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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 20, 2026

A pedestrian walks past an Elon Musk mural that reads ‘BOCA CHICA TO MARS’ in Brownsville, Texas.

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Early voting How SpaceX transformed begins in Louisiana the Texas coast STAFF PHOTOS BY SOPHIA GERMER

Brownsville saw downtown revival, job growth along with pollution and sonic booms

Midterms to determine control of Congress

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer

Early voting begins Tuesday in Louisiana for the Nov. 3 midterm elections that will determine which party controls Congress. At the top of the statewide ballot is the race for U.S. Senate. U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who has President Donald Trump’s backing, aims to keep Republican control of a seat in a solidly red state. But she faces an energetic challenge from Democrat Jamie Davis, a Tensas Parish farmer who has held rallies across the state seizing on the cost of living, Iran war and other issues. All six of the state’s U.S. House seats are also up for election. In four of those races, incumbents are expected to win reelection against little-known challengers, but two open seats are hotly contested by crowded ﬁelds of candidates. One is likely to ﬂip from Democrat to Republican after the Legislature redrew district lines to eliminate a majority-Black district in the wake of a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Nationally, all eyes are on whether Democrats will take control of the House from Republicans — and the two Louisiana men who hold the chamber’s top leadership positions, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, and Majority Leader

ä See VOTING, page 4A

Tesla Cybertrucks are lined up near the production facility in Starbase, Texas.

Carter could have bigger role in Congress soon

BY ALEX LUBBEN

Staff writer

BROWNSVILLE,Texas — Elon Musk hadn’t yet flown a single person to space when he approached local leaders here with a plan 15 years ago: He wanted to save humanity by colonizing Mars, and to get there he proposed building a giant rocket facility in this impoverished town. Gilberto Salinas, a local economic development ofﬁcial, said he laughed it off initially: “This is just crazy, right?” Salinas ﬂew to Hawthorne, California, to see SpaceX’s early rocket factory and to “kick the tires” on the Salinas company, as he put it, because it was then still essentially a startup. “They were, in fact, building rockets,” Salinas said. “But they were a bunch of kids that were in their late 20s, early 30s. To me they looked like skateboarders.” Still, Salinas wondered: What if this could be the project to revive his downtrodden hometown on the Mexi-

Democrat facing little opposition in reelection bid BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Justin LeClaire, an avian conservation biologist, walks through the Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area near the SpaceX launchpads in Starbase, Texas, last month. LeClaire and his group, the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, have documented SpaceX’s ecological impact. can border? “We could potentially become the next space city,” Salinas remembers thinking. “Fast forward to today and we are that.” SpaceX has dramatically transformed the Brownsville region in the last 15 years — for better or worse, depending on who you ask. Here, the

company is building the world’s largest and most powerful rocket in a newly formed company town called Starbase, just east of Brownsville on Boca Chica Beach. Since SpaceX arrived in 2014, the

ä See SPACEX, page 5A

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter was listening intently when Bishop L. John Phoenix at Victory Christian Center International in New Orleans began his sermon Sunday by invoking the Bible. “Your adversaries don’t have the advantage,” Phoenix told Carter, D-New Orleans, and his congregants, who in turn encouraged the pastor by calling out, “Come on! You’re right!” Carter “Your adversaries don’t have the advantage,” Phoenix repeated. That line could sum up Carter’s campaign as he seeks a third full term in the House to represent

ä See CARTER, page 4A

Community grieves LSU student, ﬁancé killed in hit-and-run BY HALEY MILLER Staff writer

A ﬁreﬁghter who attended Delgado Community College and an LSU senior dreaming of becoming a dentist were engaged to be married in 2028, planning to tie the knot in a barn-style venue in Amite. But, in the early hours of Sun-

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day morning, the young couple was walking back from Tigerland together down a stretch of Nicholson Drive when they were hit by a car that veered off the roadway. Leah Fonte, a 21-year-old Metairie native, died at the scene, police said. Her ﬁancé, Shane Hirstius, 21, died from his injuries in the hospital. The driver, Mia Dawson, 20,

was arrested and booked on ﬁve counts, including operating a vehicle while intoxicated and vehicular homicide. The Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas expressed disbelief and grief Monday, with friends and family sharing stories of Fonte and Hirstius on social media. Fonte was an aspiring dentist studying biological sciences at

LSU. She posted in May about a service trip to Panama in which she helped provide dental care for over 300 patients. She shared photos of her working with kids in the region as she smiled through a paper mask. “This trip made me fall even more in love with dentistry, service, and giving back,” she wrote. LSU Global Dental Brigades,

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an organization for which Fonte served as a fundraising chair, said in a statement that her positivity was “contagious” during the trip. “Leah radiated a genuine love for people and a desire to make the world a healthier and happier place,” the statement said. Hirstius was a firefighter with

ä See GRIEVES, page 7A

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FROM WIRE REPORTS

Police: Fatal shooting not connected to mosque

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A shooting in a neighborhood near a mosque in Ohio’s capital city left one person dead Monday but was not connected to the house of worship or those who were inside, police said. Federal and local authorities descended on the area as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a post on X that agents were responding to a report of a shooting at the mosque, northeast of downtown Columbus. Police later said the shooting happened in the parking lot of an apartment complex next to the mosque.

Miss. AG: Force justified in shooting of 1-year-old

Mississippi’s attorney general says a Senatobia police officer was justified in the use of force during a June shoplifting call that ended in the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy. The conclusion of the state’s investigation into the shooting death of Kohen Wiley follows months of mourning and calls for justice, both nationally and in the small town about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee, where the shooting took place. The shooting occurred in midJune as Senatobia officers responded to a shoplifting call at a local Walmart, where they saw Vellesiya Wiley, Kohen’s mother, carrying her son as she and a friend left the store, got into a car and began driving away. Wiley and her friend are both Black. Police reports indicate diapers and baby clothes were allegedly stolen. According to a statement released shortly after the shooting by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the car drove toward law enforcement, prompting an officer to fire into the car, striking Kohen and his mother’s friend. In a video released days after the shooting, Vellesiya Wiley denied that she or her friend stole anything and disputed that her friend, who was driving, headed toward the officers. Ben Crump, a nationally renowned civil rights attorney who is representing Kohen’s family, has said results of a preliminary independent autopsy indicate Kohen was shot from the side of the car, not the front, contradicting officers’ claims that the car was heading toward them.

Leader of Kenyan cult convicted of 191 murders

NAIROBI, Kenya — The leader of a Kenyan doomsday cult linked to more than 400 deaths was convicted Monday of murdering 190 children and one adult after ordering followers to starve themselves to death to meet Jesus. Justice Diana Kavedza ruled that Pastor Paul Mackenzie, leader of the Good News International Church, oversaw an organized system that used religious teachings to compel followers to fast until they died. In 2023, more than 400 bodies were exhumed from shallow graves on the 800-acre Chakama Ranch in coastal Kiliﬁ County, where Mackenzie’s followers lived in mud huts, away from the scrutiny of local communities and authorities. Mackenzie was arrested and charged with murder alongside his wife and dozens of his followers. Some followers later became prosecution witnesses in the case. The court found that the directive to fast to death was implemented by targeting children first, while guards were deployed to prevent them from escaping, beating those who attempted to escape or eat.

Australian PM: Lawmaker injured by car ‘no accident’

MELBOURNE, Australia — An Australian federal lawmaker remained in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing surgery for injuries sustained when she was hit by a car in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said was an apparently deliberate attack. Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent politician, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electoral district ofﬁce midafternoon Monday in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state, police said. The driver was arrested and remained in police custody. Albanese said the national counterterrorism team was investigating, incorporating police and intelligence agencies.

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Zelenskyy slams partner countries

Washington moves benefiting tems has made Ukraine more vul- Zelenskyy said on social media. President says cent Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles Russian President Vladimir Putin, nerable. Delays are still occurring waiving U.S. sanctions with some “vital supplies” from at Kyiv and its surrounding region, Ukraine was again including on Moscow and signing a deal to the U.S., Zelenskyy said without Zelenskyy said, with officials in diesel from Moscow. elaborating, and senior Kyiv of- the capital reporting a 21-year-old not given early import Moscow and Kyiv, meanwhile, ficials are urgently contacting woman was killed. Ukraine received no warning discussing the possible evac- other countries to strengthen air warning of Russia were from its partners ahead of the first uation of the Russian-occupied defenses. Western intelligence sharing wave of attacks, and information city of Oleshky in the strike of power grid front-line southern Kherson region, where has helped Ukraine counter Rus- about a second wave arrived too

BY SAMYA KULLAB and BARRY HATTON Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched new attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, adding that Kyiv again received no early warning of the attack from partner countries that previously shared their intelligence. Zelenskyy is grappling with re-

about 2,000 people have been cut off from food and medical supplies for months, according to a Ukrainian human rights ofﬁcial. Zelenskyy said speed restrictions are still in place on Kyiv’s use of the military-grade version of U.S. company SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Full service was being restored at the end of last week, but Zelenskyy said Monday that the restrictions are still slowing Ukraine’s drones along the front. Also, a severe shortage of American-made Patriot air defense sys-

sia’s devastating ballistic missiles and hold back Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began more than 4½ years ago. President Donald Trump says Washington hasn’t stopped providing intelligence to Kyiv. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeated that position Monday, saying he had no information about the previous night’s Russian attack. The Russian nighttime barrage hit 28 substations and other critical energy facilities, depriving more than a half-million people of electricity, heat and running water,

late for air raid sirens to be activated in time, air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said on national television. The Russian Defense Ministry said that it struck Ukrainian targets including a data center, a logistics hub storing components for drones and cruise missiles, an industrial facility making drone components, and a locomotive depot where missiles are stored. It also said it struck a bulk carrier in the Black Sea heading for Odesa with supplies for Ukraine’s armed forces.

Albertans vote on path to independence Carney fights to keep Canada united BY ROB GILLIES Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY EMMA DA SILVA

A woman walks her dog past a looted store Sunday, the day after a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students’ grievances, in Paris.

After riots, Paris police issue overnight curfews French capital looks to prevent further disorder

BY SYLVIE CORBET

Associated Press

PARIS — Paris police issued an overnight curfew on Monday in two areas of the French capital, after a weekend marred by France’s worst rioting in years that targeted city halls, other public buildings and thousands of businesses across the country. The order aims to protect “people and property from the violence and looting,” the Paris police statement said. The curfew prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on the Place de la République, where rioting took place Saturday, and the shopping neighborhood of Les Halles, which has been subject to looting. The curfew will be in effect from 11 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, gatherings and demonstrations are banned from 8 p.m., the Paris police said. Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had called for “very limited” and “localized” curfews. In northern France, local authorities imposed a curfew for children and

teenagers under age 18 in several cities, including Lille, starting from Monday and for the next two days from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Nice, on the French Riviera, also imposed an overnight curfew for minors from 9 p.m. Lecornu defended police handling of the unrest, saying that “despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no one was killed, and that is a miracle.” He said that details of the curfews would be announced later Monday after consultations with mayors. Mass protests in France are often tainted by violence on the fringes of otherwise peaceful marches, leading to clashes with police. Saturday’s unrest recalled the riots that followed the fatal police shooting of a teenager in 2023, when authorities imposed local curfews, and violence during the yellow vest movement that began in 2018 over fuel prices and broader economic grievances. The prime minister’s instructions come after Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation Sunday. But President Emmanuel Macron refused it “given the need for continued command of law enforcement in the current context,” Macron’s ofﬁce said in a statement Monday.

Japan launches spacecraft to mysterious moons of Mars

spacecraft on Mars over Mission aims to moons. The Japan Aerospace the past 50 years and Chibring home soil Exploration Agency, na scored a 2021 touchwhich is leading the down, no one has ever samples bold sampling effort, ventured onto Phobos

BY MARCIA DUNN AP aerospace writer

A Japanese spacecraft rocketed toward Mars on Tuesday on an unprecedented quest to explore its mysterious moons and bring back samples. Five of the world’s space agencies joined forces for the five-year mission that will attempt to land a robotic prospector plus a rover on Phobos, the larger and closer of Mars’ two pint-sized

launched the spacecraft before dawn from the country’s main spaceport on Tanegashima Island. Officials declared success an hour later when the spacecraft separated as planned from the rocket’s upper stage. Flight controllers burst into applause and jumped to their feet, shaking hands and embracing. No one has managed to get samples from Mars or its moons yet While NASA has successfully landed nine

or its sidekick Deimos. And no one has managed to fetch samples from Mars, let alone its moons. If successful, bits of dust, soil and rocks from Phobos will arrive on Earth in 2031. “There’s a lot of adrenaline and a lot of excitement and a lot of wow,” said NASA astrophysicist Tom Statler, who’s involved with the project. Japan has an edge going in, with two asteroid sample returns already under its cosmic belt.

EDMONTON, Alberta — Voters in Canada’s oil-rich Alberta province were deciding on Monday whether to begin a process that could lead to independence, testing national unity as Canadians rally against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war and threats to claim Canada as the 51st U.S. state. Monday’s vote is not a direct referendum on independence. Alberta, home to most of Canada’s proven oil reserves — the fourth largest in the world — will decide whether to remain a province or begin the legal process toward a future referendum on separation. More than 1.35 million Albertans, or 43% of eligible voters, cast advance or special ballots ahead of Monday’s referendum, an unusually high level of early participation that underscores the intense interest in the province’s future. Polls close at 8 p.m. local

time, with results expected in the hours afterward. Alberta is Canada’s oil heartland and cowboy country, a conservative stronghold whose political culture has long had more in common with the American West than much of Canada. Resentment toward Ottawa runs deep, but has not traditionally translated into widespread support for independence. But even if Albertans reject the proposal, separatist leaders say the movement has transformed a fringe cause into a force in provincial politics and is not going away. Prime Minister Mark Carney urged Albertans to deliver a decisive vote for unity. “Vote like Canada’s future depends on it because it does,” he told a rally Friday in Edmonton, where he grew up. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who called the referendum despite opposing independence, cited a poll showing just 22% support for separation, a ﬁgure she said was still too high.

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Funding OK’d to restore land on edge of N.O. BY MIKE SMITH

Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO

Homeland Security Investigations task force officers escort a suspect accused of illegally registering to vote during a federal operation Monday in Commerce, Calif.

More than 2 dozen charged in DOJ sweep in Calif.

BY SAFIYAH RIDDLE Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities charged more than two dozen foreign nationals Monday in California as part of a statewide sweep targeting people who officials say have illegally registered or voted in U.S. elections. The arrests are part of a Trump administration effort to root out noncitizen voting ahead of next month’s midterm elections, even though data shows that the problem is incredibly rare, difficult to prove and has not been shown to change the outcome of races. Federal officials on Monday blamed California officials for the alleged crimes, accusing them of facilitating noncitizen voting through inadequate voter roll maintenance and hiding it from the public. The charges escalated a simmering voter roll fight that came into focus last week when the Justice Department sued California and warned that local election workers who knowingly process or tabulate ballots submitted by noncitizen voters are at risk of investigation and potential prosecution.

Louisiana will get more than $260 million for two large-scale coastal restoration projects, including one aiming to shore up key sections of an eroding chunk of vital land that helps protect the New Orleans area from storm surge. The projects are being paid for with funds related to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Trustees overseeing those funds gave ﬁnal approval for the two plans last week. They include work along sections of what is known as the East Orleans Landbridge on the far eastern edge of New Orleans. The landbridge divides Lakes Pontchartrain, St. Catherine and Borgne, but has been gradually disappearing for decades. It is estimated to help protect some 1.5 million people in the New Orleans area from storm surge, on both sides of Lake Pontchartrain, while also preventing further saltwater intrusion into the brackish estuary. One section of it is estimated to have lost about 110 acres of marsh since 1956. The plan would be the largest restoration project yet for the landbridge. Another plan will restore Rac-

coon Island, a barrier island off Terrebonne Parish that is part of the Isles Dernieres chain. The island provides important habitat for birds, fish and shellfish and acts as storm surge buffer for parts of the central Louisiana coast. Some $109.4 million was approved for the landbridge work and another $156.3 million for Raccoon Island. “Together, these projects will restore up to 1,700 acres in wetland, coastal and nearshore habitat,” the trustees, which include a range of state and federal agencies, said in a statement. Roughly $8.5 billion in fines and settlement dollars related to the BP spill have been set aside for Louisiana restoration projects. The state has used the funding to carry out large-scale coastal restoration work, but the funding expires by 2032. Projects already given the green light by that time will continue, but the lack of future funding will leave the state with a huge fiscal gap for coastal work in the future. The land bridge project would create around 1,290 acres of marsh, or nearly 1,000 football fields, mainly along the Rigolets. It would also include shoreline protection in the form of permeable containers with limestone to help prevent erosion.

Cordgrass, roseau cane and other native vegetation would be planted atop the sediment. Some 5 million cubic yards of sediment dredged from nearby Lake St. Catherine would be used — enough to overflow the Superdome. The state has estimated that construction could begin in the fall of 2027 and last around three years. The land bridge is familiar to those who have taken the drive all the way down U.S. 90, or Chef Menteur Highway, beyond the New Orleans area’s hurricane protection system and over the old swing bridge. Fishing camps dot the area residents sometimes call the “the island,” as it sits on the narrow strip between Chef Pass and the Rigolets. Erosion, subsidence, sea level rise and hurricanes have taken a heavy toll on the land bridge. Losing it completely would allow tides and storm surge to roll in from the Gulf unimpeded. The state’s coastal master plan lays out a larger strategy for restoring 29,000 acres of it at a cost of $1.1 billion. Smaller restoration projects have been completed in the past. Michael Hare, executive director of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said in a statement that the project “is an important investment in the long-term health and sustainability of Louisi-

ana’s coast.” “By restoring critical marsh habitat and strengthening shoreline protection, this project will help preserve valuable coastal resources, support fish and wildlife habitat, and improve the resilience of this important landscape for future generations,” he said. Coastal advocacy groups have long pushed for land bridge restoration projects and welcomed final approval of the plan. “This project will strengthen vital wildlife habitat while also protecting communities, including New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Slidell, Mandeville and LaPlace, from flooding and storm surge,” the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition of coastal advocacy organizations said in a statement. The coalition added that the project “exemplifies the kind of largescale, science-driven restoration needed to protect our coast and the communities that depend on it for generations to come.” The Raccoon Island project would restore around 410 acres using dredged material while raising existing breakwaters and constructing shoreline protection. The protection structures would include living shoreline using oyster growth as well as rubble breakwaters.

House leader likes Democrats’ chances in race BY LISA MASCARO

AP congressional correspondent TOLEDO, Ohio — House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday the election climate is holding ﬁrm for Democrats as he campaigned for Rep. Marcy Kaptur in a heavily contested Ohio congressional district that is crucial for majority control of the House. Jeffries Jeffries also slapped back at President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to waive sanctions on Russia and said there will be a bipartisan effort in the House to pursue a new sanctions package that the president would

not have the ability to waive. “It’s shocking, but not surprising, that an American president would do so much to undermine the cause of democracy, freedom and dignity for the Ukrainian people,” Jeffries told The Associated Press after visiting church services in Toledo. Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win back the majority, has traveled to some 50 cities campaigning for Democratic candidates. He said the House Republicans are “divorced from reality” in thinking — as Speaker Mike Johnson recently suggested — that the Nov. 3 election will be a repeat of the 2024 sweep that put Trump in the White House and Republicans in Congress. “The climate continues to hold ﬁrm,” Jeffries said, about the Dem-

ocrats’ chances. “We are working hard across the country, continuing to make the case that we need dramatic change as opposed to the status quo,” he said, “and that Democrats are going to be the only ones to ﬁght to make this country affordable.” Ohio races are key to control of Congress The Buckeye State is being ﬁercely contested in these midterm elections that will determine control of Congress. While much attention has been on the Senate race between Republican Sen. Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown, the House races are a district-by-district slog key to unlocking control of that chamber. The Toldeo-area House seat has been a top priority. Kaptur, who has

held office for decades, is the longest-serving woman in the House. But Trump has carried the district and Republicans are trying to flip it. Kaptur defeated GOP candidate Derek Merrin two years ago, but he is making a repeat play for the seat. “We work very hard,” Kaptur told AP. “We don’t just work at elections. We work to make a difference in the lives of people.” In August, Kaptur, 80, was heading to church when the vehicle she was riding in as a passenger was struck. She was hospitalized with injuries suffered in the car accident, but said she has since recovered. Jeffries said Kaptur is a legendary figure in the Great Lakes Region. “Once again, she’s going to defy all expectations,” he said.

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VOTING

Continued from page 1A Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. But the election also has some significant stakes at the state and local level. Two seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates public utilities, are also on the ballot as questions swirl about data centers and their massive power demands. And voters will decide on a whopping 10 proposed amendments to the state constitution, affecting property taxes, term limits for governors and more. At the local level, voters will be choosing judges, district attorneys and a host of other local offices and ballot propositions. Early voting runs from Tuesday through Oct. 27, excluding Sunday, Oct. 25. Polls are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can find a sample ballot, early voting locations, your election day polling place and other information at the secretary of state’s website, GeauxVote.com.

Senate race leads the list In the eyes of most national political observers, the most interesting part of Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race has already happened. In May, Letlow ousted incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, in the Republican primary election when she took ﬁrst place and Treasurer John Fleming took second. Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, defeated Fleming in the runoff a month later. Trump had been furious with Cassidy ever since the senator voted to ﬁnd him guilty of inciting the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. Since the primary election wrapped up, national political handicappers have consistently rated Louisiana’s Senate race as a safe Republican seat. But don’t tell Davis that. A political unknown, the farmer and former Tensas police jury member stepped up to run when no established Louisiana Democrats did. He has been holding well-attended events across the

CARTER

Continued from page 1A a New Orleans-anchored district that continues up the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge. Carter, 62, is cruising to victory Nov. 3 with little opposition from four opponents in a 10-parish district drawn by the state Legislature to elect a Black Democrat. Still, however, Carter will face one major adversary back in Washington, the man he sometimes refers to as “the orange fella”: President Donald Trump. Carter is buoyed by widespread predictions that Democrats will retake control of the House and have a bigger platform to push for restoring the Republicans’ cuts to Medicaid for the working poor, for scaling back the aggressive tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and for highlighting accusations of graft by Trump. Carter is expected to play an expanded role in national affairs since he is running unopposed to be elected internally next month as the next chair of the 63-member Congressional Black Caucus. “My term as chair of the CBC will dovetail into the picking of the next president, which will give me an opportunity to be at the table and highlight that all roads to the White House will go through the South,” Carter said Sunday as he drove from one campaign event to another.

Partisan wrangling The past two years have been frustrating for Carter, who prides himself on his ability to work with Republicans to beneﬁt his constituents. Like other Democrats, Carter feels shut out by Republican members of Congress who he says have been toeing the partisan line over the past 21 months to avoid antagonizing Trump. Because of his bipartisan mindset, Carter had to be prodded into specifying his complaints with the top two Republicans in the House: Speaker Mike Johnson, who represents northwest Louisiana, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who represents suburban New Orleans. “I don’t want to sensation-

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Voting machines line a wall at City Hall in New Orleans on Monday ahead of early voting beginning Tuesday. Congressional races, constitutional amendments, Public Service Commission seats and local issues are on the ballot. state where he has railed against the rising cost of living, a lack of regulations on artificial intelligence and Trump’s war in Iran, among other issues. On Saturday, Davis campaigned at get-out-the-vote events in LaPlace and Shreveport. On Sunday, he held three events in New Orleans. He attended Mass that celebrated the 185th anniversary of the St. Augustine Church in the Treme neighborhood, attended an event for the shrimp industry and appeared on a podcast broadcast from a barbershop. On Monday, he spoke to the Press Club of Baton Rouge, an event that Letlow didn’t attend. Davis said his grassroots organizing effort will lead him to prevail over Letlow, even though she has more money. Democrats are hoping for a surge in turnout, beginning with the early voting period, particularly among Black voters after the Louisiana v. Callais decision all but gutted the Voting Rights Act and led the Republican legislature to redraw Louisiana’s congressional map and eliminate Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields’ majorityBlack district. Still, Letlow has most of the advantages. Trump’s endorsement carries weight with Louisiana’s sizable GOP base, and she has raised far more money than Davis. That has led her to run the sort of low-

alize individuals,” Carter said as he drove on Interstate 10 on his way to LaPlace. “But there’s no question in my mind that our speaker of the House and our number two have been complicit in their following of Donald Trump. The speaker of the House voted for and led the charge for the Big Ugly Law.” That’s the Democrats’ name for what Trump labeled the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Trump and Republicans highlight the parts that eliminate taxes on tips and overtime. Carter and Democrats emphasize the parts that shower the bill’s biggest tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans and reduce healthcare subsidies for the poor. Carter also notes that the tax break on tips and overtime is temporary. Carter noted that nearly half of the residents in Johnson’s district receive Medicaid, the federal healthcare program for the poor, and that many will lose beneﬁts under the bill. “How do you have 39% to 40% of the people you represent fall prey to a bill that every independent body that has reviewed this law proves empirically that it will be devastating for those very people?” Carter asked. “Those are your people. Trump nor any Democratic president could convince me to vote against the interest of the people I represent. That’s not loyalty. That’s foolishness.” Carter noted that the cuts to Medicaid are scheduled to begin next year, after the November midterm elections, and will cause an estimated 17 million people to lose healthcare insurance. Republicans say any coverage losses will result from efforts to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. The Republican-controlled Legislature gave Carter most of New Orleans and most of the Black voter precincts in Jefferson Parish through the River Parishes up to Baton Rouge. That has left his district as the only one with a Black majority, although conservatives are in court arguing that the design violates the Constitution.

key campaign that is typical for an incumbent conﬁdent of victory. After visiting 14 parishes last week, Letlow did not campaign over the weekend. She held another closed-door “listening tour” event in Baton Rouge on Monday, marking the 50th of all 64 parishes that she plans to visit.

Primaries for U.S. House Two of six races for the House are for open seats, and both of them have drawn a ﬂood of candidates and intense campaigning. Take, for example, the 6th Congressional District, which Fields won two years ago when it was a majority-Black district. The district now covers parishes in and around Baton Rouge, and is solidly Republican — Fields declined to run for reelection, saying he did not think he could win. Ten candidates have piled into the race to replace Fields. The race appears to be wideopen, with no candidate garnering more than 13% of the vote, and 36% of the voters still undecided, according to a survey of 400 registered voters taken last week by pollster Greg Rigamer for superlobbyist Alton Ashy. The most prominent candidates are state senators Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, who have bitterly feuded in attack ads and public

site states his family owns a tree farm and specialty crop business in Pointe Coupee Parish, north of Baton Rouge. The website states he opposes abortion, supports the right for people to own and bear arms and views marriage as “between one man and one woman.” Williams had not raised or spent any money on the race as of Sept. 30, according to the Federal Election Commission website. Carter has the support of numerous local Republicans, including Joe Lopinto, the Jefferson Parish sheriff. “My job as sheriff is to work with individuals in Washington and Louisiana regardless of party,” Lopinto said. “Troy has certainly been a person I’ve been able to work with.” A Libertarian candidate in the race is Lisa Ballay, whose website describes her as a nurse who is president of the West Jefferson Hospital Foundation. “Republicans promised small government. Democrats promised competent government. Neither one delivered,” Ballay says on her website. One no-party candidate is Walter “Rocky” Beach, whose website states he has worked for decades as a paramedic. Another no-party candidate is Renada “Honey” Collins, who hasn’t created a campaign webpage. Carter is paying no heed to the four as he runs for another term. On Sunday, he visited three African American churches in New Orleans. At each stop, he urged people to vote early beginning on Tuesday. Carter then headed to the Andouille Festival in LaPlace. He began by speaking for several minutes inside the gospel tent. “I’m ready to reconfirm my commitment to you to fight for a fair and just America, to fight for resources for environmental justice, economic opportunity, education, an economy that is inclusive of all people, infrastructure that fixes our roads and bridges and our pathways that sometimes No major challengers flood,” he said. Carter noted it was lunchThe one Republican challenging Carter is Peter Wil- time, and he wanted to find liams, whose campaign web- something good to eat.

statements. Among other criticisms, Edmonds has blasted Miguez for living outside the district, while Miguez has countered by noting that Edmonds preaches at a Mississippi church. Four other, less well-known Republicans are also running: Michael Mebruer, Monique Appeaning, Stephen Wagley and Larry Davis III. So is a Libertarian, Rufus Craig. But some Democrats are not letting Republicans take the seat without a ﬁght. Pat Forbes, Lindsay Garcia and Chauna Banks have blasted Trump decisions to attack Iran and deploy National Guard soldiers into U.S. cities. Meanwhile, nine candidates are running to replace Letlow in the 5th District, which stretches from Monroe down to the mostly rural Florida Parishes. The list includes several established political ﬁgures: state Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe; state Rep. Michael Echols, R-Monroe; state Rep. Gabe Firment, of Pollock; and Misti Cordell, the chair of the state’s Board of Regents. State Rep. Pat Moore, a Monroe Democrat, is also running. So are several less well-known candidates: Antonio Wilson, a Democrat from Tallulah; Dan McKay, a Democrat from Bunkie; Austin Magee, a Republican from Franklinton; and Omar Dantzler, a Republican from Hammond. A Rigamer poll for Ashy last week also showed no clear favorites among the four Republican candidates; 27% of all voters were undecided. Given the number of candidates in each race, it is likely that no candidate will get more than 50% of the vote. In that case, the two top vote-getters will face off in a December runoff. In the other four districts, incumbents face little-known challengers and are expected to keep their seats. That includes Johnson, RBenton; Scalise, R-Jefferson; Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette; and Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.

In the past two election cycles, voters have rejected all constitutional amendments in front of them, and many observers suspect that trend may repeat itself this year, given the sheer number of proposals and general voter dissatisfaction. But supporters argue the ideas have real policy merit and deserve consideration. Five of the amendments would affect property taxes, changing how local governments can roll them forward and authorizing more exemptions. One would tighten term limits for governors, and others would affect water infrastructure and post-conviction bail. A nonpartisan guide to the amendments is available from the Public Affairs Research Council at its website, parlouisiana.org.

PSC races

Two seats on the five-member Public Service Commission are also on the ballot. The Public Service Commission regulates public utilities, and is under particular scrutiny as data centers and other megaprojects ramp up demand on the electrical grid. Three candidates are vying to replace Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, who is term limited, in District 1, which includes Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany, Livingston and several other parishes. The race features state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, who has served in the Louisiana Legislature for 10 years; Chris Justin, a no-party chemical engineer who formerly consulted for the PSC; and Democrat Connie Norris, a nurse who has been ﬁghting before the PSC for lower water rates. Two candidates are running to replace term-limited Commissioner Foster Campbell in the largely rural 5th District, which covers north Louisiana. They are Rev. James Green, pastor of Shreveport’s Union Mission Baptist Church and businessman John Atkins, 62, an 11-year veteran of the Caddo Parish Commission and owner/principal of Atco InvestConstitutional amendments ment Co. Ten proposed amendments to Staff writers Tyler Bridges, the constitution are also sprawled Meghan Friedmann and Alyse across the ballot. Pfeil contributed to this story.

He had just bought a dish of mustard greens with andouille at one food booth when someone from another one beseeched him to purchase something at hers.

Two minutes later, after paying with his credit card, he took several bites of a giant fried turkey wing. At the request of the workers at that booth, he then took a

photo with them and joined them in downing a shot of tequila. “It went well with that spicy wing,” Carter said afterward.

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SPACEX

Continued from page 1A region has added about 25,000 jobs. The company and local officials boast that it has injected $13 billion into the South Texas economy in 2023 and 2024. And Brownsville, which not long ago was the poorest community in the U.S., now has new, upscale restaurants and coffee shops downtown. An estimated 20,000 spaceflight tourists flock to town for every launch of the company’s 40-story prototype rocket, dubbed Starship. Still, on a regular basis, protesters take to the streets with signs labeled “¡Fuera SpaceX!” — “SpaceX leave!” in Spanish. That’s because residents say their homes shake during launches, and some allege in class-action litigation that their foundations have been damaged by sonic booms. The launch site, STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER tucked between wildlife Starbase launchpads are seen in the distance from the top of the lighthouse in Port Isabel, Texas, about 6 miles from the sanctuaries, has also polluted wetlands, according launch site. to regulators, and the spacelot of people come in from ranch home, 15 miles from port’s impact on migratory Jobs jump in Brownsville out of town. There’s a lot of SpaceX’s launchpad, Rene birds relying on the habitat Brownsville, Texas, among the poorest communities in the jobs, a lot of good stuff.” Medrano can feel the sonic is not fully understood. SpaceX is eyeing big ex- booms. As Musk and SpaceX U.S., has seen job growth since SpaceX broke ground in 2014. “When the rocket takes off get ready to bring rocket pansion there, too, well be1 2 3 4 launches to Louisiana’s Ver- 190,000 yond what local officials from over there,” he said, originally bargained for. The gesturing toward Boca Chimilion Parish with a planned Federal Aviation Administra- ca Beach, “we feel it.” $100 billion spaceport, the Peak: 179,464 warp-speed transformation 180,000 Medrano, 66, and his wife, tion this week posted a notice of Brownsville may offer a that it will look into the envi- Ida, 65, have lived here for view of what’s to come. ronmental impact of SpaceX 40 years. They keep chick170,000 launching Starship, a rocket ens and goats in their backA business boom nearly as tall as the Louisi- yard. They’re in the coun151,819 176,474 ana State Capitol building, try, the kind of place you’d In Brownsville, population 160,000 185,000, downtown murals up to 456 times a year from choose to build a life if you funded by the Musk Foundaits Texas launch site. That valued quiet and nights with would mean up to 912 land- dark skies. tion depict Starship barreling 150,000 “It’s not quiet anymore,” toward the moon and Mars. ings, since both stages of the Pandemic: 156,571 At bars in town, beer from rocket would touch down. said Rene Medrano, taking Starbase Brewing, an Austin- 140,000 Every launch will feature a sip of his beer. “You would ’14 ’15 ’16 ’17 ’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 ’25 ’26 three explosive, window-rat- come out here and you’d be based brewery that aims to silent and you could see the be the first to brew beer on tling blasts. 1 2 3 4 the red planet, is served in So far, the company has stars. Now you see glows of pint glasses that read “Beer launched that rocket, which light from all the construcAugust 2014: July 2019: April 2023: May 2025: today, Mars tomorrow.” The SpaceX announces is still a prototype, on just tion.” First test First Starship Starbase, Texas local boat tour companies on its launch site near 14 test launches. In LouisiThey said they’ve had flight launch incorporates as its South Padre Island, which ana, Musk has said he hopes items fall off their shelves Brownsville own city traditionally ferried tourists to launch it 30 times a day, when the rockets launch. Staff graphic to spot dolphins, have added Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics or more than 10,000 times a Their dog, Miller, “turns tours focused on watching herself into a little ball” and year. SpaceX rockets launch. hides under a chair tremto bring SpaceX in, accord- promises to bring 10,000 jobs Growing pains Among local leaders, ing to Salinas, now the presi- to the region. bling, Ida Medrano said. there’s an optimism about dent and CEO of the Greater “Twenty years ago, if we From the porch of his Traffic snakes through their Brownsville’s future that Brownsville EDC. could get a development hasn’t been felt in years. That package was much or a project of $30 million, “When I go talk to the kids smaller than the $27.5 billion that was just unbelievable. at schools, they tell me they in incentives that Louisiana Now all of our projects are want to work at SpaceX, just offered the company. in the billions,” Treviño said. they want to be astronauts, “We got SpaceX here for “We’re spoiled. And it’s led to or they want to be engineers. pretty cheap back then,” Sa- a lot of other issues. Our inAnd they want to work here,” linas said. frastructure needs to catch said Eddie Treviño, the CamBrownsville officials and up.” As the region has induseron County Judge, a role residents said the compacomparable to that of a Loui- ny’s presence has paved the trialized, residents see their way for big-ticket industrial home values increasing and siana parish president. Once the nation’s leading projects bringing jobs and feel the uptick in economic cotton exporter, Brownsville money to an area that was, activity. “There’s just a cerwas an agricultural com- in Salinas’ words, a “sleepy tain vibe in town now that munity in the first half of border town.” SpaceX says it did not exist before,” Salinas the 20th century known for has created more than 4,300 said. Still, Brownsville remains ranching and a shrimp fleet well-paid jobs, with plans to expand. largely poor. The city no lonlargely worked by Cajuns. New business has flocked ger has the highest poverty Then, in the 1980s, oil prices tumbled and led to to surrounding Cameron rate in the U.S., as it did in a collapse in the value of County, too, which local of- 2013, according to census the Mexican peso. Because ficials attribute to SpaceX’s data. But roughly a quarter Brownsville’s economy was presence. A liquefied natural of people in the Brownsville so intertwined with Matam- gas terminal is slated to open region still live below the oros, Mexico, just across the at the Port of Brownsville. A poverty line, more than douborder, it took a hit. Unem- data center broke ground in ble the national average of nearby Harlingen. And the about 1 in 10. Down the street ployment surged. For decades, Brownsville first new oil refinery to open from Brownsville’s new was in dire need of an eco- in the U.S. in nearly 50 years French restaurant, many is planned for the county. buildings remain boarded up. nomic boost. Vice President JD Vance “It’s bringing money into After those early meetings between Musk and Salinas in was here last month for a the place,” said Joseph Men2011, the local and state gov- groundbreaking ceremony dez, 42, who cooks at The ernment put together a $50 for a company that will build Library, a Brownsville bar. million incentive package AI-powered battleships and “Me, personally, I’ve seen a

small community. The road to Boca Chica Beach, previously used only by beachgoers, now shuttles and carries the Starship rocket to the launchpad. Locals now have less access to Boca Chica Beach, a place that Brownsville residents value. “It was known as the ‘poor man’s beach,’ ” Medrano said. “Families would go. They would barbecue; they would ﬁsh; they would enjoy the day.” Salinas brushed off the concerns about beach access. “It was a very dirty beach,” Salinas said. “I never knew people cared so much about the beach until we started working on this project. Suddenly now, they’re very worried about it.” Now, the city of Starbase decides if the beach is open or closed, thanks to a Texas law passed last year. Treviño, the county judge, said that he opposed the law — he previously had the authority to close the road and he would occasionally veto SpaceX’s requests to do so. Treviño said he took heat from his constituents for allowing SpaceX to incorporate as its own municipality. Starbase, Texas, became a city unto itself last year, after 212 residents there — mostly SpaceX workers — voted to do so. It is largely closed off to anyone who is not a SpaceX employee. The city’s mayor is a SpaceX vice president, Bobby Peden, who ran for his position unopposed and declined an interview request for this story. “I was blamed for giving away Boca Chica Beach,” Treviño said. “But people have to understand that I don’t have the authority to say, well, you know what? I don’t want your business. … If you meet your requirements and ask for an election, I’m duty-bound.” Treviño lost his bid for reelection earlier this year and is serving out the end of his term. Still, he said, SpaceX has

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6A n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

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

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AI stocks Robust exports push China’s economic growth lead rebound on Wall Street BY CHAN HO-HIM AP business writer

BY STAN CHOE

AP business writer NEW YORK — Stocks in the artificial intelligence industry bounced back on Wall Street Monday and recovered some of their steep losses from last week, but the rest of the market and stocks worldwide were shaky. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, coming off its worst week since June, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.1% because it’s full of technology stocks. The majority of U.S. stocks outside of AI and tech fell, though, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average swung between losses and gains before finishing with a drop of 36 points, or 0.1%. In Europe, the losses were sharper, and indexes slid more than 1% following violent protests that could ultimately force the French government to increase its spending to ease voters’ anger. That, in turn, could put even more pressure on bond markets, and yields cranked higher worldwide. Even with all the cross currents flowing through financial markets, AI stocks stood out, as they have for most of the past few years. A frenzy in spending for AI technology has forced them to the forefront of the market, sending them to record prices and driving indexes higher. Last week, AI stocks grabbed the spotlight after tumbling on worries about how expensive it has become to borrow money, which could threaten the boom. Much of the spending on AI chips and data centers has come from borrowed money, and Treasury yields in the bond market have recently hit their highest levels in years or even decades. That has raised the cost of borrowing money for everyone. Nvidia added 1.4% Monday and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500. Because it’s the largest stock on Wall Street by total market value, a 1% move for its stock has more effect on the index than any other’s. SpaceX, which controls the xAI business, rose 1.3% to $147.96. Its founder, Elon Musk, pledged on Monday to give one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year. The offer came after Anthropic said over the weekend that it will commit 5% of the shares in its highly anticipated initial public offering of stock to a new “public benefit” fund. The moves for AI stocks were still choppy, though. Consider CoreWeave, a company that’s borrowed to buy AI chips that it rents out to customers over the cloud and has been at the center of the market’s swings. After initially jumping more than 7% in the morning, it flipped to a loss of 3.5% before finishing with a dip of 0.4%. That followed its loss last week of 25.2%. The swings came ahead of profit reports coming later in the week that could offer more details about the strength of AI-related spending. Meta Platforms, which is pushing its Muse AI agent, will report its latest quarterly results on Wednesday. Lam Research, which supplies equipment and services for the making of semiconductors, will also talk about how its business is doing on Wednesday. Expectations are high across the board for U.S. companies’ profits from the summer. Analysts are forecasting overall growth of 29% for companies in the S&P 500 from the prior summer, according to FactSet.

HONG KONG — China said Monday its economy grew 4.5% in the JulySeptember quarter from a year ago fueled by robust exports, moving closer to meeting its official annual growth target for the year as trading partners seek to balance their trade deficits with the country. Economic growth accelerated from the 4.3% year-on-year rate recorded in the April-June quarter, the slowest expansion in more than three years. Its economy expanded 4.6% in the first three quarters. For the whole year, Chinese leaders have set a growth target of

4.5% to 5%, down from last year’s 5% expansion. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund trimmed its forecast for China’s 2026 economic growth to 4.5%, the lower end of Beijing’s goal. “Domestic demand was weak, while trade grew strongly,” said Dave Chia, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. Exports will likely stay strong but global trade barriers remain a risk, he said. China’s domestic demand has been weighed down by a yearslong downturn in its property market. The headline ofﬁcial growth ﬁgure is becoming “an increasingly poor indicator of how the broader economy is performing,” said Max

Zenglein, Asia Pacific senior economist at The Conference Board. That’s because it masks “widening disparities across industries, regions, and households,” Zenglein said. Beijing faces difficult tradeoffs and managing domestic imbalances may prove more challenging than dealing with external pressures, he added. On Monday, Mao Shengyong, deputy head of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, cautioned of the economic challenges ahead. “The international environment is complex and volatile, the problem of insufficient domestic demand remains relatively prominent and the foundation for a stable, improving

economy still needs consolidation,” he told a news conference. With exports being one of the few bright spots, China is on track to surpass last year’s record $1.2 trillion trade surplus globally, after logging a 36% growth in exports last month and already a $938 billion surplus between January and September. Elevated U.S. tariffs have hit some U.S.-China bilateral trade and forced China to look elsewhere, including Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe. High-tech exports such as semiconductors and autos, including hybrid and electric vehicles, are among the areas driving its export growth this year.

HELPFUL OR RISKY?

AI agents are only as good as the personal information you share, which raises privacy concerns BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP business writer

Matt Robb wanted to sell his computer keyboard. So he made a listing on Facebook Marketplace — and, as an experiment late last month, he put Meta’s new artificial intelligence agent Muse in the driver’s seat. Muse got to work. But within a day, Robb got an alarming update: A buyer he didn’t know had shown up outside his house late at night. How? Muse had struck a deal on its own and shared Robb’s home address after agreeing to a pickup. It even sent an automated “Yep, I’m here!” message from his account when the buyer arrived — all without Robb’s knowledge. “Not only did it give my address when the guy asked and it accepted the offer, but it literally was almost like teasing the guy (about me being there when I wasn’t),” said Robb, a Toronto-based content creator who also detailed the experience in his now widelyshared social media posts. Many have welcomed AI agents into their online lives and raved about how personalized assistants like Muse can handle everyday tasks with ease — from snagging a dinner reservation or planning a trip, to organizing email inboxes. But like other AI bots, the agents are only as good as the information they have access to. They perform better the more they know about a user — and perhaps also that person’s friends, family and even colleagues. That raises privacy concerns. Robb and the buyer eventually made amends, and he learned from Meta that the sharing of his address came down to permissions he granted when first giving Muse access to his Marketplace profile. But the episode showed real-world risks that can arise from sharing extensive personal information with the technology. “Using an AI agent is similar to handing someone your keys and a to-do list,” said Veronica Rivera, assistant professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Cybersecurity and Privacy. “How helpful they are, and by extension how risky, depends on which keys you hand over.”

Varied privacy policies Since its September launch, downloads of Meta’s Muse app have skyrocketed. And competition is only growing. OpenAI recently rolled out its own lineup of “always on” AI helpers, called dots, which can be integrated into ChatGPT and workplace platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Older generative AI chatbots, like the standard version of ChatGPT, respond to specific prompts. At the user’s request, they can

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JEFF CHIU

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the Meta Connect conference on Sept. 23. write essays, generate new images or music, or even write lines of code. Meta’s Muse and OpenAI’s dots go a step further to perform day-to-day tasks on a person’s behalf. AI agents are powered by the same large language models as chatbots, but they run in a loop. That allows an agent to take proactive steps, even when the user isn’t looking. “One of the things that makes these AI agents really appealing is that they are unprecedentedly useful,” said Rivera, who is also a Microsoft-funded Computing Research Association Trustworthy AI Research Fellow. But the convenience comes with the price of sharing more details about your life. Once AI agents obtain users’ information, it’s very difﬁcult to fully withdraw access, said Ebrahim Bagheri, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. “If you provide access to your credit card to an agent, the agent now immediately has access to all of the historical transactions … they will immediately — within less than seconds — ingest all of that data,” Bagheri said. And while users can later withdraw access, Bagheri said there’s “no taking back” data the agent has already seen, and how developers store historical data can be murky. Both Meta and OpenAI outline privacy policies for their new AI agents, which operate on their own dedicated cloud computers. You can turn off memory sharing between dots and ChatGPT, but information the agent previously received isn’t automatically deleted. OpenAI gives users an option to request access to, delete or correct personal information, although rights can vary depending on where you live. Meta’s Muse gives users options to delete message history and other information, too.

For day-to-day use, the agent prompts users for access permissions — and Meta has said Muse learns about a user and who they interact with “based on public information and from what you’ve chosen to share.” But the company says that all stays secure for each user. But the tech giant also notes that Muse can still “make mistakes or take unexpected actions.”

Risks of mishaps rise In Robb’s case, he learned the disclosure of his address came down to “always allow” permissions he granted when he first let Muse on his Facebook Marketplace profile, where he had shared his pickup address as part of a broader template for the agent to respond to prospective buyers. But he warned others could similarly misunderstand the extent of that access — and said he initially thought the AI agent would check with him before sharing that information or accepting offers, regardless. His AI agent didn’t follow the rest of his instructions without error, either. For another item Robb was selling, Muse seemingly suggested he would accept a price $100 below the previously-set minimum. When reached by The Associated Press, Meta acknowledged the agent’s pricing error without offering further comment. Robb later largely disconnected Muse from his apps. In an interview earlier this month, he said it could’ve been a far worse situation, especially “if some stranger turned up to someone more vulnerable’s house.” Still, Robb said he expects these agents to be fine-tuned and he would consider reenabling Muse in the future. He’s since been testing another AI agent — Grok Bot from Elon Musk’s X.

Musk pledges a share of SpaceX to ‘every kid in America’

Shares of SpaceX, which will re- many.” the threats the technology poses to Value would be about port The announcements by Musk humanity. its quarterly earnings on Tuesand Anthropic arrive as Americans But obstacles including domestic closed at $146.03 on Friday. $10.66 billion total day, With approximately 73 million grow increasingly wary of AI. A and global competition, proﬁt moti-

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN The Associated Press

Elon Musk on Monday pledged to give one share of his company SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year. The offer arrived a day after artiﬁcial intelligence company Anthropic announced in a social media post that it will commit 5% of its shares to a new “public beneﬁt” fund. In a response to that Sunday post, Musk wrote, “I recommend giving the shares directly to the public.”

children under the age of 18 in the United States, that would put the value of Musk’s pledge at about $10.66 billion. Anthropic said Sunday that the shares it is committing will go to the Anthropic Public Beneﬁt Fund, a new Musk entity within the company. The fund’s worth will potentially increase as the shares grow in value. Musk did not provide further details on how his share pledge will be carried out, but did add in his post that “This will be the ﬁrst of

new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research ﬁnds that most Americans, 64%, think AI is developing “too fast,” while 27% say its development has been “about right” and only 8% say it’s moving “too slow.” Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceXAI’s Musk and other prominent industry leaders said last month that AI’s development needs to slow down. The consensus came after an Anthropic researcher resigned with a dire warning about

vations and pushback from President Donald Trump all stand in the way of a coordinated effort to pace AI’s development. Musk has quietly become the biggest known donor in this year’s midterm elections, doling out more than $276 million since July to try to save Republican majorities in Congress. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and the company’s five other cofounders established Anthropic as a public benefit corporation, a designation that for-profit companies select to balance financial goals and social impact.

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The Advocate n theadvocate.com n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n 7A

SPACEX

Continued from page 5A been a good partner, for the most part. “All of our dealings with SpaceX have been more positive than negative,” he said. “I understand the concern from the environmental standpoint. We probably won’t know until down the road whether or not this was worse than we anticipated or whether all the precautions are working.”

‘So clean you could drink it’ Two hours after SpaceX launched its 14th Starship test flight in late September, shorebirds — blacknecked stilts and sandpipers — waded in water that had flowed off the launchpad. At liftoff, a “deluge” system blasts hundreds of thousands of gallons of water beneath the rocket, soaking up some of the blast’s heat and noise. Much of that water instantly turns to steam. Some sprays into the surrounding area. It may contain heavy metals, like mercury, according to environmentalists and regulators. “SpaceX says it’s so clean you could drink it,” said Justin LeClaire, an avian conservation biologist. LeClaire doubts that. Federal and state regulators cited the company in 2024 for discharging that water into surrounding wetlands without a permit. But the site remains a birdwatcher’s paradise. On a single winter day on Boca Chica Beach, in the shadow of the launch towers, LeClaire counted 1,000 reddish egrets, a record-high number for the rare North American bird. He and his group, the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, have documented SpaceX’s ecological impact. Paradoxically, the launchpad lured in shorebirds at first, LeClaire said. When SpaceX blew up its launchpad in 2023, it sprayed hunks of concrete and smaller pebbles

GRIEVES

Continued from page 1A the Third District Volunteer Fire Department in Jefferson Parish, according to a statement from the department. He attended Delgado Community College in New Orleans. Assistant Fire Chief Alex Gorman said Hirstius represented “the very best of what it means to be a firefighter.” “He was a person with an enormous heart, an unforgettable smile, and a genuine passion for helping others,” Gorman wrote. “Being a firefighter wasn’t just a job to Shane; it was something he truly loved.” The couple was engaged in August of last year, according to a post from Steven Hirstius, who identified himself as Hirstius’ father. “I can’t fix this,” his father wrote in another post. “You’re not coming back to me. I’m devastated, heartbroken, and angry.” Ginny Larose, who said she was a family friend, said the couple “loved each other unmeasurably.” “The only small measure of peace I can find is knowing Leah & Shane were together,” she wrote in a tribute post.

STAFF PHOTOS BY SOPHIA GERMER

When the SpaceX rockets take off from Boca Chica Beach, Texas, Rene and Ida Medrano say, ‘We feel it.’ The Medranos, Rene, 66, and Ida, 65, are 15 miles from the Starbase launch site where they have lived for 40 years. ‘When I go talk to the kids at schools, they tell me they want to work at SpaceX, they want to be astronauts, or they want to be engineers. And they want to work here,’ Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño says in his office in Brownsville, Texas.

over a sandy stretch near the pad. Plovers and terns like a beach with small rocks, according to LeClaire; they moved in and nested there. But the next launches shot debris at the nests, decimating many of them.

Nicholson Drive safety The incident has renewed calls for safety improvements along Nicholson Drive, a frequent route for students as they travel between Tigerland nightlife and their apartments or dorms. Construction currently lines the lane near the 5000 block of the street, where the crash occurred. Fonte and Hirstius were traveling on the right shoulder of the roadway, police said. “I am sick of seeing students and others killed while walking along Nicholson Drive at night,” Gov. Jeff Landry wrote on X on Monday. LSU President Wade Rousse, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development were in discussions Monday about potential safety enhancements from Bob Pettit Boulevard to Lee Drive, according to releases from their offices. LSU leaders said the speciﬁc plans would be released once they were ﬁnished. “All students, whether they live on campus or nearby are part of the LSU family, and their safety is our number one priority,” Rousse said. “After this weekend’s tragedy, we reached

It’s also not entirely clear what kinds of impacts the launches have on birds’ bodies. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX’s president, said during a speech announcing the company’s Louisiana spaceport that birds return to their habitat

out to our local and state partners to immediately address pedestrians walking along Nicholson Drive.” In his statement, Edwards referenced the construction of a 10-foot-wide path between Brightside Drive and Gourrier Avenue that is already underway, along with additional lighting and improved crosswalks. He said his ofﬁce will meet with DOTD Tuesday to identify “additional safety measures” while that project continues. “We recognize that immediate safety concerns remain,” Edwards said.

Bail set for driver Dawson appeared in the 19th Judicial District Court remotely from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Monday. She identiﬁed herself as a Southern University student. She was allegedly driving south on Nicholson Drive in a 2016 Nissan Rogue when her car veered off the road and struck the two pedestrians. Police said she drove away from the scene and parked her car at the Circle K on Brightside Drive. She allegedly contacted police about being involved in a crash but did not provide an accurate account of the crash, police said. She was booked on counts of operating a vehicle while

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after each launch. Some clearly do. But no one has yet fully taken stock of the impact of a sonic boom on, for instance, a snowy plover. The fast-flying, hollowboned creature weighs as much as a small lemon, and its populations are declining. As the frequency of launches increases to a pace that humanity has not previously attempted, the environmental impacts will only increase. Rocket launches aside, LeClaire said, the sheer scale of the development at Starbase, in a crucial migratory bird habitat, hasn’t done the birds and other wildlife any favors. “We’re only looking at the impacts of launch every few months,” LeClaire said. “We don’t know how it will be if it’s every day, or multiple times a day.” That’s exactly what’s planned now, in both Texas and Louisiana. To the richest man in the world and his followers, cracking a few bird eggs may be a small price to pay to achieve their interplan-

intoxicated, reckless operation of a vehicle, hit-and-run resulting in serious bodily injury or death, vehicular homicide and vehicular negligent injuring. The prosecution said they planned to upgrade the vehicular negligent injuring to a second vehicular homicide. Her bail

etary ambitions. And if his plans come to fruition, it appears that Musk thinks that SpaceX will ultimately save the birds — and all life on Earth. “Extremely severe extinction events happen every 100M years or so and just switching to sustainable energy will not be enough to stop them,” Musk posted recently on X, the social media platform he owns. “Space satellites to control temperature and massive geo-engineering will be needed or it will be game over.” The idea: to blot out some small percentage of the sun’s rays with a swarm of what Musk has described as “sentient satellites” to scale back global warming. While Musk thinks his rockets can save the planet, Bekah Hinojosa, a Brownsville resident and a founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, thinks the city’s ambitions would be better directed at problems closer to home. “We do need jobs,” Hinojosa said. “But we need jobs that don’t shake and crack people’s homes.”

was set at $229,000. Dawson allegedly driving away from the scene before contacting police helped inform the bail decision, Commissioner Nicole Robinson said. “These cases are difﬁcult,” Robinson said. “Vehicular homicide is not a murder

charge under the letter of the law. That doesn’t make the loss felt any less by the families — their families, your family, countless friends and family, I’m sure.” Staff writer Quinn Coffman contributed to this report.

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La. OKs lethal injection drug

Jan Risher

Reuniting a fake garden club David Shreve stood on Alaska Street at the edge of LSU’s campus Friday evening and pointed toward a stump. A friend’s house stood there. Another family lived on the corner, where the city bus was pulling up. Students filled every house in between. He lived in one across the street for nine years. In the 1980s, LSU students rented houses for about $200 a month, split four ways, on the 3300 block of Alaska Street. The houses are long gone now. But the night before LSU’s homecoming, the people who lived in them came back for a homecoming of a different sort. They called themselves the Alaska Street Garden Club. Shreve said he and his neighbors wanted to play intramural flag football, softball and basketball. A team needs a name. “I said, ‘Well, let’s call ourselves the Alaska Street Garden Club,’” Shreve said. Louis DuPont tells a different story. He said he and Shreve wanted to throw a party in the middle of the street. The police told them individuals couldn’t block a road, but an association could. So they registered one. Both stories can be true. Shreve recently found the permit in an old scrapbook. He said it carries nine signatures, from the health department and the sheriff on down. “Here we were, a bunch of 19-, 20-year-old kids, roasting a pig at a keg of beer,” he said. “And they all just signed off on it.” To be fair, Shreve did garden. He grew oleanders in his front yard. He planted live oaks around the neighborhood. The ones in his yard were torn out when the Ion apartments went up. He earned his doctorate at LSU and built his career in Virginia. On Friday night, he roasted another pig with his old friends and neighbors. Among them were young men from Mauritius who lived on Alaska Street in the 1980s. In the 1940s and ’50s, their fathers had studied at LSU before returning home to run the island’s sugar factories. Their sons followed in their footsteps. Mauritius sits in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, 10,371 miles from Baton Rouge. On Friday, Mauritians traveled from the island, Houston and Savannah, Georgia, to attend the Alaska Street Garden Club reunion. Shreve, now a historian and economist in Charlottesville, Virginia, offers context: “Their families’ rich multigenerational connections to LSU and south Louisiana, however, kept them tied to LSU no matter the changing economy or the new academic pathways some of them began to pursue.” In 1981, Olivier Raffray turned 18, and his parents put him on a plane. He grew up speaking French and knew almost no English. He had no phone and no email. Keeping in touch with home took four things. “A pen, paper, envelope and a stamp,” he said. “And often, you didn’t have one of those things.” A letter took three or four weeks to reach Mauritius. “Back then it was, ‘All right, we’ll see you in four or five

ä See RISHER, page 2B

Election of single drug option voids Wessinger's argument, state says BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER Staff writer

Louisiana ofﬁcials are asking a federal judge to dismiss death row inmate Todd Wessinger’s legal challenge to a looming execution by nitrogen gas, saying they will allow him to choose lethal injection and use a drug he previously argued would spare him

suffering. Wessinger, who was sentenced to death for killing two employees during a 1995 robbery at a Baton Rouge restaurant, ﬁled a lawsuit challenging the state’s nitrogen hypoxia and two-drug lethal injection protocols, arguing that both risk violating the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment.

But Louisiana ofﬁcials say they will use a single lethal injection drug, pentobarbital, if Wessinger elects that method. That voids his argument claiming the state is refusing to adopt a less painful alternative, the state said in court ﬁlings Monday. “He has told a federal court that the Eighth Amendment requires Louisiana to use pentobarbital,

rather than nitrogen hypoxia, to execute him,” Gov. Jeff Landry posted to X on Monday morning. “Louisiana will execute Wessinger with pentobarbital if Wessinger chooses pentobarbital.” In his original challenge to a nitrogen gas execution, filed in September, Wessinger’s

ä See DRUG, page 6B

STAFF PHOTOS BY JAVIER GALLEGOS

GLOWING SPECTACLE

ABOVE: Attendees look at the balloons and take selﬁes Saturday during the annual Boucherie and Balloon Festival in Sorrento. LEFT: Pilot Karen Kent, left, turns on the burner to inﬂate her balloon as Dalton Lindsay helps to hold the lip open.

H H

ELECTION

H H

2 moms battle over East Baton Rouge Parish School Board seat District 1 boundaries have shifted on election map

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

Kimberly Bainguel fell 22 votes short of defeating an entrenched incumbent in 2022 for the Broadmoor-centered District 1 on the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board. Four years later, she’s trying again. “I decided not to walk away because the families in District 1 told me that they want

Bainguel

Garretson

someone in this seat who understands both the data and the child that follows it,” Bainguel, a 43-year-old licensed clinical social worker, said during a recent election forum. This time, she’s not facing her previous opponent, insurance executive Mark Bellue; he’s barred from running again thanks to term limits. Instead, she’s up against newcomer

Police: Man kills dog with machete

Megan Garretson, a candidate with a much different political proﬁle. Garretson, 39, is the owner of Youth Scholars Academy, a childcare center in Baton Rouge. She has long advocated for early childhood education. She wants to see more collaboration between public and private providers as well as more financial support in general, especially during the ﬁrst four years of life. “If we get those four years before they get into kindergarten, can you imagine how much of a foundation we could establish?” Garretson said.

A man was arrested Saturday, accused of threatening to attack a woman with a machete, then turning on her dog when the woman fled, the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s OfCRIME fice said. BLOTTER The dog later staff died from its injuries, the Sherreports iff’s Office said. Kevin Lightell, 29, of Bayou L’Ourse, was booked on counts of aggravated cruelty to animals,

ä See ELECTION, page 2B

ä See BLOTTER, page 6B

2B n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

lll

LAFAYETTE

Group urges council to reject club Borel described Plush Syn- ity reaches 200. LCG’s plan- address under the previous Owner says Plush dicate as “a place where ev- ning department also noted operator, including seven incan work and be com- concern about the possibil- volving a gun. Syndicate will eryone Blanchard noted that while fortable.” He said the venue ity for loitering outside the would respond to guests door facing Cypress Street if the 325-capacity matches follow rules through lighting, sound and there’s a long line of patrons. that of the previous bar, the

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.

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 capac-

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 calls for service and 39 incident reports at 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.

Mardi Gras edict updated in New Orleans

Service, to solicit for pear, but in the future krew- parades played a role in the Krewes no longer Postal membership. es seeking members could, demise of the controversial “To say that was an archaic presumably, turn to social Mystic Krewe of Nyx in tied to U.S. mail requirement would be gen- media, billboards, television 2024. That year, riders in to seek members erous,” council member JP and printed ads. the Nyx parade tossed small

BY DOUG MacCASH Staff writer

New Orleans’ lengthy Mardi Gras code is sprinkled with hundreds of rules related to the city’s big party. As the years pass by, some of those regulations become obsolete and require revision. On Sept. 17, the City Council voted to update a dusty edict that required Carnival krewes to use the U.S. Postal Service, and only the U.S.

ELECTION

Continued from page 1B The election is Nov. 3 with early voting starting Tuesday.

Two moms, two politics The two candidates have similarities — both are moms with school-age children and share similar views on many issues, including expanding early childhood education. Both went to public schools themselves, but neither sends their children to parish public schools. Bainguel said she’s homeschooling her two youngest, but her oldest graduated from Broadmoor High. Garretson’s two children currently are educated in a “faith-based environment,” she said. The two are different in important ways. Bainguel is Black and a Democrat while Garretson is White and a Republican. It’s a district that has gotten tougher for Bainguel to win. District 1 has shifted its boundaries thanks to election maps that were approved in 2022 but finally going into effect this year after weathering a court challenge that prevented them from being used four years ago. The White share of registered voters in District 1 has increased from 50.7% to 54.7%, while the Black share has decreased from 39.2% to 34.8%. That suggests that Bainguel will need to increase her crossover support to win this goaround. If she prevails, Bainguel would serve on a majorityBlack school board, a board that has had a White majority for pretty much its entire history. Her victory would also flip the board from a Republican majority to a Democratic one. It’s been in GOP control for all but eight months over the past 20 years. Garretson has the most money so far. In early October, she reported raising $22,555, with $17,404 left in the bank. Garretson has

Morrell said, in an earlier Governmental Affairs Committee meeting where the code change was discussed. “The idea of individual krewes sending out unsolicited mail into the ether to try to solicit membership,” Morrell said, “is not in line with modern society.” Mardi Gras parading organizations will now be free to use other means to drum up new ﬂoat riders. The ordinance makes no mention of where such ads might ap-

Though, any such advertising for new krewe members remains banned during the 12-day ofﬁcial Mardi Gras season that begins two Fridays before Fat Tuesday. With rare exceptions, advertisement of any sort has long been prohibited in parades during the city’s ofﬁcial Mardi Gras season, including solicitation for krewe membership. That ban remains in place. The rule against advertising for membership during

gift bags that advertised for membership. That violation, in addition to other matters, led to the City Council pulling the controversial krewe’s parade permit. The elimination of the snail mail requirement from the Mardi Gras code was sponsored by Morrell. Referring to himself as the Mardi Gras Grinch, Morrell has led the charge to reconsider, revise and enforce Carnival regulations in recent years.

the support of education reform groups, including the inﬂuential Baton Rouge Alliance for Students, which has an afﬁliated political action committee running an independent campaign on Garretson’s behalf. Bainguel, who reported raising only $3,510, did not seek The Alliance’s support, “The people I want to be endorsed by are the people who are in the district,” she said. Bainguel was recently endorsed by the Alabamabased Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund, just one of three candidates in Louisiana with that endorsement this cycle.

schools. In 2025, the district closed nine schools, seven of them district-run, as part of what the district dubbed Realignment. Both Bainguel and Garretson say they won’t shy away from school closings if needed, but they say they want to survey families ﬁrst to better understand what’s happening with student enrollment. “We have to have data and an idea of why students are leaving,” Bainguel said. “If we really want to know, we have to really go to the source,” Garretson said. “We can talk about it all day, but it makes no impact if we don’t really know the reasons.” Bainguel also said she would push for more public involvement ahead of any future school closings. She said affected parents have complained to her about the Realignment process. “They didn’t know what was going on with their students and it was a shocker,” Bainguel said.

having to navigate this situation,” Garretson said. “I believe in accountability, but I also believe in due process and the presumption of innocence. I think it’s important that we allow the legal process to move forward without rushing to judgment.”

Stances on the issues With a background in mental health, Bainguel wants the East Baton Rouge Parish school district to invest more in providing mental health and other services to children in need. “Teachers aren’t trained to do that and they shouldn’t have to do that,” she said. Bainguel said she also wants more equity, where struggling schools get the help they need. “We reward the schools that are doing great,” she said. Garretson said she too wants to see “where the gaps are,” and get schools help where they need it. She said she also wants higherperforming schools to help their struggling peers. “We should look at other schools with similar demographics and try to do the same things so we can get that growth as well,” she said. While still the state’s second-largest traditional district, East Baton Rouge Parish currently has about 36,000 students, down from 42,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s roughly a 14% decline. Losing students means losing state and, to a lesser extent, federal funding, making it harder to ﬁnance education initiatives. The two candidates will have to ﬁgure out how best to reverse that trend, or failing that, adjust to it. One possible answer is to close

Cole future One issue the District 1 winner will have to confront is the future of Superintendent LaMont Cole. Cole was indicted in August on multiple public corruption charges arising from his previous job as an elected member of the Metro Council. Cole’s four-year contract expires June 30, 2028, giving him 18 months left once the new board takes ofﬁce in January. Both Bainguel and Garretson say they are willing for now to let Cole continue in the job. “I’m worried about making a decision on Cole before he’s had a chance to defend himself at trial against what he is accused of,” Bainguel said. “It’s certainly disheartening that our community is

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SUNDAY, OCT. 18, 2026 PICK 3: 7-5-5 PICK 4: 8-7-3-3 PICK 5: 7-1-6-1-7

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STAFF PHOTO BY JAN RISHER

David Shreve, organizer of the Alaska Street Garden Club’s reunion, raised the lid to check on the pig roasting for the night’s festivities on Friday.

RISHER

here,” his wife, Martine, said. Continued from page 1B Bruno de Frobertille left LSU in 1986. In 2014, he came back for a single Saturday. years,’” he said. “Just to touch land, Many of the Mauritians earth,” he said. never went home during That trip wasn’t enough. their four years at LSU. This time he stayed sevThey spent holidays with each other or with the fam- eral days. “We’re on the last lap ilies of American friends. now,” he said, and wiped “We arrived boys,” Rafthe side of his eye. “You fray said. “We left men.” need to close pages. Now Yanic Harel had a oneI have put the page. I am way ticket home when he OK.” met Beth at a party the Forty years feels like 15 day after Thanksgiving in years. A reunion offers a 1983. Three weeks later, strange chance to meet he changed it to a round trip. When he returned, he the people we used to be. For the Mauritians, those earned a second degree, married her and moved to people were 18-year-olds who shared a car and Houston. Their three daughters all wrote letters to their parwent to LSU. ents. The people on Alaska “I didn’t tell them to Street were their family come here,” he said. “They until they could go home. wanted to.” They are the ones who reOn Thursday night, member. DuPont and his wife ate So they ﬂy halfway at Pastime. His father ate around the world to stand there in the 1950s. between a street and a On Friday morning, he parking lot where a rental walked across campus. house used to be. The agricultural engineerTo touch land. Earth. As I walked away, I ing building looks the way heard one person say, it did 40 years ago. Inside, “Do you remember the he ran into the man who helped him build research bathrobes and the nightequipment when they were gowns?” both in their early 20s. “Yeah, I do. Of course,” “I’ve been married to his old friend replied. him for 40 years, and he speaks about that night Email Jan Risher at jan. and day, the time he stayed risher@theadvocate.com.

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ELECTION

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ON THE BALLOT

The Nov. 3 ballot is chockful of state and local elections as well as a slew of proposed amendments to the state constitution and local tax propositions. Early voting is scheduled Oct. 20-27. Here are some deadlines to keep in mind: Oct. 30: Deadline to request a mail-in ballot from your parish registrar of voters. Nov. 2: Deadline for the registrar of voters in your parish to receive all mail-in ballots. The candidates are identiﬁed as: D — Democrat R — Republican LBT — Libertarian NOPTY — No Party

STATEWIDE U.S. SENATOR “Jamie” Davis, D Julia Letlow, R

AMENDMENT 1 Allows a one-time transfer of property tax exemption to the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran to a subsequent qualifying property.

AMENDMENT 2

Allows taxing authority to continue lower millage rate from a prior year’s assessment without losing the ability to adjust to the maximum rate.

AMENDMENT 3

Prohibits release on bail for defendants convicted of an aggravated offense against a child.

AMENDMENT 4

Sets a lifetime term limit for any future term on a person who has served as governor fore more than one and onehalf terms.

AMENDMENT 5

Authorizes retirement systems to apply any nonrecurring state funds to any unfunded accrued liability, not only the oldest.

AMENDMENT 6

Authorizes parishes and municipalities to extend an additional property tax exemption for properties subject to homestead exemption and occupied by a person who is 65 or older and who qualiﬁes for the special assessment level.

AMENDMENT 7

Authorizes the use of public funds to identify, inventory, remove or replace certain drinking water lines made of or affected by materials speciﬁed or prescribed by the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

AMENDMENT 8

Prohibits expropriation of property by a foreign adversary or an agent of a foreign adversary.

AMENDMENT 9

Increases the maximum amount of income a person may receive and still qualify for the special assessment level for residential property receiving the homestead exemption.

AMENDMENT 10

Allows property tax exemptions for blighted or derelict properties that have been rehabilitated, and to require the legislature to enact laws providing for administration of these exemptions.

MUTLI-PARISH U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 2

(Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist and West Baton Rouge.)

Lisa Ballay, LBT Walter “Rocky” Beach, NOPTY Troy A. Carter Sr., D Renada “Honey” Collins, NOPTY Peter Williams, R

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 5 (includes East and West Feliciana)

Stewart Cathey Jr., R Misti Cordell, R Oscar “Omar” Dantzler, R Michael Echols, R “Gabe” Firment, R Austin Magee, R Dan McKay, D Patricia “Pat” Moore, D Antonio Wilson, D

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 6

(Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Lafourche, Livingston, Pointe Coupee, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Martin and West Baton Rouge)

Monique Appeaning, R Chauna Banks, D Rufus Craig, LBT Larry Davis III, R “Rick” Edmonds , R Patrick “Pat” Forbes, D Lindsay “Rubia” Garcia, D Michael Mebruer, R Blake Miguez, R Stephen Wagley, R Livingston Parish

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, DISTRICT 1 Stephanie Hilferty, R Christopher “Chris” Justin, NOPTY Connie Norris, D

DISTRICT JUDGE, 21ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT, DIVISION E Lindon Bennett Magee, R Jasper Brock, NOPTY

DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 21ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT Brad Cascio, R Sherman Mack, R

CITY JUDGE, DENHAM SPRINGS CITY COURT Jerry Denton Jr., R Steven James Farber, R

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 3 “Jeff” Frizell, R Philana Webb, NOPTY

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 5 Cecil Harris, R “Chris” Taylor, R

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 1 Chelsea Jordan, R Jeff Sachse, R

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 10 Jessica Albarado, R Diane Baum, R

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 5

CENTRAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 1

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 3

Jonothan Borskey Edwards, D Rebecca Fletcher, NOPTY Craig “CJ” King II, D

WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 1 Dewey Davis, R Tracey Johnson Taylor-Jarrell, D

Keith “Hawkeye” Landry, R Travis Vernon, R

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 4

“Nick” Dimattia, R Leroy “Lee” Owens, R

Kenneth R. Mackie, D Jason Partin, NOPTY

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 9

DENHAM SPRINGS MAYOR John Cavalier, NOPTY Jim Gilbert, R “Ben” Harris, R

DENHAM SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL (5 to be elected)

Denver Ballard, R Ann Green Harris, R William J. “Bill” Lawson, R Robert Poole, R Raphineas “Ray” Riley, NOPTY “Jeff” Wesley, R

ALBANY TOWN COUNCIL (5 to be elected)

Jared Lott, R Lloyd “Bee” Martin, R Peter “Don” Onofry, R Joseph “Joey” Rogers, R Kimberly Stewart, R S. Gerald Stilley, R John Thomas, R

FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT 8 PROPOSITION (RENEWAL) To renew the special 15-mill property tax, generating $299,000 a year for 10 years beginning in 2028, to maintain and operate the district’s ﬁre protection services.

FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 9 PROPOSITION (RENEWAL)

To renew the 10.38-mill property tax, generating $228,900 a year, for 10 years beginning in 2028, to maintain and operate the district’s ﬁre protection services.

EAST BATON ROUGE DISTRICT JUDGE, 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, ES 1, DIV. L Elzie Alford, D Jermaine Guillory, D

DISTRICT JUDGE, 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, ES 1, DIV. M ReAzalia Allen, D Allison “AJ” Sabine, D Vernon Thomas, D

DISTRICT ATTORNEY, 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT Hillar Moore III, D Ryan Thompson, E

JUDGE, FAMILY COURT, ELECTION SECTION 2, DIVISION C Lawrence “L.T.” Dupre, R Wendy Edwards Morice, R

JUDGE, FAMILY COURT, ELECTION SECTION 3, DIVISION A Joseph Cataldie, R Caulette “Twin” Jackson Guillard, D

CITY JUDGE, BAKER CITY COURT

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 5 Patrick Jenkins, D Marty Dustin Nichols, R

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 8 Andrea Graves, R Crystal London, NOPTY

ZACHARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 9 Tamara Kendrick Dayton, R Pamela Turner, NOPTY

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 2, DISTRICT 3 (UNEXPIRED TERM) Antonia Caine, D Lee A. Cosey, D Taneshia Flowers, D

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP DISTRICT 3 LaShawn Goodwin, D Mark Miley, R Henrietta Williams, D

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP DISTRICT 4 Antonia Caine, D Lee A. Cosey, D Taneshia Flowers, D Carla Fowler, D C. Denise Marcelle, D

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP DISTRICT 5 Franchesca Rich Brandon, NOPTY Cortney Floyd, R J. Andrew Murrell, R

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP DISTRICT 6

CONSTABLE, JP DISTRICT 3 Sheila Freeman, D Gordon Hutchinson Jr., R “Chris” Johnson, R

CONSTABLE, JP DISTRICT 5 Ron Reynolds, R Tucker Sharer, R

CONSTABLE, JP DISTRICT 6 John Kay, R David Wade, R

CENTRAL MAYOR Geno Guercio, R Aaron Moak, R Lon Vicknair, R Despo “D’Ann” Wells, R

CENTRAL CHIEF OF POLICE Roger Corcoran, R Paul Kimball, R Larry “Lew” Walters Jr., R

ZACHARY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 1

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 3 Thomasina Joseph, D Carla Powell, D Stephen “Stewart” Stewart, NOPTY Eugene “Rico” Williams III, D

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 4

Tebbe Jackson, NOPTY Shashonnie Steward, D

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 6

Nicole Fitzgerald, NOPTY Nathan Rust, R Tristan Yperman, D

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 7

Hannah Amoroso, NOPTY “Chris” Spalatin, D Michael Vincent, R

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 8

Melissa “Dani” Altazin, D Emily Soule’, R

BAKER SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 1 Elaine G. Davis, D Myra Victor Harris, D

BAKER SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 2 Willie Brooks III, D Alteen Proﬁt, D

BAKER SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 3 Joyce Burges, D Gerald “Gee” Collins II, D KeeMichael Comena, D

BAKER SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 4 Monique Butler, D Shaderick Emery, D

BAKER SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 5 Sherri Hill Collins, D Brenda G. Jackson, D Reatha Wright, D

Alycia Grace-O’Bear, D Lori White, D Victor Woods Jr., D

SCHOOL BOARD, AT LARGE “Becky Sue” Bickham Landry, NOPTY Demetrius Franklin, D Jeanne Bujol Medine, D

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT B Tonette Todd, D Catherine Williams, D

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT C Rachel Crochet, NOPTY Ursula F. Harris, D “Cindy” Wille Prouty, D

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT H Jasmine Carter, D Deborah “Debbie” Washington, D

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 2 Ronald “Ronnie” Grace, D Tameshia Shuntel Hasten, D

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 5 Danielle Pugh, D Karen Saurage, R

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, JP WARD 6

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 4

Kimberly Marie Bainguel, D Megan Garretson, R

Tristan J. George, D Vereta Lee, D Robert Signater Sr., D

DISTRICT JUDGE, 18TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT, ES 1, DIV. C

Dwayne Rogers, R Lee Russell, NOPTY

CENTRAL CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 3

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 2

To renew the 1.75-mill property tax, generating $1.3 million a year, for 10 years beginning in 2027 to continue the maintenance, operation and capital expenditures for the Public Health Unit Iberville Parsh

Eugene Simpson, NOPTY Stanley Washington, D

Shona Boxie, D Kirk A. Williams, D

EBR PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 1

PARISHWIDE PROPOSITION (PUBLIC HEALTH UNIT RENEWAL)

Robert Ainsworth, R Christoph Bajewski, R Toni Higginbotham, R Dajuana Leduff W. Moore, R Jen” Racca, R

CONSTABLE, JP DISTRICT 2

Hannah Brown, R “Dave” Freneaux, R

Travis Gaspard, R Kendrick Slan, NOPTY

ZACHARY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2 “Randy” Albarez, R Devyn Baker Sr., D John LeBlanc, R

ZACHARY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 3 Ambre DeVirgilio, R Amanda Perry, R

ZACHARY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 4 James Graves, R Mark Miles, D

ZACHARY CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 5 Dianne Dayton Fletcher, NOPTY Jennifer Boyd Landry, R Lael Montgomery, D

PARISHWIDE PROPOSITION (TAX RENEWAL) To renew for 10 years the 0.50 mill property tax, generating $3,135,435 a year, to purchase, maintain and operate machinery, facilities and equipment for the eradication, abatement or control of mosquitoes, other arthropods of public health importance, and rodents.

CROSS GATES SUBDIVISION CRIME PREVENTION AND NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT PROPOSITION To collect an annual parcel fee of $150 on each improved and unimproved parcel for 10 years beginning in 2027 that is expected to generate $11,700 a year to aid in crime prevention, to increase the presence of law enforcement personnel, and for beautiﬁcation and other improvements.

PARKWOOD TERRACE CRIME PREVENTION AND NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT PROPOSITION

To renew the annual $100 parcel fee on each improved par-

Funerals Today Addison, Barbara

Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 10230 Mollylea Drive, Baton Rouge at 11:00am.

Spry, James

cel within the District for 10 years beginning in 2028 and authorize the district to increase the fee annually after the ﬁrst year, not to exceed 10 percent of the amount imposed during the previous calendar year, provided the fee does not exceed $150 per year. The fee is expected to generate $23,500 a year to aid in crime prevention by providing added security for the residents and funding for beautiﬁcation and improvements.

Jeffery LaCour, D Jason Leaphart, R

The Advocate n theadvocate.com n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n 3B

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 2 Stephenia “Sue” Jackson, D Ricky Jones, D Robert Tircuit, NOPTY

Saint John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church in Flat Rock, NC at 3pm.

Obituaries Milazzo, Tony 'T' Daniel

Tony "T" Daniel Milazzo, Jr passed away on Friday October 16, 2026, at the age of 81. Beloved husband of the late Karen George Milazzo. Father of Kyle Milazzo (Jennifer), Matt Milazzo (Lauren). Grandfather of Vincent Milazzo (Meagan), Anthony Milazzo (Emily), Haleigh St. Pierre (Benjamin), Alexis Caldarera (Dax), Karyn Milazzo, Marshall Heltz (Kristie), Alex Milazzo, and Samuel Milazzo. Great-grandfather of Bryden Milazzo, Brax Milazzo, Zane Milazzo, Emmett St. Pierre, Gianna Milazzo, Malcolm Milazzo, Everett St. Pierre, Andi Heltz, and Warren Heltz. Son of the late Gitano Milazzo, Sr and Aldonia Ourso Milazzo. Brother of Douglas Milazzo (Sandra), Jimmy Milazzo (Donna), Dolores Blanchard (the late Ronald), Annie Aucoin (Dale), Betty Falcon (Daniel), Clara Lawrence (the late Tim), the late Phillip Milazzo (the late Vivian), and Michelle Milazzo. Family and Friends are invited to attend a Visitation and Funeral Mass on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, located at 2130 Rectory St. Paulina, Louisiana 70763. Visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. The Funeral Mass will begin at 11:00 a.m., and burial will follow immediately afterward at St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Paulina, Louisiana.

Helen Hall Dotson, D Dakota Richard, NOPTY

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 5 Brent Carline, NOPTY Joseph “Barry” McBride, D Hayden Morales, D

Stagg, Philip Archie

CONSTABLE, JP WARD 6 Larry Johnson, D Thomas Jones, NOPTY

MARINGOUIN MAYOR Maurice L. Harris, D Demi Vorise, D

MARINGOUIN BOARD OF ALDERMEN (5 to be elected)

Justin Bessix, D John E. Carriere, NOPTY Veronica “Bonnie” Hill, D Edward James Jr., D Jerome “Gillis” Martin Jr., D Edna “Lil Bit” Mitchel, D Katrell Poole, D Garrick Deon Scott, D Sam W. Watson, D

WHITE CASTLE BOARD OF ALDERMEN (5 to be elected)

Mervin “Merv” Allen Jr., D Erick “Duck” Batiste, NOPTY Marko Bellock, D Candice Depron, D Kipp V. Knight, D Chamarcus D. Lewis, D Ascension Parish

DISTRICT JUDGE, 23RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, ES 2, DIV. A Kim Landry, R Jason Verdigets, R

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 1 Vera Jones, D Steven “Gob” Joseph, D Natalie “Ms. Nat” Sullivan, D Michael Wright, R

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 3 Torey Bennett, D Rochelle Darville, D

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 4, SEAT A Vickie Tolliver Auguste, NOPTY Marty Bourgeois, R

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 5, SEAT B “Greg” Hillensbeck, R Breigh Rainey Rhodes, NOPTY

SCHOOL BOARD, DISTRICT 6, SEAT B Sandra Denham-Lightfoot, R Bart Himel, R Landon Lambert, NOPTY

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, 2ND JUSTICE COURT James Landry, R Christie Mayeux, R

JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, 3RD JUSTICE COURT John C. Hebert, R Lynelle Johnson, R

CONSTABLE, 2ND JUSTICE COURT Thomas Mayeux, R Danny Thibodeaux, R

CONSTABLE, 3RD JUSTICE COURT “Clint” Boe, NOPTY James E. LeBlanc, R

Philip Archie Stagg June 30, 1942 - October 18, 2026 From his humble beginnings in Basile, Louisiana, to his homegoing to heaven, Philip ("Phil") Stagg lived a life marked by faithfulness to God and devotion to his family. Phil was faithful to his family. He was married to the love of his life, Mary Simpson Stagg, for 61 years. He generously gave his time to coaching, hunting, building things with his two sons, John Philip Stagg and Perry Richard Stagg, as well as taking his extended family camping and on countless other memorable trips. Phil was faithful in his service to the Lord. A member of First Baptist Church of Zachary for 60 years, he served as a deacon, firstgrade Sunday School teacher, choir member, chairman of the Outdoorsman's Banquet, and most recently, chairman of the pastor search committee. These roles represent just a few of the many ways he faithfully served his church. Phil and Mary traveled the world on countless mission trips, as well as enjoyed trips that allowed them to experience God's beautiful creation. Phil was also faithful to his future—the legacy of faith, family, and education he passed on to his children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. Phil and Mary both graduated from Louisiana College, now Louisiana Christian University, with degrees in education. Phil went on to earn his master's degree from LSU. Their commitment to education has been generously passed down through the generations. Watching such an active man's health decline has been difficult for those who love him, yet his family trusts that their sovereign Lord has a purpose for him in heaven. More importantly, they

know that Phil will, without a doubt, spend eternity singing, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" Phil is survived by his beloved wife, Mary Simpson Stagg; his two sons and their wives, John Philip Stagg and Amie LeTard Stagg, and Perry Richard Stagg and Misty Gant Stagg; his grandchildren, Collin John Stagg (Lindsay), Brittany Stagg Cooper (Logan), Odom Philip Stagg (Madison), Jamie Paige Stagg, Presleigh Reese Stagg, and Ethan Jacob Stagg; and his seven great-grandchildren, Lillian Claire Stagg, Cate Elliot Cooper, John Michael Stagg, Claire Elise Cooper, Bennett Odom Stagg, Carter Hayes Cooper, and Andie June Stagg. Visitation will be at First Baptist Church Zachary on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026 from 9am until service at 12pm. Burial will be in Azalea Rest Cemetery, Zachary. The family extends heartfelt gratitude to Superior Home Health, Hospice in His Care, and caregivers (especially Gerald Avery) for the compassionate care, kindness, and support they provided to Phil and his family during this time. Pallbearers will be Collin Stagg, Odom Stagg, Ethan Stagg, Logan Cooper, Roger Simpson and Scott Baudouin. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Baptist Church of Zachary missions fund or Louisiana Christian University in Phil's memory. Share memories at www.CharletF uneralHome.com.

Templet, Feltus Paul

Feltus Paul Templet passed away peacefully on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at the age of 81. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Linda Marchand Templet; daughter, Shelly Shaddinger (Scott); and son, Boyd Templet (Leslie); grandchildren, Morgan Bosarge (Blake), Macy McManus (Randall), Jordan Webb (Josh), Kace Shaddinger (Demi), Jordan Stewart (Logan), Sydney Guedry (Dayton); great-grandchildren, Sadie McManus, Blakelynn Bosarge, Lundyn Smith, Laynie Smith, Andy Shaddinger, Magdalene Webb and Cohen Stewart. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clement and Mabel Daigle Templet; siblings, Harvey Templet, Donald (D) Templet and Marilyn Militello; infant daughters, Charmane Ann and Ann Marie Templet; and goddaughter, Jessica Templet. He was the owner of Templet's Welding Service for 34 years. He enjoyed fishing, cooking, gardening and being outdoors. He will be remembered for his Christmas Gumbo, his homemade biscuits and the delicious vegetables he shared with everyone. Services for Feltus will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church 1022 N. Burnside Ave., Gonzales, La. Visitation will be from 9:00 am until the mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 am. The burial to follow in St. Theresa Mausoleum. The pallbearers will be Blake Bosarge, Randall Smith, Logan Stewart, Dayton Guedry, Kace Shaddinger and Justin Templet. We would like to give a special thank you to the Pinnacle Hospice nurses, Corie Howell and Sam Wheat and to Bay Ingram, owner and the entire staff of The Parc Senior Living Facility. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Pinnacle Hospice (225) 214-0043. Make check payable to Pinnacle Hospice.

4B n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

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

OUR VIEWS

A less fat La. has more reasons to cheer

Louisiana is shrinking, and this time we can embrace the change. We often talk about our shrinking coastline and our shrinking population as problems that we have to have long-term strategies to deal with. But now comes news that our waistlines are also shrinking in the state, and if this trend continues, it will have as signiﬁcant an impact on our health and welfare as any coastal restoration or economic development project. In 2025, the share of adults who were obese in Louisiana fell to 35.6%, from 39.2% the year before, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That meant the state moved from the third-highest rate of adult obesity in the nation to the 19th highest. Louisiana was one of only two states — West Virginia was the other — to post a stastically signiﬁcant decrease in obesity. The ranking uses data from a national survey known as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which relies on telephone interviews and self-reported height and weight statistics, in addition to information from state health departments. It’s unclear what caused the drop, but there is no question that widespread use of the class of weight loss drugs known as GLP-1 medications has helped a larger population gain control of their weight. In Louisiana, the drugs accounted for $1.167 billion in spending in 2023. We know that obesity can lead to many chronic health conditions and diseases, which can be costly to the state and its employers. Last session, as lawmakers debated whether to expand Medicaid to allow for coverage of GLP-1 drugs, they heard a report that estimated Medicaid spends $2.1 billion a year to treat adults and children with obesity-related diseases. Though the plan ultimately awaits funding, its consideration indicates that lawmakers understand what obesity costs our state. Similarly, employers in to Louisiana face higher insurance costs due to our high obesity rates. Imagine what our state could do with money directed to obesity-related causes. We would encourage more study into what is working in weight management and how to give citizens more access to these tools. While the numbers are headed in the right direction, we note that the obesity epidemic is far from vanishing. The South and Midwest had the highest rates of obesity in the study, with 34.8% and 35.5%, respectively. And the prevalence of obesity today is still far above what it was a decade ago. The CDC says 21 states had obesity rates above 35% in 2025. In 2015, only 4 states had rates above that level. In Louisiana, we like to enjoy good food and good times with family and friends. But these numbers give us hope that we can still make healthier choices without losing our culture and hospitality.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published

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

TO SEND US A LETTER, SCAN HERE

YOUR VIEWS

Listen to detainees trapped in our abusive system

Keep hunting illegal voters,no matter how scarce

Re: “Detainees won’t linger in detention if they simply self-deport,” Your Views, Oct. 7 Dismissing human rights advocates’ reports as “lies” obscures the documented realities of our immigration detention system. Working alongside detained individuals for seven years, I have seen that agreeing to voluntary departure rarely brings a quick exit. Many who sign departure paperwork — often after enduring abusive, unconstitutional facility conditions — still languish for months waiting for ICE to arrange travel. In our work, we have known multiple people detained for over two years (one for three years) before release or removal. Prolonged detention is highly lucrative for the private prison corporations running these facilities, which receive an estimated $150 to $165 per day from taxpayers for every occupied bed. The author of the letter also claimed that accusations that ICE obscures detainees are false. Yet once an individual receives a ﬁnal order of removal, ICE drops them from its online detainee locator system.

On Oct. 14, you published a letter from William Edwards concerning voter fraud (“Letters: After two years, no proof of widespread voter fraud. Let’s move on”). Edwards was against further investigation of election theft and widespread voter fraud, claiming there has been little to no evidence of either thus far in the investigations. I take exception to his demand that the investigations be terminated. My objection is very simple. The right to vote allowed by our Constitution is one of our most cherished rights and is limited to citizens. While the number of votes by unauthorized persons may be small, they are still illegal and unfair to others. I don’t miss any federal, state or local election. If one person who does not have the right to vote does so and votes for a different cause or candidate than I do, then that illegal voter just nulliﬁed my vote. While the issue may or may not be as widespread as some would like us to believe, the fact that a person who does not have the right to vote can nullify my vote is very upsetting.

This effectively conceals their whereabouts from families and attorneys at the most critical juncture. Families lose their chance to say goodbye or finalize essential legal affairs — such as powers of attorney for children and property — even though that person may remain detained locally for months. Lastly, the letter claimed an average detention of four days after a person agrees to leave. Syracuse University’s non-partisan TRAC data confirms that four days applies only to immediate border “voluntary returns” or summary expulsions — not formal removal orders. Under federal statute, ICE operates within a 90-day removal window. Coordinating consular interviews, identity documents and flight logistics makes a four-day turnaround for formal removals an operational impossibility. Talk to the advocates working inside this system, listen to those living it and hold our government accountable.

MICHELLE LAFLEUR MACFADYEN president, Louisiana Advocates for Immigrants in Detention Lafayette

Growing wealth gap threatens democracy Re: “Why today’s socialist movement is woefully misguided,” Oct. 9. In his recent guest column, David Thomas talks a lot about communism, something that does little more than increase the scare-word quality of “socialism.” Much of what “socialism” means is in the eye of the beholder. He tells us what everyone already knows: “Sweden, Denmark and Norway are not Marxist economies.” Instead of quibbling about whether those (and other) countries are “capitalist social democracies” in contrast to “today’s socialist movement” in the United States, we ought to be talking about how we in the U.S. can achieve better public education, including higher education; taxpayer-funded medical care free to those who need it; and adequate nutrition for young children not lucky enough to be born into privilege, among others. There is nothing wrong with capitalism per se. It’s a good thing. But there is a lot wrong with the greed-fueled, unbridled capitalism we have in the

MICHAEL G. HARRELL Tylertown, Mississippi

United States, which has produced an alarming increase in a wealth gap that threatens our democracy. By unbridled capitalism, I mean corporate personhood, dark money inﬂuencing government and political campaigns, off-shoring, labyrinths of obscure corporations that do little more than hide shady or illegal transactions and avoid taxation — the list goes on. Like it or not, we live in a society. Rather than bowing down to “the most efﬁcient economic system,” whatever that is supposed to mean, we should prioritize creating and maintaining our society for everyone and maximize the capacity for everyone to contribute. We’re in this together. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said over 100 years ago, “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”

Constant amendments an inefficient way to govern Ten amendments on the ballot? Really? Louisiana’s 1974 constitution has already been amended more than 200 times. In my opinion, this method of legislation is inefﬁcient and is totally inadequate for our constitutional republic form of government. The wording in these amendments is more times than not ambiguous, and frankly most voters don’t have the time to properly investigate the true meaning of each one. Many of these amendments are so politically or ﬁnancially convoluted that even an expert would be hard-pressed to explain the pros and cons. We need another constitutional convention to address this serious problem, ASAP.

BRUCE WILDER New Orleans

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The Advocate n theadvocate.com n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n 5B

COMMENTARY

Rubio’s Greece speech Back in my college days (American University, Washington, D.C.), required reading included the works of Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Long after graduation, they remained on my bookshelf. It was believed for generations that these men, along with philosophers Plato, Cicero and other great minds, could teach us. At too many of today’s colleges and universities we find courses in LGBTQ+ history and, according to Campus Reform, a 2023 course at Harvard “aimed to teach students how to prepare for a diversity, equity, and inclusion-filled future.” Harvard is not alone in pushing woke courses. Into this intellectual chasm came Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Standing in front of the Cal Acropolis in Athens, Thomas Rubio recalled how the Greeks laid the foundation for democracy. Eighty years ago, this would have sounded so obvious that the speech would seem unnecessary. Today’s college students seem to know less about the past and get their information mostly through social media. As reflected in test scores, we have discarded the past as one might toss ancient ideas down what George Orwell called the “memory hole.” Rubio’s opening lines set the stage for the rest of the speech: “…time has a tendency to dull the senses: great victories and catastrophic defeats … seem to shrink to becom(e) like a footnote in a textbook, another fact for our schoolchildren to memorize and forget. But the Greeks of antiquity … seem to have an almost mystical hold on our memory. They call us back to them, again and again.” We in the West used to believe that looking back to what those who came before us had learned was a requirement before going forward. This was to ensure that their mistakes might not become our mistakes and their triumphs might be replicated in our successes. What we used to call oratory when we had orators and not dull politicians repeating talking points and poll-tested themes, was on full display when Rubio said: “The history of America, the history of my country, is covered with

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY KYLIE COOPER

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. the ﬁngerprints of antiquity. Greece is literally carved into the architecture of our government: in the towering columns, in the domes and the monuments across our capital city. The city where our Constitution was born — Philadelphia — is itself a Greek name.” Anyone watching or reading this speech cannot help but see the contrast between the name- calling and demeaning of others by President Trump and the seriousness and statesmanlike behavior of the secretary of state. In hearings before House and Senate committees, when Rubio disagrees with Democrat members, he brandishes a rhetorical “sword of truth,” without stabbing them. That quality was on display in Athens when he sounded like a professor at a university that used to teach such things: “ The men who founded my country were fascinated by the heritage we inherited from yours. They were exceptionally well-read in history – they were vividly aware of their unique place in it – but no other age of the past held their attention or their imagination quite like that of antiquity. Many, many people are surprised to

learn that the most commonly cited author in ‘The Federalist Papers’ was not an Enlightenment philosopher or political theorist. No, the most commonly cited author in ‘The Federalist Papers’ was Plutarch, the Greek biographer of Greece and Rome’s great men.” There’s plenty more in Rubio’s address that should be required reading, especially by young people. “What is past is prologue,” wrote William Shakespeare. That profound statement is engraved on the base of the “Future” statue outside the National Archives Building. Rubio has said he won’t run for president in 2028 if Vice President JD Vance runs. He should change his mind. Rubio has all the qualities one should desire in a president. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle taught that true leaders must possess arete — a mix of high competence, moral character, and active service to the common good. Who, except the most partisan, would disagree that Rubio possesses them all? Email Cal Thomas at tca.editors@ tribpub.com.

Has Trump broken his McDonald’s promise? On foreign policy, it’s clear that, in The defining moment of the 2024 Wall Street Journal analyst Walter presidential campaign, it can be arMead’s words, Trump has “given the gued, came almost exactly two years ago, on Sunday, Oct. 20, when then-for- hawks more influence over Iran policy while catering to restrainer sensibilimer President Donald Trump traded his suit coat for a yellow apron and ties on Russia” — probably the oppoworked the fry station and the drivesite of what current public opinion thru window at a McDonald’s. favors. But those policies, at least in His staff picked a propitious location the short run, have not produced high in the battleground state of Pennsylva- casualty levels or perceptible fiscal strain. nia: lower Bucks County, just south of Nor is it clear that voters affirmathe Pennsylvania Turnpike and about a mile west of U.S. 1, suburban turf settively favor Democratic policies or tled a generation or two ago by the sons place any faith in Democrats’ promises to make things more affordable. The and daughters of blue-collar ethnic communities in northeast Philadelphia. swing against Republicans, however great it turns out to be, seems driven Trump lost Bucks County to Hillary more by an impulse to curb the Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in power and excesses of the Re2020. In 2024, he carried it over Kamala Harris by 291 votes out publican president than by any of 402,349 cast. faith in alternative policies. A The appearance at McDonGallup poll released Tuesday shows nearly half of responald’s was prompted by Trump’s scoffing at Harris’ claims, made Michael dents saying Democrats are without documentation, that she Barone too extreme. had worked at McDonald’s while What seems to make voters in college. But more than that, it unhappy, including many who underlined an argument that had been voted for him two years ago, is Trump’s proving effective for a month in proself-indulgence. Trump advertising. On policy, that’s most apparent in Those ads showed Harris, as a canhis tariffs. Even though there’s no perceptible demand for them in the didate in 2019, assuring the National political marketplace, Trump has gleeCenter for Transgender Equality Action Fund of her early support for fully produced a plentiful supply in his government-paid sex-change surgery second term. His affection for tariffs for transgender prison inmates. The goes back four or five decades, even tagline was “Kamala is for they/them, as candidates boosting them — John President Trump is for you.” Connally, Ross Perot, Pat Buchanan — Trump’s political standing has since have foundered. suffered because of a sense that, in his His juddering increases and decreassecond term, he has been serving himes in tariffs, starting with his “Liberaself rather than his constituents. There tion Day” just after April Fools’ Day in is now a real possibility that his Repub- 2025, have produced few perceptible gains for Americans but have resulted lican Party will lose Senate and House in higher prices. The tariff-raising conseats in states and districts he carried by double digits just 16 days after his test he initiated with Canada has raised stint at McDonald’s. rates to 50% and prompted Michigan For the economy, as The Wall Street Republican Senate candidate Mike Journal’s Gerard Baker plausibly Rogers to insist, “Here in Michigan, we argues, is not in dreadful shape. The know that Canada is not our enemy.” current inflation rate of 3.7% is much Rogers added, “We need to end this tarlower than the 9% rate under Biden in iff war now.” 2022. Trump is on more solid policy ground

in his actions against Iran, which has never apologized for seizing American diplomats 47 years ago — a violation of the first rule of international law and the first of multiple acts of war against the United States. He could have made, over time, a persuasive case for action. Instead, he seems to have acted on the assumption that the powers in Iran would prove as compliant with his demands as Venezuela’s Chavista thugs have been since his lightning abduction and prosecution of dictator Nicolas Maduro. It turns out that Iran’s mullahs and Revolutionary Guard are made of sterner stuff and are located in a more distant and perilous neighborhood. Also damaging has been the president’s self-indulgence in putting his stamp on Washington. You don’t have to be an aficionado of minimalist decor to find his gilt decorations in the Oval Office off-putting. There’s a plausible case that the White House needs a larger ballroom, and it is already flanked by the much larger and architecturally discordant Treasury and Eisenhower Executive Office buildings. You could complain that a hostile press has lavished unfavorable coverage on Trump’s plans for a triumphal arch, his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repainting, and his efforts to affix his name to the Kennedy Center. All minor stuff, you may object. But taken together with the higher prices attributable to high tariffs and the Middle East conflict, these projects have clearly damaged the standing of the president and his party more than anything in Trump’s first term. Voters see those higher prices every day at the gasoline and diesel pumps, and Trump’s job approval moves inversely to gas prices. It’s still possible for Republicans to argue that Democrats are “for they/ them.” But it’s getting harder to persuade voters that “President Trump is for you.”

The test every novel may soon have to pass Predictions are risky for columnists, but I will venture one anyway: In the near future, all fiction manuscripts will have to pass through an artificial intelligence detector before they are published. This will not happen easily, but it will happen. There have simply been too many scandals in which authors are suspected of submitting AI-written work, most recently the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. I won’t parse the arguments that AI detection is flawed, except to say they aren’t very convincing. Nor do I think the head-inMegan ega the-sand approach that many McArdle institutions have taken can be sustained for much longer. Much of the literary world is in denial about the implications of so much AI work making its way into the highest echelons of literary achievement. But eventually, we are going to have to decide where AI writing belongs, and where it does not. Even more than that, writers are going to have to decide what writing is for. For a writer like me, there is something baffling about submitting an AI story to a fiction contest. I’ve been writing almost compulsively since I was 8 years old, when I inscribed my first attempt at a novel in a black-and-white composition book. What is the point of competing for a writing prize if you don’t actually want to write? Why would you seek honors that rightfully belong to your ChatGPT subscription? But I am not actually that naive. I understand that writers write for many reasons, not just because we love doing the work. Much of the time, we don’t love doing the work. A common joke in my profession is that no one likes writing itself. We like being about to write and having written. The joke is an exaggeration — nothing feels as good as the delirious fog of creation that envelops you when the work is going well. Often, however, the work does not go well, and you spend hours slogging through pieces or chapters that refuse to come together. There is a reason for journalist Mary Heaton Vorse’s famous observation that “the art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.” The dividing line between amateurs and professionals is often not talent, but the ability to pin our posteriors in place until something publishable emerges from our keyboards. We stay in those chairs for many reasons: because we have a story that demands to be written, because we have ideas or knowledge we want to share, because we think we can change the world or at least one mind. But if we’re honest, we also write because we need money to support our other hobbies, such as eating or taking out 30-year mortgages. And of course, we enjoy the prestige. It is much more fun to tell people that you are a writer than it is to tell them you are an IT consultant or an administrative assistant. It is enjoyable to get invitations for talks and conferences. It is delightful to have a wide audience for your thoughts, rather than forcing them upon the narrow circle of your friends and family. It is truly lovely when someone comes up to you and says, “I like your work.” If you enjoy doing the work itself, AI is a poor substitute. But if you mostly enjoy the perks, it’s tempting to take shortcuts. That kind of cheating will ultimately destroy literary prizes and perhaps traditional publishing. Why would anyone bother reading the product of your ChatGPT prompts when they can get a $20 subscription and compose their own? But for the individual cheater, it might work out well — at least, as long as judges and editors refuse to check. So after much agonized debate, I expect they will start running all submissions through Pangram or some other AI detector. That will still leave the writing profession badly exposed to AI. Many people will happily slurp up bulk-generated AI fiction and journalism rather than the slow, expensive, artisanal human stuff. The age of AI will disrupt the workplace in all sorts of ways. But the work will continue, as other kinds of work have continued through technological disruptions. People still run the 100-meter dash, even though a car or a cheetah could do it faster. We still cook elaborate dinners, even though the frozen food aisle is crammed with highly palatable substitutes. We still have dinner parties, even though we could stream wittier banter from Netflix — because we are humans, and we want to seek excellence, not just consume it. AI may make it harder for us to get paid for our work. But if so, it will also make it easier for us to focus on the reasons that work is worth doing. Megan McArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo. Email her at Megan.McArdle@washpost.com.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

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6B n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

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TODAY

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THURSDAY

FRIDAY

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81° 49°

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Beaumont 81/61 Port Arthur 79/64

Baton Rouge 81/49

Lake Charles 82/55

New Orleans 79/61 Houma 80/52

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

Hattiesburg 81/45

Alexandria 80/47

Lafayette 81/51

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YESTERDAY

Baton Rouge through 5 p.m. Monday

Jackson 80/46 Many 81/45

LOW

TEMPERATURE

Longview 79/48

-0s

LOW

Monroe 80/46

Shreveport 80/50

-10s

HIGH

Another great day is in the forecast today. Expect a mostly sunny and warm day with a light breeze. Temperatures this afternoon will be about where they should be, rising into the upper 70s. Temperatures will return to the mid- to upper 80s tomorrow and for the rest of the week. Winds will be out of the northeast at about 5-10 mph. The air will be dry, dew points will be low and the humidity will be hardly noticeable. There is no rain in the forecast today, and we’ll probably be dry for the rest of the week.

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7:10 a.m. 6:28 p.m. 3:20 p.m. 1:35 a.m.

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

78°/47° 80°/57° 83°/55° 90° in 2016 34° in 2022

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

FULL

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Today 7:25a Wednesday 8:06a Thursday 8:44a Friday 9:22a Saturday 10:03a Sunday 10:48a Monday 11:40a

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Los Angeles Miami Nashville New York City Philadelphia Phoenix St. Louis San Francisco Seattle

81 86 76 66 71 93 73 67 63

1:14a 7:48p 1:55a 8:28p 2:33a 9:06p 3:11a 9:45p 3:51a 10:26p 4:35a 11:13p 5:26a ----

TODAY Lo

64 71 43 48 48 72 46 56 43

pc s pc pc s pc s c s

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1:36p 2:17p 2:55p 3:33p 4:14p 5:00p 5:53p

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

t s s s s t s sh s

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

BLOTTER

iff’s Ofﬁce said.

Continued from page 1B

Police: Father killed, child hurt after car hit them

domestic abuse and aggravated assault. The woman told deputies that she was asleep in her home in the 100 block of Andras Street in Bayou L’Ourse, when she awoke to find Lightell standing over her with a machete. Lightell tried to strike her as she fled the room, she told officers. The dog was found suffering with severe injuries from the machete and died on Sunday evening, the Assumption Parish Sher-

A father died and his child was critically injured when they were struck by a vehicle late Sunday night as they walked along Blount Road, a Baton Rouge police spokesperson said. The incident happened about 11:40 p.m. in the 900 block of Blount Road, police said. The child was taken to the hospital. No further information was immediately available.

DRUG

Continued from page 1B attorneys called pentobarbital a “feasible and readily implemented alternative.” Attempts to reach Wessinger’s attorney Monday were not immediately successful. While Landry, Attorney General Liz Murrill and other state officials disagree that nitrogen gas is an unconstitutional method of execution, they say Wessinger’s argument is moot if they will allow pentobarbital to be used. “The only way (Wessinger) will be executed by nitrogen hypoxia is if he voluntarily declines to elect pentobarbital and thus voluntarily agrees to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia,” the state’s attorneys wrote. The U.S. Supreme Court has said if a death row inmate challenges an execution method, they must offer a viable alternative. When he filed his lawsuit in September calling nitrogen gas cruel and unusual, Wessinger pointed to singledrug pentobarbital as more humane. A Baton Rouge jury convicted Wessinger of double murder for the shooting deaths of Stephanie Guzzardo and David Breakwell, two of his former co-workers at a Calendar’s Restaurant that was located on Perkins Road. Of Louisiana’s 55 death row inmates, Wessinger ap-

pears closest to an execution date. Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore has said he intends to seek a death warrant that would set a date for the sentence to be carried out. Last year, the state imposed its first death sentence in 15 years when Jessie Hoffman was executed by nitrogen gas at Angola state prison. Hoffman was sentenced to death for the 1996 rape and murder of Molly Elliot in New Orleans. Since his conviction in 1997, Wessinger has tried to avoid execution through multiple lawsuits and pleas for clemency. That path was narrowed last week when the governor said clemency would not be an option for Wessinger and a judge denied a separate request for his sentence to be reconsidered, citing a higher-court ruling. His attorneys also recently asked in state court for a new penalty phase for his case, arguing a 2014 brain scan — conducted nearly two decades after a jury sentenced him to death — shows he had a stroke as a child which affected the part of his brain that affects decision-making and impulse control. On Monday, Murrill reposted the governor’s comments regarding Wessinger to social media, adding: “Justice delayed is justice denied.” Some states, including Louisiana, have had trouble obtaining drugs to use for lethal injection, but others

have continued to acquire pentobarbital, Wessinger’s attorneys argued in their previous ﬁlings. Pentobarbital — also used commonly for animal euthanasia — was employed in last month’s botched attempted execution of Tennessee death row inmate Christina Pike. Ofﬁcials say Pike’s executioners tried to administer two lethal doses of pentobarbital, but the IV lines fell out of her vein and the drug leaked into her arms instead of entering her bloodstream. The failed execution prompted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to suspend state executions for the rest of 2026 while officials investigate what went wrong. Email Patrick SloanTurner at patrick.sloanturner@theadvocate.com.

HOME

DELIVERED EVERY DAY

TODAY

MODERATE

FLOOD STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

MON. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

5.60 23.60 25.70 11.60 6.90 5.47 4.40

-0.65 -0.42 -0.79 -0.60 -0.34 -0.28 -0.45

19.26

-0.72

-1.63

none

18 29 8

-1.37 9.66 2.77

-0.01 -0.02 +0.37

13 15

2.43 0.55

none +0.01

47 34 29 20 12 6

10.50 6.99 5.40 4.80 3.30 1.91

+0.48 +0.57 +0.30 +0.46 -0.10 +0.05

data as of 7 a.m. Monday

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SPORTS

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

T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 20, 2026

SAIN TS VS. ST EELERS • 8:30 A.M. SUNDAY • NFL NE T WORK

1CN

LSU women need to answer these questions BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY ADAM HUNGER

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, left, looks to defend against New York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston during the second half of their game on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

ONE TO BUILD ON

Last season ended in heartbreak for the LSU women’s basketball team. The Tigers had reached at least the Elite Eight in three consecutive seasons before Duke hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in the Sweet 16, swiping another shot at the Final Four away from LSU. Now it’s time to start over. In the offseason, the Tigers lost Flau’jae Johnson to the WNBA and a few key contributors to the transfer portal. But those departures didn’t stop Kim Mulkey and her staff from assembling what most consider to be one of the most talented rosters in the country. Again. Mikaylah Williams is back. So are MiLaysia Fulwiley, ZaKiyah Johnson and Grace Knox. Former Iowa State point guard Jada Williams and ex-Florida guard Laila Reynolds are newcomers, along with one McDonald’s All-America forward (Lola Lampley) and two international post players: Noa Morro (Spain) and Anna Minaeva (Russia). Here are ﬁve questions Mulkey’s newlook bunch will have to answer this season.

Can LSU rebound? LSU has been one of the nation’s ﬁve

ä See QUESTIONS, page 4C

Saints’ win desperately needed, but big picture still fuzzy You’ll have to excuse David Edwards’ French, even if the New Orleans Saints now have landed in Paris. Many of the passionate words the Saints offensive lineman spoke to his teammates in the locker room after Sunday’s 34-27 victory over the New York Giants had to be bleeped out. “We won this game because of our week of preparation and our (bleeping) mindset, period,” Edwards said. “How do we carry that moving forward? Positive. (Bleeping) all together. That’s who we are. We (bleeping) showed that today. How do we build on that? That’s our (bleeping) objective this week coming up.” Chances are, the language would have been much worse — both in the locker room and among the fan base — if the Saints had let their 24-point fourth-quarter lead slip away. They didn’t. They held on and snapped out of a three-game funk to give themselves a chance to get this season back on track. It was a roller coaster of a game in what has been a roller coaster of a season. They found a way to win and almost found a way to lose all in the same game. “Resiliency,” Saints quarterback Tyler Shough said. Resiliency was exactly what the Saints needed after the way things had fallen apart the previous three weeks. The morale, at least among the fan base, was about as fractured as the broken bones in Shough’s non-throwing hand.

The migraine headache that sidelined cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry in the second half had nothing on the heartache Saints fans were dealing with after seeing all that optimism after Week 2 vanish. Nobody needed this win more than second-year coach Kellen Moore. This was easily the biggest game of his young coaching career. No, his job wasn’t on the line. Gayle Benson, despite her words last week about her disappointment with the team’s 1-4 start, wasn’t going to fire Moore. But the last thing Moore needed was to be on a 7½-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean with a battered team still searching for answers. The Saints didn’t find all the answers at MetLife Stadium, but it’s a whole lot easier to learn from your mistakes in a win than it is in a loss. The slow starts are still a thing, evident by the 7-0 deficit at the end of the first quarter and the 10-0 hole the Saints eventually dug out of. The costly penalties that keep the Saints behind the chains continue. They were penalized seven times for 52 yards, but it felt far worse than that. Moore will need to find a solution for their issues at the left tackle position, especially with Pittsburgh’s menacing TJ Watt up next. And surely Moore now knows his team isn’t good enough

Rod Walker

ä See WALKER, page 4C

Saints use caution amid Paris protests: ‘We just want to be as safe as possible’ BY MATTHEW PARAS

Kiffin scoffs at ghosts of Auburn’s stadium BY JON BLAU Staff writer

Staff writer

VERSAILLES, France — On his day off in France, New Orleans Saints safety Justin Reid plans to attend Tuesday’s Paris Saint-Germain soccer game against Barçelona at the Parc des Princes. The match, like Sunday’s game between the Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers, will go on as scheduled. So Reid will head into the city that evening, despite the ongoing protests over rising living costs and school conditions that have captured the world’s attention. Reid had to weigh whether the decision was dangerous. “It’ll just be, keep it low key, keep it fun, do things as a group, do things as a team,” Reid said. “And above all else, stay out of the mix and don’t ﬁnd any way to be a distraction to what our ultimate goal here is, to come in and put on a performance and get a win.” Saints coach Kellen Moore said he’s leaving it to his players’ discretion over how much they want to explore Paris during their scheduled downtime. After arriving in Paris on Monday, New Orleans has two lighter days of work before gearing up to practice Wednesday

STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Kim Mulkey watches drills during the first practice of the season on Sept. 21 at the PMAC.

ers thinking twice about how much of Paris they should see. Reid said he anticipated many teammates staying closer to Versailles rather than branch-

LSU coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t believe Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium is haunted. But he’s been around a few people who do. His former boss, ex-LSU and Alabama head coach Nick Saban, has said as much about the venue because ä LSU at so many extraordinary plays seem to tilt the balAuburn. ance of games there. 11 A.M. One of Kiffin’s potenSATURDAY,ABC tial colleagues at Auburn, former men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, tried using Jordan-Hare’s spookiness to lure Kiffin there when he was being considered as the school’s next football coach. “He’s like, ‘Hey, you’ll get a win every year that you really don’t deserve, because magical things just happen here. It’s haunted,’ “ Kiffin, who ultimately stayed at Ole Miss for another three seasons, recalled Pearl saying at the time. Kiffin hopes Auburn doesn’t win a game it doesn’t deserve this weekend. He’s already seen LSU experience its share of rottenness on the road.

ä See PARIS, page 4C

ä See LSU, page 4C

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

Saints mascot Gumbo’s French cousins, Louis and Lily, high-five a guest at the NFL Shop opening event on Monday in Paris. The New Orleans Saints play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first NFL game to take place in France on Sunday. through Friday to prepare for the Steelers. The Saints are staying and practicing in Versailles, roughly 12 miles from Paris. But the protests, which led to violence and riots over the weekend, have play-

2C n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

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BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 6 p.m. Exhibition: Tennessee at Duke ACCN COLLEGE FOOTBALL 6 p.m. MTSU at FIU CBSSN 6 p.m. Missouri St. at Delaware ESPNU 6:30 p.m. South Alabama at Marshall ESPN2 COLLEGE GOLF 3 p.m. Abilene Christian GOLF

MEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER Indiana at Ohio St. BTN GYMNASTICS 12:30 p.m. World Artistic Gymnastics NBCSN MLB 7 p.m. Cleveland at Tampa Bay TBS NBA 2 p.m. Boston at Detroit NBC 6 p.m. Philadelphia at New York NBC 8:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at San Antonio NBC 6 p.m.

IN BRIEF

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

NHL 7 p.m. Boston at Dallas ESPN 9:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Vegas ESPN TENNIS 9:30 p.m. Brussels-ATP, Lyon-ATP TENNIS

Bills DB Gardner-Johnson suspended for spitting

Buffalo Bills defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson has been suspended one game by the NFL for spitting in the direction of two Las Vegas Raiders players during Sunday’s game at Allegiant Stadium. Gardner-Johnson was bickering with Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and was captured by video cameras spitting as Bowers walked away. It was Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum who immediately pointed it out to the ofﬁcials. Bowers said he wasn’t immediately aware after the game of what had even happened. Gardner-Johnson, who has a lengthy disciplinary record with the NFL and started his career with the New Orleans Saints, spoke to reporters after the game before issuing a lengthy statement on his Instagram account late Sunday night to apologize for his actions.

Colts fire general manager Ballard after loss to Titans

The Indianapolis Colts missed the playoffs five straight years and missed out on finding their next franchise quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft. On Monday, general manager Chris Ballard paid the price for both. Team co-owner Carlie IrsayGordon announced she had ﬁred Ballard, who had been making the personnel decisions since 2017. The move comes one day after the hometown fans booed resoundingly throughout the second half of Sunday’s game, chanted “Fire Ballard” and left early as the Colts blew a 13-point halftime lead and lost 26-20 to previously winless Tennessee.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones defends Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center last season. Jones is a big part of the Pelicans’ defensive plans this season.

Jones at center of defensive plans Pelicans stalwart key to Mosley's strategy BY LES EAST

Contributing writer

One of the primary reasons that Jamahl Mosley was hired as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans is his record of building top-flight defensive teams. One of the players that Mosley inherited is Herb Jones, a former first-team All-Defensive player who can match up effectively against elite scorers of virtually any size, shape or skill set. The Mosley era starts when the Pelicans face the Indiana Pacers at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Smoothie King Center, and it will be the first opportunity to see how the centerpiece fits in Mosley’s defense. “He’s a great starting point,” Mosley said of Jones. Jones’ rookie season was 202122, which was also Mosley’s first season as head coach of the Orlando Magic. Mosley learned to appreciate Jones as a defender, and Jones likewise learned to appreciate the way Mosley’s teams played defense whenever Orlando and New Orleans crossed paths. “He’s been a pest over the years

ä Pacers at Pelicans. 7 P.M. WEDNESDAY, GCSEN.

of playing against him,” Mosley said of Jones. “I think he’s just got to be the head of the snake in a lot of ways defensively — guarding teams’ best players, depending on who that is any given night with the matchup, but just being able to be as physical as he’s been, as smart as he’s been, playing in gaps, knowing how he gets steals, just being disruptive night in and night out.” Jones has been a mainstay of the New Orleans defense throughout his first five seasons. To illustrate how much the Pelicans have leaned on his defense, consider the four-game stretch early last season when James Borrego took over as interim coach after Willie Green was fired. In a span of six days, New Orleans faced the Lakers, the Warriors, the Thunder and the Nuggets. Those matchups left Jones paired against Luka Doncic, Steph Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, respectively. Doncic scored 24 points on 6-of16 shooting; Curry scored just nine points on 2-off-11 shooting; Gilgeous-Alexander shot 5 of 9 but nearly half of his 23 points (10)

came at the foul line; and Jokic scored 28 on 10-of-18 shooting. Those are average to below average numbers for those players. “There are great players in the league, and when you have guys like Herb that want to take on those challenges, it makes the game plans a lot easier,” Mosley said. “They want whatever’s coming to them, and they’re taking it on wholeheartedly.” Mosley was quick to point out that his defense relies on everyone helping each other and communicating, adding that teammates such as Saddiq Bey and Yves Missi have the same mindset as Jones. “The point of our defense is that you’re not on an island when you’re guarding these guys,” Mosley said. Mosley’s defense had an immediate impact when he took over in Orlando for the 2021-22 season. He inherited a team that was 24th in the NBA in defense and it improved in each of his ﬁrst four seasons, ranking as high as third in 2023-24 and second in 2024-25. Though the Magic slipped last season, the team still ranked a respectable 11th. Jones’ third season (2023-24) was the season in which he was recognized with the All-Defense

honor after starting 76 games. Two years ago he was limited to 20 games because of injuries, and last year he was limited to 56 because of an injury. Now he’s healthy and is playing for a simpatico head coach. “He’s a joy to coach because he does all the little things so well,” Mosley said. “Defensively, he gets into the basketball. He’s physical, he’s aggressive, he’s disruptive, and I think the more you can have a guy that’s disruptive at the point of attack, it changes the way you play the game.” Although Mosley had an experienced elite defender waiting for him when he arrived in New Orleans, Jones and the defensive guru have collaborated on how he can be even more effective. “I think I have to be more sound defensively, not gamble as much because coach has shown me a lot of clips where I’m gambling, getting out of position and giving up a lot of stuff on the defensive side,” Jones said. “I try not to gamble. It’s hard for me not to, just because of my instincts. I think I see things before they happen a lot of times, but I think me being sound defensively, being in the right spots will help the team move forward.”

PELICANS NOTEBOOK

Murray’s return means Pels healthy to start BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to start the season completely healthy. Guard Dejounte Murray, who missed the previous three preseason games with a toe injury, practiced fully Monday morning. Murray said after practice that he expects to play at 7 p.m. Wednesday when the Pelicans host the Indiana Pacers in the season opener. “I’m good,” he said. “I’m great. Happy to be on the ﬂoor.” Murray said the injury happened on the second day of training camp when his toe got stepped on. “Just was being cautious of it,” Murray said about his absences. “It was really fat. And

purple. It was really just getting the swelling down. That was it. I feel great. It’s not swollen (now). I’m able to run, jump, participate.” Murray scored six points to go with six assists and four rebounds in his only preseason game, the opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Murray is entering his third season with the Pelicans. He is averaging 17.2 points and 7.0 assists since arriving in New Orleans.

Final roster The Pelicans on Monday announced their roster for opening night. The Pelicans now have 15 players on standard contracts, plus three players on a two-way contract. The 15 players on a standard contract are Herb Jones, Trey Murphy,

Murray, Zion Williamson, Jeremiah Fears, Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic, Bennedict Mathurin, Jordan Poole, Derik Queen, Saddiq Bey, DeAndre Jordan, AJ Johnson, Bryce McGowens and Trendon Watford. Jaron Pierre, Malika Dia and Julian Reese are on two-way contracts and will split time between the Pelicans and the Laketown Squadron, the G League afﬁliate in Kenner.

Familiar foe Mathurin will face his former team when the Pacers come to town Wednesday. Mathurin, who the Pelicans signed to a two-year deal in late August, spent his ﬁrst 3½ seasons with the Pacers. The Pacers traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers in February. Mathurin isn’t making a big deal out of playing the team that drafted him with the No. 6 overall

pick in 2022. “It’s just another game for me, to be honest,” he said. The game will feature the return for Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in 2025. “It’s great,” Mathurin said. “God bless that he’s healthy. He’s been rehabbing for a long time. I’m very blessed, and it’s great for the game of basketball that he’s back on the court.”

Opening night To recognize the 25th year of the Pelicans being in New Orleans, the ﬁrst 6,000 fans at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday will receive a commemorative hat. The halftime performer will be Red Panda, who will ride her unicycle while ﬂipping bowls onto her head.

Rams WR Adams to miss 6-10 weeks with an injury

Rams receiver Davante Adams will be out for 6-10 weeks with a signiﬁcant hamstring injury, Los Angeles coach Sean McVay said Monday. The Rams (2-4) also lost veteran defensive tackle Poona Ford for the season due to a ruptured triceps, and defensive tackle Kobie Turner is going on injured reserve with a groin injury amid a cascade of health setbacks for the struggling preseason Super Bowl favorites, who have lost three of four. Adams, a six-time Pro Bowl selection and the NFL’s leader in touchdown catches last season, got hurt on the Rams’ penultimate offensive snap in their 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The 33-year-old Adams has 30 receptions for 480 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Lakers get rid of former first-round pick Knecht

The Los Angeles Lakers waived guard Dalton Knecht on Monday in their final roster cutdown for the regular season. Knecht was the Lakers’ firstround pick in 2024, and he briefly appeared to be a star in the making early in his rookie season. The 2024 SEC Player of the Year at Tennessee scored 37 points while hitting nine 3-pointers against Utah in November of that year in the highlight of a nine-game stretch in which he averaged 18.9 points per game. But Knecht never matched that success again, and he never regained significant playing time after he was traded to Charlotte in February 2025 before the deal was rescinded.

Portugal suspends Ronaldo 30 days for his walkout

Walking out on the Portugal camp earned Cristiano Ronaldo a 30-day suspension and $285 fine from the national federation. The Portuguese Football Federation had provisionally suspended Ronaldo and on Monday called the punishment “adequate and sufficient.” The federation said Ronaldo fully admitted the facts underlying the charges through a formal statement submitted Friday. It said his confession and clean disciplinary record helped to reduce the punishment. During recent Nations League fixtures, Ronaldo played in the opening win over Wales then was an unused substitute in a win in Norway on Sept. 27. Ronaldo accused coach Jorge Jesus of breaking an agreement to play him and walked out. Without him, Portugal also beat Denmark and Norway again to qualify for the quarterfinals.

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Bad day for Larson gives ‘Chase’ ﬁeld life BY DAVID BRANDT AP sportswriter

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Kyle Larson climbed out of his beat-up No. 5 Chevrolet with a dejected look on his face, stewing about a 34thplace finish at Phoenix Raceway after a flat front right tire caused him to hit the wall. Six weeks of excellence in NASCAR’s playoffs had disappeared in the span of a few miserable hours in the desert Sunday. Even before the tire issue, Larson struggled at Phoenix Raceway, qualifying 22nd Saturday. He wasn’t any better during the race, limping around the mile tri-oval in the back of the pack before the flat tire that almost seemed like a merciful ending. Tyler Reddick won at Phoenix for his sixth victory of the season. Ryan Blaney was second, Chase Elliott finished third, and Christopher Bell was fourth. “I didn’t expect to be good, but I didn’t expect to be that bad, either,” Larson said. “It wasn’t a lot of fun today, but we were just trying to salvage what we could of the day. We’ll go to Talladega and try to forget about today and get back after it. We’ve done well at the superspeedways, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt.” Forgetting about Sunday’s miserable performance is easier said than done, but it would be silly to say Larson’s chase for a third Cup Series championship is done. The Hendrick Motorsports team still has a five-point lead over Bell heading into Talladega next weekend. Briscoe is in third, 24 points back, while Denny Hamlin (31), Blaney (40), Joey Logano (44) and Reddick (56) are still in the hunt with three races to go — largely because Larson had such a bad day. The No. 5’s free fall was just as eye-catching as his previous dominance in NASCAR’s postseason. His average finish of 2.83 was the best pace over the first six postseason races since the “Chase” was introduced in 2004. He’s won two races and finished second in

two others. It was a stellar run reminiscent of Jimmie Johnson’s peak in the 2000s. Now most of that momentum is gone. It’s back to the garage to figure out what went wrong. “We’ve done well at the superspeedways, so hopefully we can execute, get some points and keep ourselves in the hunt,” Larson said. Reddick’s No. 45 Toyota has newfound momentum heading into Talladega. His 23XI team had the hottest car in the sport early in the year, winning four of the season’s first six races, but had a big lull over the summer. He’s back in the hunt for title — though still a long shot. “We just had to keep showing up, stay focused on the details,” Reddick said. “We did a good job of just fighting through the things that we needed to work on today, just making the right calls at the right time.” Briscoe is still lurking as well after back-to-back wins in Las Vegas and Charlotte vaulted him back into contention. Hamlin — who is still looking for his first Cup Series championship — finished 28th in Phoenix after a onetwo punch of bad luck caused by a flat tire and then a speeding violation on pit road as he struggled to control the car. The No. 11 Toyota still made up ground in the chase from a points perspective, even though he fell from second to fourth in the standings. Blaney and Logano had a good run in Phoenix for Joe Gibbs Racing and have plenty of confidence heading to Talladega. And then there’s Bell, who finished fourth in the desert and is now just 5 points back of Larson. Buckle up. NASCAR’s postseason is wide open. “It’s going to be a battle, that’s for sure,” Bell said. “We’re right there in it. Really proud of our team. They’ve been doing a really good job of bringing fast race cars, executing races. We’ve been able to qualify well and run up front in stages.”

Catholic returns to rankings after 3 straight wins BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

With the regular season nearing its end, several Baton Rouge area schools are still holding strong in the LSWA poll. In Class 5A, Catholic re-entered the top 10 at No. 10 after its 70-38 victory over Zachary on the road. The win marks the Bears’ third straight to get to 4-3. Madison Prep rose one spot to No. 5 in the LSWA Class 4A top10 poll. The Chargers (5-2) took a big step toward a District 6-4A title after their 53-20 win over Brusly. Madison Prep will play St. Michael this week, which received votes in the Class 4A poll. In Class 3A, University High (5-2) has shaken off its 0-2 start. The Cubs rose one spot to No.

WEEK 7 LSWA STATE FOOTBALL RANKINGS Class 5A School (1st-pl votes) Pts. Prv. Rk 1. Karr (9) 7-0 130 1 2. Ruston 6-1 118 2 3. St. Augustine (2) 7-0 106 3 4. Alexandria 6-1 94 5 5. Rummel 6-1 87 4 6. St. Thomas More 6-1 77 7 7. Brother Martin 5-2 63 8 8. Mandeville 7-0 39 10 9. Jesuit 5-2 37 6 10. Catholic-BR 4-3 35 NR Others receiving votes: Barbe 20, Destrehan 16, John Curtis 9, Northshore 6, Acadiana 5, West Monroe 3, Haughton 2, Thibodaux 1.

Class 4A

School (1st-place votes) Pts. Prv. Rk 1. Westgate (8) 6-0 128 1 2. Neville (2) 5-1 122 2 3. North DeSoto (1) 7-0 119 3 4. Shaw 6-1 101 4 5. Madison Prep 5-2 76 6 6. Lake Charles Prep 6-1 70 8 7. John F. Kennedy 6-1 66 7 5-2 62 5 8. Franklin Parish 9. Laf. Renaissance 5-2 52 9 10. Leesville 6-1 28 10 Others receiving votes: Cecilia 22, Salmen 11, St. Michael 8, Plaquemine 3, Tioga 1.

Class 3A

School (1st-place votes) 1. St. Charles (11) 2. University 3. Jena 4. Eunice

Pts. 6-1 5-2 5-2 7-0

Prv. 132 121 101 85

Rk 1 3 5 6

2 after a 62-0 victory over Collegiate Baton Rouge. The Cubs will take on West Feliciana, which is No. 7 in the Class 3A poll after a 49-0 win over Port Allen moved the Saints to 7-0. Two other sides ranked in the top 10 of Class 3A are St. James and Lutcher. The Bulldogs (5-2) defeated the Wildcats (5-2) 3520 on Friday night. Lutcher rose from outside the top 10 to No. 9 after the win. St. James dropped four spots to No. 6. Dunham (4-3) stayed put at No. 6 in Class 2A after its 35-6 victory over Donaldsonville. In Class 1A, Ascension Catholic (7-0) remained No. 2 after a 26-21 win against St. Martin’s. No. 5 Southern Lab (7-0) and No. 6 Kentwood (7-0) also remain unchanged in the rankings after their respective Week 7 wins.

The Advocate n theadvocate.com n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n 3C

SWAC NOTEBOOK

PHOTO BY APRIL BUFFINGTON

Southern’s Jason Harris gets stopped by B.J. Washington of Jackson State during their game on Sept. 26 at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Miss.

Jackson State rebounds from loss; Bethune-Cookman DB honored BY TOYLOY BROWN III Staff writer

Contenders for the Southwestern Athletic Conference title, such as Alabama State and Prairie View, have dropped back-to-back conference games. Jackson State refused to suffer the same fate during its homecoming in a 27-17 victory over Florida A&M on Saturday. The previous week, the Tigers fell to Grambling 45-38 on the road. Jackson State came back from a 17-12 deficit to open the fourth quarter, taking the lead with a 25yard touchdown pass from Jared Lockhart to Jabari Jones with 12:21 remaining. Jackson State (6-1, 3-1) converted its two-point conversion with Lockhart’s run to give his team a 20-17 advantage after a seven-play, 58-yard drive. The Jackson State defense was as disruptive as it has been all season, recording three interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Defensive back B.J. Washington, a fifth-year player, had two interceptions. “Been waiting all year to see that,” Jackson State coach T.C. Taylor said on the SWAC coaches call Monday. “This is the right time of the year for it all to be coming together.” Lockhart didn’t start the game after getting injured Grambling. Taylor said the team used senior quarterback Caron Tyler first since he practiced the most. “He took a bulk of the reps throughout the week, so we wanted to be fair to him as a young man,” Taylor said. “But Jared was able to

go, and we just needed a spark at that time. And he did a good job of coming in there. He really gave a warrior’s effort.”

Wildcats’ star shines Bethune-Cookman saw one of its defensive stars play as good of a game as anyone has in the SWAC. Redshirt junior safety Jaden Davis was named the FCS National Defensive Player of the Week after an incredible performance in a 34-14 win over Mississippi Valley State (3-5, 2-2) on Saturday. Davis had a SWAC season-high three interceptions, nine tackles (six solo), a sack and a fumble returned 61 yards for a touchdown with 50 seconds remaining. “Jaden Davis scooped and scored and ended up ﬁnishing the game,” coach Raymond Woodie said. “It was a big win for us, you know, going down there in a hostile environment. It was on their homecoming, and you know I’m proud of the guys, the way they fought.” Davis has four interceptions on the season after getting his ﬁrst pick in the opener against Central Florida. He didn’t have an interception in any game before this season. He leads the SWAC in interceptions and is tied for third in the FCS. Bethune-Cookman (4-3, 2-1) leads the conference with 11 interceptions, which is three more than it had all of last season.

Alabama A&M thriving Alabama A&M (6-2, 3-1) dominated Grambling 61-31 at home Satur-

day, erasing a 14-point deficit in the second quarter. The Bulldogs also recovered after throwing an interception to start the contest. They scored 44 unanswered points, 35 in the third quarter, thanks to the sound play of quarterback Cornelious Brown. The 6-foot5 graduate student threw for 417 yards, completing 57.8% of his passes with five touchdowns. He also ran for 37 yards and a touchdown. “We felt like we had to score a lot of points in order to (win) that because they were a very capable offense, really good, high-powered offense, running and passing,” coach Sam Shade said. Brown’s favorite target was 6-4 junior wide receiver Jaylan Bean. The Wyoming transfer had 10 catches for 240 yards and four touchdowns, including two for more than 60 yards. Bean’s eight total receiving touchdowns are fourth in the FCS and tied for first in the SWAC with his teammate Jarel Williams. Shade, a second-year coach, said Bean came to the program with a shoulder injury and missed practically the entire offseason. “He was really behind as far as the learning curve,” Shade said. “Behind getting to work with Quad Brown, you know, just trying to build that chemistry and all that stuff. So my hat goes off to him, man, because he’s worked really hard to get himself where he is now.” Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com.

All tied up

5. Sterlington 4-3 76 4 6. St. James 5-2 74 2 7. West Feliciana 7-0 62 7 8. Marksville 6-1 57 8 9. Lutcher 5-2 45 NR 10. Jewel Sumner 5-2 35 9 Others receiving votes: Vandebilt Catholic 33, Iowa 19, Loyola Prep 9, Jennings 6, Northwest 1.

Class 2A School (1st-place votes) Pts. Prv. Rk 1. Calvary Baptist (11) 7-0 132 1 2. Notre Dame 7-0 119 2 3. Mangham 6-1 110 3 4. Amite 6-1 95 4 5. Newman 6-1 79 5 6. Dunham 4-3 73 6 7. Lafayette Christian 5-2 64 7 8. Lake Arthur 7-0 55 9 9. Mansﬁeld 6-1 36 10 10. Loreauville 5-2 34 NR Others receiving votes: Catholic-New Iberia 17, Vinton 15, Oak Grove 8, Welsh 6, Green Oaks 3, West St. Mary 3, Country Day 1, Rosepine 1.

Class 1A School (1st-place votes) Pts. Prv. Rk 1. Ouachita Christian (10) 7-0 131 1 2. Ascension Catholic 7-0 116 2 3 3. Riverside (1) 6-1 113 4. Haynesville 6-1 96 4 5. Southern Lab 6-0 84 5 7-0 75 6 6. Kentwood 7. Westminster-Laf. 7-0 64 7 8. Jeanerette 6-1 52 8 9. Cedar Creek 7-0 42 9 10. Logansport 6-1 36 10 Others receiving votes: East Feliciana 20, Ascension Episcopal 4, South Plaquemines 4, Jonesboro-Hodge 3, Elton 2, Sacred Heart-VP 2, St. Mary’s 2.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JUSTINE WILLARD

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, center, and Golden State Valkyries center Aminata Gueye, right, go for a rebound during the first half of Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Monday in San Francisco. The Dream won 7965.

4C n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

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THREE AND OUT: SCOTT RABALAIS’ TAKEAWAYS FROM LANE KIFFIN’S MONDAY NEWS CONFERENCE TO OPEN LSU-AUBURN WEEK

FOURTH DOWN AND FOREVER LSU’s fourth-and-1 punt from its 43 late in the Kentucky game remains a hot topic, especially since the Tigers are tied for second nationally in fourth-down conversions (10 of 12, 83.3%). Kiffin said analytics (known in football as “the book”) suggested going for it five times this season when LSU punted.“Four of the five have worked where the other team ended up giving the ball right back,” Kiffin said.“Obviously, we know the one that didn’t work.”

LSU

Continued from page 1C At Ole Miss, the magician Trinidad Chambliss made third-andlongs disappear, and the Rebels quarterback thwarted the Tigers’ second-half rally. At Kentucky, LSU had a lead with under two minutes left, but the Wildcats tied it in regulation and pulled ahead on a two-point conversion in overtime. Kiffin isn’t sure the latter should have happened because a Kentucky timeout negated a false start penalty. Coaches with a more intangible way of thinking will say teams have to learn how to win, and LSU seems to have forgotten how to get over the top on the road with eight straight SEC defeats away from Tiger Stadium. But Kiffin

QUESTIONS

Continued from page 1C best rebounding teams in each of the past four seasons. Last year was the ﬁrst the Tigers have played since 2021-22 without either Angel Reese or Aneesah Morrow — two of the best glass cleaners in college basketball history — and they still grabbed more boards per game than all but two Division I teams. Rebounding is one of Mulkey’s top priorities. Her teams won’t score lots of points in transition unless they grab lots of defensive boards, and they won’t score lots of points in the paint unless they can grab lots of offensive boards. How well will LSU fare on the glass this year? The answer likely hinges on how quickly three of its top four projected post players can acclimate to the Southeastern Conference’s speed and physicality. Morro is a 6-foot-3 forward who’s played professionally in Spain, but

PATIENT PROGRESS After going 31 of 38 for 289 yards passing with four touchdowns in Saturday’s 31-0 shutout of Mississippi State, quarterback Sam Leavitt said the team’s understanding of the offense grows each week. Kiffin agreed.“When you put together these portal teams, it takes a little bit of time,” he said.“We play better middle to late in the year when that’s happened. Part of that is experience playing with each other and within the system.”

BEHIND THE KIFFIN CURTAIN Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin filled that role in Kiffin’s first two seasons at Ole Miss (2020-21). Kiffin said as head coach, he’s at the disadvantage because Durkin knows his modus operandi. “The way I work, I tell them everything because they’re on our team at the time,” Kiffin said.“A lot of coaches aren’t like that.” That said, Kiffin’s teams have gone against Durkin’s defenses the previous four seasons at Texas A&M and Auburn.

doesn’t buy that theory. “The kick goes in, like I say, and then everybody’s like, ‘Y’all learned to win, man. Great resilience,’ ” Kiffin said. “It doesn’t go in and hits the upright, and then ‘You guys don’t know how to win on the road.’ So I think that’s probably a little bit overrated.” Forget the woo-woo stuff, especially following two road losses by a combined nine points. LSU just needs to execute better, in Kiffin’s opinion, which didn’t happen enough at Ole Miss and Kentucky in critical situations. LSU (5-2, 2-2 SEC) just needs a win at Auburn, which would keep Kiffin’s squad in a wide-open College Football Playoff race as the SEC continues to beat up on itself. There have been challenges in LSU’s pursuit, both expected and unexpected. Kiffin knew it would take time for a significantly overhauled of-

fense to hit its stride, which he believes is starting to happen. Quarterback Sam Leavitt just had his best performance in a 31-0 win over Mississippi State, going 31-of-38 passing for 289 yards and four touchdowns. Kiffin also knew he’d assembled a “top-heavy” roster, sacrificing depth to pay elite transfer talents such as Leavitt and left tackle Jordan Seaton in the hope of competing right away. What he didn’t anticipate was a stretch where both No. 7 jersey wearers — tight end Trey’Dez Green and linebacker Whit Weeks — would be out with injuries. Kiffin declined to comment on their status ahead of Auburn, but there has been hope Green could return after next week’s open date. Weeks hasn’t been ruled out to return at some point. “We built the team to be able to play against anybody,” Kiffin said.

Unranked Auburn proved last weekend it can beat anybody, taking down then-No. 1 Georgia in Athens. Interestingly enough, an Auburn win is what Kiffin wanted to see. Kiffin doesn’t believe in haunted stadiums, but he does believe in “relief syndrome,” which is an emotional letdown after a big win. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to win this week and they’re going to lose,” Kiffin said. “But that’s a real thing. That’s a real challenge.” Kiffin also knows college athletes spend too much time on social media. “You start to be told how great you are when you have those wins,” Kiffin said. “I was rooting for them at the end of the game to win, knowing we were playing next week. Just because that makes it more challenging.” Jordan-Hare Stadium, a stadium packed with nearly 90,000 fans,

she’s recovering from surgery to address a stress fracture in her shin. She won’t make her LSU debut until at least late November. Lampley is a 6-2 freshman who’s beginning her career in the post even though she was recruited as a perimeter player. Minaeva is a skilled 6-5 center from Russia who can pass and shoot, but she’s still only 17 years old. “They’re gonna be thrown to the wolves,” Mulkey said. “They’re gonna be out there, and they’re gonna have great moments and they’re gonna have not-so-great moments.”

liams and Jada Williams. It’s important to point out that Fulwiley will play a significant role whether she starts or not. Last year, she logged 25 minutes per game in SEC play, the fourth-most on the team. Mulkey made sure to point out on Sept. 21 that Fulwiley is more comfortable in her system now. “She wants to take some things that she didn’t do last year to the next level,” Mulkey said, “and it starts with her defense. It starts with her conditioning.”

ish club Kutxabank Araski and converted 38% of them. The Tigers can sprinkle in some 3s for Morro once she’s healthy this year, but they’ll need her primarily to rebound, protect the rim and score in the paint. Morro’s production at LSU ideally would look similar to the numbers she posted in Spain last season: 8.2 points and 7.5 rebounds in 25 minutes per game.

Does Fulwiley start? Fulwiley is a two-time SEC sixth woman of the year. She’s come off the bench in 108 of 112 games she’s played in her career. But this season might ﬁnally be the one in which the former South Carolina transfer slides into the starting lineup. Because LSU lost Flau’jae Johnson to the WNBA, it now has a starting spot open in the backcourt next to Mikaylah Wil-

Where does Morro fit? LSU needs someone to step into the role that Ukrainian center Kate Koval would’ve played had she decided to stick with the Tigers for her junior season. Morro seems like the most likely candidate. She’s a tall, long senior who’s played four years of professional basketball overseas. The problem is that she’s not a prototypical LSU center. Morro likes to shoot 3-pointers. She took three long-range shots per game last season for the Span-

LSU coach Lane Kiffin waits for the next play in the first quarter against Mississippi State on Saturday at Tiger Stadium. STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON

will be a challenge for LSU after visits to Ole Miss and Kentucky venues with just more than 60,000 apiece. There are no ghosts, despite Pearl’s suggestions to the contrary, but Kifﬁn would go as far as to call Auburn’s venue a “magical” place. He experienced enough Iron Bowls as an Alabama coordinator to respect its ferocity. No exorcisms are required to win there, however. Just another “e” word: execution. “A lot of times on the road, as you break down your losses and close losses, they’re usually not as much how many plays they make,” Kifﬁn said. “It’s more the mistakes you make. More penalties, more false starts and more turnovers than when you play at home.” Email Jon Blau at jon.blau@ theadvocate.com

That will make it tough for Minaeva to carve out a role for a team with national title aspirations as a freshman. But there’s still a chance she develops more quickly than Mulkey and her staff expect her to, which would make the Tigers considerably deeper in the frontcourt.

How will LSU fare early?

Get ready for LSU to play a more compelling nonconference slate Will Minaeva contribute? this season. It’s set to face UConn, Mulkey thinks Minaeva will be a North Carolina, Villanova, North Carolina State and Houston before “special” player. It just may take longer than one SEC play tips in January. It’s a trickier slate than the ones season for her to realize that potential. The Russian center is tall, Mulkey has scheduled in the past. strong and fundamentally sound, Will it help the Tigers or hurt but she’s about the same age as them? Either way, Mulkey should learn a typical high school senior. She more about her new-look group in won’t turn 18 until January. “Let’s be real,” Mulkey said. November and December than she “She’s 17 years old, and she’s has in previous years. gonna have to play against older players. She’s gonna get her lunch Email Reed Darcey at reed. handed to her, and the physicality darcey@theadvocate.com. ... I don’t even know if she had For more LSU sports updates, ever lifted a weight until she got sign up for our newsletter at over here.” theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

PARIS

Continued from page 1C

AP PHOTO BY ADAM HUNGER

Saints players celebrate after scoring a touchdown during the second half against the New York Giants on Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J.

WALKER

Continued from page 1C to rest starters early in the fourth quarter. That decision, aided by running back CJ Donaldson’s fumble, almost cost the Saints in what would have been one of the worst collapses in team history. The only thing that matters in the NFL is what the scoreboard says when the clock displays all zeroes. The Saints found a way to win, which is what good teams do. No, the Saints aren’t a good team yet. That can change if they string some W’s together over the next month. Do it enough times over this next stretch, and nobody will even be talking about how bad things were after those three straight home losses to the Raiders, Falcons and Vikings. Moore didn’t all of a sudden win back the confidence of the fan base. But at least his team fixed some things that were broken. The Saints finally ran the ball well (175 yards rushing), and they finally forced turn-

overs (four). Playing on the road seems to be just the cure they needed. For whatever reason, the Saints continue to play better on the road than they do at home. They are 0-3 at home and a two-point conversion in Detroit away from being 3-0 on the road. Next up is a “home” game in Paris. That’s where they will get to answer Edwards’ question. “How do we build on that?” The Saints have yet to play consistently for four quarters. What they showed late in the second quarter and in the third quarter against the Giants is a good foundation to build on. Drew Brees, who handled broadcast duties for Fox on Sunday, said during pregame that this was a game where the Saints could get some of their swagger back. I’m not sure how much swagger they got back, but they should at least have gotten some conﬁdence back. About bleeping time. Excuse my French. Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

ing out. “I think being in Paris is one of the most beautiful things you can be a part of,” Saints tight end Juwan Johnson said. “It has so much history. It has so much things going on. But I think the biggest thing is just praying for them. With everything that’s going on, I think they’re exercising what they want as far as change and stuff. “Us as outsiders, we just want to be as safe as possible.” Johnson noted many players’ families have tagged along for this trip, which marks the NFL’s ﬁrst-ever game in Paris. But Johnson said his own family — which includes his wife, who is pregnant with their third child, and their two daughters — is still “very undecided” on whether to visit and attend Sunday’s game. “If they do, I’m sure it’ll be great,” Johnson said. “But if they don’t, I completely understand.” The Saints and the NFL continue to monitor the situation. On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation and said he’d seek to hold those who incited the violence accountable. The violence left one protester and one police officer dead, and saw the torching of government buildings. At least 2,000 people have been arrested, and others have begun to factor in the protests’ impact. The Louvre, France’s iconic art museum, announced it was closed Monday because of demonstrations out front. Saints guard David Edwards said after Sunday’s win over the New York Giants that he was still looking forward to the trip. He said he was “confident” the team would keep players safe. The Saints said in a statement Sunday that members of their operations and secu-

STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER

Merchandise on display at the NFL Shop kickoff event is seen on Monday in Paris ahead of the upcoming game between the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. rity staff had been on the ground before the team arrived and had received daily security updates. “There has been no disruption or impact at any of our team sites,” Saints vice president of communications Greg Bensel said. During Monday’s news conference, Moore said the Saints don’t “really have anything organized from a team-bonding standpoint” for their Paris trip. But New Orleans arrived a full week early, partly to adjust to the seven-hour time difference and replicate a “normal workﬂow” in advance of facing the Steelers. “Our guys are smart; they understand this is still a business trip,” Moore said. “But at the same time, there will be a little bit of time for these guys to explore. And that’s an important part of this thing — go explore. You’re in a different country, a different culture. It’s a good opportunity.” For Reid, that means taking in

his ﬁrst PSG men’s match. He said he’d seen the women’s club in person before because his former college roommate’s girlfriend played for the squad. He expressed skepticism that the rest of his teammates would be out fully exploring. “We want to enjoy being in Paris and seeing things, but I don’t think many of us are very interested in getting into the mix that deeply,” Reid said. Email Matthew Paras at matt. paras@theadvocate.com

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Sarkisian backs Manning despite two-game skid BY JIM VERTUNO AP sportswriter

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY MATT SLOCUM

Philadelphia 76ers forward LeBron James stands before a preseason game against the Boston Celtics earlier this month in Philadelphia.

Everybody chasing Knicks as NBA begins BY TIM REYNOLDS AP basketball writer

LeBron James went to Philadelphia. Giannis Antetokounmpo moved to Miami. Kawhi Leonard returned to Toronto. A dozen or so former All-Star selections, the majority of them being former All-NBA picks, changed addresses this offseason as well. And they’re all chasing the New York Knicks. The 81st season of NBA play starts Tuesday with a tripleheader, highlighted by James and the 76ers heading to New York to face Jalen Brunson and the champion Knicks. They’ll get their championship rings before the game, see a banner swaying from the ceiling of Madison Square Garden and then get down to the task of doing something that nobody in the NBA has done for nearly a decade — repeat as title winners. The Knicks became the NBA’s eighth different champion in the last eight years, a run unprecedented in league history. They’re not the favorites to win the title this season; that role is shared by Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder. But the Knicks weren’t expected to win it all last season, and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson points to the title as proof that words don’t have to matter. “There’s only potential distractions when you read and believe what people are saying,” Brunson said. “So, no matter what’s being

said and no matter what’s been talked about, consistently or not, you believe what you want to believe, you hear what you want to hear. It’s on us as teammates and individuals and professionals to understand what the nature of it is. “The way we won was just because of how connected we were as a group. We’ve got to keep that.” There is no shortage of legitimate contenders. In the Eastern Conference, four of the last eight NBA Finals MVPs changed uniforms — Leonard returning to Toronto, Antetokounmpo going to Miami, and James and Jaylen Brown joining the Sixers. Detroit and Cleveland brought their rosters back virtually intact, as did the Knicks. Boston will plug Paul George into the hole created by Brown moving to Philadelphia and pair him with Jayson Tatum. Indiana gets Tyrese Haliburton back for the ﬁrst time since losing Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals and expects to contend again. “From a team perspective, we don’t have any conversations about anything but winning a championship. That’s our goal. There’s nothing more to talk about,” Haliburton said. “There are no small wins. To me, the year’s successful if you win a championship. If not, it’s not.” The Western Conference is loaded. Wembanyama and GilgeousAlexander are two of the game’s biggest stars, and the Spurs and Thunder lead the West pack. Nikola Jokic, always considered a serious contender for MVP honors,

will try to get Denver back into title contention. Golden State still has Stephen Curry; the Los Angeles Lakers still have Luka Doncic; Houston is expected to contend with Kevin Durant leading the way; Portland finally will have Damian Lillard in uniform; and Minnesota put together what’s expected to be an elite backcourt by pairing LaMelo Ball with Anthony Edwards. “New beginnings,” Ball said. “It’s literally a new story. We’re all excited here. It’s going to be fun.” The Spurs got to the NBA Finals last season after winning a Game 7 in Oklahoma City, ending hopes the Thunder had of being the league’s ﬁrst back-to-back champion since the Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. That loss, for certain, stung the Thunder. But the offseason in OKC was about getting ready for 29 opponents, not just the one in San Antonio. “We need to make sure that what we are doing is broad enough that it gives us a chance to be competitive across opponents, including ones that we are not aware that are going to be really good teams. That happens every single year,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “And so we need to be laser-focused on ourselves. We need to take the lessons from that series, for sure, and we did. But it’s certainly not something that we overcorrect for because you end up chasing your shadow, and it prevents you from being your best as you move forward.”

Eagles QB Hurts out for rest of season BY DAN GELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is expected to miss the rest of the season because of blood clots in his lungs, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. Hurts was placed on injured reserve Saturday, two days after the Eagles revealed he has a blood clot in his calf. He missed the ﬁrst of at least four games in Philadelphia’s loss to the Carolina PanHurts thers on Sunday. The Eagles and Hurts’ agent, Nicole Lynn, released more information on his condition Monday. They said Hurts has deep vein thrombosis and a bilateral pulmonary emboli, meaning a blood clot has traveled from the legs to the lungs. His treatment involves blood thinners, and he won’t be allowed to participate in any football activities until he is off of them. The Eagles and Lynn said Hurts was expected to make a full recovery. “He is clinically stable and has no significant functional limitations,” their statement said. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was

the only member of the organization made available to the media on Monday, and he largely deflected questions about Hurts’ health or how the team handled the situation. “I’m not a medical expert,” Sirianni said. “I lean on our guys in all those situations. I’m a football coach. I lean on our medical experts in every situation. I have full trust and full faith in them. It’s not just me that has major care for our players. It’s them as well.” The Eagles previously said Hurts was injured when he took a cleat to his calf area on Oct. 4 in a game against the Los Angeles Rams. Hurts informed the medical staff of the injury after practice on Oct. 8. The Super Bowl 59 MVP was back at practice the next day before the team left for London to play Jacksonville. Hurts was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis. Sirianni declined to say Monday why the Eagles allowed Hurts to fly home with a blood clot. He referred to statements the Eagles and Hurts’ agent released over the last week that addressed the timeline of his injury and treatment. He had no answers on specific questions about Hurts and his blood clots. “I understand you want this in-

formation on this,” Sirianni said. “I fully trust the people that are involved in helping us all make these decisions. We have great people here.” Hurts hadn’t missed more than two games in a season since becoming the full-time starter in 2021. He has led the Eagles to five straight playoff appearances, three NFC East titles and two Super Bowl appearances, beating the Chiefs 40-22 two years ago in New Orleans. Tanner McKee started Sunday in place of Hurts against the Panthers. McKee finished 26 of 45 for 215 yards and a touchdown in the 25-14 loss. The Eagles (2-4) have lost four consecutive games for the first time since 2020. Sirianni said Monday that beleaguered offensive coordinator Sean Mannion was still the play-caller. Hurts has eight touchdown passes and three interceptions with 933 yards passing this season. He is in the middle of a five-year, $255 million extension, including $179.3 million guaranteed, that takes him through the 2028 season. “I haven’t been without Jalen for an extended period of time,” Sirianni said. “I have the utmost confidence in Tanner, but I miss him. I know that will be the case. Jalen and I have been together, head coach and quarterback, for six years.”

AUSTIN, Texas — Arch Manning remains the starting quarterback for No. 19 Texas despite the Longhorns’ offensive struggles in consecutive losses, coach Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “There’s no doubt about it, Arch can play better for us, but he’s our starter,” Sarkisian said in his weekly news conference. “We need to see a better version of him this week.” The Longhorns were No. 1 two weeks ago before suffering consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2021. Texas (4-2, 1-2 SEC) plays No. 7 Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) at home on Saturday. Manning, a fourth-year player, has struggled in his second season as the full-time starter and has been the target of criticism in a Texas offense that has misfired all season. His three fourthquarter turnovers were critical in losses to Oklahoma and Florida. The nephew of Super Bowlwinning quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning was the top recruit in the country coming out of high school. He was projected as a potential Heisman Trophy winner from the day he arrived on campus. Sarkisian said Manning can still be coached into a better player than he’s shown this season. “Sometimes that’s patting him on the back. Sometimes that’s tough love, and we’ve got to be honest with him on where he needs to improve,” Sarkisian said. “The player is in there, and it’s our job to get it out of him.” Sarkisian said he liked Manning’s attitude when they spoke after the Florida loss. “He’s got a chip on his shoulder,” Sarkisian said. “I like it.” Manning promised he will play better. “This team is built for adversity. I’m built for adversity,” Manning said. “It’s hard not to have a chip on my shoulder. I think I play better with it.” Texas went 10-3 in Manning’s first season as a starter in 2025 and barely missed the College Football Playoff. After early struggles last season, Manning was among

AP PHOTO BY ERIC GAY

Texas quarterback Arch Manning is hit as he throws during the first half of a game on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

the SEC’s best quarterbacks as Texas won seven of its last eight games. This season, Manning ranks 11th among SEC quarterbacks with 1,295 yards passing, a 64% completion rate, 11 touchdowns and ﬁve interceptions. His decision-making as plays develop has been notably hesitant, and he has been sacked 17 times. Until the Florida loss, there had been suggestions that Sarkisian could bench Manning for backup KJ Lacey, a sophomore who was a top-rated recruit but has little game experience. The 6-foot, 188-pound Lacey has played in two games this season and completed 7 of 8 passes for 63 yards. He hasn’t played since Texas beat Texas-San Antonio 30-6 on Sept. 19. Lacey normally gets snaps with the ﬁrst-team offense in practice and that won’t change this week, Sarkisian said. Manning’s struggles aren’t the only problem with the Texas offense. Sarkisian’s play-calling has been heavily criticized. Texas has scored more than three touchdowns just once this season, and the Longhorns average just 135 yards per game rushing, which ranks among the worst in the SEC. Sarkisian noted that every team in the SEC now has a loss, and Texas is still in the mix for a conference championship. “It’s easy to listen to the outside noise, the ‘sky is falling and the season’s over,’ “ Sarkisian said. “We’ve got to get back on the horse. We’ve got to ride.”

Falcons to ratchet up urgency after recent swoon BY CHARLES ODUM AP sportswriter

ATLANTA — Another slow start to a game has left the Atlanta Falcons with an urgent need to reverse their slow start to the season. Two straight losses have left the Falcons (2-4) two games under .500. It’s a familiar challenge for a team looking to end a streak of eight straight losing seasons. The Falcons trailed 14-0 in Sunday’s 31-23 loss to the Chicago Bears before recording a first down. They opened the game with two straight three-and-outs after long touchdown drives by the Bears. Chicago dominated the first quarter the way Bears fans took over Atlanta’s home stadium. “Certainly our goal as a team is to start fast,” coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday. Responsibility for failing to come close to that goal fell equally on the offense and defense. The defense couldn’t slow quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears offense. Quarterback Michael Penix led only one scoring drive in the first half, and the Falcons trailed 31-7 before finally demonstrating offensive potential while running their two-minute offense in the fourth quarter. For most of the game, Penix struggled against pressure from the Bears, failing to take advantage of opportunities created by blitzes. Penix was sacked five times and fumbled twice, losing one. Stefanski knows other teams will take note of the Bears’ game plan. “I think the name of the game in the NFL is when they pres-

sure you as an offense, you have to make them pay,” Stefanski said. “We didn’t do that enough yesterday and that’s on all of us. You have to look at those as an opportunity if teams are going to all-out blitz you in a given game. So we know this league can be a copycat league. So you’ll see if that continues to be the trend.” Penix missed the first two games of the season while completing his recovery from a torn ACL in his left knee that ended his 2025 season. The Falcons were 0-2 with Cooper Rush as the fill-in starter. Rush was released on Monday, when the Falcons signed veteran Andy Dalton. Tua Tagovailoa is expected to keep his job as Penix’s backup, at least for this week as Dalton learns the system. Rookie Jack Strand’s role as a developmental player won’t change as long as the Falcons keep four quarterbacks. Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback attempt allowed tight end Kyle Pitts to show why he should have been better utilized earlier in the game. Pitts had scoring catches of 10 and 5 yards in the final quarter. He had five catches for 60 yards and has a combined three scoring receptions in the last two games after having none in the first four. Bijan Robinson had 16 or more carries in each of the first five games and entered the weekend leading the NFL with 580 yards rushing. Thanks to the big early deficit, the Falcons couldn’t maintain their normal commitment to the running game and Robinson had season-low totals of nine carries for 61 yards.

6C ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Florida starts on top in college hoops AP TOP 25 POLL

BY DAVE SKRETTA AP basketball writer

Rec.

Florida will start the men’s college basketball season where it ended it two seasons ago — No. 1. The Gators were the overwhelming pick to top the preseason AP Top 25 on Monday, receiving 47 of the 59 first-place votes from a panel of national media. It is the first time that coach Todd Golden’s bunch has resided on top since the final poll in 2025, after the Gators had beaten Houston to deliver the school its third national championship. “It’s cool,” Golden said of the ranking, “but like, we’ve been No. 1 before. We won a national championship before. That’s what I want our program to expect. That’s what we want to kind of go into every season at.” Duke received 10 first-place votes and was second in the preseason poll. Illinois received the other two and was third. The Gators started last season at No. 3 but crashed out of the poll entirely by early January. They rallied to win the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, only to get stunned by Iowa as a No. 1 seed in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “I think we’re more prepared this year for early-season expectations than we were last year,” Golden said. “We were kind of gathering ourselves, figuring (things) out for the first time, where this year we can use last year’s experience to

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO BY NOAH LANTOR

Florida forward Thomas Haugh, center, gives a postgame interview after beating Arkansas on Feb. 28 in Gainesville, Fla. learn from.” In an era of roster upheaval — some teams still don’t know who will be eligible as court cases play out — the Gators have the benefit of experience on their side. Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon, Rueben Chinyelu and Denzel Aberdeen all played on their national title team. Aberdeen, back after a year at Kentucky, is among the players who’ve been granted another season of eligibility by the courts. “We didn’t ﬁnish the way that we wanted to last year, so everyone’s kind of got that in the back of their-

head as motivation,” Condon said. “Times where we’re struggling in conditioning at 6 a.m., we just went back to that, and I feel like we’ve talked about it a few times with the core group, how motivating it is the fact that we fell short.” The Blue Devils matched their highest preseason ranking since they were No. 1 in 2017, though coach Jon Scheyer is well aware that where they end up is what matters. Duke has won 70 games over the past two seasons, a school record for such a stretch, but losses to UConn in the Elite Eight and Houston in the Final Four have left

Pts.

Prv.

1. Florida (47) 0-0 1461 1 2. Duke (10) 0-0 1411 2 3. Illinois (2) 0-0 1342 3 4. UConn 0-0 1241 4 5. Arizona 0-0 1214 5 6. Michigan State 0-0 1203 6 7. Texas 0-0 1040 7 8. Tennessee 0-0 932 8 9. Virginia 0-0 874 9 10. Houston 0-0 829 10 11. Louisville 0-0 822 11 12. Arkansas 0-0 760 12 13. St. John’s 0-0 669 13 14. Miami (FL) 0-0 650 14 15. Gonzaga 0-0 637 15 16. Michigan 0-0 605 16 17. Kansas 0-0 504 17 18. Iowa State 0-0 475 18 19. Texas Tech 0-0 466 19 20. Alabama 0-0 374 20 21. USC 0-0 306 21 22. UCLA 0-0 250 22 23. Kentucky 0-0 243 23 24. Vanderbilt 0-0 241 24 25. BYU 0-0 179 25 Others receiving votes: Missouri 167, Nebraska 70, Purdue 53, Ohio State 39, North Carolina 20, TCU 17, Saint Louis 13, VCU 12, Iowa 12, Virginia Tech 10, Indiana 8, Texas A&M 6, Villanova 6, Auburn 4, Marquette 3, Nevada 2, Grand Canyon 2, Utah State 2, Santa Clara 1

a sting on Tobacco Road. “I feel like any time I step on the court, I believe me and my teammates are going to win,” said Dame Sarr, who along with Caleb Foster, Patrick Ngongba and Cayden Boozer give Duke a talented returning nucleus to go with its top-tier recruiting class. “I feel like we have a chance to win a national championship. It’s just doing a better job this year.” Illinois matched its best preseason ranking since 2001, and returns ﬁve of its top eight scorers — headlined by Andrej Stoja-

kovic and David Mirkovic — from a team that made its first Final Four appearance in two decades last season. UConn and Arizona, each coming off a Final Four trip, rounded out the top five of the preseason poll. Michigan State, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia and Houston finished out the first 10, while Louisville, Arkansas, St. John’s, Miami and Gonzaga were next. Michigan, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Alabama rounded out the top 20, while the final five in the Top 25 were USC, UCLA, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and BYU. The Jayhawks feature the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Tyran Stokes, a year after Darryn Peterson brought the same billing to Lawrence for a frustrating season that ended with another first-weekend NCAA tourney exit. The late addition of all-Big Ten forward Trey Kaufman-Renn, a transfer from Purdue — coupled with the return of Tre White and Melvin Council thanks to court decisions — could change those fortunes come March. Kentucky is making its 998th appearance in the poll. Two more weeks and it will be the first to reach 1,000. Vanderbilt, which finished 19th last year, is ranked in the preseason Top 25 for the first time since 2015, while BYU is back in the poll despite losing one-anddone phenom A.J. Dybantsa, the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA draft.

SCOREBOARD Odds

Philadelphia at New York, 6 p.m. Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s Games

Sports Betting Line NFL Thursday

FAVORITE OPEN at CHICAGO 1½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (50½) New Eng

FAVORITE OPEN Pittsburgh 1½ at HOUSTON 5½ Cleveland 3 at NY JETS 2½ at MINNESOTA 3 at CAROLINA 1½ San Francisco 4½ at BALTIMORE 3½ Denver 7½ at DETROIT 1½ LA Rams 8½ at SEATTLE 3

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (44½) at N.O. 9½ (43½) NY Giants 1½ (38½) at TEN 4½ (39½) Miami 5½ (41½) Ind 3 (44½) Tampa Bay 4½ (50½) at ATLANTA 2½ (51½) Cincinnati 4½ (43½) at ARIZONA 3 (52½) Green Bay 5½ (47½) at VEGAS 2½ (42½) Kansas City

FAVORITE Dallas

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 4½ (44½) at PHILA

Sunday

Monday

OPEN 3

College Football Tuesday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at DELAWARE 2½ 3 (52½) Missouri St at FLA INTL 10½ 10½ (45½) M. Tenn S. Alabama 2½ 3 (64½)at MARSHLL

Wednesday

FAVORITE OPEN New Mex St 2½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (45½) at SAM HOU

Thursday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Liberty 9½ 10½ (49½) at KNSW ST J. Madison 12½ 10½ (56½) at APP. ST at MEMPHIS 10½ 10½ (54½) E. Carolina

Friday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at VIRGINIA 6½ 1½ (47½) Duke at UCONN 15½ 14½ (49½) UMass at TULSA 1½ 1½ (53½) Army Air Force 5½ 5½ (45½) at WYMNG NC State 7½ 7 (55½) at STNFRD

Saturday

FAVORITE OPEN Texas Tech 11½ at TOLEDO 2½ at TCU 6½ LSU 6½ at FLA ATL 10½ at MIA (FL) 23½ at NWSTRN 16½ at SMU 17½ Indiana 6½ Miami (OH) 1 at KENT ST. 3½ Baylor 2½ Oregon 13½ Hawaii 7 at UCLA 13½ at GA TECH 5½ at S. CAR 2½ at BUFFALO 4½ at ALABAMA 2½ at BALL ST 9½ Iowa 2½ BYU 9½ Oklahoma 2½ North Texas 1½ Kansas State 2½ at TROY 17½ at OHIO 9½ at LA TECH 8½ Louisiana 10½ at NEVADA 5½ Boise State 16½ San Diego St 1½ at CLEMSON 1½ at OKLAH ST. 14½ Georgia St 1½ at ARIZONA 10 at KENTUCKY 9½ at TEXAS 9½ USC 1½ at UNC 9½ at TEXAS ST 9½ UTSA 4 at NEW MEX 3½ at UTAH 5½

NBA

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 10½ (56½) at CIN 3 (45½)W. Michigan 8½ (55½) W. Virginia 7½ (50½) at AUBURN 8½ (54½) Rice 20½ (51½) Pittsburgh 16½ (58½) Rutgers 19½ (53½) Cal 7½ (41½) at MICH 2½ (41½) at C. MICH 3 (46½) Akron 2½ (53½) at KANSAS 8½ (50½) at ILLINOIS 4½ (47½) at N. ILL 14 (44½)Michigan St. 4½ (49½) B. College 2½ (50½) Tennessee 3½ (44½) B. Green 14½ (50½) Texas A&M 14 (51½)Sacrmnto St 7 (40½) at MIN 6½ (43½) at UCF 4 (44½) at MISS ST 2½ (62½) at NAVY 3½ (57½) at ARIZ ST 15½ (51½) UL Monroe 12½ (48½) E. Michigan 12½ (46½) Old Dom 10½ (52½) at S. MISS 5½ (45½) San Jose St. 12½ (51½) at WASH ST 1½ (62½) at CSU 2½ (49½) Va Tech 13½ (55½) Colorado 2½ (58½) at ARKA ST 10½ (51½) Iowa State 11½ (52½) Vanderbilt 3½ (52½) Ole Miss 3½ (49½) at WISC 8½ (46½) Syracuse 12½ (59½) Utah State 2½ (51½) at TULANE 4½ (41½) Ndsu 6½ (56½) Houston

Tuesday

FAVORITE LINE Boston 1½ at NEW YORK 4½ at SAN ANTONIO 2½

NHL Tuesday

FAVORITE LINE Colorado -113 at WASH -167 at N.Y ISLNDRS -163 at MONTREAL -210 at COLUMBUS -164 at DALLAS -171 at ST. LOUIS -144 at EDMONTON -133 at SEATTLE -121 -299 Carolina Tampa Bay -116

UNDERDOG at DETROIT Philadelphia Okc

UNDERDOG at NEW JERSEY Los Angeles Anaheim San Jose Toronto Boston Winnipeg Minnesota Detroit at VANCOUVER at VEGAS

Pro Basketball NBA Glance Sunday’s Games

No games scheduled.

Monday’s Games

No games scheduled.

Tuesday’s Games

Atlanta at Orlando, 6 p.m. Milwaukee at Washington, 6 p.m. Charlotte at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m. Chicago at Toronto, 6:30 p.m. Minnesota at Miami, 6:30 p.m. Indiana at New Orleans, 7 p.m. Utah at Memphis, 7 p.m. Dallas at Houston, 7:30 p.m. Golden State at L.A. Lakers, 9 p.m. Phoenix at Portland, 9 p.m. Sacramento at L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m.

Boston at Detroit, 2 p.m.

LINE -109 +137 +134 +170 +134 +139 +118 +110 -102 +234 -106

A_77,383.

Thursday’s Games

Cleveland at Philadelphia, 6 p.m. Denver at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m.

WNBA Playoff Glance (x-if necessary) Finals (Best-of-7)

Golden State 1, Atlanta 1

Saturday, October 17: Golden State 68, Atlanta 64 Monday, October 19: Atlanta 79, Golden State 65 Wednesday, October 21: Golden State at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Saturday, October 24: Golden State at Atlanta, noon 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

Tampa Bay 4, Cleveland 2

W L T Pct PF 5 1 0 .833 197 4 2 0 .667 136 2 4 0 .333 112 0 5 0 .000 70

PA 171 113 122 132

Jacksonville Indianapolis Houston Tennessee

W 4 2 2 1

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF .667 154 .333 144 .333 144 .167 84

PA 104 164 143 129

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .667 .667 .667 .600

PF 106 137 156 128

PA 122 128 132 109

W L T Pct PF 5 0 0 1.000 140 4 2 0 .667 114 3 3 0 .500 162 0 6 0 .000 90

PA 83 125 162 151

N.Y. Giants Philadelphia Dallas Washington

W 3 2 2 1

PF 136 106 151 115

PA 140 137 159 149

Carolina Atlanta New Orleans Tampa Bay

W L T Pct PF 3 2 0 .600 146 2 4 0 .333 142 2 4 0 .333 152 1 5 0 .167 119

PA 123 153 178 138

North

Cleveland Pittsburgh Baltimore Cincinnati

West

W 4 4 4 3

Kansas City Denver Las Vegas L.A. Chargers

L 2 4 4 5 L 2 2 2 2

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

North

Minnesota Green Bay Chicago Detroit

West

San Francisco Seattle Arizona L.A. Rams

W 5 4 4 3

MLB Postseason Glance {tLEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (TBS, TruTV, HBO Max)

Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami

South

Major League Baseball

American League

NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE East

Dal GB First downs 24 20 Total Net Yards 303 318 Rushes-yards 15-48 26-57 Passing 255 261 Punt Returns 3-18 1-16 Kickoff Returns 6-147 2-51 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 2-22 Comp-Att-Int 34-54-2 23-41-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-3 3-15 Punts 3-45.0 3-50.333 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 11-108 11-96 Time of Possession 29:09 30:51 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Dallas, J.Williams 11-41, Prescott 2-7, Goodson 2-0. Green Bay, Strong 11-28, Love 4-12, Lloyd 8-10, S.Williams 2-9, Johnson 1-(minus 2). PASSING_Dallas, Prescott 34-54-2-258. Green Bay, Love 23-41-1-276. RECEIVING_Dallas, Lamb 9-70, Flournoy 7-40, Pickens 6-73, Spann-Ford 4-35, Luepke 3-9, Ferguson 2-13, J.Williams 2-9, Goodson 1-9. Green Bay, Golden 6-104, Strong 5-39, Kraft 5-37, S.Williams 4-32, Watson 3-64. MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

(Best-of-7)

Pro football

L 2 4 4 3

L 0 2 2 2

T 1 0 0 1

Pct .583 .333 .333 .300

T Pct PF 0 1.000 109 0 .667 127 0 .667 150 0 .600 164

PA 64 125 119 148

W L T Pct PF 5 0 0 1.000 154 3 3 0 .500 148 2 4 0 .333 126 2 4 0 .333 135

PA 93 122 178 138

Thursday’s Games

O/U (222½) (232½) (231½)

Fourth Quarter GB_FG Smack 29, 10:06. Dal_Flournoy 6 pass from Prescott (pass failed), :44.

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 Green Bay 23, Dallas 13 Open: Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit, Minnesota

Monday’s Games

San Francisco 23, Washington 17

Late Sunday Green Bay 23, Dallas 13

Dallas 0 0 7 6 — 13 Green Bay 7 10 3 3 — 23 First Quarter GB_Golden 9 pass from Love (Smack kick), 4:43. Second Quarter GB_FG Smack 25, 5:58. GB_Love 1 run (Smack kick), :23. Third Quarter Dal_Ja.Williams 1 run (Aubrey kick), 9:19. GB_FG Smack 44, 5:02.

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 at Cleveland, ppd. to Oct. 17 Saturday, Oct. 17: Game 4: Tampa Bay 7, Cleveland 3 Sunday, Oct. 18: Game 5: Tampa Bay 3, Cleveland 1 Monday, Oct. 19: Game 6: Tampa Bay 7, Cleveland 3

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 .

College football College Football Schedule All Times Central (Subject to change)

Tuesday, October 20 EAST

Missouri St. (2-4) at Delaware (2-4), 6 p.m. South Alabama (4-2) at Marshall (3-3), 6:30 p.m.

SOUTH

Middle Tennessee (3-3) at FIU (3-3), 6 p.m.

Wednesday, October 21 SOUTHWEST

New Mexico St. (2-4) at Sam Houston St. (1-5), 7 p.m.

Thursday, October 22 SOUTH

Liberty (5-1) at Kennesaw St. (1-5), 6 p.m. James Madison (7-0) at Appalachian St. (4-2), 6 p.m. East Carolina (3-3) at Memphis (5-2), 6:30 p.m.

Friday, October 23 EAST

NC Central (2-5) at Delaware St. (4-3), 4 p.m. Yale (3-2) at Penn (2-3), 6 p.m. UMass (4-3) at UConn (3-3), 6 p.m.

SOUTH

Duke (4-2) at Virginia (4-3), 6 p.m.

SOUTHWEST

Army (4-2) at Tulsa (4-3), 7:30 p.m.

FAR WEST

Air Force (5-1) at Wyoming (4-3), 8 p.m. NC State (3-3) at Stanford (3-4), 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, October 24 EAST

New Hampshire (2-6) at Merrimack (2-5), 11 a.m. Stonehill (2-5) at LIU Brooklyn (3-5), 11 a.m. New Haven (2-5) at CCSU (3-3), 11 a.m. St. Thomas (Minn.) (5-2) at Marist (4-3), 11 a.m. Albany (NY) (4-3) at Rhode Island (4-3), 11 a.m. Wagner (1-6) at Duquesne (2-4), 11 a.m. Cornell (3-2) at Brown (2-3), 11 a.m. Bucknell (1-6) at Holy Cross (2-5), noon Campbell (6-1) at Maine (1-6), noon Lafayette (2-4) at Fordham (2-6), noon Dartmouth (2-3) at Columbia (4-1), 12:30 p.m. Mercyhurst (1-6) at Robert Morris (3-4), 1 p.m. Stony Brook (4-3) at Bryant (5-2), 1 p.m.

Princeton (4-1) at Harvard (5-0), 2 p.m. Howard (3-4) at Morgan St. (5-2), 2 p.m. North Texas (4-2) at Navy (2-4), 2:30 p.m. Bowling Green (2-5) at Buffalo (4-3), 2:30 p.m. Lehigh (6-1) at Villanova (3-4), 2:30 p.m.

SOUTH

Pittsburgh (5-2) at Miami (6-0), 11 a.m. LSU (5-2) at Auburn (4-2), 11 a.m. Rice (1-6) at FAU (4-2), 11 a.m. Jackson St. (6-1) at Bethune-Cookman (4-3), noon ETSU (5-2) at VMI (0-7), 12:30 p.m. Norfolk St. (4-3) at SC State (5-2), 12:30 p.m. Tarleton St. (7-0) at West Georgia (1-6), 1 p.m. Tennessee Tech (6-1) at The Citadel (2-5), 1 p.m. Samford (1-6) at Furman (2-5), 1 p.m. Monmouth (NJ) (5-2) at Hampton (1-6), 1 p.m. Stetson (1-6) at Morehead St. (1-6), 1 p.m. Colgate (4-3) at Richmond (5-2), 1 p.m. Chattanooga (4-3) at W. Carolina (3-4), 1:30 p.m. Nicholls (2-5) at Northwestern St. (0-7), 2 p.m. Ark.-Pine Bluff (3-3) at Florida A&M (2-5), 2 p.m. West Florida (4-2) at E. Kentucky (2-5), 2 p.m. Boston College (3-3) at Georgia Tech (2-4), 2:30 p.m. Tennessee (6-1) at South Carolina (3-3), 2:30 p.m. Texas A&M (4-3) at Alabama (5-2), 2:30 p.m. BYU (6-0) at UCF (3-3), 2:30 p.m. Oklahoma (3-3) at Mississippi St. (4-2), 2:30 p.m. Charleston Southern (3-4) at Tennessee St. (2-5), 2:30 p.m. Georgetown (2-4) at William & Mary (3-4), 2:30 p.m. Louisiana-Monroe (0-6) at Troy (3-3), 3 p.m. Old Dominion (2-5) at Louisiana Tech (4-2), 4 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette (5-2) at Southern Miss. (1-5), 4 p.m. Virginia Tech (5-2) at Clemson (4-2), 6 p.m. Austin Peay (6-2) at North Alabama (4-3), 6 p.m. Vanderbilt (3-4) at Kentucky (6-1), 6:30 p.m. Syracuse (2-4) at North Carolina (4-2), 6:30 p.m. UTSA (6-1) at Tulane (3-3), 7 p.m.

MIDWEST

Rutgers (2-4) at Northwestern (5-1), 11 a.m. San Diego (3-4) at Dayton (5-1), 11 a.m. Indiana (6-1) at Michigan (4-2), 11 a.m. W. Michigan (5-2) at Toledo (5-2), 11 a.m. Texas Tech (6-0) at Cincinnati (4-2), 11 a.m. Akron (1-6) at Kent St. (2-5), noon Presbyterian (4-3) at Valparaiso (3-4), noon Baylor (4-2) at Kansas (2-4), noon Butler (5-2) at Drake (2-5), noon Miami (Ohio) (4-3) at Cent. Michigan (3-4), noon North Dakota (6-2) at South Dakota (6-2), 1 p.m. N. Iowa (3-3) at S. Illinois (3-5), 1 p.m. Murray St. (1-6) at S. Dakota St. (5-2), 2 p.m. Oregon (4-2) at Illinois (3-3), 2 p.m. Chicago State (1-6) at Lindenwood (Mo.) (2-4), 2 p.m. Indiana St. (2-5) at Illinois St. (5-2), 2 p.m. SE Missouri (4-3) at E. Illinois (2-5), 2 p.m. Sacramento St. (1-6) at Ball St. (2-5), 2:30 p.m. Iowa (5-1) at Minnesota (4-2), 2:30 p.m. Hawaii (1-6) at N. Illinois (0-6), 2:30 p.m. UT Martin (3-4) at W. Illinois (3-4), 3 p.m. E. Michigan (4-4) at Ohio (5-2), 3 p.m. Southern Cal (6-1) at Wisconsin (4-2), 6:30 p.m.

SOUTHWEST

West Virginia (4-3) at TCU (3-3), 11 a.m. California (3-4) at SMU (5-1), 11 a.m. Southern U. (3-4) at Texas Southern (1-5), 2 p.m. Houston Christian (4-3) at Lamar (5-2), 3 p.m. McNeese St. (3-4) at Incarnate Word (3-4), 4 p.m. UT Rio Grande Valley (3-4) at Cent. Arkansas (2-5), 4 p.m. SE Louisiana (4-3) at Stephen F. Austin (7-0), 5 p.m. Colorado (2-4) at Oklahoma St. (4-2), 6 p.m. Prairie View (3-5) at East Texas A&M (2-5), 6 p.m. Georgia St. (4-2) at Arkansas St. (3-4), 6 p.m. Utah St. (2-4) at Texas State (3-3), 6:30 p.m. Mississippi (5-1) at Texas (4-2), 6:30 p.m.

FAR WEST

Weber St. (5-3) at Montana St. (6-1), 2 p.m. Michigan St. (2-5) at UCLA (6-0), 2:30 p.m. Kansas St. (4-2) at Arizona St. (3-3), 2:45 p.m. San Jose St. (4-3) at Nevada (2-4), 4 p.m. S. Utah (3-4) at Idaho (2-5), 4 p.m. Utah Tech (0-7) at Cal Poly (4-4), 4 p.m. Boise St. (5-1) at Washington St. (1-6), 5 p.m. Portland St. (2-5) at Idaho St. (4-3), 5 p.m. San Diego St. (3-4) at Colorado St. (2-4), 5:30 p.m. N. Colorado (3-5) at UC Davis (4-3), 6 p.m. Iowa St. (3-3) at Arizona (5-1), 6:30 p.m. N. Dakota St. (6-1) at New Mexico (5-1), 9 p.m. Houston (6-1) at Utah (6-0), 9:15 p.m.

FCS Top 25 Poll

REC RANK 1. Tarleton St. (24) 7-0 2. Stephen F. Austin (2)7-0 3. Montana St. 6-1 4. Youngstown St. 6-2 5. South Dakota St. 5-2 6. South Dakota 6-2 7. Northern Arizona 6-2 8. North Dakota 6-2 9. Austin Peay 6-2 10. Illinois St. 5-2 11. Tennessee Tech 6-1

PTS 648 623 591 567 520 491 482 457 452 396 380

PREV 2 3 5 6 1 9 10 15 11 13 14

12. Lehigh 6-1 375 4 13. Mercer 6-2 305 16 14. Montana 5-3 296 7 15. Lamar 5-2 288 8 16. Campbell 6-1 265 18 17. Harvard 5-0 264 17 18. Monmouth (N.J.) 5-2 200 20 19. Richmond 5-2 152 22 20. ETSU 5-2 144 24 21. UC Davis 4-3 124 12 22. Jackson St. 6-1 108 NR 23. West Florida 4-2 57 NR 24. SELU 4-3 39 NR 25. S. Carolina St. 5-2 37 NR Dropped Out: Colgate (19), Idaho St. (21), Yale (23), Northern Iowa (25) Others Receiving Votes: ACU, 26; Northern Iowa, 24; Colgate, 18; Idaho St., 18; Princeton, 17; Bryant, 16; UAlbany, 15; Yale, 13; Weber St., 12; Cornell (N.Y.), 9; Wofford, 9; Morgan St., 5; Alabama A&M, 2; Southeast Missouri St., 2; Central Connecticut St., 1; Delaware St., 1; Marist, 1.

Hockey NHL Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Boston Tampa Bay Ottawa Florida Buffalo Montreal Detroit Toronto

GP W L OT Pts GF 9 7 2 0 14 34 8 6 2 0 12 25 9 6 3 0 12 24 9 5 2 2 12 30 9 4 3 2 10 27 8 4 3 1 9 27 8 3 3 2 8 20 9 3 4 2 8 29

GA 19 21 23 25 34 30 24 32

Carolina N.Y. Rangers Washington N.Y. Islanders New Jersey Pittsburgh Columbus Philadelphia

GP W L OT Pts GF 10 7 2 1 15 36 10 6 3 1 13 28 8 5 3 0 10 28 8 4 3 1 9 24 8 4 4 0 8 25 9 3 5 1 7 29 7 3 4 0 6 18 10 1 6 3 5 14

GA 24 22 24 18 27 33 23 34

Metropolitan Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division

Minnesota Utah Colorado Winnipeg Dallas Nashville St. Louis Chicago

GP W L OT Pts GF 9 6 2 1 13 28 9 6 3 0 12 33 8 5 2 1 11 36 8 4 2 2 10 23 8 4 3 1 9 20 8 3 2 3 9 23 8 3 4 1 7 27 9 3 6 0 6 21

Paciﬁc Division

GA 21 27 24 24 13 24 28 36

GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 10 8 2 0 16 42 24 Edmonton 8 6 1 1 13 37 24 Seattle 9 5 3 1 11 35 31 San Jose 8 4 3 1 9 22 29 Anaheim 7 4 3 0 8 22 21 Vancouver 10 2 7 1 5 30 45 Calgary 8 2 6 0 4 17 37 Los Angeles 6 0 4 2 2 12 25 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.

Sunday’s Games

Minnesota 2, Columbus 1 Calgary 3, Carolina 2

Monday’s Games

Anaheim at N.Y. Rangers, n Colorado at Philadelphia, n San Jose at Toronto, n Pittsburgh at Utah, n

Tuesday’s Games

Anaheim at N.Y. Islanders, 6 p.m. Colorado at New Jersey, 6 p.m. Los Angeles at Washington, 6 p.m. San Jose at Montreal, 6 p.m. Toronto at Columbus, 6 p.m. Boston at Dallas, 7 p.m. Winnipeg at St. Louis, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Edmonton, 8 p.m. Detroit at Seattle, 8:40 p.m. Carolina at Vancouver, 9 p.m. Tampa Bay at Vegas, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday’s Games Florida at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Buffalo, 6:30 p.m.

Transactions FOOTBALL

National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed QB Andy Dalton. Released QB Cooper Rush. CINCINNATI BENGALS — Placed TE Tanner Hudson on injured reserve. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Fired general manager Chris Ballard. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Released OL Evan Neal and TE Chris Myarick from the practice squad. LOS ANGELES RAMS — Placed K Blake Grupe on injured reserve. MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Designated RB Jordan Mason to return from injured reserve. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Placed WR Romeo Doubs on injured reserve. Signed DB Elliott Davison from the practice squad to the active roster. Signed WR Ryan Miller, OL Jacob Rizy and G Andrew Rupcich to the practice squad. Released CB D’Shawn Jamison from the practice squad. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed FB Jackson Acker and TE Josiah Deguara to the practice squad. Released RB Dontae McMillan and WR Malick Meiga from the practice squad.

LIVING

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

T U E S D AY, O C T O B E R 20, 2026

1DN

Raised beds put gardening within easy reach The traditional notion of a backyard vegetable garden looks something like this: neat rows of crops grown directly in the ground. But in some yards, the ground simply isn’t conducive to growing vegetables. The native soil may be compacted or contain a lot of clay, making it difficult to work. Maybe drainage is a problem, or perhaps you have dealt with persisGARDEN tent weed or NEWS disease infestations. Vegetable gardening is not out the window in any of these situations, however. Christine Coker, LSU AgCenter vegetable specialist, said raised beds offer a solution. “You get to control the environment because they’re kind of like a big container,” she said. “And because of that, you get to control the media that’s in here. You get to control the water, and they really help with controlling the weeds. We get to start with a fresh slate.” Raised beds have other benefits, too, and people sometimes opt for them even if inground gardening is possible in their yard. They lend an orderly, geometric aesthetic that defines gardening areas in the landscape, and some folks appreciate the opportunity to customize beds with unique colors and materials.

PROVIDED PHOTOS BY KIMBRALI PHOTOGRAPHY

Katie Napoli and Will Brierre head to a waiting golf cart after their wedding ceremony on the beach in Grand Isle.

MAKING WAVES It’s love at mile marker 2.9 as couple weds beachside in Grand Isle on rainy Saturday

BY COLETTE DEAN LSU AGCENTER PHOTO BY OLIVIA McCLURE

Raised beds offer a solution to a number of hurdles to gardening, including poor native soil and mobility issues. Raised beds also are great for gardeners with mobility issues. “This is a much more ergonomic solution,” Coker said. “I don’t have to bend over or kneel down. I can reach well into the bed without straining any of my joints.” Though some are closer to the ground, many raised bed designs put the growing surface and plants at a comfortable 16 to 24 inches high. Some are even deeper or sit on legs like a table, making things even easier. These elevated styles also give you the option of gardening on top of hard surfaces like a patio or driveway — a real plus if you have limited outdoor space. You can purchase prefabricated raised beds, often made of corrugated sheet metal, in a variety of shapes and sizes. Just note that you’ll probably have to do some assembly, especially if ordering online. Or, if you’re handy with a few tools, you can construct your own bed using metal, wood, cinder blocks or other materials. There are plenty of tutorials out there to inspire and guide you. Make sure to size your bed carefully so you can easily perform routine maintenance tasks and harvest your crops. You should be able to reach across the bed from the edge. Coker recommends keeping the bed width under 4 feet. “More than that, and you really start overstretching or you

ä See BEDS, page 2D

Contributing writer

When New Orleans residents Katie Napoli and Will Brierre were researching wedding venues, they knew they wanted a destination wedding — one exotic enough to be memorable, but not so pricey as to burden traveling loved ones. Their choice? The Louisiana coastal town of Grand Isle. The state’s only inhabited barrier island is known as a remote oasis for world-class ﬁshing and birding, but for fancy weddings? Well, it is now. “We knew it wouldn’t make a bridal magazine as far as the protocol goes, but it was perfect,” said Wendy Napoli, Katie Napoli’s mom. “We just love it there. Whenever we go there, it always feels like home,” Katie Napoli said. Brierre agreed, “We love that we made it a local destination wedding.” Over the past several years, the Grand Isle community, with a

Chez Cake Bakery in Houma advised the couple to select a twotier wedding cake with additional sheet cakes so that there would be no mishaps getting the cake over the Intracoastal Waterway Bridge to the island in one piece.

full-time population of about 800 residents, has experienced lifechanging challenges, including impacts of COVID-19 and devastation caused by Hurricane Ida. The residents have gradually worked to rebuild. “We could not be more honored for them to come to Grand Isle for their wedding,” said Louise LaFont, director of Grand Isle Tourism. LaFont said there have been weddings on the beach in the past, but they have been smaller, intimate affairs. “When the brides are barefoot on the beach with the Gulf in the background, it makes for a beautiful setting,” she said. Katie Napoli is from Baton Rouge and Brierre from Lafayette, and both are from large extended families. “There was some head-scratching for us as we began to try and ﬁgure out how to make it all happen,” the bride admitted.

ä See WEDDING, page 2D

VIVE LES SAINTS!

European fans cheer on black and gold in Paris European fans were excited to meet Saints quarterback Tyler Shough and lineman Taliese Fuaga at the Moose Bar in Paris on March 25. PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer

Saints fans watching the 2026 NFL Draft may well have wondered why a dude with a thick French accent announced the team’s fourth-round pick. John Arieira Silva was born and raised in Paris and now lives in Nantes on the west coast of France. But he is hardcore Who Dat — or, in French, a “Qui c’est.” How hardcore?

A fleur-de-lis is tattooed down his right calf. In 2014, he traveled to New Orleans from France speciﬁcally to see the Saints play the Vikings. Three years ago, he and three friends launched a French-language podcast devoted to the Saints. And in early 2026, the team named him its International Fan of the Year, earning him

ä See FANS, page 2D

2D n Tuesday, October 20, 2026 n theadvocate.com n The Advocate

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2026. There are 72 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 20, 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in his return to the Philippines against Japanese forces in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made (“I shall return”) after being ordered to evacuate the country in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also on this date: In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase. In 1947, the House UnAmerican Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged communist influence in the U.S. motion picture industry. In 1967, a jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of killed civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; the seven received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years. In 1973, in what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard M. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus also refused to fire Cox and resigned. Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fired Cox. In 1976, 78 people were killed when the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta rammed the commuter ferry George Prince on the Mississippi River near New Orleans. In 1977, three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed along with three others in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi. In 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell. In 2020, a NASA spacecraft gathered more than 2 pounds of rock and dust from the asteroid Bennu and deposited the samples into a capsule for return to Earth. The spacecraft briefly touched the asteroid in NASA’s pioneering first mission to retrieve samples believed to be billions of years old. In 2022, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after just 49 days in office when her plan for billions in tax cuts rocked financial markets and battered the value of the pound; Truss also resigned as head of the Conservative Party. Today’s birthdays: Japan’s Empress Michiko is 92. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Wanda Jackson is 89. Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is 89. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is 86. Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez is 73. Composer Thomas Newman is 71. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 71. Film director Danny Boyle is 70. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 68. Former Vice President Kamala Harris is 62. Actor William Zabka is 61. Journalist Sunny Hostin (TV: “The View”) is 58. Actor Kenneth Choi is 55. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 55.

BEDS

Continued from page 1D have to get into the bed, and we want to stay out,” she said. If you are tight on space and need to place a bed against a fence or other structure, keep in mind that your access to one or more sides of the bed will be limited. That makes it particularly important for everything to be within arm’s reach. Once your bed is set up, you’ll need to fill it with growing media. Don’t use potting mix or topsoil. Instead, choose a mix formulated specifically for raised beds from your local garden center — ideally one mostly made up of ground pine bark. “It drains really well, and it’s really inexpensive,” Coker said. If you have a really deep raised bed, you don’t have to fill the entire thing with raised bed mix. Use items like leaves and compost as filler, then add raised bed mix on top. Exactly how deep your growing media needs to be depends on the crops you are planting, but in general, this layer should be at least 8 inches deep.

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WEDDING

Continued from page 1D Wendy Napoli said the Grand Isle locals were an enormous help. “We never felt that anything we wanted to do was impossible,” the bride’s mother said. After a switch in reception venues (the initial location was put up for sale), Jefferson Parish Department of Parks & Recreation ofﬁcials granted a permit for the couple to use the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo Pavilion. The wedding ceremony would be beachside, mile marker 2.9 across from the Sureway Supermarket, 3209 La. 1. Family began arriving to the island midweek before the Oct. 3 wedding day to help with preparations. When Wendy Napoli attended Mass at Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church, several parishioners thanked her for considering Grand Isle for the wedding. In lieu of a rehearsal dinner, a welcome party with drinks, dinner and karaoke was hosted at the Hurricane Hole Marina & Resort the evening before the ceremony. Saturday morning, friends and family decorated the pavilion with dried driftwood collected from Baton Rouge riverbanks. Table decorations included photos of the couple, vases of wildﬂowers, votives and oyster shells that were hand-painted with pelicans and rimmed with pearls by Jennifer Syble, the bride’s aunt. The bride headed to the Vacajun Hairshop to have her hair and makeup done by local resident Elizabeth Ray. Two rented transport vans from MTB Transportation in Lockport chugged the 20-mph-limit along La. 1 shuttling the around 250 attendees from the Hurricane Hole to the beach and back to the pavilion. “We paid for a mass text service (called Zola) for participants that covered the whole island, and the shuttles ran at everyone’s beck and call from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.,” Wendy Napoli said.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY KIMBRALI PHOTOGRAPHY

Katie Napoli and Will Brierre enjoy a romp on the beach in Grand Isle prior to tying the knot on Oct. 3. Nicky Lew’s Southern Specialties catered the wedding reception, which featured, at the request of the bride, Lew’s tuna tacos and boudin bites. Houma’s Chez Cake Bakery advised the couple to select a twotier wedding cake with additional sheet cakes so that there would be no mishaps getting the cake over the Intracoastal Waterway Bridge to the island in one piece. Cisco’s Hideaway provided the pistachio, strawberry cheesecake, Mexican chocolate, and Rum Chata pudding shots. The couple was so adamant about serving pudding shots at the reception that they purchased a freezer to keep the sweet treats cold on the pavilion. Hurricane season still looms in October, and storms are a part of coastal life, weddings or not. The weather forecast for Oct. 3 called for 7 inches of rain. For most of that day, the rains were light, so the bride decided to make a go of the beach ceremony

FANS

Continued from page 1D an invitation to the NFL Draft. Silva will join thousands of Saints fans — fellow Frenchmen, other Europeans, expats and a sizable number of New Orleanians — at Stade de France in Paris on Oct. 25 to see their beloved Black and Gold take on the Steelers. Some homegrown Who Dats may question the depth and breadth of Saints fandom in Europe, where the “other” football — soccer — reigns supreme. Doug Keese, a New Orleans native who is now a Paris-based photographer, organized a “booze cruise” on the Seine River for 20 friends from the Krewe of Tucks ahead of next weekend’s game. “I know zero French people that are American football fans,” Keese said. But they exist. And despite the Saints’ losing record, they’re ﬁred up to see the team play in Paris. The night before the game, Silva, his “French Quarter Podcast” cohosts and other Saints podcasters from Europe and New Orleans will host a fan gathering at Paname Brewing Company in Paris’s 19th arrondissement. “It is obviously the most exciting opportunity,” Silva said. “Announcing the (draft) pick was a dream come true, and representing the Who Dat Nation around the world was truly a gift. “But having grown a community (of fans in France) and gathering everyone around, then going to the game the next day and celebrating, will be a full circle moment.”

‘It’s something magic’ Allegiance to a professional sports team is often, but not always, tied to geography. For New Orleans expats in Europe, the Saints-Steelers showdown is an opportunity to see a game in their new backyard. Rummel High School graduate Nick Clark has lived in the Netherlands for 11 years. He and his family tune in to Saints games on Sundays, which start at either 7 p.m. or 10 p.m. Amsterdam time. He knows plenty of fellow American expats with whom he can discuss football. “I do not try to push football on the Dutch,” he said. “They do not care.” Clark, his wife and two children will be in Stade de France on Oct. 25. It will be his 19-year-old daughter’s first Saints game: “Paris is only about a 3.5-hour train ride for us, so it was an easy decision to make the trip.” The NFL’s yearslong initiative to build an international fanbase has steadily increased the league’s visibility and popularity overseas. Gabriele Zanatta is a 30-year-old

sans the decorations they had planned to use. Her sister, Kelsie Murillo, and the groom’s brother, Joe Brierre, served as attendants. Seven flower children (nieces, a nephew and family friends) threw wildﬂower seeds on the grass as they skipped down the dunes to the beach. Umbrellas held by guests made a colorful canopy as they awaited the bride. Katie Napoli walked the path with her father, Dean Napoli, over the sand dunes down to the beach. “When I came over the dunes and saw all those umbrellas, I lost my breath,” the bride said. “We stood in the rain on the beach with about a hundred other people who were brave enough to join us. Barefoot and holding umbrellas and the beautiful Gulf behind us. It was just perfect,” said Wendy Napoli. Unbeknown to the family, the Grand Isle Police Department

had jumped into action, helping to guide guests from the highway up to the dune hills and back again. After the ceremony, officiated by Ross Higginbotham, a friend of the groom, the rain fell harder, so the guests waved the couple goodbye as they drove off in a golf cart with beer cans jangling off the bumper. Their getaway was short-lived; ﬂooded streets stalled the golf cart’s engine so the couple jumped out, pushed it to the side of the road and waited to be rescued. After a quick toweling off and change of clothes, the newlyweds joined the party under the pavilion for a night of revelry Grand Isle style. The next morning, as family and friends were convoying back home, Wendy Napoli read a text on her phone from an old family friend which brought tears to her eyes. It read: “A wet knot is hard to untie.”

Pierre Thomas and Lance Moore.” Depert watches every game. Two years ago, he attended a Saints practice at Tulane University and went to a preseason game against the Titans. He hopes to score tickets to the Paris game for his whole family. “If that doesn’t work out, then we will go back to New Orleans,” he said. “That’s not a problem.”

time follower of @SaintsFrance, joined the “French Quarter Podcast” team for the 2026 season. He discovered American football in the late 1990s, when games were rarely available in France. Like Silva, Lefebvre’s fondness for New Orleans hard rock music, especially the bands Down and Crowbar, steered him to the Saints. The city/team’s recovery after Katrina deepened his affection. Super Bowl XLIV — the first Super Bowl he watched live on TV — sealed the deal. “I knew then that they were definitely my team,” Lefebvre said. “What I love is the team’s resilience, its determination to keep going despite the challenges, just like the city itself. “The natural connection between New Orleans and France makes my love for the team even stronger. I’m proud to wear the Black and Gold every day and to support them from thousands of kilometers away.” That distance is shrinking. When then-Saints linebacker Demario Davis visited Paris in July 2025 as part of an NFL outreach, Bille and Silva met him at a small bar/café near Notre-Dame Cathedral called New Orléans Saints. (The owner’s wife is from New Orleans. Fleurty Girl, the local boutique that sells New Orleanscentric attire and accessories, is installing a pop-up store there for the upcoming game.) The “French Quarter Podcast” crew covered quarterback Tyler Shough and offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga’s promotional trip to Paris in March. They interviewed Shough and Fuaga aboard a boat on the Seine and hung out at The Moose, a Parisian bar that airs NFL games. Weeks later, Silva and Bille went to Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft. As the Saints’ International Fan of the Year, Silva stepped up to the podium and announced, “With the 132nd pick, the New Orleans Saints select Jeremiah Wright.” He then ad-libbed, “We getting Shough’d tonight!” Shough rhymes with “duck,” so that shout-out earned Silva some Saints social media notoriety. That his team is playing in his home country is “mind-blowing,” even if such authentic touches as bucket drummers and smoked sausage vendors will be harder to find outside Stade de France. “We are beyond excited,” Silva said. “It all started with live tweeting games at 2 a.m. in France, translating news for a small audience. We can’t be thankful enough for everything that has happened since then.”

Hard rock Saints PROVIDED PHOTO FROM JULIAN ‘DOC’ LEFEBVRE

Julien ‘Doc’ Lefebvre, center, poses with Saints quarterback Tyler Shough and lineman Taliese Fuaga at the Moose Bar in Paris on March 25.

Italian who lives in Verona. His handle on X is “@GabrieleWhoDat.” He discovered the Saints thanks to “destiny and a mix of good luck and bad luck.” Stuck at home in February 2010 while recuperating from an illness, Zanatta tuned in to Super Bowl XLIV “to see this event the Americans are always talking about but in Italy is not really famous.” That was the Super Bowl the Saints won. He subsequently delved into the sport and the Saints. Drew Brees, Sean Payton and Alvin Kamara became his heroes. Two years ago, Zanatta visited “the city that is the mother of the Who Dat Nation.” He attended a game at the Caesars Superdome and fell “more and more in love with the city, the lifestyle, the people.” He traveled to Canton, Ohio, in August to witness Brees’ induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’ll return to New Orleans for the Saints-Packers game in December. He plans to drive from northern Italy to Paris next weekend, “ready for the Who Dat Nation Italian fans to give our best.” Zanatta’s connection is “something more than the team and the city. It’s something magic. My love for Louisiana will never stop, and the Saints neither.”

The French connection The French may be historically predisposed to favor the Saints thanks to the Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon, then, is the godfather of the European Who Dat Nation. Maxine Depert lives with his wife and two daughters in Clermont-Ferrand in central France. The 30-year-old logistics team leader at a company that rents furniture and tableware was introduced to the Saints as a boy when a friend at his swimming club suggested he watch a 2008 SaintsPackers game. “He was a Packers fan, so I fell in love with the Saints,” Depert said. “The colors were all I needed to like this team. The players made me love it. Drew Brees ﬁrst, but also

Legions of European musicians play traditional New Orleans jazz. A very different kind of New Orleans music first enticed John Arieira Silva, the Saints’ future International Fan of the Year. Silva loves the city’s ultra-heavy metal scene as represented by Down, Crowbar and Acid Bath. Down vocalist Phil Anselmo flaunts his Saints fandom; that got Silva interested in the team. The fleur-de-lis on his calf was inspired by Anselmo’s similar tattoo. Silva added the word “Lifer,” the title of his favorite Down song and a comment on the duration of his Saints dedication. In 2008, he started live-tweeting games as they aired in the middle of the night in France. In 2015, he took over the Twitter account, @SaintsFrance. Other French fans joined him in an effort to grow the Saints community in France. In 2023, Silva launched the French-language, Saints-centric “French Quarter Podcast” with Bertrand Bille and Elio Amazouz. Amazouz became a Saints fan in high school. He’d long dreamed of visiting New Orleans, so the Saints became his team once he discovered “American football.” He thought the rebuilding of the city after Katrina was “fascinating.” His wife, Grace Poley, is from Maryland, so they spend a lot of time stateside. They try to catch Saints road games in the Northeast and were in the Superdome when the Saints beat the Texans to start the 2019 season. Bille, who lives in Lille in northern France, was researching New Orleans for a school project in 2009 when his older brother showed him an illegally downloaded Saints game. He studied the rules and offensive and defensive strategies. He appreciated how “incredible” the Drew Brees/Sean Payton era was with the likes of Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston and Reggie Bush. “They were the players who helped me learn and fall in love with the game,” said Bille, who also admires Cam Jordan and Alvin Kamara. That New Orleans is the “most French” city in America also appealed to Bille.

Interviewing Shough on the Seine

Email Keith Spera at kspera@ Julien “Doc” Lefebvre, a long- theadvocate.com.

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ 3D

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FrAnK And erneSt

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zodIAC LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Choose a path. What you decide to pursue will require discipline and innovative thinking to get to where you want to go. Don't let financial or professional stress slow you down. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Keep life simple, doable and affordable. Taking a walk down memory lane will help you recognize similarities in things that are recurring. Learning from the past will help you. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Cut yourself some slack. Follow your aspirations and what makes you feel optimistic about the future. Turn your surroundings into a place you want to spend time. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Listen carefully and get what you want in writing. Someone will try to mislead you if you aren't specific and adamant about your needs and desires. Put your energy into doing the best job possible. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Put your heart, emotions and thoughts on the shelf, and wheel and deal with finesse. Know your intentions, and plan your actions to serve your purpose. Love yourself first. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Spend time going over your finances and medical records. Leave nothing to chance or up to someone else to decide. Taking control will give you the best seat at the table to get what you want when you want it. ARIES (March 21-April 19) Put more thought into what you want to accumulate and what you want to release.

Increasing your earning potential will offer financial freedom but also add to your responsibilities. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Give yourself a chance to breathe. Walk away from drama, people who ask for too much and temptation that will cost you. Do your research, plan your next move and take better care of yourself. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Consider your options and how to make the most of skills you enjoy using. Don't let boredom motivate you. Allow enjoyment and gratitude for being able to do something that makes you happy carry you forward. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Don't limit what you can do for the sake of someone else. Have heart-to-heart discussions that help you work in harmony with others without forgoing your needs. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Concentrate on learning and turning your ideas into something tangible. Don't let others dictate what you can do. When you know what's in your heart, it's up to you to follow through. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Spell it out for anyone who doesn't get what you are asking for. Be nice but blunt, and don't accept changes you don't want. Stay calm, stick to facts and make decisions based on necessity. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

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

TODAy'S CLUE: S EQUALS N

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

4D ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

CurTiS

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

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

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La TimeS CroSSword

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ 5D

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B.C.

Bridge BY PHILLIP ALDER Laurence J. Peter, who was a Canadian educator, said, “If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.” We have been looking at deals with two potential trump suits, not three. By far the best analysis of the subject was written by Albert Morehead for his book, “Morehead on Bidding.” This was updated by Alan Truscott and your Present Author under the title “On Bidding.” It was an easy job because it was such a good book. Sadly, it has been out of print for years, but maybe you can find a copy online. In today’s deal, the problem is not locating the best trump fit, but landing in a game contract that can be made. North-South have only one eightcard fit. Five diamonds, though, can be defeated if East establishes his club trick quickly. Then the defenders will take two hearts and one club. Reaching a 4-3-fit contract is always difficult. Here, South’s three-heart cuebid asks North to bid three no-trump with a heart stopper. When North cannot oblige, he shows three-card spade support. (With four spades, he would have raised on the previous round.) Then South, with such strong spades, goes with the 4-3 fit, the only game that cannot be defeated. West leads the heart three. East takes two

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

tricks in the suit and — best — plays a third round. Ruffing this trick will be fatal unless the trumps are breaking 3-3. Instead, South discards a club. If East either plays a fourth heart or shifts to the club king, declarer can win, draw trumps and claim. © 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 — PARQuEt: par-KAY: A patterned wood surface.

Bizarro

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Average mark 18 words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find 23 or more words in PARQUET? YEstERDAY’s WoRD — tEnDERLY teed

dele

leer

tree

deter

leery

trey

reed

lyre

elder

reedy

eyed

reel

deer

relet

deet

rely

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.” John 14:1

Troubles will come but Jesus can give us the victory. Trust Him. — G.E. Dean

6D ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate

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Announcements ANYONE knowing the whereabouts of any property owner, heir or other related person, in regard to the properties listed below, please contact the East Baton Rouge CityParish, Department of Development – Neighborhood Revitalization Ofﬁce at 225-389-8680. 250 W WASHINGTON ST FRED MODIES 456 JENNIFER JEAN DR ODIGWE SELIX MOKOGWU 2728 SHERWOOD ST FRANCIS J MARION 2703 HURON ST DRUCILLA HAMILTON TROY HARRIS 1717 AMOS ST LINDA LENOIR 3151 IROQUOIS ST PERCY WILSON 5730 FAIRFIELDS AVE ALINE WALKER ROGERS 915 N 44TH ST DONOVAN DJ BOATNER 2584 COLLEGE DR JUST THE TOOF OF US ON COLLEGE, LLC 13833 RAMPART CT ARMEDIA HAMILTON PAYTON 11928 SUNRAY AVE NICE FRAMES, LLC 8255 THELMA ST TAMMY BROWN 10126 AVENUE I THE ESTATE OF MATTIE MCCRAY PAYNE 10120 AVENUE I DORETHA P REYNOLDS C/O JOHN SIMMONS 5002 SHAMROCK BLVD GARY LANE SULLIVAN, SR 5120 SHELLEY ST D'WAYNE L RUFFIN 12041 PROVINCE PL CHEUNG C WONG 5118 STEARNS ST HENRY DAWSON 3780 TOPEKA ST CYPRUS HOLDINGS, LLC 3301 N SHERWOOD FOREST DR JOHN O EJIM 3004 FAIRFIELDS AVE HOLLINS HOUSING, LLC LEONARD HOLLINS JR. 10642 STANLEY AUBIN LN RICHARD ABNER IAN CURTIS-SMITH 3925 CLAYTON ST TOMMIE ROME 12112 CARDIGAN AVE JOSEPH SAMUEL COLLINS 6113 SHILOH ST WILLIE T VARISTE, JR 2675 FARRAR ST LEE ROBERTSON C/O LUBERTHA A BROCK 525 ELMER AVE KAREN DENISE DANIELS WILLIAMS 149 GRETA AVE ALPHONSO OTIS POTTER, III 2646 COLLEGE DR HOUSE OF GOD OF BATON ROUGE, INC 4101 UNCAS ST JACKSON SERVICES, LLC 13611 KATHERINE AVE L.C. BANKS, JR 248 GLORIA D CHRISTINE PONDER;

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PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived for the State of Louisiana by the Division of Administration and shall be directed to the Office of Facility Planning and Control, 1201 North Third Street, Claiborne Office Building, Suite 7160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802 or P.O. Box 94095, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70804-9095. The deadline for receipt of bids is 2:00 PM on Wednesday, November 04, 2026, at which time bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the Claiborne Office Building, Confer‐ ence Room 1-145. FOR: Waterproofing and Roof Replacement United XII Building and Garage Baton Rouge, Louisiana PROJECT NUMBER: 01107-26A-OFC, F.01004739 Complete Bidding Docu‐ ments for this project are available in electronic form. They may be ob‐ tained without charge and without deposit from Centerline BidConnect (www.centerlinebidco nnect.com). Printed copies are not available from the Designer but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most repro‐ graphic firms. Plan hold‐ ers are responsible for their own reproduction costs. Questions about this pro‐ cedure shall be directed to the Designer at: Didier Architecture: Derryl Didier, Architect & Associates, LLC 17531 Old Jefferson Hwy., Suite C Prairieville, LA 70769 Telephone: 225-744-0008 E-mail: derryl@ didierarch.com All bids shall be accom‐ panied by bid security in an amount of five per‐ cent (5.0%) of the sum of the base bid and all al‐ ternates. The form of this security shall be as stated in the Instructions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project. The successful Bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written as described in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project. A PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 8:30 AM on Wednes‐ day, October 21, 2026 at XII United, United Plaza, Third Floor Conference Room (Southeast corner of building - enter through the back/east entrance), 8585 Archives Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2166 for the classification of Building Construction. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). No bid may be withdrawn for a pe‐ riod of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 38:2212(B)(1), the provi‐ sions and requirements of this Section and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity. When this project is fi‐ d i h i ll

MONTRELL WILLIAMS; TYQUAN WILLIAMS; KALANI MY BLESSING WILLIAMS 13289 OLD HAMMOND HWY MOUNTAIN PORTIFOLIO OWNER LA 2, LLC 6337 KINCAID AVE EDDIE SMITH 3015 SENECA ST HELEN HAYES BRADLEY 2973 SENECA ST JERRY L BAKER JR 3158 FAIRFIELDS AVE MY TEAM R & R, LLC 4121 O'DELL ST EUDORA TONITA BELL 7076 PERIMETER DR MARIE JAMES LAVERGNE 1020 ARCADIA DR JACALYN DAVIS DIXON 516 CARRIAGE WAY NATALIA GUSTAFSON 3134 OTTAWA DR SHEMEEKA RENAY TAYLOR 8571 RUSH AVE LAIL HAMILTON SHAW III 8603 RUSH AVE GAVIN ELLIS 14832 OLD HAMMOND HWY 14728 OHH, LLC 4867 OSBORNE AVE JAMES NATHAN MARLOW 4829 FREY ST AMANDA C TROSCLAIR 2960 BROWNLEE ST AARON STEVENS 3922 ELM DR LATONYA DENEEN MATTHEWS 3124 CARMEN DR MELEISCHA LAUREN COCHRAN 6032 BLACKBERRY ST CAROLINE N EGBELU 3105 LORRAINE ST ROBERT N NEWMAN 10362 AVENUE D STUDENT ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS FOR SUCCESS, INC 9524 SWINGALONG AVE SENOVIAE MCINTYRE 10124 GERALD DR LISO TERRELL THOMAS, SR 11052 TAMS DR STERLING JORDAN, JR 1537 N MARQUE ANN DR FELECIA WASHINGTON

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Windows & Doors WINDOW & DOOR OVERSTOCK SALE! October 26-30 at Holmes Building Materials, 7835 Airline Highway, Baton Rouge, LA 70815.

Public Notices Bids/Proposals p j nanced either partially or entirely with State Bonds or financed in whole or in part by federal or other funds which are not readily available at the time bids are received, the award of this Con‐ tract is contingent upon the granting of lines of credit, or the sale of bonds by the Bond Com‐ mission or the availabil‐ ity of federal or other funds. The State shall incur no obligation to the Contractor until the Con‐ tract Between Owner and Contractor is fully exe‐ cuted. Facility Planning and Control is a participant in the Small Entrepreneur‐ ship (SE) Program (the Hudson Initiative) and the Veteran-Owned and Service-Connected Dis‐ abled Veteran-Owned (LaVet) Small Entrepre‐ neurships Program. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. Information is available from the Office of Facility Planning and Control or on its website at https:// www.doa.la.gov/doa/ fpc/. If you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to participate in this meeting, please con‐ tact Cheryl Schilling at Cheryl.Schilling@la.gov or (225) 342-6060 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting. STATE OF LOUISIANA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION FACILITY PLANNING AND CONTROL MATTHEW H. BAKER, DIRECTOR 202483-oct 6-13-20-3t $166.50 PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived for the State of Louisiana by the Division of Administration and shall be directed to the Office of Facility Planning and Control, 1201 North Third Street, Claiborne Office Building, Suite 7160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802 or P.O. Box 94095, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70804-9095. The deadline for receipt of bids is 2:00 PM on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at which time bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the Claiborne Office Building, Conference Room 1-145. FOR: Water Treatment Upgrades Central Utility Plant (Power House) Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana PROJECT NUMBER: 19-671-22-01, F.19002569 Complete Bidding Docu‐ ments for this project are available in electronic form. They may be ob‐ tained without charge and without deposit from Marrero, Couvillon & As‐ sociates, LLC. Printed copies are not available from the Designer but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most repro‐ graphic firms. Plan hold‐ ers are responsible for their own reproduction costs. Questions about this pro‐ cedure shall be directed to the Designer at: Marrero, Couvillon & Associates, LLC 2644 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd., Suite 200 Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Telephone: 225-408-8249 E-mail: Brian Miller (bmiller@mca-llc.com) All bids shall be accom‐ panied by bid security in an amount of five per‐ cent (5.0%) of the sum of the base bid and all al‐

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

ternates. The form of this security shall be as stated in the Instructions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project.

Thursday, November 12, 2026, at which time bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the Claiborne Ofﬁce Building, Conference Room 1-145.

panied by bid security in an amount of ﬁve per‐ cent (5.0%) of the sum of the base bid and all al‐ ternates. The form of this security shall be as stated in the Instructions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project.

38:2212(B)(1), the provi‐ sions and requirements of this Section and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity.

A PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 1:00 PM on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at Louisiana State Univer‐ sity, Power Plant, Front Gate, 182 Powerhouse Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2166 for the classification of Building Construction or Mechani‐ cal. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and requirements of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). No bid may be withdrawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 38:2212(B)(1), the provi‐ sions and requirements of this Section and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity. When this project is fi‐ nanced either partially or entirely with State Bonds or financed in whole or in part by federal or other funds which are not readily available at the time bids are received, the award of this Con‐ tract is contingent upon the granting of lines of credit, or the sale of bonds by the Bond Com‐ mission or the availabil‐ ity of federal or other funds. The State shall incur no obligation to the Contractor until the Con‐ tract Between Owner and Contractor is fully exe‐ cuted. Facility Planning and Control is a participant in the Small Entrepreneur‐ ship (SE) Program (the Hudson Initiative) and the Veteran-Owned and Service-Connected Dis‐ abled Veteran-Owned (LaVet) Small Entrepre‐ neurships Program. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. Information is available from the Office of Facility Planning and Control or on its website at https:// www.doa.la.gov/doa/ fpc/. If you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to participate in this meeting, please con‐ tact Cheryl Schilling at Cheryl.Schilling@la.gov or (225) 342-6060 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting. STATE OF LOUISIANA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION FACILITY PLANNING AND CONTROL MATTHEW H. BAKER, DIRECTOR 203454-oct 13-20-27-3t $164.79

FOR: Elevator Replacement Administration Ofﬁces Building and Annex Building Louisiana Works Baton Rouge, Louisiana PROJECT NUMBER: 01-107-24-03, F.01004728 Complete Bidding Docu‐ ments for this project are available in electronic form. They may be ob‐ tained without charge and without deposit from www.centerlinebidco nnect.com. Printed copies are not available from the Designer but arrangements can be made to obtain them through most repro‐ graphic ﬁrms. Plan hold‐ ers are responsible for their own reproduction costs. Questions about this pro‐ cedure shall be directed to the Designer at: GD Architecture, LLC 3112 Valley Creek Drive, Suite H Baton Rouge, LA 70808 Telephone: 225-383-3915 E-mail: gdunn@gdarchi tecture.com All bids shall be accom‐

DOGS CKC Registered Rat Terrier & Teddy Roosevelt Terrier Pups Available $200. (985) 217-2950

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

The successful Bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written as described in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project.

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The successful Bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written as described in the Instruc‐ tions to Bidders included in the Bid Documents for this project. A PRE-BID CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD at 10:00 AM on Thursday, October 29, 2026 at Louisiana Works, 1001 N. 23rd Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2166 for the classiﬁcation of Building Construction. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). No bid may be withdrawn for a pe‐ riod of forty-ﬁve (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S.

When this project is fi‐ nanced either partially or entirely with State Bonds or financed in whole or in part by federal or other funds which are not readily available at the time bids are received, the award of this Con‐ tract is contingent upon the granting of lines of credit, or the sale of bonds by the Bond Com‐ mission or the availabil‐ ity of federal or other funds. The State shall incur no obligation to the Contractor until the Con‐ tract Between Owner and Contractor is fully exe‐ cuted. Facility Planning and Control is a participant in the Small Entrepreneur‐ ship (SE) Program (the Hudson Initiative) and the Veteran-Owned and Service-Connected Dis‐ abled Veteran-Owned (LaVet) Small Entrepre‐ neurships Program. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. Information is available from the Office of Facility Planning and Control or on its website at https:// www.doa.la.gov/doa/ fpc/. If you have a disability d ld lik

REQUISITION 11297785 NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DECLARE ADJUDICATED TAX PROPERTY SURPLUS AND TO SELL SAME UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF LSAR.S. 33:4712. Notice is hereby given that the Metropolitan Council has received a request to declare the following listed property surplus and no longer needed for public purpose. These properties have previously been adjudicated to the Parish of East Baton Rouge for unpaid taxes. Anyone wishing to offer an amount greater than the minimum bid for the property shall bring a certified check or money order payable to the Parish of East Baton Rouge in the amount of the administrative fees/certified funds indicated below, BEFORE 2:00 pm on the day of the Auction taking place October 21st, 2026 at 222 St. Louis Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70802, 9th FLOOR. For additional information, contact the Parish Attorney’s Office, Property section at 389-3114. Lot 96, Woodaire 73rd Avenue (2569) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Kevin Cook $ 100.00 $ 500.00

Lot 297, Brookstown Place Hammond Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

LaShonda Dunbar

Lot 38-A, Square 18, University Place Avenue C (9879) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Nakeya White

Lot 11-A, Square 34, Istrouma Plank Road Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Nakeya White

Lot 20, Square 38, South Baton Rouge Tennessee Street (2305) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Darren Patterson

$ 300.00 $ 500.00

$ 100.00 $ 500.00

Lot 31-A, Square 32, Bank 72nd Avenue (2252) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Kevin Cook

Lot 34 & 35, Square 6, Bank 69th Avenue Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Kevin Cook

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

y y and would like to request an accommodation in order to participate in this meeting, please con‐ tact Cheryl Schilling at Cheryl.Schilling@la.gov or (225) 342-6060 as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting.

g Drive, PO Box 9543, J. S. Clark Administration Building Annex, South Entrance, First Floor East, Baton Rouge, LA 70813. Bids will be opened and read aloud in a public meeting in the Southern University Purchasing Department.

AND ADDENDA CAN BE OBTAINED BY ACCESSING THE LA STATE PROCURE‐ MENT WEBSITE https://wwwcfprd.doa. louisiana.gov/osp/lapac/ pubMain.cfm. (Search by bid # 5001610366)

STATE OF LOUISIANA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION FACILITY PLANNING AND CONTROL MATTHEW H. BAKER, DIRECTOR

MAIL, HAND-DELIVER OR ELECTRONIC SUBMITTAL TO PURCHASING DEPARTMENT NO LATER THAN 10:30 AM-ON NOVEMBER 16, 2026

203452-oct 13-20-27-3t $161.34 PUBLIC NOTICE --ADVERTISEMENT REQUEST FOR BID BID #50016-10366 GREENHOUSE MODIFICATION SOUTHERN UNUVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EXTENSION CENTER BATON ROUGE CAMPUS MAP PROJECT NUMBER 10-256-12 BID OPENING DATE AND TIME: NOVEMBER 16, 2026 @ 10:30 AM Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by Southern Uni‐ versity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the Pur‐ chasing Department, 8100 James L. Prestage i

Electronic submittal: Use link to submit bid online: http://www.sus.edu/bid certiﬁcation Bidders are solely re‐ sponsible for ensuring timely delivery of their bids. The Southern Uni‐ versity Purchasing De‐ partment is not responsi‐ ble for any delays caused by bidders’ chosen means of delivery. Failure to meet the bid deadline submittal date and time shall result in rejection of bid. Architect/Engineer Firm: Map Design Group, LLC Merrel Porche, Jr., Presi‐ dent 8282 Goodwood Blvd., Suite W-3 Baton Rouge, LA 70806 Email: map@mapgrp. com 225-757-4590 ext. 101 225-205-3050 ALL BID SPECIFICATIONS

We highly recommend registering your com‐ pany with Louisiana State Procure‐ ment/LAPAC Mandatory Pre-Bid Con‐ ference & Site Visit: Oc‐ tober 29, 2026 @ 10:30 AM Conference & Site Visit Location: Physical Plant Building (Southern Uni‐ versity Baton Rouge Campus) Physical Plant Depart‐ ment Benjamin H. Kraft Build‐ ing-515 James L. Hunt Street Southern University Campus Baton Rouge, LA 70813 Site Telephone No. 225771-4741 or 225-771-6241 Participants shall be in attendance by 10:30 a.m. and sign sheet provided by the Purchasing De‐ partment. Bidders must visit the site and be familiar with the local conditions under which the work is to be performed. No ad‐ ditional compensation will be granted because of unusual difﬁculties,

Lot 12, Square 18, New Dayton Ozark Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Caleb Turner

Lot 27+, Square 3, St Irma Lee Camden Street (12889) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Rich LaMar LLC

$ 500.00 $ 500.00

$ 100.00 $ 500.00

Lot 5 & 6, Square 208, Istrouma Pocassett Street (3862) Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Lamont Jack

Lot 50, South Dayton Elm Drive Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Dolgi Enterprises LLC

Lot 10PT, Plank Road Tunica Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Shandra Powell

Lot 17, Square 3, Plank Road Wyandotte Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Aaron Boone

Lot 6, Square 34, Scotland Addition Finch Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

Glen Neal

$ 100.00 $ 650.00

$ 100.00 (Mow to Own) $ 200.00

$ 100.00 (Mow to Own) $ 555.00

$ 100.00 (Mow to Own) $ 200.00

Lot 12, Swart Addition Howard Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

First Emm Mis Baptist

Lot 11, Swart Addition Howard Street Initial Bid Amount Advanced costs required (certified funds):

First Emm Mis Baptist

$ 100.00 (Mow to Own) $ 200.00

$ 100.00 $ 500.00

$ 100.00 $ 650.00

202254-692157-Oct. 6, 13, 20-3t $ 565.53

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ 7D

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8D ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Legal Notices

Legal Notices

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA COUNCIL CHAMBERS 3325 GROOM ROAD, BAKER, LOUISIANA 70714 www.youtube.com/@bakerforward October 13, 2026 - 6:00 p.m. The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, met in regular session on October 13, 2026, with the following members in attendance at the meeting: MAYOR Darnell Waites COUNCIL MEMBERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Cedric Murphy Robert Young ABSENT Dr. Charles Vincent CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Waites presided. The invocation was given by Council Member Murphy. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Council Member Young. ***Public comment shall be observed before a vote is taken on any agenda item. Such comments shall not exceed 3 minutes and shall be confined to the agenda item and any proposed disposition thereof.*** DISPOSITION OF THE MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Murphy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September 22, 2026. The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0.

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Legal Notices

(Dunn) The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Collins to schedule a work session to discuss tiny homes in the City of Baker on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

PUBLIC MEETING 1. Adopt Ordinance 2026-29, an ordinance setting forth regulations regarding 18 wheelers, tank and/or transport vehicles parking on private or public property within the City of Baker and to provide or other matters regarding to the same (Mayor) (Introduced 9/22/2026) Public meeting was held.

Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions.

The motion was made by Council Member Murphy, seconded by Council Member Collins to table this agenda item. The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0. 2. Proclamation declaring October 2026 Healthy Lung Month in the City of Baker (Vincent) The proclamation was read by Aneatra Boykin. The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Murphy to accept the proclamation. The mayor called for public comments or questions.

The title of the ordinance was read by the mayor. The mayor called for public comments or questions.

PUBLIC NOTICE

The motion was made by Council Member Murphy, seconded by Council Member Young to adopt Ordinance 2026-29.

NEW BUSINESS

The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 1. Update on CWEF and LGAP grant The mayor announced that the city has been awarded a $50,000.00 grant in Community Water Enrichment Fund (CWEF) assistance to support critical improvements to the city-owned water utility system. The mayor announced that the city has been approved for $34,325.00 in LGAP funding for proposed renovations to an essential governmental building to include interior environmental improvements in the Baker Municipal Auditorium.

Council Member Collins announced the Elvin Howard Pancreatic Cancer 5K Run is scheduled for Saturday, November 7, 2026. Council Member Collins announced the Legends Award Luncheon will be held on Saturday, October 31, 2026. Council Member Collins announced Power Coalition is hosting a meet the candidates forum tomorrow at Rose Hill Baptist Church at 6:00 p.m. Council Member Collins invited everyone to join her under the tent at Jefferson Street Park on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. for a free meal and to discuss this week’s theme – Education is a Human Right. Council Member Collins announced that Devoted Health will provide resources to educate families on Medicare and Medicaid at the next Baker Rotary Club meeting.

The mayor announced that the Baker Chamber of Commerce will hold its award ceremony and banquet tomorrow at the Renaissance Hotel in Baton Rouge. The festivities will begin at 5:30 p.m. and tickets are still available. The mayor announced Treat Street will be held on Thursday, October 29, 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the park. The mayor announced the Baker High School homecoming parade will be held on Friday, October 30, 2026, at noon. Council Member Dunn asked that everyone keep the Butler family in their prayers, following the death of Mr. John Butler. Council Member Murphy said his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and began treatment this week. He asked that everyone keep his family in their prayers.

3. Proclamation declaring September 2026 Attendance Awareness Month in the City of Baker (Mayor) The proclamation was read by Aneatra Boykin.

APPOINTMENTS TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS

The motion was made by Council Member Collins, seconded by Council Member Dunn to accept the proclamation.

REPORTS ON BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS 1. Planning and Zoning Commission 2. Annexation Review Committee 3. Economic Development Team 4. Heritage Museum/Related Committees 5. ABC Board 6. Other Special Committees a. Buffalo Festival b. Prayer Breakfast c. Strategic Planning Committee d. Citizens Advisory Board to Law Enforcement e. Main Street District Committee

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0. NEW BUSINESS 1. Introduce Ordinance 2026-30, an ordinance to enact the City of Baker Code of Ordinances, to be entitled “Electric Low-Speed Scooters”, to regulate the operation, equipment, and parking of electric low-speed scooters within the City of Baker, and to provide for other matters relative thereto (Young) (Mayor) The title of the ordinance was read by Aneatra Boykin. Council Member Young reiterated the need for the proposed ordinance. The motion was made by Council Member Young, seconded by Council Member Murphy to introduce Ordinance 2026-30. The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0. 2. Introduce Ordinance 2026-31, an ordinance to grant a cable television franchise agreement with and to Eatel Video, LLC d/b/a Rev and providing for related matters (Mayor) The title of the ordinance was read by Aneatra Boykin. Lillian Piazza, Manager of Government & Public Affairs for Rev Fiber, explained that Rev will be installing underground fiber optic cable in the City of Baker to provide residents internet service. Rev Fiber bid on and was awarded the job in the City of Baker as part of the GUMBO (Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities) program, Louisiana’s statewide competitive grant initiative managed by ConnectLA to expand high-speed internet to unserved and underserved areas. The motion was made by Council Member Murphy, seconded by Council Member Dunn to introduce Ordinance 2026-31. The mayor called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0. 3. Schedule work session to discuss tiny homes in the City of Baker

OTHER NECESSARY BUSINESS 1. Monthly Business Report 2. Other Reports 3. Items Requiring Action ADJOURN There was no other business to come before the commission. The motion was made by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioners Dunn/ Murphy to adjourn. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by a vote of 5-0. CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that I am Clerk of the Council for the City of Baker, Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is a copy of the minutes of a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners for the Norman E. “Pete” Heine Memorial Gardens held on October 13, 2026. _________________________________ Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BAKER CONSOLIDATED UTILITIES SYSTEM CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA 3325 GROOM ROAD BAKER, LA 70714 October 13, 2026 The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, sitting as the Board of Commissioners for the Baker Consolidated Utilities System, met in regular session on October 13, 2026, with the following members attending: COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn Cedric Murphy Darnell Waites Robert Young

2. District 2 announcements (Dunn) Council Member Dunn said the annual toy giveaway is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2026. She also stated that tentative plans are being made for Christmas in the Park as well. They are looking to host that event on Thursday, December 17, 2026. Council Member Dunn said the committee is excited about the upcoming holiday season, and they look forward to starting new traditions in the Baker community.

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

DISPOSITION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The meeting was called to order and the motion was made by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Murphy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September 22, 2026.

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by a vote of 5-0.

Council Member Collins announced the City of Baker Recreation Association is hosting free volleyball training on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.

RESOLUTIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS 1. Proclamation declaring October 2026 Pastor and Clergy Appreciation Month in the City of Baker (Murphy) Council Member Murphy asked that this item be tabled. He announced that October is Pastor and Clergy Appreciation Month and said he plans to invite area pastors to attend the council meeting scheduled for later this month.

ABSENT Dr. Charles Vincent CALL TO ORDER – Commissioner Waites presided.

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

PLANNING AND ZONING MATTERS

Legal Notices

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/COMMENTS 1. District 3 announcements (Collins) Council Member Collins announced the Baker Area Sports Association is currently holding its winter basketball sign-up.

RECOGNITIONS

Legal Notices Cedric Murphy Darnell Waites Robert Young

The mayor called for public comments or questions.

The motion was made by Council Member Collins, seconded by Council Member Dunn to add a proclamation declaring September 2026 Attendance Awareness Month in the City of Baker to the agenda under Resolutions and Proclamations.

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0.

Legal Notices

Council Member Young told Council Member Collins he has a five-yearold grandson, if they’re interested in recruiting him.

CONDEMNATIONS

ADJOURN The motion was made by Council Member Dunn, seconded by Council Member Young to adjourn. The mayor called for public comments or questions.

ABSENT Dr. Charles Vincent CALL TO ORDER – Commissioner Waites presided. DISPOSITION OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The meeting was called to order and the motion was made by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Murphy to approve the minutes of the meeting held on September 22, 2026. Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by a vote of 5-0. PUBLIC NOTICE NEW BUSINESS OTHER NECESSARY BUSINESS 1. Monthly Business Report 2. Other Reports 3. Items Requiring Action ADJOURN There was no other business to come before the commission. The motion was made by Commissioner Waites, seconded by Commissioner Dunn to adjourn. Commissioner Waites called for public comments or questions. Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Waites, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed by a vote of 5-0. CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA

Vote was called for. YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None The motion passed with a vote of 4-0.

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that I am Clerk of the Council for the City of Baker, Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is a copy of the minutes of a regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the Baker Consolidated Utility System held on October 13, 2026.

CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA

_________________________________ Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council

I, Angela Canady Wall, certify that I am Clerk of the Council for the City of Baker, Louisiana, and that the above and foregoing is a copy of the minutes of a regular meeting of the Council for the City of Baker, Louisiana held on October 13, 2026. ____________________________________ Angela Canady Wall, LCMC Clerk of Council MINUTES BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS NORMAN E. “PETE” HEINE MEMORIAL GARDENS CITY OF BAKER PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA 3325 GROOM ROAD BAKER, LA 70714 October 13, 2026 The City Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, sitting as the Board of Commissioners for Norman E. “Pete” Heine Memorial Gardens, met in regular session on October 13, 2026, with the following members in attendance at the meeting: COMMISSIONERS Desiree Collins Rochelle Dunn

204264-69816- Oct. 20, 2026-1t $ 831.60

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ 9D

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Public Notices Bids/Proposals

which may be encoun‐ tered in the execution of any portion of the work.

or email address desig‐ nated in the Invitation to Bid prior to the time set for bid opening, as recorded by date stamp at the Purchasing Ofﬁce. Bids received after clos‐ ing time will be returned unopened. Evidence of authority to submit the bid shall be required in accordance with R.S. 38:2212(a)(1)(c) and/or R.S. 39:1594(c)(2)(d).

EMPLOYER Linda A. Antoine, Director of Purchasing DATE ADVERTISED OCTOBER 20, 2026

questions, inquiries and requests for additional information will be is‐ sued in the form of Ad‐ denda to the Drawings and Speciﬁcations. Refer to Instructions to Bid‐ ders.

WILL BE HELD Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 2:00pm. Contractors that have requested bidding docu‐ ments from the Architect via email will be invited to the mandatory pre-bid conference.

Inquiries will be ac‐ cepted until November 4, 2026 by 10:30 AM. In‐ quiries shall be submit‐ ted to Linda Antoine at linda_antoine@subr.edu Responses to inquiries will be posted on LAPACLA State Procurement website on November 10, 2026 by 5:00 PM Any person requiring special accommodation should notify the Pur‐ chasing Office of the type(s) of accommoda‐ tion required not less than seven (7) days be‐ fore the bid opening date. Additional contact is Henry Thurman, South‐ ern University Safety De‐ partment at henry_thur‐ man@subr.edu or 225771-2413 or 771-4741. 5% Security All bids must be accom‐ panied by bid security equal to five (5%) per‐ cent of the sum of the base bid and all alter‐ nates if applicable and must be in the form of a certified/official check, cashier’s check or bid bond, made payable to Southern University and A & M College. Surety represents that it is listed on the current U.S. Department of the Trea‐ sury Financial Manage‐ ment Service list of ap‐ proved bonding compa‐ nies and that is listed thereon as approved for amount equal to or greater than the amount for which it obligates it‐ self in this instrument. No bid bond indicating an obligation of less than five percent (5%) by any method is acceptable. Performance & Payment Bond Successful Proposer shall be required to fur‐ nish a performance (surety) bond. The amount will be deter‐ mined during contract negotiations for the pe‐ riod the contract is in ef‐ fect. The Bond should be made payable to South‐ ern University. Any per‐ formance bond furnished shall be written by a surety or insurance com‐ pany currently on the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Man‐ agement Service list of approved bonding com‐ panies which is pub‐ lished annually in the Federal Register, or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-:VI rating or higher in the latest print‐ ing of the A.M. Best's Key Rating Guide or by an in‐ surance company that is either domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana residents and is licensed to write surety bonds. No surety or insurance company shall write a performance bond which is in excess of the amount indicated as ap‐ proved by the U.S. De‐ partment of the Treasury Financial Management Service list or by a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with an A-:VI rating by A.M. Best up to a limit of 10 percent of policyholders' surplus as shown by A.M. Best; companies autho‐ rized by this Paragraph who are not on the trea‐ sury list shall not write a performance bond when the penalty exceeds 15 percent of its capital and surplus, such capital and surplus being the amount by which the company's assets ex‐ ceed its liabilities as re‐ flected by the most re‐ cent financial state‐ ments filed by the com‐ pany with the Depart‐ ment of Insurance. In addition, any perfor‐ mance bond furnished shall be written by a surety or insurance com‐ pany that is currently li‐ censed or authorized to do business in the State of Louisiana. The bond must be received within twelve (12) working days from the date of notifica‐ tion. Bidders shall include the following envelopes of choice: company’s name, address, Louisiana con‐ tractor’s license number, bid number, bid opening date and time. Bids may be withdrawn by written, telegraphic fax notice or email and received at the address

The Southern University System is a participant in the Louisiana for the Small Entrepreneurships Program (the Hudson Ini‐ tiative) and the Louisiana Initiative for Veterans and Service-Connected Disabled VeteransOwned Business Small Entrepreneurships. Bid‐ ders are encouraged to consider participation. A list of certified vendors and additional informa‐ tion can be obtained http:// from website www.ledsmallbiz.com. Potential participants may also register at this website. Any questions concern‐ ing bid documents, please contact Mary Jane Spruel, Assistant Di‐ rector of Purchasing at (225) 771-2800 or email to maryjane_spruel@subr. edu and the Architect Firm. No bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-five (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of LA. R.S. 38:2214. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212(B)(5). The University reserves the right to reject all bids and to waive any infor‐ malities incidental thereto. Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classification of 72000000 Building & Construction, 72130000 General Build‐ ing Construction, 712136000 Commercial or Industrial Construction. SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY & A&M COLLEGE AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

204173-oct 20-1t PUBLIC NOTICE --Deliver bids to Headquar‐ ters of the East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging, physically at 965 N. 18th Street, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802, Attn: Ms. Trina Sanders, East Baton Rouge Parish Council on Aging , Bid En‐ closed: 2026 EBRCOAESC001(REBID) by 2:00pm, Tuesday, November 17, 2026 for the project enti‐ tled: Bid Enclosed: 2026 EBRCOAESC-001(REBID) East Baton Rouge Council on Aging: Evangeline Senior Center, Re-Bid 5186 Evangeline Street Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70805 Project Number: WA Project No. WA-03-126 Bids will be opened and read aloud with bidders invited to attend immedi‐ ately after the deadline for submission of bids. Complete Bidding docu‐ ments may be obtained by contacting the Archi‐ tect designated in the In‐ vitation to Bid: Williams Architecture 700 N. 10TH Street, Suite 350 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802 Contact Person: Marcus Williams Email: Marcus@williamsarch.com Bidding Documents will be issued as allowed by the provisions of La. R.S.37:2163 B to licensed contractors who hold an active license or his au‐ thorized representative. Prospective bidders de‐ siring further informa‐ tion or interpreta¬tions of the Drawings and/or Speciﬁcations shall re‐ quest such data elec‐ tronically directly to the architect. Answers to all

The successful bidder shall be required to fur‐ nish a Performance and Payment Bond written by a company licensed to do business in Louisiana, in amount equal to 100% of the Contract amount. The Surety Company must be listed currently on the U. S. Department of Treasury Financial Management Service List (Treasury List) as ap‐ proved for an amount equal or greater than the contract amount or must be an insurance com‐ pany domiciled in Louisiana or owned by Louisiana residents. If The Surety Company is qualified other than by listing on the Treasury list, the contract amount may not exceed fifteen percent of policyholders' surplus as shown by The Surety's Company most recent financial state‐ ments filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance and may not exceed the amount of $500,000. However, a Louisiana domiciled in‐ surance company with at least an A-rating in the latest printing of the A. M. Best's Key Rating guide shall not be sub‐ ject to the $500,000 limi‐ tation, provided that the contract amount does not exceed ten percent of the policyholders' sur‐ plus filed with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. The Bond shall be signed by The Surety's Company agent or attorney-in-fact and countersigned by a per‐ son who is under con‐ tract with The Surety’s Company as a licensed agent in this State, and who is residing in this State.

The Owner reserves the right to reject any and all bids for just cause. In ac‐ cordance with La. R.S. 38:2214, the provisions and requirements of this Section; and those stated in the bidding documents shall not be waived by any entity.

END OF ADVERTISEMENT TO BID 204349 Oct. 20, 27. Nov. 2, 2026 3t $217.18

33,000.00

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

755,000.00 281,500.00 3,000.00 442,100.00 35,800.00 100,000.00 30,000.00 1,680,400.00

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

1,411,229.04 72,100.00 199,050.00 2,600.00 1,684,979.04 (4,579.04) 348,091.96 343,512.92

lation – LETA, 11/05/26

NOTICE TO BIDDERS SP# 187 Sealed bids will be re‐ ceived by the Procure‐ ment Section of the Divi‐ sion of Administration, 1201 N. 3rd. St., 2nd. Floor, Suite 2-160, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at 10:00 A.M. for the follow‐ ing: RFx No. 3000026682, PyeBarker BN Surveillance SW, 11/05/26 RFx No. 3000026714, Transmission Line Mate‐ rials – LETA, 11/05/26 RFx No. 3000026811, Transmission Line Instal‐

Bid proposal forms, in‐ formation and speciﬁca‐ tions may be obtained by accessing the bid num‐ ber in LaPac at www.doa. la.gov/doa/osp/ or from the procurement section listed above. No bids will be received after the date and hour speciﬁed. The right is reserved to reject any and all bids and to waive any infor‐ malities.

NEWS 24/7 ON

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

Amy Vincent Director of State Procurement FAX (225) 342-8688 204308 Oct. 20, 2026 1t $13.48

PUBLIC NOTICE --River Parishes Commu‐ nity College is seeking bids for a CDL Backing Training Pad. To obtain bid package, please visit https://wwwcfprd.doa. louisiana.gov/osp/lapac/ dspBid.cfm?search=dep artment&term=4.

BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of Zachary, Louisiana, acting as the governing authority of said City, in regular session thereof, duly convened that: Section 1: Upon showing that under the provisions of La. R.S. 33:171 et seq., the requisite Petition(s) for annexation, together with requisite Certificates of the Assessor and the Registrar of Voters, has been filed with the Mayor and the City Council of the City of Zachary, Louisiana, that the consent of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has been requested and obtained pursuant to La. R.S. 33:180, and that the necessary public notices have been published according to law, all the territory situated within the following described limits is hereby incorporated into the City of Zachary, to wit: (SEE EXHIBIT A – MAP OF PROPERTY TO BE ANNEXED) Section 2: All ordinances or resolutions or parts thereof in conflict herewith are hereby repealed. Section 3: This Ordinance shall become effective immediately upon the elapse of thirty (30) days after publication or posting, pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statute 33:173, et seq. INTRODUCED FOR ADOPTION by the City Council of the City of Zachary as a regular meeting of the said Council held on the 22nd day of September, 2026. SUBMITTED FOR FINAL APPROVAL AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Zachary as a regular meeting of the said Council after being duly noticed and publicized public hearing held on the 13th day of October, 2026 and upon which the foregoing ordinance was read in full, the roll was called on the adoption thereof, and the Ordinance was adopted. AND THE ORDINANCE WAS DECLARED ADOPTED on this ______ day of __________________, 2026. ____________________________________ DAVID MCDAVID, Mayor

_________________________ Karen Burdette, Clerk of the City Council

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE ANNEXATION OF TRACTS CA-1 & CA-2 OF THE J.N. LIPSCOMB TRACT INTO THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF THE CITY OF ZACHARY AND RELATED MATTERS

AN ON SITE MANDATORY PRE-BID CONFERENCE

Original

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

ORDINANCE NO. 2026-16

ATTEST:

The Iberville Parish Clerk of Court will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, November 2, 2026 at 9:00AM at the Iberville Parish Courthouse located on Meriam Street in Plaquemine, LA. All citizens are invited to attend and may provide written and/or oral comments and ask questions regarding the Clerk of Court’s Proposed Budget for the year ending June 30, 2027.

EXPENDITURES General government: Employee/related benefits Materials and supplies Operating services Travel Capital outlay Total Expenditures Net Change Fund Balance, beginning, anticipated

LA. R.S. 38:2215.

The successful bidder shall provide builder’s risk insurance for the total amount of the pro‐ ject.

berville Parish Clerk of Court Proposed Budget Fiscal Year 2026-2027

REVENUES Intergovernmental Charges for services: Court costs and fees Certified copies/data processing Licenses Recording fees Interest earned Grant proceeds Other revenues Total Revenues

Bids shall be accepted from Contractors who are licensed under LA. R.S. 37:2150-2192 for the classiﬁcation of Building Construction. Bidder is required to comply with provisions and require‐ ments of LA R.S. 38:2212. No bid may be with‐ drawn for a period of forty-ﬁve (45) days after receipt of bids, except under the provisions of

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

_________________________ Brandy Westmoreland, Mayor Pro Tempore

Ordinance 2026-16 PRESENTED TO THE MAYOR PURSUANT TO HRC § 2-11(A), this ____ day of _______________, 2026 at ____:___, ___ M. _______________________ Karen Burdette, Clerk of the City Council I DO HEREBY ACT TO ____ ADOPT / ____VETO THIS ORDINANCE, this ____ day of ____________, 2026 at ____:___, ___ M, by my signature below. _______________________ David McDavid, Mayor

The Summarized Proposed Budget above can be inspected by the public from 8:30AM - 4:30PM, Monday, October 26, 2026 through Monday, November 2, 2026, in the Clerk of Court’s office located in the Iberville Parish Courthouse.

204169-697469-oct 20-1t $ 219.45

204326-698321-Oct. 20-1t $ 76.23

ORDINANCE 2026-29 REGULATIONS REGARDING 18 WHEELERS, TANK, AND/OR TRANSPORT VEHICLES PARKING ON PRIVATE OR PUBLIC PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY OF BAKER AND TO PROVIDE FOR OTHER MATTERS REGARDING TO THE SAME BE IT ORDAINED BY THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL of the City of Baker, Parish of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in regular session assembled, a proper quorum being there and then assembled on the 13th day of October, 2026, declared as follows, to-wit: WHEREAS, for the purpose of promoting the safety and aesthetic wellbeing of the citizens of the City of Baker and its communities, the following regulations are hereby enacted: SECTION 1: DEFINITIONS (a) 18 Wheeler means a semi-truck, tractor-trailer, or a combination of a tractor unit and a trailer, typically with 18 wheels. (b) Tank vehicle means any trailer or other receptacle used, utilized, or capable of transporting flammable or combustible liquids or other materials, or any hazardous materials. (c) Transport vehicle means a motor vehicle, rail freight car, freight container, cargo tank, tank trailer, or vessel used to transport flammables, combustibles, or any other hazardous materials or hazardous wastes. SECTION 2: PARKING RESTRICTIONS It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to park or leave unattended an 18 wheeler, tank vehicle, and/or transport vehicle on either private or public property within the City of Baker, except at the following locations: (a) 2200 Main Street, Baker, Louisiana 70714 (b) 3102 Main Street, Baker, Louisiana 70714 This ordinance shall not apply to 18 wheelers, tank vehicles, or transport vehicles actively making deliveries. SECTION 3: ENFORCEMENT, CITATIONS, AND PENALTIES A. This Ordinance shall be enforced by the Baker Police Department and any other City official or employee authorized by law or by the City to enforce municipal ordinances. B. Upon determining that a violation of this Ordinance has occurred, the City may use progressive enforcement measures appropriate to the circumstances, including verbal notice, written warning, issuance of a citation or summons, referral for prosecution in Baker City Court or another court of competent jurisdiction, and any other remedy authorized by law. C. Except where immediate enforcement is reasonably necessary to protect public health, safety, welfare, traffic safety, emergency access, or to address a vehicle carrying hazardous materials, the City may issue a written warning for a first observed violation. A warning is not required before issuance of a citation when the circumstances warrant immediate enforcement. D. A person or entity that violates any provision of this Ordinance may be issued a citation by the Baker Police Department. Each citation shall state the alleged violation and provide notice of the requirement to appear, respond, or otherwise resolve the citation in accordance with applicable law and court procedures. E. Upon a finding of guilt or other lawful disposition by a court of competent jurisdiction: • A first violation may be punishable by a fine of not more than Two

Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00). A second violation occurring within twelve (12) months of a prior violation may be punishable by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00). • A third or subsequent violation occurring within twelve (12) months of a prior violation may be punishable by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), together with any court costs and other sanctions authorized by law. F. Each calendar day that an 18-wheeler, tank vehicle, or transport vehicle remains parked or unattended in violation of this Ordinance after written notice or citation may constitute a separate offense. G. Violations of this Ordinance may result in the issuance of a citation and may be prosecuted as municipal-ordinance offenses. A person found guilty of a violation may be subject to fines, court costs, and any other civil or criminal penalties authorized by applicable law and imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction. H. Towing and Impoundment. In addition to any warning, citation, fine, or other enforcement remedy authorized by this Ordinance, an 18-wheeler, tank vehicle, or transport vehicle parked or left unattended in violation of this Ordinance may be removed, towed, and impounded at the direction of the Baker Police Department when: 1. The owner, operator, or person in control of the vehicle fails to remove the vehicle within the time stated in a written warning or citation; 2. The vehicle creates or reasonably appears to create an immediate threat to public safety, traffic safety, emergency access, property, or the environment; 3. The vehicle obstructs a public street, roadway, right-of-way, sidewalk, driveway, fire lane, emergency access route, or other public property; 4. The vehicle is abandoned, illegally parked, or otherwise creates a hazardous condition; 5. The vehicle contains, is suspected of containing, or is used to transport flammable, combustible, hazardous, or regulated materials and its location or condition presents a risk requiring prompt protective action; or 6. Removal is otherwise authorized by state law, the City Code of Ordinances, or a lawful order of a court or law-enforcement officer. I. Notice and Authorization. Except when immediate removal is reasonably necessary to address a safety, traffic, emergencyaccess, environmental, or hazardous-materials concern, the Baker Police Department shall make reasonable efforts to notify the owner or operator and provide an opportunity to remove the vehicle before towing. Any nonconsensual tow performed under this Ordinance shall be authorized by the Baker Police Department or another law-enforcement agency of competent jurisdiction, or the vehicle shall be properly tagged for removal, as required by applicable state law. J. Storage; Costs; Release. A vehicle removed under this Ordinance may be transported to a City-designated or lawfully authorized storage facility and held until released in accordance with applicable law and City procedures. The owner or person lawfully entitled to possession of the vehicle shall be responsible for all lawful towing, recovery, storage, cleanup, and administrative costs associated with the removal and impoundment. The City shall not release an impounded vehicle except upon proof of ownership or lawful authority to possess the vehicle and satisfaction of applicable release requirements. K. Notice of Impoundment; Other Remedies. Following removal, the Baker Police Department or the towing/storage provider shall provide notice of the vehicle’s location and the applicable release procedures to the owner or other person entitled to notice, as required by law. Towing and impoundment under this Ordinance are cumulative remedies and do not prevent the issuance of a •

citation, prosecution of an ordinance violation, recovery of lawful costs, or any other enforcement action authorized by law. SECTION 4: SAVINGS CLAUSE; CONTINUING EFFECT All Ordinances and parts of Ordinances in conflict herewith and the same are hereby Repealed. All Ordinances not in conflict herewith and not affected by the amendment hereinabove set forth are hereby maintained in full force and effect as if re-enacted herein. The Repeal of an Ordinance shall not affect any punishment or penalty incurred before the repeal took effect, or any suit, prosecution or proceedings pending at the time of the repeal, for an offense committed under the ordinance repealed. SECTION 5: SEVERABILITY It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by any Court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, or sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrases, clauses, sentence, paragraph or section. If the provisions of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person, fact, situation or circumstance are held invalid, the remainder of this ordinance and the application of such provisions to the other persons, facts, situations or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby. SECTION 6: INVALIDATION If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provisions or applications and, to that end, any and all provisions of this ordinance and applications thereof are declared to be severable. This Ordinance having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows: YEAS: Collins, Dunn, Murphy, Young NAYS: None ABSENT: Vincent ABSTAIN: None And the Ordinance was presented September 22, 2026, at the regular meeting of the Baker City Council held at the City Hall Building in Baker, Louisiana. And the Ordinance was declared adopted on this, the 13th day of October, 2026 regular meeting of the Baker City Council held at the Baker City Hall Building in Baker, Louisiana. ATTEST: /s/Angela Canady Wall, LCMC, Clerk of Council /s/Darnell Waites, Mayor

204279-698210-oct 20-1t $ 332.64

10D ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Public Notices Bids/Proposals

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

The following bids are open: #40005-FY27-013 204248 Oct. 19- Nov. 5, 2026 18t $98.64 PUBLIC NOTICE -- The Louisiana Ofﬁce of the State Museum is re‐ questing proposals for a Public-Private Partner‐ ship project to design, build, furnish, operate, and maintain an in‐ door/outdoor café at the New Orleans Jazz Mu‐ seum. For more informa‐ tion go to opportuni‐ tiesinlouisiana.com. 202696-oct 2-20-t $93.29

Legal Notices

ELOS Environmental, LLC on behalf of National Water Infrastructure is requesting authorization to construct an influent pipeline, centralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and an ef‐ fluent force main to con‐ vey and discharge treated effluent from the newly constructed facil‐ ity located in the City of Geismar, Louisiana, within Ascension Parish. The US Army Corps of En‐ gineers (USACE) will be accepting public com‐ ments on the project until November 11, 2026. To further review or pro‐ vide comments, addi‐ tional information and plans on the proposal may be obtained at the following website:www. mvn.usace.army.mil/ missions/regulatory/ public-notices (see Ref#: ) f

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Legal Notices

p MVN-2022-00246-CJT). If you have any questions, please contact Jaimie Thompson with the USACE, Regulatory Divi‐ sion at (504) 862-1489 or jaimie.l.thompson@ usace.army.mil.

j gy be conﬁdential until con‐ clusion of the negotia‐ tion, in accordance with La.R.S.44:22.

j ﬁdential until conclusion of the negotiation, in ac‐ cordance with La.R.S.44:22.

203802-OCT 16-19-20-3t $44.86

203801-OCT 16-19-20-3t $19.86

203540-oct 12-nov 12-32t $3,468.52

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

NOTICE On October 12, 2026 Susan Bonnett Bour‐ geois, Secretary of Louisiana Economic De‐ velopment, determined that records pertaining to an active negotiation for the purpose of retain‐ ing, expanding, or at‐ tracting economic or business development in the state, referred to as Project Golf, shall be con‐ ﬁd i l il l i

OFFICIAL NOTICE OF THE INTENT OF THE CAPITOL HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOP‐ MENT DISTRICT TO LEVY AND COLLECT (A) A 2% SALES AND USE TAX AND (B) A 2% HOTEL OC‐ CUPANCY TAX WITHIN THE DISTRICT

y of the Metropolitan Council of the Parish of East Baton Rouge and the City of Baton Rouge (“Metropolitan Council”), adopted on October 26, 2005, pursuant to Chap‐ ter 27 of Title 33 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes, as amended (“Act”) and other consti‐ tutional and statutory authority.

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE On October 12, 2026, Susan Bonnett Bour‐ geois, Secretary of Louisiana Economic De‐ velopment, determined that records pertaining to an active negotiation for the purpose of retain‐ ing, expanding, or at‐ tracting economic or business development in the state, referred to as Project Astrology, shall b ﬁd i l il

REQUISITION 11297789

CLASSIFIEDS.THEADVOCATE.COM

The Capitol House Eco‐ nomic Development Dis‐ trict (“District”), a politi‐ cal subdivision of the State of Louisiana (“State”), is an economic development district cre‐ ated by Ordinance 13442 f h li

Pursuant to the Act, the District is empowered to levy up to ﬁve (5) mills ad valorem taxes, up to two percent (2%) sales taxes and up to two per‐ cent (2%) hotel occu‐ pancy taxes within the District, or any combina‐ tion of such taxes, above and in addition to any other ad valorem taxes, sales taxes, or hotel oc‐ cupancy taxes, or combi‐ nation of such taxes, then in existence or per‐ mitted to be in existence

of all related documents. By Building and Grounds Director.

OFFICIAL PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE Notice is hereby given to all citizens of the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge and to all other interested persons, of the introduction at the regular meeting of the Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, held on October 14, 2026 of the proposed resolutions/ordinances, the titles of which are set forth hereinafter, and that public hearing will be held thereon by the Metropolitan Council at 4:00 P.M., Wednesday, October 28, 2026, in the Council Chambers (Room 348) on the third floor of the City-Parish Governmental Building in this City, these proposed resolutions/ordinances being entitled as follows: RESOLUTION A resolution authorizing and directing the Capitol House Economic Development District to levy and collect (a) a two percent (2.0%) sales and use tax upon the sale at retail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption and storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property and on sales of services in the District and (b) a two percent (2.0%) hotel occupancy tax within the boundaries of the District; and otherwise providing with respect thereto. By Capitol House Economic Development District . RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to enter into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the State of Louisiana for State Capital Outlay funding the amount of $750,000 and a required local match of $250,000 for a total of $1,000,000 for the planning, design, and renovations to the Raising Cane’s River Center, State Project No. 50-M20-26-01, and any supplemental amendments thereto, and further appropriating the state funds for said purpose. (Budget Supplement 9168). By Mayor’s Office & Raising Cane’s River Center. RESOLUTION Amend the 2026 Allotment of Positions for the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, adopted by Ordinance #19727, dated 12/09/2025, so as to change the allotment of the Metropolitan Council’s Charles R. Kelly, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Leo S. Butler Community Centers effective October 29, 2026. Metropolitan Council/Charles R. Kelly Community Center add (1) Housekeeper, job code 1534 and delete (1) Building Attendant, job code 1540, Metropolitan Council/Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center add (1) Housekeeper, job code 1534 and delete (1) Building Attendant, job code 1540, Metropolitan Council/Leo S. Butler Community Center add (1) Housekeeper, job code 1534 and delete (1) Building Attendant, job code 1540. By Councilmembers Daryl Hurst, Twahna Harris, Carolyn Coleman and Human Resources Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to amend Contract 800006369 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Pen Construction Group LLC, to increase the contract amount by $100,000.00, for a revised total notto-exceed amount of $739,250.00. This amendment also extends the contract term through July 31, 2027, and authorizes the execution of all related documents. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to amend Contract 800006331 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Urban Restoration Enhancement Corp, to increase the contract amount by $100,000.00, for a revised total not-to-exceed amount of $570,000.00. This amendment also extends the contract term through July 31, 2027, and authorizes the execution of all related documents. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION

RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Department of Buildings and Grounds, Building Maintenance Division to amend Contract #800007419 between the City of Baton Rouge and Institutional Services & Consultants Inc. to exercise the first renewal option for an additional one-year term beginning November 1, 2026 through October 31, 2027; to increase the contract amount by $600,000.00, for a revised total amount not to exceed $1,173,000.00, and authorizing the execution of all related documents. By Building and Grounds Director. RESOLUTION Rescinding and directing the Clerk Of Court to cancel the Notice To Attend recorded on July 17, 2026, at Original 859 of Bundle 13445 and Decision And Order recorded on September 19, 2026 at Original 523 of Bundle 13459 in the matter of “City of Baton Rouge vs. Laura Declouette, Yolanda Stills, Rajah Stills, Glen Watson, Glenda Ann Watson-Johnson, Robert J. Stewart, Ruby Stewart Williams, Katherine Washington, and the Estate of Armer Nella (a/k/a Armernella) Green” - Condemnation Proceeding No. 11842 (2850 Fairfields Ave., Lot 18, Square 17, Fairfields Subdivision). Reason for Rescission: Additional owners. By Department of Development. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 2 to Subrecipient Contract No. 800006286 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and HIV/AIDS for Region Two (HAART), increasing the compensation by $400,000.00, for a new total amount not to exceed $1,453,288.00, and extending the contract term through September 30, 2027. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Grant Program, and further authorizing the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION Rescinding and directing the Clerk of Court to cancel the Notice to Attend recorded on August 27, 2025, at Original 564 of Bundle 13389 and Decision and Order recorded on March 13, 2026, at Original 359 of Bundle 13428 in the matter of “City of Baton Rouge vs. Johnny emery, the Estate of Sam Coleman, and the Estate of Mable Coleman Emery” - Condemnation Proceeding No. 11757 (2501 Spain Street, Lot 13, Square 2, Belleview Subdivision). Reason for Rescission: Owner is remodeling structure. By Coucilwoman Coleman. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 2 to Subrecipient Contract No. 800006285 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Volunteers of America, increasing the compensation by $375,000.00, for a new total amount not to exceed $1,279,755.00, and extending the contract term through September 30, 2027. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Grant Program, and further authorizing the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 2 to Subrecipient Contract No. 800006292 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Start Corporation, increasing the compensation by $300,000.00, for a new total amount not to exceed $955,990.50, and extending the contract term through September 30, 2027. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Grant Program, and further authorizing the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute an agreement amendment, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to amend Contract 800007472 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge and Stacey Williams, to increase the contact amount by $53,666.66, for a revised total not to exceed $94,826.66. This amendment also extends the contract term from October 31, 2026 to December 31, 2027, and authorizes the execution of all related documents. By Community Development Director.

Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 2 to Subrecipient Contract No. 800006302 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Baton Rouge Black Alcoholism Council, dba Metro Health, to increase the contract compensation by $465,000.00, for a revised total amount not to exceed $1,065,258.83, and to extend the contract term through September 30, 2027. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Grant Program and further authorizing the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director.

RESOLUTION

Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) for the staging and operation of a Mobile Dosing Unit (“Medical Van”) to provide Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) treatment, medical assessments, telemedicine, counseling, and medication management. All services shall be provided within the Mobile Dosing Unit in compliance with applicable laws. No funding shall be exchanged. By Community Development Director.

Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 2 to Subrecipient Contract No. 800006310 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Laroque, LLC, dba Brightside Clinic, increasing the contract amount by $47,219.05, for a revised total not to exceed $322,219.05, and extending the contract term through September 30, 2027. Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) Grant Program, and further authorizing the execution of all necessary documents. By Community Development Director.

RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute contract Amendment No. 1 to the contract for professional services with Kiley Clifton, as a Community Liaison, for an additional amount of $15,000, bringing the total contract amount not to exceed $63,000. The Amendment will also allow for an extension of the contracted term beginning October 15, 2026, and commencing December 31, 2026. (Account No. 1000-4000-10-4010-0000-0000-000000-643500. By MayorPresident. By Mayor’s Office.

RESOLUTION A Resolution accepting the Request for Proposal(RFP) of Capital One to act as a Fiscal Agent of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge for the years 2027 through 2031, and authorizing execution of said contract and other necessary documentation in connection therewith at the appropriate time.”. By Council Administrator/Treasurer.

RESOLUTION

Amending OSC Contract 800007849 Brivo Access Control Repair Services with Allied Systems Inc to increase the contract amount by $90,000 to allow for annually services for access control (invoice 406180) and EMS Pride Station Access Control System Proposal. This would increase the contract amount to $135,000. By Emergency Medical Services Director.

Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute a Supplemental Agreement No. 1 with the State of Louisiana, Department of Transportation and Development in connection with State Project Nos. H.012449, Federal Aid Project Nos. H012449, XCS XINGS between Gayosa Street and Louise Street (BTR). Funding for construction of this project will be at an 80% Federal, 20% Local Cost Share. By Transportation and Drainage Director.

RESOLUTION Authorizing The Parish Attorney’s Office to Institute Expropriation Proceedings And/Or To Take Such Other Actions As May Be Required In Connection With The Acquisition Of Land Necessary For The Louisiana Watershed Initiative Project Jones Creek Detention Round 1 17 MTRI 7702-LWI-RI-MIT-CBR-EBR, BEING FEDERAL PROJECT NO. 0113. By Parish Attorney. RESOLUTION Authorization for the Mayor-President and/or Chairman of the Airport Commission to execute a Consent to Assignment and Assumption of lease from Total Delivery & Logistics, LLC to First Choice Couriers. LLC. By Aviation Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President on behalf of the Department of Buildings and Grounds, Building Maintenance to amend Contract #800007680 between the City of Baton Rouge and TLG Janitorial Services LLC, to increase the contract amount by $32,258.52, for a revised not-to-exceed amount of $76,517.04, and extending the contract term from February 1, 2027 through January 31, 2028, for continued janitorial services at the BR METRO Facilities Locations 1, 2, and 3, Human Resources, Downtown Development, and Traffic Engineering Building, and authorize the execution

RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute a contract for Engineering Services for the Lower Zachary Road Bridge Replacement over White Bayou; DPW Project NO. 26-BR-PT-0002 with Monroe and Corie, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $225,071.64. By Transportation and Drainage Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute an Act of Transfer and Acceptance Agreement between the Department of Transportation and Development and the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge in connection with State Project H.011098. By Transportation and Drainage Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President, on behalf of the Office of Community Development, to execute Amendment No. 1 to Developer Agreement Contract No. 800007106 between the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge, and Kimble Properties Fund 1 LP LLC, extending the performance period through January 31, 2027, and reallocating $38,112.75 from developer fees to soft costs to cover additional structural

Legal Notices

in the District. The Board of Commis‐ sioners of the District (“Board”) intends to adopt a resolution autho‐ rizing the levy and col‐ lection of (a) a two (2%) percent sales and use tax upon the sale at re‐ tail, the use, the lease or rental, the consumption and storage for use or consumption of tangible personal property and on sales of services in the District and (b) a two (2%) percent hotel occu‐ pancy tax within the Dis‐ trict, commencing Janu‐ ary 1, 2027 (collectively, “New Tax”). The projects approved and funded by the Dis‐ trict utilizing the New Tax will create economic development beneﬁts to the City of Baton Rouge, the Parish of East Baton Rouge, and the State of i i

Legal Notices

g Louisiana. PURSUANT TO LA. R.S. 33:9038.39, THE PUBLIC IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE BOARD OF THE DIS‐ TRICT WILL MEET IN OPEN AND PUBLIC SES‐ SION TO CONSIDER ADOPTING THE ABOVE DESCRIBED RESOLUTION AT ITS MEETING TO BE HELD ON OCTOBER 28, 2026, AT 4:00 P.M., AT THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 222 ST. LOUIS STREET, THIRD FLOOR, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA 70802], AT WHICH TIME THE BOARD WILL HEAR ANY OBJEC‐ TIONS FROM THE PUBLIC TO THE PROPOSED LEVY OF THE NEW TAX. 202381-OCT 13-20-2T $74.90

PUBLIC NOTICE --REQUISITION 11297786 OFFICIAL PUBLIC NOTICE OF THE REGULAR ZONING MEETING OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL OF THE PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE AND THE CITY OF BATON ROUGE Notice is hereby given to all citizens of the City of Baton Rouge, Parish of East Baton Rouge and to all other interested per‐ sons, of the introduction at the regular meeting of the Metropolitan Council of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, held on September 23, 2026, of the proposed ordinances, the titles of which are set forth hereinafter, and that public hearing will b h ld h b h

work. These modifications will not increase or otherwise affect the total project cost. Further authorizing the execution of all documents necessary to this amendment. By Community Development Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute Supplemental Agreement No. 4 to a contract for Construction Engineering Services with G.E.C., Inc. for additional Engineering Services associated with MOVEBR Capacity Project Bluebonnet Blvd (Perkins Rd to Picardy Ave.), being City-Parish Project No. 19-CP-HC-0034, in an amount not to exceed $138,081.02, bringing the total contract amount not to exceed $2,693,572.80. (Account No. 9217100073-4371.00000-0000000000-653240). By Transportation and Drainage Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to execute Supplemental Agreement No. 5 to a contract for Engineering Services with Waggoner Engineering, Inc. for additional engineering services associated with MOVEBR Hooper Road (Blackwater Bayou to Joor Road), being City-Parish Project No. 12-CS-HC-0017, in an amount not to exceed $ 103,230.73, bringing the total contract amount not to exceed $2,583,946.88. (Accounting No. 9217100039-4304.00006-0000000000-653240). By Transportation and Drainage Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor President on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Ryan White Program to amend a subrecipient contract with Family Services of Greater Baton Rouge in the amount of $130,500.00 Amendment 1, for a total awarded amount of $345.500.00, which includes all funding under the Ryan White Ending the HIV Epidemic Program, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor President on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Ryan White Program to amend a subrecipient contract with Crescent Care in the amount of $115,000 Amendment 1, for a total awarded amount of $311,000.00, which includes all funding under the Ryan White Ending the HIV Epidemic Program, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor President on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Ryan White Program to amend a subrecipient contract with Family Services in the amount of $152,725.00 Amendment 1, for a total awarded amount of $376,225.00, which includes all funding under the Ryan White Ending the HIV Epidemic Program, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor President on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Ryan White Program to amend a subrecipient contract with Capitol City Family Health Center (CareSouth) in the amount of $105,000.00 Amendment 1, for a total awarded amount of $350,000.00, which includes all funding under the Ryan White Ending the HIV Epidemic Program, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor President on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Ryan White Program to amend a subrecipient contract with HIV/ AIDS Alliance for Region Two, Inc. (HAART) Open Health in the amount of $67,000.00 Amendment 1, for a total awarded amount of $365,000.00, which includes all funding under the Ryan White Ending the HIV Epidemic Program, and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Authorizing the Mayor-President to submit a grant application and receive funding from theLouisiana Department of Education, Office of Nutrition Services for Child and Adult CareFood Program on behalf of the Division of Human Development & Services Head Start Program in the amount of $983,899.20 and authorizing the execution of all documents in connection therewith. By Human Development & Services Director. RESOLUTION Receiving a report from the Administration and Department of Development on open blight tickets, status of arrearages in addressing blight, and plans to close the financial gap. By Councilman Darryl Hurst. CONDEMNATION INTRODUCTIONS Susannah Roberts Freeman, Troyann Alex Tammy Freedman, Nyengiendo J Freeman, and Armstrong Jarbah Freeman 3218 Sycamore St., Lot 5, Sq. 15, Delmont Place Subdivision - Council District 5 - Hurst The Estate of Elnora Profit Johnson 4284 O’Dell St. Lot 10, Sq. 11, Greenville Extension Subdivision - Council District 7 - Harris Norwood Thomas Calvin and Edna Washington Clavin 1100 N Acadian Thruway E (House and Rear Storage Shed), Lots 1, 2, 3 ,4, 5, & E, Sq. A, (Acq: Lots 1–5 & E Sq A; structure sits mainly on Lot 1. GIS does not show Lot E, which Assessor lists as resub of Lots 12–14 Sq A Eden Park) Eden Park Subdivision - Council District 7 - Harris Kimberly Deshawn Rogers 5523 Fairfields Ave., Lot 2, Sq. 24, East Fairfields Subdivision - Council District 7 - Harris The Estate of George Bell, Sr, and The Estate of Jeanettaer S. Bell 1258 N. 36th St., Lots 19 & 20, Sq. 24, Eden Park Subdivision - Council District 7 - Harris Elvin Sterling and Norma Gauthier Sterling 2331 Jefferson Ave., Lot 7, Sq. 1, Fairfields Subdivision Fairfields Subdivision - Council District 7 – Harris Coretta S. Davenport 2573 Yazoo St (House, Side Shed, and Abandoned Vehicles), Lots 25 & 26, Sq. 5, Valley Park Subdivision - Council District 7 - Harris John Carl Kolb 1835 Pocahontas St., Lot 13, Sq. 4, Suburb Istrouma Subdivision - Council District 10 - Coleman HARMONY CENTER II, INC. 1206 S. 18th St., Lot 21, Sq. 1, Hero Park Subdivision - Council District 10 - Coleman LANDMARK BANK 3913 Topeka St., Lot 12, Sq. 24, Prosperity Addition Subdivision - Council District 10 – Coleman 204262-698157-Oct. 20, 2026-1t $ 731.86

The Advocate ■ theadvocate.com ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ 11D

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Legal Notices THE November 12, 2026 MINERAL LEASE SALE NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OFFICE OF STATE RESOURCES ON BEHALF OF THE STATE MINERAL AND ENERGY BOARD FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA 70821 Notice is hereby given in conformity with La. R.S. 30:126 that sealed bids will be received in the Office of State Resources, LaSalle Office Building, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (P. O. Box 2827, Baton Rouge, LA 70821) on or before 12:00 noon on Tuesday, November 10, 2026 for a lease to explore, drill for and produce oil, gas and any other liquid or gaseous minerals in solution and produced with oil or gas on the following described tracts (Tract Nos. 46137 through 46149, inclusive). The sealed bids shall be opened publicly on Thursday, November 12, 2026 in the LaSalle Office Building, 617 N. 3rd Street, Capitol Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The descriptions for the Tract(s) nominated below were, for the purpose of acquiring a mineral lease(s) or a geophysical agreement(s), provided and corrected exclusively by the nominating party. Therefore, any mineral lease(s) or geophysical agreement(s) awarded by the Louisiana State Mineral and Energy Board (Mineral Board) from the Tract(s) listed below are without warranty of any kind, either express, implied or statutory including, but not limited to, title or the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. An error or omission in the nominating party’s Tract description may require that a State mineral lease(s) or geophysical agreement(s) be modified, canceled or abrogated due to the existence of conflicting leases, operating agreements, private claims or other future obligations or conditions within the Tract(s) described. In such case, however, the Mineral Board shall not be obligated to refund any consideration paid by the Lessee prior to such modification, cancellation or abrogation including, but not limited to, bonuses, rentals and royalties. Tract(s) available for leasing may be situated in the Louisiana Coastal Zone as defined in Act 361 of the Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature of 1978 (promulgated as LSA-R. S. 49:213) and may be subject to the guidelines and regulations promulgated by the Office of Coastal Management of the Department of Energy and Natural Resources for operations in the Coastal Zone. Further, in accordance with Article XII, Section 10 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and notwithstanding any language herein to the contrary, any mineral rights granted by the Mineral and Energy Board to the tract(s) advertised herein are subject to the surface usage for integrated coastal protection or hurricane and flood protection projects promulgated, funded and effected through the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection

Legal Notices and Restoration, and the Department of Energy and Natural Resources and its divisions, whether solely or in conjunction with other state, local or federal governmental agencies or with private individuals or entities. Bids may be for the whole or any particularly described portion of the land advertised, but no bids will be accepted that does not equal the Minimum Royalty as set forth in La. R.S. 30:127 or which are not in compliance with the provisions of Subpart A of Chapter 2, Title 30 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, as amended, other applicable laws or the guidelines established by the Board through the Office of State Resources. The Minimum Royalty is not to be construed as an amount acceptable to the Mineral Board, it being the policy of the Mineral Board to reject any bid which does not reflect tract potential. The Board considers bonus, royalty percentage, and also compares royalty granted to landowners in the area. Multiple portion bids on the same tract may be accepted by the Mineral Board, even though they overlap. In the case of overlapping portion bids on the same tract, each of which is otherwise acceptable to the State, the Mineral Board has the sole discretion, to determine which one of the multiple bids on the same tract is most advantageous and in the best interest of the State. The Mineral Board may base it decision on factors such as but not limited to the royalty, per acre cash payment, bonus, any additional consideration. The selected bid, (referred to as “Bid A”), will be given priority in having a lease issued. The Mineral Board will also indicate the acceptability of other portion bids on the same tract, if any, in the order of their acceptance (referred to respectively as “Bid B”, “Bid C”, etc.). Once the plat of “Bid A” ‘s portion has been rendered as accurately as possible, “Bid B” will be contacted and given an option to take a lease on the remaining portion of his portion bid acreage not overlapping “Bid A” ‘s bid portion, at “Bid B’ ‘s per acre bid price (both as to bonus and rental); and thereafter, each successive bidder whose bid is otherwise acceptable will be given the option to take a lease on whatever portion remains of his portion bid acreage at his respective per acre bid price, less and except any prior portion bid acreage on which the successful bidder has opted to take a lease. The Mineral and Energy Board does not obligate itself to accept any bid, and that acceptance is at the sole discretion of the Mineral Board which reserves the right to reject any and all bids or to grant a lease on any portion of the tract advertised and to withdraw the remainder of the tract. Refer to the “Notice of Publication” for the general guidelines, minimum requirements, and additional notes associated with each tract advertised. The “Notice of Publication” can be found at: https://www.dce. louisiana.gov/ page/mineraland-energyb o a rd - n o t i c e - o f publication. The rights to g e o t h e r m a l

Legal Notices resources, free potash, sulphur, lignite, salt and other solid minerals are to be excluded from any oil or gas mineral lease and any bid purporting to include those rights will be disregarded as to the extent of those rights only. If you require accommodations due to a disability in order to attend or participate in a meeting, please notify the Office of State Resources at P.O. Box 2827, Baton Rouge, LA 708212827 or 225-3424615 at least two (2) working days before the meeting date. INLAND TRACTS (Tract Nos. 46137 through 46147 inclusive, herein cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding three (3) years). TRACT 46137 East Baton Rouge, Iberville, and West Baton Rouge Parishes, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in East Baton Rouge, Iberville, and West Baton Rouge Parishes, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,044,728.74 and Y = 615,210.39; thence East 18,480.00 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,063,208.74 and Y = 615,210.39; thence South 18,480.00 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,063,208.74 and Y = 596,730.39; thence West 18,480.00 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,044,728.74 and Y = 596,730.39; thence North 18,480.00 feet to the point of beginning, (This tract includes only waterbottoms claimed and owned by the state and specifically excludes any land which the state may claim or own and to which the mineral rights are vested in the state), containing approximately 2,377 acres. TRACT 46138 Portion of Block 16, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,621,701.70 and Y = 345,925.86, said point being in Block 16, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,621,701.70 and Y = 344,992.46; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,620,768.30 and Y = 344,992.46; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,620,768.30 and Y = 345,925.86; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing

Legal Notices approximately acres.

TRACT 46139 Portion of Block 18, Breton Sound Area, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,664,850.00 and Y = 340,674.70, said point being on the East line of Block 18, Breton Sound Area; thence South 933.40 feet along said East line of said Block 18, Breton Sound Area to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,664,850.00 and Y = 339,741.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,916.60 and Y = 339,741.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,916.60 and Y = 340,674.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46140 Portion of Block 31, Breton Sound Area, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,616.70 and Y = 335,569.70, said point being in Block 31, Breton Sound Area; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,616.70 and Y = 334,636.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,662,683.30 and Y = 334,636.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,662,683.30 and Y = 335,569.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46141 Portion of Block 31, Breton Sound Area, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,316.70 and Y = 334,346.70, said point being the in Block 31, Breton Sound Area; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,663,316.70 and Y = 333,413.30; thence

Legal Notices

West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,662,383.30 and Y = 333,413.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,662,383.30 and Y = 334,346.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,673,656.70 and Y = 286,846.70, said point being in Block 51, Breton Sound Area; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,673,656.70 and Y = 285,913.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,672,723.30 and Y = 285,913.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,672,723.30 and Y = 286,846.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres.

Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,666,131.70 and Y = 252,976.70, said point being in Block 53, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,666,131.70 and Y = 252,043.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,665,198.30 and Y = 252,043.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,665,198.30 and Y = 252.976.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres.

TRACT 46142 Portion of Block 25, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,610,246.70 and Y = 314,301.70, said point being in Block 25, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,610,246.70 and Y = 313,368.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,609,313.30 and Y = 313,368.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,609,313.30 and Y = 314,301.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46143 Portion of Block 31, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,634,253.40 and Y = 292,830.00 said point being on the South line of Block 31, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence West 933.40 feet along said South line of said Block 31, Main Pass Area, Revised, to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,633,320.00 and Y = 292,830.00; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,633,320.00 and Y = 293,763.40; thence East 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,634,253.40 and Y = 293,763.40; thence South 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46144 Portion of Block 51, Breton Sound Area, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in

TRACT 46145 Portion of Block 47, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,650,537.70 and Y = 272,025.70, said point being in Block 47, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,650,537.70 and Y = 271,092.36; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,649,604.36 and Y = 271,092.36; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,649,604.36 and Y = 272,025.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46146 Portion of Block 46, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of Louisiana, together with all islands arising therein and other lands formed by accretion or by reliction, where allowed by law, excepting tax adjudicated lands, and not presently under mineral lease on November 12, 2026, situated in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at a point having Coordinates of X = 2,672,066.70 and Y = 264,411.70, said point being in Block 46, Main Pass Area, Revised; thence South 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,672,066.70 and Y = 263,478.30; thence West 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,671,133.30 and Y = 263,478.30; thence North 933.40 feet to a point having Coordinates of X = 2,671,133.30 and Y = 264,411.70; thence East 933.40 feet to the point of beginning, containing approximately 20 acres. TRACT 46147 Portion of Block 53, Main Pass Area, Revised, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana All of the lands now or formerly constituting the beds and bottoms of all water bodies of every nature and description as to which title is vested in the State of

STATE AGENCY TRACTS (Tract Nos. 46148 through 46149 inclusive, herein cannot specify a lease primary term exceeding three (3) years). TRACT 46148 Bossier and Caddo Parishes, Louisiana A certain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from City Of Shreveport on November 12, 2026, being more fully described as follows: A certain tract of land located in Section 3 and/ or Section 4 and/or Section 9, Township 17 North, Range 13 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, being more particularly described in that certain Amended Order of Expropriation, recorded under Instrument Number 1081355, Book 2318, Page 2, of the Conveyance Records of Caddo Parish, Louisiana, containing 5.25 acres, more or less. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights. NOTE: Lessee, it’s successors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands, but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’s successors or assigns, shall not use the surface of the Lessor’s property for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor, which permission may be withheld at Lessor’s discretion. N O T E : Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein contained, at the end of the primary term or any extension thereof by operations, if the Commissioner of Conservation of the State of Louisiana establishes a drilling unit which includes a part of the land herein leased, the production of oil, gas and other minerals from such unit shall maintain this lease in full force and effect only as to such portions of the leased land embraced in said pooled unit, and this lease shall expire as to that part of the land herein leased not included in such unit, and Lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal recordable instrument (in a form acceptable to Lessor) any portion of the leased land not included in a unit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect.

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NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or any extension thereof by operations, this lease shall automatically terminate and be of no further force or effect except as to all that part of the leased premises then included within the geographical boundaries of a producing unit duly established by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earth to a depth of one hundred (100) feet below the deepest depth from which any well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premises or on lands pooled therewith is completed and from which there is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a unit by unit basis. Lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal recordable instrument (in a form acceptable to Lessor) all such depths as to which this lease is terminated. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to forty (40) acres around each producing oil well and one hundred sixty (160) acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of a square as is practicable, from the surface of the earth down to a depth of one hundred (100) feet below the deepest depth from which said well or wells are completed and from which there is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a well by well basis. NOTE: The City of Shreveport will require a minimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acre and a minimum royalty of not less than twentyfive percent 25%. TRACT 46149 Caddo and De Soto Parishes, Louisiana A certain Tract of land, excluding the beds and bottoms of all navigable waters, belonging to and not presently under mineral lease from Caddo Parish Commission on November 12, 2026, being more fully described as follows: That certain tract or parcel of land situated in the Northwest Quarter (NW/4) of Section 31, Township 16 North, Range 13 West, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, and being more particularly described in that certain Deed, dated November 2, 1989, recorded in Book 2633, Page 370, Entry No. 1248104, in the Conveyance Records of the Clerk of Courts office, Caddo Parish Louisiana, Geo #161331-000-001800, containing 1.00 acre, more or less. The description is based on information provided by the State Agency regarding location and ownership of surface and mineral rights.

Legal Notices by operations, if the Commission of Conservation of the State of Louisiana establishes a drilling unit which included a part of the land herein leased, the production of oil, gas and other minerals from such unit shall maintain this lease in full force and effect only as to such portions of the leased land embraced in said pooled unit; and this lease shall expire as to that part of the land herein leased not included in such unit; and lessee, its successors and assigns agrees to relinquish by formal instrument any portion of the leased land not included in a unit created by the Commission of Conservation while this lease is in effect. NOTE: Upon the expiration of the primary term hereof or any extension thereof by operations, this lease shall automatically terminate and be of no further force or effect except as to all that part of the leased premises then included within the geographical boundaries of a producing unit duly established by governmental agency or authority having jurisdiction, from the surface of the earth to a depth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which any well commenced during the primary term hereof on the leased premises or on lands pooled therewith is completed and from which there is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a unit by unit basis. In the absence of units so established, this lease shall terminate except as to 40 acres around each producing oil well and 160 acres around each producing or shut-in gas well located on the leased premises, in as near the form of a square as is practicable, from the surface of the earth down to a depth of 100 feet below the deepest depth from which said well or wells are completed and from which there is production in paying quantities, such depth determination to be made on a well by well basis. NOTE: This lease shall exclude free sulphur, potash, lignite, salt and any other hard or solid mineral. Lessee shall not have any rights to explore, drill for, mine, produce or take any action whatsoever in regard to any such hard or solid mineral deposits. NOTE: The Caddo Parish Commission will require a minimum bonus of $3,000.00 per acre and a minimum royalty of not less than 1/4th or 25%.

NOTE: Lessee, it’s successors or assigns, may produce oil, gas and other minerals from the leased premises by drilling from a surface location on other lands, but notwithstanding any other provision of this lease, Lessee, it’s successors or assigns, shall not use the surface of the Lessor’s property for drilling or any other operations without prior written permission of Lessor, which permission may be withheld at Lessor’s discretion. N O T E : Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein contained, at the end of the primary term or any extension thereof

202954-694176-Oct. 20-1t $ 730.60

12D ■ Tuesday, October 20, 2026 ■ theadvocate.com ■ The Advocate Legal Notices

p g be held thereon by the Metropolitan Council at 4:00 P.M., Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in the Council Chambers (Room 348) on the third floor of the City-Parish Govern‐ mental Building in this City, these proposed or‐ dinances being entitled as follows: ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Unified Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 17060 Florida Boule‐ vard To amend the Com‐ prehensive Land Use Plan from Residential Neighborhood and Com‐ mercial to Commercial, located on the south side of Florida Boulevard, east of South Stevendale Road, on property now or formerly known as a por‐ tion of Tract LL of the A. J. Melancon Tract. Sec‐ tions 70 and 73, T7S, R2E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 4 - Moak) PA-5-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Unified Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 17060 Florida Boule‐ vard To rezone from Rural to Light Commer‐ cial Two (LC2) on prop‐ erty located on the south side of Florida Boulevard, east of South Stevendale Road, on property now or formerly known as a por‐ tion of Tract LL of the A. J. Melancon Tract. Sec‐ tions 70 and 73, T7S, R2E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 4 - Moak) Case 28-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Unified Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 17590 Florida Boule‐ vard To amend the Com‐ prehensive Land Use Plan from Agricul‐ tural/Rural to Commer‐ cial, located on the south side of Florida Boulevard, east of Old Hammond Highway, on property now or formerly known as 19.56 Acre Tract of the Herbert Born Tract. Sec‐ tion 73, T7S, R2E, GLD,

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EBRP, LA (Council District 9 - Hudson) PA-6-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Unified Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 17510 and 17590 Florida Boulevard To re‐ zone from Rural to Heavy Commercial One (HC1) on property located on the south side of Florida Boulevard, east of Old Hammond Highway, on property now or formerly known as 19.56 Acre Tract and a portion of Tract 12 of the Herbert Born Tract. Section 73, T7S, R2E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 9 – Hud‐ son) CASE 32-26 ORDINANCE FUTUREBR Transporta‐ tion Element Amend‐ ment- Major Street Plan To amend the Compre‐ hensive Plan so as to amend the Major Street Plan by reducing the right of way width shown from 125 feet to no less than 100 feet for the seg‐ ment of Burbank Drive between Gourrier Avenue to 125 feet south of Jen‐ nifer Jean Drive. Section 66, T7S, R1W, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 12 Racca) PA-7-26 ORDINANCE Heyday Baton Rouge To rezone from Light Com‐ mercial One (LC1) and General Residential (A4) to Infill Small Planned Unit Development (ISPUD) for a high den‐ sity multi-family residen‐ tial development on property located north of Burbank Drive and East Boyd, south of Janet Av‐ enue, on property now or formerly known as Lots 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of Univer‐ sity View Homesites Sub‐ division, Square 6. Sec‐ tion 66, T7S, R1W, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 12 - Racca) ISPUD-1-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Unified Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 536 West Irene Road To rezone from Rural to Heavy Industrial (M2) on property located on the north side of West Irene Road, west of Samuels Road, on property now or f l k

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p p y formerly known as a por‐ tion of the J. Glynn Tract. Section 80, T5S, R1W, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 1 – Noel) Case 3026 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Uniﬁed Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 7117 and 7127 Florida Boulevard To rezone from Commercial Alcoholic Beverage (bar and lounge) (C-AB-2) to Heavy Commercial Two (HC2) on property lo‐ cated on the north side of Florida Boulevard, west of Lobdell Boule‐ vard, on property now or formerly known Tract N1-A-1-A-2 of the Bahlinger Inc. Property. Section 72, T7S, R1E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 6 – Dunn Jr.) Case 31-26

lll

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Case 35-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Uniﬁed Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 5762, 5862 and 5894 Hooper Road To rezone from Single Family Resi‐ dential (A2), Light Com‐ mercial (C1) and Heavy Commercial (C2) to Heavy Commercial One (HC1) on property lo‐ cated on the south side of Hopper Road, west of Mickens Road, on prop‐ erty now or formerly known as Lee Davis Tract, Tract A and Tract B of E. Martherne Tract. Sections 40 and 90, T6S, R1E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Coun‐ cil District 5 - Hurst) Case 41-26 202263 Oct. 6, 13, 20, 3t $377.86

ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Uniﬁed Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 7565 Jefferson High‐ way To rezone from Light Commercial (C1) to Com‐ mercial Alcoholic Bever‐ age (restaurant) (C-AB-1) on property located on the east side of Jefferson Highway, north of Corpo‐ rate Boulevard, on prop‐ erty now or formerly known as a portion of Lot Y-1-A of the Levi Dillon Tract. Section 91, T7S, R1E, GLD, EBRP, LA (Coun‐ cil District 11 - Adams) Case 33-26 ORDINANCE Amending the Compre‐ hensive Zoning Map of the City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge, as contained in and made part of the “Uniﬁed Development Code “, as amended so as to change the zoning on the property located at 228 West Chimes Street To rezone from Heavy Commercial (C2) to Commercial Alcoholic Beverage (restaurant) (CAB-1) on property lo‐ cated on the north side of West Chimes Street, west of Highland Road, on property now or for‐ merly known as a portion of Lot 6 of the Campanile View Subdivision, Square 1. Section 54, T7S, R1W, GLD, EBRP, LA (Council District 10 - Coleman)

PUBLIC NOTICE --The Louisiana Depart‐ ment of Conservation and Energy, Ofﬁce of Per‐ mits and Compliance (OPC) is currently re‐ viewing the following project for Consistency with the State and Local Coastal Resources Man‐ agement Act of 1978, as amended (La. R.S. 49:214.21-214.41), and the regulations of the Louisiana Coastal Re‐ sources Program (LCRP). Pursuant to Section 306 (d)(14) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended (CZMA), the public may submit comments on proposed projects to Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy, Ofﬁce of Permits and Compliance, P.O. Box 44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487. Applications may be inspected during OPC business hours at 617 N. 3rd Street, Baton Rouge, LA. Comments must be received within 15 days of this notice to be considered. For more information, contact Mark Hogan at (225) 2199530 or (800) 267-4019.

Federal License or Permit: C20260175 CPRA BS-0047 CWPPRA South Delacroix Marsh Creation Project, Plaquemines Parish 204389 Oct. 20, 2026 1t $14.62

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

PUBLIC ---

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING City of Baker, Louisiana In accordance with the Open Meetings Law at R.S. 42:26, et seq.

Please be advised that the October Board of Di‐ rectors meeting will be held as follows:

The Mayor and Council of the City of Baker, Louisiana, will meet on October 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at the Baker City Hall in the Council Cham‐ bers, 3325 Groom Road, Baker, Louisiana 70714 and via www.youtube. com/@bakerforward, at which time a public meeting will be held for adoption of the follow‐ ing: Ordinance 2026-30, an or‐ dinance to enact the City of Baker Code of Ordi‐ nances, to be entitled “Electric Low-Speed Scooters”, to regulate the operation, equip‐ ment, and parking of electric low-speed scoot‐ ers within the City of Baker, and to provide for other matters relative thereto (Young) (Mayor) (Introduced 10/13/2026) Ordinance 2026-31, an or‐ dinance to grant a cable television franchise agreement with and to Eatel Video, LLC d/b/a Rev and providing for re‐ lated matters (Mayor) (Introduced 10/13/2026) Ordinances can be viewed in full at City Hall, 3325 Groom Road, Baker, Louisiana 70714, Monday through Thurs‐ day from 7:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. In accordance with the rules of conduct of the Baker City Council meet‐ ings, any person desiring to be heard relative to any of these ordinances and matters for public hearing may contact the Clerk of the Baker City Council, P. O. Box 707, Baker, Louisiana, 707040707, in writing, and an opportunity will be of‐ fered to speak during this public hearing. In accordance with the Americans with Disabili‐ ties Act, if you need spe‐ cial assistance, please contact Ashley Williams at 225-778-0300, describ‐ ing the assistance that is necessary. Angela Canady Wall, LCMC, Clerk of Council City of Baker, Louisiana cc: Mayor and Council Members Department Heads City Attorney Advocate 204280-OCT 20-1T $31.05

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026 Time: 12:00 Noon (lunch included) Location: Visit Baton Rouge, 359 Third Street Attached please ﬁnd the following: • Notice & Agenda for Oc‐ tober 22, 2026 - Board Meeting • Minutes of September 24, 2026, Board Meeting Please RSVP your atten‐ dance to me at 382-3580 or via email at lisa@vis itbatonrouge.com to en‐ sure that a quorum is present. Thank you, c: Tim Boone Chuck Elkins Henry Olinde Ken Dawson Lauralyn Maranto VISIT BATON ROUGE October Board Meeting Notice & Agenda October 22, 2026 Visit Baton Rouge 359 Third Street 12:00 Noon I. Call to Order Rowdy Gaudet II. Opportunity for Public Comment Rowdy Gaudet III. Approval of the Sep‐ tember 24, 2026 – Board Meeting Rowdy Gaudet IV. Treasurer’s Report Danielle Prejean V. President’s Report Jill Kidder VI. New Business A. Discussion/action in connection with author‐ ity to amend Jill Kidder/ the CEA between VBR and Southern University relating Ken Dawson to the creation and comple‐ tion of the Scott’s Bluff Interpretive Trail. B. Discussion/action in connection with the rec‐ ommendation Jill Kidder from the Raising Cane’s River Center Selection Committee for selection of the Facili‐ ties Management Sub‐ contractor for the Raising Cane’s River Center.

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

Public Notices Nat Res Coastal

tory Sexual Harassment Training Lisa Clary Following the meeting.

y j g q CY of native material will be excavated and placed onsite.

VII. Old Business VIII. Adjourn 204445 Oct. 20, 2026 1t $29.77

Public Notices Nat Res Coastal

PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE the Louisiana De‐ partment of Conserva‐ tion and Energy, Office of Permitting and Compli‐ ance (OPC) has received the following applica‐ tion(s) for a Coastal Use Permit (CUP) in accor‐ dance with La. R.S. 49:214.21 et seq., and the rules of the Coastal Man‐ agement Program. Appli‐ cations for coastal use permits may be in‐ spected at 617 North 3rd Street, Room 1078, Baton Rouge, LA or on the OPC webpage at: https:// www.dce.louisiana.gov/ page/coastalmanagement-publicnotices. Copies are avail‐ able, costs apply. Written comments are solicited from the public and must be received within 25 days of the date of this notice. Comments must be uploaded directly to our electronic record through the OPC web‐ page or mailed to: OPC Administrator, Kyle Balkum, and P.O. Box 44487, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4487. All comments must contain the appro‐ priate CUP number and full the commenter's name and contact infor‐ mation. Below are the referenced applica‐ tion(s): *************** CUP NUMBER: P20260861 Name: Select Oilfield Ser‐ vices, LLC c/o Coastal Re‐ source Consulting, LLC P. O. BOX 52370 LAFAYETTE, LA 70505 Attn: Jeremy Griffith Location: Jeffer‐ son Parish, LA; Lat. 29-5044.18N, Long 90-0856.35W (see plats for ad‐ ditional coordinates); Barataria and Bayou Seg‐ nette Fields Description: Proposal to P&A 3 well locations. An airboat will be used to access 2 of the wells, the 3rd well will be accessed via a shallow draft barge. Ap‐ prox. 13,191 linear feet of abandoned flowlines will be pulled by cable from barges positioned in ad‐ jacent waters. Approx. 37 cy of jetting required. 37 f i i l ill

C. Notice of State manda‐

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204423 Oct. 20, 1t $22.06

Public Notices Successions

PUBLIC NOTICE --STATE OF LOUISIANA 21ST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF LIVINGSTON SUCCESSION OF PAMELA O. MULKEY PROBATE NO. 20685 NOTICE OF SALE OF SUCCESSION IMMOVABLE AT PRIVATE SALE WHEREAS, ANITA JOY JUDGE LEWIS, the duly appointed and qualified Administrator of the above-entitled Succes‐ sion, has made applica‐ tion to the Court for au‐ thority to sell, at private sale, the Succession’s entire interest in and to the following described immovable property: Lot 27 of Deer Creek Acres, Inc. and/or Deer Creek Acres, Inc. II subdi‐ vision as shown on offi‐ cial plat of said subdivi‐ sion prepared by Alex Theriot, Jr. and Associ‐ ates, Inc., Engineers and Land Surveyors, Denham Springs, Louisiana, with official plat and said sub‐ division on file and of record in the office of the clerk and recorder for the Parish of Livingston, with said subdivision and said lots having such size and dimensions and subject to such servitude as shown on said plat of Survey, as recorded as Entry Number 234, 444 of the Official Records of Livingston Parish, Louisiana. AND that certain 2000 FLEETWOOD WESTON, bearing, Serial #ASLX75A35680WT21 sit‐ uated and attached to the property described hereinabove, which mo‐ bile home the parties hereto declare will re‐ main permanently at‐ tached to said property and immobilized in ac‐ cordance with the provi‐ sions of R.S. 9:1149.4, being subject to all laws concerning immovable property. Bearing municipal ad‐ dress: 35118 Timber Lane, Denham Springs, LA 70726

Public Notices Successions

UPON THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS, TO-WIT: The proposed sale is to CALEB DAY for the cash purchase price of SEV‐ ENTY-FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTYONE AND 31/100 DOL‐ LARS ($74,331.31). The proceeds of the sale shall be applied toward satisfaction of the in‐ debtedness secured by the Property, including applicable accrued inter‐ est, attorney’s fees, court costs, Sheriff’s costs, and other lawful charges associated with the executory proceed‐ ings, as well as the cus‐ tomary expenses of the sale. No net proceeds are expected to remain for the Succession. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to all parties whom it may concern, including the heirs, legatees, and creditors of the decedent and of this estate, to make any opposition they may have to such application at any time prior to the issuance of the order or judgment authorizing, approving, and homologating such application. Such order or judgment may be is‐ sued after the expiration of seven (7) days from the date of the last publi‐ cation of this notice, all in accordance with La. C.C.P. art. 3282. ANITA JOY JUDGE LEWIS Administrator of the Succession of Pamela O. Mulkey Attorney for the Succession: Allison B. Costanza Boyer, Hebert & Angelle, LLC 1280 Del Este Avenue Denham Springs, LA 70726 Telephone: (225)-664-4335 Email: acostanza@bhalawﬁrm.c om 204391-oct 20-nov 10-2t $786.36

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