The Acadiana Advocate 08-20-2025

OPEN HOUSE

LourdesStadium renovationsfocus on fanexperience

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staffwriter

ä Graduate assistant has keyrole with Cajuns QBs. PAGE 1C

When fans of Ragin’ Cajuns football showupAug. 30 for the first game of the 2025 season, it will be hard to miss the renovations to OurLady of Lourdes Stadium.

Nearly everythingonthe west side of the stadium is new.The towering façade features 34 suites, 40 loge boxes, 524club seats, an indoor club that can host community events and five

Lafayette fire captain wins national cooking contestonPBS

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

This longtime Lafayette FireDepartment captain nowhas anew title: award-winning chef. Coby Bailey is the winner of Season 4of“Great American Recipe,” aPBS competition cooking show that pits home chefs fromacross the country against each other. In each season, chefs typically represents adifferent cuisine, culture or place in America. Bailey was the first chef to represent

newchairback sectionsin the lower west bowl of the stadium.

The$65 million project, whichbegan inDecember 2023, is themostsignificant upgrade to thefacility since it opened in 1971. Theproject was designed by DLR Group and AQ Studios, and thebuilder was J.B. Mouton. But beyond the upgraded premium seating options andthe new-car smell, University of Louisiana at Lafayette officials hopethe improvements, big and small, will provideabetter gamedayexperiencefor allUL

ä See STADIUM, page 4A

Louisiana and Cajun culture on the show —and he said he was honored to share the place and recipes that he loves with anational audience.

“It was important to me to represent Louisiana and the Cajuns,” said the captain of Fire Station No. 9.“Ilovethem, and Ilove my heritage, and Ilovemyculture.”

Cajuns excelatrepresenting their culture through food,and that’sexactly what Bailey did oversix weeks ofsharing authentic Cajun recipes —like therich, multidimensional alligator sauce piquante that gothim to the final round. To cinch the win over chefs from San Diego andColumbus, Ohio,hemade cornbread-stuffed chicken over grits withandouille cream sauce anda side of cole-

slawand potatoes, followed by firehouse cobbler Bailey said his cooking foundation beganwith hismother and grandmother,and was honedby yearsofpreparing communal meals at thefire station.

Five years ago, Bailey started aCaptain Coby CajunCooking YouTube channelfollowing afire stationbet.Heposted videos of himself cooking traditional Cajun dishes, as well as favoritemeals from the firehouse. Hischannel andsocial media accounts began growing in popularity relatively quickly —asdid his new line of seasoning blends,Captain Coby Cajun Seasoning.

BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer

State regulators are examining the cause of an unexplained pressure drop in three conjoined underground caverns in the Sulphur Mines salt dome, parts of which have been undera state of emergency foracouple of years due to stability concerns. The latestpotentially troubled cavern, owned by aWestlake Chemicalsubsidiary,isjustsouth of one that prompted emergency measures in 2023 to contain apotential collapse, including aprotective earthen berm that is now nearly finishedconstruction.The newconcern at the site, located in theLakeCharlesarea, involves “Cavern 2-4-5,” named that waybecause it used to be three separate caverns that joined in the 1950s. State officials said on Monday that they were being cautious with the drop in pressure, which is small but has been sustained for about 10 days, in light of the other problems elsewhere on thesalt dome.

Patrick Courreges, spokesperson forthe state Department of Energy and Natural Resources, said that it is not unusual forolder salt dome caverns to lose some pressurethatcould be theresult of morecommon problemslike failed concrete or metal casing on awell connected to the underground cavern.

“Those arefixablethings,oris

Fire Captain CobyBailey is the winner of Season 4of‘Great American Recipe’ cookingshow on PBS

New tiny moon found circling Uranus

NEW YORK The Webb Space Telescope has spotted a new tiny moon orbiting Uranus.

The new member of the lunar gang, announced Tuesday by NASA, appears to be just 6 miles wide. It was spotted by the telescope’s near-infrared camera during observations in February

Scientists think it hid for so long — even eluding the Voyager 2 spacecraft during its flyby about 40 years ago — because of its faintness and small size.

Uranus has 28 known moons that are named after characters from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. About half are smaller and orbit the planet at closer range. The new moon, still nameless, ups the planet’s total count to 29. The new addition could hint at more bite-sized moons waiting to be found around Uranus, said planetary scientist Matthew Tiscareno with the SETI Institute, who was involved in the discovery

Cargo ship catches fire in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Investigators on Tuesday were trying to determine what caused an explosion aboard a cargo ship laden with coal as it departed Baltimore’s harbor for East Africa.

Officials said no one was injured in the blast Monday evening, which prompted a mayday call when it was reported near the site of last year’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Video of the explosion showed flames shooting high into the air, followed by a large plume of dark smoke billowing over the Patapsco River The Port of Baltimore’s main shipping channel was closed for several hours Tuesday while crews worked to locate a hatch from the ship that detached during the explosion and fell into the water, officials said. They announced late Tuesday afternoon that the channel had reopened.

The 751-foot merchant vessel W-Sapphire was en route from Baltimore to East Africa, according to marine tracking websites. It was expected to arrive in the Port of Mauritius in about a month. There were 23 crewmembers and two pilots aboard at the time of the explosion, according to Coast Guard officials

“Crews are awaiting verification to confirm safe conditions before proceeding with further Coast Guard investigations onboard the vessel,” the agency said Tuesday

The channel was closed for months after the deadly bridge collapse in March 2024, which killed six members of a roadwork crew and effectively brought port operations to a standstill.

Minnesota sues social media giant TikTok ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota on Tuesday joined a wave of states suing TikTok, alleging the social media giant preys on young people with addictive algorithms that trap them into becoming compulsive consumers of its short videos.

“This isn’t about free speech I’m sure they’re gonna holler that,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said “It’s actually about deception, manipulation, misrepresentation This is about a company knowing the dangers, and the dangerous effects of its product, but making and taking no steps to mitigate those harms or inform users of the risks.”

The lawsuit, filed in state court, alleges that TikTok is violating Minnesota laws against deceptive trade practices and consumer fraud. It follows a flurry of lawsuits filed by more than a dozen states last year alleging the popular short-form video app is designed to be addictive to kids and harms their mental health. Minnesota’s case brings the total to about 24 states, Ellison’s office said. Many of the earlier lawsuits stemmed from a nationwide investigation into TikTok launched in 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from 14 states into the effects of TikTok on young users’ mental health. Ellison, a Democrat, said Minnesota waited while it did its own investigation.

Federal crackdown ripples through D.C. as troops arrive

Local officials criticize aggressive intervention

BY MATT BROWN, LINDSAY WHITEHURST AND CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The main drag in Washington’s Columbia Heights neighborhood is typically crammed with people peddling pupusas, fresh fruit, souvenirs and clothing. On Tuesday though, things felt different: The white tents that bulge with food and merchandise were scarcer than usual.

“Everything has stopped over the last week,” said Yassin Yahyaoui, who sells jewelry and glass figurines. Most of his customers and fellow vendors, he said, have “just disappeared” — particularly if they speak Spanish.

The abnormally quiet street was one of many pieces of evidence showing how President Donald Trump’s decision to flood the nation’s capital with federal law enforcement and immigration agents has rippled through the city While troop deployments and foot patrols in downtown areas and around the National Mall have gotten the most attention, life in historically diverse neighborhoods like Columbia Heights is being

reshaped as well.

The White House has credited Trump’s crackdown with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the city’s affairs.

The confrontation escalated on Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in D.C. opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn’t authorized to comment publicly The probe could be used to bolster Trump’s claims that the city is suffering from a “crime emergency” despite statistics showing improvements. The mayor’s office and the police department declined to comment. National Guard members from West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana began arriving in Washington on Tuesday to assist in the crackdown, according to Joint Task Force District of Columbia, the military unit overseeing the D.C. Guard. Those troops from other states will perform similar duties to D.C. Guard members already on the streets, including protecting landmarks and crowd control, and will be staying at military base housing and hotels, JTF-DC said.

Blocks away from where Yahyaoui had set up shop, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local police

stopped a moped driver delivering pizza. The agents drove unmarked cars and wore tactical vests; one covered his face with a green balaclava. They questioned the driver and required him to present documentation relating to his employment and legal residency status. No arrest was made.

The White House said there have been 465 arrests since Aug. 7, when the federal operation began, including 206 people who were in the country illegally The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement and the president signed an executive order on Aug. 11 to put the police department under federal control for 30 days; extending that would require congressional approval.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump was “unapologetically standing up for the safety of law-abiding American citizens.”

Glorida Gomez, who has been working a fruit stand in Columbia Heights for more than a decade, said business is worse now than during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said many vendors stopped coming because they were afraid of interacting with federal agents.

Customers seem less willing to spend money too. Reina Sosa, another vendor said “they’re saving it in case something happens,” like getting detained by immigration enforcement.

Erin likely to churn up dangerous swells, winds along East Coast

Hazardous water conditions expected

BY ALLEN G BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press

RODANTHE,N.C.— Hurricane Erin chugged slowly toward the eastern U.S. Tuesday, stirring up treacherous waves that already have led to dozens of water rescues and shut down beaches along the coast in the midst of summer’s last hurrah.

While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will remain far offshore, the outer edges are likely to bring damaging tropical-force winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday

Warnings about rip currents have been posted from Florida to the New England coast with New York City closing its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday Several Long Island and New Jersey beaches also will be off-limits.

“Enjoy the shore, enjoy this beautiful weather but stay out of the water,” New Jersey Gov Phil Murphy said Tuesday

Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet later this week. But the biggest threat is along the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks where evacuations have been ordered One town asked residents to secure their trash cans so they don’t float or blow away

Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm while moving through the Caribbean, with its tropical storm winds stretching 230 miles from its core. Forecasters expect it will grow larger in size as it moves through the Atlantic and curls north.

It continued to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday where government services were suspended a day

earlier and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas before its expected turn toward Bermuda and the U.S.

By Tuesday, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was about 615 miles south-southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.

Tropical storm watches were issued for Virginia and North Carolina as well as Bermuda.

Rough ocean conditions already have been seen along the U.S. coast at least 60 swimmers were rescued from rip currents Monday at Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington, North Carolina.

The biggest swells along the East Coast are expected over the coming two days.

Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by warmer oceans.

Two years ago, Hurricane Lee grew with surprising speed while barreling offshore through the Atlantic, unleashing violent storms and rip currents

Falsified D.C. crime data allegations prompt federal probe

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether police officials in Washington, D.C., have falsified data to make crime rates appear lower than they are, according to two people familiar with the probe who weren’t authorized to publicly discuss an open investigation.

The investigation comes amid an escalating — and political — showdown between the Trump administration and the city over control of the police department It wasn’t immediately clear what federal laws could have been violated by the possible manipulation of crime data.

President Donald Trump claimed that violent crime in Washington is getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the city’s police department, flooding the streets with hundreds of National Guard members.

But he exaggerated or misstated many facts about public safety in Washington, where crime rates have fallen in recent years.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office declined to comment on the investigation. A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeannine Pirro’s office in Washington didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

The New York Times was first to report on the investigation.

Earlier this year, a Metropolitan Police Department commander suspected of manipulating crime data was placed on paid administrative leave, NBC Washington reported. Bowser told the television station last Tuesday that the city’s police chief “had concerns about one commander, investigated all seven districts and verified that the concern was with one person.”

“So, we are completing that investigation and we don’t believe it implicates many cases,” the mayor added.

Former interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin, who was Pirro’s predecessor and Trump’s first pick to lead the office, said Washington’s violent crime had decreased in the first 100 days since Trump returned to the White House in January. In an April 28 news release Martin’s office said MPD data showed that violent crime had dropped by 25% since the start of 2025.

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TrumpsaysU.S.troops won’tdefendUkraine

Presidenthopeful adealcan be made to endwar

BY DARLENE SUPERVILLE and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press

WASHINGTON President

Donald Trump on Tuesday offered his assurances that U.S. troops would not be sent to help defendUkraine against Russia after seeming to leave open the possibility the day before.

Trump also said in a morning TV interviewthat Ukraine’shopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula from Russia are “impossible.”

The Republican president, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders held hours of talks at the White House on Monday aimed at bringing an end to Russia’swar against Ukraine. While answering questions from journalists, Trump did not rule out sending U.S. troopstoparticipate in aEuropean-led effort to defend Ukraine as part of security guarantees soughtbyZelenskyy

Trump said afterhis meetinginAlaska last week with RussianPresident Vladimir Putin that Putin was opento the idea of securityguaranteesfor Ukraine.

But asked Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s“Fox& Friends” what assurances he could provide going forward and beyond his term that American troops would not be part of defending Ukraine’sborder,Trump said, “Well, you have my assurance,and I’mpresident.”

Trump would have no control over theU.S. military after his term endsinJanuary 2029. White House press secre-

ASSOCIATED PRESS By ALEX BRANDON

Ukraine’sPresidentVolodymyrZelenskyy speaks as British PrimeMinisterKeir Starmer,seated from background left, France’sPresidentEmmanuel Macron and PresidentDonald Trump listen during ameeting MondayinWashington.

tary Karoline Leavittlater on Tuesday emphasized that “U.S. bootswill notbe on the ground” as part of any potential peacekeeping mission

Thepresident also said in the interviewthatheis optimistic that adeal can be reached to end the Russian invasion,but he underscored that Ukrainewill have to set asideits hope of getting back Crimea, which wasseizedbyRussian forces in 2014, andits long-held aspirations of joining the NATO military alliance.

“Bothofthose things are impossible,” Trumpsaid Putin, as part of any potential dealtopullhis forces out of Ukraine,islooking for thewithdrawal of Ukrainian troops from theDonetsk and Luhanskregions, as well as recognitionofCrimeaas Russian territory

Trump on Monday said that he was arranging for direct talksbetweenPutin andZelenskyy.

But the Kremlin has not yet said whether Putin, who has resisted previous calls by Trump and others for direct negotiations on endingthe war,iscommittedto

aface-to-face meeting with theUkrainian leader

Asked whether Putin has promised Trump that he’ll meet directly with the Ukrainian leader,Leavittrespondedaffirmatively. “He has,” Leavitt said of Putin.

Trump, earlyonMonday during talkswith Zelenskyy andEuropean leaders,said that he was pressing for three-waytalks amongZelenskyy,Putin and himself.

Butafter speaking to Putin later in the day,Trumpsaid thathewas arranging first foraface-to-face between Zelenskyy and Putin and thatthree-way talks would follow if necessary

“It was an idea that evolvedinthe course of the president’sconversations withbothPresident Putin, President Zelensky and the European leaders yesterday,” Leavitt explained.

Butwhen discussing a phone call held after the meeting between Trump andthe Russian leader,Putin’sforeign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov gave no indication that either abilateral or atrilateral meeting with Ukraine had been agreed.

BY ERIC TUCKER and MATTHEWLEE Associated Press

WASHINGTON The Trump administrationsaid Tuesday thatitwas revoking thesecurity clearances of 37 current andformer national security officials in the latestact of retributiontargeting public servantsfrom the federal government’s intelligence community Amemo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accuses the singled-out individuals of having engaged in the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence” to advance personal or partisan goals, failing to safeguardclassified information, failing to “adheretoprofessionalanalytic tradecraft standards” and other unspecified “detri-

mental”conduct.

The memo did not offer evidencetobackupthe accusations. Many of the officials who were targeted left the government years ago after serving in both senior national security positions andlower-profile rolesfar from the public eye.

Some worked on matters that have long infuriated Trump,like theintelligence community assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election on his behalf. And several signaled their concerns about Trump by signing acritical letter in 2019 that washighlighted on social media last month by right-wing provocateur and closeTrump ally Laura Loomer

The action is part of a broader Trumpadministrationcampaign to wield

the levers of government against perceived adversaries, and it reflects the president’scontinued distrust of career intelligence officials he sees as working against his interests. Therevocation of clearances hasemerged as ago-to tacticfor theadministration, astrategy that critics say risks chilling dissenting voices from anational security community accustomed to drawing on a range of viewpointsbefore formulating an assessment.

“These are unlawful and unconstitutional decisions that deviate from well-settled, decades-old laws and policies that sought to protect against just this type of action,” Mark Zaid, anational securitylawyerwhose ownclearance was revoked by theTrump administration,saidina statement.

football fans.

“Werecognize you’ve got to give them an experience theycan’t get at home,” said Bryan Maggard, vicepresident for intercollegiate athletics. “Wealways say we’re competing with the flat-screen television and the comfortable living room.

“The

“Wenow have the nicest facility in the Sun Belt Conference,” Maggardsaid. “And that’s sayingalot because there are some really nice stadiums out there. Iwouldeven hold it up in comparison to some Power Four schools.”

Besidesthe renovated structure itself, which makes abig first impression, there will be other enhancements to the gameday experience. There will be increased legroom for many fans, along with improvedconnectivity and better sightlines to the field, officials said. And the renovated, completely shaded west concourse will feature anew grab-and-go concession concept, according to Trey Frazier,deputy director of athletics.

cantly.”

TREy FRAZIER, deputy director

“The concession experience should be completely different,” Frazier said recently.“The middlepartofthe new facility is an open-air,marketplace-style concession setup.It’sgoingtobe morelike agrocery store where you go in and get whatever you want andthen youcheckout. It should speed up the process significantly.”

As part of the renovation, the stadium lost about 10,000 seats,

but Maggard saidthat was by design. The new capacity of the new stadium willbe“just over”30,000 seats —less than the current capacity of 41,126.

“First of all, it’sasupplyand demand issue,” Maggard said. “If we can haveless supply andcreate greater demand, that’sexactly what we want.” There’salso the goal of making every seat seem closer to the playingfield.

“But also, there’sanintimacy aspect thatI think gives the fan a better experience,” Maggard said.

“If we have avenue that’s30,000 in capacity with the view lines much better than what we have now and we offer apremiumexperience for people, and we offer abetter general experience forthe general fan, it’sa win-win.

“We’re just very excited to be able to actually produce aproduct that will give our fans amuch bet-

ter experience, whether they’re in premium or general seating.”

Another big change is the new turf field.

Visually,it’sstunning, with the Louisiana state outline behind the stacked Ragin’ Cajunslogo.But it’salso better technologically,said MattSullivan,director of athletics communication.

“The old turf wasfilledwith these rubber pellets that were madefrom old tires,” Sullivan

said. At the end of agame those pellets gottracked everywhere. And they were hot.

“The newturf is designedto absorb water and stay cooler,” he said. “And it’ssupposedtofeel alot more like anatural surface than the old turf did.”

Earlier in August, players got to check outthe newturf andother improvements.

“It’ssuper exciting,” quarterback Walker Howard said.“We got new uniforms and we’ve got anew stadium.All the guys are super firedup. Imean,it’sa great time to be aULfan right now

“We’ve got agreat team, and we’ve gotagreat coach.Coach (Michael) Desormeaux has been doing agreat job. All of our players will fight forthat man.”

Renovations to the east side of thestadium are planned forthe end of the 2026 football season The plans include anew tower slightly smaller than the westtower,that will include media boxes, administrative offices andtraining facilities.

Email Kristin Askelsonat kaskelson@theadvocate.com.

it something deeper down that we want to start getting a handle on? What are we dealing with? Is this something transient, or is this going to be an ongoing trend? Can there be something done? If so, what needs to be done?” Courreges said. “That’s kind of where we are right now.”

Located west of the town of Sulphur the Sulphur Mines dome is a massive, column-shaped salt deposit driven up from deep in the earth like wet mud squeezed through a person’s toes and has been the focus of oil drilling and sulfur or salt mining since the 1860s. The salt dome was among the earliest of these deposits mined in Louisiana through the high-pressure injection of water leaving behind some misshapen caverns from the early days of that industry

Known as solution mining, the practice uses fresh water to dissolve the salt deposits and pump up a brine solution that is often used by chemical manufacturers like Westlake for salt, a basic raw material for their products.

Solution mining leaves behind massive cavities that are a few thousand feet deep. Despite the words often associated with them — of a “cavern” or a “mine” no miners work inside them.

Estimates from a few years ago put the capacity of Cavern 2-4-5, which is between 2,400 feet to a little over 3,000 feet deep, at more than 26 million barrels. It’s been inactive from mining for a few years.

With surrounding rock and earth pressing down on such

PROUD

Continued from page 1A

His social media presence led to an invitation to audition for “Great American Recipe,” and Bailey said it didn’t take him long to realize that he would be the first to represent Louisiana on the PBS show

“When they first asked me to be on the show, I went back and watched it, and enjoyed how, if you’re a thirdgeneration Italian, maybe you didn’t come from Italy but your grandparents did, and you learned those recipes,” Bailey said. “So even as a second- or third-generation American, you’re still representing that cuisine.

“So I’m like wow, I’m gonna be the first guy to represent Louisiana. At the end of the day I wanted to know what the judges thought, but I’d be more worried about what people from Louisiana thought. Of course you want to win and you want the judges to like you, but I wanted Louisiana to be proud of me.” Acadiana and Bailey’s home city of Lafayette rallied around his winning run, with huge crowds of supporters showing up for

ed that Cavern 7’s troubles were “indicators of a potential threat to groundwater in the area.”

Gov Jeff Landry has since renewed the emergency related to Cavern 7 and it remains in place.

large spaces inactive caverns are often capped and left filled with brine. A loss of pressure inside the cavern — meaning potentially a loss of brine risks losing the water that is keeping the cavern from collapsing under the weight of the rock surrounding it.

These kinds of catastrophic failures can cause sinkholes at the surface, as occurred in Bayou Corne in 2012 when a cavern in a different salt dome failed in Assumption Parish Westlake officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but on the company’s website have promised to work with the state on the other cavern where problems emerged in 2021.

The company took ownership of caverns on the dome in 2013, decades after they were first mined in the 1940s and 1950s. They were

watch parties each Friday at The Yard Goat. Bailey had to stay strong to not so much as hint, as friends and family watched him progress through each round, that he was the eventual winner

“A million-dollar nondisclosure is some good motivation,” he said. “All my friends were like, ‘Man you gotta tell me.’ I was like, ‘Y’all are having a blast. Everybody’s coming to the Yard Goat. Y’all can wait.’”

While the outcome may have been a surprise to Bailey’s fans, it was fun for Bailey to see the other side of a production that he spent weeks living.

According to Bailey, the show consisted of 14-hour days of cooking and filming in an intense environment.

As a Cajun, Bailey said he was used to Louisiana’s more leisurely, low-andslow cooking style. The competition forced him to learn new techniques and game plans for preparing traditional recipes that would take hours to make such as using a pressure cooker for a perfect chicken and gravy

“You’re on your feet a lot. You walk to the barn 15 times, you tell the judges ‘hi’ 15 times,” Bailey said. “So you’re tired, then you’ve got

also used by the federal government to store oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from the late 1970s to mid-1990s.

The other troubled cavern, Cavern 7, just to the northwest, began seeing increased land subsidence, small earthquakes, oil seeps and methane gas bubbles in lakes near the cavern and pressure drops starting in 2021.

Regulators at the time said these signs were similar to what preceded the formation of the Bayou Corne sinkhole when the Texas Brine salt cavern failed in 2012.

In October 2023, a month after declaring an emergency then-Gov John Bel Edwards ordered Westlake to build a protective earthen berm to contain any sinkhole that could form from Cavern 7’s failure. State and company ex-

an hour to cook and everything you need to get done in that time frame. And you can’t miss anything, so you really have to be mentally focused. It’s a lot tougher than people think.

“Being a firefighter really helped. You’ve got to make a decision quick, and you go with it. Sometimes things change on the fly, and you have to process all that.”

Bailey will retire from his 27-year career at the Lafayette Fire Department in January — but he has no plans to slow down. Captain Coby Seasoning orders have increased exponentially since the show aired, and he’ll be in Colorado next month cooking at a Fallen Firefighters memorial. On Oct. 31, Bailey will be at the C’est Bon Seasoning Fest in Carencro. And he’s working on other opportunities behind the scenes, saying, “I would love to get back on TV.”

“If the good Lord is winning, he’ll make it happen,” he said. “I’m going to focus all my efforts on my seasoning and cooking channel, put my faith in him and then see where it takes us.”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

perts projected that, if Cavern 7 were to fail, it would eventually create a sinkhole more than a third of a mile

in diameter at the surface and would intercept an existing lake at the dome At the time, state officials add-

Contractors working for Westlake are close to finishing the earthen berm, which will surround the lake, known as Salt Lake, and the projected sinkhole should it ever form, according to state reports. Courreges said Westlake officials have continued to pump brine into Cavern 7 to try to keep its pressure up. Cavern 7 is also connected to next-door Westlake Cavern 6 but pressure drops in Cavern 6 haven’t been quite as severe as in Cavern 7. The two caverns are each about two-fifths of the volume of Cavern 2-4-5, according to DENR figures. David J. Mitchell can be reached at dmitchell@ theadvocate.com.

California redistricting hearing turns heated

BY TRÂN NGUYEN and JIM VERTUNO Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California legislative hearing turned into a shouting match

Tuesday as a Republican lawmaker clashed with Democrats over a partisan plan to rewrite U.S. House maps to win Democrats more seats.

A committee voted along party lines to advance a new congressional map in response to a Republican redistricting effort in Texas that President Donald Trump wants. California Democrats do not need any Republican votes to move ahead.

Assemblymember David Tangipa, one of two Republicans on the committee that was considering the proposal Tuesday, spent 30 minutes asking questions of his colleagues before being told to make time for other members, prompting some boos from audience members. When the committee began voting, he shouted for more time.

At times during the hearing, lawmakers interrupted one another until the chair, a Democrat, called for order

“This is not the way we conduct our hearing,” Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who chairs the committee, said as she called for order several times after hours of discussion.

Tangipa argued that California should spend its resources on other issues such as health care. Lawmakers are expected to schedule a Nov 4 special election to put the new maps before voters, and they haven’t revealed a cost estimate for the unexpected election. California Republicans estimated a special election could cost more than $230 million.

“I’m asking how much this costs because the state is in

a massive deficit and it’s so personal to me,” Tangipa said after the vote. He said his stepsister died a few weeks ago after a Medicaid provider refused to sign off on services she needed Tuesday’s hearings were the first chance for California residents to tell lawmakers how they feel about the new congressional boundaries. A hearing in the Senate was far calmer and the proposal passed easily California Democrats said they are pushing back against Trump and his desire to reshape U.S. House maps to his advantage in an expanding fight over control of Congress ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The California Legislature is expected to approve a proposed congressional map and declare a Nov 4 special election by Thursday to get required voter approval.

In Texas, state Rep. Nicole Collier stayed at the Capitol overnight and into Tuesday to protest a Republican requirement that she and some of her Democratic colleagues have around-theclock law enforcement surveillance after they ended a two-week walkout that delayed a vote on the Trumpbacked map.

On Tuesday, eight other Texas Democrats said they’ll join Collier in spending the night on the House floor State Department of Public Safety officers are shadowing the lawmakers to ensure they return to the Capitol and do not leave Texas again. To leave the House floor Monday, the Democrats had to sign what they called “permission slips” agreeing to the surveillance. Texas’ Republican-controlled House scheduled a vote for Wednesday on the new map. Dozens of residents from

stitution. They assert that lawmakers can’t vote this week because the constitution requires new legislation to have a 30-day wait for public review Democrats hold 43 out of California’s 52 U.S. House seats and want to win five more. The proposal would try to expand that advantage by targeting battleground districts in Northern California, San Diego and Orange counties, and the Central Valley Some Democratic incumbents also get more left-leaning voters in their districts.

evening drive back to her apartment in Austin after spending much of the day on a couch in her office. She said he went with her for a staff lunch and even down the hallway with her for restroom breaks.

“This is a waste of

up and down the state, leaders of local Republican groups and the conservative California Family Council showed up to a hearing Tuesday to voice opposition to Democrats’ plan.

Some said the process has been shrouded in secrecy because the map was drawn without meaningful public input. Others said they would rather lawmakers focus on addressing issues instead of trying to bypass a bipartisan redistricting process.

“There’s different needs and different requirements for everybody,” Jim Shoemaker, a Republican running for Congress in a district south of Sacramento, said in an interview “But if you have somebody that just has a little portion of an area, they’re not going to represent the people the way they should because they’re looking at the wrong thing.”

Labor union members and several key Democratic political allies said the partisan plan is needed to protect democracy and to fight back the president’s aggressive agenda.

Public remarks may have little sway though as Democratic leaders are determined to rapidly advance

the proposal. Some Republican lawmakers filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court arguing Democrats are violating the state con-

In Texas, Republican legislative leaders assigned state troopers to watch their Democratic colleagues and ensure they don’t flee the state again, as they did recently to block a vote on new maps. Suburban Dallas Rep. Mihaela Plesa said one followed her on her Monday

Broussard to add pickleball courts

Council OKs funding for park expansion

Staff report

Broussard is preparing to expand its recreational offerings at the Broussard Sports Complex at St. Julien Park. The City Coun-

Grand Coteau fire chief terminated

BY STEPHEN MARCANTEL Staff writer

The mayor of Grand Coteau fired the city’s fire chief, Riley “Skippy” Grishman, after the two had disagreements over public safety, the former chief wrote in a letter posted to Facebook.

Grisham served the department for eight years, serving as chief for the past five, stating that he was “heartbroken” to announce that Mayor Patrick Richard fired him recently He added that he improved his department over the years, even using his own money to fund the agency

“Sadly, my dedication and leadership of this department was not enough to suffice Mayor Richard. He wanted me to disregard public safety and fire firefighters, and I stood up to him,” Grisham wrote. “Every decision I made as Fire Chief for the safety of the citizens of Grand Coteau in mind and the betterment of our department. Unfortunately, that did not fit into Mayor Patrick Richards [sic] narrative.”

A Grand Coteau town hall worker declined to connect a reporter to the mayor’s voicemail and said he was not in the office. Grisham said his termination was effective immediately.

Off the Hook to open in Lafayette

Will take space of former Viva La Waffle

BY ADAM DAIGLE Acadiana business editor

A fast-growing seafood restaurant chain based in south Louisiana will move into the former Viva La Waffle space later this year Off The Hook, which has eight locations but none in southwest Louisiana, obtained a certificate of occupancy recently for the Viva La Waffle space at 101 Liberty Ave., records show. The restaurant could open by

ä See HOOK, page 4B

cil on Tuesday unanimously approved $8.95 million in funding for a new tennis and pickleball facility, a veterans memorial and additional parking.

Mayor Ray Bourque said the

project will improve the quality of life for Broussard residents, which, he said, is a top priority “I’m pleased that the City Council voted to approve the funding

for this important project as another significant investment in our community,” Bourque said.

Jamey Abshire, Broussard Parks and Recreation director, said the project is an exciting step forward for the city

“We are proud to provide more for people to use and enjoy as we continue to expand the park,” Abshire said.

The project will include enhancements to the existing tennis courts, adding 24 pickleball courts, a concession stand and a pro shop. Sixteen of the new courts will be covered and equipped with fans and lighting.

TOP: Spectators cheer the riders during the Miles Perret Triathlon at Bourgeois Hall on Saturday in Lafayette. Athletes competed in a 200-yard swim, 8-mile bike ride and a 2.3-mile run.

ABOVE: Athlete Elizabeth Brown, right, exits the pool during the triathlon.

RIGHT: Teurlings Catholic cheerleaders cheer on the runners.

BIKE SWIM RUN

Don’t make levee inspections anothersource of storm stress

It is troubling that budget cuts could forcethe curtailing of U.S. Army Corps of Engineerslevee inspections, especially in New Orleans. Last week, the Corps announced thatreduced funding meant it would notbeable to conduct its regular, driving inspectionsofthe morethan 300 miles of levees in the New Orleansareathis yearornext. This week, however,the Corps said that ithad secured additional funding, and that the inspections would happen this year. The plans for 2026, however,remain uncertain. The Corps’ best practices urgethese to be done at least everytwo years, but they have been doing them yearly. Morerigorous inspections, which are conducted on foot, areusually done every five years and are plannedfor 2028. Special inspections will be conducted when required, officials have said The New Orleans area isn’t theonlyplace affected, either.Inspections of the morethan 3,100 miles of levee that protect Louisiana —the statewiththe most leveed area in thenation could also be reduced duetocuts.

The Corps has seen fundingfor theinspections go from an average of around$1million peryearto $764,000 in 2024 and $691,000this year.Inspections used to be donebymultiple engineers who would produce acomprehensive report. Last year,however,theyweredone by “two people, three at most,withbasically a twopage report, and you’re done,” aCorps spokesperson told this newspaper’sAlex Lubben.

No one in Louisiana needs to be reminded of the catastrophic effects that aleveefailurecan bring. Corps vigilance on levee conditionhas been ahallmark of post-Katrinareforms. Any such curtailing of inspectionsonly compounds theseasonalworry that many of usfeel.

That vigilance grew out of thelessonslearned from the devastating breaches duringHurricane Katrina. Before thatstorm,levee inspectionsinNew Orleans were less rigorous. In one case, inspectorstook only aboutfive hoursto examine 100 miles of levees, for instance Afterward, the Corps vowed to do better. It said it would inspect levees closely andalso rate local levee boards and officials on theirattentiveness to flood protection.

We certainly understandnot just theimpulse, but the need to reduce the size of the federal government. We areglad, at least in the New Orleans area,that the twoauthoritiestasked with overseeing flood protection have vowedto keep inspections frequent and rigorous.

But we worry that political turmoil, as we have seen on the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East this year,isbeginning to divertfocus fromthe effectivemaintenance of asystem that has failed before and is an existential need.

We are certain that no one, includingCorps leadership and Louisiana’selected officials, wants to see arepeat of what happened when the levees were not up to thetask.

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’scity of residence

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone 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, SCANHERE

Countryhas gone offthe rails, butit’snot to late to fix it

Food drops were planned for those starving in Gaza by Jordan and the UAE, while the UK, France, Germany and Italy held emergency calls.

The United States? President Donald Trump will burn 500 tons of food meant to feed millions of children. Foryears, USAID has purchased millionsoftons of food from American farmers, sending American-grown food to save vulnerable children around the World. Burning the food will cost taxpayers an estimated $130,000.

In an interview withaspecial forces guy who helped save an Afghantranslatorand helped get him out, he said he has been splitting his retirement with the translator.Trump plans to “reward” the Afghanfor his service to the U.S. Army by deporting him to the Taliban to face torture and execution.

According to U.S. News &World Report, immigration agents told ateenage U.S. citizen, “You’ve got no rights,” as he secretly recorded his brutal arrest.

Trump’smegabill is projected to add $3.4 trilliontothe debt while increasing

by 10 million the number of peoplewithout healthinsurance, as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, hurting the poor while benefiting the ultra-rich. No RobinHood here. Nor what would Jesus do.

TheTrump administration plans to burn nearly $10 million in contraceptives for poor nations, decliningoffers from the U.N. to buy or ship supplies. Instead, let themget AIDS or have children they can’tsupport and starve.

Then there’s chaos from tradedebacles and lies thatU.S.consumerswon’tbe paying those tariffincreases.

When even Canada is booing ournational anthem, it’sanother exampleofthe lie thatthe U.S. is respected worldwide.

These are not actions of our Christian nation. Make America great, huh? Quite the opposite. It’s despicableand notwhat America stands for If you believe in the soul of America, let’sregain it.Let’s benefit allofhumanity and America.

TERRYGRUNDMANN Kenner

Coverage of warinGazalacks balance

Imust say,I have grown rather weary of opening to the second page of the front section of your publication and all toofrequently seeing something about how Israel is harming Palestinians. I would say this happens on average five days out aweek. Are youplanning on dubbing this page the “Israel harms Palestinians page?” It certainly seems so.

July 10: Israeli strikes kill 40 in Gaza

July 13: 59 Palestinians and in Gaza killed by airstrikes, shot

July 14: Israeli strikes kill at least 32 in Gaza

July 15: Israeli strikes kill at least 31 in Gaza, officials say July 16: Healthofficials: Israeli strikes kill over 90

July 20: Israeli troops kill 32, Gaza officials say July 21: Officials: 85 seeking aid killed in Gaza

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting should have spun off NPR Radio and thePBS News Hour intoanother company It could get funding from leftleaning foundations, and the apolitical documentaries, Masterpiece Theater, Nature, local programming and the

July 22: Israeli forces push intocentral Gaza City July 23: (demotedtopage 5A) Forces kill over 1,000 aid-seekers, report says What’supwith Hamas these days? Do theystill want to wipeout allJewish people? Are theykillinginnocent Israeli adultsand children alike? Are theyshielding themselveswithinnocent Palestinians so thatthey can remainunharmed, starving them and leavingthem without medical aid?

What about the Israeliand American hostages theyhave heldsinceOctober 2023 who have not yet been released? Perhaps you should keep us moreinformed about what thisterrorist groupis doing these days. Ithink that we can all agree thatthis situation is horrific,but let’skeep abalance, shallwe?

SUSAN C. LEVIN

Metairie

like could persuade Congress to fund them separately.The newsshowshave dragged down theentire enterprise. Has anyone noticed that in the online appeals for funding, local stations never mention NPR?

SALLY REEVES NewOrleans

In rewriting history, Trumpchanges what it meansto be American

The July 24 newspaper reports that six Southern states, led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are forming an accreditation system forcolleges and universities that will set standards forcourses in anti-equity,diversity and inclusion. Also in the news, national parks have been directed by executive order to rewrite any “negative” history (I already witnessed the rewrite last month along the Natchez Trace). Any mention of the Trail of Tears, of slavery, etc., must be rewritten to include “merit.”

The direction our country is now taking has been set. Icannot fathom whywehave becomeso cruel. Maybe it’sasign when we elect leaders whohave been convicted of various crimes, including sex assaults. Maybe it’sasign when we elect leaders whobully and create AI videos of former presidents being arrested. Maybe it’sasign when we elect leaders whowish to rewrite history,turning the pages to appeal to their own selfish needs.

Iagree with both Angele Givens of New Orleans, whowrote the letter,“What would Jesus think of Alligator Alcatraz,” and Cindy Kendall of Youngsville, who wrote, “Treat prisoners as you would wanttobetreated.”

“Jesus loves us all. and led by his love Iwill also love. though my heart is broken.”

Iadd my voice to both Givens and Kendall.

SANDRA EVANS Baton Rouge

Writer didn’t realize what hiswords revealed aboutRepublicans

In Adrian Bruneau’srecent letter to the editor he gave a complete and accurate description of the current Republican Party.However,hestated he was describing “the left.” Perhaps he should ask the editor to print a correction, replacing “the left” with the Republican Party LINDARAFF NewOrleans

Trumpistruly historic

If you had to sum up President Donald Trump’ssecond term so far in one word, you could do worsethan “epic.”

Trump may be on the path to the most consequentialpresidency since Ronald Reagan’s We don’tknowhow it will end —anunforeseen crisis could upend everything— but the emphasis has been on governing ambition from Day One. Even if Trump’ssecondterm ended tomorrow, he would have left a significant mark.

Consider his signature issues of trade and immigration.

For all the talk about how hedoesn’t have core convictions,Trump has favoredtariffs for decades and has instituted atariff regime that —absent discrediting economic turmoil —is likely to endure.

This would have seemed almost unthinkable when Trump descended the elevator in 2015 and arelatively free-trade consensus prevailed in U.S policy

He’sbrought border crossings toa historic low,and the U.S.could experience negative net migration for the first time in 50 years.Again, thisisa big change, and one that it’shardto imagine anyone besides Donald Trump effecting.

He’sdealt ablow to DEIprograms in thefederal government and is making it harderfor collegesand universities to pursue race-consciouspolicies. His election coincided withthe beginning of apullback from DEI in theprivate sector,one that his administration has encouraged.

DEIwas the culminationofa halfcentury campaign by the left forquotas in hiring and admissions and other racialized policies. Trump’scounteroffensive could represent an inflection point.

He’ssigned atax and spending bill that makes permanent the taxcuts from his first term, fundsa large-scale investment in immigration enforcement and includesameaningful reform of Medicaid.

He bombed the Iranian nuclear program, at the very least setting itback for years. He cajoled commitmentsfor greater defense spending out of NATO coun-

tries.

Almost any oneofthese itemswould be anotable first-six-months accomplishment,but he’sdone them all, with lots of other activity besides. Hisenvironmental and energy officials are rolling back the left’sclimate agenda. Trumpdefunded public broadcasting andkneecapped theDepartment of Education (for now). The administration hastaken important steps to protect femalesports and to keep minorsfrom being subjected to “gender-affirming care.” He’spushed universities into adoptingreforms and probably upended forever theassumption that billions of federal dollars would flow to top universities as amatter of course.

His election was both asymbol of, andcatalyst for,the woke tide’sreceding.

Trumphas what is, in recent memory an unprecedented grip on his party andhas remade it in his image over the lastdecade. If aTrump-endorsed GOP nomineewins thegeneral election, he wouldbethe George H.W.Bush to Trump’sReagan. In sum, the rise of Trumpin2016 represented abreak withwhat had beenthe post-Cold Warconsensus, althoughitwas incompletely realized

and seemingly apolitical fizzle when voters ousted him in theCOVID election of 2020. Biden was apartial return to amore conventional politics. Now with his second term, Trumpismore fully effecting atransition to anew era, which, alone, makes him ahighly consequential figure.

The usual caveats apply: Again, a catastrophe could scramble all of this, and to say Trumpisimportantisnot to endorse everything he’sdoing, whether big (e.g., thetariffs) or small (e.g., firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner) Since he’sdone so much unilaterally, it’ssubject torelatively easy reversal if aDemocrat is elected in 2028. But there’slittle doubt we are witnessing somethinghistoric.

Steve Haywardcalled his volumes on theRepublican giant of the 1980s “The AgeofReagan” (and Arthur Schlesinger wrote both “The AgeofJackson” and “The AgeofRoosevelt”). The equivalent of HaywardorSchlesinger decades from now will probably be justified in continuing the trope. All indications are that we are living in the AgeofTrump.

Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry

Puttingredistricting in perspective

In assessing the currentcontroversy over Texas Republicans’ proposed redistricting of the state’sU.S. House seats, two historic facts should be considered. One is that the principleofequal representation by populationiswell establishedinAmerican history.In1787, the Constitutional Convention required themembers of the House of Representatives to be apportioned according to population as determined by acensus to be conducted within three years and every 10 years thereafter This was aremarkableprovision —the first example, so far as Iknow,inwhich representation was directly linked to population, and in which it was to be adjusted by what was the first regularlyscheduled national census.

law,which automatically reapportioned Houseseats among thestates by applying an arithmetic formula to thecensus results.

The Democratic Party is having an identity crisis; that muchisobvious. The question now is whether the party will draw the wrong lessons from Trumpism and try to defeat the right by replicating its populism.

Americans have already seen some of the horrors wrought by right-wing populism. Among them: Agrowing police state. Bizarre, brain-pickling conspiracy theories about depraved elites and outsiders. (They are purportedly destroying your jobs, corrupting your kids and controlling the weather.) And of course, acultlike devotion to acharismatic leader who represents the true will of The People and promises to solve their problems by punishing their enemies.

After all, that is the unifying theme of populism: Promise voters they would have abetter life and nicer things if not for [insert scapegoats here].

Identifying acabal to blame can help win elections, but it is not agreat strategy for governing.

President Donald Trump and his supporters are learning this the hard way.Turns out, traumatizing scientists, rounding up brown immigrants and tariffing foreign tomatoes do not, in fact, lead to lower prices, better jobs or more available health care. Without any deliverables, Trump’sapproval ratings on virtually every issue are now underwater That’strue even for his onetimestrengths, such as inflation and immigration.

Somehow his failures have not redounded to the opposition party’sbenefit. If Trump’sapproval ratings are in the toilet, Democrats’ remain in the sewer.Insomerecent polling, views of the Democratic Party have reached record lows.

Faced with widespread dissatisfaction within its ownranks, the party faces afork in the road. It can continue the more pragmatist, technocrat-driven approach characteristic of Obama-era Democrats —which former President Barack Obamahimself recently advocated. Or they can hop on the populist, “Fighting Oligarchy” bus tour (or,well, private jet tour).

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who promises free buses and government-run grocery stores, is the latest avatar of the more maximalist, interventionist populist movement. But its spiritual leaders have long been Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.And it has found some new converts, such as Sen. Chris Murphy,D-Conn. In many ways, the populist left and populist right are not alike. Among other things, their tolerance for human rights abuses seems, uhh, quite different. They also have different scapegoats. For the left, everything is rigged by billionaires, greedy corporations and often those Obama-era Democratic centrists —oravague notion of aDemocratic “establishment” too beholden to the donor class.

The Framers were thinking demographically.They were certainlyaware of the 1780s controversy in Britain over “rotten boroughs,” in whichawealthy Indian merchant could electtwo members of theHouse of Commons by buying four pieces of property in Old Sarum.

The second thing to remember is that the Founders were awareofpartisan redistricting. Another signerofthe Declaration and member of the Constitutional Convention was Elbridge Gerry,who, as governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed astate senate redistricting bill that combined agrotesquely shaped group of towns in Essex County into one district, drawn by cartoonist Elkanah Tisdale with the wings and clawsof asalamander.This was the original gerrymander (pronounced by purists like Gerry’ssurname, with ahard“g”), which clustered Gerry’sFederalist opponents in asingle district. Congress in 1842 required equal-population districts withinastate, but that provision was overturned in the 1929

The Supreme Court ended this in 1964,requiring one-person-one-vote congressionaland state legislative districts. As aclose student of every redistrictingcycle sincethe 1960 Census, Ihave observed how theequal population standard severely limits the political gains for even the most partisanredistricters. Thisisa useful background for appraising theuproar over TexasRepublican Gov.GregAbbott’splans to redraw the state’s districtlines this summer, which is much louder than when New York Democratstriedsomething similar last year.The Texan Republicans’ statedpurposeistoincrease their majority of their state’sHousedelegation from25-13to 30-8,asignificant gain considering that Republicans control the current House (with vacancies filled) by just 220-215. But there was astench of hypocrisy in the air when Texas Democratic legislators fledtoIllinois, where Democrat JB Pritzker,in2021, signedaredistricting plan thatgave his partya14-3 edge. Similarprotests andpromisesofretaliation came from DemocratsKathy Hochul of New York, whosedelegation is 19-7 Democratic(and would be more so if astate court had not rejected an even morepartisan plan),and Gavin NewsomofCalifornia,whose districts (drawn by asupposedly nonpartisan but obviouslyliberal-leaning independent commission)are currently 43-9 Democratic Varioushigh-minded folks have been callingfor redistricting reform. But it’s hard to take politics out of politics Critics complain about grotesquely shaped districts, but over the years, most of those have resulted from in-

terpretations of the Voting Rights Act requiring maximizing thenumber of Black- or,lessoften, Hispanic-majority districts. Those interpretations resulted from fears, justifiedwhen theact was first passed in 1965, that Whites would vote near-unanimously against Blacks, though as long ago as 1972, aWhitemajority Atlantadistrict elected civil rights leader AndrewYoung. Today,with nearly half the Black membersofCongresselected in nonBlack-majoritydistricts and in anation thathas elected and reelected aBlack president,and withgrowing numbers of Blacks voting Republican, that jurisprudence is on the brink of obsolescence The Supreme Court has announced it will rehear argumentsina Voting Rights Actcasenext fall. So what should be done about gerrymandering? Nothing beyond strictly enforcing the equal population rule, which limits but cannot eliminatepartisandistrict-drawing. As for grotesque shapes, if theSupreme Court takes JusticePotterStewart’sview of obscenity (“I know it when Isee it”), thatwould unleash atide of partisan litigation that the court wishes to avoid. There’s acase where gerrymandering doesn’t make muchdifference. The 10 largest states elect amajorityofHouse membersand are currently the only venues where partisanredistricting can switchmorethanone or twoseats. One hundredand tenRepublicans and 125 Democratscurrently represent them. The Texas change would switch thatto115-120. That would be 49% of those states’seats,the same as the 49% of their popular votes won by Donald Trump there in 2024.

Maybe the Framersgot it right when theyopted for theequal population principle as the key to fair representation. Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

But the rhetoric from the populist left and right has some similarities: Youwould have nice things if not for the corrupt elites keeping them from you. Youcould have better access to medical care, education and transportation if not for those stingy oligarchs. You’d have better jobs and lower prices if it weren’tfor those greedy corporations. Your kids would be less anxious and more well-adjusted if not for the toxic manosphere. And we’d all be richer and happier if it weren’t for Big Tech. OK, here both sides of the political horseshoe might agree.

This commontendency to respond to complicated social problems with scapegoats, slogans and simple solutions explains why apopulist everyman such as Joe Rogan can seamlessly transition from Feeling the Bern to jumping on the Trump Train.

The GOP’srecent tax-and-spending law is ahuge transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Elon Musk did have way too muchpower over government decisions (at least until he didn’t). Likewise, some American workers did lose jobs due to foreign trade. And huge numbers of immigrants did cross the border in recent years, stressing some cities’ infrastructure.

But chalking up complicated problems to some evil, easy-to-sloganeer mono-cause limits the ability to solve those problems.

For example: Rich people and corporations can definitely afford to pay higher taxes, as Ihave argued many times. But the reason we don’thave Medicare-for-all is that Americans don’thave the stomach for the middle-class taxes such ahuge expansion of the safety net would require.

Even if you seized the entire wealth of every billionaire in the country —i.e., impose a100% wealth tax —that would pay for Medicare-for-all for just over ayear.Forget free college or other Scandinavian-style welfare-state expansions that the fabled billionaire money tree is also earmarked for.But anyone who points out math problems like this, or suggests some less ambitious alternative, is tarred and feathered as acorporate shill or handmaiden to the oligarchs.

Trade-offs and constraints matter.And countering big, undeliverable promises with different big, undeliverable promises is likely to lead to even more voter disillusionment —and anever-ending search for the next scapegoat.

Catherine Rampell is on X, @crampell.

Manaccused of shooting at officers

A37-year-old Lake Charles man was arrested in connection with allegedly threatening people then shootingat officers who arrived at the scene. When Lake Charlespolice officers responded to a weapons complaint about 5:40 p.m. Monday at aresidence in the 1900 block of Nin th Street, they were told Justin Jamar

Advocate staff reports

Duncan was threatening people at and around the location, according to anews release from the department.

As officers arrived on the scene, Duncan was on the front porch of the home and began to threatenthe officers verbally.

Duncan went into the home and fired hisgun out awindow at the officers around the perimeter of the residence. Duncan attempted to flee the residence a short time later through the back door and was apprehended by officers

The gun used by Duncan was later found in the home. Duncan faces counts of attemptedfirst-degree murder of apolice officer,possession of afirearm bya convicted felon, illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities and aggravated criminal damage to property

Duncan was booked into the Calcasieu Parish jail, and his bail has been set at $900,000.

Man shot; car found with $12K missing Aman is recoveringafter he wasshot twice,his car was stolenand more than $10,000 is missing,according to the Ville Platte Police Department.

The incident occurred on East Pine Street near South Chataignier Street in the earlymorning hours Sunday,Police Chief A. Perry Thomas said in asocial media statement.

He said officers founda man in his mid-20s with gunshotwounds to his left shin and foot. He said the victim wasinitiallytreated at Mercy Regional Hospital before being airlifted to Ochsner Lafayette General Medical

HOOK

Continued from page1B

mid-November,said Paxton Moreaux, founder and CEO.

“I think we just saw an opportunity to go in amarket that they like this kind of food we’re serving already,” he said. “I know we better get it right because they knowitprettywell.But it’s agrowing market, and the Kaliste Saloom and Ambassador corner and area is a hot spot.”

The building will undergo some upgrades before it opens. It’sthe latestfor that location, which housed Viva La Waffle for four years after it was aDix Daquiris for the prior 11 years. Off the Hook, which started in Thibodaux in 2012, specializes in fried shrimp, fried catfish, red beans, hamburgers and po-boys. It recently opened alocationin

Center for surgery.The victimislisted as stable.

The victim’s black Malibu was stolen after the shooting, anddeputieswiththe Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office laterfound it abandoned in Rayne with asmashed driver’s window and damagetothe frontpassenger side, according to Thomas. The chiefstatedabout $12,000 in cashwas reportedly taken from thecar and remains missing Ville Platte detectives said they believe the victim wastargeted andare consideringmultiplesuspects

Thomas urges anyone with information tocontact the VillePlattePolice Department at(337) 363-1316. Calls will bekeptanonymous. Police charge 2in connection with crime

The Lake Charles Police Department has arrested two teens in connectionwith their alleged involvement in aJuly 27 shootingonAnita Drivenear Gerstner Memorial Drive, where three people were shot at and one washit by the gunfire, sustaining injuries that were not life-threatening. Lake Charlespolicearrested 18-year-old John Orphey IV on Aug. 18 at an apartment complex in the 3200 block of Second Avenue andserved awarrant on 19-year-oldJakeelanJamarcus Freeman, who was alreadyinthe Calcasieu CorrectionalCenter on unrelatedcounts, according to anewsrelease from the department.

Police responded to the shooting at 8:15 p.m. July 27 in the2400 block of Anita Drive. Theyfound three individualswho hadbeen shot at, with oneofthem injured. Ahome in theareawas also struck by gunfire.

The two men are each beingcharged with three counts of assault by driveby shooting, aggravated second-degree battery,illegal useofweapons or dangerousinstrumentalities and aggravated criminal damagetoproperty. They each have abail of $575,000.00.

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with informationisasked to call Lake Charles police at (337) 4911311 or leaveananonymous tip on theLake CharlesPolice Department app

Walker but is actively lookingtoexpand its footprint, Moreaux said. The company is also lookingatmarkets in Alexandria,the northshore and south Mississippi.

“We’re shooting to open four or five ayear,” Moreaux said. “But we’ve never been ones to rush it.We want to open four ayear,but if it’s two really good ones, then that’swhatit’ll be.” The Lafayette location will employ 35-40, hesaid

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Corpsfinds funds forlevee inspections

Federalagency:

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that it hadsecured funding for an annualinspection of the crucial levee and pump system that protects the New Orleans region from storm surge flooding, days after federal cuts hadthreatened to curtailsuchchecks.

The Corps said last week that it did not have funding to conductthe inspection becauseoffederal budget cuts handed down by President Donald Trump’sadministration, which hassought to slash the size of the federal government.Ricky Boyett, aspokesperson for the Corps, said theNew Orleans District managed to secure funding for the inspection from the St. LouisDistrict, whichhad funds it would not be able to spendthis year

“We’re not getting inspectionsbecausesomeone else isn’t,” Boyett said, emphasizing that the St. Louis District would notsacrificeits own operations this year so NewOrleans could inspect its levees

TheCorps said it expected the inspections to be complete by theend of September.Itdid not sayhow much funding had been allocated for the inspections

The New Orleans area’s flood protection authorities, thetwin local agencies that oversee the levees on the east bank andwestbank, saidthey were regularly inspectingthe levees, even if

theCorpswas not. At aLouisiana Senate transportation hearing Tuesday,where lawmakers grilled SoutheastLouisiana Flood Protection AuthorityEast staff about their flood preparedness, interim Regional Director Jeff Williams stressed that his agency was performing daily inspectionsofthe city’s flood protection infrastructure, going “above and beyond” theCorpsrequirements.

TheCorps’drive-along annualinspectionsare akey componentofsafety protocols putinplace after HurricaneKatrina’s devastating leveefailures, whichflooded around 80% of thecity

The $14.5 billion dollar system of levees, pumpsand floodwalls that the Corps builtafter Katrina is now managed on aday-to-day basis by thelocal flood protection agencies. But when major work on the system is required, the Corps generally oversees it,asthe Corpsdid whenthe pumps at the end of New Orleans’ three outfall canals needed repairs due to corrosion Those repairs were completed just in time for the start of hurricaneseason this year

TheCorps considers it best practice to do adrivealong inspection of the entire levee system at least every two years, though it hadbeenconducting these inspectionsannually.Itsaid last week that it would not have funding to do so either this year or next.The levee system was rated “high risk”during a2022 inspection becauseits failure would likely resultinloss of life.

While this year’sinspec-

tion is back on track, whether it happens next year remains uncertain.

Every five years, theagency conducts morethorough walking inspections of the entire levee system. The agency can also order “special inspections” —spotchecks of specific components of the flood protection system that can be called as necessary

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter,DNew Orleans, sent aletter to the Trumpadministration last week, calling for it to fund the inspections.

“I respectfully request that theAdministration restore the necessary funding so that the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers can maintain its regular levee inspection schedule in Louisiana,” the letter states. At Tuesday’sstate Senatehearing,lawmakersexpressed concern about the funding cuts. Rep. Stephanie Hilferty,R-Metairie, asked local flood protection officials to develop aplan to fund additionalinspections in 2026 if federal funding

sion at theLafayette Consolidated Govern‐ment Building,located at 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette, Louisiana, until 10:00 AM CentralTimeonthe 11th dayof September, 2025 forthe following: SouthRegionalLibrary Reroofing Project andwill, shortlythere‐after, be opened and read aloudinthe Council Briefing Room locatedat 705 West University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA. Bids received afterthe above specified time foropen‐ingshall notbeconsid‐ered andshall

unopened

areen‐couraged

lowing

openingwill

viaZoom.At‐tendance is notmanda‐tory.The invite link is https://us02web.zoom us/j/89638863889? pwd=KPmqnbSApWn oYaE982NsT7ob1u1s38. 1The passcode is 917624. Themeetingwillbeat thetimeofthe bidopen‐ing, September11, 2025 at 10:00 AM CentralTime. ScopeofServices: The scopeofthe projectcon‐sistsofapproximately 35,000 square feet of reroofing

does not materialize.

But even with funding for the NewOrleans inspectionrestored, Louisianais receiving substantially less money this year forlevee inspectionsstatewide.In recentyears, the state has generally received about $1 million per year to inspect its federal flood protection structures. In 2024, it was allocated only $764,000. This year,Louisiana received just $691,000, even though the state has the largest leveed area of any U.S. state. Corps workers also said levee inspections have becomeless rigorous in recentyears. The annual inspections used to look more like those that are now conductedevery five years. They involved multiple engineers andalengthyreport, according to Jennifer Stephens, the Corps’ levee safety program manager Now, theinspectionsinvolve “two people,three at most, with basically a two-page report, and you’re done,” Stephens said.

No contractor maywith‐draw itsbid priortothe deadline forsubmission of bids.Withdrawalof bids thereafter shallbe allowedonlypursuantto LA R.S. 38§2214.C. Other‐wise,nobiddermay withdraw hisbid forat leastforty-five (45) days afterthe time scheduled forthe bidopening of bids.Eachbid shallbe submittedonlyonthe bidformprovidedwithin thespecifications. The successfulbidderwillbe required to executeper‐formance andlabor and material paymentbonds in thefullamount of the contract as more fully definedinthe biddocu‐ments. No contractors maywithdrawhis bidfor at leastforty-five (45) days afterthe time scheduledfor theopen‐ingofbids. Each bidshall be submittedonlyonthe bidformprovidedwith thespecifications. The successful contractor will be required to exe‐cute performanceand laborand material pay‐ment bondsinthe full amount of thecontract as more fullydefinedin thebid documents. Bids will be evaluatedby thePurchaser basedon thelowestresponsible andresponsivebid sub‐mitted whichisalsoin compliance with thebid documents. The Lafayette Consolidated Government reserves the righttorejectany andall bids forjustcause in ac‐cordance with LA R.S.

LouisianaState Licensing Boardfor Contractors, BatonRouge,Louisiana TheLafayette Consoli‐datedGovernment strongly encourages the participationofDBEs (Disadvantaged Business Enterprises) in allcon‐tracts or procurements letbythe Lafayette Con‐solidatedGovernment forgoodsand services andlabor andmaterial. To that end, allcontrac‐tors andsuppliers are encouraged to utilize DBEs business enter‐prises in thepurchaseor sub-contractingofmate‐rials, supplies, services andlabor andmaterialin whichdisadvantaged businesses areavailable Assistance in identifying said businessesmay be obtained by calling2918410. PURCHASING DIVISION Lafayette Consolidated Government PUBLISHDATES: 8/13/25, 8/17/25, 8/24/25 DPR# 998987 153529-aug13-17-24-3t $241.50

Proposers areinvited to attend anon-mandatory pre-proposermeetingon Tuesday,September 2, 2025 at 10:00 AM CT,in the largeconference room,PublicWorks De‐partment, Administration BuildingA,located at 1515 East University Av‐enue,Lafayette,LA 70502. Copies of theRFP specifi‐cations areavailable at the Purchasing Office lo‐cated at 705 West Univer‐sityAvenue,Lafayette LA70506. Telephone number(337) 2918034(Attn:KeirstonSt. Amant). RFPspecifica‐tions shallbeavailable until twenty-four (24) hours before thepro‐posal openingdate. No Vendor maywithdraw his proposal foratleast forty-five (45) days after the time scheduledfor the openingofproposals Eachproposalshall fol‐low theinstructions listedinthe RFPregard‐ing submittaloftheir proposal. Proposalswillbeevalu‐atedbythe Purchaser based on theevaluation criteriaoutlinedinthe Request forProposals The Lafayette Consoli‐dated Government re‐servesthe righttoreject any andall proposalsor any portions thereof, to waive informalitiesand toselectthe material thatbestsuits itsneeds. TheLafayette Consoli‐dated Government stronglyencouragesthe participation of DBEs (DisadvantagedBusiness Enterprise) in

SPORTS

UL grad assistantMintonplaying importantrole in developing QBs

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

Everycollege football program has coaches on staffwho arevirtual unknowns.

They’repaying their dues as young coaches and typically love the grunt work that goes intocoaching aposition group.

That doesn’tmean they aren’timportant. Take UL graduateassistant coach Cade Minton, for instance.

Seven years aftergraduating from

Central Catholic in MorganCity,where he playedfor his coach and father Tommy,Mintonnow is playing akey role for theRagin’ Cajuns.

“Oh, Ijust love it,” he said. “It’sso much fun. Ijust feel so fortunateto have this opportunity.”

Minton’sduties are abit more significant thanmost in his position. He helps head coach Michael Desormeaux prepare the quarterbacks. Desormeaux’s duties often are stretchedpretty thin, whichoften means more falls on Minton

“It’s very unique,but Ilovethe opportunity,” he said. Last season, twoseasoned quarterbacks in Ben Wooldridge andChandler Fields ruledthe QB room.This year, no quarterback hasthrown acollegiate touchdown pass, which means more teaching and attention to detail.

“It is completely different this year,” Minton said. “What’smade it easy is these guys are so eager to learn and they crave so much feedback and they

‘Not

hiding anything’

runs

quarterback Spencer

end zone for atwo-point conversion totie the game against theJacksonville Jaguars on Sundayatthe CaesarsSuperdomeinNew

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Anyone interested in theSaintswantsto know who will win the team’s quarterback battle —even those in coachKellen Moore’s ownhome.

“Mykids included,” Moore said with alaugh. “It’s afun conversation. They’ve got adviceabout everything.”

Despitethe curiosity

Moore saidthe Saints have yettodecide on astarter —evenasthe final fewquarterback battles around the league haveconcluded. On Tuesday,the IndianapolisColts named Daniel Jones their starter over Anthony Richardson. Aday earlier,the Cleveland Browns announced veteran Joe

Flacco beat outShedeurSanders, Kenny Pickett and Dillon Gabriel to win their job

That leaves New Orleanswith the last remainingquarterback battle, but the Saints areinnorushtojudgment, Moore said

He also said Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough again rotated repswith thestarters in practiceTuesday. Andthe Saints will use this week leadingtoSaturday’s preseason finale against the Denver Broncos as another

measuring stick.

“It’sclose,” Moore said. “Welook at every aspect of this quarterback situation. It’sreally,really close. Numbers, experience reps, everything. It’sgoingall theway back to the startoftrainingcamp. Everything is very, very close between this group.”

Moore said the Saints haven’tdecided on playing time yet for the quarterbacksagainst theBroncos, but he indicated the quarterbacks have some “excellent work coming their way”—including thegame.

The preseason stats reflect just howclose the competition hasbeen.

In two games, Rattler hasthrown for 252 yards, onetouchdown and an interception on 25-of-34 passing. The rookieShough hascom-

Tigers arranging newdepth on defense

BY WILSONALEXANDER Staff writer

Whenever Brian Kelly talks aboutthe LSU defense this year,he touts its improved depth. He can see it in the defensive line rotationsand positionbattles in the secondary.LSU hasoptionsthatit didn’thave before, creating competition in spotswhere the team used to be thin.

“I certainly love the depth that we really haven’thad over the first three years,” Kelly said. With the improvements to the roster, the LSU defense has impressed throughout preseason practice. It hasmadeitdifficult for the offense to move the ball, andwhile that could be indicative of an offensive issue,there is optimismaboutthe defense going into the second season under defensive coordinator BlakeBaker In Baker’sfirst year,the Tigers madeareasonable jump after bringing back most of the players from ahistorically baddefense in 2023. Now,after adding several experienced transfers and developing some youngerplayers, LSU may have adefense that can actually dictategames.

Here is aprojected defensive depth chart with less than two weeks until LSU plays its season opener against Clemson Defensiveend

Starters: Jack Pyburn (Sr.) andGabriel Reliford (Soph.)

Rotation: Patrick Payton(R-Sr.) and Jimari Butler(R-Sr.)

Also: Kolaj Cobbins (R-Fr.)

Pyburn alreadyisknown for being able to set theedge, andhe showed some progress as apass rusher.Hewill start on oneside, andReliford andPaytoncould rotate on theother.Relifordhas gottena lotoftimewiththe first-team defense as he headsinto hissecond year.Paytonwill playa lot, even though he hasn’tflashed yet.

Defensivetackle

Starters: Bernard Gooden (R-Sr.) andDominick McKinley (Soph.)

Rotation: Ahmad Breaux (Soph.) andJacobian Guillory (R-Sr.)

ATLANTA— How to win the FedEx Cup has never been more clear Scottie Scheffler leads a30-man field at the Tour Championship. They play 72 holes at East Lake and whoever has the lowest score gets $10 million in official prize money,anofficial victory and world ranking points. Except for the big boostin prize money,it’snodifferent from how the Tour Championship was before words like “points” and “playoffs” entered the golf vernacular And that’swhy the significance of winning the FedEx Cup has never been more confusing. Scheffler has had the best season. He has twice as many FedEx Cup pointsasRory McIlroy,twice as many majors (2-1) and two more wins. But now the FedEx Cup —de-

scribed by the PGA Tour as a“season-long points competition” —comes down to one tournamentwhere everyone starts on equal

ground. Canitbea season-long competition if the winner Sunday hadn’twon atournamentall year?

“Yeah, you’re definitely the FedEx Cup champion,” said PatrickCantlay,who hasn’t wonatournamentall year.“Ithink at this point, if youplayed awhole year andget into theTour Championship with the 30 best guys whohave playedthe bestall year,and you beat them that week with everything on the line, that’sa huge accomplishment.” It’sabout getting to East Lake. Andthenit’s about one goodweek,justlikeViktorHovland had at the Valspar Championship, like Chris Gotterup hadatthe ScottishOpen.

outside the top20inthe FedEx Cup, happy and deserving to be at East Lake.

Gooden quicklyearned astarting roleafter transferring from South Floridainthe spring. He has a quick first step and playswitha lot of energy, makinghim apreseason standout.LSU haspaired him with McKinley on thestartingdefense, but it’sgoingtorotatethe topfour. Breaux hasbeenproductive,and Guillory said he has fully healed from historn Achilles.

Linebacker

Starters: West Weeks (R-Sr.) and Whit Weeks(Jr.)

Backups: Davhon Keys (Soph.) and TylenSingleton (R-Fr.)

Whit Weeks has been limited at times as LSUmanages his workload comingoff an ankleinjury in theTexasBowl, butthere doesn’t seem to be anyconcern thathewill be readyfor the opener.Next to him, the decision to redshirt West Weeks last year looks like agood

2:40 p.m.

6p.m.

NFLstars areunder pressure

Fields amongthose whohavethe most to provethisseason

BY DENNIS WASZAK JR. AP pro football writer

The pressure is on several bigname NFL players as they enter aseason thatwill go along way toward determining their playing futures.

New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields is getting another chanceasa starter on histhird team in five years, this time looking to help end the league’slongest active playoff drought at 14 seasons.

Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence got ahugepayday before last season —afive-year,$275 million contractextension,including $142 million guaranteed —but struggled with injuries andinconsistency as the Jaguars missed the postseason.

San Franciscorunning back Christian McCaffrey,Dallas wide receiver George Pickensand Atlanta tight end Kyle Pitts are among ahandful of NFLstars with somethingtoprove because of injuries, mediocre play or needing to justify big contracts.

Justin Fields, Jets Fields wasafirst-rounder in 2021 by Chicago, which hoped he was the Bears’ franchise quarterback. He was gone after just three seasons, sent to Pittsburgh wherehewent 4-2 for an injured Russell Wilson before headingto the bench for the veteran.

He now is replacing Aaron Rodgers with the Jets, who signed him to atwo-year,$40 million deal, installed him as their starter and believe his dual-threat playmaking ability is aperfect fit for their new-look offense.

Trevor Lawrence,Jaguars

The No. 1overall pickinthe 2021 draft went to the Pro Bowl as an alternateinhis second season with abreakout year,but he hasn’t been able to match that success. Lawrence played in only 10 games last season because ofa shoulder injury and then aconcussion. He is playing for anew coach in Liam Coen and is still considered apotential franchise quarterback. Two-way rookie sensationTravis Hunter should help, but Lawrence’s health and consistency are

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOByNOAHK.MURRAy

Newyork Jets quarterback Justin Fields looks to pass against the Newyork Giants during apreseason game on Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J.

thekey to theJaguars’ success on offense.

ChristianMcCaffrey,49ers

The2023 AP Offensive Player of the Year has proven himself before, bouncing back from injuries to become adominant playmaker McCaffrey will need to do it again for the 49ers, and this time is coming off aseason marredbyknee and Achilles tendon issues. And, he’s 29, an age when manyrunning backsstart to decline. McCaffrey has looked like himself during the summer and another reboundseason could help the 49ers get back to theplayoffs.

J.J. McCarthy,Vikings

The10thoverall pick in last year’sdraft, J.J. McCarthy very well could’ve been Minnesota’s starter as arookie if not for aknee injury in the preseason opener that sidelined him the rest of the season.Sam Darnold stepped in and had the best year of his career.But the Vikings decided to notre-signDarnold, whosigned athree-year,$100.5million contract with Seattle.Minnesota has turned its offense over to McCarthy,who needs to reward their faith by being acapable leader for aplayoff-ready team.

Geroge Pickens,Cowboys

In May,Dallas acquired the

2022 second-round pick from Pittsburgh to be itsNo. 2receiver and complement CeeDee Lamb as Dak Prescott’sprimary options in thepassing game. Pickenswas aplaymaker for theSteelers, butnot enough with just one season of 60 or more catches and1,000 yards receiving, bothin2023. His frustration over alack of targets,penalties and sideline outbursts also helped makehis stay in Pittsburgh short Kyle Pitts, Falcons PittscametoAtlanta as the highest-selected tight end in NFL draft history at No. 4overall.His mix of speed, size and physicality had the Falcons daydreaming of mismatches all over thefield. Instead, Pitts has failedtobe that consistently dominant force. He has topped 60 catches and 1,000 yards receiving just once, both in his first season. Pitts is in thefinal year of his rookie contract.

Kayvon Thibodeaux,Giants

The pass rusher’sname came up in trade rumors during the offseason, particularly after the Giants draftedPennState edge rusher Abdul Carter withthe third overall pick. New York insisted it wanted to keep Thibodeaux— the Giants pickeduphis fifth-year contract option —tocomplement asolid pass rush rotation. Thibodeaux, a

first-rounder in 2022, is coming off aseason with just 51/2 sacks but insists his goalentering every year is to set thesingle-season record.

CalebWilliams, Bears

The first overall pick last year is entering only his second NFLseason, but all eyes have been on him in Chicagowith new coach Ben Johnson taking over Williamsput up solid numbers as arookie with 3,541yards passing, 20 TDs and only six interceptions. But he took waytoo many sacks— aleague-high 68. Some of the blame wasonthe offensive line, which has been upgraded, but Williams also routinely held theball too long.

BryceYoung,Panthers

The No. 1overall pickin2023 hadthe expected up-and-down struggles of arookie QB but was benched last season in favorof Andy Dalton after just twogames. Young regained the starting role after five games when Dalton went down with an injury and finishedona positive note with seven TD passes and no INTswith three rushing scores in his final three games, including twoovertime wins. He needstobuild on thatto erase anydoubt the Panthers have about theirlong-term plans at quarterback.

ColtsnameJones opening-daystarter

No.4 pick in 2023 draftRichardson will back himup

BY MICHAEL MAROT AP sportswriter

INDIANAPOLIS Daniel Jones chose the Indianapolis Colts because he wanted achance to prove he could still be astarting NFL quarterback.

The gamble paid off Tuesday when coach Shane Steichen announced that Jones would start the Sept. 7season opener against Miami, beating out Anthony Richardson, who just two years ago was dubbed the franchise’s quarterback of the future.

The reason: consistencyand accuracy.“The operation at the line, discernment, checks, theprotection, the ball placement, Ithink all of that played afactor in it,” Steichen said. “I think Daniel did agreat job doing that.” Steichen hinted adecision was coming soon after Saturday’s23-19 loss to Green Bay in the Colts’ only home preseason game.

On Monday,hemet withteam co-owner Carlie Irsay-Gordonand general managerChris Ballard before informing the two quarterbacks and the restofthe team Tuesday before he wentpublic Ballard and Steichen also know this is acritical season fortheir futures with the franchise, which has missed the playoffs four straight seasons, and they’re not about to

Indianapolis Coltsquarterback Daniel

theGreen BayPackers on SaturdayinIndianapolis.

put Jonesona shortleash. ForJones,the decision capsa harrowing nine-month journey in which he lost the starting job with the New York Giants, then sought and was grantedhis release.

TheMinnesota Vikings signed himfive days later, but Jonesnever took asnap for ateam thatlostto theLos Angeles Rams in the wildcard round. Instead of re-signing him, theVikings allowed Jones to test free agency.Hewound up signing aone-year,$14 million contract with Indy because of the opportunity to compete with Richardson,the No. 4overall pickinthe 2023 draft,for the starting job.

“Thatwas obviouslyabig piece of why Icame here —toplay and be on the field, to be withthis group,” Jones said.“AndI think there’salot to be excited about.” Jones has thrown for 14,582

yards with70TDs and 47 interceptions since being theGiants’ selectionatNo. 6overall in 2019. He finished last season with2,070 yards, eight TDs and seveninterceptions in 10 games withthe Giants.

For Richardson, it’sanother setbackinashort career definedby injuries,missed games and blown opportunities. The Coltstook Richardson to end therevolving door at quarterback. Indy hada differentopening-day starter everyyear from 2017-23. Richardsonended that streak last year.But Richardson made only four starts as arookie before needing season-ending shoulder surgery.Last year,injuries cost himfourmorestartsand he was benched for two games after pulling himself out of agame because he said he needed abreather While Richardsonhas provided

All-Star pitcher deGrom to miss startfor Rangers

The TexasRangers aregoing to skip Jacob deGrom’sscheduled startthis week because of shoulder fatigue, but the club said it is merely managing his workload andheisnot expected to spend timeonthe injured list.

The five-time All-Star,who was supposed to start Wednesday night in Kansas City,was examined in TexasbyDr. KeithMeister,and the checks came back clean. That meansdeGrom could makehis next start as soon as next week.

The two-time NL Cy Young Awardwinnerhas pitched1401/3 innings across24starts this season, going 10-5 with a2.76 ERA. That is by far the most innings deGrom has thrown since2019, when he eclipsed200 for athird consecutive year with the New York Mets.

Rams QB Stafford practices for 2nd timeinpreseason

Matthew Stafford went through his second practiceofthe summer with the RamsonTuesday, and coach Sean McVay seemed encouraged by his starting quarterback’sprogress in his recovery from an injured disk in his back.

McVayremains cautiously optimistic aboutStafford’sprogress after missing allofthe Rams’ two-week training camp at Loyola Marymount University andthe past twoweeks of preseason work while balancing it with an awareness anysortoftwinge or soreness could reset the quarterback’s progress.

McVaysaidStafforddid more in termsofchallenging himself against alive pass rush. Stafford could share his assessment forthe first timelater this week.

Dolphins sign Judon and add CB Dantzler

The Miami Dolphins made their signing of ProBowloutside linebacker Matthew Judon official Tuesday after working out the veteran the daypriorand added cornerback depth by signing veteran Cameron Dantzler Judon adds another skilled player to an already deep edge rushing unit. Judonhad 41 tackles, 51/2 sacks and an interception returned for a touchdown in 15 starts forthe Atlanta Falcons last year

Dantzler wasathird-round pick by the Vikings in 2020 and had 149 tackles and three interceptions in three seasons with Minnesota, but he hasnot playedfootballsince the 2023 season withNew Orleans. The Saints signed him to their practice squad and he appeared in twogames that season.

Pacers, coach Carlisle agree to multi-year extension

The Indiana Pacers rewarded coach RickCarlisle witha multiyear contract extension Tuesday following theteam’ssurprising run to the NBAFinals.

glimpses of the strong armand impressive runs that impressed Indy’sscouts whenhewas playing for the Florida Gators, he’sonly 8-7 as an NFL starter —and has been unable to finish some of those games because of injuries.

In 2024, Richardson completed 47.7% of his throws, the lowest percentage of any regular starter in the league, and had 12 interceptions and eight touchdown passes. That’swhy the Colts wanted the competition. Richardson worked on his footworkinhopes of improving his accuracy during the offseason, andwhile many of histeammates thought this was thebesthe’d looked in histhree training camps, it wasn’tgood enough.

“I feel like Idid improve,” Richardson said. “My improvement was there, but there are still ways Ican improve, still ways Ican become abetter player,becomea starterinthe league.”

It’s hardlythe first time ahigh draft pick hasfallen on hard times early in hiscareer.Richardson becomes the fifth top-10 pick who has not startedthe opener of their third season. Carson Wentz in 2018 and Michael Vick in 2003 were out because of injuries while Trey Lance in 2023, JoshRosen in 2020 and Matt Leinart in 2008 did not win the starting job.

And despite making the decision, Steichen insisted Indy continues to believeRichardson still has a bright future in the league,especially with the Colts.

Team officials made the announcement but provided no additional details about contract terms. The 65-year-old Carlisle seems to be rejuvenated in his second stint with the Pacers. He first took theIndiana job in 2003, and four seasons later,he was fired. After taking ayear off from coaching, the New York state native was hired by the Dallas Mavericks.

Carlislebecamethe longesttenured, winningest coach in franchise history,going 555-478 in 13 seasons while leading the Mavs to the NBAcrownin2010-11.

Five-time All-Star Wall announces retirement

John Wall is retiring after 11 NBA seasons. Wall, 34, played most of his career with the Washington Wizardsafter they made him the first overall pick in the 2010 draft out of Kentucky.The five-timeAll-Star point guard finisheshis NBA career with averages of 18.7 points and8.9 assists per game.

Wall played most of his career with the Washington Wizards, but also played forthe Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers. In his best season,heaveraged 23.1 points and 10.7 assists forthe Wizards in 2016-17 andwas named AllNBAthird team

Wall was one of the fastest, most athletic point guards during his prime. He wasanelite defender, making the All-Defensive second team in 2015.

Five O-linemenjostlefor twoopenspots

BY KOKI RILEY and WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writers

LSU still has open competitions for two starting spots on itsoffensiveline, coach Brian Kelly saidTuesday. The starters at left guard and right tackleare stillupfor grabs. Redshirt sophomore DJ Chester hasearned the majority of snaps at left guard, butKelly on Tuesday suggested that sophomore Paul Mubenga and redshirt freshman CoenEchols could be in arotation with Chester to start the year

Kelly also noted that LSU could deploy the same tactic at right tackle, where redshirt freshman Weston Davis and freshman CariusCurne are battling.

SAINTS

Continued from page1C

pleted 24 of 34 passes for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Rattler and Shough have had their moments to shine In the first preseason game, Shough led the Saintson three scoring drives and hit Mason Tipton on a54-yard touchdown to earn him the start the next week. But against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rattler responded.He also led three scoringdrives and engineered agame-tying touchdown drive that included atwo-point conversion on ascramble to the end zone. WhileRattler appeared to open camp with aleg up on Shough —the second-year quarterback lookeddecisive and faster —the secondround pick seemedtoclose the gap when the team be-

LSU

Continued from page1C

one. He has been the starting middle linebacker all preseason. Keys also willbe afactor

STAR

Starter: Harold Perkins (Jr.)

Backup: CJ Jimcoily (Fr.)

Also: Jardin Gilbert (Sr.)

Could this finallybethe year that everything comes together for Perkins? He has practiced without any limitations, an encouraging sight less than ayear removed from atorn ACL, and he was disruptive early in camp LSUusedhim as an edge rusher in certain situations.

MINTON

Continued from page1C

do so much of it on their own that it’slike, it makesitso fun to go to work every day.” Whenfourth-string quarterback Sam Altmann was leading touchdown drives in the two-minute offense during the spring game, Desormeaux didn’thesitate to give Minton credit.

“Cade coaches the quarterbacks with me, and I’vegot to tell you cangive allthe credittohim,” Desormeaux said. “He is tirelessly meeting with those guys and helping them find aplan to get better “He does the (individual drills) with them. He does all that stuff with them and he’s done agreat job. That whole room can run the whole offense.” It didn’ttake Ole Miss transferWalker Howard long to notice Minton’seffect on the room.

“He is unbelievable,” Howardsaid. “He does an unbelievable job. He is with me on everysinglething doing walkthroughs at 8in the morning. He’sthe guy Iwatch film with and do everything with. He has done agreat job and I’m very thankful for him.

“Coach Des has alot on his plate, so Iwork with Cade and all of the quarterbacks. He does everything.”

After spending time with

“Somebody’s going to have to be in arotational position, whether it’sPaul or Coen or DJ or Weston or Carius,” Kelly said. “Thoseare the guys that are all going to eventually play “I don’tthink you’rejust going to see fiveguys trotting outthere every single play.I think you’re goingto see some other guys definitely gettinginthe game as well.”

Curne beganMonday’s practice as thestartingright tackle. The four-starsignee hadworked at lefttackle for most of campwhile redshirt freshman OryWilliams was the second-string righttackle.

“Wefeel like Ory iscoming along, but he wasn’t there yet,” Kelly said. “So we wanted to createalittle bitmore competition in that right tackle position.”

Kelly said LSUhas discov-

gan practicing in California for nine days. Since then, Shough hasshown noticeable improvement.

“Wefelt like it was pretty close (going into the second preseason game) andobviously it came out pretty close,” Moore said. “We’re kind of staying in this middle Obviously,you’d like to make adecision,but we’ll getthere as we go. Both of these guys areputting in tremendous effort,tremendous work.

“They’re both doinga tonof goodthings. And so we’llsee howitgoes.”

If Shoughwinsthe job, he’ll be the first rookietoopen as thestarting quarterback forthe Saints since Archie Manning in 1971. If Rattler wins, he’ll get another crack at the job after starting six games last season.Hewent 0-6inthatspan, albeit with a depleted supporting cast because of injuries. Moore alsohas saidthe

Behind him, Jimcoily quickly has risen up the depth chart. He maynot play much this year,but he looks impressive as a6-foot-3, 220-pound freshman.

Cornerback

Starters: Mansoor Delane (Sr.)and Ashton Stamps (Jr.)

Backups: Ja’Keem Jackson (R-Soph.), DJ Pickett(Fr.) and PJ Woodland (Soph.)

Delane isthe topcornerback, but the competition across from him is expected to continue.Stampsconsistently hasgottenfirst-team reps, so we listed him as astarterfor now.Jackson missed acouple of days with ahamstring injury, and Woodland has made a jump entering his second

the three quarterbacks competingtoelevate their place on the depthchart, Minton is confidentinthe trio.

“I don’tknowifI’m allowed to say this, but Ithink we havethree guys we can win the Sun Belttitle with,” Minton said Time will tell, but Minton hastried to addtoeachquarterback’sskill sets. Howard wasn’ta stranger to Minton, who wasa student assistant at LSU whenthe Tigersrecruited Howard out of St. Thomas More.

“He has taken traits from each of those quarterbacks (Jayden Daniels at LSU and JaxsonDart at Ole Miss) and carried over to his game,” Minton said of Howard. “The number one thing is preparation.He’sworkinghis tailoff.” Minton appreciates Howard’sapproach since arrivingatUL.

“All the hype and thestars andall that, you’d never know it talkingtohim,” he said. “The way that his teammates have come to him and, youknow, you’d think he’s been here three years, just in the locker room, the way those guysrallyaroundhim, and theway they respondto himand respect him.

“He’splayed in somereally good systems, so he knows alot of football. So it’s more, ‘Why are we calling this play?’ and‘Whatare we trying to beat when we call it?’ It’sbeen about taking all of that knowledge and fitting

ered its starters at left tackle, center and right guard.

Sophomore Tyree Adams has established himself at left tackle, becoming theheir to consensus All-American Will Campbell.Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moore has locked in his spot at center,and Kelly said Tuesday that Northwestern transfer JoshThompson would start at right guard.

Perkins, Weeksupdates

LSU junior linebacker Whit Weeks did notpractice Mondaybecause of “load management,” whileredshirt junior linebacker Harold Perkins was outthe same day because of personalreasons, Kelly said Tuesday

Perkinsreturnedtopractice Tuesday.Kelly did not reveal whether Weeks was back on the field as well.

“Hehad some things he had to take care of,” Kelly said in

Saints are considering2023 fourth-rounderJakeHaener for the job. But Haener hasn’t taken first-team reps since July 30, and he did not play Sunday against Jacksonville. Haener hasalmostexclusively spent time with thethird team in practice as of late.

Repeatedly,Moore said he hasnotimetable to make adecision —aslong as the Saints have astarter in place by the Sept. 7openeragainst the Arizona Cardinals.

And he insists this isn’t typical footballsubterfuge of keeping the starter asecret in an attempttogain a competitive advantage. The Saints haven’tmadeadecision because they don’tknow what they’ll do yet.

“We’re nothiding anything, guys,” Moore said with a smile and ashake of hishead. “Don’tworry.”

Email Matthew Paras at matt.paras@theadvocate.

year.Pickett has impressive moments, but the five-star freshman may notbeaWeek 1starter.Heusually has played with the second-team defense during open practices. We’ll seeifthat changes.

Safety

Starters: AJ Haulcy (Sr.) and Tamarcus Cooley(R-Soph.)

Backups: DashawnSpears (Soph.) andJavienToviano (Jr.)

Afteralot of experimentation early in preseason camp, Haulcy and Cooley emerged as the starters. Haulcy has played particularly well, and Baker called him “one of the most instinctualplayers I’ve been around.”LSU should have better safety play than the past twoyears.

it to our system.”’

Forsophomore QB Lunch Winfield, whomissed last season while injured, it’sa different kind of preparation.

“Lunch is sharp,” Minton said. “When it comes to the protections and the rungame, readingthings, you know,Lunch has really blown me away.Being injuredlastyear,Ididn’tknow what to expect,but he’sbeen awesome.”

Minton said you can easily tell the respect Winfield’s garnered fromhis teammates when he makes plays in scrimmages, andhecan really run.

“It’snot just he can run well, he can run really well,” Minton said. “His speed for aguy as big and strong as he is, it stands out.”

Coaches appreciate redshirt freshman Daniel Beale’scerebral approach to theposition.

“You could tell he played in the college system in high school,” said Minton, who said Beale has improved his downfield accuracy during August camp. “He knows the run game, he cantell you who whatever O-lineman, what he should be doing, where he should be blocking …ifhedecided to stop playing football right now,we’d hire him as acoach.”

Minton’sseena lotduring hisshort time as acoach It beganwithhis student coaching years at LSU (201921) before getting hiredby

regard to Perkins’ absence. Weeks has missedtime at camp as he workshis way back from adislocated ankle andbroken fibula, injuries he suffered against Baylor in theTexas Bowl in January. LSU has been careful withnot putting toomuch on his platebefore thestartof the season Aug. 30 at Clemson (6:30 p.m., ABC).

“We’re not going to have him practice fivedaysina row until we get into game week,” KellysaidFriday. “So today was his day off.” Perkins suffered atorn ACLagainstUCLAnearly a year ago, but theinjuryhas notslowed him down.

VanBuren’s hand

LSUbackup quarterback Michael VanBuren jammed the index finger on his throwing hand but will practice again this week, Kelly said.

FEDEX

Continuedfrom page1C

Twelve players at East Lake did well enough to get here without winning. If they win,are theythe season-long FedEx Cup champion?

Even with ahalf-dozen changes to the postseason format dating to 2007, the best player didn’talways win the FedExCup.

McIlroy wontwo majors and aWorld Golf Championship in 2014 and didn’t win it. The three timeshe did win the FedEx Cup, McIlroy wasnever at the top of the points list throughout the entire postseason until he delivered the goods at East Lake Scheffler was among those adamant about changing from “startingstrokes,” which gavethe No. 1seed —him each of the past three years —atleast a two-shot lead over the field before the tournament started.Itstill took himthe third try to finally win it. He wasinfavor of giving up an advantage at a tournament where he has never posted the low 72hole score and finishedout of the top 10 in three of his five appearances. But Scheffler andothers felt strongly that giving all30 players the same chance is the waytoidentify the FedExCup champion.

“When you lookatthe FedExCup, Ithink it’sa greater discussion,” he said. “If you’re going to have atrue season-long race —truly the best player every year wins—odds are it’snot going to come to an interesting of aconclu-

current UL associate head coach JorgeMunoz, who brought Minton to UL twice with aone-year stint at Buffalo in 2023 in between.

VanBuren, asophomore, injured his finger Saturday night during ascrimmage in TigerStadium. He attended practice Monday with a splint on his right hand. He did notwear pads or throw during aportion of the practice open to the media. Kelly said an X-ray and MRI wereconducted on Van Buren’shand.

“No damage,” Kelly said. “He was just sore, so we’ve shut him downalittle bit. But he’llbeback.He’lldoa throwing program in the afternoon today,and then we’ll have him back out (Wednesday).”

VanBuren started eight games as afreshman at Mississippi State last season, filling in after an injury to starter BlakeShapen VanBuren threw for 1,886 yards with 11 touchdowns andseven interceptions.

ASSOCIATEDPRESS PHOTO

Patrick Cantlay hits from the seventh tee during the first round of the BMW ChampionshiponThursday in OwingsMills,Md.

sion in most years.” In otherwords, the race alreadywould be over at this point.

“In order to win the FedExCup, youhavetoplay good golf at the right time,” he said. “In our sport,in order to accomplishwhat youwanttoaccomplish, youhavetoplay good golf at the right time. If you want to win major championships, youhavetoplay great golf major championship weeks.”

That’swhere the clarity comes in. The Tour Championship, which identifies the FedEx Cup champion, is no different from playing a major championship. That’s when players want to be at their best. Scheffler was at Quail Hollow and Royal Portrush. He wasn’tatAugusta National or Oakmont

“Once youget to the Tour Championship, you’ve had agreat season,” Scheffler said. “And nowyou have an opportunity to go outand win the FedEx Cup. But youhavetoplay good golf at the right time.”

What hasn’tchanged sincethe FedExCup began in 2007 is rewarding con-

“CoachMunoz is the best,” Minton said. “He’sasgood as they come. He’s taught me so much about notjust football, but this business and how it works.”

Minton said he’s in awe of therelationship Desormeaux has with his players and coaches.

“The respect he has for everypersoninthatbuilding, especially the players, and theway he’s able to reach them, it’s impressive,” Min-

He also rushed for fiveTDs. After transferring from Mississippi State, VanBuren has been the primary backup to Garrett Nussmeier Kelly said last week he is “pleased” with VanBuren’s progress. “A lotofthis is being in a new offensive structure,” Kelly said.

“I would say Michael has grown so much since the spring in terms of recognition, footwork (and) progression reads. All the things that youneed to be ahigh performer in this offense, he’sgetting better at that every day.”

LSUalso hasredshirt freshman Colin Hurley,who enrolled at LSU when he was 16 yearsold but did not play as afreshman last year He missed time this spring after getting hurt in acar crash.

sistently good golf with an emphasisatthe endofthe year

Play great allyear and East Lake is alock, which is why McIlroy wasable to skipthe first postseason event. Some played well enough that evenabad start in thepostseason didn’t keep them fromadvancing to theBMW Championship. Do just enough to be among thetop 70 who getintothe postseason and there is no marginfor error.

AndthenatEast Lake, bring your best

“I think alot of times the media is always looking for something where we’re lookingfor aperfect finish to the year,” Scheffler said. “Look at what LIV is doing with their finaltournament. Itried to read about it the otherday —Istillcan’t figure outwhatthey’re trying to do with the finaltournament. It’snot easy to figure outa true season-long race.

“And Ithink when you’re looking for an interesting finish to the year,Ithink we’ve got it down pretty good where you have 25, 30 weeks to prove yourself to get into the Tour Championship and thenit’sgame on.” Theseason-longpoints race is notfor the FedEx Cup. Scheffler won that, andhealreadyhas been rewarded with $15 million in bonus money

Therace is for the opportunity

“I don’tcare who you are, it’shard to getinto thistop 30,” HarrisEnglish said. “You’ve hada hell of ayear if you’remadeitthis far.I like it thateveryone starts at zero. This is aculminationofgetting everyoneto square one, the top30guys. Now go get it.”

ton said.“Andfor me,he’s the head coach and he’ll sit there in the film room til 2a.m. telling you whywedo things, whatwe’relooking for and where the quarterback’seyes should be.”

Email KevinFoote at kfoote@theadvocate.com.

PREP FOOTBALL SEASON PREVIEW

Westminster-Lafayette

What we know

The Westminster-Lafayette Chargers enjoyed a surprising amount of success in their first year being eligible for district honors.

Led by coach Kent Gable, the Chargers went 7-4 overall and earned the school’s first playoff berth, a 34-33 first-round loss to Opelousas Catholic.

Although they lost a few key pieces from last year’s team, the Chargers are bigger, faster, stronger and potentially more talented this year

“We know there is going to be more expectations for us this year than there was for us last year,” Gable said “Winning seven games in our first year is a big deal. It’s not easy, but we are still a young program that is still building.”

Gable, an Acadiana High disciple, has his Chargers running the veer offense, and unlike last year, he has the full playbook installed.

“I expect us to be vastly improved because last year I didn’t get in until June, and it takes time to install our offense,” Gable said. “It isn’t just run left and run right; we run a lot of misdirection. So, it’s all in, the kids know it, and we look more explosive.”

The Chargers have a three-headed monster at running back with senior Gavyn Hebert, junior Ethan Simon and freshman Pierce Gable.

“I expect our backfield to be special,” Kent Gable said. “All three of our backs have the ability to hit a home run at any time. All of them block well, which is important in our offense, and they all can catch the football.”

Gable is also thrilled when he thinks about the guys blocking up front.

“We like to run the football, and last year we had

SCOREBOARD

(Ashcraft 3-2), 11:35 a.m. Seattle (Castillo 8-6) at Philadelphia (Luzardo 11-6), 12:05 p.m. Cleveland (TBD) at Arizona (Pfaadt 12-8), 2:40 p.m. St. Louis (Pallante 6-10) at Miami (Alcantara 6-11), 5:40 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Senga 7-4) at Washington (Lord 3-6), 5:45 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Pérez 1-2) at Atlanta (Waldrep 3-0), 6:15 p.m. Milwaukee (Misiorowski 4-1) at Chicago Cubs (Rea 9-5), 7:05 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Ohtani 0-0) at Colorado (Gordon 3-5), 7:40 p.m. Cincinnati (Martinez 10-9) at L.A. Angels (Kikuchi 6-8), 8:38 p.m. San Francisco (Roupp 7-6) at San Diego (TBD), 8:40 p.m. Transactions Major League Baseball MLB — Suspended Seattle OF Victor Robles, who is currently with Tacoma (PCL), for 10 games and fined an undisclosed amount for his conduct during Sunday’s game at Las Vegas (PCL) American League BOSTON RED SOX — Sent RHP Justin Slaten to Worcester (IL) on a rehab assignment. Recalled LHP Brennan Bernardino from Worcester. Optioned LHP Jovani Moran to Worcester. HOUSTON ASTROS — Recalled RHP Logan VanWey from Sugar Land (IL) Designated RHP Tayler Scott for assignment. SEATTLE MARINERS — Reinstated RHP Bryce Miller from the 15-day IL. Selected the contract of RHP Sauryn Lao. Optioned RHPs Jackson Kowar and Casey Legumina to Tacoma (PCL). Transferred

trouble doing that because we were smaller up front,” Gable said. “Last year, we had one offensive lineman that weighed over 200 pounds. This year, we have six, so we should be able to control the line of scrimmage more.”

What we don’t know

The Chargers are still determining who will be their starting quarterback, with sophomore Zade Prejean leading the way in a battle that also includes junior Andre Greene and senior Aiden Delcambre.

“We are under center, so we are looking for someone who has the ability to get the snap and get the football to our backs,” Gable said. “In our offense, we are fast-paced, and we hit it quick. We don’t ask the quarterback to do much with their arm. It’s all about learning and executing the entire offense, making pitch reads and executing simple throws.”

Defensively Gable said there are some unproven commodities along the defensive line and in the secondary Depth is also a cause for concern.

“I think we are going to be good on defense,” Gable said. “We lost some key guys, but I think our linebackers are extremely strong. Our secondary is unproven but very talented. But because of the amount of guys we have going both ways, we have to stay healthy.”

How we see it

Considering the physical growth the Chargers made in the offseason, combined with a full offseason under Gable, it is fair to expect last year’s win total to be the floor and not the ceiling.

Eric Narcisse

Ethan Simon

RB/LB

5-8, 165, Jr.

Simon was the Chargers’ leading rusher last season.

Despite his stature, Simon is a hardnosed runner

Pierce Gable

RB/LB

6-0, 210, Fr. Gable, who was second-team alldistrict running back as an eighth grader, is a threat to score every time he touches the football. Defensively, he has great sideline-tosideline speed.

Zade Prejean

QB/WR/DB 6-3, 170, So.

Prejean is a good athlete who is going to be on the field somewhere if he does not win the QB job As a receiver,his size and long arms make him a mismatch for defenders.

Luke Davis

DB/WR 5-11, 160, So. Davis, who led the Chargers in interceptions a year ago, is a ballhawk in the secondary. He has really good speed and should get opportunities on offense, as well.

Gavyn Hebert

RB/DB 5-11, 180, Sr. Of the three backs the Chargers will feature, Hebert is the most elusive. He has good speed, and he is explosive and strong He will also attempt to affect the game on special teams as a returner

Inspired by loss, author writes book for children

BY ANNETTE SISCO Staff writer

When Malana Joseph Mitchell was 26, her mother died unexpectedly after surgery The grief was devastating, but with time, Mitchell was able to focus on her warm memories of her mom.

Margo Samuel Joseph was a nurturing mother and grandmother She loved to read and filled the family’s home in Edgard with books and magazines. She worked for decades as a regional manager for the Louisiana Department of Health, the first Black woman in that position, and raised a family in their tight-knit, small community Mitchell said.

Her loss, in 2011, felt especially acute as Mitchell encountered life’s milestones: her marriage to Ruffin Mitchell III and the births of their children, Ruffin IV and Riley After the loss of another relative, when Ruffin was 4 he started asking questions about death. In search of a comforting and age-appropriate way to respond, Malana Mitchell turned to memories of her mother and was inspired to write a children’s book.

Public relations professional and children’s author Malana Joseph Mitchell poses with a display of ‘The Adventures of Mum Mum and Me’ at Whitney Plantation.

In “The Adventures of Mum Mum and Me,” a little boy named Ruffin goes through a typical day: school, sports, a skinned knee. All through his ups and downs, his grandmother is near, portrayed as a smiling angel who cheers him on, hugs him when he cries and watches over him when he says his prayers at night.

“My mom was more than a parent — she was my biggest cheerleader, my moral compass, and my best friend,” said Malana Mitchell, today a New Orleans public relations professional. “Writing this book helped me grieve and gave me a way to introduce my children to the ‘Mum Mum’ they never got to meet.”

“Mum Mum” was the name Margo’s grandson, Jashan Gaudet, gave her when he was little. Gaudet is art director of “The Adventures of Mum Mum and Me.” The bright, colorful illustrations, designed to appeal to young children, are by Aabi Malik.

“Grief is a very complex thing, but it doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelming,” Mitchell said.

KEEPING TRADITION

At this family-run Lafayette restaurant, authentic Cuban dishes take center stage

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

After more than 20 years of serv-

ing traditional Cuban food in Lafayette, Cafe Habana City is still a close-knit family affair — and you can taste it in everything from the flavorful rice and beans, to the restaurant’s signature hot sauce. Owner Rafael Garcia doesn’t keep Tabasco on the tables. It’s not that he isn’t willing to play to the mores of Cajun country — Cafe Habana’s Cubano sandwich is made with fresh bread from Poupart Bakery and has won two awards at the Acadiana Po-Boy Festival.

But, while Cuban food is admittedly delicious with a dash of hot sauce, it’s not traditional to the cuisine So they make their own “friendly” hot sauce for guests to complement the dishes; a bright green blend of jalapeño and herbs with a balanced yet assertive heat.

“We do not use hot spices in Caribbean cuisine, whether it’s the Dominican Republic, Puerto Ricans, Cubans — we use a lot of bell peppers, oregano, cumin, but not jalapeños or chiles.

“This sauce is made along with the spices we use in cooking, so

when you add it to the food, it blends,” said Garcia.

Hot sauce may be a concession, but at this Cuban restaurant, the real bridge to Cajun cooking is in the homestyle rice and beans, the fall-off-the-bone meats, and the rich, varied flavors of a cuisine unmistakably derived from a melting pot of cultures The chicken fricassee, one of Cafe Habana City’s most popular entrees, tastes like classic French cooking with a Caribbean twist. Plantains, a staple element of Cuban cooking, came to the region from Asia and Africa And Garcia said that Cubans take their rice and beans extremely seriously, in the same vein as Cajun chefs who

Educators, grief counselors and parents have used the book to open conversations about death and healing, she said And most recently, it caught the attention of the team at Whitney Plantation, which reached out to Mitchell to inform her she was a descendant of that community, and to invite ä

STAFFPHOTO By MARGARET DELANEy

The Med salad at Zeeland Street had freshbaby spinach, grilled chicken, feta cheese, tomato,cucumber and balsamic vinaigrette.

BEST

Continued from page5C

size and cooked to perfection, and they werecomplemented by bright cherry tomatoes and briny capers.

Ilove ahomemade spaghetti noodle, and these noodles were exceptional. I cannot waittogoback and try something else, or maybe just order this again.

—Joy Holden features reporter Med salad n Zeeland Street, 2031 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge

In the mood for aquick, light lunch, Istopped at Zeeland Street. The restaurant, which made The New York Times list for best restaurants in America, is known for its family-owned soul and servicewith love.

The Med salad was fresh,

CUBAN

Continued from page5C

spend alifetime perfecting a pot of red beans.

“A Cuban will judge you on your black beansand rice. They taste it, and they let you know whether you’re aCuban restaurant or not,” Garcia said.

“Knowing the history of Lafayette, and the influence of the Spanish and Africans, Ialways tell people that Cuban cuisine is probably one of the closest cuisines to Louisiana,” accordingto Garcia. “Our main influences are Spanish, African, native Caribbean and French.”

Rafael Garcia came to the United States in 1998 as apolitical refugee. He was facing prison time in his home country for opposing the state regime, and said police sent him off at the airport with arequest not to return “I’ve been here halfof my lifenow,and Istarted

BOOK

Continued from page5C

hertostock herbookinthe

Whitney’sgift shop among others by local authors.

The connection made the work even more meaningful for Mitchell, linking her fam-

greenand fullofflavor.The bright balsamic vinaigrette with aslightly bitter aftertaste contrasted well with perfectlyspiced chicken. While no saladchoiceisa bad one at ZeelandStreet, the Med and Seared Tuna salads are excellent choices.

—Margaret DeLaney health coordinator

Lemon cheesecake n Lizzie’s, 105 E. Main St., New Iberia

This luscious slice of lemon mascarponecheesecake with toasted meringue on top was an easy call for the

cookingalmost right away,” saidGarcia. Hisfirst jobin Lafayette was at ASHIndustries, working for businessman Hartie Spence Jr., who was killed earlier this month while piloting aglider in Utah.

“It was my first stable job Ihad for fouryearsbefore starting thebusiness, and he helped me start it,”Garcia said of the much-loved executive.

Therestaurant opened in 2002 andhas beenoperated by Garcia, his family and longtime employees ever since. They havebeen the only Cubaneateryintown for 23 years —but that is anticipated to change at the endof this year,whenCuban Tradition opens at the former site of Home Cut Donuts at 5611 Johnston St.

“When we came, we realized Lafayette was full of local restaurants from different cultures, and theywere missing traditional home Cubancuisine. We were very surprised when we opened

ily’shistory ofsurvivaland resiliencetothe legacyshe’s building for her children.

That’sjust one reasonthat friends and readershave asked if “TheAdventuresof Mum Mum and Me”might be thestart of aseries.

Mitchellsaid yes.

“Ourloved ones may be gone,but they neverleft,”

best thingIate this week. Elizabeth Shensky Hansen is acelebrated pastry chef and the dessert genius behind this cake, which was easily consumed after adelicious night of appetizers, entrees and cocktails from New Iberia’snewest eatery

The creamy texture of the cheesecake and the lightness of the meringue are theperfect complement, while the crust tastes likea crumbly shortbread cookie. Ialso highly recommend theshort rib ragu and fish frites if you’re there for dinner —but be sure to save room for dessert

—Joanna

Brown,

staff writer

for the first lunch, because we werefull of people and they were all so happy that Cuban food had finally come to Lafayette.”

Over the years, Garcia has seen restaurants offering various cuisines and fusions come and go. Cajun andTex-Mexdishesare a perennially popular pairing, and“Casian,” aportmanteau of Cajun and Asian, is having amoment right now at spots like Jane’sSeafood & ChineseinNew Iberia. No matter the trends, Garcia said that Cafe Habana’slongevity has been based on a simple principle: maintainingthe integrity of theculture and itsfood.

“I’ve seen alot of places change their recipes,trying to adapt to the locals, adding spices you’renot supposed to,” he said.“They don’talways do well. We’rehere to keep thetradition going.”

Email Joanna Brown at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com.

Mitchellsaid. “They’re herewithus. That was the most important thing. Whilemymom is notphysically here on earth, she is right here.” The book is also available on Amazon.

Email AnnetteSisco at asisco@theadvocate.com.

Dear Heloise: When Ishop for groceries, Ihave no memoryorimagination, and Iwill invariably lose my shopping list somewhere along theway.It’sa disaster! Now,just before Igrab theshopping list,I snap apicture of it, which has saved theday for me manytimes.

The phone camera is also useful for reading those tinylow-contrast computer price tags; they’re all but readable when they’re on thebottom shelf. Just snap apic of it and blow it up to see what it says! (Remember to keep your reading glasses withyou!)

P.S. Freezingbanana slices leaves them too soggy to use. —Davis B.,inOregon Uncomfortablesleeping

DearHeloise: Iwas married for 40 years, and unfor-

By The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday Aug. 20, the 232nd day of 2025. There are 133 days left in the year

Todayinhistory

On Aug. 20, 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the“Prague Spring” liberalization movement.

Also on this date:

In 1858, Charles Darwin’s theoryofevolution was first published, in the“Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society.”

In 1866, President Andrew Johnson declared the official end of the Civil War.

In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” had its premiere in Moscow

In 1910, aseries of wildfires swept through parts of Idaho, Montana and Washington, killing at least 85 people and burning some3million acres.

In 1920, theAmerican

Hints from Heloise

tunately,mywife passed away.Isleep in the same room we usedtosleep in, and I’m unable to sleep the way Islept there before. Because of memory and energy,I tried sleeping in the living room, and everything was fine. So, Idecided to buy a twin mattress. If anyone has had this issue, they should see if this also works for them. —KamalB.,viaemail

Pumping problem

Dear Heloise: Iamcontinually frustrated when trying to open new lotion and hand-soap pumpbottles. In someway,I believe it is because Iamdirectionally challenged. Ihave to stop

and think which wayisleft and which is right. Ihave also recited to myself the “lefty loosy,righty tighty” phrase, to no avail. Iconfuse myself or talk myself outofturning a pump topthis wayorthat. Inow have threedifferentbottlesonmycounter, andI’m waiting on someonetohelpmefigure out the tricktoopenthese pump bottles. My spouse andtwo sons have tried to help, but I’ve usually gotthe cap messed up by then. Do youhaveatrick thatIcan use? —Megan,in FortWayne,Indiana Megan, this is agood question! Readers, do you have any hints to help makeapumpbottle easier to open? —Heloise Sendahinttoheloise@ heloise.com.

Professional Football Conference was established by representatives of four professional football teams; two years later,with 18 teams, it would be renamed the National Football League.

In 1940, exiled Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky wasattacked in Coyoacan, Mexico, by assassin Ramon Mercader (Trotsky died the next day.)

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Economic Opportunity Act, anearly $1 billion anti-poverty measure.

In 1986, postal employee Patrick Henry Sherrill wentonadeadly rampage at apost office in Edmond, Oklahoma, shooting 14 fellow workers to death before killing himself

In 1989, 51 people died when the pleasure boat Marchioness sank in the River Thames in London after being struck by a dredger

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Change will be costly. Change your plans to fit your budget. Intelligence and action will carry you forward. Travel, teach and lay down a solid foundation to build prospects.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) A high-energy approach to change will give your plans an appealing spin to anyone seeking a positive transformation. An opportunity to connect with people in a position of power is apparent.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Expand your circle and see what others are doing to combat boredom or to ensure you spend your time wisely. Let go of the past, and it will be easier to manifest how you want your life to unfold.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) What you do will have a more significant influence on your future than what you allude to. Learn, travel and talk with experts who can offer insights and worthwhile connections.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) With changecomesopportunity.Lookaround and head in a direction that offers hope for a brighter future. Dwelling on the past doesn't help promote new beginnings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Put your cash and possessions in a safe place. Be wary of scammers and unrealistic propositions. Talks that lead to longterm plans and promises are in the stars.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Discipline, hard work and innovative ideas will

separate you from any competition you encounter. Take pride in who you are, and your confidence will make you the go-to person among your associates.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Don't dwell on what doesn't happen; press forward with fortitude and enthusiasm, and you'll find better opportunities. When one door closes, another will open.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Let your personality shine. Feedback from outsiders will help you reflect on why someone close to you may not be on board with a venture you want to pursue.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Play by the rules. Trying to take shortcuts will backfire. Use your voice to question and analyze others' suggestions. Opportunities will come from good information and proper verification.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Pick up the pace, participate in events that make you think and try new things. Expect to face opposition from those close to you who are unwilling to adopt change.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) A creative investment will have more leverage than you first imagine. Follow the trail and see where it leads. Love, romance and personal improvements will give you the boost you need to take control.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers1 to 9inthe empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

LeaMichele, an actress and singer said, “I didn’t know Icould sing until Iauditioned for ‘Les Miserables.’ My friend was auditioning, and Iwanted to audition too.”

Many bridge players would find out that the game isn’t as hard as they thought if they spent longer auditioning every auction, askingthemselves what each callmeans. In today’s deal, how should South plan theplayinfourspades? Westleads the diamondace,continueswiththediamond king (East dropping the queen), and follows with thediamond jack. WhenNorthenteredtheauctionfollowing an opposing pre-empt, he assumed thathis partner had six or seven points Here, Southhad slightlymore than that, so jumped to three spades. It was borderline, but he wasassuredofatleast an eight-card fitand hadthree working honors.

Note also East’s play at trick one. If he had dropped thequeen under his partner’sace,thatwouldhaveshowneithera singleton or the queenand the jack.

Thebidding marks West with six diamonds and East with two. So if South ruffs the third diamondlow in the dummy, surelyEast will overruff. Andthen declarer will also lose aclubtrick. Similarly,ifSouth ruffs the thirddiamond high withdummy’s spade king, he will lose two diamonds, one spade and one club. Instead, declarer should discard dummy’sautomaticclubloser. He wins the next trick (perhaps overruffing East if West perseveres with afourth round of diamonds), draws trumps, and takes asafe club ruff in the dummy. His10tricks arefivespades, two hearts, twoclubs and the club ruff. ©2025 by NEA,Inc., dist.

By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

word game

InstRuctIons: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed toDAY’s WoRD nEGLEcts: nih-GLEKTS: Gives little attention or respect to; disregards.

Average mark16words

Timelimit 35 minutes

Can you find 28 or morewords in NEGLECTS?

YEstERDAY’s WoRD —sEnDAL

sale sand sane seal sedan send sled elan eland

dale deal dean lade laden land lane lase lead lean lend lens

BRIEFS FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Wall Street falls further from its records

Wall Street faded Tuesday following drops for Nvidia and other stars that have been riding the mania surrounding artificial intelligence technology

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% for a third straight loss, though it remains near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points or less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5%.

The heaviest weight on the market was Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of themoveintoAI.Itsank3.5%.

Another AI darling, Palantir Technologies, dropped 9.4% for the largest loss in the S&P 500. It’s seen bets build up sharply that its stock price will drop, according to S3 Partners. Only Meta Platforms has seen a bigger increase this year in what’s called “short interest,” where traders essentially bet a stock’s price will fall Meta the owner of Facebook and Instagram, sank 2.1%.

Air Canada, flight attendants reach deal

Air Canada said it will gradually restart operations after reaching an agreement early on Tuesday with the union for 10,000 flight attendants to end a strike that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of travelers.

The agreement came after Canada’s biggest airline and the union resumed talks late Monday for the first time since the strike began over the weekend, affecting about 130,000 travelers a day at the peak of the summer travel season.

Flight attendants walked off the job early Saturday after turning down the airline’s request to enter into government-directed arbitration, which allows a third-party mediator to decide the terms of a new contract.

The union said the agreement will guarantee members’ pay for work performed while planes are on the ground, resolving one of the major issues that drove the strike.

“Unpaid work is over. We have reclaimed our voice and our power,” the union said in a statement. “When our rights were taken away, we stood strong, we fought back — and we secured a tentative agreement that our members can vote on.”

Home Depot’s sales up in second quarter

The Home Depot’s sales improved during its fiscal second quarter as consumers remained focused on smaller projects amid cost concerns and economic uncertainty but its performance missed Wall Street’s expectations TheAtlanta-basedcompany also said shoppers should expect modest price increases in some categories as a result of rising tariff costs, though they won’t be broad-based. Company executives told analysts during the earnings call after the results were released that more than 50% of its products are sourced domestically and wouldn’t be subject to any tariffs.

In May, Home Depot said it didn’t expect to raise prices because of tariffs, saying it had spent years diversifying the sources for the goods on its shelves.

But Billy Bastek, executive vice president of merchandising at Home Depot, told analysts that tariff rates are significantly higher than they were when it released earnings results in May

“Our customers tend to shop for the entire project,” Bestek said. “And you think about a small flooring project, tile grout, bath tub and vanity and a bath project. And so we’re laser-focused on protecting the cost of the entire project.”

THEADVOCATE.COM/news/business

$6.2B deal could shift TV news scene

Nexstar seeks to acquire Tegna

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

In a deal that has the potential to reshape the landscape of local TV news across the country, Nexstar Media Group, which owns WGNO and WNOL in New Orleans, has announced plans to acquire rival Tegna parent company of WWL and WUPL.

The $6.2 billion deal would give Dallas-based Nexstar, already the largest owner of TV stations in the country a total of 265 stations in 44 states, enabling it to reach 80% of U.S. TV households.

It’s too soon to say what the deal, which must still be approved by federal regulators, will mean for the companies’ Louisiana stations. But in other cities where Nexstar has acquired stations that directly compete with stations it already owns, the company has continued to operate both. In its announcement about the

pending acquisition, Nexstar said the deal will enable traditional “legacy” media companies to better compete against online platforms and “Big Tech.”

“The new company will be better able to serve communities by ensuring the long-term vitality of local news and programming from trusted local sources,” the statement said “Nexstar will also be able to provide advertisers with an even greater variety of competitive local and national broadcast and digital advertising solutions to serve brands and consumers more effectively.”

WWL and WGNO declined to comment.

Changing business

The deal comes as local TV stations have seen revenue continue to decrease, as viewers increasingly get their news and entertainment from other sources. By merging, media companies are able to reduce their expenses while expanding their reach, experts say “TV news is still a very effective way to reach people and commands a large number of viewers every night,” said Joe Duke, an adjunct

professor at Loyola University and former executive at WWL and CBS.

“But it’s not the business it once was.”

The average number of TVs tuned into ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates for evening news declined from more than 4 million in 2016 to just over 3 million in 2022, according to the Pew Research Center

“That’s what is driving these mergers and acquisitions among broadcast companies,” said Duke, who was news director in the 1980s and 1990s at WWL, during its years of dominance in the local market.

Nexstar, which got its start owning small radio stations in the early 2000s, today owns 200 stations across the country In addition to ABC affiliate WGNO and WUPL an independent station, it owns WGMB and WVLA in Baton Rouge and KLFY in Lafayette, as well as stations in Alexandria, Monroe and Shreveport.

In an internal memo to Nexstar employees shared with The TimesPicayune, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said the deal is “vital to preserving local journalism that is unbiased and accurate, presented by reliable local sources, with an imperative to deliver an array of perspectives that

Trump administration is eyeing a big stake in Intel

BY MICHAEL LIEDTKE and ELAINE KURTENBACH AP business writers

SAN FRANCISCO U.S. Commerce

Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday confirmed the U.S. government is vying for a 10% stake in Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in an unusual deal that would deepen the Trump administration’s financial ties with major computer chip manufacturers and punctuate a dramatic aboutface from the president’s recent push to oust the company’s CEO

The ambitions that Lutnick confirmed in a televised interview with CNBC came the day after various news outlets reported on the negotiations between the Trump administration and Intel. The investment would be made by converting federal government grants previously pledged under President Joe Biden’s administration into a bushel of Intel stock that would turn the U.S government into one of the company’s largest shareholders

“We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” Lutnick told CNBC as he explained why President Donald Trump is pushing for the deal. “It’s obvious that it’s the right move to make.”

Intel declined to comment on the negotiations with the Trump administration.

The notion of the U.S. government holding a huge stake in Intel would have seemed inconceivable back in the company’s heyday when its processors were powering a personal computer boom that began in the mid-1970s But Intel has been mired in tough times after missing the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone’s 2007 debut.

Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for two of its once-smaller rivals, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. The Trump administration is hitching a ride on their success by imposing a 15% commission on the sales of its chips in China in exchange for their export licenses. Those fees are expected to translate into billions of dollars in additional government revenue.

The U.S government’s negotiations to become a major Intel shareholder are coming on the heels of a $2 billion investment Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group disclosed late Monday that it plans to make in the Santa Clara, California, company. Softbank is accumulating its 2% stake in Intel at $23 per share a slight discount from the stock’s price when its investment was announced.

Intel’s shares surged nearly 7% to close at $25.31 on the news of Softbank’s big bet on Intel, coupled with Trump’s designs on the company. SoftBank invests in an array of companies that it sees as holding long-term potential. It has been stepping up investments in the United States since Trump returned to the

Intel CEO

exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan,

White House. In February, its chairman, Masayoshi Son joined Trump, Sam Altman, of OpenAI, and Larry Ellison, of Oracle, in announcing a major investment of up to $500 billion in a project to develop artificial intelligence called Stargate.

“Semiconductors are the foundation of every industry, Son said in a statement ”This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the United States, with Intel playing a critical role.”

Trump’s interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world since he returned to the White House earlier this year for his second term in office. “We want Intel to be successful in America,” Lutnick said during his CNBC interview Boosting domestic production of computer chips also ranked high on the Biden administration’s agenda, which resulted in the 2022 passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. Intel was among the biggest beneficiaries of the program, but it hasn’t been able to revive its fortunes while falling behind on construction projects spawned by the CHIPS program. The company has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the incentives program money that Lutnick derided as a “giveaway” that would better serve U.S. taxpayers if it’s turned into Intel stock which he said would be in the form of nonvoting shares so the government wouldn’t be able to use the stake to sway how the company is managed. But Intel’s ongoing struggles also mean the U.S. government is

reflect the range of communities we serve.

“Big Tech isn’t interested in any of those things as it voraciously pursues ever more views, clicks, and scrolls.”

Complicated deal

The deal could reshape the national media landscape in fundamental ways The Federal Communications Commission has traditionally capped the number of stations that a single operator can own, limiting their reach to 39% of TV households.

The Trump administration however, has signaled it is more friendly to large corporate mergers and the FCC is reviewing the rules limiting station ownership

Still, expert say Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna, which is not expected to close before the middle of 2026, is far from a done deal and will have to clear regulatory hurdles.

Complicating matters, the Wall Street Journal first reported Tuesday, is a competing offer for Tegna’s 65 stations from Sinclair Broadcasting

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate. com.

Walmart recalls frozen shrimp

BY JONEL ALECCIA AP health writer

Walmart has recalled frozen, raw shrimp sold in 13 states because federal health officials say it could have potential radioactive contamination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked Walmart to pull three lots of Great Value brand frozen shrimp from stores after federal officials detected Cesium-137, a radioactive isotope, in shipping containers and a sample of breaded shrimp imported from Indonesia. The products could pose a “potential health concern” for people exposed to low levels of Cesium-137 over time, FDA officials said.

“If you have recently purchased raw frozen shrimp from Walmart that matches this description, throw it away,” FDA officials said in a statement.

taking on a risky investment. The company is in the midst of its latest turnaround attempt under CEO LipBu Tan who was hired in March to shake things up. Tan’s turnaround effort so far has been focused on a cost-cutting spree that is gutting the company’s workforce and further delaying construction on a chip plant in Ohio that has been in the works since 2022.

Intel’s market value is hovering around $110 billion, only a slight uptick from where it was when Tan arrived and leaving it more than 60% below its peak reached about a quarter-century ago during the early phase of the internet boom.

In another strange twist to the new alliance, President Donald Trump had demanded that Tan resign in an Aug 7 post spurred by concerns about investments that Tan had made in China chipmakers while he was working as a venture capitalist. But Trump backed off after the Malyasia-born Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an “amazing story.” That truce apparently sparked the negotiations that may culminate in the U.S. government owning a chunk of Intel. Although rare, it’s not unprecedented for the U.S. government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM

The risk from the recalled shrimp is “quite low,” said Donald Schaffner, a food safety expert at Rutgers University

Cesium-137 is a byproduct of nuclear reactions, including nuclear bombs, testing, reactor operations and accidents. It’s widespread around the world, with trace amounts found in the environment, including soil, food and air

The level detected in the frozen breaded shrimp was far lower than FDA intervention levels. However the agency said that avoiding potentially contaminated products could reduce exposure to low-level radiation that could lead to health problems over time.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials alerted the FDA that they found Cesium-137 in shipping containers sent to U.S. ports in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and Savannah, Georgia. FDA officials collected several product samples and detected contamination in one sample of frozen breaded shrimp. The shipping containers and products were denied entry into the U.S. However, the FDA then learned that Walmart had received potentially affected products imported after the first detection, from shipments that did not trigger contamination alerts.

Walmart immediately recalled the products, a company spokesperson said. They include Great Value brand frozen raw shrimp with lot codes 8005540-1, 80055381 and 8005539-1, all with bestby dates of March 15, 2027. The shrimp was sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. Consumers should discard the products or return them to any Walmart store for refund.

Brian Kelly

feels confidentabout LSU’sfootball

team this season, and he explains

BYWILSON ALEXANDER |Staff writer

Brian Kelly began feelingconfidentinLSU’s team this season before watched apractice

Sitting in hisoffice beforespring footballbegan, Kelly said that if thep preparethe waytheyneed to and do theright things throughout the cour game,LSU is capableofwinning theSoutheasternConference.

Kelly said at thetime“regardless of howweplayedthe game before wouldhaveneededhelp” to win, such as aluckybounce or afortunate ca He recognized that LSU didnot have agood enough team to competefor achampionship

But now, Kelly believes that theTigerscan contend fora spot in the CollegeFootball Playoff.Explaining where the confidencecame from, he said early in preseason camp thatthree yearsofteaching theplayers howhewants them to prepare, combinedwithimprovements to the roster,can put LSU in contention.

“I wasabletowatchenough filmofthe guysthatwebroughtinand spend enough time with them individually that Iknewtheywere goingtofitinterms of whatour expectationswerefor them,”Kelly said

“I think we were very intentional aboutthe personalitiesthatwe were looking for. Icouldhavebeen, clearly, moreconfident afterthe fact if Iwatchedthempractice,but Ijustfeltsosurethatwemadethe right decisions on theseguys.”

Kelly haswatched practice now, andhefeels thesame wayhedid mon

“Whenyou knowthatyou’repreparingyour team theright wayovera ma years, thatbringsonaconfidence,”Kelly said. “And then,when we addr ings within our roster,it wasn’t justabout confidenceinpreparation.I preparation, and we have aroster. It’sthosetwo things comingtogether.”

Nowenteringhis fourth season, Kelly needseverythingtocome to turnedaround ateam that went 11-12 over the finaltwo yearsofthe Ed Or the SECchampionship game in hisfirstyear,but he has nottaken LSU has a29-11 recordthrough three years. Histhree predecessors allwon shipsbytheir fourth season.

Inthe midstofa9-4 season lastyear,LSU beganpreparing to revamp makinga playoff run. It persuaded topdonorstogivemoremoney fornam ments,and theTigersfrontloaded deals aheadofthe beginning of revenu

The moneyhelped LSU retain key players and sign the No. 1transfer portal classinthe country, according to 247Sports.The highest percentageof the funds went toward playerretention. Starterssuch as quarterback Garrett Nussmeier,running back Caden Durham and linebacker Whit Weeks, Kelly said, “are not free.”

“Clearly,whether youbelieve it or not,their agents aregetting hit up by other schools saying, ‘Wecan giveyou X,’”Kelly said. “You have to protect your roster,too.”

LSU combined thosereturning playerswith 18 transfers, manyofwhom are expected to makeanimmediate impact The transfershaveacombined 262 career starts,and all but twoofthem playedfor another powerconference team last season.

Throughout the offseason, Kelly has said LSU nowhas thebest roster of his tenurebecauseofits depth and high-leveltalent. Kellyusedpreseason position battles as an example, saying “wehaven’thad thatcompetition,quite frankly.”

And so he has not been shyabout publicly hyping his team.

“I think it’stime, when youknow thatyou’vedone the thingsnecessary to prepareyour team forachampionship run, kno

Kelly said. “Theylistentoitmorethan anybody else. And sometimes,youdon’t geta chance to articulate thosethings enough so your kids canhear whatyou think about them. Iwantthem to hear whatI thought.”

Many players agree with Kelly’s assessmentofthe talentlevel.

“It’sdefinitely the closest team I’ve been on at LSU,asfar as abrotherhood standpoint,”Nussmeier said, “and obviously the most talentedteamaswell.”

In the past,senior linebacker West Weekssaid, offensiveand defensive players mostly hungout with teammatesontheir side of the ball. There wasa separation, which could be expected with such alarge team. But he said thatchanged this year as some of the returning players,including Nussmeier and the Weeksbrothers, helped recruit the transfers.

Team leadersjoined the dinners when transferstook official visits,then broughtthe players back to their house to gettoknowone another.Thathad not happened before, West Weekssaid.He thoughttherewas areal benefit.Once the transferssigned with LSU,theyalready had abond with their newteammates.

“I think it wasprettynatural, andit kind of started when we were recruiting all thoseguystrying to getthem here,” West Weekssaid.“Everybody knew whatpieces we needed, so we knewwe

had to getthose dudes.Trying to get them hereinthe wintertime, and then having them gethere, it wasalready anatural connection andgrewfrom there.”

Since then, LSU’splayers saythey have spent alot of time together outside the facility. They playedpaintball one dayand bowled at Surge Entertainment. Redshirt junior Bo Bordelon took some of his fellowoffensivelinemen on an alligator tour.Nussmeier broughtthe offensiveline to Walk-On’sbeforefall camp,and theystuck him with an $800 bill.

the 2024Texas Bowl.

“The mentalityofthis team is completely differentthan anyother team thatwehad,”Guillory said.

Thereare screens throughout the football operations building thatsay “1-0” on them, visual remindersofthe first goal LSU has this year.Trying to keep players focused on the task in frontofthem, Kelly even changed what the schedule on awallinthe team room lookslike.

In the past,LSU listed every game ahead of the season, including the playoff sites and national championship.But near the beginning of preseancamp,ittook down everything except Clemson. The opponents will be uncovered weekby -w eek throughout the year.If et to the end, it ve atitle to play

It all starts with the opener Au 30 against Clemson, the first time LSU has started the season with atop 10 matchup in atrue road game. LSU has focused on the game thr oughout the offseason after fivestraigh season-openin losses. Redshirt nior defensivet Jacobian Guillory the team began about it in January

newwhatthe goal estWeekssaid. stobeplaying on .”

With Nussmeier’s return, LSUoffenseaims forconsistency SOMETHINGTOPROVE

BYKOKI RILEY| Staffwriter

The decision forGarrettNussmeier to return to LSUin2025boiled down to one thing.

Consistency

“I feel likethe productthatIput out therefor my teammatesand forthesecoacheswho have spentsomuchtimeonme, Ifeellikeitwasn’tasconsistentasI wanted it to be,”Nussmeier said in December.“And Ifeellikethatthere’sa whole other level that Icould tapinto.”

Nussmeier,the fifth-year senior quarterback whoisenteringhis secondseason asthe starter, played well in hisfirstcampaign as the leader of the offense last fall. Hethrew forover4,000 yards, completed 64.2%ofhis passesand had nearly 30 touchdowns

But his greatnessonlycame in flashes.Healsohad 12 interceptions and failed to utilizehis legs in situations whereheneeded to call his number.

“Idon’twanttoshowflashes,” Nussmeier said.“ .Ithinkthatthis first year for me wasahugegrowth year and just kind of learning who Iamasa player.”

Nussmeierreturns to aprogram that’sshownani recordofdevelopingquarterbacksastheyenter their JoeBurrow in 2019 wonanational championship. Ja putuphistoric numbersand, like Burrow, wonthe Heisman Trophy.

If Nussmeier caneve cating the successofB LSU’soffensewill have ing the highs of those sons.The Tigers’activit portal,along withsome pieces,shouldallow hi to flourish in 2025.

Quarterback

Acasecould be made Nussmeieristhe bestq terbackincollegefootbal heading into this se Fewsignal callersinthe tion possess thearm talen confidence andaccura thathehas

Backing up Nussmeier is anotherquarterback who started SEC games ayear ago, Michael VanBuren. Nowasophomore, VanBuren trans-

ferred to LSU from Mississippi State overthe winterafter throwing for1,886 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games

Redshirt freshman Colin Hurleyisthe lone scholarship quarterbackbehind Van Buren. The Florida nativehas been afull participantinpreseason practices after he wasinvolved in aserious carcrash in January

Running back

SophomoreCaden he surpassedmultiple vetera ushing yardsonateam-high1

With veterans John junior KalebJacksonwill need limited action last season. Ja aged 3.4 yardsper rush in 2024.

Competing with Ja and JT Linds ,arrivtionand be sophyear as back in er and

om features astrong blend perience, youth and transfers who making an immediate impact. on Anderson, fifth-year seHilton and senior Zavion Thomas areback forwhatwill ely be their final seasons at LSU.Andersonled the Tigers receptions ayear ago, Hiltonhas the athleticism to be adifference maker,and Thomas’ speed makes him auseful weapon on offense and special teams

Joining thatgroup are Oklahoma transfer Nic Anderson, Florida State transferDestyn Hill and Kentuckytransfer Barion Brown. Anderson brings much-needed sizeto the room, while Hill is aNew Orleans native

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and Brownisa provenperformer in the SEC withelitespeed Aseventh name to keep an eyeonwho is alsoreturning is redshirt sophomore Kyle Parker.The former four-star recruit showedpromiselast season beforeatorn triceps tendon prematurely endedhis year

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With MasonT LSU turned to the transferportal and added fifth-year senior Oklahoma.Sharp led the wounded Soonersin receptions and re

His exploits as favoritetostart, but LSU will have plenty of depthbehind zGreen wasaweapon in the redzone last season and has to earna bigger role in 2025.Texas A&M transferDonova eshman but has only played23snaps on offensesincethen,

Offensive lin

The majorityofLSU’squestion markslie withthis unit.The Tigers lostfour three-year startersonthe line to the NFL in Apriland returnjust one starter. Redshirt sophomore DJ Chester,last year’s center, is settomove overtoleft guard after LSU added Virginia Tech transfer Braelin Moore. Along withMoore,the Tigers also broughtinJosh Thompson from Northwestern out of the portal. Thompsonwill likely start at right guard, but he canalsoplaytackle.

Redshirt sophomoreTyree Adams,after missing time last season witha partial abdomen tear,isprojected to slide in forWill Campbell at left tackle. Starting on his oppositeside is likely redshirt freshman Weston Davis,aformer top-115 recruit nationally

LSU coach Brian Kelly insists thatthe Tigers haven’tsettled on Adams,Davis, Thompson, Mooreand Chesterbeing their starting group.Redshirt sophomorePaul Mubenga, redshirt freshmanCoenEchols,freshman Carius Curne and redshirt junior Bo Bordelonall have achance to crack the starting five, according to Kelly.

LSU OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

QB RB WR WR WR TE LT LG C RG RT

13GARRETT NUSSMEIER 6-1, 205, 5-SR.

11 Michael VanBuren 6-0,190, SO.

29 CADENDURHAM 5-9, 205, SO.

28 KalebJackson6-0, 234, JR.

1AARON ANDERSON 5-8, 188, R-Jr.

12 Kyle Parker 5-11, 195, R-SO.

3CHRIS HILTON6-0, 190, 5-SR.

4Nic Anderson6-4, 208,R-JR.

4NIC ANDERSON 6-4, 208,R-JR.

6Barion Brown5-11, 185, SR.

10 BAUERSHARP 6-5, 246, 5-SR.

14 Trey’DezGreen 6-7,240,SO.

71 TYREE ADAMS 6-7, 310, R-SO.

57 Carius Curne 6-5, 320,FR.

79 DJ CHESTER 6-6, 315, R-SO.

65 Paul Mubenga6-5, 317, R-SO.

79 DJ Chester 6-6, 315, R-SO.

67 Bo Bordelon 6-6, 305, R-JR. R R L L T W W

61 BRAELIN MOORE 6-2, 300, R-JR.

56 JOSH THOMPSON 6-5, 315, 5-SR.

78 Coen Echols 6-4, 315, R-FR.

75 WESTON DAVIS 6-7, 317, R-FR.

A WEAKNESS NO MORE

What to expect from Blake Baker’s defense in his second year

BYREED DARCEY| Staffwriter

Howdoyou rebuild adefense? CoachBrian Kelly’s se tion is nowtwo yearsold.Itstarted with an overhaul evolved into afundraising campaign foranecessary tran

NowLSU needs all thenew defensivecoaches and acrossthe past twooffseasons to coalesce intosomethin stronger—thanthe historicallyporous unitthatsunkt

“Weweren’tgood enough as ateam,”Kelly said in ern Conference mediadays. “A lotofthathad to do wit shortcomingswehad on defense. We think we’vedone Kellybegan by poaching defensivecoordinatorBla Missouri andmakinghim thehighest-paidassistantc football. Last season, he helped the Tigers takea modest ward.LSU improved in both scoring defense(81stamo teamsto59th) andtotal defense(108thto61st), but itstill struggled to stop the run. Only four SEC teams last year fieldedworse rushingdefenses than the Tigers,who struggledtocorral mobile quarterbacks all season.

It wasaproblem.So, LSU is enlisting a handful of transfers, anewly healthypair of linebackersand afew returning underclassmentosolve it

Harold Perkins(torn ACL) and WhitWeeks(brok camp fullyrecoveredfromthe major injuries they suffer Tigers lineupfor the firstsnap of the season on Aug. 30 the heartofadefenseexpected to start as manyas twot outside corner,another insidea rotationofdefensivetackles blythree) on theedges

Thatgroup of playersisthe foundationofthe topt country.

“Weneeded to give(Baker) some moretools,”Kelly sa NowLSU’shopinghecan usethem to finish off therep

Defensiveline

The hallmark of aBaker-coached defenseishavoc. Ed opposing quarterbacks out of the pocket.Disguised blit It’sall geared toward creating disruptive plays, suchass for loss.

And LSUcan’t,ofcourse,create disruptive playswithou Itstop four edge rushersare sophomoreGabe Relifo Pyburn, FloridaState’s Patrick Payton and Nebraska’s Ji who flasheda nosefor the backfieldearlyincamp.Payto er— tall, long andstrong —who recorded sevensacksa 2023beforehis numbersdeclined in 2024.He’snow afi to parlayanother successful season into an NFL career

r-man rotation on the interio Ahmad Kinley—a pair of tr eshmen —are in line fo rida transferBernardG th-year senior hoping to

sone of the early stand –just6-foot-1and 28 didn’t take long forh withhis quick get-o motor.

ExpectBaker frontconfiguratio season.

Linebackers

Second

We’ll include Perkins in thisgroup.He’s chnically alinebacker,although he plays whatBaker calls the Star position—a do-itall hybrid linebacker-defensiveback who lines up almost everywhere. Over the slot On the edge. In the middle.

This season, LSU has all three Weeks brothers in itslinebacker room —Whit, West and Zach, the freshman who reclassified. Whit and West are the oldest,and they’re Tigers’two starters. Behind them, DavhonKeysis is sophomoreseason afsignificant snaps toward end of his freshman year and former top-150 reCharles Ross is running berkins as the second-team redshirt freshmanTylen appearstohavecarved kind of reserveroleafter lled last season as afringe ospect.

pquestion facing the linesobvious:how healthy erkins and Whit Weeks? versions of eachplayer rm one of the most exploin the country. Weeksis college football’sbest purrkins is one of the nation’s ptiveforces—but only shealthy,focused and pousethe game-breaking quicknessheflashed as shman.

ghtbeclosetofinally senior put it alltogethearlyreturns from premp were indicativeofhis comfort

nthe transferportal, and now here’sone returning starter in our transferswith experience ence teams and even abig-name rida named DJ Pickett. battling forthe twostarting transfer TamarcusCooleyand twofavorites to land the jobs nior Jardin Gilbert,junior Javi wn Spearsare pushing them for ansfer Mansoor Delane into one could takethe other one. Or homorewho added weightinthe offseason and brokeupa fewpassesearly in camp.

The pointisthatthe Tigers appear to have options again at po sitions thathavereturned mostly disappointing resultsacrossthe last fiveseasons.Since 2020,LSU’s passdefense has finished out side the FBS’ top100 units more times than it’sfinished inside its top50.

Nowarevamped groupisincharge of accomplishing something closer to the program standard.

LSU DEFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

EDGE

EDGE

44 JACK PYBURN,6-4, 264,Sr. 6Patrick Payton,6-6, 255, 5-Sr.

19 GABE RELIFORD,6-3,265, So.

12 Jimari Butler,6-5, 265, 6-Sr.

ST

DT DT LB LB STAR CB CB S S

16 AHMAD BREAUX,6-3,278,So.

90 Jacobian Guillory, 6-2, 318, 6-Sr.

88 BERNARD GOODEN, 6-1, 268, 5-Sr.

96 Dominick McKinley, 6-6, 308, So.

33 WESTWEEKS, 6-2, 235, 5-Sr.

46 Tylen Singleton,6-1, 226, R-Fr.

40 WHIT WEEKS, 6-2, 225, Jr.

42 Davhon Keys,6-0, 230, So.

7HAROLDPERKINS, 6-1, 222, R-Jr.

30 Charles Ross,6-1, 225, Fr.

4MANSOOR DELANE, 6-0, 190, Sr. 8Ja’Keem Jackson,6-0, 190,R-So.

1ASHTON STAMPS,6-0,190, Jr.

3DJPickett, 6-5, 195, Fr.

0TAMARCUSCOOLEY,6-0,198 R-So.

2JardinGilbert,6-1, 193, 5-Sr.

13 AJ HAULCY,6-0,222, Sr.

10 Dashawn Spears, 6-3, 208, So.

Loadedwithtalent, Tula islooking foranother conference titlerun

BY GUERRYSMITH |ContributingWriter

Former Tulane offensivelinecoach Cody Kennedy wasblown away by whathesaw when he stoppedbya spring practice in Marchtosay hi to former boss Will Hall.

Kennedy,who wasonthe staff in 2019 and2020when the Green Wave hadtwo of the fivehighest scoring teams in school history under Hall’sdirection as offensivecoordinator,said the talentlevel on both sidesofthe ball dwarfed whatthe coaches hadtoworkwith back then.

The question, which could be asked fornumerous other teamsinthe modern NIL eraofmasstransfers, is howwell atransfer portal-laden roster with 60 newcomerswill jell in coach JonSumrall’ssecond year

“We’re really talented,”Sumrall said duringthe first week of preseason camp, agreeing with Kennedy. “This team is stronger andfasterthan last year’s team. The weightroom numbersand theGPS numbersprove that, but we have along waytogoinregardtocoming together.”

Outsidersexpect Tulane, which wasinthe College Football Playoff race in 2024 until aThanksgiving nighthome losstoMemphis started athree-game tailspin, to contend strongly forarecordfourth consecutiveappearance in the American Conference championship game. Athlon Sports and ESPN writer Bill Connelly tab the Wave to win it forthe first time since 2022. The voters in the coach es’ poll gave the Wave the thir most points (31) among league teams in their preseason to 25,ranking rightbehind 34 fo Memphis and Army’s33.

The forecasts areclearacknowledgements of Sumrall roster-buildingskill considerin breakout star quarterback Da sahtransferred to Duke, two-time Makhi Hughes departed forO gone and acombined fivestar

The staff’s portal successand fiveofthe topseven tacklersr main among the non-powerfi

TULANE OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

QB

RB

12 JAKE RETZLAFF6-1,205, SR. 3Kadin Semonza 5-11, 196, SO.

0MAURICE TURNER 5-10, 190, JR.

20 Arnold Barnes 5-10,216, JR.

7SHAZZ PRESTON6-0, 206,JR.

16 GarrettMmahat6-0, 190, JR.

L T W W

WR WR WR TE LT

L

LG C

83 BRYCEBOHANON 5-9, 185, SR. 1Omari Hayes5-9, 170, SO.

11 TRE SHACKELFORD 6-1, 187,SR. 4Jimmy Calloway 6-0,190, SR.

85 ANTHONYMILLER 6-5.265, SO.

13 Ty Thompson 6-4 224 SR.

76 DERRICK GRAHAM 6-4, 314, SR.

50 Jordan Hall 6-4, 345, SR.

56 SHADRE HURST 6-2, 293, JR.

71 JayceMitchell 6-3, 275, FR.

58 JACK HOLLIFIELD 6-4, 300, SR.

73 Elijah Baker 6-3, 280, FR.

R R

RG RT

51 JOHN BOCK 6-3, 288, SR.

72 Mitch Hodnett 6-5, 295, FR

78 REESEBAKER 6-5, 275, FR.

77 Darion Reed 6-7,318, SO.

Tulane’s tough in the trenches

The excitement starts up front.

“I really feel better aboutthe depth on the O“We’ve gotgoodplayonthe line of scrimmager group as I’vebeenaround.”

Tulane could have as many as 10 quality contri ilton (six tackles forloss, 41/2 sacks) is the only le SantanaHopper(AppalachianState)and rush Paso)excelledinthe spring.End Gerrod Hend of potential as atop reservelast season. TheW Jah’RieGarner back from injuryand welcomed January, including nose tackle Tre’Von McAlpin SumralllabelednosetackleEliytNairne,a Li man GeordanGuidryaslegitimatestarter-qua teredpreseason camp on the two-deep depth cha

“Havingthe versatilitywithin thatgroup is go linebacker SamHoward, the Wave’s topretur

TULANE DEFENSIVE DEPTH CHART DE

NT DE OLB

6KAM HAM

10 Gerrod

95 TRE’VONMCALPINE 6-3,305, JR.

L D

changeable, and the nd thing. To be elit uh oh

93 Elijah Champaigne 6-2, 290, SR

29 SANTANA HOPPER 6-2 265JR.

90 EliytNairne 6-1, 305, SO

OMOWESTMORELAND 6-2,250, SR.

5HarveyDyson 6-3 250 JR

15 SAM HOWARD 6-2,220 SR.

42 Makai Williams6-1, 225, JR.

2DICKSONAGU 6-2,222,SO.

4ChrisRodgers 6-2222 JR.

NB

F S C C N IL IL

CB

CB SS FS K P

3JAVIONWHITE 5-10, 190,SO.

13 TJ Smith 5-10, 175, JR

20 JAHIEM JOHNSON6-0, 189, SO.

22 LJ Green5-10,170, SO

21 JAYDEN LEWIS5-11, 181, SO.

11 E’zaiah Shine6-1185 FR.

32 BAILEY DESPANIE6-1,204, SR.

7Kevin Adams 5-10, 185,SO.

1JACKTCHIENCHOU 5-10, 181, SO.

30 Joshua Moore 6-2, 202, SO

91 PATRICK DURKIN 5-10, 175, FR.

35 Cooper Helmke 6-3165 FR.

38 ALEC CLARK 6-1,184,SO.

34 William Hudlow5-11217,SO.

QB

trong coreupfront will makelifemuch easier forthe players stepping into newroles at the skill positions.QuarterbackJakeRetzlaff, competing with fellowtransfersBrendan Sullivan (Iowa) and Kadin Semonza (Ball State)toreplace Mensah, playedwell for an 11-2BYU team but has only amonth to learn the offenseasalateJulyarrival.

nior Arnold Barnes,who wasdecentasHughes’ primary backup,believeshehas raised his levela couotches in arunning back room thatgoes four but boasts no provenstarter.

ShazzPreston appearscapable of asimilar leap at receiver after missing the first half of 2024with amstring injury.Heisone of severalcandidates looking to replace the production of Mario Williams, tae Fleming, Yulkeith Brownand tightend Alex uman (combined 2,281 yardsreceiving, 146catch18 touchdowns)

the only non-PowerFour conference school to oPowerFouropponents (Northwestern plus and Duke), Tulane needs to getuptospeed tely,particularly with atrip to preseason No. 15 s(coaches’ poll) in September as well. eall of the lost production, Sumrall said the sconsiderably ahead of its pace at thesame season as anew staff adjusted to newplayers. not starting from ground zero,” he said. “We’re complexschematically and getting in alot of differtional thingsthatare giving our defenseprobsexciting. Defensively,wewerevery simplified edid last year.We’re alot moresettled personnel we’rerunning calls in practice fiveatcamp that trun until practice 12 or 15 last year.”

Cajunsnot as seasoned, but coaches convinced club features higher ceiling this season

BYKEVIN FOOTE |Staff writer

The UL Ragin’Cajunshaveplenty to replace from last year’s squad that reached theSun Belt Conference championshipgame.

Ofthe fiveCajuns to earn first-team All-Sun Belthonorslastseason, none of them return.

On offense, gone is theSun BeltOffensivePlayerofthe Year and the topfour receivers.

On defense, the topfive tacklersfromlastfallare gone as well.

On special teams,the Lou GrozaAward winner and thetwo-yearpuntreturner are no longer on the roster

Still, UL coach MichaelDesormeauxand hisstaff areconvincedthe ceilingis higher forthe 2025clubthan the West Divisionchampionsoflastseason.

“We’revery excited about thisteam,”Desormeaux said. “Myexpectationsare extremely high.”

Long story short, what this year’s squad maylack in seasoning, the coachesare hoping to makeupfor in rawtalent.

“I thinkwefeellikeasastaff that we have alittlebit more of atalentedteam than wehad last year,” offensive coordinatorTim Legersaid.“There’s alittle bitmoretalentinthe building.Now,whethertheycometogether,whether they worked theway last year’s groupdid and whether they perform on Saturdayslikel mains to be seen.”

What to expect on of

Thattheme starts at quarte

Miss transfer Walker Howard –o top-fivequarterbackprospect in ofSt. Thomas More –workswit totals zero collegiate touchdown

“We’re not expecting them thereand win the game by th Desormeaux said of the quar roomthatalsofeaturesredshirt omoreLunch Winfield comingo injury-plagued season andredshi freshman DanielBeale.

“It’sjust it’s adifferentfeeling, and there’snofeelinglikebeing backhome,”Howardsaid

BothHowardand hiscoache don’tappear worried about re placing BenWooldridge’s toptargets from ayear ago.

Led by LSU transferShelton Sampson and veterans like Robert Williams, they believe the talent is there.

“There’sa lot of good pieces in the room,and I‘vesaidthisone or twotimes in the past since I’ve been here, but from toptobottom,”Leger said. “Thisisthe best group thatwe’ve had. Toptobottom– it’sthe biggest, it’sthe longest, it’sthe fastest.”

There’s alittle more experience returning on the offensive line,but still plentyto prove. Righttackle GeorgeJackson and rightguardJax Harrington areback –surrounded by part-time starters and seasonedbackups in left tackle BryantWilliams, leftguardKadenMoreauand center CooperFordham

“I’mfeelingalot more comfortable (on left side),”Williamssaid. “I feel like this seasonshould be very,very good forus.”

The bigplan is to rotate the line as much as possibletoavoid late-seasonfatigue.

“It allows youtoplayguysearly on beforetheyhavetoplay,”Desormeaux explained. “You getthem in the mix and youget them experience,and thenIthink it helps youonthe back endtoo,longevity-wise.

“It takes some snaps off of guysthat, youknow, 15 snaps agame, maybetaking it off of someone.”

With Dre’lyn Washington leaving the program, the rushing load withberelying moreonthe duo of Zylan Perry (112-695, 4TDs) and Bill Davis (163-796, 9TDs).

“Bill’sdone areally good job,”Desormeaux said. “This offseason’sbeen phenomenal forhim. He’s gotten his weightdown, He’s down to 220 to 225rightnow.He’s eally good. erry) has gained really good weight, you, and sreally good, he’smoving greatwith it.”

Cajuns’defensive prospects

On the defensiveside, successrevolves around stopping the run betterand being moreaggressiveinthe secondary.

Improveddepth around mainstays Jordan Lawsonand Kadarius Miller up frontshould makea difference.

“I think our defensiveline is probably one of the groups whereyou got the most returning production coming back,”Desormeaux said. “You know, if you’re playing full speed all the time, youcan playbetterfootball.”

Moving Jaden Dugger to inside linebackshould help against the run, as well as becoming the newcommunication leader on ense.

“Jaden’sdone agood jobwith thatfor this offseason, so he’sgot to continue to

grow,” defensivecoordinatorJim Salgadosaid.“He’s agreat,great young man who’ssmart,intelligent. He’s gettingcontrol andbeingable to communicate.”

While outside linebackersAshleyWilliamsand Cameron Whitfield areknown commodities,Terrence Williamsand Kailep Edwardscould alsocontribute to thathigher ceiling goal.

“He’scome al liams.“We’reexc opportunity. He kno of playing the positi running back, ge run game, but als too, wherehe’sg nowit’shis turn.”

The secondary proven, but mor Richmondtransf linson replaces Ke the topcovercorner

“The thing is tha sionand we belie the most importan sonsaid. “Just ha of saying nothing only personthatc ourselves.”

Redshirtjunior boseisexpected game, along with and Jeremiah Mo

“I feel likethe is really clicking on every cylinder,” Dubosesaid.

“We’re really going to click together and be pretty good.”

Last season, the of safety TyreeS is Kody Jacksonfi they’reboth back.

“He’sgot tremendou Salgado said of canfly. He cancove from sideline to he showedwhen tunitytoplayout

“Going back to run …that’sone of worked alot on with

While the abilit Almendares is at the season, UL’s staff is excited about the potential in the return game.

CAJUNS OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

“Wehavefun with it,wecompete,”coach Mike Giuliani said of special teams. “There’sa toughness, but alsoanunderstanding wheretheytruly believe thatitleads to wins.”

QB

4WALKER HOWARD 6-0, 190, RJR. 2LunchWinfield 6-1, 221, RSo.

O O T W W R

DE RB DT RB DE WR

D

L D D

3ZYLAN PERRY5-11207,RJR.

6SHELTON SAMPSON 6-4, 195, RSO. 18 Jaydon Johnson6-2, 227,RJr.

87 KeDariusWade6-4, 198,RSo

88 CADENJENSON 6-6, 264 RSO.

83 Brock Chappell 6-5, 245, Jr

72 J’Marion Gooch 6-8, 320,RSo

0ROBERT WILLIAMS 6-2, 183, RSR.

64 BRYANT WILLIAMS 6-7,329, RJR.

76 Matt Broussard6-3, 305RSo.

75 KadenMoreau6-4, 294, RJr.

75 KADENMOREAU 6-4, 294 RJR.

50 COOPER FORDHAM 6-2, 292, RSO.

79 Mackey Maillho6-8,363, RSr.

67 John Bragg 6-4, 275, RSo.

0JORDANLAWSON 6-4, 243, RSR. 97 Lance Williams6-3, 240, RSo. 7BILL DAVIS 5-9, 235, RSO. 24 StevenBlanco,5-9, 224, RFr.

70JAX HARRINGTON 6-4, 327,RSR.

71 GEORGE JACKSON 6-5, 329, RSR

90 KADARIUS MILLER 6-2, 310, SR. 93 Jaelen Crider 6-3, 310, Gr.

22 Darrell Smith 5-8,280, Fr 41 CHASE EDWARDS 6-7, 271RSO.

68 Fitzgerald West 6-2, 290,RJr.

17 ASHLEY WILLIAMS 6-5, 255, RSO.

31 Drenon Fite 6-4, 230,RJr.

3JADEN DUGGER 6-5, 239,SR.

44 Jake St.Andre6-1, 220, RJr.

6 TERRENCE WILLIAMS 6-1 223, RSr. 16 KailepEdwards 6-0,224, RJR.

9 CAMERON WHITFIELD 6-3, 241, RSR.

38 Na’Tori Brown, 6-5, 228,RFr.

24 LORENZELL DUBOSE6-0, 185, RJR.

10 AveryDemery6-1, 177,RFr.

20 TRAE TOMLINSON 5-10, 175, GR.

23 Jeremiah Moses6-0, 182, RSo.

4TYREE SKIPPER, 6-2, 2-7, RSR.

2Jalen Clark 6-2, 205, RSr.

8 KODY JACKSON 6-0, 195, RSO.

21 Maurion Eleam5-10, 166, RJr.

Southern football has SWAC championship expectations and believesithas the pieces to win it

BYTOYLOYBROWN III |Staff writer

Entering the 2024season, Sou to achievemuch.

Beforeits first season underc team wasvoted to finish fourth in Thosesamelow expectations Jaguars. Theyare coming off an western Athletic Conference title preseason No. 1team in theSWA sportsinformation directors.

Fans should have champions the programfeelsthatsamehung pionshipsince 2013

Coachesand players callthe “blessing,”but it hasn’tchanged bringinga SWAC trophy and ma CelebrationBowltrophy, whichi erdone, back to BatonRouge.

Southern’soffense

The Jaguarsare excitedabou roster,including at themost si position:quarterback.

The playatthatposition last waslargely subpar as the toptwo callers, who each threwatleast passattempts, failed to consisten execute. Both playershavesin transferred and Jalen Woods,the lone returner,isexpected to fulfill that role.

The6-foot-1, 200-pound redshirt sophomoreisthe favoritetostart aftercompleting 38 of 66 passes for541 passing yards, four touchdowns andthree interceptions in six 2024 game appearances.Inhis twostarts, Southern wasvictorious,includinginthe BayouClassic.

Junior JacksonState transferC freshman Dillon Comptonmakeu

quarterback room.The staff is enamored with McCoybecauseofhis exvelspeed forthe position.

timesfor 163rushing yardsand twotouchames at JacksonState.His dual-threat talents pocket-passing preferences of Woods. doesn’tintendonplaying multiple quarterbacksa nlessit’snecessary.However, offensivecoorkFrederick hasn’truled outthe possibilityof agefor McCoywherehis mobilitycan help ituations

ebuilt its running back room after seeing its rushersexit.The team broughtinsix newtailhe portal, and returned redshirt freshman land sophomoreBarry Remo est-name addition is walk-on Trey Holly,aforrecruit and transfer from LSU.The redshirt phomorejoined the Jaguarsafter being suspendat LSU formorethan ayear becauseofhis alleged involvementinaFebruary 2024 shooting.

Holly,now listed at 5-7and 192 pounds,isatantalizing talent who as a true freshman at LSU had 11 carries for 110yards and atouchdown.

Other newpieces in the position group aresenior MikeFranklin from Jacksonville State andredshirt sophomoretransfer Princeton Cahee from Louisiana Tech, who each have astrong case for earning playing time.

Franklin at 6-2and 225pounds should be avaluable weapon in short-yardagesituations.Asajunior,heplayedinfour games and finished with 55 yardsoneightcarries Cahee has been described as explosiveand could be among the fastest players on the team.

The 5-10,190-pound tailback could alsobe an option in the return game, which Southern needs replacements for.

Confidence in the tailbackssucceeding is tied the confidence thestaff has in the offensive The unit returns every starter from last seaept left tackle.

Therewill be an opportunityfor new namestobeimpactful as pass catchers. However, Southern coaches have alreadyexpressedthattheir twomostproductive returners—redshirt juniorwidereceiverDarren Morrisand graduate student tightend Dupree Fuller —are goingtobeheavily involved.

Morris should be the topoption after having team-highsincatches (37) andreceiving yards(434) and snagging three touchdowns.Fuller made the preseason All-SWAC second team offense after haulingin30receptions for370 receiving yardsand twotouchdowns

On special teams,junior KennyPham will be Southern’snew kicker after being the designatedpunterlastseason

Bigexpectations on defense

Southern’sdefensestartsandendswithCkelbyGivens.The6-foot-2,245-pound senior defensiveend should be among the most impactful players in the SWAC regardlessofposition.

He wasnamed the preseasonSWACDefensivePlayerofthe Year and made the Buck Buchanan Awardwatchlist forthe best defensiveplayerinthe FCSafter he led the country in tackles forlosswith 27 1/2and finished third in sackswith12.

The staff has constructed the defensearound Givens,who said he has gotten stronger in the offseason.

When Givens is double- or triple-teamed, the Jaguarswill need to findout who elseonthe inside or the outside of the defensivelinewillapply pressure.The team lost three startersfromits frontfourand will likely need players such as junior defensiveend KaiBrown,a TrinityValleyCommunityCollegetransfer, to produce afterimpressing in the offseason

With Givens setting the tone up front, Southern should alsosee stellar playout of its secondary turn graduate studentHoracio Johns man Brister,who made preseason fir ond-team All-SWAC,respectively.

74 tackles and twointerceptions whil 62 tackles and twointerceptions

The Jaguarshavestrong depth in jah West,who had 10 passbreakups experienced transferslikeZay Fr Southern Miss. In his last healthys 2023, Frankshad 14 tackles (nine so one interception in 14 games, starting Southern returns its most prolific ler –senior linebacker VincentP 13 contests,hehad 95 tackles,which fourth best in the SWAC.Besides se linebacker Jamarlo Campbell, the of the position is filled with moreu provenplayers who either didn’t pla much or arejunior collegetransfers. Forpunts,freshman Nathan Zimmer will likely takethatjob as Pham focuses on kicking.

On paper,Southern hascontinuityin keyareas and depth at positions likerunning back and defensiveback. Graves and his coaches feel theyhave whattheyneed and assuming theyhavegoodinjury luck, the Jaguarsshould remaina favoritet win the SWAC West again.

SOUTHERN OFFENSIVE DEPTH CHART

C C L D R R L L T Q

QB

2JALEN WOODS6-1,200, R-SO. 0Cam’Ron McCoy6-1, 195, JR.

6TREYHOLLY 5-7, 192, R-SO. 7MikeFranklin6-2, 225, SR.

4DARRENMORRIS6-2,190, R-JR.

18 MalachiJackson 6-2, 200, JR.

17 CAMJEFFERSON5-10, 190, R-SO. 14 Kobe Brown5-10, 170,SO.

5DUPREEFULLER 6-3, 225, GR.

84 JERMAIN MINOR 6-5, 225, SR.

74 BRYANWALLACE 6-3, 305, SO.

79 Micheal Washington 6-4, 310, JR.

65 CHRIS GARCIA 6-3, 229, SR.

66 MikyalTrotter 6-2, 305, JR.

62 JUAN GONZALES 6-3, 315, GR.

55 Joshua Trask 6-5, 315, GR.

77 ANTONIOSANDERS 6-5, 300, JR.

57 Clifton Webb 6-3, 300, FR.

68JERON LEWIS6-4, 340, R-JR.

60 Raul Aguilar 6-5, 330,SO.

91 ZACYASSINE6-1,285, R-SR. 95 HabibBello 6-3, 315, JR.

58 JEROMEWALLACE6-2,290, JR.

67 Jayden Rogers6-2, 375, R-SO.

1CKELBYGIVENS 6-2, 245, SR.

67 De’Myrion Johnson6-2, 295, R-Fr.

48 KAIBROWN 6-3, 240, JR.

52 Justin Hillard6-3, 254, SO.

0VINCENT PAIGE 6-2, 225, SR.

34 Greyson Lafleur6-0, 220, SR.

9 JAMARLO CAMPBELL 6-0, 223, SR.

33 Michael Jones6-1, 230, R-SR.

46MARKEIS BATISTE 6-2, 210, R-SO.

36 RickyBrustus 6-0,225, GR.

7 ZAYFRANKS6-3,200, GR.

13 Eric Reed 6-1, 190 GR.

4ELIJAH WEST6-1,188 Sr.

23 LandonCarter 6-2, 199, R-FR.

3HERMANBRISTER 6-2, 205, R-SO.

15 Ty Lee 5-11, 190 SO.

2HORACIO JOHNSON6-0,195, Gr.

5Treylan James6-3, 190,R-SO.