The Acadiana Advocate 09-23-2026

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SpaceX begins hiring for La. project Four positions for Vermilion spaceport now open to applicants

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has started the hiring process for the massive spaceport planned for Vermilion Parish near Pecan Island. On Aug. 25, Gov. Jeff Landry, along with other officials and SpaceX representatives, announced plans to build a $100 billion rocket launch and recovery

facility along a stretch of the Gulf Coast about 45 miles southwest of Lafayette. SpaceX acquired around 125,000 acres of land in Vermilion Parish as part of the recent settlement of a lawsuit against ExxonMobil over the destruction of coastal wetlands. The Vermilion Parish spaceport is expected to include five launch pads and create at least 3,000 jobs.

The site is expected to be able to launch Starship, which the company calls the most powerful rocket in the world. Four weeks after the announcement, the company is seeking applicants for four positions. The following job openings were posted as of Tuesday morning on the SpaceX website: n Senior construction project manager (Starship infrastructure)

n Civil engineer, land development (Starbase infrastructure) n Government affairs manager n Senior counsel, real estate and infrastructure. The senior construction project manager will be based in Starbase, Texas — the Brownsville/South Padre Island area — until early 2027, when they will be required to relocate to Louisiana, according to the application.

‘It gives his life purpose’

Gym offers fitness opportunities for people with disabilities

They will coordinate all on-site construction activities and supervise all field personnel, completing the project on schedule and within budget, according to the listing. The civil engineer for land development will also be based in the Brownsville/South Padre Island area at Starbase, Texas, until they will be required to relocate to Louisiana in early 2027. This individual will be part of the launch infrastructure team,

ä See SPACEX, page 6A

St. Landry president has plan to pay back $1.6M bond Parish could face fiscal oversight from state

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

Adam Gilmore and Charlie Webre work out at Train Unique on Sept. 16.

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

At Train Unique, a Lafayette-based gym designed for people with intellectual and physical disabilities, the question isn’t whether these athletes can do it. It’s how. For founder and owner Damon Vincent, that means adapting an exercise, changing the amount of assistance provided or simply giving an athlete the time needed to become comfortable in the environment. “The biggest question we tackle is not, ‘Can they do it?’ It’s, ‘How do we do it?’ ” Vincent said. Train Unique offers one-on-one, smallgroup and group training for athletes with autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, as well as people with spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and strokes, among other disabilities, Vincent said. Kinley Romero, who will turn 14 in October, has microcephaly and is hearing impaired. She has been attending Train Unique for nearly two years. “At first, Kinley wasn’t super excited about coming because she’s very shy,” her mother, Monique Romero, said. Now, Romero said, her daughter looks forward to coming, enjoys being around

With only six months to pay back a $1.65 million bond before the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office takes control of the parish finances, St. Landry officials are clarifying how the parish plans to navigate upcoming budget cuts. The parish spent $2.9 million of $4.6 million in bonds issued in 2024 and 2025 to help balance its general fund, and still owes $1.65 million that will become due in March 2027. The parish was anticipating an extension of one year. However, Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack determined that if the parish did not make substantial steps toward resolving the matter in the six-month timeframe, he would place the parish’s finances under a state-appointed fiscal administrator. Parish President Jessie Bellard said he is not opposed to the idea. “I welcome anyone to look at our finances and tell us what we ought to be cutting,” he said. “The auditor coming in will be a blessing to us. If they

ä See ST. LANDRY, page 6A

Wife accuses Sulphur mayor of abuse BY COURTNEY PEDERSEN Staff writer

Gym founder and owner Damon Vincent high-fives Lennis Delahoussaye during a workout at Train Unique. the other members and has become prove from where she was two years much more comfortable at the gym. She ago,” Romero said. has also found her favorite activity: liftJonah Kirelow, 16, who is autistic, has been attending Train Unique since ing weights. “She gets so excited to come show me ä See GYM, page 7A her muscles, and I love seeing her im-

Less than three months after being sworn in as the mayor of Sulphur, Jacob Stutes is facing a potential divorce, a protective order and allegations of abuse. On Thursday and Friday, Teresa Stutes, the wife of Mayor Jacob Stutes, filed for divorce and a protective order against her husband.

ä See SULPHUR, page 6A

WEATHER HIGH 96 LOW 73 PAGE 8A

Business ...................10C Commentary ................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6A Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................2B Comics-Puzzles .....7C-9C Living............................5C Sports ..........................1C

102ND yEAR, NO. 85

2A ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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FROM WIRE REPORTS

Administration to admit South African refugees

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to limit the number of refugees admitted to the country to 17,500 mostly white South Africans, the administration told Congress Tuesday, as it continues to transform a program that at one point served as a pathway to safety for people fleeing war and strife from countries around the world. In a notice to Congress obtained by The Associated Press, the administration said the white South Africans faced seizures of their land and other forms of persecution and would be likely to assimilate when they come to America. The South African government has repeatedly rejected the idea that the white South Africans, who are Afrikaners, are a persecuted minority in the home country. The Trump administration has dramatically altered a refugee program that historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support as it welcomed tens of thousands of refugees from countries around the world to new lives in America, and instead the administration has transformed it into a vehicle to resettle white South Africans in America. The administration told Congress in the announcement that it intended to spend about $500 million to resettle the new arrivals to the U.S.

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ACA enrollees to be removed Officials allege 760,000 fraudulently applied or don’t exist BY FATIMA HUSSEIN and MICHELLE PRICE Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance and other Trump administration officials said Tuesday they plan to remove 760,000 Affordable Care Act enrollees from public healthcare exchanges, alleging that the individuals were fraudulently enrolled in the program, or simply do not exist. Vance said the discovery and canceled subsidy payments for hundreds of thousands of people from the exchanges, part of an administration-wide crackdown on fraud, would result in $2.2 billion in cost savings. “We’re actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receive them,” said Vance, who leads a government task force to eliminate fraud. He was flanked by

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other administration officials. Vance said the cancellation of approximately 315,000 enrollments covering 760,000 people was done in part because the government was not checking whether people enrolled were eligible. Vance said another 419,000 enrollments will get additional verification to make sure they are eligible for the benefit. The Trump administration also announced a six-month suspension on new agents or brokers who sign up enrollees for healthcare coverage, who officials say commit a disproportionate amount of the fraud they uncovered. Roughly 19.2 million Americans are actively enrolled in ACA marketplace health plans as of early 2026, according to the Department of Health and Human Services website. The number of enrollees

grew during the COVID-19 pandemic when enhanced subsidies became available through the American Rescue Plan Act and Inflation Reduction Act, both signed into law by former President Joe Biden. Tuesday’s announcement is the latest in an initiative by the Trump administration to address fraud around the country, including in federal healthcare programs, which officials say is needed to rein in runaway spending and protect taxpayers. Some healthcare policy experts are calling for more transparency on how the Trump administration decided to cut hundreds of thousands of enrollees — and question how many people may have been wrongly cut from the program. Cynthia Cox, a vice president and director of the ACA program at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF, said “I think there’s no

Supreme Court won’t intervene in surrogate custody dispute BY ANNA WILDER and LINDSAY WHITEHURST

Yom Kippur shooting suspect dies from injuries BELLEVILLE, Ontario — A 29-yearold man suspected of opening fire on a police officer stationed outside an Ontario synagogue during Yom Kippur has died from his injuries, the province’s police watchdog said Tuesday. Belleville police identified the man as Sean Ward of Quinte West. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, an independent civilian agency that investigates police shootings, said Ward died Monday night. The Department of National Defense said its records show that a former Canadian Armed Forces member named Sean Ward, who was released in June 2022 at the rank of corporal, matches the description of the shooting suspect. The Special Investigations Unit has said a man armed with a shotgun opened fire on a police officer stationed outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue on Sunday night, triggering a shootout that left him and the officer seriously injured. Police have not established a motive or said whether the Sons of Jacob Synagogue or the Jewish community was targeted.

Priests, nuns march, call for end to ‘genocide’ ROME — Some 150 Catholic priests and friars, a bishop and nuns from around the world marched to the Vatican and prayed Tuesday in front of St. Peter’s Basilica to call for an end to what they called the “genocide” in Gaza. The protesters carried a banner down the main boulevard leading to the Vatican bearing the names of 300 children who died during Israel’s war in Gaza and southern Lebanon. The marchers didn’t enter Vatican territory and had an Italian police escort. The “Priests Against Genocide” network was born in August 2025 and currently includes over 2,500 priests and bishops from five continents, organizers said. Among those marching Tuesday was the bishop of Manfredonia, Italy, Franco Moscone. After praying near the Vatican, the protesters moved to the Palestinian and Lebanese embassies, and then onto the Rome headquarters of Italian defense manufacturer Leonardo SpA. It was a significantly larger turnout than the march the group held last year.

CORRECTION An article Sunday about Louisiana technology firm 365Labs provided incorrect employee and revenue figures. The company has 70 employees or contractors and generates between $30 million and $50 million a year in revenue.

question that somebody who was fraudulently enrolled should have their coverage canceled,” however, “I think the question is whether this was the appropriate process by which to identify fraudulent enrollees, and also whether all of them were indeed fraudulently enrolled.” Cox said the elimination of the people from ACA programs was done outside of the normal regulatory process. The announcement comes as stubbornly high inflation and rising healthcare costs pressure the Trump administration to come up with a plan to bring down costs for Americans as affordability remains a central issue in the fall midterm elections. The price of ACA insurance has skyrocketed for many Americans during Trump’s second term, after Republicans opposed extending COVID-era subsidies that had helped offset the costs of health insurance for most enrollees during Biden’s term.

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By MARK SCHIEFELBEIN

President Donald Trump, left, participates in a welcome ceremony with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in May in Beijing.

Trump, Xi see tensions flare over AI, trade, Iran two geopolitical strongmen circling Leaders still seek stability cally each other on the playground, trying to what their next move may as U.S. hosts Chinese determine be.” president in Washington The countries appeared to be enter-

ing a “new normal” of “overall stability” despite blacklisting each other’s comAssociated Press panies and restricting the flow of hightech products, said Da Wei, director of WASHINGTON — State visits usually occur the Center for International Security when two countries are on warm terms, and Strategy at Tsinghua University in but U.S. President Donald Trump is host- Beijing. The leaders now should produce deals ing Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington this week as their economic and tech that their governments can carry out, he competition is only escalating, especially said, noting that “we need to move fast.” through an artificial intelligence race. Neither expects any grand bargain, AI race could strain any cooperation but the leaders are expected to play Developing AI technology has emerged nice in their third meeting since Trump as a key battleground, with both sides returned to the White House to try to showing little interest in slowing down steady fragile ties. That is despite the despite warnings from tech CEOs about world’s two largest economies seeking threats that rogue AI could pose to huthe upper hand on AI developments and manity. “Whoever wins AI wins,” Trump trade, while pushing for leverage in per- has repeatedly said. He claimed on social media Monday sistent hot spots like Iran and Taiwan. “The fact that they are meeting, and that the U.S. is leading over China and there’s dialogue occurring and building that he was “not going to stifle Growth, that relationship, is probably as impor- of something that will be bigger than the tant as outcomes from the meeting,” said Industrial Revolution, or the Internet, Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican itself.” China cannot afford to lose either. In who advises Trump on China and recently traveled there to lay groundwork for a rare, blunt essay, Chen Yixin, head of China’s Ministry of State Security, the summit. Cui Tiankai, a former Chinese ambas- warned that AI poses a direct threat to sador to the U.S., said at a recent forum in Communist Party rule if foreign and hosBeijing that there are “always problems, tile forces achieve superior capabilities. sometimes very big problems” between The U.S. is already restricting exports the two countries, but “we’ll make our of the most powerful AI chips to China best efforts to maintain overall stability.” and has accused Chinese developers of tapping into American AI models at an inShift from sky-high tariffs dustrial scale to extract their capabilities. Beijing says the practice, known as Xi’s visit to Washington, which begins Wednesday, is his first in 10 years. distillation, is widely used, including by He and Trump are meeting after their American companies, and has criticized countries climbed down from last year’s the U.S. for trying to monopolize the inintense trade war, where they traded tit- dustry. for-tat sky-high tariffs that threatened Beijing also is upset about U.S. efforts the global economy. China also choked to build an alliance that excludes China, off its world-leading supplies of critical so it is seeking to craft new global AI minerals needed in products from elec- guardrails by appealing to developing nations. tric cars to fighter jets. However, the U.S. and China are taking The U.S. is not only trying to balance trade but also maintain its tech domi- a small step to cooperate on AI. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said nance to protect national security and global leadership. China, which has Sunday after meeting with Chinese Vice amassed tremendous economic, tech- Premier He Lifeng in New York that the nological and military power over the U.S. has proposed a new “notification past several years to close gaps with the mechanism” for AI incidents that could U.S., is seeking to solidify its place in the affect national security. “We think that just like any cross-borglobal order. The stability both sides are seeking is der activity, that moving from opaque to “for deeply competitive reasons,” said more transparency between the No. 1 and Evan Medeiros, a senior adviser at The the No. 2 AI powers in the world is very Asia Group consultancy. “This is basi- important,” Bessent said.

BY DIDI TANG and E. EDUARDO CASTILLO

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in a custody dispute over a 5-week-old child who was born in Texas after a surrogate refused a California couple’s wishes to have an abortion. Justice Elena Kagan denied the request from McKenna West, who was seeking conservatorship over a baby boy she gave birth to in Dallas. The brief order did not detail the legal reasoning, as is typical in emergency appeals. The decision came from Kagan because she handles appeals of cases out of California. West had previously been rejected by other courts in her efforts to have a say in the treatment of the child, who was born with a lifethreatening heart condition. She gave birth to the boy in Dallas, where most

abortions are banned, after she refused the couple’s wishes to end the pregnancy. West had asked the Supreme Court to halt a California court order that recognizes Omar Ahmed and Nausheen Gilkar as the parents of the child whom she calls Gabriel and they call Rumi. Lawyers for the couple had urged the court to reject the request, questioning what an intervention would do for medical decision making at an already chaotic time. They also accused West of overstating the prognosis for children born with the heart condition. “Such chaos would be devastating for Respondents and, most importantly, their child,” the couple told the court. West has said she believes the couple will not provide life-saving care, citing their request for an abortion at 23 weeks. Gilkar and Ahmed have denied those claims.

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UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Trump: U.S., Iranian officials ‘Killer robots’ or met after address to leaders ‘super intelligence’? Attendees see both

President threatened to ‘annihilate’ Islamic Republic

World leaders paint different views of new technology

BY AAMER MADHANI, FARNOUSH AMIRI and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — President Donald Trump said U.S. and Iranian officials met on Tuesday, an unexpected engagement that came even as he threatened in his address to the U.N. General Assembly that he may “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal isn’t reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war. Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders but he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange. “It was a very good meeting,” Trump said. The president later added that the Iranian officials were “not the highest level, but it’s something.” The engagement comes after months of U.S.-Iran communications languishing following the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire that was brokered in June. U.S. and Iranian negotiators met separately with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Doha in early July for indirect talks. Earlier Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Trump is open to meeting with Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, while he’s in New York for the General Assembly. “This is a president that will meet with anybody for the most part, because he believes that engaging with people is important if you’re going to solve problems,” Rubio said on NBC’s “Today” show. Trump also met on Tuesday with leaders and senior officials from Gulf Cooperation Council nations — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates — as well as Jordan to discuss the way ahead with the war in Iran. In his address to the General Assembly, Trump made the case that he’s shown fortitude while other leaders have equivocated as he defended his decision to start a war with Iran. But Trump also suggested that he could be at a crossroads in the conflict even as he called on the Islamic Republic to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table to find a settle-

BY SETH BORENSTEIN AP science writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

President Donald Trump speaks to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday at the U.N. headquarters. ment to end the conflict. “I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?” The president’s comments came in his wide-ranging address to the international body in which he also celebrated this year’s U.S. military operation to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, a new agreement to expand the U.S. military presence in Greenland, and pushed back against calls for greater regulation of the artificial intelligence industry. But at the heart of the address was a fulsome defense of the war and pushback on the notion that Iran has shown a measure of resilience. “The terrorist regime is behaving badly, not because they are strong and confident, but because they are weak and desperate,” Trump said. Most of Iran’s delegation walked out of the chamber as Trump railed against the Islamic Republic.

A busy day of diplomacy After his speech, Trump gathered with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on the sidelines of the General Assembly to sign a new security agreement. The deal, announced last week, came together after Trump repeatedly threatened to “take over” Greenland, a territory of NATO-ally

Denmark, by military force if necessary. Trump said Tuesday the U.S. will immediately begin the process of developing a larger military presence in Greenland including “building two very major military bases.” Under the deal, Greenland remains Denmark’s territory. Trump also held talks with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He’s expected to hold a more informal meeting on Tuesday evening with Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, according to the White House. Trump also took part in an event on the Shield of Americas, an initiative Trump launched with Latin American countries earlier this year focused on combatting violent cartels.

Iran war looms large The visit to the U.N. comes as Trump’s foreign policy approach — particularly his decision to start a war with Iran — has become a drag on his fellow Republicans’ hopes of retaining control of both chambers of Congress during the coming midterm elections. Nevertheless, Trump made the case in his speech that the world is better off for his leadership. “I have no interest in leaving dangers to grow for another day,” Trump said. In last year’s address at the U.N., Trump claimed the U.S. had “demolished” Iran’s nuclear capabilities after he ordered the June 2025 bombardment of three key facilities. He returned to the General Assembly nearing the seven-month mark of a new war against Iran.

UNITED NATIONS — It’s killer robots versus super intelligence. Visions of the future straight out of comic books are playing out at the United Nations as world leaders talk about the threat — or promise — of artificial intelligence. Once again it was Donald Trump against the U.N, chief and other leaders on a pressing issue involving science and the future, echoing ongoing disputes over the threat of climate change. Armed with a new U.N. science report that warns of a slight but real potential of catastrophic and irreversible harm, U.N. SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres kicked off the parade of world leaders speaking at the General Assembly by calling for more oversight of AI, warning in vivid if not ominous terms of what could go wrong. “Let us resolve that life-anddeath decisions must never be surrendered to machines. Killer robots must have no place in our future,” Guterres said in his farewell address to world leaders. He also warned about AI in his first General Assembly address a decade ago. With Guterres saying the world needs to “advance the conditions for the responsible pacing of AI and the additional safeguards needed to address risks,” the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday will address how to place some kind of controls on the technology and it will feature some of the biggest names in the field.

Trump: It’s super, not artificial Less than an hour later, Trump was having none of that. “The United States also totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence being spoken of so much. Now here and after officially called super intelligence, changing the name,” he said. World leaders speaking after Trump used “artificial intelligence” — not “super.” “Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception,” Trump said. “Yet the very same people

who said we’ll all be dead in 12 years because of global warming, a name since reborn to climate change, because the planet was cooling, not warming, and nobody was dead. These are the same people that are now saying that AI is going to kill us all, that robots are going to attack us, and that everything is going to be a total disaster.” Trump was referring to a 2018 UN report that outlined the danger of human-caused climate change for long-term breaching of the internationally agreed-upon threshold of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit of warming since pre-industrial time and said it was 12 years away. Studies now say that breach is imminent in the next few years. That report — along with other science documents — did not say everyone would die. It said extreme weather would get more dangerous and that reducing pollution could prevent 100 million premature deaths over the next 82 years. Also, the world has not cooled, but warmed 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 12 years, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Go slow but cooperate The problem is both Trump and Guterres reduce the issue to something that’s not useful, says University of Chicago computer science department chairman Henry Hoffmann. “One turns it into a science-fiction movie; the other turns it into a nonissue,” Hoffmann said in an email. “Both push people to pick a team instead of engaging with the real risks and the possible mitigations. There shouldn’t be ‘sides’ on whether we need adequate control over powerful autonomous systems. The interesting debate is over what mechanisms actually provide that control.” Other nations want to make sure they are not left behind during an AI race between the U.S. and China, which Trump said America is winning. French President Emmanuel Macron and Guterres also made the issue about protecting children. “Let’s not wait for the consequences to come raining down on AI,” Macron said. “We must act now to protect our children and our young people.” Finland President Alexander Stubb, like other leaders, said AI will change the world, potentially for good, but needs strong controls.

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyers ask judge to investigate lone juror, dismiss case BY MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

BOSTON — A lawyer for Lindsay Clancy is asking a judge to investigate the conduct of the lone juror who wanted to convict the Massachusetts mother of murder in the deaths of her three young children. In a motion filed Friday but made public Monday, Clancy’s lawyer asked the court to question juror Michael Desronvil about his alleged use of a cellphone during deliberations, his truthfulness on a questionnaire that prospective jurors filled out before the trial began and his truthfulness when jurors were questioned by the judge a day before the trial ended. Among other things, lawyer Kevin Reddington asked

the court to obtain a record of any calls or texts Desronvil made between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on each day the jury deliberated. Phone use during deliberations is prohibited in the state. The judge declared a mistrial Sept. 4 after the jury insisted it couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict, despite days of trying. Eleven of 12 jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, with the majority feeling that she was in the grip of a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her kids. But Desronvil sided with the prosecutors, who had argued that Clancy knew what she was doing. Desronvil hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with his service on the jury, though some oth-

er jurors complained that he was inflexible in his opinion that Clancy was guilty. Prosecutors have yet to say whether they plan on putting Clancy on trial again. She remains charged with murder and is in a psychiatric hospital until her case is resolved. In another motion on Monday, another lawyer for Clancy, Martin Weinberg, asked the judge to take the unusual step of dismissing the criminal case, rather than putting on a new trial, on the grounds that a mistrial shouldn’t have been declared in the first place. Weinberg argued the judge should have replaced Desronvil with an alternate during the deliberations after the jury foreperson complained he was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.

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GOP senator calls NATO commander warns Putin becoming more cavalier for probe of Trump Jr. Senior official cautions members to be more aware

Wedding party bankrolled by oligarch raises concerns of corruption

BY EMMA BURROWS

AP European security correspondent

BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI and MARY CLARE JALONICK

TALLINN, Estonia — Russian President Vladimir Putin is becoming “increasingly cavalier, dangerous and risk accepting,” as his war in Ukraine drags on and as he seeks to divide Western allies, NATO’s deputy commander in Europe said Tuesday. Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stringer spoke to The Associated Press at a security conference in Estonia amid warnings from some European leaders that Moscow is planning to test NATO’s collective defense pact with bolder attacks that have already included sabotage and espionage. Stringer warned that NATO members need to be aware of the “febrile environment” and be careful in their response because Putin would like to provoke the alliance into an “overreaction.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that Russia might target NATO nations with deliberate drone or missile strikes while claiming they were accidental. French President Emmanuel Macron agreed and has asked his government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure against potential drone attacks and cyberattacks. Other European officials say the threat from Russia is serious but have called for calm. A British defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters, said the U.K. assessment is that Putin is not seeking direct confrontation with NATO. Officials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which border Russia, have also been more cautious about the prospect of a serious escalation after years of calling on Western nations to adopt a more hawkish approach to Moscow. “Ukraine is fighting. Russia is absorbed in Ukraine. We do not

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Curtis, of Utah, is calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate whether Donald Trump Jr. used his proximity to the presidency for financial benefit, after his recent wedding party was partially bankrolled by a Russian oligarch. In a letter sent Tuesday, Curtis called on the committee to subpoena Trump Jr. over his business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts or other benefits he has received and any instances in which his relationship to President Donald Trump “was invoked or understood to provide value.” Curtis called for the same scrutiny of Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden. “The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president,” Curtis wrote in the letter addressed to GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, chairman of the committee, and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee. The request by Curtis, a freshman senator who does not sit on the Judiciary panel, was a rare criticism of Trump’s family as most Republican lawmakers have stayed clear of weighing in on the president’s son. Grassley told reporters on Tuesday that he had not yet read Curtis’s letter, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he did not “have an observation on that.” Still, the letter comes as a few Republicans have shown a recent willingness to criticize Trump’s policies after largely avoiding public breaks with Trump during much of his second term. The unpopular war in Iran, high gas

Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By EVGENIy MALOLETKA

A municipal worker carries plywood on Tuesday to board up windows of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine. observe any buildup near our borders. And from that part, I think that most would agree that the perspective of direct military attack is not correct,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics told a small group of reporters late Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. European countries have already faced multiple incursions of Russian drones — and several missiles — as well as a campaign of covert Russian disruption which began after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. An AP interactive map tracking that campaign shows the escalation, from 59 incidents in March 2025 to more than 210 incidents ranging from vandalism, propaganda and influence operations to arson, sabotage and cyberattacks.

Testing NATO defenses In August, German officials accused Moscow of being behind a plot at Leipzig airport where a drone with explosives was found next to a Ukrainian plane laden with jet fuel. Last month, British officials said they disrupted a Russian plot to sabotage a drone factory outside London. In August, an Estonian defense company was set on fire and a weapons storage facility in Bulgaria exploded, though neither has been publicly attributed to Russia. Many saboteurs have been re-

cruited online by Russia’s intelligence services and some have no idea they are working for Moscow. That makes uncovering a plot challenging and attribution often difficult. When asked by the AP in May if Russia was waging a covert campaign against the West, Putin responded: “Name one proven fact.” The line between “accidental and deliberate is quite a fine one,” Stringer said, referring to incursions of drones sent off course into NATO airspace by Russian GPS jamming or other electronic countermeasures to defend against Ukrainian drone strikes. It would be possible for Russia to escalate that activity but it does not mean Moscow has decided to do so, said Stringer, NATO’s deputy supreme allied commander for Europe. While there are “a lot of different opinions as to how acute the threat is ... Russia’s attitude towards negligence” and deliberately targeting NATO neighbors “is almost the same,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told AP at the security conference. Both Stringer and Michal suggested the increase in covert attacks by Moscow was not because of a failure by NATO nations to stop them but as a direct consequence of Western support for Ukraine.

prices and mounting concerns about the GOP’s prospects in November’s midterm elections have brought increased scrutiny of the president from within his own party.

The Trumps say it was a gift ProPublica first reported last week that Umar Kremlev, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, helped pay to rent a private island and for a fireworks show when Trump Jr. and socialite Bettina Anderson were married in the Bahamas in May. In a subsequent post on her Instagram page signed by the couple, Bettina Trump wrote that Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association, was a “dear friend” who “very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding.” The president, who did not attend his son’s wedding, defended Kremlev’s involvement but said the money would be paid back.

Curtis calls funding ‘corruption’ Curtis, first elected to the Senate in 2024, vowed upon taking office not to shy away from disagreeing with Trump. He has publicly broken with the president several times since, including rejecting Trump’s calls to eliminate the Senate filibuster. In a July Wall Street Journal op-ed, Curtis wrote that “under no circumstance” would he support efforts to end or alter the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber. Curtis’ criticism involving Trump’s son goes beyond those policy disagreements. Curtis last Friday called the gift “corruption” and vowed to say more in the coming days. “A Russian oligarch paid for a lavish wedding after-party for Donald Trump Jr., which to me just stinks. It’s corruption. I don’t like it,” Curtis said in a video posted on social media. Curtis wrote on social media that Republicans “nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships” and that they “should not unplug it now.”

Man shot by ICE in Texas is back in detention after leaving hospital BY ANNA WILDER Associated Press/ Report for America

AUSTIN,Texas — A Venezuelan man shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Texas was back in a federal detention center Tuesday after being taken to a hospital for a second time with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to his attorney. A federal judge also ordered Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was shot Sunday in Austin, to appear in court next week following a lawsuit that sought to stop his removal from the U.S. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Perez’s attorney, said in a video posted to social media Tuesday that the 28-year-old man was “still in a lot of pain.” Perez was being held at

a federal detention facility in the remote South Texas town of Pearsall, according to Texas Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, who has joined others in his party in sharply criticizing the shooting that occurred amid a surge in ICE enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term. The violent encounter has also sparked protests in Austin, including a gathering outside the Texas Capitol on Monday night. Perez was making a DoorDash delivery Sunday afternoon when ICE officers in an unmarked truck sideswiped his car twice, Lincoln-Goldfinch has said. He was shot and taken to a hospital, then released into ICE custody with a bullet still in his back. Perez went back to the hospital Monday evening after

complaining of pain and was taken back into ICE custody around midnight, LincolnGoldfinch said. Court filings from Perez’s lawyers indicated he was forced to sleep on a cement floor at an ICE temporary processing center, and then at 4 a.m. Monday, ICE transferred him to the Pearsall facility. A temporary restraining order from his attorneys said he was also subject to interrogation without legal representation present. Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote on social media that he was taken back to the hospital around 5 p.m. Monday after he began experiencing a loss of sensation in his arm. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately respond to email messages Tuesday.

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SPACEX

Continued from page 1A working with a group of elite engineers across multiple disciplines, the application states, to “design, build and activate a second orbital launch pad and ancillary infrastructure that will further enable orbital launch capability” for what SpaceX describes as the world’s most powerful rocket,

SULPHUR

Continued from page 1A In the documents, Teresa Stutes alleged that Jacob Stutes has choked and strangled her, shoved her, threatened her with bodily harm and thrown objects at her. “(Jacob) has expressed unprovoked fits of rage frequently throughout their marriage,” the petition for divorce states. “Most recently, (Jacob) put his hand’s around (Teresa’s) throat, leaving marks, and forcing her to the bed.” The documents state that a bruise was left on Teresa’s neck. While that was listed as the most recent alleged incident, happening on Sept. 10, it was not the only one described in the divorce protective order filing documents. “On another occasion, (Jacob) became angry and said, ‘I can’t handle this anymore.’ (Jacob) then told (Teresa), ‘I’m gonna give you two options. A gun or a divorce. Pick it. You pick it — a gun or a divorce,’ ” the protective order states.

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Starship. The government affairs manager, who will lead external affairs for SpaceX, will be required to live in or near Vermilion Parish. This individual will work on local and state government relations, community and business relations and educational outreach, according to the listing. The final position is for a senior counsel for real estate and infrastructure. The position is based in Pecan Island and requires the indi-

“(Teresa) became quiet, and (Jacob) stormed out of the bathroom. Later, (Jacob) returned and said, ‘I don’t know why you pushed me to that limit.’” Jacob Stutes did not respond to The Advocate’s request for comment. The protective order request asks for a temporary restraining order that would keep Jacob Stutes from “molesting, harassing, threatening, or bothering” Teresa Stutes, including any phone calls or electronic communications. The petition also states that Teresa is asking Jacob to submit to a SASSI and Anger Management Assessment at his own cost and to follow the counselor’s recommendations. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kayla Vincent said they have no additional information on the situation because they only serve civil papers, but they can confirm the Sheriff’s Office made contact with Jacob Stutes on Friday. “We have no pending criminal investigations regarding (Jacob) Stutes,” Vincent said.

vidual to be on-site, the application states. The senior counsel will support development of Starbase, the SpaceX complex to be constructed in Vermilion Parish, as well as related spaceport, production and infrastructure programs. They will lead legal work for the site, including real estate and land-use documents, including purchases, sales, leases, easements, surface use agreements and rights-ofway.

City of Sulphur District 4 council member Josh Baden said that he retains his position of representing the city’s interests when it comes to divorce and protective domestic violence orders. “I think that is a private matter unless it is brought into the City Hall to where it creates an issue at the City Hall, or if anything that is mentioned or divulged inside that protective order could raise concerns of an ethics issue or concerns that the city needs to address of something,” Baden said. “I think the divorce situation and issues that go on inside the home are something that is directly a personal thing, and we need to leave it as a personal issue between him and his family.” However, he said that

Continued from page 1A make any recommendations and people still don’t accept them, then there’s truly nothing we can do to make them accept them.” Parish officials began making cuts to overall staff as well as salary reductions in July. This came after the parish transferred $1.8 million from various dedicated road funds to balance the general fund while making necessary bond payments. Additionally, animal control services were mostly passed along to a third-party provider following public backlash to the announcement of its closure. The most recent program to fall victim to the cutbacks is the Community Action Agency, which provides transportation services for elderly citizens of the parish. Parish officials said in July that they were looking at whether to cut the program, with a Sept. 1 deadline for a decision. The program’s last day will be Friday, however, nonemergency medical transportation for Medicaid recipients will still be provided through the service, with one employee remaining on staff to operate mandatory service. According to Bellard, the parish should save an additional $130,000 from cutting the program. Bellard has indicated in the past that up to 88.5% of the parish budget is tied to mandated spending, leaving very little discretionary funds from which to cut. “It’s not a spending problem, it’s a revenue problem,” Bellard said. One strategy the parish has used to lure businesses to the parish is PILOT agreements that exempt certain businesses from taxes in exchange for payments at a later date. However, one of the most crucial agreements to the

parish’s financial future involving solar energy company NextEra has been threatened by an ongoing transfer of the project to a different entity. NextEra is presently engaged in a $67 million allstock merger with Dominion Energy, which has led to the company reassessing many of its ongoing projects, including its plans for a 2,500acre solar farm near Port Barre. Bellard confirmed that an undisclosed company is still in the process of purchasing the project from NextEra, and that he hopes to discuss details of the deal publicly in the coming days. He said the transfer between companies will not jeopardize the PILOT agreement, however. The PILOT agreement had been the subject of some controversy earlier in the year during the adoption of the annual budget because of questions surrounding when the parish would receive payments. At the time, Bellard said the parish anticipated $4.1 million in PILOT agreements during the fiscal year, the vast majority of which would be paid by NextEra. It is unclear if the project transfer will cause future payments to be delayed, possibly reducing the $4.1 million figure provided in February. The parish has little room with which to operate even under the assumption that all anticipated revenues from PILOT agreements will be received, meaning any reductions could make it harder for the parish to remain financially solvent. Bellard remains insistent that no changes to the expected payments have yet been communicated. “I feel very confident that we’ll get the revenue from this project one way or another,” Bellard said. “We’re in active conversations with the company that’s coming in, and I don’t foresee any changes to how and when we get this money.”

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since some of the allegations may involve matters within the city, they need to be taken into consideration. “As far as the protective order itself, I think everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and he has a right to a fair investigation until he is charged and convicted with such allegations,” Baden said. “I think we need to be open-minded to the fact that this man is still innocent because he’s never been convicted in the court of law, and we need to take the things that were mentioned and we need to take those as evidence into the investigative process to look into and send it to the proper departments of our government and allow them to look into it as part of the investigation.” The other four Sulphur City Council members did

details, anticipated timelines, frequently asked questions and resources for businesses interested in becoming suppliers for SpaceX. Louisiana Economic Development also has links on its website to apply for jobs and for businesses seeking a contract for the project at www.opportunitylouisiana. gov/spacex. Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@ theadvocate.com.

not respond to a request for comment on the matter as of Tuesday morning. However, some council members took to Facebook to share their thoughts on the situation. Council member Danielle Monceaux said in her Facebook post on Sunday that while she used to support the newly elected mayor, she has withdrawn her support for him and his administration because of his actions inside and outside City Hall over the past two and a half months. “I believe personal matters and relationships have become a distraction from the work that needs to be done for the city,” Monceaux wrote in her post. “In addition to the serious allegations of domestic abuse that have become public, I am also concerned about

the lack of professionalism in this administration and the way the Chief of Staff has been allowed to interact with city employees and members of the public.” Council member James LeDoux said in a Sunday Facebook post that when he took his oath in July, he did it for his district and the city of Sulphur as a whole. “Nobody swayed me before my election and no one is swaying me now,” LeDoux said in the post. “All of my decisions follow the criteria that it has to be good for our city, good for citizens, and follow my moral values. So we can get back to a city that is Faith, Family and Community driven.” Email Courtney Pedersen at courtney.pedersen@ theadvocate.com.

.theacadianaadvocate.com Announcements

ST. LANDRY

Two weeks ago, an opening for an external affairs manager popped up on the SpaceX website but was quickly removed. The company did not reply to a request for comment at that time. One Acadiana officials announced last week the creation of an online resource hub for residents and businesses seeking information regarding the SpaceX project in Vermilion Parish. The site, oneacadiana.com/ spacex, will offer key project

Anyone having any information on the whereabouts of Suzanna Germany, please contact Christian B. Landry, 802 General Mouton Avenue, Lafayette, LA 70503, (337) 237-7135, or chrislandry@daniellandrylaw.com. 201581-Sept 22-24, 3t $88

Anyone having any knowledge of the whereabouts of FELICIA SCHEXNAYDER A/K/A FELICIA SCHEXNAYDER BOWMAN A/K/A FELICIA S. BOWMAN A/K/A FELICIA BOWMAN, please contact The Landry Law Firm, P.O. Box 3784, Lafayette, LA 70502, (337) 237-7135. 201585-Sept 22-24, 3t $106.90

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PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION Pursuant to the provi‐ sions of a resolution adopted by the Lafayette Parish Council (the "Gov‐ erning Authority"), act‐ ing as the governing au‐ thority of the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), on August 4, 2026, NO‐ TICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a special election will be held within the Parish on SATURDAY, DE‐ CEMBER 12, 2026, and that at the said election there will be submitted to all registered voters in the Parish qualified and entitled to vote at the said election under the Constitution and Laws of the State of Louisiana and the Constitution of the United States, the fol‐ lowing propositions, towit: PROPOSITION NO. 1 OF 5 (BOND) Shall the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), incur debt and issue not exceeding $77,000,000 of general obligation bonds, in one or more series, to run not exceeding 30 years from the date thereof, to bear interest at rates not exceeding 7% per annum, and to be payable from ad valorem taxes to be levied and collected in the manner provided by Article VI, 33 of the Section Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as amended, and other constitutional and statutory authority, for the purposes of con‐ structing, acquiring and improving public infra‐ structure, including pub‐ lic roads, highways and and related bridges, to address drainage commuter congestion in the Parish, title to which shall be in the public, with no estimated in‐ crease in the millage rate to be levied in the first year above the 1.85 mills currently being levied to pay the general obliga‐ tion bonds of the Parish? PROPOSITION NO. 2 OF 5 (LIBRARY) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), continue to levy a special tax of 3.12 mills on all property subject to taxa‐ tion in the Parish (an es‐ timated $9,050,000 rea‐ sonably expected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2027 and ending with the year 2036, for the purpose of the maintenance and support of the public li‐ brary of Lafayette Parish and its branches, said millage to represent a 0.21 mills increase (due to reappraisal) over the 2.91 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2026 pursuant to an election held on Novem‐ ber 8, 2016? PROPOSITION NO. 3 OF 5 (MINIMUM SECURITY DE‐ & CORREC‐ TENTION TIONAL FACILITY) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), continue to levy a 2.21 mills tax on all property bj i i h

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p p y subject to taxation in the Parish (an estimated $6,410,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2028 and ending with the year 2037, for the purpose of the main‐ taining, operating and improving the minimum security detention and correctional facility, said millage to represent a 0.15 mills increase (due to reappraisal) over the 2.06 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2027 pursuant to an election held on Novem‐ ber 18, 2017?

the taxes described in the Propositions shall be remitted to certain state and statewide retirement systems in the manner required by law.

p tion held on April 28, 2018?

PROPOSITION NO. 4 OF 5 (JUVENILE DETENTION) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), continue to levy a 1.25 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the Parish (an estimated $3,620,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2029 and ending with the year 2038, for the purpose of acquiring, improving, operating and maintaining the juvenile detention and juvenile rehabilitation facilities in the Parish, said millage to represent a 0.08 mills increase (due to reap‐ praisal) over the 1.17 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2028 pursuant to an elec‐ tion held on April 28, 2018? PROPOSITION NO. 5 OF 5 (COURTHOUSE & JAIL COMPLEX) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the Parish of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "Parish"), continue to levy a 2.51 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the Parish (an estimated $7,280,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2028 and ending with the year 2037, for the purpose of the main‐ taining, operating and improving the Lafayette Parish Courthouse Com‐ plex, said millage to rep‐ resent a 0.17 mills in‐ crease (due to reap‐ praisal) over the 2.34 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2027 pursuant to an elec‐ tion held on November 18, 2017? The said special election shall be held at each and every polling place in the Parish, which polls will open at seven o'clock (7:00) a.m. and close at eight o'clock (8:00) p.m., in accordance with the provisions of La. R.S. 18:541. The polling places for the precincts in the Parish are hereby designated as the polling places at which to hold the said election, and the Com‐ missioners-in-Charge and Commissioners, re‐ spectively, shall be those persons designated ac‐ cording to law. The estimated cost of this election as deter‐ mined by the Secretary of State based upon the provisions of Chapter 8-A of Title 18 and actual costs of similar elections is $111,500. Notice is further given that a portion of the monies collected from

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The said special election will be held in accor‐ dance with the applica‐ ble provisions of Chapter 5, Chapter 6-A and Chap‐ ter 6-B of Title 18 of the Revised Louisiana Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other con‐ stitutional and statutory authority, and the offi‐ cers appointed to hold the said election, as pro‐ vided in this Notice of Special Election, or such substitutes therefor as may be selected and in accor‐ designated dance with La. R.S. 18:1287, will make due re‐ turns thereof to said Governing Authority, and NOTICE IS HEREBY FUR‐ THER GIVEN that the Gov‐ Authority will erning meet at its regular meet‐ ing place, the Council Au‐ ditorium, 705 West Uni‐ Avenue, versity Lafayette, Louisiana, on TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2027, at 4:30 P.M., and shall then and there in open and public session proceed to examine and canvass the returns and declare the result of the said special election. All registered voters of the Parish are entitled to vote at said special elec‐ tion and voting machines will be used. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Publication dates: Sep‐ tember 23, September 30, October 7 and October 14 196681-sep 23-30-oct 714-4t $283.52 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF SPECIAL ELECTION Pursuant to the provi‐ sions of a resolution adopted by the Lafayette City Council (the "Gov‐ erning Authority"), act‐ ing as the governing au‐ thority of the City of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "City"), on August 4, 2026, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a special election will be held within the City on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2026, and that at the said election there will be submitted to all regis‐ tered voters in the City qualified and entitled to vote at the said election under the Constitution and Laws of the State of Louisiana and the Consti‐ tution of the United the following States, propositions, to-wit: PROPOSITION NO. 1 OF 4 (RECREATION) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the City of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "City"), continue to levy a 2.01 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the (an estimated City $3,810,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2029 and ending with the year 2038, for the purpose of maintain‐ ing and operating the playgrounds, recreation centers and other recre‐ ation activities within the City, said millage to represent a 0.09 mills in‐ crease (due to reap‐ praisal) over the 1.92 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2028 pursuant to an elec‐ i h ld il

PROPOSITION NO. 2 OF 4 (PUBLIC BUILDINGS) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the City of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "City"), continue to levy a 1.18 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the (an estimated City $2,230,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2028 and ending with the year 2037, for the purpose of maintain‐ ing and operating public buildings of the City, said millage to represent a 0.05 mills increase (due to reappraisal) over the 1.13 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2027 pursuant to an election held on April 29, 2017? PROPOSITION NO. 3 OF 4 (STREETS, ROADS AND ALLEYS) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the City of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "City"), continue to levy a 1.35 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the (an estimated City $2,560,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 10 years, beginning with the year 2029 and ending with the year 2038, for the purpose of the main‐ tenance of the public streets, roads and alleys within the City, said mill‐ age to represent a 0.06 mills increase (due to reappraisal) over the 1.29 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2028 pursuant to an elec‐ tion held on April 28, 2018? PROPOSITION NO. 4 OF 4 (PUBLIC SAFETY MAINTE‐ NANCE) (MILLAGE CONTINUA‐ TION) Shall the City of State of Lafayette, Louisiana (the "City"), continue to levy a 3.33 mills tax on all property subject to taxation in the (an estimated City $6,310,000 reasonably ex‐ pected at this time to be collected from the levy of the tax for an entire year), for a period of 30 years, beginning with the year 2028 and ending with the year 2057, for the purpose of operating, maintaining and support‐ ing the Police and Fire Departments of the City, including pension and re‐ tirement liabilities, said millage to represent a 0.05 mills increase (due to reappraisal) over the 3.28 mills tax authorized to be levied through the year 2027 pursuant to an election held on Novem‐ ber 15, 1997? The said special election shall be held at the polling places for the fol‐ lowing precincts, which polls will open at seven o'clock (7:00) a.m. and close at eight o'clock (8:00) p.m., in accor‐ dance with the provi‐ sions of La. R.S. 18:541, to wit: PRECINCTS 07(PART) 09(PART) 10(PART) 11(PART) 12(PART) 13(PART) 14 15 16 17 18

STORE.THEADVOCATE.COM Legal Notices

19 20 21 22 23 24(PART) 25(PART) 30(PART) 31(PART) 32(PART) 33(PART) 34(PART) 35(PART) 38(PART) 39(PART) 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50(PART) 51 52 53 54(PART) 55(PART) 56 57 58 59(PART) 60 63 64(PART) 65 66 67(PART) 68 69 70 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86(PART) 87 88 89 90 91(PART) 92(PART) 93(PART) 94 95(PART) 96(PART) 97(PART) 104(PART) 105(PART) 109(PART) 112(PART) 113(PART) 115(PART) 117(PART) 120(PART) 121(PART) 125(PART) 126(PART) 127(PART) 128(PART) 130(PART) The polling places for the precincts in the City are hereby designated as the polling places at which to hold the said election, and the Commissionersin-Charge and Commis‐ respectively, sioners, shall be those persons designated according to law. The estimated cost of this election as deter‐ mined by the Secretary of State based upon the provisions of Chapter 8-A of Title 18 and actual costs of similar elections is $88,000. Notice is further given that a portion of the monies collected from the taxes described in the Propositions shall be remitted to certain state and statewide retirement systems in the manner required by law. The said special election will be held in accor‐ dance with the applica‐ ble provisions of Chapter 5, Chapter 6-A and Chap‐ ter 6-B of Title 18 of the Revised Louisiana Statutes of 1950, as amended, and other con‐ stitutional and statutory authority, and the offi‐ cers appointed to hold the said election, as pro‐ id d i hi i f

Legal Notices

p vided in this Notice of Special Election, or such substitutes therefor as may be selected and in accor‐ designated dance with La. R.S. 18:1287, will make due re‐ turns thereof to said Governing Authority, and NOTICE IS HEREBY FUR‐ THER GIVEN that the Gov‐ Authority will erning meet at its regular meet‐ ing place, the Council Au‐ ditorium, 705 West Uni‐ Avenue, versity Lafayette, Louisiana, on TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2027, at 5:30 P.M., and shall then and there in open and public session proceed to examine and canvass the returns and declare the result of the said special election. All registered voters of the City are entitled to vote at said special election and voting machines will be used. /s/ Joseph Gordon-Wiltz JOSEPH GORDON-WILTZ, LAFAYETTE CLERK OF THE COUNCIL Publication dates: Sep‐ tember 23, September 30, October 7 and October 14 196678-sep 23-30-oct 714-4t $103.28

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE The City Court of Lafayette will hold a pub‐ lic meeting to review the court’s proposed Operat‐ ing Budget for fiscal year 1, 2026 November through October 31, 2027. This meeting will be held at the City Court of Lafayette, located at 105 Convent Street, E. Louisiana, Lafayette, 70501, on Thursday, Octo‐ ber 8, 2026 at 8:30 AM, in courtroom 3. To review the proposed budget, go to the court’s website at https://www.citycourtla fayettela.org/ or view at City Court of Lafayette in Administration in room 108. 201332 Sept. 23 1t $6.25 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE The Lafayette City Mar‐ shal’s Office will conduct a public hearing to re‐ view the proposed Oper‐ ating Budget for fiscal year November 1, 2026 through October 31, 2027. The hearing will be held at the City Court of Lafayette, 105 E. Convent Lafayette, Street, Louisiana, on Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 8:30 AM, in courtroom 3. To the proposed review go to the budget, Lafayette City Marshal’s Website at www.lafayet temarshal.com or for public inspection at the Marshal’s Office City room 106. 201482 Sept. 23 1t $74.43

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● 7A

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GYM

Continued from page 1A November and said he initially was looking for something fun to do. Nearly a year later, he said he has noticed a difference in his strength and endurance. Kirelow mows grass for a living and said the workouts have made it easier to push his mower. “I have my own mower that’s not even self-propelled, and it’s easier to push it,” Kirelow said. “I don’t get as tired often.” Kirelow said he also enjoys weightlifting and the people he has met at the gym. “I just feel easygoing,” he said. “I don’t feel forced or anything.” His mother, Stephanie Kirelow, said the gym has also helped Jonah build healthy habits. Coaches have taught him about the importance of protein and eating well, she said. Now, she said, Jonah will pack his own lunch and make sure he has protein, including boiled eggs. “It’s given his life purpose, and it gives him belonging,” she said. At Train Unique, Kinley gets to be around people with similar experiences as well as people who are different from her, Romero said. The athletes encourage one another, creating a sense of community that she believes is important for families and caregivers. “Everybody’s cheering each other on,” Romero said. “I feel like that’s needed in this community.” Train Unique focuses on fitness, nutrition, sleep and stress while also giving people a place to get out of the house and build relationships with others who share common goals. At age 3, Vincent was diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia after his mother noticed he was showing signs of puberty. By the time doctors diagnosed him, Vincent said his bone age was 11. Treatment brought its own challenges. After undergoing steroid treatment to slow and control his growth, Vincent said he experienced significant weight gain, fatigue and mood swings. “I was shorter and more overweight than everybody else,” Vincent said. As he got older, sports and fitness became a turning point for Vincent. He began with football, followed by wrestling and track,

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Coach Shannon Monica, right, works with Kinley Romero on a kettlebell exercise at Train Unique.

“Everybody’s cheering each other on. I feel like that’s needed in this community.” MONIQUE ROMERO, mother of Kinley Romero

and also raced dirt bikes. “I got heavily involved in sports and learned about fitness, nutrition and health,” he said. “I really transformed my body through sports and fitness.” In 2014, Vincent was working at a UFC gym when the Dreams Foundation of Acadiana approached the gym about starting a boxing class for people with disabilities. Vincent was asked to lead the class.

“I didn’t really know how to work with people with special needs,” Vincent said. “I was teaching in a way I trained, so I had to figure out another way.” Instead of abandoning the program, Vincent changed the approach from boxing to fitness. In 2020, he opened Train Unique’s first location. Two years later, Train Unique moved into its current location on Digby Avenue. “At the new location, we are able to have a space where we don’t have to say sorry to anybody else,” Vincent said. “Our athletes can just be here.” Train Unique also has worked to build a community outside regular workouts with member nights out, 5K events and support groups.

The organization also hosts its annual Ulympic Games, an adaptive fitness competition that brings together athletes from its Lafayette and Baton Rouge locations. The competition features a deadlift competition, MMA, a general fitness competition and an awards ceremony. This year’s event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Bourgeois Hall at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The organization has locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, with plans to expand to Philadelphia in October and Southern California in November. Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori. madison@theadvocate.com.

Jonah Kirelow works out with a medicine ball on Sept. 16.

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TODAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

Toasty conditions

Mostly cloudy and warm

Mostly sunny

Partly sunny

A t-storm around in the p.m.

Partly sunny, a stray t-storm

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

96° 73°

LOW

92° 69°

LOW

92° 72°

Beaumont 96/75 Port Arthur 96/78

Baton Rouge 96/72

Lake Charles 97/73

New Orleans 94/77 Houma 94/72

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

0s

Hattiesburg 96/70

Alexandria 97/68

Lafayette 96/73

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

91° 70°

LOW

91° 72°

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

TODAY

READING 56 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SEP 26

NEW

OCT 3

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

6:48p 1:07p 4:05a 6:32a 8:16a 7:47a 9:24a

FT.

Hi

TODAY

98 63 96 46 89 93 71 85 83

Lo

73 53 75 29 78 73 62 76 64

FIRST

OCT 10

W

t pc s c sh s pc t c

OCT 18

Hi

98 62 95 51 88 95 75 90 83

THU. Lo

69 54 72 33 78 75 58 76 64

LOW

0.00” 2.37” 3.85” 46.16” 47.53”

FT.

HIGH

0.8 5:06a 0.2 1.8 10:39p 0.6 2.1 7:42a 1.9 1.9 12:12p 1.4 1.4 6:40p 0.5 1.7 4:57p 0.6 1.7 7:42p 0.6

6:57 a.m. 7:03 p.m. 5:25 p.m. 3:52 a.m.

LAST

City

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

HIGH

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

MODERATE

PRECIPITATION

95°/74° 88°/69° 88°/72° 97° in 1934 45° in 1918

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

FULL

W

pc pc pc s sh s pc t pc

FT.

LOW

FT.

--- ----- ----- ----- --1:09p 2.0 7:05p 0.6 3:19p 1.5 10:57p 0.6 --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---

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 Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday

City

9:24a 10:04a 10:44a 11:27a 12:14p 12:41a 1:37a

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

Hi

94 89 69 95 63 68 74 78 91

3:13a 9:47p 3:53a 10:26p 4:33a 11:06p 5:15a 11:49p 6:02a ---6:53a 1:06p 7:51a 2:05p

TODAY Lo

77 76 54 78 50 58 59 69 75

W

s t r t c sh pc s t

Hi

91 89 68 97 66 66 73 76 91

3:35p 4:15p 4:55p 5:38p 6:25p 7:19p 8:18p

THU. Lo

76 74 54 78 44 53 60 69 72

W

pc t pc t pc c pc s t

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

relaxing warm bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing shower while seated or standing with Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s FREE Shower Package!

-1.04 +0.60 +0.50 +0.30 none +0.29 -0.22

40

14.87

+1.73

19

-1.71

-0.10

18 29 8

-1.26 9.82 2.36

+0.01 none -0.14

13 15

1.42 0.64

-0.01 -0.01

47 34 29 20 12 6

6.61 4.47 3.02 3.62 3.10 2.05

+0.26 +0.10 none +0.19 -0.10 +0.04

Forecasts and graphics, except for Damon’s Outlook, provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2026

SCAN

SELF-SCH TO

R

U

Now

-1.80 16.10 18.90 6.50 4.00 3.35 3.00

YO

Featuring our Free Shower Package Plus 15% Off

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

TUE. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

data as of 7 a.m. Tuesday

FREE Back by Pop SHOW ular De ER P mand! AC K A GE !

1Selling Walk-In Tub

FLOOD STAGE

ULE ED

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

GOOD

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

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

#

YESTERDAY

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Tuesday

Jackson 95/68 Many 96/67

LOW

TEMPERATURE

Longview 95/68

-0s

90° 72°

Monroe 96/65

Shreveport 96/69

-10s

LOW

T

HIGH

Expect a mostly sunny, very hot and humid day with a light breeze. Temperatures will rise into the mid-90s and with high humidity the heat index values could rise to 102 or higher. Also, parts of our area are under a major heat risk, so be sure to take precautions. Tonight, a cold front will move through Southwest Louisiana and bring lower temperatures and dry air tomorrow. Rain chances for the remainder of the week will remain close to zero.

AP P

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8A ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Resident sues Lafayette School Board

allowing sixth grade students the suit against the Lafayette ParSuit claims public comment limited under ‘consent agenda’ tosureparticipate in middle school ish School Board claiming irregu-

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Four Lafayette Parish School Board meetings held since June are at the center of a lawsuit alleging the board violated Louisiana’s open meeting laws by limiting public comment on items grouped together under its “Consent Agenda.” The lawsuit, filed Monday in the 15th Judicial District Court by La-

fayette Parish resident Suzanne Higginbotham, challenges how the board handled public comment on consent agenda items during meetings on June 11, July 23, Aug. 13 and Sept. 10. At issue is whether the board can treat multiple consent agenda items as a single item for purposes of public comment, allowing speakers three minutes to comment on the entire group rather than three minutes on each indi-

Letlow answers questions from area businesses

vidual item. A consent agenda is a mechanism that allows the board to group together “procedural or routine agenda items that can be approved with general discussion” under Louisiana law. At the July 23 meeting, for example, 19 topics were placed on the consent agenda and were not pulled for separate discussion. They included revisions to employee salary schedules, a mea-

football, and actions concerning the Discipline Matrix/Student Code of Conduct for the 2026-27 Student/Parent Handbook. The board voted on all 19 items after allowing public comment on the consent agenda as a whole. Following that meeting, Higginbotham filed a complaint with the District Attorney’s Office, arguing that the practice circumvented open meeting laws. Higginbotham is a citizen activist who was a previous plaintiff in

larities in the closing of Comeaux High School. On Monday, the District Attorney’s Office confirmed that they are investigating an additional fraud complaint brought by Higginbotham into Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr.’s handling of summer schedules and payroll for district employees. After the July 23 board meeting, Higginbotham asked District Attorney Don Landry to

ä See SUIT, page 4B

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP

Senate candidate speaks on Medicaid, data centers, I-49

BY JOEL THOMPSON Staff writer

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, faced questions Tuesday from Lafayette business leaders about Medicaid, data centers, infrastructure and the state’s changing economy. Letlow, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, is embarking on a self-described 64-parish tour across the state, saying such visits would be a regular occurrence if she is elected. “I’ll be in all parishes, all the time,” Letlow Letlow told those in attendance. Tuesday’s forum, hosted by One Acadiana, featured questions from business leaders across many different sectors of Acadiana industry, including healthcare, where many administrators continue to worry about the effects of looming cuts brought on by the Trump administration’s cornerstone legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill. Leaders from all three of the largest hospital systems in the state expressed similar concerns regarding Medicaid cuts, and the effects they would have on the state of healthcare in the state broadly.

ä See LETLOW, page 4B

2 charged in nonfatal overdose of Jennings woman Two people suspected of supplying drugs tied to the overdose of a Jennings mother were released without being jailed because the parish jail had no room, and a SherCRIME iff’s Office official BLOTTER said such releases are increasing. Advocate Jennings police staff found about an reports ounce of suspected fentanyl at a home near the 700 block of South Main Street after the woman’s 10-yearold daughter called 911 for help on Monday afternoon, according to a release from the Jennings Police Department.

ä See BLOTTER, page 4B

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Brian Evans, owner of Brian’s Lawn Service, trims the large shrub on Monday near the Cajundome’s digital marquee in Lafayette.

UL nursing students awarded scholarships Two honored by former faculty member’s legacy

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s College of Nursing & Health Sciences has named the inaugural recipients of the Dolores Bess Scholars award, established through a bequest from the estate of a longtime nursing faculty member and advocate for nursing education. Dolores Bess, who died at 91 in 2024, spent 25 years on the university’s nursing faculty. She and her husband, William, established the Dolores C. Bess En-

dowed Scholarship in Nursing in 2012 to support upper-level nursing students during their clinical coursework. After her death, Bess’ estate substantially increased the endowment, allowing the college to provide larger awards to selected students during their final four semesters, Bess when clinical rotations can make part-time employment difficult. “Mrs. Bess’ dream was to leave behind a legacy that would make the biggest possible impact on students,” said Lisa Broussard, dean of the College of Nursing & Health Sciences. “Her scholar-

ship had already benefited 116 recipients since 2012, so when we received her final gift, I knew that increasing the award amount to create even deeper impact would be exactly what she would have wanted.” The inaugural Dolores Bess Scholars are Maria Moya, of Lafayette, and Moya Alyssa Theriot, of Catahoula, both nursing majors who recently began their junior year and clinical coursework. Theriot said she decided to pursue nursing after seeing the compassion of a hospice nurse who cared for her grandmother

during the final stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. “I’m super grateful because my parents sacrificed a lot to get me to this point,” Theriot said. “Being chosen out of so many applicants has given me the confidence to know I belong here.” Moya said her experience with nurses who Theriot cared for her grandmother in assisted living inspired her to pursue the profession. “The scholarship has lessened the burden for me and my family, and is giving me the freedom to

ä See STUDENTS, page 4B

2B ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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No reason why La. shouldn’t be launchpad for U.S. Space Academy Louisiana has a long history of helping to support the nation’s space exploration goals — from the Apollo program to the space shuttle to the most recent Artemis trip to the dark side of the moon. While the Michoud Assembly Center in New Orleans East built key parts of the rockets that powered those missions, our state’s role has largely remained in the background. That could change if Louisiana is successful in its bid to become the home for the proposed U.S. Space Academy that will train engineers, scientists and warfighters in the aerospace sector long into the future. It would be the elite training ground for Space Force, which President Donald Trump created in 2019. Like the military academies at West Point, New York for the Army; Annapolis, Maryland for the Navy; and Colorado Springs, Colorado for the Air Force, this new academy would train thousands of students to join the military branch it serves. Classes could begin at a temporary campus as early as 2028. We believe there could be no better place than Louisiana for such an endeavor. Specifically, New Orleans is literally at the center of a corridor that is home to several key NASA facilities. That includes but is not limited to: NASA’s headquarters at the Johnson Space Center in Houston; the Kennedy Space Center in Florida; Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama; and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. In addition, with the arrival of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is building the massive spaceport Starbase Louisiana in Vermilion Parish, the state is well positioned to become a major player in private sector space exploration. So public and private sector collaborations would be facilitated by a U.S. Space Force Academy located in New Orleans. Aside from these advantages, we are encouraged that the state has leaders who have been working to raise our profile in the aerospace industry. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser has long championed efforts to build the aerospace workforce in the state, including at Nunez Community College in St. Bernard Parish, which offers an Aerospace Manufacturing Technology program. Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois were instrumental in bringing SpaceX to the state. In Washington, our congressional delegation, especially Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, should have powerful sway with the president and others to make the state’s case. Landing the U.S. Space Academy would add to the growing momentum Louisiana is seeing as it diversifies its economy beyond the energy sector. It would give many of our young people a window to entirely new jobs they might not have ever imagined, and it would cement our state’s position in a growing industry. Indeed, this academy could give Louisiana a launchpad to the future.

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YOUR VIEWS

Taxing, spending and debt are forever problems

Do Entergy customers want to share the grid with data centers? Haley Miller’s recent article, “Southern University considers deal to build energy storage facility on campus for use by Entergy,” outlines the current status of a deal between Entergy and Southern University to build a large battery energy storage facility on Southern’s campus. This deal will allegedly improve the capacity of the local grid to meet energy demands during peak hours — demands which rise as a result of data center strain. Since Entergy has recently faced major backlash on its data center projects with Meta (particularly Hyperion in Richland Parish), I am concerned that the facility will not address the stated goals of the project and merely attempt to garner goodwill with Louisianans after repeatedly acting against ratepayer interests. For instance, a Meta spokesperson claimed Meta was committed to being a reliable partner to the Richland Parish community, despite agreeing to pay only a fraction of the parish’s usual required construction permit

costs. The current proposal has Southern entering the deal as an equity partner rather than leasing the land to Entergy, meaning that both parties have stakes in the facility accruing profit. This puts emphasis on more energy running through the facility, and might incentivize more energy to be produced and stored, further straining the grid and reinforcing a problem it is intended to solve. In addition, while I believe it is a good thing that Southern is taking steps to remedy the longstanding funding gap between HBCUs and other public universities, this deal fails to address the systemic inequities at the national level that cause that funding gap. Rather than piling on more capital expenditures to combat increased grid volatility as hyperscale data centers are built, perhaps Entergy should pay more attention to whether its ratepayers want those data centers on the grid at all.

Re: “What happened to the party of fiscal responsibility?” Letters, Sept. 16. I would like to ask Retired Col. George Lange III where he has been for the last 46 years. Since the Reagan administration, Republicans have cut taxes but continued to spend out of control. The Democrats raised taxes and continued to spend out of control. When are Americans going to stop electing politicians affiliated with these two dysfunctional, crooked organizations? We all better wake up and stop all of this tribalism politics. If we don’t address the national debt and spending crisis, we are not going to have a country.

KENNETH G. KIRSCH New Orleans

Clock was ticking while the OMV stayed closed

JOSEPHINA OLAGUES New Orleans

I have made three OMV appointments to renew my driver’s license over the past three weeks, and each one has been canceled by OMV (“Office of Motor Vehicles sites remain closed statewide as work continues on new computer system,” Sept. 15). I wonder if the state is going to cover my fine if my license expires while I’m waiting for them to do their job?

‘Good news’ is a matter of opinion I was pretty appalled by the headline in the newspaper Sept. 7 declaring that “Donald Trump’s deal for Venezuelan oil could be good news for Louisiana.” Whether the expropriation of Venezuelan oil by the United States is “good news” for Louisiana is obviously a matter of editorial judgment, not simply reporting the news, so this headline should never have appeared in the news section. Moreover, the author never estab-

lishes why readers should consider U.S. imperialism in South America to be “good news” for Louisiana. Instead, your headline simply relies on the fact of Trump’s imperialist policy to somehow imply its own righteousness. How about we just stick to the facts and leave the moral judgment to your readers, or at least restrict the latter to your editorial section where it belongs?

MICHAEL GALLAGHER Prairieville

Tragedy deserved to be front and center on 9/11

JOHN O’DAY New Orleans

How do you determine what items get front and center in every newspaper? Many times the main featured item appears to be very trivial, while more important items are relegated to the back pages and even to other sections. I don’t understand the thinking when a bar or restaurant closing is deemed more important than serious events — i.e., you neglected to highlight 9/11 until the next day. To my way of thinking, 9/11 should always be at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

‘Arch’ of Triumph may be in store for Texas campus TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

The Arc de Triomphe was completed in 1936 in Paris to honor those who fought for France. Add a few more winning performances like the Ohio State-Texas football game to his resume, and Arch Manning may not only earn an “Arch” of Triumph on the University of Texas campus, but he may also become the first Manning to win the Heisman Trophy. Grandfather Archie Manning was voted third in 1970. Uncle Peyton was runner-up in 1997 and Uncle Eli was third in voting in 2003.

Should Arch win the Heisman in 2026, it would be an added family jewel that would rival the four Super Bowl rings Peyton and Eli won as NFL quarterbacks. I believe Arch’s fans enjoy watching him play football almost as much as he enjoys playing it. It’s a hoot to speculate what the Arch of Triumph would look like and where on campus it would be built. Have fun, Arch, and enjoy the ride.

WESLEY T. RALSTON Metairie

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COMMENTARY Both parties aiming for a loss This election is a contest to see which party can do its best to lose. Looking forward from mid-September, President Donald Trump’s Republicans seem to be well ahead at this. But the Resistance (or don’t they call themselves that anymore?) Democrats are putting up a contest. Second-term presidents tend to make political mistakes by doing things they think are right. Franklin Roosevelt and Michael court-packing, Ronald Barone Reagan and Iran-Contra, George W. Bush and the Iraq surge. You can see two examples of this in the second Trump term. One is his insistence on haphazardly imposing tariffs. It is an example of providing a plentiful quantity of something for which there is no demand among the electorate. That’s been true for a long time. William McKinley, cited by Trump as a tariff advocate, called for switching from protective to reciprocal tariffs in his last public speech in 1901. Over the next half-century, as economist Douglas Irwin points out in his definitive book “Clashing Over Commerce,” Republican presidents were leery of tariffs, which were supported by congressional leaders as a way of holding their majorities together: You vote for a tariff that helps my local industry, and I’ll vote for one that helps yours. The definitive moment may have been when, as Jude Wanniski argued years ago, a proposal for a tariff on the dairy product casein got the progressive Wisconsin delegation to join the legislative mob that passed Smoot-Hawley in 1930. Over 1,000 economists signed a petition begging Herbert Hoover to veto the bill, but he signed it anyway, and the Great Depression followed. Almost no one without a lobbyist wants tariffs now. And voters don’t have to read Irwin to realize that Trump’s tariffs raise prices for consumers and many manufacturers as well. Trump stands on sounder ground, in my view, in attacking the regime in Iran, which has preached and practiced “death to America” since 1979. But, apparently believing that he could compel a surrender as he had against the Chavista gangsters in Venezuela, he launched a devastating assault without preparing the public for it and while promising a speedy resolution. That hasn’t happened; wars turn out to be hard to predict. But it has brought higher gasoline prices and continued inflation and has destroyed Republicans’ previous edge on the economy. Meanwhile, the president, in childish self-aggrandizement, is devoting political capital to his beloved ballroom, to renaming the lowest-latitude Great Lake “Lake America,” to Hunter Biden-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON

President Donald Trump arrives to sign a security agreement with Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on Tuesday at the United Nations headquarters. style enrichment of his family members, to closing the Kennedy Center if he can’t put his name on it. If Republicans’ weakness is the selfindulgence of a second-term president, Democrats’ weakness is their propensity to embrace the wildest and least popular impulses of their political left. There’s abundant videotape back from the left-wing craze that followed the death of a Minneapolis fentanyl user in May 2020 of Democrats’ demands for defunding the police, abolishing prisons and abandoning enforcement of immigration laws. Which is exactly what the Biden administration did, raising the number of foreign-born by 8.3 million in four years, 30% more than the Obama administration did in eight years. That was five times as many as the foreign-born increase in the first Trump administration, and in the 20 months of Trump 2.0, the Census Bureau reports, the foreign-born population was declined by 2.8 million. Democrats’ no-enemies-to-the-left posture is most obvious, perhaps, in Democrats’ reluctance to oppose boys playing in girls’ sports, their support for government-paid transgender surgeries for prison inmates and illegal immigrants, and their policy in states they govern removing teenagers professing gender dysphoria from the custody of their parents. As the most effective pro-Trump ad of the 2024 campaign cycle put it, “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.” That still could be a lively issue. So is the reluctance of Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to distance himself from Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, the internet personality who campaigned by his side in the Democratic primary. Piker has said that “America deserved 9/11,” and that Hamas was justified in its Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack

on Israel. Piker has also been a prominent supporter of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Reporters and analysts who have been eager to ask Republican candidates whether they denounce extremist Republicans, even those from faraway venues, have rarely asked Democrats to denounce extremist Democrats. Politicians of both parties, including centrist-demeanor governors like Democrat Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Republican Greg Abbott of Texas, have been quick in recent weeks to switch and oppose artificial intelligence data centers, and many officeholders are giving serious consideration to AI regulation. The danger for Republicans is that imposing regulation may seem at odds with traditional party beliefs and, at least at the moment, is directly contrary to the stand of Trump. The danger for Democrats is that they may seem to be switching too readily from one cause to another. The general trend in off-year elections, the Trump slump in job approval, and Republicans’ continuing weakness in generic polls make Democrats the favorites to gain House and maybe Senate majorities this year. Their leads in the South — big in North Carolina and Georgia, narrow in Texas — are good news for them. But voters’ continuing low regard for the Democratic Party, and Republicans’ poll showings in Northern states that seemed earlier this year to be gimmes for the opposition — Maine and Minnesota — suggest there may be surprises. Which may be what you should expect in a year when both sides seem to be trying their hardest to lose. Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Inspiration from a Hong Kong cell “It’s hard to bear yourself at the foot of the cross. And it’s hard to recognize your own shortcomings, but it’s also the only thing that helps.” Claire Lai had been reading Fulton J. Sheen, the archbishop and trailblazing American TV host who is advancing on the road to sainthood in the Catholic Church this week with a beatification Mass at the Dome at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis. Sheen was meditating on “the Blessed Mother, Kathryn Mary Magdalene, and St. Jean John, the most beloved disciple, at the foot of Lopez the cross” of Jesus. Lai brought up the Scriptural image and quote from Sheen in an interview earlier this year about her father, Jimmy Lai. He has been living his own hell — away from his family, the sacraments of his beloved Catholic Church and the freedom he fought for as a newspaper editor and entrepreneur. He’s a political prisoner — mostly in solitary confinement — in Hong Kong, incarcerated under trumped-up charges under a bogus national-security law that pretty much exists to silence — and make an example of — him. And now his daughter has been diagnosed with cancer — and with it her plea for her father’s release has only intensified. My anger at China only in-

creases by the day, knowing that Claire can’t have her father with her, knowing he can’t be at her side. Claire recently shared advice that her father gave her in a letter shortly before she was diagnosed: “Hold on to hope and don’t be impatient. You have to know and trust that God’s way is not your way.” “The humid Hong Kong summers are the harshest,” Claire writes about her father’s confinement. “Summer 2026 was particularly volatile, with both heatwaves and thunderstorms that left the prison floors damp. The windows in his cell are covered over, blocking access to fresh air and natural light.” Locked away for six years and counting, Jimmy Lai’s condition declines. But the man, despite his age, 78, and ailments, is an icon of resilience. “[H]e has seldom been overwhelmed — by anything,” Claire writes. “But when he was told recently that I have cancer, he broke down.” Within a month of his imprisonment, Jimmy Lai committed to fasting on Fridays. When the weather is cold, it makes him shiver — he’s lost so much weight while there. Claire worries about the fasting, but his reasoning is difficult to argue with. The guards would set a tray of food before him anyway, and he has admitted he has considered breaking the fast. “I was tempted, of course, but I did not yield,” she quotes him explaining. But then he “looked at the picture of Christ on the

Cross I put on the wall” — he has taken up religious art during this time of isolation. He draws Christ on the cross, often with Mary. He’s also worked on the image of the Pieta — Mary holding her crucified son in her arms. While gazing on the Savior on his instrument of execution, he wrote: “I realized how trivial my shivering was compared to what the Lord suffered for our sins.” Having learned from her father, Claire writes: “My father bears all his ills patiently and joyfully, recognizing the graces they bring. Over the last six years, he has offered up his physical and emotional ailments in union with our Lord. Knowing that, when united with Christ’s suffering, it carries redemption and divine grace. This is a profound mystery.” Strikingly, she adds: “I hope to bear my much smaller cross half as well as he has. That this will unite me more deeply with both Christ and my earthly father. Taken this way, it’s hard to see my diagnosis as anything but a blessing.” God loves these beautiful, courageous people, to borrow a phrase from Fulton Sheen’s famous “Life is Worth Living” sign-off. We may not be worthy of them, but they show us how to imitate the goodness of our creator. This is the Christian life. Thanks be to God for this family.

Could Essence find new roots in Philadelphia? Imagine an acorn of a festival idea with $100 and a few neighbors who wanted an African-inspired block party. Imagine a few more dollars and a few more neighbors and friends joining the next year. Imagine that acorn cracking, growing shoots and saplings and becoming a tall oak tree. Imagine that thin, tall tree becoming a mighty oak. You might think that I’m talking about the Essence Festival of Culture, but I’m not. Philadelphia’s Odunde Festival is much older than the festival we welcome in Louisiana each summer. It started as a single-block gathering and grew into the massive, 15-block festival of Black culture. I moved to the Philly market a couple of years after it started, and I watched it grow. There are similarities between Essence and Odunde, and some differences. For starters, Odunde is a nonprofit. Essence is a business. Odunde was a grassroots effort for about a dozen years before it Will became a formal, official nonprofit Sutton in 1991. Since then, with financial help from the city and sponsors who want to be associated with thousands of people who love Black culture, the festival has become a can’t-miss event each June. Essence was never a grassroots effort. It was an Essence corporate idea to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine in a special place, with lots of community support. Both attract more than 300,000 people, sometimes close to 500,000. Odunde festival organizers and city leaders decided to dream bigger. In recent years, there’s been something called Odunde 365, a year-round cultural and educational extension of the festival. Think the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the foundation that benefits the city yearround. Essence is working to regain community support. In a column last year, I challenged Essence to dream bigger, to consider a 365 presence, to become a part of our community, to create a festival host committee. According to Essence representatives, when Mayor Helena Moreno was mayorelect, she challenged them to dream bigger. They responded with Essence 365, a year-round Louisiana Essence presence that would grow the Essence brand and the organization’s impact across the city, the region and maybe the state. Odunde will happen. It is scheduled for June 6-12 with a huge culmination on Sunday, June 13. We don’t know whether the 2027 Essence Festival will happen. If there’s an agreement, the first order of business is to tell the public the tentative July 2-5 dates are definite. Odunde and Philadelphia continue to work on their maturing relationship. Essence and New Orleans can, too —with new parameters in light of our changing reality. Last year, Odunde commissioned a forwardlooking review by Econsult Solutions Inc. The study compared Philadelphia’s annual June festival to other city festivals and similar festivals elsewhere in the nation — including the Essence Festival and AfroPunk, both operated by Essence Ventures, part of the Sundial Media Group. According to ESI, it examined the “vendor ecosystem, sponsorship expansion, programming enhancement, and audience growth.” Sounds similar to what the City of New Orleans wants and what Essence needs. ESI identified “underutilized sponsorship categories,” suggested a sports platform alignment, recommended a “year-round digital content strategy modeled on national peers” and “an expanded year-round community engagement platform.” ESI said these and other steps would move Odunde from a “transactional, permitting-and-grantcycle posture to a strategic civic partnership.” Those are reasonable next steps. I wouldn’t want to see the Essence Festival leave New Orleans, but imagine a back-to-back, June-July, Black-to-Black summer up north. Philadelphia is one major American city that would love to host Essence. Odunde isn’t going anywhere. It’s become central to what it means to be Philadelphia. Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson called Odunde “a Philadelphia institution and a powerful celebration of African and African American culture,” in a statement. Asked whether Philly would consider the Essence Festival as its new home, he said: “If an opportunity ever arose to make Philadelphia the new home of Essence Festival of Culture, I would absolutely want our city at the table.” If Moreno’s Essence steering committee insists on a request for proposals for anyone or any group to host a major festival the Fourth of July weekend in New Orleans, maybe Essence would bounce to Philly. If Odunde and the city of Philadelphia are still figuring it out after 50-plus years, Essence and the city of New Orleans can figure it out after 30plus years. Email Will Sutton at wsutton@theadvocate.com.

Email Kathryn Jean Lopez at klopez@ nationalreview.com.

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4B ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Grand jury refuses to indict in teen’s death

U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, takes questions Tuesday from Lafayette business leaders.

sissippi’s medical examiner, and independent scrutiny.” investigation. Nolan Wells Edward Andrew Paltzik, the independently hired docIn a video posted to social Monday, McIlrath the attorney for three friends tor was able to review them disappeared on media called the grand jury’s in- who were among those with and received all other body “thorough and Wells the day he went miss- parts and organs needed for Mississippi island vestigation exhaustive” and said there is ing, praised the grand jury the autopsy.

BY KASEY BUBNASH, POET WOLFE and MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writers

A Mississippi Coast grand jury unanimously refused to issue an indictment in the death of Ocean Springs teen Nolan Wells, citing a lack of evidence of a crime, Jackson County District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath announced Monday evening. In a grand jury report released to the public Monday, jurors said they found “no credible evidence” to support the public allegations that anyone who was with Wells when he disappeared while celebrating the Fourth of July on Horn Island engaged in criminal conduct related to his death. The state also released the autopsy of the 18-year-old high school football star, ruling Wells’ death undetermined. Wells, who was Black, had traveled to the island — a popular boating and Fourth of July destination — with a group of friends from high school, all of whom are White. He did not return with them to the mainland that evening, officials said. His body was found two days later off the island’s coast, fueling rampant online speculation regarding the circumstances of his death. Well-known figures in the Black community have since stepped in, including highprofile attorney Ben Crump and the Rev. Al Sharpton, many of whom have expressed concerns about the

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Continued from page 1B investigate whether the board may “place numerous separate substantive items in a consent agenda, provide only a single combined public-comment period subject to an aggregate time restriction and then vote on all of those separate agenda items together.” In a Sept. 16 response, Landry said that under La. R.S. 42:19 and Robert’s Rules of Order, a board member may object to any item placed on the consent agenda and pull it for indi-

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Police Chief Danny Semmes said a family member later picked her up. “Hospital staff was able to revive the mother, who is currently recovering,” Semmes said. Investigators identified Coha Glotson, 45, and Brittany Bellard, 37, of Jennings, as suspects in distributing the substance believed to have caused the overdose, according to the release. Investigators found the pair at the South Main Street home and searched it under a warrant; both denied the drugs were theirs. Gloston and Bellard were released with charges pending because of a lack of space at the Jefferson Davis Parish jail, the release states. Additional charges may be considered as investigators review evidence. “Unfortunately, there has been an increase in the suspects being released due to capacity constraints,” said Brevan Fields, of the Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office. Fields said the specific pol-

STUDENTS

“absolutely no evidence” that Wells’ death was racially motivated. “The death of Nolan Wells has devastated our community,” she said in the video. “Outsiders and influencers have attempted to exploit Nolan’s death to divide and create chaos here. But we are better together.” Wells’ family and Crump spoke publicly about the grand jury’s findings at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Georgia, where they held a news conference Tuesday that largely focused on the independent autopsy performed on Wells. The independent autopsy — commissioned by Wells’ family and Crump and released in July — found the cause of his death to be undetermined, matching the autopsy from the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Crump, however, noted that bruises were found on Wells’ back and the back of his head and alleged that Mississippi medical examiners did not photograph the injuries during the investigation. “My question is, how can a jury come to the conclusion of drowning, despite knowing there was trauma to his body and despite hearing many inconsistencies?” Christine Wonsley said. Crump called for further investigation in a post on social media. “No true bill does not resolve how Nolan Wells died,” he said. “The public still deserves a clear account supported by records, evidence,

report in a Facebook post: “We said it all along: Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo, and Morgan Seymour were always completely innocent. There was never any doubt. They are terrific people,” Paltzik said. Calling the investigation “unprecedented both in care and scope,” Paltzik called for Crump to apologize to his clients, saying Crump had “some serious explaining to do.” The grand jury, which was sworn in on April 20, is made up of 23 jurors from Jackson County, ranging in age from 27 to 68. Twelve jurors are White, five are Black, one is Asian, two are Hispanic, two are Native American and another identified as “other,” according to the report. Jurors issued 132 subpoenas and heard from 43 witnesses as part of their investigation. Seven individuals were called to testify before the grand jury. The jury also had full access to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Wells’ death, including witness testimony, cellphone records, and videos and recordings. The grand jury heard testimony from the forensic pathologist Wells’ family retained to conduct an independent autopsy and requested all additional evidence gathered by the family’s legal team, according to the report. While the pathologist confirmed that Wells’ “internal neck structures” were “appropriately” retained by Mis-

Both the medical examiner and independent pathologist could not determine Wells’ cause or manner of death and called drowning the “diagnosis of exclusion,” meaning all other possibilities were ruled out. While the report states that the medical examiner and pathologist disagreed about the presence of bruising on Wells’ shoulder and buttocks, the cause of that injury and the bruising found on the back of his head remain undetermined, though a witness said Wells at one point slipped awkwardly off the boat the day he disappeared. He continued to socialize after the fall and did not seem seriously injured, according to the report. Apparently addressing rumors spreading online about potential drug use the day Wells went missing, the grand jury also determined the teen did not have cocaine in his system at the time of his death and found no evidence that he had ever used the drug. He had purchased alcohol with a fake ID, according to the report. The grand jury ultimately found that Wells chose to stay on Horn Island as his friends left by boat, and that the condition of his body and location where it was discovered are consistent with drowning. Jurors also acknowledged that there is no statute of limitations on homicide cases in Mississippi and extended sympathies to Wells’ family and friends.

vidual discussion, public comment and a vote. Landry wrote: “The statute also envisions the possibility of over 50 items on a consent agenda. Requiring public comment after each one would lead to impractical consequences. Combined with Robert’s Rules of Order providing that they can be handled ‘in gross’ I do not believe that the School Board is violating La. R.S. 42:15 by allowing only one comment period for all consent agenda items.” La. R.S. 42:15 states that school boards are required to allow public comment before votes are taken on

agenda items. Higginbotham responded to Landry’s finding Sept. 16, arguing that the statute requires public comment on each agenda item before it is considered. She wrote that La. R.S. 42:15 confirms that “the comment period shall be for each agenda item and shall precede each agenda item” and does not “contain an exception stating that multiple agenda items cease to require individual comment periods when the Board chooses to place those items on a consent agenda.” Higginbotham wrote, “If virtually any matter can be placed on a consent

agenda merely because Board members do not intend to debate it or because it would have ‘impractical consequences’ if the public got to comment on each agenda item, then the statutory limitation to ‘procedural or routine’ matters risks having little practical effect and can bring impractical consequences to the citizens of a community when a board tries to circumvent law.” The lawsuit names the Lafayette Parish School Board, board President Hannah Smith Mason and Lafayette Parish schools Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr. as defendants.

“When you cut Medicaid, that has a downstream effect. It’s not just affecting some small population; it also affects Medicare and commercial insurance too,” said Stephanie Manson, president of Our Lady of Lourdes Health. “There’s a lot of concern in the rural areas our network supports about the cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill.” A Trump ally, Letlow supported the sweeping reconciliation bill that brought about substantial cuts to federal Medicaid spending when it passed last year. Letlow said she was discouraged by changes made to the legislation in the Senate. “I was a little discouraged when the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ went to the Senate side and certain things were moved around,” she said. “It’s caused a lot of angst, especially in our rural communities.” Letlow also said the roughly $208 million that was allocated to Louisiana through the Rural Health Transformation Program was not a permanent solution to the issues facing rural hospitals. “We’re going to have to come back to the table to try and rectify what was wrong. I’m committed to try and find solutions,” she said. Letlow also took questions on data centers, a topic that has generated controversy over concerns ranging from water and electricity usage to housing affordability. The congresswoman currently resides in Richland Parish, which has become ground zero for the data center debate in Louisiana after Meta initiated its plan to build a $50

icy that determines which suspects are held and which are released was not accessible during the interview. “They won’t get off scotfree,” Fields said. “They will be held accountable.” Jennings has had 24 overdose cases since January, not all of them fatal, Semmes said. He said overdose deaths in the city have decreased, similar to the national trend.

allegedly charged at the deputy while holding a knife, and the deputy fired his service weapon, striking the man. The man was taken to a hospital for treatment, and no deputies were injured. The investigation remains active, and State Police said additional details will follow. Anyone with information, photos or video can contact State Police detectives, report anonymously online, or call the State Police Fusion Center Hotline at (800) 4348007.

to a disturbance in the 100 block of Nanoke Lane in unincorporated Carencro on Sept. 18, the Sheriff’s Office said. Gomez-Martinez shoved the victim, his girlfriend, out of their shared residence before retreating back inside, according to the Sheriff’s Office. No children were in the home, the agency said. The Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, whose members work regular shifts and respond directly rather than being paged out, arrived to provide assistance, and Gomez-Martinez surrendered shortly after, the Sheriff’s Office said.

During the investigation, a sawed-off shotgun was recovered from inside the residence. Because deputies could not verify Gomez-Martinez’s identity or legal status, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was contacted per standard agency protocol, authorities said. Gomez-Martinez’s bail is set at $54,000, according to the the Sheriff’s Office’s community portal. The case remains under investigation. The Sheriff’s Office said no further details are being released at this time.

Man shot by deputy, police say Louisiana State Police detectives are investigating after they say a sheriff’s deputy shot a man armed with a knife near Jennings on Monday night. The Jefferson Davis Parish Sheriff’s Office asked the State Police’s Criminal Investigations Division in Sulphur to handle the case, according to a release from the state agency. The shooting happened about 9:15 p.m. at a business in the 1800 block of Elton Road. Deputies responded to the location after a reported armed robbery at a gas station, the release states. While searching the area, a deputy found the man in a ditch behind the business. The man

influenced her decision to become a nurse. Continued from page 1B “Being bilingual myself, I recognized I could be the person to offer reassurance study hard, do well and de- and comfort to patients who vote all my time to helping might feel alone or scared due to a language barrier,” patients,” she said. Moya, who is bilingual, she said. said that watching nurses find ways to communicate Email Kristin Askelson at with her grandmother, who kaskelson@theadvocate. did not speak English, also com.

Man barricades himself inside home A 31-year-old man was booked into the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on Friday after deputies say he battered and sexually assaulted a victim during a domestic disturbance, then barricaded himself inside his home until SWAT arrived. Leobardo Gomez-Martinez faces charges of domestic abuse battery, sexual battery and possession of illegally transferred weapons, according to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office. Additional federal firearm charges are expected. Patrol deputies responded

Unofficial notification, keep your tickets.

LETLOW

Continued from page 1B

billion Hyperion AI facility spanning 2,250 acres. Letlow praised how the parish has handled the investment, and lauded many local impacts including teacher pay raises funded by increased tax revenue. “Our teachers got a muchneeded shot in the arm with the Meta data centers,” said Letlow, a former educator. Letlow, who previously was a candidate for president of the University of Louisiana at Monroe, said preparing students for the workforce should be a key priority for the state during an era of major business investments across different industrial sectors. While Letlow expressed support for the Meta data center in Richland Parish, she has so far held off on lending support for any future projects being planned in the state, citing safety concerns. “If it’s not safe, then it shouldn’t move forward,” she said. “That has to be the bottom line before any other discussions can happen.” Local government officials also shared thoughts with the congresswoman on the Interstate 49 Connector project, which has gained renewed attention following the announcement of a SpaceX facility in August. Letlow stated that she would prioritize community grants for the project as part of an IIJA reauthorization package expected to come forward next year. Recently, Lafayette Consolidated Government received a $28 million grant for completion of the future interchange the highway will have with Kaliste Saloom Road.

Obituaries Hollier II, Donald 'Rocky' James

Donald 'Rocky' James Hollier, II, 78. Visitation will be at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home in Lafayette, LA on September 23, 2026, from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm and resumes on September 24, 2026, from 9:00 am until the Funeral Service at 11:00 am. Guest book may be viewed at fountainmemorialfuneralh ome.com. Fountain Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery, 1010 Pandora St. 337-981-7098 is in charge of arrangements.

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W e d n e s d ay, s e p t e m b e r 23, 2026

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Jacob emerging as Cajuns standout Senior safety earns SBC player of week BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL safety Collin Jacob gestures after his fourth-down stop against UAB on Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

A former walk-on from Loreauville High is becoming a star for the UL defense. After leading the team in tackles in loss at Southern California, Collin Jacob came up big again in the Cajuns’ 20-13 win over UAB on Saturday. The senior safety earned Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week

honors after collecting six tackles and a fourth-down forced fumble on the Blazers’ final drive of the game to secure the win. “If the offense needs our help, we’re there for them,” Jacob said. “We’ve got to man up and handle our own. We’ve got to do what we need to do to stop them, get them on third down, get them on fourth down and get the offense back on the field.” Jacob’s strength is attacking the line of scrimmage, but the interception was on a deep pass. “We know they’re a running team, but they love to take shots, so I was prepared,” Jacob said of

ä UL at Charlotte.

5:30 P.M. SATURDAy, ESPN+ the interception. “The coaches kept harping on us, ‘Hey, watch the deep pass.’ “I saw the slot receiver. The way he was running told me he was running with some speed. Once the ball was in the air, I feel like in my mind, I’m a receiver at that point, so I’ve got to go up and get it.” Jacob said the defense didn’t leave the USC loss with a moral victory. “Everybody was expecting us to lose (at USC), but we’re not trying to hear that,” Jacob said. “Losses

R A I D E R S A T S A I N T S • 3 : 2 5 P. M . S U N D A y • C B S

NOT FOR BIRDS

are losses, and we still had that taste in our mouths. We needed to get rid of that. We just needed to get a win.”

Brown’s bright future Standing at 6-foot-5 and 248 pounds, outside linebacker Na’Tori Brown certainly looks the part. He’s not quite ready to stand out on the Cajuns defense yet, but his coaches and teammates can foresee a bright future. Brown arrived at UL with only one year of football experience. During his high school career, moving to

ä See JACOB, page 3C

Kiffin’s fears realized with loss of two key players BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Lane Kiffin knew it was a problem. LSU lacks depth. It wasn’t noticeable after the Tigers smacked Clemson and beat Louisiana Tech in the first two weeks of the season, but injuries to two starters and a 32-24 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday exposed a serious roster flaw Kiffin said he knew eventually ä Texas A&M at LSU. would rear its ugly 6:30 P.M. SATURDAy,ABC head. “In your first year, you come in, and in the portal era, there’s so much transition that you can build top-heavy teams and sign really good players,” Kiffin said. “But in your first year, you’re going to have a depth issue.” That issue became obvious in the fourth quarter Saturday night in Oxford, Mississippi, when star tight end Trey’Dez Green needed two trainers to help him off the field with a knee injury. Green’s rare skills as a 6-foot-7 target would be difficult for any team to replace, but LSU’s lack of a dual-threat tight end after

ä See KIFFIN, page 2C

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS By STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH

Saints wide receiver Chris Olave pulls in a 21-yard touchdown reception against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in Baltimore. The Saints, who were 81/2-point underdogs, won 24-17.

Beating Ravens stands out among recent dearth of Saints’ quality wins BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

BALTIMORE — As he caught up with friends and family after the game, Chris Olave spent a moment trying to contextualize the gravity of Sunday’s 24-17 win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Saints wide receiver had a realization. “I feel like since I’ve been here, we haven’t really beaten a good team,” Olave said. “To come in here and get a ‘W’ was huge for us.” The Ravens check all the boxes of Olave’s “good team” threshold. Despite not making the playoffs last year, Baltimore has been a perennial contender, has a two-time MVP in Lamar Jackson and is favored to win the AFC North. And Olave is right: That kind of win has been few and far between in the wide receiver’s five-year tenure with the Saints. It’s even rarer than one might realize. Sunday marked just the eighth time the Saints beat an opponent that entered the game with a record better than .500 since trading up for Olave in 2022. The Saints have 28 victories in that span. Of those seven wins before Baltimore, five came against teams that went on to finish under .500. The exceptions? The 2023 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 9-8. And the 2022

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU tight end Trey’Dez Green suffered a lowerbody injury against Ole Miss on Saturday and his playing status is in doubt moving forward.

LSU should use NFL-like approach Saints wide receiver Chris Olave celebrates his touchdown reception Sunday. Philadelphia Eagles, who made the Super Bowl that season but were without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts when they played the Saints. Here’s a look back at each game: JAN. 1, 2023: SAINTS 20, EAGLES 10. In the best win of former coach Dennis Allen’s first season, the Saints upset the 13-2 Eagles. But Philadelphia fans will quickly, and fairly, note that backup quarterback Gardner Minshew played over an injured Jalen Hurts (thumb).

But the win gave New Orleans its third straight victory at the time. The rest of the Saints’ victories that season came against teams that entered without a winning record, although the 2-2 Seattle Seahawks went on to make the playoffs as a 9-8 wild card. DEC. 31, 2023: SAINTS 23, BUCCANEERS 13. The Saints’ 9-8 campaign in 2023 remains Olave’s only season as a pro

ä See SAINTS, page 2C

Back in four downs mode for Wednesday’s column, as the Tigers try to get over the 32-24 loss last Saturday at Ole Miss and prepare to take on Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. this Saturday in Tiger Stadium: FIRST DOWN: LSU coach Lane Kiffin spoke Monday about the difficulty his team was having getting over the loss Scott to the Rebels. Not surprising, Rabalais since it was such an emotional game. Players on both sides said they were happy to get it over with. Now the Tigers and Rebels have to keep that game from lingering. LSU has the slightly easier task since it’s returning home to face the Aggies. Ole Miss gets Trap Game City at Florida, which is off to a surprisingly

ä See RABALAIS, page 2C

2C ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate H

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Ole Miss defensive end Blake Purchase makes a diving tackle on LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt during the third quarter on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

Continued from page 1C impressive 3-0 start under former Tulane coach Jon Sumrall and is a three-point favorite. Considering how much college football has become like the NFL, it’s important the Tigers take an NFL-like approach. Especially in this era of a 12-team College Football Playoff. Unlike the old days, one loss in September — especially on the road against a quality opponent — won’t sink your season. Two straight losses could do so. The Aggies are in exactly the same boat after a 31-21 upset loss to Kentucky. This is the game plan for LSU that will have the Tigers in the CFP: finish September 3-1, hold service in October (4-0), then go 3-1 again in November with a gauntlet of Alabama, Texas and a trip to Tennessee on the slate. October looks tougher than it once did with games at Kentucky, against Mississippi State and at Auburn, but LSU likely will be favored against all three. SECOND DOWN: For all its issues Saturday, the Tigers still had two throws into the end zone on their

KIFFIN

Continued from page 1C Green — a credible blocker and pass-catching threat — hampered the offense after LSU scored 17 unanswered points to tie Ole Miss. Zach Grace, Green’s replacement, dropped a potential touchdown pass with 1:07 left and LSU trailing by eight points. The throw wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for Green to snatch if he’d still was in the game. Grace is a capable blocker, but his ability to catch passes needs work. Kiffin has been complimentary of Grace’s progress since arriving from Oregon, but he knew tight

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C in which New Orleans finished above .500. But they did it mostly by beating up on bad-to-mediocre teams. Still, a Week 17 upset over the then-8-7 Buccaneers meets the over .500 criteria for this list. Hang the banner. One other note from this season: The 3-4 Indianapolis Colts went on to finish 9-8 after losing to the Saints in Week 8, if you’re looking for another victory over a team that ended up with a winning record. SEPT. 15, 2024: SAINTS 44, COWBOYS 19. Ah, what a time. This was back when the Saints looked like the Greatest Show on Turf 2.0, when their offense stormed out of the gates with back-to-back 40 pieces. After beating the 1-0 Cowboys,

The New Orleans Pelicans’ two games in Europe against the San Antonio Spurs are sold out. The NBA announced the sellouts Tuesday morning. The Pelicans will play the Spurs at Accor Arena in Paris on Jan. 14. Three days later, the teams will play in Manchester, England, at Co-op Live. The games, which were announced in May, are part of the league’s multiyear slate of regular-season games in Europe. The game in Paris will be the 16th game featuring an NBA team in France since 1991 and the league’s sixth regular-season game in Paris. The game in Manchester will be the 20th game featuring an NBA team in England since 1993, and the first-ever regular-season game in Manchester.

Leonard, Raptors agree to a two-year extension

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

RABALAIS

European games between Pelicans, Spurs sold out

final possession to try to tie it up. It would have taken a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but the opportunity was there. That opportunity came despite lots of issues, namely Sam Leavitt’s happy feet in the pocket, poor blocking by the offensive line and pass coverage that was too soft in the first half. The first and third factors improved after halftime. Leavitt stood his ground in the pocket and LSU got more pressure on Trinidad Chambliss. As a result, the Tigers went from trailing 24-7 at halftime to tying it up, outscoring the Rebels 17-8 over the final 30 minutes. The offensive line remained a problem, one that Kiffin indicated the LSU coaches would address this week. “We’ve got to play better around him,” Kiffin said. “We’ve got to protect him better.” It certainly sounds like there could be personnel changes, though Kiffin didn’t elaborate. Out of the five starters — left tackle Jordan Seaton, left guard Ben Bordelon, center Braelin Moore, right guard Aliou Bah and right tackle Weston Davis — I figure only Seaton and Moore’s starting roles are safe against the Aggies.

Even if changes are made, don’t expect the offensive line to turn into Fordham’s famous “Seven Blocks of Granite.” Kiffin’s coaches didn’t pick the starters they did for the first three games because those guys won a popularity contest. They were judged in preseason practice. Making a change against a desperate, talented opponent isn’t the best way to fly. But it’s become increasingly apparent that LSU’s 644 yards of total offense against Clemson was something of a mirage. I have expected since August that the LSU offense would improve as the season goes along. Shaking up the offensive line may be required to achieve that improvement. THIRD DOWN: Speaking of Kentucky and Mississippi State, early Southeastern Conference returns show it is the toughest top-to-bottom conference in the country, despite the Big Ten’s three straight national championships. Out of 16 SEC teams, the only ones that look to be in real trouble are South Carolina and Arkansas. Because of the difficulty of the league and its new nine-game format, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a 9-3 SEC team become the

first with three losses to make the 12-team CFP. Can’t count on that, but it’s plausible. FOURTH DOWN: As Kiffin was leaving the field Saturday night in Oxford, TigerBait.com publisher Mike Scarborough was taking a video of the LSU coach with his cellphone. As Kiffin passed by, a full beer can hit Scarborough’s phone and spilled open as it fell to the ground. I won’t say I’ve never seen projectiles lobbed in Tiger Stadium, because over the years, I’ve seen plenty. And I’m also not saying that Kiffin was subjected to a shower of beer cans from the Ole Miss crowd. But it only takes one. Luckily, neither Scarborough, Kiffin nor someone else on the field was hurt. LSU and Ole Miss remain permanent football opponents for the foreseeable future. That means Ole Miss will play at LSU in 2027 and the Tigers will return to Oxford in 2028. Assuming Kiffin is still the LSU coach then, one has to fervently hope that the only things flying around VaughtHemingway Stadium will be the footballs.

end depth was a problem that needed correcting even before Green’s injury. Green seemingly won’t be out for the season, but his likely absence this weekend against Texas A&M (6:30 p.m., ABC) could hurt LSU’s attack. “There’s a reason why we had Dae’Quan Wright practicing, ready to play,” Kiffin said. “Knowing that this could potentially be an issue.” Similar problems arose in the second quarter Saturday on defense when safety Dashawn Spears suffered a season-ending knee injury and was replaced by redshirt freshman CJ Jimcoily. Because of his length, coverage skills and ability to hold up against the run as a defensive back, Kiffin

saw Spears as an integral part of the defense. With Spears, LSU could play five defensive backs and still have enough bulk to handle physical rushing attacks. Pulling that off now will be difficult with Jimcoily, who is bigger than Spears but lacks the coverage range and speed that made Spears valuable. “You can play the run with (Spears), but you can cover manto-man with him,” Kiffin said. “It makes you able to play a lot of unique defenses.” As Kiffin has said, Spears and Green’s skills are particularly hard to replace. If LSU had lost a linebacker or a wide receiver, the Tigers would have been better

equipped to replace those starters with backups with similar skills. It’s hard to feel bad for a coach who, according to The Athletic, spent between $47 million and $50 million on his roster, a top-five mark in the sport. LSU still has a lot of healthy talent on its roster, but aside from losing Sam Leavitt at quarterback or Jordan Seaton at left tackle, few players on Kiffin’s team are harder to replace than Green or Spears. “Depth is an issue,” Kiffin said. “I got through the game, and losing the game was a lot. But really, I was way more concerned about these two significant players.”

the Saints lost seven straight, Allen was fired and New Orleans changed the coaching staff the next offseason. What you might not remember: The Cowboys finished 7-10, which might not qualify for Olave’s “good team” threshold. NOV. 10, 2024: SAINTS 20, FALCONS 17. What a weird season for the Falcons. Atlanta entered the matchup 6-3 and looked on track to win the NFC South. But in the first game under interim coach Darren Rizzi, the Saints pulled the upset — and Atlanta spiraled to finish 8-9. Unfortunately for Olave, he didn’t even participate in this victory. The wide receiver saw his season end a week earlier with a concussion. Nov. 9, 2025: Saints 17, Panthers 7. Look, the Panthers went 8-9 in 2025, but at the time, Carolina was 5-4 and just coming off a big win over the Green Bay Packers. For

the Saints, this would be quarterback Tyler Shough’s first victory as a starter. That matters. Olave also had a big day, catching five balls for 104 yards, including a 62yard bomb for a touchdown. Dec. 7, 2025: Saints 24, Buccaneers 20. If beating the Panthers was promising, pulling out a come-from-behind victory was Shough’s coming-out party. Tampa Bay’s collapse over the second half of the season may have overshadowed this win in hindsight, but the Buccaneers still entered the matchup 7-5. It was a sign of how Shough could elevate the situation around him, notably rushing for two electric touchdowns against the NFC South foe. Dec. 14, 2025: Saints 20, Panthers 17. The Panthers won the NFC South despite being under .500 and clinched a playoff spot due to tiebreakers. And the Saints played a

large part in forcing them to sweat out the final week of the season. In New Orleans’ second victory over the Panthers, Shough spoiled Carolina’s party with another comefrom-behind drive. The Panthers were 7-6 heading into the game and were coming off their best win of the season, a 31-28 upset over the Los Angeles Rams. Sept. 20, 2026: Saints 24, Ravens 17. The Ravens were 81/ 2-point favorites entering Sunday’s matchup, making this the Saints’ biggest upset on the list. Time will tell just how much of a quality win this was for the Saints. It won’t matter nearly as much, for instance, if the Ravens somehow finish 4-13. But that would be a truly shocking outcome. For now, this win looks pretty darn good.

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Email Koki Riley at koki.riley@ theadvocate.com.

Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors have agreed on a two-year contract extension that could be worth $115 million if he plays both seasons, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Tuesday. The second year of the deal, the 2028-29 season, is at Leonard’s option, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Leonard, 35, led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title and is now locked into a new deal with a team with eyes on competing for another title. He is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Los Angeles Clippers. Leonard will make just over $50 million this season, the last year of his current contract.

Red Sox remove interim tag for manager Tracy

The Boston Red Sox are heading to the postseason after a remarkable run over the second half of the season. On Tuesday, they rewarded the two chief architects of that turnaround. Boston removed the interim tag and named Chad Tracy the 49th manager in team history, signing him to a three-year contract with a club option for 2030. The Red Sox also exercised the 2029 and 2030 team options on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. The elevation Tracy, 41, comes after the Red Sox secured a wildcard spot on Sunday. Tracy took over in April after former manager Alex Cora was fired after a 10-17 start to the season. Tracy has guided the Red Sox to a 74-55 record.

Bears backup QB Bagent in NFL concussion protocol

Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent has been placed in the NFL concussion protocol, according to a person familiar with the situation, adding another wrinkle to the team’s plans for Monday night’s game against Philadelphia. Bagent was expected to take most of the first-team reps in practice after Caleb Williams left Sunday’s 9-3 loss to Minnesota with a right hamstring injury. Coach Ben Johnson said Williams is “week to week,” and he left open the possibility he could play against the Eagles. If Williams and Bagent are unable to play Monday night, the Bears likely would turn to Case Keenum. The 38-year-old Keenum has 66 career starts, but he hasn’t thrown a pass in a regular-season game since Dec. 24, 2023, for Houston against Cleveland.

Jets add Levis to practice squad, release Zappe

The New York Jets signed former Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis, a second-round draft pick in 2023, to their practice squad Tuesday. The Jets released QB Bailey Zappe from the practice squad to make room for Levis, who worked out for the team earlier this month. The 27-year-old quarterback was released by the Titans last month as part of their final roster cuts. New York has starter Geno Smith and rookie Cade Klubnik, a fourth-rounder, on its active roster, so Levis would be the thirdstring quarterback and inactive on game day unless he’s promoted from the practice squad. The Jets also announced they signed linebacker Troy Reeder to the active roster.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● 3C

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WCA-Lafayette surges into state polls BY MIKE COPPAGE Contributing writer

Pierce Gable and the Westminster Christian-Lafayette football program are on a steep trajectory. After winning their first playoff game last year in their second official season, the Chargers have some new notches on their belts. WCA is off to a 3-0 start for the first time and made its debut in the LSWA Class 1A rankings two weeks ago at No. 9. “It’s the same concept as Acadiana,” said Chargers coach Kent Gable, who was the Wreckin’ Rams offensive coordinator before taking the WCA job. “The kids get on campus, learn how the veer offense works and get pretty good at it. People don’t see this offense a whole lot.” Pierce Gable has rushed for 510 yards on 51 carries with eight touchdowns for

blowouts. “We can move Pierce around inside or outside to bring pressure,” coach Gable said. “When they spot him, the quarterback tries to get rid of it faster. Pierce, Ethan and Dane are as tough as they come.” In Week 1, the Chargers won at Class 4A Acadiana Renaissance, which has a roster four times as big as WCA’s. Coach Gable said his players are accustomed to taking 130 snaps in a game. “We got to the fourth quarter and the guys were pretty worn out,” he said of the 41-22 win at ARCA. “I told Pierce to go out there and get 4 yards each play. None of our backs had any juice left.” The Chargers host Centerville on Thursday in the District 7-1A opener. The Bulldogs (2-1) have faced a common opponent in Houma Christian, which they defeated 30-22.

ally good veer offense, you have the pieces up front and breakaway backs,” coach Gable said. “Our offensive line is extremely good. Their pad level is great. They’re smashing guys.” Almost everyone plays both ways, including offensive linemen Michael Landry, Maddox Bertrand, Austin Reid, Henry Waldmeier, Dane Fontenot and tight end Graham Martin. Reid, the center, intercepted a pass last week at nose guard. “We’re going to play hard with 20 guys who are going to bring everything for four quarters,” Pierce said. “We’re going to make you earn everything by playing fast and together.” A 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore, Pierce Gable has 17 tackles, four tackles for loss and 15 quarterback hurries from his linebacker position. He’s been able to get some rest in the second half of

the Chargers, who are averaging 49 points and 400 yards rushing per game. “It starts up front with the guys doing their job on the offensive line,” Pierce said. “The tight end gets involved. I can’t do it without them and it’s not about individual stats. As brothers, we love to block for each other.” Four Chargers ran for touchdowns in last week’s 55-14 win at Houma Christian. Gable had four TDs, while Ethan Simon (seven carries, 82 yards) added two with Andre Green and Zade Prejean each getting one. Prejean, a junior quarterback, is also on pace for a 1,000-yard season with 324 yards rushing on 20 carries with four scores. Gable is battling DaShun Lightfoot (Acadiana), Jaden Celestine (Lafayette) and Kristian Aubrey (Acadiana Renaissance) for the metro area’s leading rusher. “Any time you have a re-

PHOTO By KyLIE BREWTON

Westminster-Lafayette running back Pierce Gable has been the driving force in the Chargers’ rushing game.

SCOREBOARD Odds NFL Thursday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at GREEN BAY 7½ 6½ (44½) Atlanta

Sunday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Seattle 3½ 7 (40½) at WASH. Kansas City 7 11½ (46½) at MIAMI Carolina 2½ 2½ (41½)at CLEVELND at BUFFALO 2½ 7 (50½) LA Chargers Cincinnati 1½ 3½ (42½) at PITTSBGH Houston 2½ 2½ (43½)at INDIANPLS at DETROIT 9½ 6½ (48) NY Jets at JAX 1½ 3 (45½)New England at NY GIANTS 3 3 (39½) Tennessee at SAN FRAN. 11½ 8½ (48½) Arizona (42½)at TAMPA BAY Minnesota 1½ 1½ at N. ORLEANS 3 3 (44½) Las Vegas Baltimore 2½ 3 (52½) at DALLAS LA Rams 3 2½ (45½) at DENVER

Monday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Philadelphia 1½ 4½ (41½) at CHICAGO

College football Thursday

FAVORITE Liberty

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ 2½ (50½)at C. CAROLN

FAVORITE Army Navy at RUTGERS at INDIANA Clemson

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3½ 3 (48½) at TEMPLE 12½ 7 (51½) at UAB 42½ 42½ (53½) Howard 23½ 20½ (49½) N’western 1½ 1½ (50½) at CAL

Friday

Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Texas 6½ 5½ (56½) at TENN. Virginia Tech 14½ 13½ (48½) at BOS. COLL at KENT ST 3½ 3½ (51½) Ball State at LOUISVILLE 13½ 12½ (58½) Wake Forest at TX TECH 40½ 34½ (55½)Sam Houston at BAYLOR 6½ 10 (55½) Colorado UNLV 13½ 13½ (52½) at AKRON at OHIO ST 26½ 27½ (53½) Illinois at PITT 49½ 49½ (60½) Bucknell at UTSA 10½ 13½ (58½) Colorado St at TOLEDO 3½ 3 (51½) San Diego St at KENTUCKY 20½ 20½ (54½) S. Alabama at E.MICHIGN 28½ 26½ (50½) Lindenwood UCLA 1½ 1½ (56½) at MARYLND Notre Dame 27½ 27½ (58½) at PURDUE at GEORGIA ST 8½ 10 (55½) Nor. Illinois Hawaii 5½ 3 (44½)at WYOMING at FLORIDA ST 43½ 44½ (60½) Cent. Ark at DUKE 43½ 43½ (62½) Will. & Mary at BUFFALO 28½ 28½ (44½) Rob. Morris at MARSHALL 26½ 22½ (51½)Gardner-Wbb TCU 1½ 3 (48½) at UCF at FLORIDA 1½ 3½ (58½) Ole Miss at MIAMI (OH) 5½ 3½ (51½) UConn Utah 11½ 8½ (48½) at IOWA ST Boise State 7½ 7½ (49½)at W.MICHGN at MICHIGAN 4½ 5½ (39½) Iowa at OHIO 37½ 32½ (51½) Stonehill at GEORGIA 10 14 (44½) Oklahoma New Mexico 13½ 11½ (48½) at N MEX ST Houston 20½ 18½ (56½)at GA STHRN at E. CAROLIN 31½ 34½ (54½) NC Central at AUBURN 8½ 9½ (55½) Vanderbilt South Florida 14½ 17½ (48½)at BOWL GRN at PENN ST 11½ 10 (44½) Wisconsin Nebraska 5½ 5½ (48½) at MICH ST at FLA INT’L 34½ 34½ (51½) LIU J. Madison 1½ 6 (45½)at OLD DOMN. at TEXAS ST 30½ 30½ (61½) Incarnt Wrd at VIRGINIA 21½ 19½ (52½) Delaware at MIAMI (FL) 42½ 41½ (53½) C.Michigan UL 13½ 10½ (48½) at CHAR. at JAX STATE 12½ 7 (51½) Middle Tenn. at WEST VA 2½ 1½ (59½)Oklahoma St Kansas State 6½ 6½ (55½) at CINCINNT at ALABAMA 11½ 12½ (53½) S.Carolina at TULANE 16½ 18½ (52½) So.Miss at ARK. ST 5½ 5½ (52½)Kennesaw St at WEST. KY 37½ 37½ (54½) Mercyhurst Oregon 5½ 3 (62½) at USC at LSU 3 8½ (51½) Texas A&M at NC STATE 11½ 14 (55½) App. State at N.TEXAS 38½ 38½ (59½) Houston Chr at UTAH ST 1½ 3½ (48½) Troy Arizona 12½ 10 (48½) at WASH ST at MISS. ST 1½ 6½ (58½) Missouri at ARKANSAS 10½ 7 (50½) Tulsa Fla. Atlantic 11½ 13½ (57½) at UL MONR at SMU 34½ 34½ (59½) Missouri St UMass 5½ 4½ (48½) at SAC. ST Oregon State 10½ 10½ (55½) at UTEP at FRESNO ST. 12½ 13½ (44½) Rice Georgia Tech 5½ 3½ (48½)at STANFORD Air Force 3½ 5½ (50½) at NEVADA at WASH. 8½ 10 (46½) Minnesota

MLB

Wednesday

American League FAVORITE LINE at BALTIMORE OFF at BALTIMORE OFF at N.Y YANKEES -143 at BOSTON -141 Chi. White Sox -118 LA Angels -132 at SEATTLE OFF

UNDERDOG LINE Toronto OFF Toronto OFF Tampa Bay +118 Cleveland +117 at KANSAS CITY -104 at ATHLETICS +108 Houston OFF

JACOB

Continued from page 1C different cities and an injury left him with only his senior season to attract recruiting attention. “I was really surprised because I only had one year of film,” Brown said. “Coach (Michael Desormeaux) took a chance on me. I think he looked at like three of my games and took a chance on me. I just stuck with it.”

National League FAVORITE LINE at PITTSBURGH OFF Milwaukee -139 at ATLANTA -262 at CHICAGO CUBS -183 Arizona -165 at LA DODGERS OFF Interleague FAVORITE LINE at DETROIT -199 Minnesota -135 at TEXAS OFF

UNDERDOG St. Louis at PHILA. Cincinnati Miami at COLORADO San Diego

LINE OFF +115 +208 +148 +133 OFF

UNDERDOG Washington at SAN FRAN N.Y Mets

LINE +158 +112 OFF

Pro basketball WNBA glance EASTERN CONFERENCE W 29 27 26 26 15 11 10

L 14 15 16 17 27 31 32

Pct .674 .643 .619 .605 .357 .262 .238

GB — 1½ 2½ 3 13½ 17½ 18½

W x-Minnesota 32 x-Golden State 31 x-Las Vegas 29 x-Dallas 26 Los Angeles 16 Portland 16 Phoenix 16 Seattle 8 x-clinched playoff spot

L 10 11 13 17 26 27 27 35

Pct .762 .738 .690 .605 .381 .372 .372 .186

GB — 1 3 6½ 16 16½ 16½ 24½

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

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Monday’s games

Atlanta 95, New York 84 Phoenix 87, Dallas 86

Tuesday’s games

Connecticut at Washington, n Minnesota at Indiana, n Toronto at Chicago, n Golden State at Portland, n Los Angeles at Las Vegas, n

Wednesday’s games

Atlanta at New York, 7 p.m. Dallas at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Pro baseball

Cleveland Chicago Detroit Minnesota Kansas City West Division Texas Houston Seattle Athletics Los Angeles

Monday’s games

W 95 90 84 77 76

L 61 66 72 80 81

Pct GB .609 — .577 5 .538 11 .490 18½ .484 19½

W 81 80 74 73 67

L 75 76 83 84 89

Pct .519 .513 .471 .465 .429

GB — 1 7½ 8½ 14

W 78 77 73 61 60

L 78 79 83 95 96

Pct .500 .494 .468 .391 .385

GB — 1 5 17 18

Detroit 9, Washington 2 Baltimore 4, Toronto 3 San Francisco 5, Minnesota 2

Tuesday’s games

N.Y. Yankees 2, Tampa Bay 0, 1st game Washington at Detroit, n Cleveland at Boston, n Tampa Bay at N.Y. Yankees, 2nd game, n Chicago White Sox at Kansas City, n N.Y. Mets at Texas, n Houston at Seattle, n L.A. Angels at Athletics, n Minnesota at San Francisco, n Toronto at Baltimore, ppd. Washington (Cavalli 13-5) at Detroit (Valdez 10-11), 12:10 p.m. Toronto (Scherzer 3-8) at Baltimore (Bassitt 8-5), 12:35 p.m., 1st game Minnesota (TBD) at San Francisco (Perdomo 0-1), 2:45 p.m. Toronto (TBD) at Baltimore (TBD), 5:35 p.m., 2nd game Tampa Bay (Seymour 9-7) at N.Y. Yankees (Cole 9-9), 6:05 p.m. Cleveland (Griffin 15-5) at Boston (Gray 175), 6:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Fedde 8-9) at Kansas City (Lugo 7-9), 6:40 p.m. N.Y. Mets (McLean 11-10) at Texas (TBD), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Angels (Ureña 9-10) at Athletics (Springs 4-14), 8:40 p.m. Houston (TBD) at Seattle (Kirby 9-11), 9:10 p.m.

NATIONAL LEAGUE x-Atlanta Philadelphia

.487 16 .465 19½ .455 21

W 98 87 79 76 72

L 58 69 77 80 84

Pct .628 .558 .506 .487 .462

W 96 87 82 65 57

L 60 69 74 92 99

GB — 11 19 22 26

Pct GB .615 — .558 9 .526 14 .414 31½ .365 39

Monday’s games

Detroit 9, Washington 2 San Francisco 5, Minnesota 2

Tuesday’s games

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

W 92 86

L 64 70

Pct .590 .551

National League Chicago San Diego Philadelphia Arizona

GB — 6

It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of catching up to do and then another injury. “My mental, I just had to dig deep,” Brown said. “It was difficult at first. Gradually, as time went on, I started to catch on. Guys like Ashley Williams and Cam Whitfield ... Cam was a big influence on me. He used to break down the plays on the side with me.” Brown is noticing his steady progress. “I can say my eye progressions and stuff like that have improved,”

W 87 87 86 82

L 69 69 70 74

Pct .574 .538 .513 .494 .490

WCGB +9½ +4 — 3 3½

Pct .558 .558 .551 .526

WCGB +1 +1 — 4

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Cincinnati Baltimore Pittsburgh Cleveland West Kansas City Las Vegas Denver L.A. Chargers

W 2 1 1 0

L 0 1 1 2

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 77 62 0 .500 30 16 0 .500 40 30 0 .000 26 62

W 1 0 0 0

L 1 2 2 2

T 0 0 0 0

W 2 1 1 1

L 0 1 1 1

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 53 33 0 .500 58 47 0 .500 23 33 0 .500 33 53

W 2 2 1 0

L 0 0 1 2

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 64 40 0 1.000 53 27 0 .500 30 44 0 .000 28 52

W 2 1 1 0

L 0 1 1 2

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 48 42 0 .500 34 48 0 .500 57 48 0 .000 42 61

W 1 1 0 0

L 1 1 2 2

T 0 0 0 0

W 2 1 1 1

L 0 1 1 1

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 48 25 0 .500 62 71 0 .500 62 46 0 .500 42 56

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

Philadelphia N.Y. Giants Dallas Washington South Carolina New Orleans Tampa Bay Atlanta North Minnesota Detroit Chicago Green Bay West

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 44 17 0 1.000 62 20 0 .500 35 33 0 .500 33 45

L.A. Rams 28, N.Y. Giants 6

Thursday’s games

Atlanta at Green Bay, 7:15 p.m.

Sunday’s games

Carolina at Cleveland, noon Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, noon Houston at Indianapolis, noon Kansas City at Miami, noon L.A. Chargers at Buffalo, noon N.Y. Jets at Detroit, noon New England at Jacksonville, noon Seattle at Washington, noon Tennessee at N.Y. Giants, noon Arizona at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m. Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 3:05 p.m. Baltimore vs. Dallas at Rio de Janeiro, 3:25 p.m. Las Vegas at New Orleans, 3:25 p.m. L.A. Rams at Denver, 7:20 p.m.

L.A. Rams 28, N.Y. Giants 6

Pro football

Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami South

L 0 0 1 1

Philadelphia at Chicago, 7:15 p.m.

NFL glance East

Late Monday

W 2 2 1 1

Late Monday

Washington (Cavalli 13-5) at Detroit (Valdez 10-11), 12:10 p.m. Minnesota (TBD) at San Francisco (Perdomo 0-1), 2:45 p.m. Milwaukee (Henderson 10-3) at Philadelphia (Nola 7-10), 5:40 p.m. St. Louis (Liberatore 5-14) at Pittsburgh (TBD), 5:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Abbott 6-11) at Atlanta (Sale 14-9), 6:15 p.m. Miami (Gusto 1-5) at Chicago Cubs (Gausman 9-12), 6:40 p.m. N.Y. Mets (McLean 11-10) at Texas (TBD), 7:05 p.m. Arizona (Kelly 9-14) at Colorado (Adams 0-1), 7:40 p.m. San Diego (Ray 13-8) at L.A. Dodgers (Yamamoto 14-8), 9:10 p.m.

W L z-New York 89 66 y-Boston 84 72 Chicago 80 76 Houston 77 79 Toronto 77 80 y-clinched wild card z-clinched playoff berth

Seattle San Francisco L.A. Rams Arizona

Monday’s game

Wednesday’s games

Jacksonville Tennessee Houston Indianapolis North

Wednesday’s games

East Division

x-Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado x-clinched division y-clinched wild card z-clinched playoff berth

80 84 85

American League

AMERICAN LEAGUE z-Tampa Bay z-New York y-Boston Toronto Baltimore Central Division

x-Milwaukee Chicago Pittsburgh St. Louis Cincinnati West Division

76 73 71

Wild Card glance

MLB glance East Division

Miami Washington New York Central Division

Pct PF PA .500 47 30 .000 30 47 .000 37 56 .000 53 74

N.Y. Giants 0 3 3 0 — 6 L.A. Rams 7 7 7 7 — 28 First Quarter LAR—Adams 31 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), :11. Second Quarter LAR—Williams 10 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), 11:07. NYG—FG Zvada 24, :25. Third Quarter LAR—Adams 11 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), 6:21. NYG—FG Zvada 52, 3:49. Fourth Quarter LAR—Ferguson 5 pass from Stafford (Mevis kick), 8:57. A—73,773. NYG LAR First downs 11 23 Total Net Yards 182 481 Rushes-yards 21-52 28-163 Passing 130 318 Punt Returns 0-0 4-32 Kickoff Returns 4-105 2-29 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 1-22 Comp-Att-Int 14-32-1 22-31-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-1 1-9 Punts 6-52.5 3-47.667 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 3-20 6-50 Time of Possession 27:25 32:35 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—N.Y. Giants, Skattebo 12-36, Singletary 3-9, N.Harris 4-6, Winston 2-1. L.A. Rams, Williams 12-85, Corum 12-79, Stafford 4-(minus 1). PASSING—N.Y. Giants, Winston 11-27-1-111, Dart 3-5-0-20. L.A. Rams, Stafford 22-31-1327. RECEIVING—N.Y. Giants, Likely 5-33, Skattebo 4-19, Mooney 2-48, Fields 2-30, Nabers 1-1. L.A. Rams, Adams 8-195, Ferguson 6-54, Parkinson 2-15, Williams 2-12, Atwell 1-19, Corum 1-13, Mumpfield 1-12, Allen 1-7. MISSED FIELD GOALS—L.A. Rams, Mevis 43.

College football State schedule Saturday

Lamar (2-1) at Nicholls (2-2), 3 p.m. UL (2-1) at Charlotte (0-3), 5:30 p.m. East Texas A&M (1-3) at McNeese (1-3), 6 p.m. Okla. Panhandle St. (2-2) at Louisiana Christian (3-1), 6 p.m. Prairie View (1-3) vs. Grambling (2-1) at Dallas, 6 p.m. Southeastern (2-2) at Northwestern St. (0-4), 6 p.m. Southern (2-2) at Jackson St. (3-0), 6 p.m. Southern Mississippi (1-2) at Tulane (1-2), 6 p.m. Texas A&M (2-1) at LSU (2-1), 6:30 p.m. FAU (2-1) at UL-Monroe (0-3), 7 p.m.

Transactions BASEBALL

Pct PF PA .500 71 62 .500 54 48 .000 46 56 .000 16 54

Brown said. “My hand placements and really my footwork. Another big thing is my weight. I felt like I needed to gain a little bit more weight.” When Brown hit the field as part of the defensive rotation in the season opener against Lamar, it was special. “Finally able to be on the field, I just thank God,” he said. “I didn’t know where to put my emotions.”

Major League Baseball

American League ATHLETICS — Reinstated 3B Joshua Kuroda-Grauer from the 60-day IL. Placed 3B Max Muncy on the 10-day IL. Transferred RHP J.T. Ginn from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL. HOUSTON ASTROS — Sent CF Jorge Barrosa outright to Sugar Land (PCL). NEW YORK YANKEES — Reinstated 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. from the 10-day IL. Optioned LF Max Schuemann to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (IL). TAMPA BAY RAYS — Released RF Jake Fraley. TEXAS RANGERS — Reinstated RHP Peyton Gray from the 15-day IL. Optioned LHP Adam Macko to ACL Rangers. National League

shown plenty of depth and promise this season. Included in that group is redshirt junior Micah Johnson, who delivered a critical fourth-down stop during Saturday’s win over UAB. “It’s been fun,” said Johnson, who has seven tackles in three games as a backup and special teams performer. “It’s a new challenge (on defense). I haven’t really played defense. “It was just special teams the Johnson making mark last few years. It’s new, and I’m The inside linebacking corps has just embracing it.”

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Sent RHP Ryan Thompson to Amarillo (TL) on a rehab assignment. CINCINNATI REDS — Recalled RHP Connor Phillips from Louisville (IL). Placed RHP Tony Santillan on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Sept. 19. Sent CF TJ Friedl outright to Louisville. COLORADO ROCKIES — Sent SS Vimael Machín outright to ACL Rockies. LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Released LF Ryan Ward. NEW YORK METS — Reinstated RHP Devin Williams from the 15-day IL. Placed RHP Christian Scott on the 15-day IL. PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Reinstated RHP Kirby Yates from the 15-day IL. Designated RHP Camilo Doval for assignment. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Recalled RHP Braxton Roxby from Sacramento (PCL). Placed RHP Blade Tidwell on the 15-day IL.

BASKETBALL National Basketball Association

CHARLOTTE HORNETS — Waived G DJ Armstrong and C Tre Carroll. DENVER NUGGETS — Waived G Reese DixonWaters and F Keonte Jones. DETROIT PISTONS — Signed G Ausar Thompson to a rookie-scale contract extension. Waived G Drake Allen. MIAMI HEAT — Claimed G Bez Mbeng off waivers. Signed G Pelle Larsson to a veteran contract extension.

FOOTBALL National Football League

ATLANTA FALCONS — Placed CB A.J. Terrell Jr. on injured reserve. Signed OL Zach Harrison to the 53-man roster. Released OL James Brockermeyer from the practice squad. Signed OL Colby Sorsdal to the practice squad. BALTIMORE RAVENS — Signed WR Shedrick Jackson to the practice squad. CAROLINA PANTHERS — Signed WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette to the practice squad. Released WR E.J. Williams from the practice squad. CHICAGO BEARS — Signed LS Scott Daly from New Orleans’ practice squad. Waived LS Beau Gardner. Signed DB Nick McCloud to the practice squad. Released G Kyle Hergel from the practice squad. CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed LB Krys Barnes to the practice squad. Placed LB Nathaniel Watson on practice squad/ injured. DETROIT LIONS — Released LB Joe Bachie. Signed DB Bishop Fitzgerald from Pittsburgh’s practice squad. Placed DB Avonte Maddox on injured reserve. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Signed WR Darius Slayton. Placed DE Micheal Clemons on injured reserve. Released RB Anderson Castle from the practice squad. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Signed TE Brenden Bates to the practice squad. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Signed TE Hayden Rucci from Jacksonville’s practice squad. Waived WR Gary Jennings. MIAMI DOLPHINS — Signed LB Andre Jones Jr. off Buffalo’s practice squad. Signed LS Luke Basso to the practice squad. MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Signed P Johnny Hekker and RB Jaret Patterson to the practice squad. Released WR Trayvon Rudolph and CB Bryce Phillips from the practice squad. Waived DL Taki Taimani from reserve/injured. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Placed OL Michael Onwenu on injured reserve. Signed P Mitch Wishnowsky from the practice squad. Signed TE Tanner Conner to the practice squad. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Waived RB Audric Estime from injured reserve with an injury settlement. NEW YORK GIANTS — Signed DT C.J. Ravenell and T Ryan Schernecke to the practice squad. Released C Kingsley Eguakun and DB Elijah Jones from the practice squad. NEW YORK JETS — Signed LB Troy Reeder from the practice squad. Signed LB Jaden Keller and QB Will Levis to the practice squad. Released QB Bailey Zappe from the practice squad. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed TE Zach Ertz to the practice squad. Released DT Gabe Hall from the practice squad. PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Signed WR Isaiah Hodgins and DB Darius Rush to the practice squad. TENNESSEE TITANS — Signed G Drew Moss to the practice squad. Released LB Jimmy Ciarlo from the practice squad.

HOCKEY National Hockey League

DALLAS STARS — Loaned G Arno Tiefensee to Texas (AHL). NEW YORK RANGERS — Placed F Justin Dowling and D Urho Vaakanainen on waivers. WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Placed F Ludwig Persson on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Hershey (AHL).

At 6-foot and 232 points, Johnson brings safety athleticism to the linebacker position, and he’s not alone in that way. “We all did play different positions in high school,” Johnson said. “I feel like it helps in coverage while guarding tight ends and running backs. I feel like it’s better for me because I know I feel like I got a receiver. So I feel like it just helped me more.” Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

4C ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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W e d n e s d ay, s e p t e m b e r 23, 2026

5Cn

The trends that took over NY Fashion Week BY BEATRICE DUPUY and BROOKE LEFFERTS Associated Press

NEWYORK — Across the runways this New York Fashion Week, designers reimagined spring dressing by shaking up the season’s staples of florals and pastels, opting instead for more modern and irreverent trends. From legacy brands to emerging talents, designers including Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren and Eckhaus Latta brought joy back to dressing with sartorial twists on color, movement and contrasts that could easily transition off the Spring/Summer 2027 catwalks and into New York’s busy streets. While New York Fashion Week is only the first stop for celebrities and fashion editors before seeing what London, Milan and Paris have in store, the celebratory tone is bound to be contagious.

ASSOCIATED PRESS/INVISION PHOTO By CHARLES SyKES

A model walks the runway during the Thom Browne Spring/ Summer 2027 presentation as part of New york Fashion Week.

The joy of dressing Designers had a lot to celebrate, with many marking career milestones: Rachel Comey notched 25 years, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera reveled in 45-year anniversaries for their brands, and Coach hit a storied 85 years. Coach sent models down the runway in party hats, glittering gowns with colorful large bow trains, and gift-wrapped present accessories for its anniversary. InStyle Fashion director Kevin Huynh said designers are waving goodbye to the quiet luxury era and leaning into vibrancy. “We’re really stepping into like, more is more,” he told The Associated Press, “but not in that dopamine dressing where everything feels haphazardly put on, but like a real sense of vibrancy and excitement.”

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Eli Mendoza puts together a green patacon sandwich with beef, smashed and fried plantains, cheese, lettuce, tomato and a house sauce at Patacon Latin Cuisine on Sept. 16 in youngsville.

SPREADING TRADITIONS

At Patacon Latin Cuisine, Venezuelan food finds a home in Acadiana BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

Although the flavors of familyowned Patacon Latin Cuisine began in Venezuela, the story ends in Acadiana, where the Lugos have made the city home. Rooted in Venezuelan cuisine, Patacon was founded by husbandand-wife duo Jose Lugo and Wanda Lugo, alongside their son, Daniel Lugo. The family immigrated to Louisiana from Maracaibo, Venezuela, bringing the flavors and culinary traditions of home with them. Patacon opened at 308 Bertrand Drive in January 2015. Since then, it has built a loyal following The Pabellón Criollo, a traditional through word of mouth and people Venezuelan dish is part of the looking to try a different type of menu at Patacon Latin Cuisine. cuisine in city. The restaurant serves patacones, its specialty dish of twice- of Cajun fare into the menu. fried green plantain slices, along “We’ve woven Cajun culture into with arepas, empanadas and more, the menu with items like crawfish while also incorporating a little bit empanadas,” Daniel Lugo said.

Patacon’s menu includes a dish that plays with another familiar concept: lasagna. The restaurant’s plantain lasagna, or pasticho, replaces conventional pasta with sliced ripe plantains. It has become one of the dishes customers frequently ask for, Daniel Lugo said, but it can be difficult to keep in stock because it doesn’t store well and needs to be prepared fresh. The arepa, another staple in Venezuela, is a simple cornmeal patty that can be filled with a variety of ingredients. At Patacon, the reina pepiada is filled with a chickenand-avocado mixture. Then there are the patacones, the restaurant’s namesake dish and something Daniel Lugo remembers as a staple dish of his childhood. It’s essentially a sandwich without the bread. Instead, fried plantains are smashed, seasoned and fried

ä See PATACON, page 6C

ä See FASHION, page 6C

THE BEST THINGS WE ATE THIS WEEK | STAFF REPORT

Variety is the spice of life with recent favorites Baked chicken plate

that told me I ordered right. The taste confirmed n Dorothy’s Soul that — the cabbage Food Kitchen, 1221 had a little kick, Gardere Lane, Baton and the mac and Rouge cheese brought the comfort I was I haven’t had time looking for. to cook lately, and STAFF PHOTO By I scarfed down I was aching for MADDIE SCOTT the chicken and some home-style red beans, and an employee cooking. Dorothy’s Soul Food joked that I should slow down Kitchen had the fixings. eating. It felt like I was in my I ordered the baked chicken mom’s kitchen. I loved it! and had the choice of three Dorothy’s has a kind staff, sides, so I chose the mac and good food and big portions — cheese, cabbage and red beans the best kind of bang for your and rice. After about 10 minbuck. utes, the plate came hot with — Maddie Scott, a piece of cornbread. Just off looks, it was the kind of spread features reporter

Brownie

n Sunday’s

Soda Fountain, 431 Jefferson St., Lafayette

The brownie a la mode at Sunday’s Soda Fountain in PROVIDED PHOTO downtown Lafayette is a warm brownie topped with caramel and vanilla ice cream. I choose to keep things classic, while other dessert lovers have opted for additional toppings such as olive oil and sea salt, maple syrup, walnuts, Oreos and more. My favorite part about this dessert is the warm brownie in the center. Ice cream flavors can also be substituted. — Jakori Madison, features reporter

Chicken hibachi plate

For my entree, I ordered the chicken hibachi plate, n Daruma Ramen which came with Bar and Grill, 3669 Daruma’s signaGovernment St., ture fried rice. The Baton Rouge chicken was deliI met a friend cious and stir-fried for lunch at with zucchini, STAFF PHOTO By Daruma, and I broccoli, mushJOy HOLDEN was so excited to rooms, onions try more dishes. I’ve been there and a sweet sauce. Everything once, and there were so many tasted fresh. I even had enough things on the menu I wanted to to take home in one of Daruma’s order. This time, I started with reusable to-go bags. Next time, the honey chicken bao buns, I may try something new, or which come with fluffy bao, I may get the chicken hibachi crispy honey fried chicken, plate again, because I’m already pickled onions, cilantro and craving it. green onions. They are a flavor — Joy Holden, bomb. features reporter

6C ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Planning for a tense trip with the in-laws Dear Miss Manners: My lovely peace, it will be necessary for my husband and me sister, Grace, married a to do things on our own? I man who is difficult. Keith have a feeling she already is loud, often inebriated, has an hour-by-hour and quick to anger. agenda of museums, So much so, that shops, etc. for us to after a misundervisit together. But standing at Grace we cannot spend all and Keith’s wedding day, every day with rehearsal dinner, her and Keith, or Jaharsh words were Judith screamed, and Keith son will go nuts! Martin challenged my husJason is still hurt MISS and angry by what band, Jason, to a MANNERS happened before the fistfight. wedding. He’s afraid He issued a pretty if he’s around Keith for too weak apology, and for my long, especially with alcosister’s sake, Jason accepted it. But he has not re- hol, that this time he may ally gotten over it and feels not be able to be the bigger like things will never be the man and walk away if Keith same between them. Grace, tries to provoke him. But I cannot reveal to though, thinks everything is Grace that Jason didn’t forhunky-dory now. When Grace recently give Keith’s behavior last came into some money, as year! So how do I delicately a milestone birthday gift explain our desire to exto me, she paid for a group plore the city by ourselves vacation for the four of us! without offending her? Of course this was insanely Gentle reader: The convergenerous. We’ve both sation to have with your thanked her profusely, and sister is about how much she’s refused my husband’s you are looking forward to efforts to reimburse her. the trip — and how much How can I gently tell her you hope everyone will that, in order to keep the enjoy the sights and one

another’s company. As a mere side comment, you can slip in that you and your husband intend a few side excursions for some husband-and-wife time. Miss Manners expects that will make the point that the former is not to be taken for granted, and the latter is not up for debate. But there are also some expectations to be set on your side, which she says while fully appreciating that your husband was the aggrieved party last year. Your husband accepted your brother-in-law’s apology. That he remains suspicious is understandable. But that is different from reserving the right, in advance, to misbehave — or asserting that your brotherin-law was not actually forgiven. If that is true, then he needs to know that, as it would not be fair to accept the trip under such circumstances.

Reprogramming car functions use a childproof bottle. Dear Heloise: A suggestion I also keep a bottle with was made to have your car key fob reprogrammed by batteries in my purse. It’s always handy when a mechanic to only I’m not at home and unlock the driver’s need to replace a door so that it’s safbattery. — Mary M., via er when refueling email at a gas station. A Mary, keeping mechanic isn’t necyour hearing aid essary. The doors Hints from batteries in a pill are programmed Heloise bottle is such a good through the car itidea. This way, they self in the vehicle’s can’t get lost, and I’m sure utility menu. Each make you know that they aren’t of car has different ways cheap. Thanks for your letof resetting the unlocked doors or other doors’ func- ter! — Heloise tions. The owner’s manual Quilting hint can walk you through it, or you can watch a video Dear Heloise: As a quilter, online, as there are many I use empty toilet paper short videos on reprogram- tubes to hold my quilt ming car functions. — James binding. I fold it accordionstyle, tuck it inside and J.M., Retired United States Army write which quilt the bindVeteran ing is for on the outside. — Hearing aid batteries Dixie A., in Auke Bay,Alaska Dear Heloise: This is in Tiny trick-or-treat toys reference to the person who has trouble removing Dear Heloise: Every Halhearing-aid batteries from loween, people buy bags the package. I wear hearof candy. While children enjoy sweets, I like to ing aids and use scissors add other things as well. to cut around the battery. You can go to any dollar Also, I store my batteries in a small, empty medicine store and find small action figures, plastic dinosaurs bottle. If there are small (always a big hit!), yo-yos children around, one can

Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com.

back, and I never imagined Dear Harriette: My friend that a year later, I would owes me $8,000 and hasn’t still be waiting. I been able to pay me have tried to be paback for a year. I have been asking tient because I know her for so long, and moving to a new every response I get state and getting is her telling me she settled can be expenwill have it for me sive, but I am startHarriette ing to feel like she is “soon.” I lent this Cole money to her a year taking advantage of SENSE AND ago, and she moved my kindness. SENSITIVITy to the state I am also I don’t want to ruin located in. She used our friendship, but the money for her security I’m afraid this has already deposit, first month’s rent made me not want to be and additional moving exfriends with her once I get the money back. I worked penses. At the time, I was hard for that $8,000, and happy to help, but now I wish I hadn’t given her that there are things I could have used the money for kind of money. I trusted this past year. How can I that she would pay me

get my friend to pay me back without anything legally binding her to do so? — Payback Dear Payback: You may not be able to force your friend, but try another approach. Ask her to pay you back in monthly installments. Stress that you need the money and you don’t want her negligence to destroy your friendship. If that doesn’t work, try smallclaims court. Even without a contract, you may be able to argue your point effectively. Send questions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com.

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

PATACON

Continued from page 5C again before being filled with meat and other toppings. “These fried plantains that have been smashed give the sandwich a crunch, and it’s usually a street food in Venezuela,” he said. The pabellón criollo, a traditional Venezuelan dish featuring shredded beef, black beans, rice and ripe plantains, is another standout. The fluffy white rice has a neutral base, while the black beans and shredded beef adds savory flavors, and the ripe plantains bring a touch of sweetness. Daniel Lugo describes Venezuelan cuisine as a crossroads of Caribbean influences, seen in dishes featuring plantains, and traditions from the Andes reflected in ingredients like corn and wheat flour. That variety can sometimes be confusing for customers who are familiar with other Latin American cuisines. “There’s no better example of that than the empanadas,” he said.

In places like Argentina, empanadas are typically made with wheat flour and can be much larger, but at Patacon Venezuelan, empanadas are smaller and made with corn flour, unlike the wheat-flour versions found in other countries. Across Latin America, “empanada” is essentially a universal term for a meat pie, but what customers get on a plate can look very different from one country to the next, he said. “Most people are not used to eating Venezuelan food, so that’s one of the reasons why I can’t necessarily blame them when they come up to me and say, ‘What should I order?’” Daniel Lugo said. Helping customers understand those differences has become part of what the Lugo family wanted to convey when they brought their Venezuelan food traditions to Louisiana. The family’s journey to Louisiana began in 2006. Jose Lugo worked in Venezuela’s oil industry, which eventually brought the family to Louisiana, where the oil industry is also a major part of the economy.

Daniel Lugo was 9 years old when his family arrived. After arriving, his mother quickly found something she loved about Louisiana’s food culture: the seafood. He said she was surprised by how much crawfish, shrimp, gumbo and jambalaya were part of the local food scene. “She loves seafood,” Daniel Lugo said. “So she ends up pleasantly surprised that seafood seems to be a really big part of this place.” Which is why the familiarity with Louisiana’s food culture eventually found its way into the family’s own restaurant. Much of Patacon’s growth has come the same way it started: through people telling other people about the food. “The community has truly made this place what it is today,” Daniel Lugo said. The restaurant has now stretched beyond Lafayette with a second location in Youngsville that opened in January last year. Patacon Latin Cuisine is located at 308 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, and 1900 Bonin Road, Youngsville.

Dear Heloise: My husband and I usually toss all our change into a large glass jar, and we use this for a number of places, such as a toll booth or car wash. We also use it on Halloween. I buy about 24 nylon bags (the smallest size they sell), and we place a little change in each one. It might be 2 quarters and 1 dime or 5 nickels and 1 quarter. Then I close the bag with its drawstrings and place it in with the candy. We don’t get as many children as we used to, but believe me, the ones we do get love receiving a little money of their own! — Krista J., in Connecticut Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.

the Pacific Northwest. In 1955, a jury in Sumner, Mississippi, acquitted two White men, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, of killing Black teenager Emmett Till. (The two later admitted to the crime in an interview with Look magazine.) In 1957, nine Black students who entered Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas were forced to leave under police escort because of a White mob outside. The Little Rock Nine returned under federal troop escort two days later for their first full day at the school. In 2002, Gov. Gray Davis signed a law making California the first state to offer workers paid family leave. In 2018, capping a comeback from four back surgeries, Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the 80th victory of his PGA Tour career and his

first in more than five years. In 2022, Roger Federer played his final professional match after an illustrious career that included 20 Grand Slam titles. In 2024, Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children in one of the deadliest barrages since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Today’s birthdays: Singer Julio Iglesias is 83. Actor/singer Mary Kay Place is 79. Rock star Bruce Springsteen is 77. Director/playwright George C. Wolfe is 72. Actor Rosalind Chao is 69. Actor Jason Alexander is 67. Actor Chi McBride is 65. Singer Ani DiFranco is 56. Producer-rapper Jermaine Dupri is 54. Filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is 53. Actor Anthony Mackie is 48. Actor Skylar Astin is 39. High diver Molly Carlson is 28. Singer Artemas is 27.

his black and white looks. Thom Browne, who often Continued from page 5C leans into whimsy, created a show inspired by “A Bug’s Life,” with a giant indoor At Eckhaus Latta, design- garden and models dripers Mike Eckhaus and Zoe ping in green crystals that Latta feted their J.Crew hung from layered suiting. collaboration with confetti. Some channeled actual laGuests were told to open dybugs and butterflies with envelopes on their seats at giant colorful hoop skirts, the sound of laughter dur- and jackets that looked like ing the second half of their cocoons, eliciting smiles show and toss rainbow con- from the crowd. fetti onto the runway. “Designers are really try- Shades of blue ing to kind of have fun and Designers may not be show the power that fashion feeling blue this season, but can have in uplifting and the color was certainly ininspiring people,” Matthew terwoven throughout their Velasco, ELLE’s fashion collections. news editor, said. Ralph Lauren played with Tory Burch embraced a palette of blues — from joyful dressing as a sense his classic denim to satin of escape, with models in and lace gowns, to suiting color-blocked embellished and blue fur and feather collooks strutting around a lars. Tommy Hilfiger said circular indoor catwalk he often takes his inspirathat surrounded an outdoor tion from nautical flags, so garden with fountains. primary colors — including Burch said she wanted to navy — were prevalent on contrast opulent femininity classic and oversized blazwith utilitarian sportswear. ers and rugby shirt stripes Her collection featured em- on his runway at The Plaza broidered cardigans with Hotel. Tory Burch styled brightly colored skirts, boa- turquoise and navy, and like thin scarves and a tur- Henry Zankov delivered teal quoise coat with a matching on the runway this season for Diane von Furstenberg. bag. After a decade-long gap, “I think when things are a bit more rough in the world the Diane von Furstenberg you need to dream,” Burch line returned to New York Fashion Week with Zankov said. Ralph Lauren opened unveiling his first collecNew York Fashion Week tion as artistic director for by bringing romance and the brand. Known for his a celebration of style to the namesake knitwear brand, runway. Zankov highlighted animal “It’s about ways of dress- prints on von Furstenberg’s ing that celebrate ingenu- signature wrap designs, ity, originality, and charac- while incorporating sheer ter — the freedom and fun blouses and dresses along of creating a style that is with fluid suiting. “You want to feel alive,” truly personal,” he said in Huynh said, “like we’re his show notes. Michael Kors had the op- coming out of the cold of timism to stage his show winter, and color is such outside in the garden at an easy way to accomplish the Museum of Modern that.” “Chartreuse had its moArt, where a bright orange trench coat and sunny yel- ment, but teal is something low shoes popped against that feels really refined,” he

added. Cobalt blue or Klein Blue — made famous by artist Yves Klein — also took over the runways with Proenza Schouler and Sergio Hudson including the color in their collections.

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 23, the 266th day of 2026. There are 99 days left in the year. Today in history: On Sept. 23, 1952, Republican Sen. Richard M. Nixon of California salvaged his vice presidential nomination by appearing on TV from Los Angeles to refute allegations of improper campaign fundraising in what became known as the “Checkers” speech for its reference to his family’s cocker spaniel. Also on this date: In 1780, British spy John Andre was captured along with papers revealing Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point to the British. In 1806, the Lewis and Clark expedition returned to St. Louis, more than two years after setting out for

FASHION

Patacon Latin Cuisine opened a second location last year in youngsville.

Candy and cash

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press

Friend still owes for $8K move

and other tiny items that children love to place in their bags. I have a very large wicker basket that I fill with these toys and candy. Then I just tell the little ones to take a handful. Needless to say, my house is popular on Halloween! — Irene W., in Bloomington, Illinois

Accentuating the waist All eyes were on waistlines this season as designers sent models down runways in cummerbunds, scarves and chunky belts. For Daniella Kallmeyer of Kallmeyer, the designer added a cummerbund to a buttoned-down blue top over trousers, as well as a white cummerbund embellished with white beading over an all-black suited look. “It’s that injection of androgyny with a cummerbund in womenswear that feels exciting and edgy,” Huynh said. At Ralph Lauren, the designer wrapped fringed scarves around the models to break up an all-white look or add a pop of color to the waistline.

Fringing out After shedding the constraints of winter coats and layers, designers introduced a freedom of movement and fluidity to their collections with fringe. Asymmetrical dresses swayed with fringe at Jonathan Simkhai while shimmering fringe peeked out from an all-black look at Rachel Comey. In a twist on tailoring, jackets dripping with fringe made their way down the runway at Monse. “I always am a firm believer that with the Spring/ Summer shows, designers really flex their prowess a little bit more than fall,” Huynh said. “You’re really getting the full spectrum of a woman and a man’s wardrobe.”

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● 7C

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

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zodIAC LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) — Pursue your dreams. Let your creative ideas flow and your mind take you on a tour of what's possible. Refuse to let laziness stand between you and your heart's desires. Live up to your potential. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — Don't settle for less than what you want. Being a tagalong will not satisfy your needs. Follow your heart and pursue what inspires and motivates you to find and develop your niche. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — It's up to you to make things happen. If you delve into the where, why and what of every situation and opportunity, you'll find the people and options that suit your needs best. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Pay more attention to what you do, and keep your thoughts to yourself. Flying under the radar at work or at home will give you greater freedom to complete what's necessary. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Assess your financial, medical or legal position before you make a move. Be sure to stick to the rules and maintain up-to-date paperwork. Go through the proper channels to avoid setbacks. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) — Don't carry burdens that don't belong to you. Your highest returns will come from following your heart and pursuing what makes you happy. ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Be honest with yourself and those you encounter. Question anything that seems dodgy or

unrealistic. Refuse to align yourself with groups that don't share your beliefs or objectives. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Protect your reputation, meaningful relationships and lifestyle from scammers. Spend more time taking care of your mental and emotional health and protecting what you've worked so hard to achieve. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Stop worrying about what others think and do what makes you happy. Rather than having regrets, pick up the pace and put what you want in place. When one door closes, another will open. CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Give whatever isn't running smoothly a chance to dissipate before you start something new. Distance yourself from negativity and those trying to rewrite history. Know what's important to you. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Refine your lifestyle to reflect your health and well-being. Taking better care of yourself will lead to new possibilities and desires. Refuse to let temptation result in overspending, bad habits and overindulgence. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Spend more time nurturing meaningful relationships. How you conduct your personal and professional life will have an impact on your ability to earn and to function properly in whatever situation comes your way. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

TODAy'S CLUE: X EQUALS R

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

8C ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

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La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● 9C

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B.C.

Bridge BY PHILLIP ALDER Ernest Dimnet, a French priest, writer and lecturer who wrote “The Art of Thinking” and died in 1954, said, “Education is the methodical creation of the habit of thinking.” How true — why didn’t we think of that? When I teach a class, I try to get my students to think like bridge players, not to bid the first thing that comes into their minds or to play the card nearest their thumbs. This deal from a social game is instructive. What do you think of the auction? What should happen in four hearts after West leads the spade king? North was right to respond two clubs, Stayman. If South had replied two diamonds, North would have rebid two hearts, showing a weak major two-suiter with no game aspirations. When South bid two hearts, though, North should have passed. And South, with a minimum 15 high-card points, ought to have passed out three hearts. In four hearts, South probably has to play the trump suit without loss. To do that, he can either cash dummy’s ace, playing West for a singleton king, or lead his queen, hoping East has a singleton jack. They are mathematically equal, but leading the queen is better because West might fail to cover with king-dou-

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

bleton. However, before that, South won the first trick and returned his second spade. Here, West defended perfectly, winning with his queen and shifting to a club. However, when declarer won with his ace and led the heart queen, West erred by playing low, so the contract made. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

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

tODAY’s WORD — DIFFIcuLtY: DIH-fih-kul-tee: The quality of being hard to deal

Bizarro

marmaduKe

with. Average mark 17 words Time limit 35 minutes Can you find 28 or more words in DIFFICULTY? YEstERDAY’s WORD — tILLAGE tail tale tall teal tell tile till late legal

ligate lilt lite agile aglet alit gait gale gall

gate gelt gill gilt

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases;” Psalms 103:2-3 Amen! God is good and gracious. G.E. Dean

10C ● Wednesday, September 23, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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

DOW 51,863.69 -185.14 -0.36%

NASDAQ 27,244.28 122.18 0.45%

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

DoorDash to pay $131M for underpaying workers

NEW YORK — DoorDash will pay $131.5 million to settle claims that it underpaid delivery workers in New York City, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday. The agreement, which officials described as the largest worker settlement in city history, also requires the company to submit to a new monitoring system to ensure compliance with delivery worker pay laws in the city. In a statement, DoorDash admitted errors, saying: “Simply put, we screwed up.” “While these mistakes weren’t intentional, that doesn’t make them okay. We pride ourselves on operational excellence at DoorDash — and this was not excellent, nor was it acceptable. Dashers should be paid in full, on time, every time. We are sorry to the Dashers we let down,” the company said. Most of the settlement will be returned to more than 260,000 workers who were underpaid, not paid or paid late for deliveries by DoorDash, according to City Hall. The company will also pay about $16 million in civil penalties and other costs to the city. “When a worker earns a wage, they deserve to be paid that wage — not tomorrow, not after a lawsuit, but on time and in full,” Mamdani said in a statement. “DoorDash underpaid more than 260,000 workers, and today we are getting that money back.”

S&P 500 7,764.64 -0.06 -0.00%

EURO 1.1447 -0.0019 -0.17%

CRUDE OIL 90.52 -9.78 -9.75%

GOLD 4,338.90 -6.90 -0.16%

6-MO T-BILLS 4.3 -0.01 -0.23%

30-YR T-BONDS 5.3 0.01 0.25%

Wall Street holds near record Brent oil falls below $100 per barrel

BY STAN CHOE

AP business writer NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market held near its record high on Tuesday after oil prices eased again. Stocks had been higher in the morning, when the price for a barrel of Brent crude briefly fell below $98. But oil prices later trimmed their losses, and Brent settled at $99.25 per barrel, down 1.1%. That’s down from the nearly $110 that it touched last week, but it’s

still much more expensive than the $72 it was fetching before the war with Iran began. It’s been swinging with uncertainty about when the war will allow crude to freely flow again from the Middle East to customers worldwide. On Wall Street, AutoZone rose 3.3% after the retailer reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its revenue fell short. CEO Phil Daniele said the auto parts seller faced “a difficult selling environment” in the first two months of the quarter, but it improved afterward and “we feel we are well positioned for sales growth” in its

upcoming fiscal year. At Thor Industries, which sells recreational vehicles, the mood was more muted. CEO Bob Martin said expensive fuel, high interest rates and still-high inflation are stretching its customers’ budgets, and business “never reached the inflection point many in the industry expected” in its latest fiscal year. Its stock rose 5.5%, though, after it delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Such strong profit reports are one of the main reasons the U.S. stock market has reached the

brink of its all-time high despite expensive oil and jitters about whether stocks in the artificialintelligence industry shot too high. Many companies are close to closing the books on their third quarter of the year, which ends with September. And analysts are forecasting companies in the S&P 500 will report overall growth of nearly 29% for the quarter from a year earlier, according to FactSet. If they’re right, it would be the third straight quarter of growth better than 25% for the index. And stock prices tend to follow the track of corporate profits over the long term.

Xbox layoffs again hit hundreds in Washington Microsoft is laying off about 300 Washington-based employees, among about 450 companywide, as part of ongoing efforts to reset its gaming division. The Redmond-based tech giant told employees Tuesday morning that it was cutting roles that would mostly fall under the Xbox banner. Across the company, 268 gaming employees were let go. The move comes two months after the company laid off 4,800 gaming and sales team employees companywide, including 605 in Washington. Microsoft has been trying to keep a ceiling on its head count for more than a year as it grapples with the rising costs of an ongoing artificial intelligencerelated development and a workforce that swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the company laid off 15,000 employees, 3,202 of whom were based in Washington, according to state data. Microsoft’s global workforce shrunk from 228,000 to 223,000 employees last year, the first overall drop in a decade. The company chalked that decline up to layoffs and the voluntary retirement program it offered to about 8,750 employees in June, with about 30% of eligible employees taking the offer.

China expands control on drug precursors BEIJING — China said Tuesday that it is now requiring permits for exports to the United States, Mexico and Canada of two additional chemicals that can be used to make illegal drugs, expanding controls on shipments to the three countries. The Commerce Ministry and other authorities jointly announced the new regulations ahead of this week’s meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump. The additions bring the number of chemicals under such controls to 18. The U.S. has called China the world’s largest producer of many of the precursor chemicals used in the illicit production of fentanyl, methamphetamine and other deadly synthetic drugs. It has urged Beijing to take more aggressive action to reduce the flow of unregulated precursor chemicals. In November 2025, Beijing announced export restrictions on 13 “drug-making” chemicals to the U.S., Canada and Mexico, including chemicals used to produce the synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the U.S. every year.

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By BEBETO MATTHEWS

Planes line up for takeoff in 2023 in front of the air traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport in New york.

Air traffic control calamity disrupting U.S. flights spotlights aging system BY JOSH FUNK

AP transportation writer Communications failures that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast on Monday have put the spotlight back on the aging systems that air traffic controllers rely on in the U.S. Congress already handed the Federal Aviation Administration $12.5 billion last year to overhaul technology after the deadliest U.S. plane crash in more than two decades killed 67 people when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River and a series of radar outages later that spring led to widespread cancellations at Newark Liberty International Airport. The same Philadelphia facility that had the radar outages in the spring of 2025 lost both its primary and backup data lines at the same time on Monday. But that regional air traffic control center isn’t alone; similar communications outages have also disrupted flights in Minneapolis and Dallas over the past year. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy quickly turned Monday’s disruption that hit every major airport in the New York area into the latest example of why he’s asking Congress for $20 billion more to pay for the next phase of the air traffic control overhaul.

Airlines were working to recover from the outage on Tuesday, but FlightAware.com showed nearly 100 flights had been canceled by midday because a number of planes and crews were out of position after Monday’s cancellations. “I have money for some of the telecom replacing old copper wires. Bringing in new fiber so it’s faster. The problem is this is a 40-year-old architecture or design,” Duffy said on Fox News Tuesday. “I need new money to do a whole new design — a new architecture of telecom so it will never go down.” The aviation industry’s Modern Skies Coalition backed Duffy’s plan again and urged Congress to approve the money because the latest disruptions “demonstrate how critical it is to replace the antiquated technology and outdated systems that underpin our nation’s air traffic control infrastructure.” A switch on the primary communications line at the regional FAA air traffic control facility in Philadelphia failed Monday morning, but when it turned to the backup fiber optic line authorities discovered that it had been inadvertently severed by railroad construction workers. The failures left controllers without radar or communications for hours. The switch is part of the equipment scheduled to be replaced. The outage brought commercial air traffic

to a near-standstill at Newark for much of the day, with no commercial flights landing at the airport from about 9:40 a.m. to just after 5:20 p.m. local time, according to flight tracking site Flightradar24. More than 200 flights into and out of Philadelphia International Airport were also canceled, while disruptions hit LaGuardia and Kennedy airports in New York. Flights had resumed by Monday evening. Technical problems that affect Newark Liberty Airport tend to get outsized attention because it’s a key hub for United Airlines. During the spring of 2025, controllers in Philadelphia briefly lost radar several times and then staffing shortages at the facility prompted the FAA to restrict traffic. The Dallas outage last September disrupted American Airlines’ key hub, and last month’s communications failure at a regional air traffic control facility in Minneapolis halted flights across several Midwestern states and led to numerous diversions and delays. Sheldon Jacobson, whose research contributed to the design of the TSA PreCheck system, said the FAA needs to make sure that its backup systems are independent of the primary line to reduce the chance that both will fail at the same time. And he said maybe the agency should look at adding a third line to have an additional backup system.

N.Y., Calif. sue to block deals canceling offshore wind projects BY MATTHEW DALY and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Democratic attorneys general from California and New York sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its plans to buy back offshore wind leases as President Donald Trump seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels. California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he is suing over removal of a project off his state’s coast planned by Chicago-based Invenergy. The Trump administration said in June that it’s buying back the company’s U.S. offshore wind

leases for four wind projects on the East and West coasts. New York Attorney General Letitia James, meanwhile, led seven states in suits seeking to block the Invenergy deal and another proposal with Bluepoint Wind, which agreed in April to end a wind farm under development off the New York and New Jersey coast. The deals would hand energy companies $1.4 billion in taxpayer dollars in exchange for the cancellation of multiple projects. ln all, the Trump administration has pledged nearly $4 billion to companies to walk away from projects across the country. The Interior Department start-

ed buying back offshore wind leases in March after federal courts thwarted Trump’s efforts to stop offshore wind development through executive action. In exchange for reimbursements of lease fees, companies are investing in fossil fuel projects and geothermal energy. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has said that companies “are shifting investment back toward dependable, secure energy infrastructure that can power our economy and lower utility costs.” James called the deals illegal and said they will ultimately increase Americans’ electricity bills by sabotaging states’ ability to meet growing energy demands.

“Americans are facing increasing energy costs because this administration would rather pay off energy companies than let us build the new power sources we need,” James said in a statement. “These illegal backroom deals take money that should have gone toward lowering New Yorkers’ bills and hand it to fossil fuel projects in other states.” Bonta said that as a national and global leader in the fight against climate change, California finds itself enmeshed in “avoidable and unnecessary battles with our own federal government” to advance climate action and move toward clean energy.