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‘The sweat don’t stop’ With skyrocketing fuel costs and low profits, La. farmers wonder how much more they can afford

$2.00X

ELECTION H

AI, data centers play role in Louisiana Senate race davis has aggressive regulation agenda; Letlow offers fewer specifics

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Eddie Lewis III keeps an eye on the sugar cane harvest as it is loaded into trucks at Lewis Farms in youngsville. BY MEGAN WYATT

Staff writer

Eddie Lewis III’s sugar cane crop looks better than it has in years, but he’ll be lucky if he breaks even by the end of the harvest. Diesel prices have nearly doubled since he created his budget last winter. Fertilizer costs are up 20%. And a new, invasive pest known as the pasture mealybug has led to an unexpected $25,000 pesticide bill. Lewis estimates that he’s already $200,000 over his $1 million budget. He has cut labor, held off on equipment purchases and is rethinking how many ﬁelds to replant across his 1,000 acres in La-

fayette, Iberia and Vermilion parishes. But there’s only so much he can cut before costsaving measures affect the success of his crop. “You just took a strong, beautiful crop and dropped it from an A-minus to probably a D-plus, C-plus crop,” Lewis said. “And that’s because of the costs associated with raising this crop, protecting this crop.” Farmers across Louisiana say they’re blowing their budgets on higher fuel and fertilizer prices, and the temporary state and federal diesel tax relief orders have done little to ease their burdens.

ä See FARMERS, page 5A

Farmer donald Simon cuts into a stalk of sugar cane for a snack as he works at Lewis Farms in youngsville.

Democrat Jamie Davis and Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, the two candidates vying for Louisiana’s open U.S. Senate seat, are taking different approaches to addressing heightened public concerns about artificial intelligence and the data centers that power the technology. Davis, whose odds of winning the heavily Republican state in November are slim, has sought to draw a sharp contrast on the issue by releasing an aggressive, detailed agenda to regulate AI companies that includes a moratorium on new data Davis centers. Letlow, whose trades in tech company stock have drawn scrutiny, has been less specific — but she says her approach would balance economic development with protecting the public and ensuring residents don’t have to pay for data centers’ power needs. Letlow In a statement, Davis said he would support liability for AI companies that deploy dangerous technologies and fight to ensure AI isn’t used in autonomous weapons systems. He also said he would back legislation mandating safety reviews of AI models before their release and requiring those models to include “kill switches” in case they need to be shut down. “‘Self-policing’ by these massive AI companies isn’t going to cut it,” Davis said. “Congress has to step in.” Letlow’s campaign did not answer specific

ä See SENATE, page 6A

Trump endorses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection Close allies face diverging strategies

election campaign, a coveted boost because of Trump’s popularity but one that the American had withheld for months as the vote neared and the leaders’ strategies in the BY MICHELLE L. PRICE Middle East diverged. Associated Press Trump said in a post on social WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President media that Netanyahu “has been a Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Great Warrior Prime Minister, and embattled Israeli Prime Minister an even greater Partner for Peace Benjamin Netanyahu late in his re- in combatting the Islamic Repub-

WEATHER HIGH 78 LOW 54 PAGE 6A

lic of Iran.” to the Republican Israelis are set to president as a sellvote Oct. 27 in the ing point for stayﬁrst national elecing in power. “Thank you, tions since Hamas President Trump, attacked Israel on for the tremenOct. 7, 2023. The absence of dous support and Netanyahu an endorsement Trump work together,” was a setback for the Likud politi- Netanyahu said in a statement in cian, who had billed his tight ties Hebrew posted on X. “Together we

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will complete the mission!” His Likud Party attached to the statement a 35-second video showing clips of the two leaders together and Trump praising Netanyahu. It was not immediately clear what impact the endorsement would have on what is expected to be a tight race. Trump is still

ä See NETANYAHU, page 5A

102Nd yEAR, NO. 111

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Trump says he will close golf course in D.C. for renovations

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Driver in deadly soccer field crash released

WICHITA, Kan. — A woman who drove a pickup truck onto a soccer field during a weekend youth game in Kansas, killing two people and injuring 10 others, has been released without charges as the investigation continues, police said Sunday. The 34-year-old woman was released pending results of toxicology tests and a mechanical examination of the vehicle in the aftermath of Saturday’s crash. Her name hasn’t been made public. “Our officers and investigators will continue working to understand exactly what happened,” Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said, noting that no charges have been filed to date. The woman had one child playing soccer on another field at the Stryker Sports Complex in northeast Wichita when Saturday’s crash occurred, a police statement said. The statement said two of her other children were with her in the pickup truck when it struck multiple children and adults. According to a preliminary investigation, the Chevrolet pickup was parked in a parking space near the soccer fields before it drove onto one of the fields. Police identified those killed at the scene as Cole Adrian, 6, and Nicholas Schafer, 35, both of McPherson, Kansas. They were not related. Ten others ranging from 5 years old to 68 were taken to area hospitals with injuries described as nonserious.

Service member dies after rappelling fall SAN ANTONIO, Texas — A military service member has died after he fell hard as he rappelled from the ceiling to midfield before a University of Texas at San Antonio football game where the military was honored. Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs said the service member assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, was taken Saturday to a local hospital, where he later died. An investigation was underway into what led up to the incident at UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans game against Navy. A video of the fall that was posted on social media showed the man, in combat fatigues, quickly descending to the ground feet first. The fall occurred with fans in the stands and a band assembled nearby on the field. He was treated on the field for several minutes and taken away on a gurney. In a statement after the game, UTSA offered counseling service contacts for students and said: “We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the start of tonight’s game. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues.” The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was one of four military service members who were scheduled to participate in the pregame rappelling demonstration.

Cattle truck overturns in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dozens of cattle spilled onto a street in Kansas City, Missouri, when a semitractor-trailer plunged off a highway overpass in the city’s downtown area and onto a car early Sunday, shutting down some roads and setting off a search for the traumatized animals that survived. The accident occurred shortly before 3 a.m. and the roundup of surviving cattle continued into the early afternoon, authorities said. The driver of the truck and the driver of a vehicle the truck landed on sustained minor injuries and were treated at local hospitals, they said. Kansas City Police Sgt. Phil DiMartino said that between 45 and 60 of the 120 to 130 cattle carried by the truck were killed when the tractor trailer overturned and fell from the westbound I-70 curve over SB I-35. Dozens of other cows ﬂed the crash scene, resulting in other crashes and more calls to the police from the public, he said.

Announcement comes despite legal challenges

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press

CANAdIAN PRESS PHOTO By JOHN ULAN

Emergency crews and military personnel gather Saturday at the Wainwright Health Centre as injured military members are treated after a fire at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright, outside of Wainwright, Alberta.

39 hospitalized after fire at Canadian base Alberta’s premier says at least 19 in critical condition

BY ROB GILLIES

Associated Press

EDMONTON, Alberta — Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said Sunday that 39 people were hospitalized, including at least 19 in critical condition, after a deadly fire at a Canadian military base. Smith said patients were transferred from Canadian Forces Base Wainwright to four hospitals across Alberta. She said some suffered severe burns and could face weeks or months of intensive treatment. Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier confirmed that four service members were killed in the fire, which broke out Saturday during military training. He described it as one of the worst peacetime tragedies for Canada’s military on domestic soil. Fire crews scrambled late Saturday as fierce winds whipped flames beyond Canadian Forces Base Wainwright and into the surrounding rural area. The Canadian military said Sunday there were no indications that the incident was the result of terrorism, but the cause remained under investigation. Speaking in a televised address, Carney said the families of those killed had been notified and that the situation was still evolving. Carney said the service members killed and injured were participating in military training when the fire broke out Saturday. Flags would fly at half-staff on federal buildings across the country in honor of those affected by the tragedy, he said. Carney said those affected included reservists and soldiers from Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, one of Canada’s most storied military regiments. The personnel had come from bases across the country to train at Wainwright. It was not immediately clear exactly how many people had been injured. Alberta health officials said patients from

Wainwright had been transferred to four hospitals — two in Edmonton, one in Red Deer and one in Calgary. Cathy Keane, a mayoral candidate in Ontario, said her eldest son was among the military personnel critically injured. “As a mother, right now I need to be with my son and family,” she wrote on Facebook, saying she was traveling to Alberta. A doctor at a hospital in the city of Edmonton, 112 miles northwest, told Canada’s national broadcaster that patients were taken to hospitals across the city as healthcare facilities around the base became “completely overwhelmed” by the number of people needing care. “This number of patients would overwhelm the city of Edmonton,” Dr. Warren Thirsk, an emergency department physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, told CBC News. “It is more patients than any of us want to count right now. It’s a disaster. It’s a one in every 15- to 25-year disaster.” Alberta health officials said Sunday they had ended the “Code Orange” emergency activated at several hospitals after the ﬁre. The designation allows hospitals to mobilize staff and free up beds to handle large numbers of seriously injured patients. The province said the response involved 22 ground ambulances, six airplanes and two helicopters, with assistance from neighboring Saskatchewan. Wainwright Mayor Bruce Pugh said the town’s small hospital was not designed to handle a mass-casualty incident but praised the response of local medical personnel. He said helicopters and planes had been transporting patients to other facilities for treatment. Pugh said military medical personnel parachuted into Wainwright shortly before midnight, their red parachutes illuminated by ﬂares, as reinforcements arrived to help respond to the disaster. At least 10 ambulances were parked in and around the Wainwright health center late Saturday as paramedics and soldiers rushed about. One patient was seen being loaded into an ambulance. The town of Wainwright, near the base, has about 7,000 residents.

St. Petersburg oil facilities ablaze in Ukrainian attack Kyiv launches more than 1,000 drones at Russia

By The Associated Press Ukrainian strikes set an oil export terminal and a depot ablaze in St. Petersburg on Sunday as Kyiv launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest aerial attacks of the war. The strikes came as tensions between Ukraine and Washington deepened, with President Donald Trump criticizing Kyiv’s attacks on Russian oil infrastructure and the prospect of further U.S. sanctions against Moscow still uncertain. Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said waiving sanctions against Russia would strengthen Putin’s war effort. He also said U.S.-Ukraine intelligence sharing had resumed after being “blocked for some period of time.” Trump told reporters late Saturday that they did not know what his decision on further sanctions against Russia would be, despite signing an executive order Friday night waiving planned restrictions, citing U.S. national interests. Zelenskyy said that while he trusted Trump, siding with Moscow would be a tragedy and a “historic mistake” for

Washington. “People want to forget what’s going on. But we can’t give this possibility to forget, or to change reality, or to change the truth,” Zelenskyy said. “We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s aggressor. He occupied us. He killed adults and children, his soldiers. He’s a terrorist. And that’s why I hope that President Trump will be very clear with this position.” Later Sunday, Zelenskyy said on social media that he had spoken with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about the results of an Oct. 9 meeting between U.S. and Ukrainian negotiating teams in Miami, as well as “next steps in diplomacy.” Two killed as Russia and Ukraine trade blows One person was killed and five others were wounded in the St. Petersburg attack, which sparked fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchi oil depot, local Gov. Alexander Beglov said. A logistics center belonging to Russian retailer Ozon and a data center operated by Russian tech giant VK were also targeted, the companies confirmed. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had destroyed 1,015 Ukrainian drones over 15 Russian regions, the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump on Sunday announced plans to close a historic public golf course in the nation’s capital for 15 months and redevelop it despite an ongoing court challenge to his longsought renovation. Trump posted on social media about his intent to shutter the East Potomac Golf Course, not far from the White House, starting Nov. 15 to make it “one of the Best and Most Spectacular Golf Courses anywhere in the World.” A judge last week, however, ordered a halt to his redevelopment plans until at least Oct. 26 after scolding the government for starting a large-scale tree removal at the course over a holiday weekend while providing little notice to the court or the plaintiffs trying to stop the makeover. Trump did not acknowledge the legal fight in his post, which included an artist’s rendering for the course redesign. “When completed, it will be open to the Public while, at the same time, designed to the Highest Level of Golf and able to hold World Class Tournaments such as the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup,” Trump wrote. Democracy Forward, which is representing the plaintiffs challenging his renovation plans, responded by saying that the course is part of a national park and recreation facility that is meant for everyone to enjoy. “Our litigation is intended to protect this community jewel for the people and communities it serves and we will continue to work with our plaintiffs to defend it from unlawful and harmful intrusion,” Skye Perryman, the president and CEO

of the group, said in a statement. The judge in the case took notice of Trump’s online message and ordered the government to notify her by 8 p.m. EDT Sunday whether its position had changed from a court filing Friday that said “at most” Trump has given “preliminary thought” to the rebuilding plan and “there is no ﬁnal agency action.” Trump, a golf aﬁcionado who plays often, had already announced plans to makeover the links as part of his broader push to renovate and refurbish places around Washington, including the White House and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Many of his projects, including plans for a huge ballroom at the White House, the installation of his own name on the Kennedy Center and construction of a massive arch, have been challenged in courts. The 106-year-old park and course has been the subject of many emergency hearings as the president has sought to renovate it. While it has been open to Washingtonians of all income levels, opponents of Trump’s plans to turn it into a high-end course have argued it will alter the character of the space and make it less affordable to people. Trump in his post echoed arguments he has made to justify his plans to remake the Kennedy Center, arguing it is in such dangerous condition that it needs to close. “The current Course is old, broken, dilapidated, and of no further use or effect. It is in very poor condition, with falling, dangerous, and disease infested trees and, importantly, a collapsing and hazardous seawall,” Trump wrote. Debris from the demolition of the White House East Wing to make way for his ballroom project has also been dumped on the grounds. The National Park Service has said the debris tested positive for lead, chromium and other toxic metals.

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French leader condemns rioters after protests Macron decries those who ‘sought to bring down the Republic’

BY SYLVIE CORBET and ALEXANDER TURNBULL Associated Press

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday voiced the public’s “anger” and “shame” over rioting and looting during nationwide protests against rising living costs and poor conditions in schools. At least 2,400 people were arrested. Macron echoed other government officials in blaming much of the violence on farleft activists, accusing them of attacking police and public buildings to foment chaos. “Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Macron said in a televised address to the nation. He denounced “unrestrained violence” by “insurrectionist elements from radical far-left groups, joined by numerous criminals.” Macron earlier held an emergency meeting with senior government officials, a day after masked groups set fires and attacked city halls in several cities. He said he had instructed prefects to work with mayors to protect

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By EMMA dA SILVA

A man tries to extinguish a fire Sunday during clashes between protesters and police in Paris. public buildings and businesses in the coming weeks, including by banning protests when necessary. Flames engulfed the 19thcentury City Hall in the city of Limoges, in central France, causing its roof to collapse and nearly destroying the building. In Paris, hundreds of protesters gathered again on Sunday at the Place de la République amid a heavy police presence. Ofﬁcers used tear gas as tensions flared sporadically in the neighborhood, with small groups of people trying to set bicycles and trash bins on ﬁre.

“The right to protest is a fundamental right. Deliberately and collectively sowing disorder through violence is not,” Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on X, citing the looting of hundreds of businesses across the country. Authorities estimated Saturday’s marches had a turnout of about 550,000, while organizers put it at 800,000. Demonstrators answered calls from a labor union, student organizations and activists hoping to revive the “yellow vest” movement, which emerged in 2018 to protest social injustice.

Hurricane Trudy lashes Mexico’s Pacific coast with rain, winds By The Associated Press MIAMI — Hurricane Trudy lashed parts of Mexico’s Paciﬁc coast with heavy rain and strong winds Sunday but the storm was forecast to weaken rapidly and authorities discontinued warnings for the coast of Mexico. The Category 2 storm had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph and was moving northwest at 6 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Trudy’s center was expected to remain near the Mexican coast through Sun-

day evening before passing south of the Baja California Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday. The hurricane center said that Trudy was expected to weaken rapidly later Sunday but “interests in southwestern and west-central Mexico, as well as Baja California Sur, should continue to monitor” its progress. Earlier, the Mexican navy urged mariners and coastal residents to exercise extreme caution, citing high waves, heavy rain and the risk of rising rivers, ﬂooding and landslides.

Authorities in Colima said the risks remained low but warned that heavy rainfall could cause damage because successive storms had already saturated the ground along the Pacific coast. Trudy was expected to bring 4-8 inches of rain through the weekend, with isolated totals of around 12 inches along and near the coast in Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco. The hurricane center warned of potentially life-threatening ﬂooding and mudslides, especially in areas with steep terrain.

Photographer attacked in West Bank by settlers feels insulted by Netanyahu BY CARA ANNA

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — The photographer with The Washington Post who was attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank so badly that several vertebrae were broken said Sunday she was increasingly angry that Israel’s military seems to protect settlers more than the Palestinians they threaten. The attack on Heidi Levine and Palestinians during the sensitive olive harvest — followed a day later by an attack on European diplomats in a Christian village — again highlights the rampant settler violence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed on a small number of troublemakers. Levine, from her hospital bed, has told The Associated Press she was “shocked and insulted” that Netanyahu referred to the attack on her and others as “alleged,” adding that the prime minister “had all the evidence on the table.” In contrast, she described the sharp condemnation of settler violence expressed to her in a call from Israel’s president, and in a letter signed by several of the country’s top former security and intelligence ofﬁcials. All expressed shame over the attack. Netanyahu, two weeks out from close elections that could end his time in power, is again confronted with an issue that has drawn growing international condemnation. Much of the world considers the settlements

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By ARIEL SCHALIT

Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine receives treatment Sunday at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, after being injured in an attack by Israeli settlers while covering clashes that erupted Friday during the Palestinian olive harvest in the West Bank. in the West Bank illegal, and yet construction and expansion continue. Hundreds of Palestinians have been attacked and a few have been killed this olive harvest alone, which started in late September, rights groups have said. Olive trees, a central part of history and heritage for Palestinians, have been destroyed. Levine blamed “Jewish terrorists” for Friday’s attack and added: “I’ve been covering this region for over 40 years, and I have never seen this country in such a state as it is today.” Levine was recovering Sunday from injuries that included what appeared to be stab wounds in her buttocks, which required stitches. There was nothing new from police on the case, she said. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, whose recent comments have condemned settler attacks on U.S. citi-

zens but not on Palestinians overall, called the attack on Levine a “despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards” and said they should spend years in prison. Separately, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Levine, and Yair Golan, a former general and leader of the opposition Democrats party, visited. Netanyahu’s main rival in the elections, Gadi Eisenkot, said on X that “a handful of criminals is burning up the last shreds of legitimacy left to the state of Israel.” Herzog was “actually very sweet,” Levine said Sunday. “Down to earth, calling them thugs, inviting me for a personal hug. He’s ashamed for what happened: ‘These people are a stain on Israeli society.’” She said she has not heard from Netanyahu. His outgoing government is dominated by West Bank settlers and their supporters.

Mass protests in France are often marred by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. The arrest tally reported Sunday approached the nearly 2,000 recorded nationwide during a single day of yellow vest protests in December 2018. Paris police said one person died of a heart attack, without providing details. The Paris prosecutor’s ofﬁce said it was investigating. Dislodged cobblestones, shattered storefronts and broken glass littered the area around Paris’ Place de la République on Sunday. Looting

and damage were also reported in other tourist and shopping districts. Paris police said 855 people were arrested in the capital region. Prosecutors said 557 remained in police custody. “I am actually stunned by the level of destruction and violence that was expressed,” said government employee Marie Peyreigne, 57, wondering what had led to the mayhem. Parisians inspecting the damage photographed the partially dismantled base of the square’s central monument, a statue of Marianne, a symbol of France. Jean Foissy, 74, said he had wanted to join the protest but encountered “a wall of riot police and ﬁres everywhere” and returned home. “I was very scared,” he said. “I’ve been a Parisian since I was born, so when I got here, it almost made me want to cry because I ﬁnd it so bad, it hurts me.” Margaux Eude, 26, said she supported the protest movement but “didn’t think it would escalate like this.” “It’s the troublemakers who came, and it breaks my heart because it delegitimizes the movement,” she said. Political leaders traded accusations over Saturday’s violence ahead of next spring’s presidential election. Far-right leader and presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen criticized Macron’s centrist government as “ex-

hausted, disoriented and seemingly incapable of doing anything other than commenting on its own powerlessness,” in a video posted on social media. Far-left contender JeanLuc Mélenchon accused Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu of “playing with ﬁre,” alleging that “by banking on degradation, you have only succeeded in uniting all youths and workers’ unions.” Mélenchon, who joined the Paris march Saturday, insisted that “my message is clear: those who share our ﬁght have no business in looting or destruction.” U.S. President Donald Trump posted “France is burning!” on his Truth Social platform, apparently linking the unrest to “the immigration of people from an entirely different world.” “Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!” he wrote. French authorities and police have not linked immigrants to the rioting. Macron, speaking about troublemakers, asked: “How can French people do this to France?” “The scale of the damage is considerable and unprecedented,” Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire wrote in an open letter. “Paris is a city of freedoms, debate and demonstrations. It must remain so. But it must also be a city where everyone can work and run a business safely.”

Pope tells faithful he will gradually resume duties after cancer surgery BY COLLEEN BARRY and TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV thanked thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday for their prayers while he was hospitalized for an operation to remove a malignant tumor, and said he plans to gradually return to his usual duties. The crowd erupted in cheers when the pontiff showed himself in the window overlooking the square, where a week ago on the same occasion of the traditional Angelus blessing he revealed that a nodule had been located on his lung, and that it would be surgically removed. ’’Now that this delicate phase is behind me, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God’s help and your prayers,” Leo said, his voice sounding strong four days after the lower lobe of his right lung was removed. The pontiff said the experience of the last week “has made me feel especially close to those facing illness and infirmity.” He told the faithful that he had ‘’truly felt your support,’’ and expressed ‘’particular gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all the staff at Gemelli hospital’’ where he

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By ALESSANdRA TARANTINO

Pope Leo XIV appears Sunday at the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the traditional noon blessing after praying the Angelus, a day after he returned from the hospital, where he had lung cancer removed on Tuesday. was treated. The pope paused for a moment and waved to the crowd before retreating into his apartment in the Apostolic Palace. A delegation from Africa in Rome for a congress danced and ululated after the pope’s blessing. “He was always in our prayers when he was sick, and we are happy to see him today,” said Alain Kalembu of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “This is an expression of our joy.” The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday in the first major health event of his

17-month pontificate. The surgery conﬁrmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. He told a reporter in English that he was doing ‘’much better’’ as he drove away from Rome’s Gemelli hospital to return to the Vatican, after a shorter hospital stay than had initially been anticipated. “I don’t believe it, because he was just operated on the other day,” Cosimo Mastrocinque, a retired factory worker visiting the Vatican from the southern region of Puglia, said. “It is a miracle that he recovered already.”

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● 5A

lll

FARMERS

farmland. He envisions one day passing down his farm through generations, although he questions the reality of whether it will be possible in the decades ahead. “You can’t blame people for selling their land,” Marsh said. “Because it’s going to be more than they’ll ever make off farming.” Vail, the southwest Louisiana rice and cattle farmer, said he’s worried about the possibility of data centers one day taking up resources like land, water and electricity. He also worries about the added trafﬁc, which has been a problem for him in Cameron Parish because of the LNG boom. “We’re having issues moving equipment, moving rice strictly because of the trafﬁc,” Vail said, noting that there have been multiple fatal crashes on La. 27 so far this year. “It’s becoming more and more dangerous.”

Continued from page 1A High energy costs have driven up inflation, making everyday life more expensive. The consumer price index rose 3.7% last month compared to a year ago, the U.S. Labor Department said this week. Rice, crawfish and cattle farmers in Louisiana are also contending with other struggles to make ends meet: drought, saltwater intrusion and higher irrigation costs. They’ve led to difficult tradeoffs. A young sugar cane and vegetable farmer in southeast Louisiana had to postpone improvements to tractor sheds and is considering scaling back more labor-intensive crops, despite his passion for growing healthier foods for his community. A farmer in northeast Louisiana had to pay double for seed because of a late freeze in March that forced him to replant his entire corn crop. Across the state, farmers also say they are worried about the future of their land, as Louisiana public officials embrace industries with large footprints in once-rural areas, including liquefied natural gas facilities, solar farms, data centers and a new space complex. Lewis, 43, is a fifth-generation Acadiana farmer but wonders how much longer he can carry on the family legacy. He left his stockbroker job when he was 28 to take over the farm when his dad, just 49, had a fatal heart attack in the fields. Lewis said he’s considered the possibility of selling farmland, especially as developers show interest in properties near SpaceX’s planned launch facility and spaceport in Vermilion Parish. “Every day I bleed. Every day I cry,” he said. “And the sweat — of course you sweat; that’s a given. The sweat don’t stop.”

STAFF PHOTOS By LESLIE WESTBROOK

donald Simon directs the operator of a transloader to drop sugar cane into a hauler at Lewis Farms in youngsville.

Grass is burned away from cut sugar cane before it is harvested at Lewis Farms in youngsville.

‘No one can plan for that’

NETANYAHU

Continued from page 1A popular in Israel, but many Israelis, including leading commentators, have expressed disappointment over the inconclusive outcome of the Iran war and Trump’s ceaseﬁre proposal, which fell short of many of the countries’ key goals when they jointly launched the war in February. In his post, Trump again threatened to “soon finish the job” against Iran “unless they change their ways, rapidly,” but added he might not want to if Netanyahu loses the election. “If Israel has the wrong Leader, which would be anyone other than Bibi, America will have to do this work ourselves, and I am not inclined to do so,” Trump said. He said Netanyahu had been “Strong, Brave, and Brilliant in the face of tremendous opposition, including that coming from even

Israel, itself.” Trump endorsed Netanyahu in past elections and in November he sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog asking him to pardon Netanyahu on corruption charges. But Trump’s comments about Netanyahu in recent months had been much more subdued, and he repeatedly demurred when asking if he would back the prime minister. The president, when asked in a Time magazine interview published this month about backing the Israeli leader, said, ”I’m not involved in politics anymore,” despite his campaigning for and endorsing U.S. politicians. Trump, especially in his second term, has sought to give his stamp of approval to candidates in foreign elections and claimed credit when they have been successful. He endorsed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in his unsuccessful bid for a ﬁfth term, as well as Japanese Prime

A fresh perspective More than 150 miles east in Ascension Parish, Ramaun Fernandez farms about 100 acres of sugar cane and 20 acres of vegetables while attending LSU full time. The agricultural business major and his family also raise chickens, cattle and goats. Fernandez, 19, grew up farming alongside his grandfather, who he described as his “best friend.” Fernandez said he always wanted to farm — and that desire has grown stronger since his grandfather

Minister Sanae Takaichi and Polish President Karol Nawrocki, and several Latin American leaders. Trump and Netanyahu have been close allies and seemed more aligned than ever in the wake of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2025. But over the course of the nearly eight-month war with Iran this year, they have had disagreements. Trump criticized Israel’s decision to attack a key Iranian gas field in the first weeks of the war. In June, he called Netanyahu “crazy.” Trump also said that he was “a little bit perturbed” as Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon was holding back peace talks with Iran. Beyond Iran, Netanyahu in August rejected Trump’s latest plan to advance a stalled ceasefire in Gaza, pushing back on the U.S. administration’s call for Israel to withdraw from territory it controls in Gaza until Hamas has been disarmed.

‘You can’t blame people’

In northeast Louisiana, Garrett Marsh grows corn and soybeans on about 1,700 acres. The third-generation farmer is about 10% over budget on his Madison Parish farm. In addition to fuel and fertilizer costs, he’s also been hit with higher seed costs after a freeze in March forced him to replant his entire corn crop. “I always try to budget on the high side, expecting the worst,” Marsh said. “But we’re still over budget.” Marsh, 45, also worries about the development of Meta’s massive artiﬁcial intelligence data center in nearby Richland Parish and the Email Megan Wyatt at mwyatt@ effect it could have on his leased theadvocate.com.

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rice and crawfish full time this year on about 1,200 acres of leased land in Calcasieu Parish. Leger, 50, expects to finish the year about $20,000 short of what he needs to cover his costs and plans to return to the bank for an additional loan to make ends meet. He left an oilfield service company to do this work. “It seems like every time you get to step in the right direction, something’s trying to jerk you off the ladder,” he said. Many rice farmers in Louisiana are in better shape than their counterparts in neighboring states, including Arkansas and Mississippi, because they can offset some expenses by rotating rice with crawfish. But Leger said it’s not a guaranteed cushion and both rice and crawfish require sufficient rainfall for success, while saltwater intrusion can ruin both crops. ‘A risky way to earn a living’ Those two elements have hit Homer Leger began farming Brandon Vail especially hard as

died earlier this year. He’s had to table planned repairs to the farm’s tractor sheds while he’s running about $10,000 over his $250,000 budget. If fuel and fertilizer expenses remain high, he may have to reduce vegetable production, which requires more labor, and plant more sugar cane instead. “If I could get away from sugar cane, I really would,” he said. “I like messing with vegetables that I know can go directly to feed people.” The young, Black farmer hopes to bring a fresh perspective to a field that is dominated by older, White men. While doing research for a project at LSU, Fernandez said he learned how differently Black farmers were treated than White farmers when it came to government assistance. His own farm, he said, was denied a USDA land clearing loan.

Louisiana had about 25,000 farms as of 2022, according to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture. That was a 9% decrease from the census ﬁve years earlier. For the majority of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, farming is the top economic driver, according to Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain. “In some parishes, it is the sole economy,” Strain said. “And we have to recognize that and protect it over the entire course of our careers and lifetimes.” Louisiana agriculture is in better shape than much of the country because of the state’s fertile land, wide range of crops and easy access to export facilities, he said. But those strengths don’t eliminate the challenge of farming when expenses continue to outpace the prices farmers receive for their crops. Andy Brown, public policy director for the Louisiana Farm Bureau, said the struggle predates the fuel and fertilizer price spikes. Hurricanes, droughts, weak proﬁt margins and other pressures have contributed to farm consolidation and closures in recent years. “This has not been an overnight issue,” Brown said. “The plight of the farmer has been in decline for some time.” The Farm Bureau has called for more stable trade policy, changes to agricultural labor policy and greater competition among suppliers of farm inputs. Federal assistance is also an important way to help farmers manage the gap between costs and revenues, Brown said. Strain emphasized the importance of reducing fertilizer and fuel costs, expanding agricultural research and protecting farmland. Two recently announced fertilizer production projects in Ascension and Jefferson parishes could eventually reduce farmers’ reliance on fertilizer imports that are driving up costs, Strain said. And the need to protect farmland is nothing new, he said. Farmland has long been endangered by the development of residential subdivisions. Now, it’s the state’s investment in LNG, data centers and a space port. Realistically, Strain said, Louisiana needs to set aside $25 million to $50 million per year to protect its farmland. “Every inch of every acre is precious,” Strain said. “And the bottom line is we have to protect our food supply, and we have to do that by protecting the land that produces the food.”

Eddie Simon III, a third-generation sugar cane farmer, stands with sugar cane at Lewis Farms in youngsville.

a fifth-generation farmer who grows rice on about 500 acres and raises about 300 head of cattle in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes. Drought and saltwater intrusion have forced him to rely more heavily on wells that require additional fuel to operate. With expenses running so high, the 41-year-old farmer reduced fertilizer applications on his second rice crop. “You still have to put your fertilizer out,” Vail said. “Or you’re not going to make a crop, and you’re not going to have anything to repay.” A 2025 federal bridge payment helped to cover about 20% of Vail’s budget shortfall. Without it, Vail said he might not have planted this year’s crop. If fuel and fertilizer costs remain high going into the next planting season, Vail said he may reduce his acreage or concentrate on planting only his most productive ﬁelds. “I ponder on that every year before I sign a farm loan,” he said. “This is a risky way to make a living.”

SCH

Louisiana agricultural economists and industry officials say the financial strain on farmers has been growing for years. This year’s increase in input costs, primarily driven by the Iran war’s effect on fuel and fertilizer prices, has made it harder for farmers to recover their expenses, even with many of the state’s crops performing well and commodity prices rising. “The gains that we’ve seen in market prices have not even begun to offset the rise in mainly fuel and fertilizer prices that producers have bought in 2026,” said Michael Deliberto, an associate professor at the LSU AgCenter. Farmers are accustomed to weather, market and production risks, Deliberto said, but sudden increases in production costs are difficult to absorb when growers have already committed to planting and have limited control over what they’ll earn at harvest. Direct production costs for sugar cane rose from $543 per acre in January to $643 per acre in August, according to the LSU AgCenter. Costs rose from $740 to $830 for corn, $780 to $930 for rice and $465 to $507 for soybeans. For irrigated crops, including corn and rice, fuel prices can have a more dramatic impact because farmers must run pumps to keep their fields watered. “When you have input costs that go up hundreds of dollars per acre, no one can plan for that,” Deliberto said. “And that’s just going to take its cut out of the margin at the end of the day.”

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6A ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

TODAY

TUESDAY

Mostly sunny and pleasant

Brilliant sunshine

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

78° 54°

WEDNESDAY

LOW

HIGH

LOW

82° 52°

HIGH

LOW

Beaumont 79/56 Port Arthur 77/60

20s

30s

Houma 77/60

50s

LOW

YESTERDAY

TODAY

REAdING 37 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

OCT 25

City

Austin Boston dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

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

HIGH

2:03p 8:22a 2:47a 4:16a 3:49a 3:02a 4:57a

7:13 a.m. 6:33 p.m. 2:50 p.m. 12:41 a.m.

LAST

NEW

NOV 1

79 57 77 38 87 81 71 86 74

TODAY Lo

53 47 55 29 76 64 44 74 43

FIRST

NOV 9

pc pc s r sh s s pc s

NOV 17

85 60 80 33 87 80 73 84 76

GOOd

PRECIPITATION

74°/47° 81°/59° 85°/65° 91° in 2016 36° in 1948

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today FULL

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

HIGH

84° 57°

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

New Orleans 75/64

40s

LOW

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

Hattiesburg 77/46

Lake Charles 79/54

10s

Sunshine and a few clouds

If you enjoyed the weather this weekend, you’re gonna love it again today. Expect a mostly sunny and mild day with a light breeze. Temperatures this afternoon will be close to average, rising to the mid- to upper 70s. Temperatures will be higher tomorrow, and we’ll be back in the mid-80s by Wednesday. Winds will be out of the northeast at 5 to 10 mph. The air will remain dry, the dew points will be low and humidity will be hardly noticeable. There is no rain in the forecast today or for the rest of the week.

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Sunday

Baton Rouge 78/53

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

Sunny

TEMPERATURE

Alexandria 77/50

Lafayette 78/54

SATURDAY

86° 56°

Jackson 77/46 Many 79/45

FRIDAY

HIGH

84° 51°

Monroe 78/45

Longview 77/46

-0s

THURSDAY

Plenty of sunshine Plenty of sunshine

82° 51°

Shreveport 77/47

-10s

lll

TUE. Lo

49 46 54 27 73 64 47 71 43

pc pc s sn s pc s s s

FT.

0.8 1.9 2.3 2.0 1.4 1.8 1.7

LOW

2:00a 8:10p 3:49p 7:54p 3:45p 2:09p 4:47p

0.00” 0.89” 2.65” 47.05” 51.35”

FT.

HIGH

0.2 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.4

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

FT.

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

SOURCE: LOUISIANA dEQ ANd AIRNOW.GOV

LOW

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

FT.

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

Today 6:46a 12:34a 7:09p 12:57p Tuesday 7:29a 1:18a 7:52p 1:40p Wednesday 8:10a 1:59a 8:32p 2:21p Thursday 8:48a 2:37a 9:10p 2:59p Friday 9:26a 3:15a 9:49p 3:37p Saturday 10:07a 3:55a 10:30p 4:18p Sunday 10:52a 4:39a 11:17p 5:04p

City

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

75 80 67 89 66 66 71 80 82

TODAY Lo

64 62 50 71 36 49 47 67 62

s pc s t s s s s pc

78 82 71 93 64 75 72 77 82

TUE. Lo

61 62 49 74 38 47 47 66 64

s s pc pc s s s pc s

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

SENATE

A growing national issue The Louisiana race is an example of how AI and data centers are shaping midterm elections across the country, which will determine which party controls Congress. Nationally, Democrats have been pressing Republicans on the issue, and polls show data centers are unpopular among members of both parties. Fears of AI-driven cyberattacks and recent high-proﬁle instances of AI models breaking out of their controls have also caused alarm. President Donald Trump, who has a close relationship with tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg, has opposed mandatory restrictions on the technology, arguing such limitations would hinder the U.S. in the AI race against China. Some AI founders have celebrated Trump’s

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

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

SUN. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

6.13 24.23 26.49 12.20 7.24 5.75 4.27

+0.38 -0.24 -0.21 +0.30 +0.75 +0.05 -0.33

19.98

-2.42

-1.63

+0.02

18 29 8

-1.36 9.68 2.40

+0.01 -0.01 -0.09

13 15

1.40 0.54

none -0.02

47 34 29 20 12 6

10.02 6.42 5.10 4.34 3.40 1.86

-0.40 -0.52 -0.28 -0.64 none -0.27

data as of 7 a.m. Sunday

banning members of Congress from trading stocks. “Congress shouldn’t be trading individual stocks while it writes the laws that move those stocks,” Davis said. “A rule that only stops new purchases and lets members keep what they already own is duct tape, and Washington loves duct tape solutions that earn credit without changing anything.”

Continued from page 1A questions about whether Letlow would support requiring AI models to have kill switches, liability for AI companies or limiting the use of AI in autonomous weapons. Instead, the campaign released a general statement about Letlow’s stance on AI. “When it comes to artiﬁcial intelligence, Julia believes we must protect Americans, safeguard our national security, and ensure the United States remains the global leader in technological innovation,” the statement said. “She supports a thoughtful approach that addresses legitimate risks without imposing unnecessary regulations that put American businesses and workers at a disadvantage.” Letlow’s campaign also noted the congresswoman supports a bill that would require state utility regulators to consider adopting a standard under which data centers would pay the full cost of the power they need to operate. “Julia believes Louisiana has an opportunity to lead in the development of new technologies that bring investment, create goodpaying jobs, and strengthen our economy,” her campaign said. “At the same time, that growth must be done responsibly, with transparency, community input, and protections to ensure Louisiana families and small businesses aren’t left footing the bill for new infrastructure.”

GOOd

AI’s role in the midterms

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Electric infrastructure is seen at the Meta Hyperion data Center construction site in Richland Parish on Sept. 2. approach, which they expect will increase proﬁts. But in recent months, tech leaders have also called for an AI development slowdown amid concerns that AI could break out of human control and wreak havoc on power grids, ﬁnancial institutions and transportation systems. Researchers and experts say that possibility is becoming stronger; last month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned rogue AI bots could take over the internet within a year. Skeptics say that even when AI agents have gone rogue, they have been following goals set by humans. In Louisiana, AI is a salient issue as Meta seeks to expand its massive data center project in Richland Parish, which is known as Hyperion. The project is controversial: critics worry household customers could end up paying for Meta’s power needs, and landowners have complained that Entergy, the power company that would fuel Hyperion, is using expropriation laws to seize land for transmission lines, among other concerns. Proponents of the project, including Letlow and state leaders like Gov. Jeff Landry, say that Meta’s data center and other large-scale

Some political observers say AI and data centers could cause problems for Republicans during the midterms, as polls show Americans overwhelmingly support government regulations on the technology. Trump has resisted setting such restrictions and said tech companies should self-police AI. He argues a hands-off approach is the best way to make sure the United States has superior AI technology. “Republicans don’t want to get on what they see as the wrong side of the president,” said Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of the Alliance for Secure AI, a nonprofit that works to build bipartisan support in Congress for AI guardrails. “They’re kind of caught between a rock and a hard place, the rock being Donald Trump and the hard place being public opinion.” Trump has endorsed Letlow, helping her oust Cassidy in the Republican primary this year. Steinhauser, who is a Republican and formerly worked as a GOP strategist, said Democrats have generally been stronger on AI and will pass regulations if they win Congress in November. But, he said, some Democrats have been working behind the scenes to slow down legislation because AI is a campaign issue that hurts Republicans. Meanwhile, Louisiana pollster and political adviser John Couvillon has expressed doubts that data centers will cause much trouble for Republicans in the state. “When I do polling asking about the most important issues, data centers are way down near the bottom,” Couvillon said. “It’s kind of the popular issue du jour. I reserve judgment about the electoral potency of it.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.

developments mark a sea change the statement said. Previously, Letlow expressed for Louisiana’s economy that will create jobs and bring more com- support for legislation that would ban members of Congress from munity investment to the state. purchasing new stock but that Letlow addresses Meta NDA would not prevent them from In 2024, Letlow signed a nondis- trading existing stock. The statement from Letlow’s closure agreement with Laidley LLC, a Meta business, as Meta campaign also defended her deciwas working on plans for Hyper- sion to sign an NDA with Meta. “The NDA was utilized to underion; according to a public financial disclosure, she purchased Meta stand the investment’s potential to stock in the months that followed, have a profound impact on Northbefore news of the project be- east Louisiana,” it said. “Such agreements are common in ecocame public. As Congress grapples with alle- nomic development discussions, gations of insider trading against with the ultimate goal of securing its members, Letlow has received new investments and creating backlash over her stock trades, jobs for the people of Louisiana.” Landry’s administration has which WWNO reported on in August. And in February, when she used hundreds of NDAs to keep was fighting to win the Republican details of major economic develprimary, she faced criticism from opment projects secret as it works Sen. Bill Cassidy, her opponent, to bring investment to Louisiana. for failing to disclose her stock Dozens of officials and state emtrades on time. ployees have signed those deals. In a statement, Letlow’s camProponents say the agreements paign said that Letlow “does not are helping usher in unprecedentdirect, execute, approve, or have ed economic growth for the state, prior knowledge of any individual while critics describe them as a trades.” major blow to government trans“These transactions were made parency. independently by a third-party inIn a statement, Davis said he vestment firm exercising discre- does not support officials signing tionary authority over a managed NDAs over business deals and Email Meghan Friedmann account, without Congresswoman pledged never to sign an NDA as at meghan.friedmann@ Letlow’s input or involvement,” a senator; he also said he supports theadvocate.com.

METRO

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

M o n d ay, o c t o b e r 19, 2026

1bn

Work moves forward on Bertrand Drive

Broader revitalization plan remains under review BY CLAIRE TAYLOR

Staff writer

Despite opposition from some Bertrand Drive business owners over proposed development rules, Lafayette Consolidated Government says the ﬁrst phase of proposed changes to the the corridor are moving forward, with crews installing underground communication infrastructure.

“The project never halted,” said Jamie Boudreaux, LCG’s chief communications ofﬁcer. The $1.9 million utility phase involves installing underground conduits to house communication lines for providers such as LFT Fiber and AT&T. The conduits will allow additional lines to be added later. The work does not include burying electrical lines, Boudreaux said. Intermittent center-lane clo-

sures between Johnston Street and North College Road are expected during the six-month construction period. Trafﬁc will remain open in both directions, and access to businesses and properties is supposed to be maintained. “We’re not shutting Bertrand Drive down,” Boudreaux said. “Starving businesses is absolutely not the intention.” The utility work is proceed-

ing separately from the broader streetscape improvements, which were put under reevaluation after business owners raised concerns about the project’s potential effects on their businesses. Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet said Friday that she is awaiting ﬁnal engineering for a redesigned intersection at Bertrand and North College. Construction on that portion of the project could still be a few years away. The overall project is intended

to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety and connectivity between the University of Louisiana at Lafayette athletic complex and Moncus Park, while encouraging economic development along Bertrand. Officials broke ground on the Bertrand project in March. Tim Metcalf, owner of Deano’s Pizza on Bertrand, initially supported the revitalization plan. He withdrew his support by June

ä See UTILITY, page 4B

Group urges council to reject club Owner says Plush Syndicate will follow rules

BY DEAN BOUDREAUX

Staff writer

The owner of a 325-capacity nightclub planned for downtown Lafayette who wants to integrate artiﬁcial intelligence in his business said he will comply with any requirements from the City Council. Quintin Borel wants to open Plush Syndicate at 201 Jefferson St., the former Bliss nightclub near the corner of Jefferson and Cypress streets. Yet the Downtown Development Authority remains in opposition and on Tuesday sent emails urging recipients to email council members requesting the matter be rejected. The council will consider the conditional use permit for introduction on Tuesday. A ﬁnal vote is scheduled Nov. 10. Borel described Plush Syndicate as “a place where everyone can work and be comfortable.” He said the venue would respond to guests through lighting, sound and visuals. The AI bartender concept, he said, is mainly an inventory tool and can reduce waste and spillage. It would give bartenders the capacity to focus more on the customers. “It’s a cause-and-effect relationship, and it’s all for your comfort,” said Borel, a software engineer who noted he designed the software. “It removes accountability off of the bartender.” Last month, Lafayette Consolidated Government’s city zoning commission recommended approval for the CUP despite DDA CEO Kevin Blanchard requesting the board defer a decision. It recommended, several stipulations regarding noise and crowd control, including a stipulation that the “owner/operator shall contact” Lafayette police once capacity reaches 200. LCG’s planning department also noted concern about the possibility for loitering outside the door facing Cypress Street if there’s a long line of patrons. Borel, who started a security company in 2024, said he will use his own staff — if permissible — to screen guests indoors. He said they would pass through a metal detector and a pat-down inside the venue then scan a QR code. He did not name the DDA but said a “deceptive voice” has distorted what he is proposing. “There’s no one blocking the sidewalk,” Borel said. “Everything is happening in the building. I’m a compliance guy.” The DDA’s email says the report warns that crowds on East Cypress “may be problematic and detrimental to immediately adjacent businesses.” It also says the report omits 144

ä See GROUP, page 4B

PHOTOS By ROBIN MAy

The Big Easel, an outdoor fine art event, was Saturday in River Ranch Town Square. It featured a curated selection of artists working across painting, drawing, photography, printmaking and sculpture.

ART WALK LEFT: Art lovers peruse a selection of paintings. BELOW: Paul Reding discusses his art on display in his booth. Some of his paintings could seem possibly prophetic about the future of Louisiana’s fishing industry.

SoLAcc launches paid apprenticeship program BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

South Louisiana Community College is launching a four-year electrical apprenticeship program at its New Iberia campus to help address a shortage of trained electricians in Acadiana. The program combines classroom instruction with paid, on-

the-job training through participating employers. Apprentices can earn a paycheck while working toward becoming journeyman electricians. SoLAcc is the ﬁrst college in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System to offer a registered apprenticeship through a noncredit workforce program, according to the college. The pro-

gram allows employers to partner directly with the college to provide paid, on-the-job training alongside classroom instruction. The program grew from discussions with Jonas Hebert, founder of Gridic Electrical Services, who approached the college about developing a local pipeline of skilled electricians. The college is seeking additional

electrical employers to participate by hiring apprentices and providing on-the-job training. Employers and individuals interested in the program can visit solacc.edu/electricalapprentice or call SoLAcc Workforce at (337) 521-9028. Email Kristin Askelson at kaskelson@theadvocate.com.

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

Like the Saints, Superdome signage has taken a beating

disturbing to learn Planned Parenthood is reopening It is very disturbing and disheartening to learn that Planned Parenthood, the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, is reopening a center in New Orleans. Planned Parenthood Great Plains intends to facilitate abortions for Louisiana residents by helping girls and women travel to states that permit the killing of unborn human beings, i.e., what they call reproductive healthcare. Before taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood was paused in 2025 due to provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill, it had reached $832 million in 2024, an increase of 50% since 2014. Now that their taxpayer funding has resumed through Medicaid reimbursements, who knows how much of our money Planned Parenthood will be awarded? And why? For what purpose? Spokespersons for Planned Parenthood claim their facilities provide many other services to women. (By the way, the number of these services has sharply declined since 2014, whereas the number of abortions at Planned Parenthood facilities has increased over the same period.) But there are many thousands of other community health clinics that offer these same services! How about offering more prenatal care and adoption referrals for women with unplanned pregnancies (just 1.7% and 0.7%, respectively, of Planned Parenthood’s total services) instead of encouraging such a cynical “solution” to the creation of a new human life? That would be real healthcare and compassion for both mother and baby. Planned Parenthood Great Plains, owner of the facility on Claiborne Avenue, may not be able to perform abortions there, thanks to pro-life laws in Louisiana, but apparently they intend to do their utmost to help Louisiana women get them anyway. Once again, Planned Parenthood is promoting and enabling abortion in Louisiana.

ELISABETH DILLMANN Metairie

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published identifying name and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and TO SENd US A LETTER, phone number SCAN HERE for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

Americans are facing higher prices at the gas pumps in 2026.

Can’t get no, can’t get no ... satisfaction! Would you rather hear the Stones or the Benny Benassi version for the Saints game overhead music in the Superdome? I am old school when it comes to music in the Dome for the Saints games. Anything else, “I can’t get no satisfaction!” As far as decibels go, I could do without the clanging and slamming of hands and paraphernalia on the top of the metal signage that is accessible from the front row of the terrace, which produces a sound similar to convicts in prison cells wanting to be released. Noise in the Dome should be by clapping, stomping, yelling, hollering, cowbells, etc., but not by beating on the signage. Just how much forceful, cumulative pounding will the sign’s structure endure? How much will our ears and patience endure? Safety, security, sanity, sobriety, scoring, satisfaction in overhead music: All were lacking at the Monday night game. And of course a “W!”

STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

Sacrifice at pump is worth it to stop Iran’s terrorist regime Has entitlement culture destroyed the ability of many to make sane decisions for a more peaceful and prosperous future? Has selfishness promoted an unwillingness to understand how short-term sacrifices can translate into better long-term outcomes? Fuel costs affect our personal mobility, along with increasing the cost of goods due to production and transportation. Iran’s tyrannical regime has been a root cause of higher energy prices. It wants to hold the world hostage through its nuclear ambitions and control of international shipping lanes. This centered their effort for regional and worldwide significance while screeching “Death to Israel. Death to America” for decades. Many Americans were killed through Iran’s terrorist activities. Higher gas prices are a small sacrifice toward ridding the planet of its worst center of terrorism. Through current economic and military actions, this regime will die in time. Oil prices will decline with supply lines unobstructed. Our willingness to look beyond

ourselves and see the future global picture of lower gas prices and peace in the region and around the world should encourage each of us to adjust our habits to this inconvenience. When Democrats were shutting down fossil fuel production for wind and solar alternatives during Biden’s term, gas prices were higher than they are now. What is their solution if given power again? Surrender to Iran or regurgitate past arrangements? Capitulation and appeasement are no answer with Iran’s history. Our American predecessors understood sacriﬁce. They endured it. They adapted to it. They could see the better future ahead through it. May each of us resolve to follow their lead and see this through. Voting accordingly in these midterms will provide greater peace and prosperity in the future for us and the world.

CHAD SHERMAN Marrero

FILE PHOTO

U.S. should take Trump’s advice

WADE PERRIN Marrero

Vote for government that works for the greater good Letters have been published recently condemning both the Democratic and Republican parties. The fact that Gallup polls ﬁnd that most voters today are unafﬁliated with either party indicates that a majority of voters think neither party deserves their support any longer. Both parties actively pursue the greatest threat to democracy — control. In a system of political control, there is no democracy, no representation of constituents and no legislation for the greater good of citizens. Members of both parties have abrogated their responsibility to govern and seem to have subordinated their principles, values, backbones and constituents to the demands of their respective parties and “their” presidents, thereby eliminating the checks and balances in our system of government. The problem increases by an order of magnitude when the president is either mentally

Re: “Trump says Ukraine should get a new leader as he blames Zelenskyy for U.S. diesel prices,” Oct. 11. The president is absolutely correct. A leader who gets his country into an unpopular and unnecessary war that causes fuel costs to soar should be replaced. If only our electorate would listen to him!

incompetent and led by unchecked radicals in his party or is an arrogant, vindictive egotist in an unchecked position of power. The problem will not be resolved by returning to power those who willingly submit to the demands of political power at the expense of their constituents or by those who have been poisoned by the blue or red Kool-Aid. Before the November elections, please think about how government should work for the greater good of the citizens and vote accordingly. It took a long time to degrade to our current predicament, and it will take a long time and a lot of patience to make the changes necessary to return to an environment of civility that allows polite disagreement with a commitment to work together. I won’t live to see it, but possibly my grandchildren will.

BOB RIVARD New Orleans

If we loved Will Sutton’s column more, we’d have to marry it

BO BIENVENU Prairieville

I’ve read many opinion columns over my 81 years. Some I’ve agreed with, others not, but I’ve never enjoyed reading one as much as I did Oct. 6: Will Sutton’s “You might be surprised who is having the most enjoyable sex.” He appears to have the facts, which were enlightening, and he clearly explained the title. Both are typical of his thoughtful, well-written commentaries over the years. What I admire most in this one are his clever references to sex and his positive, respectful and joyous acknowledgement of how wonderful is “the gift of deep physical, mutually satisfying, sexual intimacy.” Thank you, Mr. Sutton.

If paper can report a game, why not school forum? Since you have become the state’s largest journal, you have become less of a newspaper. On Oct. 11, the newspaper covered the previous Wednesday evening’s forum for School Board candidates (“Baton Rouge school board candidates share their ’superpower’ during forum”). The forum ended at 8:30 p.m. Though I’m glad you reported on it at all, I think this should have been treated as more important to Baton Rouge than as a leftover story. In contrast, Saturday night’s LSU-Kentucky football game went into overtime,

and so it ended later than expected. Was the write-up of this game postponed until the Monday or Tuesday edition of the newspaper? No, indeed! Instead, there was a Sunday morning headline. You have rightfully editorialized about how the community and the state need to improve in a variety of ways. But your news coverage would not seem to reﬂect or support such priorities. If you can hold up the press for the football game, why not hold it up for a one-time, important political debate?

MARY ANN STERNBERG Baton Rouge

JOAN ALBRIGHT Metairie

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COMMENTARY

Guilfoyle never mastered the art of the shakedown

About three weeks before Republicans expect an electoral beating, Donald Trump had to get rid of Kimberly Guilfoyle, his ambassador to Greece. He simply had to. Trump’s money-grabbing corruption was wearing thin even on devoted fans, but the president knew how to wrap his mob-like patter in foggy euphemisms and double meanings. Guilfoyle was not good at it. Not at all. The mob rarely threatens reluctant targets outFroma right. It says things like: Harrop “Nice place you’ve got here. Shame if something happened to it.” Or “Do me a favor,” as in Trump’s 2019 call seeking dirt on Joe Biden from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “I would like you to do us a favor, though.” When confronted with an incontrovertible fact, Trump claims ignorance. He said he didn’t know about the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. As for sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein, Trump said, “I barely knew him.” Trump’s name appears in the Epstein ﬁles more than 38,000 times. This week, Trump almost denied knowing Guilfoyle. “She, I guess, dated my son a long time ago.” Guilfoyle and Donald Trump Jr. had been engaged for about four years. As president, Trump had real power to back up his grifts. Guilfoyle had connections to that power, which she waved around with zero discretion and awe-inspiring vulgarity. At the Davos gathering, Guilfoyle bragged about her buddy-buddy ties to two Greek tycoons who were paying for her luxury travel around Europe. Already a Trump family nuisance, Guilfoyle wasn’t invited to a dinner run by Greek House Davos earlier this year in honor of Trump’s son Eric. She was recorded saying to an American businessman on the guest list: “You know, I can deliver the world to you. Which you deserve. I’m going to make you a lot of f****** money.” She later said in her disjointed way,

ASSOCIATEd PRESS FILE PHOTO

Kimberly Guilfoyle speaks as President donald Trump listens at a reception celebrating Greek Independence day in the East Room of the White House in 2025. “You don’t have the f****** U.S., you know, ambassador to Greece not come. She (the organizer) should be kissing my f****** ass.” All this was reported in The Wall Street Journal, which has become America’s leading journalistic enterprise. The Journal had earlier reported on Guilfoyle’s attempted shakedown of Eric Deters, co-owner of a successful regional pizza chain and unsuccessful candidate in Kentucky for Congress and governor. Deters wanted Guilfoyle’s help with, among other things, stopping an Internal Revenue Service probe into his tax deductions. Guilfoyle texted him with a request to covertly pay off $100,000 she owed on her American Express card: “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” If Deters followed through, she also told him, “I will be your Trump ride or die, forever and ever.” Needless to say, Deters was himself no class act. He had been disbarred from practicing law in Kentucky. When he tried to get reinstated, and

ultimately failed, he called members of the state bar association “jokes of human excrement.” When banned from entering the Hamilton County (Ohio) courthouse, Deters threatened on social media to burn the building down. A ﬁne state of affairs the United States ﬁnds itself in. In exchange for a $100,000 payoff, Guilfoyle offers to help a known grifter succeed in his latest grifts via her connections to the kleptocracy theme park known as the Trump administration. Before Trump made her ambassador, he was reportedly annoyed that she was soliciting money from Mar-a-Lago members to invest in her various ventures. He sternly informed Guilfoyle that she was supposed to be raising money for him. When news broke this week that Guilfoyle had “resigned” as ambassador to Greece, Trump told reporters, “I mean, I don’t know. She’s an ambassador ... She was always very nice.” That’s how it’s done. Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop.

An execution shouldn’t be a show That opinions differed on whether a recruiting tool. the execution of mass murderer Nidal Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist Malik Hasan should be livestreamed at Fort Hood in Texas, shouted “Allahu to a global audience was confounding akbar,” meaning “God is great,” as he to saner minds. There was only one fatally shot 13 people, including a pregrational answer to the public execution nant woman, and wounded 32 others in question: absolutely not. a shooting spree in 2009. He, too, was Even President Donald Trump shot and is paralyzed. Following his agrees. After wrestling with his own conviction and death sentence, Hasan concerns about the livestream, Trump has been residing on death row at Fort on Thursday morning reversed his Leavenworth, Kansas. earlier support of the idea, saying in Few killers are less sympathetic than a social media post: “I think streamHasan. Evidence presented at trial showed that he planned the ating the execution for all to see might have been a strong detertack well in advance, purchasrent for the World to witness ing a semiautomatic handgun how America deals with Terand accumulating ammunition he bought from “Guns Galore.” rorists and SCUM like Hasan The shooting wasn’t treated but, many very good and well as a terrorist attack because, at meaning people would rather Kathleen the time, the Uniform Code of not watch him die, through Parker Military Justice did not have a streaming, or through any other punitive article for “terrorism.” visual device.” Hasan said during a court proceeding Interesting choice of words — “good in 2013 that he was acting in support of and well meaning people.” On both the Taliban and its leadership. sides? Speaking of the devil, the United Though this episode affords Trump States came uncomfortably close to credit where due and a reprieve from becoming peers with Afghanistan and criticism, it has also been a reminder Iran, where public executions are still of the dubious judgment of Defense held. Public executions in the U.S. fell Secretary Pete Hegseth, who, in aninto disfavor after the 1936 hanging of nouncing his idea for the live execution, said in an interview with “Human a Black man, Rainey Bethea, who conEvents Daily”: “We’ll make sure that fessed to raping and killing a 70-yearpeople are able to watch it, that it’s old White woman, Lischia Edwards. public. Because people need to underBethea’s execution in a Kentucky parkstand that … there’s serious conseing lot attracted up to 20,000 spectators who, photos show, seemed poised for a quences for these types of things.” Trump, too, mistakenly thought that a carnival. With social media and other platbroadcast execution would deter future terrorists from attacking Americans forms, billions of people could have when we know otherwise. Terrorists watched Hasan die. The viral impact don’t seem generally dissuaded from of such an event would have been stagattacking their perceived enemies ungering, and the question quickly beder threat of death. As we remember came: What are we doing to ourselves? too well, true believers welcome death And why? In theory, we punish muras a show of devotion to their religious derers to achieve justice, not revenge. beliefs. If anything, Hasan’s public ex- Not for entertainment. If anything, ecution probably would have served as had the livestream come to pass, the

rest of the world would have seen that America’s once-moral core had eroded beyond recognition. This impression is already popular for good reason, but Trump’s decision was bracing and, if only brieﬂy, psychologically stabilizing. Pressure to cancel the broadcast of Hasan’s death had been growing. Somewhat surprisingly, Christendom was divided. Some pastors quoted scripture to justify the live stream. Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress told CBS News that there was no moral or biblical objection to livestreaming the execution. The Catholic Church voiced objections to this escalation in the culture of death. The idea that billions of people could have tuned in to Hasan’s execution was especially alarming, knowing that children and teens would have been among them. Tech-savvy minors may be accustomed to video violence, but watching a real man being killed in real time is an entirely different experience. Tens of millions of people have watched the shooting of Christian activist Charlie Kirk. The video was available across social media, including Truth Social. The effects are not yet known, but this sort of “entertainment” can’t be good for anyone, adults included. Numbing ourselves to brutality becomes an adaptive mechanism to protect the psyche from further violence. But such numbing can also dissociate the developing mind from the real-life consequences of violence. Hegseth said that having a livestreaming of the Dec. 3 execution at Fort Hood at 1 p.m. on a Thursday — the approximate time and day of the shooting — was a “no-brainer.” I couldn’t agree more. Kathleen Parker is on X at @kathleenparker.

Even hit shows get canceled “President Trump has been saying, ‘Vote as if I was on the ballot,’ and that’s exactly what I’m going to do — not vote,” Brandon Tremaine, a graduate student in Texas who voted for Trump in 2020, told The New York Times. “You do not campaign on being the ticket of peace and start a war of choice that is directly hurting Americans here at home and gotten Americans killed overseas.” Voters like Tremaine pose a huge headache for Republicans. Few Trump supporters are likely to back Democrats next month, but many of them are so disillusioned with the president and his party Steve that they will simply stay home. Roberts “The enthusiasm has to be ginned up among Republicans because turnout is what’s going to determine the outcome of these midterm elections,” GOP strategist Charlie Gerow admitted to Reuters. As CNN reported, “For the GOP, this year’s biggest challenge will be would-be voters who say, ‘I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed, I’m pissed off and I’m not going to bother.’” said Democratic pollster Paul Maslin. “And the I’m-not-goingto-bother voters will be disproportionately (Trump’s) voters, and not ours.” This enthusiasm gap is draining and damaging Republicans. Reuters reports that 48% of voters who backed Democrat Kamala Harris two years ago are “very enthusiastic about voting” this time, while only 30% of Trump voters express similar excitement. Trump voters in western Michigan, a key battleground state, explained their lethargy to the Times: “People are tired,” said Al Pscholka, a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives. “The whole divider-inchief thing, it’s gotten to the point where it’s just exhausting.” Jim Pasek, a retired factory worker, backed Trump twice, but now says: “He’s not making sense. It confuses me, and then I just get disgusted and tune out. ... He’s losing touch with the American people.” The primary reason behind this disappointment is one word: prices. In the latest AP poll, only 17% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the cost of living, with 82% disapproving. The cost crunch is especially brutal in rural areas, where Trump policies were already punishing farmers through inflated fertilizer costs and lost foreign markets. It’s harvest time, and the diesel fuel that powers agricultural machinery, from combines to trucks, is averaging $6.30 a gallon, a 70% increase since the Iran war began — but it’s much higher in some places. Many of the closest Senate races are in states that depend heavily on agriculture — from Iowa and Nebraska to Texas, Ohio and even Kansas, which hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1936. So after insisting all summer that affordability was a “hoax,” Trump has finally admitted how wrong he was. In a move that smells strongly of desperation, the president has announced a deal to buy diesel fuel from Russia. But it’s a typical Trump gesture: an act of political theater, a superficial performance, not a serious policy. Energy experts agree that his deal will have virtually no impact on prices because the amount of fuel he intends to buy accounts for less than one day’s demand. “I cannot overstate how much of a nothing-burger this is,” Rory Johnston, an oil market researcher, said to Reuters. But if Trump’s turnabout won’t affect prices at home, it will deeply damage relations abroad, especially with Ukraine, which continues to battle Vladimir Putin’s invading forces. The president’s hypocrisy is astounding, since just weeks ago he signed a bill punishing other countries that buy Russian oil. Even some loyal Republicans are furious, with four GOP senators joining three Democrats to sign a bipartisan statement that reads: “The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The administration must immediately reverse course.” CNN reported from Moscow that “the real benefit” to Russia “isn’t the billions of dollars in fresh revenue. It is the wedge this deal, and the rhetoric around it, drives right through the heart of the Western alliance, which has aimed to isolate Moscow over its war in Ukraine.” “Privately,” observed CNN, “the Kremlin leader must be rubbing his hands with glee.” But Trump doesn’t seem to care. He has always had more admiration, and respect, for Putin than for Ukraine’s leaders — or for his European allies, for that matter. And he is willing to sell them out for his own selfish political gain. But it probably won’t work. Even hit shows eventually get canceled. Trump’s first smash series, “The Apprentice,” ran for 15 seasons before losing its audience. His second series, The President, is now facing the same fate. Email Steven Roberts at stevecokie@gmail. com.

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Activist to receive new trial in free speech case Court cites misconduct by attorney for St. John officials

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

A federal appeals court panel on Friday ordered a new trial for Joy Banner, a local environmental activist who accused St. John the Baptist Parish leaders of violating her rights by shutting her down from making critical comments about a controversial grain terminal project. A federal jury in January 2025 rejected Banner’s claim that Parish President Jaclyn Hotard and Parish Council Chair Michael Wright violated her free-speech rights and Louisiana’s open meetings laws in 2023 when they stopped her comments and threatened her with jail time. But a panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said the jury verdict was negated by a parade of misconduct by attorney Ike Spears, who represented the parish at trial. “The sheer volume of miscon-

duct in which defendants engaged at every stage of trial casts a pall over the jury’s deliberations,” the panel of circuit Judges Stephen Higginson and Jerry Smith wrote. Higginson was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, and Smith by former President Ronald Reagan. They found that Spears ignored directives from District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown to stop crossing ethical lines and “potentially prejudiced the verdict on dozens of occasions.” The case involved a November 2023 Parish Council meeting at which Banner, who co-runs the advocacy organization The Descendants Project, attempted to speak. The group opposed the grain elevator in Wallace, a historically Black and rural town on the West Bank of the parish. Banner had ﬁled an ethics complaint against Hotard over her mother-in-law’s potential financial stake in the project. She alleged in her lawsuit that Hotard and Wright violated her rights by stopping her comments and threatening her with jail time under a law deemed unconstitutional. In defending the parish, Spears crossed several lines, the appeals

STAFF FILE PHOTO By dAVId GRUNFELd

A court on Friday ordered a new trial for environmental activist Joy Banner, who accused St. John the Baptist Parish leaders of violating her rights by shutting her down from making critical comments about a grain terminal project. court found. From questioning witnesses about the law, to testifying to the jury, to improperly impeaching Banner, the court found Spears stepped out of bounds over and over, then ignored the judge’s admonishments to stop. “The record tells a sordid sto-

ry,” the panel said. “Regardless of how frequently and aggressively the court declared these prejudicial subjects to be out of bounds, defendants petulantly persisted in tainting the jury with their barrage of ill-conceived statements.” Brown had ruled that her in-

structions to the jury were enough to cleanse it of Spears’ misconduct, denying Banner’s motion for a new trial, but the appeals court disagreed. “On these facts, not even the district court’s curative instructions can salvage the verdict. To put it bluntly, ‘you can throw a skunk into the jury box and instruct the jurors not to smell it, but it doesn’t do any good,’ ” its opinion read. Spears did not respond to a message Friday seeking comment. The Descendants Project was embroiled in a series of lawsuits about industrial expansion in the corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, a region sometimes dubbed “Cancer Alley” for its concentration of facilities linked to health risks. The $800 million grain elevator plan collapsed in 2024. William Most, an attorney for Banner, praised the ruling in a statement quoting the activist. “This win is momentous for me and many in the community who’ve had our rights blocked and our freedom disregarded,” Banner said. “The judges demonstrated their commitment to justice by ensuring that my rights, the court, and the law are all respected.”

Historic N.O. church marks a long-delayed homecoming BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

The severely bent iron cross affixed to the cupola of St. Augustine Catholic Church bore testament to Hurricane Ida’s ferocious winds and became a symbol of the devastation the powerful storm left in its wake across New Orleans and south Louisiana. But, at least initially, parishioners thought their beloved and historic place of worship, so long a fixture in the Treme neighborhood, had dodged a big bullet in the 2021 storm. “We even had Mass the Sunday after the hurricane,” the Rev. Emmanuel Mulenga recalled. Those hopes would evaporate days later, after rainstorms passing across the region revealed that Ida had inflicted extensive damage to the roof. As the water poured in, it left the church’s interior in ruins, Mulenga said. Few could envision the road it would put parishioners on as they watched repairs at their church stretch on for years beneath a web of scaffolding and sheets of plastic. “There is a spirit of perseverance here,” Mulenga said of the congregation, which quickly moved Mass to the adjoining church hall after Ida. But, he acknowledged, “We were tested.” That long road to recovery hasn’t been forgotten, but on Sunday morning, during a joyous Mass at the church at the corner of Gov. Nicholls and Henriette Del-

ille streets, it was formally put into the past as the large crowd celebrated a return to their beloved sanctuary and St. Augustine’s 185th anniversary. “We came this far by faith,” Mulenga told the worshippers, echoing a theme of the celebration. “Our faith has sustained us. Hopefully, there will be another 185 years.” The church, after hundreds of thousands of dollars in work — Mulenga didn’t have an exact ﬁgure — had actually begun hosting Mass again earlier this summer, when the congregation decided the hurricane repairs were ﬁnished enough that they could move back in, Mulenga said. (The cross had been repaired in late 2024 and put back onto the cupola.) Large patches of missing white plaster still mark the church walls. And a skin of scaffolding covered in plastic netting covers much of the front of the church. But things were close enough to get back home, parishioners said. “Nobody wanted to wait,” longtime parishioner Monique Brierre said of getting back into the sanctuary. “It was like coming home.” Brierre, 68, was married in St. Augustine in 1989. Her son was baptized there decades ago. And when she and her husband divorced years ago, St. Augustine was where she found strength and support. “Home for me is St. Augustine,” said Brierre, who was born in Haiti, grew up in Shreveport and, except for several years after Hur-

UTILITY

use. Metcalf announced reContinued from page 1B cently that he is considering running for mayor-president in 2027. A “Tim Metcalf for when he said he learned Mayor-President” Facebook the plan would impose an page was created about a overlay district that would week ago by “a group of include strict design stan- dedicated citizens who care dards like signage and land deeply about the future of

ricane Katrina, has lived in church history on its webNew Orleans for 40 years. site says. “This church is my family.” “The slaves sat on the outer aisles, so that’s where I sit ‘War of the pews’ to honor them,” said Brierre, St. Augustine, widely rec- whose usual spot for Mass is ognized as the oldest Black on the left side of the sanctuCatholic parish in the U.S., ary facing the altar. has long been a favorite of St. Augustine was the locals and tourists alike for worship place of Henriette its lively, music-ﬁlled Mass- Delille, a French-speaking es — people celebrating woman of African descent birthdays or anniversaries who founded the Sisters of are often asked to stand and the Holy Family to provide are serenaded by the choir care and shelter for orphans and congregation — and the before dying of tuberculosis welcoming, diverse crowd in 1862 at age 50, as well that fills its pews. Like as such notable people as other historic New Orleans civil rights pioneer Homer churches, it has a fascinat- Plessy and jazz clarinetist Sidney Bechet. ing story to tell. And in early 2006, after In 1841, free people of color received permission the Archdiocese of New from Bishop Antoine Blanc Orleans announced plans to raise money and build a to close it and merge with new church, named in honor nearby St. Peter Claver, the of St. Augustine of Hippo, a rectory was the scene of a patron saint of the Ursuline 19-day occupation by oppoSisters. It was built on land nents. The closure plan was that was once part of the later scuttled. vast plantation redeveloped “It’s very important to the by Claude Treme. city,” Mulenga said, noting “That must have been St. Augustine’s continued such an undertaking at the legacy as an integrated time,” said Linda Harris, community. “It belongs to of New Orleans, a longtime the city.” parishioner and former New Orleans Mayor Helchurch secretary. “Can you ena Moreno attended Sunimagine?” day’s Mass and presented The church was also the the church with a proclamascene of the “War of the tion. Pews” in the 1840s, which “This church has withparishioners still pridefully stood many storms,” she talk of today. said, drawing applause when Pews inside the church she added that she knows it were “sold” to congregation will be around for another members as a way to help 185 years. raise money. Free people of color purchased pews not only for themselves, but also for the enslaved. White parishioners followed suit, purchasing pews as well, but in much smaller numbers, a

Lafayette” who support Metcalf’s candidacy for mayor-president. Boulet said Friday she will seek a second four-year term as mayor-president in 2027.

New and longtime parishioners alike say St. Augustine has remained true to the spirit of its founding nearly 200 years ago. Blake Cass said he was teaching at a college in Maine four years ago when he visited New Orleans with his sister for her bachelorette trip. They were staying nearby and decided to check out St. Augustine on Sunday morning. “We sat there and then the music started,” Cass said. “I’ve never felt so spiritually alive. I said this will be my parish when I move here.” He did move to New Orleans, and he did become a parishioner. “This church is welcoming. It’s for everyone,” Harris said. “No matter what race, no matter gender, no matter your economic means.” Mulenga said insurance and money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency helped cover the hurricane work, and he noted the work of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and Regal Construction, the Covington-based company doing the repairs. Mulenga said that the church has had to come out of pocket for more than $500,000 for the repairs that weren’t covered by insurance or FEMA. The damage from Ida came a couple of years after the church had embarked

Continued from page 1B calls for service and 39 incident reports at the address under the previous operator, including seven involving a gun. Blanchard noted that while the 325-capacity matches that of the previous bar, the proposal indicates that capacity could change. He also questioned the 200-capacity detail, noting it only goes into effect if the owner anticipates that mark. “No other nightclub in town has this kind of deal,” Blanchard said. Many businesses downtown are concerned about the rising number of bars

downtown and question the CUP process, which was enacted in 2018 as a way to balance nightlife and daytime businesses, he said. LCG planning officials noted that since the moratorium was lifted, nine applicants were approved and only two were rejected. Some of those businesses that got approved have since shut down, but many others that existed before the moratorium was enacted were grandfathered in. “The situation on the street after midnight on weekends is damaging downtown’s business reputation,” Blanchard said. “This is a crisis moment for downtown. Adding a 325-person nightclub to that already very tenuous, chaotic situa-

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‘We can’t pray it away’ Like some other churches, St. Augustine faces a landscape of changing demographics that has impacted its long declining membership, and money will continue to be a factor. Mulenga said there are around 280 members at the church, and he doesn’t anticipate much growth. “We can’t pray it away. And we can’t ignore it,” Mulenga said. “We will have to have some tough conversations.” But for all of the conversions that might come in the future, Sunday was a day for taking a step back and giving thanks, he told the crowd. The process wasn’t easy, he said. “The government has rules. FEMA has rules. Insurance has rules,” Mulenga said. But, he added, “God made it possible for us to come this far.”

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on a $2.5 million fundraising campaign for church maintenance and upkeep. Mulenga said that fundraising efforts have been bolstered by donations from Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, Terry and Lynette Dufrene, Miriam Gonzales and a $200,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Mulenga also praised the church’s relationship with the Friends of Tremé Culture nonproﬁt.

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Notice is hereby given that the Lafayette Parish School System will re‐ ceive sealed Requests for Proposal (RFP) elec‐ https:// at tronically www.beaconbid.com/sol icitations/lafayetteparish-school-system until 2:00 p.m. CST on No‐ vember 17, 2026, for RFP# 11-27, 403(b) Investment & Advisory Services. Pro‐ posals received after this date and time will not be considered. Proposers will also need to provide six (6) copies of their sealed submis‐ sion to the Lafayette Parish School System, Attn. Kristie Sam (Pur‐ chasing and Procure‐ ment Coordinator), 202 Rue Iberville, Lafayette, LA 70508 by 2:00 p.m. CST on November 17, 2026. Sealed proposals shall be clearly labeled with the Proposer’s Name and Ad‐ dress, along with the fol‐ lowing: 403(b) Investment & Advisory Services RFP# 11-27 RFP Submission Deadline: November 17, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. CST Addenda, if any, will be posted at https://www. beaconbid.com/solicit ations/lafayette-parishschool-system. It shall be h ibili f ll

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ROAD TO POSTSEASON: SEC chaos has LSU back in College Football Playoff picture, 2C OFFICIAL NEWS PARTNER OF THE LOUISIANA RAGIN’ CAJUNS

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RECORD: 2-4 UP NEXT: VS. STEELERS, 8:30 A.M. SUNdAy, NFL NETWORK

Following week of criticism, Saints earn giant win over N.y.

LOUD AND CLEAR

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By AdAM HUNGER

New Orleans Saints safety Julian Blackmon celebrates after intercepting a pass during the second half against the New york Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. The Saints won 34-27 to end a three-game losing skid.

New Orleans survives furious rally to beat Giants, snap losing skid

Saints get much-needed victory, head to France on high note

BY LUKE JOHNSON

much ballyhooed first-ever game in EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — You never know when a game — or a season — Paris. “We’re going to enjoy this momight turn. In the New Orleans Saints’ 34-27 ment and this win on that flight,” win Sunday over the New York Giveteran guard David Edwards said. “It’s going to be historic, maybe one ants, it turned in the blink of an eye of the greatest trips of our and the swipe of an arm by lives.” Isaiah Stalbird on a routine All wins in the NFL are and seemingly innocuous important, but this one was kickoff return in the final more critical than most. The minutes before halftime. Saints were coming off a In an instant and the dispiriting string of home amount of time it took for Jeff losses to the Raiders, Falcons Oscar Delp to recover the Duncan and Vikings that sparked fan fumble, the Saints went from discontent and spurred owndowntrodden to uplifted. The takeaway ignited their sideline and er Gayle Benson to put the team on triggered a run of 34 unanswered alert with an uncharacteristic midpoints that buried the Giants and season statement. carried the Saints to just their sec“It’s a great feeling to win just in general, but also to get out of the ond win of the season, snapping a slump that we were in,” tight end three-game losing streak and buoying morale as the club prepared ä See DUNCAN, page 5C to travel across the Atlantic for a

Staff writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The sight of New York Giants fans streaming for the exits with 11:31 remaining in Sunday’s game was as good a sign as any that the New Orleans Saints received the message. What transpired after that moment proved they may still have a way to go. Days after owner Gayle Benson publicly criticized her team’s recent performance in the midst of a three-game losing streak, the Saints built a huge lead and then survived a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat the New York Giants 34-27. At one point, the Saints went on a 34-0 run to take a 34-10 lead, then held as the Giants scored the game’s ﬁnal 17 points behind backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

McCarthy, who threw for a whopping 243 yards in the fourth quarter, ﬁred incomplete on a fourth-and-1 from the Saints’ 14-yard line to seal the outcome. “You’re never going to apologize for winning in the NFL,” quarterback Tyler Shough said. “Doing that as a team felt really good. Our process was there, our play style was there, (but) we’ve got to put that away earlier as a team and we know that.” To snap their skid, the Saints (24) found answers that have eluded them in recent weeks. The run game ﬁnally found its footing, gashing the Giants for 175 yards on the ground. New Orleans mostly took care of the football when on offense, and the defense made New York pay for its mistakes by forcing four turnovers of its own. A special-

ä See SAINTS, page 4C

2C l Monday, October 19, 2026 l theadvocate.com l The Acadiana Advocate

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Reddick wins in Phoenix as Chase race tightens

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AVONDALE, Ariz. — Tyler Reddick had a late surge on Sunday to earn his sixth win of the season in a NASCAR playoff race at Phoenix Raceway, rising up the Cup Series standings to give himself a shot at the championship. He’s not the only one who beneﬁted from Kyle Larson’s bad day. Reddick, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe were among the drivers who are leaving the desert in much better position to win a title than when they arrived. Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota overtook Briscoe with 17 laps left and held on for the win, shaking up NASCAR’s postseason with three races to go. Larson — who started Sunday with a 49-point lead in the Cup Series standings — is now just ﬁve points ahead of Christopher Bell heading into Talladega next week.

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SEC chaos keeps LSU in CFP hunt BY JON BLAU Staff writer

Something LSU coach Lane Kifﬁn said a week ago bears repeating. “This year in the SEC, I really feel like you can win every game on the schedule,” Kifﬁn said, “and we can lose every game on the schedule.” The Tigers’ dominant 31-0 win over Kamario Taylor-less Mississippi State may have failed to demonstrate the parity of the transfer portal era. But practically every other SEC game this past Saturday did. No. 1 Georgia lost 27-24 at home to unranked Auburn. No. 6 Alabama, a week after losing to Georgia, picked up a second SEC loss at No. 14 Tennessee, 2610. No. 7 Texas, fresh off a Red River Rivalry defeat to Oklahoma, added insult to injury with a 27-24 loss to Florida, a program that recently skydived out of the top 25. Meanwhile, LSU’s road losses to No. 7 Ole Miss and No. 12 Kentucky — by a combined nine points — don’t look so bad. The Wildcats just dumped Oklahoma to improve to 4-1 in SEC play, tying Georgia atop the standings. The Rebels, who were blown out by Florida three weeks ago, just waxed No. 13 Missouri 31-3. If there’s any year a 9-3 SEC team could be in line for a College Football Playoff berth, this could be it. With no undefeated team in the Big Ten or SEC other than UCLA, No. 18 LSU’s path to the postseason may have just widened. But the Tigers’ road is also covered by landmines.

No looking past Auburn Not so long ago, it seemed LSU’s means for redemption would come after the bye week. If the Tigers could beat both Alabama and Texas in Tiger Stadium, they would have two signature wins to override a couple of disappointing

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin waits with his team to run out of the tunnel for the game against Mississippi State on Saturday in Tiger Stadium. road losses. It’s both good and bad that the No. 13 Crimson Tide and No. 19 Longhorns, each with two SEC losses, appear more beatable than ever. Those could be wins if tight end Trey’Dez Green and linebacker Whit Weeks return for LSU in one or both of those games. But the contest right before LSU’s bye might be just as important. Auburn, which just beat Georgia, will play host to its fellow Tigers in Jordan-Hare Stadium. LSU is riding an eight-game losing streak in SEC road games. Auburn has won nearly 76 percent of its home games all-time despite a 19-19 mark over the past ﬁve seasons, but Jordan-Hare Stadium should be energized after what ﬁrst-year coach Alex Golesh and his squad accomplished in Athens, Georgia. Quarterback Byrum Brown, who followed Golesh from South Florida, rushed for 115 yards on the Bulldogs’ defense. Auburn’s defense picked off Gunner Stockton twice and forced a fumble to lodge an upset.

It remains to be seen how Auburn manages the emotional high of this past Saturday, but Nick Saban called Jordan-Hare Stadium “haunted” because of how many missed kicks, interceptions for touchdowns and last-second scores seem to shape contests there. The chaos of the SEC has served LSU a resume-building opportunity before November, but it means passing through one of the conference’s most chaotic venues unscathed.

Rethinking November

bye week on the most shocking of three-game losing streaks. The Tide scored 56 points on Mississippi State to open October — and then scored 27 points total against Georgia and Tennessee. Texas has posted identical 2724 losses to unranked Oklahoma and Florida and still has to play Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Missouri before making a trip to Baton Rouge. There’s no telling where the Longhorns will stand come Nov. 14, but LSU’s trip to Neyland Stadium on Nov. 21 is building intrigue. The now-No. 11 Volunteers have held every conference opponent to 20 points or fewer so far. LSU’s final opponent of the regular season, Arkansas, just claimed its ﬁrst SEC win, 31-21, over Vanderbilt. That should still be a win for LSU, but nothing’s guaranteed.

What happens next? Really, it’s anyone’s guess how LSU navigates the chaos. The most optimistic script has Sam Leavitt, now the SEC’s passing yvbardage leader, on a continued upward trajectory as he ﬁnds his rhythm in an offense that was signiﬁcantly remade in the transfer portal. Pair Leavitt with Green postbye, fortify LSU’s defense with Weeks at some point, and it’s possible there is enough chaos elsewhere in the SEC that LSU slips up versus Alabama, Texas or Tennessee and still makes the CFP at 9-3. There’s also a world where LSU doesn’t survive Auburn, Alabama and Texas are on an upswing when they visit Tiger Stadium, and Tennessee’s offense develops to better complement a standout defense. In that scenario, the Tigers could be 8-4 or 7-5. Strap in, because LSU’s last handful of SEC games could make for a wild ride.

Nothing changes from LSU’s perspective, because the Tigers have to win as much as possible to not submit themselves to the CFP selection committee’s roulette wheel. But a three-game stretch against Alabama, Texas and Tennessee is suddenly harder to read on a scale of difﬁculty. Alabama will either recover this coming weekend against a Texas A&M squad that’s limped out to a 1-3 start in SEC play, or Kaleb Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ DeBoer’s crew will head into a theadvocate.com

Miami is No. 1 in AP poll for 1st time since ’02 AP TOP 25 POLL

BY ERIC OLSON

Associated Press

Miami is No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2002, No. 2 BYU has its highest ranking since its 1984 national championship season and Notre Dame and Georgia stayed in the top five Sunday after both lost close games. The wildest and wackiest week of the college football season so far saw five of the top seven teams lose — a first in the AP poll’s 90-year history. Miami and BYU were the biggest beneficiaries of the chaos and were joined by Ohio State in a tightly bunched top three. The Hurricanes took over the top spot from Georgia, which lasted one week at No. 1 after losing to Auburn at home. The Bulldogs were the second No. 1 team in two weeks — Texas was the other — to lose to an unranked opponent. Miami survived end-of-game drama to beat rival Florida State in double overtime and stay unbeaten. The Hurricanes’ two-spot jump made them No. 1 for the first time since the 2002 season ended in the national championship game against Ohio State. The Hurricanes received 40 of the 70 first-place votes from the media voting panel and were just 22 points ahead of BYU, which won a thriller at home over Notre Dame. The Cougars got 20 firstplace votes and were 26 points ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes got nine first-place votes and were well ahead of No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 5 Georgia. Miami is the first No. 1 team from the Atlantic Coast Conference team since Clemson in 2020. Other than Clemson, there had not been another ACC team ranked No. 1 since Florida State in 2014. BYU went into its game against Notre Dame as a 10.5-point underdog and came out with a 28-24 win to go 6-0 for a third straight year. Since their championship season 42 years ago, the Cougars hadn’t

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By LyNNE SLAdKy

Rec. Pts. Prv. 1. Miami (FL) (40) 6-0 1697 3 2. BYU (20) 6-0 1675 8 3. Ohio State (9) 6-1 1649 4 4. Notre Dame 6-1 1395 2 5. Georgia 6-1 1382 1 6. Indiana 6-1 1370 5 7. Ole Miss 5-1 1360 9 8. Texas Tech (1) 6-0 1336 10 9. UCLA 6-0 1159 12 10. Utah 6-0 1153 11 11. Tennessee 6-1 1151 14 12. Kentucky 6-1 932 15 13. Alabama 5-2 870 6 14. Houston 6-1 785 20 15. Iowa 5-1 747 17 16. USC 6-1 592 19 17. Wake Forest 6-1 574 21 18. LSU 5-2 529 22 19. Texas 4-2 440 7 20. Florida 5-2 355 NR 21. Boise State 5-1 295 23 22. Missouri 5-2 290 13 23. SMU 5-1 265 24 24. Northwestern 5-1 254 25 25. Arizona 5-1 136 NR Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 128, Oregon 79, Auburn 61, James Madison 52, Mississippi State 30, New Mexico 6, Oregon State 3.

Miami running back Javian Mallory, center, celebrates with offensive lineman Ben Congdon after scoring a touchdown during a game against No. 14 Houston has its highest Florida State on Saturday in Miami Gardens, Fla. ranking since it was No. 11 at midbeen higher than No. 4 in a poll or in the top ﬁve since 1996. Every single spot in the Top 25 has a new team this week, but only two teams dropped out of the rankings. A wholesale shakeup of the top 10 did not happen largely because Notre Dame, Georgia and No. 6 Indiana had built-up capital with their 6-0 starts, plus the losses by the Fighting Irish and Hoosiers were against top-10 opponents. Indiana, which lost at home to Ohio State, was followed by Ole Miss, Texas Tech, UCLA and Utah. Texas Tech received the remaining ﬁrst-place vote. Alabama’s loss at Tennessee dropped the Crimson Tide seven spots to No. 13 and Texas plummeted 12 rungs to No. 19 after its home loss to Florida.

In and out In: No. 20 Florida, which dropped out last week after consecutive lopsided losses, is back after going to Texas and handing the Longhorns a second loss in a row. In: No. 25 Arizona, which had an open date, has four straight double-digit wins since losing to

BYU and makes its season debut in the poll. Out: Oklahoma State’s loss at Houston brought an end to the Cowboys’ three-week run in the poll. Out: Mississippi State got bounced for the 31-0 loss at LSU that followed a 23-point home loss to Alabama.

season in 2016.

Conference call

SEC (9 ranked teams): No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 Ole Miss, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Alabama, No. 18 LSU, No. 19 Texas, No. 20 Florida, No. 22 Missouri. Big Ten (6): No. 3 Ohio State, No. 6 Indiana, No. 9 UCLA, No. 15 Iowa, No. 16 USC, No. 24 Northwestern. Big 12 (5): No. 2 BYU, No. 8 Texas Poll points Tech, No. 10 Utah, No. 14 Houston, n The last time the SEC’s top No. 25 Arizona. ACC (3): No. 1 Miami, No. 17 Wake team in the rankings — it’s No. 5 Georgia this week — was behind Forest, No. 23 SMU. Pac-12 (1): No. 21 Boise State. teams from each of the other powIndependent (1): No. 4 Notre Dame. er conferences was Dec. 3, 2023, when Alabama was No. 5 behind teams from the Big Ten (Michi- Ranked vs. ranked gan), Pac-12 (Washington), Big 12 No. 7 Ole Miss at No. 19 Texas: The (Texas) and ACC (Florida State). Rebels have found their footing n The last time the top two after that 24-point loss to Florida, teams lost in the same week in outscoring Vanderbilt and Misthe regular season was 2017, when souri by a combined 83-20. The No. 1 Alabama lost to Auburn and Longhorns are reeling and might No. 2 Miami lost to Pittsburgh on have a new QB this week. Thanksgiving weekend. No. 14 Houston at No. 10 Utah: The n The last time unranked teams Cougars have beaten one ranked knocked off No. 1s in consecutive team each of the past three weeks was 1990. Miami hosts un- seasons and will go for a secranked Pitt on Saturday. ond against an unbeaten Utah n No. 9 UCLA has matched its team that escaped Colorado as a highest ranking since 2022, and 15.5-point favorite.

Davidovich Fokina wins biggest title yet in China SHANGHAI — Alejandro Davidovich Fokina rallied from a set and a break down to beat Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 and win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday, securing his third title of the year and biggest yet of his career. The 25th-seeded Spaniard had lost the first five finals of his career, including the Monte Carlo Masters in 2022. His other titles this year came on grass in Mallorca in June and at the Chengdu Open in China last month. Both were ATP 250 tournaments. He clutched the Shanghai trophy tightly and then kissed it. Davidovich Fokina was close to going out of the tournament, saving a match point in the third round against three-time U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.

Singh wins on PGA Tour Champions at age 63 CARY, N.C. — Vijay Singh became the second-oldest player to win on the PGA Tour Champions on Sunday when the 63-year-old Fijian closed with a 3-under 69 for a twoshot victory in the SAS Championship. Singh made four birdies in a sixhole stretch around the turn to get in front of a crowded leaderboard and then left the mistakes to everyone else while closing with six straight pars to win by two over Ernie Els. Bernhard Langer is the only other player older than Singh to win on the 50-and-older circuit. Langer won at age 67, and the German has ﬁve other Champions Tour titles at 64 or older. Els closed with a 69 and was runner-up.

Chacarra wins, leaps over Reed in Race to Dubai NEW DELHI — Eugenio Chacarra won the DP World India Championship by two strokes on Sunday to maintain a late-season surge that has lifted the Spanish golfer atop the Race to Dubai standings on the European tour. After a third-place ﬁnish at the French Open and a second place at last week’s Spanish Open, Chacarra got his third win of the season by completing a 9-under 63 early Sunday and then shooting 70 to ﬁnish on 21-under par for the week at Delhi Golf Club. Chacarra jumped ahead of Patrick Reed into first place in the season-long Race to Dubai that will culminate next month and crown the European tour’s top player of the year. Reed (69) was tied for 23rd on 8-under par.

Yin triumphs in LPGA Shanghai tournament SHANGHAI — Ruoning Yin made a four-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to break out of a back-nine tie with third-round leader Hye-Jin Choi and win the LPGA Shanghai tournament by one stroke on Sunday. Choi and Yin were tied for the lead after 10 holes and remained level through the 15th hole at Sheshan Golf Club. Yin missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 15 but made no mistake a hole later to move to 10-under, a stroke ahead of Choi with two holes to go. It was the seventh LPGA tournament win for China’s Yin, who won the Shanghai event in 2024 and a major at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2023. Yin ﬁnished with a 72-hole total of 11-under 277 while Choi had a 71 Sunday.

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The Acadiana Advocate l theadvocate.com l Monday, October 19, 2026 l 3C

CAJUNS 33, TROJANS 6 THREE AND OUT: KEVIN FOOTE’S TOP TAKEAWAyS FROM SATURdAy’S HOME WIN

DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE One week after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter at Louisiana Tech, UL’s defense played angry against Troy.The Trojans came into the game first in the Sun Belt in rushing with 236 yards and the Cajuns limited Troy to 126 yards on the ground.The Trojans ran for 437 yards in their last game against Southern Miss. Moreover,Troy turned it over on downs three times and was only 3-of-12 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down.The Trojans only had 267 total yards in the game.The pass defense also improved dramatically with Troy throwing for 141 yards.

ODD NIGHT FOR OFFENSE LLast week, UL’s passing game produced four plays over 32 yards or more, including three touchdown passes.Troy came into the game No. 4 against the run and ninth in the league against the pass.And yet, the Lunch Winfield of old returned in this one.The version who looked way more comfortable running the ball than throwing it.Winfield led all UL ball carriers with 15 carries. On this night, it absolutely played a big role in the 27-point win, but it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out moving forward. It was still good to see JJ Garner with a Td run in his fourth straight game.

UNCOMPLICATED WIN Was it a thing of beauty? No.Angry from last week’s loss in Ruston, the Cajuns chose the old-fashioned method. Get physical and run the football and stop the run and win the game. It wasn’t about style and grace. Saturday was about getting that bitter taste out of their mouths. It was about showing the offense can run the football. It was about staying alive in the Sun Belt West race by getting to 2-1. It was about putting the Cajuns in position to run the table and put as much pressure on Louisiana Tech as possible. It was just that simple.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

UL offensive lineman Kaden Moreau, center left, and offensive lineman Zay Alexander, right, block for quarterback Lunch Winfield, center, on a run during Saturday’s 33-6 win at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

Redemption

Cajuns earn much-needed win with chip on shoulder

On paper, it appeared UL’s method of attacking Troy’s defense would be through the air. After all, the Trojans’ defense gave up 391 yards through the air in last week’s win over Southern Miss. Moreover, Troy came in ranked fourth in the Sun Belt in run defense and ninth in pass defense. Only coach Michael Desormeaux’s Ragin’ Cajuns had other ideas Kevin in delivering a 33-6 Foote blowout win over the Trojans. They weren’t happy after letting one slip away in Ruston last week. The way to get that frustration out of their system was playing a physical game against a physical team and winning that battle. “All we heard about for the last week was we didn’t run the ball and we needed to,” Desormeaux said. “We didn’t run the ball. We needed to. I mean, these guys, they have social media too. So they hear the crap all the time. “It’s fun when you have a group of kids that take it personally and went out there and played a certain type of way. So I’m really pleased with the way we ran the football. We needed it.” The Cajuns kept pounding the ball right at Troy, finishing with 243 rushing yards and 14 rushing first downs. “We’re at our best when we have a chip on our shoulder,” Desormeaux said. “It’s who I am a little bit; it’s who we are. I think after last week, we were ... we were pissed off. It’s the way it is. We lost a game we felt like we should have won.” Quarterback Lunch Winfield’s redemption didn’t come from passing for more yards and more touchdowns than he did in the loss. It came from gutting it out with a team-high 15 carries for 65 yards. Right behind him was redshirt freshman JJ Garner with 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. “That was the game plan going all week,” Garner said. “Run the ball ... just play physical, our game plan for four quarters straight, 60 minutes. They’ve got to get the whole 60.” The other side of that coin was the

STAFF PHOTO By BRAd KEMP

UL cornerback Avery demery, left, and linebacker Micah Johnson, right, tackle Troy wide receiver TJ Lott, center, during the Cajuns’ 33-6 win Saturday. Cajuns’ rushing defense. Entering the game, Troy had the Sun Belt’s top rushing attack at 236 yards a game, but the Cajuns gave up only 100 rushing yards a game, leading the league. On this night, the angry team got it done, limiting Troy to 126 yards on the ground — one week after rushing for 437 against Southern Miss. “To be honest with you, I don’t worry about averages,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Fitzgerald West said. “I worry about the ﬁlm I’m watching. I’m seeing what they’re trying to get to and how they’re trying to get to it. “As long as we know what’s coming, they can’t surprise you with anything. “As long as we’re not surprised, we’re all on it.” While the rushing defense was excellent, so was the pass defense. The Cajuns limited Troy to 141 yards on 14of-26 passing. “It was something so simple,” West said. “I feel like we got our play calls in and everybody was on the same page. That’s the truth.” Essentially, Louisiana Tech’s hurryup passing attack caused issues the Cajuns’ defense had to learn from and adjust. “We can’t be surprised,” West added. “It’s hard to sneak one on us if we’re all on the same page. “So we came up with a better plan of getting the calls in more efﬁciently.” Desormeaux appreciated the im-

provement in pass defense. “We had some things that we put on tape that got exposed a little bit,” he said. “I know we have some guys that are out, but I still feel like we have plenty of talent on the back end to be able to play tight coverage. I think our defensive staff put together a great plan this week. “Our players went out there and executed really well. We tackled better and we were tighter in coverage. We used really good technique. There were times I thought the last couple of weeks when we were kind of guessing a little bit and getting outside of our framework.” Altogether, it was a collective effort for a much-needed victory. Now, the Cajuns must continue to improve in the quest to run the table in Sun Belt play. ”What a heck of a job by this group of young men to ﬂip this thing from 2-5 to 5-2 in one year,” Desormeaux said. “It says a lot about the people in this building. I’m going to tell you right now, this team, we were not very good in spring football. I thought we had a chance to be, and I still think we have a chance to be. “I still don’t believe that we scratched the surface of our best football, and that’s exciting. And that’s what we’re chasing with everything we got right now, is trying to get to our best.”

Special teams play key role in UL’s victory BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

It’s been a slow process with UL’s special teams this season. But it was the kicking game that delivered the first big break to the Ragin’ Cajuns in Saturday’s 33-6 home victory over Troy. After the first drive of the game, UL punter Mason Golding hammered a high 50-yard punt that made it difficult for Trojans returner Noreel White to field. He fumbled it and HarriNotebook freshman son Kidder recovered at the 8. Two plays later, Lunch Winfield hit KeDarius Wade on a 3-yard touchdown catch to put UL up for good at 7-0. “It was a huge play,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “Those are plays that change the game completely from the beginning. It’s a unit that we’ve had a lot of work to do on it. The cover units, to get down there and make it was huge. Mason hit a great ball. So it was a really big play in the game.” From the beginning of the season, Desormeaux talked about the youth on this year’s squad. Once the injuries came, the area depending the most on young players became the special teams. “I’m really proud of that group, because we have a lot of youth on our special teams now,” Desormeaux said. “I know there isn’t anybody in the building that stays up here later than (coordinator) Mike G (Giuliani). It matters to him a whole lot, and he doesn’t have an easy task this year with the youth we have. “The guy pours into them day after day ... he wears his heart on his sleeve. Has it been perfect this year? No. Will the statistics at the end of the year be good? No. But the improvement from week to week has been outstanding.” Certainly there was still some bad in Saturday’s win — from the botched extra point to a kickoff out of bounds to more flags in the return game. The most successful special teams player has been placekicker Tony Sterner, who continues to be perfect on the season with field goals of 42 and 46 yards. On the other side, Troy’s kicker missed a 42-yarder. But it went beyond that. Desormeaux also saw improvement in kickoff coverage. “We did a much better job containing,” Desormeaux said. “Look, you put something bad on tape, you’re going to see it again and again. They kept trying to bounce the field returns because we’ve gotten hurt on it. And we did a really good job.”

Focused effort Almost all the discussion about Saturday’s home game against Troy centered around the Cajuns bouncing back from the 32-31 road loss in Ruston. After the 27-point win over Troy, though, there was another angle high on the minds of UL players and coaches. Redshirt senior defensive tackle Fitzgerald West made it seem like a pretty simple situation. “If you look at the stat sheet, since the Sun Belt has split into two different sides, the West has been won by either Troy or UL,” West said. “That’s the stat. So that tells you exactly why. It’s either us or them and we won.” Indeed, that process began in 2018 with the Cajuns winning the division the ﬁrst four seasons. Troy then won in 2022-23, before the Cajuns returned in 2024. The Trojans then made it three times in the last four years last season. “We talked about it all week,” redshirt senior linebacker Jake St. Andre said. “Since 2018, this game carries massive implications and that was something we talked about. We understood as a team and tried to go out there and execute.”

4C l Monday, October 19, 2026 l theadvocate.com l The Acadiana Advocate

lll

SAINTS 34, GIANTS 27

BY THE NUMBERS

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

New Orleans Saints 34, N.Y. Giants 27 New Orleans N.Y. Giants

0 7

10 3

17 0

7 — 34 17 — 27

First Quarter NYG—Tracy 17 pass from Winston (Zvada kick), 5:14. Drive: 12 plays, 93 yards, 6:44. Key Plays: Winston 11 pass to Likely on 3rd-and-5; Mooney 20 run; N.Harris 2 run on 3rd-and-3; Winston 3 run on 4th-and-1; Winston 24 pass to Likely. N.Y. Giants 7, New Orleans 0. Second Quarter NYG—FG Zvada 34, 2:27. Drive: 10 plays, 39 yards, 4:24. Key Plays: Winston 2 run on 3rdand-1; Winston 18 pass to Nabers. N.Y. Giants 10, New Orleans 0. NO—FG Carlson 58, 1:18. Drive: 8 plays, 16 yards, 1:09. Key Plays: Brown kick return to New Orleans 44; Shough 12 pass to Olave on 3rd-and-6. N.Y. Giants 10, New Orleans 3. NO—Lance 2 pass from Shough (Carlson kick), :01. Drive: 5 plays, 28 yards, 1:10. Key Play: Shough 25 run. New Orleans 10, N.Y. Giants 10. Third Quarter NO—Kamara 31 pass from Shough (Carlson kick), 12:21. Drive: 6 plays, 79 yards, 2:39. Key Plays: Lance kick return to New Orleans 21; Donaldson 17 run; Kamara 11 run. New Orleans 17, N.Y. Giants 10. NO—Shough 1 run (Carlson kick), 5:43. Drive: 9 plays, 52 yards, 4:49. Key Plays: K.Miller 11 run; Shough 10 pass to Olave. New Orleans 24, N.Y. Giants 10. NO—FG Carlson 51, 1:12. Drive: 6 plays, 30 yards, 3:04. Key Plays: Emerson 12 interception return to New Orleans 38; Kamara 15 run; Shough 4 pass to Kamara on 3rd-and-8. New Orleans 27, N.Y. Giants 10. Fourth Quarter NO—Olave 18 pass from Shough (Carlson kick), 11:31. Drive: 2 plays, 21 yards, 00:48. Key Play: Blackmon 21 interception return to N.Y. Giants 21. New Orleans 34, N.Y. Giants 10. NYG—Tracy 5 run (Likely pass from McCarthy), 7:00. Drive: 6 plays, 52 yards, 2:31. Key Play: McCarthy 27 pass to Nabers. New Orleans 34, N.Y. Giants 18. NYG—Likely 24 pass from McCarthy (pass failed), 5:06. Drive: 3 plays, 73 yards, 00:48. Key Play: McCarthy 49 pass to C.Jones. New Orleans 34, N.Y. Giants 24. NYG—FG Zvada 41, 2:04. Drive: 7 plays, 69 yards, 1:55. Key Plays: McCarthy 11 pass to Fields; McCarthy 13 pass to Nabers; McCarthy 46 pass to Nabers; McCarthy 17 pass to C.Jones. New Orleans 34, N.Y. Giants 27. A—82,905. NO NYG FIRST DOWNS 18 23 Rushing 9 5 Passing 7 16 Penalty 2 2 THIRD DOWN EFF 4-15 4-14 FOURTH DOWN EFF 1-1 1-2 TOTAL NET YARDS 319 461 Total Plays 68 72 Avg Gain 4.7 6.4 NET YARDS RUSHING 175 84 Rushes 38 20 Avg per rush 4.605 4.2 NET YARDS PASSING 144 377 Sacked-Yds lost 0-0 5-18 Gross-Yds passing 144 395 Completed-Att. 16-30 25-47 Had Intercepted 0 3 Yards-Pass Play 4.8 7.25 KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 7-1-1 6-1-0 PUNTS-Avg. 7-42.0 5-54.2 Punts blocked 0 0 FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0 TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 221 145 Punt Returns 5-68 4-33 Kickoff Returns 4-113 5-112 Interceptions 3-40 0-0 PENALTIES-Yds 7-52 10-73 FUMBLES-Lost 1-1 1-1 TIME OF POSSESSION 31:02 28:58 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—New Orleans, K.Miller 20-70, Donaldson 6-39, Kamara 7-34, Shough 5-32. N.Y. Giants, McCarthy 2-26, Mooney 1-20, Tracy 6-18, Singletary 4-14, Winston 3-4, N.Harris 4-2. PASSING—New Orleans, Shough 16-30-0-144. N.Y. Giants, McCarthy 11-21-1-243, Winston 14-26-2-152. RECEIVING—New Orleans, Olave 4-43, Vele 3-42, Kamara 2-35, Delp 2-10, Lance 2-9, K.Miller 2-0, Brown 1-5. N.Y. Giants, Nabers 12-165, Likely 6-99, C.Jones 2-66, Tracy 2-27, Fields 2-19, Singletary 1-19. PUNT RETURNS—New Orleans, Brown 5-68. N.Y. Giants, C.Jones 4-33. KICKOFF RETURNS—New Orleans, Brown 2-66, Lance 2-47. N.Y. Giants, C.Jones 3-67, Tracy 2-45. TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS—New Orleans, Emerson 7-0-0, Riley 6-0-0, Werner 5-6-1, Blackmon 2-2-0, J.Reid 2-2-0, Jordan 2-0-0, Granderson 1-4-1.5, Broughton 1-3-0, Stutsman 1-3-0, Young 1-2-1.5, T.Wilson 1-2-0, Sanker 1-1-0, Wooden 1-0-1, Ford 1-0-0, McKinstry 0-1-0, C.Miller 0-1-0, Rumph 0-1-0. N.Y. Giants, Holland 6-3-0, Edmunds 5-4-0, Reader 5-2-0, Washington 4-0-0, Reese 3-2-0, Phillips 3-1-0, Thibodeaux 2-3-0, Banks 2-2-0, Jamison-Travis 2-0-0, S.Harris 1-2-0, Newsome 1-2-0, Pinnock 1-1-0, Alexander 1-0-0, N.Jones 1-0-0, Ford 0-2-0. INTERCEPTIONS—New Orleans, Emerson 2-19, Blackmon 1-21. N.Y. Giants, None. MISSED FIELD GOALS—New Orleans, Carlson 55. OFFICIALS—Referee Alex Kemp, Ump Brandon Ellison, HL Mike Carr, LJ Rusty Baynes, FJ Sean Petty, SJ Jim Quirk, BJ Scott Helverson, Replay Julie Johnson.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough hands the ball off to Saints running back C.J. donaldson during the first half of a game against the New york Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

Report: Shough playing with broken hand bones BY LUKE JOHNSON, MATTHEW PARAS AND ZACH EWING Staff writers

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — During a post-game news conference last week, a reporter asked New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough if he had a broken bone in his left hand. “I’m not even sure I can answer that,” Shough said. That non-denial was, in effect, exactly what it appeared to be. According to an ESPN report, Shough is playing with two broken bones in his left hand, an injury that occurred during the Saints’ blowout loss against the Atlanta Falcons last Monday night. Including Sunday’s game against the New York Giants — against whom he threw for 144 yards and three touchdowns while adding 32 yards and a touchdown on the ground — Shough has played the last three games with a glove covering his left hand. The second-year quarterback has repeatedly said the injury to his non-throwing hand has not affected his play, though it has altered how he’s had to go about doing his job. Under normal circumstances, Shough would be able to hand the ball off with both of his hands depending on the direction of the

run. But since the injury, he’s had to use his right hand exclusively for handoffs, including run plays to the right side of the formation where he’d typically use his left hand. “It’s just something to manage throughout the weeks,” Shough said. “Like I said before, it hasn’t really affected me. It’s getting better every single day; that’s the biggest thing. I’ll continue to manage it. It doesn’t affect me throwing; it doesn’t affect a lot of that stuff, just a couple handoffs changing up.” Shough has been a full participant in practice for most of the past two weeks.

Injury update

Sunday’s game wasn’t an ideal homecoming for Cesar Ruiz. The Saints offensive lineman, playing near his hometown of Camden, New Jersey, suffered a knee injury in the ﬁrst half against the Giants and did not return. Rookie Jeremiah Wright replaced Ruiz at right guard. Ruiz got hurt late in the first half. He was not on the ﬁeld for New Orleans’ final drive of the second quarter, which Shough hit Bryce Lance for a touchdown on fourth down to tie the game at 10. Ruiz has started 88 of 94 games in his seven-year career, all with the Saints. Coach Kellen Moore said the team will await an MRI before

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C teams unit that has been performing poorly made huge contributions in the kicking game, return game and in coverage. “We talked about the ball going into the game; we created four turnovers, we gave the one away, which was a critical one,” coach Kellen Moore said. “We talked about the physicality we have to play with; that was an objective of ours, and to rush for 175 (yards) was an important part for us.” To get there, the Saints needed a jolt out of their regular early-game struggles. The Saints’ first five drives netted just 55 yards of offense. Shough was erratic, completing just seven of his first 18 passes. Penalties torpedoed one drive when backup left tackle Asim Richards was penalized for holding on consecutive plays. Kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 55-yard field goal at the end of the Saints’ most promising drive. Even when the Saints finally got on the scoreboard, it felt like a missed opportunity: Rookie Barion Brown returned a kick 41 yards to set up a short field near the end of the half, but New Orleans settled for a 58-yard Carlson field goal with 1:18 remaining in the first half. The spark the team desperately needed came in the form of spe-

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By AdAM HUNGER

Saints wide receiver Bryce Lance celebrates a touchdown during the first half against the New york Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. cial-teams ace Isaiah Stalbird on the ensuing kickoff, when he met Giants kick returner Charlie Jones like a heat-seeking missile. Stalbird separated Jones from the ball, and rookie tight end Os-

car Delp recovered the loose ball. It was as if a dam broke free after that play, with the New Orleans offense roaring to life to seize control of the game. Shough ripped off a 25-yard run

it speaks on the severity of Ruiz’s injury. Moore said defensive back KoolAid McKinstry missed most of the second half with a migraine. Martin Emerson ﬁlled in for McKinstry in the starting lineup and filled the box score, recording a pair of interceptions and four pass breakups.

Paris tumult

With protests becoming more frequent and violent in France over the past week, the NFL gave a new statement Sunday to address safety concerns ahead of the New Orleans Saints’ imminent visit to Paris for the league’s ﬁrst game there. “We continue to work closely with local authorities and partners on all operational and security matters,” the NFL said in a statement to Front Ofﬁce Sports. “We are also providing the two clubs with regular updates. There’s been no disruption or impact at league sites.” The Saints also released a statement. “We concur with the NFL’s statement and are planning to play the game,” said Greg Bensel, the team’s senior vice president of communications. “In addition to working closely with the NFL, we have also maintained daily security updates with our security partners in France. Members of

on the first play after the fumble recovery, setting New Orleans up at the goal line, where he would eventually find Bryce Lance for a game-tying touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal. That was the start of three consecutive touchdown drives for the Saints, who scored on six of seven drives in the middle portion of the game to take a commanding lead. They got contributions from Alvin Kamara, who looked like he’d turned back the clock, making three defenders miss on a 31-yard touchdown catch. Shough took one in on his own from a yard out, then looked like he iced the game with an 18-yard scoring strike to Chris Olave. The defense also pitched in, sacking Giants starter Jameis Winston four times and picking him off twice. Winston’s final interception set up the Olave score that gave the Saints a 34-10 lead. The fans began to leave the game, and Moore yanked some of his starters. The Giants looked like they were doing the same, inserting McCarthy into the lineup. The game was far from over. McCarthy threw an interception of his own, but he stayed aggressive, connecting on several explosive passes against the Saints defense, including gains of 49 to Jones and 46 to former LSU star Malik Nabers, who finished with 165 yards on 12 catches. Running back Tyrone Tracy started the comeback with a 5-yard touchdown run on third-and-2.

our football operations staff and internal security team have been on the ground in France for the past few days, and there has been no disruption or impact at any of our team sites.” The Saints will leave for Paris on Sunday evening, after their game against the New York Giants and a team dinner, with their flight arriving in France on Monday morning. They are scheduled to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at 3:30 p.m. Paris time (8:30 a.m. CT) next Sunday. Reports from France say more than half a million people have participated in some form of protest, with the demonstrations aimed to address rising living costs and poor school conditions. Some protests have turned violent, with demonstrators looting stores and setting fires, including to public buildings. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly held an emergency meeting with officials Sunday and was set to address the public on the matter. Police have used tear gas and water cannons and have arrested at least 1,800 people in connection with the protests, including more than 800 in the Paris area. The Saints-Steelers game is set for the Stade de France, in the north Paris suburb of St. Denis.

New Orleans put its offensive starters back in, but the Saints were starting to get overwhelmed. McCarthy closed the gap further with a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Isaiah Likely. New York decided to cut the lead to seven by kicking a field goal on a fourthand-6 play, trusting the defense to get another stop. New York had an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead when it forced the Saints to go three-andout inside the game’s final two minutes. The Giants took over at their own 29-yard line with 57 seconds remaining, trailing by seven and with no timeouts remaining. McCarthy evaded pressure in the backfield on the first play of the drive, finding a wide-open gap in the Saints’ defense for a 28-yard scramble, then he hit Likely for a gain of 23 on the next play to push the ball inside the Saints’ 25. But the Giants rally fizzled when McCarthy’s fourth-and-1 pass with 12 seconds remaining sailed high and out of bounds over Likely’s outstretched hands. “Somewhere in there, the foot got off the gas pedal and the Giants came back in it,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “I mean, kudos to them for being a tenacious team. We got to be able to snuff that fire.” New Orleans was scheduled to take an overnight flight to Paris, where it will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers next week. Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

The Acadiana Advocate l theadvocate.com l Monday, October 19, 2026 l 5C

SAINTS 34, GIANTS 27 lll

THREE AND OUT: ROd WALKER’S TOP THREE TAKEAWAyS FROM SAINTS’ WIN OVER GIANTS

OFF THE MAT The Saints showed some fight, although they almost ruined it with what would have been a titanic fourth-quarter collapse. The Saints were in a bad place before Sunday. They had lost three straight home games. Things were so bad that owner Gayle Benson expressed her disappointment at a luncheon Tuesday. There was uncertainty whether Kellen Moore and Mickey Loomis would survive if things didn’t get better. Both morale and execution were low, and it was unclear if Moore could fix it. The Saints, despite falling into a 10-0 hole in the first half, showed the type of grit that had been missing the past three weeks. This felt like a must-win, and they answered the call.

THE ALVIN OF OLD Alvin Kamara showed he still has something left in the tank. It’s understandable if you questioned that after his 10th season got off to such a rocky start. Entering Sunday, he had just 86 rushing yards and 41 receiving yards. On top of that, he’s dealt with a back injury that kept him out of some recent practices. He even had to go to the injury tent briefly in the first half Sunday. But he re-entered the game and showed glimpses of his old self with a magnificent 31-yard reception where he eluded tacklers as only he can. On the play, he became the sixth player in NFL history to reach 5,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards.

ON TO FRANCE The long flight to Paris would have felt even longer with four straight losses. Instead, they fixed some of the things that needed to be fixed. A team that wasn’t forcing many turnovers all of a sudden did (three interceptions, one forced fumble). An offense that was ranked 29th in rushing all of a sudden found some success (175 rushing yards). Special teams stepped up, too. daniel Carlson booted a 58-yard field goal that was followed by the Saints forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. That got the Saints going. The fact that this game came down to the final play after the Saints led by 24 is a bit concerning. But the desperate Saints will take a win any way they can get it.

RESULTS

Sept. 13

31-30

Sept. 20

24-17

Sept. 27

35-27

Oct. 5

45-24

Oct. 11

23-13

Oct. 18

34-27

Oct. 25 Steelers 8:30 a.m.

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

Saints tight end Oscar delp, center, celebrates with teammates Julian Blackmon, left, and decamerion Richardson after a fumble recovery during the first half against the New york Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

‘A REAL IMPACT’

Stalbird’s forced fumble pivotal in Saints win BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It mattered little to Isaiah Stalbird that a blocker met him immediately as the ball landed in the arms of New York Giants returner Charlie Jones. From 35 yards out, the New Orleans Saints linebacker just started running. And Jack Kelly, the Giants linebacker tasked with stopping Stalbird, couldn’t do jack. After five yards, Stalbird easily shed the pesky blocker. And with Jones in sight, Stalbird crashed in with the urgency owner Gayle Benson had desperately wanted to see. As Stalbird’s helmet made contact, Jones somersaulted in the air — with the jarred-loose ball directly above him. Oscar Delp recovered, and the Saints suddenly had life. If the Saints ultimately turn around their season, Stalbird’s forced fumble may be remembered as a pivotal turning point — one that captured the heightened sense of desperation following Benson’s remarks aimed at New Orleans’ “unacceptable” poor start. But even if the rest of the season doesn’t unfold the way the Saints want — and Sunday’s finish gave plenty of reasons to doubt that a switch has been flipped — Stalbird’s turnover was enough to dramatically change the Saints’ 34-27 wild win over the Giants. Down 10-3 with 1:18 left in the

second, the Saints capitalized on the turnover and scored another touchdown to tie it at halftime. The Saints scored 34 unanswered points — which, of course, was undermined by a chaotic fourth quarter that saw the Giants almost pull off an improbable comeback. But the Saints still needed to show they were listening to Benson’s message. And Stalbird came through in a big way. “We needed some type of spark, either offense, defense or special teams,” Stalbird said. “That really swung it.” It was only right that Stalbird was the man involved. Since joining New Orleans as an undrafted free agent in 2024, Stalbird has developed into a special-teams ace. He has lived up to the Saints’ initial projections when the team’s scouts labeled him a “37” entering the draft. That’s New Orleans’ tag for elite special teams prospects, numbered after Steve Gleason. At the Greater New Orleans Quarterback Club this past week, Benson mentioned Gleason — specifically how she was disappointed that the team was blown out on the game celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gleason’s blocked punt after Hurricane Katrina. She called out her coaches, players and executives to fix the mess they found themselves in. The Saints have a long way to go before they’ve truly fixed their season. But Sunday was a start. Delp didn’t notice the ball had popped in the air, but he jumped on it once he saw it on the ground. Bodies soon collapsed on him, and the rookie tight end felt hands from all over trying to pry it from him, including from teammate Chris Rumph. “I was like, ‘Nope, this one’s mine,’” Delp said with a smile.

Delp said the play also reflected what makes Stalbird special. Before the kick, the linebacker told the rookie to anticipate a double team. And so when the Giants tried to do exactly as Stalbird predicted, Delp ran right around the blockers. That evasion gave Delp room to jump on the ball. There was also Stalbird’s physical strength. Having the speed and power to drive Kelly back in seconds, then pivot into a violent collision with the returner, also required a skill set not everyone can replicate. Delp is a rookie but said he’s never seen anyone at any level approach special teams as seriously as Stalbird does. “That dude has a real impact on this team,” Delp said. The impact continued to be felt in the ensuing snaps. Just one play later, quarterback Tyler Shough took off for a 25-yard gain. Then, on fourth-and-goal from the 2, Shough hit a wideopen Bryce Lance for the tying touchdown. Edge rusher Cam Jordan said Stalbird’s forced fumble was an “inspiring-type play.” And the defense looked inspired. They followed up Stalbird’s turnover by forcing three more — all interceptions, picking off Jameis Winston twice and backup J.J. McCarthy once. Then, disaster nearly struck. The Saints gave up 289 yards in the fourth and gave up 17 unanswered points in the final seven minutes. But they held on thanks to an end-zone stop. The final margin was a touchdown — a score Stalbird helped create. “From a juice perspective, Stal works harder than anybody in the building,” Shough said. Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate.com

Nov. 8 Browns Noon

Nov. 15 Panthers Noon

Nov. 22 at Bears Noon

Nov. 29 at Bengals Noon

dec. 6 Packers Noon

dec. 13 at Panthers Noon

dec. 20 at Buccaneers Noon

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C Juwan Johnson said. “The biggest thing is just getting back on track, winning games that are ahead of us. I think that was something that was our intention going into it, knowing that this is a game that we got to win to start something.” The Saints can thank a bunch of unsung heroes for the morale-boosting win. Veteran cornerback Martin Emerson Jr., who was thrust into duty by Kool-Aid McKinstry’s migraine and recorded the ﬁrst two-interception game of his career. Kendre Miller and CJ Donaldson, the undrafted rookie running back,

who led a punishing ground-andpound offense that racked up a season-high 175 rushing yards. Bryce Lance, the rookie wide receiver who recorded the first touchdown catch of his career. And, of course, Stalbird, who picked a pristine time to record the first forced fumble of his young career. Stalbird’s takeaway occurred on the kickoff after Daniel Carlson’s 58-yard field goal and enlivened the Saints’ sideline, which had experienced very little to get excited about in the game’s first 28 minutes. Instead of going into halftime trailing for the 18th time in 23 games under Kellen Moore, the Saints went in tied — and with all the momentum. They rode the wave of positive energy into the third

quarter, where they scored two touchdowns and a ﬁeld goal to take a commanding 27-10 lead into the fourth quarter. The Giants made it interesting by scoring 17 points behind backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy, but in the end, it was too, too late. The Saints might have wanted to give the other game ball to Giants quarterback Jameis Winston, who seemed to be honoring his gameweek proclamation that his heart and soul were with the Who Dat Nation. Winston played like he wanted the Saints to win, greasing the skids on the Giants’ implosion with two interceptions and four sacks. “Big picture, it was huge, because we deﬁnitely needed a win coming off losing three games in a row,” Stalbird said. “That was our mind-

set. Now we just need to keep this momentum going.” The last thing the Saints needed was to ﬂy to France for a week of pomp and circumstance surrounding the historic game while mired in a four-game losing skid. Now, they can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the week with family and teammates. “Yeah, this (win) makes it a whole lot better,” Johnson said. “I think everybody will have good morale going into this week.” The morale will be even better if they can beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and turn the road trip into a season-changing two-game winning streak. Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@theadvocate.com.

dec. 27 Arizona Noon

Jan. 3 Falcons Noon

TBd Buccaneers TBd

6C ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

NFL ROUNDUP

Williams completes first 12 passes in return The Associated Press ATLANTA — Caleb Williams had been “itching” on the sideline while missing three straight games. Finally cleared to play, Williams performed as if determined to make up for lost time. Williams completed his ﬁrst 12 passes in his return from a hamstring injury, D’Andre Swift ran for two touchdowns and the Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-23 on Sunday. “You’re itching on the sideline during the season,” Williams said. “I’ve had a hamstring injury before, but it was at the end of the year. I had three weeks to be able to get back and play. And so being able sit back and recover, recover, recover ... and when I get back just to show who I am and who we are.” Williams said he “felt comfortable from the rip.” The Bears led 31-7 before holding off Atlanta’s comeback attempt in the ﬁnal quarter. Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list before the game in his return from a calf injury, had three sacks and two forced fumbles. Gordon’s big day was capped by a sack of Michael Penix Jr. and forced fumble with 2:54 remaining and the Bears protecting a 31-23 lead. The fumble was recovered by Devin Bush at the Atlanta 28. Gordon was limited by a groin injury to three regular-season games and two playoff games last season before suffering the calf injury which delayed his 2026 debut. “I asked him if he was ready to go,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said of his update with Gordon this week. “He said ‘absolutely’ and he certainly was.” The Bears ran out the clock inside the Atlanta 5. Williams was both mobile and accurate in his impressive return for the Bears (4-2). He opened the game by completing 6 of 6 passes for 64 yards, including a 14-yard scoring pass to Colston Loveland, on Chicago’s opening drive. Williams was 12 of 12 for 142 yards before throwing his first incompletion in the second quar-

ASSOCIATEd PRESS PHOTO By BRyNN ANdERSON

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams passes against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half of a game on Sunday in Atlanta. ter. Though the Bears won two of three games with Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum ﬁling in at quarterback, Williams’ return sparked the offense. He completed 30 of 36 passes for 305 yards with one touchdown. “I didn’t know that I went 30 for 36, and so I’ve got to go obviously back and watch the tape,” Williams said when asked if this was his best game. “I missed a couple things.” Penix completed 19 of 33 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns for Atlanta (2-4) after leaving last week’s 30-23 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens with a rib injury. The Bears’ strong start diminished the effectiveness of Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, who had only nine carries for 61 yards. “We just can’t get off a schedule like that,” Penix said. “We’ve got to ﬁnd a way to start fast so that we can keep Bijan in the game, keep the running backs and the running game going so that we can go out there execute things in the pass game as well.” Penix threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson in the second quarter. The perfectly placed back-shoulder fade pass

cut the Bears’ lead to 14-7, but a fumbled fair catch attempt by Zachariah Branch gave Chicago possession at the Atlanta 10 late in the ﬁrst half. Branch also lost a fumble on a kickoff return late in the third quarter. The Falcons didn’t score again until Penix found Kyle Pitts on a 10-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter. Penix then completed a pass to Branch for the 2-point play. PANTHERS 25, EAGLES 14: In Philadelphia, Bryce Young hit Tommy Tremble for a touchdown and Carolina’s tight end went into full Rocky Balboa mode. Tremble feigned two rights and then delivered an uppercut with his left hand for a pantomime knockout of a Panthers teammate in an end-zone celebration. The once-mighty Philadelphia Eagles — two seasons removed from a Super Bowl championship — have suddenly turned into an NFL punching bag. Young threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns to Tremble, and Chuba Hubbard ran for 120 yards and a score to lead the Panthers past the injury-riddled Eagles on Sunday. STEELERS 26, BUCCANEERS 19 OT: In Tampa, Florida, Aaron Rodg-

ers shrugged off a slow start to lead four fourth-quarter scoring drives, then finished off a 12-play, 70-yard march with a 7-yard TD throw to Germie Bernard to give the Steelers the lead for good with 3:15 remaining in OT. Rookie Jalon Daniels drove the Bucs (1-5) to midfield on the ensuing possession, but Tampa Bay could only get as close as the Steelers 48 before Jalen Ramsey sacked the undrafted free agent on fourth down for an 11-yard loss to end the game. Rodgers finished 33 of 49 passing. He was sacked five times in the first three quarters and also tossed a first-quarter interception that led to the first of four field goals by Tampa Bay’s Chase McLaughlin. CARDINALS 18, RAMS 16: In Inglewood, California, Chad Ryland kicked his sixth field goal a 43-yarder as time expired, and the Arizona Cardinals rallied for a stunning victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. Punter Ethan Evans kicked a go-ahead extra point after Colby Parkinson caught a touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford with 47 seconds to play for the vaunted Rams (2-4), who struggled all day before mounting a desperate final scoring drive. But the Cardinals immediately moved 36 yards into field goal range on Jalen Brooks’ long reception and an unnecessary roughness penalty on Josh Wallace. Three snaps later, Ryland buried his final kick to seal a shocking upset for Arizona (2-4), a double-digit underdog. TITANS 26, COLTS 20: In Indianapolis, The Tennessee Titans went from winless to party time in a jiffy Sunday. The defense shut down mistakeprone Indianapolis in the second half, the special teams made two game-changing plays in the fourth quarter and Joey Slye made two field goals in the final 2 1/2 minutes to rally the Colts from a 13-0 halftime deficit for their first win of the season. BROWNS 13, RAVENS 10: In Cleveland, Deshaun Watson shook off three quarters of ineffective play

to connect with Jerry Jeudy for a 33-yard gain that set up Andre Szmyt’s 37-yard field goal on the final snap, and the Browns rallied past the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. “For some reason, just the way our guys work and the way they believe, there’s something about this group that makes them special,” Monken said. The Browns (4-2) trailed 10-0 early and had all of 107 yards entering the fourth quarter before a late fumble by Baltimore’s Derrick Henry shifted the momentum to set the stage for their latest and perhaps most impressive — in results if not in process — victory so far. PATRIOTS 26, JETS 19: In Foxborough Massachusets, The mantra in New England’s locker room under Mike Vrabel has been to never apologize for a win. So no one was feeling bad about the Patriots improving to 2-0 in the AFC East after their victory over the New York Jets on Sunday. They also know that mounting injuries will require much more from everyone if they want to keeping winning. Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes, New England overcame losing three offensive linemen and Charles Woods came up with Geno Smith’s first interception of the season in the fourth quarter to help the Patriots hold on for a win. HOUSTON 34, JAGUARS 31:,In London, C.J. Stroud threw three touchdown passes and Marvin Harrison Jr. made his debut for the Texans (2-4) as Houston earned back-to-back wins to gain ground on the AFC South-leading Jaguars (4-2). Cam Little’s 60-yard field goal had tied the game — a week after his 57-yarder won it for Jacksonville against the Eagles at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium — after Travis Hunter intercepted Stroud’s pass in the end zone. Hunter also hauled in a 7-yard touchdown pass at the other end — becoming just the fifth player in the Super Bowl era, including the playoffs, to both score a touchdown and intercept a pass in the same game.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Golden State 1, Atlanta 0

Sports Betting Line NFL Monday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at SAN FRAN 5½ 7½ (52½)Washington

College Football

Tuesday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at FLA INTL 10½ 10½ (45½) M. Ten at DEL 2½ 2½ (52½) Missouri St S. Alabama 2½ 2½ (62½) at MRSHLL

Wednesday

Saturday, October 17: Golden State 68, Atlanta 64 Monday, October 19: Atlanta at Golden State, 7 p.m. Wednesday, October 21: Golden State at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Saturday, October 24: Golden State at Atlanta, noon x-Monday, October 26: Atlanta at Golden State, TBA x-Thursday, October 29: Golden State at Atlanta, TBA x-Saturday, October 31: Atlanta at Golden State, TBA

Major League Baseball

2 Cantillo ⁄3 1 0 0 0 1 Herrin pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. WP_Martinez. Umpires_Home, Mark Ripperger; First, Chad Fairchild; Second, Adam Hamari; Third, Nestor Ceja; Right, Bill Miller; Left, Carlos Torres. T_3:10. A_33,355 (34,788)

Pro football NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE East Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami

W 4 4 2 0

L 1 2 4 5

T Pct PF PA 0 .800 164 141 0 .667 136 113 0 .333 112 122 0 .000 70 132

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG New Mex St 2½ 2½ (45½)at SAM HOU

MLB Postseason Glance

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Liberty 9½ 10½ (48½) at KNSW ST J. Madison 12½ 10½ (57½) at APP ST at MEMPHIS 10½ 9½ (53½) E. Carolina

(Best-of-7)

South

(TBS, TruTV, HBO Max)

Jacksonville Indianapolis Houston Tennessee

W 4 2 2 1

L 2 4 4 5

T Pct PF PA 0 .667 154 104 0 .333 144 164 0 .333 144 143 0 .167 84 129

Cleveland Pittsburgh Baltimore Cincinnati

W 4 4 4 3

L 2 2 2 2

T Pct PF PA 0 .667 106 122 0 .667 137 128 0 .667 156 132 0 .600 128 109

Kansas City Denver Las Vegas L.A. Chargers

W 4 4 3 0

L 0 2 2 5

T Pct PF PA 01.000 118 77 0 .667 114 125 0 .600 132 129 0 .000 84 129

N.Y. Giants Dallas Philadelphia Washington

W 3 2 2 1

L 2 3 4 3

T Pct PF PA 1 .583 136 140 0 .400 138 136 0 .333 106 137 1 .300 115 149

Carolina Atlanta New Orleans Tampa Bay

W 3 2 2 1

L 2 4 4 5

T Pct PF PA 0 .600 146 123 0 .333 142 153 0 .333 152 178 0 .167 119 138

Minnesota Chicago Green Bay Detroit

W 5 4 3 3

L 0 2 2 2

T Pct PF PA 01.000 109 64 0 .667 150 119 0 .600 104 112 0 .600 164 148

San Francisco Seattle L.A. Rams Arizona

W 5 3 2 1

L 0 3 3 4

T Pct PF PA 01.000 154 93 0 .500 148 122 0 .400 119 120 0 .200 108 162

Thursday

Friday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at VIRGINIA 6½ 2½ (47½) Duke at UCONN 15½ 16½ (47½) UMass at TULSA 1½ 1½ (52½) Army Air Force 5½ 6½ (44½) at WYMNG NC State 7½ 7½ (55½) at STNFRD

Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at FLA ATL 10½ 10½ (58½) Rice at TCU 6½ 7 (59½) West Va LSU 6½ 6½ (50½) at AUBURN at TOLEDO 2½ 3½ (45½) W. Mich at MIA (FL) 23½ 22½ (51½) Pittsburgh at NWSTRN 16½ 16½ (58½) Rutgers at SMU 17½ 17½ (52½) Cal Indiana 6½ 8½ (42½) at MICH at C. MICH 1 1½ (43½) Miami (OH) at KENT ST. 3½ 3½ (43½) Akron Oregon 13½ 11½ (50½) at ILLINOIS Tennessee 2½ 2½ (49½) at S. CAR at BUFFALO 4½ 4½ (43½) B. Green at UCLA 13½ 12½ (47½) Michign St. North Texas 1½ 1½ (61½) at NAVY at GA TECH 5½ 4½ (50½) B. College at ALABAMA 2½ 15½ (51½) Texas A&M Hawaii 7 6½ (46½) at N. ILL at BALL ST. 9½ 9½ (50½) Sac St Iowa 2½ 5½ (40½) at MIN Oklahoma 2½ 2½ (45½) at MISS ST at OHIO 9½ 9½ (49½) E. Michigan at TROY 17½ 17½ (50½) UL Monroe at NEVADA 5½ 5½ (45½) San Jose St at LA TECH 8½ 8½ (45½) Old Dom Louisiana 10½ 10½ (52½) at S. MISS Boise State 16½ 14 (50½) at WASH ST San Diego St. 1½ 3½ (59½) at CSU at CLEMSON 1½ 2½ (49½) Va Tech Georgia St. 1½ 1½ (55½) at ARKA ST at UNC 9½ 9½ (44½) Syracuse at KENTUCKY 9½ 11½ (51½) Vanderbilt USC 1½ 2½ (49½)at WISCNSN at TEXAS 9½ 3½ (52½) Ole Miss at TEXAS ST 9½ 8½ (59½) Utah State UTSA 4 4 (50½) at TULANE at NEW MEX 3½ 4 (45½) Ndsu

MLB

Monday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY OFF

NHL

Monday

FAVORITE LINE Colorado -222 at N.Y RANGRS -138 at TORONTO -145 at UTAH -190

UNDERDOG Cleveland

LINE OFF

UNDERDOG at PHILA Anaheim San Jose Pittsburgh

LINE +178 +114 +119 +154

Pro basketball WNBA Playoff Glance (x-if necessary) Finals (Best-of-5)

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

American League

Cleveland 2, Tampa Bay 2

Monday, Oct. 12: Game 1: Cleveland 7, Tampa Bay 3 Tuesday, Oct. 13: Game 2: Tampa Bay 3, Cleveland 1 Thursday, Oct. 15: Game 3: Cleveland 3, Tampa Bay 2 Friday, Oct. 16: Game 4: Tampa Bay (Martinez 15-6) at Cleveland (Armstrong 2-1), ppd. to Oct. 17 Saturday, Oct. 17: Game 4: Tampa Bay7, Cleveland 3 Sunday, Oct. 18: Game 5: Tampa Bay (Rasmussen 1-0) at Cleveland (Messick (0-2), n Monday, Oct. 19: Game 6: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8:08 p.m. x-Tuesday, Oct. 20: Game 7: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8:08 p.m.

National League Milwaukee 4, Los Angeles Dodgers 0

Sunday, Oct. 11: Game 1: Milwaukee 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 Monday, Oct. 12: Game 2: Milwaukee 7, Los Angeles Dodgers 4 Wednesday, Oct. 14: Game 3: Milwaukee 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 2 Thursday, Oct. 15: Game 4: Milwaukee 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 4

Late Saturday Tampa Bay 7, Cleveland 3 Tampa Bay

Cleveland

ab r h bi ab r h bi Díaz dh 5 2 2 2 Kwan lf-cf 4 1 1 0 Aranda 1b 4 2 3 2 Ramírez 3b 3 0 0 0 Simpson lf 3 0 0 1 DeLauter rf 4 0 1 1 Caminero 3b5 0 1 1 Adell dh 4 0 1 0 Hicks c 2 0 0 0 Lowe 1b 3 0 0 0 Williamsn ph1 0 0 0 Fry ph-1b 1 0 0 0 Mullins cf 1 0 0 0 Bazzana 2b 3 1 2 1 Mesa rf 4 0 1 0 Bailey c 4 1 1 0 DeLuca cf 3 0 0 0 Halpin cf 1 0 0 0 Fortes c 1 0 0 0 Martínez ph-lf 2 0 1 0 Palacios 2b 4 2 3 0 Rocchio ss 3 0 1 1 Walls ss 3 1 1 0 Totals 36 7 11 6 Totals 32 3 8 3 Tampa Bay 001 001 302 — 7 Cleveland 100 000 200 — 3 E_Bazzana (1), DeLauter (1). DP_Tampa Bay 2, Cleveland 1. LOB_Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 5. 2B_Díaz (3), Caminero (2). HR_Díaz (1), Bazzana (1). SB_Walls (1), Palacios (1). SF_Simpson (1). S_Walls (1). IP H R ER BB SO Tampa Bay Martinez W,1-0 5 1⁄3 2 1 1 2 3 2 Peralta H,1 0 1 0 ⁄3 0 0 Seymour 1 4 2 2 0 1 2 Kelly H,2 ⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 1 Booser H,1 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 Baker 1 1 0 0 0 1 Cleveland Armstrong 1 0 0 0 0 1 Grifﬁn 3 2⁄3 4 1 1 0 5 1 Espino L,0-1 ⁄3 1 1 1 2 1 Herrin 1 1 1 1 0 1 Cecconi 1 2 2 1 0 2 Festa 1 1⁄3 2 2 2 0 1

North

West

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

North

West

Thursday’s Games

Denver 17, Seattle 14, OT

Sunday’s Games

Houston 34, Jacksonville 31, London, GBR Carolina 25, Philadelphia 14 Chicago 31, Atlanta 23 Cleveland 13, Baltimore 10 New England 26, N.Y. Jets 19 New Orleans 34, N.Y. Giants 27 Pittsburgh 26, Tampa Bay 19, OT Tennessee 26, Indianapolis 20 Arizona 18, L.A. Rams 16 Buffalo 33, Las Vegas 30 Kansas City 22, L.A. Chargers 6. Dallas at Green Bay, n Open: Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit, Minnesota

Monday’s Games

Washington at San Francisco, 7:15 p.m.

College football Saturday’s games EAST

Albany (NY) 48, Stony Brook 31 Army 56, FAU 24 Boston College 27, Pittsburgh 21 Bryant 17, Maine 14

Buffalo 25, UMass 18, OT CCSU 43, Mercyhurst 40 Charlotte 38, Temple 31 Cornell 48, Lehigh 38 Dartmouth 27, Merrimack 21 Duquesne 14, Stonehill 7 Georgetown 27, Colgate 17 Harvard 30, Holy Cross 7 Howard 31, Morehouse 17 LIU Brooklyn 14, Wagner 9 Lafayette 20, Bucknell 7 Louisville 34, Syracuse 26 Monmouth (NJ) 42, New Hampshire 21 New Haven 26, Robert Morris 15 Princeton 16, Brown 10 Rhode Island 41, Yale 23 Rutgers 37, Maryland 30 Sacred Heart 35, Hampton 21 Villanova 38, Fordham 17 West Virginia 45, Cincinnati 42

SOUTH

Abilene Christian 31, North Alabama 28 Alabama A&M 61, Grambling St. 31 Arkansas 31, Vanderbilt 21 Arkansas St. 23, Southern Miss. 13 Auburn 27, Georgia 24 Austin Peay 24, West Georgia 10 Bethune-Cookman 34, MVSU 14 Campbell 24, Towson 20 Clemson 37, Charleston Southern 0 Davidson 34, Morehead St. 31, OT Jackson St. 27, Florida A&M 17 James Madison 49, Georgia St. 22 LSU 31, Mississippi St. 0 Louisiana Tech 24, Louisiana-Monroe 0 Louisiana-Lafayette 33, Troy 6 McNeese St. 24, Northwestern St. 21 Mercer 31, Samford 21 Miami 43, Florida St. 35, 2OT Mississippi 31, Missouri 3 NC A&T 27, Chicago State 12 North Carolina 24, Duke 20 Presbyterian 47, Stetson 43 SE Louisiana 34, Lamar 31 South Dakota 48, Murray St. 20 South Florida 29, Kent St. 2 Stephen F. Austin 56, Nicholls 0 Tennessee 26, Alabama 10 Tennessee St. 25, Morgan St. 16 Tennessee Tech 49, E. Kentucky 20 UT Martin 17, Gardner-Webb 6 Virginia Tech 34, Georgia Tech 24 West Florida 37, West Alabama 3 Wofford 41, VMI 14

MIDWEST

Ball St. 32, Bowling Green 31, OT Dayton 19, Butler 9 Illinois St. 35, S. Illinois 14 Kansas St. 35, Kansas 24 Lindenwood (Mo.) 20, E. Illinois 13 Marist 27, Drake 22 Miami (Ohio) 34, Akron 14 Michigan 21, Penn St. 18 N. Dakota St. 31, Nevada 17 North Dakota 21, S. Dakota St. 10 Northwestern 24, Michigan St. 21 Ohio St. 19, Indiana 15 SE Missouri 40, W. Illinois 30 Toledo 34, E. Michigan 14 W. Michigan 21, Cent. Michigan 14 Youngstown St. 35, N. Iowa 22

SOUTHWEST

Alabama St. 21, Ark.-Pine Bluff 15 Florida 27, Texas 24 Houston 35, Oklahoma St. 32 Houston Christian 43, East Texas A&M 24 Incarnate Word 41, UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 16 Kentucky 21, Oklahoma 13 Prairie View 41, Alcorn St. 38 SMU 23, Virginia 13 San Jose St. 24, UTEP 11 TCU 17, Baylor 6 Tarleton St. 49, Cent. Arkansas 35 Texas A&M 41, The Citadel 0 Texas Tech 53, Arizona St. 25 Tulsa 38, Rice 17 UTSA 38, Navy 34

FAR WEST

Air Force 41, UNLV 31 BYU 28, Notre Dame 24 Idaho 42, Montana 35 Montana St. 56, E. Washington 20

N. Arizona 38, Portland St. 25 N. Colorado 28, Cal Poly 18 New Mexico 21, Hawaii 10 Ohio 48, Sacramento St. 7 Oregon 17, Nebraska 14 Oregon St. 48, Washington St. 30 S. Utah 38, UC Davis 17 San Diego 38, Valparaiso 13 San Diego St. 26, Fresno St. 23 Stanford 34, Elon 7 UCLA 17, Wisconsin 7 Utah 27, Colorado 24 Wake Forest 41, California 7 Weber St. 27, Idaho St. 20 Wyoming 41, N. Illinois 23

Late Saturday UL 33, Troy 6

Troy 0 0 6 0 — 6 UL 7 12 7 7 — 33 First Quarter UL—Wade 3 pass from Winﬁeld (Sterner kick), 12:15. Second Quarter UL—Garner 37 run (run failed), 2:21. UL—FG Sterner 42, 1:44. UL—FG Sterner 46, :00. Third Quarter TROY—Kilcrease 23 run (kick failed), 10:48. UL—Blanco 2 run (Sterner kick), 2:20. Fourth Quarter ULL—Reagan 15 run (Sterner kick), 12:17.

A—20,623.

TROY UL First downs 12 23 Total Net Yards 267 351 Rushes-yards 28-126 49-243 Passing 141 108 Punt Returns 2-0 1-3 Kickoff Returns 4-66 1-17 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 14-26-0 13-23-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-1 0-0 Punts 4-53.5 5-43.4 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0 Penalties-Yards 5-55 3-29 Time of Possession 23:21 36:39 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Troy, Lovett 10-50, Kilcrease 4-32, Crowder 5-25, Griffin 7-22, J.Merriweather 2-(minus 3). Louisiana-Lafayette, Winfield 15-65, Garner 10-62, Reagan 11-58, Blanco 10-50, K.Smith 2-6, Babineaux 1-2. PASSING—Troy, Kilcrease 5-10-0-76, Crowder 9-16-0-65. Louisiana-Lafayette, Winfield 1120-0-70, Beale 2-2-0-38, (Team) 0-1-0-0. RECEIVING—Troy, Petty 4-69, T.Lott 3-16, Dortch 2-20, Lovett 2-4, White 1-17, T.Keyes 1-12, J.Merriweather 1-3. Louisiana-Lafayette, Chaney 3-45, Chappell 3-26, Wade 2-13, Brooks 1-7, Sampson 1-6, Babineaux 1-5, Jensen 1-4, Blanco 1-2. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Troy, Head 42.

Transactions HOCKEY

National Hockey League CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS — Assigned C Dominic Toninato to Rockford (AHL). DETROIT RED WINGS — Assigned D Jacob Bernard-Docker to Grand Rapids (AHL). EDMONTON OILERS — Assigned RW James Stefan to Bakersﬁeld (AHL). MINNESOTA WILD — Recalled D Carson Lambos and C Hunter Haight from Iowa (AHL). Placed D Jared Spurgeon on injured reserve. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Assigned C Jack Studnicka to Lehigh Valley (AHL). Placed D Cam York on injured reserve. Recalled LD Hunter McDonald from Lehigh Valley. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Assigned D Ryan Johnson to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS — Recalled C Vinni Lettieri from Toronto (AHL). WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Assigned D Justin Holl to Hershey (AHL). WINNIPEG JETS — Reinstated D Elias Salomonsson from non-roster injured reserve. Assigned Salomonsson to Manitoba (AHL).

LIVING

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

M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 19, 2026

7CN

A century-old 1.6-mile tunnel system runs beneath LSU. The tunnels have produced urban legends through the years, but their real purpose to this day is to transport steam and chilled water to the campus’ buildings. | PROVIdEd PHOTO By LSU MAINTENANCE dIVISIONS/FACILITy & PROPERTy OVERSIGHT

‘This is what you do’ Louisiana native took the long way to music career. Now he’s on NBC’s ‘The Voice.’

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

DOWN

BELOW

“Everytime you go away, you take a piece of me with you. If we can solve any problem …,” Bryan Jaymes sang, “then why do we lose so many tears?” With those ﬁrst lyrics to Paul Young’s 1985 pop hit “Everytime You Go Away,” jaws dropped and “The Voice” judges/coaches and audience were mesmerized by Louisiana native Jaymes’ soulful bari-tenor sound. His Sept. 28 blind audition on the NBC singing competition series drew a three-chair turn, with judges Queen Latifah, Riley Green and Adam Levine all indicating interest in having Jaymes join their respective teams. In the end, Team Queen reigned victorious. Choosing Queen Latifah was a no-brainer, the singer, 39, said by phone from Los Angeles, where he’s lived for the last nine years. “She’s always been a part of my life in some way, shape or form. My mom, one of her favorite shows growing up was ’Living Single,’ and she used to watch that all the time,” Jaymes continued. “She was always present in movies, TV, just an iconic ﬁgure in my life.”

What lurks in the depths of the tunnels beneath LSU? The legends are more fun than the truth.

BY ROBIN MILLER | Staff writer

he buzz about LSU’s tunnels usually begins escalating around Halloween. True, there are tunnels running beneath the university, and their mere existence generates fascination — so much that the same stories have been handed down from one student class to the next. They’ve become urban legends. Though Dee Jeffers has heard the stories for decades, she can’t help being curious about the tunnels’ actual purpose. “Why are they really there?” the Baton Rouge reader asked. One legend has the tunnels being built as nuclear fallout shelters during the Cold War. Interesting story, but the tunnels were around way before the United States’ superpower standoff with Russia.

NBC PHOTO By GRIFFIN NAGEL

Baton Rouge native Bryan Jaymes listens to the judges’ critique after his blind audition for ‘The Voice.’

ä See CURIOUS, page 8C

London looks to conserve oldest restaurant’s building BY PAN PYLAS

The Associated Press LONDON — The building that houses London’s oldest restaurant has been donated to Europe’s biggest conservation charity, a move that will, it is hoped, secure one of the U.K. capital’s go-to eateries for centuries to come. Established in 1798 by Thomas Rule as an oyster bar when Europe was in turmoil in the

aftermath of the French Revolution, Rules has survived the British Empire, the Blitz and even plans for a new road layout that would have seen it demolished. Its menu expanded to traditional British fare and the restaurant welcomed generations of high profile figures from Charles Dickens to Charlie Chaplin, David Bowie to

ä See LONDON, page 8C

A view inside Rules, London’s oldest restaurant, which has been donated to Europe’s biggest conservation charity in London. AP PHOTO By ALBERTO PEZZALI

With the show’s Season 30 auditions complete, the battle rounds begin airing at 7 p.m. Monday (also streaming the next day on Peacock). Jaymes will sing again either this week or next, a spokesman for “The Voice” conﬁrmed. In the battles, each coach divides their team into pairs for duets, after which they choose one to move on in the contest and one is sent home, unless they are saved or stolen by a different coach. “I was scared out of my mind. I was absolutely terrified,” Jaymes recalled of his blind audition. “It was one of those things where you just have to feel the fear and do it anyway, but once the music started playing, and once I saw the crowd, I was like, ‘OK, this is what you do.’ ” Jaymes’ parents, James and Terry Windom, of Dallas, were cheering him on backstage with show host Carson Daly, who’s another blast from the singer’s past. “To see Carson Daly from my childhood, my days of watching ‘TRL’ (‘Total Request Live’) on MTV and everything. It was just one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” he said. Jaymes has been singing since childhood, but said it wasn’t until junior high choir that he realized his gift.

ä See JAYMES, page 8C

8C l Monday, October 19, 2026 l theadvocate.com l The Acadiana Advocate

lll

CURIOUS

Come to my party! Brink your own drink, costume, gift and fee

Continued from page 7C Then there’s the story about Huey Long. It seems no LSU legend would be complete without incorporating Louisiana’s governorturned-U.S. senator. It’s said that Long used the tunnels as an incognito route to Tiger Stadium during football season. “The story is that one of the tunnels connected LSU to the State Capitol, so he could go to the football games without being seen,” said Brian P. Broussard, LSU’s director of facilities maintenance.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU runs out of the tunnel for the game against Texas A&M on Sept. 26in Tiger Stadium. Contrary to urban legend, this is the only tunnel anyone ever passes through in Tiger Stadium.

ogetic when offering up the explanation to Jeffers’ question about the purpose One rumor is true of the tunnels. “Quick spoiler — the tunLong did use a Baton Rouge tunnel to travel from nels are not an exciting stoPoint A to Point B without ry,” the director of facilities being detected, but that tunmaintenance said. “They’re nothing glamorous or mysnel ran beneath Lafayette Street downtown, connecting terious. There are no hauntthe King Hotel to the Heidel- ings or legends. They were just part of the original berg Hotel, where he kept campus construction.” a suite of rooms. Long and The original tunnel netCastro Carazo, his appointed director of the LSU Tiger work mainly was built Marching Band, collaborated beneath the quadrangle in on all of the school’s ﬁght 1922, followed by a 1927 songs in that suite. extension. The system was One half of the Lafayette drafted into the original street passageway, once campus plans by Theodore known as Peacock Alley for Link, master planner and its blue and green mosaic architect for the university. tiles, now operates as a The quadrangle tunnel speakeasy-themed lounge stretches to LSU’s Pentagon called The Tunnel in what community, then curves becurrently is the Hilton Bahind Hill Memorial Library before stopping at the Jourton Rouge Capitol Center. Locked doors seal the other nalism and Cox Communihalf leading to what is now cations buildings. the Hotel Indigo. Later tunnels were added, And neither Peacock Alrunning from the campus ley nor the LSU tunnels are Powerhouse (which operconnected to the Capitol, ates as the main campus which means the only tunutility and energy plant) to the Barnes Ogden Art nel anyone passed through & Design Complex, then at Tiger Stadium is the one down South Campus Drive the Golden Band from Titoward Highland Road to gerland forms in the north service the Law Center, end zone for the team’s grand entrance on the ﬁeld. Faculty Club and other buildings. Their purpose There are legends of is to transport steam and hauntings inside the tunnels chilled water to and from at LSU. By whom or what? Well, it’s anyone’s guess, but the campus Power House to when looking at some of LSU the university’s buildings. They still do. Facilities Maintenance’s pho“But Huey Long is a much tos, Stephen King’s Pennymore interesting story,” wise would be right at home said Tammy Millican, LSU’s in their damp passages. executive director of FacilThe alien from the “Alien” movie franchise ity & Property Oversight. could even be lurking “And every year, around around the next bend. Halloween, these stories But a more plausible come back.” haunting would be by some Ghost of LSU Past lingering They’re not walkable within the tunnel network The tunnel system runs 1.6 beneath the university’s miles beneath the university. quadrangle, a location that’s “And they’re not walknever been a secret. able,” Broussard said. “If I had to guess, they’re about What was their purpose? 5-by-5 (feet) in dimension. Broussard is almost apol- You would have to crouch

LONDON

Have a question about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

Going into the restaurant is like stepping back into a London that’s long gone, with the interiors plush and colorful. The menu is rich and in many cases old-school English — fans of steak and kidney pies and guinea fowl and of course the desserts, such as sticky toffee pudding and apple crumble, are unlikely

to be disappointed. The restaurant can accommodate around 90 guests, many of whom come before or after a visit to one of the many theaters and cinemas nearby. There are rooms named after poet John Betjeman, who gave an impassioned speech in defense of the restaurant’s “invisible atmosphere” when London’s then governing authority planned to expand the nearby Strand thoroughfare in 1971 that would have led to the demolition of Rules. There’s also a room named after one of the restaurant’s most loyal customers, writer Graham Greene, who had birthday meals there and featured it in his novel “The End Of The Affair.” The restaurant’s proprietor Ricky McMenemy, who has worked there since 1989, will become a commercial tenant of the National Trust. “As an independent business, it gives us both the security and peace of mind that our home will be in very good hands and be protected and secure going forward,” he said. “Having already established a very amicable working relationship with the Trust, we look forward to another two centuries in this, our home.”

McKinley High School in Baton Rouge in 2005 and atContinued from page 7C tending LSU for a semester, Jaymes moved to Dallas in 2006, ﬁnding a smaller school, “I was seeing the effect MediaTech Institute, which that my voice had on some focuses on the recording of the ladies,” he said. “But I arts. Stints in a succession of still didn’t really take it super cover bands followed, giving seriously until I became an Jaymes experience performadult where I was just locked ing in front of an audience. into the craft of singing.” He currently sings in three After graduating from cover bands in the L.A. area,

is a personal trainer and serves as a worship leader at a Woodland Hills Community Church. “I’ve taken the long way around for sure, but I feel like now, at 39, I’m right where I need to be,” he said. The winner of “The Voice” takes home $100,000 and receives a recording contract. For more, visit https:// www.nbc.com/the-voice.

Continued from page 7C Madonna. King Edward VII would even rendezvous with his lovers there.

Enduring the test of time Now, the four-decade owner of the building that houses Rules, J-P Mayhew, has made the decision to donate 34-35 Maiden Lane in bustling Covent Garden in central London to the National Trust, itself a British institution hailing back to 1895. “There are few restaurants in the world that have endured the test of time like Rules,” Mayhew said Wednesday. “The Trust will protect this place in a way that no one else could, safeguarding its bricks and mortar, its famous interior and its invisible atmosphere, too.” The charity, which seeks to save important sites while opening them up for everyone to enjoy, said that the $14 million donation would secure the future of a building where “kings dined and writers and politicians plotted.” Along with the four-story building, the donation in-

JAYMES

cludes items such as visitor books, menus, caricatures, photographs, stained glass and signs. The gift also includes the annual rent from the ongoing restaurant business, which will go into conservation work each year. The trust described it as a “rare example of living heritage” where both the historic structure and the original use of the building — a restaurant — remain intact. “This place is an outstanding piece of living history, with its corners where kings dined and writers and politicians plotted, and the traditions it kept alive through wars and upheaval,” said Hilary McGrady, directorgeneral of the National Trust. “It has deﬁed the odds to be standing here today, doors still open and treacle sponge still on the menu.”

down to walk in them, and there are some places where you have to crawl.” That idea is scary enough, especially when considering the crawling around that has to be done in safety gear through some occasional water infiltration. Though there aren’t any monsters, the crawl space isn’t totally devoid of scary creatures. “You’ll run into spiders and rats down there,” Millican said. Wait, didn’t Pennywise the Clown manifest into a giant spider at the end of “It”? Shared stories from a 2011 article about the tunnels in LSU’s student newspaper, The Reveille, indicate that even an evil clown couldn’t have deterred some past students from finding a way into the tunnels, especially during the 1970s craze of “Dungeons and Dragons.” But, Broussard said, only LSU maintenance workers are authorized to walk — or crawl — in the tunnels. “We have skilled, professional tradesmen that enter and operate the equipment down there, and they’re all required to wear protective equipment when they’re down there,” Broussard said. “It’s definitely not a place for just people to wonder, and it could be a dangerous situation.” Even if Huey Long was still around, even he wouldn’t be allowed to roam LSU’s tunnels, which should be enough to dispel all the urban legends — until next Halloween.

A special atmospheres

Dear Miss Manners: My mer’s required reading of friend and I were invited “The Odyssey.” She broke to a costume party, so Zeus’ law of hospitality, so that means I had to there were probmake or rent a cosably thunderstorms the night this party tume. The woman was held. who was hosting People who are told everyone to charged for enterbring a beverage and a gag gift. tainment are not Judith This might have guests, but clients. Martin been OK, but she Miss Manners MISS also said every hears a great deal MANNERS guest had to pay $5 about the high cost to attend. We are of entertaining, and not teens or college kids, various schemes being we are all adults. practiced in order to share I feel that if you have to the cost. The traditional charge people to attend a way to do this was recipparty, then you can’t afrocal entertaining: Hosts bore the entire cost, but ford it. You should therethen ate out — for free! — fore either not have the when their guests invited party or scale it down so them over in return. you can afford it. It should be noted that I did not attend, nor will this did not mean that I ever attend a party that each host had to spend the you have to pay to enter. same amount of money. What do you think? Everyone had their own Gentle reader: That the styles and their own budgiver of this event must not have done this sumgets; the point was hospi-

tality itself. So it is a false excuse to argue that one cannot afford to reciprocate at the same level. Another tradition, once common among the young, but which has now spread to all ages, is the cooperative party. The person who coordinates this, and even the person who provides the venue, are no more hosts than anyone else. So cooking and cleaning assignments are negotiable. It is a perversion of this when one person announces they are giving a party and then dictates assignments to their so-called guests. In neither of these customs was money collected, although presumably a cooperative venture could decide to do so instead of having food contributions. Send questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com.

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Monday, Oct. 19, the 292nd day of 2026. There are 73 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 19, 1987, the stock market crashed as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points, or 22.6% in value (its largest daily percentage loss ever), to close at 1,738.74 on what came to be known as “Black Monday.” Also on this date: In 1781, British forces under Gen. Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, as the American Revolution neared its end. In 1960, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested during a sit-down protest at a segregated

lunch counter in Atlanta, one of the early demonstrations of the nonviolent civil rights movement that he helped lead. In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatiﬁed Mother Teresa during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square. Mother Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity religious order that helps society’s outcasts, was elevated to sainthood in 2016 by Pope Francis. She died in 1997. In 2005, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was put on trial by the Iraqi Interim Government, accused of crimes against humanity. Captured by U.S. forces in 2003, Hussein was convicted, sentenced to death and executed by hanging in December 2006. In 2025, thieves broke

into the world-famous Louvre museum in Paris, smashed display cases and fled with more than $102 million worth of crown jewels. The brazen daylight heist took place soon after the morning opening, with visitors already inside, and was one of the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory. Today’s birthdays: Actor John Lithgow is 81. Actor Ken Stott is 72. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 66. Boxing Hall of Famer Evander Holyfield is 64. Filmmaker Jon Favreau is 60. Former first daughter Amy Carter is 59. “South Park” cocreator Trey Parker is 57. Comedian Chris Kattan is 56. Filmmaker Jason Reitman is 49. Actor Gillian Jacobs is 44.

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● 9C

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FrAnK And erneSt

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zodIAC LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) If you look for opportunities, you will find them. Check out the want ads, job postings or events that resonate with you, and you'll find something that sparks your interest. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Take your time, and refuse to let anyone rush you or interfere with what you are trying to accomplish. Use your intellect, physical attributes and skills to achieve what you set out to do. sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Let your inquisitive attitude help you open doors. Talk to experts, ask questions, make suggestions and offer hands-on help. Build a strong bond with those you feel connected to through mind, body or soul. cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Live and learn. Pay attention to detail, precision and what everyone around you is contributing. Measure what you are willing to do against what you can get in return. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) A passionate approach to what you do or want to pursue will help you gain ground. It's OK to have grandiose expectations and vision if you make progress. Keep your plans to yourself. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Pay attention to your investments, health and legal matters. Knowing what's possible and being aware of how best to protect yourself is up to you. Ask questions and mull over your options. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Turn your dreams into a reality. Push forward with

discipline, drive and determination, and you will manifest the opportunities to guide you forward. Distance yourself from discord. TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Spend time reflecting on what and who is important to you, and focus on how to protect and nurture what you value most. Take note of what's changing around you. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Delve into exploring new possibilities, enhancing your skills to help point you in a new direction, or turning your living space into something that makes you want to spend more time at home. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Don't skip the detail. Everything you do or display will be put under a microscope. Be ready to walk those with less vision through your long-term plans with finesse. LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) How you handle domestic situations and those you encounter will determine how well you do. Listen, pay attention to detail and accept criticism with an open mind. Letting ego or upset set in will be counterproductive. VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Speak up, ask questions, learn and apply what you discover to what you do. Put a budget in place, apply ingenuity and stick to your plans. Refuse to let what others do or say distract you. 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

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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: c EQuALs n

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

10C ● Monday, October 19, 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. Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

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La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● 11C

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Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Plato said, “He who does not desire power is fit to hold it.” This week, let’s continue our look at deals with two suit fits. When you have two unbalanced fits, say 5-3 and 6-2, which should you choose? The guideline is: When all or most of the tricks must come from the two long suits, select the less evenly divided. This means that 6-2 will be better than 5-3. (This is also one time when a 5-3 fit will be better than a 4-4.) That rule is doubly true when the breaks are bad or you have relatively weak hands. In today’s deal, North-South will be contemplating a sacrifice over four hearts, which would make easily, West taking at least three spades, five hearts and two diamonds. Should North-South pick five clubs or five diamonds? South’s first-round call would cause debate. Many experts would advocate two no-trump, showing at least 5-5 in the unbid suits. But some would prefer two diamonds, bidding the longer suit first and planning to bid clubs next time (at the five-level if necessary) to describe the 6-5. This second plan works better here, because if South intervenes with two no-trump, North will prefer five clubs to

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

five diamonds. Note, though, that after two rounds of hearts, declarer is in big trouble. The defenders will keep playing on hearts, and five clubs doubled will go down four. In five diamonds doubled, though, West must lead an unlikely club at trick one to get the contract down three. © 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 — TEnDERLy: TEN-der-lee: With consideration and care.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 14 words Time limit 20 minutes Can you find 17 or more words in TENDERLY? sATuRDAy’s WoRD — cARDInAL cairn canal canard card carnal clad clan cranial acai acid acrid

aria arid arnica racial radial radian radical raid rail rain rancid

rani rind darn dial drain nada nadir nail laic laid lain

lair lanai land lard liar

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 This is what our world needs. — G.E. Dean

12C ● Monday, October 19, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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