided that whistling past the graveyard is the safest way to win elections. And as long as voters allow them to do it, they will. It’s time to ask candidates the hard questions. Do they believe the debt is a revenue problem, a spending problem or both? If it’s a spending problem, what programs would they cut, eliminate or restructure? And how would they grow the economy relative to the size of the debt load? If it’s a revenue problem, what taxes would they raise? What deductions or tax breaks would they eliminate? Should the country consider a value-added tax? Eventually, these questions must be answered. One final note: When I finished this column, the national debt had climbed to $40,077,522,357,512 — up $15 billion in three days. Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer in Louisiana.

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S at u r d ay, au g u S t 29, 2026

L A M A R A T U L • 7 P. M . S E P T . 5 • E S P N +

PRESSURE

IS ON

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Kiffin addresses reports LSU behind eligibility lawsuits

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

Dots are being connected, which inevitably lead back to LSU and Lane Kiffin. There’s an ongoing lawsuit against the NCAA, and now the Southeastern Conference, that aims to bring dozens of athletes back to the college ranks for a fifth year. It just so happened to be filed in Baton Rouge. Of the 16 football players originally listed as plaintiffs, including former Ole Miss starters Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, a handful quickly joined with Kiffin once the judge granted a temporary restraining order. The lawsuit also says former LSU edge rusher Jack Pyburn plans to return to the Tigers if he’s cut by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Kiffin was bound to be asked, and he was during an interview on SiriusXM College Sports Radio that aired Friday morning: Did LSU and Kiffin have any role in convincing athletes and their attorneys to file this lawsuit and return to college? “That’s really the first I’ve heard of that,” Kiffin said on SiriusXM. “I know that sounds crazy. We’ve had practice, and I don’t see the social media stuff.” A report from CBS Sports earlier this week, quoting anonymous sources, said Kiffin and LSU “reached out to multiple players on NFL rosters or their representation in an effort to get them to bring a lawsuit against the NCAA and return to school.” It was previously reported by Yahoo Sports that the Baton Rouge lawsuit was an “orchestrated effort originating from LSU’s campus.” “These kids made these decisions on their

ä See KIFFIN, page 3C STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

UL cornerback Avery demery goes through drills earlier this week in preparation for the Ragin’ Cajuns’ season opener against Lamar on Saturday.

Cajuns pleased with preseason work of CBs after rough 2025 campaign BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

It’s no big secret that one of UL’s goals during August camp was shoring up the pass defense. Pass defense doesn’t start and end with the cornerbacks, but coach George Barlow’s unit certainly plays a big role in the Ragin’ Cajuns achieving that goal. “I feel like the guys have been really consistent for the most part in camp at the corner position,” said Barlow, whose Cajuns are preparing to take on Lamar at 7 p.m. Sept. 5 at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. “I’ve been very pleased with them so far. I’ve watched them put in the work and make the sacriﬁces. We’ve still got some stuff we need to work out, but they’ve been much better.” Simply put, there were far too many big plays allowed

last season. Opposing offenses average 224.1 yards per game last year. But more than that, it was the big chunk plays that doomed the Cajuns too often. The longest pass completions allowed last season featured some pretty big numbers: McNeese State 55 yards, Missouri 39, Eastern Michigan 36, Marshall 37, James Madison 62, Southern Miss 98, South Alabama 64, Texas State 62, UL-Monroe 68 and Delaware 35. Take UL-Monroe, for instance. The Warhawks averaged 146.3 passing yards a game last season, but they got 311 yards in the near upset of the Cajuns in Lafayette. The staff tweaked the format a bit. No longer is Barlow being called the “secondary” coach but speciﬁcally the “cornerbacks” coach.

ä See CAJUNS, page 3C

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin watches passing drills during preseason camp on Aug. 8 at the team’s practice facility.

Judge’s ruling stops, for now, SEC penalties on ex-pros Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Jack Pyburn rushes during a preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Aug. 22 in Tampa, Fla. If cut by the Bucs, Pyburn plans to return to LSU. AP PHOTO By GARy MCCULLOUGH

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

The Southeastern Conference implemented new rules this week that would punish LSU if former professional athletes were added to the Tigers’ rosters. But a judge in Baton Rouge, William Jorden, amended his temporary restraining order Friday to make those rules null and void — at least for now. The order comes a day after lawyers for 30-plus athletes seeking a fifth year of eligibility amended their petition, which was originally filed last week, to add the SEC and commissioner Greg Sankey as defendants alongside the NCAA. The SEC had just approved a fine of 50% of a sports team’s budget and a half-season suspension for its coach if a former pro was added to that program’s roster. The Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 all implemented similar penalties this week. LSU has a commitment from former Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright and Saints defensive tackle Zxavian Harris. Bucs edge defender Jack Pyburn also plans to return to LSU if he’s released from his

contract before the end of the month, according to Thursday’s amended petition obtained by The Advocate. In Thursday’s ﬁling, the plaintiffs’ attorneys asked the court to implement a temporary restraining order, or a preliminary or permanent injunction, that would stop the NCAA and SEC from enforcing rules that would prevent those athletes from transferring to the school of their choice. That not only includes the NCAA’s rules against “ghost transfers,” which were enacted to stop programs from adding athletes who never entered the porSankey tal, but also the SEC’s rule against intraconference transfers. Wright and Harris both played for Lane Kifﬁn at Ole Miss and technically would be leaving another SEC school to join LSU. Thursday’s petition also asked the court to declare the SEC’s proposed penalties against adding ex-pro athletes “void as against Louisiana public policy.” The attorneys argue

ä See SEC, page 3C

2C ● Saturday, August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Gerard, Hovland share lead in PGA finale BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

ATLANTA — Ryan Gerard hit it well enough for five relatively easy birdies Friday and dropped a surprise from just inside 80 feet for another, giving him a 5-under 65 and a share of the 36-hole lead with Viktor Hovland at the seasonending Tour Championship. Hovland had one of five birdies on the peninsulagreen 15th hole, a par 3 at only 155 yards but tucked to the left near a sharp slope that feeds off the putting surface. He had a 66 to join Hovland Gerard at 10-under 130 going into the weekend. Right behind? Just about everybody. That includes Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player who had a 67 and was two back. And it included Cameron Young, in last place after the first round and atop the leaderboard for much of the day after a 62. He also wound up two behind. Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup each shot 67 and were one behind at 9-under 131. Gerard has more on his mind than the $10 million prize and the five-year exemption on the PGA Tour. The captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup will be announced after the Tour Championship, and it’s on the mind of the 27-year-old from North Carolina. “It’s hard not to think about it a little bit,” Gerard said. “I’m very aware that a good week this week goes a long way to help my chances. I’m playing this week for myself and to try and put up some good scores and hopefully win a trophy at the end of the week.” The trophies — one for the Tour

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By COLIN HUBBARd

Ryan Gerard plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of the Tour Championship on Friday in Atlanta. Championship and one for the FedEx Cup — are up for grabs at the halfway point. One third of the ﬁeld is separated by three shots on a course that has been relatively soft with either rain Thursday or overcast Friday, even with a little wind late in the day. No one took advantage quite like Young, who remains in the picture for PGA Tour player of the year with his signature win at The Players Championship and a big win at a signature event at Doral. He opened with two early bo-

geys in the opening round when everyone was going low and jokingly said it made him wonder about his career choice. He shot 70 that left him tied for last place and going off as a single Friday in the 29-man ﬁeld (J.J. Spaun has withdrawn). He made the turn in 30, and then poured in two more birdies to reach 7 under through 11 holes. Young cooled slightly with a bogey from the bunker at the 12th and missed opportunities the rest of the way until a 40-foot eagle putt

slammed into the back of the cup on the par-5 18th for a 62. That put him in a tie for the lead as the final group was starting, and Young would have been a little surprised to be within two shots by the end of the round. Low scores were there, and he had reason to believe someone would motor well past him. “I was in last place about threeand-half hours ago,” Young said. “There’s not much wind today, and the field seems to be playing pretty well for even par being last place after yesterday. I think I can pat myself on the back for shooting 8 under, but that doesn’t change how much work there is left to even give yourself a chance.” He ended the day with a mock handshake for the partner he didn’t have. Young didn’t race his way around the course. It felt like a practice round he plays by himself. There was one moment where it looked like any recreational round when he removed the flag on No. 12 and set it on the fringe because his caddie was busy raking the bunker. Now that single falls to Robert MacIntyre, the only player not under par at East Lake. MacIntyre shot a 76 — eight shots over the field average — and was 13 shots behind. Scheffler had two early bogeys to fall five shots behind and then answered with five birdies in a stretch of six holes around the turn to get back in the game. He was closing in until his approach sailed over the 17th green — the pin was in the back — and he stooped over for the longest time. “I watched it get in the jet stream up there and fly,” Scheffler said. He made up for it with a two-putt birdie on the 18th was in a good position — along with so many others — with two days left in the season.

Keselowski in need of ‘a miracle’ at Daytona ä NASCAR Cup Series.

BY MARK LONG AP sportswriter

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski needs “a miracle” at Daytona International Speedway to make the Cup Series playoffs. A more likely scenario: his teammate at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Ryan Preece, eking into the postseason with a strong showing at NASCAR’s home track Saturday night. “My car needs like a miracle,” said Keselowski, the 2012 series champion. Added Preece: “I just think about trying to win stages and win the race. … There’s a lot of unknowns right now and trying to be as prepared as possible.” Keselowski and Preece are among five drivers vying for the final three spots in the 10-race Chase for the championship in the summer race at Daytona. Bubba Wallace, Austin Cindric and Shane van Gisbergen also are looking to lock down postseason berths in the 400-mile race. Those five will share the spotlight under the lights at the high-banked track. It’s the result of NASCAR changing its playoff format, which no longer guarantees a postseason berth to drivers who win a race during the regular season. Keselowski is approaching the regular-season finale at Daytona more as a mindful team owner than a desperate participant. Fellow RFK driver Chris Buescher is already locked into the playoffs, and getting Preece in there would help the team’s financial bottom line. “We’re paying a lot of attention to

6:30 P.M. SATURdAy, NBC.

sumedly less handling. “The pack will have a vibe to it that will play off how comfortable everyone feels in the car around other cars,” points leader Denny Hamlin said. “The intensity of the actual race is going to be dependent of that comfort level.” Hamlin said earlier in the week it could lead to “absolute chaos,” partly because drivers weren’t allowed any track time to test the new setup. “It would have been nice,” driver Daniel Suárez said. “Sometimes a little bit is better than nothing. There’s going to be a lot of people making adjustments in stage one.” And all eyes will be on van Gisbergen and Preece. “It’s a pretty cool feeling to have the pressure on us,” van Gisbergen ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By ROBERT SIMMONS said.

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing driver Chris Buescher, front, and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Ty Gibbs, center, battle in turn one during the Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Aug. 15 in Richmond, Va. that,” Keselowski said. Wallace and Cindric are close to being locks to make the 10-driver Chase for the championship, essentially leaving van Gisbergen and Preece to battle for the 16th and ﬁnal spot in the playoff ﬁeld. Van Gisbergen leads Preece by 31 points — a relatively small cushion that could be quickly trimmed in the opening stages. “A lot going on. Not really sure how it’s going to play out,” van Gisbergen said. “I think 30 points is a lot — until it’s not, until he has two

good stages and then we’re under a lot of pressure. … I think we plan to be pretty conservative and see how his race is going and react to that.” All the drivers will need to react to horsepower and aerodynamic changes that NASCAR made in hopes of improving racing at the superspeedway. The sanctioning body mandated engine changes that will reduce horsepower from 510 to 465. It also shaved 3 inches off rear spoilers, providing less downforce and as-

Suárez on baby watch Suárez, who is already locked into the playoffs with Spire Motorsports, is ready to leave Daytona on a moment’s notice. Suárez’s wife, Julia, is 38 weeks pregnant and could give birth before, during or right after the race. Suárez recently completed a hospital tour so he knows where to go and what to do if he needs to ﬂy home in a hurry. “Hopefully it’s a Monday to Friday baby,” he said, adding that the team has yet to pick a standby driver. “We’re looking for someone,” he said. “He has to speak Spanish, though.”

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Ex-LSU coach Brady gets role at LSU-New Orleans

LSU-New Orleans announced Friday that former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady has been hired as a senior athletics adviser. It’s the second high-proﬁle addition this month for the LSU-New Orleans athletic department, which hired former Privateers star basketball player Ervin Johnson as an assistant men’s basketball coach. Brady’s official title is senior adviser for athletic advancement and men’s basketball strategy. According to a university new release, Brady will work with the LSU-New Orleans athletic department on “identifying fundraising priorities and major gifts” and will be directly involved with the basketball program’s “overall program strategy, roster-building and long-term performance goals.”

Florida coach Golden gets contract extension and raise

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Todd Golden’s third raise in as many years will make him the second-highest paid basketball coach in the Southeastern Conference. The 40-year-old Florida coach signed a one-year extension earlier this month that increased the total value of his deal to $49.5 million. It averages $8.25 million annually and keeps him under contract through the 2031-32 season. Golden’s salary for next season jumps from $6 million to $7.5 million. He’s due a $300,000 raise annually, with the contract culminating at $9 million in its ﬁnal year. Golden’s deal is nearly fully guaranteed. Florida would owe him 85% of the remaining value if the school ﬁred him without cause at any point.

Romo facing more citations in connection with arrest

Tony Romo is facing three more citations in connection with his arrest last month that got him placed on leave from his role as CBS’ lead analyst on NFL games. Romo was arrested July 23 in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating a vehicle while under the inﬂuence. The case against the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was amended Thursday to add citations for possessing open intoxicants in a motor vehicle, unsafe passing on the right and ﬁrst-offense operating while intoxicated. He already had received a citation for refusal to take a test for intoxication after arrest. CBS Sports president David Berson said earlier this month that he does not have a timeline for a decision about Romo’s future with the network.

Yankees activate LHP Fried off IL to start Saturday

NEW YORK — Max Fried will come off the injured list to pitch for the New York Yankees in Saturday’s day-night doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. The team hadn’t yet decided which game Fried will start, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday afternoon. Fellow left-hander Carlos Rodón is scheduled to get the ball in the other game. Fried was placed on the 15-day injured list for the second time this season Aug. 17, retroactive to Aug. 14, with a left elbow bone bruise. He was sidelined with the same issue from May 14 until July 22. The three-time All-Star is 4-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 15 starts this season, his second with the Yankees after signing a $218 million, eight-year contract.

Shaw returns to Cubs after 2-month stint on IL

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs received a boost Friday morning ahead of a crucial homestand against divisional rivals when utilityman Matt Shaw was activated off the injured list. Shaw last played for the Cubs on June 28 before landing on the IL with a sprained left hand. When he ﬁrst was sidelined, Shaw and the Cubs weren’t expecting it to be a long-term issue. “It was one of those things where I assumed it was going to be quicker,” Shaw said. “It ended up taking a really long time, so it tested my patience for sure. I’m glad to be back.” Shaw said this week has been crucial in his recovery. He played in back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday on a minor-league rehab assignment and said he could ﬁnally swing “full effort with no pain.”

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● 3C

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SEC

Continued from page 1C that the NCAA and the SEC “tortiously interfered” with the plaintiffs’ “contracts and prospective business relations” in returning to the college ranks. While Wright, Harris and Pyburn could make money as pro athletes, they stand to earn exAP FILE PHOTO By PAMELA SMITH ponentially more from NIL deals and revenue-sharing dollars as St. John’s guard RJ Luis stands on college contributors than they the court during a game against would as NFL practice squad members. Butler on March 13, 2025.

KIFFIN

Continued from page 1C

how quickly notable players committed to his program, including Wright, who was in position to become the first player to return to the college ranks after suiting up for an NFL team. Pyburn, if he returns to Baton Rouge, would be the first athlete to return to the college ranks who has played and logged statistics for an NFL team. He had two sacks in a preseason game against the Jets earlier this month. Wright and Harris previously were with the Browns and Saints, respectively. Cotton was released by the Broncos after an injury settlement with the team on July 30. Despite the SEC’s threat of penalties, including a fine equivalent to 50% of a sport’s budget and a suspension of a team’s coach for half a season if former pros are rostered, Kiffin doesn’t sound like he’s backing off of his August additions. The judge in the Baton Rouge case will consider a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and SEC, along with a “motion for contempt,” during a hearing now scheduled for this coming Thursday; the contempt motion relates to the SEC’s newly instituted penalties, which the plaintiffs’ attorneys say interfere with the judge’s restraining order. LSU opens its season Sept. 5 against Clemson, just two days after the hearing. “Just now, today, they told me there’s a case in Texas where they said the Texas A&M player should be able to play, even though the SEC came on top of this,” Kiffin said. “The judge said the SEC cannot restrict them from playing.” Kiffin referred back to what he said on the Pat McAfee Show earlier this week. “Like I said the other day when I was asked about it,” Kiffin said, “what if a conference comes in on top and tries to say you can’t? I said I think that’d be really interesting legally, and now you’re in it.”

own with attorneys of what to do,” Kiffin said on SiriusXM, “and this was a while back that they made these decisions. And it’s all around the country.” Kiffin has defended adding Class of 2022 high school graduates who originally weren’t granted a fifth year of eligibility in spite of the NCAA’s change to a “5 for 5” model, which allows current college athletes to play up to five seasons in five years. The SEC has threatened to penalize schools that add athletes who previously signed with or were rostered by pro teams, but Kiffin argues his pending recruits never would have jumped to the NFL if they knew they could return to college. In Thursday’s amended lawsuit filing, attorneys for Pyburn said he would have “stayed in school if the NCAA had changed the rules to allow him a fifth year of eligibility before the end of his last football season.” The filing also said Wright, Harris, former Notre Dame edge rusher Junior Tuihalamaka and ex-Utah cornerback Blake Cotton were each interested “in playing at a Division I University in Louisiana,” or another school, if they couldn’t reach a contract agreement with said school. Cotton is the only one not publicly committed to LSU. Kiffin has reiterated that these eligibility lawsuits have been filed all over the country, including a suit in Dallas that just resulted in a temporary restraining order against both the NCAA and SEC. “It’s all around the country,” Kiffin said. “Everyone wants to point to the Louisiana case, but there’s cases in South Carolina, Texas, California, all over that have already won, of athletes in the exact same situations, wanting to play this year they’ve been granted.” Kiffin believes LSU unfairly Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ has become the focus because of theadvocate.com

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kifﬁn watches his players run drills from midﬁeld on Aug. 17 at the team’s practice facility.

A hearing has been scheduled for Thursday in Baton Rouge — just two days before LSU’s opener with Clemson — to determine whether the plaintiffs’ temporary restraining order is replaced by a preliminary injunction. The court also will consider a “motion for contempt,” according to online court records, which relates to the SEC’s implementation of penalties for adding ex-pros. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argue that the conference attempted to circumvent the judge’s restraining order by creating new rules because SEC schools are a part of

the NCAA. “The SEC and the NCAA have to follow the rules, just as the rest of us,” said Tony Clayton, a local district attorney and assistant counsel for athletes in the Baton Rouge eligibility case. “They’re not a communist nation. “They have to consider the constitutional rights of these young athletes. They don’t shed their constitutional rights at the doorstep of LSU.” However Jorden rules next week, the result likely will be appealed. The legal back-and-forth could provide a test case for selfgovernance at the conference

level, which the SEC has explored because of the NCAA’s antitrust vulnerabilities and inability to enforce rules. Along with the transfers LSU is trying to add to its football team, men’s basketball coach Will Wade has brought in former St. John’s and UMass guard RJ Luis, who just won an injunction in Baton Rouge despite his previous entry into the draft, signing an NBA two-way contract and playing in preseason games for the Celtics. Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@theadvocate.com

PROVIdEd PHOTO By BENJAMIN R. MASSEy/UL ATHLETICS

UL cornerbacks coach George Barlow watches his players run drills during practice. Barlow has been meeting with his players individually to fully develop their skills.

CAJUNS

Continued from page 1C “I’m meeting more with the cornerbacks individually this year,” Barlow said. “I probably felt like last year they didn’t get enough individual work, because it’s a very tough skill set. Like I said earlier, it’s one of the toughest positions to play on the ﬁeld. “Sometimes when you’re meeting as a whole, they kind of get left out a little bit. And that was probably the biggest change that we made from the spring. I just took them and met with them a little more individually.” One of the main reasons for the change is for the cornerbacks to pay closer attention to detail. “So far, they’ve shown that,” Barlow said. “It’s been a drastic improvement — the attention to detail, the skill set, the discipline, the eyes, the feet, the physicality, just the overall effort has been as good as it’s been since I’ve been here.” Barlow said he’s noticed a much tighter connection in the cornerback room this year. “They know each other’s weaknesses and try to make up for it here and there,” he said. “The biggest thing I’ve seen this summer and this fall is when you’re around them, they’re talking ball.

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It’s about ball way more than it was last year.” Redshirt sophomore Avery Demery also has noticed the difference. “I feel like this year, we took the initiative to just hang around each other more,” Demery said. “We’re spending more time together, and I think that’s playing a part in us being able to communicate and create a bond on the ﬁeld.” It starts with sophomore Brent Gordon, who took the lead as a true freshman last season. “Throughout the offseason, we were working out on our off days every day,” Demery said. “We grew up a lot together in that sense. We learn from each other and we push each other.” Gordon was the team’s thirdleading tackler with 62 stops and 11 breakups last season. Avery had eight tackles with one breakup. “I feel like I’m doing a better job of constantly competing this year,” Avery said. “The ball may not be thrown my way, but I’m still running to the ball. I might not have done that last year. “This offseason with (strength) coach (Mark) Hocke, he worked on my speed, my acceleration, my strength and in every category, I’m at the top of the top. That was a conﬁdence boost.” Barlow said Demery’s progress has been noticeable.

“He’s got a great attitude,” he said of Demery. “He’s got a great work ethic and he competes. He’s competing at everything now. He’s developed the physical aspect of it, too. That’s one of the things I’ve been the most proud of with him. I expect him to have a really good year.” Like all positions, cornerback depth is usually necessary. Jeremiah Moses and Curley Reed also have encouraged the staff during camp. “He’s had a really good camp,” Barlow said of Moses. “He had a little inﬂammation in his knee that forced him to miss a couple practices, but he’s made a lot of progress. “He’s making a sacriﬁce to put in the work, to learn the package not only at practice but putting in time outside of practice to make sure that they have a good grasp on it.” Reed had an interception and almost pulled off a pick-six in UL’s second scrimmage. “Curley’s probably improved as much as anybody out there,” Barlow said of the Washington transfer Reed. “His struggles (last year) were with the new system, but he’s worked on things like his eyes and feet and eye discipline, the footwork. He’s put in the work.” Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

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Lafayette shines in Kiwanis Jamboree St. Thomas More, Southside also win at jamboree

capped the scoring with a 44-yard touchdown run to give the Sharks a 28-6 advantage. Williams ﬁnished with a gamehigh 95 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, while Francois rushed for 81 yards on eight carries. Next week, the Sharks will play host to Brother Martin, while the Bears will travel to face Lafayette Christian.

BY ERIC NARCISSE Staff writer

If Thursday’s performance against the Cecilia Bulldogs was any indication of what’s to come, Lafayette High and its fans have a lot to look forward to. In their final tune-up before the regular season gets underway, the Lions defeated the Bulldogs 27-14 in the 74th annual Kiwanis Jamboree held at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium on Thursday. Offensively, the Lions were outstanding, scoring touchdowns on each of their four first-half possessions behind a balanced attack. Lions quarterback Richmond Saunier got things going immediately as he successfully executed a play-action pass on the first play from scrimmage to receiver Jayden Jenkins for a 71-yard touchdown. And from there, the Lions were off and running. On the ensuing possession after the Bulldogs responded with a touchdown of their own — a 1-yard run by Deondre Briscoe — Saunier and the Lions went 79 yards in nine plays for another score. This drive was capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Jaden Celestine to give the Lions a 13-7 lead. Defensively, the Lions forced a three-and-out before getting the ball in great field position after a low snap on a punt resulted in a loss of 13 yards to give LHS the ball at the Bulldogs’ 27-yard line. Four plays later, Celestine made his second trip to the end zone, this time a 20-yard run to give the Lions a 20-7 lead. After an impressive drive by the Bulldogs ultimately stalled at the Lions’ 23-yard line, Lafayette High went 77 yards in eight plays

St. Thomas More 41, Breaux Bridge 0

STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

Cecilia defender Chase Narcisse, on ground, tackles Lafayette running back Jaden Celestine during the 74th annual Kiwanis Jamboree on Thursday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. to score its fourth and ﬁnal touchdown of the game. Saunier hit a wide-open Dwayne Batiste for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Lions a commanding 27-7 lead going into halftime. Saunier ﬁnished the game 9-of11 for 216 yards and two touchdowns, while Celestine rushed for 52 yards and two scores on eight carries. In addition to Jenkins, the Lions were led by Zane Calvit, who had three receptions for 50 yards. For the Bulldogs, quarterback Layne Champagne completed 7-of-15 passes for 104 yards, Briscoe rushed for 27 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries and Braylon Calais had three receptions for 48 yards. Next week, the Lions will open

the season on the road at Live Oak, while the Bulldogs will play host to Northside.

Southside 28, Carencro 6 The Southside Sharks were ﬁring on all cylinders in a win over the Carencro Bears. The Sharks, who scored 70 points and rushed for nearly 700 yards in a Week 9 win over the Bears last season, appeared to be in midseason form running the football. Southside’s ﬁrst possession was a 12-play, 85-yard drive that was capped by a 21-yard touchdown run by senior running back Justin Williams to give the Sharks a 7-0 lead. Carencro took advantage of good field position on its next

The St. Thomas More Cougars wasted little time jumping on the Breaux Bridge Tigers, scoring early and often. It was a dominant performance by the Cougars, who scored touchdowns on all six of their possessions, while STM’s defense consistently gave the offense great field position. STM’s longest drive came on the opening possession in which they went 65 yards in eight plays. The drive was capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Owen Bailey. From that point on, the Cougars’ worst starting field position was the Tigers’ 37-yard line. STM extended its lead to 14-0 on a Landyn Craft touchdown and then 21-0 on Bailey’s second rushing score of the game. Connor Baer closed out the firsthalf scoring with a 37-yard touchdown run that put the Cougars up 27-0. The Cougars added two more rushing touchdowns in the second half, the first by James Lyons and the other by Chase Stevens for a 41-0 lead. Baer and Bailey combined for 73 yards on the ground. Next week, the Cougars will open the season at home against crosstown rival Teurlings Catholic, while the Tigers will play at Opelousas Catholic.

drive, going 55 yards in five plays. The drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Cardaye Batiste to cut the deficit to 7-6. But that’s as close as the Bears would get as the Sharks went on to outscore Carencro 21-0. After Batiste’s touchdown run, the Sharks responded on the ensuing kickoff when senior Kollen Francois ran it back 68 yards for a touchdown to extend Southside’s lead to 14-6. With the rushing attack doing its part, the Sharks went to the air for their final score of the first half as quarterback Parker Dies connected with receiver Jayden Moncrieffe for a 27-yard touchdown to put Southside ahead 21-6 at halftime. Email Eric Narcisse at In the second half, Williams enarcisse@theadvocate.com.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Baltimore (Baz 4-14) at Athletics (Perkins 3-9), 9:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Sánchez 16-4) at L.A. Angels (Johnson 3-7), 9:07 p.m.

NFL Saturday

FAVORITE at IND at TEN

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ 3½ (35½) Detroit 1½ 2½ (37½) Chicago

College Football Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN at TCU 6½ at USC 35½ at VIRGINIA 5½ at ND State 8½ at E. MICH. 7½ at STANFRD 3½ at FLA ST. 30½ at UNLV 3½

MLB

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 9½ (46½) N. Carolina 38½ (61½) San Jose St. 4½ (51½) NC State 6½ (46½) Jax State 9½ (53½) Sacrmnt St. 4 (48½) Hawaii 31½ (53½) N. Mexico St. 4½ (56½) Memphis

Saturday

American League FAVORITE LINE at N.Y YANKEES OFF Chi. White Sox -118 at TORONTO OFF at CLEVELAND -152 at N.Y YANKEES OFF at ATHLETICS OFF National League FAVORITE LINE Pittsburgh -117 at CHI. CUBS -194 Miami -114 Arizona -118 at ATLANTA -237 at SAN FRAN OFF Interleague FAVORITE LINE LA Dodgers -189 at TAMPA BAY -130 at N.Y METS OFF at MILWAUKEE -162 Philadelphia -250

UNDERDOG LINE Boston OFF at MINNESOTA +100 Seattle OFF Kansas City +128 Boston OFF Baltimore OFF UNDERDOG LINE at ST. LOUIS +101 Cincinnati +154 at WASHINGTN -110 at SAN FRAN +104 Colorado +185 Arizona OFF UNDERDOG at DETROIT San Diego Houston Texas at LA ANGELS

LINE +151 +110 OFF +136 +205

Pro baseball MLB Glance American League

East Division

Tampa Bay New York Boston Baltimore Toronto Central Division Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City West Division Houston Texas Seattle Athletics Los Angeles

W 79 75 73 65 65

L 54 58 60 69 70

Pct .594 .564 .549 .485 .481

GB — 4 6 14½ 15

W 70 68 64 62 60

L 63 66 70 71 75

Pct .526 .507 .478 .466 .444

GB — 2½ 6½ 8 11

W 67 66 64 53 52

L 67 68 70 81 82

Pct .500 .493 .478 .396 .388

GB — 1 3 14 15

Thursday’s Games

St. Louis 7, Baltimore 5 Houston 5, N.Y. Yankees 1 Kansas City 13, Toronto 2

Friday’s Games

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

Saturday’s Games

Boston (Bennett 8-6) at N.Y. Yankees (Rodón 4-2), 12:05 p.m., 1st game L.A. Dodgers (Snell 2-1) at Detroit (Montero 9-8), 12:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Fedde 6-8) at Minnesota (Ober 7-4), 1:10 p.m. Seattle (Anderson 0-0) at Toronto (Soriano 10-7), 2:07 p.m. Houston (Javier 1-4) at N.Y. Mets (McLean 9-8), 3:10 p.m. Kansas City (Lynch 4-4) at Cleveland (Grifﬁn 15-4), 3:10 p.m. San Diego (Buehler 8-6) at Tampa Bay (Martinez 13-4), 3:10 p.m. Boston (TBD) at N.Y. Yankees (TBD), 6:15 p.m., 2nd game Texas (Quantrill 6-4) at Milwaukee (Drohan 6-5), 6:15 p.m.

National League East Division

Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York Central Division Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati West Division Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

W 79 74 68 63 60

L 55 60 66 73 74

Pct .590 .552 .507 .463 .448

GB — 5 11 17 19

W 83 76 67 65 64

L 51 59 68 70 71

Pct .619 .563 .496 .481 .474

GB — 7½ 16½ 18½ 19½

W 80 72 71 55 52

L 54 62 64 79 82

Pct .597 .537 .526 .410 .388

GB — 8 9½ 25 28

Thursday’s Games

Washington 7, Colorado 1 St. Louis 7, Baltimore 5 Atlanta 1, L.A. Dodgers 0 Milwaukee 8, N.Y. Mets 2 San Francisco 6, Arizona 1

Friday’s Games

Saturday’s Games

L.A. Dodgers (Snell 2-1) at Detroit (Montero 9-8), 12:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (TBD) at St. Louis (Leahy 10-4), 1:15 p.m. Cincinnati (Abbott 6-9) at Chicago Cubs (Gausman 7-11), 1:20 p.m. Arizona (Kelly 8-12) at San Francisco (TBD), 3:05 p.m., 1st game Miami (Alcantara 13-8) at Washington (Cavalli 12-5), 3:05 p.m. Colorado (Feltner 5-8) at Atlanta (Pérez 8-8), 3:10 p.m. Houston (Javier 1-4) at N.Y. Mets (McLean 9-8), 3:10 p.m. San Diego (Buehler 8-6) at Tampa Bay (Martinez 13-4), 3:10 p.m. Texas (Quantrill 6-4) at Milwaukee (Drohan 6-5), 6:15 p.m. Arizona (TBD) at San Francisco (TBD), 9:05 p.m., 2nd game Philadelphia (Sánchez 16-4) at L.A. Angels (Johnson 3-7), 9:07 p.m.

Pro basketball WNBA Glance W 25 25 24 23 15 11 10

L 13 14 15 16 24 27 28

Pct .658 .641 .615 .590 .385 .289 .263

GB — ½ 1½ 2½ 10½ 14 15

W x-Minnesota 31 x-Golden State 28 x-Las Vegas 26 x-Dallas 23 Portland 15 Los Angeles 13 Phoenix 13 Seattle 8 x-clinched playoff spot

L 8 11 13 16 23 25 26 31

Pct .795 .718 .667 .590 .395 .342 .333 .205

GB — 3 5 8 15½ 17½ 18 23

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

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Patty Tavatanakit Hailee Cooper Jin Hee Im Aki Iwai Gaby Lopez Nastasia Nadaud Linnea Strom Jeeno Thitikul Rose Zhang Ashleigh Buhai Hannah Green Nasa Hataoka Charley Hull Brooke Matthews Lottie Woad Aditi Ashok Chella Choi Isi Gabsa Ariya Jutanugarn Megan Khang Dongeun Lee Anna Nordqvist Ryann O’Toole Mao Saigo Sophia Schubert Pajaree Anannarukarn Laetitia Beck Ana Belac Robyn Choi Karis Davidson Wei-Ling Hsu MinJi Kang Lucy Li Paula Reto Yana Wilson Arpichaya Yubol Na Rin An Olivia Cowan Daniela Darquea Manon De Roey Aphrodite Deng Soo Bin Joo Minami Katsu Nanna Koerstz Madsen Nelly Korda Yan Liu

Buffalo 28, Pittsburgh 27 Cleveland 37, New England 13 San Francisco 18, Las Vegas 12 L.A. Rams 20, L.A. Chargers 18

Friday’s Games

Washington at Baltimore, n Atlanta at Miami, n Houston at Carolina, n N.Y. Giants at N.Y. Jets, n Tampa Bay at Jacksonville, n Arizona at Green Bay, n Cincinnati at Philadelphia, n New Orleans at Dallas, n Seattle at Kansas City, n Minnesota at Denver, n

Saturday’s Games

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

College football Scores, schedule Thursday’s games

SOUTH Houston Christian 34, Southeastern 28 Louisiana College 42, Northwestern St. 37 Nicholls 44, MVSU 10

Saturday’s games

Cincinnati 10, Chicago Cubs 8 L.A. Dodgers at Detroit, n Miami at Washington, n Houston at N.Y. Mets, n San Diego at Tampa Bay, n Colorado at Atlanta, n Texas at Milwaukee, n Pittsburgh at St. Louis, n Philadelphia at L.A. Angels, n Arizona at San Francisco, n

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Thursday’s Games

Golden State 79, New York 60 Washington 80, Phoenix 73

Friday’s Games

Connecticut at Indiana, n Portland at Atlanta, n Toronto at Las Vegas, n Washington at Los Angeles, n

Saturday’s Games

Chicago at New York, noon Toronto at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

Pro football NFL preseason schedule

SOUTH Alabama St. vs. Southern at Birmingham, Ala., 2 p.m. NC State at Virginia, 2:30 p.m. Stephen F. Austin at McNeese, 6 p.m. New Mexico St. at Florida St., 6 p.m. Clark Atlanta at Grambling, 6 p.m. MIDWEST Jacksonville St. at N. Dakota St., 4:30 p.m. Sacramento St. at E. Michigan, 5:30 p.m. SOUTHWEST TCU vs. North Carolina at Dublin, 11 a.m. FAR WEST San Jose St. at Southern Cal, 2 p.m. Hawaii at Stanford, 6 p.m. Memphis at UNLV, 9 p.m.

Golf

LPGA: FM Championship

-5 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 E E E E E E E E E E

Soccer

PGA Tour Championship

Friday At East Lake GC, Atlanta Purse: $40 million Yardage: 7,440; Par: 70 Second Round Ryan Gerard Viktor Hovland Chris Gotterup Collin Morikawa Scottie Schefﬂer Cameron Young Matt Fitzpatrick Justin Rose Adam Scott Ludvig Åberg Akshay Bhatia Sam Burns Ryan Fox Gary Woodland Jacob Bridgeman Russell Henley Tom Kim Min Woo Lee Alex Smalley Wyndham Clark Alex Fitzpatrick Tommy Fleetwood Si Woo Kim Rory McIlroy Patrick Cantlay Xander Schauffele Hideki Matsuyama Kristoffer Reitan Robert MacIntyre

71-68—139 72-68—140 70-70—140 74-66—140 68-72—140 72-68—140 73-67—140 72-68—140 72-68—140 70-71—141 74-67—141 71-70—141 71-70—141 72-69—141 68-73—141 71-71—142 70-72—142 73-69—142 75-67—142 73-69—142 71-71—142 74-68—142 75-67—142 72-70—142 70-72—142 73-70—143 72-71—143 73-70—143 73-70—143 70-73—143 75-68—143 73-70—143 74-69—143 74-69—143 71-72—143 68-75—143 72-72—144 73-71—144 77-67—144 72-72—144 73-71—144 71-73—144 71-73—144 73-71—144 72-72—144 74-70—144

65-65—130 -10 64-66—130 -10 64-67—131 -9 64-67—131 -9 65-67—132 -8 70-62—132 -8 66-67—133 -7 68-65—133 -7 66-67—133 -7 65-68—133 -7 65-69—134 -6 66-68—134 -6 66-68—134 -6 66-68—134 -6 68-67—135 -5 70-65—135 -5 67-68—135 -5 62-73—135 -5 67-68—135 -5 67-69—136 -4 68-68—136 -4 66-70—136 -4 69-68—137 -3 68-69—137 -3 68-70—138 -2 67-71—138 -2 69-70—139 -1 70-69—139 -1 67-76—143 +3

Friday At TPC Boston, Norton, Mass. Purse: $4.4 million Yardage: 6,533; Par: 72 Second Round Allisen Corpuz 68-67—135 Hyo Joo Kim 68-67—135 Miyu Yamashita 65-70—135 Jenny Bae 68-68—136 71-65—136 Morgane Metraux Ruoning Yin 71-65—136 Nataliya Guseva 69-68—137 Emily Pedersen 65-72—137 Hye Jin Choi 72-66—138 Sei Young Kim 64-74—138 Somi Lee 66-72—138 Hae-Ran Ryu 68-70—138 Suvichaya Vinijchaitham 73-65—138 Lauren Coughlin 68-71—139 Amanda Doherty 70-69—139 Lindy Duncan 70-69—139 Anna Huang 69-70—139

Nashville Inter Miami CF Chicago New England Charlotte FC Cincinnati New York City FC New York Orlando City Toronto FC D.C. United Atlanta Philadelphia CF Montréal Columbus

W L 15 2 11 4 11 6 10 7 9 7 8 6 7 8 7 9 7 11 5 7 5 7 6 12 5 10 5 10 5 11

Western Conference

T Pts GF GA 4 49 43 17 6 39 49 40 3 36 37 26 4 34 33 26 5 32 38 32 7 31 49 47 6 27 35 30 5 26 31 43 3 24 34 51 9 24 31 37 9 24 28 36 3 21 25 36 6 21 31 38 6 21 29 39 5 20 30 36

W L T Pts GF GA Vancouver 12 4 4 40 45 18 Houston 12 7 2 38 30 26 Los Angeles FC 10 7 5 35 36 22 San Jose 10 8 3 33 39 33 FC Dallas 9 6 6 33 38 34 St Louis City 9 6 6 33 30 27 Colorado 9 11 1 28 30 28 Real Salt Lake 8 8 4 28 34 32 Portland 8 9 4 28 38 37 Minnesota United 7 7 7 28 27 29 San Diego FC 7 8 6 27 37 32 LA Galaxy 6 8 8 26 27 32 Seattle 7 9 4 25 22 27 Austin FC 5 10 6 21 26 40 Sporting Kansas City 4 14 3 15 20 51 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

Saturday’s games

-9 -9 -9 -8 -8 -8 -7 -7 -6 -6 -6 -6 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5

Chicago at Seattle, 3:30 p.m. Charlotte FC at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m. Los Angeles FC at D.C. United, 6:30 p.m. CF Montréal at Miami, 6:30 p.m. Philadelphia at New York, 6:30 p.m. New York City FC at Toronto FC, 6:30 p.m. San Jose at Houston, 7:30 p.m. Vancouver at Sporting Kansas City, 7:30 p.m. Orlando City at Minnesota, 7:30 p.m. Cincinnati at Nashville, 7:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Colorado, 8:30 p.m. Austin FC at Portland, 9:30 p.m. LA Galaxy at San Diego FC, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday’s games

New England at Columbus, 3:30 p.m. FC Dallas at St. Louis City, 6 p.m.

Tennis

Friday At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York Purse: $5,438,400 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Men’s Singles Qualiﬁcation Francesco Passaro, Italy, def. Shintaro Mochizuki (6), Japan, 6-4, 6-2. Nishesh Basavareddy (32), United States, def. Arthur Gea (1), France, 6-3, 6-1. Lloyd Harris, South Africa, def. Pablo Llamas Ruiz (18), Spain, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Zsombor Piros (12), Hungary, def. Christopher O’Connell (17), Australia, 5-7, 7-6 (3), ret. Dalibor Svrcina (8), Czechia, def. Mackenzie McDonald (28), United States, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5. Rei Sakamoto, Japan, def. Kei Nishikori, Japan, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Hugo Gaston (3), France, def. Colton Smith, United States, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Tristan Schoolkate, Australia, def. Liam Draxl, Canada, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7). Federico Cina, Italy, def. Yunchaokete Bu (11), China, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Women’s Singles Qualiﬁcation Storm Hunter, Australia, def. Darja Semenistaja (4), Latvia, 6-4, 6-1. Kristina Liutova (16), Russia, def. Martyna Kubka, Poland, 6-4, 6-0. Himeno Sakatsume (23), Japan, def. Mia Ristic, Serbia, 6-4, 6-3. Harriet Dart (29), Britain, def. Heather Watson, Britain, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Francesca Jones (3), Britain, def. Joanna Garland, Taiwan, 6-4, 6-1. Mary Stoiana (17), United States, def. Yuan Yue (13), China, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Elvina Kalieva (8), United States, def. Vendula Valdmannova, Czechia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Transactions Major League Baseball American League

MLS Glance Eastern Conference

U.S. Open

BOSTON RED SOX — Agreed to terms with C Tomás Nido on a minor league contract. CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated DH Andrew Benintendi from the bereavement list. Placed LHP Tyler Schweitzer on the paternity list. Recalled LHP Tyler Gilbert from Charlotte (IL). DETROIT TIGERS — Agreed to terms with RHP Nick Sandlin on a minor league contract. LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Sent LHP Samy Natera Jr. on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga (CAL). MINNESOTA TWINS — Selected the contract of OF Walker Jenkins from St. Paul (IL). Optioned OF Alan Roden to St. Paul. Designated RHP Woosuk Go for assignment. TEXAS RANGERS — Recalled LHP Adam Macko from Round Rock (PCL). Optioned LHP Robby Ahlstrom to Round Rock. TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Recalled RHP CJ Van Eyk from Buffalo (IL). Designated RHP Simeon Woods Richardson for assignment.

National League

CHICAGO CUBS — Reinstated UTL Matt Shaw from the 10-day IL. Optioned OF Kevin Alcántara to Iowa (IL). CINCINNATI REDS — Placed 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes on the 10-day IL retroactive to August 27. Recalled 2B Edwin Arroyo from Louisville (IL). NEW YORK METS — Sent RHP Justin Hagenman on a rehab assignment to Syracuse (IL). Transferred DH Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL. Selected the contract of RHP Chris Devenski from Syracuse. Optioned RHP Xzavion Curry to Syracuse. PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Optioned RHP Noah Murdock to Indianapolis (IL). Recalled LHP Evan Sisk from Indianapolis. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Placed 3B Blaze Jordan on the 10-day IL. Recalled LF Thomas Saggese from Memphis (IL).

National Football League

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Waived TE Drew Biber and Jermaine Terry II, Ts Jeremiah Byers and Izavion Miller, P Nik Constantinou, S Christopher Edmonds, CBs Nate Evans and Jeremiah McClendon, DTs Coziah Izzar and Patrick Jenkins, DE Jamil Muhammad and WR Ben Patterson. Released CBs Tre Avery and Tyler Hall and T Tyre Phillips. Released TE Jack Stoll with an injury settlement. NEW YORK JETS — Waived WR Caullin Lacy. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Released RB Patrick Taylor from injured reserve with an injury settlement. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Placed LB Chris Paul on injured reserve.

LIVING

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

S at u r d ay, au g u S t 29, 2026

5CN

Grab and go

New claw arcade opens in BR BY JOY HOLDEN

Staff writer

Claw arcades are popping up all around Baton Rouge — the capital city now has four — and the newest one is on Siegen Lane near Crumbl Cookies. Gotcha Claw Arcade is about 5,000 square feet with neon lights and over 100 claw machines. The neon atmosphere is Japanese arcade-influenced. The owner, Chen Xiaoling, who also owns Dumpling & Bao on Siegen and another Gotcha claw arcade in Lafayette, wants to bring the fun environment to Baton Rouge. The prizes inside the claw machines in the arcade, 6555 Siegen Lane, feature stuffed toys, small trinkets, surprise boxes, card packets and backpacks. Each machine provides an easy to difficult rating, and each game varies from one to five tokens to play. Managers Abigail Duhon and Anna-Marie Richard said they’ve been very busy since the opening on Aug. 7. “Everyone that I’ve seen walks out with something,” Duhon said. For convenience, Gotcha has child-sized pink shopping carts that children can push around as they collect their winnings. The arcade also provides large plastic drawstring bags to store all the goodies when it’s time to leave. Grand Isle native Robert Vegas brought his son and cousin for a fun excursion after school. Vegas loaded them down with tokens and even participated in the machines himself. “It’s our first time here,” Vegas said, “and they’re having a great time.” Gotcha Claw Arcade has packages for play: n Tiny Treasure: $10 for 12 tokens

STAFF PHOTO By MAddIE SCOTT

dearman’s South is slated for a grand opening on Saturday, located at the patio of Brickyard South, 174 South Blvd., Baton Rouge.

MARKET RESEARCH After 68 years, Dearman’s Diner opens second, experimental location

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

Dearman’s Diner ﬁrst opened in 1958 at 7633 Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge serving burgers, hot dogs, fries, shakes and more, but now patrons can get a taste of something new: Dearman’s South, a second, experimental location. Currently soft-opened, the new location on the patio at Brickyard South will host a grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 29. “This is a spinoff of that where we can experiment,” said Dearman’s Diner owner Casey Evans. Brickyard South opened in 2014 at 174 South Blvd., and in addition to the dive-bar atmosphere, it often hosts performers and local artists. Upon entering the patio with benches and high-top seating, customers can now order diner fare from the window of a small, cherry-red, bus-turned kitchen.

ä See CLAW, page 6C

Menu rundown The menu at Dearman’s South is similar to the original location,

STAFF PHOTO By JOy HOLdEN

Gotcha claw machine with surprise boxes as the prizes

veggie burger and onion rings — which is a new side item not available at the main location. They’ll also serve a monthly specialty burger listed on the menu as the “South Style,” and it’ll change every month so customers can try something new. This month, the South Style is a sweet heat burger with house-made pepper jelly, Creole aioli, cheddar cheese, bacon and fried onions. With Dearman’s South co-owner and franchisee Westin Williams, the team ﬁrst moved into the thenA cheeseburger, fully dressed, from dormant food truck about a year dearman’s South ago to begin experimenting with the concept and working on equipserving smaller plates built for the ment. The location will be open patio atmosphere. It starts with the every evening except Monday and classics that longtime patrons have Tuesday nights. returned to for decades. “We have several of our clas- Dearman’s South, 174 South Blvd., sic Dearman’s items, but they’re Baton Rouge. Open 4 p.m. to close smaller-sized pieces,” Evans said. on Wednesdays and Thursdays; “We have our burger, grilled chick- noon to close on Fridays and Saten sandwich, fried chicken sand- urdays; and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Late-night hours vary wich, fries.” The menu also has meat pies, with service running as late as chicken tenders, a hot dog, BLT, 2 a.m. on busier evenings.

ONE LOVE, HIS WAY

Keith Lee reveals secret Cane’s order

BY JAN RISHER

Staff writer

Food inﬂuencer Keith Lee has a Cane’s order — and a secret way of eating it. On Tuesday morning, Lee was at the original Raising Cane’s in Baton Rouge (3313 Highland Road), helping founder Todd Graves celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Louisiana-born chicken ﬁnger chain. Lee said he’s a big fan of Cane’s coleslaw. “I eat coleslaw every time I come to Cane’s,” Lee said.

Then he explained his order — and how he turns it into his own Cane’s creation. In short, he makes sandwiches, but he does so with real intention and a little-known Cane’s ingredient. “So, I get the two toasts — oh, I’m about to give you all my secrets,” Lee said. “I get the two toasts, butter on both sides. I get the box combo, and then I’ll get the honey mustard with the coleslaw.” The Detroit native acknowledged

ä See ORDER, page 6C

Foundation selects 2026 Angel Award winners Staff report

STAFF PHOTO By JAN RISHER

Food influencer Keith Lee chats with reporters at the original Cane’s near the North Gates of LSU in Baton Rouge on Tuesday.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation has announced the 2026 recipients of The Angel Award. For the past 32 years, this annual honor recognizes everyday Louisianans who have distinguished themselves by improving the health and well-being of the state’s children. The Angel Award honors these acts with recognition and resources, empowering honorees to continue making a lasting

impact. This year, the foundation will give a $30,000 grant to a local nonproﬁt chosen by each honoree. The Angel Award honorees are: n Julia Bourgeois of Sulphur, who co-founded Families for Inclusion after her son was born with spina biﬁda and now works to ensure children with disabilities have opportunities to fully belong through greater access to inclusive education, play and everyday experiences.

ä See AWARDS, page 6C

6C ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Backhanded compliments at the reunion that your classmate clearly has Dear Miss Manners: I attended not. my high school reunion about Dear Miss Manners: On my birth10 years ago, and while standing in line at the buffet, day, my family all insists a former classmate told upon calling and speaking me, “Gee, you look a lot with me individually to better than you did in high wish me a happy birthday school.” and check in. I believe my response I don’t begrudge them was “Thanks … I think.” the sentiment, but I must Judith Later this year, I will admit that I don’t particuMartin larly enjoy this ritual. I be attending another MISS reunion, and am seeking speak with my siblings MANNERS your advice on an approand parents otherwise on a regular basis, and those priate response, should other conversations are wonderI be the recipient of a similar comment. I would hate to repeat ful, but usually limited to weekmyself! ends when both parties have Gentle reader: “I suppose I just more downtime, and often I may keep getting better.” And then speak with one relative a day … resist the temptation to indicate not all of them in one day.

RELIGION BRIEFS and personal ministries, St. James Baptist be the presenter. hosts special service will A full-course meal will

St. James Baptist Church, 1105 N. 44th St., Baton Rouge, will host a special fifth Sunday worship service at 8 a.m. Sunday. The invited guest will be the Rev. Manuel Scott Jr. of Los Angeles. The community is invited. For more information, call (225) 924-1550.

Berean Seventh-day Adventist holds event Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church, 5100 Osborne Ave., will continue its seventh annual Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Weekend at 11 a.m. Sunday in the Berean School complex. The theme is “The Seal of the Living God: Signs of Jesus’ Soon Return,” based on Revelation 7. The Rev. Stephen Brooks, executive secretary of the Southwestern Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and director of evangelism

be served, followed by an afternoon question-andanswer and feedback session. The public is invited to attend and participate.

Free gospel concert on Sept. 4 The Rev. Mike Vaughn will lead a Southern Gospel Music Fest at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Good News Fellowship Church, 13101 La. 442 West, Tickfaw. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m., and singing will start at 6:30 p.m. with Vaughn, followed by the Southern Sound Quartet at 7:30 p.m. This is a free concert, but a love offering will be received. A concession stand will be available with plate meals, nachos, hot dogs and many Southern desserts. For further information, contact Barbara Vaughn at (985) 974-0507 or mvmgoodnews.com.

When my birthday falls on a weekday, I would much rather spend the time in the evening, after returning from work, with my children and spouse rather than on the phone having perfunctory conversations. Heck, even when it is a weekend birthday, I don’t want to have to schedule in these calls. Can you suggest a polite way to decline the request of “When are you free for a call today?” When it is my other family members’ birthdays, I do not go out of my way to call them, but rather will send them a quick birthday text that does not require any response. This year for my birthday, I suggested that they all call me

around the same time, so that I could politely end one call to pick up the new call that was just incoming. This worked well enough, but I suspect my parents were up to my ruse, and quite frankly, even managing this subterfuge was more than I cared for. I don’t want to be rude, and I certainly want to continue our occasional phone calls, but how can I better manage the requests to speak on my birthday? Gentle reader: Do not pick up. Or when your family texts to ask what time to call, tell them that you have a busy day planned, but appreciate the sentiment and will catch up on your next occasional call. This solves the problem and is

not impolite. But Miss Manners warns you that it is not without long-term consequences. There may come a day when you will welcome these calls, as tedious as you ﬁnd them at the moment. Miss Manners hopes that your current fatigue will dissipate and you will see that your family loves you and only wants to celebrate you. That they annoy you, too, is just a bonus. Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www. missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Reusing empty toilet paper rolls of tung oil to refinish an old Dear Heloise: Empty toilet dresser. I’ve done the same, paper rolls can be reused for cord organization, seed- and it works great on old furniture that was starting pots and pet previously finished. enrichment toys. Another use is on These cardboard new cutting boards tubes also work that have never been great for kids’ art sealed before. As opstamps, DIY home decor, and simple posed to mineral oil Hints from that’s typically used gift packaging. — Heloise on cutting boards, Donald S., in Bellevue, Nebraska tung oil can also be Donald, it’s always nice used since it’s safe for food. to get hints from my readIt’ll give your cutting board a beautiful shiny finish, as ers who have found clever opposed to the dull finish ways to reuse items that with mineral oil. It’s easy to usually get tossed out with apply with your bare hand the trash. So many things that we think are worthless or a clean rag. Let it dry overnight and can be reused. Do any of apply a second coat to get my readers have ideas on items that they reuse in dif- a better finish. You’ll be amazed at how beautiful ferent ways? Let us know your charcuterie board here at Heloise@Heloise. com! We’re always happy to will look! — Bill, in Chesterfield, Missouri hear from you. — Heloise

More tung oil uses

Hiccup cure

Dear Heloise: Thank you so much for your column! I particularly liked your recent hint about the use

Dear Heloise: I know this sounds overstated, but I read your mom’s column about peanut butter for

hiccups when I was a teen. I have a lot of hiccups on a regular basis. I’m 62 now, and peanut butter is the only (and fastest) thing that works for me. My kids, who are now grown, grew up thinking that everyone used peanut butter for hiccups. I wish they did, as it works so well! Just wanted to share her (and your) impact. Keep up the good work! — Karen C., via email

Another oil spill hint Dear Heloise: We had a nasty oil spill on our concrete driveway, so to remove it, I covered the area with a powdered cleanser that’s often used on kitchen sinks. (It took two cans.) I applied a thick coat. Then I walked across the cleanser, pressing my shoe into the powder. I let it sit for 24 hours, then brushed it off with a broom. Make sure that you get to the oil stain ASAP, and this method will work like

a charm. By the way, I read your column nearly every day. … Yes, men read “Hints From Heloise.” — Daniel K., in Beaverton, Oregon

Handling a greasy mess Dear Heloise: Draining greasy foods can be messy, but I think I have a great, no-mess way of disposing of it. First of all, I save large empty jars (such as mayonnaise or pickle jars), wash them out, and store them under my sink. When I’ve sauteed hamburgers or had too much greasy juice after cooking a stir fry, I pour the whole pan into a large colander that ﬁts into a large bowl. I then remove the colander and use up the contents, and I pour the bowl full of leftover grease into one of the empty jars with the help of a funnel. When a jar’s full, I just dispose of it. — Karen S., via email Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Saturday, Aug. 29, the 241st day of 2026. There are 124 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in southeast Louisiana, breaching levees and spurring ﬂoods that devastated New Orleans. Katrina caused nearly 1,400 deaths and an estimated $200 billion in damage. Also on this date: In 1814, during the War of 1812, Alexandria, Virginia, formally surrendered to British military forces,

which occupied the city until Sept. 3. In 1944, 15,000 American troops of the 28th Infantry Division marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris as the French capital continued to celebrate its liberation from the Nazis. In 1958, the U.S. Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1966, the Beatles concluded their fourth American tour with their last public concert, held at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain picked Sarah Palin, a maverick conservative who

had been governor of Alaska for less than two years, to be his running mate. In 2013, in a sweeping new policy statement, the Justice Department said it would not stand in the way of states that wanted to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana as long as there were effective controls to keep marijuana away from children, the black market and federal property. In 2021, Hurricane Ida blasted ashore in Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the U.S., knocking out power to all of New Orleans, blowing roofs off buildings and brieﬂy

AWARDS

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Bright colors and neon fill the Gotcha Claw Machine Arcade, creating a fun atmosphere.

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including 100 bonus tokens, 10 free tokens every week and more. Gotcha arcade hours are from noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.

n Super Saver: $20 for 30 tokens n Mega Fun Pack: $50 for 80 tokens n Jackpot Bonanza: $100 for 170 tokens The arcade also offers a Email Joy Holden at joy. $99 Gotcha membership holden@theadvocate. that has several benefits, com.

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restaurant’s success comes down to consistency. He also said he admires Graves’ passion and dedication to the business. “It’s one thing to have a great product, but it’s another thing to be able to mass-produce that product and be able to ﬁt in all markets,” Lee said. “I think when you have something that you’re really passionate about and you’re able to be consistent about it, then I think that equals success.”

that most people probably don’t even know Cane’s serves honey mustard. “I’ll get the honey mustard with the coleslaw. And I’ll get Cane’s sauce, and I’ll dip it in the Cane’s sauce, and I cut it in half,” Lee said. “I need coleslaw. Coleslaw for me is like the perfect balancer for all the flavors — ’cause the creaminess balances the saltiness.” Email Jan Risher at jan. Lee said he believes the risher@theadvocate.com.

n Tara Detiveaux of Houma, who leads Hope Extreme, providing holistic support to children and families in the same under-resourced community where she grew up, creating a place where children feel seen, valued and supported. n Toccara Huckaby of Shreveport, who founded Girls Empowered for More Society (GEMS) to expand opportunities for girls, including those in group homes and the juvenile justice system, through handson experiences in STEM, leadership and entrepreneurship. n Terrence Jones of Lafayette, who founded Believe Institute, investing in young people through scholarships, mentorship and hands-on workforce experiences that help students build the skills and conﬁdence to create futures of their own. n Kristen Powers of Shreveport, who leads The Arc of Caddo-Bossier, expanding opportunities and support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities from childhood through adulthood while strengthening services for children and families across the region.

FILE PHOTO By APRIL BUFFINGTON

Jordan Tabor, founder of the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation, speaks about mental health with his wife Linda, left, and son Reed at the third annual Planting Seeds of Hope event on Feb. 24. Tabor is one of Louisiana Blue Foundation’s Angel Award winners for 2026. n Melanie Richardson of New Orleans, who co-founded TrainingGrounds to give families access to early intervention, developmental screenings, resources and support during the earliest years of a child’s life, helping build a stronger foundation for lifelong success. n Jordan Tabor of Baton Rouge, who founded the Rain Will Bring Flowers Foundation after losing his 15-yearold son, Owen, to suicide and now works through schools and communities to increase awareness, reduce stigma and help young people and those around them recognize when support is needed.

n Joey Vining of Houma, who founded Children’s Water Safety Awareness, working to prevent childhood drownings by expanding water safety education and access to lifesaving resources such as swim lessons and life jackets across the Bayou Region. The foundation also recognizes a Blue Angel each year, honoring a Louisiana Blue employee who has made a difference in the lives of children through volunteer service outside of their professional role. This year’s Blue Angel is Desiree Robertson of St. Gabriel, a senior communi-

reversing the ﬂow of the Mississippi River. Today’s birthdays: Actor Elliott Gould is 88. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is 88. Olympic gold medal sprinter Wyomia Tyus is 81. Olympic gold medal long jumper Bob Beamon is 80. Animal behaviorist and autism educator Temple Grandin is 79. Dancer-choreographer Mark Morris is 70. Actor Rebecca De Mornay is 67. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is 59. Singer Meshell NdegeOcello is 58. Actor Carla Gugino is 55. Actor-singer Lea Michele is 40. Actor Eduardo Franco is 32.

cations strategist in the strategic communications division. Robertson co-founded Family First Youth Initiative, where she provides mentorship, resources and consistent support to children in her community, from helping students access school essentials to creating opportunities that support their education, well-being and sense of belonging. The Louisiana Blue Foundation will recognize and celebrate the 2026 honorees of The Angel Award at a special ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 19. The event will be streamed live on the foundation’s Facebook page at facebook.com/LABlueFoundation. Members of the public can watch the broadcast, learn more about each Angel and share their stories. To learn more about The Angel Award, visit LABlueFoundation.org. Follow Louisiana Blue on social media (@MyLouisianaBlue) and the Louisiana Blue Foundation’s Facebook page to see photos, short videos and stories of the 2026 honorees. The Louisiana Blue Foundation makes grants to improve health outcomes for Louisiana’s people. Its grant programs are particularly focused on the social determinants of health, which are the everyday circumstances that influence a person’s health.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday, August 29, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

For better or For WorSe

zodIAC VIRGO (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Watch the changes others make and learn from their mistakes. It's in your best interest to pay attention to detail and to take advantage of what fulfills your needs. LIBRA (sept. 23-Oct. 23) Welcome any change that comes your way. Whether it's your environment, travel, educational pursuits or discussions that will help you put your life in perspective and your plans in motion. scORPIO (Oct. 24-nov. 22) Mix business with pleasure, and opportunities will manifest. Leave nothing to chance. Map out your route, and time every move. Solicit those who can help you. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Consider what you have before you let it go. Choose intelligence over desire, and inch your way forward in a benevolent manner. Change may be desired, but consider what's most beneficial long-term. cAPRIcORn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) A dash of this and that will give your life more flavor. Protect your physical well-being from temptations that lead to limitation. Concentrate on gains, not losses, and take the path that encourages stability. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don't search for the obvious. The more obscure, the higher the return. Trust in your creative imagination to outline the possibilities and help you follow the trends and spice them up to meet your dreams. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Work diligently toward your goal. Don't reveal your plans

until you are confident that you're on the road to victory. A premature change will set you back. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Keep the momentum flowing, and engage in activities that allow you to show off what you do best. Opportunity knocks, and it's up to you to take charge and make things happen. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Shed some light on what's important to you. If you don't express how you feel, no one will know how to help. Talk, kind gestures and being part of the solution will give you leverage. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Do your own thing. If you let others interfere, that's on you. If you pursue what makes you happy, the outcome will bring you joy. Follow your heart. Put your energy where it can bring you the most in return. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Review what's happening in real time, and revise what you can and will do about it. Use intelligence, not emotions, to ensure you aren't your own worst enemy. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Opportunity knocks. Invest in your talent, skills and ability to use what you know and can do to get ahead. Personal gains are apparent if you fix up your surroundings. 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: n EQuALs H

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

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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. Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday,August 29, 2026 ● 9C

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Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Warren Spahn, a Hall of Fame pitcher who in 1957 won the World Series and Cy Young award playing for the Milwaukee Braves, said, “Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.” What a simple way to sum up baseball. In bridge, timing can also be vital. In today’s deal, how should South time the play to make four hearts after West leads the spade queen? Let’s assume that declarer ducks (loses) the first trick and takes the second with dummy’s ace. That South hand is worth more than 18 points because of all those aces and kings. South needs to assume that the trumps are breaking 3-2; otherwise, the contract has no chance. But even then, declarer still has four potential losers: one spade, one heart and two diamonds. The majorsuit losers are unavoidable. If the missing diamonds are 3-3, there won’t be a problem. If, though, they are the more likely 4-2, declarer will have to ruff a diamond in the dummy. Suppose South cashes his top trumps, then plays three rounds of diamonds. West wins the third diamond, cashes his heart jack, and takes the diamond queen for down one. If instead South immediately plays three rounds of diamonds, West wins and plays a fourth diamond, which promotes

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

a second trump trick for the defense. Thecorrecttimingisnotobvious.South must duck the first round of diamonds. Probably East will win and play another spade. South ruffs, draws two rounds of trumps, then reverts to diamonds. Even if a defender could ruff a high diamond, the contract would still be safe. © 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 — FELOnIEs: FEH-lo-nees: Grave crimes.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 29 words Time limit 50 minutes Can you find 42 or more words in FELONIES? yEstERDAy’s WORD — MAnnEQuIns main mane mannequin manse masque mean menu mesa mien mine minus

muse amen amuse anime animus anise name nannies nine ennui quai

quasi unman inane insane inseam same sane seam semi sequin sienna

sine

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “All nations whom you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord; and shall glorify your name. For you are great, and do wondrous things: you are God alone.” Psalms 86:9-10 This is the wonderful future. God is on the throne. God wins! — G.E. Dean

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BUSINESS T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/news/business

DOW 53,559.99 -9.45 -0.02%

NASDAQ 26,402.42 -138.93 -0.52%

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Juul gets OK to sell age-gated vaping device

WASHINGTON — Vaping company Juul Labs on Friday received federal permission to sell an updated version of its e-cigarette, which includes an optional ageverification system designed to prevent underage use. The decision from the Food and Drug Administration allows the company to sell a new version of its top-selling vaping device for the first time since it launched more than a decade ago. In recent years, the company has had to lay off hundreds of employees while paying roughly $3 billion to settle government and private lawsuits over teen use of its products. Juul plans to market the new device under the brand name Juul2, along with updated versions of its tobacco- and menthol-flavored cartridges. In 2019, the company discontinued several flavors, including mango, mint and creme, that drove most of its sales but were favored by teens. The new device gives users the option to require age verification via an online app before the e-cigarette can be unlocked.

S&P 500 7,711.76 -19.23 -0.25%

EURO 1.1583 -0.0068 -0.58%

CRUDE OIL 83.44 -0.09 -0.11%

GOLD 4,453.80 -156.40 -3.39%

Nevada gets win in fight to regulate Kalshi A federal appeals court panel on Friday refused to let prediction market operator Kalshi restart trading on sports and elections events in Nevada while it ﬁghts the state’s effort to shut it down until it gets a license from state gambling regulators. A panel of judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that Kalshi didn’t make a persuasive argument that federal commodities trading law preempts Nevada’s state gambling law in determining who should regulate its sporting events business. Instead, the panel said that federal law likely does not preempt Nevada — home to the nation’s biggest commercial casino market — from applying its gambling regulations to Kalshi’s sports event contracts. Roughly 20 states are involved in litigation over prediction markets like those run by Kalshi, Polymarket and Robin Hood. Friday’s decision raises the likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually settle the question as to whether states can regulate them under their gambling laws after the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this year that New Jersey couldn’t regulate Kalshi.

30-YR T-BONDS 5.21 0.01 0.23%

U.S. targets Egyptian bank’s branches in UAE

It follows Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Treasury Department said. Administration accuses it announcement The Trump administration “warned that this week of a new campaign to countries that still do business with the Iran’s enablers cannot continue to enjoy acof supporting Iran’s leadership push already heavily sanctioned Islamic Republic cess to the U.S. dollar and the global ﬁnancial

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN and FARNOUSH AMIRI

to sever their financial ties or face retaliation from the United States. In stopping short of imposing sanctions on WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is the Egyptian bank, the move signals the Repubtaking steps to limit an Egyptian bank’s opera- lican administration’s reluctance to penalize tions in the United Arab Emirates, accusing the major trading partners that do business with financial institution of serving as an economic Iran, including China and India. Bessent told lifeline to Tehran’s leadership as the U.S. war reporters on Monday that he wanted countries to have an opportunity to shift away from Iran against Iran reaches the six-month mark. Under a rule proposed Friday by the Treasury before it was too late in a bid to avoid upending Department, the Emirati branches of Banque the global financial system. The rule will be subject to a 30-day public Misr, Egypt’s second-largest bank, would be sevcomment period before it takes effect, the ered from access to the U.S. financial system.

Associated Press

system,” Bessent said in a statement Friday. “Banque Misr UAE decided to find out the hard way, and today, we are taking the first step in holding it accountable for its continued, egregious support of the Iranian regime.” Egypt’s foreign ministry and central bank confirmed knowledge of the new rulemaking and are communicating with U.S. officials, according to a statement issued by the Central Bank of Egypt on Friday. “The CBE affirms that this measure is limited to the bank’s branches in the UAE and only to its dollar transfers,” the statement said.

Bond market prepares for change in interest rate BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

Trump wants farmers to process their own food President Donald Trump said he plans to authorize farmers and ranchers to process their own food in the administration’s latest bid to lower the price of beef ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in November. Trump posted Friday on social media that he would direct legal documents to be drawn up in order to “break this powerful monopoly” among processors. It is unclear if Trump has the authority to make such changes, and the practical effect of any coming directive remains unclear. “I am authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD. This should move quickly,” he posted. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there would be more announcements Monday, including on plans to “waive red tape in processing” and “expanding ranchers ability to sell across state lines.” Trump has sought to ﬁnd ways to lower the price of beef as the cost of living dominates voters’ concerns ahead of the election, including by boosting foreign imports and launching an antitrust probe into meatpackers. Earlier this week, Trump signed an order to ease tariffs on ground beef imports beginning on Sept. 1, a move that triggered backlash from some ranchers and Republicans who said it would damage the domestic industry.

6-MO T-BILLS 3.98 0.07 1.79%

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By AMBER BAESLER

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, from left, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem arrive at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on Friday in Moran, Wyo.

Warsh signals rate hikes may be needed Inflation remains stubbornly elevated

BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP economics writer

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Friday that inflation is still too high and suggested the central bank may have to raise interest rates in the coming months to bring it down, a clearer signal than he has previously sent about his economic outlook. In his first high-profile speech at the Fed’s annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Warsh acknowledged that recent U.S. reports show that inflation has cooled a bit, but “they do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.” “We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed,” Warsh said. “Otherwise, we have work to do.” The comments from the new Fed chair appeared to reassure Wall Street that fighting inflation remains the priority for the central bank. Warsh did not imply that a rate hike is imminent, but he appeared to dismiss perceptions that inflation is no longer a threat. He pointed to data showing that inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target. Warsh replaced Jerome Powell in late May after his predecessor’s term ended. The U.S. stock market held steady after the speech, but expectations are building in the bond market for the Fed to hike interest rates. Jon Faust, an economist at Johns Hopkins and a former adviser to Powell, said Warsh succeeded in conveying a tougher approach on inflation while avoiding the kind of detailed guidance from

the Fed that he has disparaged. “He found a way to convey that if necessary he would support raising rates, which is one thing people were concerned about,” Faust said. Yet Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said the Fed chair has talked tough on inﬂation before without hiking the Fed’s key rate. His Friday remarks don’t provide any clearer guidance on the timing of any Fed moves, he added.

Limited guidance The Fed chair faced high stakes with his speech as questions swirled around Wall Street about whether he was sufficiently focused on fighting inflation. At a news conference July 29 he sowed confusion about whether he would back up his previous tough talk on rising prices with any action, such as lifting the Fed’s short-term rate, which is currently about 3.6%. Those concerns may have contributed to rising bond yields, which can increase the cost of borrowing for the government and everyone else. Yet Warsh has said he doesn’t want to provide what analysts call “forward guidance” about whether the Fed will hike or cut rates or stay on hold at upcoming meetings. He argues that it limits the Fed’s flexibility by committing it to a specific policy. Yet some economists have argued that he could say more about his views on Fed policy without tipping his hand about future actions. Warsh on Friday reiterated his skepticism about providing such guidance or even outlining his broad approach to interest-rate policy. But he did suggest that interest rates currently aren’t restricting economic activity, pointing to robust business investment in AI equipment and infrastructure and strong consumer spending.

As a rule of thumb, interest rates often need to be high enough to limit borrowing and spending to cool inflation. The Fed next meets Sept. 15-16, and Warsh’s remarks don’t necessarily signal that the central bank will raise rates then. Wall Street investors now see the chances of a rate hike at the Fed’s Sept. 15-16 meeting as basically a coin flip, according to futures pricing tracked by CME FedWatch, up from about one-third before Warsh spoke.

Inflation ‘concerning’ Warsh said inflation data “are more concerning” than trends in the job market, where the unemployment rate is low. He also argued that inflation is unlikely to move back to the target on its own. Warsh noted that in the past year, more than half of goods and services tracked by the government have seen price increases of 3% or higher. While that is down from the pandemic peak, it is “well above” the roughly one-third that saw such increases in the two decades before the pandemic. Inflation cooled in June and July after spiking in May from soaring gas prices, yet it remains above the central bank’s target. According to the Fed’s preferred measure, it was 3.7% in July. Warsh also sought to clear up some areas of confusion that arose after his remarks at the July 29 news conference, when he made vague remarks about what metric the Fed would use to track inflation and whether shortterm interest rates were the Fed’s main tool to combat higher prices. On Friday, he specified that short-term interest rates are the Fed’s “predominant tool,” and added that the central bank is using the same gauge it has long followed to measure inflation.

NEW YORK — The bond market swung Friday as investors built bets that the Federal Reserve may hike interest rates soon to get the nation’s high inflation under control. U.S. stocks, meanwhile, dipped but not by much after economists said a speech by Chair Kevin Warsh helped strengthen faith that the Fed will do what’s needed to bring inflation down, even if it causes pain for the economy in the short term. The reaction was stronger in the bond market following Warsh’s first speech as chairman of the Fed at an annual economic symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Worries had grown that his tough talk about getting inflation down to the Fed’s 2% target may be just that, unless the Fed backs it up with action. The Fed could hike short-term interest rates to get inflation under control, but it could also feel deterred from doing so because that would slow the economy and hurt prices for investments. And President Donald Trump, who appointed Warsh, has been vocal about wanting interest rates to be lower rather than higher. Warsh was adamant again on Friday that he wants to give financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed plans to do with rates for its two jobs of keeping inflation low and the job market strong. He has said he wants markets to react to what incoming data says about the economy and inflation rather than what the Fed says. But Warsh also said Friday that “shortterm interest rates are the predominant tool” for the Fed to do its job. And he said, “I would be hard pressed to describe broad financial conditions as restrictive,” an implication that short-term interest rates may not be high enough to tamp down the economy and inflation. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do with its federal funds rate, jumped to 4.35% from 4.22% just before the speech. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.72% from 4.67% late Thursday, and the 30-year Treasury yield got to 5.21% from 5.19%. All the moves, including the modest ones for stocks even though higher interest rates tend to hurt them, indicate investors “pricing a more credible Fed,” according to economists at Bank of America led by Aditya Bhave. “The positive market reaction highlights that investors place a premium on policy clarity, even when that clarity carries” a message implying higher interest rates, according to Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management. On Wall Street, Gap jumped 12.9% after the retailer reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also said Michael Francis, an industry veteran who began his career on the retail sales floor, will take over as head of its Old Navy stores. Marvell Technology fell 10.3% even though the chip company reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that edged past analysts’ expectations. CEO Matt Murphy said its business related to artificial-intelligence technology is strong, and it raised its forecasts for upcoming revenue growth. But analysts said much of that optimism may have already been baked into Marvell’s stock price, which came into the day with a surge of 184% for the year so far.