The Advocate 09-06-2026 by The Advocate

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Gov. Jeff Landry and state leaders are betting big that SpaceX, Meta, Hyundai megaprojects will permanently cure the state’s long economic malaise

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CHANGING AN LOUII$IIANA’S RTU FORTUNES

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer At the recent event announcing that Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to build the world’s largest commercial spaceport in coastal Vermilion Parish, even Gov. Jeff Landry, who negotiated the $100 billion deal, seemed stunned by the magnitude of the whole thing. “I’ve struggled, really struggled to find the words,” Landry told more than 400 elected officials, lobbyists and business leaders gathered in an event space in Abbeville. “It is hard for people to wrap their head around.” Starbase Louisiana, as Musk has dubbed the project, is the largest single capital investment in the state’s history. It promises to bring thousands of jobs, potentially tens of billions in economic activity and a foothold in a growing industry, as SpaceX hopes to eventually launch as many as 1,000 rockets a year into orbit. And it’s just the latest of several megaprojects that Louisiana’s residents are grappling with. In July, social media giant Meta announced it will double the size of its data center in Richland Parish, a now $50 billion investment that promises 1,000 jobs and thousands more construction workers. In the Shreveport area, Amazon Web Services is building an $18 billion data center across three campuses. In Ascension Parish, Hyundai is forging ahead with an $8 billion steel mill. Along the coast, meanwhile, more than $75 billion is flowing toward terminals to export liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Landry and his economic development chief, Susan Bourgeois, have said the megaprojects, which total $250 billion since Landry took office in 2024, represent

ä See FORTUNES, page 4A

$2.50X

Child sex crime arrests surge in crackdown

AG’s task force means more stings, statewide cooperation BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Louisiana is on track to more than double the number of arrests for child sex crimes it made two years ago. The dramatic increase — from 303 arrests in 2024 to a projected 717 this year — coincides with an expansion in the network behind those investigations. Every sheriff’s office in the state and several local police departments have now joined a task force organized by Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office, and leaders say that is allowing agencies to share information more quickly and more easily conduct investigations across parish lines. That partnership has become necessary, officers say, as the internet gives predators easy access to young potential victims. “When I was growing up, my mom would say, ‘Hey, don’t ride your bike by such and such’s house. He’s a sex offender,’” said Chris Masters, the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agent who oversees the Internet Crimes Against Children task force. “You don’t have that now. There’s access to your children who are on their phone while they’re sitting on the couch next to you.”

ä See CRACKDOWN, page 8A

Trash to treasure: Lil Wayne lyric pages are on sale for $5M

STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK

Gov. Jeff Landry and his administration have changed laws and offered billions in tax incentives to lure major companies to Louisiana.

“That is what drives opportunity ... and hedges against the ebbs and flows of oil and gas, which is still our sweet spot.” SUSAN BOURGEOIS, Louisiana Economic Development secretary

Sheets of paper were pulled from garbage in 1999 BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer

During nearly 60 years of practicing law, Louis Koerner Jr. primarily served as a “hired gun” for other attorneys litigating personal injury claims. Maritime law is his specialty. Now 85, Koerner has acquired another, less traditional specialty: New Orleans rap star Lil Wayne. The Uptown attorney, whose musical tastes tend more toward traditional jazz and zydeco, represents a client who owns an exceedingly rare piece of hip-hop history: lyrics handwritten by Lil Wayne early in his career. How Koerner’s anonymous client — he’s identified in court filings as “undisclosed

ä See TREASURE, page 6A

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U.N. endorses map that better shows Africa’s size

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday endorsed a new world map that represents Africa more accurately in its larger size, a culmination of a recent campaign led by African countries and advocacy groups. Friday’s resolution, which was sponsored by Togo and backed by members of the African Union, was passed with 164 member states voting in favor. Only the U.S. voted against it while six other countries — Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine — abstained. The vote encourages governments and institutions around the world to replace the traditional Mercator map, commonly used since the 16th Century, with the Equal Earth projection that advocates and geographers say shows locations more accurately. The Mercator projection shows Greenland and Africa as appearing to be about the same size whereas in the Equal Earth projection that shows continents in their true proportions, Africa is 14 times larger than Greenland. Friday’s resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or impose a replacement, but only encourages the use of the Equal Earth projection, the U.N. said in its report. “Maps shape our understanding of the world,” the global body quoted Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey as saying before the vote. “They guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions.”

Missouri asks high court to restore voting map Missouri and its Republican leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a congressional map engineered by GOP lawmakers in the state to favor the party in November’s midterm elections. The emergency request Friday follows a ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court casting aside the new map and delivering a victory to Democrats, who would likely lose a House seat if the new map was allowed to stand. The Republican-backed map was already used during the state’s primaries earlier this year. “Missouri has completed a primary election, yet it now faces the unprecedented scenario of being forced to apply a starkly different congressional map in the 2026 general election,” the state and GOP leaders write in the filing. “Voting starts in Missouri’s general election in 15 days. Election officials and public commentators are unsure whether it is even possible to comply with the Missouri Supreme Court’s order.” The dispute is one of almost a dozen redistricting-related cases being fought across the country, as some states have sought to redraw their district lines for partisan gain ahead of the midterm elections. Republican leaders in Missouri redrew their congressional districts to favor their party last year, at the request of President Donald Trump.

38 compete in Hungary grave-digging contest

NYERGESUJFALU, Hungary — Like death itself, this was no joke. A grave-digging contest in a Hungarian cemetery may sound like the opening line of a comedy sketch. It proved to be anything but as 38 competitors grabbed picks and shovels on Saturday. The Hungarian Association of Cemetery Maintainers and Operators organizes the contest to showcase the grave-digging trade and its skills, and shake off death-related taboos. The dry summer-baked soil in the public cemetery in Nyergesújfalu, northern Hungary, proved a worthy adversary for the 19 two-man teams. They huffed and puffed and sweated as they raced for the title of quickest-dug and most stylish grave. “Speed is the main thing here, not the beauty,” said Róbert Nagy, the victor with his teammate László Kiss. “When you have to dig a grave for a funeral, you have to be very careful about the exact dimensions and to make sure that it is beautifully carved.” Their winning time was 1 hour, 21 minutes, digging to contest specifications of graves 51/2 feet deep, 61/2 feet long and 2.6 feet wide.

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U.S. strikes 3 Iranian oil tankers Attack comes after U.S. says warships targeted with missiles

BY AMIR VAHDAT, TOQA EZZIDIN and CARA ANNA Associated Press

CAIRO — U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Navy warships were targeted with ballistic missiles, the American military said Saturday, warning that it would “if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.” Experts called it a dangerous escalation after Iran’s previous attacks at sea targeted commercial shipping. The strikes — a day after U.S. President Donald Trump sought to minimize the conflict as “small potatoes” — keep up a new tilt back toward fighting after six months of on-again, offagain war that began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country on Feb. 28. Both sides have sought to inflict both military and economic pain, and negotiations have collapsed. The military’s statement said an American aircraft carrier and a destroyer evaded “multiple unprovoked Iranian attacks” while patrolling in the region and no U.S. personnel were hurt. It wasn’t clear when the Iranian missiles were fired. The statement said that two Iranian oil carriers were “permanently disabled” and the third, unladen one, was destroyed. The U.S. statement called

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY VAHID SALEMI

A swimmer stays near the shore as a motorboat passes commercial vessels anchored Friday in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran. the tankers part of a shadow network helping to fund Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and its armed proxies in the region. Iran’s state broadcaster said later Saturday that Iran targeted three oil tankers and three American vessels in response to the U.S. strikes. This couldn’t be immediately confirmed. A spokesperson with Iran’s joint military command warned that strikes against U.S. military ships would be more severe if the U.S. continues to interfere with Iranian shipping, the state broadcaster reported. That Iran targeted a U.S. aircraft carrier with a ballistic missile “indicates that Tehran is becoming increasingly willing to accept risks it previously sought to avoid, including directly threatening some of the

most important U.S. military assets in the region,” Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said on X. Earlier, Iranian state television had said that four U.S. missiles struck a tanker about 6 miles from Kharg Island, home to a terminal through which the country exports most of its oil. Kharg Island has been repeatedly targeted during the war, including in U.S. strikes on military sites there in March. The U.S. said that one tanker was struck off Kharg Island and another was struck near Jask, east of the Strait of Hormuz. The unladen tanker was hit in the Gulf of Oman, and the U.S. said its crew had been “directed to abandon ship.” The statement

shared what it called video footage of the strikes. After the U.S. statement, Iran’s state broadcaster reported the attack of the two other tankers, saying their crews had evacuated. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the attacks a war crime, and said that the consequences for continued U.S. aggression, including “economic warfare,” would rest with Washington and its allies. Between the war and the disabling of ships during the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports, it’s not immediately clear how many Iranian oil tankers have

been targeted. On May 8, the U.S. military said that it fired “precision munitions” into the smokestacks of two Iranian oil tankers, both unladen. The latest strikes came nearly a week after the U.S. and Iran resumed attacks following a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz, and Iranian communities along it again, being targeted. At least five people were killed earlier in the week during a U.S. bombardment of southern Iran. One strike hit a wedding. Masoumeh Zarei, 13, was wounded in the attack. She spoke to The Associated Press at a hospital while being treated for injuries to her abdomen. She said the wedding celebration had already begun when she set out to join it. She never made it there. She was knocked unconscious when a telecommunications tower was struck. Her next memory was of waking up in a hospital. “The party had just started, and we wanted to go there,” Zarei said, her voice hoarse. “I had made my nails really pretty for the party, but everything changed.” Her friend, 14-year-old Kiana Karimi, also was wounded and in intensive care. She told the AP that she heard five explosions. “The first three explosions at the telecommunications tower threw us to the ground,” Karimi said. “I quickly got up to pick my brothers up off the ground. Then there were two more explosions, and after that I don’t remember anything.”

Putin meets with U.S. envoys at the Kremlin Talks on ending the war in Ukraine renewed

for three days, starting at midnight today,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday. He said he spoke on Saturday afternoon with the U.S. delegation after their arrival in Moscow. “From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday,

By The Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin met with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Saturday for talks to try to revive a stalled push to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Putin, Kushner and Witkoff spoke for more than three hours in closed-door talks that come as both sides continue to escalate aerial attacks. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals while the talks took place. Washington’s push to end the fighting has lost momentum as U.S. attention has been focused for the past six months on the Iran war. The last known visit to Moscow by Witkoff and Kushner, U.S. President

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MIKHAIL METZEL

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, greets President Donald Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner, left, and Steve Witkoff on Saturday before talks at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow. Donald Trump’s son-in-law, was in January, when they also held talks with Putin at the Kremlin. Both U.S. envoys will also visit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, for the first time in the peace process on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. At the start of the meeting in Moscow, Putin asked

Kushner and Witkoff to pass on his warm wishes and gratitude to Trump, and described the situation in Ukraine as “not simple.” Russian forces launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv

Rescuers in Nepal pull 2 alive from debris 10 days after floods BY SHRISTI KAFLE and SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Rescuers in Nepal pulled out a Chinese man and a woman in separate operations Saturday, 10 days after devastating floods hit the country, as teams continued searching for thousands of missing people. The man was rescued from a hydropower tunnel, according to a social media post by the country’s prime minister’s office, bringing the total to three workers pulled alive from the Trishuli hydropower project. Two Nepalese workers were rescued on Friday. Nepal’s army said a joint rescue team of Nepalese military personnel and

South Korean disaster experts rescued the man from a 740-foot tunnel and that he was undergoing a health assessment. Images showed him being evacuated by helicopter, with an army medic checking on him during the flight. A photo released by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed two rescuers carrying the man, called Lu Haitao, out of the tunnel. CCTV shared audio of Lu talking to an officer, saying how he repeatedly shouted whenever he saw the rescue crews’ lights, but they could not hear him. “When they rescued me today, when they shone (the light) before my eyes, I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Lu was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition, according to CCTV. Rescue efforts have increasingly focused on 12 hydropower projects across Nepal, where about 900 workers are missing and roughly 500 are believed to be trapped in various tunnels, authorities said. Specialized rescue teams from India, China, South Korea and the United States have been searching through debris, damaged structures and tunnels at the projects, hoping to find survivors. In flood-hit Nuwakot town, a woman was rescued alive from a house, Nepal’s army spokesperson said Saturday. Officials said she was airlifted to Kathmandu for treatment.

Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv,” he said. The U.S. envoys were met at the airport in Moscow by Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev, Tass reported. Dmitriev shared photos of him meeting with the U.S. delegation as they disembarked, alongside the caption, “Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers.”

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I grew up in Donaldsonville. My landscaping contract with Hyundai has been a blessing. With the community growing, I definitely see my business hiring and expanding. David Hampton Jr., owner, 3M Solutions Services LLC

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Hyundai Steel’s $5.8 billion investment is already creating real opportunities for Louisiana businesses.

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FORTUNES

Continued from page 1A the state’s best hope for reversing decades of stagnant population and wage growth. “We are creating quality jobs across different sectors — data centers, a clean steel mill, aerospace and aeronautics,” Bourgeois said. “That is what drives opportunity ... and hedges against the ebbs and flows of oil and gas, which is still our sweet spot.” As the list of the megaprojects grows, though, so do the questions about whether they’ll deliver and what the state and its people are giving up in return. The Landry administration has changed laws and offered billions in tax incentives to lure the companies. Data centers, in particular, are starting to create a backlash in some areas, echoing broader national concerns about artificial intelligence. Secrecy about the deals has become a hot topic, too, along with debates about whether large industrial investments can change the trajectory of a state that has been outflanked by its peers for the past half century. It’s a pivotal moment for the state, and economists, development leaders and others say it’s still too early to say how it will all play out. A lot can change between the time projects are announced and up and running. And how the state leverages the opportunities it has created will be the key to ending decades of economic malaise. “Investment in Louisiana has grown by a magnitude almost overnight,” said GNO Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht. “While this is an extraordinary opportunity, we now have to ensure that Louisiana residents get the jobs, and Louisiana firms get the business.”

Different industries For decades, Louisiana depended on oil and gas, agriculture and its other natural resources to power the state’s economy. But since the oil price collapse of the

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY JILL PICKETT

Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during a December 2024 event in Rayville to announce that Meta will build an artificial intelligence optimized data center in Richland Parish. 1980s, the state has struggled to keep up with the rest of the nation across a range of economic and quality-of-life measures. Between 2000 and 2025, Louisiana’s economy grew 50% more slowly than the country as a whole, and since 1970, its household earnings have remained stuck at 48th of the 50 states, running more than 30% below the national average, according to the Urban Land Institute. It has backslid even as it has continued attracting big industry. Between 2015 and 2023, under Landry’s predecessors, Louisiana drew $90 billion in new capital investments, mostly LNG plants and petrochemical facilities tied to the state’s energy industry. But job growth remained flat during that period and the state lost 52,000 people, a Data Center report found. “We’ve maintained our ability to attract oil and gas investments,” said retired LSU economist Jim Richardson.

“But those industries don’t create the jobs they once did, in part because of automation and technology.” That’s one reason state leaders have focused on other areas. The Hyundai steel mill, which broke ground last week outside of Donaldsonville, promises between 1,200 and 1,300 permanent jobs at an annual salary of nearly $100,000. Site selector Didi Caldwell, of Global Location Strategies, says it is an example of advanced manufacturing, a sector that has a track record of creating new hubs of economic growth. The prospects of other sectors are less clear. Gary Wagner, an economist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said that data centers, a new sector Landry introduced to the state two years ago, have a questionable track record of improving long-term economic prosperity. A few recent studies have shown the facilities can stimulate economic activity — and Meta’s Hyperion proj-

ect in Richland Parish, which is drawing thousands of construction workers, is boosting local sales tax collections, funding teacher bonuses and attracting new businesses to the area. But Wagner said that the economic literature on data centers suggests that “if there is a measurable impact on job growth and income over the long term, it is minimal.” In a rural area like Richland Parish, Bourgeois counters, even 1,000 jobs is a big deal. “I think we lose sight of the

significance of that number,” lasting prosperity.” It’s hard to measure what she said. that will look like in part be‘People with all skills’ cause there’s no comparison. Starbase Louisiana aims At the SpaceX announcement, Landry seemed to ac- to be the busiest spaceport knowledge the shortcomings on the planet, with a planned of the state’s historic reliance footprint that is 10 times on oil and gas, framing the the size of the company’s deal as a new kind of project. headquarters in Boca Chica, “For generations, indus- Texas. In December, the try came to Louisiana not to company reported a $13 bilbuild lasting prosperity but lion economic impact and to extract wealth,” he said. the creation of 24,000 direct “What Elon Musk and his and indirect jobs there since team is offering Louisiana is 2023. The numbers were not different. They are offering us a permanent future and ä See FORTUNES, page 5A

FranU invites prospective families to explore programs and campus life at Oct. 10 Open House

By Amanda McElfresh | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This article is brought to you by FranU.

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Choosing a college involves more than comparing degree programs, tuition and admission requirements. Students also need to ﬁnd a place where they can envision themselves building relationships and learning the skills that will prepare them for a successful future. That’s why FranU’s Open House, its largest recruiting event, is designed to give prospective undergraduate students a true sense of what daily life is like on the Baton Rouge campus. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, October 10, from 9 a.m. to noon. Registration is available now at franu. edu/openhouse. “Open House is a great opportunity to get a feel for the FranU culture and the type of educational experience we offer. I think it’s so important to visit a campus in-person,” said Zoe Ramachandran, FranU Director of Undergraduate Admissions. “Several of our program directors and faculty are at the informational booths, so attendees can learn more about the different paths of study.” FranU offers healthcare-focused bachelor’s degree programs including nursing, health sciences, medical laboratory science, respiratory therapy and psychology. Aside from healthcare, other undergraduate programs are offered in areas such as business administration, theology and Great Books. Ramachandran said she encourages prospective students to familiarize themselves with FranU’s available majors before the Open House. “I think it helps attendees maximize their visit when they have an idea of what their options are,” she said. “The Open House is a great opportunity for prospective students to learn more about how each major is structured and what they can expect from their classes.” Current FranU students will also be at the Open House to answer questions about the campus culture and opportunities for student involvement inorganizations.FranU hasclubsfor students from multiple majors, including an Art Club, Beauty & Brains (designed for women students), Environmental Care Organization and the Powerlifting Club. Other organizations are centered around individual majors, giving students the chance to study together and learn from one another. “One of the best things about Open House is that this is where relationship-building begins,” Ramachandran said. “Some of the attendees will

end up being classmates together. Some will be in classes with current FranU students they meet, and some will be taught by the faculty members they meet. Relationships are a major priority at FranU, and you start to see the seeds of those being planted at Open House.” RepresentativesfromFranU’sadmissionsandfinancial aid offices will also be at the Open House to answer questions about the application process, paying for college and qualifying for scholarships. Staff can explain how scholarshipapplications are evaluated a nd help families understand upcoming deadlines. Those conversations can be especially usef ul in early October si nce many scholarship deadline arrive near the end of the calendar year. “This is a great time to talk about the financial aspect,” Ramachandran said. “Every college handles admissions and scholarships differently, so Open House is a chance to learn about how we handle that here at FranU and what families need to know to meet all of those deadlines.” FranU Open House attendees are encouraged to register in advance at franu.edu/openhouse. The event is completely free. Food will be provided. The event will begin at St. Francis Hall, 5414 Brittany Drive, Baton Rouge. FranU offers an education grounded in Catholic values, academic rigor and a commitment to personal and spiritual growth. Its Baton Rouge campus has been nationally rated as the safest in Louisiana, reflecting a deep commitment to student well-being and a secure learning environment. FranU has more than 20 areas of study and a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio, giving each individual an opportunity to cultivate their talents and become a servant leader in their chosen field. Visit www.franu.edu to learn more.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 5A

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SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell speaks during the SpaceX announcement at Magdalen Place in Abbeville on Aug. 25.

Excavators suspend a giant Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel banner displayed underneath the Louisiana flag during the Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel groundbreaking ceremony in Ascension Parish on Friday.

STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

FORTUNES

Continued from page 4A independently verified by the state. SpaceX also has said it employs a little more than 4,000 people at the facility, 70% of whom are local. A recent report from Texas A&M, meanwhile, shows that property values have skyrocketed in the county, creating wealth for some while pricing others out. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at the Abbeville announcement last month that job numbers in Louisiana could well exceed 3,000. “Sixty to 80% of our employees at Starbase Texas are local hires, and we will repeat that here,” Shotwell said. “We need people with all skills — not just engineers, but welders, builders, technicians, restaurant workers.” Rob Lalka, a professor focused on entrepreneurship at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, said that while 3,000 jobs is “not going to change our economy,” he predicts the ripple effect will be significant because of the workers and spinoff companies that follow Musk and SpaceX. “What this will do is create an ecosystem that attracts the smartest rocket scien-

tists in the world,” he said. a return on investment that “There will be opportunities justifies what is given away. for innovators and compa“We have all these needs in state government and a budnies to work with them.” get shortfall,” said Moeller. ‘Not the only option’ “That is why it is important To attract the investments when the richest man in the and potential jobs, the state world comes to Louisiana has promised record tax and spends money and crebreaks. ates jobs, that his company The value of the incen- also pays taxes.” Bourgeois, like other ecotives offered to SpaceX totals more than $27.5 billion, nomic development leadaccording to a letter from ers, says tax incentives are Louisiana Economic Devel- a standard practice and opment in July to SpaceX needed to land big deals. The foregone revenues, they arexecutive Ben Lancaster. The incentives, the larg- gue, would not exist but for est in state history, include the projects in the first place. As for the NDAs, which a property tax break worth $23.5 billion and $3.6 billion have been more widely used by Landry than any of his rein a sales tax rebate. The Meta deal, which will cent predecessors, the goverbring an estimated 1,000 nor said last month that they full-time jobs to Richland were necessary to maintain Parish, includes an incentive the state’s competitive edge. package that was valued at “You think I want Texas to more than $3 billion earlier steal my thunder?” Landry this year, before the recent said. “You think I want other expansion. To lure Hyundai states to know what we’re to Donaldsonville, the state working on? … Corporate agreed to a $2.6 billion incen- America has competition, and they want to have discustive package. Critics have raised con- sions with elected officials cerns about the incentive to ensure that policies meet packages, the nondisclosure their expectations.” agreements under which they were negotiated and the state Changing perceptions laws that were changed along Though changes to the the way to facilitate them. state’s economic outlook Jan Moeller, president and will take years to show signs CEO of Invest in Louisiana, of progress, one thing is ala research group that advo- ready starting to change: cates for equitable economic Louisiana’s perception as a policies, has said that tax in- favorable place to do busicentives aren’t necessarily ness among site selectors, bad, but they need to provide the professionals who decide

STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

where companies ought to locate new facilities. “Louisiana has done a fantastic job showing that it can execute fast on big, complex deals,” said Larry Gigerich, a site selector with Indianapolis, Indiana-based Ginovus, whose past clients include BP, Oracle and FedEx. “Speed to market is critical.”

Still, the major announcements are just the first step. Now, the state has to ensure that projects get completed quickly, attract other companies and result in money flowing back to the state — and is invested back into local communities, housing, schools and healthcare. That’s important, Gigerich

said, because those “quality of place” things are needed to attract and retain talented people. “That is the next piece of the puzzle for Louisiana,” Gigerich said. Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com.

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Legal Notice

IMPORTANT NOTICE OF CLASS ACTION LITIGATION AND PARTIAL SETTLEMENT JANICE CLABORNE, ET AL VERSUS THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF NEW ORLEANS CDC NO. 2001-20605; DIV. “D”; ORLEANS PARISH, LOUISIANA A court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.

TO: “Litigation Class:” All leaseholders and other permanent residents of THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF NEW ORLEANS from 1998 to August 29, 2005, who were adversely affected by the presence of toxic mold in their apartments as a result of HANO, Guste or B.W. Cooper Resident Management Corporation’s breach of their contracted duty with HUD pursuant to 24 CFR Part 5 § 5,703(f) to maintain said apartments and common areas “free of mold” for the benefit of HANO, Guste RMC or Cooper RMC’s leaseholders and their permanent residents, -And-

TO: “Partial Settlement Class:” All leaseholders and other permanent residents of (1) any facility owned, controlled, managed, or operated by THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF NEW ORLEANS or (2) any facility controlled, managed, or operated by the Guste Homes Resident Management Corporation or B.W. Cooper Resident Management Corporation including, without limitation, all leaseholders and other permanent residents of the public housing facilities commonly known as the Guste Homes, B.W. Cooper Homes, and Calliope Projects, in all cases from January 1, 1998 to the date of preliminary approval of the Partial Settlement Class described in this notice.

“Litigation Class” The litigation class involves any HANO tenants for the period 1998 to August 29, 2005. Members of this class may also be part of a settlement class discussed below if they were tenants of Guste Homes or B.W. Cooper during this period. To take part in either the Settlement Class or the litigation class, or both, it is necessary to file a claim. Claims must be filed TIMELY! The information on filing a claim and applicable deadlines can be found on the litigation website https://housingauthorityofneworleansmoldlitigationclassaction.com/. There you will find a complete copy of the official notice approved by the court with instructions on who is involved in both the Litigation Class and the Settlement Class, and what is involved in the suit and how to protect your potential rights.

“Partial Settlement Class” A $4,250,000 Settlement has been reached with an insurer that provided insurance to Guste Homes Resident Management Corporation (“RMC”), B.W. Cooper RMC, and in certain cases, to HANO, for the years outlined below. The suit was filed in Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, and is entitled Janice Claborne, et al versus The Housing Authority of New Orleans, No.: 2001-20605. For more information please go to the website: https://housingauthorityofneworleansmoldlitigationclassaction.com/.

Who is included? The partial Settlement includes residents who lived in the Guste Homes and/or B. W. Cooper for certain years that were adversely affected by the presence of mold in their apartments. The Settlement was reached with an insurance company that provided insurance to the RMCs, and in certain cases, to HANO, for the Guste Homes and B.W. Cooper facilities for the following years:

Guste Homes 1/06/00 to 1/06/01

BW Cooper 10/02/97 to 10/02/98 10/02/98 to 10/02/99 10/02/99 to 10/02/00

If you were a resident of either Guste Homes and/or B. W. Cooper during any of the periods described above and were adversely affected by mold in your residence you are eligible to be considered for compensation.

How do I receive payment?

Please visit our website https://housingauthorityofneworleansmoldlitigationclassaction.com/ for more information on the settlement and instructions on how to obtain payment information.

QUESTIONS CALL 504-321-3676 OR VISIT

https://housingauthorityofneworleansmoldlitigationclassaction.com/

6A ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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TREASURE

Continued from page 1A possessor” — acquired the pages of lyrics, 27 years ago, triggered a legal dispute. In 2023, Koerner sued Wayne in Orleans Parish Civil District Court. He wanted to establish his client’s legal ownership of the “Lil Wayne notebook” — actually several sheets of loose-leaf paper — and their authenticity. That would reassure potential buyers if his client ever wanted to sell them. Which he does. For a lot. The current asking price? A cool $5 million. Wayne apparently prefers to compose lyrics in his head, not on paper. Thus, handwritten Wayne lyrics are nearly unheard of. Koerner and his client are not aware of any others being publicly offered for sale. “It’s the only one like it,” said Koerner’s client, who agreed to be quoted for this story if he were not publicly identified. “There’s no comps. It’s one of one. This is the only written history of his early work. To a lot of fans, this is the Holy Grail of how Lil Wayne thinks, how he formulates what he’s going to say.” Holy Grail or not, the lyric sheets’ existence is something of a miracle. One rapper’s trash, it seems, can be a rap fan’s treasure.

Pulled from the garbage In August 2021, Koerner needed someone to do repair work on his 7,000-square-foot, 139-year-old post-Greek Revival mansion in the Garden District. Apropos of nothing, the man doing the work said to Koerner, “Guess what I have?” He proceeded to tell the tale, later chronicled in court documents, of how he came into possession of Lil Wayne’s lyric sheets. In 1999, while still in high school, he got a summer job at a car dealership. One day, Cash Money Records co-founder Bryan Williams, better known as “Birdman” or “Baby,” showed up with an entourage to trade in several luxury vehicles for upgrades. Days later, dealership staffers cleaned out the Cash Money cars. While waiting for his mom to pick him up from work, Koerner’s future client noticed discarded items from the rappers’ cars in

STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE

Attorney Louis Koerner Jr. holds a photocopy of a page of Lil Wayne’s early handwritten lyrics in New Orleans on Friday. a garbage can — CDs, DVDs, papers. His co-workers helped themselves to the CDs and DVDs while he retrieved several pages of written lyrics. He thought they were interesting enough to keep. He eventually deduced that the handwriting belonged to Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. of Hollygrove, better known as Lil Wayne. In 1999, Wayne was 19 years old and on the brink of stardom. In the coming years, his solo albums established him as one of rap’s most respected and successful artists. But when those lyric sheets were first dug out of the trash, Wayne wasn’t yet a star. He had neatly written out the lyrics to “I Feel” and “We On Fire.” Both songs appeared on the 1999 Cash Money Records album “Guerrilla Warfare” by the Hot Boys, the all-star quartet that included Wayne, Juvenile, B.G. and Turk. The pages also contained two lines titled “Grown Man.” A song with that title appeared on Wayne’s 2005 album “Tha Carter II.” The phone number for Club Whispers, the New Orleans East nightclub popular with rappers, is scrawled on a page. Another sheet has two lines titled “Hit Da Block.” There is a doodle of a building labeled “Magnolia Project” and a wild-haired man. Unaware of their potential value, the finder stuck the papers inside a

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Lil Wayne performs with the Roots on the Festival Stage during the third day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on April 26, 2025.

copy of rap magazine The Source with Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls on the cover. He then tossed the magazine in a box of yearbooks on a shelf at his house in New Orleans East, where it remained undisturbed and largely forgotten for years.

Close call in Katrina The house flooded in 2005 during Hurricane Katrina. For months, the lyric-finder and his family were displaced. When he finally returned to the ruins, he discovered that the water hadn’t reached the box on the shelf. The lyric sheets survived. He kept them as he moved sever-

al times. In early 2019, he decided to sell them via the online auction agency Moments In Time. Given the scarcity of handwritten Lil Wayne lyrics, he assigned an asking price of $250,000. The celebrity news site TMZ published an article on March 25, 2019, about the sale. That got the attention of Jonathan Davis, the prominent New York entertainment attorney who has represented Lil Wayne in various legal matters. In 2025, Davis successfully defended Wayne against a $20 million lawsuit brought by one of the rapper’s previous attorneys. Two days after the TMZ story posted, Davis sent a cease-anddesist letter — later quoted in Koerner’s lawsuit — from his Rockefeller Center office to Moments In Time. “Mr. Carter is the owner of the notebook, which he is demanding be returned to him,” Davis wrote. “Mr. Carter did not abandon his notebook. He merely misplaced it and is gratified that it has been found.” The letter continued, “By his own admission, the purported owner of the misplaced notebook … mined the car at the dealership and took off with the notebook, apparently recognizing that he had stumbled on something of significant value … He absconded with the notebook and hid it in his garage for many years.” Davis demanded that Moments In Time stop the sale, reveal the identity of the “purported” owner and “request that he contact us immediately.” Moments in Time removed the listing and informed the seller that he might have a legal problem. Then, in August 2021, he went to work on Koerner’s home.

‘Clandestine’ or good faith?

According to Koerner, his client was offered $2,500 and an autographed photo of Lil Wayne. That offer, in Koerner and his client’s view — affirmed by a consultation with AI platform Claude — was at least three zeros short. They now believed the value “exceeds $3 million.” Koerner offered to negotiate a private sale to Wayne. No such sale happened. Eventually, Davis decided not to continue the legal fight. In early 2024, he entered into a joint agreement on behalf of Wayne to accept a default judgment. Judge Kern A. Reese of Orleans Parish Civil District Court’s Division L signed off on a final judgment on Feb. 2, 2024, affirming that the lyric sheets belong to Koerner’s client.

More valuable than Dylan? They now reside in a safe-deposit box, on sale for $5 million. For comparison, at a 2014 Sotheby’s auction, a bidder paid just over $2 million for a 1965 draft of Bob Dylan’s iconic “Like A Rolling Stone,” written in pencil on four sheets of hotel stationery. Four years earlier, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life” sold for $1.2 million. Koener and his client believe these Lil Wayne lyrics are worth more. Koerner took the case on a contingency basis — he’ll earn a percentage of any sale. He’ll consider “all reasoned and reasonable inquiries.” In 2020, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gifted Wayne a Lamborghini after the rapper was stopped by Saudi customs officials for trying to enter the kingdom with more than $25,000 of jewelry. Thinking outside the box, Koerner reached out to a bin Salman representative about a possible purchase, to no avail. His client would love for someone to buy the lyric sheets and donate them to a museum. “I rescued it from the trash,” the client said. “I saved history, unbeknownst to me. I believe I found this for a reason. “I thought it was interesting. Then it became something very interesting. And very interesting is worth a lot of money.”

The attorney was intrigued by the man’s story and agreed to represent him. Going on the offensive, Koerner sued Lil Wayne, as represented by Davis, in Civil District Court. He cited a Louisiana law that grants ownership of a movable object “by prescription” to whomever has possessed it for 10 years. Koerner described the legal back-and-forth between the two sides as “gentlemanly.” To avoid litigation, Davis offered a deal: “Mr. Carter is willing to pay your client a small reward for his Email Keith Spera at kspera@ good citizenship upon its return.” theadvocate.com.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 7A

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8A ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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CRACKDOWN Continued from page 1A

Washington Parish Sheriff Jason Smith points to a recent child pornography case that spanned three parishes and four law enforcement agencies. Covington police investigator Brian Brown called Smith last month with a tip: A man in Smith’s parish was believed to have child porn on devices in his home. The suspect, Jeffrey VeneSTAFF FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON zia Jr., lived in Bogalusa, but worked about 75 miles away Attorney General Liz Murrill announces arrests made in on the west bank of the Mis- Operation Restricted Domain while surrounded by law sissippi River. enforcement partners during a news conference at the So Smith’s team picked Louisiana Department of Justice in Baton Rouge on May 18. up the phone and called the Louisiana Attorney General’s Internet Crimes Against Internet crimes against children arrests Children task force, of which his agency is a member, and Louisiana task force has made more arrests as more sheriffs roped in West Baton Rouge have come on board. 717 deputies to arrest Venezia on an outstanding misde- Task force arrests: meanor traffic warrant. 545 While Venezia was in cus477 tody in West Baton Rouge Parish — and unable to destroy potential evidence — 303 Washington Parish deputies were executing a search warrant at his home, where they eventually found child porn, deputies say. The entire operation unfolded in a matter of hours. Venezia was booked into the 2024 2025 2026 2026 Washington Parish jail on (so far) (projected) Monday and charged with Staff graphic multiple counts of posses- Source: Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill's office sion of child pornography and weapons charges. Bail “epidemic” of child exploita- “They’re going to respond was set at $150,000. tion crimes in Louisiana and to these ads and messages so many other places, and from kids who are not right A surge in arrests that was apparent when she next door, because they Cases like Venezia’s il- took office in 2024. don’t want to run into somelustrate how dramatically “I could see that it’s get- body that they know.” Louisiana’s approach to on- ting worse, and it’s going to That willingness to cross line child exploitation has keep getting worse, not bet- parish lines is one reason the changed. ter,” Murrill said. “I could task force’s statewide reach In January 2024, Murrill’s see we needed to be throw- has become so important. task force had just eight ing more resources at the Investigators can now do the partnering agencies. That problem, because it’s out- same thing the offenders do: year, it made 303 arrests. pacing our ability to keep up operate across jurisdictions. The task force now has with it.” Masters noted Livingston more than 80 agencies inWith her office’s investiga- Parish Sheriff Jason Ard as volved, including all state tive arm — the Louia partner who regusheriff’s offices. It is on pace siana Bureau of Inlarly uses stings to make 717 arrests, accord- vestigation — as the to catch offenders ing to recent numbers pro- lead agency, Murrill across the state. vided by the Attorney Gen- grew the task force “You’ll see Shereral’s Office. until every sheriff Ard make 20 arCases that used to be juris- iff came aboard. A rests in a month,” dictional headaches, requir- handful of police Masters said. “Well, ing coordination with small departments joined, Masters all those offenders agencies with little resourc- too. aren’t from Livingses in rural parishes, move Masters says they’ve been ton Parish, but his guys are much faster now that the able to use their resources posing as children that live task force has an open line to help train smaller de- in Livingston Parish. And of communication with offi- partments that otherwise if you’re willing to harm a cers in every parish. wouldn’t be able child in Livingston Parish, Smith says his to get that train- he’s willing to put you in jail office jokes that ing on their own, in Livingston Parish.” everyone wants to On Wednesday, Murrill angiving them new be on a task force tools to help inves- nounced the results of “Op“because it sounds tigate these types of eration Bottom Dweller,” a cool.” But the effeccrimes. three-day undercover sting tiveness of the ICAC One of the tools operation hosted by her ofin the past two years the task force has fice and Assumption Parish Smith comes down to a leaned into in the Sheriff Leland Falcon that simple thing: familiarity. past couple of years is sting led to the identification and “Because we’ve worked operations, in which agents arrest of 10 suspects across together over a couple of pose as children online and multiple states. years now … everybody’s catch offenders trying to soThat investigation also infamiliar with what needs to licit them for sex. volved the Berwick Police happen,” Smith said. “It just In the two years since he Department, the Departmakes everybody much was elected Washington Par- ment of Homeland Security, more comfortable in taking ish sheriff, Smith said he’s Morgan City police, and action quickly instead of learned that many preda- sheriffs in Livingston Parburning up a lot of energy tors don’t like to commit ish, St. James Parish and St. trying to remember who to hands-on crimes involving Mary Parish. call in one parish, and what children like sexual battery, In small parishes, a few the situation might be in an- rape and trafficking in their sheriff’s deputies have to other parish.” own backyard. cover larger geographical “They’re going to go hunt- areas. And in more populous Snaring predators ing in Livingston or in St. parishes like Orleans, Baton Murrill says there is an Tammany,” Smith said. Rouge or Livingston, depu-

ties’ resources are focused on violent crime. Murrill says the task force allows resources to be pooled and shared throughout the state. “We bring the additional resources to them and train their staff; we don’t take staff away from their agency,” Murrill said. “Working in this partnership, they get the benefit of our technological support and our experience, quite frankly, with dealing with these cases that cross a lot of agency lines.”

Tips pouring in While Masters says the increase in arrests shows that the statewide network is working, he also notes the massive increase in tips that agencies get each year. According to the attorney general’s stats, in 2016 Louisiana received just 863 cybertips — which are reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation sent by the National Center for

Missing and Exploited Children. Ten years later, the attorney general’s current projections show that number will be around 93,000 this year, which Murrill and Masters say reflects the increased access to children on social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok. While Murrill has targeted internet crimes against children through her office’s criminal division via the task force, she’s also taken aim at platforms in civil court. A little more than a year ago, she sued Roblox, an online gaming platform that has been criticized over content moderation related to child safety. Last week, she filed separate lawsuits against Snapchat and Discord, arguing both platforms enable child predators to easily exploit kids. Still, the criminal side remains a top priority, which is partly why the task force recently opened a regional in-house location at the Ken-

ner police headquarters, referred to as the “Orleans Metro task force,” with plans to do the same thing in other regions. Masters is happy that the task force is achieving “results that have never been seen before.” He says the number of arrests the team has been able to make is something its members hang their hat on. But the staggering number of tips Louisiana receives each day for crimes against kids continues to surge, which Masters says is a constant reminder that the fight is far from over. “We identified a problem, and we found a solution. But look, it’s not a permanent solution,” Masters said. “We’re going to have to continue to keep growing, continue to stay up with the technology and continue bringing back results.” Email Patrick SloanTurner at patrick.sloanturner@theadvocate.com.

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Part of ceiling collapses at Kennedy Center

Trump continues heralding economic boom

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has spent 20 months promising that America was on the cusp of an economic boom. But Friday’s surprisingly positive jobs report ultimately provoked frustration from Trump. The August job numbers might have been a welcome break from after months of sluggish hiring and concerns about inflation that have been weighing on Trump and his party two months from Election Day. But speaking from the Oval Office, Trump instead launched into a grievance session about inflation and interest rates. His anger was aimed at the financial markets, the Federal Reserve and U.S. trade partners. He objected to the commonly accepted notion in economics that the surprise gain of 162,000 jobs in August could contribute to inflationary pressures. “Success does not cause inflation. Stupidity causes inflation,” Trump vented in the Oval Office, as he declared it “crazy” that the stock markets fell Friday on inflation concerns. The combination over his second term of a drop-off in hiring and higher prices has dogged Trump and his pledge to instantly unleash historic levels of growth. “When I win the election, we will immediately begin a brand new Trump economic boom,” Trump said at an August 2024 rally in North Carolina. But so far, the economy has grown at roughly 2% annually, slower than the gains during the Biden administration. Trump blamed his inability to deliver stronger growth on higher interest rates for U.S. government debt, saying on social media that America could retaliate by stopping

WASHINGTON — A chunk of ceiling fell inside a main hallway of the Kennedy Center, according to a spokesperson who said the damage underscores the need to shut down the historic arts venue for renovations sought by President Donald Trump. No one was injured when a piece of the ceiling inside the Kennedy Center’s grand foyer collapsed Friday evening, said Roma Daravi, the center’s vice president for public relations. Photos provided by the center showed a large hole in the high ceiling and debris littering the red carpet in part of the hallway that connects the Kennedy Center’s three main performance auditoriums. The damage occurred during stormy weather in Washington. The Kennedy Center’s Trump-aligned board is fighting in court to move forward with plans to add Trump’s name to the building’s facade and to close the center for two years as it undergoes $250 million in renovations. Daravi called the partial ceiling collapse Friday “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed.” “This structural failure stems from decades of neglect and deferred maintenance by the previous leadership, and there’s no justification for further delays in restoring America’s cultural center,” Daravi said in a statement.

But solid jobs report causing problems for him

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO BY JEFF CHIU

President Donald Trump has spent 20 months promising that America was on the cusp of an economic boom, but Friday’s surprisingly positive jobs report ultimately provoked frustration from the president. trade with foreign countries. Rates have been climbing in response to persistently high inflation fueled by Trump’s tariffs and oil shortages from the Iran war. The national debt has now crossed the daunting threshold of $40 trillion and rates on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note on Friday rose to 4.79%. As the promised growth has yet to materialize, the president has lost some of the public’s trust in his ability to steer the world’s largest economy. His own policies have enabled, in part, the inflation and high interest rates that he wishes to blame on others. “The administration’s credibility on growth, inflation, rates, debt and deficit dynamics have taken a hit given the outsized predictions that are not aligned with economic reality,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the consultancy RSM US. If the Fed did as Trump wanted and cut its benchmark rate so that more money could flow into the U.S. economy, the potential influx of cash could make inflation even worse and only add to his political and economic headaches. But the president disputed this foundational concept in monetary policy. He said Friday that gross domestic product would grow at “12, 13, 14, 15%” if the rates were lower as he seemed to shrug off the inflation risks. “We could have a GDP that

would break every single record,” Trump said. The president’s approval rating on the economy was a lowly 32% in the middle of the summer, according to polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. When Republicans were last facing midterm voters in 2018

under Trump, his economic approval rating was 50%. Trump’s threat to cut off foreign trade could endanger growth, further hurting his ratings. His recent levying of tariffs against Canada have become problems for Republicans in the Maine and Michigan Senate races. Trump officials say their policies are working as intended. They say the development of artificial intelligence will lead to more productivity to boost growth. They say that last year’s tariffs should ultimately bring more factory work to America, while Trump’s tax cuts will create more business investment and his administration’s efforts to identify fraud will create savings for taxpayers. “I expect higher growth,” said Christopher Phelan, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. “We’re doing stuff to make good things happen.”

Phelan said recent job gains have been about two times larger than what’s needed to match population growth. He considers it as entirely possible that productivity gains could push up overall growth for the next several years, even as he acknowledged that growth alone might not be enough to solve all of the country’s financial challenges. Because the costs of Social Security and Medicare are rising faster than revenues, growth alone is unlikely to meaningfully reduce budget deficits. If U.S. economic growth could exceed 3% growth annually for the next decade, that would only be enough to stabilize the government’s already high debt load, according to an analysis by Ernie Tedeschi, head of economic insights and research at Stripe, the financial technology company.

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U.S. ambassador calls violent Israeli settlers ‘terrorists’ as “terrorists,” a word since the war in Gaza began it,” the ambassador said SatComments come tlers that U.S. officials usually with the Hamas-led attack urday of the incident, addfor Palestinian mili- on southern Israel on Oct. ing: “I don’t think that’s what after weeks of reserve 7, 2023, according to the they intended to do, but I do tants. “If there are squatters that United Nations humanitar- think that they represent a West Bank unrest come very tiny minority.” in and put up their own ian office.

BY IBRAHIM HAZBOUN and CARA ANNA Associated Press

JERUSALEM — The United States ambassador to Israel condemned Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank again on Saturday, calling the behavior an “act of terror” as he visited with Palestinian American residents shaken by months of attacks. Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to such set-

flags and take possession of something that does not belong to them, if they burn a car, if they torch a mosque, if they go into someone’s home and vandalize it, paint graffiti on the walls, that’s a criminal act. But it extends beyond a criminal act. It’s an act of terror,” Huckabee said during his visit to the village of Turmus Ayya, which has reported frequent attacks by settlers over the past year. Such attacks have surged

Huckabee also used the term “terrorists” last month after weeks of unrest in the West Bank town of Qusra, where settlers surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. Days later, residents of the West Bank village of Bazariya said settlers burned a mosque and left a message on a wall in graffiti reading “Huckabee regards from the terrorists” in Hebrew. “I’m glad they admitted

A week ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the actions of a “handful of rioters,” and the foreign ministry called the settlers’ actions “a disgrace.” Netanyahu’s government is the most ultranationalist and religious in Israel’s history. It has presided over a surge of settlement construction in the West Bank. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MAJDI MOHAMMED

Palestinians check the damage to a mosque on Tuesday that, according to residents, was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank village of Bazariya.

U.S. phases out $45 million annual support for Namibia HIV program BY SONJA SMITH Associated Press

WINDHOEK, Namibia — The United States will start phasing out its financial support for Namibia’s HIV response programs, the latest among southern African countries to feel the effects of the withdrawal of foreign aid by the U.S. administration. The U.S. will provide Namibia with $45 million for its HIV response in the 2027 fiscal year but the country

will then start funding its own HIV programs, with the U.S. only providing “technical cooperation,” both countries said in statement. Namibia has received around $45 million annually through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in recent years. The United States says it has contributed more than $1.1 billion to Namibia’s HIV response since 2003. While the withdrawal of the funding was expected

since the Trump adminis- increase domestic financing terests. The U.S. has signed countries since late last year, tration’s “America First” and safeguard American in- agreements with about 30 many of them in Africa. approach to foreign aid was announced, it follows Namibia’s rejection of proFREE Back by Pop posed provisions for sharing SHOW ular De health data and biological ER P mand! N O R T H A M ER I CA’S AC K A specimens with the United GE ! States. Namibia cited privacy, sovereignty and legal concerns for its decision. The Trump administration has been entering into counFeaturing our try-by-country agreements that Washington says will reduce donor dependency,

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LOUISIANA POLITICS

Mike Johnson presses Democrats on court-packing ‘Put their money where their mouth is’

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson ordered a vote on packing the U.S. Supreme Court that was doomed from the get-go but aimed at getting Democrats on the record for an issue he thinks could put the opposition party in a political bind. The resolution would have enshrined in the Constitution that the Supreme Court Mark could have only Ballard nine justices. But the measure required a two-thirds majority in both chambers, plus approval by three-quarters of the states — none of which was likely to happen this year, said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law who studies the federal judiciary. “It’s largely performative and has to do with showing they’re doing something ahead of the midterms,” Tobias said of the Republican effort. After coming up more than 50 votes shy, Johnson chucked the rest of the House’s to-do list and sent reps back home to campaign for the rest of September. Johnson can thank two Democratic representatives for giving him an opportunity for political theater. Their two votes provided the margin needed to pass a resolution that continues government operations until December. Otherwise, government would’ve shut down on Oct. 1. Five Republicans, including Rep. Clay Higgins, RLafayette, voted no. Early voting for the Nov. 3 congressional midterms begins Oct. 20 in Louisiana. Voters are to decide if Republicans will continue to control all levers of governmental power or

Gov. Landry names Rep. Wright to DOTD job

Gov. Jeff Landry has named Rep. Mark Wright, R-Covington, to a top role at the state transportation department, according to a news release Monday. As commissioner of the Department of Transportation and Development’s Office of Multimodal Commerce, Wright will “oversee the office’s efforts to strengthen Louisiana’s integrated transportation network, including ports, waterways, rail, aviation, public transportation, and commercial trucking,” the news release said. Wright is a forWright mer chair of the House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee and has a professional background in maritime commerce, having served as vice president of the American Waterways Operators. “Mark brings a unique combination of legislative experience, transportation knowledge and strategic leadership to this role,”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. if they prefer Democrats run the U.S. House, and perhaps the U.S. Senate. Polls indicate that more voters are being persuaded by Democratic themes of high prices, long war and social safety-net cuts. Republicans have focused their campaigns on having lowered taxes and closing the border.

Court packing politics Bringing in the “court-packing” motif reinforces GOP allegations that Democrats are communists. “For years, Democrats have called for packing the Supreme Court with more left-wing judges,” Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, wrote in an email. “A Supreme Court that is not equal to the legislative and executive branches or is capriciously altered with left-wing political judges will end the court’s inde-

said Transportation Secretary Glenn Ledet. “His understanding of how our ports, waterways, railroads, airports and highCapitol ways work togethBuzz er to move people STAFF and commerce will REPORTS be a tremendous asset to DOTD and to the people of Louisiana.” Wright has represented the northshore area since 2017 and is term-limited. He ran unsuccessfully this year for a seat on the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. Wright said in a post on X that he is resigning from his House seat to take the job. “I’m grateful for this opportunity to serve Louisiana as I finish my terms in the House,” Wright said in the release. “I really look forward to working with Gov. Landry, Secretary Ledet, and other leaders during this exciting growth era in Louisiana. Having spent a large portion of my legislative and professional career dedicated to maritime, ports and transportation, it’s gratifying to help Louisiana grow and lead the

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Benton, pauses for questions on Sept. 2. pendence, threaten the freedoms of Americans.” Though changing the composition of the Supreme Court may become a thing in 2028, Democrats haven’t come to an agreement on the issue. True, a number of leading lights in the Democratic Party — Vice President Kamala Harris and

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttieg to name two — favor expanding the number of justices. But a number of prominent Democrats disagree, including retired Justice Stephen Breyer and Joe Biden, who as president had a commission look into the restructuring possibilities. Many Democrats are angered at recent 6-3 Supreme Court decisions that support Trump and GOP bucket list issues — particularly the Louisiana vs. Callais decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965, cost Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, his seat and opened the door for Republican-led states to redraw the districts that helped elect Black candidates to Congress. Into that milieu, Johnson opted to run a messaging vote. “If we go down the road of packing the Supreme Court, it

nation into the future.” A special primary election to fill Wright’s Louisiana House District 77 seat representing St. Tammany Parish is scheduled for Feb. 6, with a runoff election set for March 13 if needed.

Hollis unveils new 9/11 collectible coins The U.S. Mint engraved a remembrance to terrorist victims on a limited number of the Enduring Liberty Half Dollar and delivered the coins to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. The Mint engraved a “privy mark” on 2,983 of its specialissue 250th national birthday half dollars to also mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. The privy mark includes the date “911-01” encircled by the phrase, “ALWAYS REMEMBER.” “The iconic symbols of freedom and enlightenment, along with the ‘Always Remember’ privy mark, reflect the resilience of the victims’ families and the Nation,” said Mint Director Paul Hollis, of Covington. “While we will never forget those fateful attacks, our

PROVIDED PHOTO

The U.S. Mint presented 2,983 special-issue Enduring Liberty Half Dollar coins with privy mark to the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001.

nation continues to pass the torch of enlightenment to future generations in remembrance and in honor of the 2,983 victims.” Hollis, a former Louisiana legislator and member of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Mint in February. A nu-

turns into a political palooza, and it would not serve the country,” Johnson, R-Benton, told reporters, adding that the vote forced Democrats to “put their money where their mouth is.” U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, DMaryland, counters that Congress is shirking its duty by memorializing only nine justices. Raskin taught constitutional law for a quarter century at American University Washington College of Law and is the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Article 3, Section 1 of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to set up federal courts. Congress changed the number of justices eight times since 1789, when the Supreme Court was established with six seats, one for each federal judicial circuit. Congress in 1801 lowered the number to five to stop President Thomas Jefferson from making more appointments. The next year, a new Congress returned the number to six. Then, in 1807, a seventh justice was added to match the number of federal judicial circuits at that time. Thirty years later, two more seats were added, again to match the number of circuits, which was the reasoning for adding a 10th justice in 1863. Congress dropped the number back to seven in 1866 to keep President Andrew Johnson from making nominations. Since 1869, the number has been set at nine. There are now 13 circuits. With the vote completed and the issue raised, many Republicans are headed to Dallas for a rare midterm national convention scheduled to begin Wednesday. More than 100 items and a slate of speakers, including Trump, are on the agenda in what is being called a rally to energize GOP voters. Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

mismatist, or professional coin collector, he has called the role a “dream job.” Both the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001, as part of coordinated suicide attacks organized by the al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Terrorists hijacked two commercial airliners and flew into each of the skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York. A third passenger plane was crashed into the Pentagon across the Potomac River from Washington and a fourth plowed into a field in rural Pennsylvania when passengers attempted to retake control of the flight. At every anniversary of the attack, families of the victims gather at the 9/11 Memorial Plaza, in the footprint of the twin towers, to read aloud the names of the 2,983 persons killed in the September 11 attacks and February 26, 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. Moments of silence will mark the times when each of the World Trade Center towers was struck, the Pentagon was struck, the crash in Pennsylvania, and for those lost to 9/11 health effects.

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Even snakes have to audition for the opera at the Met Princess the boa constrictor gets the part

BY DAVID R. MARTIN and JEFFREY COLLINS

Associated Press

stage for each performance. Ziegfeld looks each one in the eye, almost face-to-face as they evaluate the snake’s demeanor. “I need to know that the animal is comfortable with people and with what we are doing,” Ziegfeld said. In the coldblooded competition, a boa constrictor named Princess won. She is a larger snake with a better visual presence on stage. “We will be moving forward with Princess (the big ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY ANDRES KUDACKI sunglow boa constrictor who is yellow-peach) in rehearsPerformance artist Zoe Ziegfeld, who plays the part of a als on a trial basis! She is a snake charmer, holds a snake on Aug. 28 during auditions wonderful snake, and the trito select a snake for a part in an adaptation of Mozart’s al is not about her, but rather ‘Così fan tutte’ at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. about me and my strength,”

NEW YORK — Pretty much everyone on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York must audition — even the snake who will briefly take center stage in an upcoming adaptation of a Mozart classic. In charge of deciding who gets the s-s-s-s-starring reptilian role is Zoe Ziegfeld, a carnival performer-turnedopera actor cast as the snake Ziegfeld takes each snake, mal over their head, rehearshandler in the Met’s version of “Così fan tutte,” inspired lets it slither and wrap ing what they will do under by Coney Island in the 1950s. around, then hoists the ani- the bright lights at center

Widow of airman killed in Mideast frustrated by attempt to get benefits BY JACK BROOK and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The widow of an airman killed on a combat mission in the Middle East said it took a viral social media post to get resolution from the Pentagon on issues related to her husband’s benefits and basic pay months after his death. Maj. Alex Klinner, 33, was one of six crew members of a KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq in March while supporting operations against Iran. He’s one of 18 U.S. service members killed, along with 790 wounded, since the war began more than six months ago. The Air Force reached out to his widow, Libby Klinner, last week to clarify that his final paycheck would include hazard pay and combat-related tax breaks. This occurred after she voiced frustration on social media at being told by a military officer assigned to support her after her husband’s death that he was ineligible for those benefits because “we were not at war.” “My husband lost his life because we’re in a war, and then I was told that because it’s not technically a war, we lose out on something,” Klinner told The Associated Press. “It all comes down to principle.” Her post, made last weekend, gained national attention. Vice President JD Vance promised to look into her case after being asked about it during a White House briefing on Thursday. “We want to be as helpful as we can and ensure she gets everything that she is entitled to,” Vance said. “My message to her would be, ‘We love ya, we’re grateful for the sacrifice and we very much take very seriously our commitment to get you what you need to get.’ ” In response to a separate question, Vance rejected the use of the word “war” to characterize U.S. fighting in Iran, saying that “there is no active shooting.” The military has launched strikes against targets in Iran twice last week, and Iran has retaliated by firing on U.S. allies in the Gulf. On Friday, President Donald Trump called U.S. strikes “intermittent” and defended Vance’s comments. “I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. In late July, the Trump administration created a new, separate category in the Pentagon’s casualty count system for those killed and wounded in renewed U.S.Iran fighting. Pentagon officials said the change was necessary because “Operation Epic Fury,” the original name for combat operations against Tehran, had ended. Since July 7, all U.S. casualties in the Middle East have been tallied under “Overseas Operations.” Libby Klinner said Air Force officials contacted her last week to say they were initiating a review of her husband’s pay. The Air Force acknowledged to her Thursday that it had initially provided

inaccurate information and clarified that she was receiving the full pay and benefits her husband was owed, she said. She said she was told that her husband’s paycheck had already included but incorrectly itemized the combatrelated hazard pay and tax breaks. The pay incentives commonly known as “combat pay” are $225 per month and are not conditioned on a formal war declaration but just that the service member be in an area where there is “grave danger of physical injury” or be “killed, injured, or wounded by a hostile fire event,” according to a military website.

Alex Klinner’s final paycheck would have included half that amount since troops are paid twice per month. It is difficult to calculate how much in federal tax breaks Klinner would have been receiving without more information. Klinner declined to specify the amount of money she was initially told her husband, an eight-year Air Force veteran from Birmingham, Alabama, would be ineligible to receive. The Air Force said officials spoke with Klinner last week to “ensure all her questions are fully addressed” and confirmed that “all eligible combat theater benefits were included” in her husband’s pay.

Ziegfeld wrote in an email after the auditions were over. A slightly smaller brown boa constrictor named Nala from a second audition will be Princess’ understudy. This is the third time Ziegfeld has played the role of the snake charmer in the Met’s adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 1790 opera. In Mozart’s original, two Italian soldiers decide to test their lovers’ fidelity by pretending to head off to war. They then disguise themselves and try to seduce each other’s girlfriends. In this version, the plot remains mostly the same, but the setting is a 1950s Coney Island carnival complete with vi-

brant scenery and sideshow performers. Ziegfeld came to the role honestly. They spent a couple of seasons on Coney Island doing eight snake-charming shows a day. When they tried out several years ago, live snakes weren’t allowed in the audition space. So instead, Ziegfeld brought video of their snake-charming act, then hammered home their carnival sideshow bona fides by knocking a nail into their own nasal cavity in what was called the Human Blockhead act. The snakes came to their audition thanks to Nancy Novograd and her company All Tame Animals.

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EDUCATION NYC bans AI for students through eighth grade Nation’s largest public school system sets one-year moratorium

its for all grades and blocked YouTube and other social media sites during the school day.

Screen time limit possible

BY ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE Associated Press

NEW YORK — New York City’s public schools will temporarily ban elementary and middle school students from using generative artificial intelligence tools during the upcoming school year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday. The one-year moratorium — part of a broader assessment of how children in the nation’s largest school system interact with the technology — will apply to “all software that uses student-facing generative AI” for students through eighth grade, the mayor’s office said. It described the policy as the most expansive prohibition in the country. At the same time, the city will establish twice-yearly AI literacy classes for all public high school students. It will also launch pilot programs allowing some high school students to use a handful of AI platforms under an educator’s supervision. Companion chatbots will be prohibited across all grades, officials said. The approach comes as students, parents and schools across the country attempt to navigate the use of AI tools in the classroom and elsewhere.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

New York City’s public school system will temporarily ban ‘all software that uses student-facing generative AI’ for students through eighth grade.

Reliance on AI Schools are working to teach children how to incorporate the technology while preventing them from relying too heavily on it or using it to cheat. “Each day when our children come to school, we teach them to ask questions, to challenge assumptions, to interrogate the premise, to ask why. When it comes to AI in our schools, we

‘Each day when our children come to school, we teach them to ask questions, to challenge assumptions, to interrogate the premise, to ask why. When it comes to AI in our schools, we hold an obligation to do the same,” New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said.

hold an obligation to do the same,” Mamdani, a Democrat, said at a news conference. The Los Angeles school district, where students returned to classrooms in mid-August, is temporarily blocking access to generative AI tools on student devices across all grades. The Los Angeles Unified School District said Wednesday that the ban will remain in place across the country’s second-largest school district as officials develop a student AI policy during the school year. In June, LAUSD became the first major school district to eliminate the use of school-issued devices for its youngest students as part of a sweeping screen time policy. The policy banned devices before second grade, set screen time lim-

In New York, the city will also recommend screen time limits for students, suggesting a daily cap of 30 minutes for students in grades three through five and 45 minutes for those in grades six through eight. Teachers will be allowed to use AI for instructional planning and operational tasks. At least 37 states have official AI guidance that schools can use as a blueprint, though there is no single definition of AI literacy or consensus on how it should be taught. New York state last year approved a ban on students’ use of cellphones in schools. City education officials will also conduct a broad review of all technology tools used in the school system and eliminate those deemed nonessential to learning. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers in New York, praised the screen time limits but said the city’s AI policy “leaves many questions unanswered,” including how the Education Department “will be more aggressive in demanding the products it purchases have AI safeguards.” Josh Golin, executive director of the children’s advocacy group Fairplay, said he would have preferred a longer moratorium and more time between the announcement and the start of the school year. “A year to evaluate is not nearly enough time,” he said, adding that the onus should be on AI platforms “to demonstrate that their products are effective at teaching kids, that they’re safe, that they’re not displacing face-to-face interaction and that they’re not leading to rampant cheating.” New York City public school students are scheduled to return to classrooms next week.

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Turning Point lays groundwork to shape 2028 primary BY HANNAH FINGERHUT and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — Alongside the familiar sounds of roosters crowing and thrill seekers screaming on rides at the Iowa State Fair, there was a chorus of boos from Turning Point Action activists who were heckling Democratic politicians making their way through the crowds. Videos of the confrontations got hundreds of thousands of views on social media, a burst of attention for a conservative youth organization that is charting its next chapter after last year’s assassination of its leader Charlie Kirk. But the true test of Turning Point Action’s clout was unfolding inside the exhibition center, where staff members were registering voters, handing out buttons and signing people up for social events. “Building the foundation for 2028,” said one of the flyers. While Democrats have punted Iowa from the top of its presidential primary calendar, the state’s caucuses will still kick off Republicans’ next nominating process. Turning Point Action is positioning itself to shape that contest, a reminder that preparations for the next White House campaign are already in motion even though no candidates have announced and the midterm elections aren’t over yet. Turning Point Action wants at least one staffer in each of Iowa’s 99 counties to mobilize the conservative grassroots. “It is important to us to see high voter participation in the caucuses,” said Tyler Bowyer, the organization’s chief operating officer. “That’s your measuring stick.” In addition to Iowa, Turning Point Action grew its footprint in New Hampshire and Nevada for this year’s midterms, which could also help in 2028.

The likely beneficiary of this initiative would be Vice President JD Vance, who is widely expected to launch a campaign. Turning Point leaders including Erika Kirk, Charlie’s widow, have been clear they’re ready to throw their support behind Vance if he jumps in. More than a dozen Republican officials, activists, lawmakers and strategists in Iowa said Turning Point’s imprint in the state was visible but still something of a mystery, and some privately question whether the organization’s impact will match the buzz that it generates online. But others have eagerly welcomed the organization to the state. “A year ago, Iowa was virgin — no Turning Point. And many of us complained,” said Kelley Koch, a former Dallas County Republican chair, to a gathering of MAGA Nation Iowa, the grassroots organization she founded. “Finally, Turning Point Action listened to us.” When asked about his 2028 ambitions, Vance demurs and says he’s focused on his current job, but he’s expected to be an immediate Republican frontrunner if he decides to seek the presidency. Bowyer said Turning Point Action wants to be supportive without “being pushy.” “We haven’t officially endorsed as an organization yet because no one’s announced, right? But, you know, depending on who announces and when we endorse — yeah, of course we’ll be out campaigning on behalf of who we endorse,” he said. Bowyer said Vance can bridge the gap between the Make America Great Again movement, which Trump launched more than a decade ago, and younger voters who were attracted to Charlie Kirk’s brand of conservatism. “It’s a natural fit,” he said. Bowyer acknowledged

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY HANNAH FINGERHUT

A Turning Point Action staffer gives an American flag to a voter on Friday at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. that Turning Point Action’s growing infrastructure in early primary states could cause some agitation on the right if it is seen as throwing its weight behind one presidential candidate. But, he said “that’s not why we do it,” describing the goal as boosting turnout in the Iowa caucuses to send a strong signal heading into the general election. Other potential candidates include Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state. However, Rubio has said he wouldn’t run against Vance. Sen. Ted Cruz has not announced a campaign, but he has already made several visits to Iowa this year and said in a recent podcast hosted by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that, “It’s no secret that I want to be president.” Although Iowa has shifted rightward over the last decade, it’s considered a political battleground in this year’s midterm elections because of Trump’s sagging approval ratings, declining access to healthcare and tariff-driven turmoil in the agricultural industry. Sen. Joni Ernst and Gov. Kim Reynolds, both Republicans, are retiring, and there are fiercely contested races to replace them. Democrat Josh Turek and Republican

Ashley Hinson are seeking the Senate seat, while Democrat Rob Sand and Republican Zach Lahn want to be governor. Two battleground congressional districts will

help determine control of the House as well. The spotlight on Iowa this year is an opportunity for Turning Point Action to demonstrate its clout. The organization said it hired four staffers on the ground last year. After Lahn’s surprise win over Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra, Turning Point Action said it would double its manpower in the state before the midterms. Young activists regularly post on social media from county fairs and Republican committee meetings. They upload selfies on sidewalks or stoops to show days spent knocking on doors. “We’re newer in Iowa,” a Des Moines-based senior field staffer, Kylie Kloewer, told a visitor who stopped by Turning Point Action’s booth at the state fair. The booth featured signs emphasizing that there are

only two genders and one that said “men can’t get pregnant,” the kind of confrontational culture war messaging that Charlie Kirk practiced on college campuses. Some people nodded and chuckled, while others raised their eyebrows as they wandered by. Those who walked up to the table could sign up for social clubs that host events, including barbecues and volleyball games. “Any involvement is success,” said Kelsey Newberry, who is based in the organization’s Phoenix headquarters and was helping at the Iowa State Fair. “You’re bringing people together as a community. The more you talk to your neighbors, the better.” “And even if they’re not ready to get activated now,” Newberry added, “being around like-minded people might encourage them in the future.”

What the Fox Knows by artist Kathy Miller Stone and author Jacqueline Simon on display through November 8, 2026

16A ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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THE GULF COAST

Boardwalk plans cause uproar in Navarre Beach Area residents want to preserve nature

live there. “You just can’t even make all this stuff up,” said Brad Baker, the county administrator. “We had one lady come up and talk about how we’re ruining the bear habitat. I don’t know that many bears that live on a white sandy beach.” Colten Wright, who leads the board of county commissioners, said the project has potential. “I understand some of the concerns and frustrations,” he said. “A number of them happen to be founded in fear and founded in bad information.” “There are so many people in Florida that don’t want visitors, that don’t want growth,” he added. “That’s part of it.”

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

Rising tensions

PROVIDED RENDERING FROM SANTA ROSA COUNTY

An event hall and boardwalk project has been proposed in Navarre Beach, Fla., including small retail shops and a food truck plaza. an idea to build parking and sidewalks at a coastal dune lake after some locals worried it could harm the environment. In Navarre Beach, which sits in one of the Gulf Coast’s fastestgrowing regions, some residents are also lamenting the new construction of a brightly-colored beach souvenir shop. And locals troubled by the boardwalk proposal are packing public forums and filling social media pages with dozens of frustrated posts. “People are upset,” said Cathy Holmes, who founded a local sea turtle conservation center. “We don’t want something big where people are shopping and there’s more trash being left behind and there’s more traffic.” Others are scoffing at the grievances and say they would enjoy a place to dine and shop along the beach. “Folks still complain there’s nowhere to eat,” one resident wrote

on a community social media page teeming with uproar. “So now there are plans to build a boardwalk which will have restaurants, bars, shopping and entertainment and Navarre doesn’t want it. Someone is going to build several things for us to do and eat and many of you are against it. Someone please make it make sense!!!!!!!”

Debate over growth Leaders are trying to ease the tensions with assurances that plans are not final. The county will likely hold public meetings this fall to discuss options for the project, which could cost several million dollars. The debate has become one of the most contentious in years for Navarre Beach, a narrow barrier island between Destin and Pensacola. It is an unusual moment of strife for a community that calls itself “Florida’s most relaxing place.”

But the region is changing. The population in Santa Rosa County has soared by almost 12% — or about 22,000 people — since 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Navarre Beach remains far less developed than other stretches of the Florida Panhandle, but new houses and developments are rising. The area also welcomes more than a million visitors a year — including thousands from New Orleans. Some locals and officials say the county must adapt to meet visitors’ demands and capitalize on growing economic opportunities of tourism. They argue the boardwalk could relieve parking issues near the beach and convince more visitors to spend money on local businesses and restaurants. County leaders also say fears of natural destruction are overblown and insist the project would not harm dunes or the animals that

Still, some locals are pleading that county leaders listen to their worries that construction could disrupt bird habitat and disorient turtle hatchlings who use moonlight to guide them toward the water. The debate is also reigniting an old tension along the Gulf Coast, where some beach residents have long complained that inland leaders use coastal towns to drive tax revenues. Political tensions remain high in Santa Rosa County after some leadership shake-ups in a recent local election. But Gary Buroker, president of the Navarre Beach Leaseholders and Residents Association, said some locals’ stance is simple: “People that are here would like to see it stay like it is.” A decision about the project’s fate is likely several weeks away. But the furor is showing no signs of letting up. A crowd of residents wearing shorts and flip-flops recently filled a community meeting demanding answers from the county’s tourism leaders. Over nearly an hour, voices in the crowd rose at times with anger. And several wore T-shirts printed with their message. “Save our beach,” they read. “Don’t put up a parking lot.”

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The sandy shores of Florida’s Navarre Beach are known for sea turtles gliding through the surf, birds soaring in the breeze and empty dunes that sweep toward the gleaming waves. Soon, to the dismay of some locals, the vista may also include construction equipment. Plans to build a waterfront boardwalk with an event center, shops and food trucks are facing a growing revolt from some neighbors who say it will spoil the stunning natural beauty of Navarre Beach, which is among the last undeveloped spots on Florida’s Panhandle. To others, the development would be a welcome attraction that supports local businesses and provides a vital economic boost. But those arguments have done little so far to convince many residents who are racing to stop the project. “We have a piece of something that is still natural and wild and has not been touched by human hands,” said Erika Thomas, a local who is circulating a petition with more than 7,000 signatures against the development. “We don’t have a lot of those spaces anymore in this world. To me, that’s why this is important.” The tensions rippling through this beach community 230 miles east of New Orleans are one example of a story unfolding across the entire Gulf Coast. From Mississippi to Florida, many towns beloved by visitors from Louisiana are becoming embroiled in sometimes fierce debates about how to balance growth with preservation. In Orange Beach, Ala., a developer recently scrapped plans for a pirate-themed dinner theater after dozens of outraged locals argued it would turn their city into a flashy tourist strip. In January, leaders along Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A abandoned

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Parton, Steinem deaths bring feminists double dose of grief BY LAURIE KELLMAN and BILL BARROW Associated Press

One shaped and delivered the language of feminism. The other rejected the label but showed how feminism can be done: with a microphone dusted in rhinestones, and without apology. Gloria Steinem and Dolly Parton embodied two towering versions of the same idea: that women should know themselves well enough to make their own choices about matters intimate and societal. Their deaths eight days apart sent a double dose of grief around the world and across generations as many women (and some men!) asked who would take their places at the forefront of women’s rights. Steinem, overtly political, went undercover as a Playboy bunny to deliver an exposé, founded Ms. Magazine and spent the rest of her life urging women Steinem to support each other. Parton, on the other hand, defined herself as a larger-than-life daughter of the American South who told stories with music and included everybody — but refused to play politics or call herself a feminist. “Dolly taught us to dream big. Gloria taught us to speak up,” wrote DeMond B Nason, a New York City singer. “Both reminded us that a woman could walk into a world that told her who she was supposed to be — and simply decide to become something else.” Parton didn’t say so, but Steinem insisted more than three decades ago that the pair fit together under the same feminist flag. “If feminism means each of us finding your unique power, and helping other women do the same, Dolly Parton certainly has done both,” Steinem wrote in 1987, when Ms. Magazine named the singer one of its “Women of the Year.” Many shared the sense that Steinem and Parton belonged together. “Both believed in women: in our ability to decide who we are, make our own choic-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY GEORGE WALKER IV

Sunny Holiday poses for a photo near a mural of Dolly Parton on Aug. 25 in Nashville, Tenn. Parton died on Aug. 25 at age 80. es, take care of one another and shape the world around us,” wrote Swati Narayan in a column for American Kahani, an online news outlet for Indian and South Asian Americans. Between Parton’s death on Aug. 25 and Steinem’s on Wednesday, Ms. Magazine reran Steinem’s essay with an editor’s note: “Steinem celebrated Parton not only as a gifted songwriter and magnetic performer, but as a shrewd businessperson who transformed femininity into a source of humor and power — and used her success to lift up working women, poor communities and the mountain people of her native Tennessee.” The embrace wasn’t mutual, at least not publicly. And that, Parton acknowledged, was by design. “I don’t do politics. I have too many fans on both sides of the fence,” she said in 2019 on “Dolly Parton’s America,” Radiolab’s podcast. “Of course,” she added, “I have my opinion about everything, but I learned years ago to keep your mouth shut about things.” The star was asked directly whether she thought of herself as a feminist. “No, I do not,” she said flatly, later explaining that she did not want to be associated with what she viewed as political extremes even as she advocated for women and their opportunities. “I do not like extreme things,” she said. “I don’t believe in crucifying a whole group just because a few people have made mistakes. To me when you say just the word ‘feminist’ is like, ‘I hate all men.’”

Parton was clear, though, that her lyrics were intended to shine light on women’s hardships and the realities of a world that the superstar agreed was dominated by men. She wrote about teenage pregnancy, abortion and adoption in “Down from Dover.” She supported equal pay (See: “9 to 5,” the movie and the song). One of her most famous songs is called, “Just Because I’m a Woman.” “People say to me, ‘Well, wasn’t it a man’s world back when you got in the business.’ I said, ‘It sure was, and honey, I had a ball,’” she said at a 2019 awards show. “I have never met a man that I didn’t like, and I’ve never met a man whose ass I couldn’t kick if he didn’t treat me with the right respect.” She just didn’t use words like “oppression” or “patriarchy.” And unlike Steinem, Parton didn’t endorse political candidates. Asked on CNN during the 2016 presidential campaign whether she preferred Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton, she replied: “I think they’re both nuts.” Onstage at the 2017 Emmys, Parton demurred when fellow “9 to 5” co-stars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda took a thinly veiled shot at Trump. Parton pivoted to humor. “They’re Lily and they’re Jane and I’m Dolly,” she said later. “So they did their thing, I did mine.” Feminism splintered under the pressure of public policy debates over such issues as abortion and the rejection of Clinton in the 2016 elections, the rise of Trump and the modern-day emergence of identity politics. Steinem’s version of femi-

nism today is more aligned with Democrats at a time when, at least for now, the country has swung Republican. Steinem lived to see the Supreme Court overturn the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, a pillar of the 1960s feminist movement she embodied. The Equal Rights Amendment remains unratified. And Americans have yet to elect a woman president. So if you’re an opponent of abortion rights or if you voted for Trump, can you still be a feminist in 2026? And would you want to be called that in public or on social media? To the end, Steinem insisted it wasn’t the label that mattered. What counted as feminist was whether a woman knew herself well enough to make her own choices rather than be defined as the daughter or wife of a man. But partisanship surfaced

even in the ritual public mourning for the two women. Parton’s passing touched off an immediate expression of grief from sources ranging from Trump to her fans in the LGBTQ+ community. Trump ordered flags to be flown at half-staff as a show of “respect” for her. In contrast, there was no such rush to recognize Steinem beyond her liberal and centrist constituency, even from conservatives who had expressed respect for her accomplishments as an influential historical figure. Their silence two days after Steinem’s death contrasted with the outpouring of grief, thanks and respect for Steinem from leading figures on the left, particularly of her generation. Clinton, who also saluted Parton, said Steinem’s activism was built on optimism despite abundant roadblocks for women.

“The lived experience became much more real and applicable to our entire society when Gloria began to point it out,” Clinton posted. For her part, Steinem said for years that she’s using her torch to light others. “If we each have a torch, there’s a lot more light,” she told the National Press Club in 2013. Social media offered evidence that supporters of both women would pass it on. Liz Webster, an American hair and makeup artist living in Germany, called Steinem and Parton “two very different women who shaped the way I saw what a woman could be.” “Feminism will never be just a word to me. The freedoms we have are incredibly new,” she wrote on Facebook. “So be the example. Use your freedom. Protect it. And make damn sure the women coming after us have even more.”

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EPA plan could leave public in the dark on data centers BY MATTHEW DALY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A plan by the Environmental Protection Agency could make it harder for the public to learn about and comment on proposed AI data centers that have sparked backlash in communities across the United States and transformed the midterm election landscape. The EPA proposal would eliminate a federal requirement that states notify the public and seek comment before issuing air pollution permits for data centers and other industrial facilities. States could still offer opportunities for public comment, but the EPA would no longer mandate them as a condition for states to grant permits. Critics say the move could thwart local residents from learning about proposed data centers or making their voices heard before projects are approved and construction begins. The move comes during a widespread backlash as tech giants build hundreds of massive server warehouses to fuel artificial intelligence and cloud computing. “By eliminating the long-standing federal requirement for public notice, this proposal continues efforts by the Trump administration to turn its back on the fundamental EPA principle of transparency,” said Mike Koerber, a former deputy director of EPA’s air quality office. If made final, the plan could create “an unlevel playing field where citizens in one state are kept completely in the dark about new data centers and heavy industrial emissions in their backyards, while neighboring states maintain over-

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO BY TED SHAFFREY

A proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency could make it harder for the public to learn about and comment on proposed AI data centers. sight,” he said. Under the EPA plan, states with weak or no requirements for public comment could speed permits for data centers, power plants and other pollution sources without consulting the public or even informing communities where the facilities are located, Koerber and other critics said. “Data centers and other industrial sources should not be able to get their air pollution permits in secret,” said Keri Powell, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, an advocacy organization that leads a coalition of nearly 200 environmental, health and community groups that filed comments with the EPA opposing the plan. “Communities deserve a chance to weigh in” before potentially harmful projects are approved. An EPA spokesperson called that a false narrative.

“In our proposal we are saying that states get to pick how they want their permitting process to go for minor sources” of air pollution, spokesperson Carolyn Holran said. The EPA proposal does not specifically identify data centers, she said, noting that the plan also would apply to laundromats, car repair shops and even landfills and steel mills that are considered “minor” pollution sources under the federal Clean Air Act. The proposal does not demand that states make particular changes to their programs, nor does it alter federal emission standards or weaken environmental protections, Holran said. “Rather, the proposal simply aligns the national program with the Clean Air Act language to ensure that states are in the lead regarding their programs.” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, who has made U.S. leadership in AI a top agency priority, said in a state-

ment that the plan is aimed at “cutting unnecessary and burdensome red tape, unleashing American energy and advancing cooperative federalism” with states. The EPA is expected to make the rule final next year. President Donald Trump continues to stick up for data centers, even as politicians from both parties criticize them and many communities try to block them. Trump said on social media this week that U.S. communities that don’t have data centers will “end up being backwards and poor.” Trump has acknowledged that data centers need “a little public relations help” and has pushed tech companies to generate their own electricity to shield consumers from higher utility bills. The Republican president calls data centers critical to winning the AI race against China. Environmental groups and other critics say the EPA proposal ignores the reality that many states, particularly in the South and Midwest, don’t require public notice or hearings beyond those set by federal agencies. The federal plan would leave many communities in the dark before data centers show up in their backyards, they said. “It’s beyond cruel for Trump’s EPA to silence front-line communities who bear the brunt of unhealthy air,” said Brandon Jones-Cobb, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, another environmental group. The EPA “has already turned its back on science, cut enforcement against industrial polluters and eliminated lifesaving air pollution measures,” he said. “Now it wants to shut the public out of decisions

to build or expand facilities that expose communities to dangerous air pollution, including data centers.” Powell, whose organization focuses on six Southern states from Virginia to Alabama, said many states “only do what is required by federal law” when it comes to public notice of land-use projects and other environmental concerns. “We rely on a minimum federal requirement to ensure we have environmental protections and a voice,” she said in an interview, calling regulation of data centers a crucial issue in a region where the energy-hungry behemoths are proliferating. Virginia and Georgia are both among states with the highest concentration of current and proposed data centers. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the environmental impacts of AI, according to a poll last year from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. Americans are more likely to think that over the next decade, artificial intelligence will do more to hurt than help the environment, the economy and society as a whole, the poll found. Besides powering AI and cloud computing, data centers are often sources of nitrogen oxide, which helps form ozone, as well as carbon monoxide and other air pollutants. Local communities also have expressed concerns about excessive water use and noise from data centers. Many Americans worry that AI could increase economic disparities and cause widespread job losses.

Rescue satellite gets close to NASA’s doomed telescope Private spacecraft unable to save it

to the sinking telescope and even snap photos two weeks after the rescue was abandoned. But the three-armed robotic salvager had to turn away because BY MARCIA DUNN of low fuel, according to Katalyst AP aerospace writer Space Technologies, which atCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private tempted the daring operation. “We got so close, but so far,” Kataspacecraft that was supposed to supply a lifeline to NASA’s Swift lyst CEO Ghonhee Lee told The AsObservatory managed to get close sociated Press this week.

Katalyst’s Link spacecraft got within 9 miles of Swift on Tuesday, using its own sensors to gather data on the doomed telescope for NASA. The rescue effort had already been called off in August because of Link’s own troubles in orbit, but the company wanted the practice for future satellite service calls. Link went into an uncontrollable spin soon after rocketing to Swift’s

rescue in July. Flight controllers managed to reduce the tumble and stabilize the spacecraft, using up precious fuel. In the end, there wasn’t enough fuel remaining to boost the aging Swift to a higher, longer-lasting orbit so it could continue observing the cosmos. Lee blamed Link’s problems on the rush to get it flying. The mission was thrown together in just

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nine months, and engineers often had to grab whatever was available instead of waiting for the preferred parts, he said. NASA paid the company $30 million to carry out the attempt, which was always going to be rushed. Both sides viewed it as an experiment with little to lose, although no one wanted a wreck that would unleash clouds of space debris.

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S u n d ay, S e p t e m b e r 6, 2026

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High school student organizes support walk Event to remember teens killed recently

Ja’Derrius Minnieweather and De’Vonte Coleman will be remembered during the Sept. 26 event. Minnieweather would have been a sophomore and Coleman would BY OLIVIA TEES have been a senior at Istrouma Staff writer High this year. Ricks will join the families of Istrouma High School junior Da’Von Ricks has organized a Minnieweather and Coleman and walking group with banners and other supporters as they walk a float to be part of the school’s alongside the school’s band, cheerupcoming homecoming parade to leaders, royal court floats and honor two Baton Rouge teens who school groups before the annual were killed this year. homecoming football game.

Ricks said his community has suffered great loss this year with the brutal deaths of Minnieweather and Coleman. “I wanted us to come together so we could show that even though we might fight, shoot at each other and all that, you can still come together as a community and stand up for people that don’t have the voice to say what they want to say,” Ricks said. Minnieweather reportedly was killed June 5, and his body was

subsequently dumped into the East Baton Rouge Landfill in Zachary on the morning of June 22, police said. His remains were found the morning of Aug. 18 and confirmed through DNA identification. Coleman was accidentally killed when his friend was trying to modify a firearm and it discharged, striking Coleman in the head. Shirell Jackson, a dean at Istrouma High School, said Ricks approached her with the idea for the walk, and she was all for it.

Jackson is the administrator responsible for student involvement in the homecoming parade, which is ultimately run by alums. “It’s bittersweet for us and it’s, you know, sad and emotional. But to see him do this, it brings a little light back,” Jackson said. She said she is happy the students are working hard to continue honoring the memory of their classmates and the kind of people

ä See WALK, page 2B

Family grieves woman killed in stabbing She would ‘always give everything,’ they say BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

Luke Mount, 8, poses with the Mike the Tiger statue before his first LSU game on Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

TIME FOR TIGER FOOTBALL

Patrick Bloom scoops pastalaya for Devyn Bloom at a tailgate party Saturday. ä More

photos. PAGE 2B

Mike the Tiger rides a golf cart through campus Saturday.

Faun Reese always put other people before herself, family members say. So they weren’t surprised when she went into social work, receiving her master’s degree from LSU in 1997. “She was a caring person,” said Reese’s younger sister Heidi Candler. Now her family is left grieving her death: Reese, 54, was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Garry Miles, 66, who police say fatally stabbed her in the neck and then attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills. Officers found the two side Reese by side on the bed in their Baton Rouge apartment on Aug. 25. Candler wants people to know that Reese is more than just a victim — she was a sister, a helper and a person who went above and beyond for the people she cared about. She said Reese’s path into social work seemed a natural extension of her talents. Reese’s cousin, Anaya Chiles, who was like a sister to her, said Reese was always there for her when they were growing up. Reese lived with Chiles in

ä See REESE, page 2B

Southern University dean will step down after academic year

segregated. I don’t think I’d ever seen were schoolteachDonald Andrews to highly people in the town I grew up in ers and preachers,” Andrews that the South lost the Civil said. “That was it. When I saw resume teaching knew War.” what was going on at Grambling, When he visI said, ‘Oh my god, we’ve overafter 29 years in role ited Grambling come, and nobody ever told me

BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

Decades before he was dean of the Southern University College of Business, Donald Andrews picked cotton in northeastern Louisiana and took lessons with the retired schoolteacher next door. “She just painted an entire different picture for me,” Andrews said. “At that time, we were

for the first time, home to the historically Black Grambling State University, it was with the teacher’s Andrews daughter and grandson. Seeing a Black mayor, a Black police officer — all the opportunities he had no idea about — Andrews knew that he had to go to college, he said. “The only professional Blacks

anything about it!’ ” He started his degree at Southern University in 1967 and became the dean of the College of Business in 1998. It was supposed to be an interim position, but it stuck, he said. “I don’t know how seriously they looked for somebody else,” he joked. After 29 years, he will step

ä See DEAN, page 2B

BREC to hold its final public meeting on City-Brooks Park

Sept. 17. Residents can Parish residents for the past few have expressed strong express opinions on months opinions over the master plan, is aimed at transforming master plan Sept. 17 which future City-Brooks Park “into a

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD

world-class, central park experience,” according to the parish’s parks agency. Sasaki Associates, the private Residents will get their last chance to voice their opinions on firm hired by BREC to create the the plan for the future of City- master plan, will provide a brief Brooks Community Park in two presentation on its final recomweeks, before a final draft is sent mendations. Following that, resito the East Baton Rouge Parish dents will be able to share feedRecreation and Park Commission. back with the project team either BREC is holding its final public through a two-minute public commeeting for the master plan in the ment or a written comment card. Milton J. Womack Ballroom at its Sasaki is also in the process of headquarters on Florida Bouleä See PARK, page 2B vard from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on

Staff writer

2B ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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LSU alumna Anna Daigle touches a win bar at a tailgate party Saturday. STAFF PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

The Budweiser Clydesdales make their way down Victory Hill on Saturday at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

Game day in Baton Rouge

Fans await the team’s arrival before the LSU home opener on Saturday against Clemson in Baton Rouge.

Austin George and Thomas Miller watch a beanbag fly through the air while playing cornhole before the LSU home game on Saturday. LSU fans cross Nicholson Drive.

DEAN

Continued from page 1B down as the dean next July. He will continue serving as the G. Leon Netterville/ Kellogg Endowed Professor and resume teaching, he said. In his career, he helped the college achieve and maintain its accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. “It’s especially important to recognize that accomplishment, because he was never a dean that had a lot of resources set up for him,” Southern University Chancellor John Pierre said. “That means that he put in a lot of work to make it possible.” Southern University Board of Supervisors

Chair Tony Clayton said Andrews has become an institution at the university and will leave a legacy as “one of the best deans that we’ve had.” “He actually taught me and gave me a C,” Clayton said. “I didn’t make a good grade in his class, but I still love him.” Andrews oversaw the creation of numerous international initiatives, sending students to Ghana, Uganda, China and Brazil. At home, he launched specialized programs in entrepreneurship and risk management and insurance, and he did the “heavy lifting” of bringing a Master of Business Administration to the college, Pierre said. The university plans to select a new dean by the 2027-28 academic year, Pierre said, giving the next

WALK

Continued from page 1B Minniweather and Coleman were. Ricks, who lost his cousin to gun violence recently, feels deeply that the community has to gather together and support each other during hard times. Coleman and Minnieweath-

leader a transition period. “We want to give that person time to take in all the things that Dr. Andrews has brought to us, so that we can make sure that those things continue as part of his legacy and the legacy of the College of Business,” Pierre said. Andrews said he sees changes on the horizon for higher education with the widespread use of artificial intelligence and state and federal funding cuts. But he learned from his grandfather to identify chances rather than barriers, he said. “I think I kind of got that idea of opportunity being out there,” Andrews said. “You just have to recognize it when it’s there. We always say, ‘Opportunity shows up wearing overalls,’ which means it’s work.”

er were like brothers to Ricks and always brought smiles to everyone’s faces, he said. He has fond memories of both and said he will miss them dearly. “The point of the walk, keep in mind that these kids that you are killing or kidnapping, they are tied to somebody. They’re somebody’s brother, somebody’s grandson, somebody’s something,” Ricks said. Ricks’ goal is to bring the

REESE

Continued from page 1B South Carolina for a time during elementary school, during which they solidified their bond. “I’m an only child, and she was like the sister that I didn’t have. And she would talk. We would talk, and she would confide in me, and we would try to build each other up. So we were really close,” Chiles said. Reese drove all the way to Mississippi to help her older brother, Ronnie Reese Jr., when he had a simple medical procedure done earlier this year. “She would always give everything to help somebody. She had compassion and empathy for them to make sure and believe in them that they could pull through,” he said.

community together and remind residents to always check on their people. Jackson said her goal as an administrator is to provide a safe and compassionate environment for those grieving. “I hope the community learns that we just need to protect each other, check on each other, call each other, make sure each other are OK, make sure we fine, make sure we safe,” Ricks said.

PARK

However, because she was a private person, Reese didn’t tell family members much about her relationship with Miles, they said. “I’m just saying, just love on your people while you can. I guess, in a nutshell,” Reese Jr. said. As her big brother, Reese Jr. said he was protective of his little sister and would have fought to keep her safe. “Anything that she asked me to do, I would do my best to try to take care of it. You know, just stuff that big brothers do,” he said. Reese Jr. said he was devastated when he got the call about his sister’s death. The first word out of his mouth was “Jesus.” “Had it not been for my, you know, having God in my life, or you know, trying to follow Christ, you know, it probably would have been different. It was devastating,” he said.

about those projects if they want, a BREC Continued from page 1B spokesperson said. The following week, on Sept. 24, BREC will creating the design of review the final report Wampold Park and the and recommendation governance structure from Sasaki at its comfor the area; these final mission meeting. plans will not be in the presentation at this pub- Email Claire lic engagement meeting, Grunewald at but community mem- claire.grunewald@ bers can ask questions theadvocate.com.

“It’s like with the Lord, it’s not our will but his will, and I’m willing to accept it. It hurt, and it’s still hurting.” Candler said Reese was planning to move to an apartment complex in Denham Springs once she turned 55 on Oct. 30. It was going to be a fresh start. Funeral services for Reese will be held Sept. 12 in Mississippi. Candler and Reese Jr. both said they were raised by compassionate, caring parents who taught them how to forgive others. Candler said forgiveness is just as important as knowing when to set up boundaries. “You have to start putting boundaries up, and you can still have that compassion. But if it’s hurting you, you have to let go and find those ones that can help you get that strength to make that break,” Candler said.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3B

N.O. East crime rates show major declines lll

are always good for business With and economic development New Orleans East crime trends in areas like New Orleans Crime has declined in recent years in New Orleans East, as it improvement, East. has throughout the rest of the city But it’ll take more than residents hope it lowered NEW ORLEANS EAST CITYWIDE crime rates to attract retail opportunities, brings more retail Schwartz said. 2022-2025 2022-2025

BY JONI HESS

“It’s been an issue of perception and narrative way more than it’s ever been After Rashida Green’s about the reality on the nephew, Jameel, was mur- ground,” he said. dered near her home in Little Woods a decade ago, Data shows improvements she decided to leave New Across multiple measures, Orleans for good. the East, covered by the 7th But after living in St. Tam- District in NOPD data, is many Parish for several seeing less crime. The Metropolitan Crime years, she’s become homesick. And as crime rates in Commission, a nonprofit the city and in New Orleans that tracks the performance East reach historic lows, her of the city’s criminal justhoughts of returning have tice system, noted in a July grown stronger. report that the 7th District “I’m still broken, but I’m at “experienced the largest peace,” Green said. long-term reduction in vioWhile some individual lent crime” when the first neighborhoods in the East two quarters of this year are still seeing more crime are compared with the same than others, the area overall time frame in 2022. Serious is seeing less crime than it crimes were down by 74%. did four years ago, with fatal Between 2022 and 2025, shootings, burglaries, armed the last full year of data robberies and other violent available, fatal shootings crimes all down by double- declined by 69%, armed digit percentages. robberies by 60% and burThe average time it takes glaries fell 24% over that for police to respond to time frame, according to emergency calls in that dis- city data. All other tracked trict has also been cut by crimes also fell, with the exmore than half since 2022, ception of thefts and nonfaaccording to an analysis of tal shootings. the city’s public safety dashFour years ago, a resident was more than twice as likeboard. The downward trends ly to get carjacked in New raise new questions about Orleans East as they were the economic development to get carjacked anywhere prospects of an area that has else in the city, according to for decades lacked the same a Times-Picayune analysis level of investment awarded that accounted for populato its counterparts west of tion size. But in 2025, the the Industrial Canal. rate of carjackings in the Jeffrey Schwartz, Mayor East was roughly the same Helena Moreno’s economic as the rate across the city, development director, said about 2 for every 10,000 public safety improvements people. Staff writer

Fatal shootings

-69%

-64%

Armed robberies

-60%

-68%

Carjackings

-74%

-79%

Burglaries

-24%

-33%

Source: New Orleans Public Safety dashboard

The East also has nearly the same rate of fatal shootings, armed robberies, stabbings and unarmed robberies as does the rest of the city. It has a slightly lower rate of sexual assaults and residential break-ins per 10,000 people. Police response times to the 7th District still lag that of the city overall, but not by as much as they did in 2022. Then, the median response time for emergency calls from the East was about 16 minutes, compared with eight minutes elsewhere in the city. For nonemergencies, the East’s residents waited about an hour, three times longer than the rest of the city. “We had a very hard time dealing with that,” said Sylvia Scineaux-Richard, a New Orleans East resident. “The community didn’t feel like their needs were being answered quickly enough, and then it became a habit in terms of what you could expect. It was really a problem,” she said. Now, police tend to respond to emergencies in the East in roughly 13 minutes, and in about 10 minutes elsewhere in the city, according

Staff graphic

to data. The area’s residents still wait about an hour for police to respond to less urgent calls. Citywide, the wait is 36 minutes. Mitch Crusto, a Loyola University law professor who owns property in the East, said crime trends there are good to see, and that they make sense, since crime across the city is down. Crusto said law enforcement shortages and systemic bias toward the area have been more of an issue than crime. When trying to redevelop his Plaza Drive property, at least one loan officer pointed to crime as a reason to not invest, he said. “Even when the excuses go away, it doesn’t stop institutions from redlining the area,” he said.

Community engagement Scineaux-Richard, who helped establish the stateauthorized East New Orleans Neighborhood Advisory Commission, said residents in other city areas unfairly label the East as crime-riddled. Instead, she said, pockets of crime have thrived in some of the vast area’s neighborhoods, just

like certain neighborhoods elsewhere in the city. She said recent declines come after better community engagement with city officials, improved police accountability and additional resources. “Whatever they did, it’s working,” she said. Anthony Jackson, a New Orleans East resident who owns a private security firm, said more neighborhoods in the area are engaging in community policing: contracting with security firms, relying on block captains and communicating about any suspicious activity. Jackson, the former president of NOPD’s Police Community Advisory Board, said residents have long struggled to trust law enforcement, but that’s starting to change. “They’re starting to see results. And when the community sees results, people become more invested in law enforcement and reducing crime in their communities,” he said.

Wins, challenges

City officials say that various city departments have worked collaboratively in recent years to improve neighborhood conditions that often lead to crime, and to use data to target areas most in need of resources. They’ve worked to fix broken streetlights, mitigate blighted property, open communication with business owners and residents or seizing pariah businesses that cause issues in the community, said Andre Gaudin, a prosecutor under District Attorney Jason Williams. Gaudin was a key figure in launching the district Email Joni Hess at joni. attorney’s Data Informed hess@theadvocate.com.

Principal wants to elevate N.O. school Canal Street campus is his alma mater

Marching band remembers teen killed in crash BY WILLIE SWETT

BY MARIE FAZIO

Staff writer

Kendall McManus-Thomas has never strayed too far from Warren Easton Charter High School. He first walked the halls as a 14-year-old freshman, staying late for band practice and student council meetings. He returned to the Canal Street campus as a student teacher, then climbed the ranks from substitute to chemistry teacher to assistant principal. He went on to lead two other New Orleans schools: Andrew Wilson Charter School and Benjamin Franklin High School, one of the state’s top-ranked schools. Now McManus-Thomas is back at Easton, this time as principal and CEO. It’s a pivotal moment for the historic high school. Once among the city’s highest-performing high schools, Easton’s academics have dipped. And its standalone ninth grade academy, the only one in the school system, remains a work in progress. “That’s the fun part,” McManus-Thomas said last week in his second-floor office, as students jockeyed for his attention before a school pep rally. “Every school has room to improve and to become better. We can never rest on our laurels.” McManus-Thomas, who started in his new role in May and is known simply as “Dr. Mac,” already has a plan in place to accelerate achievement at Easton. He’s limiting screen time in the classroom, raising academic expectations and giving students more say over their high school experience. His office whiteboard is filled with suggestions scrawled by students, including ID cards for student government members and a big brother-big sister program. He envisions a school with “amazing, robust” academics that also nurtures students’ personal growth. “Where they find their community,” he said, “and they are reaffirming themselves and their futures.”

Community Engagement initiative, which helps identify violent hot spots and diagnose the root causes for violence. “That’s kind of the breakthrough that hasn’t existed before in New Orleans, but is now kind of becoming the norm,” Gaudin said. He added that city officials have relied heavily on community engagement in addressing crime, but that to sustain the trends, social services and economic development play a key role. Schwartz, the mayor’s economic development czar, said sometimes challenges arise around land use and zoning issues or when property owners and developers neglect to comply with city code enforcement. Many blighted New Orleans East properties also sit vacant because their owners won’t sell or they can’t afford to repair them. The private sector can also lack urgency, he said. That said, Moreno’s administration and its partners are “laser-focused” on lifting projects off the ground, Schwartz said, such as Lincoln Beach and the New Orleans East Investment and Jobs Corridors that Moreno announced in July. The plan aims to find available land, handle zoning issues and create a property inventory to market to investors. All of it is a bid to stimulate economic growth tied to the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility and a new port in St. Bernard Parish. “New Orleans East truly has what every retailer and business would be looking for,” Schwartz said.

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK

Kendall McManus-Thomas speaks to students transitioning between classes at Warren Easton Charter High School in New Orleans on Thursday.

students from across the city, as a path to a safer, secure future with its tight-knit alumni network and rigorous courses. The start of his tenure at Easton was marked by tragedy when his father was murdered after the first day of school. McManus-Thomas leaned on school leaders and peers for support. “Especially when you’re going through things,” he said, “it’s like you have family around you.” He put down roots at the school, joining color guard and band and briefly the football team, evidence of which can be found in the old yearbooks piled in his office. Just days into his junior year, Hurricane Katrina flooded the city. McManus-Thomas evacuated to Lafayette with his grandmother, where he finished high school. At Lafayette High School, he realized he was behind his peers. “Easton was a high-performing school, but I go a few miles down the road and I wasn’t performing to the level of my peers,” he said, adding that there were far fewer Black and Hispanic students at his new school. “The racial, socio-economic implications of that are hard.” The experience fuels his desire to combine academic rigor and a supportive community at Easton. New Orleans roots When McManus-Thomas McManus-Thomas grew up in walks the halls, he carries a New Orleans East, miles away megaphone that he uses to difrom Easton. But his mother rect students to classes. He saw the school, which accepted hugs and fist-bumps teachers,

some of whom have been at the school since he was a student. When teacher Andrea Spretor went on maternity leave 14 years ago, McManus-Thomas stepped in as a long-term substitute while studying chemistry education at Xavier University. As principal, he’s brought a contagious energy to Easton’s halls, Spretor said. “He has a belief in the kids,” she said, “and a belief that we can really get this school back to what it was.”

‘Next-gen Easton’ McManus-Thomas has run this play before: Set the bar high, then exceed expectations. During his tenure at Wilson, student test scores went up, moving the school from failing to C-rated. At Franklin, he focused on improving Advanced Placement exam pass rates, and the school shot up more than 40 spots on U.S. News and World Report rankings to 53rd. At Easton, McManus-Thomas has set another lofty goal: outperform the state and district academically. This year 31% of New Orleans students across all subjects and grades met gradelevel targets on state tests, but only 20% of Warren Easton students met the bar. McManus-Thomas has already made some changes to usher in the school’s next chapter, which he calls “nextgen Easton.” He instituted a policy that students spend no more than 25% of class time on

screens, and he directed teachers to group students by skill level to foster collaboration. “We’re just getting back to the fundamentals,” he said. He’s also reviewing data to determine the future of the ninth grade academy, which opened across the street from the main campus and has increased enrollment. Students say he has brought more joy to Easton. Last week the school held its first pep rally of the year, which featured rising New Orleans bounce artist BJ So Cole. Teachers and students received awards for demonstrating Easton’s values of tradition, excellence, family and pride. McManus-Thomas’ presence has helped the school feel “like a second home,” said 12th grader Da’ron Smith. Senior Ja’Reiah Carter said it’s meaningful to have a principal who was once an Easton student and teacher and “can see our perspective of things.” “He listens to the students’ voice,” Carter said, adding that seeing McManus-Thomas interact with students in the hallways makes her feel “loved, safe and appreciated.” Getting to know the students at Easton today, years after he was one of them, McManusThomas said he feels inspired. “These kids are spunky, witty, they have so many different skills I didn’t have,” he said. “Our kids are different in every great way.”

In the stands of the Joe Brown Stadium in New Orleans East on Friday evening, the Abramson Sci Academy marching band chanted one name over and over again. “Damiri Eves,” the Abramson Sci Academy musicians said as their classmates below played football against Sarah T. Reed. “We’re here for you.” Damiri, a 14-year-old sophomore at Abramson, was supposed to play with the band at the game that night. He was a baritone horn player. His older brother is a tuba player in the band. But earlier that day, Damiri was riding a gas-powered scooter when he was struck and killed by a pickup truck at the intersection of Norman Mayer Avenue and Gentilly Boulevard, the New Orleans Police Department said. “It’s hard to process. I’m just going through the motions. That’s all I can do,” his father, Harry Eves III, 48, said. At the crash scene, Mayor Helena Moreno and other city officials met with Damiri’s family. The family asked officials to emphasize the importance of wearing a helmet and using scooters that are street safe, Moreno said. NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the person who was driving the vehicle that crashed into the teen was cooperating with the investigation, and that she did not expect charges related to the incident. Kirkpatrick said Damiri was not wearing a helmet during the crash. Eves said some of his son’s bandmates also met them at the accident scene and later went to the family’s house. He said his son was just an “all around good kid.” He had a great sense of humor, liked to play video games, and was wellliked in the band. The director of the band, Johnnie Van Buren, said Damiri had recently been getting a lot better as a player. “His playing ability started getting better. His understanding of music started getting better. It’s very, very, very unfortunate,” he said. Van Buren said he wasn’t sure whether his bandmates would want to play on Friday night, hours after the death of their friend. “They really didn’t have to,” he said. But they wanted to. “It felt good,” said Purnell Russell, 17, a fellow baritone horn player. “It means a lot just to honor him and give him that respect he deserved.” “He held a big weight in our section. It was a big loss for us. We took it real hard,” Russell said. Among the people honoring Damiri on Friday night with the band was his older brother, the tuba player. Eves said his older son insisted on playing that Friday night with the band. “He wanted to play. He said, ‘I play for me and my brother,’ ” he said.

4B ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

Obituaries Avant Jr., John Lewis 'Jack'

Jack was born March 1, 1949 to John L. Avant and Genevieve Rhorer Avant in Baton Rouge, LA. He lost his hard fought, but mercifully short, battle with cancer on September 1, 2026 in his home in Greenville, TX. Jack graduated from Highland Elementary, Robert E. Lee HS and the University of Texas, later earning a Master of Education degree from Northwestern State University.

loyal friends throughout the decades and up to her final days and hours. Pending memorial services and tributes for Dr. Cureau will be conducted at the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge and will be announced in the coming weeks on the Church Funeral Services and Crematory website. www.churchf uneralservices.com.

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husband, John; her daughter, Elizabeth; her son, Blake, and daughter-inlaw, Inessa Bazayev; and her grandchildren, Olivia and Armen. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Mission MSA at the following website: https://donate.mi ssionmsa.org/nancyhowe

Johnson, Virgile Ann

Please check the funeral home website periodically for a full obituary and future updates.

Ehrett, Whitley Darrell

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He taught at various rural schools in Texas and Louisiana, retiring in 2007. He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Danny, and his son Daniel Benjamin Avant. He is survived by his wife, Erin Geagon and his sons Collis and James. He loved the peace of the countryside, and will be buried at New Harmony Church in Equality, AL. Jack will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him. His passing will leave a hole in the hearts of well-loved family and friends from all of the places he called home.

Charrier, Jr., Curtis John

Curtis John Charrier, Jr., 69, of Zachary, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on August 24, 2026. Born on February 6, 1957, to Curtis Charrier, Sr. and Ethel Charrier, Curtis lived a life filled with music and camaraderie. He was happiest when he was singing and playing his guitar surrounded by his friends. Curtis is survived by his beloved wife, Jaylene Charrier; son, William Charrier; mother, Ethel Charrier; and brothers, Micheal Charrier and Brian Charrier. He was preceded in death by father, Curtis Charrier, Sr.; brothers, Keith Charrier, Sr. and Craig Charrier; and nephew, Keith Charrier, Jr. In accordance with his wishes, cremation has taken place, and no formal funeral or memorial service will be held.

Cureau, Rebecca Turner

Dr. Rebecca Turner Cureau, age 96, and affectionately known to most as "Becky", passed away peacefully at Baton Rouge General Bluebonnet on August 13, 2026. Born on April 5, 1930, in New Orleans, Louisiana, she was the devoted daughter of the late Elvy Albert Turner and the late Ethel Metz Turner, and one of 12 siblings raised in a loving and supporting home. Dr. Cureau was the devoted wife and soulmate of the late Harold Gilbert Cureau, Sr. Their cherished son and only child, Harold Gilbert Cureau, Jr., survives and will continue to carry forward their treasured legacy. Dr. Cureau was a dedicated educator at Southern University in Baton Rouge, serving with distinction for over 34 years, initially as a Professor of Music and eventually chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, before retiring in 1996. Dr. Cureau was a member of the Unitarian Church of Baton Rouge for 60 years and a long-time member of the La Capitale (LA) Chapter of The Links Incorporated. The family would like to thank Dr. Lance Lamotte and his team from the Baton Rouge General Hospital Cardiology Unit, and other medical professionals who provided Dr. Cureau with the utmost care, compassion and comfort during her medical challenges. We will have eternal gratitude for the love and devotion displayed to her by

Whitley Darrell Ehrett, lifelong resident of Port Allen, LA passed away peacefully surrounded by family, friends and nursing staff at St. Francisville Nursing and Rehab on August 21, 2026, at the age of 76. He retired from Water Management Technologies after many years of service. Whitley had a great love and devotion to his Catholic faith and especially to The Blessed Virgin Mary. He said the Rosary many times each day and attended daily Mass at St. Agnes and Our Lady of Mercy. May Jesus, the Blessed Lady, all the angels and saints welcome him into heaven. Whitley is survived by his sisters, Dawn Ehrett Pollet (Russell), and Kelly Ehrett Arrington (Wallace "Bo"); nieces, Sarah Dawn Pollet, Amanda Mae Arrington Coccari (Thomas); nephews, Geoffrey Joseph Pollet (Alma), Jarrod Paul Pollet (Gabby), Wallace "Trey" Arrington, III (Erica); five great nieces; two great nephews; and numerous cousins. Preceded in death by his parents, Russell and Bernice Ehrett and nephew, John Louis Pollet. Special thanks to his caregivers and friends, Hedi Stuchbery and Donna Barchmam, Ginger Duhon and John Gable, Whitley's personal friends for many years, St. Francisville Nursing Home and staff, caregivers, physical therapists, and gentiva Hospice for the love, support and empathy shown to Whitley and our family. Whitley was loved by family and friends and will be greatly missed. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer's Association. A memorial visitation will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church, Port Allen on Thursday, September 10, 2026, from 10am until Mass of Christian Burial at 11am, celebrated by Father Jerry Martin. Whitley's ashes will be privately entombed with his parents at a later date at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Cemetery, Brusly. Please share memories online at www.wilbertservices.com.

Howe, Nancy Bonacich

Nancy Bonacich Howe, 72, passed away in her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on August 29, 2026. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, she is dearly missed by those whose lives she touched. Nancy was born in Visalia, California, on February 11, 1954, to Bruno and Anne Bonacich. She attended UCLA, where she met John Howe; their fifty-year marriage was marked by their devotion to family, their enthusiasm for life, and their shared Christian faith. After moving to Saratoga, California, Nancy pursued a career that reflected her unwavering desire to help others. She became a librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District, and from 2012 to 2020, she served as County Librarian. Diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), Nancy retired with John to Baton Rouge, where she enjoyed reading, doting on her cats, and spending time with her two young grandchildren. Nancy is survived by her

NE WSL E TTER S

VIRGILE ANN GEORGE JOHNSON February 2, 1937 - August 31, 2026 Virgile Ann George Johnson, a native of New Roads, Louisiana, passed away on August 31, 2026, at the age of 89. Born on February 2, 1937, she was the beloved daughter of Edna St. Cyr George Mitchell and Alcide George. Virgile Ann was united in marriage to Andrew Wilson Johnson. She devoted more than 30 years of compassionate service as a nurse at Baton Rouge General Hospital, where she faithfully worked in the Burn Unit. Following her retirement, she continued her lifelong commitment to serving others by volunteering with the Council on Aging in Baton Rouge. Virgile Ann was known for her caring heart, generous spirit, and love of life. She especially enjoyed shopping and had a special fondness for shoes. She leaves to cherish her loving memory a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, brother-in-laws, sisters-in-laws, dear friends, and other loving relatives and friends. Virgile Ann's legacy of compassion, service, and love will forever live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved her. She will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

Kaplan, Janice Elaine

Janice Elaine Kaplan passed away 13 August 2026 in Nokomis, fl. after a short battle with cancer. She was born in Bogota, Columbia 1n 1954. After moving to several locations, her family settled in Baton Rouge. Her father being a copilot/mechanic of corporate aircraft. Janice graduated from LSU with a major in French. She loved everything Tigers, Especially Mike the Tiger and Mascot Mike. Her homes were filled with Mike Photos and memorabilia. Janice lived in both Baton Rouge and Nokomis Florida. Though she loved the beaches of Florida, she always missed the food and everything else about Louisiana. Janice was a retired Travel Agent extraordinaire. She managed her many clients business trips and worldwide jaunts with professionalism and finesse. She loved telling stories from Biddy Borron travel and other agencies she worked with. Janice also loved to travel, having visited many locations worldwide. Janice is predeceased by her parents, George and Dorothy Kaplan and her many dogs. She is survived by her husband Jerry Watts, her cousins Debbie Herrick of St. Cloud, Fl., and Barbara Voltaire Norris of San Francisco, and her current dog Rudy. Memorial donations may be made to CAAWS, or any other animal refuge organization. Or, WBRH radio, which she loved. No services are planned. She will be interned at Greenoakes cemetery in Baton Rouge at a later date.

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Keller, Ozelia Mary Aydell

A lifelong resident of French Settlement, passed away peacefully on August 24, 2026. Born on June 17, 1927, in French Settlement, Ozelia was the devoted daughter of Alfered and Iola Matherne Aydell. On December 27, 1947, Ozelia (Miss Shoot) married the love of her life, Thomas John Keller, with whom she shared a life filled with joy, laughter, and devotion. Together, they built a home where warmth and generosity were ever-present. Ozelia was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brothers Robert Aydell, Alvin Aydell and her sister Ruby Lewis. Her legacy of love and kindness lives on in her surviving family members: her beloved children, Linda Salassi and Diana Darbonne and husband Wesley; her treasured grandchildren, Glen Meades Jr. (Amy), Michael Meades (Tiffany), and Galen Salassi (Nikki); and her precious great-grandchildren, Gabriel, Ridley, Carter, Conner, and Aiden. Ozelia dedicated many years to nurturing young minds and spirits as a cook at French Settlement School, where she worked tirelessly for 22.5 years until she retired on July 1, 1987. In her leisure, Ozelia found joy in cooking and quilting, sharing her creations with family and friends, who marveled at the love and attention woven into each piece. A member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Ozelia found great solace and community within its walls. Her faith was a guiding light throughout her life, and she was known for her unwavering kindness and compassion. As we reflect on the life of Ozelia, we celebrate a woman whose warmth, kindness and devotion to family left and enduring legacy for all who had the privilege of knowing her. The family extends their heartfelt gratitude to the compassionate caregivers at Golden Age Nursing Home for their attentive care and support. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Ozelia's life at a service to be held at the old St. Joseph Catholic Church in French Settlement on September 12, 2026. Visitation will begin at 10:00AM with service starting at 11:00AM. Burial in the St. Joseph Cemetery will follow the service.

LePre, Ann Halverson Brown

burg St. New Orleans, Louisiana, and to consider wearing something laven‐ der, in memory of Ann’s fa‐ vorite color. Ann was an animal lover and an advo‐ of environmental cate preservation. In lieu of ﬂowers, her family re‐ quests donations in her honor to Companion Ani‐ mal Alliance of Baton Rouge, www.caabr.org or planting a tree in her mem‐ ory through Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana www.crcl.org.

Mitchell, Cheryl Peel

Cheryl "Cherry" Peel Mitchell, beloved mother, grandmother, homemaker, wife, and woman of faith, passed away peacefully, leaving behind a legacy of love, devotion, and faith that will remain in the hearts of all who knew her. Mrs. Mitchell was the devoted wife of the late Phillip J. Mitchell, M.D., and the loving mother of two children Phillip J. Mitchell Jr., Esq. and Amber Mitchell, Esq. Her family was the center of her life, and she devoted herself wholeheartedly to creating a loving and nurturing environment which included caring for both of her grandchildren Riley and Abbie. As a homemaker, Cherry found purpose and fulfillment in caring for her family. She gave generously of herself, always putting the needs of those she loved before her own. Her love for her children and grandchildren was unwavering, and the influence of her care and devotion will continue through the generations. Cherry was a believer in Jesus Christ, and her faith was an important part of her life. She trusted in God's promises and found comfort in the hope of eternal life through Christ. Cherry will be remembered for her love of family, her gentle spirit, her devotion as a wife, mother, and grandmother and the many quiet ways in which she made the lives of those around her better. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Phillip J. Mitchell, M.D. She leaves behind her two children, and two grandchildren along with extended family and friends who loved her dearly and will continue to honor her memory. Although her passing leaves an immeasurable void, her family finds comfort in knowing that she is now at peace and reunited with her beloved husband, resting in the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. "...to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8

Petite, Rhett James Ann Halverson (Brown) LePre passed away quietly at her home in Baton Rouge on August 4, 2026 after a long illness. She is predeceased by her son, Elbert Zane (EZ) Brown III, her parents, Eric and Anna May (Minnie) Halverson, brother, Michael Halver‐ son, and sisters, Margaret King and Patricia Dunn. She is survived by her Tami Leigh daughter, Brown, Daughter in law, Debbie Brown, grandchil‐ dren Kylie Brown and Zane Brown, IV, great grand‐ daughter Fae Brown, her sisters, Mary Catherine Burd & Jeannie Baker (Robert), brothers, Eric Halverson Jr. (Lorraine), Halverson Sr. Thomas (Denise), Brother in Law Paul King and a vast array of nieces and nephews. She began her working ca‐ reer in the real estate busi‐ ness before becoming part of the family business of E.J. Halverson and Associ‐ ates, and is one of the founders of Medical Ad‐ justment Services, LLC. She was a devout member of Bethany Church of Baton Rouge where she spent much of her time. Friends and family are invited to a Celebration of Life at the home of Jeannie Baker on September 27, 2026 start‐ ing at 11 AM at 6727 Vicks‐

Rhett James Petite, best known as Dad and PawPaw, passed away on

Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at the age of 57. He was a loving husband, Dad, PawPaw, brother, mentor, and friend whose kind heart, humble spirit, and unwavering love for others will forever be remembered by all who knew him. Rhett was a loving husband to Leah Noble Petite. Together since they were teenagers and married for almost 29 years, they built a beautiful life and family filled with love, laughter, memories, and traditions that will continue for generations. He was a proud and loving Dad to Laken Petite (Kristin), Luke Petite (Megan), Jessie Petite (Jaden), Jossie Petite, Lawson Petite, and Louie Petite. Although being a Dad meant everything to him, one of Rhett's most cherished roles was being PawPaw. He leaves behind his beloved grandchildren, Locke, Ella, Lane, Lily, Lucy, Sadie, Paisley, Rhett, and Leah Petite, with two more precious granddaughters on the way. There was never a day that went by without Rhett checking on his children and grandchildren, often several times a day. He was endlessly proud of each of them, and his love for them knew no bounds. Rhett is also survived by his siblings, Lisa Petite, Blaine Petite (Becky), and Dale Petite; his mother-inlaw, Debbie Noble; and numerous extended family members, friends, employees, and coworkers who held him dear. Rhett has gone home to be with his daughter, JonClair Petite; his granddaughter, Lundy Claire Petite; his parents, Roy and Sandra Petite; and his father-in-law, Frank Noble Jr. His family finds comfort in knowing he has been reunited with those he loved and missed so deeply. Those who knew Rhett will remember him as an exceptionally kind and humble man with a wonderful sense of humor. He always had a smile on his face, rarely complained, and had a dad joke ready to make his children laugh at any given time. He had a gift for seeing the positive in every situation, and no matter what someone was going through, they always seemed to feel better after talking to him. His children will especially treasure the selfies, funny videos, and messages he loved sending them. Rhett was a lifelong, hardworking leader in the industrial field with a tremendous work ethic that was truly unmatched. Throughout his career, he served as a business owner and manager, mentoring countless people and forming lasting relationships along the way. No matter how successful he became or how high he rose within a company, he remained the same hardworking, down-to-earth man he had always been. He treated everyone with kindness and respect and had a special way of making everyone feel equal and valued. He cared deeply for his employees and loved them as if they were his own children. To Rhett, they were more than workers; they were family. He found great joy in bringing people together, whether he was preparing a large pot of pastalaya at work for everyone to share or cooking under the carport at home with his children and grandchildren gathered around. Rhett devoted his life to working hard and providing for the people he loved. Yet no matter how busy work became or how much responsibility he carried, he was always there for his wife and family. They remained his greatest priority, and he never allowed his work to keep him from showing up for the people who needed him most. Baseball was another lifelong love of Rhett's. He loved the game from the time he was a little boy and especially treasured watching his youngest son, Louie, play. Rhett was a constant presence at the ballpark and never missed

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a game. Being there to support Louie meant everything to him. More than anything, Rhett loved having his family together. Some of his happiest moments were spent cooking for his children and grandchildren while they played in the yard and filled the house and carport with laughter. Rhett did not need many hobbies because his family was his hobby. Loving them, caring for them, and spending time with them brought him his greatest happiness. Rhett's family was his greatest pride and joy. He was their rock, their protector, and the person they could always count on. Our lives will never be the same without him, but the love he gave, the family he built, and the countless lives he touched will ensure that his legacy lives on forever. Until we see him again, he will be loved, missed, and remembered every single day. Family and friends are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, located at 15208 LA-73 in Prairieville, Louisiana. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m., followed by Mass at 11:30 a.m. Rhett will be laid to rest at Serenity Oaks Cemetery, with a gathering to follow.

Roth, William 'Billy the Kid'

William "Billy the Kid" Roth, age 83, passed away peacefully in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on September 3, 2026. To many, he was Billy. To even more, he was Pops. Pops was a beloved father, grandfather, coach, mentor, and friend who spent his life teaching others to fight—not just in the ring, but through life. He believed in people, pushed them to be better, and never let them give up. For more than 44 years, Pops volunteered his time teaching boxing to inmates. To the men he coached, he became more than a coach; he became someone they trusted, respected, and proudly called Pops. Alongside his late wife, Karol, affectionately known as "Mom," he touched countless lives. Pops was a nine-time state powerlifting champion, held nine state records, was a three-time State Golden Gloves and Southern A.A.U. Champion, and proudly served as director and head boxing coach of the Police Academy League (PAL). But his greatest accomplishments were the lives he changed. His lessons, encouragement, and unmistakable Pops personality will live on through the generations he helped shape. He is survived by his son, Aaron "Nino" Roth;

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grandchildren Kahne Cupit (Ryan), Heath Young, Reynolds Young, and Rachael Gordon; six greatgrandchildren; brother Victor Roth (Roxanne); and countless former students, players, and friends who became family.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Karol; daughter, Devin; and siblings Walter, Kenny, Louie, and Gail.

Kevin Taylor (Suzy) and Darrin Taylor (JeanneL), 14 grandchildren, and 9 great grandchildren. On August 31 while in his home with his family he peacefully went to be with the Lord. He will be greatly missed. Visitation September 12 at Greenoaks Funeral Home from 9a-11a with services immediately following.

Wilder, Susan Wendler

Rest easy, Pops. Your fight is finished, but your legacy lives on. A memorial service will be held from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM on 2026-09-09 at Seale's Funeral Home , 1720 South Range Avenue.

Stewart, James Wayne 'Wayne'

James Wayne Stewart ("Wayne"), 64, passed away August 24, 2026. Born in Maringouin, LA, to Stella Mae and Willie Stewart Sr., Wayne later resided in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, MI. His work career spanned fifteen years at Kellogg's and twenty years at Stewart Industries. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Willie Jr. Surviving are his siblings Lillie Dorothy Stewart Hall, Joseph (Clara) Stewart, Aubrey (Candyce) Stewart, and Karen (Donald) Green; sister-in-law Dorothy Crump Stewart; uncle Edward (Pat) James; and many loving relatives and friends. A visitation will be held from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM on September 10, 2026 at A. Wesley Funeral Home, 10810 Ventress Dr., Maringouin, LA A mass of Christian burial will be held at 11:00 AM on September 11, 2026 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, 11140 Highway 77, Maringouin, LA.

Taylor, Charles W 'Chuck'

Charles W. Taylor (Chuck) was born in Baton Rouge on April 15, 1941. He graduated Istrouma High School in 1959. He started out in high school selling real estate. Later he started his own real estate business. Charles was also a car dealer for over 40 years. He was a loyal friend. He loved his family with his life.He also loved the Lord. He was member of Victory Harvest Church. Charles was proceeded in death by his parents Thomas H. Taylor and Emma Mae Taylor, his brothers Tommy and Robert Taylor, and his sons Charles D. Taylor and Jason E. Taylor. He is survived by his wife, Janet Taylor who was also his high school sweetheart. Also survived by his sons,

Susan Wendler Wilder, born in Baton Rouge on May 8, 1944, to Sara Hunter Wendler and Harold William "Doc" Wendler. She died peacefully with family at her home in Baton Rouge on September 1, 2026. Susan attended Dufrocq Elementary School, Baton Rouge Junior High School and Baton Rouge High School, and she graduated from LSU in 1966. Following college, she worked at Delgado Collage in New Orleans as a Vocational Evaluator. Susan was a member of the LSU Home Economics Alumni Association where she was intimately involved with the testing and production of the Louisiana Tiger Bait cookbook. In the Junior League of Baton Rouge, she chaired production of the River Roads Recipes cookbook. Susan hosted cooking demonstrations at Magnolia Mound Plantation alongside her good friend Jeanne Yerger Schmidt for 32 years. She was a member of the Rings and Ivy Sunday school class at First United Methodist Church for over 50 years. Susan loved traveling, needlepoint work, cooking, hosting festive parties, and especially retreating to her husband's Minnesota cabin. She was preceded in death by her parents and brother Harold William "Windy" Wendler. She is survived by John McKay Wilder, Michael Henry Ory (Alyce), Wendy Elaine Ory Cappiello (John), Willa Wendler Roof (Marvin), Lawson Cook Wilder (Leland), Carrie Sue Wilder Carrique (Javier), as well as eleven grandchildren: Louise, Henry, and James Ory; Carly, Sarah and Rachel Cappiello; Scott and Nicole Wilder; Claire, Brennan and Madeline Carrique; and friend of over 60 years Jeanne Yerger Schmidt. Visitation will be held at First United Methodist Church, 930 North Boulevard, in the Ory Parish Hall, Saturday September 12 at 11:00 am, followed by a service at 12:00 pm conducted by Reverand Don Cottrill. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church, Rings and Ivy Easter Memorial Music fund, 930 North Boulevard, Baton Rouge, LA 70810 or to Magnolia Mound, 2161 Nicholson Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70802.

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On Labor Day, we look forward to football, festivals and fall temps Editor’s note: This newspaper has published this editorial, with variations, on previous holidays. For those of us who live in south Louisiana, the arrival of another Labor Day tomorrow prompts a good bit of self-congratulation. We know, with relief and no small amount of pride, that we’ve survived another summer in a place where the mercury rises each May and stubbornly stays there, like a cat stuck in a tree. Summer doesn’t officially end until later this month — and both the hot weather and the risk of dangerous tropical weather linger for weeks after that — but Labor Day is the notch we informally place in the calendar to tell us a season has turned. It’s early autumn now, no matter what the purists might say. If our fellow Americans up north can claim some measure of their ancestors’ pioneer spirit by making it through frozen winters each year, then Labor Day is our time to brag. We’ve stared down one more summer yet somehow prevailed. And autumn in Louisiana means a lot of things — most notably the return of football. You’ll find us gathering at weekend tailgates, rooting for our favorite teams and participating in timehonored traditions that are the hallmarks of fandom. It’s also the start of our fall festival season, in which we celebrate the bounties of the land and waters of the state we love — from crawfish to pecans to cochon de lait. Labor Day is a way station between the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving, and it was put on the calendar precisely for that reason. In 1882, Peter J. McGuire, the founder and general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, suggested setting aside one day to honor America’s laborers. He saw room in the calendar between July and November, and thought the holiday would, in his words, “fill a gap in the chronology of legal holidays.” McGuire was a native of New York, but his gift for sensing an unmet need for celebration seems like a Louisiana way of looking at the world, doesn’t it? He would probably have felt at home here. New Yorkers observed the first Labor Day in 1882, and it became a federal holiday in 1894 after President Grover Cleveland signed it into law. Getting an extra day off was a big deal for workers back then, as a young labor movement struggled to achieve what many Americans broadly enjoy today: a 40-hour workweek and formalized vacation policies. Today, who is included under the mantle of the working class is the subject of much debate. But Americans have always valued hard work and enjoying the fruits of our own labor. The best gift of Labor Day, for those fortunate enough to have it off, is the day itself — a few spare hours to spend as we like before autumn begins in earnest.

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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.

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Should we care about the Yat accent fading? Yats are going the way of the dodo, That’s because the Yat, like all acit seems. cents, is a snapshot of not just a place, Once a clear local marker, the disbut also a time. It arose in certain New tinctive accent that for so long defined Orleans neighborhoods, and then, as those folks moved out to the burbs, White, working-class New Orleans is the accent went with them. It never disappearing. That’s the conclusion of stopped evolving and changing an academic study and a subas it interacted with new people, sequent recent story by this places and developments, acnewspaper’s Jenna Ross. The bigger questions are cording to Katie Carmichael, what that means and whether the author of the study on which we should care. Ross based her story. For some, it’s the irrevoNowadays, in addition to ChalFaimon mette, one might find Yat spoken cable loss of something esRoberts in Metairie, or Kenner (bruh), or sentially New Orleans. The — gasp! — on the northshore. accent is closer to one from “Accents are always changNew York, “Brooklynese on quaaludes,” as one wag described it. ing, and change is the norm,” CarmiIts particular idioms: “Where y’at,” chael told me. And it’s not just here. “ya mamma n’em” and “Who dat,” are Increased mobility, the popularity such a part of local color that they are of mass and social media and more synonymous with the city. people attending higher education But it’s telling that Ross didn’t go to have flattened out many local dialects, one of New Orleans’ historic neighbor- including in New Orleans and across Louisiana, she said. hoods to find those who still speak it. And while New Orleans’ many acShe went to Chalmette. Specifically, to Rocky and Carlo’s diner, where Yatcents, including Yat, are perhaps the flavored banter and brown gravy still best known, Louisiana’s singular setreign supreme. tlement and immigration history have

contributed to a unique patchwork of dialects across the state, such as the Cajun of Acadiana or the drawl of the state’s northern reaches. Combined with the state’s high rate of nativism — the proportion of residents who were born here, especially before Katrina — the state was a strong incubator of regional ways of speaking. All of those accents are evolving, too. They won’t sound the same in 25 years as they did 25 years ago. New local quirks are appearing all the time, Carmichael said. “It’s not the case that there is ‘no local accent’ anymore — it just sounds different,” she said. So the disappearance of Yat may be sad, but it shouldn’t be unexpected. The accent, like all accents, is a product of evolution, not just a victim of it. Maybe one day we’ll hold a second line for its passing. But for now, all we can do is smile and say “Bye, bébé, and pass the red gravy.” Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Seeing the hidden history all around us One of my favorite things is learning easy to miss when you’re traveling around the state, but I like to stop and the hidden history sprinkled in towns read them. They hold nuggets and cities across Louisiana. It of information that may give sometimes seems that like Foryou a new appreciation for the rest Gump, our state has an odd history of a place or at least connection to almost anything provide an interesting converhappening in the news. The recent death of Dolly Parsation starter at a dinner party. In Louisiana, we have a ton was a case in point. About Arnessa decent appreciation for our a week before, I was at dinner Garrett unique history. And to be honwith friends in Lake Charles and someone at the table said, est, sometimes it can hinder “Did you know Dolly Parton recorded our embrace of new things. But the her first record a few miles from many groups dedicated to preserving here?” our landmarks deserve our thanks. It was true. Goldband Records on They work tirelessly to gather inforChurch Street in Lake Charles remation and make sure that we are honcorded Parton’s “Puppy Love” in 1959 oring the past. Often we don’t realize when she was only 13 years old. The something is special until it is gone. If building doesn’t exist anymore, but the the stories are not passed down from Calcasieu Historical Society put up a generation to generation, they disapmarker where it once stood. pear. These historical markers are often What are some of the people and

places that belong to the hidden history in your city or town? We’d love to learn more about it. Drop us a line at letters@theadvocate.com. Turning to our letters inbox, we received 50 letters from Aug. 27-Sept. 3. The hottest topics will come as no surprise. The big announcement by SpaceX of a $100 billion project in Vermilion Parish prompted five letters as did the controversy surrounding LSU athletics and player eligibility. Other than that, the Ten Commandments posters drew commentary from three writers. We know that as football and election season get into full swing, we’ll hear from more readers. We are as eager as you to see how it all unfolds. Want to see your opinion published in The Advocate | Times-Picayune? Submit a letter to the editor.

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COMMENTARY La. Democrats are wrong to oppose term limit amendment The Louisiana Democratic Par- has served two terms. As the proposed amendment ty last weekend took a position both politically shortsighted and presumably would disqualify him from running again, philosophically defective. Democratic Party leaders Louisiana voters should wanting to grab the govreject the Democrats’ advice. ernor’s office naturally At issue is a state conthink it will hurt their chances. stitutional amendment The best way to conon the Nov. 3 ballot. The Quin amendment would forbid sider this, though, is Hillyer anyone from serving more long-term, not short. On than two terms, total, as a strictly practical level, governor. Current law restricts that which could benefit Demogovernors to two consecutive crats in 2028 — defeating the terms, but then allows them to amendment, and thus letting the run again after sitting out four current system stand so Edwards years. This amendment, for good can run again — could easily booreason, would eliminate the latmerang in future years. For comparison, examples are ter option. legion in Congress (especially State Democratic Chairman regarding judicial nominations) Randal Gaines said the Demoof one party breaking an old cratic State Central Committee opposes the amendment because custom or precedent for shortterm political advantage, only to “it limits the democratic rights see the other party use the new and choices of voters.” Many precedent for massive advantage observers think their opposition when it retakes power. stems from a more short-term, If Louisiana remains a strongly purely political consideration: Republican-leaning state, the The party has been so moribund odds are greater that a two-term lately that handicappers think Republican could build a power just about the only Democrat with a chance to win the 2028 gu- base and get elected in future years to a nonconsecutive third bernatorial race is former Gov. term than they are that even EdJohn Bel Edwards, who already

wards could win in 2028, much less that another Democrat could pull the three-term later on. And with a strange subset of national Republicans led by Vice President JD Vance now citing infamous former Louisiana Gov. Huey Long as a positive role model, Democrats really should worry about a Louisiana Republican governor using the thirdterm option to amass a scary, Long-like power base. Even those hardball political calculations, though, should matter less than the principles involved and what they mean for Louisiana’s people. The entire design of American government, one rightly copied by all 50 states, is intended to disperse power, not centralize or concentrate it. The U.S. Constitution’s vaunted separation of some powers and blending of others is constructed, as founder James Madison wrote, so that “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” And, he wrote, “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” Yet over time, both nationally and in state after state, executive power has grown to a disturbing

extent. No matter who writes the laws, the reality is that when one person controls the entire apparatus of how laws are implemented and enforced, the potential is greater for larger abuses by the one executive. States differ, of course, in how much power, by law and custom, is concentrated in each state’s governor. Yet even in a notably “weak governor system” such as Alabama’s, in which the Legislature can override a governor’s veto by the same simple majority that passes a bill in the first place, legislators often cower before a governor’s dominion. Louisiana’s system, by contrast, is considered not just to feature a “strong governor” system, but perhaps the nation’s strongest, due to our executive’s powerful role in crafting the budget, the massive authority over so many appointive positions and the particularly impregnable line-item veto system. For all those reasons, it always has been wrongheaded for Louisiana’s Constitution to allow a return to power of governors who already served two terms. The potential for fiefdom-building and corruption is immense.

This is especially true when legislators are themselves termlimited, as they are here. If state representatives, with their power already diffused 105 ways, must leave office after three terms, it is especially foolhardy to allow governors to keep coming back for as many two-term stints as they can secure. From 1980-1984, Louisiana saw how the threat of a return to office of a former two-term governor can hobble a current administration. When the earnest, honest Republican Gov. Dave Treen tried to institute reforms, the specter of the wily former Gov. Edwin Edwards running a “shadow administration” blocked Treen repeatedly. It is dangerous to democracy for one person to be able to exercise such domination. Again, witness Long, who essentially built his own private army to beat down his opponents. Proposed Amendment 4 on the November ballot wisely would make such abusive situations less likely. Louisiana Democrats are wrong to oppose it. Email Quin Hillyer at quin. hillyer@theadvocate.com.

One voice that La. Republicans often ignore More than 30 years ago, when I covered Keystone Cops feel to it. my first big campaign as a reporter for this After the recently adopted party primanewspaper, I made a rookie mistake. ries were abruptly canceled and the disOne of the gubernatorial candidates I tricts hurriedly redrawn following the U.S. was assigned to follow had been enSupreme Court’s decision in the Callais case, voters in two congresdorsed by the Louisiana Republican Party. I assumed that would be a big sional districts are now about to deal. elect new representatives the oldOn paper, Quentin Dastugue was fashioned way, via open primaries. a promising candidate — a smart, Both districts — the 5th vacated by witty state lawmaker with a sucU.S. Senate candidate Stephanie Republican Julia Letlow and the 6th by Democessful business and fiscally conGrace servative policy chops. Yet he had crat Cleo Fields — were specifically trouble raising money and never drawn to favor Republicans. made it to the starting line. The candidate You’d think that would mean they’ve got who did capture the imagination of Repub- nothing left to fight about. Think again. Both elections drew mullicans that year was a populist Democratic state senator named Mike Foster, who ran tiple major Republican candidates. And in as a Christian conservative gun-owning both cases, instead of just being satisfied everyman (never mind that he was the that one of them will very likely go to Congrandson of a governor and lived on a plan- gress, party leaders are inexplicably picktation), switched parties and went on to be ing favorites, creating a pair of circular a popular — a relatively moderate — twofiring squads in the process. term governor. In the Baton Rouge-centered 6th District, Let’s just say it was a learning experithe party’s eight-member executive comence. mittee — with no input, notably, from the This fall, the state Republican Party is much larger state central committee — again trying to point voters in its chosen narrowly voted to support one of two longdirection. And again, I can’t help wondertime legislators, state Sen. Blake Miguez. The problem: The other one, state Sen. ing how many of those voters care. It doesn’t help that the endorsement pro- Rick Edmonds, is from Baton Rouge, while Miguez hails from Erath in U.S. Rep. Clay cess for the fall congressional races has a

Higgins’ district, although he did buy a house in the state capital. Also, Miguez has tangled in the past with Gov. Jeff Landry, who, according to coverage by reporter Tyler Bridges, was none too pleased and leaned on the party to reconsider. Days later, it issued a revised joint endorsement. In the 5th, the same small group acting behind closed doors created another mess when it bypassed three Republican sitting legislators entirely, instead voting 4-3 to anoint an appointed member of the state Board of Regents from Monroe, Misti Cordell, over state Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe, state Sen. Stewart Cathey, RMonroe, and state Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock. An intriguing question is why. A more relevant one, though, is whether it matters. A party endorsement can bring national money, and the recipient gets to advertise being the favored candidate — or in the case of Miguez and Edmonds, one of the chosen two, anyway. One could argue, for example, that the party’s endorsement of Landry a year before the 2023 governor race, when he still faced a number of other Republicans, set him up for his outright primary win. On the other hand, there was considerable anybody-but-Landry sentiment at the start of the race, and perhaps a more moderate

candidate of similar stature — Billy Nungesser, Garret Graves, even Bill Cassidy — might have given him a run for it. There’s something comical about the party’s current infighting, because the stakes are actually pretty small. Unlike 1995, they don’t have to worry about picking the candidate best positioned to defeat a Democrat, either statewide or in these two open congressional districts. They already got what they wanted from the Supreme Court, which gave them the ability to draw five solidly Republican seats out of six without worrying about the pesky Voting Rights Act of 1965. Thanks to Landry and his legislative allies, they also got closed party primaries that favor more ideologically pure candidates, even if they’re on hold for this particular election. But it’s apparently still not enough. The handful of people who sit on the GOP’s executive committee don’t just want a Republican. They want their Republican. So much has changed since I got my start, but even in these days of total GOP domination, a smoke-filled room is — metaphorically speaking — still a smoke-filled room. And a lot of the time, voters prefer the fresh air. Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

The Washington Post loses and labor wins Since her firing, Attiah’s words As Labor Day approached, I have been published by hundreds thought about Washington Post of digital and print publications, columnist Karen Attiah as the David in a battle with the Goliath streaming platforms and televiWashington Post. sion stations. The Post must like Attiah, 40, was fired by The that, eh? Post, 148. With the help of WashIn 2025, The Post didn’t ington-Baltimore News like some things Attiah Guild General Counsel wrote on the Bluesky soAmos Laor, Attiah arcial media platform the gued that her firing was a day offensive, conservawrongful termination. In addition, Attiah said she tive loudmouth Charlie Will writing as an opinion Kirk was murdered. Sutton was columnist, that The Post “Part of what keeps didn’t use progressive disAmerica so violent is the insistence that people perform cipline, and that her posts were care, empty goodness and absolu- protected speech under the First Amendment. tion for white men who espouse Almost wherever we work, hatred and violence,” she wrote employees get fired. Firing is not on Sept. 10, 2025. easy in union shops. Unions have “Refusing to tear my clothes collective bargaining agreements and smear ashes on my face in with their employers. In a union performative mourning for a white man that espoused violence shop, that usually includes a speis. ... not the same as violence,” cific, written process that must be she posted later that day. followed — sentence by sentence, That’s what she said. There word by word — or there is no were other posts, but the newspa- firing. The progressive discipline is most effective when the identiper cited these two in her termination the next day. They said her fied employee better understands posts violated company policy, company concerns, makes changthat they were “unacceptable” es and continues working. comments and showed “poor In the work world, there are injudgment.” The paper feared dependent contractors, statutory threats. or nonemployees, exempt and

nonexempt employees, W-2 employees and other classifications. Basically, however, most of us work in at-will, just cause, rightto-work or union situations. Right-to-work states prohibit businesses and workplaces from requiring employees to pay dues to a union or to join a union as a condition of employment. Some confuse that with at-will employment. That’s different. Atwill employees can be fired for almost any legal reason at any time. Hired one day; fired another. And the employee can leave anytime without notice. Sometimes the risk is worth it because the employee gets higher compensation and maybe additional benefits. Just cause or contractual employees cannot be fired without clear, specific, documented reasons, including inappropriate conduct or not doing the job well. There are 26 states that have right-to-work laws, including Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. Arizona, Nevada, Virginia and Wisconsin are also right-to-work states. Louisiana is in that group, too — but we have unions. According to National Conference of State Legislatures data, more than a dozen states

have workforces that include 10% or more union employees. Four states have fewer than 3%. Eleven states have 3%-5.9% union workers, including Louisiana. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 4.4% of all Louisiana workers were union employees last year. Most of those union workers are in the greater Baton Rouge and the greater New Orleans areas. In New Orleans, for example, though our news organization is not unionized, all television stations in the market have some employees who belong to unions except for WGNO. Anchors, producers and reporters belong to Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. Photographers belong to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. New Orleans Association of Black Journalists President Greg Lee is a veteran journalist teaching journalism at Loyola University New Orleans. He has worked at several news organizations, including two with unions, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. Lee wasn’t surprised when Attiah was fired. After all, he said, the same news organization had refused to publish an already-written endorsement of

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

Vice President Kamala Harris for president. He wasn’t surprised when Attiah won either because “The Washington Post had a really weak argument.” Many are off on Monday, but they don’t know why. Well, in the 1800s lots of people worked 10- to 12-hour days, often seven days a week. Child labor was the norm. New York City workers started a major labor movement. There were unofficial “labor day” activities. More than 100,000 marched demanding an eight-hour work day in 1872. About 10,000 people took off, without pay, to protest work conditions in 1882. Weekends became a thing. Normal work weeks became 35-40 hours. The first official Labor Day came in 1887. It became a federal holiday in 1894. None of that happened without organized labor. The Post must rehire Attiah as a columnist, with back pay. She told me her team is in talks about what that might look like. The Post should get her back in ASAP. If not, she’s going to walk away smiling with a lot more than back pay. Email Will Sutton at wsutton@ theadvocate.com.

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.

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8B ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

TODAY

MONDAY

Humid with a stray An afternoon thunt-storm derstorm HIGH

LOW

HIGH

92° 75°

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Humid; an afternoon t-storm

Humid with a thunderstorm

Humid; a p.m. shower or two

Humid; an afternoon shower

LOW

HIGH

95° 75°

LOW

92° 74°

LOW

HIGH

Beaumont 90/75 Port Arthur 89/74

Alexandria 95/75 Baton Rouge 92/75

Lake Charles 92/76

10s

20s

30s

Houma 90/75

40s

50s

YESTERDAY

60s

70s

80s

NEW

SEP 10

SEP 18

Atlanta Austin Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Houston Las Vegas

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

4:06p 9:40a 3:54a 6:20a 5:55a 5:05a 7:03a

6:44 a.m. 7:22 p.m. 1:35 a.m. 4:27 p.m.

FIRST

City

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

HIGH

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

90s 100s 110s

PRECIPITATION

92°/76° 91°/71° 93°/74° 101° in 2000 57° in 1974

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

New Orleans 91/78

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

LOW

92° 73°

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

Hattiesburg 96/74

Lafayette 91/76

HIGH

The numerous showers and storms we had yesterday should not be repeated today. With less cloud cover and less rainfall, the temperatures will start inching up again. Expect a partly cloudy, hot and humid day with a light breeze and spotty showers and thunderstorms. We are under either a major or moderate heat risk as temperatures climb to the low to mid-90s and heat index values rise up to 105 or higher. Also, the UV index is at the very high level, so be prepared.

Baton Rouge through 5 p.m. Saturday

Jackson 99/75 Many 94/73

LOW

90° 75°

TEMPERATURE

Longview 99/75

-0s

HIGH

90° 73°

Monroe 101/76

Shreveport 99/77

-10s

lll

TODAY

96 94 68 89 78 99 91 92 77

74 74 59 69 65 79 64 76 70

FULL

LAST

SEP 26

t t pc t s s pc t sh

OCT 3

85 98 79 81 79 100 91 95 92

MON. Lo

71 75 62 67 67 79 61 77 76

t t s pc pc s t t s

FT.

LOW

0.25” 0.25” 0.86” 44.72” 44.32”

FT.

HIGH

0.9 3:34a 0.0 2.0 10:28p 0.0 2.3 5:14p -0.2 2.2 9:39p 0.1 1.7 5:41p 0.0 2.1 3:57p -0.1 2.1 6:43p 0.0

FT.

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

MODERATE

READING 52 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

LOW

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

FT.

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

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

Today 7:50a Monday 8:45a Tuesday 9:36a Wednesday 10:24a Thursday 11:10a Friday 11:56a Saturday 12:21a

City

Los Angeles 82 Miami 91 Nashville 94 New York City 73 Philadelphia 80 Phoenix 104 St. Louis 90 San Francisco 71 Seattle 73

1:35a 2:30a 3:22a 4:11a 4:58a 5:44a 6:32a

TODAY Lo

71 79 67 61 64 85 66 56 54

8:21p 9:14p 10:03p 10:49p 11:34p 12:19p 12:43p

r t pc pc pc pc pc pc c

TODAY

MODERATE

91 91 92 78 81 107 86 78 68

2:06p 3:00p 3:50p 4:36p 5:22p 6:07p 6:54p

MON. Lo

74 79 74 64 61 87 65 58 55

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

pc t pc s s pc s pc pc

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

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

Many Americans are fortunate to have dental coverage for their entire working life, through employer-provided benefits. When those benefits end with retirement, paying dental bills out-of-pocket can come as a shock, leading people to put off or even go without care. Simply put — without dental insurance, there may be an important gap in your healthcare coverage.

When you’re comparing plans ...  Look for coverage that helps pay for major services. Some plans may limit the number of procedures — or pay for preventive care only.  Look for coverage with no deductibles. Some plans may require you to pay hundreds out of pocket before benefits are paid.  Shop for coverage with no annual maximum on cash benefits. Some plans have annual maximums of $1,000.

That’s right. As good as Medicare is, it was never meant to cover everything. That means if you want protection, you need to purchase individual insurance.

Even if you’ve had quality dental work in the past, you shouldn’t take your dental health for granted. In fact, your odds of having a dental problem only go up as you age.2

Early detection can prevent small problems from becoming expensive ones. The best way to prevent large dental bills is preventive care. The American Dental Association recommends checkups twice a year.

Treatment is expensive — especially the services people over 50 often need. Consider these national average costs of treatment ... $274 for a checkup ... $299 for a filling ... $1,471 for a crown.3 Unexpected bills like this can be a real burden, especially if you’re on a fixed income.

1 “Medicare & You,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2025. 2 “Aging changes in teeth and gums”, medlineplus.gov, 4/17/2022. 3 FairHealth, Inc. National average dental fees. Data current as of July 2025; subject to change.

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Product/features not available in all states. Contact us for complete details about this insurance solicitation. To find a network provider, go to physiciansmutual.com/ find-dentist. This specific offer not available in CO, KS, NY, OR – call 1-800-969-4781 or respond for a similar offer in your state. Certificate C254/B465, (ID: C254ID; PA: C254PA); Insurance Policy P154/B469 (GA: P154GA; OK: P154OK; TN: P154TN).

6371

-0.71 -0.81 -1.36 -0.85 -0.66 -0.34 -0.94

12.87

-1.75

-1.55

none

18 29 8

-1.19 9.93 2.40

+0.02 -0.01 -0.01

13 15

2.51 0.73

+0.01 none

47 34 29 20 12 6

11.72 8.03 6.25 5.72 3.90 2.10

-0.72 -0.51 -0.50 -0.30 none -0.11

Why you need dental insurance in retirement.

Previous dental work can wear out.

-0.33 25.23 27.90 13.15 6.95 5.33 3.57

data as of 7 a.m. Saturday

Medicare doesn’t pay for dental care.1

SAT. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

Call 225-709-5455 to schedule your free quote today!

SPORTS

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

S u n d ay, S e p t e m b e r 6, 2026

LSU

1Cn

CLEMSON

FAST LANE RECORD: 1-0 UP NEXT: VS. LOUISIANA TECH, 6:30 P.M. SATURDAY, SECN+

PHOTO BY PATRICK DENNIS

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt runs with the ball for a big gain in the second quarter against Clemson on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. LSU won its season opener 51-10 in coach Lane Kiffin’s debut.

Kiffin, LSU give nation something else to talk about in rout of Clemson BY JON BLAU Staff writer

As LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt rolled to his right, the entirety of the Clemson defense lagged behind. There was an alley for the fleet-footed quarterback to take — if his surgically repaired right foot could take him there. A lingering question of the preseason was answered emphatically as Leavitt punched his right foot into the turf of Tiger Stadium and cut inside of a Clemson safety chasing hard toward the sideline. A pursuing defensive end threw himself at Leavitt in desperation, but the quarterback splattered

to the turf in the purple of LSU’s end zone for a 13-yard score. The final seven points of a 31-3 first half on Saturday more than proved the Arizona State transfer is ready to run. The totality of a 51-10 win over Clemson made a number of statements in Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut. The defensive coordinator Kiffin retained, Blake Baker, unleashed a defense that discombobulated the Clemson offensive line, racking up 11 tackles for loss, four sacks and another five quarterback hurries. Leavitt and running back Dilin Jones ran over and around the visitors, each

ä See LSU, page 5C

LSU sweeps away week of courtroom drama, and Clemson, with stunning ease train hath wrought. A monsoon soaked Tiger Sorry gods. Sorry courts. Stadium late Saturday afterSorry Kiffin haters — though noon, a thick thunderstorm he did toss you a couple of that threatened to wash away juicy morsels to chew on. No, a Louisiana summer’s worth of the evidence of LSU’s shockdrought in one ill-timed gulp. It turned what was schedingly comprehensive 51-10 Scott uled to be a prime-time, Rabalais rout of Clemson will leave a deep dent on that formerly season-opening showcase bedominant program’s reputatween No. 11-ranked LSU and Clemson — the Lane Kiffin era opention for some time to come. And er and all that — into a late, late show, make the Kiffin/LSU detractors at 8:40 p.m. perhaps the latest kickoff think, ruefully, that he may well have built a bona fide national contender in in LSU football history. It was as Year 1 in Baton Rouge. though the football gods — or maybe That is yet to be determined. One a federal court in Alabama — wanted to make the game start so late no one ä See RABALAIS, page 4C would be able to see what the Lane

Southern runs past Kentucky State for Faulk’s first win Jaguars get first home victory in nearly two years

BY TOYLOY BROWN III

Staff writer

Southern fans hadn’t seen a home win in almost two years. While Marshall Faulk wasn’t focused on that slump, he wanted the same result as the fans: a victory. He got it, as Southern defeated Division II Kentucky State 34-15 on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium, giving Faulk his first coaching win. The last time Southern (1-1) won at home was Nov. 16, 2024, when it beat ArkansasPine Bluff 31-9 to clinch the SWAC West Division crown. Its home opener was scheduled for 6 p.m., but the kickoff was delayed until 7:09 p.m. because of lightning in the area. “It’s great,” Faulk said of the win. “The sooner the better. That’s how I was thinking of it. And the cold bath, Gatorade, water, ice,

all of that is all good. The kids been working hard and it’s good when they see the fruits of their labor.” The Jaguars defense was stout except for one big play, and the offense scored three straight touchdowns in the second and third quarters. Southern quarterback Christian Johnson completed 15 of 28 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. He had no turnovers after throwing one interception in a 13-point loss to Alabama State in the season opener. “Efficient,” Faulk said about Johnson’s second start. “He took care of the football tonight. Took a couple chances early in the game, but he really took care of the football. And when I say that I’m not just talking about throwing interceptions. I’m talking about throwing balls away, evading tacklers and stuff like that.” Both teams were scoreless in the first quarter, though Kentucky State (1-1) had

ä See SOUTHERN, page 7C

Southern quarterback Christian Johnson looks to throw a pass against Kentucky State on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium. Southern won 34-15. STAFF PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

2C ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV

AUTO RACING 8 a.m. Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia APPLETV 11:30 a.m.Grand Prix of Monterey FS1 1 p.m. FIA World Endurance TRUTV 1:30 p.m. Grand Prix of Monterey FOX 2 p.m. NHRA: Qualifying FS1 4 p.m. Nascar: Cook Out Southern USA 7:30 p.m. ARCA: Audubon Park 100 FS1 BEACH VOLLEYBALL 10 a.m. AVP: League Championship CBSSN 1 p.m. AVP: League Championship CW COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY 11:30 a.m.Princeton at North Carolina ACCN 1 p.m. Northwestern at Boston College ACCN COLLEGE FOOTBALL 11 a.m. Texas Southern at Prairie ViewESPN2 2 p.m. SC State at Florida A&M ESPN 3 p.m. Washington St. at Washington NBC 6:30 p.m. Louisville vs. Mississippi ABC 6:30 p.m. Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame NBC

MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER 2:30 p.m. Michigan at Notre Dame ACCN WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER 3 p.m. Stanford at Santa Clara ESPNU WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL 11 a.m. Louisville vs.Texas ABC noon TCU at Purdue BTN 2 p.m. Washington St. at Oregon BTN 2 p.m. Indiana vs.Tennessee ESPN2 6 p.m. Kentucky vs. Penn St. FOX 8 p.m. Missouri vs. Nebraska FOX CYCLING 7:30 a.m. Vuelta a España NBCSN WOMEN’S FIBA BASKETBALL 10:30 a.m.Puerto Rico vs. Belgium TRUTV 1:30 p.m. Italy vs. U.S. TNT GOLF 7:30 a.m. Walker Cup GOLF HORSE RACING 11 a.m. Saratoga Live FS2 12:30 p.m.Saratoga Live FS1

IN BRIEF

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

2 p.m. 4 p.m.

Saratoga Live FS2 Saratoga Live FS1 MLB noon Atlanta at Philadelphia NBC 5 p.m. Minnesota at White Sox NBCSN 9 p.m. Washington at L.A. Dodgers MLBN MEN’S SOCCER 8 a.m. Man United at Everton USA 10:30 a.m.Chelsea at Arsenal USA 9 p.m. Santos Laguna at Cruz Azul CBSSN WOMEN’S SOCCER 7:45 a.m. France vs. South Korea FS2 8 a.m. Liverpool at Charlton Athletic CBSSN 1 p.m. Gotham at Denver CBS 3 p.m. Washington at Portland CBS 3 p.m. North Carolina at Chicago CBSSN 8 p.m. San Diego at Seattle ESPN2 TENNIS 10 a.m. U.S. Open ESPN 2 p.m. U.S. Open ABC 6 p.m. U.S. Open ESPN

Rays place LHP Cleavinger on 15-day injured list

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Tampa Bay Rays placed left-handed reliever Garrett Cleavinger on the 15-day injured list before Saturday night’s game against the Texas Rangers with forearm tightness and called up right-hander Ty Johnson from Triple-A Durham. Cleavinger is 4-4 with a 4.79 ERA in 51 appearances. He pitched in the Rays’ 7-6 win over Texas on Friday night, allowing two hits — including a grand slam by Elías Díaz — and one walk without retiring a batter. Johnson, who was born about 45 miles east of Globe Life Field in Rockwall, Texas, was 4-1 with a 3.03 ERA for Durham in 21 games, including 10 starts. He is looking to make his major league debut. To make room on Tampa Bay’s roster, infielder Oliver Dunn was designated for assignment.

GAME OF THE DAY

No. 2 Oregon overcomes slow start BY ANNE M. PETERSON AP sportswriter

EUGENE, Ore. — Dante Moore threw for 378 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 2 Oregon overcame a slow start to down resilient Boise State 34-27 in the season opener for both teams on Saturday. After trading field goals to tie the game at 27 in the fourth quarter, Dakorien Moore scored on a 62-yard reception to give the Ducks the lead for good with 7:51 left to play. Oregon has won 16 straight season openers at Autzen Stadium. The Ducks have 39 straight wins at home against nonconference opponents, the longest streak in the nation. “I think, you know, we’ve learned a lot this offseason. There’s been times at our practice where the offense has started super slow, and coach (Dan) Lanning said, ‘Hey, it’s adversity. What you gonna do?’ So it all just comes back to how we respond,” Dante Moore said. He opted to stay at Oregon after throwing for 3,565 yards and 30 touchdowns last season when the Ducks went 13-2. Oregon was hurt by 10 penalties for 90 yards, but had 497 total yards on offense compared to Boise State’s 274. “We won the game with total yards and some situations, but we didn’t really win the critical situ-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY LYDIA ELY

Oregon wide receiver Jeremiah McClellan, right, dives for a touchdown while defended by Boise State defensive back JeRico Washington, left, during a game against Boise State on Saturday in Eugene, Ore. ations,” Lanning said. “They won some of those critical situations. They played better in special teams than us today. They did better on fourth down. We kind of gave them an opportunity, a chance to hang around.” Boise State returned quarterback Maddux Madsen, who threw for 181 yards and three scores in the opener after finishing last season with 2,334

yards passing and 18 touchdowns. The Broncos, who join the rebuilt Pac-12 this year, went 9-5 last season in the Mountain West and fell to Washington 38-10 in the LA Bowl. Boise State, which went into the game as 24½ point underdogs, scored on the first series of the game, with Madsen hitting Cam Bates with a 13-yard scoring pass to cap an 11-play, 75-yard drive.

The Ducks tied it on Jordon Davison’s 1-yard dive early in the second quarter. After Evan Stewart muffed a punt and the Broncos recovered, Sire Gaines scored on a 37-yard reception to give Boise State the lead again. Canaan Moore added a 29yard field goal to extend it with 2:48 left before halftime. With 19 seconds left, Dante Moore found Jamari Johnson with a 27yard pass to close the game to 17-14 at the break. The half was reminiscent of the last meeting between the teams in 2024. The Ducks fell behind 20-14 at halftime but pulled out a 37-34 win with a field goal as time expired. After Gage Hurych’s 26-yard field goal, Oregon went ahead on Jeremiah McClellan’s 8-yard TD catch. But the Broncos tied it up again before the end of the third quarter on Madsen’s 7-yard scoring pass to Matt Wagner. Hurych and Canaan Moore traded field goals in the fourth quarter before Dakorien Moore’s touchdown. “You put your all into something, you put all the chips on the table, and you come up short — it hurts,” said Broncos coach Spencer Danielson. “You put your toe in and you’ve got your eyes other places, you can walk away easier because you can make excuses. We’re not going to make any excuses. We’ve got to find a way to be better.”

TOP 25 ROUNDUP

Michigan catches Hail Mary, survives scare vs WMU BY LARRY LAGE AP sportswriter

ANN ABOR, Mich. — Given an unlikely second chance at a game-ending Hail Mary, Bryce Underwood connected with JJ Buchanan for a 47yard touchdown pass that lifted No. 16 Michigan over Western Michigan 13-12 on Saturday night. The Wolverines were 27½-point favorites in coach Kyle Whittingham’s debut. The Broncos and their stingy defense thought they’d secured a historic upset when Underwood’s first Hail Mary sailed out of bounds with the clock expired. WMU players were already on the field celebrating when officials called for a review. TV replays showed the clock hitting zero before the ball hit the hands of a Western Michigan defender, but officials ruled there was a second left. Underwood heaved another throw, and Buchanan leaped to snag it and came down with it in the end zone. Western Michigan kicked four field goals and forced three turnovers, including a late fumble by Underwood. Western Michigan was threatening to hand Michigan perhaps its biggest upset since an infamous, season-opening loss to Appalachian State in 2007, when the Wolverines were 33-point favorites. NO. 13 ALABAMA 48, EAST CAROLINA 10: In Tuscaloosa, Ala., Keelon Russell accounted for 335 yards and a touchdown, and No. 13 Alabama opened the season with a victory over East Carolina on Saturday. Ryan Coleman-Williams dropped two passes in the second quarter, but Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer says his big bounce back is indicative of the trust they have in the newly named team captain. Russell directed five consecutive scoring drives to start the game, and Alabama (1-0) finished with 480 yards and 27 first downs. The Crimson Tide, who ranked 15th in the Southeastern Confer-

ence in rushing last season, totaled 227 yards on the ground. NO. 6 INDIANA 52, NORTH TEXAS 16: In Bloomington, Ind., Josh Hoover threw for 231 yards and four touchdowns, including a 15-yard score on his first pass with No. 6 Indiana, and Turbo Richard rushed for two more scores to help the defending national champs open the season with a rout of North Texas on Saturday. After celebrating last year’s title during a pregame ceremony, Indiana extended the Football Bowl Subdivision’s longest active winning streak to 17 games and the FBS’ longest active home winning streak to 16. Jahiem White rushed 14 times for 61 yards and one score as well as catching seven passes for 36 yards in his North Texas debut. NO. 1 OHIO ST. 56, BALL ST. 3: In Columbus, Ohio, Jeremiah Smith had two highlight reel-worthy touchdown catches, Julian Sayin passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns, and Ohio State tuned up for next week’s matchup against No. 5 Texas with a rout of Ball State. The Buckeyes (1-0) went threeand-out on their opening drive before finding the end zone on seven of their next nine possessions. NO. 23 HOUSTON 33, OREGON ST. 20: In Houston, Conner Weigman threw for 305 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score, Re’Shaun Sanford II and Makhi Hughes added rushing scores and Houston beat Oregon State in the teams’ season opener. Weigman completed 20 of 30 passes and tossed a 31-yard scoring pass to Amare Thomas in the first quarter. Weigman also scored on a 1-yard rush with five minutes left in the fourth, increasing Houston’s lead to 33-20. Sanford had a 56-yard touchdown run with 61/ 2 minutes left in the second quarter to put the Cougars up 16-7. Hughes added a 1-yard score with 6:40 remaining in the third to increase the lead to 26-7.

NO. 3 GEORGIA 63, TENNESSEE ST. 3: In Athens, Ga., Gunner Stockton passed for three touchdowns, Nate Frazier ran for three scores and No. 3 Georgia overwhelmed Tennessee State on Saturday. Georgia (1-0) scored touchdowns on its first five possessions, all with Stockton at quarterback. Frazier scored on a 48-yard run on his first carry and added a 14-yard touchdown run on his second carry. NO. 5 TEXAS 59, TEXAS ST. 7: In Austin, Texas, Arch Manning passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Cam Coleman, and No. 5 Texas eased into the season with a win over Texas State on Saturday. Manning connected with Coleman for Texas’ first touchdown and with Ryan Wingo on the Longhorns’ next possession. Graceson Littleton’s 59-yard fumble return touchdown put Texas ahead 28-0 by the second quarter. NO.18 PENN ST.45,MARSHALL 0: In State College, Pa., Rocco Becht threw for 271 yards with four touchdowns and No. 18 Penn State beat Marshall to begin the Matt Campbell era on Saturday. Becht, a transfer who followed Campbell from Iowa State to Happy Valley, was in command in his Beaver Stadium debut and secured his FBS-leading 27th win as a starter. Koby Howard had six catches for 161 yards with a touchdown. Brett Eskildsen, Benjamin Brahmer and Zay Robinson caught touchdown passes, and new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s defense held Marshall to just 147 yards. NO. 20 TENNESSEE 56, FURMAN 9: In Knoxville, Tenn., Faizon Brandon threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more to lead No. 20 Tennessee to victory over Furman on Saturday. In a little over two quarters, the freshman hit Mike Matthews on scoring passes of 55 and 57 yards to spark the Volunteers to a 42-0 lead before redshirt freshman quarterback George MacIntyre took over.

DeSean Bishop rushed for 97 yards and a score but lost a fumble. Justin Baker’s 73-yard TD run was a fourth quarter highlight. NO. 22 IOWA 40, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 0: In Iowa CIty, Iowa, Kamari Moulton ran for a career-high 183 yards and two touchdowns and No. 22 Iowa’s defense shut down Northern Illinois in a victory Saturday in the season opener for both teams. Moulton, Iowa’s leading rusher last season, passed his previous career high of 114 yards in the first quarter, when he had 132 yards with touchdown runs of 50 and 37 yards. Moulton rushed for 878 yards in 11 games last season, and came into this season with the goal of improving that number. It was the first game for Northern Illinois interim head coach Rob Harley. NO. 12 TEXAS TECH 33, ABILENE CHRISTIAN 10: In Lubbock, Texas, Will Hammond threw for 298 yards and a touchdown in his return from last year’s season-ending knee injury and No. 12 Texas Tech beat Abilene Christian on Saturday night in the opener for the defending Big 12 champion. Hammond made good on coach Joey McGuire’s declarations throughout the summer that his expected starter would be ready opening night, slightly more than 10 months after tearing the ACL in his right knee. Alex Broome returned the kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown for the Wildcats (0-2). NO. 18 TEXAS A&M 50, MISSOURI ST. 0: In College Station, Texas, Marcel Reed threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns in just over three quarters to help No. 8 Texas A&M roll to a 50-0 win over Missouri State on Saturday night. The Aggies thoroughly dominated the game despite not playing their best at times. Missouri State, which is in its second season in the FBS, was outgained 505-67 and had just four first downs to 35 by Texas A&M.

FIFA’s Infantino declines questions about his future

KATOWICE, Poland — FIFA President Gianni Infantino declined to answer questions about his future as he arrived at the opening of the Under-20 Women’s World Cup while under continuing pressure since abandoning his plan to sell off World Cup profits. Infantino was in the stands speaking with Polish soccer federation president Cezary Kulesza as host nation Poland faced Argentina on the opening day of the tournament Saturday. Infantino did not answer when asked if he had considered resigning and whether he still intends to stand for a fourth term next year. Legal action over the original attempt rumbles on and Europe has a leading role in efforts to oust Infantino ahead of next year’s FIFA election.

F1’s Gasly claims first pole position in qualifying

MONZA, Italy — Alpine’s Pierre Gasly claimed his first-ever pole position in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday. The F1 driver seemed as surprised as everyone when he was informed on the team radio that he was fastest immediately after the session. “Let’s go! Been waiting for that one!” exclaimed Gasly, who took his only Formula 1 win at Monza in 2020. Gasly looked strong throughout the session and finished 0.060 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell. Russell was among drivers to express surprise at Gasly topping the timesheets. “To be totally honest I don’t think we thought they were in the fight and it goes to show what a great job he did,” Russell said.

Andonian takes over as Los Angeles Sparks GM

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Sparks have hired a new general manager from the NBA ranks. Ariana Andonian will officially join the organization next month, the Sparks said Friday. She replaces Raegan Pebley, who was fired in mid-July after 2½ years. The Sparks (15-25) are headed toward a sixth consecutive losing season. The organization owns three WNBA championships, but none since 2016. Andonian, 31, has been general manager of the Delaware Blue Coats, the NBA G League affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers, while also serving as the 76ers’ vice president of player personnel. Andonian is a California native who graduated from the University of Southern California.

Yankees OF Grisham placed on IL with hamstring strain

SAN DIEGO — The New York Yankees placed center fielder Trent Grisham on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain Saturday and recalled outfielder Jasson Domínguez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Also on Saturday, three-time MVP Aaron Judge took batting practice on the field for a second straight day and ran the bases again as he works toward returning from a broken right rib. Grisham said he felt something in his hamstring Friday night while getting thrown out trying to steal second base in the second inning of a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the San Diego Padres. In the bottom of the inning, he had a hard time getting to Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single. He was taken out in the third.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3C

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Mali shocks Spain in World Cup stunner BY DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY EBRAHIM NOROOZI

Han Xu, left, of China guards Angel Reese of the U.S. during their World Cup game on Friday in Berlin.

Young trio makes presence felt for U.S. national team Core of Reese, Clark, Bueckers lead Americans BY DOUG FEINBERG Associated Press

BERLIN — Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers are going to be the next generation of players to lead the U.S. women’s national team. They’re already making their presence felt in their first major international competition. Clark and Bueckers each scored 14 points in the opening win over China on Friday while former LSU star Reese had nine rebounds and played strong defense on 7-foot-3 Zhang Ziyu. Next up is Italy. The blueprint for American success over the past three decades — eight straight Olympic gold medals and four consecutive World Cup titles — has been to build rosters with experienced veterans mixed with the next set of young stars. That way they’ll be ready when their names are called. “I think it’s all cyclical,” said Sue Bird, the first managing director of the national team. “You know, I think if you go back, it’s always kind of been that the amount of vets versus newcomers — if you wanted to categorize it that way — does fluctuate and move through time. This cycle of players is younger, but obviously (Kelsey) Plum and A’ja (Wilson) would have tipped the scale the other way if they had played.” Bird said there’s always

been that passing of the torch. She played her first World Cup in 2002 and was a backup to Dawn Staley. By the 2006 tournament, she was leading the U.S. — a spot she held alongside Diana Taurasi until both retired from international play a few years ago. Now it’s Breanna Stewart and Wilson, who is missing this tournament for health reasons, as the veteran leaders. Eventually it will be Clark, Reese and Bueckers. For now, they are part of the second-youngest World Cup team the Americans have fielded, with an average age of just under 27 years old, over the past three decades. They are just a little bit older than the 1994 team that won bronze. “We can kind of rely on each other, lean on each other,” Reese said of her young teammates. “This is our first big national event, so being able to play with each other, learn each other and go through these learning processes together, it’s fun.” Many of them had played together on younger U.S. teams and had success, but playing for the senior team has a different feel to it. Stewart made her national team debut in the 2014 World Cup. She was still in college then. Now 32, she’s the leader of this squad. “This is just kind of like the rite of passage,” Stewart said. “You continue to keep showing up and it becomes your turn. You got Paige, Angel and Caitlin who played on teams when they were younger and they keep coming back. So when it’s their time this shift isn’t as dramatic. They are faces

that are known throughout the program.”

Unfamiliar role One thing that’s new to that trio, who are each 24, is coming off the bench. All understand the importance of the role. “We were talking about it on the bus: Like, none of us have ever come off the bench before. So it’s our first time kind of seeing it from a different perspective,” Reese said. “Seeing how the game is played and then being able to go in and already know what’s going on. I think that that’s a different perspective for me.” Reese said coach Kara Lawson has talked to the group, which also includes Aliyah Boston, Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, and explained that the key is to not have there be any letup when they come in. “There’s no drop-off,” Reese said. “I think our young and turnt group is going to be around for a while.” The young players, who are competitors in the WNBA, already are starting to form a chemistry with one another on the U.S. team. “Obviously it’s really fun to play with Paige,” Clark said after practice. “I’ve grown up playing against her, and with her, from a very young age. Very fun experience to be here, I think she’s one of the best off-ball players in the league. She cuts really well, she has a great feel for the game. I think our chemistry has been really good. Just gaining more and more momentum through that as we go through the tournament.”

WEEK 1 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES Thursday’s scores

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY ANDREAS GORA

Mali’s Sika Kone, center, vies for the ball with Spain’s Maite Cazorla, left, during their women’s World Cup game on Saturday in Berlin. “We know Japan shoots more 3s than 2s, so we took away the 3,” said German star Leonie Fiebich. “Our goal was to be physical with them.” Frieda Buhner scored 19 points and Nyara Sabally added 18 for Germany (11). Kokoro Tanaka led Japan (1-1) with 15 points. All four teams in Group A are tied at 1-1. Hungary 71, Nigeria 67: Dorka Juhasz had 19 points and 16 rebounds to help Hungary edge Nigeria. Nigeria (0-2) was down 66-52 with 3:57 left before getting within two with 3 seconds left on Elizabeth Balogun’s basket. Nigeria fouled Reka Lelik with just over a second left and she calmly knocked down both free throws to seal the win. It was Hungary’s first victory since 1998 when the team topped China in the quarterfinals. Now it will play Korea next to close out pool play. Virag Takacs-Kiss added 17 points for Hungary (11). Juhasz, who plays for

the Minnesota Lynx, had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the first half. Amy Okonkwo scored 17 points to lead Nigeria, which finishes off pool play against France. France 95, South Korea 69: Marine Johannes scored 14 of her 17 points in the first half as France rallied from a slow start to beat South Korea in the final game of the day. South Korea (1-1) got off to a hot start and led 31-24 after the first quarter. Then Johannes and France got going, scoring the first 14 points of the second quarter. Johannes had nine of those as the French (2-0) led 43-37 at the half. France put the game away at the start of the third quarter with a 24-4 run dominated by Dominique Malonga and Gabby Williams. Malonga had 10 points and Williams nine during that spurt. South Korea could never recover. Malonga and Williams each finished with 14 points.

The

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Ascension Catholic 36, Episcopal 0 Baker 28, Slaughter Charter 22, 2 OTs Barbe 42, Iowa 15 Bastrop 24, Rayville 14 Calvary Baptist 48, Huntington 22 Covington 38, De La Salle 24 East Beauregard 30, Merryville 9 Grand Lake 34, DeQuincy 20 Jesuit 28, Madison Prep 20 LaSalle 54, Lakeview 13 Lincoln Prep 52, Delhi 12 McKinley 46, Capitol 6 North Iberville 34, Fisher 15 Ouachita Parish 44, C.E. Byrd 37 Sacred Heart 34, Oakdale 6 St. Mary’s 22, Vidalia 6 Sterlington 42, Franklin Parish 30 Vinton 58, Oberlin 13

Friday’s scores

Acadiana 47, Central-B.R. 35 Airline 48, Wossman 42 Alexandria 44, Bryant, Ark. 20 Amite 34, Franklinton 19 Avoyelles 42, Ville Platte 12 Beau Chene 30, East Iberville 6 B.T. Washington 54, Arcadia 0 Beekman 37, Buckeye 20 Belle Chasse 48, McMain 6 Benton 34, Shreveport Northwood 26 Berwick 42, Morgan City 7 Brother Martin 38, Southside 19 Brusly 34, Port Allen 0 Carroll 20, Woodlawn (Shr.) 14 Carrollton, Ga. 61, Baton Rouge Catholic 27 Carver 18, Landry/Walker 12 Cecilia 49, Northside 0 Cedar Creek 55, Delhi Charter 14 Chalmette 55, Ehret 14 Church Point 24, Jennings 8 D’Arbonne Woods 57, Madison 0 Delcambre 34, Hanson Memorial 0 Denham Springs 49, Albany 0 Destrehan 35, Saint Paul’s 14 Dunham 56, Parkway 15 Dutchtown 62, Magnolia Excellence 0 East Ascension 49, Easton 18 Elton 55, Basile 7 Erath 39, Loreauville 29 Eunice 54, Bunkie 35 Galena Park North Shore, Texas 27, John Curtis Christian 17 Hammond 26, Prairieville 12 Hannan 56, Northlake Christian 0 Haughton 42, Homer 30 Haynes Academy 29, Centerville 6 Iota 70, JS Clark Leadership Academy 28 Jena 26, Mangham 12 Jonesboro-Hodge 14, Lakeside 8 Kaplan 34, Ascension Episcopal 7 Karr 48, Lafayette Renaissance 21 Kentwood 42, Westminster Christian 6 Kinder 59, Westlake 13 Lafayette 39, Live Oak 23 Lafayette Christian 30, Carencro 6

BERLIN — Mali pulled off the first stunner of the Women’s Basketball World Cup by shocking Spain 8273 on Saturday. It was only the second win ever in tournament history for the African country, which beat Senegal in overtime in 2010. Mali was down two at the half but outscored Spain 31-19 in the third quarter to take the lead. Mali went on a 16-4 run in that period after it was down 45-44 to take command. Sika Kone, who finished with 19 points, had two 3-pointers during that game-changing run. Kone, who plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA, also had 10 rebounds. Mali (1-1) scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, including another 3-pointer by Kone, to put the game away as Spain could get no closer than nine the rest of the way. Djeneba N’Diaye also had 19 points for Mali, which is 2-10 in its World Cup history. Iyana Martin scored 20 points for Spain (1-1), which was one of the top teams in the world. Germany 74, Japan 58: Germany got off to a fast start and slowed down Japan in front of a sold-out crowd that was loud for the entire game. Germany outscored Japan 28-11 in the first quarter. Japan, which beat Mali 102-97 in its opener Friday, couldn’t find any rhythm against the hosts. A day after hitting a World Cup-record 20 3-pointers, Japan was just 3-for-27 from behind the arc. Two of those makes came in the final 1:38 of the game.

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

Rummel running back Jaden Terrance, right, races past University High linebacker/defensive back Kaleb Bickham in the second quarter on Friday in Baton Rouge. Lake Arthur 41, Holy Savior Menard 12 Lakeshore 35, Fontainebleau 14 Leesville 46, DeRidder 22 Lena Northwood 38, Plain Dealing 0 Logansport 44, Many 38 Loyola Prep 55, Captain Shreve 34 Mandeville 35, Salmen 17 Mansfield 42, New Iberia 0 Minden 20, North Webster 14 NDHS 28, Northwest 14 New Iberia Catholic 49, Vermilion Catholic 0 North Central 51, Acadiana Christian 0 North DeSoto 52, Union Parish 7 North Vermilion 28, St. Martin’s 7 Northeast 26, Thrive Academy 18 Northshore 47, Lutcher 35 Oak Grove 28, West Ouachita 0 Opelousas 48, Pineville 0 Opelousas Catholic 29, Breaux Bridge 8 Ouachita Christian 42, Haynesville 6 Parklane Aca., Miss. 38, Parkview Baptist 14 Peabody 33, Ferriday 14 Pearl River Central, Miss. 42, Pearl River 28 Pine 30, Varnado 0 Plaquemine 21, Zachary 16 Pope John Paul 62, Thomas Jefferson 7 RHS 6, Crowley 0

Richwood 58, General Trass (Lake Providence) 0 Riverside Academy 40, Kennedy 32 Rosepine 48, Montgomery 20 Rummel 34, University 28 Ruston 42, Neville 16 Shaw 20, Hahnville 14 Slidell 17, Holy Cross 13 South Beauregard 34, St. John 9 South Terrebonne 43, Country Day 34 Southern Lab 42, Belaire 6 Springfield 48, Collegiate-B.R. 8 St. Amant 49, Woodlawn (BR) 6 St. Charles Catholic 34, Legacy School of Sport Sciences, Texas 28 St. Frederick Catholic 35, Delta Charter 12 St. James 35, East St. John 7 St. Michael 49, Loranger 14 St. Thomas More 35, Teurlings 0 Sulphur 56, St. Louis 34 Thibodaux 21, E.D. White 20 Tioga 49, Red River 12 Welsh 51, Abbeville 16 West Feliciana 56, Scotlandville 20 Westgate 54, Liberty 8 Westminster Christian-Lafayette 41, Acadiana Renaissance Charter 22 Istrouma 24, White Castle 15 Winnfield 20, Glenbrook 6

Saturday’s scores St. Augustine vs. McDonogh 35, n Morris Jeff vs. East Jefferson, n

W A LT LUCEK Asst. Service Manager

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LSU 51, CLEMSON 10

BOX SCORE No. 11 LSU 51, Clemson 10 Clemson 3 0 0 7 — 10 LSU 17 14 13 7 — 51 First Quarter CLEM_FG Hauser 49, 13:28. LSU_FG Starzyk 49, 10:16. LSU_D.Jones 1 run (Starzyk kick), 3:36. LSU_J.Ross 30 interception return (Starzyk kick), 2:07. Second Quarter LSU_Leavitt 8 run (Starzyk kick), 7:54. LSU_Leavitt 13 run (Starzyk kick), 1:10. Third Quarter LSU_Watkins 32 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), 8:21. LSU_D.Jones 12 run (pass failed), 3:24. Fourth Quarter LSU_Wright 30 pass from Clark (Starzyk kick), 6:43. CLEM_Eziomume 11 run (Hauser kick), 3:14. CLEM LSU First downs 8 37 Total Net Yards 145 644 Rushes-yards 26-40 58-309 Passing 105 335 Punt Returns 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns 3-65 1-18 Interceptions Ret. 1-1 1-30 Comp-Att-Int 14-22-1 22-36-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 4-19 0-0 Punts 10-40.4 2-31.0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards 5-41 7-80 Time of Possession 23:50 36:10 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Clemson, Green 4-21, Davidson 7-20, Eziomume 1-11, Vizzina 5-4, Chr.Johnson 3-0, Wesco 1-(minus 7), Reynolds 5-(minus 9). LSU, Leavitt 12-113, D.Jones 23-113, Clark 4-23, Gage 9-22, Watkins 1-14, Wilson 1-9, Berry 4-9, Longstreet 1-3, Durham 3-3. PASSING_Clemson, Vizzina 10-16-1-83, Reynolds 4-6-0-22. LSU, Leavitt 16-28-1-230, Clark 5-7-0-72, Longstreet 1-1-0-33. RECEIVING_Clemson, Moore 4-31, Wesco 2-29, T.Brown 2-11, Preston 1-25, T.Smith 1-6, Sellars 1-4, Burroughs 1-1, Patt-Henry 1-1, Bentancur 1-(minus 3). LSU, Watkins 7-110, T.Green 4-58, Wilson 4-35, Wright 3-70, J.Harris 1-32, Barber 1-15, Jayc.Brown 1-14, D.Jones 1-1. MISSED FIELD GOALS_LSU, Starzyk 48.

STAFF PHOTO BY PEARL SPURLOCK

Clemson defensive end Will Heldt attempts to tackle LSU running back Dilin Jones on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C thing should be obvious to all, Kiffin included: LSU didn’t need those former NFL camp castoffs he wanted to add to this apparently potent roster. Check back with the Tigers on that two weeks from now at Ole Miss, but not this Saturday. This Saturday, LSU settled all accounts. “Imagine,” Kiffin told ABC reporter Holly Rowe as he jogged off the field up 31-3 at the half, “if we had pro players.” Yes, LSU eventually gave in to mounting, overwhelming pressure on that score, deciding not to roster (love that verb) former Ole Miss tight end Dae’Quan Wright and ex-Rebels defensive tackle Zxavian Harris. Maybe it was the rest of the Southeastern Conference, maybe it was SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, maybe it was a warning shot from the College Football Playoff people. Whatever the reason, they weren’t on the team — yet — and it appeared for all the world that Kiffin and LSU took out its frustration on surprisingly outclassed Clemson. It was hard to see this gap coming from the other side of Saturday’s two-hour weather delay. College teams change vastly from year to year nowadays, but this was still Clemson, which LSU beat in a scrappy fight last year in that other Death Valley 17-10. In our staff picks for Saturday’s paper I picked LSU to win (and cover the 10-point spread) 31-16. Privately, I thought there was a chance LSU might blow out Clemson like 42-10. But intellect prevailed, saying the LSU offense might come out sort of creaky

LSU NOTEBOOK

LSU defense swarms Clemson Visiting Tigers toothless on offensive end

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

The LSU offense received most of the attention in the offseason. How could it not? The Tigers hired Lane Kiffin, and gave that side of the ball a major face-lift. Lost in all that buzz was the LSU defense, a unit that asserted Saturday that perhaps it should’ve been a bigger storyline ahead of Kiffin’s first year in Baton Rouge. The LSU offense rolled through the season opener, but the defense smothered the visiting Tigers, shoving them into one of the worst offensive showings of coach Dabo Swinney‘s tenure. How bad was it? Clemson punted on seven of its first nine drives. Five of those possessions were three-and-outs. Its offense ran 26 plays in the first half, and 11 of them went for either zero yards or a loss. Through three quarters, Clemson had four first downs and zero rushing yards on 20 attempts, and it was 0 for 11 on third down. LSU picked off quarterback Chris Vizzina once and sacked him four times before he was replaced after halftime. Its defense also recorded 10 tackles for loss. Vizzina was under duress all night, completing only 6 of 11 passes for 51 yards. LSU also controlled the line of scrimmage. Edge rusher Jordan Ross, a Tennessee transfer, was one of the stars of the first half. Late in the first quarter, he intercepted a Vizzina pass, returned it 30 yards for a touchdown, trotted to the sideline, dunked on LSU’s basketball hoop, jogged back onto the field and dropped Vizzina for a 4-yard loss. Linebacker Whit Weeks looked healthy. He dropped a runner behind the line of scrimmage on one key snap of the first half. Defensive end Princewill Umanmielen, an Ole Miss transfer, looked like a force off the edge. He sacked Vizzina once in the first half. Safety Ty Benefield made a couple of big plays, too, such as the third-down pass break-up that forced Clemson into a field goal on its first drive of the game. Clemson only scored on that drive because LSU quarterback

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU defensive end Jordan Ross scores after a pick-six against Clemson in the first quarter Saturday at Tiger Stadium. The LSU defense stymied Clemson all night in a rout. Sam Leavitt threw an interception on LSU’s second play from scrimmage after receiver Malik Elzy let a slightly off-target pass slip through his hands. Without that play, Clemson might’ve been shut out through three quarters — an impressive performance for an LSU defense that largely flew under the radar during an eventful offseason.

they each spent time with NFL franchises in August. Neither tight end Dae’Quan Wright nor defensive tackle Zxavian Harris was added to the roster when the Tigers finalized it Friday. LSU can still add them. It left two spots on the roster open in case Kiffin and his staff decide to reverse course later in the year. But Tuihalamaka is good to go. He logged special teams snaps on Tuihalamaka suits up Saturday. On defense, he worked LSU made a last-minute addi- as the Tigers’ fifth defensive end. tion to its roster Friday, and he Umanmielen and Ross were the was one of the plaintiffs in the starters, while Dylan Carpenter and high-profile eligibility lawsuit that Lamar Brown rotated onto the field was filed in Louisiana on Aug. 19. behind them. Junior Tuihalamaka, a fifth-year edge rusher from Notre Dame, Historically late kickoff officially suited up for the Tigers LSU fans had to wait 10 months on Saturday. He started practic- for one of the most highly anticiing with LSU earlier in the week, pated seasons in program history. and he became officially eligible Once it arrived, they had to wait to play against Clemson on Thurs- just a little while longer. LSU-Clemson was originally set day, when a Baton Rouge judge granted him and the suit’s roughly to kick off at 6:49 p.m. Then a line 40 other plaintiffs a preliminary of heavy rain and lightning passed over Tiger Stadium around 5 p.m., injunction. Tuihalamaka did not sign an forcing officials to push the kickNFL contract this summer. That’s off back. an important distinction: LSU The game wound up beginning has two former Ole Miss starters at 8:40 p.m., which is tied for the turned fifth-year plaintiffs com- latest kickoff time LSU has on remitted to play this season, but cord for any matchup played in

Tiger Stadium or elsewhere. The Tigers’ 2017 season opener, a win over BYU in the Superdome, also began at 8:40 p.m. The time was also unusually late for Clemson. The visiting Tigers said that the game they played on Saturday was only the third matchup in program history that began at 8:30 p.m. or later. The other two, a 1982 win over Wake Forest and a 1991 win over Duke, both took place in Tokyo.

Lagniappe Before Saturday, LSU hadn’t opened its season at home against a power-conference opponent since 2004, when it began the last year of Nick Saban‘s tenure as head coach with a 22-21 overtime win over Oregon State. ... LSU-Clemson took the clear top billing in college football’s slate of Week 1 games. ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in town, and the Tigers issued more than 900 media credentials for the game. Seventeen NFL teams were represented as well. ... Before kickoff, LSU held a moment of silence for both Jerry Stovall and Skip Bertman — the two legendary athletic department figures who died in August. The capacity crowd gave Bertman a loud cheer when his name was announced.

in the first quarter. It was pretty much a fait accompli after that. “It was a lot of players focused,” Kiffin said, as though he expected such a performance all along. “A lot of players doing a good job.” A halftime message on the giant video board above the north end zone said, “Make the valley shake.” Oh, how the valley did shake. If there was a word for the mood on LSU’s packed campus Saturday — from the “College GameDay” show and the F-15 flyover to the weather delay and the ruthless rout — it was defiance. Seething defiance. LSU fans, despite the late hour, were baying for blood. They literally made Tiger Stadium shake at times, with Rowe saying the noise on the field in the first half reached an ear-splitting 129 decibels. Kiffin was still, predictably, Kiffin. There was that halftime quote, and him calling for a twopoint conversion up 44-3 in the third quarter that resulted in Leavitt getting sacked. It was needless piling on, plus Leavitt, who showed no ill effects from his foot injury last season at Arizona State, could have been hurt. “Everybody hates you,” Kiffin STAFF PHOTO BY PEARL SPURLOCK said. “They can’t hate you that LSU wide receiver Winston Watkins celebrates after scoring a touchdown against Clemson on Saturday. much more. There, you’ve got another line.” For all the anticipation of a Kifdown with 3:13 left. and Clemson couldn’t be outThe Kiffin and LSU critics may fin/Weis choreographed offensive have to line up and give them In between, LSU’s domination classed THAT badly even with a fireworks show, the play that resieve-like offensive line and woe- was complete. The Kiffin/Charlie their props for this one. Who ally lit Tiger Stadium’s fire was on knows how good LSU really is and fully inexperienced quarterbacks. Weis Jr. offense was superbly well balanced for a steamroller — defense. Edge rusher Jordan Ross how bad Clemson really may be, That was being too kind. drifted back into coverage a little but for a starter it could hardly 309 yards rushing and 335 passClemson turned a second-play ing. LSU piled up a school-record like Marcus Spears in the 2004 Sam Leavitt interception off a have been much more impres38 first downs to Clemson’s eight. BCS national championship game sive. misaligned but catchable pass and intercepted Clemson starter It ran 94 offensive plays to 48 for Malik Elzy into an early 3-0 Christoper Vizzina, running back For more LSU sports updates, for Clemson, which went threelead. But LSU followed with an and-out (including that early field a pick-six 30 yards for a score unthinkable 51 straight points sign up for our newsletter at that put LSU up 17-3 with 2:07 left theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter before a cosmetic Clemson touch- goal) nine times.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 5C

LSU 51, CLEMSON 10

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THREE AND OUT: SCOTT RABALAIS’ TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM LSU’S OPENER UNDER LANE KIFFIN

HAVE RUN, WILL TRAVEL The biggest issue for the LSU offense in 2025 was an anemic running game that ranked 122nd among 134 FBS teams. Problem solved, at least for one game. At least in one half. LSU shredded Clemson for 213 yards rushing by halftime (309 for the game), eclipsing last season’s best total (166) in two quarters. Conversely, LSU dominated Clemson’s shaky offensive line, holding those Tigers to minus-4 yards rushing in the first half and a net of 40 for the game.

SAM THE MAN Sam Leavitt’s first possession as an LSU quarterback ended in frustration, as a misaimed pass for Malik Elzy resulted in an interception that set up a Clemson field goal.After that, the frustrations were all on the Clemson side. Leavitt’s famously repaired right foot looked practically bionic as he ran/scrambled for 113 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 230 and another score.The Lane Kiffin/Charlie Weis Jr. offense thrives with a dual-threat quarterback. Leavitt more than delivered.

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

The Golden Band from Tigerland marches down Victory Hill before LSU’s home opener against Clemson on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS If the LSU players were distracted by Thursday’s courtroom eligibility drama, it didn’t show one whit (Weeks). This was utter domination by the Tigers, the kind you’d expect against an outmatched FCS team, not a Power Four conference peer. There will be questions aplenty about Clemson’s quality, but a nation that lined up against Lane Kiffin and LSU will have to give both at least begrudging respect. That Sept. 19 showdown at Ole Miss looms even larger now.

STAFF PHOTO BY PEARL SPURLOCK

The LSU Golden Girls walk down Victory Hill ahead of LSU’s season opener on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

SIGHTS & SOUNDS

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin looks to the video board between plays in the first quarter against Clemson on Saturday.

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU linebacker Whit Weeks celebrates after making a big stop against Clemson in the first quarter on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

LSU

Continued from page 1C totaling 113 yards. LSU, which finished with 309 yards on the ground, had more rushing yards at half, 213, than the program’s season-high of 166 yards in a full game versus South Carolina last season. Before the third quarter ended, Leavitt was pulled. The stadium was clearing out at that point, as LSU fans decided it was best to get home at a reasonable hour after a weather delay pushed kickoff back two hours.

Before they left, they witnessed Kiffin deliver a victory on the national stage. Quickly and decisively, before most of the country went to bed. LSU finished with 644 total yards to Clemson’s 145. It was a much-needed shift in the conversation after a preseason where LSU was at the forefront of the national conversation for reasons other than football. Heisman winner Jayden Daniels’ attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter. A pair of transfers were taken to court by Ole Miss for breach of contract. A pair of ex-pros who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss were made eligible by a court order, he

tried to add them before the season, and LSU and Kiffin were sued by the Southeastern Conference. “Imagine if we had pro players,” Kiffin quipped during his halftime interview with ESPN with his Tigers up 28 points. LSU could have used one, perhaps, on its first offensive series when a Leavitt pass was thrown behind receiver Malik Elzy and went through his hands on its way into Clemson cornerback Ashton Hampton’s paws for an early turnover. That set up the other Tigers with an opportunity for early momentum, but Clemson moved just 2

yards before kicking a 48-yard ﬁeld goal to take a 3-0 lead. There were no more points to be had until a garbage time touchdown after LSU answered with 51 of its own. LSU controlled the ball with Leavitt and Jones’ legs, including a direct-snap touchdown run by the Wisconsin transfer from the 1-yard line to retake a 10-3 advantage. Baker then dropped edge rusher Jordan Ross into coverage to pick off a pressured Christopher Vizzina. Ross raced to the end zone to make it 17-3, dunking on the basketball hoop on the LSU sideline that had a Clemson paw on the

backboard. Leavitt’s back-to-back rushing touchdowns of 8 and 13 yards piled on, and Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr. did not ease off the throttle. Leavitt hit Winston Watkins for a 32-yard score, and Jones added a 12-yard touchdown run as LSU went up 44-3 before the fourth quarter began. Kifﬁn opted to go for two points on the latter score, which was unsuccessful. Leavitt was pulled after that, but the LSU offense didn’t completely shut down. Backup quarterback Landen Clark tossed to Phillip Wright for a 30-yard catch and run touchdown to make it 51-3.

LSU SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

Sept. 5

Sept. 12

Sept. 19

Sept. 26

Oct. 3

Oct. 10

Oct. 17

Oct. 24

Nov. 7

Nov. 14

Nov. 21

Nov. 28

51-10

La.Tech 6:30 p.m. TV: SECN+

at Ole Miss 6:30 p.m. TV: ABC

Texas A&M TBA TV: TBA

McNeese 6:45 p.m. TV: TBA

at Kentucky TBA TV: TBA

Mississippi St. TBA TV: TBA

at Auburn 11 a.m. TV: TBA

Alabama TBA TV: TBA

Texas TBA TV: TBA

at Tennessee TBA TV: TBA

at Arkansas TBA TV: TBA

OVERALL: 0-1 ACC: 0-0

OVERALL: 1-0 SUN BELT: 0-0

OVERALL: 0-0 SEC: 0-0

OVERALL: 1-0 SEC: 0-0

OVERALL: 0-1 SOUTHLAND: 0-1

OVERALL: 1-0 SEC: 0-0

6C ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Kiffin: ‘Wasn’t easy’ to leave off ex-pros BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

LSU coach Lane Kiffin said Saturday in his appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay” that “it wasn’t easy” to come to a decision Friday on the roster status of the two exNFL players who are now eligible to play for the Tigers. Kiffin and his staff chose not to add tight end Dae’Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris to their roster prior to Saturday’s season opener vs. Clemson. But they did decide to leave two of the 105 spots open to ensure they could add both players to the team later in the season. “I feel for the players,” Kiffin said, “and I believe that you fight for what you believe in, and I believe these kids have the opportunity to play, just like all the other kids around the country that are winning court cases and being put on rosters. “But at the same time, I’m the head coach of LSU. And I had to make a decision that is for the big picture of LSU and the LSU football program with the uncertainties of what potentially could

have come by adding them to the roster.” It’s unclear what ramifications LSU could face if it adds Wright and Harris to the roster. When Baton Rouge judge William Jorden sided with the athlete plaintiffs in a ruling he issued Thursday, he enjoined LSU with both the NCAA and the SEC, preventing the school from standing in the way of the players’ newly won right to play fifth seasons. That decision aims to protect the Tigers from a new SEC rule that bars players who had signed contracts with NFL, NBA and WNBA teams from competing in the league. But LSU, Kiffin and athletic director Verge Ausberry are also now defendants in a lawsuit that the SEC filed in an Alabama federal court Thursday. In the filing, the league is seeking legal cover to enforce its new rule, which carries strict penalties for any program that violates it. The conference’s presidents and athletic directors voted to allow commissioner Greg Sankey to issue a half-season suspension to a program’s coach, cut the sports

program’s budget in half and strip the university in question of its conference voting privileges. The reaction from the SEC and college football world over LSU’s decision to try to add these players didn’t surprise Kiffin. “I think it was the perfect storm. I think it was LSU. It was Lane Kiffin. It was a player that had an NFL uniform on. He used to play at Ole Miss,” Kiffin told “Marty and McGee” on Saturday. “The part I feel bad about? None of that’s his fault. And he has to sit at home today and watch everybody else play? Including players that got six years, that he knows that are older than him? Wrong.” LSU’s decision not to add Wright and Harris to the roster Friday bought it time to sort through all the legal complexities of the situation. Ryan Downton, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement Saturday that leaving Wright and Harris off the initial roster was a “measured decision” that should “lower the temperature” and “let level heads prevail” — for now. “We couldn’t get exactly the reasons or exactly what that would

STAFF PHOTO BY PEARL SPURLOCK

LSU coach Lane Kiffin talks with radio sportscaster Chris Blair on ‘The Lane Kiffin Show’ on Thursday at Court to Table. mean if we added them,” Kiffin said. “So, with that, (we) made the decision, which is the best interest of the team and the university.” The SEC rule does not apply to new LSU defensive end Junior Tuihalamaka, a former Notre Dame player who was a plaintiff

in the initial lawsuit. He did not sign with an NFL team this summer, and he was officially added to the Tigers’ roster on Friday. He was active against Clemson on Saturday. Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com.

U.S. OPEN

Zheng pulls off comeback over Keys BY BRIAN MAHONEY AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY FRANK FRANKLIN

Dick Gould, a 17-time champion coach at Stanford, looks on as he is honored at the U.S. Open on Saturday in New York.

Coaching legend Gould celebrated BY BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Want to know how good Dick Gould’s teams were at Stanford? The answer was right there on his shoes. Gould returned to the U.S. Open on Saturday and was honored during the first match of the night session. The longtime coach, who had John McEnroe among his many future pros, hadn’t been back to the event in years but his former players wanted to celebrate him this year. Gould wore specially designed Nike sneakers that were made for him for the occasion. White and cardinal red, one had a 17 on it, signifying his total of NCAA national championships, with his record of 776-148 on the tongue. “I loved coaching. I really enjoyed working with the age group, especially the 18 to 22-year-olds,” Gould said. “It’s the first time away from their parents, and you want to be independent, and the other hand, you can’t quite be, and sometimes some poor advice to help navigate things with you in a subtle way.” Gould was at Stanford from 1966-2004. Only four coaches at any level of college, men’s or women’s, won as many national titles, and his players won 17 individual NCAA cham-

pionships. Some of his best, topped by McEnroe and twins Mike and Bob Bryan, went on to win multiple Grand Slam titles. He hadn’t been able to catch up with all of them on his first day back, noting that they are actually working at the U.S. Open or in tennis. John and Patrick McEnroe, who also played for Gould, are broadcasting the event. Bob Bryan is the U.S. Davis Cup captain. “I think that’s one of the things I’m most proud of, just the idea that they’re still involved in tennis and they’re giving back to the game in some shape or form,” Gould said. Gould had four players in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 1983. He wonders now how good his, or any college teams, could be in the age of name, image and likeness, and with players now allowed to accept prize money while retaining eligibility. “With all the NIL money, transfer portals and stuff, it’s just the Wild West out there,” Gould said. “One day to the next you don’t know what the rules are going to be. “Now I think you could technically buy a championship by raising an extra amount of money for a year or two of players,” he added. “That’s a sad situation, if that were to happen, but I think it is a possibility nowadays.”

NEW YORK — Zheng Qinwen was on her back with her arms in the air, celebrating a U.S. Open victory maybe only she believed was possible. Madison Keys fought off tears as she tried to explain how Zheng, way down and all but out, somehow got the win. Zheng, the Olympic gold medalist, extended her return to the U.S. Open on Saturday with a spectacular and stunning rally, winning the final seven games to eliminate No. 22 Keys 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5. “I feel like I obviously got off to a really good lead, and then I just got really — I mean, got really scared, like I couldn’t swing,” Keys said. “I don’t know. Tennis just feels really hard right now, so I feel like that kind of took over.” Hours later, 13th-seeded Naomi Osaka joined her in the fourth round by defeating Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, in a match that lasted two hours, 38 minutes. The two-time champion from Japan put her head on her racket after the final point, stunned herself at the victory. “Honestly, I can’t believe I won this match,” Osaka said. “I’m literally shocked that I won this match.” Not quite as big a comeback as Zheng, but Osaka was down 4-2 in the third set and apologized for expressing so much frustration throughout a tough night. “There was a certain point, I don’t know, I felt like I put my entire heart on the court and then I just kept trying every single point,” Osaka said. “I didn’t feel like I played amazing, and it was really getting me down. I was very negative on myself.” Osaka avoided the kind of exit men’s No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz endured, blowing a two-set lead and falling to No. 24 Francisco Cerundolo 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. “I don’t know how I let that happen today,” Fritz said.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY HEATHER KHALIFA

Zheng Qinwen of China celebrates after she won her match against American Madison Keys during the third round of the U.S. Open on Saturday in New York.

Top seeds knocked out Amanda Anisimova, like Fritz and Keys a past runnerup at the U.S. Open, also was knocked out when the No. 10 seed lost to No. 24 Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 7-5. No. 5 Flavio Cobolli, the French Open runner-up, lost in four sets to No. 28 Alexander Blockx to leave the men’s draw without six of the top 10 seeds. Keys won a three-set match in the previous round in a match tiebreaker when she fought off five match points. Two days later came a collapse that was as out-ofnowhere as that comeback. The 2017 runner-up rebounded after losing the second-set tiebreaker to charge out to a 5-0 lead. Zheng held but Keys had a match point while serving at 5-1, and once she couldn’t convert that, the turnaround was on, with Keys at one point banging her racket into her head repeatedly and pulling off her visor in disgust. “I’m just telling myself keep holding every single point, never give up, stay there and somehow little by little it just happened,” Zheng said. She won the gold medal

for China at the 2024 Olympics after reaching the Australian Open final that year, and has been ranked as high as No. 4. But after elbow surgery, she is down to No. 121 and had to go through qualifying just to make the main draw. “The hard work pays off,” said Zheng, who will play 2022 U.S. Open champion Iga Swiatek next.

Gauff moves on Coco Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, beat Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-4. Either No. 17 Alex Eala from the Philippines or 14th-seeded American Iva Jovic is up next. “Honestly, I feel like I’m definitely used to getting to Week 2s now because I feel like I woke up today and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re already in Round 3,’ ” Gauff said. “So, I think that’s a good sign, just feeling like I’m not feeling tired.” Keys, who won the 2025 Australian Open for her lone Grand Slam title, said she was going to have to make some unspecified changes she has been putting off. “I think she started playing better; I started playing poorly,” Keys said. “Then I

felt like I couldn’t play tennis anymore, and it just felt like it was a much bigger deal than just playing a tennis match all of a sudden.” Fritz stormed through his first two rounds, losing a total of 11 games, and there was no hint of trouble when he broke Cerundolo to open the third set. But Cerundolo broke right back and started to feel more comfortable in his first time playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Anisimova missed repeated chances by converting just 3 of 16 break-point chances (19%). Potapova, a 25-year-old who was born in Russia but now represents Austria, went 6 for 8 and matched her best showing in a Grand Slam tournament by reaching the fourth round. Anisimova made the final at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2025, falling to Aryna Sabalenka in Flushing Meadows. But after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, the American was eliminated in the third round of the last three majors this year. Potapova will play No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva, the French Open champion.

Southeastern falls to South Alabama; Kansas St. hammers Nicholls By The Associated Press MOBILE, Ala. — Bishop Davenport threw for 154 yards and a touchdown and ran for another as South Alabama beat Southeastern 39-14 on Saturday. Davenport completed 18 of 27 passes without an interception. South Alabama rushed for 241 yards and three touchdowns, with PJ Martin leading the way with 69 yards on 18 carries. Southeastern (0-2) cut the deficit to 22-14 early in the third quarter on Kyle Lowe’s second touchdown pass to

STATE ROUNDUP

Lonnie Shinn. Lowe threw for 186 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted twice. Shinn caught four passes for 54 yards and both Southeastern touchdowns. KANSAS ST. 71, NICHOLLS 3: In Manhattan, Kansas, Avery Johnson threw for 199 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in just over a half, Rodney Fields ran for 101 yards and a score as Kansas State trounced Nicholls. The Wildcats (1-0) piled up 559 yards of offense and

finished just five points shy of the single-game school record. The Colonels (1-1) were coming off a lopsided win over Mississippi Valley State, but they found the going much tougher against a team with Big 12 title aspirations. They went three-andout on their first five possessions and finished with 122 yards of offense. Ean Rodrigue was 7 of 19 for 30 yards for Nicholls. Tamaj Hoffman had 43 yards on the ground. MISSISSIPPI ST. 62, UL-MONROE 13: In Starkville, Mississippi,

Kamario Taylor passed for 354 yards and four touchdowns, added 59 yards and a score on the ground, and Mississippi State cruised past UL-Monroe in the season opener for both teams. Mississippi State’s 62 points is tied for the 14th most in program history. Taylor was electric in the first half. The sophomore completed 21 of his 32 pass attempts. For the Warhawks, Aiden Armenta was 10 for 16 for 63 yards and Austin Carlisle rushed for 50 yards on seven carries.

LOUISIANA TECH 80, NORTHWESTERN ST. 6: In Ruston, Blake Baker accounted for three of Louisiana Tech’s 10 touchdowns as the Bulldogs opened their season with a rout over Northwestern State. Louisiana Tech set a program best in points scored, surpassing the 76 it put up against Rice on Nov. 29, 2014. The Bulldogs led 63-3 at halftime. UL 38, LAMAR 7: In Lafayette, Darrell Smith accounted for two of UL’s five touchdown runs as the Ragin’ Cajuns opened with a win over Lamar.

Smith finished with 84 yards rushing on 10 carries. Lunch Winfield also added 84 yards rushing and a score, and was 15-of-21 passing for 189 yards but threw two interceptions. Anthony Reagan and Steven Blanco also had TD runs for the Cajuns. DUKE 17, TULANE 3: In Durham, North Carolina, Nate Sheppard ran for a careerbest 227 yards and two TDs to help Duke beat Tulane in a weather-delayed season opener for both teams. The Green Wave managed 258 total yards and converted 3 of 14 third downs.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 7C

SOUTHERN 34, KENTUCKY ST. 15 THREE AND OUT: TOYLOY BROWN’S TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM SOUTHERN’S HOME-OPENING WIN

EARLY INTERCEPTION Southern linebacker Tay James had the biggest defensive play of the home opener. The junior transfer from Jones College had an interception he returned 85 yards for a touchdown. His touchdown not only energized his teammates and the home crowd, but it was a positive sign of what could come this season. The Jaguars have struggled to force turnovers, especially interceptions, the past two seasons.

WEATHER DELAY Southern’s home fans had to wait an extra hour to watch their team play because of a lightning delay. The pause in action seemed to contribute to both teams’ sluggish starts as the first offensive touchdown by either club came with less than a minute left in the first half from the Jaguars. Fortunately for Southern, it has practice in this situation as the pause was reminiscent of the spring game that had a near hour weather delay.

HOLLY BOUNCES BACK After a quiet season opener, Southern star Trey Holly was back to his normal self. The 5-foot-7, 192-pound tailback was bouncing off defenders who couldn’t wrestle him down on first contact, and he used his short frame to his advantage to duck under his blockers. Holly’s 99 yards rushing and two TDs were a welcome sight. While the numbers weren’t gaudy, Holly’s impact was big and helped the Jaguars gain control.

Defense gives SU needed spark

LB James’ pick-six gets Jaguars going BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

Quarterback Christian Johnson didn’t want to credit the offense for giving Southern its spark right before halftime. The Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College transfer said the honor for invigorating the team in its 34-15 win over Notebook Kentucky State fell on the defense — namely linebacker Tay James. The Jones College transfer returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown to give the Jaguars their first score with 13:44 left in the first half. “Really, the boost came from Tay, believe it or not,” said Johnson, who completed 15 of 28 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. “(The offense) really couldn’t get nothing going, and then Tay comes out and scores a touchdown and I’m on the sideline about to lose it, running down the field with him. I wanted to go meet him in the end zone. But yeah, he definitely got us going.”

Offensive improvement

STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

Southern wide receiver Malachi Jackson runs with the ball during a game against Kentucky State on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium. Southern won its first home game since 2024.

SOUTHERN

Continued from page 1C more success moving the ball. Kentucky State coach Felton Huggins, a Zachary native, had his team play uptempo early, snapping the ball within 15 seconds between plays in the first quarter. The team also used a two-quarterback system throughout the game. Southern’s offense was stymied early, with Kentucky State keeping the run game in check. Johnson had a cold start, taking multiple deep shots to no avail. The Jaguars managed only three first downs and 37 total yards in the first quarter, compared to Kentucky State’s 85. Southern’s defense was the steadying force, making key plays to keep the Thorobreds off the scoreboard. Southern defensive end Ckelby Givens made back-to-back plays in the backfield, including a tackle for a loss of 2 yards and an assist that helped defensive tackle Jayden Rodgers record a sack with 4:57 left in the quarter. Givens finished with five tackles and two sacks. Faulk’s defense eased the pressure on the offense by scoring the game’s first points. Kentucky State stayed aggressive, going for it on fourth and 6 from Southern’s 15-yard line. Instead of attempting a 32-yard field goal, quarterback Denim Johnson ran a play-action rollout to his left and threw too high to his receiver. Southern linebacker Tay James intercepted the pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. Faulk said he was impressed with his defense. “Offensively, whenever we scored, the defense didn’t relax,” Faulk said. “They went out and got stops as well. That’s the complementary football we talk about playing.” A Jones College transfer, James recorded Southern’s first interception and defensive touchdown of the season, giving the Jaguars a 7-0 lead with 13:49 left in the second quarter. Southern’s offense came to life late in the second quarter. With 35 seconds remaining, Johnson hit Daejawn Smith on a 43-yard seam route. The play set up a 4-yard touchdown pass to 6-foot-6 tight end Isaiah Pina in the left corner of the

Southern’s offense took a step forward. After going scoreless in the second half of its 30-17 loss to Alabama State in Birmingham, Alabama, the Jaguars offense found its way at the end of the second quarter and on the first two drives of the third. Players seem to be getting more acclimated to offensive coordinator Ken Merchant’s playbook, which prioritizes the ground game with a pair of running backs playing side by side in the backfield on occasion. Star running back Trey Holly found the success he lacked in the season opener. He had 99 yards rushing on 21 carries and two touchdowns. “I’m loving it. ... Don’t come out the game,” Holly said, chuckling, after being asked how he feels about the new offense. “But I mean, like I said, we’re still putting pieces together. ... We’re still learning plays. We’re still adding plays as the weeks go on. So once we get that all figured out, I mean, we’re going to be unstoppable.”

Weather delay

Southern running back Champ Davis dives into the end zone to score a touchdown against Kentucky State on Saturday at A.W. Mumford Stadium. end zone — the first catch of his career. Freshman Chris McKenna missed the extra point. “We owe that to our defense,” Faulk said of the decision to try to score before halftime. “I didn’t feel like taking a knee there. I felt we had to show our defense that we were matching the fight that our defense was putting up. If we can get in field-goal range, we owed them that and so taking a shot there made sense to me.” Despite Kentucky State gaining 41 more yards than Southern in the first half, the Thorobreds trailed 13-2. Their only points came on a safety with 5:54 left in the second quarter, when Southern running back Mike Franklin was hit at his own 2-yard line and fumbled. Johnson recovered and was tackled in the end zone. Southern built on its momentum to open the third quarter. Running back Trey Holly, who began his career at LSU, was difficult to bring down. He scored on a 16-yard run in which he shed three tackles and ducked under a lineman’s arm. The junior bounced back from a rough season opener, when he averaged 2.5 yards on 15 carries. Against Kentucky State, he finished with 21 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns. “Trey showed why he’s special,” Faulk said. “He’s a special runner, he has a knack for finding the holes and he’s explosive. I like now how he doesn’t have to come out of games. I like where he is, the shape that he’s in and I like that we

can ride him as much as we want to. And then if we pull him, you know, we have a Champ (Davis) and we have a Mike (Franklin) to put in.” After Holly’s score made it 20-2, he delivered another highlight as a receiver. Johnson found him on a check-down pass that Holly turned into a 27-yard gain to the Southern 47. The drive ended with a 25-yard touchdown pass to running back Davis out of a Go-Go formation, extending the lead to 27-2 with 5:02 left in the third quarter. Kentucky State stayed committed to a comeback. The Thorobreds scored 13 straight points in the third quarter, beginning with a 72-yard screen pass touchdown at the 2:30 mark. Quarterback Jaun Gainous threw to Thomas along the right sideline, and Thomas followed strong blocking as Southern blitzed. The Thorobreds scored again 50 seconds later. After recovering an onside kick, they put together a six-play drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Hale. Gainous released the throw off his back foot. Southern led 27-15 with 1:40 left in the third. While Kentucky State caused some nervousness in the stadium, the Jaguars sealed the victory with a 12-yard touchdown run by Holly to give his team a 3412 advantage with 1:02 remaining. Southern’s next game is at 6 p.m. Saturday against Houston (1-0) at TDECU Stadium in Houston.

Southern’s weather delay not only made fans anticipate the home opener more, but it also might have contributed to the team feeling somewhat out of rhythm before playing Kentucky State. “You know what, I think the weather delay kind of got everybody fired up more,” Johnson said. “And you know, I do think there is some wasted energy before we go out there with all the hype.” When asked what the team did during the hourlong delay, Johnson said players tried to not stay on their feet the entire time. “I really think the method in that moment is to get off your feet because your adrenaline’s already going, your blood’s flowing,” he said. Coach Marshall Faulk’s reaction to the weather delay made him harken back to April 4, when his team had its spring showcase. In that public game, the Jaguars had a 40-minute delay that the Southern coach saw as a “gift” to practice for this kind of situation before the regular season. “(I) talked to them about it,” Faulk said. “It’s literally like when that happened to us, and we went out in the spring game, and we started a little slow. … I told them that day, based on this region that we live in, this is a real scenario that we’re going to live out and boom, second game, first home game, it happens. So it was good to see them take the field with the expectations, and then understand that just like just like in the spring game, we started off slow and then we we kind of got it going.”

8C ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

lll

SCOREBOARD Odds Sports Betting Line College Football Sunday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY at WASH 21½ 23½ at ND 20½ 20½ at OLE MISS 6½ 6½

O/U UNDERDOG (51½) Wash St (46½) Wisconsin (55½) Louisville

FAVORITE SMU

O/U UNDERDOG (53½) at FSU

Monday

MLB

OPEN TODAY 2½ 3

Sunday

American League FAVORITE LINE at BALTIMORE OFF at CLEVELAND OFF at KANSAS CITY OFF at TEXAS OFF at SEATTLE -257 at WHITE SOX OFF National League FAVORITE LINE at CINCINNATI OFF at PHILA OFF at N.Y METS OFF at MIAMI OFF St. Louis -125 at LA DODGERS OFF Interleague FAVORITE LINE at PITTS OFF at HOUSTON OFF at SAN DIEGO OFF

UNDERDOG Boston Detroit Toronto Tampa Bay Athletics Minnesota

LINE OFF OFF OFF OFF +203 OFF

UNDERDOG LINE Milwaukee OFF Atlanta OFF San Fran OFF Chi Cubs OFF at COLORADO +103 Washington OFF UNDERDOG LA Angels Arizona N.Y Yankees

LINE OFF OFF OFF

Pro basketball WNBA Glance 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 GB .650 — .650 — .600 2 .600 2 .375 11 .275 15 .250 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 GB .775 — .725 2 .675 4 .600 7 .400 15 .375 16 .350 17 .200 23

WESTERN CONFERENCE

x-clinched playoff spot Friday’s Games

No games scheduled.

Saturday’s Games

No games scheduled.

Sunday’s Games

No games scheduled.

Pro football NFL Glance Wednesday’s Games

New England at Seattle, 7:20 p.m.

Thursday’s Games

San Francisco vs L.A. Rams at Melbourne, VIC, 7:35 p.m.

Sept. 13 Games

Atlanta at Pittsburgh, noon Baltimore at Indianapolis, noon Buffalo at Houston, noon Chicago at Carolina, noon Cleveland at Jacksonville, noon N.Y. Jets at Tennessee, noon New Orleans at Detroit, noon Tampa Bay at Cincinnati, noon Arizona at L.A. Chargers, 3:25 p.m. Green Bay at Minnesota, 3:25 p.m. Miami at Las Vegas, 3:25 p.m. Washington at Philadelphia, 3:25 p.m. Dallas at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m.

Sept. 14 Games

Denver at Kansas City, 7:15 p.m.

Tennis US Open Results Saturday

At The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center New York Purse: $5,438,400 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Saturday from US Open at The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

Third Round Francisco Cerundolo (24), Argentina, def. Taylor Fritz (9), United States, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Alexander Blockx (28), Belgium, def. Flavio Cobolli (5), Italy, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.

Women’s Singles

Third Round Anastasia Potapova (24), Russia, def. Amanda Anisimova (10), United States, 6-2, 7-5. Zheng Qinwen, China, def. Madison Keys (22), United States, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-5. Mirra Andreeva (5), Russia, def. Nikola Bartunkova, Czechia, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Iga Swiatek (8), Poland, def. Marie Bouzkova (25), Czechia, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3).

Men’s Doubles

First Round Nikola Mektic, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek (15), United States, def. Bart Stevens, Netherlands, and Filip Pieczonka, Poland, 6-1, 7-6 (1). Marcel Granollers, Spain, and Horacio Zeballos (2), Argentina, def. Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Mexico, and Hendrik Jebens, Germany, 7-5, 6-3. Ryan Seggerman and Patrik Trhac, United States, def. Michael Venus, New Zealand, and Yuki Bhambri, India, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3). Jackson Withrow and Nathaniel Lammons, United States, def. Marcelo Demoliner, Brazil, and Ray Ho, Taiwan, 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2. Alexander Bublik, Kazakhstan, and Juncheng Shang, China, def. Fabian Marozsan, Hungary, and Sebastian Baez, Argentina, 6-2, 6-4. Jakob Schnaitter and Mark Wallner, Germany, def. Noah Johnston, United States, and Yannik Alvarez, Puerto Rico, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Guido Andreozzi, Argentina, and Manuel Guinard (7), France, def. Finn Reynolds and James Watt, New Zealand, 6-2, 6-4. Christian Harrison, United States, and Neal Skupski (5), Britain, def. Arthur Reymond and Luca Sanchez, France, 6-0, 7-6 (3).

Women’s Doubles

Second Round Aldila Sutjiadi, Indonesia, and Erin Routliffe (9), New Zealand, def. Leylah Fernandez, Canada, and Janice Tjen, Indonesia, 6-4, 6-4. Demi Schuurs, Netherlands, and Ellen Perez (10), Australia, def. Qianhui Tang, China, and Elena Pridankina, Russia, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3. Taylor Townsend, United States, and Katerina Siniakova (1), Czechia, def. Xu Yifan and Wang Xiyu, China, 6-3, 6-4.

Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine, and Anna Bondar, Hungary, def. Magda Linette and Maja Chwalinska, Poland, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Ingrid Neel, Estonia, and Giuliana Olmos, Mexico, def. Ena Shibahara, Japan, and Lanlana Tararudee, Thailand, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4. Storm Hunter, Australia, and Desirae Krawczyk (13), United States, def. Alexandra Panova, Russia, and Magali Kempen, Belgium, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.

Auto racing

St Louis City 9 6 7 34 33 Colorado 10 11 1 31 31 San Diego FC 8 8 6 30 40 Minnesota United 7 7 8 29 30 Real Salt Lake 8 9 4 28 34 Portland 8 10 4 28 39 Seattle 7 9 5 26 24 LA Galaxy 6 9 8 26 28 Austin FC 6 10 6 24 28 Sporting Kansas City 4 15 3 15 20 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

At Darlington Raceway Darlington, S.C. Lap length: 1.37 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, .000 mph. 2. (7) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, .000. 3. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, .000. 4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, .000. 5. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, .000. 6. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, .000. 7. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, .000. 8. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, .000. 9. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, .000. 10. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, .000. 11. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, .000. 12. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, .000. 13. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, .000. 14. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, .000. 15. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, .000. 16. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, .000. 17. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, .000. 18. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, .000. 19. (42) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, .000. 20. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, .000. 21. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, .000. 22. (67) Corey Heim, Toyota, .000. 23. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, .000. 24. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, .000. 25. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, .000. 26. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, .000. 27. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, .000. 28. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, .000. 29. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, .000. 30. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, .000. 31. (88) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, .000. 32. (33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, .000. 33. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, .000. 34. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, .000. 35. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, .000. 36. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, .000. 37. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, .000. 38. (66) Chad Finchum, Ford, .000.

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

Saturday, September 12

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

Transactions Major League Baseball

At Crans-Sur-Sierre Golf Club Crans-Montana, Switzerland Purse: $3.3 million Yardage: 6,830; Par: 70 Third Round Paul Casey, England 67-64-63—194 -16 Nacho Elvira, Spain 67-62-68—197 -13 E. Lopez-Chacarra, Spain 65-67-65—197 -13 M. Steinlechner, Austria 66-68-63—197 -13 E. Van Rooyen, South Africa 67-67-63—197 -13 Angel Ayora Fanegas, Spain 64-68-66—198 -12 Todd Clements, England 64-68-67—199 -11 Francesco Laporta, Italy 67-67-65—199 -11 Keita Nakajima, Japan 67-63-69—199 -11 Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain 66-65-69—200 -10 Joel Girrbach, Switzerland 70-63-67—200 -10 Harry Hall, England 65-68-67—200 -10 Angel Hidalgo, Spain 70-63-67—200 -10 R. Højgaard, Denmark 68-66-66—200 -10 Joakim Lagergren, Sweden 66-66-68—200 -10 Romain Langasque, France 68-67-65—200 -10 T. Lawrence, South Africa 64-63-73—200 -10 David Puig, Spain 66-67-67—200 -10 Patrick Reed, United States 66-67-67—200 -10 Antoine Rozner, France 66-67-67—200 -10 Matt Wallace, England 68-66-66—200 -10 Bernd Wiesberger, Austria 69-68-63—200 -10 Danny Willett, England 69-66-65—200 -10 Sean Crocker, United States 73-64-64—201 -9 Jeremy Paul, Germany 65-64-72—201 -9 B. Stone, South Africa 69-63-69—201 -9 Ashun Wu, China 63-68-70—201 -9 Davis Bryant, United States 66-66-70—202 -8 Thomas Detry, Belgium 68-64-70—202 -8 Ryan Gerard, United States 69-68-65—202 -8 Calum Hill, Scotland 68-67-67—202 -8 Casey Jarvis, South Africa 67-69-66—202 -8 Adrian Meronk, Poland 66-68-68—202 -8 Fred Biondi, Brazil 67-67-69—203 -7 Manuel Elvira, Spain 66-70-67—203 -7 A. Halvorsen, Norway 69-66-68—203 -7 Hao-Tong Li, China 67-68-68—203 -7 Z. Lombard, South Africa 69-68-66—203 -7 Edoardo Molinari, Italy 71-63-69—203 -7 Jack Yule, England 65-69-69—203 -7 I. Cantero Gutierrez, Spain 66-71-67—204 -6 Quentin Debove, France 68-67-69—204 -6 Marco Penge, England 68-68-68—204 -6 Tom Vaillant, France 69-68-67—204 -6 Alejandro Del Rey, Spain 67-69-69—205 -5 Dylan Frittelli, South Africa 71-65-69—205 -5 Sergio Garcia, Spain 70-63-72—205 -5 Nathan Kimsey, England 71-65-69—205 -5 David Law, Scotland 70-67-68—205 -5 Joshua Berry, England 67-68-71—206 -4 J. Kruyswijk, South Africa 67-66-73—206 -4 Niklas Lemke, Sweden 65-70-71—206 -4 Stefano Mazzoli, Italy 67-70-69—206 -4 Guido Migliozzi, Italy 68-69-69—206 -4 Yurav Premlall, South Africa 68-67-71—206 -4 Shubhankar Sharma, India 64-68-74—206 -4 D. Van Driel, Netherlands 69-68-69—206 -4 Gregorio De Leo, Italy 70-63-74—207 -3 Fabrizio Zanotti, Paraguay 68-67-72—207 -3 J. Trey Schper, South Africa 67-69-72—208 -2 K. Aphibarnrat, Thailand 70-67-72—209 -1 M. Hollick, South Africa 69-68-72—209 -1 Joost Luiten, Netherlands 67-69-73—209 -1 Marcel Schneider, Germany 70-67-72—209 -1 Yanhan Zhou, China 70-67-72—209 -1 Ugo Coussaud, France 66-69-75—210 E S. Soderberg, Sweden 71-64-75—210 E

Soccer MLS Glance W L T Pts GF 16 2 5 53 47 12 4 6 42 56 11 6 4 37 39 11 7 4 37 36 10 7 5 35 40 8 7 7 31 49 7 8 8 29 36 7 10 5 26 32 7 11 4 25 37 5 7 10 25 32 5 7 10 25 28 6 10 6 24 34 6 13 3 21 25 5 11 6 21 30 5 12 5 20 31

GA 17 41 28 27 32 51 31 46 54 38 36 39 38 46 39

W L T Pts GF 13 4 4 43 48 12 7 3 39 30 10 7 6 36 36 10 8 4 34 39 9 6 7 34 41

GA 18 26 22 33 37

American League ATHLETICS — Optioned RHP Jack Perkins to Las Vegas (PCL). Recalled RHP Joey Estes from Las Vegas. CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated C Kyle Teel from the 10-day IL. Optioned C Drew Romo to Charlotte (IL). CLEVELAND GUARDIANS — Designated RHP Carlos Hernández for assignment. Placed RHP Colin Holderman on the 15-day IL. Reinstated RHP Slade Cecconi from the 15day IL. Recalled RHPs Austin Peterson and Daniel Espino from Columbus (IL). HOUSTON ASTROS — Placed LHP Steven Okert on the 15-day IL retroactive to Sept. 1. Recalled LHP Bryan King from Sugar Land Space (PCL). KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Sent OF Drew Waters outright to Omaha (IL). LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Sent RHP Sam Bachman on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga (CAL). SEATTLE MARINERS — Recalled RHP Troy Taylor from Tacoma (PCL). Placed LHP Hoby Milner on the family medical emergency list. TAMPA BAY RAYS — Placed LHP Shane McClanahan on the 15-day IL. Recalled RHP Alex Cook from Durham (IL). Reinstated RHP Cole Sulser from the 15-day IL. Placed RHP Manuel Rodríguez on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Sept. 3. TEXAS RANGERS — Sent C Kyle Higashioka on a rehab assignment to Round Rock (PCL). TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Reinstated RHP Jameson Taillon from the 15-day IL. Optioned LHP Ricky Tiedemann to Buffalo (IL). Sent OF Daz Cameron outright to Buffalo. National League ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Designated CF Jorge Barrosa for assignment. Reinstated LF Tommy Troy from the 10-day IL. CINCINNATI REDS — Transferred 1B Michael Toglia to the 60-day IL. Optioned 2B Ivan Johnson to Louisville (IL). Selected the contract of CF Carlos Jorge from Louisville. COLORADO ROCKIES — Claimed LHP Hayden Harris off waivers from Atlanta. Optioned LHP Hayden Harris to Albuquerque (PCL). PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Designated C Christian Bethancourt for assignment. Reinstated SS Konnor Griffin from the 60-day IL. Optioned LHP Brandon Eisert to Indianapolis (IL). Recalled RHP Isaac Mattson from Indianapolis. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Placed C Jesus Rodriguez on the 60-day IL. Claimed RHP Joel Kuhnel off waivers from Milwaukee. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Reinstated RHP Andre Pallante from the 15-day IL. Optioned RHP Ryan Fernandez to Memphis (IL). WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Designated RHP Max Kranick for assignment. Sent LHP Tom Cosgrove outright to Rochester (IL). Selected the contract of RHP Jack Sinclair from Rochester.

FOOTBALL

National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed LB Bralen Trice to the practice squad. Released DE Khalid Kareem from the practice squad. BUFFALO BILLS Released LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles. CAROLINA PANTHERS — Waived T Ryan Hayes. CHICAGO BEARS — Released WR Ray-Ray McCloud. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Waived G C.J. Hanson, QB Chris Oladokun and RB E.J. Smith from injured reserve with injury settlements. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Signed WR Ronnie Bell, G Evan Neal and LB Azeez Ojulari to the practice squad. Released LB Jahfari Harvey, T Kamar Missouri and TE Albert Okwuegbunam from the practice squad. Waived WR Chase Roberts from injured reserve with an injury settlement. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Waived LB Kyle Kennard from injured reserve with an injury settlement. MIAMI DOLPHINS — Waived T Carter Warren. MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Waived LB Jacob Roberts from injured reserve with an injury settlement. Waived WR Dontae Fleming. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Waived LB Michael Heldman and RB Devin Neal. NEW YORK JETS — Waived TE Connor Hulstein and RB Dominic Richardson. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Waived T Amari Kight. TENNESSEE TITANS — Waived LB Dominique Washington. WASHINGTON COMMANDERS — Waived LB T.J. Maguranyanga from injured reserve with an injury settlement. Waived DB Malik Spencer.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL MAJOR SCORES EAST

Army 59, Bryant 3 Colgate 35, Holy Cross 10 Lehigh 45, Georgetown 14 Monmouth (NJ) 31, Sacred Heart 24 Navy 42, Towson 15 Penn St. 45, Marshall 0 Pittsburgh 59, Miami (Ohio) 14 Richmond 28, Howard 21 Robert Morris 29, W. Virginia St. 9 Stonehill 21, New Haven 3 Syracuse 66, New Hampshire 3 Temple 38, Rhode Island 14 Uconn 56, Lafayette 7 Villanova 17, Bucknell 16 Wagner 31, S. Connecticut 7 West Virginia 31, Coastal Carolina 24

SOUTH

Alabama 48, East Carolina 10 Alabama St. 34, Lane 0 Appalachian St. 55, Maine 3 Auburn 17, Baylor 16 Duke 17, Tulane 3 ETSU 48, Tusculum 14 Elon 38, Davidson 0 Georgia 63, Tennessee St. 3

Georgia Southern 31, Charleston Southern 0 Jacksonville St. 49, E. Kentucky 7 James Madison 20, Liberty 13 Kentucky 45, Youngstown St. 13 Louisiana Tech 80, Northwestern St. 6 McNeese St. 52, Texas Wesleyan Rams 0 Memphis 42, Arkansas St. 24 Mercer 62, Presbyterian 3 NC Central 27, Elizabeth City St. 6 Old Dominion 31, Norfolk St. 10 South Alabama 39, SE Louisiana 14 South Carolina 57, Kent St. 0 South Florida 19, FIU 9 Southern Miss. 49, Alcorn St. 3 Stetson 45, Webber International Warriors 10 Tennessee 56, Furman 9 Tennessee Tech 24, Chattanooga 9 The Citadel 43, Charlotte 41, 3OT Troy 24, Sam Houston St. 21 Vanderbilt 28, Austin Peay 9 William & Mary 22, Delaware St. 15 Wofford 17, Gardner-Webb 13

MIDWEST

Cincinnati 34, Boston College 15 Indiana 52, North Texas 16 Iowa 40, N. Illinois 0

Chicago Cleveland Minnesota Detroit Kansas City

L 57 61 65 71 74 L 68 71 74 77 80

Pct GB .599 — .570 4 .545 7½ .503 13½ .483 16½ Pct GB .521 — .503 2½ .479 6 .458 9 .441 11½

Houston Texas Seattle Athletics Los Angeles

W 73 70 66 56 54

L 70 73 76 86 88

Pct GB .510 — .490 3 .465 6½ .394 16½ .380 18½

Tampa Bay New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

Cleveland 7, Detroit 6, 1st game Pittsburgh 1, L.A. Angels 0 Boston 1, Baltimore 0 Chicago White Sox 4, Minnesota 1 Cleveland 4, Detroit 3, 10 innings, 2nd game Toronto 9, Kansas City 2 Houston 3, Arizona 1 Tampa Bay 7, Texas 6 San Diego 3, N.Y. Yankees 2, 10 innings Athletics 7, Seattle 6

Saturday’s Games

Iowa St. 38, SE Missouri 10 Kansas St. 71, Nicholls 3 Michigan 13, W. Michigan 12 N. Dakota St. 38, Fordham 0 Nebraska 49, Ohio 21 North Dakota 62, St. Thomas (Minn.) 26 Ohio St. 56, Ball St. 3 Tarleton St. 20, Bowling Green 13

East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 84 80 71 67 64

L 58 62 72 76 78

Pct GB .592 — .563 4 .497 13½ .469 17½ .451 20

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 88 81 71 70 67

L 54 62 71 73 74

Pct GB .620 — .566 7½ .500 17 .490 18½ .475 20½

Los Angeles Arizona San Diego San Francisco Colorado

W 84 75 74 59 54

L 57 68 68 84 87

Pct GB .596 — .524 10 .521 10½ .413 26 .383 30

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

Atlanta 5, Philadelphia 2 Pittsburgh 1, L.A. Angels 0 Milwaukee 10, Cincinnati 7 N.Y. Mets 10, San Francisco 6 Chicago Cubs 6, Miami 1 Houston 3, Arizona 1 St. Louis 7, Colorado 6 San Diego 3, N.Y. Yankees 2, 10 innings L.A. Dodgers 5, Washington 3

Saturday’s Games

San Francisco 9, N.Y. Mets 5 Chicago Cubs 6, Miami 5 Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 2 L.A. Angels 6, Pittsburgh 1 Milwaukee at Cincinnati, n N.Y. Yankees 5, San Diego 1 Arizona 4, Houston 3, 10 innings St. Louis at Colorado, n Washington at L.A. Dodgers, n

Detroit 6, Cleveland 0 L.A. Angels 6, Pittsburgh 1 Toronto 4, Kansas City 3 Tampa Bay 6, Texas 3, 10 innings Minnesota 6, Chicago White Sox 4 Boston 5, Baltimore 0 N.Y. Yankees 5, San Diego 1 Arizona 4, Houston 3, 10 innings Athletics at Seattle, n

Sunday’s Games

Boston (Tolle 8-6) at Baltimore (Bradish 7-12), 12:35 p.m. L.A. Angels (Ureña 9-9) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. Detroit (Jobe 1-2) at Cleveland (Williams 13-7), 12:40 p.m. Arizona (Rodriguez 14-5) at Houston (Lambert 8-7), 1:10 p.m. Toronto (Arrighetti 7-8) at Kansas City (Dobnak 2-3), 1:10 p.m. Tampa Bay (Seymour 9-6) at Texas (Gore 8-10), 1:35 p.m. Athletics (Jump 6-9) at Seattle (Woo 10-9), 3:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Cole 8-7) at San Diego (King 9-9), 3:10 p.m. Minnesota (Ober 7-4) at Chicago White Sox (Burke 8-6), 5:20 p.m.

Milwaukee (Harrison 10-4) at Cincinnati (Singer 5-13), 11:10 a.m. Atlanta (Mahle 5-10) at Philadelphia (Nola 6-10), 12:10 p.m. L.A. Angels (Ureña 9-9) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Boyd 8-3) at Miami (Phillips 4-6), 12:40 p.m. San Francisco (Webb 8-8) at N.Y. Mets (Scott 4-4), 12:40 p.m. Arizona (Rodriguez 14-5) at Houston (Lambert 8-7), 1:10 p.m. St. Louis (Leahy 10-4) at Colorado (Gordon 1-4), 2:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Cole 8-7) at San Diego (King 9-9), 3:10 p.m. Washington (Alvarez 2-6) at L.A. Dodgers (TBD), 9:10 p.m.

WILD CARD GLANCE

New England at Chicago, 4:30 p.m. Austin FC at Vancouver, 5:30 p.m. Philadelphia at San Diego FC, 8 p.m.

Omega European Masters

National League

W 85 81 78 72 69 W 74 72 68 65 63

Sunday, September 13

Saturday

Vancouver Houston Los Angeles FC San Jose FC Dallas

30 28 33 32 33 39 29 35 41 54

Wednesday’s games

Golf

Western Conference

East H Division

Nashville 0, New York City FC 0, tie Saturday, September 5 Houston at Charlotte FC, 6:30 p.m. D.C. United at Cincinnati, 6:30 p.m. Colorado at Columbus, 6:30 p.m. Atlanta at Miami, 6:30 p.m. San Diego FC at Orlando City, 6:30 p.m. CF Montréal at Philadelphia, 6:30 p.m. Chicago at Toronto FC, 6:30 p.m. San Jose at Austin FC, 7:30 p.m. Sporting Kansas City at FC Dallas, 7:30 p.m. New York at Seattle, 7:30 p.m. New England at LA Galaxy, 8:30 p.m. Los Angeles FC at Real Salt Lake, 8:30 p.m. Minnesota at Portland, 9:30 p.m. St Louis City at Vancouver, 9:30 p.m.

After Saturday qualifying; race Sunday

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

American League

Friday’s games

NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 Lineup

Eastern Conference

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

American League New York Boston Cleveland Toronto Texas Baltimore

W 80 77 72 71 70 69

National League L 61 65 70 71 72 73

Pct WCGB .567 +8½ .542 +5 .507 — .500 1 .493 2 .486 3

Chicago Philadelphia San Diego Arizona Miami St. Louis

W 80 79 74 74 71 71

L 62 62 67 68 71 71

Pct WCGB .563 +5½ .560 +5 .525 — .521 ½ .500 3½ .500 3½

BOX SCORES Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 2

Detroit 6, Cleveland 0

ab r h bi ab r h bi 4 0 2 0 Schwarber dh 3 2 2 2 4 1 2 1 Turner ss 4 1 10 3 0 0 0 Harper rf 4 0 20 4 0 0 0 Arraez 2b 4 0 21 4 0 0 0 Bohm 1b 3 0 00 4 0 0 0 Sosa lf 4 0 00 2 0 0 0 Marsh lf 0 0 00 3 1 1 1 Realmuto c 3 0 01 3 0 0 0 Stott 3b 4 0 00 Hill cf 4 1 20 Totals 31 2 5 2 Totals 33 4 9 4 Atlanta 001 000 100 — 2 Philadelphia 210 100 00x — 4 DP_Atlanta 0, Philadelphia 1. LOB_Atlanta 4, Philadelphia 10. 3B_Hill (1). HR_Acuña (15), Riley (16), Schwarber (41). IP H R ER BB SO Atlanta 4 4 3 Pérez L,8-9 3 2⁄3 7 4 0 0 1 Kerr 3 1⁄3 1 0 Suter 1 1 0 0 1 2 Philadelphia Wheeler W,12-5 6 3 1 1 2 9 Bowlan H,13 1 1 1 1 0 1 Alvarado H,14 1 1 0 0 0 1 Duran S,30-32 1 0 0 0 0 1 ABS Challenge_Dubón (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Bohm (Strike-Confirmed); Pérez (Ball-Confirmed); Kim (Strike-Confirmed); Alvarado (Ball-Confirmed). Umpires_Home, Todd Tichenor; First, Ryan Additon; Second, Clint Vondrak; Third, Steven Jaschinski. T_2:23. A_43,241 (42,901).

Cleveland ab r h bi ab r h bi Torres dh 5 2 2 0 Kwan lf 4 0 00 Lee 3b 3 1 0 0 Martínez rf 4 0 10 Greene lf 5 3 4 4 Ramírez 3b 4 0 00 Callahan lf 0 0 0 0 Adell dh 2 0 00 Dingler c 4 0 0 1 Fry 1b 3 0 10 Malgeri rf 5 0 3 1 Genao 2b 3 0 10 Torkelson 1b4 0 0 0 Halpin cf 2 0 00 Peck ss 3 0 2 0 Hedges c 2 0 00 McKinstry cf4 0 0 0 Rocchio ss 3 0 00 Báez 2b 4 0 0 0 Totals 37 6 11 6 Totals 27 0 3 0 Detroit 101 001 300 — 6 Cleveland 000 000 000 — 0 E_Peterson (1). DP_Detroit 2, Cleveland 0. LOB_Detroit 8, Cleveland 3. 2B_Malgeri (3), Greene (27). HR_Greene 2 (18). SF_Dingler (4). S_Halpin (5). IP H R ER BB SO Detroit Valdez W,9-10 7 3 0 0 1 3 Finnegan 1 0 0 0 0 0 Brieske 1 0 0 0 0 0 Cleveland Messick L,11-9 6 7 3 3 2 12 Festa 1 3 3 3 1 1 Peterson 2 1 0 0 0 3 HBP_Valdez (Adell). ABS Challenge_Dingler (Strike-Confirmed); Lee (Strike-Confirmed). Umpires_Home, Ron Kulpa; First, Jacob Metz; Second, Tom Hanahan; Third, Manny Gonzalez. T_2:24. A_30,862 (34,788).

Chicago Cubs 6, Miami 5

Arizona 4, Houston 3

Atlanta

Philadelphia

Baldwin c Acuña rf Olson 1b Harris cf Dubón lf Albies 2b Smith dh Riley 3b Kim ss

Chicago

Miami

ab r h bi ab r h bi Armstrng cf 4 0 1 1 Stowers dh 4 1 21 Suzuki rf 3 1 1 0 Hernández lf 4 0 0 0 Busch 1b 5 1 2 1 Conine 1b 2 2 12 Bregman 3b 3 0 0 0 Lopez ss 3 1 10 Happ lf 4 0 2 2 Marsee cf 3 0 00 Hoerner ss 5 0 3 1 Caissie rf 3 0 01 Ramirez 2b 5 0 0 0 Ramírez ph-c 1 0 0 0 Conforto dh 3 2 2 1 Mack c 3 0 01 Shaw ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Ruiz ph-rf 1 0 10 Amaya c 3 2 2 0 Pauley 3b 2 0 00 De Los Snts ph 1 0 0 0 Serna 2b 0 0 00 Sanoja 2b-3b 4 1 1 0 Totals 36 6 13 6 Totals 31 5 6 5 Chicago 003 111 000 — 6 Miami 000 220 100 — 5 DP_Chicago 2, Miami 1. LOB_Chicago 11, Miami 8. 2B_Amaya (10), Busch (26), Lopez (31), Ruiz (11). HR_Conforto (14), Conine (15), Stowers (19). S_Amaya (2). IP H R ER BB SO Chicago 3 3 3 5 3 Assad 4 2⁄3 1 1 1 1 2 Thielbar 1 1⁄3 2 ⁄3 1 1 1 0 0 Thornton H,6 2 ⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 Rolison W,8-1 0 0 0 1 1 Zeferjahn S,5-8 1 2⁄3 Miami 2 5 2 5 Gusto L,1-4 4 ⁄3 10 5 2 ⁄3 1 1 1 0 0 Vodnik 2 ⁄3 1 0 0 1 1 Faucher Fulton 2 1 0 0 1 1 Zuber 1 0 0 0 2 2 HBP_Gusto (Bregman), Thornton 2 (Hernández,Lopez). ABS Challenge_Assad (Ball-Confirmed); Gusto (Ball-Overturned to Strike); CrowArmstrong (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Hernández (Strike-Confirmed); Zeferjahn (Ball-Overturned to Strike). Pitch timer violations_Busch (batter). Umpires_Home, Chris Conroy; First, Ben May; Second, John Tumpane; Third, Brennan Miller. T_3:22. A_26,141 (37,446).

Detroit

Arizona

Houston

ab r h bi ab r h bi Nootbaar dh3 0 2 1 Peña ss 5 1 00 Vargas ph-dh1 1 0 0 Alvarez dh 3 0 00 Perdomo ss 3 0 0 1 Paredes 3b 5 0 23 Moreno c 5 0 2 1 Altuve 2b 5 0 10 Marte 2b 5 1 1 1 Varsho cf 4 0 10 Carroll rf 5 0 1 0 Walker 1b 4 0 00 Arenado 3b 4 0 1 0 Diaz c 4 1 20 Kepler lf 4 0 0 0 Meyers pr 0 0 00 Lawlar cf 0 0 0 0 Vázquez c 0 0 00 Tawa 1b 3 2 1 0 Trammell lf 4 1 10 Wldschmidt cf-lf 3 0 0 0 Smith rf 4 0 2 0 Totals 36 4 8 4 Totals 38 3 9 3 Arizona 000 010 110 1 — 4 Houston 002 010 000 0 — 3 DP_Arizona 1, Houston 0. LOB_Arizona 8, Houston 8. 2B_Carroll (29), Moreno (30), Nootbaar (13), Trammell (9), Altuve (19). 3B_Smith (6). HR_Marte (22). SF_Perdomo (7). S_Perdomo (7). IP H R ER BB SO Arizona 3 2 4 Pfaadt 6 1⁄3 7 3 2 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 Ginkel Morillo 1 1 0 0 0 1 Loáisiga W,7-3 1 1 0 0 0 2 Garcia S,5-5 1 0 0 0 0 2 Houston 1 1 1 2 Pecko 4 ⁄3 5 1 0 0 2 De Los Santos 1 2⁄3 0 0 1 ⁄3 0 1 1 2 1 Teng H,4 2 1 0 2 Blubaugh BS,1-2 1 ⁄3 2 1 Hader 1 0 0 0 0 1 King L,2-4 1 1 1 0 0 0 ABS Challenge_Carroll (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Pfaadt (Ball-Confirmed); De Los Santos (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Moreno (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Altuve (Strike-Confirmed). Pitch timer violations_Pfaadt (pitcher). Umpires_Home, Laz Diaz; First, Edwin Jimenez; Second, Erich Bacchus; Third, Chris Segal. T_3:17. A_36,470 (41,000).

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL

SOUTHWEST

Arkansas 31, North Alabama 14 Houston 33, Oregon St. 20 Rice 31, Houston Christian 3 Texas 59, Texas State 7 Texas A&M 50, Missouri St. 0 Texas Tech 33, Abilene Christian 10 Tulsa 24, Oklahoma St. 10 UTSA 45, UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 16 West Florida 42, Cent. Arkansas 14

FAR WEST

Air Force 34, Duquesne 0 Colorado St. 35, Wyoming 13 E. Washington 34, N. Iowa 24 Idaho St. 29, Utah St. 17 Montana 45, Drake 10 Oregon 34, Boise St. 27

Sept. 6

1905 — Frank Smith of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers in a 15-0 victory in the second game of a doubleheader. The score is the most lopsided margin of victory for a no-hitter in AL history. 1912 — Smokey Joe Wood of the Red Sox, on his way to a 34-win season, beat Washington’s Walter Johnson 1-0 at Boston. The victory was Wood’s 14th consecutive, two shy of Johnson’s AL record of 16 straight. 1924 — Urban Shocker of the St. Louis Browns pitched two complete games against the Chicago White Sox and won both, 6-2. 1943 — At 16 years, eight months and five days, Philadelphia A’s pitcher Carl Scheib

became the youngest player to appear in an American League game. 1976 — Los Angeles catcher Steve Yeager was seriously injured when the jagged end of a broken bat struck him in the throat while he was waiting in the on-deck circle. 1981 — Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 to tie a National League record of seven shutouts by a rookie pitcher. 1995 — Cal Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive major league game to surpass Lou Gehrig’s 56-year record. Ripken received a 22-minute standing ovation and went 2-for-4, including a homer, in Baltimore’s 4-2 win over California.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 9C

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NFC PREVIEW

All teams are contenders Eagles achieved rarity in division last season in NFL’s weakest division BY SCHUYLER DIXON AP pro football writer

BY ROB MAADDI

AP pro football writer TAMPA, Fla. — How many wins will it take to win the NFC South this season? A losing record was good enough twice in the past four years and no team has won more than 10 games since Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a 13-4 record in 2021. The Carolina Panthers ended Ta m p a B a y ’s reign NFC South four-year atop the division by winning a tiebreaker among three 8-9 teams last season. A strong finish for the Falcons didn’t save Raheem Morris’ job and Atlanta ended up hiring twotime AP NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski. The Saints went 4-1 down the stretch after a 2-10 start, and may have found a quarterback in Tyler Shough. This is the weakest division in the NFL, so 8 to 10 wins might get it done again.

Buccaneers The Buccaneers have a coach — Todd Bowles — who is on the hot seat and a quarterback — Baker Mayfield — who called out the organization for not giving him the contract extension he wanted, saying he felt “disrespected.” Mayfield is motivated to prove he deserves to be paid among the best QBs in the league after a disappointing second half in 2025. He was an MVP candidate when the Bucs opened 6-2 but battled injuries as the team struggled. Despite losing Mike Evans in free agency, the Bucs have the talent to be dynamic on offense under first-year coordinator Zac Robinson. Defense has been an issue for the Buccaneers going back to ’21 when they blew a chance to repeat with Brady. Licht didn’t make any big splashes but bolstered the defense with several key additions in free agency. The most impactful move came through the draft when edge rusher Rueben Bain slipped to Tampa Bay. He’s a potential game-wrecker.

Panthers Bryce Young had his best season last year, helping the Panthers overtake the Buccaneers. But Carolina didn’t give him a contract extension and the 2023

The Philadelphia Eagles are the first in a generation with back-toback titles in the NFC East, a division that didn’t have another team with a winning record last season. The New York Giants, with just two playoff appearances since the franchise’s fourth Super Bowl championship 15 years ago, hired a perennial winner in John Harbaugh soon after the coach parted ways with Baltimore. The Dallas Cowboys spent the entire offseason focused on trying NFC East to fix one of the NFL’s worst defenses, and Washington’s hopes revolve around a healthy Jayden Daniels reversing last year’s slide from contender to also-ran.

Eagles

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JULIO CORTEZ

New Orleans Saints running back Audric Estime runs the ball against the Dallas Cowboys during a preseason game last month. No. 1 overall pick will likely play out the season. Young’s fifthyear option for 2027 was already picked up so the team seems prepared to take another season to evaluate him. Young has a top playmaker in Tetairoa McMillan, who was the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. And, running back Chuba Hubbard gives the offense a balanced attack. But injuries have hampered the offensive line in training camp and that was evident when the Panthers had a joint practice against Houston’s defense. “We’ve got to be better,” Young said after that one.

Falcons Stefanski came to Atlanta with an impressive resume after twice leading the lowly Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. Now, he’s trying to lead the Falcons to their first winning season since 2017. Tua Tagovailoa was signed to be the No. 1 quarterback but he didn’t separate himself and Michael Penix returned from knee surgery to make it a competition. Whichever QB is under center should give the ball to Bijan Robinson as often as possible. The All-Pro running back is one of the

best all-around players in the NFL and he’s not the only playmaker in Atlanta’s offense. Drake London and Kyle Pitts got new contracts and heightened expectations. They’re all in a new system under first-year coordinator Tommy Rees and offensive line coach Bill Callahan.

Saints Shough went 5-4 as a starter and finished runner-up for the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He gives the Saints reason for optimism after some dismal seasons. New Orleans added veteran running back Travis Etienne and drafted receiver Jordyn Tyson — injured to start the season — in the first round to join Chris Olave and versatile back Alvin Kamara on offense. Second-year coach Kellen Moore knows how to use his playmakers — he won a Super Bowl as offensive coordinator in Philadelphia in 2024 — so the Saints could have a formidable offense if key players are healthy. Defense is a concern following the loss of Bryan Bresee to a knee injury and the departure of veteran leader Demario Davis in free agency.

Top-heavy division features champions, ’26 favorite Rams BY JOSH DUBOW

AP pro football writer San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch was relaying a lesson to coach Kyle Shanahan that he had learned from reading a book earlier this offseason by John Wooden. The Hall of Fame basketball coach had written about the importance of not losing sleep thinking about the competition and instead let them lose sleep worrying NFC West about your team. Just then the news broke that the rival Los Angeles Rams had acquired the reigning AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Seattle is coming off a Super Bowl title after knocking out both the 49ers and Rams in the playoffs. The Seahawks still have defensive whiz-kid Mike Macdonald as head coach and recently rewarded young stars Devon Witherspoon and Jaxon Smith-Njigba with market-setting contracts. The Rams came within a play or two of both winning the division last season and beating the Seahawks in the playoffs with a starstudded roster featuring reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and star receiver Puka Nacua.

Rams The Rams were the overwhelming favorite to win it all once they acquired Garrett and those odds got even better when Donald made his decision to come out of retirement, giving Los Angeles two multiple time Defensive Players of the Year on their front line. But the recent history of big

last season. They will need better health — and better play on defense — if they want to keep pace this season. When healthy, the offense should be dynamic with coach Kyle Shanahan calling plays for Brock Purdy and a star-studded supporting cast led by All-Pro Christian McCaffrey, Kittle and Evans. The offense needs to be one of the best in the league since the defense isn’t nearly as strong as it was during runs to the Super Bowl in 2019 and ‘23. Healthy seasons from Warner and Bosa would proSeahawks vide a big boost, but more players The Seahawks enter the season need to emerge as threats to presa bit overlooked thanks to the sure the quarterback and create splashy moves made by the Rams. takeaways for San Francisco to While most of the key parts are succeed. back this season, Seattle will need to replace key players such as Su- Cardinals Arizona has the longest odds to per Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III; key secondary pieces Riq win the division of any team in Woolen and Coby Bryant; and of- the NFL this season thanks to the fensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. three powerhouses at the top of But Sam Darnold has estab- the NFC West and a roster with lished himself at quarterback the too many holes. The rebuilding job past two seasons after early ca- for LaFleur won’t be a quick one reer struggles and Macdonald’s but there are some intriguing podefense should be one of the best tential building blocks on offense again with stars such as Leonard in All-Pro tight end Trey McBride, Williams, Byron Murphy II, With- receivers Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson, left tackle Paris erspoon and Nick Emmanwori. No NFC team has repeated as Johnson and rookie running back Super Bowl champions since Dal- Jeremiyah Love. But Arizona is still looking for an las in 1992-93 and the most recent team from the NFC to make it answer at quarterback that might there in back-to-back seasons was not come for at least another year. Veteran Jacoby Brissett is the Seattle in 2013-14. placeholder for now and third49ers round rookie Carson Beck could San Francisco somehow man- get a shot. With the toughest proaged to threaten the Seahawks jected schedule in the NFL, the and Rams despite being one of the Cardinals could be in position to most injured teams in the league pick a quarterback next year.

preseason favorites hasn’t been great. The most recent time the favorite entered the season with plus-500 odds or better to win it all like the Rams and ended up as champions, according to Pro Football Reference, came in 1994 when San Francisco won it all after adding defensive stars Deion Sanders, Ken Norton and Rickey Jackson among others. The talent is there with the additions on defense and an offense that was one of the most potent in the league last season.

The Eagles have set a Super Bowl standard. Two titles in three appearances over 10 years have made playing in the final game of the NFL season the bar, rather than an aberration. So the Eagles can be excused for not getting very excited about winning a second straight division title. Last season went so far off the rails, Philadelphia fired beleaguered offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo — whose house was egged as he became the top target for the frustrations of fans — and replaced him with Sean Mannion. Quarterback Jalen Hurts will have a new offensive coordinator for the fifth consecutive season.

tirely on trying to fix a defense that was one of the worst in franchise history. Dallas drafted safety Caleb Downs and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence in the first round. Those are the headliners among many moves on defense, including hiring 34-year-old Christian Parker as defensive coordinator after Matt Eberflus lasted just one season.

Giants Harbaugh’s arrival after 18 years leading the Ravens boosted expectations for the Giants, who are 13-38 the past three seasons. Harbaugh brings a Super Bowl ring and gravitas. Harbaugh worked his players hard for the first several weeks of training camp, which was a different level of intensity than under Brian Daboll. Making sure Dart is prepared to start strong has been a focus. Top receiver Malik Nabers appears on track for the opener after working back from a torn ACL in his right knee. He and Dart overlapped for less than a half of one game last year.

Commanders

After following a trip to the NFC championship game with a 5-12 showing, the Commanders reshuffled Dan Quinn’s coaching staff. Offensive coordinator David Blough replaces Kliff Kingsbury, and Daronte Jones takes over for Joe Whitt on defense. Daniels was brilliant as a rookie but played only seven games last season. Protecting him got more complicated after left tackle LaCowboys remy Tunsil injured a triceps in Quarterback Dak Prescott still training camp and needed surgery. Washington also tried to give has star receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens and productive Daniels another playmaker by signrunning back Javonte Williams for ing free agent Stefon Diggs, who is Brian Schottenheimer’s second sea- from the area and played at Maryland. Diggs had 85 catches for 1,013 son as coach and play-caller. As a result, the focus has been en- yards for New England last season.

Bears will have their NFC North title tested BY DAVE CAMPBELL AP pro football writer

The Chicago Bears were one of the best stories in the NFL last season under new coach Ben Johnson, with the development of quarterback Caleb Williams, an impeccable turnover margin, and the team’s steely late-game resolve serving as driving forces behind their first division title in seven years. Their NFL-record seven wins after trailing in the last two minutes of regulation included a stunner over the Minnesota Vikings, whose go-ahead with 50 NFC North touchdown seconds left was washed out by a kickoff coverage gaffe that led to a 56-yard return and game-winning field goal by the Bears as time expired. That’s how fine the line can be between success and failure in this league, a thin margin for error that’s sure to test the Bears this year in their quest to repeat as NFC North champions in this remarkably competitive era for the division.

Bears

AP PHOTO BY DAVID DERMER

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love throws a pass during a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh on Aug. 13.

on coach Matt LaFleur entering his eighth year with a 3-6 record in the playoffs, but quarterback Jordan Love is a good place to start with the goal to become a true Super Bowl contender again.

Vikings There’s heat on Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell to win, too, entering his fifth year without a playoffgame win. The roadmap to returning to the postseason goes through an effective debut for Kyler Murray, who will be the fourth different starting quarterback in four years to open the season for Minnesota following McCarthy, Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins. O’Connell’s work in 2024 toward revitalizing Darnold’s career suggests immense potential for Murray to succeed, with wide receiver Justin Jefferson leading the list of capable skill-position support.

Johnson got the job with Chicago because of his prowess as Detroit’s offensive coordinator, and the brash 40-year-old did not disappoint in his debut as the Bears leaped from last in the league in total yards in 2024 to sixth in 2025. Johnson said in a recent interview with The Athletic his goal is for the Bears to break the NFL’s all-time scoring record. After posting the most passing yards in franchise history in 2025, Williams has plenty of momentum as his grasp of Johnson’s offense and playing in the pros continues to grow. He has Lions young wide receivers Rome Odunze The trio of quarterback Jared and Luther Burden and tight ends Goff, running back Jahmyr Gibbs Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet to and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. mature along with him. Brown is tough to top in the NFL for overall talent, giving the LiPackers ons a sturdy base for their desired Green Bay has largely owned the bounce-back from a 9-8 finish. NFC North since its current itera- Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta tion was formed in 2002, but guess and Isaac TeSlaa give Goff even which team has now gone the lon- more capable playmakers. Penei gest since its most recent division Sewell remains one of the game’s title? Yes, the Packers have grabbed best offensive tackles, too. The Lithe NFC’s last wild-card spot in each ons also get a boost from a schedule of the past three seasons, but their that has them playing four of the most recent NFC North crown came five worst teams in the league from in 2021. There’s plenty of pressure last season.

10C ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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OUTDOORS

Waterfowl survey reveals both good and bad news Duck totals down, but number of May ponds up

U.S. WATERFOWL SURVEY The 2026 Waterfowl Survey conducted by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service on traditional midcontinent breeding areas with the top 10 species and the number of ponds (Prairie Canada & North-Central U.S.) observed in May and June compared to 2025 survey and percentage changes from 2025 and the long-term average (LTA, since 1955). Six other species are included in the total ducks count.

BY JOE MACALUSO Contributing writer

About the only good news coming from this year’s annual waterfowl breeding count survey is the increase in the number of breeding ponds across the Canadian provinces and northern U.S. states. The news from the Tuesday report is that numbers of breeding ducks — 10 speNotebook cies in the midcontinent survey and six more species in the Eastern survey — is that this year’s estimate is the lowest since 1993 for mallards and an overall 2% decline in the total number of ducks. This year’s estimate is 33,439,000 compared to 33,980,000 in last year’s survey. The current estimate is 6% lower than the longterm average, a set of survey numbers that began in 1955. The good news is the likely carry-over of the increase of 14% in the number of May ponds survey, which could lead to better fall flight numbers in 2027 as ducks move north for next year’s breeding cycle. The 4,761,000 pounds are more than 2025’s 4,180,000, but is 9% lower than the long-term average. The survey is a joint effort by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Canadian waterfowl biologists. Mallard numbers were estimated at 5,900,000, which puts the species at 26% lower than the 70-year average. The overall numbers are far short of the high-water mark of 2015 when the estimate was 49,521,000 breeders. Mallards are the key to setting seasons, and the near 6 million in this year’s survey likely will trigger another 60-day, 2027-2028 season for Louisiana hunters. There is, however, the possibility of slipping down on that Adaptive Harvest Management scale to a 45-day season in the near future, if mallard numbers continue to decline and the May pond count slips a couple of notches. The aerial survey conducted in May showed dry conditions in the Montana-Dakotas area (down 10% from 2025), but wetter lands across most of the Canadian prairies provinces (up 29% from last year). “Although pond counts were higher in Canada, breeding conditions for ducks across most of the prairie pothole region are rated fair to poor,” former LSU professor now Delta Waterfowl president and chief scientist Frank Rohwer said. “While production likely will be

Species Mallard Gray Wigeon Greenwing Teal Bluewing Teal Shoveler Pintail Redhead Canvasback Scaup Total ducks May ponds U.S./Canada

2026 5,859,000 2,351,000 2,940,000 2,334,000 3,962,000 3,289,000 1,988,000 931,000 782,000 4,155,000 33,439,000 4,761,000

Percent change 2025 from 2025 from LTA 6,554,000 -11% -26% 2,414,000 -3% +13% 3,191,000 -8% +12% 2,550,000 -8% +6% 4,432,000 -11% -22% 2,758,000 +19% +24% 2,239,000 -11% -48% 918,000 +1% +28% 690,000 +13% +32% 3,675,000 +13% -15% 33,980,000 -2% -6% 4,180,000 +14% -9% Source: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

better in some areas, it’s not the greatest news for duck hunters.” Ducks Unlimited top biologist Steve Adair said, the drier conditions and low ponds count in 2024 “almost certainly resulted in low production in 2025 and slight to moderate declines in returning breeding populations this year. Mallards are now at their lowest level in over 30 years. This provides a stark reminder that our conservation work is far from done.” One species not listed in the survey, ringnecks, have become a solid contributor to Louisiana hunters’ success in recent seasons. Ringnecks were the only species in the Eastern survey to show an increase from last year to this survey — up 9% from 2025 and 16% above the long-term average.

a total that surpassed 2025’s 18,500 pounds. If you missed this collection and want to help, then making a donation to this program will help offset fees for processing donated deer and hogs during the hunting seasons. Website: h4hla.org

New regulations

We’re two weeks away from new bass and sac-a-lait regulations on the popular Saline-Larto Complex, a central Louisiana place known far and wide for first-rate sac-alait action. Beginning Sept. 20, the new bass regulations call for a minimum “keeper” length of 14 inches and a daily creel of eight. Sac-a-lait will have a 10-inch minimum size limit with daily catch of 25. This vast complex of waterways Pecan Island holds up in Catahoula, LaSalle, Heard recently from several Avoyelles, and Rapides parishes expected to hunt the Pecan Island and includes Saline, Larto Lake area about the uncertainty of their and Shad lakes and “all associated hunting seasons now that officials water bodies.” are backing the construction on the SpaceX project, which is pro- Off the island jected to cover 130,000 acres. If you’ve heading to Grand Isle, With teal season beginning Sept. then know the Corps of Engineers 19 and the big duck season in early is in the first stages of constructing November, most of the complaints 31 breakwaters off the island into center around continuing their wa- the Gulf. terfowl leases. The new breakwaters will occupy the gap between the exMany thanks isting breakwater fields on the The Hunters for the Hungry eastern and western ends of the folks are thanking donors for the island to reduce beach erosion 19,465 pounds collected in Au- and provide better resistance to gust’s Clean Out Your Freezer Day, storm surges.

CALENDAR WEDNESDAY

BUGS & BEERS: 6:30 p.m., Skeeta Hawk Brewing, 455 N. Dorgenois St, New Orleans. Casual fly-tying. Open to public. Email A.J. Rosenbohm: ajrosenbohm@gmail.com. Website: neworleansflyfishers. com

THURSDAY

JUNIOR SOUTHWEST BASSMASTERS MEETING: 7 p.m., Seminar Room, Bass Pro Shops, Denham Springs. Boys & girls age-group bass tournaments for ages 7-10, 11-14 & 15-18 anglers. Call Jim Breaux (225) 772-3026.

FRIDAY

GBRFB SPORTING CLAYS SHOOT: 745 a.m. check in, Bridgeview Gun Club, 1365 Mike Cazes Rd., Port Allen. Benefits the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Sponsorships available. Four-shooter teams. Website: brfoodbank.org/scc

HUNTING SEASONS

DOVES: South Zone: Sept. 5-20; North Zone: Sept. 5-27. TEAL: Sept. 19-27, statewide.

ONGOING

STATEWIDE TOURNAMENT & ANGLERS RODEO/S.T.A.R.: Through Monday, Coastal Conservation Association’s summerlong fishing event. Website: ccalouisiana.com/ star

LOTTERY HUNTS

WMA YOUTH-ONLY WATERFOWL HUNTS: Ages 10-17. Application deadline Sept. 30 for hunts on Sherburne Wildlife Management Area. Application fee $8.50. See Wildlife & Fisheries lottery hunt webpage. Email David Hayden: dhayden@wlf.la.gov WHITE LAKE CONSERVATION AREA WATERFOWL HUNTS: Sept. 30 deadline for two youth-only hunts & 30 marsh hunts. $8.50 application fee. Youth hunters must have Hunter Safety certificate. Email Lance Ardoin: lardoin@wlf.la.gov

AROUND THE CORNER

SEPT. 14 — RED STICK FLY FISHERS PROGRAM: 7 p.m., Bluebonnet Regional Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge. Open to the public. Email Brian Roberts: roberts. brian84@gmail.com. Website: rsff.org SEPT. 15 — LAFAYETTE KAYAK FISHING CLUB MEETING: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Call (337) 232-5854. Website: www.lafayettekayakfishing.com SEPT. 16 — FLIES & FLIGHTS: 7-9 p.m, Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave., Baton Rouge. Casual fly-tying & quarterly gear swap. Open to public. Email Chris Williams: thefatfingeredflytyer@ gmail.com

SEPT. 17 — ACADIANA FLY RODDERS PROGRAM: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Open to public. Email Darin Lee: at cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: acadianaflyrodders.org SEPT. 19 — NSCA REGISTERED SPORTING CLAYS: Bridge View Gun Club, Port Allen. SEPT. 19 — ALTO FLIES & PIES FLY FISHING FAIR: 8 a.m.-4 p.m., First Baptist Church Gym, Natchitoches. Free. Fly tying, casting seminars/ instruction. ArkLaTexOma Fly Tiers event, Website: www.arklatexomaflytyers SEPT. 20 — NSCA SPORTING CLAYS TOURNAMENT: Covey Rise Lodge, Husser. 250 targets in Main Challenge, Super Sport, 5-Stand & 12-gauge True Pair. Register on ScoreChaser. Call lodge (985) 7470310, Ext. 6.

FISHING/SHRIMPING SHRIMP: Fall inshore season open statewide except for Breton/Chandeleur sounds; all outside waters open. OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Private recreational red snapper (thru Sept. 7); greater amberjack (through Oct. 14); gray triggerfish; gag grouper (thru Sept. 30); flounder; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers & wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. CLOSED SEASONS: commercial greater amberjack; bluefin tuna; goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters.

LDWF UPDATES SPECIAL CLOSURE: Through Sept. 9 until noon daily, Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge (controlled alligator harvest). CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, levee construction); Reserve Relief Canal Boat Launch by order of Corps of Engineers (Reserve Relief Pump Station construction) with alternate launch locations at Pete’s Landing, the Akers boat ramp & Bonnet Carré Spillway boat launch. DRAWDOWNS: Saline Lake (through Oct. 5); Iatt Lake (through Oct. 5); Clear-Smithport Lake (through Nov. 16); Lake Bistineau (through Nov. 30); Henderson Lake (through Nov. 2); Cheniere Lake (through Nov. 15); Chicot Lake (Sept. 8-Jan. 4); Grand Bayou Reservoir (Sept. 8-Jan. 4); Vernon Lake (Sept. 15-Jan. 5). EMAIL: jmacaluso@theadvocate.com

BASS FISHING RESULTS Bassmaster Elite CLAYTON, N.Y. — Final top five from the four-day Bassmaster Elite held on the St. Lawrence River with anglers, their hometowns, number of bass weighed in parentheses (five-bass daily limit), total weight in pounds and ounces and prize winnings. Also listed are Louisiana anglers, the big-bass, contingency winners, Angler & Rookie of the Year winners and final Angler of the Year standings (top 10 & Louisiana anglers). Only the top 50 in the 99-angler field moved to the third round, and only the top 10 advanced to the final round: Top 5: 1, Evan Kung, Pickering, Canada (20) 109 pounds, 9 ounces, $100,000. 2, Trey McKinney, Carbondale, Illinois (20) 107-9, $20,000. 3, Tucker Smith, Birmingham, Alabama (20) 107-1, $15,000. 4, Cory Johnston, Otonabee, Canada (20) 106-7, $12,500. 5,

Cole Sands, Johnson City, Tennessee (20) 105-10, $11,000. Louisiana anglers: 36, Caleb Sumrall, New Iberia (15) 70-3, $5,500. 74, Tyler Rivet, Raceland (10) 44-1. 98, Greg Hackney, Gonzales (5) 21-10. Phoenix Boats Big Bass: Sands, 7 pounds, 6 ounces, $2,000. Rapala CrushCity Monster Bag: McKinney, 30 pounds, 11 ounces, $2,000. Angler of the Year: Trey McKinney, 735 points, $100,000. Rookie of the Year: Caleb Hudson, Lincolnton, Georgia, 621 points, $10,000. Angler of the Year standings: 1, McKinney, 735 points. 2, Johnson, 731. 3, Drew Cook, 674. 4, Sands, 657. 5, Brandon Cobb, 656. 6, John Garrett, 629. 7, Caleb Hudson 621. 8, Fisher Anaya 619. 9, Paul Marks, 618. 10, Andrew Loberg 617. 35, Tyler Rivet, 521. 69, Caleb Sumrall, 425. 74, Greg Hackney, 381.

Briscoe can make Darlington history with win BY PETE IACOBELLI

“When you’re able to win two years in a row, that confidence just builds more and more every single time,” Briscoe said. “So this is always one I’ve got circled on the calendar and one where the circle gets bigger.”

Associated Press

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Chase Briscoe liked Darlington Raceway from the moment he first drove here seven years ago. He’ll like it a lot more if he can make history with his third straight win at the Southern 500 on Sunday. Only NASCAR ä Cook Out Hall of Famer Jeff Southern Gordon would have more, with 500. 4 P.M. four straight vicSUNDAY, USA tories from 199598 at the track dubbed “Too Tough to Tame.” Briscoe recalled his opening practice in an O’Reilly Auto Parts Series car back in 2019. “After the first five laps, I thought, ‘Man, this place is awesome.’ ” His affinity for Darlington has only grown since then. He won the TripleA tier series race here in 2021, then took the past two Southern 500s to match a feat that only seven other drivers, including Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson and Dale Earnhardt — all Hall of Famers — had ever achieved. Winning three in a row? “That’s definitely on the radar,” Briscoe said with a grin. “To do that three times in a row would be something really, really special.” It also would be a strong start for

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JOHN RAOUX

Chase Briscoe walks to the drivers meeting before a NASCAR Cup race at Daytona International Speedway on Aug. 29 in Daytona Beach, Fla. Briscoe is seeking his third straight win at the Southern 500 on Sunday. the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s latest attempt at a NASCAR Cup championship, a chase that begins Sunday. Briscoe finished fifth in the standings, 45 points behind regular-season champion and JGR teammate Denny Hamlin. The margin is manageable, especially with the format change, where none of the 16 competitors in The Chase will be eliminated during the next 10 races. Briscoe brings with him an understanding of how to make his car

better during his time on Darlington’s oddball layout. While others complain about the egg-shaped oval’s tight corners and tire-chewing surface, Briscoe has pushed all the right buttons to get to victory lane the past two years. He used a drama-filled, threewide pass late in the race to win in 2024 to qualify for that year’s playoff grid. A season later, Briscoe had a dominant machine as he led 309 of 367 laps for his second Southern 500 in a row.

and 14 playoff race wins. He has made the Championship 4 at the final race four times, including last year. But he has not broken through for a title. He sits ninth all-time with 64 NASCAR victories, including four this season to take the 2026 reguHamlin’s best chance? lar-season title. He hopes to add a Denny Hamlin enters NASCAR’s few more on the way to celebratplayoff Chase as the favorite and ing in Homestead in a couple of with experience in the reset for- months. “I’m a little bit ahead and mat, in which none of the 16 com- I’ve got enough races to prove that petitors will be knocked out. But we’re the best,” he said. what if the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer doesn’t win the cham- Preece staying aggressive pionship this year or before he Ryan Preece, who won his way chooses to leave the sport? into the playoffs with a victory at “It would mean a lot personally,” Daytona last week, plans to stay Hamlin said this week while pre- aggressive and focused in the postviewing the playoffs. “But also if season. It’s the only strategy that I quit today, I’m still really happy make sense to him. with the stats we were able to “We have nothing to lose,” said put on the stat sheet and the wins Preece, seeded 16th in the 16-driver we’ve been able to get. It certainly grid. “When I look at where we’re would be very gratifying, but what at, if we’re aggressive and it doesn’t matters to me is my dad saw me work out we’re still at the bottom.” when I was at my absolute best, and that was at Phoenix last year.” Betting favorite Hamlin’s father, Dennis, was his Hamlin and Tyler Reddick are son’s biggest supporter, and Ham- the co-favorites to win the Southlin said that his dad’s sacrifices ern 500 on Sunday, tied at plushelped him achieve all he has in 500. Briscoe, looking for his third racing. Dennis died last Decem- straight win at Darlington’s crown ber at 75, a few weeks after his son jewel event, is next at plus-600. competed for the title at Phoenix. Following Briscoe is Kyle Larson Denny Hamlin holds the re- (plus-850), Christopher Bell (pluscord with 19 playoff appearances 1000) and Ryan Blaney (plus-1100).

LOUISIANA INSPIRED: Dillard University choir director lifts voices for 50 years 7D

LIVING

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

S u n d ay, S e p t e m b e r 6, 2026

1dn

Jan Risher

My porch is a disaster. Grandma would understand. I’m writing this column in a place I’ve dreamed about for a long, long time — my new screened-in porch. My grandmother, who lived a block from my childhood home in Mississippi, had a screenedin porch that played a pivotal role in my youth and childhood. It was quite small, but I was the only person who ever spent much time there. I adored that porch. I’m sure all those hours spent there, left to my own devices, planted the idea of having a screened-in porch of my very own. Our “dream porch” is quite a mess right now — a heavy unopened pack of warped wooden flooring still wrapped in plastic dominates one end of the porch. Two giant ceiling fans that don’t have lights are leaning against a porch-screen support looking a lot like a helicopter. Nine plants in various stages of palliative care line the screen near the old screen door we salvaged leading outside. A pile of boxes and a couple of plastic tubs create a pathway to the door to our kitchen, with a bag of 18 caladium bulbs just waiting to be planted. Even so, I’m happy to be sitting here — though it doesn’t feel completely real. There are elements of our porch that would thrill my grandmother. I’ve never known another person who appreciated a bargain more than her. She was a seamstress who could fix things up with ease. She found treasures all over. A nail here, a new seam on a pillow there — and voila, an old chair was “good as new,” her very favorite phrase. The fact that I’m sitting in a chair someone gave me would thrill my grandmother, who was a child of the Depression. She would have wanted to know its provenance — who gave it to me, why anyone would get rid of a perfectly good patio set, and then she would wonder whether there were any more where that came from. Because my grandmother sewed so much for so many people, I would spend hours at a time alone on her porch. Mind you, I wasn’t lonely, just by myself, trying my best to make things with the scraps of fabric she would pass me through the big, wide-open dining room window. I remember trying to make a Diane von Furstenberg-style wrap dress for a one-eyed doll

Dena Maturin sent this postcard from Antarctica for the 2026 Postcard Project.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER

NEAR OR FAR

The Postcard Project mystery and how one request from Baton Rouge produced 30 cards from Korea

BY JAN RISHER Staff writer

ne day this summer, along with a stack of postcards, I received a small box marked “Korea Post.” As I opened it, I found all the customs forms in both English and Korean, but there was no letter or further explanation included. Inside the box, I found two packages of beautiful postcards from South Korea — one package included a dozen modern-day black and white postcards of major Korean landmarks. These postcards were designed to be colored. The A postcard sent for the 2026 second package of 18 postcards Postcard Project from Tulsa, was reprints of scenes from the This year, we received Oklahoma Joseon dynasty. 68 postcards from Louisiana. As a longtime and avid watcher of Korean dramas, I recognized YEAR project manager” he has ever TOTAL COUNTRIES all of the landmarks and many of POSTCARDS REPRESENTED worked with. He explained that the scenes from Joseon life. Mr. Jo shaved a year off the The postcards did not include 2022 project by walking straight up 167 13 a message or any indication of 2023 to a vendor and naming his own 235 22 who sent them. For weeks, that price instead of waiting on bids. 2024 256 33 was where the mystery stayed. When a German supplier fell 267 30 Then, I received an email 2025 behind on a contracted deliv288 36 from Don Garland asking if I 2026 ery, Mr. Jo flew to Germany had received postcards from over a weekend with a young Morocco, Belgium and South Ko- startups — South Korea, China, In- engineer, whose job was to sit inside the supplier’s factory and rea. Garland, 72, is a longtime Ba- ner Mongolia and more. In 2015, he led the American side report on any work taking place ton Rouge reader who decided to round up some far-flung postcard of a joint startup in South Korea, that wasn’t directly related to the senders on his own. He spent al- working alongside a South Korean Korean delivery. most 30 years with Exxon, much project manager named Mr. Jo. ä See POSTCARD, page 4D Garland calls Mr. Jo “the best of it running international plant

BY THE NUMBERS

ä See PORCH, page 4D

‘PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR KIDS DO’

Exhibit honors La. man slain in 9/11 attack on Pentagon Michael Lamana shows the cuff POW/MIA bracelet his son Michael Scott Lamana once wore. The bracelet honored a missing U.S. soldier in Laos during the Vietnam War. The elder Lamana now wears the bracelet in honor of his son. STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

BY ROBIN MILLER Staff writer

Michael Scott Lamana was 7 years old and preparing for his first Communion at St. Aloysius Catholic Church when he was asked to draw a picture of his family. In simple lines, the Baton Rouge kid, known to everyone as Scott, drew a portrait of himself, his dad, mom and two sisters backed by a city with an airplane flying overhead. Lama-

na drew the number 77 on the plane in his family portrait. Why 77? Scott’s dad, Michael Lamana, said his son was fascinated by the story of American pilot Robert T. Smith, who flew aircraft No. 77 for the American Volunteer Group Flying Tigers during World War II. But that number now has a different meaning for the Lamana family.

That day On Sept. 11, 2001, Scott Lamana,

31, was working in the Pentagon when al-Qaida terrorists diverted American Airlines Flight No. 77’s route to Los Angeles from Washington Dulles International Airport to the country’s Department of Defense headquarters, crashing into the building’s E Ring at 500 miles per hour. The time was 9:37 a.m., only minutes after two other sets of terrorist-hijacked planes rammed into the World Trade

ä See LAMANA, page 4D

2D ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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COMMUNITY

PROVIDED PHOTO

Krewe of Orion PROVIDED PHOTO

Krewe of Orion The Krewe of Orion hosted a royal announcement party at the Greystone Country Club on Aug. 22. Shown are Queen Orion XXVIII Angela Warren and King Orion XXVIII Justin Blythe.

Also attending the Krewe of Orion royal announcement party are, from left, Vivian Jollisant, Gia Link, Captain of Orion Darren Coates, Gracyn Babin, Boston Kirkland, Queen Orion XXVIII Angela Warren, Luke Allen, King Orion XXVIII Justin Blythe, Ethan Lipoma, Kenzlie Babin, Kenadie Babin, Anne Clair Henderson, President of Orion Charles Harvey and June Normand. Not pictured is Olivia Songy.

PROVIDED PHOTO PROVIDED PHOTO

‘Life of Billy Cannon’ Guests were treated to a sneak peek of the upcoming LPB documentary film ‘Circles: The Life of Billy Cannon,’ during a special event hosted by Friends of LPB. The documentary explores the remarkable rise, devastating fall and ultimate PROVIDED PHOTO redemption of one of Louisiana’s most iconic sports figures. The film premieres at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 on LPB. Shown, from Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club left, are Jay Dardenne, the film’s executive producer and The Baton Rouge Amateur Radio Club met at the St. George Prevention producer; Billy Cannon’s daughter, Bunnie Cannon; LPB’s District’s Training Center for a presentation given by Matthew Mapes on Clarence ‘C.C’ Copeland, president and CEO; and LPB’s Aug. 25. Gathered are, from left, Charlie Dietrich, Todd Huovinen, Laura Linda Midgett, the film’s director and executive producer. Mapes, Matthew Mapes, John Nagle and Weston Turner.

Garden Discovery Series Gathered at the Garden Discovery Series program Aug. 8 at the Main Library at Goodwood are, from left, Gaynelle Wolff, John Rainey and Lynne Martin.

COMMUNITY GUIDELINES If submitting digitally, we prefer JPG files 300KB or larger. Identify those pictured by first and last names as viewed from left to right, row by row.We prefer emailed Community column submissions to features@ theadvocate.com.

BR events honor Dolly Parton throughout September Everything from arts and crafts to T-shirts and more

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

The world lost a legend in August when we lost Dolly Parton, a beloved singer, performer, actor, songwriter, producer and philanthropist who transformed lives with her music, movies and Imagination Library. Mourning, however, has turned into celebrating the Queen of Country. Baton Rouge is stepping up to honor the icon in several ways. Here are seven ways to celebrate.

Baubles by Bella Bella 5720 Corporate Blvd. A portion of all Dolly-inspired art pieces will be do-

AP FILE PHOTO

Baton Rouge is stepping up to honor Dolly Parton, the Queen of Country, with several events and sales.

nated to Parton’s Imagination Library. This includes a Dolly-framed print, Dolly portrait, guitar canvas and butterfly canvas.

EBR Parish Library 7711 Goodwood Blvd. The Main Library at the-

Goodwood will hold a 925 Dolly Parton Celebration at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Hosted by Dolly’s Diamonds, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding access to Imagination Library. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees should RSVP on Eventbrite. There will be a free “9 to 5” movie screening, a Dolly Look-Alike Contest, Imagination Library enrollment and refreshments.

Caroline’s Cookies 110 Perkins Rowe 7575 Jefferson Highway All three locations will offer six cookie specials inspired by Parton through Sept. 6. A portion of profits from the week will be donated to the Imagination Library, with funds staying in Acadiana and Baton Rouge to help provide free books to local children from birth to

age 5. Flavors include: n Jolene, a strawberry ooey gooey n 9 to 5, an espresso streusel n Coat of Many Colors, a birthday crumble n Tennessee Mountain Home, a pecan pie n Dollywood, banana pudding n Islands in the Stream, a vanilla chocolate cupcake

Fleurty Girl 3622 Government St. This boutique has a “Legendolly” T-shirt available for pre-order online that will also be in stores soon. The proceeds will be donated to the Krewe of Dolly in New Orleans, who help grow the Imagination Library. As of Aug. 31, over $40,000 has already been raised, which is about over 250 New Orleans children with a free book every

month for their first five years. Baton Rouge customers can pre-order online, choose the pick-up at store option and select the Baton Rouge location.

Splash Nightclub 2183 Highland Road The nightclub is honoring the legend from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sept. 25 with a tribute to Parton by celebrating her songs, style, humor and heart with DJ Ruff. Miss Thing, Champagne Pop and a special guest will bring Parton’s biggest moments to the stage. A portion of each beverage purchase will be donated to the Imagination Library.

Painting and Pinot 7248 Perkins Road Sparkle like Dolly from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 25 for a Dolly painting class.

Wear pink, paint a canvas of pink cowboy boots and bedazzle the masterpiece with bling. The class is a fundraiser benefiting Parton’s Imagination Library, helping provide free books to children and encourage a lifelong love of reading. Painters are encouraged to wear their best Dolly-inspired outfit. Seats are limited, so make reservations at paintingandpinot.com/ee/ sparklelikedolly.

Mystic Krewe of Mutts Capital Area Animal Welfare Society will honor Parton when it rolls through downtown for Mardi Gras on Jan. 24. CAAWS will celebrate Parton, who was also an advocate for animals, by playing Parton’s hits, a Partonthemed costume and float contest, dog parade and food vendors.

Transform Your Windows. Transform Your Space. • Family-Owned • Female-Led • Community Trusted We provide high-quality window coverings and exceptional service.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3D

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TRAVEL

Tips for better ZZZs when you’re traveling Little things can make a difference in sleep comfort

BY GEORGE HOBICA

Tribune News Service (TNS) Here’s a disturbing fact: A third of U.S. adults fail to get the recommended minimum of seven hours of daily sleep. As many as 70 million Americans experience chronic sleep disorders or disturbances, with 20% of those reporting daytime drowsiness. And although I don’t have equivalent statistics, I’m almost certain that they are worse when people TNS PHOTO are traveling. And it’s not just jet A third of U.S. adults fail to get the recommended minimum of seven lag. hours of daily sleep. Other than bringing earplugs and an eye mask, here’s what to do about it, whether you’re staying in “Vegas is a 24/7 town,” she said, stat control, TV, smoke detector a hotel, flying or cruising. “and our guests need to rest and (cover just the blinking light, not the device’s sensors), or anything recharge to enjoy it all.” Cool, dark, quiet else with annoying LED standby lights. Just remove tapes when you Three things are essential in Bring your own pillow choosing hotel accommodations. This is key. I once asked Eileen check out. Even the best window drapery While air conditioning can be Ford, founder of Ford Models, cannot defeat the light sneaking taken for granted at most hotels what her No. 1 travel tip was. these days, a dead quiet room with “I always advise my girls to under the door from the hallway. floor-to-ceiling blackout drapes bring their own pillow when they Place a towel along the floor to that obliterate any trace of light is travel,” she said, “because they’ll block it. Better still, book or ask also needed. sleep better, which means they’ll for a room with a foyer and secEven the slightest crack between look better.” ond door between the room and the window and the drapes can be Your pillow is too bulky to lug the corridor, more likely in older, a problem. on a plane, you say? Then bring a upscale hotels. This genteel archiWhen I think of pitch-black hotel travel-sized version with the same tectural detail provides both light rooms, I think of Las Vegas. May- composition and firmness as your and sound insulation. be because of the desert environ- favorite one at home. You can find ment — blinding light, intense heat travel pillows at a reasonable price Choose the right room and floor — the Bellagio, the Cosmopolitan, from Royal Pillow in Miami (royAlways request a room at the the Vdara, the ARIA and others of- alpillow.com). Their 16-by-20-inch very end of the corridor and at the fer thick, pitch-black drapes that travel pillows, in a variety of firm- top of the hotel. The farther away from elevators and foot traffic, help keep rooms cool and dark. I nesses, start at $14.95. the less chance of noisy neighbors spoke to Nicole Fournier, VP of Incareening past your room in the terior Design at MGM Resorts, to Other sources of light find out how they manage this so Sleep-disrupting light doesn’t middle of the night. consistently. just come through windows. There “We have very strict drapery are the annoying LED and other Beware conventions and groups standards,” she said. “In addition lights constantly blinking in the Always ask if there’s a convento drapes, our windows have black- modern hotel room, starting with tion or large group in the hotel out liners, and on windows where the clock radio, if there is one, during your stay and what floors the drapes meet in the middle, we right by the bed. (Pro tip: Just un- they’re booked on (do this when use a ‘bypass’ drapery system that plug it. Not only does it shed light, you reserve). Groups tend to get overlaps them by five inches so but there’s no telling if the previ- rowdy, like the gaggle of teenagers celebrating someone’s Sweet 16. there’s no light gap.” ous guest set the alarm). Wherever light can sneak in — Anything else that emits even whether at the top, bottom or sides the smallest amount of light either Room choices matter of the window — extra care is tak- needs to be unplugged or taped If the hotel has rooms overlookover such as the room’s thermo- ing an interior courtyard, such as en to defeat light-creep.

at Boston’s Fairmont Copley Plaza or New York’s Sherry-Nethlander, book them. You’re less likely to hear sirens and other street noise, and they’re often cheaper. Who cares if there’s no view? You’re there to sleep. Or try a windowless room. The Standard Hotel in London, for one example, offers these (look for the “standard king interior category”). Search online for “hotels with windowless rooms” for more ideas. They provide the ultimate in quiet and darkness, often at bargain prices. Avoid rooms with connecting doors to an adjacent room.

The resulting dehydration inhibits rest on longer flights as thirst and dry mucus membranes (torture for contact lens wearers) take their toll. The 787 and A350 keep cabin humidity higher — up to 25%— than on older planes, making for a much more restful flight.

Book older hotels

Sleeping on a cruise ship

Hotels built in the last century or earlier often have thicker walls. But make sure the windows have been updated to reduce street noise. Options such as the Hotel Marcel in New Haven and the Westgate New York Grand Central have been fitted with triple-paned windows that keep rooms both quiet and cool.

Many of the same tips for hotel rooms (dark, cool, quiet) apply to cruise ship traveling as well, except that it’s best to choose a cabin in the middle of the ship and as far down below as possible if you’re prone to sea sickness. As with a plane, think of a cruise ship as a giant seesaw with the fulcrum in the ship’s middle (horizontal movement) combined with an upside-down pendulum (vertical movement) with the fulcrum at the ship’s lowest deck. There’s less movement at the fulcrums so you’re less likely to get tossed around in rough seas. Bonus: these cabins are likely to be far away from discos, theaters and other noisy public areas. Plus, they’re much cheaper than the ones at the top and front of the ship. That said, most cruise lines do a good job keeping cabins dark and many have windowless interior rooms. Even with the best planning, sometimes sleep is elusive. One thing I will advise: especially in a hotel, whether it’s a budget property or a five-star, if you sleep poorly because of faulty air conditioning, raucous neighbors or any other reason within the hotel’s control, demand a refund for that night’s stay. I’ve done this more than once (for example: those Sweet 16 girls), marching down to the front desk in the middle of the night, preferably, to emphasize that my sleep was indeed interrupted, without changing out of my pajamas.

Sleeping better when flying It’s often hard sleeping on a long overseas or red-eye flight, even if you’ve booked one of those pricey lie-flat seats. Planes are noisy — even the most luxe seats are worse than your bed at home, there’s turbulence to jolt you awake, the air is as dry as a desert, and you’re flying at an equivalent cabin altitude of 8,000 feet (you’re basically on a mountain). If you’ve tried to sleep at high altitude when skiing or hiking, I’m sure you’ve experienced weird dreams and restless sleep. That’s because it’s harder to breathe at higher altitudes, and less oxygen to the brain (hypoxia) changes normal brain activity.

Different planes On these planes the cabin interior is pressurized at 6,000 feet, 2,000 feet lower than on other aircraft types. It makes a huge difference on longer flights, especially if you have breathing issues to begin with. On older airplane models the cabin humidity is typically 5-10%, actually drier than a desert.

Choose a window seat A window seat allows travelers to control the window shade, and one can rest their pillowed head against the cabin wall. Plus, over-wing seats are more stable if there’s turbulence (think of a plane as a seesaw with the wing at the fulcrum).

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER By Christopher Elliott

Refund sought after Avis charged extra for returning car rental early I booked a car in Spain through Booking.com for a rental with Avis. Everything seemed fine until I had a family emergency and had to return the vehicle early.At no stage during the booking process or at the rental desk was I informed that returning the car Christopher early would result in an increased cost. Elliott Imagine my shock when I saw an unauthorized charge of $673 on my credit card. Returning the car early effectively doubled my rental cost. I never received any communication about this fee. It’s unjustified — Avis could have re-rented the car the second I dropped it off. I’m a medic, and I often work in the North Sea where mobile signals are difficult, so I’ve had to try and manage this via email

and WhatsApp. It’s incredibly frustrating because Avis eventually admitted it was at fault and issued a refund, yet it’s still holding onto about $130. I want the full amount owed, not a partial amount. Can you help me get my remaining money back? — Christine Grosart, Evercreech, England Avis should have refunded you the moment it overcharged you. Actually, scratch that — it should have never charged you in the first place. If a company admits it made a mistake, it shouldn’t be a struggle to get a full refund. It certainly shouldn’t require a medic to take time away from her duties in the North Sea to chase down a missing $130. Rental car companies often have automated systems that

trigger early return fees or rate changes if you drop the car off sooner than planned. While their policies often state that rates are subject to change if the rental period is altered, those changes shouldn’t be applied in error, as Avis later admitted happened in your case. You could have avoided part of this by carefully reviewing the final receipt before leaving the rental lot. I know, you’re tired and want to get home, but that’s the moment you have the most leverage. You also did the right thing by starting a paper trail. As I always say, if it isn’t in writing, it didn’t happen. When you run into a wall like this, you can always escalate your complaint to the executives

at Avis or Booking.com. You can find those contacts on my site at Elliott.org. I’ve dealt with similar fuzzy math from rental companies before. In a previous case involving Budget (which is owned by the same parent company, Avis Budget Group), a customer was hit with a cleaning fee that felt more like a penalty than a service charge. It seems these errors have a habit of leaning in the company’s favor. I reached out to Avis on your behalf and asked it to review your case. “We can confirm that the additional charge related to a quoted rate change due to early return was applied in error and should not have been charged,” a repre-

sentative told me. It turns out part of the missing money was an additional driver fee that you signed for at the time of rental. Avis sent over a copy of your signed agreement to prove it. “Charges that are clearly included and accepted on the signed rental agreement are considered contractually agreed upon and are not eligible for refund,” the company noted. Your total refund comes to $552. While you didn’t get the driver fee refunded, you received the rest of your money back. Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org.

4D ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Memories of Hurricane Gustav in Broadmoor BY KATHRYN PERRY Contributing writer

Maybe it’s my Baton Rouge neighborhood, maybe it’s Louisiana, but I’ve seen some unusual things. Trees down Human on every other Condition house — two on the house next door. A bunk bed broken in half, and a bathroom blocked by tree branches; the occupant wrapped a towel around her hand to break a window and crawl out. Entire cul-de-sacs wiped from memory — was there a street behind all those trees? Cars doing a two-way dance at six-lane intersections with no working traffic signals for weeks. Hurricane Gustav, September 2008. Chickens crossing the road. My husband and I detoured daily to spot them and wondered how the owners justified keeping six when you’re only allowed three

per household. Did one own six and say the neighbor owned three or did two neighbors each own three? The chickens mingled freely and clearly owned the road and surrounding yards. We swear we saw Rasputin once. Large guy with a black beard and a robe that was somber yet elaborate — maybe he was an Orthodox clergyman.

Guy walking his dog while driving a golf cart. He rides slowly while his dog trots alongside without a leash. The dog looks happy, but the man stares straight ahead. I shouldn’t judge — maybe he’s in pain. A family also rides around the neighborhood in a golf cart. No license plate or turn signals, though. The Stay-Puff marshmallow man, the Oscar Mayer Wienermo-

bile and a segmented dragon on a parade float. Those were during Halloween, the Broadmoor Christmas parade and Lunar New Year (or Tet Nguyên Đán), respectively. Virgin Mary with strobing halos. Rainbow-colored lights radiate out in spokes from her head. Some people complain to the neighborhood association, which baffles me. The statues are beautiful and unique, and I wouldn’t trade them to live in a boring neighborhood. One Virgin Mary statue was seen crying tears and the faithful lined up down the block to witness. A crested bird in a drainage ditch at the neighborhood park — my first sighting of a yellowcrowned night Heron. Large egret checking out the egret statue in my pond, then strutting along, stabbing at minnows. A hawk bursting out of the shrubs carrying a rat-sized object. Slender snakes shimmying across the pond, sleeping lizards on reeds, spiders the size of my palm skat-

ing across the water. Hundreds of glowing lights in the lawn that blink closed when the flashlight lingers too long (do not try this if you have a spider phobia). Goodwood Boulevard has a dedicated bicycle lane, so you see electric scooters and skateboards, men on impossibly small bicycles, people texting while riding their scooters and bicycles. Just on Sunday, I saw a woman with long hair extensions down her back riding a scooter, smoking a cigarette and giving the finger to a passing driver. Living her best life, here, in Broadmoor. — Perry lives in Baton Rouge. Advocate readers may submit stories of about 500 words to The Human Condition at features@theadvocate.com or The Advocate, Features, 10705 Rieger Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. There is no payment, and stories will be edited. Authors should include their city of residence.

LAMANA

Continued from page 1D

parently, there is a Palladio house in Baton Rouge built in 1996 by architect Ken Tate. Come visit Vicenza and I’ll give you a tour of my city!”

Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. A fourth plane crashed at 10:03 a.m. in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Scott Lamana was sitting in his office in the Pentagon’s E Ring tracking the planes in New York when the Flight 77 crash killed him, 124 of his colleagues and the 64 passengers on the plane. He was a U.S. Navy lieutenant on the brink of a promotion to lieutenant commander, and he was three months shy of earning his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Maryland. Scott Lamana was married to his Baton Rouge sweetheart, Lorna, and all seemed right in the world until that fateful day 25 years ago.

Homemade or marketing

The 25th anniversary

Debbie in Harvey sent a handmade postcard and wrote: “Dear Jan, Last year I sent you a postcard that I had painted with bamboo. This year, it’s my first attempt using cyanotype. It’s such a pretty blue. I think this is some of the creeping fig, which has escaped its pot and is growing by my front door.” From Oregon, Leah Simon sent one of the most beautiful postcards I’ve ever received. It appears to be a reprint of a watercolor painting of two people on a lake in a red canoe. I do love a red canoe, which may explain why I chose to keep this particular postcard front and center on my desk since I received it in July. Upon a closer inspection, I realized that Simon’s postcard appears to be from a restaurant called Lake House in Caldera Springs, Oregon. I feel like making a trip to Oregon just to eat at a restaurant that has the level of taste to do that kind of subtle marketing.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and the Lamana family will always feel its pain. Michael Lamana recounts how he, his wife, Wanda, and their son’s in-laws piled into a car for a nonstop drive from Baton Rouge to Washington on the day of the crash. Scott’s death had not been confirmed and wouldn’t be until after their arrival. They would bury him in Arlington Cemetery a month later. On the way to Washington, Michael Lamana thought about a cuff bracelet worn by his son. It commemorated a POW/MIA soldier who went missing in Laos during the Vietnam War. On this day, he pushes up his shirt sleeve to show the bracelet on his right wrist while standing in front of a small exhibit in the LSU Brookshire Military Museum dedicated to his son’s service. The inscription has worn off the bracelet, but it doesn’t matter, because now it commemorates Scott. He gazes at the dress blue uniform in the exhibit case, pointing out the gold Joint Chiefs of Staff badge pinned on the left side beneath a set of flight wings. Scott Lamana served as a briefer for the chief of naval operations. In this role, he helped monitor the operations of the Navy’s global fleet from his post in Pentagon’s Navy Command Center.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER

Four of the 30 postcards from South Korea, sent by Mr. Jo

POSTCARD

Continued from page 1D Garland’s team eventually won an industry award for the fastest startup in licensing history, and he credits Mr. Jo for most of the effort that led to success. So when Garland saw a need for a postcard from Korea, he asked Mr. Jo — a man he has not worked alongside in more than a decade — to send a single postcard to a newspaper columnist in Louisiana. Mr. Jo sent 30. “That’s just about like everything Mr. Jo does,” Garland said. “He goes above and beyond.”

36 countries, 50 states The fifth annual Postcard Project has turned out to be our biggest yet. We made our goal of receiving postcards from all 50 states earlier than we’ve ever done it before — more than a month before our Labor Day deadline, in fact. Plus, we’ve received postcards from more countries than ever before — 36 countries in all. For the record, the United Nations might not approve of the way I’m counting countries, but I’m counting Antarctica nonetheless. How often does one receive a postcard from Antarctica? Or Greenland? Both were from the same person, Dena Maturin of Lafayette. She also sent one from Norway. I expect we will receive a few more postcards from near and far before the Labor Day deadline. When we were missing a postcard from Oklahoma, Aron Katz came through — by way of his mother. He wrote, “You can check one more state off your list! My mom who lives in Lafayette asked that I send this note to you.” From North Dakota, George and Nancy Couvillon, of Marksville, wrote: “Chere Jan, We’re on a pilgrimage and family reunion to the ‘Frozen North.’ Hopefully these greetings will help you meet your postcard deadline production report: Lots of corn, some soybeans, little wheat, very few injury lawyer billboards, no trash on the side of the road. As always, anxious to get back to God’s Avoyelles.” Keith Long, of New Orleans, sent a postcard from Mexico. He wrote, “Greetings from Puerto Vallarta, land of abundant sunshine, tacos al pastor, chilaquiles verdes and a statue of John Huston whose 1964 movie ‘Night of the Iguana’ inspired Richard Burton and Liz Taylor to purchase Casa Kimberly as their love nest the same year and put Puerto Vallarta on the map.” Melissa Reed sent a postcard from Vicenza, Italy. She wrote: “Ciao Ms. Risher! Greetings from Vicenza, Italy, known as the City of Palladio — the 16th century architect. Ap-

Postcard mysteries Not all postcards were new. After her aunt passed away, Suzann Davis of Prairieville found a 1931 postcard of Tiger Stadium that she sent me. A mystery person sent at least a dozen old postcards from spots around the globe. Most included messages like this one from Montego Bay, Jamaica, which read: “Time traveled to 1970. Worked on my tan and relaxed on the beach. Wish you were here. X” Or this one from Niagara Falls: “Went way back in time before it was super tacky. Wish you were here. X” And with words in a Cyrillic alphabet that features Red Square, an array of sickles and hammers and a large CCCP logo: “Had to travel back to the Golden Age of the USSR. Wish you were here. X” The sender of these time-travelthemed postcards remains a mystery — all postmarks are Baton Rouge. I hope whoever sent them enjoyed sending them as much as I did receiving them. Garland’s other leads panned out too. The Morocco postcard and the one from Belgium came from other colleagues, each with stories of their own. Like the rest of the postcards, someone had the idea, found a postcard and went to the trouble of mailing it, from near or far. Once again, I am not certain what I will do with all of these postcards, 30 of which are from a man in Seoul whom I’ve never met, sent because a friend asked. In a summer where headlines keep score of what’s fraying, 3-inch by 5-inch postcards create special connections and feel worth counting, too.

STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER

Michael Lamana stands next to the LSU Brookshire Military Museum’s exhibit commemorating his son, Lt. Michael Scott Lamana, who died 25 years ago in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

and graduated from Catholic High School, then LSU, where he joined the ROTC. “LSU had the Army and Air Force ROTC, but Scott wanted to join the Navy ROTC,” Michael Lamana said. “Southern had the Navy ROTC, so he joined there.” His dad remembers Scott as a curious kid, who eagerly learned the mechanics of things. When he wanted a car, he took on several jobs at once, including reserve positions with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department, while attending LSU. But Scott Lamana’s dream was flying airplanes for the Navy. After graduating LSU with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1992, he was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy, then trained as a naval flight officer, earning his flight wings. Though his eyesight prohibited A bigger picture him from being a pilot, Scott LaThough he’s proud of his son’s mana flew with Patrol Squadron service, Michael Lamana shares a Nine in Barber’s Point, Hawaii, bigger picture of his son, one that where he served as a navigator/ begins with a childhood in Baton communicator, tactical coordinaRouge, where he was born in 1970 tor and mission commander on a

PORCH

Still fights back tears Michael Lamana still fights back tears when talking about his son’s life. Stories overlap, like his son’s volunteer work to remodel schools in Hawaii and the time Scott totally dismantled a 1964 Mustang and put it back together without a hitch. But now he thinks about that picture Scott drew all those years ago. “I tell people to pay attention to what your kids do, not because what’s happening now will happen in the future, but how it relates to who they will develop into,” he said. “We, as people, are a summation of our experiences in life, whether bad or good. That’s who we are.”

Jan Risher’s new porch is a work in progress. She and her husband are living in their home as they finish rebuilding after a fire damaged it in August 2025.

Continued from page 1D one of my cousins must have left at my grandmother’s. I was operating sans needle and thread, but I still believed the geometry of a wrap dress could be figured out. If I could cut it right, wouldn’t the only critical part be a tiny hole for a belt to go through? Spoiler alert: My doll-sized wrap dress attempt never worked. The doll ended up resembling a glorified mummy instead. In short, my grandmother saw potential everywhere she looked. She was always considering how to improve upon what was there — how to make it more beautiful, how to make it fit better or work better. She would definitely have ideas on how to get my porch in gear, and those ideas would come to fruition in a flash. Things would disappear. Caladium bulbs would be planted.

P-3C maritime patrol aircraft. Then came his service in the Persian Gulf, followed by a stint as one of the Navy’s youngest flight instructors. In 1999, he was assigned to the Pentagon, where, on Sept. 11, he protected other workers in the E Ring by telling them, “Y’all get out of the office and let us do our job” — a story relayed to Michael Lamana by survivors of the attack.

STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER Right now I’m listening to cicadas and cardinals. In honor of my grandmother, my husband and I just straightened out a beautiful rug another friend picked up at an estate sale and sent us and pulled a little table over so we can prop up our feet. He has come outside to join me now. I spent so many hours alone on my grandmother’s porch, so I appreciate having someone to share mine with. The thermometer says it’s only 83 degrees

outside. Remarkably, I feel a slight breeze coming through the screens — like a late-summer Louisiana dream. Even though the porch has a long way to go, taking this moment of stillness together — in the midst of a lot of chaos around us — is a balm for my spirit. My little girl self would be so pleased. Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 5D

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Bacchus will reveal debs at brunch Le Cercle de Bacchus, Baton Rouge’s oldest presentation organization, will announce its 20262027 honorees Sunday at a brunch hosted by the organization’s past presidents at Baton Rouge Country Club. The debutantes will be presented at the group’s 68th annual ball on Jan. 9 at Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel. The 2026-2027 class includes: n Wesley Katherine Angers, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends LSU. She is the daughter of Kim Byrd and Jefferson Angers; n Kathryn Grace Casey, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends Auburn University. Her parents are Ashley Grace Casey and John Brady “Brad” Casey. n Alyse Michael Donovan, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends the University of Mississippi. She is the daughter of Crystal and Mike Donovan. n Arden Grace Ellis, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends the University of Alabama. Her parents are Lara Ellis and Michael Ellis. n Katherine Wetherington “KK” Fox, a graduate of University Laboratory School who attends Samford University. She is the daughter of Carrie Fox and Tim Fox. n Mary Margaret “Maggie” King, a graduate of Episcopal High School who

Tickets are on sale for Mid City Civic Theatre’s production of the hit Broadway musical, “Dear Evan Hansen,” opening Sept. 11 on its stage at 7155 Florida Blvd. Tickets are $20-$45. Visit midcitycivic.org.

‘Hamlet’ tickets

Tickets are on sale for the Louisiana Shakespeare Company’s production of “Hamlet,” opening Sept. 11 in the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, 233 St. Ferdinand St. Tickets are $31.60. Visit lashakes.org.

Fall into History

Louisiana’s Old Governor’s Mansion, 502 N. Blvd., will host “Fall into History,” a free event celebrating the arrival of autumn from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 6. “Fall into History” will feature local cuisine and seasonal treats from businesses across the region. Visitors are invited to tour the mansion, guided by the museum’s docents, and view rare artifacts showcased by the curator as part of the Free First Sunday initiative. Admission is free, and the museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call (225) 342-9778 or visit laogm.org.

‘Dr. Dazed’ exhibit

The exhibit, “Dr. Dazed Doo-

Engagement, Wedding and Anniversary announcements are paid notices in The Advocate. They appear in Sunday’s Advocate. To submit an announcement, go to The Advocate’s website at www.theadvocate.com, scroll down to the bottom of the page, look under ‘’Our Sites’’ and click on ‘’Celebrations’’. The deadline is noon Monday. For more information call (225) 388-0738 or e-mail nuptials@theadvocate.com.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Angers

Casey

Donovan

Ellis

Fox

King

McCrary

Netterville

Ostrowe

Shaffer

Stockstill

Van Hook

attends New York University. She is the daughter of Christy and Jeff King; n CathWatts erine Clesi McCrary, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends LSU. Her parents are Claesi and Marty McCrary; n Morgan Grace Netterville, a graduate of Episcopal High School who attends the University of Alabama. She is the daughter of Amanda and Brad Netterville; n Josephine “Josie” Ann Ostrowe, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends the University of Oklahoma. Her parents are Maryjo and Adam Ostrowe; n Sara Melissa Shaffer, a graduate of University Laboratory School who attends LSU. She is the daughter of Tracy and Douglas Shaffer.

Celebration of

Clarence & Joyce Hickman’s 50th Wedding Anniversary

PROVIDED PHOTO BY MG MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY LLC

Le Cercle de Bacchus officers are, from left, Walton Roberts, secretary; Camden Pfeiffer, ball chairman; Ethan Gettys, treasurer; Andrew Hoover, president; Spencer Thomas, sergeant-at-arms; and Chris Flood, vice-president. n Kate Michael Stockstill, a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy who attends the University of Georgia. Her parents are Melissa Andrepont and Brent Stockstill; n Olivia Catherine Van Hook, a graduate of Episcopal High School who

attends the University of Mississippi. She is the daughter of Catherine and Dr. James Van Hook; n Helen Elizabeth Watts, a graduate of The Dunham School who attends Spring Hill College. Her parens are Kimberly Watts and Brad Watts.

dle Delta” will open with a reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Jones Walker Gallery at the Manship Theatre in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. Admission is free. Visit manshiptheatre.org.

At Baton Rouge Gallery

Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive, is showing four exhibits by its artists members through Sept. 27: “Tethering Fog” by Alex Podesta, “(Pro)Found Objects by Matt Morris, “Bayou Layers” by Pippin Frisbie-Calder and “Everything Old is New Again” by David Horton. The artists will talk about their work in the gallery’s ARTiculate Artists Talk at 4 p.m. Sept. 6. Hours are noon-6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. Visit batonrougegallery.org.

At Capitol Park Museum

Captiol Park Museum, 660 N. Fourth St., will host a free educational craft program, “Discovery Day: Stitching History” from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 12. Visit louisianastatemuseum. org/museum/capitol-parkmuseum.

At LASM

Tickets are on sale for the Louisiana Art & Science Museum’s 41st Annual Gala: Louisiana Untamed, set from 6:30-10 p.m. Sept. 25 at the museum, 100 S. River Road. Tickets are $125-$250.

The museum also is showing the exhibit, “Off the Wall: Louisiana Untamed” through Sept. 25; “Reflections: The Art of George Rodrige” through Jan. 24; “Louisiana Couture: The Legacy of San Carlin” through Jan. 3; and Sept. 6 is the final day to see “Crossroads & Connections: A Century of the Railway in Baton Rouge.” Finally, the museum will offer free admission on its monthly Free First Sunday on Sept. 6. Visit lasm.org.

At LSU Museum of Art

LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center of the Arts, 100 Lafayette St., will offer free admission on its Free First Sunday on Sept. 6. The museum is now showing its Folk Art Gallery, spotlighting the work of self-taught American artists drawn from several distinguished collections and will open “The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson,” on Sept. 17. Visit lsumoa.org.

‘Nutcracker’ auditions

Children’s auditions for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre’s production of “The Nutcracker — A Tale From The Bayou” will be Sept. 13 at the Dancers Workshop, 10745 Linkwood Ct. Also, tickets are on sale for the company’s “Lagniappe — Classical Masterpieces & Contemporary Visions” at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, 2825 Government St.

Clarence and Joyce Hickman celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary on September 4th. Their story began years before they said “I do.” They met on September 5, 1970. What started as young love would grow into a lifelong partnership, leading them to the altar on September 4, 1976. Fifty years have come and gone, bringing with them countless memories to treasure. A golden milestone filled with lessons, laughter, love,

and a lifetime of choosing one another. They celebrate the journey they have shared, the family they have built, and most importantly, the faith that has carried them through every season. Ecclesiastes 4:12 speaks of the strength of a threefold cord—one that is not quickly broken. For Clarence and Joyce, that third strand has been God: the one that has held their marriage together through five decades.

It’s brine’s time to shine at the Minn. State Fair BY JENNIFER BROOKS

ON THE ARTS AND CULTURE SCENE ‘Evan Hansen’ tickets

WEDDINGS, ENGAGEMENTS & ANNIVERSARIES

Creative Activities Building. There, shelves full of pickles gleam in cases between the quilts and crafts and baked goods. Anyone can open a jar of pickles; it takes determination and skill to pickle them yourself. Every year, more Minnesotans take up the challenge and submit their home-canned pickles for State Fair competition, under the watchful eye of canning coordinator Mary Bartz. State Fair canning entries jumped 20% across all categories this year. That’s more than 1,300 people who submitted more than 4,100 entries. Jams. Jellies. Salsas. A rainbow of pickled fruits and vegetables. “It’s a creative endeavor and a fulfilling way to show your love of canning,” said Bartz. Bartz isn’t a fan of crowds and she tries to eschew fried foods. But sometimes the deep-fried pickles call, and she must answer. It’s easy to spot the pickle people. Bartz knows a canning enthusiast who had a pickle tattooed on her arm as an indelible sign of their passion. For Bartz’s birthday this year, a friend gifted her a pair of earrings shaped like jars of “emotional support pickles.” “We have a passion for pickles,” she said. “And for jams and jellies and relishes.”

TNS News Service Tickets are $25. For audition requirements or “Lagniappe” tickets, visit batonrougeballet.org.

Baton Rouge Symphony

Tickets are on sale for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra’s concert, “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” featuring pianist Ying Li, on Sept. 17 at the Raising Cane’s River Center Performing Arts Theater, 240 St. Louis St. Tickets are $25-$80. Visit brso.org.

At the Old Capitol

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd., will host speaker Mike Rubin in its “Becoming Louisiana: Jewish Immigration Into Louisiana” at 6 p.m. Sept. 22. The lecture will be preceded by a reception at 5:30 p.m. Also, the museum will host author Jack Weiss and Nicholas Lemann in the program, “The Jewish South,” featuring a discussion of Lemann’s book, “Returning: A Search for Home Across Three Centuries.” Admission is free. Visit louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

At LSU Theatre

Tickets are on sale for LSU Theatre’s production of the farce, “POTUS,” opening Sept. 24, at the Shaver Theatre in the LSU Music and Dramatic Arts Building, Dalrymple Drive. Tickets are $9-$41. Visit lsu.edu/cmda/theatre/ events/2026-27_season.php.

MINNEAPOLIS — You can pick a peck of pickles at the Minnesota State Fair. There are pickles in the pies, the cookies, the corn dogs, the beer, the popsicles, the iced tea, the pizza. Pickles on sticks. Pickles in the lemonade. Pickles in the hummus. Pickles bobbing and burbling in the deep friers. The Great Minnesota GetTogether has been a perfect pickle pairing since the pickle on a stick debuted in 1971. By 1998, the first briny battered bites had hit the friers at the Perfect Pickle stand. Sometimes you just need a taste of something acidic and bright to cut through all the greasy, sticky, salty fair food. It became popular enough to warrant a second stand. These days, the list of new State Fair foods usually reveals someone putting pickles where pickles ought not to be. Because the funniest fair foods always feel like they started with a dare. Minnesotans survived the year of the pickle fudge and the pickle doughnut, which was also the year of the pickle lemonade, the pickle paleta and the pickle cheese curd taco. There was never a dill moment in 2023. There’s one other place on the fairgrounds where pickles always have been and always will be a big dill: The

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BOOKS Cartoonist Bunny Matthews, at his home office in Abita Springs, in 2016

A SKETCH IN TIME

Iconic New Orleans artist Bunny Matthews’ wit, humor and controversy chronicled in new biography BY RIEN FERTEL Contributing writer

“Bunny Matthews: His Life,Art, and Obsessions,” by Alison Fensterstock and Michael Tisserand,The Historic New Orleans Collection, 336 pages. “Be witty. Be nasty. Be silly. Don’t be boring.” Those words, written by Bunny Matthews in 1988, might as well have been his personal motto. The iconic New Orleans cartoonist and music critic, best known as the creator of the Vic and Nat’ly comic strip, could be simultaneously witty, nasty, silly and lightyears from boring, all in a single, simple, penciled panel — the unmistakable work of the artist mononymously known as Bunny. Now, five years after his death, comes “Bunny Matthews: His Life, Art, and Obsessions,” a beautiful, blockbuster tome of a biography, bursting with 400 images, co-authored by Alison Fensterstock and Michael Tisserand. They make this project’s perfect pair. She’s a longtime music writer, with stints at the Times-Picayune and Gambit. He’s a comics aficionado and author of “Krazy,” an award-winning biography of the influential New Orleans cartoonist George Herriman. Together, these longtime critics have produced a candid portrait of a beloved local artist and complicated man, but also, to the book’s benefit, a chronicle of the last 75 years of, as Vic and Nat’ly would put it, “Nawlins cultcha.”

His first byline He was born Will Bunn Matthews III, Feb. 15, 1951, in Monroe, the last in a line of sons named after a middling Confederate colonel out of Arkansas, an ancestral lineage that would cause much displeasure. He would write years later, “These numbered names are like iron chains that one spends years trying to rip off.” His mother had the good sense to nickname him Bunny. The Matthews family moved often in Bunny’s younger years, hopping from his birthplace of Monroe to Shreveport, Metairie, then across the border to Dallas. Along the way, Bunny started drawing, all the time, with any material at hand: cartoons and comic strips in crayon and colored pencils, which he had the gumption to assemble into illustrated anthologies. He inked his own newspaper, simply titled, in a deliciously apropos gesture to the incendiary style that would define his journalistic career, Devil. In 1959, at the age of 8, he earned his first byline, printed in the Dallas Times Herald: a Baby Boomerific story about a Ford Falcon rocketing to the Moon. Later that year, his family moved back to Metairie, where Bunny attended Airline Park Elementary. “He was just drawing all the time, every day,” a classmate remembered. An inordinate number of his peers were Sicilian suburbanites, the first wave of White flight migrants, in Bunny’s words, “the offspring of Vic and Nat’ly.” Naturally, Bunny greeted the ’60s with open arms. He pledged allegiance to the Beatles, who made their first Ed Sullivan appearance the week he turned 13. He wore his hair shaggy and played the drums in several ga-

‘BUNNY MATTHEWS: HIS LIFE, ART, AND OBSESSIONS’ The exhibit opens Sept. 18 at the Historic New Orleans Collection. It will run through May 9. WHAT: Bunny Day WHEN: 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 19 INFO: HNOC will offer a free day of activities related to the exhibit and book, featuring an author talk, book signing, costume contents and more. MORE: hnoc.org. rage bands. A new generation of counterculture comics inspired an aesthetic swerve. Alongside Mad Magazine and Robert Crumb’s Zap Comix, there were the freak-out stylistics of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, which Bunny dutifully copied, designing custom Rat Fink and crew T-shirts for friends, and later for sale at a French Quarter head shop. At East Jefferson High School, Bunny cartooned and columned for the student newspaper, the Tom-Tom. He specialized in satire, skewering typical teenage touchstones: school cliques, smoking in the bathroom, cafeteria food. But it was his music reviews that best portrayed the artist as a young man. Bunny’s senior year write-up of Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced” got him sent to the principal’s office for running a picture of a Black man in the paper, taboo during the early days of integration.

Dean of Southern Rock Critics After graduating in 1969, Bunny’s early 20s drifted by in a psychedelic haze. He dropped out of LSUNO once his high draft number made mandatory service impossible, hustled records for the legendary vinyl peddler Jim Russell, and, in 1972, wrote a handful of music reviews for a new alt-weekly, Figaro, before unexpectedly absconding to Providence, Rhode Island. Fensterstock and Tisserand have a hard time explaining Bunny’s motivation for the move — he likely didn’t know himself — but narratively, his New England sojourn set up a prodigal return,

in 1974, alongside the shifting tide of New Orleans’s music scene. That year, the Wild Magnolias dropped their landmark debut. Piano wizards like Professor Longhair and James Booker were being rediscovered by a new generation of White, hipster enthusiasts. Tipitina’s and WWOZ would soon join the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival to form a triumvirate of cultural institutions that would globally spread the New Orleans brand. Bunny had a hand in it all. Back freelancing at Figaro, he endeavored to be the Dean of Southern Rock Critics. His indepth, often gonzo-tinged profiles — he interviewed the oft-troubled Booker, for instance, at a drug rehabilitation center — made him a local heavyweight that, had he wanted the opportunity, would have warranted a gig working for Rolling Stone and the like. His reviews were often testy, pulling no punches, for which the Neville Brothers nicknamed him the Hatchetman (imagine being cool enough to earn a nickname from Art Neville!).

‘New Orleansese’ on display In 1976, Figaro allowed space for Bunny’s first cartoon column since high school. F’Sure featured satirical slices of life based on “actual dialogue heard in the streets of our metropolis.” Bunny’s “New Orleansese,” as he called the local patois, could be simultaneously charming and derogatory, usually spot-on, frequently funny. “If you git da baby, swell it! We ain’t havin’ geese clowns ova fo’ no pahtee!” “41 dollars dat plum wanted t’unclog da turlet — I ain’t no millionaire!” “Hot?! Dis?! Dis ain’t nuttin! Ya oughta come here in August an’ bring ya whole family an’ da dog — dat oughta be great fo’ yo noives.” His characters looked like they hadn’t ever seen the inside of an air-conditioned room: stippled, scratchy, drippy grotesqueries escaped from some bayou bestiary. Kudos goes to the team at the Historic New Orleans Collection, custodian of Bunny’s archive, for the book’s layout and design, a masterpiece of an art monograph. F’Sure led to a surge in gig work: Posters, flyers and calendars for Tipitina’s and other musical venues, advertisements for a host of local businesses and record covers. Bunny’s immense output, the case can be made, became the principal visual style of New Orleans in the 1970s and ’80s. When some future historian finally sets out to chronicle that era — for my money, the city’s most interesting decades, culturally and politically — Fensterstock

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY KEITH SPERA

and Tisserand’s biography will be an invaluable resource.

‘Violent disgust’ But success spoiled Bunny Matthews. He could be egotistical, downright mean, occasionally infuriating and rightfully had trouble convincing any publication to hire him on a full-time salary. Like many outsiders who fall under the city’s sway, Bunny was a New Orleans exceptionalist — its stalwart defender, a phonysquashing provincialist. His contrarian views earned the Hatchetman hate mail by the sackfull. “I’m generally a very calm person,” wrote one naysayer, “so whenever I want to experience feelings of violent disgust I read one of Bunny Matthews’ reviews. His pretentious, meandering dribble almost always achieves the desired results.” The ire was often well earned, as Bunny fearlessly roasted each and every one of New Orleans’s sacred cows. He deemed Jazz Fest “the most horrible time of the year,” but also confessed to dutifully attending the Fair Grounds every day. Or consider the beating Bunny bestowed on his former idol Professor Longhair, in a rambling essay published in 1988: “This heritage stuff is just so much baloney. Kids, you should listen to Professor Longhair once and then toss his records into the proverbial gumbo pot. The same goes for all the rest of our native rhythm and blues heroes. Our heritage is dead weight and must be thrown overboard. Tipitina’s should do the right thing and take that awful banner of Longhair’s head over to the levee and burn it.” Bunny’s music column eventually landed in The Times-Picayune, which eventually brought him to the editorial attention of the Picayune’s Sunday supplement, the unfortunately titled Dixie.

The pinnacle and then a shock Jan. 3, 1982, saw the first printed appearance of Vic and Nat’ly, the characters that would largely define the rest of Bunny’s life and career. An outgrowth of his F’Sure days, the characters — married owners of an Upper 9th Ward corner bar — spoke, acted and, yes, ate New Orleansese to the nth degree. To Bunny’s editor Jeannette Hardy, “They looked like creatures spawned in the swamp and seasoned with 50 years’ worth of fried oyster, hot sauce and pickled eggs.” To New Orleans, locals and tourists alike, Vic and Nat’ly were a hit, remnants of a Yat-centric culture being gentrified to extinction, a reminder of a world and a way that once was — the pinnacle of the city’s growing Ain’t Dere No More ethos. Alongside a plethora of Vic and Nat’ly merchandise, there was the Vic and Nat’ly Po-Boy Festival, “Vic and Nat’ly’s New Orleans Music Revue” at Le Petit Théâtre, and even a local cable access program, “Da Vic and Nat’ly Show,” which was canceled after just 13 episodes following a sequence on sex toys that Bunny

drew up in response to Gov. Edwin Edwards signing a law banning “obscene devices.” After the demise of Dixie, the comic strip jumped to Gambit and OffBeat in 1988. The next year, Bunny, New Orleans’s chief defender at all costs, shocked his friends and fans by relocating across the lake to Abita Springs.

Once progressive, then ‘pervy’ A crucial element of Fensterstock and Tisserand’s biography is the story of Bunny’s family life. He was a thrice-married father of two sons — the third marriage, to Debbie Murphy, stuck to the end — who, like most parents, struggled to balance the homework scale. The freelance life caused ongoing financial stress. There were failed attempts at reaching a national audience: a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster of musician portraits à la Robert Crumb and a nationally syndicated Vic and Nat’ly cartoon program. Abita Springs, according to those who knew Bunny best, changed the man. The once progressive prankster had become a conservative curmudgeon with pervy tendencies. Astute readers couldn’t help but notice that Nat’ly underwent what the medical establishment calls augmentation mammaplasty. He painted a repulsive portrait of Dorothy Mae Taylor, the City Council member who led the crusade to desegregate New Orleans’s Carnival krewes in the early ’90s, hanging by a rope from the King of Rex’s float. A few years later, a Vic and Nat’ly comic portrayed Jazz Fest as a Nazi concentration camp.

His art remains inescapable A lymphoma diagnosis came in 2015. Four brain surgeries. Long nights of writing things on Facebook perhaps meant to provoke, disgust or just share what he was thinking. “Once he had been an artful provocateur,” Fensterstock and Tisserand write, “but now he was turning into a poisonous troll.” Bunny’s wife, Debbie, passed away from her own bout with cancer in 2018. Three years later, he followed. For many who grew up in the city or, like me, moved here during his heyday, Bunny’s characters, his stippled sketch work, continue to define — for better or worse — the New Orleans of today. Vic and Nat’ly no longer appear in newsprint, but Bunny’s art remains inescapable: passing Leidenheimer delivery trucks, the toothy Krewe du Vieux jester logo, the framed and laminated comic strips that hang like totems on the walls of local businesses. I’ve now lived long enough in the city to occasionally catch a glimpse of a very Vic-ish five o’clock shadow looking back my way. I gasp in horror, then winkingly try out my best attempt at Bunny’s New Orleansese, “Yeah you rite!” Rien Fertel is the author of four books. He recently won his fifth Best Critical Review Award from the New Orleans Press Club.

THIS WEEK’S BESTSELLERS FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY HARDCOVER FICTION

1. “The Poison Daughter” by Sheila Masterson 2. “The Calamity Club” by Kathryn Stockett 3. “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke 4. “Delusional” by Patterson/Born 5. “Whistler” by Ann Patchett 6. “God’s Country” by William Kent Krueger 7. “Mad Mabel” by Sally Hepworth 8. “Book Lovers (deluxe ed.)” by Emily Henry 9. “The Unknown” by Riley Sager 10. “Once Written in Gilded Blood (deluxe ed.)” by K.M. Moronova

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. “Pardon My Book” by Katz/Sollenberger 2. “Regime Change” by Haberman/ Swan 3. “From Italy with Amore” by Pasini/ Pasin 4. “This Is Me” by Hayden Panettiere 5. “What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking: Make It Fast” by Caroline Chambers 6. “The Nerd Reich” by Gil Durán 7. “Brain Defenders” by David Perlmutter 8. “The Day After” by Brian Tyler Cohen 9. “Legacy Redefined” by Richard Watts 10. “Strangers” by Belle Burden

TRADE PAPERBACK

1. “Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi 2. “Brain Damage” by Freida McFadden 3. “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman 4. “Verity” by Colleen Hoover 5. “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach 6. “Carl’s Doomsday Scenario” by Matt Dinniman 7. “What Happened Yesterday” by Matt Sturniolo 8. “Murdoku” by Manuel Garand 9. “Adversary to the Villain” by Hannah Nicole Maehrer 10. “The Divorce” by Freida McFadden

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 7D

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LOUISIANA INSPIRED Dillard choir director lifts voices for 50 years Davenport considered a mentor, a leader and so much more

that got them in the door to be considered for jobs and internships. On his advice, some pursued master’s and doctorate degrees. And at least once, he has taught a mother and child duo a generation apart.

BY DESIREE STENNETT

‘An extraordinary talent’

Staff writer

In the half-century that S. Carver Davenport has led the Dillard University Concert Choir, he has taught thousands of students, traveled across the South, visited countless colleges, churches and grand auditoriums and performed for two sitting presidents. Still, his favorite spot is behind his piano in his classroom. There, he has inspired and developed the small historically Black university’s best singers since 1975, pulling musical selections from a range of genres and eras and singing one or two measures at a time over and over at evening practices until perfection. “All these years, I have seen how the students are passionate about singing ... and how they take what and how I teach to heart,” said Davenport, 75. “I see how they engage with the audience and how they recruit other students to be part of a singing organization that doesn’t necessarily sing what they hear on social media. “I see how much they want to showcase their talent and to display the love that they now have for this kind of music.” But his work has always been about more than the songs.

‘Safe spaces’ Moniqua Osbey met Davenport in 2009. Four years after Hurricane Katrina, Osbey found herself back in New Orleans living in a shelter for homeless domestic violence survivors with her two toddlers. When she was accepted to Dillard, she moved her young family into on-campus housing. Not everyone was supportive of that, she said. One professor told Osbey she could no longer bring her children

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK

S. Carver Davenport directs his students during a choir rehearsal at Dillard University in New Orleans. to class, citing a policy she had implemented when she worked in university administration before Osbey enrolled. Another professor, she recalled, told her it was “unbecoming” to have a single mom on campus and thought her presence would “influence other students negatively.” “Dr. Davenport, when I told him about it, he was very disappointed and upset because he felt the complete opposite,” Osbey said. “He felt that if people saw a young, single mother on campus with her kids turning her life around, that would encourage young mothers to continue their education.” She joined the choir to fulfill an academic requirement. But the choir, and Davenport, became her family. First, Davenport would watch her young children — 3 and 4 years old at the time — when Osbey was in class. Eventually, everyone in the choir got involved. Other stu-

dents who lived on campus would babysit in their dorm rooms and when someone who lived off campus offered help, Davenport would let them use his office to watch the kids. And he didn’t stop there. Between practices and performances, Davenport first allowed Osbey to bring her children to evening choir rehearsals. Then, as the university moved to phase out on-campus family housing, Davenport successfully lobbied Dillard’s then-president, Marvalene Hughes, to let Osbey stay. He pushed university officials to allow her to continue to catch the campus shuttle with her children when she needed it and made sure she could access the theater department’s laundry facilities. “All of these safe spaces, he created,” she said. Davenport is still like a grandfather to her children who, as adults, still call him “Pawpaw.” When she unexpectedly went into labor with her third child

eight years ago, Davenport got to the hospital before her family could. He cut the umbilical cord. This spring, the New Orleans City Council honored him as the longest-tenured choral director at any HBCU in the nation, and voted unanimously to name the intersection of Gentilly Boulevard and Allen Street near campus the Dr. S.C. Davenport Honorary Intersection. “Dr. Davenport has elevated the university’s music program to national and international recognition,” council member Eugene Green said at a council meeting earlier this year. “Through his leadership, mentorship and artistry, he has shaped generations of students and left a lasting imprint on the cultural fabric of New Orleans.” Current and former students talk about how Davenport helped them find housing, guided their career paths and even gave them money to eat. His has been the name-drop

But in the end, he always brings them back to the music. “I listen to recordings from freshman year of me singing versus how I sound now, and Doc has completely transformed my whole way of singing,” said Andreus Lowry, a senior choir member who called the choir his second home. “My voice, my breathing, everything. ... I’ve grown in every aspect.” Dillard President Monique Guillory — the sixth president since Davenport’s tenure began — called him an “institution” at the university and an “extraordinary talent.” “His students understand and appreciate the high standards he expects of them because he exemplifies those standards himself in everything he does — no excuses and no exceptions,” she wrote in a statement. “For five decades, Dr. Davenport has not simply led our choir; he has helped shape the lives of generations of Dillard students and contributed immeasurably to the cultural and musical legacy of this University. His impact will resonate at Dillard for generations to come.” For Davenport, the honors are heartening. But what keeps him there after so many years is the family he has built with his students. In his early years at Dillard, Davenport, who started teaching at 25, said he was like a brother to many students. But that was 50 years ago. “I was old enough to be their brother, then their father, now their grandfather and perhaps, in some cases, their great-grandfather,” he said. “I smile about that often.” It gives him the sense of purpose he needs to continue.

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

Shell Research Laboratories

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

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

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

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

shell.us/louisiana | #PoweringProgress

8D ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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The case of the unsolicited jewelry appraisal

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Sunday, Sept. 6, the 249th day of 2026. There are 116 days left in the year. Today in history: On Sept. 6, 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded by anarchist Leon Czolgosz at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. (McKinley died eight days later and was succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt.) Also on this date: In 1522, the Victoria, commanded by Juan Sebastian de Elcano, arrived in Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the globe on an expedition launched in 1519 by Ferdinand Magellan; Elcano and 21 others were the only survivors of the expedition, which set out with five ships and 270 men (Magellan was killed in the Philippines a year earlier.) In 1781, British Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, a onetime American officer, ordered British forces to burn New London, Connecticut. In 1914, in World War I, the first Battle of the Marne began as French and British troops attacked advancing German forces, stopping the advance and avoiding the capture of Paris. In 1949, Howard Unruh, a resident of Camden, New Jersey, shot and killed 13 of his neighbors. (Unruh, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was incarcerated for 60 years until his death in 2009.) In 1972, the Summer Olympics resumed in Munich, West Germany, a day after the deadly hostage crisis that left 11 Israelis, five Arab abductors and a West German police officer dead. In 1975, 18-year-old tennis star Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, in New York for the U.S. Open, requested political asylum in the United States. In 1995, Baltimore Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig’s 56 year-old MLB record; Ripken’s streak would ultimately reach a still-record 2,632 games. In 1997, a public funeral was held for Princess Diana at Westminster Abbey in London, six days after her death in a car crash in Paris. In 2006, President George W. Bush acknowledged for the first time that the CIA was running secret prisons overseas and said “tough” interrogation techniques had forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies. In 2018, the Supreme Court of India decriminalized consensual sex between adults, legalizing homosexuality in the country. In 2022, Liz Truss began her tenure as U.K. prime minister; she would resign just 49 days later. Today’s Birthdays: Comedian JoAnne Worley is 89. Cartoonist Sergio Aragonés is 89. Rock singer-musician Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) is 83. Comedian-actor Jane Curtin is 79. Actor-comedian Jeff Foxworthy is 68. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is 64. Country singer-songwriter Mark Chesnutt is 63. Actor Rosie Perez is 62. R&B singer Macy Gray is 59. Actor Idris Elba is 54. Actor Justina Machado is 54. Actor Anika Noni Rose is 54. Actor Naomie Harris is 50. Rapper Foxy Brown is 48. Actor/singer Deborah Joy Winans is 43. Actor-comedian Lauren Lapkus is 41. Actor Asher Angel is 24. Actor Pearce Joza is 24.

Dear Miss Manners: How does one politely respond to someone who hijacks a compliment about an item of jewelry and basically turns it into an appraisal? When a guest asked me about my necklace, I responded that it is a Jerusalem cross, that the gems are opals and that it is a treasured gift from my mother from her recent trip to Jerusalem. Judith My mother and I have Martin October birthdays and MISS enjoy wearing opals, our MANNERS birthstone. That was apparently the perfect opportunity for another guest to grab the necklace and examine it, indicating that she was a “jewelry expert” because her husband was a jeweler. She told me, “Those aren’t opals, probably doublets” and went on for some time until I could extricate myself. How does one address people with such boorish behavior? Gentle Reader: By screaming when she grabbed the necklace from you, for starters. Otherwise, a tight smile as she nattered on was about the most you

could have done, perhaps followed by a wistful, “Well, it has special meaning to me.” Miss Manners is aware that this will not take away the sting of this woman’s hurtful comments, but perhaps your crestfallen look will make her think twice about doing it to someone else. Eh, probably not. Dear Miss Manners: A few years ago, my significant other suddenly passed away. Not long after, his daughter got married. My brother flew in from another state to be my plus-one, which I very much appreciated, given the circumstances, and we were both able to enjoy the beautiful occasion. My first cousin recently reached out to me, excited to share the news that her son will be getting married and wanted my brother and me to attend. Based on her knowledge of the prior wedding I attended, she suggested my brother could be my plus-one again, and I agreed. She asked me for his address and I obliged. Shortly thereafter, and to my surprise, I received a “save the date” envelope addressed as: Ms. Jane Doe and Mr. John Doe. But we are siblings, at

different addresses — not even in the same state. I feel I should have received my own announcement, and my brother should have received his own, as well. If they are concerned about a head count, when sending the actual wedding invitations, they could simply omit the option for a plus-one. Should I say something to my cousin, or the bride and groom? What is the etiquette here? Gentle Reader: This is particularly perplexing, since you and your brother have the same relationship to this cousin. Why would he not get his own invitation for that reason alone? Not doubt, she was just saving a stamp — and/or, since you had discussed it beforehand, she did not feel like addressing two envelopes. But if it really bothers you and you want to get her back, Miss Manners recommends you and your brother split the cost of the present and put both of your names on it. That will teach her. Find Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; or email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com.

Seeking tips on handling grief in losing a pet Dear Heloise: My sweet little dog died two days ago, and I can’t stop crying. I know that in time, I’ll calm down, but I had him for 21 years. He was like a child to me. I found him at a shelter as a baby — skinny, scared and abandoned. He needed me, and I needed Any hints on how to Hints from him. deal with this heartache? Heloise I thought perhaps one of your readers might have a suggestion. — Corrine M., in Newport, Rhode Island Corrine, having lost a number of pets over the years, I can honestly tell you that it never gets easier. Please take comfort in knowing you took him out of a bad situation and gave him a home, love, medical care and food. I have no doubt that he had a good life to have lived so long. It may be too soon, but one of kindest things you can do is find another little pet who needs you. Shelters have all kinds of animals who are begging for someone to love them and take them home to a better life outside of a cage.

Readers, any suggestions on how you Microwave magic handle grief when you’ve lost a pet? We’d love to hear from you at Heloise@ Dear Heloise: Cleaning the microwave Heloise.com. — Heloise is really easy. Place a wet paper towel over the stuck-on food item. MicroKitten overflow wave this for 30 seconds, and the paper towel will loosen the stuck-on food so Dear Heloise: I work as a vet tech at a that you can wipe it up with ease. — Tevery busy clinic. Every spring, people come in with a mama cat and her kitresa C., via email tens. It’s usually between 10-11 people per week with a litter. They don’t want Getting a step up the kittens but tell us that the shelters Dear Heloise: This is in response to Patcan’t take any more strays or litters ty G. and her suggestion about using because they’re packed to the rafters. an aerobic step to help her mom get in The only way to avoid this problem and out of bed. is to have your animals spayed or neuWith mattresses getting thicker and my shortness, my husband used to give tered. me a hand to get into bed. Cats and dogs normally don’t long to But a few years ago, I had an “aha” have litters, like a human might long to moment, took my old unused stepper, have a baby. and put it next to my bed! A bonus is The animal goes into heat, which is that my grandkids use it, too, so that just nature’s way of making sure that we can read in bed together. I hide it the species survives. So, the best way to make sure that these darling babies under the bed after I make it up in the morning. It’s the perfect inexpensive aren’t killed by coyotes, cars or cruel solution! — Sheila E., in Middlebury, Connectipeople is to have them spayed or neutered. It’s quick and easy, and your pet cut is usually happier, cleaner, and a lot calmer. — J.T., in Illinois Send a hint to heloise@heloise.com.

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Northshore hotel navigates challenges with community support 3E

Oracle Lighting founders drive Metairie business to global operation 7E

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

S u n d ay, S e p t e m b e r 6, 2026

1en

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK

Essence Festival of Culture visitors walk between halls for slated events in July at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

STAYING COMPETITIVE

South Louisiana is reinforcing convention infrastructure as competition grows in events industry BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Baton Rouge and New Orleans are planning major expansions of their convention facilities in an attempt to get a larger share of the increasingly competitive events business. A team has been assembled in Baton Rouge to tackle the redevelopment of the aging Raising Cane’s River Center, replacing it with a long-awaited convention center and headquarters hotel. New Orleans, already used to hosting major events, is planning a new headquarters hotel to accompany the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which is undergoing renovations. But a few financial hoops must be cleared before the hotel is a reality. Cities across the United States are investing millions in infrastructure to support large, multiday events as attendance makes a slow but sure recovery from the pandemic. International conflict and rising operational costs

are making it harder to attend and host events, encouraging planners to prioritize fewer conventions, according to an international outlook by the Professional Convention Management Association, whose members collectively organize more than 3 million events annually. “Competition is only getting stiffer and stiffer,” said Sherrif Karamat, CEO of PCMA. The River Center saw more than 100,000 more visitors last year than it did in 2019 and the New Orleans Convention Center had returned to pre-pandemic event numbers by 2023, though attendance numbers lagged. PCMA’s annual market survey found that almost half of respondents, many of whom are meeting planners, saw an increase in attendance at their most recent in-person event compared with the last pre-pandemic event, though the increase hasn’t been seen all around the industry. The increase in business isn’t coming from the cities one might expect. Second-, third-

and fourth-tier cities like Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis are ramping up their game, Kamarat said, as the competition heats up on an international stage. Dollars from conventions and meetings flows into vendors, hotels, local businesses and transportation. A key tenet is their multiday or even multimonth structure, making the economic impacts of smaller, more frequent events like concerts pale in comparison. Louisiana has a strong foundation for hosting with its renowned culture and traditions, Karamat said, but continued investments in convention centers, hotels, airports and other infrastructure are key to future success in the modern events industry. “They give you a little bit of fame in a moment,” he said of sporadic, seasonal events. “But business events are every day during the course of the year that are driving economic

ä See CONVENTIONS, page 2E

“We already have what so many destinations are trying to create — the culture, hospitality, food and experiences.” JIM COOK, president and CEO, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans

Chevron CEO says patience pays off in Venezuela oil deal BY KEVIN CROWLEY

Bloomberg News (TNS) Big Oil has often employed the “hang around” playbook: secure legal rights to a giant resource — and then, eventually, figure out how to produce it profitably. But few companies have taken it to the extremes of Chevron Corp. For two decades, Chevron stayed in Venezuela while all its major peers quit after former President Hugo Chavez nationalized foreign assets atop the world’s largest oil reserves in the mid-2000s. The Houston-based company endured U.S. sanctions, accounting write-offs, arrests of its employees and accusations of collusion with a regime rife with corruption and human rights

abuses. The payoff came on last week: a landmark deal that will provide Chevron with billions of barrels of reserves, enough to last into the 2040s — and perhaps beyond. It still remains to be seen how easy it will be to boost output in a country where there are still significant political and legal questions. It’s unclear whether whoever succeeds President Donald Trump in the White House will stick to his strategy in Venezuela. And in Caracas, there’s no guarantee that whatever leader comes after acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez will remain as cooperative with the U.S. But for now, at least, Chevron is encouraged by its long game.

“You have to have some patience and look at this out over time and not become discouraged. Not pick up and leave when things are difficult,” Chevron Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth said in an interview. “You have to hang in there until all the conditions come together: the technology, the economics, the markets, the politics.” The strategy had its costs. Employees worked through hyperinflation, power cuts and frequent breakdowns in law and order, while executives spent countless hours and political goodwill in Caracas and Washington to keep the operations in good working order. Cash flow was minimal.

ä See CHEVRON, page 2E

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MATIAS DELACROIX

Flames rise from flare stacks at the Amuay refinery in Los Taques, Venezuela.

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Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ offers financial (and life) lessons During my first semester of college, Dolly Parton made her movie debut in the comedy “9 to 5.” The movie’s title track became my anthem for adulting. It was the winter of 1980, and I was Michelle in my first semester Singletary at the University of THE COLOR Maryland at College OF MONEY Park. The previous summer, I worked as an intern at the Baltimore Sun. The paper provided a four-year scholarship that included tuition, room, board and books, as well as paid internships at the Sun and its sister paper, the Evening Sun. If I did well at Maryland and in three more promised summer internships, a job would await me upon graduation. I was so scared of failing. My grandmother, Big Mama, told me that once I graduated, I would become responsible for my disabled brother, who was just three years younger than me. Mitchell suffered from debilitating seizures as a result of his epilepsy, which made it difficult for him to work. If I could make a

career in journalism, my income would support us both. And I did it, covering many of his expenses, until he died at age 32 from a massive seizure. Parton died on Aug. 25 at 80. I immediately thought about how she inspired me with lyrics that chronicled the travails of women who endured sexism and unequal pay in the workplace. I didn’t realize until now that the inspiration for the song was 9to5, a Boston-based organization founded by clerical workers in 1973 to advocate for fair pay and working conditions for women in the workplace. Parton wrote the song after being introduced to the group’s mission by her co-star Jane Fonda. “9to5 is deeply saddened by the loss of the legend, advocate, and ally Dolly Parton,” the organization wrote in a statement. “Inspired by the real stories and experiences of 9to5 members, she gifted us an anthem that has resonated for decades with working people and reminds us there is still so much work to be done. Through her music and her work in film, she helped bring national attention to the real issues that women

continue to face in the workplace to this day: sexism, harassment, unequal pay, and how the wealthy exploit our labor.” Adulting is hard enough — trying to figure out how to pay your bills, save, maybe have enough left over to invest for retirement, and still have some fun. But when financial challenges are coupled with workplace inequity, every step forward comes with a reminder of this line from the song, “They let you dream just to watch ’em shatter.” I saw my struggle to make it, just like the clerical staff at the office she wrote about. Parton sang, “There’s a better life, and you think about it, don’t you?” I did. I never take for granted what that scholarship meant for my family and me, but it came with a downside: doubts that I was equal to the White men who dominated the newsroom. Although the minority scholarship opened a door for me, walking through it meant facing hostility on the job. I overheard two White reporters disparaging the scholarship

created to increase minority representation on the Baltimore Sun’s staff. The Baltimore papers had long been criticized for lacking reporters who looked like the communities they covered. During one summer internship, an editor made my life miserable without even trying to hide her racism. She routinely passed me over, saving the best assignments for the White interns. Once, she took an idea I brought to her and gave it to a White male intern she favored. When he decided he didn’t want to do the story, she gave the assignment back to me. Today, nearly half a century after Parton first released “9 to 5,” diversity, equity and inclusion programs are still characterized by critics as giving an unfair advantage to women and minorities who have been historically marginalized. But DEI was — and is — about taking corrective measures rather than providing unfair preferential treatment. Even once I moved on to fulltime jobs, I was underpaid when compared with colleagues with similar experience. At times I felt that “it’s a rich man’s game no matter what they

CHEVRON

Continued from page 1E

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

A group of pedestrians walk over the footbridge nearby Raising Cane’s River Center and Repentance Plaza along the Mississippi Riverfront in Baton Rouge.

CONVENTIONS Continued from page 1E

growth in different sectors of that community, and it’s creating permanent jobs in different sectors.”

Infrastructure investments Inaction and contract disputes have plagued convention center improvements in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. But it’s not too late for them to step up their game. High demand for events signals room for Baton Rouge and New Orleans’ construction to get a bite of event industry growth, Karamat said. “This is just a matter of our community really focusing on something that has been needed, but there’s been other priorities,” said Charles Landry, a Baton Rouge attorney who is involved in the River Center redevelopment and the new LSU arena. “Well, now this has become one and that’s very important.” The redevelopment won’t occur in a vacuum — downtown Baton Rouge plans to revitalize its riverfront with a youth sports complex and other amenities to create a more attractive “front porch” to the city, according to the Plan Baton Rouge III road map for development. Baton Rouge can serve as an alternative location for events with dates that may not work out in New Orleans venues, he said. Given its central location between New Orleans, Lafayette and St. Francisville, visitors can bounce between the cities and see what south Louisiana has to offer. Access to the cities is key, Karamat said, nodding toward Nashville, Tennessee, and its Music City Center, which has brought in more than $4 billion in direct economic impact in the past decade, as an example. The center is in early planning stages for expansion, running concurrently with expansions at Nashville International Airport, which has a $4.5 billion plan to accommodate 40 million passengers annually. The airport saw 26.7 million passengers in the most recent fiscal year. New Orleans is gearing up to support even more visitors in the future with a $3.6 million Louis Armstrong New

STAFF PHOTO BY ENAN CHEDIAK

The crowd cheers during the Bocuse d’Or international culinary competition in July at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. Orleans International Airport master plan for the next 20 years that could bring a new terminal, gates and parking garage, in addition to ongoing projects like a connector road for express shuttles. The River District area surrounding the Convention Center is undergoing a makeover, including a renovation to the Audubon Aquarium and the new Goldring Woldenberg Riverfront Park. “We have to continue investing and evolving if we want to win new business and keep longtime customers coming back,” Jim Cook, president and CEO of the Convention Center, said in the statement. The New Orleans Convention Center, which hosts more than 100 events each year, will be able to attract 27 more conventions each year with the addition of a headquarters hotel, according to an analysis by hospitality consulting firm HVS. The Convention Center commissioned a study from PCMA members on the impact of the headquarters hotel plan, which found that 82% of respondents would be more willing to plan events in New Orleans if the center had a hotel.

High expectations Business events have stepped up their game over the years, providing out of the box gifts that go beyond the typical branded pens and tote bags. It’s raised the stakes for conference planners, said Victoria Armstrong, founder of Curate For Women Who Work. Curate, based in Baton Rouge, has hosted an annual conference for the past five years and will host in New Orleans for the first time

this month. Armstrong said the Crescent City has a larger capacity for large, multiday events than Baton Rouge and is a part of a natural progression for the conference as it moves toward a longterm goal of hosting in a new city each year. Low hotel capacity is a struggle for hosting Baton Rouge events, she said, having to factor in capacity, transportation and safety of her guests as they leave events at night to travel back to their hotel. There are 8,500 hotel rooms in East Baton Rouge Parish, but 2,000 are committable — meaning the hotel and planners can agree to block out rooms for a specific events, according to Visit Baton Rouge. “There are more conferences, brunches, networking events, especially between Baton Rouge and New Orleans,” Armstrong said. “I think that’s really good for the ecosystem.” Meeting planners also look for convenience, said Cook from the Morial Convention Center. Planners must block out hotel rooms and coordinate meeting spaces for large events, making a headquarters hotel a key piece for easy planning. Other emerging values sought in host cities are sustainability, technology and community engagement, he said. “We already have what so many destinations are trying to create — the culture, hospitality, food and experiences people want,” Cook said.

Executives, including Wirth, typically met questions from analysts and reporters with terse, legally-worded answers. Rivals including ExxonMobil Holdings Corp. and ConocoPhillips instead chose to pursue compensation claims from the Chavez nationalization through international arbitration and court orders. Chevron plans to invest $7 billion over the next five years through its joint venture partnerships in Venezuela. The deal is part of a U.S. government-led push to revive the Latin American country’s oil industry. Executives from Chevron, GE Vernova Inc. and Eni SpA on Wednesday joined U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Rodriguez to unveil a wave of energy deals aimed at boosting the nation’s crude production. Wright said the deals represented “tens of billions” worth of investments. Within five years, Chevron estimates it will be producing 600,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude per day at a cost of less than $20 a barrel. Brent crude closed near $95 a barrel on Wednesday. At current prices, Chevron’s Venezuelan oil would be among the most profitable barrels on the planet. Things changed for Chevron on Jan. 3 when U.S. special forces captured Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro. Though the strongman leader was arrested on narco-terrorism charges, Trump was clear the raid was also about reclaiming what he called “our oil.” As the only U.S. oil major operating in Venezuela, Chevron immediately moved into

call it/ And you spend your life puttin’ money in his wallet 9 to 5.” But Parton didn’t just reflect on our struggles; she spent a lifetime using her wealth and the stage to lighten them, whether through her song catalog or funding programs like her Imagination Library, which mails free books to children. She was a financial role model, refusing to give up publishing rights, referring to her songs like children who would take care of her in her old age. She built an empire on her own terms. “But you’ve got dreams he’ll never take away/ In the same boat with a lot of your friends/ Waitin’ for the day your ship’ll come in/ And the tide’s gonna turn and it’s all gonna roll your way.” This is why “9 to 5” became my anthem for adulting and continued to inspire me for decades. Music can soothe your soul when it’s so easy to become discouraged. And Parton’s lyrics give you the resolve to keep fighting for what you’re worth, despite the adversity you face. Email Michelle Singletary at michelle.singletary@washpost. com.

pole position to ramp up production and lay claim to the country’s best oil fields. “Chevron was pragmatic,” said Miguel Tinker Salas, Venezuelan historian and emeritus professor at Pomona College in California. “They understood they were sitting on the largest deposit of oil in the world and that the government needed them, especially with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips leaving.” To be sure, Eni of Italy and Spain’s Repsol SA also stayed in Venezuela during the years of hostility with the U.S. and operated under similar restrictions as Chevron. Eni on Wednesday signed a 25-year contract for the Junin 5 field, which has about 35 billion barrels of oil in place, as part of the broader unveiling of deals. The U.S. is meanwhile coming under increased scrutiny for its foray into Venezuela, particularly after Trump announced a plan late last week to take majority control over a huge amount of the nation’s oil wealth in an unprecedented maneuver. The venture comes months after Trump laid out his vision for what he called the Donroe Doctrine — a 21st century version of the Monroe Doctrine that warned European powers against interfering in the Western Hemisphere. The developments are spurring analysts and academics to look back to an earlier era of neocolonialism, when the U.S. exerted out-sized power over Latin America and its natural resources. For Chevron, it’s not the first time the company has employed the “hang around” strategy to considerable effect. When Chevron merged with Texaco in 2001, it inherited vast swathes of drilling rights in the Permian Basin

at a time when there was little knowledge of how to extract crude profitably from shale. Rather than selling, as some of its rivals did, Chevron stayed put. About 15 years later, when smaller companies perfected horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques, Chevron was sitting on an area the size of Yellowstone National Park in the heart of what became America’s most prolific oil field. In 1993, Chevron signed what some called the “deal of the century” to develop the giant Tengiz field in Kazakhstan soon after the fall of the Soviet Union. Cost overruns, technical difficulties and political complexity meant the production ramp-up was slower than expected. It was only in 2025 — more than 30 years later — that Tengiz reached its full potential of 1 million barrels of oil equivalent a day. “It’s important to be in good, high-quality resource positions,” Wirth said. “They’re also sometimes not the easiest resource to produce.” The big test for Chevron now is to prove that this time, in Venezuela, it will be different. A change of government in Caracas or Washington could just as quickly upend the deals signed Wednesday. But Chevron is in a strong position to weather whatever storm may be coming, according to Schreiner Parker, partner and head of emerging markets at Rystad Energy. “Chevron made its Venezuela bed a long time ago, and now it is finally in a position to sleep in it,” he said. “That patience has given Chevron decades of relationships, infrastructure and operational knowledge that its rivals cannot easily replicate.”

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY PEDRO MATTEY

A pedestrian walks past a mural featuring oil wells in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3E

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

Southern Hotel owner embraces hospitality challenges BY GRACE MAYER

Staff writer

Lisa Condrey Ward, the owner and developer behind the bookedand-busy Southern Hotel in Covington, has been interested in historic preservation since she was a kid growing up in northern Louisiana in the 1960s. Every summer, her mom took her to tour historic Antebellum-era homes in nearby Natchez, Mississippi. Though she grew up to become an attorney, historic preservation became her passion, and between 1982 and the early 2010s, she renovated 10 historic homes in Lake Providence, New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish. The experience ultimately inspired her to tackle the renovation and reopening of the Southern, a dormant 1907 hotel and the biggest renovation project she’s taken on to date. “It was a place where the lights hadn’t been turned on for 50 years,” Ward said. “It was like there was this black hole because of how prominently it was located in downtown Covington.” Since reopening in 2014, the hotel, which has seen steady revenue growth of a little less than 5% a year on average, has been widely credited with reviving downtown Covington. In the last decade, restaurants have filled in around the hotel, including the former Star Theater which was renovated and reopened as a restaurant earlier this year. In this week’s Talking Business, Ward talks about the hotel’s expansion plans, the challenges of running a hotel at a time when consumers are spending less and what other developments downtown Covington needs. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. In 2022, you announced plans to expand the Southern Hotel and purchased and cleared property for it. That expansion has faced a standstill since. Where are those plans at today? A little over a year after announcing those plans, I put the

Q&A WITH LISA CONDREY WARD

OWNER OF SOUTHERN HOTEL

brakes on the expansion. When I paused the project, my team was seeing interest rates go up every three weeks. We made projections off of 6% interest rates, and right before we picked up the building permit, those rates rose to 8.5% with no end in sight. I just decided this was not a good time, and I really hate that because it was a tough decision. Interest rates have gotten a little better now, but I fully expect them to go back up again, because inflation is not gone down. People are still doing projects, but most of the projects I’ve seen go forward in the parish right now aren’t as big as what I’m trying to do. Have your plans for the expansion changed since announcing them? In the last four months, we have started making changes to them. Originally, we planned to add 25 hotel rooms and some condos. Now, we’re just going to add hotel rooms, and more than we originally planned, and nix the condo idea. The demand for condos is there in Covington; we’ve just decided to streamline the idea. We always knew we could probably do a little more than 25 rooms.

busy with hosting some corporate function. We’re also very fortunate in that we are so supported by the local community. I’m not a hotel on the side of the road that is solely dependent on travelers. Even if you haven’t seen your business dip, I’m sure you’re thinking ahead, especially since inflation is expected to go up again. How do you mitigate those challenges? We have a certain brand. We’re not going to make a big deviation from who we are, what we do and the services we provide. That being said, we need to be even more thoughtful about ensuring people who stay with us or host events with us are getting the value they expect from us. Maybe they aren’t doing as big an event as they wanted to, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t do the quality event that they want to with us. How have you seen the hotel lead to other projects in Covington, and besides your own project, what other development do you think Covington needs? We need more housing, and we need more accessible housing for younger people. When we first opened, labor was our biggest struggle. It took us a while to deSTAFF FILE PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER velop a labor pool that understood The Southern Hotel in Covington, which reopened in 2014, has been the level of service we wanted to provide and had the training to widely credited with reviving downtown. do all that. We found managers in New Orleans, and a lot of our serThe economies of scale are always budget. I don’t know if we’re ever going to really see that get under vice people come to us from Tangoing to make sense, right? I can control. add 25 rooms, but I don’t need to gipahoa Parish or Slidell, because The hospitality industry can go up and add another general manager. To it’s more affordable to live in those down quite a bit, especially with inflation. run the hotel, there are a lot of areas. various expenses that are there no Has that affected the Southern Hotel? Since the hotel reopened, you The bottom line is hotels, resmatter what, and I realized I could just have so many more people have more rooms to support those taurants and bars — that’s all diswalking around downtown Covexpenses. cretionary income for consumers. ington. That’s a big benefit to the What’s the biggest challenge with running There’s always a fear that when shops and restaurants nearby. a hotel today? people are paying $4.50 at the gas Today, we have 38 restaurants Insurance and higher deductpump, and with what they’re paywithin walking distance of the hoing everywhere else, they’re going tel. When I did this project, I truly ibles have become a larger exto have to let something go. It’s believed that Covington was at a pense for us in recent years. Our in the back of my head, because point that it would support a small insurance has probably gone up expenses have gone up for everyhotel. Fortunately, it’s kind of been over 30% since Hurricane Ida. I an “if you build it, they will come” had to put a new roof on the hobody, and they’ve certainly gone situation. up for the hotel. tel following that storm. It cost Fortunately, we really haven’t $249,000, but I had a $250,000 deductible. I got zero benefit from seen any significant slowdown in Email Grace Mayer at grace. business. Almost every day we’re that insurance. It’s just hard to mayer@theadvocate.com.

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4E ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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ACROSS THE REGION

LSU recognizes successes of grad-led companies BY TIMOTHY BOONE

Staff writer

The 16th annual LSU100, which recognizes the fastest-growing businesses either owned or led by LSU graduates, is out. The exact company rankings on the list will be announced at a private event in November. LSU also released the Roaring 20, a list of the 20 companies owned or led by graduates that had the highest revenue.

Roaring 20 In alphabetical order, businesses include: n Argent Financial Group*, Ruston, wealth and investment management n Audubon Cos.*, Metairie, engineering, procurement and construction management n B&G Food Enterprises*, Morgan City, Taco Bell franchisee n Danos, Gray, oil and gas services n Grand Isle Shipyard*, Galliano, fabrication for the oil and gas industry n HNTB Corp.*, Kansas City, Missouri, engineering and architecture n ISC Constructors*, Baton Rouge, industrial engineering, construction and maintenance n J.P. Oil Co.*, Lafayette, oil and gas n Lipsey’s, Baton Rouge, wholesale firearms sales n Lyons Specialty Co., Port Allen, convenience store distributor n MAPP, Baton Rouge, general contractor n NewEdge Advisors*, New Orleans, registered investment adviser n Performance Contractors*, Baton Rouge, general industrial contractor services n Provident Resources Group*, Baton Rouge, developer and operator of healthcare facilities, student housing and senior living n PSC Group*, Baton Rouge, transportation and logistics services n Red River Bank*, Alexandria,

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

Soon-to-be-graduates walk across LSU’s campus to the commencement ceremony on May 15. LSU recently released its annual LSU100, a list of the fastest-growing businesses either owned or led by LSU graduates, and the Roaring 20, a list of the 20 companies owned or led by graduates that had the highest revenue. community bank n Royal Automotive Group*, Baton Rouge, automobile sales n Sealevel Construction*, Thibodaux, heavy civil construction n The Newtron Group, Baton Rouge, electrical construction and instrumentation n Turner Industries Group*, Baton Rouge, industrial construction and fabrication

LSU100

Other companies on the fastestgrowing list are: Alexander Contractor Services, Aligned Incentives, American Safety, Answering Bureau, Anytime Flooring, Arkel Constructors, Associated Office Systems of Louisiana, Bank of St. Francisville, Bear Process Safety, Brousseau & Lee, BUILD Commercial *Also made the 100 fastest-growing list Construction, Catalyst Bank,

Four Corners Capital, Gauthier Amedee, Geauxgarcia Photography, Greenleaf Architects, Gregory Switzer Architecture, Gros Flores Positerry, Hargrove Roofing, Highflyer Human Resources, Immense Networks, Instructional Data Solutions, Integrated Payment Solutions dba Paystar and International Pumps and Parts dba Industriflo. Also, ITinspired, JH Operating Co., JCW Creative, JMH Properties dba WorkStay, Kidder & Schultz CPAs, Kin Capital Partners, Landco Construction Services, Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, Loadstar Product Handling Services, Loyd J Bourgeois Injury & Accident Lawyer, Manheim Architecture, Mansfield, Melancon, Cranmer & Dick, McClure, Bomar & Harris, Mid South Extrusion, Miller Safety Consulting, Moran Consultants, Moreau Physical Therapy, Myers Construction & Development, Next Level Solutions, NOLA DMC, Orion Engineers + Constructors, Pacifica Engineering Services, PALA Interstate, Paperless Environments, Percipience, Premier Geotech and Testing, Quality Engineering & Surveying, and ROSA Enterprises Corp. dba The UPS Store 2305. Also, Sasso, School Food and Wellness Group, Secure Shredding and Recycling, SEJ Services, Sigma Engineers and Constructors, Stuart & Co. General Contractors, Success Labs, Sustainable Design Solutions, TAP Innovations, The Anderson Group Real Estate Services, TigerBytes IT Solutions, Triform Therapy, Unitas Consulting, Vectura Consulting Services, VGraham, Wellworth Bank and Xdesign. Nominations are submitted by individuals, colleagues, clients, former classmates or the businesses themselves. Businesses submit financial details confidentially to be considered for the top 100 list and the Roaring 20.

Chabert Insurance The Ehrhardt Agency, CompuFlow Solutions Crescent Payroll Solutions, Currency Bank, DAA Media + Marketing, DDG, DelVal Flow Controls USA, DonahueFavret Contractors and Dunlap Government Solutions. Also, Energy Pipe & Supply, ES2, Evergreen Tractor & Equipment, Extreme Nitrogen, Fairway Consulting and Engineering, Fit- Email Timothy Boone at ness Evolved, Forte and Tablada, tboone@theadvocate.com.

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 5E

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NATION & WORLD

JCPenney brand CEO points to new efforts to stir up sales BY BRIAN WOMACK

The Dallas Morning News (TNS)

DALLAS — JCPenney’s Michelle Wlazlo is driving the storied department store ahead, even as the company faces some headwinds with sales and store operations. The brand CEO, whose company underwent a massive merger with the parent company of brands such as Aéropostale and Brooks Brothers last year, has overseen new ventures that are showing promise, giving customers new options to buy their favorite jeans, jackets or jewelry. “We are well-positioned,” Wlazlo said. “I’ll tell you that for sure.” JCPenney has been navigating changing consumer sentiments and evolving customer tastes while it competes with retailers large and small across the country. U.S. retail sales fell 0.6% in July from the previous month but climbed 5% from July 2025, according to a U.S. census report. JCPenney has taken on some store closures, with about eight sites expected to shutter this year, the company said. “I think we’ve shown our commitment to having a store base, but you know we have to evaluate market conditions,” Wlazlo said. And that doesn’t mean every store’s closure is the end for JCPenney in a local market. In the Chicago area, the department store, after moves by the government, shut down. But JCPenney found another way to serve the region, and there are plans for a location that’s even closer for many of its customers. “We want to be responsible with our real estate portfolio, and that was a great chance ... where something happened with one of our stores, but (were able to get a) store nearby,” Wlazlo said. Still, the company has seen sales continue to face challenges. In the quarter that ended in early May, total net sales fell by more than 4%, a filing shows. “Between, you know, the gas prices that really peaked as we got into the April time period and

GETTY IMAGES FOR DAVID BECKHAM FRAGRANCES/COTY INC./TNS PHOTO BY MONICA SCHIPPER

Michelle Wlazlo, left, executive vice president and chief merchant at JCPenney, and David Beckham speak during a promotional launch at JCPenney at Roosevelt Field Mall on Oct. 12, 2023, in Garden City, N.Y. JCPenney has been navigating changing consumer sentiments and evolving customer tastes while it competes with retailers large and small across the country. Wlzalo has overseen new ventures that are showing promise, giving customers new options to buy their favorite jeans, jackets or jewelry. all the other things going on ... we did see a slight pullback,” she said. However, Wlazlo said during the interview that was held during the final week of last month, the company was seeing customers come back. “We’re seeing good results on early back-to-school markets so far and our back-to-school products,” she said. JCPenney is trying some new approaches this year with that key shopping season. One effort: a price lock guarantee for back-toschool for about 31/2 weeks. It’s helpful as different parts of the country have different sched-

ules for returning to school. For example, some Texas schools have been in school for several days while New York state has districts that start in September. And she pointed to other moves. One of them is tied to the merger with Sparc Group that formed Catalyst Brands last year. It brought together clothing labels that included Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Lucky Brand and Nautica. Earlier this year, the company took a fresh step with loyalty efforts, as JCPenney and Aéropostale combined their rewards programs so every dollar a cus-

tomer spends at either store earns money for shopping at both spots. The program racked up more than a million users within a matter of weeks. JCPenney shoppers are spending at Aéropostale, and, in addition, “We’re seeing the Aero customers coming over, and they are using the salon — fine jewelry, our home category,” Wlazlo said. JCPenney is looking more broadly for other ideas. The company, joining retailers such as Nordstrom and Ulta, has set up a marketplace offering. This lets JCPenney offer items beyond its own lineup as third-party companies sell their products via its platform

Working What’s

in Greater New Orleans business

on its website. It’s a “significant new business” for the company, Wlazlo said. “Our marketplace soft-launched in late June and is expected to continue ramping up throughout this half,” Wlazlo said in a separate statement recently. “The team is currently testing vendors in select categories, and we currently have [about]100 third-party sellers focused mostly on clothing, footwear and accessories.” That number is expected to grow substantially as it reaches into other categories including home, electronics, outdoors, beauty and jewelry.

with Michael Hecht President & CEO GNO Inc.

Ten Reasons the $100 Billion SpaceX Deal Matters On Tuesday in Vermilion Parish, Governor Jeff Landry, Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois, and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell announced that SpaceX will invest $100 billion to build its largest launch facility anywhere, a spaceport on the Louisiana coast big enough to reshape how Louisiana thinks about its own economy. As big a number as is $100 billion*, the actual impact on Louisiana and Greater New Orleans may be bigger. Here are a “Top 10” reasons why: 1. 2.

It is the largest capital investment in Louisiana history – At $100 billion, the project, called Starbase Louisiana, surpasses every prior single investment in the state The jobs pay nearly double the local wage – The project is expected to create 3,000 direct jobs over ten years at an average salary of $92,600, 192% above Vermilion Parish’s current average wage. At the company’s Starbase Texas, roughly 70% of Starbase’s 4,000-plus workers are locals The training pipeline is already being built – The Louisiana Community and Technical College System expects to handle the bulk of workforce training for SpaceX’s new hires. UL Lafayette is aligning engineering and cybersecurity coursework to the project, and One Acadiana is standing up Acadiana FAME, an earn-and-learn advanced manufacturing program with South Louisiana Community College, with the first students starting in fall 2027 Louisiana’s industrial base will benefit – Shipbuilding and marine services, metal fabrication and welding, machining, energy services, industrial gas supply, electrical and instrumentation work, heavy lift, and port logistics are the skill sets Starbase construction and operations will draw on, the same base that has long served Louisiana’s oil and gas industry New Orleans East’s Michoud will benefit – Michoud sits on the Intracoastal Waterway with barge capacity that has shipped Saturn V and SLS stages for decades, and has the waterway access, skilled workforce, and manufacturing floor space that SpaceX will need to augment its operations New Orleans CBD will benefit – Autonomous shipbuilder Saronic already

You can read the official announcement here

You can read Governor Jeff Landry’s Op-Ed here

runs a model where its marine vessels are built in Franklin, Louisiana (near Lafayette), while its engineers and naval architects work out of a downtown New Orleans office. GNO, Inc. will be working for SpaceX to do the same 7. SpaceX is supporting coastal restoration – SpaceX has committed $100 million to Louisiana’s coastal master plan, administered through the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, in partnership with the state and Vermilion Parish, on land the region has been losing to erosion for decades 8. SpaceX makes South Louisiana strategically vital – After Russia cut off pipeline gas to Europe following its invasion of Ukraine, Louisiana’s LNG terminals turned the Gulf Coast into infrastructure the federal government (and world) depends on. A new high-volume launch site does the same for space. TheNextWeb noted that a second launch complex “removes a single point of failure from a system the Pentagon and NASA increasingly depend on.” That puts Starbase Louisiana in the same category as the LNG terminals: a strategically vital site for America 9. Louisiana is now “America’s Space State” – The Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East has built the hardware behind every era of American human spaceﬂight for 65 years, but Louisiana has never been known as a “Space State.” That will now change, branding Louisiana as a center of space innovation 10. Louisiana wowed the world – LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois says the process began with a phone call on February 5. Six months later, the state had closed a $100 billion decision, the kind of megaproject that typically takes years. This demonstrated a totally new institutional capacity for Louisiana, and will spur other companies to consider the state

You can read NOLA.com’s explainer on what to know here

A greater choice for business

gnoinc.org

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PEOPLE IN BUSINESS Staff report South Louisiana businesses and nonprofit groups recently announced the following promotions, new hires and resignations.

Baton Rouge Bailey Richard has been hired as the new director of marketing for CC’s Coffee House. Richard has experience with branding, marketing and franchising for companies including Raising Cane’s, Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux and Off the Hook. He most recently directed marketing for R&R Brands.

University School of Medicine before coming to Baton Rouge, has contributed to numerFaucheaux o u s p e e rreviewed publications and national presentations with a focus on immunotherapy, lung cancer, hematology and supportive oncology care.

Kelly Guillot has been hired by Hancock Whitney as a vice president and commercial Dr. Andrew Faucheux is now banker. medical oncologist for Mary Guillot, Bird Perkins Cancer Center who has at its Essen Lane campus. more than Guillot Faucheux, who was chief a decade of resident at Wake Forest banking experience with

Fool’s Take: Considering Clorox

JPMorgan Chase, also serves on the finance committee of the nonprofit Big Brother Program in Baton Rouge.

May, who is the founder and leader of the NOLA Bombshells dance krewe and was recently inMay cluded in Gambit’s 40 Under 40 list, has volunteered for the shelter since 2017.

in New Orleans, moving to EMT-Basic in 2021 and to paramedic last year.

Acadiana

Tracy Young, a certified registered nurse anesthetist from Lafayette, has been appointed president of the American Association of Nurse AnDavid Hernandez has been promoted to emergency esthesiology. m e d i c a l Young The natechnician tional profesinstructor in sional association represents New Orleans more than 67,000 CRNAs and for Acadian student nurse anesthetists in Ambulance’s the United States. National New Orleans EMS Acad- Do you have personnel changes to share or other Mandy May has been hired Hernandez emy. HoganTaylor, a Tulsa, as the new director of deH e r n a n - ideas for our business Oklahoma-based business velopment of the New Or- dez, a Monroe native, previ- coverage? Drop us a line advisory and public ac- leans Women & Children’s ously worked as a critical at biztips@theadvocate. care paramedic for Acadian com. counting firm that last year Shelter. Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, the LSU-based public-private energy research initiative, picked Chris Johnson, North America vice president of oilfield services and equipment at the energy technology company Baker Hughes, to chair its industry advisory board. Ben André, director of advanced manufacturing at engineering and project management company Worley, was named the vice chair of the advisory board.

highly challenging operating environment. Still, it’s positioned to grow over the long run. And its stock is attractively priced, Clorox (NYSE: CLX) has struggled in recent years, but the worst with a recent forward-looking of its troubles could price-to-earnings ratio of 18, well below its five-year average of 23. be in the rearview That’s a dirt-cheap valuation for mirror, leaving it a company with industry-leading a promising highbrands spanning multiple product yield dividend stock. (Its yield was categories — such as Brita, Burt’s Bees, Clorox, Fresh Step, Glad, 4.7%.) Motley recently Clorox completed Hidden Valley, Kingsford, LiquidFool Plumr and Pine-Sol. its acquisition of Clorox may lack the glitz and Gojo Industries in glam of a high-octane growth April, adding the Purell brand to stock, but it’s precisely the kind its health and hygiene portfolio, of deep value stock that long-term which accounts for more than income investors look for. half of Clorox’s total net sales and remains the key driver of its overall sales growth. Fiscal 2027 (which began July 1) will mark the first full year in which Clorox will report after Seth Klarman is a respected inits $580 million enterprise revestor and CEO of the hedge fund The Baupost Group. His 1991 source planning overhaul, which book “Margin of Safety: Risktook longer and cost more than Averse Value Investing Strategies expected. But it should make the for the Thoughtful Investor” is overall business more efficient, integrating financial, supply chain long out of print and considered a cult classic. These quotations atand sales functions under a new cloud-based system. tributed to him can help us invest Clorox has worked on immore successfully. n “There is nothing esoteric proving its profit margins and efficiency, but it remains in a about value investing. It is simply

Fool’s School: Seth Klarman

expanded to Baton Rouge and this year merged with Hawthorn, Wa y m o u t h & Carroll, announced Vernon a leadership transition will take place at the start of next year. RandaVernon, a member of the firm’s Nail operating committee for 13 years, will succeed Randy Nail as CEO and board chair.

the process of determining the value underlying a security and then buying it at a considerable discount from that value. It is really that simple.” n “Few are willing and able to devote sufficient time and effort to become value investors, and only a fraction of those have the proper mindset to succeed.” Becoming a successful value investor does take time and skill. If you’re not up for that, remember that you can do quite well over the long run with one or more simple low-fee index funds. n “Every security or asset is a ‘buy’ at one price, a ‘hold’ at a higher price, and a ‘sell’ at some still higher price.” This is a good reminder that great stocks can be overvalued and that you should aim to buy great stocks at great, or at least good, prices. n “You have to be able to stand things going bad before they go good.” Every stock investor should expect occasional downturns and disappointments. Patience and some risk tolerance are necessary. n “(People) invest without much attention to risk, because risk is unpleasant to contemplate and difficult to measure.” Even won-

derful businesses face risks that careful investors should consider before buying. n “If someone asked me to invest their money with the goal of turning a quick profit over the next six to twelve months, I’d have no idea how.” Wealth grows most reliably over long periods.

Ask the Fool: Capital allocation explained What’s a company’s “capital allocation”? — D.B., Omaha, Nebraska It’s how the company spends its money. Management may decide to spend its capital to hire more employees, build more factories, pay down its debt, pay its shareholders a dividend (or increase the dividend), buy back some of its shares, buy another company, invest and/or save for a future opportunity. When management decides how to allocate capital, it should pursue the most productive plans to grow larger, financially stronger and more valuable. Ideally, therefore, it shouldn’t overspend on an acquisition or buy back shares when they’re overvalued. Shareholders can lose out when a company’s capital is not allocated

effectively. I saw that Verizon Communications was removed from the Dow. Is it in trouble? — R.P., Everett,Washington Nope. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is an index of 30 companies meant to collectively reflect our overall economy. Every few years or so, one or more companies get ejected to make room for new additions. The businesses removed are not necessarily in any trouble; it’s just that the ones being added are deemed more appropriate. Verizon was removed in June, replaced by Google parent Alphabet. Verizon has been performing well enough, but Alphabet is bigger, growing faster and investing heavily in artificial intelligence (among other things). AT&T, another telecom giant, was booted from the Dow in 2015 and replaced by Apple. Interestingly, General Electric, one of the original 12 companies in the Dow when it began in 1896, was removed from the index in mid-2018 and replaced by Walgreens. Less than six years later, Walgreens, which had become Walgreens Boots Alliance, was itself removed — and replaced by Amazon.com.

Beyond isn’t a place — it’s a mindset. And it’s a belief that has powered us for over 80 years. We are Jones Walker LLP, a firm driven by an entrepreneurial spirit, a deep sense of community, and a fierce determination to deliver exceptional service and value for our clients. Since 1937, our firm has been committed to working with community leaders to develop business opportunities across the state. We are steadfast in continuing our dedication to go beyond in advising clients and supporting initiatives and organizations that make Louisiana a better place to live and work. William H. Hines, Managing Partner bhines@joneswalker.com 504.582.8000 201 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA 70170-5100

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The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 7E

MADE IN LOUISIANA

South Louisiana lighting firm blazing a global path BY GRACE MAYER Staff writer

Years before Metairie-based Oracle Lighting was a global brand for aftermarket car and truck accessories, the company’s founder, Justin Hartenstein, was designing accessories for his own vehicle from his dorm room at the University of New Orleans, where he was an undergrad. The year was 1999, the internet was in its infancy, and Hartenstein was posting pictures of his early creations to an eBay store and online message boards dedicated to the automotive community. The products, including custom car lights, began to gain a following among drivers keen to customize their vehicles. “People really liked the stuff, and I didn’t really have any intention of making it into a business,” Hartenstein said. “I basically PROVIDED PHOTO BY ORACLE LIGHTING started building some very niche car parts and then just expanded Tiffanie and Justin Hartenstein are the co-founders of Oracle Lighting, out from there.” a Metairie company that creates lighting products for the automotive What started as a hobby has industry. grown into a $10 million-a-year business that designs, manufactures and sells automotive light- “I basically started building some very niche car parts and then ing products, from multicolored just expanded out from there.” LED headlights to steering wheel JUSTIN HARTENSTEIN, Oracle Lighting co-founder and tire light rings. In the last 20 years, Oracle Lighting has expanded its reach into a global business They quickly learned from early with international customers and pany after graduating in 2005, a 32-person operation in Metairie. right after Hurricane Katrina, as mistakes, namely their need to many locals were leaving the city acquire patents to protect Oracle Early ‘brand ambassadors’ and businesses were struggling to Lighting’s designs from being While Hartenstein was unknow- reopen. They were determined to copied by other companies and iningly building out Oracle Light- build a business in Jefferson Par- dividuals. Today, the company still finds copycats — as far as China, ing’s first product line at UNO, he ish, where they grew up. also met his future business partIt started as a direct-to-con- where Oracle Lighting pursued ner and wife, Tiffanie Hartenstein, sumer website. The Hartensteins and won a patent infringement a business student at the college. managed and fulfilled orders from lawsuit. The company’s products, which She knew little about cars, but over a home office. As online orders time she developed his passion for rolled in from all over the country, Oracle Lighting brought to car the industry. stacks of products and customer shows and product exhibitions, “That’s why we work so well packages waiting shipment crowd- eventually caught the attention of together,” said Tiffanie Hartens- ed their kitchen, dining room and West Coast Customs, which at the time hosted an automotive reality tein, co-founder and CEO at Ora- spare bedroom. “We would carry our orders to television show with celebrities. cle Lighting. “I can focus on the operation and the business deci- the post office, like 45 orders once That show featured Oracle Lightsions, and he gets to focus on what or twice a week, and we were so ing’s products on cars for Justin he wants to do, which is creation.” proud of it,” Tiffanie Hartenstein Bieber and the Black Eyed Peas. The couple founded the com- said. The company’s lighting also ap-

peared on a Hummer in a Britney Spears music video. “More customers were putting our products on their vehicles, and there was just this really easy word-of-mouth and our customers were so excited about it,” Tiffanie Hartenstein said. “They became the best brand ambassadors for us unintentionally.”

Product pipeline Over time, the company’s operations moved and expanded to include a main office in Metairie, two warehouses and a small office on the northshore. Just as the business has evolved, so has Justin Hartenstein’s creative and innovation process. Early on, any idea that came to him in a light-bulb moment became a product. Now, he conducts market analyses on the front end, then brainstorms potential products with a team of three industrial designers. He’s rarely short on ideas: The company releases around 50 new lighting products for sale each year and the company has secured around two dozen product patents, applying, on average, for five patents a year. “Keeping the sales and marketing team at a high enough pace just to keep up with his ideas is challenging,” Tiffanie Hartenstein said. “His innovation alone is what drives the business forward.” From those brainstorm sessions, Oracle Lighting’s team will then use its in-house 3D printers, of which it has nearly a dozen, to create prototypes of product parts and perform stress tests before finalizing designs. “We’ll actually physically take the circuit board component and then install that into the lighting housing and then assemble it with the lens and everything, and then seal it up,” Justin Hartenstein said. Altogether, Oracle Lighting has developed a line of more than 11,000 products, including headlights, taillights and interior lighting. The company sells directly to large distributors specializing

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in truck accessories, who then sell the products to car accessory shops and a few dealerships. The products are largely tailored to Jeep, Ford, Ram and Toyota vehicles, mainly trucks. The company also designs products for other companies, including vehicle manufacturers and boutique car brands. “Larger manufacturers can’t do or don’t want to design a light for a vehicle that’s only going to have like 300 produced a year,” Justin Hartenstein said. “For us, that’s actually kind of our sweet spot.” Around 80% of Oracle Lighting’s business comes from designing, engineering, manufacturing and selling their own catalog of products. The other 20% comes from designing custom lighting products for other vehicle manufacturers — a growing sector of Oracle’s overall business. “It’s an exciting side of the business to grow, because I feel like we’re ready for it,” Tiffanie Hartenstein said.

Global business Oracle Lighting has attracted a growing number of international clients, particularly in Canada and Germany, where there are many American car enthusiasts, especially for bespoke “muscle cars.” The company also has a big customer base in the Middle East. Tariffs, inflation and gas prices have slowed the company’s recent growth and sales last year, for the first time since 2018, were flat. “There’s this whole thing that happens when gas prices go up,” Justin Hartenstein said. “The whole automotive industry just kind of slows down.” But the second half of 2026 is brighter and the Hartensteins say they’re poised for growth. “Our operation is pretty robust,” Tiffanie Hartenstein said. “It can handle a fair amount of growth right now before adding a big addition.” Email Grace Mayer at grace. mayer@theadvocate.com.

8E ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Global experience. Louisiana expertise. Gallagher is committed to serving Louisiana, combining client-centric service with global resources. We’re a trusted partner for businesses and individuals seeking insurance, risk management and consulting solutions.

Connect with your local broker today. AJG.com/louisiana | The Gallagher Way. Since 1927.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 1F

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EDUCATION NOTICE OF VACANCY Applications are being accepted for the following position(s): School Counselor LOCATION MSA West Middle/High Academy STARTING SALARY $71,094 - $83,608 Range based on teacher's salary schedule plus Factor 1.175 APPLICATION PROCEDURE Anyone interested in being considered for this position should submit an ap‐ plication @ www.ipsb.net JOIN OUR TEAM DEADLINE FOR APPLYING Until filled or September 8, 2026 All IPSB employees must pass a criminal records check. The Iberville Parish School System is an Equal Opportunity Employer

ENGINEERING Process Engineer sought by Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC for the Convent lo‐ cation. Candidate must have a Bach's or foreign equiv deg in Chemical or En‐ ergy Engg & 3 yrs of exp in dsgng, ana‐ lyzing, & optimizing efficient chemical processes for combustible & hydro‐ gen-rich gas streams utilizing energy, kinetics, & heat transfer principles. Must have exp in: Analyzing hydrogenrich gas systems & dvlpg thermody‐ namic simulations to establish equilib‐ rium variances for decarbonization strategies. Dvlpg digital twin models of Tenova HYL technology for Direct Re‐ duction Iron (DRI) making processes utilizing Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, & ProMax. Leading systematic identifica‐ tion of HAZOP risks associated w/ methane reformers, HYL reduction re‐ actors, gas handling systems, CO/H cir‐ cuits, pressure vessels, heaters, & aux‐ iliary systems. Reviewing & ensuring compliance of complex chemical con‐ ditions for critical thermal eqpmt, pres‐ sure vessels, fire systems, & gas han‐ dling in accordance w/ int'l codes/standards ASME, TEMA, & API. Up to 20% int'l & domestic travel reqd for meetings, trainings, & consulta‐ tions w/ other divisions/factories. Re‐ spond to: https://jobs.nucor.com/ or send resume to Attn: HR, 9101 Louisiana Hwy 3125, Convent, LA 70723. GENERAL HELP The Diocese of B.R. Child Nutrition Pro‐ gram is seeking FT school Cafeteria Mgrs., Cooks, & Porters. HS Diploma or Equiv. and BG Check req. Apply at www.cnpbr.org/employment MAINTENANCE Machinist – Permanent full-time position with LULA-WESTFIELD, LLC in Belle Rose, Louisiana at the Lula Fac‐ tory. Installation and scheduling of maintenance for state-of-the-art sugar factory machinery. Selects the appro‐ priate tools, machines, and materials to be used in the preparation of ma‐ chinery work. Leads maintenance pro‐ cedures. Maintains and repairs all sugar factory machinery and equip‐ ment. Fabricate and modify parts to make or repair machine tools or main‐ tain industrial machines. Inspect ma‐ chinery and equipment to locate dam‐ age, defects, or wear. Test sugar fac‐ tory machinery to ensure proper func‐ tioning. Adjust equipment to ensure optimal performance using knowledge of the sugar industry. Two (2) years of verifiable experience in the sugar in‐ dustry in the job offered is required. No minimum education level is required. No training is required, and no training is offered for the position. There is no requirement that the employee must live on the employer's premises, and this is not an option for the permanent role. 40hrs/wk. Overtime hours will vary and are not guaranteed. Please send resumes or contact Ms. Devin Lirette, Human Resources Manager at LULA-WESTFIELD, LLC, 451 Highway 1005, PO BOX 10, Paincourtville, LA 70391 Tel: 985-369-6450 Email: dlirette@ luwest.com.

WORKS

Merchandise Fishing gear 2 - Shimano Calcutta 250 gold reels on Falcon 7' 6" rods. $300 each. A Mustang survival HIT hydrostatic life jacket for $50. Three Jus Grab It fishing glove sets for $10 each. 225-603-5805

3 CEMETERY PLOTS GreenOaks Cemetery, Section 3, Lot 40-1, 5, 6. Please Make an Offer. 914671-1546 or beharmeyer@gmail.com CEMETERY PLOTS Roselawn Memorial Park. North St. Baton Rouge 2 plots. North Portion 267 Section B Graves 5-6 with Monument Privileges $5700 obo. Peaceful Burial Site (225) 485-0860

Scooter Hoverfly Electric Mobility Scooters. Foldable electric mobility scooter has a 264Ib weight capacity and a maximum speed of 3.75MPH. 5 hr charging time. Used twice. $380.00 225-287-9223 lindacompau57@gmail.com merchandise 6' by 9" steel loading ramps, $50.00. Aluminum 7 gallon portable air tank with hose and gauge. $35.00. low profile 1.5 ton floor jack. $40.00. all items are new. 225-603-5805 lnichola@bellsouth.net

FURNITURE Antique Oak 1800s Bar with accessories $400. Call 985-882-9473

MED SUPPLY/EQUIP New Velocity Wheelchair, Electric, never used $1000. Call 225-480-9588 or 225-503-6404

WBR Public Notices

WBR Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --WBR NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING: CONDEMNA‐ TION Pursuant to Parish Code Chapter 109-42 “Derelict Structures”, the follow‐ ing properties have been condemned by the Parish President. Address: 12429 SECTION RD. PORT ALLEN LA 70767 (File #26-0039) Owner: ORA LEE DAVIS Legal Description: LOT IN NE/4 SEC 24 T6S R10E MEAS 75' X 210' TAKEN FROM THE PROP OF M MATTHEWS JR 7C-6CB87 E159 A PUBLIC HEARING will be held by the West Baton Rouge PARISH COUNCIL to ratify the condemnation order. The owner of the structure may appeal the decision of the Parish President by appearing at this meeting of the PARISH COUNCIL to show cause why the structure should b d d

Automotive Auto Dealerships are NOT WELCOME TO CALL ME

WBR Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min y not be condemned. Date: Thursday, Septem‐ ber 10, 2026 Time: 5:30pm Public hearings will be held at the West Baton Rouge Parish Govern‐ mental Building, 880 N. Alexander, Port Allen, LA 70767. 195157-AUG 27-SEP 10 $228 PUBLIC NOTICE --WBR NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING: CONDEMNA‐ TION Pursuant to Parish Code Chapter 109-42 “Derelict Structures”, the follow‐ ing properties have been condemned by the Parish President. Address: 4153 MULATTO BEND RD. PORT ALLEN LA 70767 (File #26-0052) Owner: LILLIE L & LOUIS THOMPSON C/O JULIA TYLER Legal Description: LOT 25 TOURNOIR SD 50-17CB128 E6 A PUBLIC HEARING will be held by the West Rouge PARISH Baton COUNCIL to ratify the condemnation order. The owner of the structure

WBR Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

may appeal the decision of the Parish President by appearing at this meeting of the PARISH COUNCIL to show cause why the structure should not be condemned. Date: Thursday, Septem‐ ber 10, 2026 Time: 5:30pm Public hearings will be held at the West Baton Rouge Parish Govern‐ mental Building, 880 N. Alexander, Port Allen, LA 70767. 195159-AUG 27-SEP 10 $223

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4 DAY SALE

september 4th - 7th

FRI

SAT SUN MON

SAVE $ 22 2 LB

— ONLY —

5 lb Average Weight Value Pack Roll

LIMIT 4

80% Lean Ground Beef

$ 77 LB

SAVE $ 22 3 — ONLY —

SWEET

Seedless Large Red Watermelon

LIMIT 2

$ 77

SAVE $ 00 3 LB

— ONLY —

BOILED FRESH IN STORE HEAD-ON

Boiled Louisiana Shrimp

$ 99 LB

SAVE

$ 61

PREFERRED

PARTNER

— ONLY —

Louisiana Local 30 OZ JAR

Blue Plate Mayonnaise

$ 88

SAVE up $ 38 to 1 — ONLY — 18 OZ BOTTLE

Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ Sauce

$ 47

SAVE up $ 38 to 5 When You Buy 2

— ONLY —

46 - 48 OZ CONTAINER OR 8 - 9 COUNT CONES, BARS OR SANDWICHES

Blue Bunny Frozen Dairy Dessert

2/$

flip over for more

2S ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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4 DAY SALE

september 4th - 7th

FRI

SAT SUN MON

SAVE $ 31 1 LB

— ONLY —

$ 48

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

St. Louis Style Pork Ribs

SAVE

up $ 97 to

When You Buy 3

— ONLY —

3/$

BUNCHED

Turnip, Collard or Mustard Greens 12 OZ PACK

$ 99

Chisesi’s Seasoned Ham

SAVE $ 00 3 LB

— ONLY —

$ 99

BOILED FRESH IN STORE HEAD-ON

Boiled Louisiana Shrimp

SAVE $ 00 2

r in ou I L E D tment r depa

— ONLY —

$ 99

FRESH MADE IN STORE

Fried Chicken Tenders

SAVE up $ 98 to 2 When You Buy 2

— ONLY —

2/$

8 OZ

Philadelphia Cream Cheese

SAVE up $ 50 to 2

SAVE up $ 00 to 6

— ONLY —

4 DOUBLE ROLLS

Bounty Essentials

OR 6 MEGA ROLLS

Charmin Essentials

$ 99

750 ML

$ 99

Josh Cellars Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3S

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TRUCKLOAD

SALE

stock up on meat, produce, and seafood for now and for later! EXCLUSIVELY AT ROUSES!

$ 99 LB

100% PREMIUM USDA ANGUS CHOICE VALUE PACK

Boneless Chuck Roast

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

Chicken Wings

$ 47 LB

Side $ $ 77 Whole 99 Coho Salmon

3 LB BAG

Little Bear Farms Honeysweet Onions

FARM-RAISED

LB $ 99

FARM-RAISED

Coho Salmon Portions

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

3 LB BAG

2 LB BAG

Turkey Necks

Turkey Wings

Topashaw Farms Petite Sweet Potatoes

Grimmway Farms Baby Carrots

$ 49 LB 2.5 LB BOX

Louisiana Local

Louisiana Select Breaded Catﬁsh Fillets

$ 49 LB gulf coast Local

4 LB BAG FROZEN WILD CAUGHT

41/50 Ct Headless Gulf Brown Shrimp

2/$

Mississippi Local 10 PIECE

36 COUNT

Fried or BBQ Baked Drumsticks

Cookie Tray

$ 99

rolling in big savings down the aisles!

Kellogg’s Large Size Cereal

$ 99

12 – 17.3 OZ SELECT

$ 99

40 OZ

JIF Peanut Butter

2/$

4 PACK

Kraft Easy Mac Microwavable Cups

$ 99

2 LB BAG DRY

Camellia Navy, Red or Great Northern Beans

12 OZ FAMILY SIZE

26.2 OZ VALUE SIZE

10 POUND BAG

Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts

Zatarain’s Family Meals

Idahoan Instant Potatoes

Supreme White Rice

4 PACK

52 OZ

10 OZ

6 COUNT

Dannon Yogurt

2/$

Florida’s Natural Orange Juice

2/$

$ 59

Bays English Muffins

57 - 76 OZ

12 COUNT

16 - 18 OZ SELECTED

100 COUNT

Bomb Frozen Pops

InnovAsian Entreés

Totino’s Pizza Rolls

2/$

$ 99

Rana Ravioli or Tortelloni

2/$

$ 99

Louisiana Local

12 COUNT

2/$

Stouffer’s Family or Party Size Entreés

Prices good at Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales and Prairieville locations September 2nd thru September 9th, 2026.

4S ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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see inside for our truckload sale! sa CATCH OUR SHOWS AND GAMEDAY RADIO REMOTE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH 1:30PM - 4:30PM

PRICES GOOD SEPTEMBER 2ND - SEPTEMBER 9th, 2026

SAVE $ 22 2

— ONLY —

Chicken Breast Tenders

PREFERRED

PARTNER

— ONLY —

$ 77

PREVIOUSLY FROZEN

600 ARLINGTON CREEK CENTRE BLVD BATON ROUGE

SAVE $ 02 5

SAVE 70 ¢

EAGLE 98.1 • CHARLES HANAGRIFF & MATT MUSSO

$ 99

HALF

Boneless Pork Loin

— ONLY —

24 PACK 12 OZ

CANS

Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke or Barq’s

SAVE up $ 98 to 4

— MIX & MATCH —

BUY 2, GET 1

FREE!

When You Buy 2

12 PACK 12 OZ CANS

$ 99 LB

VALUE PACK

Pork Steaks

SAVE up $ 87 to 5

2/$

5 COUNT

Fresh Avocados

When You Buy 3

When You Buy 2

Kraft Shredded 2/$

8 COUNT PACK

12 OZ

24 OZ PACK

24 PACK HALF LITERS

Bar-S Franks

Wright Bacon

Dasani Water

3/$

5 - 11 OZ BAG

Lay’s Potato Chips or Tostitos Cantina Chips

5 - 8 OZ

or Chunk Cheese

6 PACK HALF LITERS

Propel

12 PACK HALF LITERS

Lipton Tea

SAVE $ 00 1

SAVE up $ 78 to 4

When You Buy 2

Darling Easy Peel Mandarins

SAVE up $ 18 to 3

Pepsi

2/$

2 LB BAG

Bunny Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns

2/$

GALLON

Luzianne Tea

SAVE $ 00 3

$ 99 PREFERRED

PARTNER

SIX

L to Cha ast En nc te e r!

SAVE $ 90 2

Kingsford or Match Light Charcoal

$ 99 WINNERS!

EACH WILL RECEIVE:

1 Monument Mesa 4-Burner Propane Grill

SCAN TO ENTER

$ 99

12 - 16 LB BAG

$ 98

Louisiana Local

6 packs of Johnsonville Fresh Sausage or Brats

GRILL UP GAME DAY GIVEAWAY

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

SAVE up $ 00 to 6

SAVE $ 00 1

24 PACK 12 OZ

Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud Light or Yuengling

99 Tito’s Vodka$ 1.75 LITER

OR 750 ML

Espolon Reposado Tequila

1.75 LITER

1941 Craft Vodka

750 ML

Corazon Blanco Tequila

750 ML

Bonanza Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon

THC

750 ML SELECTED

Kim Crawford Wine

12 PACK 12 OZ

Corona or Modelo

24 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Michelob Ultra

12 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Twisted Tea or Hoop Tea

4 PACK 12 OZ CANS

Urban South Driftee THC Seltzer

Prices good at Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales and Prairieville locations September 2nd thru September 9th, 2026.

$ 99

Nutrition still matters with GLP-1 medications PAGE 3

DISCOVERY | INNOVATION | LIVING WELL

HEALTH

LOUISIANA

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

Molly Kimball 1 1N

S U N D AY, S e p t e m b e r 6, 2026

CATCH OF THE DAY A worker sorts through fresh fish filets at Porgy’s Seafood Market on North Carrollton Avenue in New Orleans.

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

Experts say eat more fish, but wild-caught or farm-raised? BY MATT HAINES Contributing writer

Shelly Marie Redmond, a Shreveport dietitian, says one of her first priorities with clients is to get seafood into their meal plans. “Fish can add so much to our well-being,” she said. “It’s rich in protein, which can help us lose weight, but it also is full of healthy omega-3 fats that protect our hearts and decrease inflammation.” But not all of this underwater bounty is created equal when it comes to health. In particular, the debate over wildcaught seafood vs. farm-raised seafood can become complicated, balancing concerns around nutrition, contamination, overfishing and environmental degradation. Dana Honn, chef-owner of New Orleans-based restaurants Nikkei Izakaya and Tempero’s Kitchen as well as found-

er of the Tropical Foodways Institute and the Louisiana Shrimp Festival, says that creating hard and fast rules between wild-caught and farm-raised seafood is not easy. “It really depends on the type of seafood and the species of finfish that we’re talking about,” Honn said. Further complicating Honn matters is that there simply is not enough wild seafood to feed the world’s growing population. The World Wildlife Fund reports that roughly 85% of global marine fish stocks have been fully fished, depleted or overfished. “Not everyone on the planet has access to the best seafood, but I would

Wild-caught golden tilefish, left, and yellowfin tuna are displayed recently at

ä See FISH, page 2X Nikkei Izakaya in New Orleans.

‘Blockbuster’ new drug could help reduce La. obesity rates Retatrutide likely to hit markets next year, doctor says

struggle with high obesity rates. The experimental drug retatrutide will probably hit markets next year, said Dr. Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. “It’s going to be a blockbuster,” BY RACHEL MIPRO Ravussin said. “Now it’s just a and MARGARET DELANEY question of the pricing. When you Staff writers start with these drugs and they are A new obesity medication is com- not covered by insurance, is it going, one that may prove a “blocking to be the one that everybody is buster” in states like Louisiana that going to use? I don’t know yet. It

would be if it was the same price or accessible to most people.” Retatrutide, an injectable weekly shot, appears to be highly effective as an appetite suppressant and weight loss medication, according to parent company and drug manufacturer Eli Lilly. Ozempic and Wegovy are both GLP-1 receptor agonists using semaglutide that reduce appetite and control blood sugar levels. Weight-loss management medi-

cations like Mounjaro and Zepbound combine GLP-1 receptor agonists and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, or GIP, receptor agonists to create a “dual-action” medication that both suppresses appetite and helps the body process insulin. The three-receptor targeting in retatrutide, attacks GLP-1, GIP and glucagon hormones, making the weight-loss drug a “triple threat.”

“It is a change, but the GLP-1 is the major effector on food intake, decreasing food intake, improving association,” Ravussin said. “The fact that you stop a meal, and even not being very interested in what was before a food that people would love, with high fat content and high sugar content. It’s still the same hack, but it’s added peptides for different mechanisms.”

ä See DRUG, page 3X

Expert cancer care.Today. ochsner.org/EndCancerBR

Scott Sonnier, MD

2X ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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La. doctor gives tips to start your day, improve health BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

The choices people make in the first few hours awake can influence energy, hunger and food choices for the rest of the day. Although daunting to establish, a consistent morning routine helps regulate appetite, supports healthy metabolism and makes it easier to stick with long-term healthy habits. The key isn’t perfection, it’s consistency. Quick fixes aren’t going to be the answer, according to Mandy Keown, a nurse practitioner at the lifestyle wellness clinic at Ochsner Medical ComplexThe Grove in Baton Rouge. Finding realistic, purposeful choices Keown and starting them slowly will be the best way to build habits. “We can always build,” Keown said. “We don’t have to make all of these changes at once.” Here are five morning habits that can help with weight loss: n A good night routine is a good morning routine: Not getting enough sleep is a surefire way to have a bad morning. Not only will the crankiness set in, a lack of sleep or poor sleep also impacts weight management. Poor sleep can increase hunger hormones, decrease feelings of fullness and make it harder to make healthy food choices. The sweet spot for adults is to get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Tricks like making the room cold, blocking out light and staying away from technology before bed have been shown to improve sleep health. n Water first thing: After a full night’s sleep, most people wake up mildly dehydrated, Keown said.

FISH

Continued from page 1X never tell someone that they shouldn’t eat fish just because they can’t have or afford the best,” Honn said. “It just so happens that here in Louisiana, we have the best right in our backyard. And while there is no universal rule for wildcaught vs. farm-raised, there are some helpful guidelines we can pay attention to.”

When to go wild Generally, wild-caught fish is lower in calories and saturated fat, thanks to a more active lifestyle that includes migration, hunting and avoiding predators. They contain a healthier ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats than farm-raised fish, which have restricted movement and are typically fed high-calorie pellets meant to accelerate growth. This is certainly true with salmon, the most common finfish consumed in the U.S. “I’m not saying that all farmraised fish is bad for you because, just like on land, there are responsible agricultural practices,” said Honn, “but salmon is an example where big industrial aquaculture has produced terrible results.” To illustrate this, Honn served a dish at his former restaurant Carmo which featured three types of salmon side-by-side-by-side. It included wild sockeye from the Pacific Ocean and responsibly farm-raised Verlasso salmon from the pristine fjords of Chile’s Patagonia region. The third salmon, however, was just an empty spot on the plate. “It was meant to represent the Atlantic-farmed salmon so often encountered at restaurants and in grocery stores, but that I would never give to my diners,” he said. “You can eat beautiful, delicious wild salmon, or you can eat salmon raised in pens with a worse ratio of omega-6 to omega-3, and that has to be artificially colored pink to even remotely resemble salmon. To me, the choice seems clear.” Shrimp is another example where seafood experts are unanimous. Wild shrimp from the waters off the Louisiana coast are considered healthier than its farmraised counterparts. This isn’t just because of its natural diet of plankton and small sea life instead of commercial feed pellets. Wild shrimp also avoid being treated in cramped ponds with antibiotics or chemicals to prevent disease outbreaks — contaminants that are passed on to human consumers. Michael Nelson, executive chef at GW Fins, a fine-dining seafood restaurant in New Orleans specializing in wild-caught seafood, says that in addition to health concerns, seafood raised on large, industrial farms is also less tasty. “At the restaurant, I make my

GETTY IMAGES PHOTO

Doctors say the choices people make in the first few hours awake can influence the rest of the day. “Not everybody’s drinking right before they go to bed,” Keown said. “We have quite a few hours that we’ve not had anything to drink. On top of the fact that we do tend to lose water while we sleep, just by breathing or sweating.” Drinking water or an electrolyte drink first thing can help replenish fluids, rehydrate the cells, increase energy and support normal body functions before adding caffeine. Electrolytes help speed up the hydration process, even if it’s a pinch of salt or a slice of lemon in water, Keown said. n Get some sunshine: Morning sunlight helps regulate the body’s internal clock. “Even if it’s just 10 minutes of it,” Keown said. “It helps to tell our internal clock, ‘Hey, it’s time

decisions based on taste,” he said, “but it also affects health because if you want consumers to eat healthy things, it has to be delicious.” You can smell, taste, and see the difference in the seafood produced by big commercial producers, Nelson insists. “It doesn’t taste as fresh,” he said. “Instead, there are ‘off’ flavors that get stored in an extra layer of fat between the skin and the flesh. You’re tasting what they feed and treat the animals with to plump them up and keep them alive. That can’t be healthy for us.” Global Seafood Alliance, an international nonprofit whose 8,000plus members include certified aquaculture producers and corporations, and which advocates for responsibility and safety in the industry, considers quality to be a primary and achievable goal. “The health benefits of seafood are well documented and are essentially the same, whether wild or farmed,” the organization said on its website in a detailed response to aquaculture critics earlier this year. “Farmed fish is a high-quality protein loaded with essential vitamins, and oily species like salmon have an abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial to heart, brain and eye health.”

When is farm-raised OK? Even advocates for wild-caught seafood like Nelson, however, understand that avoiding farmraised fish entirely is impractical and unnecessary. “There’s a finite amount of wild fish in the world for people to eat, so we definitely need some form of aquaculture,” he said. “I just think we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard: rather than raise these ‘Frankenfish’ that barely resemble what they are supposed to be, we should follow the lead of people like my friend with a trout farm in California who is approaching the practice in a healthier way.” For example, the majority of Louisiana’s catfish is farm-raised, as is nearly 90% of the crawfish the state consumes. It has been illegal to sell wild-caught redfish in the state for decades. Honn says this is an example of where aquaculture can be used to protect and even improve upon our limited wild fisheries. “Aquaculture has been around for thousands of years, and there are examples where it is very aligned with the environment,” he said. “The result can be just as healthy for us, and on top of that, it helps protect our wild fish and support the local economy in these coastal communities.” In the case of oysters, farmed and wild varieties have nearly identical nutritional value. This is because farmed oysters, also called “off-bottom,” are raised in the same waters as their natural counterparts.

to wake up. The sun’s out. This is our time to shine.’ ” Getting out in the sun boosts vitamin D, which boosts up mood and energy as well. Research from the Northwestern Medicine Study shows that people exposed to bright light early in the day tend to have a lower BMI, regardless of diet or activity. n Protein before 10 a.m.: Approximately 1 in 5 Americans are “breakfast skippers.” Skipping breakfast, as part of time-restricted eating patterns such as intermittent fasting, has become increasingly popular as a weightmanagement strategy. But scientific evidence to support this is lacking. Many studies have shown that breakfast skippers are at an increased risk for weight gain (like

Eating before 10 a.m. is a suggestion, but ideally the best time to break fast is one to two hours after waking up. A study published in the National Library of Medicine found that eating the main meal late (after 3 p.m.) was predictive of difficulty in weight loss. n Make a plan, be mindful: Planning ahead reduces the chances of making impulsive food choices. “We tend to make those compulsive decisions where we may eat out of convenience, whether it’s like convenience stores, snack machines, fast-food restaurants,” Keown said. “Whereas, if we know what we’re going to eat throughout the day and we are prepared, we can have it ready to go.” Planning for the week ahead of time, sitting with the grocery list before going to the store and practicing mindfulness in the morning can go a long way to decreasing stress at the beginning and throughout the day, according to Keown. One of the main benefits of mindful approaches for weight loss is to help people recognize emotional eating. In one small study of people with heart disease, participants were encouraged to recognize that eating healthfully and exercising is really challenging, and that pretending that it isn’t just makes it all the more distressing. Instead, they were taught a practice called diffusion, in which they distanced themselves from unhelpful thoughts, feelings and beliefs. This helped them tolerate the distress of trying to make hearthealthy behavior changes. Participants gave high marks to the program and made positive changes in their diet and exercise habits.

increased hunger driving hormones) and chronic disease. Research suggests that breakfast is important, but simply eating breakfast may only be half the battle. The true victory comes when you eat a high-quality breakfast packed full of protein and nutrients. Protein-rich breakfasts are the best bang for your buck when it comes to weight management. Having protein, 20 to 30 grams of it, each morning helps to reduce midmorning hunger, support muscle maintenance and stabilize energy levels throughout the day. “With animal proteins, you really want to aim for a lean protein like chicken, turkey or fish,” Keown Email Margaret DeLaney at said. “And with plant-based pro- margaret.delaney@theadvocate. com. teins, nuts and seeds.”

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

Fish are netted to be prepared for the kitchen direct from a tank inside Williby’s Catfish, a market and restaurant in New Orleans. Thomas Hymel holds an invasive silver carp from the Atchafalaya River. He’s exploring product opportunities in the LSU AgCenter’s Seafood Processing Demonstration Lab.

CORRECTION An Aug. 23 Health section story on a teenager's spine surgery misreported Dr. Ryan P. Farmer's first name. The Advocate | The TimesPicayune regrets the error

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU PHOTO PROVIDED BY THOMAS HYMEL

“Oysters got their nutritional and mineral makeup from the waters they grow in,” said Justin Trosclair, owner of Lady Nellie Oyster Farm in Grand Isle. “If you had off-bottom and wild oysters growing beside one another, there wouldn’t be any difference from a health standpoint.”

Keeping it local Even many of the more sustainable aquaculture operations still inject additives like sodium tripolyphosphate to their harvest. Producers will say this is to prevent the loss of water during thawing, known as “drip loss,” while critics suggest it is to enhance the size of the seafood so they can be sold for more money. But Thomas Hymel, a fisheries specialist at LSU AgCenter, says that the practices most harmful to our health take place at international aquaculture facilities. “There are a lot of regulations here in the U.S. that limit the use

of chemical contaminants on the seafood produced here,” he said, “but unfortunately we have a lot of seafood imported from countries without those rules — in Southeast Asia and India for example — that are full of things like dangerous antibiotics.” So Hymel says to maximize health you should definitely make sure your seafood — whether farm-raised or wild-caught — is local. “Our local seafood industry is full of amazing people and an incredible product,” he said, “whether it’s our fishermen out there catching wild fish, our crawfish farmers in rice fields, or our catfish farmers doing taste tests to make sure their product is the highest quality. And you can get it without a bunch of hands transporting it across the globe. Louisiana has a reputation as a worldclass producer of healthy seafood, and so if you can get that here, it’s a no-brainer.”

The Louisiana Health section is focused on providing in-depth, personal accounts of health in the state. This section looks at medical innovations, health discoveries, state and national health statistics and re-examining tried and true methods on ways to live well. Health editions will also profile people who are advancing health for the state of Louisiana. Do you have a health story? We want to hear from you. Email margaret.delaney@ theadvocate.com to submit health questions, stories and more.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ 3X

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Eat Fit Live Fit

Molly Kimball RD, CSSD

B R O U G H T TO YO U BY

GLP-1 medications: why nutrition still matters Guest column by Peyton Cherry, registered dietitian with Lifestyle Nutrition at Ochsner Health

ou’ve probably heard a lot about GLP-1 medications lately. Whether it’s Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Zepbound, these medications have become a major topic of conversation for their impact on blood sugar management and weight loss. Researchers are also discovering benefits beyond weight loss, including cardiovascular benefits and improvements in fatty liver disease and sleep apnea, along with a lower risk of kidney disease in some people with diabetes. GLP-1 medications can be powerful tools, and people often see the best long-term results when they pair treatment with healthy nutrition, regular movement and support from their healthcare team. GLP-1 medications mimic glucagon-like peptide-1, a naturally occurring hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, slows digestion and signals fullness. Many people experience reduced hunger, eat smaller portions and feel full longer. As weight comes off, protecting overall health and muscle is just as important. That’s where nutrition comes in. Dr. Amanda Fontenot, obesity medicine director at Ochsner Health, emphasizes the importance of preserving muscle during weight loss: “Muscle loss with significant or rapid weight loss has always been an issue, and we need to take steps to stay ahead of it.”

quickly without enough ﬂuid can make constipation worse.

Other Nutrition Considerations

Because GLP-1 medications slow digestion, high-fat meals may worsen nausea, reﬂux, bloating or fullness, so smaller portions may be better tolerated. Eating less can also make it harder to meet vitamin and mineral needs. Food should remain the primary source of nutrients, with supplements used based on guidance from your healthcare team.

The Bottom Line

may also lose about one pound of lean mass, including muscle. Preserving muscle supports metabolism, long-term weight maintenance and bone health. Individual protein needs vary based on body size, age, activity level and health goals. For a simple starting point, divide your goal weight by two. For a target weight of 150 pounds, that’s about 75 grams of protein per day at minimum.

Don’t Forget About Exercise

Strength training is one of the best ways to help preserve muscle while losing weight, and it doesn’t require hours in

the gym. Resistance bands, bodyweight exercises or lifting weights a few times each week, along with walking or other cardiovascular exercise, can support muscle health and strength.

The Role of Fiber

GLP-1 medications can cause digestive changes, including constipation, bloating, diarrhea and discomfort. Fiber supports digestion, blood sugar control and fullness. A good target for most adults is 25 to 35 grams per day. Increase ﬁber gradually and drink enough water. Adding too much ﬁber too

GLP-1 medications can be powerful tools, especially when paired with nutrition, exercise, hydration, sleep and support from your healthcare team. As Dr. Fontenot says, “Treating obesity happens in layers.” Medication is one layer; healthy habits and ongoing care are others that can help support lasting results.

Want to learn more? Peyton Cherry, MS, RD, LDN, will lead a free community workshop on nutrition strategies for people taking GLP-1 medications on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 6 p.m. at Ochsner Fitness Center in Elmwood. The workshop is open to the public. Scan the QR code here to reserve your free spot.

Make Protein a Priority

If one nutrition goal deserves special attention while taking a GLP-1 medication, it’s protein. Some muscle loss can occur with weight loss, especially without enough protein and regular exercise. Dr. Fontenot notes that for about every three pounds of fat lost, people

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

BY THE NUMBERS

CDC: DIETARY SUPPLEMENT USE STEADILY RISES FOR KIDS, ADULTS

More than one in three American youths and nearly twothirds of adults take a dietary supplement, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People often use dietary supplements to meet nutrient needs and support specific health goals. Because of relatively high usage in the population, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics stresses the need to watch for overlapping ingredients, potential excesses and interactions, the CDC reported in its data release. For the data collected, the CDC

DRUG

Continued from page 1X Retatrutide has similar reported side effects as to on-market GLPs, such as nausea and diarrhea. “These side effects can be present, even though it’s mild to moderate in nature,” said Dr. David Lau, a professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. “It can lead to discontinuation of the drug.” Eli Lilly announced successful Phase 3 trials of the drugs. In this phase of testing, large-scale trials are conducted in patients to test efficacy, safety and compare results to on-market medications. The company published results for TRIUMPH-1, a Phase 3 clinical trial, in May and presented their findings at the American Diabetes Association conference in New Orleans in June.

defines a dietary supplement as August 2023, 35.7% of youth and Dietary supplement use in America any product, other than tobacco, 60.2% of adults used any dietary Percentage of Americans who used any dietary supplements in intended to supplement diet supplement in the past 30 days, one month by age group: 75.9% and not intended to replace and 11.3% of youth and 38.7% food. Dietary supplements of adults used two or more. contain vitamins, minerals, herbs Children age 2-11 were 60.3% or botanicals, amino acids or more likely to take any dietary other substances, including supplement in the past 30 days 46.3% 41.9% prescription and over-the-counter at 41.9%, than infants who were supplements. 1 and under at 28.6%, and kids 30.1% 28.6% The national rate of dietary and young adults who were 12supplement use has steadily 19 at 30.1%. increased over the last decade, The percentage of adults rising from 33.1% in 2013 to taking any dietary supplement 35.7% in 2023 for youth, and increased with age, from 46.3% Ages Ages Ages Ages Ages Ages 60 from 53.8% in 2013 to 60.2% in among those 20-39, to 60.3% 0–1 2–11 12–19 20–39 40–59 and over 2023 for adults. among those 40-59, to 75.9% Between August 2021 and among those 60 and older. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Staff graphic

The 80-week trial studied adults with obesity and weight-related health conditions. Participants taking the highest weekly dose — 12 mg — lost an average of 70 pounds over the duration of the study. Trial participants on the 4 mg dose lost around 47 pounds in the same time frame. “Obesity is a chronic disease, and people living with obesity deserve treatment options that match the complex biology of their neurometabolic disease,” said lead investigator Ania Jastreboff, director of the Yale Obesity Research Center, in a May news release about the results. “It was impressive to see that every dose of retatrutide resulted in clinically meaningful weight reduction for nearly all participants.”

weight over two years. “It matches what you can achieve with weight-loss surgeries. In many ways, that would put the bariatric surgeons out of business,” Lau said. “Not every person with obesity needs to lose 30% body weight. The majority of the obesity-related complications greatly improve with 10% body weight loss.” In late July, the company announced the success of two more trials, TRIUMPH-2 and TRIUMPH-3, with similar results. “When it comes to efficacy, retatrutide certainly trumps all the other weight-loss medications that are currently available,” Lau said. “That’s the reason why the public is so attractive to this medication, even though it’s not available and not officially approved by the FDA.” Stoking the black market The company is expected People with severe obesity to file for FDA approval in on the highest dose lost on the first quarter of 2027; average 30% of their body however, public controver-

sy emerged after Eli Lilly approved a 79-year-old to use the drug pre-federal approval. Eli Lilly filed six lawsuits against med spas, a compounding pharmacy and other vendors that the drugmaker said are stoking a black or gray market for “fake retatrutide” to people hoping to gain access to the drug before its officially available. The emergence of blackmarket copies of weight management drugs is “primarily because of the cost,” Lau said. “Don’t forget that obesity prevalence is seen greater in people from lower socioeconomic status,” Lau said. “They can’t afford it, so they resort to compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide because it’s a lot cheaper.” A study released in late August by a Massachusetts-based data analytics company found that people taking Eli Lilly’s experi-

mental weight-loss drug, retatrutide, outside of clinical trials lost significantly less weight than patients participating in the trials. Black-market users lost an average of 4.7%, 5.3%, and 7.2% of their weight after taking “reta” for three months, six months and one year, respectively.

The market keeps growing Lau, director of the Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Center in Alberta, Canada, founded the first interdisciplinary weight management clinic in a hospital over 40 years ago. “At that time, we were still focusing on the narrative that people can lose weight by eating less and moving more,” Lau said. “We know that that narrative really doesn’t work.” Since then, the world has rallied behind weight management drugs. More than 12% of Americans said they were taking a GLP-1 drug

such as Ozempic or Wegovy either to lose weight or treat a chronic condition in 2025, according to a poll from KFF. Louisiana alone spends over $1 billion in weight-loss drugs in 2023. People with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 are eligible for medications to treat obesity. “To put things in context,” Lau said. “The latest data reports that 40% of adult Americans have a BMI above 30. You’re talking about a large number of individuals who are eligible for obesity management.” On top of that, people with BMI between 25 and 30 who have comorbidity associated with obesity, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea or fatty liver disease, also are eligible for weight management medications. “That’s why it’s such a huge market,” Lau said. “And it’s a very competitive space.”

4X ■ Sunday, September 6, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Same-day cancer care

David Osafo, MD Hematology Oncology

Ochsner Health and MD Anderson Cancer Center have clinically integrated to provide advanced cancer care, right here in Louisiana. That means access to life-saving clinical trials for innovative therapies, more specialists and more resources for our patients. Through this collaboration, Ochsner is the ﬁrst and only provider in Louisiana with a fully integrated cancer program based on MD Anderson’s standards and treatment plans. Learn more: ochsner.org/EndCancerBR.

Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center at Ochsner Cancer Center – Baton Rouge

Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center at Ochsner Medical Complex – The Grove

SUNDAY, September 6, 2026

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr.

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

ROSEBUDS / by Supr Dee

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE / by Stephan Pastis

wonderword

scrabble grams

word game

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

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

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

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

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

todAY's Word — ForetoLd: for-TOLD: Predicted. Average mark 47 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 60 or more words in FORETOLD?

Sudoku

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

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

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

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

Los angeLes Times sunday Crossword puzzLe — Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis “read THe insTruCTions” By KaTie HaLe aCross 1 Add some oomph to 6 In good __ 11 “The Marvels” director DaCosta 14 Latch (onto) 18 Speckled horses 19 Dodge 20 Zingy flavor 21 “Sorry, I slipped” 22 “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink,” e.g.? 25 “Frozen” reindeer 26 “Come back __!” 27 See 91-Across 28 Like rum barrels 29 Ms. Marvel, for one 30 Fruity drink suffix 32 “Oral contracts are binding,” e.g.? 35 Cause of a soccer ball bending midair 40 Vigor 41 Fish eggs 42 Character who calls Homer “neighborino” 43 Romania neighbor 45 Letters said while showing a badge 47 “Ew, stop talking!” 50 “A new pope shall be chosen at a conclave,” e.g.? 55 Fall (over) 56 Et __: and others 57 Polite contraction 58 Castle protectors 59 Turn to rubble, briefly 60 Ancient land of the Fertile Crescent 63 Scout leader? 64 NHL trophy

namesake 66 “The strike zone is between the chest and knees,” e.g.? 71 Significant amount of spots? 74 Piglet moms 75 Drank daintily 79 __-back 80 Unsettling look 82 Target of some laser therapy 85 City bond, for short 86 Birthplace of MLK 87 “The ball must hit the cushion before dropping into the pocket,” e.g.? 91 With 27-Across, patriotic Muppet 92 Home security co. 93 Malaysian fleet 94 __ for tat 95 Mexican lager 97 AKB48 genre 100 Miami Beach fair for gallerists and curators 102 “Chickens will be fed in the coop,” e.g.? 107 Designer initials 108 Former Yankee slugger, familiarly 109 “That wasn’t wholly true” 110 Tennis star Naomi 114 Airport pickup option 118 Space City pro 119 “Wear sensible shoes and a lumbar support belt,” e.g.? 122 Coming-of-age story subject, often 123 Cheap, plastic camera type 124 Curtain beam, often 125 Agree to take part 126 Latin 101 verb 127 Copy 128 Public affairs

network 129 Source of wealth down 1 Petulant cry 2 Petulant look 3 Salt and pepper, e.g. 4 Like Dracula 5 Air pump meas. 6 Super Monkey Ball developer 7 Rating for mild language, perhaps 8 Countess counterpart 9 French farewell 10 Recliner room 11 Part of a table setting 12 Shoreline feature 13 Sales rep 14 “Gee, that seems unlikely” 15 Treasure-y note? 16 __ glasses 17 Jen Psaki’s network 20 Dress-up box item 23 Liam of “The Naked Gun” 24 Draped neckline 31 Moore of “The Substance” 33 Get close 34 “__ go bragh!” 35 Shuts up tight 36 “Hijack” star Elba 37 Dabble in 38 Just hanging about 39 Dozes (off) 42 Sweet Sixteen org. 44 __ and vigor 45 Toned 46 Sarajevo’s region 48 “Light My Candle” singer in 117-Down 49 Long-term goals for some startups 51 Sleeper sofa 52 Dubai leader 53 “Downton Abbey” countess 54 Powdery mineral 59 Imagined

61 Issa of “Barbie” 62 “What a downer” 63 Rte. finder 65 Anxiety-related med. condition 67 Novelist Dinesen 68 Tuna roll wrap 69 Singer Stefani 70 Force measured in newtons 71 Start of a lament 72 “Star Trek” android 73 Movie soundtracks

goren Bridge

76 Family-friendly hotel room 77 How anchovies may be packed 78 Guinness serving, often 81 59-Across stuff 82 __ Lanka 83 Michael of “Barbie” 84 Vegan thickener 87 Indonesian island 88 Gawk 89 Tripoli resident 90 Small clock

wuzzLes

inserts 96 “And I’m finished” 97 “Come along for the ride” 98 Italian “You’re welcome” 99 Bet calculations 101 Drinks noisily 102 Wasabi product 103 Some deco pieces 104 __ Wafers 105 Sludgy stuff 106 Big cat sounds

111 Finger click 112 College basketball coach Barnes 113 Potter’s oven 115 Objections 116 Author Wiesel 117 Musical set in Alphabet City 120 Involuntary spasm 121 Southwestern Indian state

super Quiz

Foresight

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

Today’s deal is from a competition in Norway. South was Norway’s Per Bryde Sundseth. His three-heart bid was wide ranging after East’s pre-empt and North’s raise to four hearts was an example of Scandinavian courage. East overtook the king of clubs opening lead with the ace and led the jack of clubs. Sundseth made the far-sighted play of ruffing with the six of hearts. The ace and another diamond came next. West rose with the king and led a third diamond, ruffed by East with the nine of hearts and over-ruffed with the queen. West might have done better by ducking the king of diamonds. Sundseth would have had trouble if he mis-guessed the diamond position. Even if declarer had guessed correctly, West would not have lost his diamond trick. Sundseth continued his clairvoyant play by leading the eight of hearts to dummy’s king, noting the fall of the 10 from East. He ruffed dummy’s remaining club with the ace of hearts and completed his masterpiece by leading the carefully preserved

SUBJECT: AMERICAN MILITARY SUCCESSES

Answer________

(Example: In 2026, U.S. forces captured this Venezuelan leader in Caracas. Answer: President Maduro.)

8. In this war, U.S.-led coalition forces won a decisive victory, driving the Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

two, crippling its supply lines.

Answer________ FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. This crucial victory repelled the last major German offensive in Western Europe. Answer________ 2. This three-day conflict ended Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North.

9. General Andrew Jackson was victorious in this final major battle of the War of 1812. Answer________ 10. A key 1898 victory in Cuba, featuring Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Answer________

Answer________ 3. This naval battle, six months after Pearl Harbor, was a turning point in the Pacific Theater. Answer________ 4. General Eisenhower commanded this massive Allied invasion of France in 1944.

three of hearts to dummy’s five, finessing West for the seven! The jack of hearts drew the last trump. Sundseth cashed his diamonds and the ace of spades, conceding the last trick to the defense. Beautifully played! Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency Inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY. 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

Answer________ 5. This decisive 1781 victory effectively ended major fighting in the American Revolution and paved the way for U.S. independence. Answer________ GRADUATE LEVEL 6. This 1945 battle was the site of the photograph of the flagraising on Mount Suribachi. Answer________ 7. General Grant’s siege of this city split the Confederacy in

PH.D. LEVEL 11. Operation Just Cause removed this de facto Panamanian ruler from power. Answer________ 12. U.S. Marines and U.N. forces stormed this Korean port city, marking a turning point in the Korean War. Answer________ 13. This 1813 naval victory by Oliver Perry allowed the U.S. to recover Detroit. Answer________ 14. This 1777 victory over the British persuaded France to enter the war as an American ally. Answer________ 15. The 2011 Navy SEALs mission Operation Neptune Spear eliminated this terrorist. Answer________

ANSWERS TO ALL PUZZLES ARE ON NEXT PAGE

zodiaC VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Dig in and tidy up. Attend networking functions or events that will help you parlay your attributes into something you enjoy doing and can profit from. Use your voice to make a difference. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) If you spend more time on creative endeavors or pampering yourself, you’ll gain insight into what’s important to you. You have more to offer than you think, so don’t sell yourself short. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) An emotional or physical journey will be revealing. What you discover

about yourself or someone else will change how you move forward. Don’t be afraid to walk away from situations that have run their course. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Don’t overspend on home improvements or trying to meet someone else’s expectations. Offer only what’s within your means. Learn to love and honor yourself first. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Promise less. Put yourself first, and protect what you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Refuse to give anyone the chance to make you look bad or to take advantage of you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) It’s time to set goals and timelines. Start by adding to your qualifications, and consider how you want to use your experience and attributes to bring in more cash. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Activities that allow you to express yourself or enhance your creative imagination will lead to interesting conversations and opportunities. An energetic approach will put you in the spotlight. ARIES (March 21-April 19) Overreacting will cost you. The only area where too much action will help is in competitive situations. Play to

win, but don’t exaggerate or let poor behavior take over. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Focus on home, family and living up to your promises. If you mix business with pleasure, you’ll gain respect and allies you can count on. Put your energy into doing your best, not criticizing others. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Temptation and desire will lead you astray. Don’t jump into something prematurely. Be inquisitive, and get the facts and figures before you participate. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Listen to your inner voice, not what others

tell you. Misinformation will lead to bad choices and stress. Pay more attention to where and how you live and the ones you love. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Research is necessary. A hands-on approach to how you handle matters will make a difference in the outcome. Don’t trust someone trying to tell you that you need something you don’t. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

dustin / by Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker

Answers to puzzles super quiz 1. Battle of the Bulge. 2. Battle of Gettysburg. 3. Battle of Midway. 4. Battle of Normandy (Operation Overlord / D-Day). 5. Battle of Yorktown (Siege of Yorktown). 6. Battle of Iwo Jima. 7. Siege of Vicksburg. 8. The Gulf War (1990-1991). 9. Battle of New Orleans. 10. Battle of San Juan Hill. 11. Manuel Noriega. 12. Battle of Inchon. 13. Battle of Lake Erie (Battle of Put-in-Bay). 14. Battles of Saratoga. 15. Osama bin Laden. SCORING: 24 to 30 points — congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points — honors graduate; 13 to 17 points — you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 5 to 12 points — you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 4 points — enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0 points — who reads the questions to you?

Cryptoquote Answer Saturday's Cryptoquote: People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day. — Winnie the Pooh

word GAme Answer felt fetor fled floe flood floor floored floret fold folder food fool fooled foot footed footer

ford fore fort forte fret odor older oleo redo retold retool rode rodeo role rood roof

roofed root rooted rote toed told tole tool tooled tore trod left lode loft loot looted

looter lord lore deft delft doer dole dolor dolt door dote drool

sudoKu Answer jumble Answer

Crossword Answers

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

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FoXtrot / by Bill Amend

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