CAJUNS FOOTBALL Desormeaux eager for opener against Lamar THE
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T u e s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 1, 2026
Pedestrian safety gaining attention
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Bessent tries to rally allies on Iran Agressive tariffs straining ties with G20 nations
BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is meeting with finance ministers of the world’s largest economies this week at a time when the United States has disrupted the international order with aggressive tariffs on major allies and an unpopular war on Iran that is keeping gas prices high for consumers. As Bessent opened meetings of the Group of 20 finance minis- Bessent ters in Asheville on Monday, he said he wants to focus on ways to grow the global economy and rein in mounting debt. But the event comes after hostilities renewed between the U.S. and Iran, and as trade friction with Canada spiked following a breakdown in negotiations that led to escalating tariffs. Bessent told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he plans to turn up pressure on Iran by sanctioning another bank, part of what he is calling “Operation Economic Outcast.” The administration earlier this month took steps to
ä See BESSENT, page 5A
STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Pedestrians on East Pinhook Road hurry across the Evangeline Thruway as the light turns green on Wednesday.
Lafayette officials, stakeholders seek improvements in wake of recent fatalities BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer
More than 30 pedestrians and bicyclists have been killed in Lafayette Parish since 2023, according to state transportation safety data, while a string of recent deaths and lifechanging injuries has renewed questions about whether the area’s roads are safe for people outside vehicles. Six people have died on Evangeline Thruway alone since late 2022, including two pedestrian deaths in recent weeks. A Lafayette man was killed while riding an electric bicycle on Camellia Boulevard in May. In March, a young woman riding an electric scooter was left paralyzed after she was struck by three vehicles on Pinhook Road. Last week, a 30-year-old woman riding an electric scooter on a dark Youngsville Road was killed when she was struck by motor vehicles. For Denise Lanclos, the statistics
Jerry Stovall, LSU football great and former coach, dies
Staff report
cials and asked them to spend more money to make the community safer for people like her husband. Lafayette’s young people tend to get around by bicycle and on foot, but the city is not walkable enough, Mayor-President Monique Boulet
Jerry Stovall, a glittering figure from a golden period of LSU football who later served as head coach, died Monday. He was 85. A native of West Monroe, Stovall played for LSU from 196062, a standout in an era of two-way football that made him a two-time All-American and 1962 Heisman Trophy runner-up to Oregon State quarterback Terry Baker. Stovall Stovall contributed as a halfback, safety and kick returner, prompting thenLSU coach Charles McClendon to call him “the most complete football player I have ever seen.” Stovall played for the St. Louis (now Arizona) Cardinals as a safety and punter from 1963-71, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl selection. Stovall served as the LSU football coach from 198083, leading the Tigers to the Orange Bowl after the 1982 season and compiling a 22-21-2 record.
ä See SAFETY, page 5A
ä See STOVALL, page 5A
A pedestrian looks for oncoming traffic before crossing the Evangeline Thruway near East Willow Street on Wednesday. are personal. She and her husband, David, enjoyed riding bicycles together. In May, he was killed when a vehicle turning onto Camellia Boulevard struck him while he was riding an electric bicycle. Three months later, she stood before Lafayette city and parish offi-
YAT A LOSS
New Orleans’ distinctive accent is fading. What might the city lose with it? BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
It’s lunchtime at Rocky and Carlo’s in Chalmette, where the gravy is red, the bartender’s language is blue and the accent is Yat. As in “Where y’at?” Not a slogan on a T-shirt but a greeting between friends, former classmates and brothers who still meet most weeks for lunch. Larry Menesses, 74, and his brother Gene have been eating at this familyowned Sicilian joint for decades. When
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Menesses was stationed at Fort Knox, his fellow service members figured he was from New York. (“I don’t see where they get that, you know,” he said, his “that” leaning toward the fabled “dat.”) Here, there’s no question. But there are fewer of these places, fewer of these brothers. Less “dis” and “dat,” fewer “ersters,” aka oysters. And far, far too few people asking about “ya mamma n’em.” One of New Orleans’ most distinctive, defining accents — the “Yat” — is disappearing. A recent study published by the American Dialect Society, ti-
tled “Yats No More,” reveals that the White, working-class accent has been fading among younger speakers, especially after Hurricane Katrina, which “may prove in years to come to be the nail in the coffin for many Yat-coded ways of speaking.” The study mapped the vowel sounds of 57 Chalmette residents across five generations, tracking the loss of “Yat” through brightly colored ovals. To some, that’s nothing less than a crisis. The “Yat” accent has been
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Mary Maniscalco, a yat through and through, holds her dog Luca at their home in Bucktown. ‘We’re being washed away ä See YAT, page 3A slowly and we’re all becoming ... the same.’
Business ...................10C Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C
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2A ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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High court lets Trump continue to build ballroom
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UAE says it intercepted an Iranian drone
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates said that it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters Monday, an attack that comes after the United States and Iran exchanged fire over the weekend for the first time in a month. Iranian officials said two people were killed and several others wounded in the U.S. attack Sunday night on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded by launching missiles at U.S. sites in Jordan, which were intercepted. During the lull in fighting, the U.S. has been ratcheting up economic pressure on Iran with the hope of forcing concessions out of Tehran, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz to shipping. After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, Iran established a chokehold on the vital strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed in peacetime, slowing ship traffic to a trickle. That has roiled the global economy, raising prices worldwide for energy and other goods.
Kalshi bans Santos for life over insider trading
NEW YORK — The online prediction market platform Kalshi said Monday that it has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos for his bets on whether he’d attend the State of the Union address and has fined and temporarily banned North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout for bets she now calls a “dumb mistake.” The company announced the ban on Santos, a Republican, after its Compliance Department found reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading, contributing to speculation over whether he would attend the address before turning a $17,839 profit on his trading activity when he did not. Kalshi spokesperson Elisabeth Diana said it was the first permanent ban in the company’s history. She said those affected by four other new enforcement cases announced Monday would be banned from trading temporarily because they cooperated with Kalshi’s probe. The company also levied a $2,589 fine and three-year ban against Buckhout, a Republican and retired colonel who’s running against Democratic Rep. Don Davis in a swing district in northeastern North Carolina, and three-year bans on failed candidates for governor in California and Maine. Kalshi said Buckhout admitted placing bets of less than $1,000 on her campaign. “I bet on myself. Literally. It was a dumb mistake, and as soon as I learned there was an issue, I worked to make it right,” Buckhout said in a statement. “Safe to say my career as a Kalshi trader was short-lived.”
Thieves steal $70,000 in Pabst beer in Calif.
MONTCLAIR, Calif. — Thieves made off with tens of thousands of cans of Pabst beer in two separate heists from a Southern California warehouse on the same day, police said. Pabst Blue Ribbon has turned the thefts — valued by police at $70,000 — into a light-hearted social media promotion. But police in Montclair said Friday that investigators are trying to determine whether they were part of a single operation. In the first heist, about $45,000 worth of beer headed to Tucson, Arizona, was picked up but never delivered, according to police. An hour later, a “purported subcontracting company” submitted fake documents to pick up another $25,000 worth of beer, Montclair police said in a news release. Both thefts occurred on Aug. 17 at an Anheuser-Busch distribution center about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Roughly 34,000 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and nonalcoholic Old Milwaukee beer — more than 1,500 cases — were stolen, according to a police report obtained by the Los Angeles Times. In Instagram posts, Pabst put the weight of the stolen cargo at 40,000 pounds and started a countdown seeking its return.
BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOHN LOCHER
Buildings are seen Monday in the flood-damaged Bright Angel Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.
Family IDs man killed in Grand Canyon flood
around popular lodges ropractor set out Thursday Rescuers search and camping areas where on a trip he dreamed of people hiking from one rim with two buddies — spendfor missing of the Grand Canyon to the ing two nights at the bot-
BY JAMIE STENGLE and TY ONEIL Associated Press
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — The bodies of a Texas chiropractor and at least one other person have been found after a major weekend flash flood swept through the Grand Canyon, and forecasters warned more flooding was possible as heavy rain shrouded the canyon walls. Saturday’s flash flood severely damaged the only water pipeline into the canyon. Officials barred tourists from staying at lodges and hotels inside Grand Canyon National Park and issued emergency water restrictions for year-round residents. More than a dozen hikers, including two on a dream trip with their chiropractor friend, remain missing Monday following waves of rain in the Bright Angel Creek area of the tourist destination that hosts 4.4 million visitors a year. The flood happened deep in the canyon near where the Colorado River flows,
other stop for the night. Scores of visitors had to be evacuated from the area by helicopter. They talked of a massive deluge and rangers warning of rockslides, and saw huge pools of logs and debris rolling down the river as they stood nearby awaiting rescue. Hiker Daniel Evans said it rained several times before the worst 30-minute downpour Saturday afternoon. He had been planning to rest through the hot day and spend the night near the hard-hit Bright Angel campground area. Earlier, rangers told him it looked to be safe. Then, as the rain poured, they told him it was time to go. He thought of Nepal and the massive floods and landslides that poured down mountain valleys last week. “The entire time it was raining — the entire time I’m going through all this and packing — I’m just keeping my eyes upstream, just praying that a wall of water isn’t coming toward us,” Evans said. The family of John Giusti, 53, said the Texas chi-
tom of the canyon fishing and hiking. They spoke to their families Thursday and found their campsite Friday. They have not been heard from since, the three families said in a joint statement released Monday. Searchers on the air and ground continue to look for Texas martial arts studio owner Brent Rosenkranz, 42, and Wyoming pilot Timothy Smith, 53, their families said. All three men had ties to Granbury, Texas. Their families said they planned “several days of hiking, camping, fishing and exploring together.” Park officials said they recovered the body of a 46-year-old man Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River and were trying to recover a second body. Their email provided no other details. More than a dozen people remained missing and officials urged anyone who was in the park when the flood happened to contact park rangers or anyone else to let them know they are OK.
Teen who recorded San Diego mosque shooting stream charged with murder BY GENE JOHNSON Associated Press
A 17-year-old North Carolina girl who recorded a livestream of a shooting that killed three people at a San Diego mosque and disseminated the attackers’ White-supremacist writings has been charged with murder by aiding and abetting, a district attorney said Monday. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill said at a news conference in Winston-Salem that the girl, identified in court records as Sarah Lindsey Santiago, was arrested last week. A grand jury indicted her on three counts of murder and one count of conspiracy Monday. Santiago’s attorney did not immediately return a
message from The Associated Press seeking comment Monday. Under North Carolina law, the aiding-and-abetting charges carry the same penalties as if the girl had committed the attack herself, O’Neill said. According to the indictment, Santiago agreed prior to the attack that she would record the livestream, distribute it and release a document written by the attackers. She carried out those tasks, it said, and she purchased a patch bearing a White-supremacist symbol and sent it to one of the gunmen to wear during the attack. “The individual here, locally, was the person who was recording the livestream,” O’Neill said.
“She disseminated that information and she published their manifesto.” Cain Clark, 17, and Caleb Vazquez, 18, stormed the Islamic Center on May 18 before being driven back outside by a security guard who exchanged gunfire with them as he initiated a lockdown, helping to protect 140 children who were just steps away. The pair killed the guard, Amin Abdullah, and two other men before taking their own lives in a vehicle nearby. They left behind rambling writings full of vitriol against a wide range of people, and cited the shooter who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, as one of their models for their violence.
Jury starts deliberating in trial of man accused in Tupac Shakur’s murder By The Associated Press LAS VEGAS — Jurors began deliberating Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Duane “Keffe D” Davis, charged in the 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, after a prosecutor argued that Davis’ own words prove he orchestrated the drive-by shooting and Davis’ attorney countered there was no evidence placing him in Las Vegas that night. Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told
jurors in closing arguments that Davis acquired a gun and “went hunting” for Shakur and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight after they beat up Davis’ nephew earlier that night. Palal acknowledged that Davis’ accounts of the killing evolved over the years but argued those differences reflected Davis’ changing motivations and efforts to protect himself. One critical detail, he said, remained consistent: Davis repeatedly placed him-
self inside a white Cadillac from which the shots were fired. “The core facts remain. The material facts remain,” Palal said. Davis’ defense attorney, Michael Sanft, challenged jurors to identify evidence outside Davis’ own statements that placed him in Las Vegas or inside the Cadillac on the night Shakur was shot. He pointed to the absence of surveillance footage, phone records and other evidence putting Davis there.
WASHINGTON — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the White House to continue construction on a $400 million ballroom project as lawsuits play out, a win for President Donald Trump as he flexes unprecedented executive power and remakes the capital in his image. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “I am pleased to report that the United States Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of the Ballroom/Military Complex being built without any further contingency, doubt, or threat.” The apparent 5-4 decision replaces a temporary order issued earlier this month, shortly before a court-ordered halt would have gone into effect. That temporary order was signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, assigned to handle appeals from the capital. But he publicly disagreed with the latest decision, writing a strong dissent that referenced the nation’s history and said the project is likely unlawful because it hasn’t been ap-
proved by Congress. “Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers.” Roberts wrote. The court’s three liberalleaning justices agreed. The majority, on the other hand, found the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely did not have the legal right to challenge the project. The unsigned order pointed to government arguments that the ballroom would address national security concerns by shielding a planned underground military installation and offering a more secure structure for large events than the tents currently used. By contrast, “the only harm the Trust claims is the offense one of its members will suffer from having to view a structure of the ‘scale,’ ‘height,’ and ‘massing’ the government intends,” it states. The unsigned order did not directly decide the legality of the project, instead returning the case to lower courts. Documents, though, say that key portions of the project could be complete within months — a quick timeline compared with a typical legal case.
White House: Army secretary stepping down after 18 months BY BEN FINLEY and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration. No reason was given for the departure of Driscoll, who is a friend of Vice President JD Vance, but tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shake-ups of military leadership, with the Army especially seeing major up-
heaval. “Secretary Driscoll has been highly effective in advancing President Trump’s agenda to Make America Strong Again at the Department of the Army by providing outstanding leadership during historic military operations, restoring an emphasis on readiness and lethality, assisting with negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and more,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement. “The United States Army is more powerful than ever thanks to his work alongside the Commanderin-Chief and Secretary of War,” she added.
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YAT
teacher who spoke “exactly like me,” cared for her. In the end, though, neither of her children has a Yat accent. But LeJeune, 67, still says “make groceries,” or “do groceries,” she said. “Even though now I have everything delivered.”
Continued from page 1A celebrated by humorists, columnists and anyone who ever took part in a “The 12 Yats of Christmas” singalong. In September, the dialect will feature prominently in a big exhibit at the Historic New Orleans Collection on Bunny Matthews, the cartoonist whose iconic characters Vic and Nat’ly were utterly Yat. It’s not Southern (an accent that is also disappearing, by the way), not a drawl. Instead, to outsiders, a surprise: A New York-like way of speaking, yet pure New Orleans. “Brooklynese on Quaaludes,” as one lexicon put it. What would New Orleans be without it? “We’re being washed away slowly and we’re all becoming … the same,” said Mary Maniscalco, her voice rich with Yat and full of disdain. “It’s kind of like Botox and filler. Everybody looks the same.” Maniscalco, 79, grew up in the 9th Ward, on Desire Street, before her family moved to St. Bernard Parish for her dad’s job at Kaiser Aluminum. Yat was “all I ever heard.” But she’s hearing less of it these days. “I hate to see us all become the same well-spoken group of people.” She knows the theories about the accent’s port origins, its amalgam of Irish and German and Sicilian. “When you look at New York, you see the very same mixture of ethnic influences,” said William de Marigny Hyland, St. Bernard Parish’s historian. Plus, Creole and French. Maniscalco focuses instead on the utility of the accent: “We didn’t have time to put the endings on words. … I don’t have time to say, “‘Who is it at the door?’ No! ‘Who dat?’ ” She chuckled. “I ain’t got time, baby. My beans are on the stove, and it’s hot out here. It’s humid.” The Yat accent is key to the New Orleans identity, stigmatized “but also beloved,” said the study’s author Katie Carmichael, a professor at Virginia Tech. Her analysis, published in late 2024, focused on “the Yat stronghold of Chalmette … a key linguistically conservative enclave in which the traditional Yat features have remained in use a generation longer than in the city proper. …” Even there, she saw “a complete reorganization of the vowel system when we compare the oldest and youngest generations of speakers.” That’s partly because those millennials were adolescents when Hurricane Katrina hit, a malleable moment, linguistically. But fretting about the loss of “Yat” is a New Orleans pastime, it seems, since even before Katrina. In a May 2005 submission to a Times-Picayune column, “a concerned reader” reported that his 25-year-old son had never heard “Where y’at?” used in conversation. He posed the question: “Is
Across race and class
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Waitress Erika Bordelon takes a phone order at Rocky & Carlo’s. At the restaurant, a plate of baked macaroni and cheese comes with a generous helping of local tradition. The family-run restaurant has served yats, longtime New Orleans-area residents known for their distinctive accent and culture, since 1965. Its menu blends Creole and Italian influences through dishes such as veal Parmesan, red gravy, po-boys and oversized portions of macaroni and cheese. Yat culture dead?” In response, columnist Angus Lind, who had been defining and discussing “Yat” since the late 1970s, argued that the “even if ‘Where y’at?’ is moving toward the endangered species list, the Yat spirit and New Orleans accent will always be there.” Maybe not in the 9th Ward or the Irish Channel, where it was once assumed, he wrote. Maybe instead in Chalmette or Bucktown. At the Fair Grounds or a Metairie dive bar. Now, after this complicated dialect has had another several decades to complicate itself, on much of the West Bank and on the northshore, too. But, Yat types and scholars agree, not Uptown. “Never, ever” Uptown, as Maniscalco put it. Which brings us back to Bunny Matthews. Talk of Yat inevitably returns to Bunny Matthews.
‘I hate cold wedda!’ The husband and wife Matthews created in 1982, Vic and Nat’ly Broussard, ran a corner bar and po-boy shop in the Nint’ Ward. Their comic strip, “Vic and Nat’ly,” would come to define Yat — its lexicon and its culture. (In fact, Carmichael co-authored a statistical analysis of the characters’ language.) “I hate cold wedda!” Vic tells Nat’ly in one strip. A cigarette hangs from his mouth. A nose hangs from his forehead. “Space heatuhs! Busted pipes! Cars dat doan woik! My li’l dead urnge tree!!!” “Vic!” she replies. “Dat tree died las’ July!” Matthews used dialect spelling to show “who was authentic and who was not,” said Emily Perkins, curatorial cataloger for the Historic New Orleans Collection. Vic and Nat’ly spoke Yat. The bar’s regulars did, too. The roach? Yat. Tourists did not. Uptowners? Neva. “They didn’t get the joke,” Perkins said. In addition to the exhibition, which opens Sept. 18, the history center is publishing a book about Matthews, whose concern about the commodification of New Orleans culture seems like a premonition. “Katrina made
Vic and Nat’ly more relevant,” Perkins said. Matthews had a “contentious relationship with the designation of ‘Yat’ even as he was part and parcel to the popularization of it,” said Aaron Duplantier, an assistant professor at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. “He was one of the only people who was putting to paper how these people were talking at the time — so he definitely has a big role in the memorializing of it.” But Matthews didn’t speak like a Yat. Born in Monroe and raised in Metairie, he first heard it while working for New Orleans record shop, dropping off bundles of records in the Upper and Lower 9th Wards. Matthews’ view of the city straddles celebration and stereotype. He chose the 9th Ward as Vic and Nat’ly’s home because he saw it as “this desolate, crime ridden place…” according to a paper by Duplantier, who interviewed Matthews a decade before his death in 2021. “It was the most pure part of New Orleans,” the artist once said, so it wouldn’t be a cliché. Many a Yat’s family story centers on the 9th Ward, before post-desegregation White flight brought Yats to the suburbs, including Chalmette. Deborah Gallaty LeJeune grew up in Chalmette schools and 9th Ward kitchens. She was teased for her accent, something she accepts as a blessing now: “Because we were made fun of, it made us work harder and be better.” Straight out of college, in 1983, she got a job at Federal Express. Folks from other parts of the country would try to guess her accent’s origin. Brooklyn? The Bronx? Boston? The north? “No, no, no,” she’d tell them. “The Deep South.” LeJeune was proud of how she sounded. But when her son was born, she worried about passing her accent along. “I would not read to my first-born child,” she said, her voice catching. But because her daughter was born with a skin disorder, she didn’t have a choice; LeJeune’s mother, a retired
Studying New Orleanians, a famously rooted bunch, Carmichael had an advantage: She was born here. “What hospital?” they’d ask, as if requiring proof. Carmichael’s parents moved to Northern Virginia when she was a baby, but they’d return for Mardi Gras. “And like anyone who spends any amount of time in New Orleans, I was just obsessed.” So for college, she picked Tulane University. Her junior year, Hurricane Katrina hit. That storm, and the extraordinary displacement that followed, ended up informing her research. Before, “if you were born in New Orleans, you stayed there,” she said. “Hurricane Katrina changed that entirely.” To study the Yat accent, Carmichael went to its epicenter, Chalmette. To gain residents’ trust, she coached a swim team and directed a variety show. She found, over dozens of interviews, that the strength of a person’s accent didn’t depend on whether they stayed or moved away. “What actually predicted whether they were going to have more of these Yatty features was how they felt about Chalmette,” she said, “how central it was to their identity.” “We really value these markers of New Orleansness,” Carmichael continued, as long as speakers can turn it off in professional settings. “If you want to hear people talking this way, if it makes you feel warm and cozy to hear that, well then you’re going to have to find a way to accept it across contexts, and not just on this cute T-shirt you bought on Magazine Street.” In their voices, they hear
their mothers and their grandmothers. Their block, their ward, their city. Dr. Suzanne Chabaud hears her family’s twobedroom house below the lakefront, near the railroad tracks. Post-war housing, public schools. (As a waitress, “I became an expert at detecting accents,” she said, down to the neighborhood.) But Chabaud also hears the judgment she noticed when she left the neighborhood, left the city. At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, a professor seemed surprised to hand a paper with the top score back to the girl with the working-class accent. “People think that because you have a Yat accent that you must be stupid,” she said, “and it has nothing to do with intelligence.” For seven years, Chabaud, a clinical psychologist, appeared on the reality TV series “Hoarders.” Before filming, she’d practice her introduction with her husband, emphasizing the consonants she’d typically skip. (“Hoarding disorder” itself it a tough one.) Otherwise, “we’d have to retape it over and over and over again.” Love from the show’s fans helped her embrace her accent. But a stroke ended her TV career in 2016. She had to learn to speak again, starting with the vowels. But “nobody tried to correct my accent,” she said, even the speech therapist.
Lagniappe. Neutral ground. The Yat dialect is the beststudied of the understudied New Orleans accents, Carmichael said, perhaps because most of its speakers are white. But “there are a bunch of identifiably Black ways of speaking and sounding New Orleans that are actually quite different.” Those accents are the subject of her next project: a book about New Orleans dialects, across race and class and neighborhood. A tension arises when talking about which New Orleans accent counts as the New Orleans accent, she said, “and the tension is raced and the tension is
classed.” At stake is the question: Who has a claim on the city? In January, a video popped up on Instagram that was just 12 seconds long but quickly collected dozens of comments, then hundreds, then 1,000. “Name something that’s so New Orleans,” its creator, Lesley Turner asks, grinning, “that only we would know what we’re talking ‘bout and if anybody else around the world heard it, they would be like, what you talking ‘bout? “For instance: Makin’ groceries.” Lagniappe. Cold cups. Neutral ground. Landmarks and terms, some French-influenced, some Creole, some Yat. “Yesssss,” people commented and liked and sent heart emojis. “Thissssss!” Once in a while, though, one of Turner’s 18,000 followers questions whether she’s really from New Orleans. It bugs her. “I am a New Orleanian through and through,” she said. The 41-year-old entrepreneur and content creator grew up in Gretna and crossed the bridge for school, for dance, “for everything.” The city has a whole range of accents, “from (actor) Harry Connick Jr. to (bounce artist) Sissy Nobby, and a whole variety in between,” said Turner, who is Black and whose accent lands somewhere in that inbetween. (To her, Connick — a White Southern man — typifies Yat. “I’m just being really candid,” she said, scrunching her nose.) Instagram rewards performance, but she refuses to force it. “If you get me mad enough,” Turner promised, “you will hear every part of the New Orleans in me.” Her daughter, who attends the Willow School, sounds “more New Orleans than me.” Maybe it’s because she’s immersed in the culture and its music. Maybe, Turner said with a laugh, it’s “because she hears me when I’m mad.”
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SAFETY
Continued from page 1A said Friday. Changes are needed, she said, and making streets safer for everyone who uses them is a key goal of the proposed Johnston Street project. “We’re going to create safe spaces on Johnston Street and Congress Street,” Boulet said. “It’s built into everything we’re doing today.” Lanclos suggested using bright colors to mark bike lanes and bicycle signs, studying crashes at locations such as Camellia Boulevard and adding traffic signals where needed, extending the bike path along Cajundome Boulevard to Eraste Landry Road and encouraging better enforcement of traffic laws, including testing drivers for drugs and alcohol after crashes. Some local roadways like Evangeline Thruway are owned by the state, not the city. A spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in Lafayette did not respond to requests for comment on this story. In 2022, DOTD said it did not plan to make changes to protect pedestrians on Evangeline Thru-
STOVALL
Continued from page 1A He also was athletic director at Louisiana Tech from 1990-93 and was the longtime CEO and president of the Greater Baton Rouge Sports Foundation. Stovall was an all-state athlete at West Monroe High School. He earned All-America honors at LSU in 1961 and 1962, leading to his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. It was one of many such honors for Stovall, who was named to the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1981. In 2018, LSU retired Stovall’s No. 21 jersey, and put his name and number up in lights in Tiger Stadium. At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, Stovall was not as big, fast or strong as his predecessor as LSU’s halfback, 1959 Heisman winner Billy Cannon. But his all-around accomplishments and determination still made Stovall exceptionally close to becoming LSU’s second Heisman winner. He lost to Baker 707618, with Baker getting 172 first-place votes to Stovall’s 112. “He worked harder than anybody I’ve ever coached,” said Cecil Pirkey, Stovall’s
BESSENT
Continued from page 1A
limit an Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates. He said the administration is prepared to exact “financial violence if we have to.” Asked by reporters Monday how long it would take for the Iranian economy to collapse, Bessent said: “I think it could be within weeks or months — and the economy doesn’t have to collapse, we just have to have the regime come to their senses.” Bessent said the European Union had backed his sanctions efforts with “fulsome support.” On Sunday, the EU said in a statement it welcomes added economic pressure on Iran and will work with the U.S. and other partners to keep the squeeze on Iran. France’s finance minister, Roland Lescure, told reporters he hopes there will be a global statement from the G20 on an agreed-upon path for economic growth worldwide. He said the world economy is “a bit like the weather in Asheville — it’s unpredictable, it’s foggy.” Meanwhile, Russia’s finance ministry said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov met with Bessent on Monday on the sidelines of the meeting. Asked why the Russian official had been invited back to the G20 despite the ongoing war in Ukraine — and criticism from Europeans — President Donald Trump said, “We like getting along
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
Pedestrians walk along the sidewalk on the NE Evangeline Thruway Frontage Road on Wednesday. way until the Interstate 49 Connector is built. Six people have died on the roadway since then. The issue comes as the public is being asked to weigh in on the future of the I-49 Connector, a project that could eventually reshape Evangeline Thruway. An open house is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Lafayette Downtown Convention Cen-
ter, 124 S. Buchanan St., where the public can review the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 5.5-mile Lafayette I-49 Connector, ask questions and submit written comments. Matt Mick, president of the board of Bike Lafayette, said Lafayette can look to communities like Houston, with its 168-mile shared-use paths, for inspiration
football coach at West Monroe. “He wasn’t exceptional in athletic ability, but he made up for it with his will to win.” Longtime Shreveport sports writer Jerry Byrd said Stovall’s abilities could not be evaluated by tape measure or stopwatch. “Whatever Jerry lacked in size, strength and speed, he made up for in what coaches call ‘intangibles,’ ” Byrd said. Despite that, then-LSU coach Paul Dietzel seemed hesitant to offer Stovall a scholarship, giving him the last one awarded in the Tigers’ 1959 recruiting class. But Dietzel eventually was convinced by former LSU player and coach Arthur “Red” Swanson, who saw Stovall’s potential when he was growing up. “Jerry was among some very good football players we brought in at that time,” Dietzel said. “He didn’t stand out like a beacon light, as John David Crow (1957 Heisman winner at Texas A&M) and Billy Cannon had done in previous years. “But after he got here, it wasn’t long before he moved to the top of the class. He played with such tremendous determination and tenacity, and he was a heck of a competitor. Stovall was the type of player who got faster as the game wore on. A lot of people were faster when
the game started. Not many were faster at the end of the game.” A first-round NFL draft pick in 1963, Stovall had 18 interceptions in 97 games with the Cardinals, with two touchdowns and six fumble recoveries. After his NFL career ended, Stovall returned to LSU as an assistant under McClendon, coaching running backs from 1974-78. He then moved on to become head of LSU’s Varsity Club, the predecessor to the Tiger Athletic Foundation. “I left coaching,” Stovall said, “but I did not leave football. I left coaching because I felt, if I couldn’t be head coach at LSU, I didn’t want to be a head coach anywhere else.” LSU hired Bo Rein to replace McClendon after the 1979 season, but Rein died in a plane crash on Jan. 10, 1980. Returning from a recruiting trip to Shreveport, Rein’s plane depressurized, veered off course and eventually crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Hastily seeking a replacement for Rein, Dietzel, then the athletic director, tabbed his former star player Stovall. “I would give up any job. I would give up my right arm if it meant Bo Rein could come back,” Stovall said. “I love LSU, but the loss of coach Rein makes the condi-
with everybody.” The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Daniel Fried, a former assistant secretary of state for European affairs in George W. Bush’s Republican administration, said the U.S. may “find it difficult to rally its usual friends and allies” under the circumstances. If Bessent and other administration officials want international support, he said, they will need to “take greater care in consulting with allies and partners than the U.S. has shown in recent months.” Bessent wants other countries to help the U.S. isolate Iran in order to force its capitulation during a war that recently crossed its sixmonth mark. Although the U.S. struck Iran again on Sunday, the administration has previously signaled its intention to focus on economic pressure rather than military action to achieve its goals. So far, Trump has not followed through on threats of an “economic D-Day” for Iran, instead largely relying on warnings to Iran’s trading partners. A particular challenge is China, which is the largest buyer of Iranian oil. Bessent told the AP that “all options are on the table” in terms of sanctioning Beijing for its continued purchases. Nicholas Mulder, a Cornell historian who specializes in sanctions, said “we might see a gradual trickle of smaller listings but a large designation of, say, a major Chinese bank would cause serious upheaval and
prompt retaliation.” But Bessent rejected the idea that the administration is reluctant to confront China, calling it “a completely false narrative.” He insisted that China and the U.S. agree on the need to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Mulder also cautioned that any disruption to global oil flows through secondary sanctions would boost inflation and force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. “Given that Bessent’s Treasury already finds itself having to quell a growing unease in the bond markets, it will be very challenging to do the same in the sanctions enforcement space with credibility,” Mulder said. The G20 meetings are taking place in Asheville, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The natural disaster killed more than 250 people and caused nearly $80 billion in damage from Florida to the Carolinas. Bessent said Asheville — which rebuilt after the storm — was a symbolic backdrop for discussions about economic growth. “We want the rest of the world to come along with our growth agenda, whether it’s deregulation, the energy independence, and we want to discuss global imbalances, banking regulations, some sovereign debt restructuring for developing countries,” Bessent told the AP. He added that “the world has this mountain of debt, and we do have to grow our way out of it.”
cyclists, e-bike and scooter drivers and motorists to know the laws and share roads safely with others, he said. Enforcement, Mick said, speaks to how the community assesses the importance of bike and pedestrian safety. Law enforcement can periodically focus on an area like Camellia Boulevard, he said, ticketing people for speeding, which should have at least a temporary impact on safety. Infrastructure can be as simple as adding pedestrian crossings on Evangeline Thruway where data shows people are crossing. Some people say pedestrians should walk down to the existing signalized crossings, Mick said. But that can be a long distance, so pedestrians take the chance and cross where it’s convenient, at times leading to injuries or death. Those spots should be considered for signalized crossings. It can also mean adding a traffic signal on Camellia Boulevard at Woods Crossing where David Lanclos was killed, he added. “We don’t have to accept this as the cost of doing business,” Mick said.
but can’t expect to replicate them precisely. Recent conversations among Bike Lafayette, the Boulet administration and other stakeholders have focused on three approaches to improving pedestrian and bicycle safety: education, enforcement and infrastructure, Mick said. Education involves individual Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ responsibility by pedestrians, bi- theadvocate.com.
tions sorrowful.” Just the third LSU alumnus to be its coach after E.A. Chavanne (1898 and 1890) and Gaynell Tinsley (194854), Stovall’s Tigers went 7-4 in 1980 and 3-7-1 in 1981. In 1982 he led LSU to an 8-3-1 record, beating No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Alabama and No. 7 Florida State en route to the Orange Bowl. There the Tigers narrowly lost 21-20 to No. 3 Nebraska, but Stovall was named Walter Camp national coach of the year. In 1983, LSU was ranked No. 13 in the preseason but went 4-7, including an 0-6 mark in the SEC, prompting Stovall to be fired by thenathletic director Bob Brodhead. Stovall would say he was never notified of his firing by anyone from the LSU administration, only learning of his ouster from a TV report. Funeral arrangements are pending, according to LSU.
FILE PHOTO
Jerry Stovall played for LSU from 1960-62 and later coached the Tigers from 1980-83.
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6A ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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TODAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
Wind and rain; humid
Humid with a t-storm in spots
Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm
An afternoon t-storm; humid
Some rain and a thunderstorm
Humid with a shower or two
HIGH
LOW
HIGH
89° 76°
LOW
HIGH
91° 74°
LOW
90° 75°
Baton Rouge 92/75
Lake Charles 88/77
Port Arthur 83/76
New Orleans 91/78 Houma 87/74
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
0s
Hattiesburg 95/72
Alexandria 93/74
Lafayette 89/76
Beaumont 83/76
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
LOW
HIGH
LOW
95° 76°
YESTERDAY
TODAY
READING 33 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone
MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone
Lafayette through 5 p.m. Monday
Jackson 96/75 Many 93/74
HIGH
91° 76°
TEMPERATURE
Longview 100/76
-0s
LOW
Monroe 97/75
Shreveport 99/76
-10s
HIGH
90° 74°
Tropical storm warnings are in effect along the southwestern Louisiana coastline. Tropical storm conditions are expected in our area this morning. There’s also a coastal flood warning in effect for the coastline and a slight or marginal risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to some measure of flash flooding in effect as well. While we’re expecting scattered showers and storms today, the worst will be this morning with the weather starting to clear up this afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid-80s to low 90s.
60s
70s
80s
90s 100s 110s
High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low
Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today LAST
SEP 4
City
Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville
Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.
91°/75° 91°/74° 90°/72° 103° in 2000 60° in 1946
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
24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date
HIGH
11:20a 5:51a 5:51a 7:14a 12:54a 12:19a 2:02a
6:45 a.m. 7:31 p.m. 10:02 p.m. 11:09 a.m. NEW
FIRST
SEP 10
Hi
99 69 99 54 89 96 97 91 99
TODAY Lo
75 62 79 39 77 75 75 80 72
FULL
SEP 18
W
s r s c r s s t pc
SEP 26
Hi
97 70 96 49 90 94 98 91 100
GOOD
PRECIPITATION
WED. Lo
77 64 79 31 78 72 76 79 74
W
pc c s c sh pc s t s
FT.
0.6 1.6 1.8 1.6 1.2 1.4 1.5
LOW
10:29p 2:12p 11:43a 2:50a 11:24a 9:55a 12:26p
0.17” 3.00” 6.26” 43.79” 43.68”
FT.
HIGH
0.2 0.5 0.3 1.3 0.4 0.5 0.5
SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV
FT.
LOW
FT.
--- ----- ----- ----- --9:39p 1.9 11:29p 1.8 --- --- 3:23p 0.4 --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---
The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter. MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR
Today Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday
3:00a 3:57a 4:56a 5:57a 6:57a 7:54a 8:49a
City
New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San Diego Tampa
Hi
9:13a 10:11a 11:11a 12:12p 12:41a 1:39a 2:34a
TODAY
91 89 91 100 90 96 99 79 91
Lo
78 76 73 82 72 75 80 67 76
3:25p 9:38p 4:24p 10:38p 5:25p 11:40p 6:27p ---7:28p 1:12p 8:25p 2:10p 9:18p 3:04p
W
t t t t t pc s pc t
GOOD
Hi
91 90 86 102 92 99 99 79 89
WED. Lo
77 77 73 84 72 76 80 68 77
W
MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City
t t pc c t pc s s t
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
FLOOD STAGE
34 48 48 35 27 22 17
MON. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE
6.80 30.30 31.80 15.90 9.10 6.80 5.00
-1.85 -0.44 -0.40 +0.10 +0.10 +0.19 +0.17
40
18.26
-1.68
19
-1.51
-0.01
18 29 8
-1.01 10.45 2.63
-0.49 +0.27 +0.75
13 15
1.71 0.86
-0.25 +0.05
47 34 29 20 12 6
14.40 9.65 8.11 6.45 3.80 2.78
+0.15 +0.02 +0.34 none +0.10 +0.12
data as of 7 a.m. Monday
Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026
Report: New U.S. missile left destruction in Iranian city BY JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press
It has been touted by the manufacturer as the ballistic missile of the future: lethal, long-range and pinpoint. Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile has the U.S. military investing billions to update its arsenal. But a close look at what is believed to be its first use in combat — on the first day of the Iran war — highlights the potential peril of deploying this weapon near population centers because it appears to spray pellets over a wide area, according to a review by the conflict monitor Airwars and interviews with weapons experts and former defense officials. Three missiles that struck the southern city of Lamerd on Feb. 28 killed civilians as far as 164 feet from where they detonated, and caused
damage more than three times farther away, Airwars found. The missiles detonated above a sports complex and two residential neighborhoods, Airwars found. The blasts killed at least 21 civilians, including seven children, according to Iranian officials. Airwars is the first to map the damage radius of the strikes in Lamerd and estimate the lethal range of the weapon used. The PrSM is designed to explode midair and propel tens of thousands of dense metal pellets at high speed in all directions. Photos, videos and satellite images of the Lamerd strikes’ aftermath analyzed by Airwars and verified by The Associated Press show buildings, streets and vehicles were heavily pockmarked in a blast pattern that experts say is consistent with the
TASNIM NEWS AGENCy FILE PHOTO By ALIREZA AMERI
A damaged car sits beside a wall bearing numerous impact marks near the site of a strike on Feb. 28 in Lamerd, Iran. PrSM’s capabilities. The U.S. military has confirmed firing PrSMs into Iran, but has denied attacking Lamerd.
It is unclear who or what was the intended target in Lamerd. An Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound is located nearby, but
satellite images showed no damage there. Six weapons experts, including two who are former military officials, told AP they believe PrSMs struck Lamerd — and they said it was unlikely that Israeli or Iranian weapons were used. All said militaries should avoid firing the PrSM at targets near civilian areas. “You would be hardpressed to find a reason to use the PrSM in a densely populated area,” said Michael Meier, a former U.S. Army adviser on the laws of war. Airwars, a London-based nonprofit, was founded more than a decade ago to track reports of civilian deaths from U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, and it has also monitored conflicts in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere. It relies on publicly available material, such as photos,
videos, satellite images, social media and news reports, and uses geolocation software and other tools to help it analyze this evidence. Airwars used these methods to investigate the strikes on Lamerd. It mapped the approximate locations of the missiles’ detonations, where civilians were reported killed and where damage was visible and consistent with blast patterns. It then measured the distances between the positions to estimate the blast radius. AP verified Airwars’ blast radius estimate by measuring the distance between where civilians were killed, based on Iranian media reports, and where the missiles detonated midair, based on security camera and other videos. AP also examined satellite images, photos and videos of damage from the attack sites.
U.S. military has no plans to send Hundreds feared stuck in tunnels troops to the polls, top general says after flooding in Himalayas BY BEN FINLEY Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The highestranking officer in the U.S. military says there are no plans to send troops to polling places during November’s midterm congressional elections, addressing concerns among Democrats that the Trump administration could use the military to interfere with the vote. Gen. Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the statement in a letter to Michigan Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who recently asked Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to confirm they won’t send troops to the polls. “The Joint Force has no plans to send Federal military personnel or Federalized members of the Nation-
al Guard to polling places during the 2026 elections,” Caine said in the letter to Slotkin, which was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. “Likewise, the Joint Force has no plans to use such personnel to seize ballots, voting machines, or other election-related material.” Caine, who advises Hegseth and President Donald Trump on military matters, also wrote: “I have neither received nor anticipate receiving any unlawful order concerning the role of the Joint Force in the upcoming November 2026 midterm elections.” Anxiety among Democrats that the Trump administration could try to meddle in the midterm elections has grown, particularly after the president deployed federal agents in Democratic-led
states over the objections of local leaders. Slotkin told the AP earlier in August that Trump has been laying the groundwork to claim the elections were stolen. She noted that Trump contemplated using the military to seize voting machines after his loss in 2020 and has deployed the National Guard to cities against the wishes of Democratic leaders. He also deployed active duty Marines to Los Angeles during his immigration crackdown in 2025. Federal law prohibits the deployment of armed federal forces to election locations unless “necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.” If any element of the military were to get involved, it would likely be the National Guard under state control.
Deaths surpass 950 in Nepal and China
BY SHRISTI KAFLE and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press
KATHMANDU,Nepal — Rescuers raced Monday to free hundreds of workers believed to be trapped in tunnels at hydropower sites that were buried in mud by catastrophic flooding on the Nepal-China border, as the death toll climbed and increasingly desperate families searched for missing loved ones. The combined deaths in Nepal and China surpassed 950, with more than 4,400 people missing. A privatesector association representing power companies said
at least 900 workers were unaccounted for at 12 hydropower projects damaged by the flash floods in Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts. About 500 of those workers were believed to be trapped in tunnels. At least one expert said that some workers could have access to oxygen, but others warned that the chances of finding survivors were diminishing. As the rescue efforts intensified, four bodies were recovered from three mud-filled tunnels, Nepal’s army said. Some workers managed to call for help when the disaster struck last Wednesday, and others who managed to flee reported to authorities and relatives that many of their colleagues were still in the tunnels, said Mohan Kumar Dangi, president of the Independent Power Produc-
ers’ Association, Nepal, or IPPAN. It was unclear whether rescuers have had any contact with the trapped workers since the initial calls for help. Six days after the disaster, fears were growing that some might have suffocated, Dangi said. Rescue efforts were focused on people trapped in the gigantic tunnels built for controlling the flow of water. “These tunnels are big enough to drive trucks through,” said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. “And from what we understand, they have managed to get oxygen to some of those stuck inside and are trying to rescue them now. It’s a race for time, though, as people need food and water.”
METRO
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Storm may bring drought relief Jan Risher LOUISIANA AT LARGE
Forecasters keeping eye on tropical system in Gulf BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer
Louisiana women spread Parton’s legacy Chloe Wiley Nettles’ doormat set the stage for what awaited inside. The doormat read: “Everyone welcome (except Jolene!)” That was the first hint that the visit was going to be different. I entered empty-handed, but less than 10 minutes later, I was standing in Nettles’ living room in a bouffant wig, pink cowgirl outfit, pink rhinestone butterfly earrings and sparkly pink boots, while Dolly Diamonds member Erin Wood stood by with glitter and straightened the pink flower that matched my glasses in the wig. Full Dolly hair. Full Dolly lipstick. In other areas, not quite a full Dolly, but I gave it my best effort. The transformation happened fast. Nettles and Wood had done this before, for someone else, at some other kitchen table. There wasn’t much to do but be still and let it happen. Sitting there, I remembered being fascinated by Dolly Parton long before liking her was fashionable. When I lived in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, my friends found it hysterical that I kept driving the 53 miles to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. I remember exactly where I was in the fall of 1987 when someone told me about Dolly’s new television show. Her star just kept rising after that — everyone seemed to take notice. Nettles and friends launched the Baton Rouge chapter of the Dolly Diamonds on Jan. 19, Dolly’s 80th birthday, modeled after New Orleans’ Krewe of Dolly, which started in 2020 with a halfdozen New Orleans women who loved Dolly enough to dress up as her around town. Men are welcome in both krewes as Kennys and Willies. Though if my husband has anything to do with it, he says he will be a Carl — in the background and rarely seen. Annie Wentz, the Krewe of Dolly’s founding president and now board secretary, said membership opened to the public in 2022 with fewer than 200 people signed up. That number has grown every year since, reaching 712 today. Both krewes are volunteer-led, largely by educators or former educators, with the money they raise going toward literacy. “The love for Dolly is there,”
ä See RISHER, page 4B
As a potential tropical cyclone develops in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest Louisiana could see some drought relief. The National Weather Service in Lake Charles is forecasting that Tropical Depression Five will move northwest toward the southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana shoreline through Tuesday afternoon. “Sometime (Monday), we’re expecting it to become a tropical storm, at which point it would be given the next name on the list,
Edouard,” service meteorologist Donald Jones said during a Facebook briefing. “So, that will be now three out of five tropical systems that have developed that we’ve had to deal with so far this season. Fortunately, all of them have been weak, and it looks like this one will remain the same.” A tropical storm warning is in effect for Cameron Parish and coastal Jefferson County, Texas. Landfall is anticipated in Sabine Pass, Texas, or western Cameron Parish. “Those are the areas that are potentially going to see tropical
two parishes is 6 inches. “Now, the good news is we’ve been very dry lately; most of the region is in at least a moderate drought, if not a severe drought, at this point,” Jones said. “So, most of the area has the room to absorb a good bit of rainfall, and we can certainly use it, given that we have been in a drought. The problem is, as it relates to tropical systems, is that they tend to produce very high rainfall rates, so you get a lot of water falling very, very quickly, and that water doesn’t have time to run off.”
storm force conditions,” Jones said in the briefing. “Now, this is going to be right along the coastline. We’re not expecting those tropical storm force winds to extend too far inland.” However, Jones said the bigger issue is the potential for heavy rainfall and flash flooding, which is often the case with weak tropical systems. Calcasieu Parish is anticipated to see 0.5 to 1 inch of rain through Wednesday night, while Cameron Parish is expected to see 1 to Email Courtney Pedersen 1.5 inches. The highest reason- at courtney.pedersen@ able rainfall amount across the theadvocate.com.
Dragons and horses
A dragonfly stands on the end of a horsetail plant recently in Lafayette.
STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK
SpaceX growth may boost I-49 funding Projected 5.5-mile connector would be partially elevated freeway BY CLAIRE TAYLOR
Staff writer
Regional growth from the SpaceX project in Vermilion Parish may drive funding for the Interstate 49 Lafayette Connector, Lafayette Parish MayorPresident Monique Boulet said recently.
The connector is a projected 5.5-mile six-lane partially elevated freeway through Lafayette that’s part of a plan to extend I-49 to the west bank of New Orleans. The project is expected to cost more than $1 billion and there is insufficient funding at this time. “The growth that we’re having and the exponential growth that’s going to come from SpaceX is going to drive funding,” Boulet said. “I don’t expect SpaceX to pay for it. But as things intensify in Lafayette Parish, the Connector is teed up well.” Officials with SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, announced last
week plans to build a $100 billion rocket launching spaceport near Pecan Island on the coast of Vermilion Parish. As the population continues to shift in the region and with the addition of SpaceX, Boulet said the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development should consider funding the Lafayette Connector. Lafayette Parish could become a secondary market for SpaceX operations, Boulet said. When a solar panel company located to Iberia Parish, she said, many subcontractors relocated to Lafayette Parish and many of the
company’s employees live in Broussard and Lafayette. A Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement I-49 Lafayette Connector project is open for review from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Downtown Convention Center, 124 S. Buchanan St. in Lafayette. Oral public comment will begin at 6 p.m. and continue until everyone who wishes to speak has had the opportunity to do so. Comment is limited to three minutes per person. Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.
National Guard ends French Quarter deployment of presence and deter- ficers, Kirkpatrick said. The de- we would move up to a summons, NOPD to ramp up terms rence.” partment will also assign Harbor and then eventually, if we had to, “In preparation for their depar- Police officers to downtown pa- physical arrest. But we’ve seen enforcement, expand ture, we have a plan,” said Kirk- trols and will tap reserve officers where the majority of issues have “more than we have in the past,” been able to be addressed with a patrick. patrols
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
PROVIDED PHOTO
Columnist Jan Risher holds ‘The Little Engine that Could,’ one of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library books.
The New Orleans Police Department will ramp up enforcement in the French Quarter and downtown after the Louisiana National Guard ended its deployment in New Orleans last week. The 8th District, which covers the downtown area, will add more than a dozen new officers to its staffing to create a new “downtown enhancement unit,” NOPD officials said Monday. NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick told the City Council’s Criminal Justice Committee that the National Guard, which completed a nearly eight-month deployment in the city on Aug. 24, had been “great partners in
The announcement underscores a renewed city push to tackle issues like homelessness, unpermitted vending and noise complaints, all of which have been the target in recent years of multiple dedi- Kirkpatrick cated neighborhood patrols, the Louisiana State Police, and, most recently, the National Guard. And it comes as Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration launches a push to clean up and attract investment to the struggling Canal Street corridor. The NOPD will assign 16 new recruits to the 8th District and increase its daily patrol staff on Bourbon Street from 10 to 15 of-
Kirkpatrick said. Three patrols are walking Canal Street each day as part of the effort. Enforcement will also be focused in the lower Quarter and Jackson Square, said 8th District Capt. Samuel Palumbo. “A large majority of the issues we have, not only in the French Quarter but the entire downtown area, have to do with all of the quality-of-life issues, whether it’s noise complaints, party buses, illegal vending, illegal cooking, issues around certain establishments,” Palumbo said. Officials said that enforcement efforts would also target people sleeping outside. Palumbo said that officers begin by issuing a verbal warning when someone is obstructing the public right of way. “After that,
summons,” said Palumbo. Palumbo said that the NOPD remained focused on getting “homeless individuals services and into shelter.” At an 8th District public safety meeting on Aug. 24, Community Liaison Officer Alicia Pierre said that during one Canal Street sweep, the department “moved” 34 people, relocated three people to a shelter, and issued four summonses. According to NOPD, Pierre was referring to citations issued for obstructing public sidewalks or public transit, or otherwise impeding the free use of public rights of way. “As for our repeat offenders … if we keep coming into the same people over and over again, we
ä See GUARD, page 4B
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OPINION T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/opinions
OUR VIEWS
Latest charges point to OJJ culture that resists reform The problems at Louisiana’s juvenile detention facilities have been long documented. Yet the latest arrests of guards accused by young inmates of sexual abuse at the Acadiana Center for Youth in Bunkie point to a larger issue — an Office of Juvenile Justice that resists efforts at reform. Five women employees at the center, which houses males, have been arrested over the past 16 months and charged under a law that prohibits sexual contact between prison guards and detainees. Some of the accused have maintained their innocence and are fighting the charges. OJJ also disputes some of the allegations. But the details of the cases that have surfaced indicate failures at every level to protect youths in custody. In one case, a detainee called the Prison Rape Elimination Act hotline to report abuse. He received no response, and signs that advertised the hotline number were later removed from the facility. In a legal filing, the inmate alleges there was a section of the dorm called “the cut” where the abuse occurred. An official at the facility confirmed “the cut” existed and said it was where inmates would go to fight. We’re glad that the issue is on the radar of members of the state Senate’s Select Committee on Women and Children. We hope more answers will be forthcoming at the committee’s next meeting, where OJJ officials will face lawmakers’ questions. But clearly more needs to be done. OJJ says that it looks into any report of misconduct by its employees and that its investigative unit has arrested 18 employees on criminal charges since May 2025. Juvenile justice advocates say that having the agency responsible for incarcerating youth policing itself is a recipe for disaster. It’s hard not to see that stronger oversight is needed. We aren’t sure what form that should take, but we hope that these cases prompt urgent action. For many years, we have called on state leaders to fix OJJ. But for whatever reason, the agency is continually allowed to fail in its primary responsibility: to keep the youths in its charge safe. We’re not sure what obstacles exist to true reform, but they need to be identified and removed once and for all. Louisiana is back to incarcerating more of its young people after abandoning 2016 reforms aimed at reducing the number of juveniles in custody. The youths in our state detention centers should have a chance to turn their lives around. We should not be exposing them to further trauma and strife that can derail their chances of returning to productive lives. Nearly every legislative session, lawmakers seem to find new ways to show they’re tough on juvenile crime. Now let’s see them be as tough on making sure OJJ operates as it should.
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identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.
YOUR VIEWS
Vermilion Parish deal gives Musk an unfair advantage The SpaceX spaceport: Is this free market capitalism? When the state of Louisiana sells 100,000 acres of our coast to this company for just $800 per acre, exempts this company from state and local taxes and frees this company from any liability for its actions within the state, is this a free, competitive market? When the government does not require this company to follow environmental laws, how free is the market for anyone else? Louisiana has invested billions of dollars over the last decade to slow coastal land loss. Regulations to prevent a repeat of the damages from 20th-century oil exploration have been established. What lessons have we learned from this? If you, a citizen of Louisiana, want to
set up a business in the coastal zone, you must follow regulations that minimize the impact on this fragile land and carry out mitigation for damage to the wetlands from your project. We are giving this company a free pass. This project will put over a million satellites in low orbit, giving Elon Musk control of this space. Everyone on the planet will be subject to his wishes and fees when they need to use this space. This project is space exploitation, not space exploration. Without controls from a competitive marketplace or government, we are giving Musk a monopoly over low-orbit space to do as he wishes. The only “free” in this marketplace is for Musk.
JAMES WHELAN Lacombe
Glittering decor at White House is out of touch Forget the politics; it’s unlikely most people understand them. However, we elected a president and seem to be blessed, or cursed, with an amateur architect, interior designer, landscape designer and art critic. President Donald Trump is free to gold-plate his home, his clubs and hotels. But the White House is the people’s house. Our citizens are more modest than European royalty and don’t need to be reminded of all his wealth while we suffer paying more for basic food and necessary supplies. It’s not our history to be ostentatious. The man spends too much time converting the people’s house into something he feels looks deserving of a king. Taking down a wing for an unnecessary ballroom that will rarely be used, paying far too much attention to slapping his
image and ideas all over Washington and assaulting our great national parks with plans for a border wall that would remove natural wonders that are our pride and birthright is cruel and selfish. Meanwhile, we are exhausting the armed forces we may need and that have been taken advantage of during what had been peacetime. It is abhorrent, selfish and proves he and his appointees aren’t qualified for the positions they hold. Money is meant to provide, not provoke. We are a large family, not a small, out-of-step and insulated one. Our health, education and social support are more important than gold leaf, which is merely garish. It’s downright un-American. And he doesn’t even have a dog.
LAURA J. BARNES New Orleans
Straw hat example fumbles first rule of bargaining TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE
In his recent letter to the editor, Aaron Shipper’s analogy about buying a straw hat is an interesting one, but he seems to have overlooked the most obvious lesson from his own story. He says the vendor first asked for 50 pesos, and he countered with 40. The vendor raised the price to 60 pesos and settled for 55 pesos. If he wants to use that experience as a lesson in negotiation, perhaps he should have followed the most basic rule of bargaining: Be willing to walk away. When the seller changed the original offer, Shipper could simply have handed the
hat back and walked away. Instead, he paid more. So perhaps the story doesn’t demonstrate that Donald Trump doesn’t know how to bargain. It demonstrates that Shipper himself was willing to pay a higher price rather than walk away. Everyone is entitled to an opinion about Trump’s approach to Iran. But before lecturing others about the art of negotiation, it might be wise to learn the lesson from one’s own straw hat.
Trade war with Canada shows limits of Trump’s thinking I really appreciated an article that appeared in the Business section on Aug. 27, “U.S., Canada deeply intertwined on trade despite Trump comment.” I valued the clarity with which the article spelled out the deficit the United States incurs each year in our trade with Canada. I wanted to better understand President Donald Trump’s statement that Canada had been “ripping us off” at the rate of $50 billion a year. The article, written by Rob Gillies of the Associated Press, stated that “Energy more than accounted for last year’s $48.3 billion goods deficit. Without energy, the United States would have run a trade surplus.” We buy 20% of our energy needs from Canada in the form of heavy crude, which is then processed into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel in Midwest refineries. In fact, according to the article, this heavy crude is sold to us by Canada at a discount. While I found the article clear, it also raised some puzzling questions. Trump acknowledged that the United States needs aluminum from Canada — “We don’t have any,” he said — and yet he imposed a 50% tariff on it. I thought that a government imposes tariffs to protect its own industries. Another puzzle is that of characterizing our trade deficit with Canada as being “ripped off.” If we Americans should not have to import crude oil, then we should promote energy conservation and alternative energy sources. To accuse a seller of stealing when you have willingly purchased the goods suggests a fundamental failure of business ethics.
MARCIA COOKE New Orleans
MIKE NORTON Metairie
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COMMENTARY La. rolled out welcome mat for Meta, even as it was suing Until last week’s SpaceX announcement, tech giant Meta was Louisiana’s new best friend. The company’s planned $50 billion data center investment in an out-of-the-way patch of farmland in northeast Louisiana has been touted as the kind of project that doesn’t just transform a region, but could rewrite the story of the entire state. So it’s not surprising that last week’s settlement of a sprawling lawsuit against the social media titan brought Faimon by states — including Roberts Louisiana — received slightly less attention. The settlement will require Meta to pay up to about $17 billion to 48 states that sued the company in federal court. As part of the deal, Meta also agreed to institute a series of safety measures to help protect children from the harmful effects of its products. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill praised the deal. Louisiana will get roughly $180 million over the next nine years, she said. “This settlement is an earthquake when it comes to child safety reforms and Big Tech accountability,” Murrill’s statement said. She noted that it’s the largest state consumer protection settlement in history outside the Big Tobacco settlements of the 1990s. That’s an apt comparison. Buried in the more than 230 pages of the original complaint are allegations that seem ripped right from the anticigarette playbook. Meta, through Facebook and Instagram, worked to “entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” the complaint alleges. “Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its Social Media Platforms … and it has ignored the sweeping damage these Platforms have caused to the mental and physical health of our nation’s youth,” it continues. In another part, the suit says: “Despite the strong and well-researched links between young people’s use of Meta’s Social Media Platforms and psychological and physical harm, Meta has continued to conceal and downplay its Platforms’ adverse effects.” In other words, the states alleged that Meta worked to make its products as addictive as possible, especially to young people. Then, even though the company knew that the platforms could be harmful to children, it insisted they weren’t.
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Cars fill a parking lot at the south end of the Meta data center site as construction can be seen surrounded by rural farmland along La. 80 on Aug. 4 in Holly Ridge. It didn’t help that lawyers in another case produced internal Meta documents in which employees compared themselves to drug pushers, according to a report in The New York Times. Of course, there is one major difference between the two settlements: their size. The big four tobacco companies agreed to pay at least $206 billion over the first 25 years of that settlement, and to keep making payments after that. In that light, Meta is getting off cheap. It’s one of the largest companies in the world, with a market cap of roughly $1.5 trillion. The company raked in $56 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2026 alone. James Uthmeier, the Republican attorney general of Florida, which was one of two states not part of this suit (the other is New Mexico), criticized the settlement on X. “The payouts are peanuts compared to the profound harms Meta’s profitdriven addictive features inflicted on kids, a slap on the wrist for a trillion-dollar corp that’ll pay more to lawyers than to the states,” Uthmeier wrote. He also said Florida “isn’t going to roll over” and that he looks forward to going to trial.
It’s worth noting that the settlement talks came only after the company faced setbacks in court. Those signaled that Meta’s standard defense — the First Amendment and a federal provision, known as Section 230, that protects platforms from liability for what people say on them — may not be as strong in this case. That spurred Meta to the table, according to The New York Times. It’s also worth noting that even as it was defending the suit, Meta was able to get a host of Louisiana officials, including some in elected office, to sign nondisclosure agreements related to its project in Richland Parish. And since that project went public, those same officials have done little but heap praise on the company. In her announcement of the settlement, even Murrill slipped in a compliment. “Meta stepped up and did the right thing,” she said. “Now it’s time for other Big Tech and gaming companies to do the right thing as well.” In Louisiana, Meta knows how to both win friends, and, it appears, influence people. Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.
Don’t place faith in a politician The woman in the grocery store said was a Chinese spy, Christine checkout line had an accent. While we Fang. Swalwell eventually resigned waited for our items to be rung up, I from Congress after additional inforasked her where she was from. mation about his contact with Fang “Argentina,” she said. was revealed. He also withdrew from “Is the inflation rate in Argentina the California governor’s race into under 100% yet?” I asked. which he had inserted himself. She smiled, “That’s what the politiWhat adds to the distrust of policians say, but I never trust a ticians (if more reasons are politician.” needed) is the number of House I laughed. What a wise womDemocrats who continued to support Swalwell after the alan, I thought. That sentiment is getting around. legations of his misdeeds kept I immediately thought of piling up. Rep. Jerry Nadler, Dthe American politicians who N.Y., said of McCarthy’s allegaCal defended former representation that Swalwell had a Chinese Thomas spy on his staff: “That is absurd. tive and former candidate And I think Mr. McCarthy ought for California governor, Eric to be ashamed…for raising these spuSwalwell, D-Calif. Some background for those with rious questions.” short memories. In 2020, Rep. Kevin Then-House Minority Leader Steny McCarthy, R-Calif., and then- Speaker Hoyer, R-Md., called the effort to reNancy Pelosi, D-Calif., were given a move Swalwell from the Intelligence classified briefing by the FBI after Committee a “frivolous, political which McCarthy said Swalwell should exercise” intended to “attack the not be on the House Intelligence Com- reputation of an outstanding Member mittee because of his ties to an alleged of Congress.” Many other Democrats, including then-Representative, now Chinese spy. Pelosi continued to supsenator, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also port Swalwell and in 2021, he was appointed to the Intelligence Committee. defended Swalwell. FBI records pertaining to Swalwell Investigators ultimately did not find evidence that Swalwell participated in were subsequently declassified. Aca quid-pro-quo scheme or violated fed- cording to reporting by Foxnews.com, eral corruption laws. He was removed they showed agents “had launched a full investigation tied to Fang, examinas a subject of the investigation. In 2023, after becoming speaker, ing possible bribery, foreign campaign McCarthy accused Swalwell of keepcontributions (which are illegal), and ing company with a woman McCarthy efforts at one point to trade access to
Swalwell and congressional internships for political donations.” Recently, at San Francisco International Airport, FBI agents seized Swalwell’s electronic devices. The following day, Swalwell’s Washington, D.C., home was searched as part of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. The records released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force reveal two FBI interviews with Swalwell. They also expose a broader investigation that is examining Fang’s involvement with illicit campaign contributions and accusations involving interns. The records reveal, Fox News reports, how the FBI saw Fang as a significant counterintelligence concern, suspecting ties to China’s Ministry of State and at one point attempting to recruit her as an FBI confidential source. Have we heard a peep from those top Democrats who vociferously defended Swalwell while accusing McCarthy of “shameful” behavior (Adam Schiff)? Not one. This is just one of the reasons so many people are soured on Congress and don’t bother to vote. It is why the Argentine lady was right (and so are Americans) not to place their faith in politicians. Email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@ tribpub.com
Alberta Providence wants to break away from Canada, but can they? CALGARY — A wildfire is sweeping the western Canadian province of Alberta. It’s not the one you are thinking of. And a Canadian province is considering leaving the country. It also isn’t the one you are thinking of. “Expect widespread cross-over conditions,” a fire forecaster, characterizing weather that can make for uncontrollable fires, told the Globe and Mail newspaper this summer. The description fits Canada today, where the forest conDavid ditions of wind, rising heat and unShribman stable air are producing a condition called “spotting,” with the result that a wildfire jumps from one place to another. The consequence: The firestorm of separatism, which has been part of the political environment of French-speaking Quebec since the “Quiet Revolution” of the 1960s, has spread to energyrich Alberta, where the tinder is long-simmering bitterness over Ottawa’s energy policies and the decades-long siphoning off of tax revenues to other provinces, especially Quebec. Into this dangerous situation of violent firewhirls raced two incendiary figures, both versed in the inflammatory rhetoric of the new conservatism: Trump, already with deep resentment toward Canada and its Liberal Party leadership, and Danielle Smith, the premier of the province and an artful arsonist in the art of political provocation. The combination of these combustible conditions is the Oct. 19 referendum on whether to hold a future referendum on breaking away from Canada. Note the subtlety here, designed by Smith to make a bow toward the separatist element in the province without actually embracing the separatist theology. The fact that the first referendum almost certainly won’t pass, making the threat of the second one moot, isn’t the point. Smith has only poured — this metaphor is all but unavoidable, so forgive me — fuel on the fire. At this point it is essential to point out that Smith is an admirer of Trump and the MAGA movement, though the American president’s conflagration of indignation against Canada has doused some of her fire. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney withdrew from difficult trade negotiations, proclaiming that—in this country the metaphors flare — the country was at war. (“You’re at war when you’re attacked. We got attacked.”) All this occurs as surface conditions here shift. Energy remains preeminent; Alberta’s northern oil sands bitumen produces 4.3 million barrels of crude each day, more than four-fifths of the country’s oil, according to the Canada Energy Regulator federal agency. It also has vast riches of natural gas. Now add this: a surge in AI data centers, including a 2.9-million-square-foot site being constructed by Meta, popularly known as Facebook. The Alberta Prosperity Project is seeking a $500 billion line of credit from the U.S. government to support the province in a possible transition out of Canada. Trump’s 51st-state attacks on the country and his tariff policies have produced the “war” between two countries that once bragged about having the world’s longest undefended border. The effect: a dramatic upswing in Canadian nationalism so powerful that the separatist Parti Québécois pushed back its vow to hold an independence referendum if it returns to power. Alberta is the province with the lowest support (59%) for a special tax on electricity sold in the United States (Canada rate: 74%); the lowest support (58%) for a special tax on oil and gas sold to the U.S. (Canada: 70%); the lowest rate of support (33%) for taxing U.S. streaming sites such as Netflix (Canada: 44%); and the lowest support (33%) for taxing American fruits and vegetables (Canada: 46%), according to a poll conducted by the Leger market research and analytics company. Even so, only a small minority of Albertans support separatism, and among residents of Quebec and Alberta, half (50%) say that they would remain in their province if it became an independent country, while 28% would consider moving elsewhere in Canada. “Instead it’s a challenge for the governments of Canada and Alberta to manage the sentiment among those who are fed up with the Canadian government,” said Andrew Enns, the centralCanada-based vice president of Leger. “The State Department doesn’t have to worry about how it’s going to respond to an independent Alberta.” Meanwhile, three indigenous bands have asked the RCMP to investigate charging Ms. Smith with treason for risking the province’s place in Canada and for violating treaties with them. Ms. Smith soon will begin marathon consultations with tribal leaders. Their likely verdict: Treaties 6, 7, and 8 were negotiated with the British Crown, not with Alberta, and thus the province has no authority to alter these late 19th-century agreements and has no legal basis to leave Canada. Email David Shribman at dshribman@postgazette.com.
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GUARD
Continued from page 1B
around 120 in more recent months, Goyeneche said. Throughout the deployment, reviews of the National Guard presence were mixed, with some neighborhood leaders and business owners raising concerns that the armed officers make the neighborhood appear less safe. Supporters, including some French Quarter business owners and neighborhood leaders, said that the heightened law enforcement presence contributed to security by deterring would-be criminals and allowing police officers to focus on responding to service calls. Others questioned the necessity of the officers, who were often seen surveying bar-hopping tourists in the French Quarter. A Congressional Budget Office memo in January estimated the daily cost per service member in New Orleans to be $556, meaning that the total could cost may have reached upward of $20 million. The National Guard did not respond to multiple public records requests over several months for cost information. On Monday, Goyeneche, council members and the NOPD lauded the success of the deployment. “They were a big partner for us, and they allowed us to do a lot of things, particularly with a mere presence, as well as enforcing a lot of the quality of life issues that we deal with,” said Palumbo. Staff writer Missy Wilkinson contributed to this report.
are issuing the summons. They come back, within hours later, they go physical arrest,” Pierre said. The enforcement push comes after Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law earlier this year making it a crime to sleep on the street. The NOPD did not respond to a request for the number of summons or arrests that have been issued under the new law. Palumbo said that in some cases, enforcement on Canal Street has led to an uptick in people sleeping on the street in other downtown areas. “When we start to see a migration … away from Canal Street, we adjust to that,” said Palumbo. “We are able to go out into those other areas.” The announcement comes as National Guard members were set to roll out of the city on Monday, after the agency’s official assignment ended last week. The federally funded deployment began in late December after President Donald Trump approved a request from Gov. Jeff Landry to send hundreds of guard members to the city. The National Guard participated in 4,100 patrols during their employment, totaling 31,000 patrol hours, according to a presentation Monday by Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission. There were more than 350 officers at the peak of the deployment in Decem- Email Sophie Kasakove at sophie.kasakove@ ber 2025. Their numbers hovered theadvocate.com.
RISHER
Continued from page 1B Wentz said. “We’re just the vehicle to keep spreading her joy and her generosity.” That generosity runs through the Imagination Library, the program Parton started in honor of her father, mailing a free book each month to children from birth to age 5. On Jan. 19, 2025, Dolly’s 79th birthday, the New Orleans krewe secured funding to enroll children in every ZIP code of Orleans Parish. Since then, board member Jill Dunchick said, the group has arranged for more than 40,000 books to reach children’s hands — 40,713, as of last week. Baton Rouge’s Dolly Diamonds have plans to do the same — turn all that Dolly love into something that lasts. In this case, more books for children. “I have never viscerally felt what the word legacy meant until this past week,” Dunchick said. Dunchick said her inbox filled overnight with messages from people she hadn’t heard from in decades. The boutique Fleurty Girl designed a Dolly T-shirt and gave every dollar of profit to the krewe to go toward Dolly’s Imagination Library, raising more than $20,000 within the first week. I remembered hearing an interview with Parton from decades earlier, when her parents were still alive. She said, “As long as I’ve got a dime, they’ve got a nickel — or the whole dime if they need it.” That spirit stuck with me. Once we’re comfortable, how much do we really need? Why not share it as best we can? Maybe that is one of the simplest ways to think about a legacy: leave a little more good behind than we found. On Sunday afternoon, looking in the mirror at Nettles’ house, I saw pink from the boots up, hair teased tall, an oversized and slightly absurd version of a woman I’ve been watching most of my life. The look was exactly the point. The Krewe of Dolly is hosting a celebration of life and memorial parade
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inated. Sally earned the respect of industry leaders through her determination, professionalism, organizational ability, and commitment to the industry and community she served.
Obituaries Ware, Sally Watkins
Upon her retirement in 2011, The Independent honored Sally as its 2011 Trailblazer Award recipient, recognizing both her contributions to LAGCOE and her pioneering role as a woman leader in Lafayette's petroleum industry. Sally Watkins Ware Sally Watkins Ware peacefully passed away on August 29th, surrounded by the care and compassion of family who loved her. She was born October 8, 1939, in Duncan, Oklahoma, to Drue Stansell Watkins and Bill Watkins. When Sally was just eight months old, her family relocated to Lafayette, Louisiana, a community that would remain her home for nearly her entire life. Except for brief periods spent at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas, and in Sweetwater and Kilgore, Texas, Sally's life was deeply rooted in Lafayette. She was a proud alumni of USL now (UL of Lafayette). In many ways, Sally was destined for a career in the oil and natural gas industry. Her mother's Stansell family had been involved for generations in the Oklahoma oil fields, while her father, Bill Watkins, established Watkins Tank Service, which became part of Lafayette's rapidly growing petroleum service industry. Sally built her own distinguished career in that world. Beginning in 1980, she rose through the ranks of LAGCOE, the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition, ultimately serving as its Executive Director. During her tenure, Sally played an important role in the growth and development of LAGCOE into one of the nation's leading petroleum -industry expositions.
Sally's commitment to Lafayette extended well beyond her professional career. She remained involved in community and civic organizations and served as Chair of the Auctions for the University Alumni Association's Spring Gala as well as President of Desk and Derrick. Two other great loves remained constant throughout Sally's life: her cats and her lifelong devotion to the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Her cats were cherished companions, and over the years they occupied a very special place in her home and heart. Max and Mikey were her most recent companions. Sally's relationship with Delta Delta Delta extended far beyond her college years. The sorority, its traditions, and especially the friendships she formed through Tri Delta remained an important and enduring part of her life. She served in the roles of Chapter Advisor and Field Director at numerous universities in the Southeast including UL, LSU, Alabama and Ole Miss. She was truly dedicated to the mission of The Tri Delta sorority.
proud of her Chickasaw heritage and of her family's Oklahoma roots. Her ancestry traces through Lilla Colbert to Lilla's grandfather, Daugherty Winchester Colbert, a prominent nineteenth-century Chickasaw Chief and leader who served as Governor of the Chickasaw Nation during the Civil War era. Sally took great pride in this heritage and in her family's connection to Chickasaw history. Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Drue Stansell Watkins and Bill Watkins, and her beloved older sister, Lougene Watkins Oliver.
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for Parton in the French Quarter in September. Details are still being finalized as permits are cleared. Check their social media for more information. In Baton Rouge, the Dolly Diamonds will hold their own celebration of Partons life, legacy and love of literacy at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at the East Baton Rouge Main Library on Goodwood. That date is 9-2-5, in case you didn’t notice. Their goal is to reach 50 members by the event date. I believe Parton worked because she was exactly who she was. I don’t know what she was like behind closed doors, but the publicfacing Parton was consistent. Of course, she was talented, but she didn’t try to speak differently to different people. She didn’t try to lose her accent. But above all that, she was kind and went out of her way to help others. The doormat had it right from the start. Everyone welcome — except Jolene. Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.
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In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Sally's memory.
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Sally is survived by her niece Lynda Oliver-Mays (Thomas) of Southlake, Texas, her nephew William Courtney Oliver III (Leslie) of League City, Texas, grand nieces Abby and Gracie, along with the extended family, friends, colleagues, Tri Delta sisters, and others whose lives she touched during her many years in Lafayette. Sally's family is forever grateful to her caregivers, Joy, Christine, Judy and Lisa. Their loving care, patience, friendship, and devotion allowed Sally to remain surrounded by dignity, comfort, and compassion. Their kindness to Sally and to her family will never be forgotten.
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Chloe Wiley Nettles, founder of the Dolly Diamonds, fixes columnist Jan Risher’s ‘hair’ in her Dolly Parton getup.
families and communities from which she came from her Oklahoma pioneer and Chickasaw roots, to Lafayette's emergence as a center of the Gulf Coast petroleum industry, to her own trailblazing career as a woman in that industry. Through it all, Lafayette remained her home.
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The Lafayette Parish Council will convene as the Board of Review for the Parish of Lafayette on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, during its regu‐ lar meeting at 4:30 p.m. in the Council Auditorium located at 705 West Uni‐ Avenue, versity Lafayette, LA to hear ap‐ peals regarding the 2026 tax assess‐ property for Lafayette ments Parish.
Administrator for the Succession of Mary Fern Cobb Briggs gives notice of his intent to sell via private sale, the follow‐ ing:
The Lafayette Parish Board of Review shall consider the complaint of any person desiring to be heard who has filed a written appeal (Form 3101) with the Board of Review no later than 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Septem‐ ber 8, 2026. All appeals must be filed with the Lafayette Parish Council Office, 705 West Avenue, University Lafayette, LA 70506, by 3:00 p.m. on September 8, 2026. All information concern‐ ing the value of your property that you wish the Board of Review to consider must be sub‐ mitted to the Lafayette Parish Assessor’s Office by 3:00 p.m. on Septem‐ ber 8, 2026. Failure to submit such information by this deadline may pre‐ vent you from relying on that information during the appeals process. Justin A. Centanni Lafayette Parish Assessor
1. The immovable estate home and property lo‐ cated at 311 Sunny Lane, Louisiana Lafayette, 70506, Being the same property acquired by Mary C. Briggs by Cash Sale from Jeanie Slay Mellinger dated April 29, 1994, recorded on May 2, 1994, under instrument no. 1994-00016195 of the records of public Louisiana.; Lafayette, and 2. All movables within the estate home at 311 Sunny Lane, consisting of home furnishings, deco‐ rations, and kitchenware. Any objections to the sale of the above prop‐ erty can be filed with the Judicial District 15th – Parish of Court Lafayette under probate docket number 20250640, pursuant to LA C.C.P. art 3282. 198202 Aug. 22 to Sept. 20, 30t $456.60
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1CN
LSU roster will be ‘controlled chaos’ Kiffin explains how his team is reacting to possible player additions BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
New Orleans Saints guard William Sherman, right, plays in a preseason game on Aug. 15 at the Caesars Superdome. Sherman has experience playing all along the offensive line, which he hopes will get him on the field and ultimately help the team win.
Uplifting tales
Path of these Saints to 53-man roster a bit unconventional BY MATTHEW PARAS
DB Mike Reid
The day after initial 53-man rosters are set can be a real punch in the gut. Just when a player thinks he’s made it, a call comes in and changes everything. That’s what happened, for instance, to Saints wide receiver Kevin Austin and tight end Treyton Welch. The two were informed Monday of their release since New Orleans claimed two players off waivers and needed the roster spots. The cuts sent a harsh reminder of how tough it can be to stick with a team. Roster churn never stops as teams always look for ways to improve. But as grueling as the business can be, every year there are also a handful of feel-good stories on cutdown day — guys who overcome the odds to make a 53-man roster and chase their dreams. The Saints are no exception. This year, there were four whose stories are worth spotlighting.
Most NFL players vying for a roster spot get a full offseason to audition for coaches. In Reid’s case, he had only a month. The safety joined the Saints just before training camp began, signing with the black and gold after a stint with the Carolina Panthers. The 24-year-old turned out to be a huge surprise. The Saints elected to keep Reid over veteran Terrell Burgess. His versatility was a big reason why. Coach Kellen Moore said Reid can play both cornerback and safety, focusing more on the latter once he arrived in New Orleans. “For a guy that showed up at the very end of July, really as we started training camp, I thought he just got better every single week,” Moore said. “I thought he showed himself in some of these preseason games. He’s a physical safety as far as fitting the run a few times. He found some opportunities to contribute in special teams.
Staff writer
Staff writer
Game week has arrived for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns. It’s filled with question marks like any season, but coach Michael Desormeaux is as eager as anyone to see how his team will fare in the 7 p.m. season opener against Lamar at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. “We have some youth at some positions, and we have some guys that are going to be getting their first meaningful snaps and first opportunities, whether it’s start or play meaningful roles,” he said. “That’s college football and that’s the way it goes. I think that’s one of the exciting things as a coach is to see how they handle those things.” Because of that youth and first-time starters in multiple areas, Desormeaux believes the assistant coaches have a heightened role to play this week. “I’ve talked to our staff about it: You don’t assume anything,” Desormeaux said. “You don’t assume that they understand how to prepare. You don’t assume that they understand these things. “We always have a weekly plan, but more
ä See KIFFIN, page 3C
“I thought he did a good job of earning his way.”
RB Kendre Miller Miller isn’t necessarily an underdog story in his fourth season. The running back was a third-round pick. In the past, he served as Alvin Kamara’s primary backup. But in the offseason, Miller’s status was a real question mark, especially because of his injury history. Not only was Miller coming off a torn ACL, but the 24-year-old suffered a back injury in training camp that caused him to miss nearly two weeks. In his absence, the running back battle appeared to considerably tighten, with Audric Estime and several others stringing together good practices. Miller seemed at risk of falling behind. To Miller’s credit, the running back ensured that didn’t happen. When he returned from the injury,
ä See SAINTS, page 2C
Cajuns not taking FCS foe Lamar lightly BY KEVIN FOOTE
On Saturday, Lane Kiffin did everything in his power to prepare his players for this coming weekend. They stayed at the same hotel, took the same bus and walked down Victory Hill with the marching band the same way they will Saturday when LSU faces Clemson in the season opener at Tiger Stadium (6:30 p.m., ABC). They played a scrimmage against an opposing team wearing Clemson orange and white, and they had a ä Clemson public-address announcer on hand booming down at LSU. dispatches from above. 6:30 P.M. They even had snacks SATURDAy,ABC during halftime, nibbling on the same food they will eat during mid-game breaks of real contests. “We tried. Everything but the fans,” Kiffin said on Monday about the preparation. “So there’s no way I’m going to say that we didn’t try.” Hours of work went into preparing his team for Saturday. But ask Kiffin what his roster will look like come kickoff, and he wouldn’t be able to give a straight answer. LSU still is trying to add players. And more specifically, players from the NFL.
ä Lamar at UL. 7 P.M. SATURDAy, ESPN+ of the season is anticipating which players will emerge as the program’s new stars. Desormeaux made it very clear in Monday’s first game-week news conference of the season that he wants his team to exhibit total respect for the Cardinals of the Southland Conference in the FCS. “This team knows how important this game is,” Desormeaux said. “We haven’t talked about any other on this schedule. We talk about all the goals that we have and the things that we’re chasing, so if getting win number one isn’t the most important thing STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP in your building, then you got everything UL coach Michael Desormeaux, right, wants backwards. Nothing else is possible until we get the first win. the Cajuns coaches and players focused “We’re going to give Lamar all of our atsolely on Lamar this week. tention.” Lamar is already 1-0 after beating Abilene than ever with some of these young skill Christian 21-14 on Saturday. The Cardinals players in particular, we need to make sure were outgained 358-278 but was a plus-two our thumb is on it and make sure that they in turnover margin and won the time of posunderstand exactly what has to be done so session battle 31:39 to 28:21. we can have success.” ä See UL, page 3C For Desormeaux, part of the fun this time
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
LSU linebacker Whit Weeks, center, and coach Lane Kiffin lead the team down Victory Hill during a walkthrough on Saturday in preparation for the season opener against Clemson.
Eligibility battle not worth it for LSU or SEC Lane Kiffin said he’s lived in chaos for a long time. “It’s OK as long as it’s controlled chaos within the room,” Kiffin said Monday, talking about the team meeting room where he addressed reporters. It’s nice to hear the new LSU football coach is so comfortable. Because the world outside his well-appointed football kingdom appears to be freaking out over his plan to add players formerly on NFL rosters Scott Rabalais to the LSU roster just ahead of Saturday’s game against Clemson. You remember the Clemson game? Because LSU, the Southeastern Conference and seemingly the college sports world at large have been caught up in an endless loop of LSU-related chaos for a long time now. “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends ...”
ä See RABALAIS, page 3C
2C ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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SAINTS NOTEBOOK
Broncos LB Cooper pleads not guilty to assault charge
Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper pleaded not guilty Monday in a Douglas County courtroom to multiple charges stemming from altercations with his then-girlfriend in June. A jury trial has been scheduled to begin on Nov. 10. Cooper was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list Sunday, meaning he’ll continue to get paid for the time being and will be allowed inside the team’s training facility but cannot practice with the team or play in any games. He pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of second-degree assault by strangulation and three misdemeanors, including violating a protection order a week after his first arrest on June 4. The strangulation charge stemmed from his first arrest after a forensic nurse examined Cooper’s then-girlfriend.
Tennessee Vols to honor Dolly with helmet sticker
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
New Orleans Saints running back C.J. Donaldson, right, is defended by cornerback TJ Hall during training camp in Metairie on Aug. 9. Both players were added to the Saints practice squad on Monday.
Saints build practice squad foundation BY LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers
After spending the weekend trimming the roster to 53 players, the New Orleans Saints announced they brought 12 of them back on the practice squad. The announced signings did not include the reported signing of veteran tight end Stone Smartt, a four-year NFL veteran with 43 career receptions for the Los Angeles Chargers and New York Jets. Smartt spent training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles this year. New Orleans will once again be able to carry 17 players on their practice squad after bringing kicker Charlie Smyth back, meaning they still have four spots to fill if Smartt is indeed signing with the Saints. Because Smyth came to the Saints via the International Player Pathway, New Orleans gets a roster exemption for him on the practice squad. Among the players the Saints brought back were rookie defensive back TJ Hall, the only member of the team’s 2026 draft class who did not make the 53-man roster, as well as 2025 seventh-rounder Fadil Diggs. While the Saints did not keep any undrafted rookie free agents on their initial 53-man roster,
SAINTS
Continued from page 1C Miller looked explosive and ran with a physicality that distinguishes him from the rest of the backs on the roster. Miller finished the preseason with 15 carries for 64 yards, good for 4.3 yards per carry. “He reminds me of Le’Veon Bell, just the way he runs,” said starter Travis Etienne, referring to the former Pittsburgh Steelers great. “The way he sets things up, always falling forward, he’s real patient. He’s a very talented guy, and I’m excited to watch him play.”
OL William Sherman Sherman technically has played in two seasons before this one, but there was a four-year gap in between. After appearing in one game for the New England Patriots in 2021, Sherman appeared in seven games for New Orleans last season. The lengthy wait demonstrated the offensive lineman’s resilience. And Sherman followed that up by making a 53man roster for the first time in his career.
SAINTS PRACTICE SQUAD n EDGE Fadil Diggs n RB CJ Donaldson n CB TJ Hall Jr. n OT Alan Herron n OL Easton Kilty n WR Jalen Cropper n WR Trey Palmer n LB Jackson Sirmon n K Charlie Smyth n DL Jay’Viar Suggs n RB Zamir White n OT Alex Wollschlager they kept several of them on their practice squad, including former Ohio State running back C.J. Donaldson, and offensive tackles Alan Herron and Alex Wollschlager. Former LSU wide receiver Trey Palmer, a Kentwood native who the team claimed on waivers last year, is also back on the practice squad.
Saints claim two The Saints claimed a pair of players on waivers Tuesday in former Colts defensive lineman Colby Wooden and former Bears offensive tackle Mason Murphy. The Saints waived Kevin Austin and Treyton Welch in corresponding moves. None of the 15 players
the Saints waived Sunday were claimed by another team. Wooden’s release came as something of a surprise in Indianapolis after the Colts acquired him in a trade with the Green Bay Packers this offseason. Originally a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Auburn, Wooden appeared in all but four games of his first three seasons with the Packers, and he started 16 of the 17 games last season. He recorded 50 tackles and six tackles for loss with Green Bay last year, both career highs. Murphy gives the Saints additional depth on the offensive line after they kept only three backup players on the initial 53. After going undrafted, Murphy signed with the Bears as a rookie free agent this summer. He also played his college football at Auburn, where he was teammates with Saints draft pick Jeremiah Wright. Murphy started 12 games for the Tigers last season, notably splitting his time between right tackle and center. New Orleans waived two of the better feel-good stories from the initial 53-man roster as corresponding moves. Splitting his time between the practice squad and the active roster, Austin has appeared in 16 games for the Saints the last two seasons, catching 24 of 45 targets for 291 yards and one touchdown.
New Orleans now has only four receivers on its active roster. If the Saints want Austin back, they will have to wait for him to clear waivers Tuesday. Welch was one of four tight ends the Saints kept on the active roster, though one, rookie Oscar Delp, has recently missed time with an injury. New Orleans also lost second-year tight end Moliki Matavao for the season with a knee injury during the preseason.
Burgess signs with Titans Former Saints safety Terrell Burgess is signing with the Tennessee Titans, a source with knowledge of the situation said. Burgess heads to Tennessee’s active roster instead of signing with New Orleans’ practice squad. With the Titans, Burgess will reunite with cornerback Alontae Taylor, who left New Orleans in free agency in March. Burgess, 27, did not have to go through waivers because he counted as a “vested veteran,” which occurs when an NFL player has at least three years of service with at least six games played in each. The Saints reportedly had hoped to bring back Burgess on their practice squad. The former thirdrounder joined New Orleans last year, appearing in 16 games with one start.
cornerback has taken an unconventional path to land on the roster. Price played in the FCS at North Dakota State. He spent years in the upstart United Football League. He joined the Saints last year but spent the season on the practice squad. Through it all, Price never stopped improving. And this year, his growth created enough trust with the coaching staff and front office that the Saints elected to keep only four true cornerbacks on their initial 53-man roster. Price is one of them. He played almost all of camp on the inside as safety Jonas Sanker’s backup at “star,” or inside cornerback. But he can also play STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE outside if the Saints need it. “He was really good in colNew Orleans Saints cornerback Jayden Price, right, intercepts a ball lege, but I think his patience intended for Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver CJ Williams, center, and his playmaking ability (has during a preseason game on Aug. 15 at the Caesars Superdome. improved),” said Saints wide receiver Bryce Lance, who was also “If you’re not starting, the more Price’s teammate at North Dakota He did this year by learning a mostly new position. The Saints you can do,” Sherman said last State. “He was a playmaker in colused Sherman primarily at center, week. “If I’m able to play all five lege as well, but seeing the knowla spot he had played only once in (offensive line spots) and help edge of his game grow, how he the pros — coincidentally against the team win games, that’s what moves his feet and how he makes plays on the ball has been really the Saints last preseason, when he I want to do.” cool to see.” was still a member of the Denver CB Jayden Price Broncos. He also has experience at tackle Price’s rise was well document- Email Matthew Paras at matt. and guard. ed throughout camp because the paras@theadvocate.com
The Tennessee Volunteers will honor Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker this season, coach Josh Heupel announced Monday. Parton, a Tennessee native, died Aug. 25 after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t also talk about the passing of Dolly Parton,” Heupel said Monday. “All that she’s meant across the world, this country, and certainly, the queen of East Tennessee — a lady that was extremely proud of her roots.” The iconic singer grew up in Sevierville, roughly 30 miles east of Knoxville, where the University of Tennessee is located. The sticker, in the Volunteers’ signature orange, features a butterfly similar to the one in the Dollywood logo, with “Dolly” written in white at the center.
Diamondbacks player Marte returns after his no-show
Ketel Marte was back at the ballpark Monday and in the starting lineup for the Arizona Diamondbacks, two weeks after the three-time All-Star’s unexpected no-show before a game in Boston left the team scrambling. The 32-year-old apologized to manager Torey Lovullo for the way he handled the situation. “In that instance, I failed him by not showing up,” Marte said through an interpreter. “That morning I woke up, my body was in pain and I just couldn’t react. I’m the one who made the decision to not show up.” Marte was initially put on the restricted list after failing to show up in Boston, then moved to the 10day injured list with mild inflammation in his left knee.
Red Sox place slugger Contreras on injured list
The Boston Red Sox placed Willson Contreras on the 10-day injured list Monday because of a strained left hamstring that’s been hampering the slugger for over a month. “He came out the other day, I don’t want to paint the picture that something way worse happened,” interim Boston manager Chad Tracy said before the start of a threegame series against Seattle. “Just a recurring of the same thing.” The team decided shutting down Contreras would benefit him and roster flexibility. The 34-year-old Contreras is batting .274 and leads the team in homers (career-high 26) and RBIs (79) in his first season after being acquired in a trade from St. Louis.
Ex-Saints LB Jackson part of winning fishing team
CLAYTON, N.Y. — Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Rickey Jackson teamed with national touring pro angler John Garret to win Monday’s inaugural Bassmaster Randy Moss Pro Football Hall of Fame Pro-Am held on the St. Lawrence River. Jackson, the first Saints player elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, caught two of the team’s five-bass limit for a winning catch weight of 21 pounds, 10 ounces. Former LSU All-American and Hall of Fame center Kevin Mawae was on the third-place team among the nine that competed. He was paired with pro angler Robert Gee. Their catch weighed in at 20 pounds, 6 ounces. Former NFL lineman Joe Thomas and Bassmaster champion Jay Przekurat finished second, just 5 ounces shy of the winning stringer.
The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● 3C
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KIFFIN
Continued from page 1C Ole Miss transfers Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright, Notre Dame transfer Junior Tuihalamaka and Utah transfer Blake Cotton are all in search of a fifth year of eligibility that they hope a Louisiana judge can grant on Thursday, which is when a preliminary injunction hearing will be held in Baton Rouge. The NCAA, the Southeastern Conference and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey have all been listed as defendants in the case, seeking to prevent these professionals (the plaintiffs) from returning to college sports after the NCAA granted all current and future athletes a fifth year of eligibility in June. Tuihalamaka, an edge rusher, never signed with an NFL team after his four years at Notre Dame, but Harris, Wright and Cotton all signed with professional teams since the end of last season. Wright and Tuihalamaka have begun practicing with LSU despite the courts not having cleared either of them to play in games yet, Kiffin revealed Monday. “The (Southeastern Conference) knows that, and we asked them before(hand),” Kiffin said. “Again, that’s in no violation of any previous rule or even the rule that’s out there now (which bars NFL, NBA and WNBA players from returning to play in the conference). It does not prohibit that.” Cotton hasn’t publicly committed to LSU, but the lawsuit he and 40-plus players — including Harris, Wright, etc. — filed states that he “intends to seek a roster spot at a D-I university in Louisiana.” Former LSU edge rusher Jack Pyburn is also listed as a plaintiff in the same lawsuit, but after getting released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, he was picked up off waivers by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, likely ending his pursuit of returning to LSU. The lawsuit states that Pyburn intended to come back to the Tigers if he didn’t get picked up by an NFL team. The impact these players could make for LSU is debatable. Wright, a tight end, would add more depth to a position group that is young and lacks SEC experience outside of junior Trey’Dez Green. Harris could be a boost for the defensive line after registering 58 tackles last year, and Cotton started eight games at cornerback for a strong Utah team a season ago. Kiffin also asked the players on
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Continued from page 1C
LSU’s current leadership committee whether they’d support adding these former pros to the team, and they all gave him their blessing. But even though they signed NFL contracts, the Tigers aren’t bringing in former All-Americans. Wright, Harris and Cotton didn’t make an NFL team for a reason. “I feel like everybody’s thinking here come these guys who’ve been in the NFL for four or five years,” Kiffin said. “The guys that are in these discussions, that are in court cases and getting eligibility, are players that maybe went to a minicamp or got cut in a training camp on a 90-man roster. They didn’t make the final rosters.” When asked about the impact these former pros could have on his team, Kiffin said none of them would be guaranteed a starting spot if they are allowed to play. So if that is the case, why continue to drum up this controversy with the SEC, NCAA and the rest of the college football world? Is adding a few useful depth pieces worth it if the consequences of doing so could be dire? Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the SEC member schools are considering imposing punishments on LSU if it brings in these players, including boycotting games and expelling the Tigers from the league. “I think that’s why most people wouldn’t do it,” Kiffin said, acknowledging the blowback he’s received for pursuing these players. “I don’t make decisions with benefits to me personally and what it does to my reputation or help people outside of here view me. And again, (I’m) really in the minority of thinking that way. And I’ve always thought that way. “So again, even if it’s a couple players that maybe don’t even start, if it makes your team better and it’s legal to do and your players want it, I’ll take the hit publicly for it.” Kiffin’s decision to bring in these former pros is from the same thought process that led his team down Victory Hill on Saturday. He wants to win, improve his team and turn over every possible stone to achieve those goals. “We’re going to have chaos, but we’re going to have controlled chaos,” Kiffin said. “And our team’s going to understand why we do what we do. Just like in this decision about potentially taking players.” Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/ lsunewsletter
at some point. I think on the D-line, our depth is really good. Obviously, losing him takes a chunk of that out.” As for wide receiver Shelton Sampson, Desormeaux said he’s practicing well and is on pace to play in Saturday’s opener, although his lack of practice time will affect his number of snaps. Sampson missed the entire spring and suffered a bruised knee on the final OTA practice before the start of August camp. “The first practice (Sunday), the energy, the excitement were there,” Desormeaux said. “Now we’ve got to continue that throughout the week, and then we’ve got to put it into action on Saturday. “So this team has run a good race to this point. They’ve done things the right way.”
Abilene Christian also had 12 penalties for 106 yards compared with seven for 67 for the Cardinals. “They’re comfortable in the close games,” Desormeaux said. “Most of their wins are one-possession games. They’re comfortable in that way.” The next order of business is the injury report, and the bad news had a hint of good news in it. Desormeaux said Tarleton State transfer defensive tackle Brodrick Stewart will be out 3-5 weeks with a foot injury. “We thought it was potentially like a lisfranc (foot injury) and that would have been season-ending,” Desormeaux said. “Fortu- Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ nately, we’re going to get him back theadvocate.com.
RABALAIS
Continued from page 1C That was a line from Emerson, Lake and Palmer. In case you were wondering, that was a 1970s rock band, not a law firm representing the former NFL players suing to join the LSU football roster. Kiffin said one of them, former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright, is already practicing with the team ahead of a Thursday court hearing that may settle this entire mess. Another player Kiffin said is practicing with the Tigers is former Notre Dame defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, who got a temporary restraining order for a fifth year but never signed an NFL contract. That’s an important distinction, but the fact that LSU seeks to add Wright and former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris (previously in Saints camp) is reportedly making the rest of the SEC go ballistic. Other plaintiffs in the suit, by the way, include a pair of soccer players who were on the roster for LSU — Jazmin Ferguson and Jocelyn Ollivierre. Former Advocate sportswriter
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II
Novak Djokovic reacts during the first round of the U.S. Open against Mariano Navone on Sunday in New york.
Questions for Djokovic after first-round defeat
midnight. U.S. OPEN After 3 years without “It’s something that I’ve been carrying, pretty Grand Slam title, he appeared weakened by a Par- much everyunfortunately, match this year: vomis heat wave in a five-set loss to iting, throwing up, a serious issue is he done? Brazilian teenager Joao Fonseca there,” Djokovic said. “Then my
BY ANDREW DAMPF Associated Press
Novak Djokovic waved goodbye, made a heart shape with his hands and blew kisses to the crowd as he walked off the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to a standing ovation. Among those applauding in return were Djokovic’s 11-yearold son, Stefan, while his 8-yearold daughter, Tara, covered her eyes and loaded her floppy-eared stuffed animal into a bag that went around her shoulder. Back down on the court, Djokovic had his two black bags — one containing his rackets and the other more equipment — hanging from his shoulders. After his first-round loss to Mariano Navone at the U.S. Open on Sunday night, it remains to be seen whether the 39-year-old Djokovic will ever bring those bags out on a court again for a professional match. The 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss marked Djokovic’s earliest Grand Slam exit in two decades — dating back to the 2006 Australian Open — and the first time ever that he lost his opener at the U.S. Open. The holder of a men’s record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, Djokovic has now gone three straight years without winning a major.
Health issues Perhaps even more concerning than his record — which has otherwise still been fairly competitive since his last Grand Slam title at the 2023 U.S. Open — is that Djokovic has consistently struggled with physical issues this year. After a run to the Australian Open final to start the year, Djokovic played little because of an injured right shoulder. Then
in the third round of the French Open. “I was barely standing on my legs toward the end of the match,” Djokovic said after getting beaten by Fonseca. Djokovic revived himself for a run to the semifinals at Wimbledon and then struggled again at the Cincinnati Open this month when he was beaten by 50thranked Thiago Agustin Tirante in his opening match. After the loss to Tirante, Djokovic said an unspecified health condition made it difficult for him to play in hot and humid weather. “It’s just a condition that I have, health-wise, that has been bothering me for the past couple of years,” Djokovic said. “A lot of issues, especially when it is humid and it is hot. … Nerves and everything involved that make it worse.” Djokovic’s issues against Navone began midway through the first set when he appeared to be struggling with the heat and humidity. Djokovic led early on in the first set but Navone got back on serve before the match was briefly halted for the roof to be closed because of light rain. As Djokovic sat in his chair during the break, he kept moving an ice pack around his face, head and neck. Navone won the first in a tiebreaker, and things eventually got much worse for Djokovic, who threw up at least once and later appeared to be cramping when he grabbed at his left foot. Djokovic swallowed pills brought to him by a doctor and had his lower back massaged during a medical timeout between the fourth and fifth sets, and he grimaced after several shots. Djokovic made 70 unforced errors in a painful performance that ended a few minutes before
players what to do about these players. “Everyone of them said emphatically, ‘If it helps us win, bring them,’ ” Kiffin said. Maybe they can. Wright may catch a touchdown pass or Harris may make a touchdown-saving tackle. But it’s a big if. As for the SEC, sure, LSU and Kiffin are causing problems. But are they going to kick a school out over this? This is a league where EVERY school in the conference has been guilty of NCAA infractions and scandal at some time or another. Shouldn’t that invalidate a few holier-than-thou attitudes? LSU is not trying to bring Joe Burrow or Jayden Daniels back to STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON play another year. We’re talking about players who couldn’t make LSU coach Lane Kiffin waves to the crowd while leading the team down a 53-man NFL roster. There is Victory Hill during a walkthrough on Saturday. principle and precedent involved here, certainly, but there very Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports likely isn’t a future All-American fin to go to the mattresses (from wrote Monday that the other 15 “The Godfather”) for players who waiting in the wings. SEC schools are considering all The whole thing, from an SEC may make his team a tiny bit betsorts of nuclear options: fining perspective, is absurd. And ter? Is it worth it for the SEC to LSU, boycotting playing LSU hypocritical. Texas already has go so scorched earth on LSU? and, the biggest bombshell of all, The answer to both questions is welcomed back offensive lineman kicking LSU out of the league. A Cole Hutson, who participated in no. Yet here we are at the poker league that LSU helped form as a table, watching both parties tryrookie minicamps with Dallas and charter member in 1933. Cleveland but never signed a coning to outbluff the other. Is all this really worth it for Kiffin said he went to his team’s tract. But he’s still coming back either side? Is it worth it for Kifleadership committee to ask those from the NFL, technically.
whole body starts to collapse, basically cramping and pain. Yeah, the back just gave up in the end and shoulder, and I couldn’t close it out.”
What’s next? Where does Djokovic go from here? While he hasn’t openly discussed an imminent retirement, one final hurrah at the Australian Open — the Grand Slam tournament he’s won a record 10 times — in January would be a fitting setting for a final send-off. Or he could continue competing into his 40s. After all, Djokovic has reached two Grand Slam finals and six semifinals over the past three years. “I feel when I’m healthy, I’m still able to play as a top-five player, still able to compete at the highest level,” Djokovic said after his semifinal loss to Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon this year.
Other stars’ physical issues Djokovic is the last man still competing among the Big Three players who dominated the game over the past two decades. Roger Federer (knee) and Rafael Nadal (hip) also struggled with physical issues before they retired in 2022 and 2024, respectively. Federer was 41 when he stopped, and Nadal was 38. Djokovic’s 24 major titles are two more than Nadal’s 22 and four more than Federer’s 20. Those numbers prompt some to consider Djokovic tennis’ GOAT. “That’s OK. He has done incredible,” Federer said last week. “It’s amazing what he has been able to do and still now. I would have thought that maybe he was getting to a place where all of a sudden we would see a much bigger decline.” Now — perhaps — Djokovic is declining more severely.
Do you think if the judge rules in favor of Wright, Harris and the other athletes Thursday that other SEC teams will follow suit and bring back former NFL players? They will in a second. LSU has to turn in its final roster Friday for the season, making the timing of a ruling Thursday essential. Kiffin said LSU will follow “SEC orders” if the ruling doesn’t go the players’ way. I believe that, but that also doesn’t mean the legal wrangling will end there. If you’ve made it this far into this column and you’re not related to me, many thanks. I’m sure you’re getting sick of reading about all of this chaos. I know I’m sick of writing about it. You know who isn’t sick of it? Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. He will take all the distractions and chaos enveloping the LSU program he can get. Because there’s no getting LSU players off social media, and this is all over social media. Kiffin said he is acting in the best interests of the team, not worrying about his reputation in the national media. I think, in a sense, that’s true. Sometimes, though, it’s in your best interests to punt.
4C ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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Big things expected from area volleyball players BY ERIC NARCISSE
six-rotation player. Last year as a freshman, Poirier recorded 170 kills, 311 digs and 46 aces en route to leading the Blue Gators to the second round of the Division V playoffs. She has a strong swing and does an outstanding job of hitting the ball where opponents aren’t.
Staff writer
For the past 16 seasons, the Acadiana area has had at least one high school volleyball team win a state championship. The last time it didn’t happen was 2009, when the area had two teams — Notre Dame in Division III and ESA in Division V — playing in the state finals. Area teams such as St. Thomas More, which is looking to win a sixth consecutive Division II state title this year, will begin the quest of extending the streak as the regular season gets rolling this week. Here are 15 players to watch this volleyball season from the area.
Brylee Slaughter, Southside Outside hitter, senior Slaughter is one of the Sharks’ top players, who returns after enjoying a stellar season last year. At 5-foot10, Slaughter established herself as a dominant hitter, finishing with 234 kills, 258 digs, 44 aces and 19 blocks as she helped lead the Sharks to the state quarterfinals.
Addison Zaunbrecher, Notre Dame Libero, senior One of the hardest working players on the team, Zaunbrecher has been tabbed as the player Notre Dame expects a breakout year from. Zaunbrecher is fast and agile and does a great job of getting to balls many defensive specialists wouldn’t be able to reach.
Avery Monica, ESA Outside hitter, senior Monica, who has been playing varsity since the seventh grade, is closing in on 1,000 kills for her career. She currently has 912 career kills. A three-year captain, Monica is an offensive and defensive threat for the Falcons, who
STAFF PHOTO By BRAD BOWIE
Southside outside hitter Brylee Slaughter, right, is among the top players to watch this season in area volleyball.
reached the Division V quarterfiOne of only two returning startnals last year. ers, Bergeron is the only Teurlings player that doesn’t leave the Morgan Dunn, St. Thomas More court during a match. As a junior, Bergeron, who has a great underOutside hitter, junior Dunn is among the team leaders standing of the game, had 245 kills, and is coming off a stellar sophomore 289 digs and 79 aces as she helped season in which she recorded 306 kills, lead the Rebels to the Division II 185 digs, 40 blocks and 61 aces en quarterfinals. route to leading STM to the Division II state championship. Dunn’s totals in Amelie Trappey, Catholic High-NI kills and aces were good enough for Outside hitter, senior second most for the Cougars. A starter since the eighth grade, Trappey has established Isabella Guy, herself as one of the best players in the Acadiana area. Despite her Westminster Christian lack of size, Trappey — a threesport athlete — has great leaping Libero, senior Guy does a great job of read- ability. The Franciscan Univering and reacting as the defensive sity of Steubenville in Ohio comspecialist. She takes charge in mitment recorded 499 kills, 571 the back row and has great court digs, 73 aces and 71 assists as a awareness. Last year, Guy re- junior. corded 47 aces, 562 digs, 13 kills and 133 assists as the Crusaders Brooklyn Poirier, reached the Division IV semifinals. Ascension Episcopal
Hannah Bergeron, Teurlings Catholic
Outside hitter, sophomore Poirier is a three-year starter for the Blue Gators and has consistently proven her worth as a
Outside hitter, senior
Ella Larpenteur, Lafayette High
Setter/outside hitter, senior Larpenteur is one of the Pios’ goto players, as she contributes both as a hitter and setter in the Notre Dame offense. As a junior, Larpenteur recorded 201 kills, 269 assists, 226 digs and 45 aces. A leader on the court, Larpenteur has a powerDemi Barrett, ful swing and does a great job of putting balls away. As a setter, she Lafayette Christian sees the floor well and moves the ball around to keep defenses off Outside hitter, senior Returned midseason last year af- balance. ter recovering from knee surgery to record 60 aces, 306 kills with a Lanie Marks, Rayne .277 hitting percentage, 14 blocks, Outside hitter, senior nine assists and 344 digs en route Developed into one of the to being named the district’s de- Wolves’ strongest hitters and fensive MVP and to the Acadiana defensive players last year en Advocate’s All-Metro volleyball route to garnering all-district first-team honors. If the Wolves, second team. who reached the second round Khyra Abshire, of the Division III playoffs last season, are going to improve on Northside Christian that this year, Marks will be essential to them accomplishing Middle hitter, senior Abshire has been everything the that feat. Warriors could ask for and more. She was instrumental in leading Ashton Lasseigne, Northside Christian to the Division Acadiana Renaissance V quarterfinals, finishing the year with more than 200 kills and 175 Middle hitter, senior blocks. She is entering this season Lasseigne, who was the outside firing on all cylinders after spend- hitter last year, moves to middle ing the offseason getting stronger hitter this season, which will fill a significant need for the Eagles. and quicker to the net. After working hard during the Marley Broussard, offseason to learn a new system, Eagles coaches believe Lasseigne Westminster-Lafayette is ready for a breakout season this year. Libero, senior Broussard returns as the defensive heartbeat of the Chargers. Jordan Trotter, Acadiana Her dig ability and “out-of-sysSetter, senior Trotter is going to be the engine tem” assists make it hard to take her off of the floor. She is tenacious that moves the Rams this season. on the court and makes opposing With hopes of leading the Rams teams work for every point. Per to the playoffs, Trotter will look set, Broussard averaged 23.7 digs, to build upon her success from 4.1 assists and 2.3 aces last year as last season when she recorded 220 assists, 127 digs, 40 kills and a junior. 33 aces.
SCOREBOARD Odds Sports Betting Line College Football Thursday
FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at RUTGERS 30½ 29½ (51½) UMass at KENN ST 21½ 23½ (51½) W. Georgia at BUFFALO 27½ 23½ (48½) Albany at DEL 30½ 28½ (55½) Merrimack at W. FREST 22½ 24 (48½) Akron at UCF 38½ 42½ (57½) B-Cookman at GA TECH 7½ 6½ (50½) Colorado at MISSOU 50½ 54½ (60½) UAPB at MIN 43½ 42½ (50½) E. Illinois at UTAH 35½ 34½ (57½) Idaho at ILLINOIS 27½ 27½ (55½) UAB
Friday
FAVORITE at E. MICH at PURDUE at GA ST. at KANSAS at OKLA at MSU at USC Miami (FL)
Saturday
OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 4 3½ (55½) San Jose St. 30½ 35½ (56½) Indiana St. 26½ 28½ (63½) NC A&T 40½ 39½ (53½) LIU Post 40½ 41½ (50½) UTEP 10½ 10 (46½) Toledo 23½ 22½ (51½) Fresno St. 22 24½ (47½) at STANFRD
FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at UCONN 21½ 19½ (57½) Lafayette at SYRCUSE 27½ 33½ (55½) New Hamp at B. GREEN 1½ 2½ (47½) Tarleton St. at J. MADISN 6 6½ (51½) Liberty at NEBRSKA 23½ 24½ (46½) Ohio at HOUSTN 18½ 20½ (49½) Oregon St. at BAMA 26½ 28½ (52½) E. Carolina at INDIANA 40½ 40½ (55½) North Texas at ARMY 37½ 37½ (50½) Bryant at W. VA 17½ 21½ (56½) C. Carolina at PITTS 15½ 16½ (48½) Miami (OH) at OHIO ST. 50½ 50½ (56½) Ball St. at S. CAR 34½ 36½ (53½) Kent St. at IOWA ST. 30½ 29½ (53½) Semsu at KENT 27½ 23½ (62½) Yngstwn St at A. FORCE 23½ 28½ (57½) Duquesne at TEMPLE 12½ 9½ (51½) R. Island at GEORGIA 48½ 46½ (56½) Tenn St. at CHRLTTE 17½ 19½ (46½) Citadel at UTSA 27½ 28½ (59½) Utrgv at AUBURN 7 7½ (58½) Baylor at NDSU 35½ 39½ (56½) Fordham at NAVY 30½ 30½ (52½) Towson at CIN 7½ 7½ (49½) B. College at DUKE 9½ 8½ (51½) Tulane at OREGON 24½ 24½ (51½) Boise St. at TEXAS 30½ 30½ (59½) Texas State at TEN 47½ 46½ (66½) Furman at APP ST 22½ 18½ (53½) Maine at PENN ST. 23½ 24½ (53½) Marshall Oklah St 12½ 13½ (57½) at TULSA at IOWA 30½ 31½ (44½) N. Illinois at ARKANS 40½ 40½ (63½) N. Alabama at S. MISS 23½ 21½ (50½)Alcorn State at OLD DOM 41½ 41½ (54½) Norfolk St. at CSU 3½ 3½ (46½) Wyoming at S. BAMA 14½ 12½ (52½) Selu at S.FLA 12½ 13½ (52½) Fla Intl at M. TEN 25½ 20½ (59½) Murray St. at KANS ST 41½ 40½ (54½) Nicholls St. at UTAH ST. 23½ 12½ (62½) Idaho State at JAX ST. 20½ 20½ (54½) E. Kentucky at VAND 35½ 30½ (60½) Austin Peay at TEX A&M 38½ 40½ (53½) Missouri St. at G. SOUTH 26½ 25½ (51½) C. Southern at TX TECH 41½ 42½ (59½) A. Christian at RICE 21½ 22½ (47½) Hou. Christ at TROY 17½ 16½ (53½) Sam Hou. at MEMPHIS 10½ 10½ (52½) Arknsas St. at MICH 26½ 27½ (48½)W. Michigan at MISS. ST. 28½ 28½ (54½) UL Monroe at LSU 11½ 10½ (51½) Clemson at VA TECH 47½ 54½ (61½) VMI at LA TECH 40½ 44½ (55½) Nwsu at FLORIDA 26½ 27½ (59½) Florida Atl at NRTWSTN15½ 12½ (46½) Sdsu at UL 17½ 20½ (48½) Lamar at MRYLND 41½ 45½ (56½) Hampton at BYU 47½ 51½ (59½) Utah Tech at NMSU 23½ 28½ (51½) Mercyhurst at ARIZONA 29½ 31½ (56½) N. Arizona at SDSU 40½ 40½ (59½) Portland St. UNLV 1½ 3 (58½) at HAWAII at ASU 42½ 43½ (52½) Morgan St. at NEW MEX 12½ 10½ (46½) C. Michigan at SAC ST 32½ 35½ (56½) Miss Vlly St W. Kentucky 3 2½ (52½) at NEVADA UCLA 1½ 1½ (53½) at CAL
Sunday
FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at WASH 21½ 23½ (50½) Wash St. 20½ 20½ (47½) Wisconsin at N.D. at OLE MISS 6½ 7 (55½) Louisville
Monday FAVORITE SMU
MLB
Tuesday
OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 2½ 3 (53½) at FSU
American League
FAVORITE LINE at CLEVELAND -184 at BOSTON -119 Detroit -121 at TEXAS -191 at HOUSTON OFF N.Y Yankees -185 National League FAVORITE LINE at PITTSBURGH -161 San Diego -131 Atlanta -173 at CHI CUBS -127 Philadelphia -139 at DODGERS -185 Interleague FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -132 Miami -119 at COLORADO OFF
UNDERDOG Toronto Seattle at MINNESOTA Athletics Chi White Sox at LA ANGELS
LINE +149 -106 -101 +154 OFF +150
UNDERDOG LINE San Francisco +130 at CINCINNATI +107 at WASHINGTON +140 Milwaukee +104 at ARIZONA +114 St. Louis +150 UNDERDOG LINE N.Y Mets +108 at KANSAS CITY -104 Baltimore OFF
Detroit (Melton 7-3) at Minnesota (Prielipp 3-7), 6:40 p.m. Miami (Phillips 3-6) at Kansas City (Dobnak 2-2), 6:40 p.m. Athletics (Ginn 9-8) at Texas (Gore 7-10), 7:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Burke 7-6) at Houston (Wesneski 4-1), 7:10 p.m. Baltimore (Rogers 9-9) at Colorado (Hughes 0-6), 7:40 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Cole 7-7) at L.A. Angels (Rodriguez 4-5), 8:38 p.m.
National League East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York
W 82 77 69 65 61
Pro basketball
Central Division
WNBA Glance
Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati
EASTERN CONFERENCE x-Atlanta x-Indiana x-New York x-Washington Chicago Toronto Connecticut
W 26 26 24 24 15 11 10
L 14 14 16 16 25 29 30
Pct .650 .650 .600 .600 .375 .275 .250
GB — — 2 2 11 15 16
x-Minnesota x-Golden State x-Las Vegas x-Dallas Portland Los Angeles Phoenix Seattle
W 31 29 27 24 16 15 14 8
L 9 11 13 16 24 25 26 32
Pct .775 .725 .675 .600 .400 .375 .350 .200
GB — 2 4 7 15 16 17 23
WESTERN CONFERENCE
x-clinched playoff spot Sunday’s Games
No games scheduled.
Tuesday’s Games
Wednesday’s Games No games scheduled.
Major League Baseball American League Tampa Bay New York Boston Baltimore Toronto
W 82 78 74 68 68
L 54 59 63 69 70
Pct .603 .569 .540 .496 .493
GB — 4½ 8½ 14½ 15
Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City
W 72 69 65 63 62
L 64 68 72 73 76
Pct .529 .504 .474 .463 .449
GB — 3½ 7½ 9 11
Houston Texas Seattle Athletics Los Angeles
W 69 67 64 53 52
L 68 70 73 84 85
Pct .504 .489 .467 .387 .380
GB — 2 5 16 17
Sunday’s Games
Cleveland 11, Kansas City 1 Toronto 7, Seattle 0 L.A. Dodgers 6, Detroit 1 N.Y. Yankees 16, Boston 1 Minnesota 5, Chicago White Sox 1 Tampa Bay 5, San Diego 4, 11 innings Texas 7, Milwaukee 4 Houston 6, N.Y. Mets 3 Baltimore 8, Athletics 5 Philadelphia 5, L.A. Angels 2
Monday’s Games
N.Y. Mets at Tampa Bay,n Seattle at Boston, n Detroit at Minnesota, n Athletics at Texas, n Chicago White Sox at Houston, n Baltimore at Colorado, n N.Y. Yankees at L.A. Angels, n
Tuesday’s Games
Sunday’s Games
L 52 60 70 71 72
Pct .620 .562 .493 .486 .474
GB — 8 17½ 18½ 20
L 55 65 65 81 85
Pct .599 .529 .526 .409 .380
GB — 9½ 10 26 30
Miami 6, Washington 2 Atlanta 3, Colorado 2, 10 innings L.A. Dodgers 6, Detroit 1 Tampa Bay 5, San Diego 4, 11 innings Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 4 Texas 7, Milwaukee 4 Houston 6, N.Y. Mets 3 Philadelphia 5, L.A. Angels 2 Cincinnati 7, Chicago Cubs 5
Tuesday’s Games
No games scheduled.
West Division
W 82 73 72 56 52
GB — 5 13 18 21
San Francisco at Atlanta, n N.Y. Mets at Tampa Bay,n San Diego at Cincinnati,n Miami at Washington, n Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs, n Baltimore at Colorado, n Philadelphia at Arizona, n
Monday’s Games
Central Division
Los Angeles Arizona San Diego San Francisco Colorado
Pct .599 .562 .504 .468 .445
Monday’s Games
Atlanta 89, Minnesota 81 Los Angeles 90, Seattle 74 Golden State 86, Portland 69 Dallas 97, Connecticut 71
East Division
West Division
W 85 77 68 67 65
L 55 60 68 74 76
N.Y. Mets (Manaea 4-6) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 6-11), 5:40 p.m. Toronto (Arrighetti 7-7) at Cleveland (Williams 12-7), 5:40 p.m. Seattle (Woo 9-9) at Boston (Gray 16-4), 5:45 p.m.
N.Y. Mets (Manaea 4-6) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 6-11), 5:40 p.m. San Diego (Vásquez 10-6) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 3-3), 5:40 p.m. San Francisco (Webb 8-8) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 5:40 p.m. Atlanta (Smith-Shawver 0-0) at Washington (Irvin 2-8), 5:45 p.m. Miami (Phillips 3-6) at Kansas City (Dobnak 2-2), 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee (Gasser 4-5) at Chicago Cubs (Boyd 8-3), 6:40 p.m. Baltimore (Rogers 9-9) at Colorado (Hughes 0-6), 7:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Luzardo 12-5) at Arizona (Rodriguez 14-4), 8:40 p.m. St. Louis (McGreevy 5-9) at L.A. Dodgers (Lauer 8-6), 9:10 p.m.
College football College Football Schedule Thursday’s games EAST
Umass (0-0) at Rutgers (0-0), 5 p.m. Merrimack (0-1) at Delaware (0-0), 6 p.m. Lindenwood (Mo.) (1-0) at Stony Brook (0-1), 6 p.m. Albany (NY) (1-0) at Buffalo (0-0), 6 p.m.
SOUTH
Kentucky Christian (0-0) at Morehead St. (0-1), 5 p.m. Akron (0-0) at Wake Forest (0-0), 6 p.m. Bethune-Cookman (0-0) at UCF (0-0), 6 p.m. S. Illinois (0-1) at Samford (0-0), 6 p.m. West Georgia (0-1) at Kennesaw St. (0-0), 6 p.m. Colorado (0-0) at Georgia Tech (0-0), 7 p.m.
MIDWEST
Ark.-Pine Bluff (0-0) at Missouri (0-0), 7 p.m. E. Illinois (1-0) at Minnesota (0-0), 7 p.m. UAB (0-0) at Illinois (0-0), 8 p.m.
FAR WEST
Idaho (0-1) at Utah (0-0), 8 p.m.
Friday’s games EAST
Franklin Pierce (0-0) at Marist (0-1), 6 p.m. SOUTH NC A&T (0-0) at Georgia St. (0-0), 6 p.m.
MIDWEST
San Jose St. (0-0) at E. Michigan (0-0), 5:30 p.m. Indiana St. (0-0) at Purdue (0-0), 6 p.m.
LIU Brooklyn (0-1) at Kansas (0-0), 7 p.m. Toledo (0-0) at Michigan St. (0-0), 7 p.m.
S. Dakota St. (0-0) at Northwestern (0-0), 7 p.m.
UTEP (0-0) at Oklahoma (0-0), 7 p.m. FAR WEST Fresno St. (0-0) at Southern Cal (0-0), 8 p.m. Miami (0-0) at Stanford (0-0), 8 p.m.
Oregon St. (0-0) at Houston (0-0), 11 a.m. UT Rio Grande Valley (0-0) at UTSA (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Texas State (0-0) at Texas (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Oklahoma St. (0-0) at Tulsa (0-0), 2:45 p.m. North Alabama (0-0) at Arkansas (0-0), 3:15 p.m. West Florida (1-0) at Cent. Arkansas (1-0), 6 p.m. Missouri St. (0-0) at Texas A&M (0-0), 6 p.m. Abilene Christian (0-0) at Texas Tech (0-0), 6 p.m. Houston Christian (1-0) at Rice (0-0), 6 p.m. East Texas A&M (0-0) at Stephen F. Austin (0-0), 7 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
Saturday’s games EAST
S. Connecticut (0-0) at Wagner (0-0), 11 a.m. Lafayette (0-0) at Uconn (0-0), 11 a.m. New Hampshire (0-1) at Syracuse (0-0), 11 a.m. Stonehill (0-0) at New Haven (1-0), 11 a.m. Bryant (0-0) at Army (0-0), 11 a.m. Coastal Carolina (0-0) at West Virginia (0-0), 11 a.m. Miami (Ohio) (0-0) at Pittsburgh (0-0), 11:30 a.m. Lehigh (0-0) at Georgetown (0-0), 11:30 a.m. Holy Cross (0-0) at Colgate (1-0), noon Rhode Island (1-0) at Temple (0-0), 1 p.m. Sacred Heart (0-0) at Monmouth (NJ) (0-0), 1 p.m. Towson (0-1) at Navy (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Marshall (0-0) at Penn St. (0-0), 2:30 p.m. W. Virginia St. (0-0) at Robert Morris (0-0), 5 p.m. Richmond (0-0) at Howard (0-0), 5 p.m. Villanova (0-1) at Bucknell (0-0), 5 p.m. Hampton (0-0) at Maryland (0-0), 7 p.m.
SOUTH
Webber International (0-0) at Stetson (0-0), 10 a.m. Liberty (0-0) at James Madison (0-0), 11 a.m. East Carolina (0-0) at Alabama (0-0), 11 a.m. Kent St. (0-0) at South Carolina (0-0), 11:45 a.m. Youngstown St. (1-0) at Kentucky (0-0), noon Gardner-Webb (0-1) at Wofford (0-0), 12:30 p.m. Tennessee St. (0-0) at Georgia (0-0), 2 p.m. The Citadel (0-0) at Charlotte (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Auburn (0-0) vs. Baylor (0-0) at Atlanta, 2:30 p.m. W. Carolina (0-0) at Campbell (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Tulane (0-0) at Duke (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Furman (1-0) at Tennessee (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Maine (1-0) at Appalachian St. (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Alcorn St. (0-0) at Southern Miss. (0-0), 4 p.m. Tusculum (0-0) at ETSU (0-0), 4:30 p.m. Delaware St. (1-0) at William & Mary (1-0), 5 p.m. Presbyterian (1-0) at Mercer (0-0), 5 p.m. Norfolk St. (0-0) at Old Dominion (0-0), 5 p.m. Tennessee Tech (0-0) at Chattanooga (1-0), 5 p.m. Elizabeth City St. (0-0) at NC Central (0-0), 5 p.m. Elon (1-0) at Davidson (0-1), 5 p.m. Lane (0-0) at Alabama St. (0-0), 5 p.m. Central St. (Ohio) (0-0) at Grambling St. (0-0), 6 p.m. SE Louisiana (0-1) at South Alabama (0-0), 6 p.m. FIU (0-0) at South Florida (0-0), 6 p.m. Murray St. (0-1) at Middle Tennessee (0-0), 6 p.m. Chicago State Cougars (0-0) at UT Martin (0-1), 6 p.m. E. Kentucky (0-0) at Jacksonville St. (0-0), 6 p.m. Kentucky St. (0-0) at Southern U. (0-0), 6 p.m. Austin Peay (1-0) at Vanderbilt (0-0), 6 p.m. Charleston Southern (0-1) at Georgia Southern (0-0), 6 p.m. Miles (0-0) at Alabama A&M (0-0), 6 p.m. Edward Waters (0-0) at Jackson St. (0-0), 6 p.m. Sam Houston St. (0-0) at Troy (0-0), 6 p.m. Arkansas St. (0-0) at Memphis (0-0), 6 p.m. Texas Wesleyan (0-0) at McNeese St. (0-0), 6 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe (0-0) at Mississippi St. (0-0), 6:30 p.m. Clemson (0-0) at LSU (0-0), 6:30 p.m. VMI (0-0) at Virginia Tech (0-0), 6:30 p.m. Northwestern St. (0-1) at Louisiana Tech (0-0), 6:30 p.m. FAU (0-0) at Florida (0-0), 6:45 p.m. Lamar (0-0) at Louisiana-Lafayette (0-0), 7 p.m.
MIDWEST
Tarleton St. (0-0) at Bowling Green (0-0), 11 a.m. Ohio (0-0) at Nebraska (0-0), 11 a.m. North Texas (0-0) at Indiana (0-0), 11 a.m. Ball St. (0-0) at Ohio St. (0-0), 11:30 a.m. SE Missouri (0-0) at Iowa St. (0-0), noon Fordham (0-1) at N. Dakota St. (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Boston College (0-0) at Cincinnati (0-0), 2:30 p.m. St. Thomas (Minn.) (1-0) at North Dakota (1-0), 3 p.m. N. Illinois (0-0) at Iowa (0-0), 3:15 p.m. Nicholls (1-0) at Kansas St. (0-0), 6 p.m. Illinois St. (0-0) at W. Illinois (1-0), 6 p.m. W. Michigan (0-0) at Michigan (0-0), 6:30 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
FAR WEST
Duquesne (0-0) at Air Force (0-0), noon Drake (0-1) at Montana (0-0), 2 p.m. Boise St. (0-0) at Oregon (0-0), 2:30 p.m. Wyoming (0-0) at Colorado St. (0-0), 5 p.m. Idaho St. (0-0) at Utah St. (0-0), 6 p.m. N. Iowa (0-0) at E. Washington (0-0), 6 p.m. South Dakota (0-0) at N. Colorado (0-1), 7 p.m. Cent. Washington (0-0) at Cal Poly (1-0), 7 p.m. Weber St. (1-0) at S. Utah (0-0), 7 p.m. Utah Tech (0-0) at BYU (0-0), 7 p.m. Butler (0-0) at Montana St. (0-0), 7:30 p.m. Mercyhurst (0-1) at New Mexico St. (0-0), 8 p.m. N. Arizona (0-0) at Arizona (0-0), 8:30 p.m. Portland St. (0-0) at San Diego St. (0-0), 8:30 p.m. UNLV (0-0) at Hawaii (0-0), 9 p.m. UC Davis (0-0) at San Diego (0-0), 9 p.m. Morgan St. (0-0) at Arizona St. (0-0), 9 p.m. Cent. Michigan (0-0) at New Mexico (0-0), 9 p.m. MVSU (0-1) at Sacramento St. (0-0), 9 p.m. W. Kentucky (0-0) at Nevada (0-0), 9:30 p.m. UCLA (0-0) at California (0-0), 9:30 p.m.
Sunday’s games SOUTH
Florida A&M (0-0) vs. SC State (0-0) at Miami Gardens, Fla., 2 p.m. Mississippi (0-0) vs. Louisville (0-0) at Nashville, Tenn., 6:30 p.m.
MIDWEST
Notre Dame (0-0) vs. Wisconsin (0-0) at Green Bay, Wis., 6:30 p.m.
SOUTHWEST
Texas Southern (0-0) at Prairie View (0-0), 11 a.m.
FAR WEST
Washington St. (0-0) at Washington (0-0), 3 p.m.
Monday’s game SOUTH
SMU (0-0) at Florida St. (0-0), 6:30 p.m.
Transactions Major League Baseball
American League CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated LHP Tyler Schweitzer from the paternity list. Optioned LHP Tyler Gilbert to Charlotte (IL). TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Optioned RHP CJ Van Eyk to Buffalo (IL).
FOOTBALL
National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — Claimed LB Yasir Abdullah off waivers from Jacksonville, OLB Jared Ivey from Seattle and T Cameron Williams from Philadelphia. CAROLINA PANTHERS — Claimed C Corey Bullock off waivers from Baltimore. CINCINNATI BENGALS — Claimed OT Myles Hinton off waivers from Philadelphia. CLEVELAND BROWNS — Claimed DB Toriano Pride off waivers from Buffalo. DALLAS COWBOYS — Claimed RB Emari Demercado off waivers from Kansas City. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Claimed DB Kapena Gushiken off waivers from Philadelphia. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Claimed DT Bryson Eason off waivers from San Francisco and DE Jack Pyburn from Tampa Bay. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Claimed DB Darrell Luter off waivers from San Francisco. MIAMI DOLPHINS — Claimed DBs Julius Wood from Dallas, Marcellas Dial from New England and Reese Taylor from Denver, QB Brady Cook from the New York Jets, Ts Chukwuebuka Godrick from Kansas City and Jarrett Kingston from Houston and TE Justin Joly from Denver. MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Claimed C Nick Samac off waivers from Carolina and G Trevor Keegan from Dallas. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Claimed LB Darius Muasau off waivers from the New York Giants and TE Cameron Latu from Philadelphia. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Claimed DT Colby Wooden off waivers from Indianapolis and OT Mason Murphy from Chicago.
LIVING
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
Sprout wings
T u e s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 1, 2026
5CN
Ayesha Harris, from left, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Fiona Dourif share a scene in the upcoming Season 3 of HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt.’
Fragrant, butterfly-shaped flowers make these gingers a colorful summertime delight
Gingers are an excellent way to enjoy both colorful flowers and tropical vibes in the Louisiana landscape. Many gingers do well here, including those in the Hedychium genus, which pair striking aesthetics with an enticing fragrance. These plants are commonly known as butGARDEN terfly gingers NEWS — so named because the petals of their flowers look like butterfly wings. A honeysuckle-like scent radiates from the uniquely shaped flowers, perfuming the garden throughout the summer bloom season. Like other gingers, butterfly gingers hail from tropical regions. Those origins allow them to thrive in Louisiana’s heat and humidity. They keep blooming even into late summer, when some warm-season flowering plants begin to falter. This group of gingers encompasses several species that produce different bloom colors, from whites and yellows to oranges and pinks. A whiteflowering variety called Hedychium coronarium is widely grown and noted for its strong, pleasant fragrance.
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PROVIDED PHOTO BY WARRICK PAGE/ HBO MAX
ANOTHER LA. ACTOR CHECKS INTO ‘THE PITT’ AND IT’S GAME TIME ON LPB BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer
When “The Pitt” returns for Season 3 in January, another former Louisiana actor will join Emmy winner Katherine LaNasa in the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Baton Rouge native Pruitt Taylor Vince will have the recurring role of Lance Candella (aka The Professor), a patient in the emergency department. Original cast regular LaNasa, who was born in New Orleans and grew up in Baton Rouge, captured her first Emmy in 2025 for her best supporting role as tough-as-nails but compassionate charge nurse Dana Evans. Vince, 66, carved his niche as a character actor starting in the 1980s, often cast in dark, villainous or disturbing roles in both TV and film. His credits include “Angel Heart,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Nurse Betty,” “Highlander,” “Bird Box,” “The Mentalist,” last year’s “Superman” and many more. Vince received an Emmy in 1997 for guest actor in a drama series for his portrayal of serial killer Clifford Banks on “Murder One.” “The Pitt,” the HBO Max original medical drama from John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television, offers “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes working
LSU AGCENTER PHOTO By OLIVIA McCLURE
Butterfly gingers get their name from the shape of their flowers.
Butterfly gingers are taller than other gingers, reaching up to 6 feet in height and width, so they need plenty of room. The tall stalks sometimes lean over from the weight of flowers. Unlike shade-loving gingers such as spiral gingers, butterfly gingers can tolerate a good bit of sun. You’ll get more blooms with more sun, but these plants look their best overall when they’re planted in a spot that’s shaded from the hot, late-afternoon sun. Their large, lance-shaped foliage can scorch otherwise. As is the case with many tropical plants, butterfly gingers ideally should be planted in early spring after the last average frost date has passed. They often are sold as roots that look much like the culinary ginger you’d buy at the grocery store. Butterfly gingers are popular passalong plants, so you might be able to source some root pieces from a friend or neighbor. Plant the roots in a location with good drainage, taking care not to bury them too deeply. Butterfly gingers are root hardy throughout Louisiana. Their leaves and stems will die back in the winter, but their roots generally will survive, enabling the plants to come back when spring arrives. A thick layer of mulch can improve the odds of regrowth, especially in northern parishes that experience colder temperatures.
PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE MICHALOPOULOS GALLERy
James Michalopoulos paints the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival poster during filming for ‘Michalopoulos: The Art of Celebration.’ The documentary is available on PBS.org. in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh,” the series synopsis states. Each episode of the 60-minute series represents one hour in the ER, and each season encompasses a single, continuous 15-hour shift. “The Pitt” stars Noah Wyle as Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a gifted yet emotionally flawed chief of emergency medicine haunted by the death of his mentor Dr. Adamson during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wyle likewise took home his first Emmy for outstanding lead actor in 2025. He and LaNasa are nominated again this year. Regular cast also back for Season
3 will be: Patrick Ball (Dr. Langdon), Fiona Dourif (Dr. McKay), Taylor Dearden (Dr. King), Isa Briones (Dr. Santos), Gerran Howell (Dr. Whitaker), Shabana Azeez (Javadi), Ayesha Harris (Dr. Ellis), Sepideh Moafi (Dr. Al-Hashimi) and Shawn Hatosy (Dr. Abbot).
Have you seen it yet? “Michalopoulos: The Art of Celebration” premiered on PBS stations and PBS.org earlier this summer, and if you haven’t watched it, add it to your to-do list now.
ä See TV NOTES, page 6C
‘IT’S CALLING TO ME.’
Shaquille O’Neal’s food chain brings big flavor to BR The original (seasoned with Nashville hot sauce) and coleslaw from Big Chicken
STAFF PHOTO By MADDIE SCOTT
BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer
After he just crossed the stage at graduation, Shaquille O’Neal is leaving another legacy on LSU’s campus: Big Chicken. With over 40 locations worldwide, Big Chicken is a chain owned by the basketball star and recent LSU alumnus, O’Neal, including partners Authentic Brands Group, JRS Hospitality
and Craveworthy Brands. The business started in 2018, and five years later, the first Louisiana location opened inside The Queen Casino, 1717 River Park Blvd. Now, LSU students get a taste. Louisiana’s second location opened Aug. 17 inside the lobby of Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building, 410 Tower Drive.
ä See BIG CHICKEN, page 6C
6C ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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Best not to respond to those only seeking perfection Dear Miss Manners: I know a few people at an old country fair, people who define everyone by where they offered prizes to their weight. Now, these people those whose weight they could aren’t perfect themselves, not guess accurately? but their imperfections Miss Manners suggests aren’t as readily apparent that you point out to them as being fat. No imperfecthat you do not acquire friends, or even recognize tion is as apparent as that! people, by the pound. It drives me nuts when Dear Miss Manners: My wife they describe someone as Judith and I occasionally get “chubby” or “fat” when Martin invited to friends’ homes no physical description MISS for dinner. After dinner, is even necessary. One of MANNERS the guests usually sit and these people is my alcoholcontinue to visit and have ic sister, but I would never describe her that way to someone conversations. Some clearing of the dinner dishelse! (Except you, apparently.) I need a comeback, because ignores goes on, but cleaning up is not emphasized. The reason for clearing these comments just isn’t working for me any longer. ing the plates is just to get them Gentle reader: Did you meet these out of the way and off the table.
TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday, Sept. 1, the 244th day of 2026. There are 121 days left in the year. Today in history: On Sept. 1, 1985, a U.S.-French expedition located the wreckage of the Titanic on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean roughly 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland. Also on this date: In 1715, following a reign of 72 years, King Louis XIV of France died four days before his 77th birthday; he was succeeded by his 5-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV. In 1807, a federal jury in Virginia acquitted former Vice President Aaron Burr of treason for plotting to seize lands belonging to Spain in Louisiana and Mexico. In 1914, the passenger pigeon, once one of the most abundant bird species on earth, went extinct as the last known example, named Martha, died in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo. In 1923, the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Yokohama were devastated by an earthquake that claimed some 140,000 lives. In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, an event regarded as the start of World War II. In 1952, Life magazine published Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” in its entirely; also released as a book, it won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953. In 1964, pitcher Masanori Murakami of the San Francisco Giants became the first Japanese baseball player to play in a Ma-
jor League Baseball game. In 1972, American Bobby Fischer won the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, as Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union resigned before the resumption of their 21st and final game. In 1983, 269 people were killed when a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 was shot down by a Soviet fighter jet after the airliner entered Soviet airspace. In 2004, Islamic terrorists took more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia; the siege would end three days later in gunfire and explosions, leaving 334 people dead — more than half of them children. In 2015, invoking “God’s authority,” Rowan County, Kentucky, Clerk Kim Davis denied marriage licenses to gay couples again in direct defiance of the federal courts and vowed not to resign, even under the pressure of steep fines or jail. (Davis would spend five days in jail as a result, and is currently appealing a ruling ordering her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in related legal fees.) Today’s Birthdays: Attorney and law professor Alan Dershowitz is 88. Comedian-actor Lily Tomlin is 87. Singer Barry Gibb is 80. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw is 76. Singer Gloria Estefan is 69. TV host-author Padma Lakshmi is 56. Actor Ricardo Antonio Chavira is 55. Fashion designer Rachel Zoe is 55. Actor Scott Speedman is 51. Composer-producer Ludwig Göransson is 42. Actor-singer Zendaya is 30.
My wife, however, takes clearing the plates too far. She goes beyond the call of duty, in my opinion, and starts loading the dishwasher, putting the food away and wiping off the counters in our hosts’ house. The hosts are usually with their guests when my wife is doing this. If we are invited to someone’s house for dinner, is it appropriate as a guest to start cleaning up the kitchen after the meal? It’s a nice gesture, but I don’t think it’s necessary. When we host a dinner, I don’t want my guests to clean up my kitchen. In fact, I don’t even expect my wife to clean up after our guests have gone home. She’s already spent plenty of time getting the place ready before they arrived.
Gentle reader: What your wife is doing is not a nice gesture. A nice gesture, and one that is only fair, is your insisting on doing the cleanup at home because your wife had done the preparation. But for a guest to take over the housekeeping without authorization from the host is intrusive — and almost insulting, as it implies that it was a necessary task that the host was neglecting. Plus, the guest is then neglecting their own duty of socializing. Miss Manners would appreciate your explaining to your wife the difference between offering to help — and then taking directions from the host, including desisting when the offer is declined — and attempting to run
someone else’s household. Dear Miss Manners: When one person is already in a narrow hallway and another person comes down the stairs and tries to enter the hallway and pass by the person who was already there, what should happen? Gentle reader: Let’s go with what shouldn’t happen: a collision, because neither of them has the courtesy to step to one side. 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.
Lift chair enables reader to bathe Dear Heloise: I read the letter and sit down on it. This could also about the reader in The Villages, be done with a stool or chair, or Florida, who can no longer take the person could have their walkbaths. I have been in a wheelchair er at the ready. for 25 years and have a solution Quite honestly, this is much for her. She can buy a safer for me since I can’t bathtub lift chair online. walk into a shower (even This powered chair lowwhen holding onto grip bars) to get onto a shower ers you gently down into chair without assistance. I the water and brings you hope this is helpful. — Linda, up out of the water. It’s via email miraculous and life-changHints from ing. I use the grab bars to Heloise Programmed key fob get in and out of the tub and back into my wheelDear Heloise: In your chair. You just have to charge the column, there was a suggestion about making sure that your remote for a few hours, then it’s house key wasn’t attached to your good for about six baths before car key fob when leaving your car you have to charge it again. It’s with a mechanic. The writer also wonderful to be able to take a mentioned locking their car when bath again. getting gas. I do all of this, but I’ve now had this powered bath when I bought a new car, I had the chair for about four years, and I fob programmed to only unlock haven’t had any problems. Bear the driver’s door. Ask a mechanic in mind that I can’t walk or stand if your fob can be reprogrammed on my own. The chair raises me if it’s older. Lucky for me, the gas to the same height as my wheeltank is on the same side as the chair, and I can just turn around
driver’s door. — Marilyn M., in St. Louis
Green spots on brass Dear Heloise: My oil-rubbed bronze bathroom faucets have some green spots on them. I’m assuming that water droplets have caused this. What can I use to remove these spots? Thank you so much for all your very useful hints! — Chris, in Dayton, Ohio Chris, try the following solution: Gently clean the faucet with a soft toothbrush and a mixture of warm water and dish soap. Avoid harsh chemicals, steel wool or any abrasive chemicals because these will strip the finish off. Dry the brass completely, then use a cotton ball with mineral oil or olive oil on it to lightly buff the area where the green spots occurred. This should restore the bright shine and add protection to the brass. — Heloise Send a hint to heloise@heloise. com.
PROVIDED PHOTO By WARRICK PAGE/HBO MAX
Louisiana native Katherine LaNasa, center, is returning for ‘The Pitt’s’ third season, along with, from left, Taylor Dearden and Noah Wyle.
TV NOTES
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The Pit Boss is on the menu at Big Chicken.
BIG CHICKEN Continued from page 5C
STAFF PHOTO By MADDIE SCOTT
there are milkshakes in flavors of cookies and cream, vanilla and chocolate.
‘The big one’ “Baton Rouge means everything to Shaquille and to Big Chicken,” said Big Chicken CEO Josh Halpern in an email. “The Queen Casino was one of our first locations, and we’re excited to now be entering LSU, where Shaquille dominated on the court and cemented his legacy.”
Menu rundown The menu at LSU has five chicken sandwiches, tender plates and three variations of “Shaq snacks,” which is a chicken tender stuffed in a sliced piece of Texas toast. For a classic option, foodies can order The Original, a chicken sandwich with “BC sauce” and pickles, but for something more exciting, there’s The Ultimate, a chicken sandwich with mac and cheese, onion rings and barbecue aioli. There’s also The Shaq Attack, a chicken sandwich with barbecue sauce, pepper jack cheese and coleslaw. All chicken has the option to be dunked in spicy seasoning sauces: Nashville hot (a mild to medium spice) or Holy (a hot spice). The five side options are crinkle cut fries, onion rings, fried cheese curds, coleslaw, and mac and cheese. For something sweet,
Undergraduate junior Kenny Nguyen saw some signs around campus advertising the new chicken joint, so on Wednesday, he took his friend with him, graduate student Axel Arce, to try it out. In the roughly seven minutes they waited to order, Nguyen and Arce pondered the menu. The Pit Boss, which Nguyen called “the big one,” caught their eye. It’s a chicken sandwich stacked with cheddar cheese, cheese curds, barbecue sauce, pickles and an onion ring. “It’s calling to me,” Arce said about the sandwich. After ordering at the touch screen kiosk at the checkout counter, an employee served their order: The Pit Boss with a side of cheese curds. “Hopefully it’s good food, because I’m back if it’s really good,” Nguyen said. Big Chicken is located inside the lobby of the interdisciplinary science building at 410 Tower Drive, Baton Rouge. Open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays. Closed Saturdays and Sundays.
The documentary follows New Orleans artist James Michalopoulos from obscure street artist to an influential visual voice in the city. If you don’t recognize the name, no doubt you’ve seen his colorful paintings with their unique, exaggerated perspective on New Orleans architecture. That’s just the beginning of his layered story. The hour also highlights: n Post-Katrina transformation of an abandoned brewery into artist studios that now provide affordable workspaces for creatives; n Expansion of how people experience art itself with Hotel Pompadour, an immersive, artistdesigned hotel — part gallery, part living installation; n Operation of one of America’s largest food co-ops; n Becoming the most featured artist in the history of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival; n Launching the first rum distillery in the continental U.S. since Prohibition. “The film captures not just his artistic evolution, but a deeper question: What happens to a city like New Orleans if its artists can no longer afford to live there?” according to a news release. To watch, visit www.pbs.org/ show/michalopoulos-the-art-ofcelebration.
PROVIDED PHOTO By JASON JOBES
James Michalopoulos went from an obscure New Orleans street artist to an influential visual voice in the city.
The shows preview and review the matchups of several Louisiana teams representing six conferences each week. Teams in the spotlight will include: n Grambling State University n Louisiana Tech University n LSU n McNeese State University n Nicholls State University n Northwestern State University n Southeastern Louisiana University n Southern University and A&M College n Tulane University n University of Louisiana at Lafayette n University of Louisiana at LPB suits up for ‘Game’ Monroe. Longtime Baton Rouge sportsLouisiana Public Broadcasting is returning to the field for a sec- caster Victor Howell is back as ond season of the weekly college host. “Football connects families, football series “Game Notes” and friends and alumni across our “Post Game Notes.”
state and beyond. ‘Game Notes’ gets fans ready for the weekend, while ‘Post Game Notes’ brings us back together to look at what happened, what surprised us and what it means for the season ahead,” Howell said in a news release. “Game Notes” airs at 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, with previews, matchup insights and analysis. WLAE-TV in New Orleans will simulcast the 10 a.m. airing. “Post Game Notes” begins at 5 p.m. Mondays, with encores at 10 p.m. Wednesdays. This one breaks down the biggest wins, defining plays, standout performances and storylines. It also airs at 6 p.m. Mondays on WLAE-TV. Miss an episode? Find it at lpb. org/gamenotes or on the new “LPB Game Notes” YouTube channel. Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.
The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● 7C
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FrAnK And erneSt
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zodIAC VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Learning from people and places that offer a variety of information can help you better yourself and others. Researching, factchecking and experiencing new things are the paths to better living and greater opportunities. LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Find out your options, and get ready to distance yourself from aggravating situations. Look at the cost involved, then set a budget that will put you back on track financially. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Step away from stressful situations. Protect your reputation and position. Emotions will escalate if you don't remain calm. Be responsible. Pick up the slack, and finish what you start. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Stick close to home, and be grateful for what you have. Your happiness depends on you. What you do, how you react and what you believe matter. Be the one to set a good example. cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Do what you do best, and make no excuses. How you spend your time determines your returns. Focus on what helps you profit mentally and financially. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Pay attention to personal matters. Take care of yourself and your financial well-being. Refuse to let your emotions disrupt your plans or cause you to overspend or take on too many responsibilities. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Express yourself and your wishes. Not everyone will
be receptive, but you'll know who you can count on moving forward. Don't limit what you can achieve because someone or something disappoints you. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Trust your instincts before you trust others. Avoid changes that can limit you financially. Having a steady pace will help you control outcomes. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Declutter, size down and consider what you value most in life. Recognizing what brings you joy is the road to new beginnings. Use your intelligence and connections to redesign your routine. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Participating in physical activities will enlighten you. Keeping busy is the best way to avoid trouble. Getting along with people who try to take advantage of you will set you back. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Make a list and stick to it. Speed and accuracy are crucial to finishing what you start and gaining access to an easier lifestyle and greater convenience. Know when to say no. LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Initiate change, take control and work your magic. Do your research, get your facts straight and prepare to bring about positive change. Set up a schedule and monitor it closely. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication
For better or For WorSe WonderWord
peAnUtS
SALLY Forth
beetLe bAILeY CeLebrItY CIpher Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.
toDAy's cLuE: J EQuALs y
Mother GooSe And GrIMM
SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS
dooneSbUrY
8C ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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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 ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● 9C
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Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Louis Nizer, an English lawyer who died in 1994, said, “I know of no higher fortitude than stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds.” That is a good thought to keep in your mind when it seems that you are destined to end a bridge deal with a minus score. Fight on with stubborn fortitude. In this deal, declarer does not face overwhelming odds, but the thought of being in four hearts with only seven trumps instead of playing in five clubs with nine trumps would daunt some players. This layout arose during a pair event, where scoring the extra points from a major-suit contract can be very profitable. Against four hearts, West starts with three rounds of spades. How should declarer continue? South’s three-spade cue-bid asked his partner to bid three no-trump with a spade stopper. Yes, five clubs is much easier to make. But if South can bring home four hearts for plus 420, that will beat those declarers in five clubs scoring only plus 400. South apparently has 10 top tricks: four hearts, one diamond and five clubs. But to run the clubs, he must first draw trumps. And the six missing hearts will break 4-2 more often than 3-3 (a priori
garfield
Pearls Before swiNe
hagar the horriBle
48.45 percent versus 35.53 percent). And even if hearts are 3-3, South will always have a diamond loser. So, rather than ruff at trick three, South should discard a diamond. If West persists with a fourth spade, South ruffs with dummy’s heart ace, draws trumps and claims. © 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 — QuAcKERy: KWAK-er-ee: The practices of a health fraud.
Bizarro
marmaduKe
Average mark 13 words Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 22 or more words in QUACKERY? yEstERDAy’s WoRD — sELDoM sled
demo
model
sloe
does
mold
sold
dole
mole
sole
dome
some
dose
lode
meld
lose
mode
loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer
today’s thought “And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass to you, and not one thing has failed thereof.” Joshua 23:14 God is faithful! Amen! G.E. Dean
10C ● Tuesday, September 1, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate
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BUSINESS T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/news/business
DOW 53,185.90 -374.09 -0.70%
NASDAQ 26,370.89 -31.53 -0.12%
BRIEFS
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Nissan, Honda agree on car software deal
TOKYO — Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda entered a deal to jointly develop computer parts and software for vehicles set to enter the market in fiscal 2029, both sides said Monday. Under the deal, Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, and Tokyo-based Honda will share standardized parts in “core ECUs,” or electronic control units, as well as software. Nissan and Honda started talks in 2024 to work together in developing electric vehicles and auto intelligence technology. Nissan makes Leaf electric cars and Infiniti luxury models, while Honda makes the Accord sedan, Civic compact and Odyssey minivan. Monday’s agreement did not specifically mention EVs, or any model names, and was focused on so-called software-defined vehicles, which could include EVs. These vehicles have functions and features that can be updated and controlled by software, rather than the mechanics of hardware. The global competition in the auto industry is increasingly intensifying as it moves into various technologies, such as automated driving and zero emissions. Each vehicle is starting to be more like a computer packed with electronic parts and software rather than the old image of the gas-guzzling engines.
Trump calls on FCC to punish Kristen Welker President Donald Trump lashed out Sunday at NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to punish her over comments she made about the president’s record in endorsing primary candidates. “Kristen Welker, the Unpopular ‘Hostess’ of the once great Meet the Press, now considered Meet the Fake Press, just stated that Donald Trump has ‘mixed results’ on his Endorsements of Candidates, when the recent WINS of Darline Graham and Mike Mazzei, stand at 100% for the U.S. Senate, and 98% for the U.S. House, recently and over the longterm,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump actually endorsed Mazzei in the Oklahoma governor’s race, not a congressional seat. “How can anyone be allowed to say this, working for freely given Public Airwaves?” Trump added. “Because of this purposeful inaccuracy, she will be reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment.” Welker was previewing Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press” on NBC’s Washington station WRC, when she made the remarks about Trump’s endorsements.
Apple asked to change Lake Ontario on maps CHICAGO — U.S. President Donald Trump has asked Apple to change the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” on its maps app, his administration’s interior chief said Monday, days after signing an executive order over the body of water now in the spotlight amid his escalating trade war with Canada. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox’s “Mornings with Maria” program that Trump “reached out to Apple directly.” He said he was confident the “Lake America” name could be seen on its platform soon. Apple did not immediately comment in response Monday. The body of water long known as Lake Ontario sits between the U.S. state of New York and Canada’s Ontario province. Just over the weekend, competitor Google Maps rolled out the new label for its U.S. users — citing the recent order by Trump, and the company’s already-established practice of using names assigned by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System, also known as GNIS.
S&P 500 7,686.14 -25.62 -0.33%
EURO 1.1615 0.0032 0.28%
CRUDE OIL 85.76 2.36 2.83%
GOLD 4,431.10 -47.00 -1.05%
6-MO T-BILLS 4.02 0.04 1.01%
30-YR T-BONDS 5.25 0.04 0.73%
Oil prices rise on U.S. strike news Stocks fall as Iranian sites are attacked in Strait of Hormuz
BY DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP business writers
Wall Street closed out August on a downbeat note Monday as stocks fell and the price of oil rose after the U.S. launched its first military action in a month against Iran. The S&P 500 index fell 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%. August had no shortage of turbulence for the market, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each posted a gain for the month after losing ground in July and June. The Dow, meanwhile, managed its fifth-straight monthly gain. Monday’s losses were broad, with nearly every sector within the benchmark S&P 500 finishing
in the red. Energy stocks, though, notched gains. Exxon Mobil rose 2.7% and Chevron rose 2.1%. On the losing side, Edison International slumped 23.1% and PG&E fell 20.1% for the two steepest declines. That followed reports about potential California wildfire legislation that would allow insurers to sue utilities over related claims. Amazon fell 2.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Trade Commission and more than 20 states are preparing to sue the online retail giant over claims the company manipulated prices on its platform. The U.S. war with Iran remained a key focus for Wall Street. U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates said it intercepted an Iranian drone over its waters on Monday. The aggressive actions follow a lull in activity in the U.S. war with Iran, which has lasted more than six months.
The war has curtailed traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for about 20% of the world’s oil shipments. Oil prices remain high after an initial surge earlier in the war and that has made everything from gasoline to shipped goods more expensive. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.7% to settle at $90.49 per barrel on Monday. Brent fell below $80 earlier in August but has since moved higher with no sign of an imminent end to the war. The national average for gasoline in August has been above $4 per gallon every day of the month for the first time ever, according to the AAA. It has been the most expensive August at the pump on record, outpacing even the enormous supply chain crunch during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Higher energy prices have fueled already stubbornly high inflation. That has been weighing on household spending and consumer confidence. It has also given the
Federal Reserve a more complicated path ahead for its interest rate policy. The rate of inflation remains well above 3%, which is far beyond the Fed’s 2% target. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise interest rates at least once before the year ends in an effort to cool inflation. On Friday, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said that inflation is still too high and suggested a rate hike might be necessary in the coming months. The Fed gets its next inflation update on Sept. 11, just days ahead of its next meeting to determine interest rate policy. Wall Street is forecasting a 66% chance that the Fed will raise its benchmark rate at that meeting, according to CME FedWatch. “While a September hike is not a foregone conclusion, we expect the Fed to have limited tolerance for meaningful upside inflation surprises,” wrote Brock Weimer, investment strategy analyst at Edward Jones, in a research note.
AI and robotics drive public offering listings in China
BY CHAN HO-HIM Associated Press
HONG KONG — Chinese markets are booming with new public stock offerings, energized by the craze for artificial intelligence and other advanced technology and a growing preference to list shares in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In the latest big stock listing, shares in China-founded e-commerce and fast fashion giant Shein are due to debut Tuesday in Hong Kong in a blockbuster initial public offering raising $1.7 billion, in one of the city’s biggest new share sales this year. In July, CXMT, China’s largest memory chipmaker, raised more than $8.6 billion in Shanghai in the second-largest IPO for its Nasdaq-style STAR market, mainland China’s second-largest IPO. Its shares jumped 466% on the first day of trading. Unitree, one of China’s leading humanoid robot makers, also made its listing debut in Shanghai in August. Shares rose 460% on the first day of trading. “The current IPO boom is powered by investor appetite for AI and robotics,” said Ruiying Zhao, a senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. Trading in Shanghai’s stock market, for one, is heavily driven by retail investors. CXMT’s IPO in Shanghai “placed China in a strategically significant position in tech manufacturing related to AI,” said Perris Lee, head of APAC equity capital markets for ION Analytics. “It’s also a testament to China’s tech selfsufficiency ambitions.” Founded in China in 2016, the company’s revenue surged more than 700% year-onyear to about $7.5 billion in the first three months of 2026 on a spike in demand for computer chips needed for AI. IPO proceeds in Hong Kong and Shanghai so far this year have already surpassed the funding raised last year, according to the financial data platform LSEG. It says IPOs and secondary listing activities on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges raised a total of over $54 billion so far in 2026, surpassing last year’s total of more than $46 billion. Combined Hong Kong and Shanghai proceeds so far this year accounted for roughly 21% globally, ranking them only behind only the Nasdaq’s roughly 55% global share, LSEG said. There, the mega $75 billion IPO by SpaceX in June made the U.S. exchange the world’s biggest IPO market this year. Since China limits foreign purchases on mainland exchanges, many Chinese companies do parallel listings in Hong Kong to help
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NG HAN GUAN
Attendees of the World Robot Conference hang out near the Unitree booth in Beijing last week. raise international capital. Stricter U.S. and Chinese regulatory scrutiny in recent years of big Chinese companies listing in U.S. markets, especially those in strategically important sectors like advanced technologies, has led some Chinese companies to stick closer to home. Listing overseas typically takes more time compared with doing IPOs in China, said Howie Farn, a capital markets partner at the law firm Freshfields. In Hong Kong, recent public stock listings of Apple-supplier Luxshare Precision Industry, and Zhongji Innolight, which makes optical transceivers used in data centers, were among this year’s largest deals and were also a reflection of investor demand for advanced technologies. More companies are looking to hold their IPOs in Hong Kong or Shanghai, like robotics firms AGIBOT and Deep Robotics. Shein also explored the possibility of listings in the U.S. and London before opting for Hong Kong. After massive oversubscriptions and huge gains in their share debuts, some companies
have seen their market value shrink. Chinese robot maker Unitree’s share price had fallen more than 40% as of Friday from its peak share price on the day of its trading debut. “The critical question remains: is the AI sentiment enough?” said Zhao from S&P, as a similar question that raised worries among investors in the U.S. also now also applies to China. “For a durable market cycle, investors will demand sustainable revenue, visible profit margins, and realistic valuations. The global AI frenzy also has also drawn attention away from companies like Shein. “The AI investment cycle is absorbing much of the risk appetite that would have otherwise flowed to a company like Shein,” said Jacob Cooke, CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies. Shein’s IPO puts the company’s value at around $27 billion, a fraction of its peak valuation a few years ago, though that is partly due to U.S. and EU moves to restrict de minimus tax-exemptions for imports of small packages.
Feds unveil new crackdown on fraud in nation’s trucking industry BY ROBERT SNELL
The Detroit News (TNS) Federal officials in Detroit announced a broad crackdown on fraud within the trucking industry Monday that includes immediately shutting down more than 100 truck-driving schools in an attempt to boost safety on America’s roads and prevent injuries and deaths. The crackdown, including a new task force involving law enforce-
ment and federal prosecutors from across the Midwest, is targeting truck-driving schools that license drivers who do not speak or understand English, and those that lack qualified instructors and adequate facilities with space and vehicles to train drivers. Federal officials also are proposing shutting down another 160 training facilities and conducting a nationwide audit of third-party agencies that test the skills of people applying for commercial
driver’s licenses. The announcement is part of a broader attempt to thwart fraud within the trucking industry by the Trump administration. Other initiatives announced in recent months have included enforcing English language standards and preventing unqualified drivers from fraudulently obtaining licenses. “We are making sure we are rooting out fraud and fraudsters and bringing safety back to our
roadways,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a news conference at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit. The crackdown comes after officials say commercial truck drivers who illegally obtained licenses have killed hundreds of drivers and injured thousands in recent years. Last year, DOT statistics show 30 people were killed in at least 17 crashes involving unqualified foreign drivers.