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Police chief speaks out after viral video Officer placed on paid leave while under investigation

BY DEAN BOUDREAUX Staff writer

STAFF FILE PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE

A pelican takes flight over an area of the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation Project in St. Bernard Parish on Dec. 2.

Louisiana’s decadeslong coastal restoration efforts slow land loss

But that also means the state lost around The first-of-its-kind assessment preNew data shows sented to state ofﬁcials Wednesday shows 540 square miles over that time — or restoration projects from 1984 to around a football ﬁeld every 84 minutes projects have impact in coastal 2025 have either built, restored or sus- on average, with wide variation across the tained an area the size of Denver, or about years, Couvillion said. battle against erosion 153 The time period examined encompasssquare miles.

BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts over the past four decades have put an important dent in the state’s land loss crisis, a new assessment shows, but the amount of erosion over the same time period remains far larger, illustrating the severe challenge ahead.

That equates to around 74,017 football fields, according to the assessment by U.S. Geological Survey researchers. It quantifies for the first time the impact that 507 projects have had across a 40-year battle against land loss. The projects managed to reduce loss by around a quarter — or approximately 23% — over the time period examined, said Brady Couvillion, a research geographer with USGS.

es when Louisiana began prioritizing the problem and adopting large-scale efforts to address it. That has included lawmakers creating the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees the state’s 50-year coastal master plan. That plan calls for at least $1 billion a year in project spending.

BY ADAM DAIGLE

Acadiana business editor CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Elected officials and community leaders here did a victory lap in 2008 when Volkswagen selected their city to open its next manufacturing facility. But three years later came a watershed moment of sorts. When it opened, much of the workforce came from outside the area. What was thought to be a slam dunk for workforce ofﬁcials did not turn out that way. What came out of that was Chattanooga 2.0, a workforce initiative that describes its mission as a birth-to-career collective. “That was a missed opportunity for us,” said Keri Randolph, the group’s former executive director. “It was not the lift that we thought it would be. We were naive. We thought if we got the jobs that people would get magically connected to them.” The result was the Chattanooga 2.0

Editor’s note: This story is part of our coverage of Chattanooga’s downtown revitalization. Business editor Adam Daigle is reporting from Chattanooga while participating in One Acadiana’s Leadership Exchange, a three-day program that brings Acadiana business and community leaders to cities to study approaches to economic development, workforce development, infrastructure and urban revitalization.

Scott Chappuis, of Molier Chappuis Architects, views Erlanger Park, Chattanooga’s new baseball stadium for its minor league team, the Chattanooga Lookouts. STAFF PHOTO By ADAM DAIGLE

ä See VISIT, page 5A

WEATHER HIGH 95 LOW 72 PAGE 6A

ä See REVIEW, page 5A

ä See COASTAL, page 5A

Leaders learn from Chattanooga Acadiana could face a similar situation the Tennessee city confronted after landing Volkswagen

Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard confirmed Friday that an officer is under an Internal Affairs investigation for body-slamming a young man during a Sept. 12 incident that went viral on social media. In an interview with The Acadiana Advocate on Friday morning, Trouard said the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave while the investigaTrouard tion continues. A video recorded by a bystander appears to show a police officer slamming a young man, reportedly 16 years old, to the ground during an arrest. LPD received a formal complaint from the victim’s mother Tuesday, opened an inquiry the next day and Trouard assigned the case to Internal Affairs on Wednesday. Trouard said his office verifies footage before opening a case, a step that has become more important as manipulated videos can quickly spread online. “We looked at the video Tuesday to make sure it wasn’t AI, just to confirm this actually happened,” Trouard said. “Wednesday morning I signed the paperwork.” State law sets strict deadlines for the

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Report: State car crash injuries at record low Impaired driving fatalities an increasing problem

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

Louisiana saw the fewest injuries from vehicle crashes in state history last year, according to data released this week by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. In 2025, 54,684 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes, the lowest number of recorded injuries since Louisiana began keeping detailed records, according to data compiled by the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety at LSU. “We saw a record low number of injury crashes last year, which is tied to more people wearing their seat belts,”

ä See DRIVING, page 5A

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2A ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Trump to meet acting Venezuelan president

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will meet with Delcy Rodriguez, the acting president of Venezuela, for the first time next week since his administration carried out an operation to capture the nation’s former leader and effectively put Rodríguez in charge. The gathering in New York City between the two leaders will be a “pull-aside” — diplomatic speak for a meeting that is more casual than a formal bilateral sit-down — said Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trump will be in town for the annual United Nations General Assembly. Waltz also told reporters on a Friday call that Trump will meet with Andy Burnham, the United Kingdom prime minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The Trump-Burnham meeting will be their first since Burnham became prime minister in July. Trump also will meet with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. The meeting comes as the U.S. has struggled to find an endgame to the Iran war after more than six months. Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

Brazil arrests suspect in dozens of killings

SAO PAULO — Brazilian police said Friday they will reopen dozens of cases linked to a selfconfessed serial killer who was arrested as he attempted to escape dressed as a woman and carrying a child. Jorlan Lopes da Silva, 33, is suspected of killing at least 16 people in the region of Mulungu, in northeastern state of Paraiba. He was arrested on Sunday after a two-day search. Paraiba police spokeswoman Gerlane Pereira told The Associated Press that da Silva confessed to another 11 killings. Da Silva was captured on Sunday wearing a black dress with white stripes, a wig and painted nails. Police arrested two other suspects linked to the same criminal organization. Police said that the child he was carrying was not related to him. Police say Silva is a member of a criminal gang that has killed dozens of people in the region. He told ofﬁcers after his arrest that he had committed his ﬁrst killing at age 13.

Pentagon moves forward with testosterone testing

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has rolled out formal guidance for mandatory testosterone testing for male service members 30 and older, a policy that leaves out women for now and faces questions from medical experts about the need and efficacy of such a program. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in July that a new program to screen troops for “testosterone deficiency” was necessary to allow them to operate at their “absolute best.” The new clinical guidance, released late Thursday, outlines how the program would work. The Pentagon’s efforts to test for low testosterone coincide with growing interest in the hormone that has been driven by men’s health influencers and podcasters, many of whom recommend the drug as a way to boost energy, muscle and feel younger. However, many experts say those far-reaching benefits aren’t supported by the science. Hegseth’s messaging on the hormone has blended established scientific facts with broader, and less substantiated, claims. The new guidance clarifies that the mandatory testing would initially apply to only male service members. Hegseth’s initial memo in July directed mandatory testosterone deficiency screenings for all troops, but the clinical guidance released Thursday says it is for “testosterone deficiency in the male service member.” The guidance says “the female clinical practice guideline is being reviewed and will be posted upon approval.”

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Early voting starts in midterm elections Some states open polls in vote that could flip control of Congress

BY ALI SWENSON, SARAH RANKIN and SARAH RAZA Associated Press

HENRICO, Va. — In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections began Friday, ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide which party they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis, a prolonged war in Iran and other pressing issues. Election administrators say they are prepared and confident the vote will be accurate and secure. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has continued efforts to denigrate certain voting methods and reshape how elections are run, through court challenges, a federal hunt for noncitizen voters and a pressure campaign to force election officials to share sensitive voter data. Friday was the start of early voting in Virginia. Voters in a few other states, including Minnesota and South Dakota, can cast absentee ballots in person, typically at a local election office or voting center. More expansive early voting is scheduled to begin in those and other states in the coming weeks. Early voting for the Nov. 3 congressional midterms begins Oct. 20 in Louisiana. At a voting location in Fairfax, Virginia, 18-year-old college student Sanya Singhal was among the first to vote early in person Friday morning, arriving well before the site opened to get in line. “Why not just have a little fun in life, you know, try to be the first early voter?” she asked. “I really want to participate in my democracy.” At a voting location in suburban Richmond, a poll worker rang a bell as the building opened and about a dozen voters in line began to file in. Stephen Gura was excited to be the first.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ELLEN SCHMIDT

Alan Goldfarb, who said he will be out of town for the general election, casts his ballot Friday on the first day of early voting in Minnesota at the Elections & Voter Services building in Minneapolis. “This election is critical. We need to stop the Trump agenda,” said Gura, who added that he voted for U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Shannon Taylor, the Democratic nominee against Republican incumbent Rob Wittman in the 1st Congressional District. The Nov. 3 election includes votes for governor and state legislature in most states and will determine whether Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House and Senate. If Democrats retake Congress, it will alter the trajectory of the ﬁnal two years of Trump’s term, most likely leading to investigations and other oversight efforts. At the suburban Richmond voting center, a steady stream of voters ﬂowed in and out. William Curry, a 74-year-old retiree who described himself as a libertarian-leaning independent conservative, voted for Warner’s Republican challenger,

Bert Mizusawa, and Wittman. Curry said he generally approves of the job Trump has done, apart from the war with Iran. “He’s in a mess he can’t get rid of,” Curry said of the conflict. On a rainy day in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Bill Goehring, 67, said he voted early at the county office because he will be traveling later. He voted for a mix of Democrats and independents, and said Trump’s “dictatorial tendencies are bad for America.” John Thomas, a conservative retired police officer at the Sioux Falls office, said his biggest concerns were public safety and election integrity. He said he doesn’t want to see votes in federal elections from immigrants living in the country illegally. Such fraudulent voting has been found to be extremely rare. Trump’s immigration agenda is “spot on,” the 77-year-old said.

“We wouldn’t be a country that much longer if it had stayed the same for another four years,” he said. The start of early voting comes at a time of deep angst and division among many Americans about issues including rising gas and grocery prices, the war in Iran, the looming risks of artificial intelligence and Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. It also follows an unprecedented spate of mid-decade redistricting for the House that began when Trump urged the Republicancontrolled legislature in Texas to redraw its congressional map to help the party. California and other states followed. The changes affect millions of people: Research shows 1 in 10 Americans this fall is a resident of a different congressional district than in 2024. Those partisan efforts are expected to continue before the 2028 elections after a landmark ruling this year from the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the federal Voting Rights Act’s protections against racially discriminatory redistricting. As the start of early voting approached, Trump was focused on efforts to assert federal control over election administration, even as the Constitution bestows the power to run elections on the states and, in some cases, Congress. The nation’s highest court this week rejected Trump’s bid to restrict mail ballots, but several of his administration’s other efforts to inﬂuence the voting process and investigate state voter lists continue. Virginia’s Democratic attorney general warned Thursday that Trump’s administration may have violated the state’s laws after a whistleblower accused federal employees of misrepresenting themselves on voter lookup tools to hunt for noncitizen voters. Trump for years has raised the specter of widespread noncitizen voting in U.S. elections, and this year is no exception. But research continues to show noncitizen voting is exceptionally rare.

Holdout juror says he Trump announces deal to bolster has no doubts Clancy U.S. military presence in Greenland responsible in killings BY AAMER MADHANI

BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

BOSTON — The lone juror who wanted to convict Lindsay Clancy of murder for killing her three children said he was certain of her guilt, but that other jurors wouldn’t listen to him, according to a statement released by his lawyer Friday in his ﬁrst public comments on the case. Eleven of 12 jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, with the majority feeling that the Massachusetts mom was in the grip of a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her kids. But juror Michael Desronvil sided with the prosecutors, who had argued that Clancy knew what she was doing. “I didn’t have any doubts,” Desronvil said in a statement released on X by his lawyer, Edward Paltzik. The jury’s foreperson had claimed in an earlier media interview that Desronvil had admitted having “reasonable doubt” about Clancy’s guilt, but wanted to convict her anyway. Desronvil said that wasn’t true. “As I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation, I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence presented,” he wrote. “Based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses, and what the prosecution presented, I thought it was enough proof that she (Clancy) knew exactly what she was doing and planned.” The jury’s deadlock forced the judge to declare a mistrial on Sept. 4, leaving the case un-

resolved. The Plymouth County district attorney has yet to say whether he’ll seek to put Clancy on trial again. Neither side disputed that Clancy strangled her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, in the family’s home in 2023 before trying to end her own life. But her attorney said she was a loving mother experiencing deep delusions and other mental health problems, for which she had been getting treatment. Since the trial ended, Desronvil has been both publicly praised and scorned for his actions, and his personal life and past ﬁnancial and legal problems have become the subject of scrutiny by the news media and amateur sleuths. Among the public revelations: He had a restraining order against him at the time of jury selection and was facing eviction from his apartment due to over $12,000 in unpaid rent. He also was accused of domestic violence in 2021, a charge that was later dismissed. Some of the opinion has fallen along political lines, with Desronvil being praised by some conservative pundits as a hero. Paltzik, whose past clients have included President Donald Trump and Martin Shkreli, said on X that Desronvil was in “an undisclosed secure location” in a rural part of northern New England and would not be giving interviews. “As a devoted father and man of God, he will not be defeated or shattered by the wicked who wish harm upon him,” Paltzik wrote.

Trump called on Denmark the U.S. Denmark and Greenland to sell the island to the United States, while in- repeatedly said the island is WASHINGTON — President sisting that Greenland is not for sale and condemned Donald Trump said Friday crucial for U.S. security. reports of the U.S. gatherhe has a deal with Denmark He pointedly wouldn’t rule ing intelligence there. The to bolster the U.S. military out taking the island by U.S. push for Greenland is presence in Greenland af- military force, even though also opposed by Russia and ter months of threatening Denmark is a NATO ally of much of Europe. to take island by force from the NATO ally. 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Trump targets news outlets with White House ban President says he’ll bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico

BY JOCELYN NOVECK

AP national writer

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump said Friday that he was barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House due to what he called unfavorable coverage and “fake news,” and threatened that more such media bans could be coming — the latest salvo in the president’s increasingly aggressive response to media coverage he ﬁnds unfavorable. Like many of Trump’s other confrontations with news organizations — some of which are playing out in the legal arena — this one has potential First Amendment implications. The president wrote on his social media site that effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MS NOW and Politico “from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Minutes later, speaking at an event in the Oval Ofﬁce, Trump was asked to explain his statement. “Because they’re fake news,” he said. “You get so tired of reading and seeing

fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW … , it’s fake news.” “And when you look at Politico ... the stories they wrote are fake. So there’s a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better,” he said. “But our country has to have honest news.” CNN denounced the move, saying it stands behind its White House team and their “fair and accurate reporting.” “We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government,” it said in a statement posted on X. “Should the ban which President Trump threatened go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally-protected right.” Politico said it would “continue to fairly report on this White House and future ones. We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights against any attempt to restrict them.” MS NOW did not immediately return an email asking about the ban. In his second term, Trump and his administration have upped the ante and punished certain media outlets, both in the courtroom and through regulatory action. Trump has

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JACQUELyN MARTIN

President Donald Trump speaks Friday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms. The move follows the president’s decision last year to keep Associated Press journalists out of the Oval Ofﬁce, Air Force One and other events in retaliation for the news outlet’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, which lies partially in Mexican and other waters. The AP said that it would note when appropriate that Trump had ordered it renamed the “Gulf of Ameri-

ca.” The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing. Since returning to ofﬁce, Trump has pursued other legal action against a variety of different outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC. His administration is also involved in a long-simmering confrontation involving ABC over renewal of its broadcast licenses. Trump seeking to block White House access for CNN is especially notable, as it could upend the traditional ﬁve-network television pool

that travels with the president and tracks his every move — meant to provide independent coverage of his actions and interactions for the Americans who elected him and for the world. In his social media announcement, Trump did not provide details on how the ban would be implemented. It came moments before Trump spoke to reporters in the Oval Ofﬁce as part of a healthcare event. He later planned to take the press pool to his golf club in Virginia for a meeting and dinner sponsored by his Super PAC

before spending the weekend at Camp David — one of the few places reporters don’t follow him. “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump wrote. “Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow.” At the event, Trump doubled down on his opinions about various media outlets. “The New York Times is so fake. Washington Post is disgusting,” he said. A federal judge ruled the government couldn’t punish the AP based on its editorial decisions. But an appeals court stopped most of the ruling as it weighed the Trump administration’s appeal. The case remains pending 18 months later. In Sherrill v. Knight, a federal appeals court ruled in 1977 that although the White House is not required to open its doors to the news media, once it establishes press facilities for credentialed journalists, it cannot deny access based on the content of a journalist’s coverage. The court held that any denial must serve a compelling government interest and that the journalist must receive notice, the chance to respond and a ﬁnal answer in writing.

ICE officer pleads not guilty to charges he lied about shooting BY TIM SULLIVAN

sota. He ended up returning on his own after being freed from a Texas jail last month. The case was quickly pulled into national politics. Minnesota is a frequent target of President Donald Trump, who regularly derides Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who ran as the vice presidential candidate in the last presidential election, as well as Rep. Ilhan Omar, who was born in Somalia.

Associated Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — An immigration ofﬁcer pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges that he lied to the FBI about being attacked before he shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdopwn in Minneapolis early this year. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ofﬁcer Christian Castro appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge after prosecutors indicted him this month on six federal counts of making false statements about the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro, in a black suit and with an electric monitor visible at his ankle, said very little during the hearing. He was suspended without pay by ICE earlier this year. Castro’s federal hearing came a day after he appeared in state court on

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law a sweeping sanctions package targeting Russian ofﬁcials and key pillars of its economy that is meant to punish and pressure Moscow for its ongoing war against Ukraine. The measure was a final legacy item for the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close ally and friend of the president who had just returned from Ukraine when he unexpectedly died in July. In the works for more than a year, the bill passed with large bipartisan margins: 8611 in the Senate and 262-159

assault charges and was released from custody. His defense attorney, Daniel Gerdts, declined to comment on the case as he left the courthouse Friday.

The court proceedings followed months of legal battles over whether Castro, 52, would be extradited from Texas, his home state, to face charges in Minne-

in the House. It’s meant to starve Russian President Vladimir Putin of the resources Moscow needs to continue its war in Ukraine after invading its neighbor more than four years ago. The bill, also drafted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sanctions Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of tankers that keeps Russian energy moving. It also directs Trump to impose up to 100% tariffs on the top five importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports.

“If he were here today, he would be jubilant about our bill’s passage — and already thinking about the next one,” Blumenthal said of Graham after the House passed the legislation Wednesday evening. Blumenthal added, “Putin is a thug who understands only force and strength, which is what we must show clearly and unequivocally.” Despite overwhelming support on Capitol Hill, the legislation faced criticism from a vocal set of Democratic lawmakers who warned that Trump could use his new expanded tariff powers to impose fresh levies in the European Union and elsewhere.

Judge not swayed by claims that plans for ‘anti-weaponization fund’ are dead By The Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge who blocked the creation of a $1.8 billion “antiweaponization fund” for compensating President Donald Trump’s political allies wasn’t swayed by a government attorney’s assurances Friday that the administration has abandoned the concept. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Virginia didn’t rule from the bench on the government’s request for her to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the fund’s formation

leg while ﬁring through the front door of a Minneapolis home. They say Castro later lied to investigators when he told them he had been attacked with a broom handle and a snow shovel before ﬁring his gun. Minnesota prosecutors charged him in May, but were thwarted in their efforts to extradite him from Texas, where he had been arrested.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ELLEN SCHMIDT

Christian Castro, right, an immigration officer who is accused of shooting a Venezuelan man during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis early this year and lying to investigators about what happened, leaves with his attorney Daniel Gerdts, left, on Friday after a hearing at the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in St. Paul, Minn.

Trump signs Russia sanctions bill BY SEUNG MIN KIM

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Trump ally, at times tied his refusal to sign Castro’s extradition warrant to ongoing investigations of massive fraud in government social service programs in Minnesota. Trump used the fraud investigations to justify the crackdown. In both the federal and state cases against Castro, prosecutors say he shot 24-year-old Sosa-Celis in the

and operation. But the judge rejected the notion that the case’s claims are moot because the Trump administration says the fund is dead and won’t go forward. “The issues that underlie this case are still alive and kicking, in my view,” Brinkema said. The fund for compensating Trump’s political allies encountered a ﬁerce bipartisan backlash and threatened to derail Attorney General Todd Blanche’s Senate conﬁrmation. On Aug. 2, Blanche issued a formal order terminating the fund after nego-

tiating for weeks with two Republican senators who wanted to see the promise in writing before they endorsed his nomination. “The case is moot,” Justice Department attorney Andrew Block told Brinkema. “The mootness has been addressed at every stage.” But the judge noted that Blanche’s assurances have been undercut by the president and other administration officials. Trump, a Republican, continued to publicly express support for the fund even as Blanche insisted it was dead.

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Border wall building begins in Texas’ Big Bend BY REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press

COMSTOCK, Texas — The Trump administration has started building the border wall through a west Texas section of the Big Bend region, marking the ﬁrst major construction in an area of the U.S.-Mexico border where the administration’s plans have met with heavy opposition. The start of construction marks an important milestone in the administration’s $46 billion plan to line the border with walls, barriers, roads and technology as it seeks to make good on a key campaign promise by President Donald Trump to ﬁnish the wall. And it comes as Customs and Border Protection says it has doubled the pace at which it is building the wall across the U.S.Mexico border. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement to The Associated Press that “border wall panel installation is underway” in a 47-mile stretch of Hudspeth County in west Texas known as Big Bend 1. There are a total of

ﬁve project areas that make up the roughly 500-mile Big Bend region stretching from an area of Hudspeth County south of El Paso to Lake Amistad. The agency did not say when the panels had been installed. On a map on the agency’s website where it posts updates of wall construction across the entire southern border, a photo showed a crane lifting one of the 30-foot-tall steel wall panels into place while construction workers looked on. The new activity was separate from a border infrastructure project in the nearby Big Bend National Park, where the administration has temporarily suspended construction in an attempt at outreach to opponents. In the broader Big Bend region of Texas, CBP has run up against concerted opposition from landowners, environmental groups, business owners and ranchers who say the remote region isn’t a high trafﬁc area for illegal immigration. Activists said Friday they would continue opposing the border infrastructure

PROVIDED PHOTO By SCOTT MCWILLIAMS

Crews install the first sections of a new border wall on Wednesday in the Big Bend region of west Texas. projects in the rest of the Big Bend region, even as the panels were being installed. Clara Benson, one of the founders of the No Big Bend Wall Coalition which has been ﬁghting against CBP’s plans, said in an interview Friday that the organization had been receiving reports of trucks moving supplies into the remote area along the Rio Grande and that contractors had been clearing yards to stage supplies.

But speaking from Washington, D.C. where she and others in the coalition were meeting with lawmakers, she said that the organization and others would continue to ﬁght the wall-building plans across the region. “We will continue to ﬁght for this land no matter what the outcome is. We will continue fighting to the end,” said Benson. “You talk to people in west Texas and they say even if they put it

up, we’ll fight for them to take it down. So this ﬁght is not over.” The news comes as the administration is speeding forward with a plan to line the entire border with a combination of 30-foot-tall steel bollard walls, barriers designed to stop vehicles from crossing the border, new patrol roads and various technologies to deter and detect migrants or smugglers from crossing the border.

Customs and Border Protection said that they are building an average of 12 miles of barriers a week across the 2,000-mile border with Mexico and recently hit a milestone of 200 miles of new barriers built since the second Trump administration took ofﬁce. The 12-miles a week average is double the pace that the agency’s head, Rodney Scott, cited earlier this year. The agency has faced opposition from environmental groups, a small town that worries the wall will cause flooding in its area, Native Americans who say the construction is disturbing sacred sites and landowners who say the construction will infringe on their land. In Texas much of the opposition has centered on the agency’s plans for Big Bend National Park, in the state’s southwest on the Rio Grande that is a draw for tourists from around the world. But up and down river outside the park, much of the land is owned by private landowners, many of whom have pushed back against the government’s efforts.

Hundreds of thousands attend government-organized rally in Iran BY NASSER KARIMI, CARA ANNA and LEE KEATH Associated Press

CAIRO — Hundreds of thousands of Iranians rallied Friday in a governmentorganized show of deﬁance after months of war, pledging their readiness to take up arms in the biggest such demonstration since the United States and Israel attacked in February. Iran’s government has sought to rally the people and stress national unity, even as the economy worsens under a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and new U.S. sanctions. On Friday, it claimed another attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway it has sought to control since the start of the war. Estimates varied of the number of people volunteering to receive limited military training and defend the country in an effort

with over 1 million expected to take part in the training. On Friday morning, the broadcaster estimated over 300,000 people were on the streets. The new head of the Basij, Hossein Taeb, declared in a speech as the rally began that the volunteers will be ready for “full-fledged defense” and similar rallies ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI will take place in other cities soon. Women affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard carry The new trainees will rifles as they stand during the state-organized ‘Janfada,’ or make a “nightmare” for ‘Sacrifice for Iran,’ parade on Friday in Tehran, Iran. Iran’s enemies, Taeb added, as President Masoud Pezeshkian, military comdescribed as “Janfaday-e would be an additional layer manders and other senior Iran,” or the “ones who sac- of security to the paramili- officials watched the march. rifice their lives for Iran.” tary Revolutionary Guard They marched through and the Basij militia, which downtown Tehran in com- has played a key role in bat uniform, carrying flags, quashing anti-government protests. as onlookers cheered. Tehran’s Guard chief, For days, state media have encouraged Iranians to join Gen. Hassan Hassanzadeh, the campaign, saying train- told the state broadcaster ing with assault rifles would that over 600,000 people had begin soon. The volunteers registered to participate,

Some participants trampled ﬂags of the U.S. and Israel. Others chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” “I am here to tell (President Donald) Trump that we Iranians have no fear about his threats against our homeland,” said Marzieh Afaghi, 24, who attended the rally with her toddler and husband. “No one in history could invade Iran and remain there.” The rally was also a chance for Iran to show off military hardware. Anti-aircraft batteries were on display, while female Guard members in black headscarves sat with

truck-mounted machine guns. The Guard displayed drones that have been used against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran’s attacks and threats have severely affected the Gulf region’s shipments of oil and natural gas to the rest of the world. Iran said it had attacked a Togo-flagged oil tanker, the Trend, for what it called an “illegal attempt” to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state broadcaster reported. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center said a tanker was hit by a projectile, sparking a ﬁre on board that was extinguished.

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. military’s price tag for the Iran war has grown to $43.6 billion as of Sept. 3, according to a new estimate provided this week to lawmakers. The figure from U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, offers the most up-to-date cost for the conﬂict since it was launched by the United States and Israel

on Feb. 28. A Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday said the war had cost $38 billion through Aug. 1 and will continue to rack up expenses of around $3 billion a month depending on the conﬂict’s intensity. The new breakdown, seen by The Associated Press and reported earlier by Punchbowl News, also showed the continued use of expensive munitions by American forces. Weapons costs jumped by more than $6 billion in just

over a month, from $21.7 billion listed in the CBO report to $28.1 billion in U.S. Central Command’s estimate. The financial cost is just one measure of the impact of the Iran war, which also is affecting oil prices and the stock market and has led to deaths and injuries of American troops. The political costs will be calculated in November’s midterm congressional elections, with Republicans facing increasing headwinds from the war’s unpopularity.

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● 5A

lll

Land has been restored where an earlier incarnation of Campo’s Marina near Shell Beach and Lake Borgne had been reduced to a patchwork of drowning marsh grass in 2023. STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER STAFF PHOTO By By ADAM DAIGLE

COASTAL

Continued from page 1A Brian Lezina, the CPRA’s chief of planning and research, said the ﬁndings will help the state determine what is working well and show that the money being spent on restoration is not wasted. He noted that the state can never restore all that is being lost, but must continually work to preserve as much as possible. “Anything like this helps to get that message out that the dollars spent addressed the need,” Lezina said.

‘Not insignificant at all’ The ﬁndings presented to the CPRA’s board involved the use of satellite imagery to determine the effects of projects, which can include building marsh and restoring barrier islands with dredged materials and other measures, as well as protecting shorelines with rocks. Those were compared to what would reasonably have been expected to occur without the projects, based on conditions before the work was done. The results are approximations, but provide the most comprehensive look yet at projects coastwide. The analysis generally

REVIEW

Continued from page 1A investigative process. Once a complaint is filed, the chief has 14 days to decide whether to open an Internal Affairs investigation. If authorized, the officer has 14 days to secure legal representation, then investigators have 75 days to complete the case. “If it goes beyond 75 days, everything is null and void,” Trouard said. “That’s specific in the law.” Trouard said he cannot discuss specific findings of an active investigation but confirmed the department will notify the complainant, the young man’s mother, of the final disposition once it concludes. A statement from police spokesperson Sgt. Robin Green announcing the internal investigation came three days after the NAACP Lafayette branch demanded the city address a broader pattern of use-of-force complaints. NAACP Lafayette branch President Ravis Martinez on Tuesday sent a letter to

showed projects having a signiﬁcant effect. For example, marsh creation projects were found to have contributed 42 square miles while shoreline protection was responsible for around 14 square miles. Freshwater and sediment diversions were included in the analysis, though the state has not done much of those. Those combined with the management of breaks in the lower Mississippi River — or crevasses, which deliver sediment into nearby wetlands — were found to have contributed around 15 square miles. Couvillion, speaking of the losses prevented through restoration, said “that’s not insigniﬁcant at all.” “It’s approximately the entire land area of the city of Denver, Colorado — substantial,” he said. “That’s almost a quarter of the loss that would have occurred.”

‘A good investment’ Louisiana’s coastal restoration projects are funded by a variety of sources, from the state to the federal government and others in between. A large source of funding in recent years has come from ﬁnes and settlements related to the 2010 BP oil spill, with around $8.5 billion set aside for Louisiana restoration.

Mayor-President Monique Boulet and Trouard requesting a meeting within 14 days to discuss what Martinez described as broader issues with training, supervision, policy, accountability and culture. “Public safety requires public trust,” Martinez wrote. “Public trust requires accountability. And accountability must be demonstrated through action.” Martinez said his letter was not prompted by a single video but a pattern he has tracked for months, including complaints which never surface publicly. “The question for me is: What is Lafayette’s use-offorce data telling us about what’s happening across the entire department?” Martinez said. Of the ﬁve concerns raised in the letter, Martinez said the department’s culture troubles him the most. “If leadership allows a culture where citizens’ rights are easily trampled or disregarded, that’s a culture problem,” Martinez said. “Training won’t stop that.” Alongside the investigation, LPD announced three

But that money will run out by 2032, and the state does not have a replacement for it for now. Meanwhile, the problem is likely to become more complex. Sea level rise is projected to accelerate in the decades ahead, posing further risk to Louisiana’s fragile coast. In total, the state has lost roughly 2,000 square miles over the past century, around the size of Delaware. Gov. Jeff Landry’s cancellation of two large sediment diversions that aimed to restore lost wetlands by mimicking the way south Louisiana was built in the first place has drawn criticism, though they were fiercely opposed by commercial ﬁshermen and their parish leaderships, among others. The Landry administration is now instead pursuing other types of projects, including land bridges and barrier island restoration. Lezina said the state is constantly delving further into the data to learn the best approaches, particularly when funds are limited. He said projects should be tailored to their location and the conditions that exist there, and that the assessment showed the beneﬁts accruing. “This is a good investment in Louisiana and our coastline,” he said.

mandatory changes: expanded de-escalation retraining for ofﬁcers, weekly random audits of body-worn camera footage by supervisors and revised use-of-force policy addressing officers who fail to intervene when a colleague crosses the line, according to the release. Trouard said de-escalation training predates the current controversy and grew out of ongoing conversations with Boulet’s ofﬁce. “We’ve been doing de-escalation training for, good grief, the last six, seven years,” Trouard said. “She (Boulet) sees what I see.” Trouard said he is willing to meet with Martinez. “I’ve met Ravis several times. We have a good relationship,” Trouard said. The NAACP’s 14-day window for a response closes Sept. 29. Martinez said he does not expect the city to dispute the letter’s substance. “It’s a statement of fact about what’s happening on the ground,” Martinez said. Contact Dean Boudreaux at dean.boudreaux@ theadvocate.com.

DRIVING

Continued from page 1A Lisa Freeman, executive director of the Highway Safety Commission, said in a statement. “Wearing your seat belt is the difference-maker that allows you to walk away unhurt from a crash.” A total of 35,197 crashes resulted in one or more injuries in 2025. That figure represents 25% of all motor vehicle crashes, the lowest proportion on record. The other 75% of crashes in Louisiana last year involved property damage but not injuries, according to the commission. However, the commission’s news release also notes that Louisiana continues to see problems with impaired driving. There was a year-overyear increase in DWI fatalities, with 766 deaths in 2025,

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Drivers deal with traffic on the Pontchartrain Expressway near downtown New Orleans. up from 753 the year before, according to the LSU data. “Impaired driving remains an issue,” Freeman said. “LHSC and our partners remain committed to eliminating drunk and drugged driving in Louisiana.” Other stats about 2025 trafﬁc incidents include: n A 13% decline in pedestrian injuries n A slight increase in pe-

destrian fatalities, from 161 to 162 n A 6% decline in bicycle injuries n A decrease in bicycle fatalities, from 44 to 40 n A 7% decline in motorcycle injuries n An increase in motorcycle fatalities, from 69 to 96. Email Alyse Pfeil at alyse. pfeil@theadvocate.com.

Lafayette Parish School Board member Kate Labue takes a selfie at Erlanger Park, Chattanooga’s new baseball stadium. With her are Missy Bienvenu, from left, with the Acadiana Community Foundation, Lafayette Parish Council member Ken Stansbury and Jennifer Whitmore with the Billeaud Companies.

VISIT

Continued from page 1A initiative that aims to establish 10 clear pathways to high-opportunity careers by 2027. It has joined forces with K-12 schools, Chattanooga State Community College and the Construction Career Center to put students in careers and avoid those leaks in between that often derail students. The discussion on transforming talent Thursday was part of One Acadiana’s Leadership Exchange, which includes about 80 elected officials and community leaders from Acadiana visiting Chattanooga for an exchange of ideas. In Acadiana, the situation is similar with the pending arrival of SpaceX and its need to eventually hire thousands of employees for its launch site in Vermilion Parish. Elon Musk said the facility could ultimately employ 10,000 people, while the state’s agreement with SpaceX includes a commitment for 3,000 jobs. Those jobs will extend well beyond engineers and

rocket scientists. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said the company hopes to hire locally and expects to need technicians, welders, mechanics, builders, equipment operators and support staff. She said 60% to 80% of employees at the company’s Starbase facility in Texas came from surrounding communities. That makes Chattanooga’s experience particularly relevant to Acadiana. Chattanooga officials learned after Volkswagen arrived that creating jobs did not automatically connect local residents to them. They found quickly the programs were there but the pathway was not. It was like a leaky pipeline, Randolph said, with students falling out between transition points in the process. “The challenge became less about whether Chattanooga had the programs and more about whether that whole pathway worked for a person and an employer for that connection,” Randolph said. Hamilton County Schools runs the Future Ready Institutes and Pathways, which offer work-based

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learning and youth apprenticeships for high school students. Chattanooga State offers dual enrollment, customized industry training and apprenticeships across the region. But officials might be most proud of the Construction Career Center, a facility that serves high school students and adult learners on the construction trade. It’s housed in an old school building that sat empty for years. It’s the result of a partnership between Hamilton County Schools, Tennessee College of Applied Science and the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee. It teaches all aspects of construction, said Susan Cowden, workforce development director for the center. It also teaches HVAC, electrical and plumbing. Students can come as early as the eighth grade, and 10th graders come to an expo where they can see, touch and feel aspects of the construction industry, she said. “We like to show them all things are possible in construction,” she said.

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6A ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Warm with plenty of sunshine

A t-storm around in the p.m.

A stray afternoon thunderstorm

A t-storm around in the p.m.

Partly sunny and warm

HIGH

LOW

95° 72°

LOW

93° 76°

LOW

95° 74°

Beaumont 93/74

Baton Rouge 95/71

Lake Charles 94/73

Port Arthur 92/76

New Orleans 93/75 Houma 93/70

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

Hattiesburg 99/71

Alexandria 98/70

Lafayette 95/72

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

94° 72°

LOW

92° 70°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 99/71

Many 98/69

LOW

YESTERDAY

TODAY

READING 51 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Friday

Longview 99/70

-0s

96° 74°

Monroe 100/71

Shreveport 99/71

-10s

LOW

Due to the easterly and northeasterly winds we’ve been experiencing, the dewpoint temperatures are much lower than they’ve been in a while and rain chances are very low. Expect a mostly sunny, hot and dry day with a light breeze. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the mid-90s. With low humidity, temperatures will feel like the upper 90s. The UV index is at the very high level. If you’re headed to the ULL game in Lafayette, expect clear skies and 91 at kickoff.

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today FULL

SEP 26

City

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

PRECIPITATION

90°/69° 89°/70° 90°/68° 100° in 1933 47° in 1903

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

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

HIGH

1:57p 7:55a 3:38a 4:58a 3:53a 2:56a 5:01a

6:55 a.m. 7:08 p.m. 2:56 p.m. 12:03 a.m.

LAST

NEW

OCT 3

97 63 98 54 89 95 93 89 99

TODAY Lo

72 53 77 39 79 72 75 76 74

FIRST

OCT 10

pc pc s c sh s t t t

OCT 18

97 63 97 52 90 93 93 89 98

MODERATE

SUN. Lo

72 56 76 41 77 74 71 76 73

c r t r sh pc c t s

FT.

0.8 1.9 2.3 2.0 1.5 1.9 1.9

LOW

2:05a 9:00p 3:46p 7:58p 4:12p 2:27p 5:14p

0.00” 2.37” 3.26” 46.16” 46.94”

FT.

HIGH

0.1 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.4

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

FT.

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

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 6:27a 12:15a 6:52p 12:39p Sunday 7:15a 1:02a 7:40p 1:27p Monday 8:00a 1:48a 8:24p 2:12p Tuesday 8:43a 2:31a 9:07p 2:55p Wednesday 9:24a 3:13a 9:47p 3:35p Thursday 10:04a 3:53a 10:26p 4:15p Friday 10:44a 4:33a 11:06p 4:55p

City

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

TODAY

93 89 76 103 76 82 96 78 91

75 74 65 80 67 68 74 66 75

t t pc s pc c pc s t

GOOD

94 87 77 104 75 87 91 76 90

SUN. Lo

75 72 64 82 58 71 70 69 75

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

t t r s t pc pc pc t

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

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

FRI. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

-0.70 14.00 17.50 6.50 4.40 3.42 3.70

+0.60 -0.33 -0.30 -0.30 -0.30 none -0.17

15.94

-0.23

-1.61

+0.02

18 29 8

-1.21 9.96 3.04

-0.07 -0.17 +0.44

13 15

1.50 0.92

-0.09 -0.17

47 34 29 20 12 6

6.43 4.32 3.07 3.38 2.90 2.06

-0.06 +0.15 +0.14 +0.25 -0.10 +0.22

data as of 7 a.m. Friday

Ukraine hosts leaders from 7 countries for summit BY SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted leaders and representatives from seven regional countries for talks on deepening cooperation on Friday, after overnight Russian strikes in multiple regions sparked fires and caused several deaths and injuries. The inaugural summit of the so-called “Carpathian Eight” brings together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, with the European Union also involved. It comes as U.S.-mediated efforts to end Russia’s 41/ 2-year full-scale invasion have stalled, with the issue of territorial concessions in eastern Ukraine among the central sticking points. Ukraine is also seeking security guarantees from partners for a deal. The summit also comes as three days of voting began in Russia’s ﬁrst wartime parliamentary election, which features virtually no opposition to President Vladimir

Putin’s party and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance. Some of the nations attending the meeting in western Ukraine’s Ivano-Frankivsk region, such as Poland and Romania, have been staunch supporters of Ukraine. Others, such as Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia, have refused to provide Kyiv with direct military assistance. Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram that the summit was a “signiﬁcant beginning” of a movement intended to “further strengthen ties between our countries and create another strong element of cooperation at the EU level.” He added that the participating countries would work together on security, energy, logistics, cross-border economic ties and support for local communities. The meeting in the western Ukrainian ski resort of Bukovel came amid increasing concern among many European countries that Russia is ramping up hybrid threats including sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and potential drone incursions into NATO territory. Tusk, Poland’s prime

PHOTO PROVIDED By UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, right, is welcomed by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska on Friday during a Carpathian 8 Summit in Bukovel, western Ukraine. minister, warned on Thursday before departing for Ukraine that Moscow is planning hybrid strikes with drones or rockets on European countries supporting Kyiv, among them Poland. Officials in Poland, Germany and Denmark have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in drone incursions, sabotage, arson,

surveillance of defense facilities and planning to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the EU needs a NATOlike mechanism to better respond to hybrid attacks blamed on Russia, and to develop “a consensus on how to

respond to certain incidents ... that fall below armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security.” Speaking at a meeting of a government commission on new weapons, Putin declared that the Western claims about Russia’s purported aggressive plans were intended to justify a boost in defense spending.

He again denied that Russia has any hostile intentions toward Europe, but warned that it will be forced to respond to any aggressive action by Western allies, such as the seizure of merchant vessels operated by Russia. “Let’s live in peace, otherwise we will be forced to respond in kind — it must be quite obvious to everyone,” he said. Last month, Putin threatened retaliation for Western seizures of Russia’s commercial vessels, describing them as “piracy.” He warned that the Russian response wouldn’t necessarily come in the waters where the Russian ships were seized, noting that Moscow could retaliate in any area. Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to evade international sanctions imposed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. France and the U.K. have detained tankers suspected of being part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” shipping oil in violation of international sanctions. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of “shadow fleet” ships.

Vance blasts Democrats as ‘lunatics’ in Iowa rally push for GOP candidates BY JOSH BOAK and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Vice President JD Vance on Friday mounted a vigorous defense of the Trump administration’s policies and Iowa GOP candidates on the November ballot, arguing that the Democrats had turned into the party of “lunatics,” in his second trip to the politically consequential state this year. While in Iowa, Vance tried to nationalize the elections, invoking Democratic candidates in other states such as Kansas, Texas and New York

at a time when the state’s Democratic ticket has tried to keep its focus local. But he took plenty of swings at Iowa Democrats, saying their candidate for governor, Rob Sand, was a “career politician” and not a moderate, despite his public persona. “Let’s send the crazy packing and get them out of Washington, D.C., and get them out of Des Moines,” Vance told the crowd at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, located on the western edge of the once-Republican stronghold state. Iowa has found itself with competitive races for the Senate and the governor’s mansion this year.

Zach Lahn, the GOP nominee for governor, campaigned alongside Vance, who showered him with effusive praise. But missing was Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, the party’s Senate candidate, who did not attend the rally Friday due to previously scheduled events, according to her campaign. Council Bluffs is home to Josh Turek, the Democratic nominee for the Senate who represents the area in the Statehouse. “It’s no mystery why Vance is here,” Turek wrote in a fundraising appeal ahead of Vance’s visit. “It’s because his billionaire bosses are

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANNA MONEyMAKER

Vice President JD Vance speaks Friday during a Republican National Committee’s Midterm Rally at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

terriﬁed that their grip over Vance spoke about job Iowa is slipping — and with growth under the Trump adit, their narrow Senate ma- ministration and was greeted with cheers for the adminisjority.”

tration’s work on immigration and border security. Continuing on his laundry list of White House accomplishments, Vance mentioned the administration’s work to get “most favored nation” prescription drug prices and highlighted the policies on not taxing tips or overtime and protecting Social Security. In the agriculture-heavy state, Vance said he was perhaps “most proud of what we’ve been able to do for Iowa farmers,” pointing to efforts by the administration to open up more global markets to American-grown food.

METRO

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

S at u r d ay, S e p t e m b e r 19, 2026

1bN

Ex-attorney disbarred after stealing Former Lafayette lawyer also banned from Walmart

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR

Staff writer

A former Lafayette attorney who previously was suspended has been disbarred and also banned from Walmart after stealing $385 in food and beverages while working at the Franklin store. The Louisiana Supreme Court

ruled unanimously Sept. 16 to disbar Samuel Robert Aucoin, whose last known addresses were in Carencro and Patterson in St. Mary Parish. He was found guilty of stealing from the Franklin Walmart while he was employed there and also has a long history of discipline as an attorney.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel alleged Aucoin violated the rules of professional conduct and committed a criminal act reflecting adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness. A hearing committee concurred, adding Aucoin had a prior disciplinary record, a pattern of misconduct, a dishonest or selfish

motive and illegal conduct. He also exhibited no remorse for his criminal conduct, according to court records. As a result, he has been disbarred. Aucoin was admitted to the Louisiana Bar in October 1991. On May 31, 2019, Aucoin was declared ineligible to practice law for not taking continuing legal education courses. Attorney disciplinary ofﬁcials determined

Aucoin falsiﬁed certiﬁcation for one of the courses he completed to reinstate his law license, dating it 2019 when the course wasn’t offered that year. His eligibility was restored on Aug. 23, 2019. While he was ineligible to practice law, Aucoin allegedly worked on three cases in June and August of 2019.

ä See DISBARRED, page 2B

PAINT IT GREAT ABOVE: Lafayette Parish art students from Lafayette High, Edgar Martin Middle and Middlebrook Elementary schools paint the finishing touches to the Lafayette sign, with this month’s theme ‘Downtown Rising,’ at Parc Sans Souci on Wednesday. LEFT: Lafayette Parish art students from Lafayette High Kylie Tharp, left, and Andrew Schexneider, right, paint the Lafayette sign on Wednesday. RIGHT: Lafayette Parish art student Jahlia Dupuis-Poche, 6, from Middlebrook Elementary paints the finishing touches to the Lafayette sign. STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP

Acadiana’s performing arts 2026-27 season announced Branford Marsalis, Dianne Reeves featured BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Acadiana’s performing arts season begins with Grammy Award winners Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves celebrating the music of John Coltrane. The Performing Arts Serving Acadiana season begins Sept. 27 with Marsalis and Reeves joining the Branford Marsalis Quartet at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. Two of today’s most acclaimed performers will join one of jazz’s most formidable working bands. “Lafayette is the smallest city on the tour for Marsalis and Reeves, and we’re lucky to have snagged it,” said Jackie Lyle, PASA’s executive director. The lineup continues with the Martha Graham Dance Company, acclaimed actor Roger Guenveur Smith’s “Frederick Douglass,” the family musical “Dog Man: The Musical,” Lafayette native Skye Isaac’s

ä See SEASON, page 2B

Fire chief punished over burn, arrest Supreme Court backs 15-day suspension

peace in Avoyelles Parish, also serves as the volunteer fire chief in Cottonport. He granted himself an exception to the burn ban on Aug. 20, 2023. Lemoine’s “controlled” burn spread after he and a fire capBY JOHN SIMERMAN tain went down the street and Staff writer drank beers, according to the The Louisiana Supreme Court Louisiana Judiciary Commisendorsed a 15-day suspension sion. Lemoine then downplayed this week for a justice of the the fire’s impact with an emerpeace who was arrested for an gency dispatcher, saying it was altercation with a local police contained to an empty lot. chief at the scene of a fire he’d In reality, the blaze alit “an set during a statewide burn ban. abandoned wooden structure, Chris Lemoine, a justice of the brush and trees, and electrical

poles and lines,” the commission alleged. A pair of Cottonport police ofﬁcers arrived and sent photos to then-Police Chief Jennifer Lofton. When she arrived, Lemoine became aggressive. He “admitted ‘it got a little bit out of hand after that’ and you put your ﬁnger in her face and might have slipped and touched her,” the commission alleged. The police chief said Lemoine shoved four fingers into her chest, bruising her left pectoral muscle, and yelled that she was out of her jurisdiction “and to

mind her own business.” Lemoine admitted he drank “about six beers” within a threehour period leading up to the altercation. “I was burning a pile of brush on my property, the structure that caught ﬁre was abandoned for years and it did belong to me,” he wrote in response to the misconduct allegations. Lemoine says he was less than 100 yards away from the burn. He also disputed that he could have caused the injury Lofton

ä See FIRE CHIEF, page 2B

App lets Iowa residents monitor water meters After years of making up- and line repairs instead of drivThe release states that for Customers can get grades and adjustments its wa- ing the town to read meters by residents, the app means early ter system, Iowa has launched hand,” the release states. “The warning about irregular usage alerts for high usage enrollment in a new free down- same taxpayer-funded system and activity.

loadable app, My Water Adviser, which allows residents to monitor their water meters, accordStaff writer ing to a Sept. 3 release from the The town of Iowa has become town. “An FCC-licensed antenna on the ﬁrst municipality in Louisiana to adopt the My Water Ad- the town’s water tower now colviser app, which lets residents lects meter readings automatimonitor their water usage from cally, freeing water department their phones. staff to focus on new installs

BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN

gives residents the app that puts Iowa ﬁrst in Louisiana, with the Master Meter brand serviced through Baton Rouge Winwater, updating their water use about every 12 hours.” My Water Adviser gives customers details about their consumption habits and set personalized alerts.

Instead of waiting for monthly manual meter readings, customers can now get alerts for higher-than-normal usage, according to the release. “This project proves that tax dollars, spent the right way, make a real difference — better

ä See APP, page 2B

2B ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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LSU fans take fight to Oxford for Ole Miss game Messages include ‘Daddy’s back’ to ‘Fire Sankey’

BY JAN RISHER Staff writer

More than 80 small digital screens across Oxford, Mississippi — in bars, dentist offices and tanning salons — had flipped to a new message by early Thursday: “Daddy’s back. Geaux Tigers.” An asterisk underneath reads, “Eligibility may vary by state,” a nod to the kerfuffle over LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s efforts to add players who had tried to make it in the NFL. But that’s not all. On Saturday morning, between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., a plane will pull a banner over Oxford and the Ole Miss campus carrying the same line during peak tailgating in The Grove. LSU fans are funding the media campaign through a GoFundMe created by Louisiana attorneys and siblings Allison Jones and Matt Jones. It started as a way to express their outrage over SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey’s since-dropped push to remove LSU from the conference. Last week, they designed and organized “Fire Sankey” digital billboards in Birmingham, Ala., which stopped running at noon Thursday. As far as the Jones siblings were concerned, mission accomplished.

APP

Continued from page 1B water pressure, fairer bills, and a system residents can see and trust,” Iowa Mayor Neal Watkins said in the release. “Standing on our own two feet ﬁnancially kept us ﬁrst in line for the grants small towns depend on. Our residents are now leading by example for southwest

SEASON

Continued from page 1B “Cinema Serenade,” Aquila Theatre’s adaptation of “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde,” and Jill Butler and Her Joyride Band’s tribute to Burt Bacharach. “The hallmark of our mission is to bring in performers and ensembles that people follow, but do not often — or ever — have the chance to see live,” Lyle said. The Martha Graham Dance Company will perform Oct. 16 at the Heymann Center. For 100 years, the Martha Graham Dance Company has shaped the world of modern dance. “Martha Graham’s legacy has roots in PASA’s history,” Lyle said. “Over the decades, we have presented the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ailey II, and Twyla Tharp’s Tharp! All of the artistic directors are part of Graham history.” Roger Guenveur Smith will bring his one-man performance of “Frederick Douglass” to the Theater at Baranco in November, while Aquila Theatre returns to Lafayette in March with a new

PROVIDED PHOTOS

This digital billboard started running in Oxford, Miss., on Thursday, ahead of the LSU/Ole Miss game set for Saturday. “It just expresses, at least for me, and I think I can speak for my sister on this as well, our absolute gut-level outrage at what he has done,” Jones said But LSU fans have contributed more than $7,200 to the GoFundMe campaign. So, the Jones siblings didn’t stop there. Matt Jones doesn’t pretend the Oxford campaign carries the weight of the billboard ﬁght in Birmingham. He calls this one what it is. “It is a college football, sophomoric, petty way to get under the skin of fans of an opposing team that we don’t like very much,” he

said. “This is part of college football. The back-and-forth, the clever, jokey mocking of our teams — it’s a long history.” Not everyone laughed it off right away. Matt Jones said a small number of fans worried the “Daddy’s back” campaign had gone too far, but he puts that group at well under 10%. Allison Jones remembers that this kind of rivalry goes back generations. “I remember my parents wearing ‘Archie who?’ buttons when they went to games,” she said. “NIL may change college football rosters, but the heart of college football is driven by families and

Louisiana and the state, and that’s something this whole community can be proud of.” The city’s use of the new app follows a multiyear overhaul of the municipality’s water system, which replaces a leak-prone and aging system and moved from ﬂat rates to monitoring. “The shift to metered billing was not without growing pains, but it made service fairer: residents

now pay only for the water they use,” according to the release. “Under ﬂat rates, households on fixed and limited incomes had effectively helped cover the cost of unrepaired leaks and of a few properties using several times the normal amount of water. No one subsidizes waste next door anymore.”

adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In addition to the opening Coltrane celebration, Lafayette native Skye Isaac will perform songs from memorable ﬁlms in February, while Jill Butler and Her Joyride Band will pay tribute to Burt Bacharach with songs including “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and “What the World Needs Now.” For younger audiences and families, “Dog Man: The Musical” arrives at the Heymann Center in January, bringing Dav Pilkey’s popular character to the stage in an early-evening performance recommended for ages 6 and up. The season will be presented at two Lafayette venues: the Heymann Performing Arts Center at 1373 S. College Road and The Theater at Baranco at 801 Mudd Ave. Tickets and passes are available at pasaonline.org.

at Baranco n “Dog Man: The Musical”: Jan. 12, 6 p.m. at the Heymann Performing Arts Center n Skye Isaac: “Cinema Serenade”: Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m. at the Theatre at Baranco n Aquila Theatre: “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”: March 11, 7: 30 p.m., at Heymann Performing Arts Center n Jill Butler & Her Joyride Band: “A Burt Bacharach Tribute”: date TBA at the Theater at Baranco.

Continued from page 1B alleged. “Maybe when I put my ﬁngers by her chest she took it as me pushing her but I did not by no means want it to go that far,” he wrote. Lemoine could not be reached Thursday by phone or email. Lofton called the resolution “disgusting and disappointing,” a slap on the wrist. “If it was me, it would be the worst punishment ever,” she said.

The Office of Disciplinary Council filed formal charges against Aucoin in November 2019 alleging he engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, failed to cooperate with the ODC investigation, violated the rules of professional conduct and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. Aucoin denied the charges. A hearing committee found after hearing testimony from Aucoin and others that he knowingly engaged in the practice of law while ineligible, submitted false evidence to the Committee on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education and lied under oath. In 2020, the Supreme Court suspended Aucoin “for threat of harm to the public.” The next year, he was suspended for one year and one day for practicing law while ineligible, providing the Louisiana State Bar Association with an altered certificate of completion for a continuing ed court and making false statements to the ODC and at a hearing.

quarterback Trinidad Chambliss changes the math. “If it’s a close game and it comes down to the fourth quarter, I think it’s gonna be very, very, very close,” he said. “I will hope for a blowout. I expect a close game.” Whatever happens on the ﬁeld Saturday, the Jones siblings and a host of other LSU fans will have had their say. And before breakfast, a plane will already be circling Oxford, towing four words in purple and gold across a Mississippi sky. Email Jan Risher at jan.risher@ theadvocate.com.

Aucoin was again suspended in 2024, this time for three years, to run concurrently with the earlier suspension, for neglecting legal matters, failing to communicate with clients, failing to refund an unearned fee, knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal, committing criminal and dishonest conduct and failing to cooperate with the ODC investigation. Court documents show that in two instances Aucoin was hired to represent men in divorce cases, one involving child custody. In one case he was paid $1,800, failed to secure the divorce and for two years did not respond to the client. Aucoin told officials he suffered a stroke in early 2020, affecting his ability to respond. In the second divorce case, a client paid Aucoin around $800 and represented the man at a court hearing where a judge orally granted the divorce. However, Aucoin never filed the paperwork and the client could not contact him. Aucoin also faced charges in the 15th Judicial District Court for issuing worthless checks. In February of 2024, while

residing in St. Mary Parish, Aucoin was arrested by the Franklin Police Department for shoplifting at the Walmart store where he was employed. A store security associate told police that Aucoin began taking food and beverages without paying for them on Dec. 7, 2023, the day after he began working at the store, according to court records. The total was $385.61. He was found guilty and sentenced to 30 days in jail. The jail time was suspended. He was placed on one year of probation and ordered to pay a $100 ﬁne and court costs. He also was banned from Walmart.

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Three of the seven justices — William Burris, John Michael Guidry and Jay McCallum — also found the punishment for Lemoine too lenient in dissents. The agreement the majority approved also calls for Lemoine to pay $839 in commission costs. District Attorney Charles Riddle engineered a resolution of the criminal case against Lemoine, who was indicted on counts of battery of a police ofﬁcer and resisting an ofﬁcer. He entered a pretrial diversion program and later had the case expunged from his record.

Continued from page 1B

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

q y Councilman Goodwin, motion carried unani‐ mously.

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FIRE CHIEF

fan bases and gentle ribbing like this and ‘Fire Sankey.’” Matt Jones’ wife intervened in his tailgate plans this weekend, which means he’ll watch Saturday’s game from somewhere other than Oxford — which he acknowledges is probably a wise decision. As for the score, Matt Jones offered two predictions in the span of a breath: 77-0, then corrected himself to 78, the extra point coming off a late onside kick and a twopoint conversion. Then the fan in him gave way to the lawyer. LSU holds the edge at most positions, he said, but Ole Miss

DISBARRED

Email Courtney Pedersen at courtney.pedersen@ theadvocate.com.

PASA event dates Dianne Reeves: Sept. 27, 3 p.m. at the Heymann Performing Arts Center n Martha Graham Dance Company: Oct. 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Heymann Performing Arts Center n Roger Guenveur Smith: “Frederick Douglass”: Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Theater

Louisiana siblings Allison Jones and Matt Jones designed and paid for this billboard to go up in Birmingham, Ala., three blocks from the SEC offices.

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING HELD AT SCOTT CITY HALL THURSDAY, September 3, 2026, AT 6:00 PM The City Council met in regular session on Thurs‐ day, September 3, 2026. Mayor and all council members were present. Councilman Domingue the prayer and led Pledge of Allegiance. Councilman Roy moved to approve the minutes of the August 13, 2026, meeting as written. Sec‐ onded by Councilman Domingue, the motion was approved unani‐ mously. Councilman d

Domingue h l

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Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min g moved to accept the July 2026 ﬁnancial statement. Seconded by Councilman Goodwin, the motion car‐ ried unanimously. Mr. Mark Savoy of Groom’s Engineering and Mr. Mason Macaluso of Fenstermaker & Associ‐ ates gave a brief update on ongoing projects. Mayor Richard an‐ nounced numerous up‐ coming events that are all listed on our city web‐ site and social media pages. Candidate for District Court Judge Division I, Mr. Will Keaty asked for support in the upcoming November 3rd, 2026 elec‐ tion. Candidate for Council District 2, Mrs. Sherie Stutes Sonnier asked for support in the upcoming November 3rd, 2026 elec‐ tion. Candidate for Council District 4, Mrs. Allyson Soeseno Richard asked

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

for support in the up‐ coming November 3rd, 2026 election. Councilman Moreau mo‐ tioned to adopt Ordi‐ nance 2026-9, An Ordi‐ nance amending appen‐ dix C of the Scott Munici‐ pal Code to revise, enact and adopt ﬁnes and penalties for trafﬁc and violation misdemeanor committed within the corporate limits of the City of Scott. Seconded by Councilman Goodwin. Councilman Moreau mo‐ tioned to adopt Ordi‐ nance 2026-10, An Ordi‐ nance authorizing the is‐ suance of not exceeding Million Twenty ($20,000,000) of Taxable Sales Tax Bonds (DEQ) of the City of Scott, State of Louisiana, and providing for other matters in con‐ nection therewith. Mr. Jason Akers, the bond at‐ torney with Foley & Judell along with Mr. Shaun Toups with Gov‐ Consultants ernment were present to answer questions. Seconded by il d i

Councilman Moreau mo‐ tioned to adopt Ordi‐ nance 2026-11, An Ordi‐ nance to amend the Scott Municipal Code to add sections to Chapter 10 Article II for Occupa‐ tional Licensing. No dis‐ cussion. Seconded by Councilman Roy, motion carried unanimously. Councilman Domingue Ordinance introduced 2026-12, An Ordinance amending the Scott Mu‐ nicipal Code to amend Chapter 14 Article IINoise. Ordinance 2026-12 will be up for adoption at the next council meeting scheduled for Wednes‐ day, October 7, 2026, at 6pm. No action taken. Councilman Moreau in‐ Ordinance troduced 2026-13, An Ordinance to amend/ replace the Scott Municipal Code Chapter 16 Fire Protection. Ordi‐ nance 2026-13 will be up for adoption at the next council meeting sched‐ uled for Wednesday, Oc‐ tober 7, 2026, at 6pm. No action taken. Councilman Montoucet motioned to adopt Reso‐ lution 2026-23, A Resolu‐ tion authorizing the dis‐ posal of a certain mov‐ able property owned by the City of Scott and no longer needed for public purposes. Chief Leger stated that this vehicle was a 2017 model with very high milage that will be sent to the next auto auction. Seconded by Domingue, Councilman motion carried unani‐ mously. Councilman Roy mo‐ tioned to adopt Resolu‐ tion 2026-24, A Resolution authorizing the mayor to d i i

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min ____________________ Jan-Scott Richard, Mayor

g y execute a drainage servi‐ tude, right of drainage, and access easement Mayor agreement. Richard explained that this would be for the Elementary Westside drainage pond. Seconded Councilman by Domingue, motion car‐ ried unanimously. Councilman Moreau mo‐ tioned to adopt Resolu‐ tion 2026-25, A Resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a tender and re‐ lease agreement with the Gray Casualty & Surety Company, the City of Scott and Mitchell Con‐ tracting, Inc. and to exe‐ cute a completion con‐ tract with Mitchell Con‐ Inc. Mayor tracting, Richard stated that this agreement was for the new contractor being as‐ signed by the Surety Company for the Lions Club Pump station pro‐ ject. Seconded by Coun‐ cilman Montoucet, mo‐ carried unani‐ tion mously. Councilman Domingue motioned to change the 1st council October meeting to Wednesday, October 7, 2026. Sec‐ onded by Councilman Goodwin, motion carried unanimously. Councilman Moreau mo‐ tioned to appoint Mr. Barrett Payne to the Lafayette Parish Water‐ District South works Board of Commissioners for a 4-year term starting September 4, 2030. Sec‐ onded by Councilman Goodwin, motion carried unanimously. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:33pm. ____________________ i h d

____________________ Shelley M. Gautreau, City Clerk 201093 Sept. 19 1t $85.53

Public Notices Successions

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

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● 3B

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Gulf funds cleared for Paramount ownership

CHICAGO — As Paramount looks to take over Warner Bros. Discovery, it’s racked up billions of dollars in ﬁnancial backing from three Gulf countries. And the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has now approved the company’s ask for sizable indirect ownership from those foreign investors. The FCC cleared the way on Thursday, granting sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to hold indirect equity interests in a Paramount-Warner combo, but no voting stakes. Skydance-owned Paramount — whose $81 billion merger with Warner is still on hold amid a separate antitrust battle with twelve states and Hollywood writers — welcomed the FCC’s ruling. Paramount maintained that these funds won’t have any governance rights and the family of its CEO David Ellison and RedBird Capital would still be the majority owners of the combined company. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, L’imad Holding Company in the UAE and the Qatar Investment Authority reportedly committed a combined $24 billion to help fund the company’s Warner acquisition. In its spring petition to the FCC, Paramount disclosed that it expected those funds to indirectly own nearly 50% of equity interests when and if the merger closes.

Kremlin orders Nestle, Auchan assets seized FRANKFURT, Germany — The Kremlin has ordered the Russian businesses of Swiss-based food and beverage company Nestle and French retailer Auchan placed in temporary administration, a procedure that previously has led to the forced sale of Western businesses to Russian owners at knockdown prices. The local assets of the two multinationals were put under what the Kremlin says is temporary control by another company under an order issued late Thursday by Russian President Vladimir Putin. A 2023 law allows the Kremlin to place businesses from “unfriendly countries” under temporary administration. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday the companies in question are “European companies, companies from unfriendly countries” that are “most actively involved in hostilities against our country,” as well as in Ukraine’s strikes “on our civilian economic infrastructure.”

More Prime customers may qualify for refunds After doling out more than $845 million to former Amazon Prime customers, Amazon is expanding the qualifications needed for refunds stemming from its settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Three days into a trial last year, Amazon and the regulatory agency reached a settlement in which the e-commerce giant agreed to pay $2.5 billion to settle claims it tricked customers into $139 Prime memberships. The settlement included a $1 billion civil penalty and $1.5 billion in refunds. In a Sept. 11 joint filing between the FTC and Amazon, the company said it’s finished the first two phases of its reimbursement process. At first, the company issued automatic payments up to $51 to Amazon Prime subscribers who enrolled between June 23, 2019, and June 23, 2025, and had used Prime benefits no more than three times in a year. Amazon also opened a claims process, eligible for those who tried to cancel their Prime membership during those six years. Since less than $1 billion of the allocated refunds have been issued, Amazon is now expanding eligibility to those who used Prime no more than four times in a year, and will keep broadening the pool of customers until the terms of the settlement are met.

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Bond yields rise, oil prices swing

BY STAN CHOE

AP business writer NEW YORK — Wall Street capped an up-and-down week Friday with a mixed ﬁnish for U.S. stock indexes, as elevated bond yields and oil prices weighed on the market. The majority of stocks on Wall Street fell, and helping to weaken them was rising pressure from the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 5% from 4.94% late Thursday after it topped the 5% level early this week for the ﬁrst time since 2023. Higher yields slow the overall economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money, from the U.S. government to people looking to buy houses to businesses wanting to build AI

data centers. They also tend to undercut prices for stocks and other investments. Yields have been climbing in a long march since the COVID pandemic knocked them nearly to zero in 2020. The ascent has accelerated recently because inﬂation has remained stubbornly high for years. Inﬂation is well above 3% by several measures. It worsened due to higher oil prices caused by the war with Iran. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, got to nearly $110 early this week, up from a little over $70 in July. It has been seesawing since. Rising oil prices have pushed gasoline prices to $4.47 per gallon, up from $3.20 per gallon a year ago, according to AAA. That is

tightening the squeeze on household budgets. Diesel prices are at a record $6.45 per gallon and that has a more direct impact on shipping costs for everything from groceries to clothing. Steel maker Nucor said late Thursday that it expects to report an increase in proﬁt from its steel mills business in the third quarter from the second because it’s able to charge higher prices. But it’s also having to absorb higher costs. Its stock sank 6.3%. Elsewhere on Wall Street, General Motors fell 5.1% and Qualcomm dropped 5.8%. Among stocks that gained ground were Coinbase Global, which climbed 11.7% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks, and Robinhood Markets, which

climbed 9.1%. The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate in a widely expected move, up to its highest level in 31 years. It followed the Federal Reserve, which raised its federal funds rate earlier this week for the first time in three years in efforts to rein in high inﬂation. “With consumer spending resilient, the AI buildout continuing, and the labor market solid, the Fed was running out of reasons to stay on the sidelines after more than five years of above-target inflation,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior global strategist, investment strategy, at Edward Jones. AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

Warren Buffett gives up title of Berkshire Hathaway chair

Oldest son replaces him as part of succession plan BY JOSH FUNK and MICHELLE CHAPMAN

AP business writers

OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett is stepping down as chair of Berkshire Hathaway in the next step of the transition at the top of the $1 trillion conglomerate he led for more than six decades. Buffett, 96, will become chair emeritus and will take on his new role immediately, the company said Friday. His oldest son, Howard, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chair, part of a long-planned succession. Howard Buffett has been on the Berkshire Hathaway board since 1993. Warren Buffett, known by a legion of ﬁnancial market followers as the Oracle of Omaha, will remain a director. He had been Berkshire Hathaway’s chair since 1970, but he took control of the struggling New England textile company in 1965. Greg Abel took over for Buffett as the CEO of the $1 trillion conglomerate at the start of this year though Buffett continued to come into the ofﬁce each day to look for new investments and deals and offer Abel any advice. It’s not clear whether Buffett will change his routine at all now. “I have served Berkshire since 1965,” Buffett said in a letter to shareholders. “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world. That is not something many people my age can say, and I have never felt better about Abel what comes next.” Investor Adam Mead, who wrote “The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway,” said Buffett seems to trying to lessen the impact on Berkshire when he eventually dies by taking this step now. Berkshire’s announcement didn’t reveal any health issues for Buffett, but Mead said “He’s now 96, so even a cold could be a health scare.”

Greg Abel will continue as CEO Buffett said that he is conﬁdent with Abel and his son Howard leading Berkshire Hathaway. “Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values — both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” he said. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.” Abel started managing all of Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses in 2018 when he was elevated to vice chair, so he knows the

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NATI HARNIK

Warren Buffett, then chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge after the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. Berkshire Hathaway announced Friday that Buffett is stepping down as chair. various companies well including BNSF railroad, the utilities and manufacturing operations as well as name brands like Dairy Queen. But CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert said investors still have questions about how well Abel will be able to deploy Berkshire’s massive $365 billion cash pile. “There was a premium awarded Berkshire stock because of their ﬁnancial strengths and because of this famed investor who was allocating capital. I think it’s naive to assume that this is business as usual. It’s not,” Seifert said. “What this does is amplify some of the execution risk in the strategy and the signiﬁcance of the transition.”

The next orderly step in succession plan Michael Withers, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said Buffett took a deliberate approach to Berkshire Hathaway’s succession plans and has carried out the transition step by step. “Buffett seems to have understood that succeeding him wasn’t just about ﬁnding another extraordinary leader,” he said. “It was about building a structure that could preserve what makes Berkshire different long after he has stepped away. The test moving forward will be whether Abel and Howard can honor that legacy while still giving Berkshire room to adapt to a market that looks very different from the one Buffett mastered.”

Buffett’s fortune has been amassed through Berkshire Hathaway stock. Buffett built the company into an investing conglomerate and an icon of Wall Street by buying insurance companies and reinvesting the money from premiums in stocks and other companies. In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became the ﬁrst non-tech company valued at more than $1 trillion. Buffett, a longtime philanthropist, has given away roughly $66 billion worth of stock since 2006 with the bulk of that going to his friend Bill Gates’ foundation. But this summer he announced that his three children will now take over all of the charitable decisions and distribute the rest of his fortune by the end of 2034. Buffett’s take on ﬁnance has created its own gravitational pull. When Berkshire Hathaway reveals the stocks that the company has acquired or sold in public disclosures, it can shake markets. During his time as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the company nearly doubled the returns of the S&P 500, with a 19.9% compounded annual growth rate compared with the index’s 10.4% gain. “Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business,” Abel said in a statement. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.”

Anthropic says Claude is helping to build the next version of itself BY KAITLYN HUAMANI AP technology writer

Anthropic’s Claude is helping the company develop the next, more intelligent version of the model, the artiﬁcial intelligence lab said in an announcement Thursday. Claude is leading 26% of Anthropic’s model research and development, which the company said means it can complete most of a given task “end-to-end from a high-level prompt” while still being under human supervision. The model is not yet working completely autonomously. Still, about 90% of the company’s research and development is done

in “collaboration” with Claude, which Anthropic said means the model can do “large chunks of work under close human direction.” The announcement came as some leading ﬁgures in AI, led in large part by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, are calling for a slowdown in the technology’s development over safety concerns. The company said that models accelerating their own development could make it “more challenging for humans to understand or control these systems.” It argued that sharing these metrics could lead to better understanding of how close leading AI labs

are to reaching recursive self-improvement, or a model’s ability to autonomously build its successor. Anthropic also urged other AI developers to share similar metrics on a regular basis, encouraging the use of a public methodology so the numbers could be compared over time, and potentially across labs. It was unclear from Anthropic’s disclosure how close the company believes it is to achieving recursive self-improvement, but the pace at which Claude has increasingly contributed to research and development is notable. The portion of work Claude “leads,” or does in large part while remaining under

human supervision, was none in February. Six months later, it was leading a quarter of research and development work, reaching that benchmark in August. The company also shared details of agent oversight measures it has in place, noting that there were approximately 30,000 agents doing research and engineering work as of August. Oversight measures are crucial for seeing how often agent misbehavior is detected by monitoring systems, the company said. Anthropic recently committed to setting up external third-party evaluators who will be embedded within the company to monitor safety efforts.

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

ANOTHER VIEW

ARTISTS’ VIEWS

Looking deeper into polls can often reveal the currents moving voters Each day, a new poll is released. The media usually focuses on just top-line results and misses important nuggets buried in the data. Trends and election dynamics — what’s happening and why — are often overlooked. In this column, we’ll dig into some of those nuggets. They offer clues for the 2026 and 2028 elections. From the Financial Times-Focaldata national poll: n Of President Donald Trump’s supporters in the last presidential election, 45% now disapprove of his handling of the inflation issue and 31% disapprove of his handling of Iran. n Donald Trump Jr. does better than Ron DeSantis, Robert Kennedy Jr., Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson for the next Republican presidential nomination. But despite the power of the Trump name among party voters, the Ron president’s son — who runs third — receives Faucheux only 9%. He’s behind JD Vance at 40% and Marco Rubio at 19%. n Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez polls ahead of Pete Buttigieg, Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly, Jon Ossoff, Andy Beshear and Rahm Emanuel for the Democratic nomination. AOC runs third at 10%, behind Kamala Harris at 31% and Gavin Newsom at 13%. Recently, Newsom said he wouldn’t run if Harris does. n AOC does much better among younger than older Democrats. The reverse is true for Ossoff, Buttigieg and Kelly, who run stronger among older folks. n Newsom and AOC poll much better among men than women. Harris polls better among women than men. From the Economist/YouGov national poll: n 16% of voters nationwide say it can be “justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to achieve political goals.” The figure rises to 26% among liberals and 18-29-year-olds. Democrats are more likely to say this than Republicans (18% vs. 9%). n Share of voters who now say the U.S. made a “mistake” fighting the following wars: Vietnam, 60%; Afghanistan, 47%; Iraq, 52%; Iran, 50%; Korea, 27%; World War I, 12%; and World War II, 8%. n 51% of voters think the U.S. will be safer from terrorism if it “confronts” the countries and groups that promote terrorism; 49% think the U.S. will be safer from terrorism if it “stays out” of other countries’ affairs. Republicans are much more likely to favor confrontation than Democrats, 74% vs. 28%. n Getting “a lot” of blame for inflation: federal spending, 66%; corporate profit-seeking, 64%; price of foreign oil, 61%; tariffs, 58%; war in Iran, 58%; Donald Trump, 56%; Republicans, 52%; billionaires, 50%; Democrats, 39%; and immigration policy, 37%. n Among all likely voters, these are the words most commonly used to describe Trump: corrupt, 56%; dangerous, 56%; cruel, 51%; out-of-touch, 50%; racist, 50%; divisive, 45%; bold, 44%; strong, 38%; intelligent, 34%; effective, 33%; honest, 24%; steady, 20%; and inspiring, 19%. n Only 8% of Democrats say their party is “too extreme,” and 9% of Republicans say that about their party. More importantly, 47% of independents, who often swing close elections, say Democrats are “too extreme,” and 56% say Republicans are “too extreme.” n Only 15% of Democrats, 13% of independents and 39% of Republicans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the criminal justice system. State nuggets: n Shootout at gender gap: Democrat James Talarico leads women by 16 points in the Texas Senate race; Republican Ken Paxton leads men by 14 points. (Mason-Dixon poll). n Change is the word: Of the latest six polls in the Michigan Senate race, far-left Democrat Abdul El-Sayed leads Republican Mike Rogers in five of them. Why? About 65% of voters believe El-Sayed will “try to change things a lot” in Washington, while only 20% say the same about Rogers. Nearly two-thirds of Michigan’s voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance. (CNN poll.) n Quick turnaround: Trump carried Iowa for president every time, but his favorable rating there is now down to 41%. A recent poll has Democrat Josh Turek and Republican Ashley Hinson tied in the open Senate race, 43% each. It also has Democrat Ron Sand leading the gubernatorial contest by four points. (Iowans for Tax Relief/Cygnal poll.) n Corruption matters: Minnesota has a strong record of voting for Democrats. But in this election, Democratic Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan has watched her polling lead dwindle from five points in mid-August to one point now. According to polling, political corruption is the top issue. (Co/ efficient poll.) Will keep digging. More nuggets to come. Ron Faucheux is a nonpartisan political analyst, pollster and writer based in Louisiana.

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L S u A T o L e m i S S • 6 : 3 0 p. m . S A T u r d A y • A b c

LSu’s clash with ole miss reveals community’s raw, complex feelings on Kiffin’s swap

XFORD, Miss. — A Johnny Vaught statue stands by the entrance to The Library. But once you open its doors, nobody is reading inside. Cups of beer have replaced the books. Residents sit on black barstools instead, drinking and socializing around an island bar, with TVs showing NFL Network or ESPN everywhere you look up. It’s a college town sports bar where almost everybody knows everybody. And everybody loves Ole Miss football. The effigy of Vaught — the legendary Ole Miss coach who led the Rebels to six Southeastern Conference titles in 25 seasons — represents what this bar is all about. But when the conversation — in between sips of beer and a round of shots — shifts to Lane Kiffin and LSU on the week of Kiffin’s return to Oxford, not every Ole Miss fan is caught up in exacting revenge on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC) against their former coach. “The season has started now. We don’t care anymore,” Todd Murphy, an Ole Miss fan of 36 years, said. “You’ve got to move on.” His friend, a season-ticket holder and Ole Miss fan of 40 years (who declined to reveal his name for this story), agrees. He believes most true Rebels fans don’t care that Kiffin’s back, and the fans who do care are mostly “younger folks.” ä See LSU, page 2C

2C ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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LSU GAMEDAY

BROADCAST INFORMATION LSU at Ole Miss

6:30 p.m. Saturday, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, Miss. TV: ABC | Line: LSU by 3½ Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1; WWL-AM 870; WWL-FM 105.3; KLWB-FM 103.7

TEAM SCHEDULES LSU Date Opponent 9.5 Clemson 9.12 La. Tech 9.19 at Ole Miss 9.26 Texas A&M 10.3 McNeese 10.10 at Kentucky 10.17 Mississippi State 10.24 at Auburn 11.7 Alabama 11.14 Texas 11.21 at Tennessee 11.28 at Arkansas

Ole Miss Time/TV W, 51-10 W, 45-14 6:30 p.m./ABC 6:30 p.m./ABC 6:45 p.m./SECN TBD TBD 11 a.m./TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Date 9.6 9.12 9.19 9.26 10.10 10.17 10.24 10.31 11.7 11.14 11.21 11.27

Opponent Louisville Charlotte LSU at Florida at Vanderbilt Missouri at Texas Auburn Georgia at Oklahoma Wofford Mississippi State

Time/TV W, 41-38 W, 41-9 6:30 p.m./ABC 2:30 p.m./TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD 11 a.m./SECN+ 11 a.m./ABC STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin walks with rapper Boosie, right, down Victory Hill before a game against Louisiana Tech on Sept. 12 at Tiger Stadium. Kiffin will face his former team, Ole Miss, for the first time since leaving in November.

DEPTH CHARTS LSU

Ole Miss

OFFENSE

WIDE RECEIVER

6 WINSTON WATKINS 2 Tre Brown

WIDE RECEIVER

3 EUGENE WILSON 4 Jackson Harris

WIDE RECEIVER

1 JAYCE BROWN 88 Malik Elzy

LEFT TACKLE

77 JORDAN SEATON 65 Sean Thompkins

LEFT GUARD

67 BO BORDELON 70 Devin Harper

CENTER

61 BRAELIN MOORE 50 William Satterwhile

RIGHT GUARD

55 ALIOU BAH 70 Devin Harper

RIGHT TACKLE

75 WESTON DAVIS 69 Darrin Strey

TIGHT END

14 TREY’DEZ GREEN 12 Malachi Thomas 44 Zach Grace

QUARTERBACK

10 SAM LEAVITT 11 Landen Clark 8 Husan Longstreet

RUNNING BACK

13 DILIN JONES 23 Stacy Gage

1 PRINCEWILL UMANMIELEN 55 Lamar Brown

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

90 STEPHIYLAN GREEN 88 Richard Anderson 96 Dominick McKinley

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

99 DEUCE GERALDS 47 Malik Blocton

DEFENSIVE END

29 JORDAN ROSS 97 Dylan Carpenter

LINEBACKER

40 WHIT WEEKS 42 Davhon Keys

LINEBACKER

6 TJ DOTTERY 24 Tylen Singleton

STAR

10 DASHAWN SPEARS 31 CJ Jimcoily

CORNERBACK

5 DJ PICKETT 21 Michael Turner

CORNERBACK

11 PJ WOODLAND 8 Ja’Keem Jackson

SAFETY

2 TY BENEFIELD 13 Faheem Delane

SAFETY

0 TAMARCUS COOLEY 28 Jhase Thomas

Continued from page 1C

WIDE RECEIVER 5-10 6-2

182 190

So. Sr.

1 DEUCE ALEXANDER 0 Johntay Cook

6-0 5-11

180 185

Sr. Sr.

6-2 5-11

205 185

Sr. Sr.

6-1 6-2

215 205

So. Sr.

6-4 6-6

310 305

Jr. Fr.

6-4 6-2

325 310

Sr. Sr.

6-5 5-11

310 270

Sr. Jr.

6-6 6-5

315 305

Sr. Jr.

6-6 6-6

315 355

So. Sr.

6-2 6-5

240 245

Sr. Jr.

6-0 6-5

210 230

Sr. So.

5-11 5-10 5-11

205 210 190

Jr. Jr. So.

6-5 6-6

300 250

Jr. Sr.

6-3 6-5

315 340

Jr. Jr.

6-1 6-5

305 335

Sr. Sr.

6-1 6-3

220 245

Sr. Sr.

6-1 6-1

235 230

Sr. So.

6-3 6-1

230 235

Jr. Jr.

6-0 5-11

195 175

Sr. Sr.

5-11 6-1

190 185

Sr. Fr.

6-0 6-0

190 180

Sr. Jr.

5-11 6-0

195 200

Sr. Jr.

6-0 5-11

200 190

Sr. So.

WIDE RECEIVER 11 HORATIO FIELDS 12 Izaiah Hartup

5-11 6-2

190 202

Jr. Jr.

5-11 6-2

175 217

Sr. Jr.

6-5 6-5

307 308

Jr. Jr.

6-6 6-4

305 312

Sr. So.

6-2 6-3

301 293

Sr. So.

6-5 6-4

327 312

Sr. So.

6-6 6-7

315 314

So. Fr.

6-7 6-3 6-2

237 242 236

Jr. Jr. Jr.

6-2 6-0 6-1

216 195 195

Jr. So. Fr.

5-11 5-10

211 204

So. So.

6-4 6-5

244 285

Sr. Fr.

6-3 6-3 6-6

296 339 297

Jr. Fr. Jr.

6-1 6-3

279 286

Fr. Jr.

6-5 6-3

246 252

Jr. Jr.

6-3 6-0

223 227

Sr. Jr.

6-2 6-1

225 227

Sr. So.

6-3 6-3

209 218

Jr. So.

6-4 6-1

189 162

So. So.

14 EDWIN JOSEPH 29 Nick Cull

5-11 6-0

164 188

Jr. Jr.

2 JAYLON BRAXTON 16 Dorian Barney

6-3 6-2

208 213

Sr. Sr.

6-0 6-1

206 175

Jr. Fr.

DEFENSE DEFENSIVE END

LSU

WIDE RECEIVER 3 CALEB CUNNINGHAM 7 Traylon Ray

LEFT TACKLE 55 TEREZ DAVIS 71 Emmanuel Faulkner

LEFT GUARD 51 DELANO TOWNSEND 50 Troy Everett

CENTER 62 BRYCEN SANDERS 69 Joe Koury

RIGHT GUARD 75 PATRICK KUTAS 76 John Wayne Oliver

RIGHT TACKLE 65 CONNOR HOWES 61 Tommy Kinsler

TIGHT END 9 LUKE HASZ 4 Caleb Odom

QUARTERBACK 6 TRINIDAD CHAMBLISS 2 Deuce Knight

RUNNING BACK 5 KEWAN LACY 25 Makhi Frazier 26 JT Lindsey

DEFENSE DEFENSIVE END 5 KAM FRANKLIN 17 Jonathan Maldonado

DEFENSIVE TACKLE 52 WILL ECHOLES 88 Michai Boireau

DEFENSIVE TACKLE 96 JAMARIOUS BROWN 9 Jaheim Oatis

BUCK 4 SUNTARINE PERKINS 3 Blake Purchase

LINEBACKER 11 KEATON THOMAS 23 Jarcoby Hopson

LINEBACKER 12 LUKE FERRELLI 49 Tah’j Butler

NICKEL

CORNERBACK

CORNERBACK 8 ANTONIO KITE 0 Jalyn Crawford

SAFETY 7 SHARIF DENSON 20 Anthony Robinson

SAFETY KICKER

6 JOENEL AGUERO 31 Ladarian Clardy

SPECIAL TEAMS

80 SCOTT STARZYK

PUNTER

90 GRANT CHADWICK 99 Hayden Craig

LONG SNAPPER

39 MACK MULHERN 43 Silas Hall

KICK RETURNER

3 Eugene Wilson 22 Harlem Berry

PUNT RETURNER

3 EUGENE WILSON 1 Jayce Brown

5-9

175

So.

6-5 6-1

208 211

Jr. Fr.

6-1 6-3

224 213

Fr. So.

5-11 5-10

190 193

Jr. Sr.

50 CALEB BLANKENSHIP

5-11 5-11

190 175

Jr. Sr.

PUNT RETURNER

KICKER

SPECIAL TEAMS

17 LUCAS CARNEIRO

PUNTER

33 Oscar Bird

LONG SNAPPER

KICK RETURNER

1 DEUCE ALEXANDER 7 Traylon Ray

5-11

195

Sr.

6-3

220

Jr.

6-2

235

Jr.

6-0

180

Sr.

6-2

205

Sr.

COACHES Lane Kiffin returns to Oxford, where he led the Rebels to a 55-19 record in six years.

Pete Golding is 4-1 as the Ole Miss head coach, counting his 2-1 CFP record from last season.

“I have no problem with him coming back,” the fan said. “I think there’s a lot of tension in town, but it does not equate to what it could be. Everybody needs to basically chill out.” Nobody would blame Ole Miss fans if they act like their hair is on fire Saturday. Kiffin built their program into a College Football Playoff contender from the ashes of mediocrity, claiming he loved Ole Miss and needed the school more than the school needed him before packing his bags for Baton Rouge as the Rebels were on the precipice of making the College Football Playoff in November. Kiffin wasn’t the only member of last year’s Ole Miss team to make the trip to Louisiana. He brought nearly his entire offensive coaching staff and a few key players to LSU, most notably defensive end Princewill Umanmielen and linebacker TJ Dottery. Ole Miss is suing Umanmielen and LSU offensive lineman Devin Harper after both players — who had signed on to return to Ole Miss in 2026 — allegedly breached their revenuesharing contracts by leaving for LSU. This week, Ole Miss served Umanmielen court papers, reportedly doing so at the parking lot outside of the LSU football facility. “If he would have just left and taken the job, that would’ve been one thing,” Murphy said. “But he spent the next weeks and months actively trying to take us down.” It’s easy to spot signs of Rebel fans’ resentment of Kiffin throughout Oxford. Across the street from The Library, the local theater in town, The Lyric, hosted a Lane Kiffin Roast on Wednesday night. And at Big Bad Breakfast, just a four-minute drive down the road from The Lyric, Ole Miss fans can pick up a sticker that reads, “Lane Who? Whatever, just go to hell …” Another sign outside of a game-day apparel store references a comment made by an Ole Miss reporter about Kiffin’s propensity to change jobs, a jab that rubbed Kiffin the wrong way just before his departure. “You can’t turn a heaux into a housewife. #GTHLSU.” Ben Garrett — who, on a podcast, made the infamous remark by referencing lyrics from a Three 6 Mafia song featuring rappers Project Pat, Crunchy Black and Ludacris — was the opening speaker at the Kiffin roast on Wednesday. “If I would have said, ‘Hey Lane, a zebra can’t change its stripes,’ you think anybody would have given a s***?’ ” Garrett said. “But if you call a guy who makes $98 million by using Proj-

STAFF PHOTO By KOKI RILEy

A sign outside a pizza shop during Ole Miss-LSU rivalry week in Oxford, Miss.

ect Pat as a reference — ‘A ho can’t be turned into a housewife’ — he loses his mind.” Murphy and his friend may no longer hold a grudge against Kiffin, but the same can’t be said for every Ole Miss fan. “I’ve never really experienced a community be hurt like that from a coach,” Cali, a waitress at Ajax Diner who attended Ole Miss and has worked in Oxford for a decade, said. She declined to share her last name for this story. “That’s kind of what it’s about. Like, how dare he? How could he? Shame on him.” All this animosity toward Kiffin, combined with the hundreds of thousands of people expected on the Ole Miss campus for game day, has left at least some residents worried about traffic and their safety on Saturday. At High Point Coffee, customers have told Addy Stanford, a barista at the Oxford coffee shop, that Ole Miss fans’ rage toward Kiffin isn’t their only safety concern, either. “I’d say most people in Oxford are super nervous,” Stanford said. “Because, especially coming into this weekend, LSU fans are known not to be very good hosts and guests. So we’re kind of scared about how that’s going to be. “Everybody’s saying they’re either leaving town or they’re staying home.” The Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced Wednesday that it would have its largest security presence ever for a football game on Saturday, deploying 65-70 state troop-

STAFF PREDICTIONS JON BLAU

KOKI RILEY

OLE MISS 27, LSU 24 LSU’s effort versus Louisiana Tech raised questions. Can the Tigers run the ball consistently? Can Sam Leavitt limit his mistakes opposite a quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, who rarely makes poor decisions? The margins could be tight in a tense road environment, and LSU has to prove it can be on the right side of those breaking points. It wasn’t even clear midweek if Leavitt was playing Saturday, which adds another layer. Ole Miss earns the nod.

OLE MISS 24, LSU 21 Anyone who claims they feel good about either team’s chances is either delusional or lying. That’s how close this matchup is. LSU probably has the slightly more talented roster, but Ole Miss has the better quarterback. The Tigers’ defense is the best unit of the four, but the Rebels have home-field advantage. In the preseason, I picked Ole Miss to win, and I just haven’t seen enough from LSU to make me change that pick.

REED DARCEY

LSU 31, OLE MISS 24 My pick is predicated on LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt being healthy enough to play and play effectively. Even assuming he is, advantage Ole Miss at quarterback and running back, but the other position groups are even to edge for LSU. The Rebels will create a difficult atmosphere for the Tigers, but there isn’t a coach you would rather have on your sideline amid dizzying chaos than Lane Kiffin. Ultimately, defense tips the scales in LSU’s favor.

OLE MISS 31, LSU 28 It’s easy to get lost in all of the drama, all of the questions and all of the storylines surrounding the outcome of this game, but it all really boils down to one key concern: LSU’s rushing attack. Why did it work so well vs. Clemson, and why did it struggle vs. Louisiana Tech? The uncertainty nudged me toward Ole Miss. Trinidad Chambliss calms things down, and the Rebels pull out a win with a late score.

SCOTT RABALAIS

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ers and commercial transporCox saw technicians building tation officers in and around the show’s set on his way back the Ole Miss campus. from his accounting class LSU athletic director Verge Tuesday. He and Mayeaux also Ausberry said on Tuesday that suspect that their professors he is confident in the safety have given them more exams plan that he discussed with Ole this week because of the big Miss athletic director Keith game. Carter for Saturday’s game. “I think a lot of these teach“We’ve discussed things,” ers are more worried about Ausberry said. “We’re gonna making sure we have tests this be the adults in the room and week, a lot more schoolwork, make sure the game takes keeping us distracted and not place on the field.” talking about the game,” Cox But the wave of hatred exsaid. “I’m totally convinced pected to course through Oxit’s by design.” ford this weekend won’t inThe Oxford community’s clude everyone on campus. At excitement for Saturday least a few Ole Miss students goes well beyond the campus. have pushed aside any ill will Rebels fans have been looktoward Kiffin and can grasp ing forward to this matchup why he left for LSU. since the SEC revealed that Zac Cauthen, a freshman and Kiffin would return to Oxford Kappa Sigma fraternity pledge on Sept. 19. who has attended Ole Miss Abi Williams, a bartender games since he was 6 years at The Blind Pig, said on old, was disappointed when Monday that her roommate Kiffin left for Baton Rouge, already had started planning CALI, waitress at Ajax Diner but he now understands that what dress she would wear LSU’s bigger brand was likely on game day. Her colleague, in Oxford, on former Ole Miss too good to pass up. Cam Norwood, isn’t even an coach Lane Kiffin He largely agrees with MurOle Miss fan, but he’s excited phy and his friend that most for the rowdy environment die-hard Ole Miss fans see that will surely accompany Saturday’s game more as a the matchup. chance to earn a big win over a top-10 team, Stanford on Monday estimated that she’d not as an opportunity to get back at their foralready had 15 conversations about the game mer coach. with High Point Coffee customers that morn“Everyone that’s like me and they really like ing. The clock had yet to strike 10:30 a.m. Ole Miss, we don’t really see it as a hatred “Fans have been talking about this since thing or a personal thing,” Cauthen said. “We the offseason,” Ole Miss wide receiver Deuce see it more as a, ‘This game means something. Alexander told reporters on Tuesday. “Every Whoever wins this game is getting to the playtime they see me, it’s the only game they bring offs,’ that kind of thing. It has nothing to do up and have circled on the calendar.” with our feelings.” There are plenty of non-Kiffin-related reaMax Mayeaux, a junior at Ole Miss and a sons that make Saturday’s game a big deal. Kappa Sigma member, and his roommate, It’s a matchup between two top-10 teams in Trevor Cox, were surprised at first that Kiffin the AP Top 25 poll, and a game that may go a decided to leave. But in hindsight, they can long way in determining both teams’ fate in understand the logic behind the move. the CFP race. “At that time, obviously, I was shocked that But as much as Kiffin says Saturday is about he left,” Mayeaux said. “But now that I look at what happens between the lines, all eyes will it, I don’t know Lane Kiffin personally, but he be fixated on him pacing along the sideline. thought that was the best decision for him. He’s The last time he returned to a school (Tennesa great coach. He’s going to do great things see) that he’d previously scorned for another with LSU, and LSU’s definitely going to win a (Southern Cal), Volunteer fans threw a golf bunch of games.” ball, a mustard bottle and beer cans at him. Not all of their classmates respected Kiffin’s His return to Knoxville came 11 years after move to LSU. Mayeaux and Cox both know he had left. This time, Kiffin is coming back people who went to the airport the day Kiffin to Oxford facing a fan base still trying to heal flew from Oxford to Baton Rouge after he was from a fresh wound. hired, students who weren’t afraid to scream Just don’t tell that to Murphy and his friend obscenities at their former coach as he was back at The Library. Kiffin could’ve been the greeted by Ausberry on the tarmac. next Vaught, but they’ve already gotten over it. That was nearly 10 months ago. Cox and “We’re not Tennessee,” Murphy said bluntly. Mayeaux say the anticipation on campus for this weekend is palpable. ESPN’s “College Email Koki Riley at GameDay” will be in town on Saturday, and koki.riley@theadvocate.com.

I’ve never really experienced a community be hurt like that from a coach. That’s kind of what it’s about. Like, how dare he? How could he? Shame on him.”

OFFENSIVE LEADERS LSU

Ole Miss

PASSING

Player

Cmp-Att-Pct Yards TD Int

Sam Leavitt

41-66-62.1

574

RUSHING

Player

Att

Dilin Jones Sam Leavitt Stacy Gage Landen Clark Winston Watkins Harlem Berry

Net

41 23 12 7 2 5

Avg TD

179 135 53 42 20 13

4.4 5.9 4.4 6.0 10.0 2.6

2 5 0 1 0 0

PASSING

Player

Cmp-Att-Pct Yards TD Int

Trinidad Chambliss 44-62-71.0

Kewan Lacy Trinidad Chambliss Makhi Frazier JT Lindsey Deuce Knight Johntay Cook II

10 12 10 4 3 2 4 1 1

162 153 128 112 70 37 15 15 14

16.2 12.8 12.8 28.0 23.3 18.5 3.8 15.0 14.0

1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

KICKING Player

XPM XPA FGM FGA

Scott Starzyk

Att

Net

Avg TD

30 12 9 8 4 1

148 62 38 28 27 -3

4.9 5.2 4.2 3.5 6.8 -3

3 1 0 0 1 0

Player

Rec Yards Avg TD

Deuce Alexander Horatio Fields Caleb Odom Caleb Cunningham Traylon Ray Dillon Alfred Kewan Lacy

13 9 3 6 4 1 5

235 113 66 65 56 34 18

18.1 12.6 22.0 10.8 14.0 34.0 3.6

2 1 1 0 0 0 0

KICKING Player

XPM XPA FGM FGA

Keagen Kent Hunter Roux

10 1

0 1

DEFENSIVE LEADERS TACKLES Player

Tot Solo Ast Loss Sk

TJ Dottery 14 Whit Weeks 12 Princewell Umanmielen 11 Dashawn Spears 7 Jordan Ross 7 Faheem Delane 7 Kolaj Cobbins 6 Deuce Geralds 5 Davhon Keys 5 CJ Jimcoily 5 Ty Beneﬁeld 5 DJ Pickett 3 Dylan Carpenter 3 Zach Weeks 3 Stephiylan Green 3 Tamarcus Cooley 2

7 5 6 5 3 1 2 5 2 1 2 3 2 0 0 2

7 7 5 2 4 6 4 0 3 4 3 0 1 3 3 0

1 1.5 6.5 1 4 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 1.5 0 1 0

0 0 5 1 1.5 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

INTERCEPTIONS Player

Tot Yards Avg TD BU

DJ Pickett

32.0

TACKLES

Player

Tah’j Butler Luke Ferrelli Keaton Thomas Jaylon Braxton Suntarine Perkins Jalyn Crawford Edwin Joseph Jamarious Brown Kam Franklin Blake Purchase Joenel Aguero Jonathon Maldonado Dante Core Will Echoles Ladarian Clardy Nick Cull Andy Jaffe

Player

Tot Solo Ast Loss Sk 12 12 12 11 10 8 7 6 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3

6 7 5 6 5 5 4 1 4 3 1 2 3 0 1 2 1

6 5 7 5 5 3 3 5 2 3 4 3 1 4 2 1 2

1 1 1 0.5 1.5 0 0 0.5 2 1.5 0 1 0 0.5 0.5 1 1.0

0 1 0 0 0.5 0 0 0 1 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.0

INTERCEPTIONS

Tot Yards Avg TD BU

Nick Cull

38.0

OFFENSE PER GAME Yards gained: 586.0

OFFENSE PER GAME Yards gained: 454.0

Plays: 89.0

Plays: 68.0

PASS 358.0

RUSH 228.0

PASS 38.5

RUSH 50.5

Turnovers: 2.50

PASS 314.5

RUSH 139.5.0

PASS 35.5

RUSH 32.5

Turnovers: 1.50

INTERCEPTIONS 2.00

FUMBLES 0.50

INTERCEPTIONS 1.00

FUMBLES 0.50

DEFENSE PER GAME Yards allowed: 142.0

DEFENSE PER GAME Yards allowed: 395.5

PASS 124.0

PASS 243.0

RUSH 18.0

FUMBLES 1.00

INTERCEPTIONS 0.50

SCORING PER GAME SCORED ALLOWED

RUSH 152.5

Turnovers forced: 0.50

INTERCEPTIONS 1.00

FUMBLES 0.00

SCORING PER GAME

SCORED ALLOWED

41.0

48.0 22.8

23.5

19.8

12.0 2026

2025

36.9 21.1

2025

CONVERSION SUCCESS

Third down

42.4%

Fourth down

Fail

35.0%

0.0% 57.6%

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Convert

100.0%

Fail

Fourth down

50.0%

65%

Convert

Fail

Convert

Fail

50.0%

Convert

COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE State

Nation

Saturday’s games

Thursday’s games EAST

Tulane (1-1) at Kansas St. (2-0), 11 a.m. Louisiana Tech (1-1) at Baylor (1-1), 3 p.m. Southeastern (1-2) at UL-Monroe (0-2), 3:30 p.m. Louisiana Christian (3-0) at Southern (1-2), 6 p.m. Nicholls (2-1) at Sam Houston St. (0-2), 6 p.m. LSU (2-0) at Ole Miss (2-0), 6:30 p.m. McNeese St. (1-2) at UT Rio Grande Valley (1-2), 7 p.m. Northwestern State (0-3) at Weber St. (1-2), 7 p.m. UAB (1-1) at UL (1-1), 7 p.m.

Top 25 Friday’s games

No. 5 Miami (2-0) at Wake Forest (2-0), n No. 13 Texas Tech (2-0) vs. No. 22 Houston (2-0), n No. 21 Oregon (1-1) vs. Portland St. (0-3), n

Saturday’s games

No. 1 Texas (2-0) vs. UTSA (2-0), 7 p.m. No. 2 Georgia (2-0) at Arkansas (1-1), 11 a.m. No. 3 Notre Dame (2-0) vs. Michigan St. (2-0), 6:30 p.m. No. 4 Indiana (2-0) vs. W. Kentucky (0-2), 3 p.m. No. 6 Ohio St. (1-1) vs. Kent St. (1-1), 11 a.m. No. 7 LSU (2-0) at No. 8 Ole Miss (2-0), 6:30 p.m. No. 9 Texas A&M (2-0) vs. Kentucky (1-1), 2:30 p.m. No. 10 Alabama (2-0) vs. Florida St. (1-1), 2:30 p.m. No. 11 BYU (2-0) at Colorado St. (2-0), 6:30 p.m. No. 12 Southern Cal (3-0) at Rutgers (0-2), 2:30 p.m. No. 14 Penn St. (2-0) vs. Buffalo (1-1), 11 a.m. No. 15 Tennessee (2-0) vs. Kennesaw St. (1-1), 6:45 p.m. No. 16 SMU (2-0) at No. 23 Louisville (1-1), 2:30 p.m. No. 17 Utah (2-0) vs. Utah St. (0-2), 2:30 p.m. No. 18 Iowa (2-0) vs. N. Iowa (1-1), 3 p.m. No. 19 Michigan (2-0) vs. UTEP (1-1), 2:30 p.m. No. 20 Missouri (2-0) vs. Troy (2-0), 6 p.m. No. 24 Oklahoma (1-1) vs. New Mexico (2-0), 6:30 p.m. No. 25 Virginia (2-0) vs. W. Virginia (2-0), 6:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh 27, Syracuse 13

Saturday’s games EAST

Coastal Carolina (1-1) at Delaware (1-1), 10:30 a.m. Villanova (1-2) at LIU Brooklyn (0-3), 11 a.m. Brown (0-0) at New Haven (1-2), 11 a.m. Lafayette (1-1) at Columbia (0-0), 11 a.m. Dartmouth (0-0) at Lehigh (3-0), 11 a.m. Princeton (0-0) at Bryant (2-1), noon Glenville St. (0-1) at Mercyhurst (0-3), noon Harvard (0-0) at New Hampshire (1-2), noon Cornell (0-0) at Colgate (2-1), noon Maine (1-2) at Boston College (1-1), 1 p.m. Yale (0-0) at Holy Cross (0-3), 1 p.m. Rhode Island (2-1) at Stony Brook (1-2), 1:30 p.m. Penn (0-0) at Bucknell (1-2), 2 p.m. Stonehill (1-2) at UMass (2-0), 2:30 p.m. Monmouth (NJ) (1-2) at Albany (NY) (2-1), 2:30 p.m. Southern Cal (3-0) at Rutgers (0-2), 2:30 p.m. Morgan St. (2-1) at Towson (0-3), 5 p.m. Virginia Tech (2-0) at Maryland (2-0), 6:30 p.m.

SOUTH

Mercer (2-1) at Georgia Tech (0-2), 11 a.m. North Carolina (2-0) at Clemson (1-1), 11 a.m. West Georgia (0-3) at ETSU (1-2), 11 a.m. NC State (1-1) at Vanderbilt (2-0), 11:45 a.m. VMI (0-3) at Davidson (1-2), noon Presbyterian (1-1) at W. Carolina (1-2), 1:30 p.m. Florida St. (1-1) at Alabama (2-0), 2:30 p.m. SMU (2-0) at Louisville (1-1), 2:30 p.m. Georgetown (0-1) at Richmond (2-1), 2:30 p.m. Va. Lynchburg (0-2) at Bethune-Cookman (1-1), 3 p.m. Hampton (1-2) at Norfolk St. (1-2), 3 p.m. Ball St. (1-1) at Liberty (1-1), 3 p.m.

Stanford (1-1) at Duke (2-0), 3 p.m. Mississippi St. (2-0) at South Carolina (2-0), 3:15 p.m. NC A&T (0-3) at Campbell (2-1), 5 p.m. East Carolina (0-2) at Old Dominion (1-1), 5 p.m. Point (Ga.) (0-0) at Charleston Southern (1-2), 5 p.m. Fordham (0-3) at William & Mary (2-1), 5 p.m. Wofford (2-1) at Chattanooga (1-2), 5 p.m. NC Central (2-1) at Gardner-Webb (0-3), 5 p.m. Charlotte (0-2) at Appalachian St. (2-0), 5 p.m. Sacred Heart (0-2) at Elon (2-1), 5 p.m. Dayton (2-0) at E. Kentucky (1-2), 5 p.m. FIU (1-1) at FAU (1-1), 5 p.m. Louisiana College (1-0) at Southern U. (1-2), 6 p.m. SC State (3-0) at Furman (2-1), 6 p.m. Tuskegee (0-0) at Jackson St. (2-0), 6 p.m. Florida (2-0) at Auburn (2-0), 6 p.m. Austin Peay (2-1) at West Florida (2-0), 6 p.m. Ohio (1-1) at South Alabama (1-1), 6 p.m. Delaware St. (2-1) at South Florida (2-0), 6 p.m. Nevada (1-1) at Middle Tennessee (1-1), 6 p.m. Tennessee St. (0-3) at Florida A&M (1-2), 6 p.m. Alcorn St. (2-1) at North Alabama (1-2), 6 p.m. Delta St. (0-0) at MVSU (1-2), 6 p.m. Georgia Southern (1-1) at Jacksonville St. (1-2), 6 p.m. Bowie St. (0-1) at Alabama A&M (2-1), 6 p.m. UT Martin (1-2) at Memphis (2-1), 6 p.m. UConn (1-1) at Southern Miss. (1-1), 6 p.m. Georgia St. (2-0) at UCF (1-1), 6 p.m.

MIDWEST

TEAM STATS

Turnovers forced: 2.00

LSU coach Lane Kifﬁn walks to chat with defensive players during a Clemson timeout in the ﬁrst quarter on Sept. 5 at Tiger Stadium.

RECEIVING

Rec Yards Avg TD

Trey’Dez Green Winston Watkins Eugene Wilson III Jackson Harris Phillip Wright III Tyree Holloway Dilin Jones Corey Barber Jayce Brown

RUSHING

Player

RECEIVING Player

561

Kansas (1-1) vs. Arizona St. (1-1) at London, United Kingdom, 11 a.m. Bowling Green (0-2) at Iowa St. (1-1), 11 a.m. Akron (1-1) at Minnesota (1-1), 11 a.m. E. Michigan (1-2) at Wisconsin (1-1), 11:30 a.m. Valparaiso (1-1) at Indiana St. (1-2), noon Chicago State (1-2) at Butler (2-1), noon Wyoming (1-1) at Cent. Michigan (1-1), noon S. Illinois (2-1) at Illinois (1-1), 1 p.m. S. Utah (1-2) at St. Thomas (Minn.) (2-1), 1 p.m.

Temple (1-1) at Toledo (1-1), 2 p.m. E. Illinois (1-2) at Illinois St. (3-0), 2 p.m. Cincinnati (2-0) vs. Miami (Ohio) (1-1) at Cincinnati, 2:30 p.m. W. Kentucky (0-2) at Indiana (2-0), 3 p.m. Marshall (1-1) at Missouri St. (1-1), 5:30 p.m. Morehead St. (1-2) at W. Illinois (1-2), 6 p.m. Youngstown St. (2-1) at S. Dakota St. (2-1), 6 p.m. Cent. Arkansas (2-1) at SE Missouri (1-2), 6 p.m. North Dakota (3-0) at Nebraska (2-0), 6:15 p.m. Colorado (2-0) at Northwestern (1-0), 6:30 p.m.

SOUTHWEST

North Texas (1-1) at Texas State (0-2), 11 a.m. Georgia (2-0) at Arkansas (1-1), 11 a.m. Central St. (Ohio) (0-1) at Ark.-Pine Bluff (1-2), 4 p.m. W. Michigan (1-1) at Rice (1-1), 6 p.m. Murray St. (1-2) at Oklahoma St. (1-1), 6 p.m. Merrimack (1-2) at Tarleton St. (3-0), 6 p.m. Houston Christian (2-1) at Incarnate Word (1-1), 6 p.m. Arkansas St. (1-1) at TCU (1-1), 7 p.m. East Texas A&M (1-2) at Tulsa (2-0), 7 p.m. Stephen F. Austin (3-0) at Prairie View (1-2), 7 p.m.

FAR WEST

CCSU (0-2) at Montana St. (3-0), 2 p.m. Duquesne (0-2) at Washington St. (0-2), 2:30 p.m. Wagner (1-2) at California (1-1), 2:30 p.m. Abilene Christian (0-3) at Idaho (0-3), 3 p.m. E. Washington (1-2) at Washington (2-0), 6:15 p.m. Northeastern St. (0-0) at N. Colorado (0-3), 7 p.m. San Diego (0-2) at Cal Poly (2-1), 7 p.m. N. Arizona (2-1) at Utah Tech (0-3), 7 p.m. Stetson (1-2) at UC Davis (2-1), 9 p.m. South Dakota (3-0) at Boise St. (1-1), 9 p.m. James Madison (2-0) at San Diego St. (1-1), 9 p.m. N. Dakota St. (3-0) at Sacramento St. (1-2), 9:30 p.m. N. Illinois (0-2) at Arizona (1-1), 9:30 p.m. Montana (3-0) at Oregon St. (0-2), 10 p.m. Fresno St. (1-1) at San Jose St. (2-1), 10 p.m. Purdue (1-1) at UCLA (2-0), 10 p.m.

4C ● Saturday, Septeember 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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THE NATION

THINGS TO WATCH IN WEEK 3 Who, what and where to keep an eye on in this week’s games around the nation

IRISH, SPARTANS REVIVE RIVALRY No. 3 Notre Dame and Michigan State have a storied rivalry without a recent chapter. That changes Saturday. For the first time since 2017, the Fighting Irish and Spartans (2-0) will square off in the Battle for the Megaphone — a rivalry that once was a featured annual attraction because of its national championship implications. The Irish (2-0) must play well to avoid another September loss at home. Notre Dame leads the rivalry 49-29-1, but Michigan State won 11 of the previous 19 meetings and won six consecutive road games in the series, a Notre Dame Stadium record for an opponent.

ACC FAVORITES SMU, LOUISVILLE MEET No. 16 SMU (2-0, 1-0 ACC) heads to No. 23 Louisville (1-1, 0-0) on Saturday in an early matchup of the teams picked to be the top contender to preseason ACC favorite Miami. The Mustangs were picked to finish second in the league and opened the year with a league win at Florida State. The Cardinals were picked third and lost a neutral-field shootout against eighth-ranked Ole Miss before rolling past Villanova. And this is a matchup of the league leaders in total offense between SMU QB Kevin Jennings (402.5) and Louisville’s Lincoln Kienholz (375.0).

FSU, ALABAMA SET FOR REMATCH

Florida State left last season’s opener against Alabama with a statement victory.The Crimson Tide left with questions about where the season was headed. On Saturday, No. 10 Alabama (2-0) hosts Florida State (1-1) to wrap up the homeand-home series a year after the Seminoles’ 31-17 stunner in Tallahassee.Alabama recovered, winning 10 of its next 11 games, eventually earning a College Football Playoff berth. FSU started 3-0 before losing seven of its final nine and missing a bowl. — Associated Press

Bitter border war’s new era begins In the pantheon of college football rivalries, the border wars are sometimes the most bitter ones. Oh sure, there’s the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn, the Bedlam series between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — if they were on speaking terms — and Georgia-Georgia Tech’s “Clean, OldFashioned Hate.” But when you throw in a state line and state pride, you get something else entirely. You get Ohio StateMichigan, Missouri-Kansas (“The Border War”), TexasOklahoma … and LSU-Ole Miss. For these two, take out the “Clean, old-fashioned” Scott part. Rabalais Just make it hate. Hate inspired by one man. Lane Kiffin jumped across the border last Nov. 30 from Mississippi to Louisiana, leaving Ole Miss for LSU. There hasn’t been such howling in the Deep South since William Tecumseh Sherman (LSU’s first superintendent) made his march to the sea. In the heyday of the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry, protagonists were from the two competing, intertwined states. Billy Cannon was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and grew up in Baton Rouge, where his father found work during World War II. Archie Manning was from a small hamlet with a short name called Drew, deep in the heart of the Mississippi Delta region, and raised a famous football family in New Orleans. Kiffin, comparatively, is from nowhere. And everywhere. His home has been in the football profession. He was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, while his father, Monte, was coaching with the Cornhuskers. He graduated from high school in Bloomington, Minnesota, when his dad was defensive coordinator for the Vikings. He played quarterback at Fresno State, where being beat out by David Carr in effect launched Lane’s coaching career. There was even a time when the Kiffin family home base was in New Orleans, when Monte was the Saints’ defensive coordinator in 1995. Three decades on, Kiffin is coaching at LSU, the job mentors Nick Saban and Pete Carroll urged him to take. Twelve days after that wild Nov. 30, when Ole Miss fans jeered Kiffin at the Oxford airport and an LSU fan at the Baton Rouge airport shouted “We’re never losing again!” at the sight of Kiffin whizzing past, the Southeastern Conference announced the dates of this year’s conference football schedule. Sept. 19. That became a red-letter day in Rebel Land. The day the Prodigal Son would return to Oxford is finally here, as No. 7-ranked LSU goes to play No. 8 Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 6:30 p.m. in a nationally televised spectacle on ABC. A spectacle in all its player transferring, legal-paper serving, availability report debating glory. In the century-old College Town neighborhood just south of LSU’s campus, all the streets are named for famous universities. It’s there, just a block off Highland Road, where LSU Avenue intersects with Oxford Avenue. The latter street is

1. TEXAS Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 1 Last week: Defeated Ohio State 24-23 This week: vs. UTSA, 7 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network+) 2. LSU Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 2 Last week: Defeated Louisiana Tech 45-14 This week: at Ole Miss, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) 3. GEORGIA Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 3 Last week: Defeated Western Kentucky 7020 This week: at Arkansas, 11 a.m. Saturday (ABC) 4. ALABAMA Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 6 Last week: Defeated Kentucky 45-17 This week: vs. Florida State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) 5. OLE MISS Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 7 Last week: Defeated Charlotte 41-9 This week: vs. LSU, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) 6. TEXAS A&M Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 5 Last week: Defeated Arizona State 48-20 This week: vs. Kentucky, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) 7. TENNESSEE Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 8 Last week: Defeated Georgia Tech 45-24 This week: vs. Kennesaw State, 6:45 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) 8. FLORIDA Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 9 Last week: Defeated Campbell 52-3 This week: at Auburn, 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN)

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin walks up the field after a score against Clemson in the third quarter of their game on Sept. 5 at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers head to Ole Miss for a marquee matchup on Saturday night.

with a national championship and two Heisman Trophy winners, but the Tigers have only beaten Alabama four times since 2007. For a long time they loathed Saban for that — until he encouraged Kiffin to leave Oxford for Baton Rouge. Deep down, Ole Miss fans worry about exactly the same thing. That the program Kiffin built to heights it hadn’t seen since the early 1960s will take a back seat to what they can envision he will do at LSU. Something akin to what Saban built at Alabama. Back in the day, when the volcanic Woody Hayes was coaching Ohio State and the fiery Bo Schembechler was coaching Michigan, they called the Buckeyes-Wolverines rivalry The Ten Year War. Based on his track record, it’s hard to envision Kiffin staying at LSU that long. But however long it is, if both programs continue to be relevant, this border rivalry is unlikely to cool down at all. A rivalry that for decades took a back seat to so many others has produced arguably the most anticipated game of 2026. It could well be just the beginning.

probably named for Oxford in England, but the confluence couldn’t be more appropriate. To describe the hate for Kiffin in Oxford would require a new definition in the Oxford English Dictionary. It’s not hard to understand why. Kiffin left Ole Miss after six successful seasons, building up the program to the point where the Rebels were on the doorstep of their first trip to the College Football Playoff when Kiffin left. A trip that would reach the semifinals and brush up against an appearance in the CFP final. But it’s more than that. And LSU fans — in love with the coach they used to dislike but who now fits the LSU “Us against the world” persona like an adjustable visor — can understand. The emotions seething out of Ole Miss fandom these days are incredibly similar to the feelings LSU fans directed toward Saban when he left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama in 2007. Ole Miss fans used to love Kiffin. LSU fans loved Saban. But one change of address altered all that. Why? Fear. Deep down, LSU fans feared that Saban would come back to the SEC, to Bama, and dominate the conference and the Tigers. That’s exactly what happened. LSU has certainly had its moments since then,

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2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3 p.m. 3:15 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6 p.m. 6:15 p.m.

6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. 6:45 p.m. 7 p.m. 9 p.m. 9 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 9:30 p.m. 10 p.m. 10 p.m. 10 p.m.

TV HIGHLIGHTS 10:30 a.m. Coastal Carolina at Delaware CBSSN 11 a.m. Georgia at Arkansas ABC 11 a.m. Mercer at Georgia Tech ACCN 11 a.m. Akron at Minnesota BTN 11 a.m. North Carolina at Clemson ESPN 11 a.m. Tulane at Kansas St. ESPN2 11 a.m. Bowling Green at Iowa St. ESPNU 11 a.m. Kent St. at Ohio St. FOX 11 a.m. Arizona St. vs. Kansas, LondonFS1 11 a.m. North Texas at Texas St. USA 11:30 a.m. E. Michigan at Wisconsin NBCSN 11:45 a.m. NC State at Vanderbilt SECN 1 p.m. S. Illinois at Illinois PEACOCK 2 p.m. Temple at Toledo CBSSN 2:30 p.m. Florida St. at Alabama ABC

SEC RATINGS By KOKI RILEy

Wagner at California ACCN UTEP at Michigan BTN Southern Cal at Rutgers CBS Kentucky at Texas A&M ESPN SMU at Louisville ESPN2 Utah St. at Utah FOX Duquesne at Washington St. USA Stanford at Duke CW Louisiana Tech at Baylor ESPNU N. Iowa at Iowa FS1 W. Kentucky at Indiana NBCSN Mississippi St. at S. Carolina SECN Marshall at Missouri St. CBSSN Florida at Auburn ESPN E. Washington at Washington BTN

LSU at Ole Miss ABC West Virginia at Virginia ACCN ByU at Colorado St. CBS New Mexico at Oklahoma ESPN2 Colorado at Northwestern FOX Michigan St. at Notre Dame NBC Kennesaw St. at Tennessee SECN Arkansas St. at TCU ESPNU S. Dakota at Boise St. CBSSN J. Madison at San Diego St. CW N. Dakota St. at Sacramento St.ESPN N. Illinois at Arizona TNT Purdue at UCLA BTN Fresno St. at San Jose St. FS1 Montana at Oregon St. USA

9. OKLAHOMA Record: 1-1 Previous rank: 4 Last week: Lost to Michigan 17-10 This week: vs. New Mexico, 6:30 p.m. Saturday (ESPN2) 10. MISSISSIPPI STATE Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 12 Last week: Defeated Minnesota 38-13 This week: at South Carolina, 3:15 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) 11. MISSOURI Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 10 Last week: Defeated Kansas 38-21 This week: vs. Troy, 6 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network+) 12. AUBURN Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 13 Last week: Defeated Southern Miss 43-8 This week: vs. Florida, 6 p.m. Saturday (ESPN) 13. KENTUCKY Record: 1-1 Previous rank: 11 Last week: Lost to Alabama 45-17 This week: at Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m. Saturday (ABC) 14. SOUTH CAROLINA Record: 2-0 Previous rank: 15 Last week: Defeated Towson 45-9 This week: vs. Mississippi State, 3:15 p.m. Saturday (SEC Network) 15. VANDERBILT Record: 2-0 Previous ranking: 14 Last week: beat Delaware 35-26 This week: vs. NC State, 11:45 a.m. Saturday (SEC Network) 16. ARKANSAS Record: 1-1 Previous ranking: 16 Last week: lost to Utah 43-10 This week: vs. Georgia, 11 a.m. Saturday (ABC)

OFFICIAL NEWS PARTNER OF THE LOUISIANA RAGIN’ CAJUNS

SPORTS

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

S at u r d ay, S e p t e m b e r 19, 2026

5CN

Moving on up

U A B A T U L • 7 P. M . S A T U R D A y • E S P N +

OLD-SCHOOL FEEL

Saints trending toward more snaps taken under center BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL safety Maurion Eleam tackles Lamar running back Parker Jenkins to force a fumble on Sept. 5 at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. The Cajuns are expecting a physical game when they host UAB on Saturday night.

Cajuns bracing for Blazers squad that likes to pound football on ground BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL fans should expect an old-school football game when the UAB Blazers take on the UL Ragin’ Cajuns at 7 p.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. Take the Blazers’ 42-23 loss at Illinois, for example. In that game, UAB ran the ball 48 times for 194 yards, collecting 24 ﬁrst downs and eating up 41:03 on the clock compared with 18:57 for Illinois. Unlike many teams these days, UAB is happy with a physical 3-yard run. The Blazers are converting 58.8% of their third-down tries and 60% on fourth down. “We better be tough against the run,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “We better stop it. The problem is they make it really hard to do that. They’re never

MORE ON PAGE 7C n Sun Belt Conference power rankings n Cajuns statistics, schedule n Kevin Foote’s game prediction really in a bad look, which is a big part of playing good football. “You’ve got to try to create some negative plays to get them behind the chains, but it’s hard to do.” The running back duo of Rod Robinson (35 carries for 173 yards) and Bam McReynolds (29-131, TD) are the leading rushers, followed by quarterback Ryder Burton (22-54, TD). “Our defensive line needs to play really well so that they can’t play downhill,” Desormeaux said. “We’ve got to do a good job. We got to create some havoc up front. We’ve got to create some knock

back, and we got to try to keep them clean so they can’t get downhill.” Burton is a capable thrower, going 26-of-47 passing for 334 yards with two scores in two games. UAB beat UL-Monroe 26-20 last week. Making the opposing team’s safeties respect the deep ball is a big part of UAB’s approach. “It starts with your eyes,” UL safety Lake Bates said. “That’s always a big thing. You’ve got to read your keys and come downhill on time and then tackling ... stay in your gap and make the tackle. We do tackling drills every day in practice, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” The Blazers are averaging 230 yards rushing a game, while giving up 175.5 yards rushing. “Every week, our coaches preach to us

ä See CAJUNS, page 7C

Those who watched the Saints game against the Detroit Lions last week may have noticed the offense had a different look to it than the one coach Kellen Moore trotted out in 2025. The Saints ran a league-high 86 plays against the Lions, and 26 of them featured quarterback Tyler Shough taking a snap under center. That roughly 30% un- ä Saints der-center rate is a more at Ravens. than 10% increase over NOON SUNDAy, their 2025 rate — and it CBS likely would have been higher had the Saints not fallen behind 21-0. The under-center snaps weren’t a resounding success in Week 1 — Shough went 5 of 10 for 84 yards and a touchdown, while the running game mustered just 38 yards on 14 carries against Detroit — but New Orleans is going to stick with it. “We weren’t able to be under center as much as we had planned on,” Moore said, “but there were still some positive things in there. When the run game and the action game can play off each other and (throw) some dropback in there, all of that has added value.” Last season, the Saints never ran more than 23 under-center snaps in a game, according to NextGenStats, and only the Cincinnati Bengals (825) ran more snaps out of the shotgun than the Saints (815). But, like everyone else around the league this offseason, New Orleans studied the best offenses from 2025 and saw the way they were taking advantage of under-center snaps — which were up across the board in Week 1. As Moore alluded to, lining up with the quarterback directly behind the center opens different opportunities for the offense — in the run game, in opening up play-action off those runs, in the traditional drop-back game

ä See SAINTS, page 6C

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL SANCyA

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough took 26 of the Saints’ 86 snaps under center against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. That 30% rate is more than 10% higher than New Orleans’ undercenter rate in 2025.

Pelicans reward Bey with extension after strong season BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Saddiq Bey was one of the bright spots in what was a dismal 2025-26 season for the New Orleans Pelicans. Now the Pelicans have reached a deal to extend one of their most consistent players. Bey and the Pelicans have agreed on a three-year, $55.5 million deal, a source confirmed to The Times-Picayune on Thursday evening. The Pelicans announced the agreement Friday morning. The deal also includes a trade kicker, meaning Bey can receive STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD a bonus of his remaining salary if the Pelicans trade him. The bonus, Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey shoots over Orlando Magic guard Desmond which can be up to 15% of his salBane on April 5 at the Smoothie King Center. Bey and the Pelicans ary, would be paid by the Pelicans. agreed on a three-year, $55 million contract extension on Thursday. “Saddiq represents the culture

we are establishing in New Orleans with his toughness, work ethic and commitment to the team,” Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in a written statement. Bey came to New Orleans in July 2025 as part of the trade that sent CJ McCollum to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Jordan Poole. At the time, many considered Bey to be a throw-in piece in the trade. After all, he had missed the entire 2024-25 season with a torn ACL when playing with the Atlanta Hawks. Dumars didn’t see it that way, and he considered Bey an important piece in the trade. Bey delivered, averaging 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his ﬁrst season in New Orleans. “He approaches every day with

a professional mindset, and we are excited about the role he will play in our future,” Dumars said. He was the team’s third-leading scorer behind Trey Murphy (21.5) and Zion Williamson (21.0). It was a refreshing comeback from the injury that sidelined him the season before. “I always believe in myself,” Bey said in an interview during the season. “I didn’t know what the product was going to look like. I was just hoping and praying that I was able to get back in enough of a rhythm to show everyone what I can do. But I still have a ways to go.” Bey started 64 of the 72 games he played in for the Pels. He scored a season-high 42 points against the

ä See BEY, page 8C

6C ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV

IN BRIEF

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

ä College football TV. PAGE 4C

AUTO RACING 7:55 a.m. Austrian Grand Prix FS1 4 p.m. SuperMotocross Worlds NBC 6:30 p.m. NASCAR Cup Series USA GOLF noon PGA: Biltmore Championship GOLF 3 p.m. Korn Ferry Tour GOLF 5 p.m. PURE Insurance Championship GOLF HORSE RACING 11 a.m. America’s Day at the Races FS2 MLB 3 p.m. Milwaukee at Baltimore MLBN

6 p.m. 9 p.m.

Atlanta at Houston MLBN San Francisco at L.A. Dodgers MLBN NHL PRESEASON 6 p.m. Toronto at Montreal NHLN MEN’S SOCCER 9 a.m. Hull City at Newcastle United NBCSN 9 a.m. Arsenal at Brighton USA 11:30 a.m. Coventry City at Nottingham NBC WOMEN’S SOCCER 7:45 a.m. North Korea vs. Italy FS2

3 p.m. Portland at Orlando 5:30 p.m. Gotham at North Carolina 7:45 p.m. Seattle at Denver TENNIS 8 a.m. Davis Cup Qualifiers 6 p.m. Guadalajara TRACK AND FIELD noon ATHLOS 2026 WNBA noon Phoenix at Dallas 6 p.m. Chicago at Atlanta 8 p.m. Seattle at Golden State

ION ION ION TENNIS TENNIS ION CBS PRIME PRIME

Saints to face an old friend Ravens OC Doyle started NFL coaching career in N.O.

Staff writers

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, left, talks to offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, right, during training camp on Aug. 11 in Owings Mills, Md. Doyle started his NFL coaching career with the Saints.

Thursday, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver either offered up some bulletin board material for the New Orleans Saints or paid quite the compliment to Tyler Shough. “He reminds me a little bit of a poor man’s Josh Allen,” Weaver said of the quarterback. Players typically don’t embrace being compared to other players — let alone a “poor man’s” version of anything. That said, Weaver praised Shough’s game by comparing him to the 2024 MVP who is regularly regarded as one of the best in the league. Weaver rejoined the Ravens this past offseason, but he faced Shough as a rookie when he served as the defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. Against Miami, Shough threw for 239 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 21-17 loss. But Shough almost led New Joshing around Orleans to a late-game comeback, During his news conference and the performance left Weaver

New Orleans keeps representation on NFL HOF committee Staff report

New Orleans will continue to have representation on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee. Times-Picayune sports columnist Jeff Duncan has been named one of 28 members on the newly formed selection committee announced by Pro Football Hall of Fame ofﬁcials this week. Duncan has served on the selection committee for 14 years. In that time, he was the presenter for four Saints Hall of Famers: Morten Andersen (2017), Drew Brees (2026), Sam Mills (2022) and Willie Roaf (2012). Rickey Jackson was in the Class of 2010. Duncan succeeded former Times-Picayune columnist Peter Finney, who served on the selection committee for decades. The reduction from 50 to 28 committee members was part of a revision of the Hall’s bylaws and came after a comprehensive two-year review of the selection process conducted by Hall of Fame staff members, board members, Hall of Famers and selection committee members. As part of the overhaul, the Hall will implement a new selection process in which one person — not a member of the selection committee — will make all initial presentations at the annual selection meet-

PHOENIX — Three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge will miss most or all of the rest of the regular season after the New York Yankees announced Friday they are placing him on the 10-day injured list because of a right calf strain. New York said it will make the roster move on Saturday. The placement could be backdated to Thursday, meaning it is possible Judge could return for New York’s regular-season ﬁnale on Sept. 27. Judge was removed for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning Wednesday during a game against the Minnesota Twins because of the discomfort in his leg. At the time, he said it was a precautionary move. Judge was 4 for 26 with 13 strikeouts and one extra-base hit in seven games since returning last week from a broken rib.

Vikings to start QB Wentz against Chicago Bears

BY MATTHEW PARAS and LUKE JOHNSON Declan Doyle, one of the NFL’s brightest young coaches, will call offensive plays for the Ravens this Sunday against the Saints. It wasn’t that long ago that Doyle was getting his NFL coaching start in the Crescent City. The Saints hired Doyle as an offensive assistant to the 2019 Notebook prior season after he spent two seasons as a student assistant for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Doyle was just 23 years old when he joined the Saints, and he spent four years working under both Sean Payton and Dennis Allen. Speaking to reporters in Baltimore earlier this week, Doyle said he still keeps tabs on some of the players who remain with the Saints from his time there, including tight end Juwan Johnson. Doyle was one of the coaches who helped Johnson transition from an undrafted receiver to tight end. “I needed all the help I could get,” said Johnson, who last year ranked among the NFL receiving leaders at tight end. “... I didn’t know anything in the run game, I didn’t know defensive techniques, I didn’t know fronts. I didn’t know any of that stuff. He took the time to help me out with that.” Doyle rapidly has risen through the ranks. He left the Saints to join Payton’s staff with the Denver Broncos as tight ends coach in 2023, then spent last season as Ben Johnson’s offensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears. He was 29 years old when the Ravens hired him to serve as offensive play-caller this offseason. His ﬁrst game as the play-caller went as well as it could: Baltimore racked up 506 yards in a 4123 drubbing of the Indianapolis Colts.

Yankees slugger Judge out with right calf strain

ing rather than an individual selector representing the candidate’s market. Selectors no longer will be assigned to speciﬁc NFL teams by geographic region. And all players, regardless of their years retired from the game, will compete for election from the same player pool after the required ﬁve-year retirement waiting period. Respective subcommittees will determine one coach and one contributor candidate for election each year. The contributors category has been expanded and now may include tenure as a player and/or coach along with other contributions to the game. The coach and contributor candidates will join players on the list of individuals to be discussed at the annual meeting, which will return to inperson status after a six-year hiatus that began during the COVID pandemic. The selection committee also will return to an in-person annual meeting to consider candidates in three categories: players, coaches and contributors. The new selection committee will include Hall of Fame players Jared Allen, Dan Fouts and Will Shields. Fouts, who also serves as an NFL analyst for NBC Sports, has been a selection committee member for 10 years.

impressed. “Has all the arm talent in the world and can run,” Weaver told reporters in Baltimore. “I don’t think he gets enough credit for how good an athlete he is.” Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said he did not interpret Weaver’s comments as a jab. “Anytime you’re compared to somebody like Josh Allen, you’re a dang good player,” Nussmeier said. “So I think a lot of people take that as a compliment, but Tyler’s special in his own ways and obviously a lot of respect for coach Weaver and what he does.”

against the Baltimore Ravens. The Saints listed Olave (hamstring), Young (calf) and rookie defensive lineman Christen Miller (toe) as questionable for Week 2. All three were limited participants in Friday’s practice, Moore said. Moore said Young’s calf injury was not the same calf that sidelined him for ﬁve games last season. “We’ll just see (Saturday) how they’re feeling,” Moore said. Elsewhere, defensive end Cam Jordan and tight end Oscar Delp, both of whom have been dealing with hamstring injuries, are off the inInjury report jury report and could make their It was a good sign for the Saints season debuts against the Ravens. that wide receiver Chris Olave and Both players were full particiedge rusher Chase Young attended pants in practice Friday. Friday’s practice after popping The Saints also placed long up on the injury report a day ear- snapper Zach Wood (calf) on injured reserve. lier. But coach Kellen Moore wasn’t ready to say yet whether the two Email Matthew Paras at matt. stars would play in Sunday’s game paras@theadvocate.com

SAINTS

Continued from page 5C

of success last season, and the Saints are one of several teams trying to incorporate that into their offense. One of the reasons the Rams were so successful with it was their unpredictability. At its core, 13 personnel is a heavy personnel package, which typically requires defenses to respond with its own heavier package. Los Angeles would then exploit matchups — passing when teams had an extra linebacker on the field, or running when they tried to defend with five defensive backs. New Orleans ran 214 plays under center last season (12.6 per game), and it passed on 26.6% of them. Last Sunday, the Saints’ 46.2% passing rate on under-center plays was the third-highest mark among NFL teams in Week 1. Of their 12 under-center passing plays, more than half (seven) included some form of play-action fake. The Saints almost exclusively passed the ball when they had three tight ends on the field last week. They played five offensive snaps in 13 personnel and passed four times, with three of those four passes including playaction. “That’s something we’ve been working on, trying to be more multiple from that standpoint — run game, drop-back, action, screens — we want to do all of that,” Shough said. “We’re going to continue to do that and try and hone it in. Game 1, was ultimately able to get some good stuff off it, and some stuff we’ve got to work on, too.”

— that aren’t available in the shotgun. “It forces people to defend different backﬁeld sets, and defenses do different things whether you’re under center or in the gun — they play you differently,” offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier said. “So for us, it’s an element of our offense, looking at some of the things in the offseason, that we felt we could grow. Obviously it has to ﬁt your personnel.” The Saints made their personnel fit this offseason. New Orleans signed notable free agents at running back, guard and tight end and also used a third-round pick on tight end Oscar Delp. With most of their new tools at their disposal — Delp was inactive with a hamstring injury — the Saints varied their personnel groupings and play calls in their under-center offense in a way they didn’t last season. Much was made this offseason about the Saints potentially leaning into 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends) after signing Noah Fant and drafting Delp. Back when he was with the Dallas Cowboys, Moore was part of a group of play-callers who shifted the game toward creating space, directing offenses that heavily featured shotgun formations with three or more receivers. The pendulum is beginning to swing in the other direction. The Los Angeles Rams used Email Luke Johnson at 13 personnel with a high degree ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

MINNEAPOLIS — Carson Wentz will start at quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, with Kyler Murray still in the NFL concussion protocol and ruled out for the game at Chicago. Murray was a limited participant in practice all week and simply ran out of time to make more progress after taking an illegal hit to the head in the ﬁrst quarter of his debut for Minnesota in the season opener. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he expects Murray to clear the protocol early next week and be able to play at Tampa Bay on Sept. 27. Murray took a jarring hit to the side of his helmet that drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on Green Bay safety Javon Bullard.

Hand injury forces Reed out of BMW Championship

VIRGINIA WATER, England — Patrick Reed was forced to retire from the BMW PGA Championship with a hand injury midway through the second round on Friday. The American was 9-over par for his round — and 5 over for the tournament — when he chose to stop playing and was seen being driven away from the 10th tee after hitting his drive. He appeared to be flexing his left hand. Reed shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to be two shots off the overnight lead at the flagship European tour event held at Wentworth. However, he had two sevens on his card in his second round — a triple on the par-4 first hole and a double on the par-5 fourth hole — as well as another double on No. 8.

Gerard takes lead by 2 in BMW Championship

VIRGINIA WATER, England — Ryan Gerard finished eagle-birdie to shoot a 7-under 65 on Friday and take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the BMW PGA Championship, which will not feature Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood or Jon Rahm over the weekend. The No. 21-ranked Gerard moved to 12-under for the week at the flagship event on the European tour, showing the kind of form that would serve the U.S. team well at the upcoming Presidents Cup. The issue for the Americans is that Gerard, who was third at the Tour Championship last month, wasn’t picked by captain Brandt Snedeker for the 12-man roster. Gerard was bogey-free Friday and produced a big finish on the back-toback closing par 5s at Wentworth.

Jazz lock in guard George with multiyear extension

Jazz guard Keyonte George signed a multiyear extension Friday, securing for Utah a key element in its rebuilding project. The club did not announce the terms, but ESPN reported it was a ﬁve-year, $157.5 million extension. The deal takes him through the 203132 season. George, taken 16th in the 2023 NBA Draft, comes off a season in which he produced career highs of 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game while averaging 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals. Utah has been in a major rebuild, winning a combined 39 games over the past two seasons. The Jazz have not produced a winning record since going 49-33 in the 2021-22 season, after which they overhauled their roster, trading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

lll

GAMEDAY

PASS 221.5

RUSH 194.5

Plays: 60.5 PASS 25.0

RUSH 35.5

Turnovers: 1.50 INTERCEPTIONS 1.50

FUMBLES 0.00

DEFENSE PER GAME Yards allowed: 344.0 PASS 209.0

RUSH 135.0

Turnovers forced: 2.50 INTERCEPTIONS 2.00

FUMBLES 0.50

SCORING PER GAME 34.0

28.0

29.2

26.0

SCORED ALLOWED

2026

2025

LEADERS PASSING Lunch Winfield 72.73%, 401 yards, TD, 2 INTs Daniel Beale 66.67%, 42 yards, INT RUSHING Lunch Winfield 22 carries, 175 yards, 8.0 avg, 3 TDs Anthony Reagan 14 carries, 60 yards, 4.3 avg, TD RECEIVING Russell Babineaux 7 catches, 95 yards, 13.6 avg, TD Caden Jensen 5 catches, 77 yards, 15.4 avg Teddy Gawlik 5 catches, 58 yards, 11.6 avg DEFENSE Collin Jacob 17 tackles

UL 30, UAB 20: The Ragin’ Cajuns have proven to be pretty mentally tough this season. On Saturday, we’re going to learn a little more about how physically tough UL can be against a UAB offense that wants to run downhill with a power rushing attack. UL coach Michael Desormeaux raved about his defensive line throughout August camp. This is the game to show why that was the case. The most encouraging thing for UL thus far is the effective passing game, despite multiple pass catchers being injured. If the offense remains efficient and the defense can hold its own against the run, the Cajuns can get to above .500 for the first time since the 2024 season. Kevin Foote

SUN BELT STANDINGS

Troy Ark. State La. Tech UL South Ala. So. Miss. UL-Monroe

Conf. W L 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

PF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Games PA W L PF 0 2 0 58 0 1 1 76 0 1 1 94 0 1 1 68 0 1 1 63 0 1 1 57 0 0 2 33

West

Saturday’s Games

Games W L PF PA 2 0 82 27 2 0 90 27 2 0 107 16 1 1 69 38 1 1 38 22 1 1 28 71 1 1 52 54

PA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

The Sun Belt Conference numbers this season are pretty good, with a combined winning percentage of 60.7% The Sun Belt also is 4-0 against teams from Conference USA thus far. What the league doesn’t have yet is a signature win against a Power Four school. The four chances this weekend are Louisiana Tech going to Baylor, Troy visiting Missouri, Arkansas State taking on TCU and Georgia State going to Central Florida. Meanwhile, there are three more matchups against Conference USA squads, with Coastal Carolina at Delaware, Georgia Southern at Jacksonville State and Marshall visiting Missouri State. The only winless team in the Sun Belt is UL-Monroe, which led for much of the game before falling to UAB 26-20 last Saturday. The Warhawks face an excellent opportunity to get their ﬁrst win at home against Southeastern Louisiana at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

2. Old Dominion

PREDICTION

PF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Staff writer

Record: 2-0 Last week: Defeated Wagner 87-3 This week: at San Diego State, 9 p.m. CW Extra points: Last week’s game was pretty useless against undermanned Wagner. Now the Dukes travel across the country to meet a San Diego State club that just lost 28-10 to UCLA, which is coached by former James Madison head coach Bob Chesney. So coach Billy Napier’s staff should have the best scouting report of the season for this one. The Aztecs’ win was a 5320 victory over Portland State. It’s an interesting ﬁnal tuneup game before taking on Old Dominion to open Sun Belt play next weekend.

SEPTEMBER 5 Lamar W, 38-7 12 at USC L, 49-30 19 UAB 7 p.m./ESPN+ 26 at Charlotte 5:30 p.m./ESPN+ OCTOBER 3 Arkansas State TBD 10 at La. Tech TBD 17 Troy TBD 24 at Southern Miss TBD NOVEMBER 7 South Alabama TBD 12 at UL-Monroe 8 p.m./ESPN 21 Coastal Carolina TBD 28 at Georgia State TBD

East

BY KEVIN FOOTE

1. James Madison

SCHEDULE

Conf. W L App. St. 0 0 Ga. State 0 0 JMU 0 0 Coastal Ca. 0 0 Georgia So. 0 0 Marshall 0 0 ODU 0 0

UAB at UL

7 p.m., Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium TV: ESPN+ | Radio: KPEL-FM, 103.3 Line: Cajuns by 7½ (Over/Under: 55½)

Sun Belt still lacks marquee win

TEAM STATS OFFENSE PER GAME Yards gained: 416.0

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● 7C

PA 38 49 51 56 42 46 88

Coastal Carolina at Delaware, 10:30 a.m. La. Tech at Baylor, 3 p.m. SE Louisiana at Louisiana-Monroe, 3:30 p.m. East Carolina at Old Dominion, 5 p.m. Charlotte at Appalachian St., 5 p.m. Marshall at Missouri St., 5:30 p.m. Ohio at South Alabama, 6 p.m. UConn at Southern Miss., 6 p.m. Georgia Southern at Jacksonville St., 6 p.m. Georgia St. at UCF, 6 p.m. Troy at Missouri, 6 p.m. UAB at UL, 7 p.m. Arkansas St. at TCU, 7 p.m. James Madison at San Diego St., 9 p.m.

Record: 1-1 Last week: Lost at Virginia Tech 44-21 This week: vs. East Carolina, 5 p.m. ESPN+ Extra points: The Monarchs’ sevengame winning streak is over. ODU trailed Virginia Tech 34-3 in the second quarter, partially because of three lost fumbles. Defensively, the Monarchs gave up 327 yards passing to the Hokies. Dual-threat quarterback Quinn Henicle did throw for 187 yards and ran for 83 more, but there wasn’t a lot of other production. The ODU defense limited Virginia Tech’s rushing attack to 2.1 yards per carry.

3. Troy Record: 2-0 Last week: Defeated Alabama State 34-17 This week: at Missouri, 6 p.m. SEC+ Extra points: We’re going to keep the Trojans this high in the poll for now, but the ﬁrst two weeks weren’t overly impressive and now they’re traveling to an SEC school. With the jury still very much out on Troy, quarterback Goose Crowder did have a good week with 201 yards passing. Jaborian Merriweather rushed for 127 yards and three scores to ignite a 226-yard rushing day. Missouri is coming off a 38-21 win over bitter rival Kansas, so competing with the Tigers would help Troy.

4. Louisiana Tech Record: 1-1 Last week: Lost at LSU 45-14 This week: at Baylor, 3 p.m. ESPNU Extra points: Like Troy, the Bulldogs are still hard to read with one expected blowout win and one expected blowout loss. In that loss at LSU last Saturday, though, the defense did intercept three

CAJUNS

Continued from page 5C to stop the run,” linebacker Micah Johnson said. “If we stop the run, they can’t win. So this week, we’re just harping on being more gap sound.” No one has been better at that as of late than Collin Jacob, who leads the team with 17 tackles. “Collin played great last week,” Desormeaux said. “He played with unbelievable urgency. He communicated really well, and he was really physical. One thing that has been an issue

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Louisiana Tech defensive back Jordan McRae, right, races away from LSU wide receiver Winston Watkins, left, after picking off a pass at the goal line in the second quarter on Sept. 12 at Tiger Stadium. McRae returned the pick 100 yards for a touchdown.

SUN BELT LSU passes and returned one 100 yards for a touchdown to trail only POWER RANKINGS 10-7 at halftime. The Bulldogs didn’t muster much against the LSU defense, but that may be a fall. common theme for most of LSU’s foes. If the Tech defense can stifle 8. Coastal Carolina Baylor’s running game and force Record: 1-1 turnovers in the passing game, the Last week: Defeated Fordham 45-7 Bears could enter upset alert terThis week: at Delaware, 10:30 a.m. CBSSN ritory. Extra points: It would have been 5. UL nice to see how the Chanticleers built on a 31-24 loss to West VirRecord: 1-1 Last week: Lost at USC 49-30 ginia in the opener by playing a This week: vs. UAB, 7 p.m. ESPN+ stiffer test last week. It didn’t hapExtra points: My biggest concern in pen with an easy win over winless the USC matchup was UL’s pass- Fordham. This week, Delaware ing game. Well, the Cajuns fared should help us learn more about well in that area despite missing this dark-horse Sun Belt squad. four of their top targets. If that The Blue Hens lost to Vanderbilt surprising progress is real, per- 35-26. Despite the win over Fordhaps the ceiling for this team is ham, Coastal Carolina quarterhigher than some thought. The back Deuce Bailey was only 12-ofrushing defense has been up and 25 passing for 203 yards and three down in recent seasons. That is- touchdowns. sue jumps to the forefront against a run-happy UAB offense. If the 9. Marshall Cajuns pass that test, they could Record: 1-1 keep climbing in this poll. Last week: Defeated Middle Tennessee State 28-26 6. Appalachian State This week: at Missouri State, 5:30 p.m. CBSSN Record: 2-0 Extra points: Kudos to Marshall for Last week: Defeated East Carolina winning last week without quarter27-24 This week: vs. Charlotte, 5 p.m. back Carlos Del Rio-Wilson in the ESPN+ second half. The Thundering Herd Extra points: The Mountaineers was still able to outgain Middle jumped four spots in the poll this Tennessee 352-310, despite playweek, thanks to a three-point road ing three quarterbacks. Reports win over East Carolina in a game say Del Rio-Wilson is expected to that App State led 24-10 in the return for this game. If not, Zion third quarter. Malachi Singleton Turner appears to be the backup. had a big day for the Mountain- Missouri State is a mixed bag so eers with 20-of-28 passing for 267 far, crushing Lindenwood but getyards. Interceptions were a huge ting crushed by Texas A&M. issue for App State last season, but Singleton may have solved 10. South Alabama that problem. Charlotte lost in Record: 1-1 double overtime to The Citadel Last week: Lost at Tulane 28-24 and got handled at Ole Miss 41-9, This week: vs. Ohio, 6 p.m. ESPN+. so it could be a 3-0 start for the Extra points: The Jaguars were Mountaineers. oh so close to a 2-0 start. Tulane scored the game-winning touch7. Georgia Southern down with 1:17 left to play. South Alabama had 25 first downs comRecord: 1-1 Last week: Lost at Clemson 22-7 pared to 13 for the Green Wave. This week: at Jacksonville State, Quarterback Bishop Davenport 6 p.m. ESPN+ was 22-of-32 passing for 296 yards Extra points: Clemson is slipping and two scores, while receiver as a program, but the Eagles still Brendan Jenkins had nine grabs competed well. It wasn’t a step for 119 yards and a TD. A victory back for Georgia Southern, al- at home against Ohio could mean though the Eagles mustered only the Sun Belt West will be deeper 22 yards rushing in the loss. De- this season than many expected. fense was the big issue last season and the Eagles allowed only 11. Arkansas State 150 yards rushing and 197 passRecord: 1-1 Last week: Defeated West Georgia ing last week. They now take on a Jacksonville State team com- 52-7 This week: at TCU, 7 p.m. ESPNU ing off a 29-27 loss to Ohio in four Extra points: The Red Wolves took overtimes, despite outgaining Ohio 447-262 in total yards. If the advantage of two interceptions defense continues to improve, the and two fumble recoveries to rout Eagles could be more stable this outmanned West Georgia last for UAB through two games is penalties. The Blazers have been flagged 17 times for 136 yards to only two penalties for 9 yards for their opposition. Fortunately for the Cajuns, the defense is healthy. The offense hasn’t enjoyed the same fate. Expected to be out for this game are wide receivers Shelton Sampson and Trenton Chaney, right guard Matthew Broussard and tight end Caden Jensen. “Shelton’s probably not going to be ready,” Desormeaux said. “He’s practicing in a limited capacity. He’s working really hard to get back.” Receiver Landon Strother and

running back Darrell Smith are expected to play. The offense is led by quarterback Lunch Winﬁeld, who has run for 175 yards and three scores in addition to passing for 401 yards and one touchdown. “UAB’s defense is pretty multiple — a lot of four-down fronts and a lot of odd fronts,” tight ends coach Jorge Munoz said. “They mix it up in the secondary as well, as far as getting some zone coverages on some early downs and getting some man coverage on some third downs. “They’re very active up front with some pretty good size. It’s going to be a challenge for us.”

week. The Red Wolves also posted 391 total yards. This week, Arkansas State takes on a much tougher opponent in TCU. The Horned Frogs are still smarting from a 15-10 loss to North Carolina in the season opener before trouncing Grambling 63-7 last week. This challenge could be revealing for the Red Wolves.

12. Georgia State Record: 2-0 Last week: Defeated Kennesaw State 31-17 This week: at Central Florida, 6 p.m. ESPN+ Extra points: Could it be a little too premature to move Georgia State up two spots this early in the season? Perhaps, but why not? The Panthers have struggled with just four wins over the previous two seasons. Georgia State did return its quarterback in Cameran Brown, and he produced a big game in the win Kennesaw State, going 16-of-23 passing for 253 yards and also ran it nine times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Lanear McCrary ignited a 230-yard rushing effort with 101 of his own. No one is expecting Georgia State to upset Central Florida, but progress obviously has been made.

13. Southern Miss Record: 1-1 Last week: Lost at Auburn 43-8 This week: vs. Connecticut, 6 p.m. ESPN+ Extra points: The Golden Eagles weren’t quite ready to take on an SEC team this early in Blake Anderson’s tenure as head coach. Southern Miss takes a bit of a step back against the Huskies. The Auburn game was as ugly as it looks, with the Eagles getting outgained 610-221 and being limited to 50 yards rushing. Connecticut is 1-1 as well, beating Lafayette 56-7 and falling 38-14 to Maryland.

14. UL-Monroe Record: 0-2 Last week: Lost at UAB, 26-20 This week: vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 3:30 p.m. ESPN+ Extra points: The Warhawks really, really need to win this game. Doing so handily would help even more. UL-Monroe led UAB 20-10 in the third quarter last week but watched the game slip away as its losing streak reached 10 games. Quarterback Austin Carlisle threw for only 56 yards, but he did run for 93 and a touchdown. Running back Bryson Roland added 86 yards and two scores, but there was very little production elsewhere. Southeastern isn’t as good as in recent years, so this could be it.

With Broussard out, the Cajuns will count on the combination of Tulane transfer Jayce Mitchell and sophomore Jakoby Isom. “I think it’s imperative that we’re at our best,” Mitchell said of the offensive line. “I feel like we all got to be dialed in. I think it’s very important that we’re able to get started early and be the most physical team.” UL regularly gives Mitchell and Isom playing time. “Just getting that experience, I deﬁnitely feel like the experience helps being a live setting,” Mitchell said. “I think it takes some pressure away like every game when you’re used to those settings.”

8C ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

Westminster volleyball tops LCA, stays perfect BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer

We’re only a couple of weeks into the high school volleyball season, but it’s shaping up to be a special one for Westminster Christian. The Crusaders, who stayed undefeated with a 14-25, 25-10, 27-25, 25-16 win at Lafayette Christian on Thursday, are off to an incredible start. WCA (9-0), No. 1 in the Division V power ratings, defeated St. Thomas More in the season opener for the first time. The Cougars have won five straight state titles in a larger division, while the Crusaders are seeking their first champi-

onship. “Our two big middles (sophomores Riley Meaux and Taylor Lazard) played unbelievable with big blocks against STM,” said Crusaders coach Keith Leon, who won his 200th career game that night. Lazard was also a catalyst at LCA, totaling six blocks and seven kills for WCA, which has only lost three sets all season (one each to STM, Southside and LCA). “Taylor played an awesome game,” said Leon, whose team fell behind 7-0 in the ﬁrst set as Knights setter Kaitlyn Hicks dished out 10 assists with McKenzie Maldanado, Demi Barrett, Harper Waguespack and Laila Hudson combining

for 12 kills. “They were here to play,” Leon said of the Knights (10-6), who are No. 15 in a crowded Division IV headed up by No. 1 Dunham (9-0) and No. 2 Catholic New Iberia (101). “They got us out of our system and did everything right to make us make a bunch of errors.” In the second set, Mary-Katherine Fontenot served three of her team’s six aces in an easy win. Jules Angelle, Meaux and Ana-Camille Melancon each had an ace. LCA led 18-11 in the third set until the Crusaders rattled off seven straight points with Melancon

serving. Londyn Pickney scored five points for WCA, which was down 24-23 and got the winning kill from Lazard. “Everybody is after us,” Leon said. “We have to be ready to play every game. I felt like we weren’t ready for this game.” The Crusaders finished as runner-up to Country Day three consecutive years before losing in the semiﬁnals last season to Central Catholic. Country Day moved up to Division IV after winning its 10th straight crown in 2025. Central Catholic (7-5) is No. 16 in Division V. Ascension Christian (10-1) is No. 2, and Episco-

pal School of Acadiana (5-3) is No. 3. Leon, who only graduated Laila Gauthier from last year’s team, has great senior leadership with Sophia Wiltz (13 kills, three blocks vs. LCA), Kennedi Richard (10 digs), Isabella Guy (25 digs) and Melancon. “Guy and Richard are just phenomenal in the backcourt,” Leon said. Melancon (nine kills, two blocks, seven digs) was a first-team AllMetro selection last year. Angelle finished with 14 assists and six digs, while Meaux had five kills and two blocks. Aiden Magee added 13 assists and 11 digs.

SCOREBOARD Hole-in-one Lisa Morris

Course: Baton Rouge Country Club Hole: No.3 Yardage: 90 yards Club: 9 iron Witnesses: Kelly Kneipp

Prep football Abramson 51, Jefferson Rise 12 Academy of Sacred Heart-Grand Coteau 32, Highland Baptist 12 Bunkie 63, Avoyelles 24 Captain Shreve 49, Shreveport Northwood 28 Denham Springs 73, Woodlawn (BR) 54 Dunham 58, Collegiate Baton Rouge 0 Franklin Parish 62, Madison 0 Grand Lake 32, Oakdale 8 Hanson Memorial 40, Gueydan 12 Jennings 48, Welsh 28 Landry/Walker 18, Young Audiences Charter 12 Patrick Taylor 20, St. Thomas Aquinas 7 Riverdale 18, McMain 16 St. Martin’s 6, Glen Oaks 0 Sulphur 45, Pineville 42 University 31, Plaquemine 21 Willow School 33, S. B. Wright 14

Prep volleyball Thursday’s area volleyball results

St. Thomas More def. Southside, 3-0 Cecilia def. Acadiana, 3-0 Acadiana Renaissance def. Lafayette, 3-2 Carencro def. Northwest, 3-0 Westminster def. Lafayette Christian, 3-1 ESA def. St. Edmund, 3-0 Westminster-Lafayette def. Acadiana Christian, 3-1 Ascension Episcopal def. Sacred Heart-GC, 3-1 Lafayette Renaissance def. Northside, 3-0 Barbe def. Notre Dame, 3-2 Northside Christian def. North Vermilion, 3-0 Catholic-NI def. St. Martinville, 3-0 Church Point def. Breaux Bridge, 3-1 Highland Baptist def. Centerville, 3-0 Iota def. DeQuincy, 3-1 Vermilion Catholic def. Delcambre, 3-1 Loreauville def. David Thibodaux, 3-0 Lake Charles Prep def. Eunice, 3-0 Thibodaux def. New Iberia, 3-1 Northside Christian 25-25-25, North Vermilion 20-20-20 N. Verm: Ashante Rose 11 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace, 1 block; Annalise Marix 13 assists, 1 ace, 1 kill, 5 digs; Londyn LeBlanc 1 block, 1 dig, 2 kills; Gabby Caruso 4 assists, 1‘ dig; Chloe LeBlance 4 kills; Kyla Landry 9 digs. Catholic-NI 25-25-25, St. Martinville 7-12-22 CATH: Amelie Trappey 16 kills, 8 digs, 5 aces; Charlotte Shea 5 kills, 4 digs, 2 aces, 2 assists; Mackenzie Batiste 17 assists, 2 kills, 4 aces, 4 digs; Caroline Meyer 5 kills, 2 blocks; Niyah Ferdinand 5 kills, 2 digs. Record: Catholic 10-1. Next: Catholic at Highland Baptist on Tuesday. Monday’s schedule Beau Chene at Northside, LaGrange at Opelousas, David Thibodaux at Rayne, McKinley at St. Martinville, Highland Baptist at New Iberia, Northside Chirstian at Acadiana Renaissance, Elton at St. Edmund, Westminster at Port Barre, Hanson at Acadiana Christian.

Odds Sports Betting Line NFL Sunday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at HOUSTON 2½ 2½ (45½) Cincinnati at N.E. 4½ 5 (41½) Pittsburgh at CHICAGO 3½ 4½ (47½) Minnesota at BALTIMORE 7½ 8½ (46½) New Orlns Green Bay 6½ 3½ (44½) at NY JETS at TAMPA BAY 6½ 8½ (41½) Cleveland Carolina 1½ 2½ (43½) at ATL Philadelphia 4½ 7 (39½) at TEN at CHARGERS 8½ 6½ (43½) Las Vegas at DENVER 3 2½ (45½) Jax at DALLAS 4½ 4½ (50½) Wash Seattle 10 3½ (40½) at ARIZ at SAN FRAN 10½ 13½ (45½) Miami at K.C. 5½ 6½ (46½) Ind

Monday

FAVORITE at LA RAMS

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 9½ 7½ (48) NY Giants

College Football Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at DELAWARE 5½ 4½ (57½) C. Carolina at CLEMSON 9½ 3 (44½) N. Carolina at PENN ST 39½ 41½ (49½) Buffalo Georgia 17½ 24½ (55½) at ARKAN at IOWA ST 23½ 23½ (43½) B. Green at KANSAS ST 20½ 20½ (50½) Tulane at MINNESOTA 28½ 23½ (49½) Akron at OHIO STATE 52½ 52½ (60½) Kent State at GA TECH 42½ 39½ (59½) Mercer at TEXAS ST 3½ 2½ (62½) N. Texas Arizona State 5½ 5½ (50½) at KANSAS at WISCONSIN 24½ 23½ (44½) E. Mich at VANDERBILT 5½ 3½ (50½) NC State Wyoming 1½ 1½ (38½) at C. MICH at B. COLLEGE 39½ 38½ (53½) Maine at ILLINOIS 41½ 38½ (54½) S. Illinois at TOLEDO 1½ 5½ (49½) Temple at CINCINNATI 14½ 15½ (49½) Mia (OH) at UMASS 34½ 33½ (49½) Stonehill at WASH ST 35½ 38½ (53½) Duquesne at UTAH 27½ 27½ (56½) Utah State at CAL 58½ 58½ (65½) Wagner USC 24½ 21½ (58½) at RUTGRS at MICHIGAN 35½ 35½ (48½) UTEP at ALABAMA 15½ 19½ (49½) Florida St at LOUISVILLE 1½ 1½ (58½) SMU at TEXAS A&M 14½ 16½ (50½) Kentucky at LIBERTY 13½ 14½ (49½) Ball St at INDIANA 44½ 44½ (60½) W. Kentcky at IOWA 41½ 38½ (49½) N. Iowa at BAYLOR 18½ 20½ (OFF) La Tech at DUKE 11½ 10 (51½) Stanford at S. CAROLINA 7½ 3½ (58½) Miss St at ULM 12½ 10½ (48½) Selu at FLORIDA ATL 9½ 6½ (62½) Florida Intl at OLD DOM 2½ 3 (49½) E. Carolina Marshall 4½ 3½ (54½) at MISU ST at S. FLORIDA 37½ 36½ (61½) Del St at MISSOURI 27½ 27½ (50½) Troy Florida PK 2½ (53½) at AUBRN W. Michigan 10½ 9½ (43½) at RICE at OKLAH ST 57½ 55½ (70½) Murray St at S. ALABAMA 3½ 6½ (48½) Ohio Nevada 6½ 3½ (50½) at M. TEN at SAM HOU 18½ 17½ (49½) Nicholls St at JSU 3 3½ (52½) Ga South at MEMPHIS 35½ 34½ (57½) UT Martin UConn 2½ 3 (54½) at S. MISS at UCF 19½ 17½ (49½) Georgia St at NEBRASKA 24½ 24½ (51½) Ndsu at WASH 44½ 42½ (57½) E. Wash LSU 2½ 3 (58½)at OLE MSS at N.D. 29½ 29½ (52½) Mich St at NRTWSTRN 5½ 3½ (47½) Colorado at VIRGINIA 8½ 10½ (53½) W. Virginia Virginia Tech 1½ 2½ (53½)at MRYLND at OKLAHOMA 21½ 21½ (45½) New Mex BYU 20½ 17½ (52½) at CSU at TENNESSEE 35½ 35½ (61½) Kennsw St at UL 8½ 7½ (55½) UAB at TCU 20½ 19½ (56½) Arkan St. at TULSA 42½ 42½ (57½) ET A&M at TEXAS 29½ 30½ (58½) UTSA at BOISE ST 22½ 24½ (56½) S. Dakota at SDSU 1½ 1½ (46½) J. Madison Ndsu 23½ 27½ (50½) at SAC ST at ARIZONA 31½ 33½ (50½) N. Illinois Fresno St 5½ 6½ (49½) at SJSU at OREGON ST 9½ 17½ (53½) Montana at UCLA 13½ 14 (52½) Purdue

MLB

W 31 29 28 25 16 15 15 8

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

x-clinched playoff spot Thursday’s Games

L 9 11 13 16 25 26 26 33

Pct .775 .725 .683 .610 .390 .366 .366 .195

GB — 2 3½ 6½ 15½ 16½ 16½ 23½

Atlanta 103, Connecticut 59 Dallas 97, Los Angeles 77 Washington 110, Chicago 80 Las Vegas 114, Seattle 77 Phoenix 94, Portland 91 Indiana at Toronto, n New York at Minnesota, n Portland at Golden State, n

Saturday’s Games

Phoenix at Dallas, noon Chicago at Atlanta, 6 p.m. Seattle at Golden State, 8 p.m.

American League z-Tampa Bay z-New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

W 93 88 83 76 75

L 59 64 70 77 78

Pct .612 .579 .542 .497 .490

GB — 5 10½ 17½ 18½

Chicago Cleveland Detroit Minnesota Kansas City

W 78 78 72 71 67

L 75 75 81 82 86

Pct .510 .510 .471 .464 .438

GB — — 6 7 11

W L Houston 77 76 Texas 76 77 Seattle 71 82 Athletics 61 92 Los Angeles 59 94 z-clinched playoff berth

Pct .503 .497 .464 .399 .386

GB — 1 6 16 18

West Division

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY OFF at CLEVELAND -181 Toronto -138 at CHI WHITE SOX -138 Minnesota -110 National League FAVORITE LINE Philadelphia -120 Chicago Cubs -136 Washington -113 at SAN DIEGO -153 at LA DODGERS OFF Interleague FAVORITE LINE at BALTIMORE OFF Kansas City -113 Atlanta -121 N.Y Yankees -145 at COLORADO OFF

UNDERDOG LINE Boston OFF Athletics +150 at TEXAS +114 Detroit +116 at LA ANGELS -108 UNDERDOG LINE at N.Y METS +101 at CINCINNATI+114 at ST. LOUIS -108 Miami +127 San Francisco OFF UNDERDOG LINE Milwaukee OFF at PITTSBURGH-104 at HOUSTON -101 at ARIZONA +122 Seattle OFF

Pro basketball

Thursday’s Games

Tampa Bay 10, Athletics 1 Houston 6, Kansas City 2 Chicago White Sox 3, Detroit 1 Boston 4, Texas 3 L.A. Angels 5, Minnesota 4, 10 innings

WNBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE W 27 26 25 24 15 11 10

L 14 14 16 16 26 29 31

Pct .659 .650 .610 .600 .366 .275 .244

GB — ½ 2 2½ 12 15½ 17

GB — 9 13 29 37

L.A. Dodgers 8, Cincinnati 2 Pittsburgh 7, Milwaukee 4 San Diego 9, Colorado 2 Philadelphia 3, N.Y. Mets 0

American League

W L z-New York 88 64 Boston 83 70 Cleveland 78 75 Texas 76 77 Toronto 76 77 Baltimore 75 78 z-clinched playoff berth L 68 68 69 73

Pct .579 .542 .510 .497 .497 .490

WCGB +10½ +5 — 2 2 3

Pct .556 .556 .549 .523

WCGB +1 +1 — 4

NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Milwaukee (Gasser 4-5) at Baltimore (Rogers 10-10), 3:05 p.m. Boston (Tolle 9-6) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 9-11), 3:10 p.m. Athletics (Lopez 6-4) at Cleveland (Bibee 6-15), 5:10 p.m. Kansas City (Cameron 9-8) at Pittsburgh (Chandler 8-9), 5:40 p.m. Toronto (Soriano 12-7) at Texas (Quantrill 9-5), 6:05 p.m. Atlanta (Holmes 9-5) at Houston (Wesneski 5-2), 6:10 p.m. Detroit (Jobe 2-2) at Chicago White Sox (TBD), 6:10 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Schlittler 14-6) at Arizona (Pfaadt 7-3), 7:10 p.m. Seattle (Miller 4-9) at Colorado (Sugano 12-10), 7:10 p.m. Minnesota (Ryan 6-10) at L.A. Angels (Detmers 6-8), 8:38 p.m.

National League Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 89 85 76 71 69

L 64 68 77 82 84

Pct .582 .556 .497 .464 .451

GB — 4 13 18 20

x-Milwaukee Chicago Pittsburgh St. Louis Cincinnati

W 95 85 76 75 71

L 58 68 77 78 82

Pct .621 .556 .497 .490 .464

GB — 10 19 20 24

Buffalo N.Y. Jets New England Miami

W 2 1 0 0

L 0 0 1 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000

PF PA 77 62 23 10 10 13 13 27

Jacksonville Houston Tennessee Indianapolis

W 1 0 0 0

L 0 1 1 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000 0 .000

PF PA 34 10 31 36 10 23 23 41

Baltimore Cincinnati Pittsburgh Cleveland

W 1 1 1 0

L 0 0 0 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000

PF PA 41 23 33 27 20 13 10 34

Kansas City Las Vegas L.A. Chargers Denver

W 1 1 0 0

L 0 0 1 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000

PF PA 31 10 27 13 14 26 10 31

N.Y. Giants Philadelphia Washington Dallas

W 1 1 0 0

L 0 0 1 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000 0 .000

PF PA 28 20 24 22 22 24 20 28

Atlanta Tampa Bay Carolina New Orleans

W 0 0 0 0

L 1 1 1 1

T 0 0 0 0

PF PA 13 20 27 33 37 59 30 31

South

North

West

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

L 0 0 1 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .500 0 .000

PF PA 39 22 59 37 62 71 22 39

San Francisco Arizona Seattle L.A. Rams

W 1 1 1 0

L 0 0 0 1

T Pct 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 1.000 0 .000

PF PA 27 7 26 14 13 10 7 27

West

Sunday’s Games

Pro football

East

W 1 1 1 0

Buffalo 41, Detroit 31

Wild Card Glance

W 85 85 84 80

North Minnesota Chicago Detroit Green Bay

Thursday’s Games

Milwaukee (Gasser 4-5) at Baltimore (Rogers 10-10), 3:05 p.m. Philadelphia (Painter 3-9) at N.Y. Mets (Scott 4-5), 3:10 p.m. Chicago Cubs (Boyd 8-5) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 3-5), 5:40 p.m. Kansas City (Cameron 9-8) at Pittsburgh (Chandler 8-9), 5:40 p.m. Atlanta (Holmes 9-5) at Houston (Wesneski 5-2), 6:10 p.m. Washington (Alvarez 2-6) at St. Louis (McGreevy 7-9), 6:15 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Schlittler 14-6) at Arizona (Pfaadt 7-3), 7:10 p.m. Seattle (Miller 4-9) at Colorado (Sugano 12-10), 7:10 p.m. Miami (Pérez 7-11) at San Diego (Mize 6-9), 7:40 p.m. San Francisco (Webb 8-9) at L.A. Dodgers (Wrobleski 11-5), 8:10 p.m.

Chicago Philadelphia San Diego Arizona

Kansas City at Pittsburgh, n Milwaukee at Baltimore, n Athletics at Cleveland, n Boston at Tampa Bay, n Detroit at Chicago White Sox, n Toronto at Texas, n Atlanta at Houston, n Seattle at Colorado, n Minnesota at L.A. Angels, n N.Y. Yankees at Arizona, n

Central Division

Pct .608 .549 .523 .418 .366

Thursday’s Games

National League

Friday’s Games

East Division

L 60 69 73 89 97

Saturday’s Games

Major League Baseball

Central Division

W x-Los Angeles 93 San Diego 84 Arizona 80 San Francisco 64 Colorado 56 x-clinched division

Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati, n Kansas City at Pittsburgh, n Milwaukee at Baltimore, n Philadelphia at N.Y. Mets, n Atlanta at Houston, n Seattle at Colorado, n Washington at St. Louis, n Miami at San Diego, n N.Y. Yankees at Arizona, n San Francisco at L.A. Dodgers, n

Friday’s Games

East Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

Saturday’s Games

Saturday

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

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Pct .000 .000 .000 .000

Carolina at Atlanta, noon Cincinnati at Houston, noon Cleveland at Tampa Bay, noon Green Bay at N.Y. Jets, noon Minnesota at Chicago, noon New Orleans at Baltimore, noon Philadelphia at Tennessee, noon Pittsburgh at New England, noon Jacksonville at Denver, 3:05 p.m. Las Vegas at L.A. Chargers, 3:05 p.m. Miami at San Francisco, 3:25 p.m. Seattle at Arizona, 3:25 p.m. Washington at Dallas, 3:25 p.m. Indianapolis at Kansas City, 7:20 p.m.

Monday’s Games

N.Y. Giants at L.A. Rams, 7:15 p.m.

Late Thursday Buffalo 41, Detroit 31

Detroit 0 10 7 14 — 31 Buffalo 14 13 7 7 — 41 First Quarter Buf_J.Allen 1 run (Bass kick), 9:07. Buf_Palmer 43 pass from J.Allen (Bass kick), 3:42. Second Quarter Buf_Knox 1 pass from J.Allen (Bass kick), 11:43. Det_Gibbs 11 pass from Goff (Bates kick), 5:03. Buf_Kincaid 16 pass from J.Allen (kick failed), 2:48. Det_FG Bates 31, :00. Third Quarter Det_St. Brown 2 pass from Goff (Bates kick), 9:29. Buf_J.Allen 2 run (Bass kick), 1:07. Fourth Quarter Det_LaPorta 1 pass from Goff (Bates kick), 10:53. Buf_Cook 1 run (Bass kick), 2:50. Det_St. Brown 27 pass from Goff (Bates kick), 1:42.

A_60,644.

Det Buf First downs 24 34 Total Net Yards 355 446 Rushes-yards 20-66 36-203 Passing 289 243 Punt Returns 0-0 3-36 Kickoff Returns 6-157 4-93 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 26-38-0 20-31-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 4-38 2-5 Punts 4-51.5 2-41.5 Fumbles-Lost 2-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards 10-58 5-46 Time of Possession 26:15 33:45 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Detroit, Gibbs 16-52, Vaki 1-7, Goff 3-7. Buffalo, Cook 21-135, J.Allen 14-69, Moore 1-(minus 1). PASSING_Detroit, Goff 26-38-0-327. Buffalo, J.Allen 20-31-0-248. RECEIVING_Detroit, St. Brown 9-142, Gibbs 6-61, LaPorta 6-52, J.Williams 2-33, TeSlaa 2-26, Vaki 1-13. Buffalo, Kincaid 7-95, Coleman 6-63, Shakir 3-38, Knox 2-5, Palmer 1-43, Cook 1-4. MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League ATHLETICS — Recalled RHP Mason Barnett from Las Vegas (PCL). Optioned LHP Joe Rock to Las Vegas. Sent 3B Joshua Kuroda-Grauer on a rehab assignment to Las Vegas. BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Optioned RHP Codi Heuer to Norfolk (IL). Recalled LHP Cade Povich from Norfolk. MINNESOTA TWINS — Placed LF Trevor Larnach on the 10-day IL retroactive to September 15. Recalled RF Alan Roden from St. Paul (IL). TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Designated RHP Michael Lorenzen for assignment. Selected the contract of RHP José Rodríguez from Buffalo (IL).

YEARS

11 teams. 6 conferences. 1 state.

SATURDAYS 10AM & 10:30AM STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Pelicans forward Saddiq Bey is defended by Orlando Magic forward Tristan da Silva on April 5 in the Smoothie King Center.

BEY

er, the Pelicans senior vice president of operations, was Continued from page 5C general manager of the Pistons at the time. “He is a major part of why I’m here,” Bey said about Utah Jazz. He poured in a career-high Weaver in an interview dur51 points in 2022 when playing the season. “He drafted me and I ing with the Detroit Pistons. Bey was drafted by the kinda grew up with him my Pistons in 2020. Troy Weav- ﬁrst 21/ 2 years in the league.

For him to still believe in me meant a lot. Obviously, we had a great relationship. Him and Joe didn’t have to do that. I am just grateful for that.” Bey and the Pelicans open training camp Sept. 29. The season opener is Oct. 21 against the Indiana Pacers at Smoothie King Center.

MONDAYS 5PM

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

S at u r d ay, S e p t e m b e r 19, 2026

9CN

Any Old Iron opens N.O. boutique Stars across the spectrum have worn shop owner’s designs BY JONAH MEADOWS Staff writer

Beyoncé has rocked his rhinestone jacket. Elton John has donned his sequins. Taylor Swift has featured a sparkling cape he designed in a music video. Now, British-born designer Andrew Clancey, who has outﬁtted those and many other celebrities in his sparkle-forward fashions, has brought his Any Old Iron boutique to Magazine Street. Any Old Iron opened for business in the Lower Garden District at the beginning of September. It’s the designer’s ﬁrst location in Louisiana and one of just two in the U.S. The other, in Nashville, Tennessee, opened in 2014 after Clancey moved it from Manhattan.

STAFF PHOTO By JONAH MEADOWS

Andrew Clancey, owner of Any Old Iron, works the checkout counter on his third day in business at the boutique at 1900 Magazine St.

Clancey specializes in sequins, rhinestone and bright-print jackets with a blend of disco and punk aesthetics. It’s a style seemingly tailor-made for a city with a knack for dressing up, where costume collections can ﬁll entire closets and there’s always another ball, gala or other special event around the corner. “In New Orleans, anything goes. I feel like there’s a lot more freedom for people to dress up, it’s almost expected,” Clancey said in an interview. “Whereas in Nashville, a sequined jacket, wearing it out for dinner? Not a lot of people do it.”

Game-changing gala Clancey said a corner storefront on Magazine was the obvious choice for his first Louisiana location, though he

Louisiana’s Old State Capitol is the backdrop for a wedding in the microdrama ‘Because of Her.’

PROVIDED PHOTO

SHIFTING IN REEL TIME Behind the camera with the growing company that filmed Louisiana’s first microdrama in Baton Rouge

BY JUDY BERGERON

platforms can then digest these series in episodes lasting 45 seconds to three minutes. There are typiLouisiana’s first microdrama se- cally 60-100 episodes per series ries, “Because of Her,” is out for for a total watch time of 60-100 minutes, so no big investment for the world to watch. Viewers will see scenic spots in the viewer, either. Baton Rouge and the sharp About the crew tailoring of a Louisiana clothier. What they won’t Dinosaur Rumblings see are the 100 or so crew Entertainment, a growing members responsible for Baton Rouge video producgetting this project shot tion company, was recruitand shipped to Hollywood ed to “Because of Her” late in just eight days. in the pre-production calIt’s the nature of the beast: Roblez endar, according to DRE smaller budgets, fewer filmowner Brett Roblez. Usuing days and limited locales are the ally, a studio approaches two or norm for microdramas, all to get three months in advance to secure these trending forms of cellphone a production team; for this one, Roentertainment done in a flash. The blez had a week’s notice. episodes are meant to be watched “So the camera people, the grips, in short spurts, holding the device the gaffers, the lighting — even cavertically. The craze originated in tering — all that we had to do, and China, where they’re popular with find all the locations,” said Roblez, young train commuters. whose working titles were producSubscribers to various vertical er, line producer and unit produc(another term for microdrama) tion manager. Staff writer

The leads for the romantic drama “Because of Her,” Tiffony Alford as Lila and Kasey Esser as John, were already in place, while Roblez’s team filled in the rest of the main cast and supporting and background actors. Wardrobe needs were another task to tackle, and not a minor one at that. For some characters, there were six or eight changes in an 18hour day. Roblez’s offices became a makeshift chifforobe for the week. From a practical sense, he said shooting a microdrama is very similar to filming a traditional project. “It’s more from a story perspective that it is different,” he explained. “A horizontal is a story that’s all self-contained in the sense of ‘I’m sitting down for an hour-and-a-half to watch this film,’ so each scene can take a second to breathe. A vertical, you have about a minute and 30 seconds, if that per scene, to tell the audience the

ä See MICRODRAMAS, page 10C

ä See BOUTIQUE, page 10C

ERAS TOUR

BR program prepares youth to start businesses

Historic A. Hays Town estate up for sale, on show

BY JOY HOLDEN

BY JOY HOLDEN Staff writer

The Baton Rouge estate of celebrated architect A. Hays Town is on the market. The two-acre lot and 4,596-square-foot home, at 1544 Stanford Ave., was listed in July. Town designed and built the threebedroom and three-bathroom home in 1947. The property is listed for $3.25

ä See TOWN, page 10C

Accepted students come from schools in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, West Feliciana Young Entrepreneurs and Ascension parishes. Academy of Baton Rouge Of the 24, 11 are seniors, has named 24 students to seven are juniors and six its 2026-2027 class. are sophomores. Students from 12 high O’Banion “These students have schools across four parishes began the program Sept. 9 decided to take a risk and chalat LSU in the E. J. Ourso College lenge their creativity, conﬁdence of Business. Students meet week- and capabilities throughout this ly at LSU through the fall and program. What starts at YEA spring to work through the parts BR has changed lives and Baton of building a company — identi- Rouge, and I’m excited to watch fying a customer, setting a price, this class do the same,” said registering the business with the Casey O’Banion, president of Louisiana Secretary of State and ä See PROGRAM, page 10C making the case for it out loud.

Staff writer

PROVIDED PHOTO

Built in 1947, the estate of A. Hays Town sits at 1544 Stanford Ave. in Baton Rouge.

10C ● Saturday, September 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Throw the party you wish to see in the world I haven’t met, and I wonder if I Dear Miss Manners: I’m turning 30 and decided this would be a great should prepare a thank-you card/ age to throw a birthday party. My goodie bag for them. I want to thank my long-term partner recently friends for really bringing left me, and I really want joy to this time of my life, to show my friends how despite the tough parts. much I appreciate them And I don’t really feel I being in my life. could sincerely write a When I’ve gone to events thank-you note to plusafter COVID, I’ve noticed Judith ones I’m meeting that they have a lot less strucMartin night. ture and are overall less MISS Gentle reader: This is the formal. While I do want MANNERS only time that Miss Manthe birthday party to feel relaxed, I feel like all my ners is going to say this, so ideas to show appreciation conGentle Readers, please pay caretradict that and feel too formal. ful attention. There is speciﬁc Would it be too much if I gave context here and it is not to be each guest a thank-you card or abused: a party favor bag? I know a few This is your birthday party. Do people are bringing plus-ones what you want.

That sentiment has emboldened many a celebrant into terrible behavior. But you have warmed Miss Manners’ heart with your propensity for formality and your earnest desire to do right by your friends. To be clear, you alone are getting this special treatment because you have demonstrated that you do not plan to abuse it, extort your friends for presents or force them to wear ridiculous clothing. But since you asked for an education in party giving, Miss Manners will oblige. One does not politely throw oneself a birthday party, but as your intention is to use it as a reason to celebrate, just have a party. You do not have to name it. Casual does not necessarily

RELIGION BRIEFS

Louisiana Supreme Court Justice John M. Guidry will be the guest speaker at the Louisiana Conference United Women in Faith banquet at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9. Guidry The banquet will be held at Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 10230 Mollylea Drive, Baton Rouge.

By The Associated Press Today is Saturday, Sept. 19, the 262nd day of 2026. There are 103 days left in the year. Today in history: On Sept. 19, 2022, Great Britain and the world said a ﬁnal goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II at a state funeral that drew presidents and kings, princes and prime ministers — and crowds who thronged the streets of London. Also on this date: In 1796, President George Washington’s farewell address

MICRODRAMAS Continued from page 9C

PROVIDED PHOTO

The estate of A. Hays Town in Baton Rouge

TOWN

Continued from page 9C million at $707 per square foot. The Creole French Colonial home includes reclaimed materials sourced by Town himself, like beams, bricks, mantels from salvage yards, cypress paneling, antique brass hardware, reclaimed doors from a French armoire made into a closet door, imported flagstone and reclaimed soft red and hard tan bricks. The property consists of the main home, an office and workshop, a honeymoon cottage, a pigeonnier, a gazebo, brick walls and courtyards. Each building on the grounds is unique and was built during different eras of Town’s life. The estate features French, English, Spanish and other European elements. Slate roofs and handmade copper and iron light fixtures make the historic home a custom space. Every design feature was implemented by Town. Situated on the University Lakes, the home has a waterfront view, with live oak trees planted by Town and Steele Burden. The home has been featured in Southern Living and Veranda. The listing agent is Leslie Gladney of Burns & Co., Inc. Email Joy Holden at joy. holden@theadvocate.com.

BOUTIQUE

Continued from page 9C would consider an expansion to the French Quarter if the right space were to become available. The designer had passed on New Orleans once before, favoring the Music City, he said, because that’s where million-dollar records are made. Clancey said he initially doubted that the New Orleans market could sustain his brand, but an event last October changed his mind. Any Old Iron partnered with Fleur de Bras, which raises money for reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients, for its annual charity fashion show at the Hotel St. Vincent. “There were 300 or 400 people there, all immaculate, all really fashionable, and I was like, ‘There’s a market here,’ ” he said. “Plus, any excuse to come here —

a few close friends, but I would love to meet Diego and Karla another time.” If you have not ﬁgured out by the age of 30 that trends in entertaining styles (and everything else) are cyclical, now is the time. But more importantly — and what comes with age — is having the fortitude not to follow them. Have the party in the style that suits you. Happy birthday. Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www. missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

TODAY IN HISTORY

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Justice John M. Guidry to speak at banquet

mean more convivial. It comes with its own rules, but since the point is to refuse to declare them, confusion reigns instead. (People also started wearing pajamas in public after COVID, but that does not make it socially acceptable.) Party favors are not expected after the age of 10. Nor are thankyou letters to guests, unless they are for presents. And if you want to avoid that, reference the “downplaying of the birthday” part. Plus-ones are easier to omit when you treat the occasion more formally. You put only the person you want to invite on the invitation. And if your guest list starts to multiply without you, you can politely say, “This party is just for

important things. “And almost every scene needs to end on a cliffhanger, which is very hard from a writing perspective because every line has to matter. You have these quick-paced lines, and then something has to happen at the end of that 30 seconds to make the person want to watch the next one,” he said. Shooting locations for “Because of Her” included the Shaw Center for the Arts, Heroman’s Florist, Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, the home of Elona and Kyle Sharbaugh and Roselawn Cemetery. Actors in Louisiana clothier Haspel’s signature suits threw in some brand integration, also a popular microseries element. Post-production was handled back in Los Angeles by producer Tommy Harper’s Tiny Verticals studio, Roblez said. Roblez, 28, said he’d be interested in another micro project, preferably one cutting out the middle man. “I think there’s enough great Louisiana writers, editors, ﬁnancers,” he said. “The money in the state can make this, especially with the tax credits.”

PROGRAM

Continued from page 9C Young Entrepreneurs Academy, in a news release. Each student is paired with a mentor drawn from the Baton Rouge business community. The year ends March 10 at a community pitch competition, where students present their businesses to a panel of local business leaders and compete for seed funding. Most of the class arrived without a defined business idea, which is how the program is designed. The first several sessions are spent finding a problem worth solving before any

was published. In it, America’s first chief executive advised, “Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” In 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died 2½ months after being shot by Charles Guiteau; he was succeeded by Vice President Chester A. Arthur. In 1957, the United States conducted its first contained underground nuclear test, code-named “Rainier,” in the Nevada desert. In 1995, The New York Times

and The Washington Post published the manifesto of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, which proved instrumental in identifying and capturing him. In 2008, struggling to stave off ﬁnancial catastrophe, the administration of President George W. Bush laid out a radical bailout plan calling for a takeover of a half-trillion dollars or more in worthless mortgages and other bad debt held by tottering institutions. Relieved investors sent stocks soaring on Wall Street and around the globe.

Today’s birthdays: Actor Rosemary Harris is 98. Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 85. Singer Bill Medley (The Righteous Brothers) is 85. Singer Sylvia Tyson (Ian and Sylvia) is 85. R&B singer Freda Payne is 83. Actor Jeremy Irons is 77. Model-actor Twiggy Lawson is 76. Musician-producer Nile Rodgers is 73. Rock singer Lita Ford is 67. Musician Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) is 63. Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 61. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is 60. News anchor Soledad O’Brien is 59. Actor Sanaa Lathan is 54.

In Louisiana, film productions are given up to a 40% tax credit on qualifying in-state expenditures as a way of attracting movie work, an economic infusion for the state. Roblez would also like to explore other genres beyond soap-opera type romances such as “Because of Her.” He’s interested in horror and LSU-style sitcom microdramas. To check out “Because of Her,” download the VeYou app. The series is currently featured on the app’s home page. Viewers receive a few free episodes before being charged a fee to view the rest of it. Subscriptions can range from $10 to $20 a week.

evator. In the end, the adulterer gets his due. The film’s won awards at several film festivals, and a Bluray release is in the works. n The documentary “Dead People, Crazy People, Drugs and Politicians,” examining cases of corruption in St. Tammany Parish and based on the eponymously named 2024 book by Terry King and Chris Warner. Discussions are ongoing with Hulu and Netflix, and Roblez is hoping it’s picked up by the end of 2026. n Two Nike commercials, a Meta commercial and a pitch video trailer for a documentary starring actor Danny Trejo. The deal fell through, but Trejo was so impressed by the script that the material was added into the documentary. Nondisclosure agreements prohibit publishing details, such as the project’s title. n “The Living Impaired,” a workin-progress film supporting the premise that if zombies attacked tomorrow, there would not be a problem for the living. The idea is that zombies become the new normal, and people begin to think calling them zombies is politically incorrect. So, they call them the living impaired.

coming a filmmaker since childhood. ”I’ve been making stop-motion movies as long as I can remember,” he said. “When I was in sixth grade, I remade ‘Night of the Living Dead’ with LEGOs.” Roblez studied in LSU’s film program and then at the entertainment media-focused Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. A two-year stint working in Atlanta’s film industry preceded his return to Louisiana during COVID. Then came Dinosaur Rumblings Entertainment. Roblez isn’t kidding when he says the story behind his company’s name is a long one. But in a nutshell, he was obsessed with comic books as a child and created his own comic, John Hancock 2099. His father asked if his comic was a Marvel or a DC. “And my 4-year-old self is like ‘Dinosaur Rumblings.’ I don’t know why,” he said. “Fast forward to eighth grade, we had to make a fake website for computer class. I made the fake website for my comic company. By that point, I was very much a film guy, so I said, ‘I’ll make it Dinosaur Rumblings Entertainment.’” And it stuck.

ana High School, grade 11 n Dylan Finan, Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, grade 10 n Hannah Thornton, St. Joseph’s Academy, grade 12 n Ibrahim Khan, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, grade 10 n Jaelyn Green, Central High School, grade 12 n Jayden Mai, Prairieville High School, grade 11 n Julia Downs, St. Joseph’s Academy, grade 10 n Landry Pere, St. Joseph’s Academy, grade 12 n Lily Milton, The Dunham School, grade 11 n Michael Smirnov, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, grade 12 n Nafeesa Khan, Woodlawn

High, grade 12 n Preston Thompson, Catholic High School, grade 12 n Sacha Willis, Walker High School, grade 11 n Sadie Olivier, St. Joseph’s Academy, grade 10 n Spencer Crook, Catholic High School, grade 12 n Tarik Avci, Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, grade 11 n Walter Wilkinson, Walker High School, grade 12 n Yusuf Akinci, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, grade 10 n Yuva Katta, Baton Rouge Magnet High School, grade 10. Email Joy Holden at joy.holden@ theadvocate.com.

Now, stylists come directly into the Nashville store. Touring musicians assemble their on-stage wardrobe before leaving town. At any given time, the shop is working on about two dozen custom jobs. Designs are completed in-house, while production takes place overseas, with much of the sequin work done in India, where Clancey travels several times a year. “If you made it in the U.S., it would be $20,000 suits for this level of work that we do,” he said. “It’s not too much of a great business model, to be honest.” About 75% of Any Old Iron‘s business comes from in-person sales, with the rest online. Custom pieces, which are priced the same as those on the rack, account for about a quarter of the business — most of it is sequin work, with conventional suit tailoring for wedding or courtroom attire comprising a small share of revenue. Ahead of opening, Clancey de-

signed several collections to be sold only in New Orleans, including a Mardi Gras camouflage, a voodoo doll design and a print featuring New Orleans icons. He said doesn’t want the new store, which features a newly installed LED dance ﬂoor, neon signage and a front desk resembling massive sound system, to feel interchangeable with Nashville’s. “When you go into Gucci in London, it’s the same stuff that’s in Melbourne, Australia,” he said. “I wanted to make each store a different experience.” The new Magazine Street boutique also carries of rack of designs by Clancey’s ﬁancee, Laura Citron, a Broussard native and Fashion Institute of Technology grad whose high-profile clients have included Lainey Wilson and members of the bands Greta Van Fleet and Little Big Town. These days, Clancey expends less energy chasing famous fashionistas than he once did.