The Advocate 09-04-2025

ICEdetention center plannedatAngola

Landry,Trump officialsunveil‘LouisianaLockup’

BY MEGHANFRIEDMANN Staff writer

Flanked by several top leaders of President Donald Trump’sadministration, Gov.JeffLandry on Wednesday unveiled plans to open anew ICE detention center on the grounds of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Officials said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility would in the next few monthshave the capacity to hold over 400 people asstate leaders seek to assist in Trump’snationwide campaigntoramp up immigration ar-

rests and deportations. There were already51there as of Wednesday,and 208 would be held there by themiddle of themonth, they said.

“This facility is fulfilling the president’s promise to make America safe again,” Landry said. Department of Homeland Security SecretaryKristiNoem, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and ICE Deputy Director MadisonSheahan, whopreviously served as Louisiana’sWildlife and Fisheriessecretary,joined Landry at Angola on Wednesdaytoannounce the opening of what they calledthe

“Louisiana Lockup.” The center’sofficial name is Camp 57 because Landry is the 57thgovernor,a Landry spokesperson said.

Landry saidthe prisonwould house “the worst of the worst”ICE detainees, listing alitany of violent crimes he said were committed by “illegal criminal aliens.”

The detainees willbeheld in abuilding once knownasCampJ,where inmates who broke the rules were kept in solitary confinement.

ä See ANGOLA, page 7A

Letlow rulesout bidto lead LSU

Housemember citesfocus on congressional district

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

U.S. Rep. JuliaLetlow,R-Baton Rouge, on Wednesdayruled outapplying to be the next president of LSU, ending widespread speculation just as the search to replace former President WilliamTate is gearing up. Scott Ballard, who is chairing the search, said he hopes the university will announce Tate’sreplacement before Thanksgiving and, addressing amatter of much speculation,saidGov.Jeff Landry hasn’texpressed to him apreference forwho that person should be.

In her statement, Letlow answered one question about herfuturebut left anotherunanswered: Will she join the threeother Republicans challenging U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy,R-Baton Rouge, in his campaign forreelection?

“For now, Ineed to stay focused on the 5th” CongressionalDistrict, which includes LSU,Letlow told host Brian Haldane on Baton Rouge radio station 107.3. “There’ssomuch more good work that can be accomplished forthe university right here in D.C.” Letlow said, “Ithas been humbling, to say the least, to be considered,” but that “now is not the right timetopursue the presidency of LSU.” Haldane did notask Letlow about herintentions forthe Senate,and Letlow declinedaninterview request from The Times-Picayune |The Advocate after being told she would be asked that and other questions about her political future.

Political insiders have been discussing Letlow’s plans forweeks because of her academic background —she was atop official at the University of

ä See LETLOW, page 7A

EBRschools look to match$2K statestipend forteachers

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

The East Baton Rouge Parishschool system is considering matching astate-funded stipend for teachers and support workers with an identical one of its own. It is atide-me-over proposal until the state’ssecond-largest traditional school district completes an overhaul of its employeecompensation system, which is expectedto

increase the salaries of most, perhaps all,districtemployees. East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent LaMont Cole is asking the parish School Board to approve adistrict-fundedstipend of $2,000 to teachers and$1,000 to support workers. That is the same stipend amount the Legislature approved in June.

“We figured that would be agesture of goodwill,” Cole said. The boardplans to consider the

local stipend when it meets Thursday, with a finalvote set for Sept. 18. State stipend checks are set togo out Nov.26inEast Baton Rouge, anddistrict stipend checks would follow Dec. 23. It is the third year in arow that thestate hasstopped short of approving permanent pay raisesfor school employees,opting instead for aone-timepayment.

The EastBaton Rouge Parish school system approveda sizable

employeepay raise in summer 2024, but opted not to do so again in June when it approved itsannual budgetfor the2025-26 school year.Instead, it hired Huntsville, Alabama-based LEAN Frog Consulting to rework the district’s complicated salary scheduleswith an eye toward employee raises the following school year

But as the summer progressed, Cole said he sawlocal competition for educatorsheat up, so he decid-

ed the district should take action sooner

“Westarted talking about after the budgetprocessand afterseeing what is happening in other school systems in the area,” Cole said. In the nine-parish Baton Rouge metro area, home to 12 public school districts, four approved employeepay raisesfor the 2025-26 school year andthree more passed

ä See TEACHERS, page 7A

U.S. government sued over Maine shooting

LEWISTON, Maine Survivors of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting and relatives of victims sued the federal government Wednesday, alleging that the U.S Army could and should have stopped one of its reservists from carrying out what they call “one of the most preventable mass tragedies in American history.

Eighteen people were killed Oct. 25, 2023, when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill. An independent commission appointed by Maine’s governor later concluded that there were numerous opportunities for intervention by both Army officials and civilian law enforcement as Card’s mental health deteriorated. He was found dead by suicide two days after the shootings.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court on behalf of more than 100 survivors and victims’ family members, accuses the U.S. government of negligence, saying its conduct “directly and proximately caused the mass shooting.” It alleges that Army officials and others “failed to act reasonably, broke the promises they made to Card’s family and their community violated mandatory polices, procedures and disregarded directives and orders.”

“By March 2023, the United States and its personnel knew Card was paranoid, delusional, violent, and lacked impulse control. The Army knew he had access to firearms. The Army promised to remove his guns but did not fulfill that promise,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, through its acts and omissions, the Army withheld information and actively misled local law enforcement, thereby preventing others from intervening and separating Card from his weapons.”

Judge orders immediate redraw of Utah map

A judge has ruled that Utah lawmakers must proceed with redrawing the state’s congressional district map right away pointing to Texas and California in rejecting their argument that the job can’t be done in time for the 2026 midterm elections.

Utah lawmakers were wrong to disregard an independent commission’s map in drawing one that has been used for the 2022 and 2024 elections, Salt Lake County District Judge Dianna Gibson ruled Aug. 25. The map did away with a district in the Salt Lake City area that has swung between Republicans and Democrats in favor of a map where four districts, each with a piece of the urban corridor have been won by Republicans with wide margins.

On Tuesday, Gibson denied state lawmakers’ request to keep her ruling from taking effect, rejecting their argument that her one-month deadline to adopt a map that complies with voterapproved standards is too short. In 2018, Utah voters narrowly approved a ballot initiative that created a commission to draw boundaries for Utah’s legislative and congressional districts.

Two years later, the state Legislature repealed the initiative and turned the commission into an advisory board they proceeded to ignore. The state Supreme Court rejected the law, ruling lawmakers have limited power to change laws passed by voters

Judge reverses Harvard cuts

BY COLLIN BINKLEY and MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press

BOSTON A federal judge in Boston on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to reverse its cuts of more than $2.6 billion in research funding for Harvard University delivering a significant victory to the Ivy League school in its battle with the White House.

U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs ruled the cuts amounted to illegal retaliation for Harvard’s rejection of the Trump administration’s demands for changes to Harvard’s governance and policies.

The government had tied the funding freezes to Harvard’s delays in dealing with antisemitism, but the judge said the university’s federally backed research had little connection to antisemitism.

“A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that (the government) used antisemitism

as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” Burroughs wrote.

The ruling reverses a series of funding freezes that later became outright cuts as the Trump administration escalated its fight with the nation’s wealthiest university

The administration also has sought to prevent the school from hosting foreign students and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status in a clash watched widely across higher education.

The restoration of federal money would revive Harvard’s sprawling research operation and hundreds of projects that sustained cuts. But whether Harvard actually receives the federal money remains to be seen. The government plans an immediate appeal, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in a statement, calling Burroughs an “activist Obama-appointed judge.”

“To any fair-minded observer, it is clear that Harvard University

failed to protect their students from harassment and allowed discrimination to plague their campus for years,” Huston said. “Harvard does not have a constitutional right to taxpayer dollars.”

Harvard’s research scientists said they had been watching the case closely, but feared their funding would not be restored any time soon.

“Many of us are worried that the federal government is going to appeal this decision or find other ways to obstruct the delivery of research dollars, despite the judge’s clear statement that the funding terminations were illegal,” said Rita Hamad, director of a center that researches the impact of social policies on health.

Beyond the courthouse, the Trump administration and Harvard officials have been discussing a potential agreement that would end investigations and allow the university to regain access to federal funding. President Donald

Famed streetcar in Lisbon derails, killing 15 people

BY BARRY HATTON Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal A picturesque electric streetcar that is one of Lisbon’s big tourist attractions derailed Wednesday, killing 15 people and injuring 18 others, emergency services said.

Five of the injured were in serious condition and a child was among the injured, the National Institute for Medical Emergencies said in a statement. An unknown number of foreigners were among the injured, it said.

Authorities called it an accident, the worst in the city’s recent history and it cast a pall over Lisbon’s charm for the millions of foreign tourists who arrive every year

The yellow-and-white streetcar, which is known as Elevador da Gloria and goes up and down a steep downtown hill in tandem with one going the opposite way, was lying on its side on the narrow road that it travels along.

Its sides and top were partially crumpled, and it appeared to have crashed into a building where the road bends. Parts of the vehicle, made mostly of metal, were crushed.

Eyewitnesses told local media that the streetcar careened down the hill, apparently out of control. One witness said the streetcar toppled onto a man on a sidewalk

Carris, the company that operates the streetcar, said scheduled maintenance

had been carried out.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa offered his condolences to affected families, and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas said the city was in mourning. “It’s a tragedy of the like we’ve never seen,” Moedas said.

Portugal’s government announced that a day of national mourning would be observed on Thursday “A tragic accident caused the irreparable loss of human life, which left in mourning their families and dismayed the whole country,” it said in a statement.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also sent her condolences. “It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous Elevador da Gloria,” she wrote in Portuguese on X

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. It reportedly occurred at the start of the evening rush hour, around 6 p.m. Emergency officials said all victims were pulled out of the wreckage in just over two hours.

An investigation into the causes will begin once the rescue operation is over, the government said.

The streetcar technically called a funicular, is harnessed by steel cables and can carry more than 40 people, seated and standing. It is also commonly used by Lisbon residents. The service up and down a few hundred yards of a hill on a curved, traffic-free road was inaugurated in 1885. It is classified as a national monument.

4 sentenced in Milwaukee hotel dogpile death

BY TODD RICHMOND Associated Press

MADISON,Wis. A judge sentenced four former Milwaukee hotel workers accused of killing a man in a suffocating dogpile to a mix of probation and time served Wednesday, sparing them any more time behind bars Milwaukee County Circuit Judge David Swanson handed down the sentences in D’Vontaye Mitchell’s June 2024 death during a series of hearings that lasted all day The judge ordered former Hyatt security guard Todd Erickson to serve two years in prison but stayed the sentence and placed him probation for two years. Another former security guard, Brandon Turner, got a year in prison but Swanson stayed that sentence, too, and placed him on probation for a year. Former bellhop Herbert Williamson

was sentenced to 10 days in jail with credit for 10 days already served. Former front desk worker Devin JohnsonCarson was ordered to serve four days in jail with credit for four days already served.

Attorneys for Erickson, Turner and Williamson didn’t immediately return messages. Johnson-Carson’s attorney Craig Robert Johnson, said in an email to The Associated Press that the sentence was appropriate given that Johnson-Carson was trying to protect hotel guests and staff and never intended to seriously injure Mitchell. According to investigators, Mitchell ran into the Hyatt’s lobby and went into the women’s bathroom Two women later told detectives that Mitchell tried to lock them in the bathroom. Turner pulled Mitchell out of the bathroom and together with a guest dragged him out of the lobby onto a

hotel driveway Turner, Erickson, Williamson and Johnson-Carson struggled with Mitchell before taking him to the ground and piling on top of him.

Hotel surveillance video shows Johnson-Carson holding Mitchell’s legs while Erickson, Turner and Williamson held down his upper body They kept him pinned for eight to nine minutes. By the time emergency responders arrived, Mitchell had stopped breathing.

A medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, finding that Mitchell’s immediate cause of death was suffocation and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Prosecutors initially charged all four employees with being a party to felony murder Turner and Erickson both pleaded guilty to that count. Williamson and Johnson-Carson pleaded guilty to a reduced count of misdemeanor battery

Trump has said he wants Harvard to pay no less than $500 million, but no deal has materialized.

Harvard’s lawsuit accused the Trump administration of waging a retaliation campaign against the university after it rejected a series of demands in an April 11 letter from a federal antisemitism task force. The letter demanded sweeping changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions. It was meant to address government accusations that the university had become a hotbed of liberalism and tolerated anti-Jewish harassment on campus.

Trump officials moved to freeze $2.2 billion in research grants the same day Harvard rejected the administration’s demands. Education Secretary Linda McMahon declared in May that Harvard would no longer be eligible for new grants, and weeks later, the administration began canceling contracts with Harvard.

‘Ketamine Queen’ pleads to selling Perry fatal dose

BY ANDREW DALTON and ITZEL LUNA Associated Press

LOS ANGELES A woman branded as the “Ketamine Queen” pleaded guilty Wednesday to selling Matthew Perry the drug that killed him, becoming the fifth and final defendant charged in Perry’s overdose death to admit guilt.

Jasveen Sangha pleaded guilty to five federal charges, including providing the ketamine that led to Perry’s death. Sangha stood in court Wednesday next to her attorney, Mark Geragos, as she repeated “guilty” five times when U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett asked for her pleas. Before that, she answered “yes, your honor” to dozens of procedural questions, hedging slightly when the judge asked if she knew the drugs she was giving to co-defendant and middleman Erik Fleming were going to Perry Making good on a deal she signed on Aug. 18, Sangha pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises,

three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. Sangha, a 42-year-old citizen of the U.S. and the U.K., admitted to selling drugs directly to 33-yearold Cody McLaury, who died from an overdose in 2019. McLaury had no connection to Perry Prosecutors agreed to drop three other counts. The final plea deal came a year after federal prosecutors announced the indictments in Perry’s Oct. 28, 2023, death after a sweeping investigation. Sangha is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 10. She could get up to 65 years in prison. Sangha and Dr Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty in July, had been the primary targets of the investigation. Three others — Dr Mark Chavez, Kenneth Iwamasa and Fleming pleaded guilty in exchange for their cooperation. Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home by Iwamasa, his assistant. The medical examiner ruled that ketamine was the primary cause of death.

Fla. plans to end childhood vaccine mandates

BY CURT ANDERSON Associated Press

ST PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida plans to become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates, a longtime cornerstone of public health policy for keeping schoolchildren and adults safe from infectious diseases.

ment, said at a news conference in Valrico. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body Take it away from them.”

which not only impacts those families but also the local economy.”

Vaccines have saved at least 154 million lives globally over the past 50 years, the World Health Organization reported in 2024. The majority of those were infants and children.

Florida’s plan to end vaccine mandates “would undermine decades of public health progress.”

state that’s done as much as Florida. We want to stay ahead of the curve,” the governor said.

State Surgeon General Dr Joseph Ladapo, who announced the decision Wednesday, cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on people’s rights that hamper parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.

“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establish-

Florida’s move, a significant departure from decades of public policy and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially among schoolchildren, is a notable embrace of the Trump administration’s public health agenda led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a longtime anti-vaccine activist.

Dr Rana Alissa, chair of the Flor-

ida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said removing vaccines puts students and school staff at greater risk.

“When everyone in a school is vaccinated, it is harder for diseases to spread and easier for everyone to continue learning and hav-

ing fun,” Alissa said in an email.

“When children are sick and miss school, caregivers also miss work,

In Florida, vaccine mandates for child day care facilities and public schools include shots for measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, diphtheriatetanus-acellular pertussis, polio and other diseases according to the state Health Department’s website Ladapo didn’t give a timeline for the changes but said the department can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, though others would require action by the Florida Legislature. He did not specify any particular vaccines but repeated several times that the effort would end “all of them. Every last one of them.”

The American Medical Association issued a statement saying

“While there is still time, we urge Florida to reconsider this change to help prevent a rise of infectious disease outbreaks that put health and lives at risk,” said Dr Sandra Adamson Fryhofer, an AMA trustee.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat whose district is in the Tampa Bay area, said in a statement that “immunizations are key to a long, healthy life free from serious illnesses. This misguided announcement likely will raise costs and complicate easy access.”

Under Republican Gov Ron DeSantis, Florida resisted imposing COVID vaccines on schoolchildren during the pandemic, requiring “passports” for places that draw crowds, school closures and mandates that workers get the shots to keep their jobs.

“I don’t think there’s another

DeSantis also announced the creation of a state “Make America Healthy Again” commission Wednesday modeled after similar initiatives that Kennedy established at the federal level.

The commission would look into such things as allowing informed consent in medical matters, promoting safe and nutritious food, boosting parental rights in medical decisions about their children and eliminating “medical orthodoxy that is not supported by the data,” DeSantis said.

The commission’s work will help inform a large “medical freedom package” to be introduced in the Legislature next session, which would address the vaccine mandates required by state law and make permanent the recent state COVID decisions relaxing restrictions, DeSantis said.

3 states form health alliance in rebuke of administration

Governors believe Americans’ health and safety at risk

BY MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press

SEATTLE The Democratic governors of Washington, Oregon and California announced Wednesday that they created an alliance to safeguard health policies, believing the Trump administration is putting Americans’ health and safety at risk by politicizing the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

prevention — “preventing illness, preventing the spread of disease, and preventing early avoidable deaths.”

“Vaccines are among the most powerful tools in modern medicine; they have indisputably saved millions of lives,” Oregon Health Director Sejal Hathi said. “But when guidance about their use becomes inconsistent or politicized, it undermines public trust at precisely the moment we need it most.”

toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies.”

from respected national medical organizations. Above, a COVID-19 shot is administered Jan. 21, 2022, in Seattle.

“The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences,” the governors said in a joint statement.

“The dismantling of public health and dismissal of experienced and respected

The move comes with COVID-19 cases rising and as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has restructured and downsized the CDC and attempted to advance anti-vaccine policies that are contradicted by decades of scientific research. Concerns about staffing and budget cuts were heightened after the White House sought to oust the agency’s director and some top CDC leaders resigned in protest.

health leaders and advisers, along with the lack of using science, data, and evidence to improve our nation’s health are placing lives at risk,” California State Health Officer Erica Pan said in the news release. Washington state Health Secretary Dennis Worsham said public health is about

House rejects effort to censure N.J. rep over actions at detention center

La.’s Higgins sponsored measure

BY MATT BROWN and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

The partnership plans to coordinate health guidelines by aligning immunization plans based on recommendations from respected national medical organizations, said a joint statement from Gov. Bob Ferguson of Washington, Gov Tina Kotek of Oregon and Gov Gavin Newsom of California.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew G. Nixon shot back in a statement Wednesday that “Democratrun states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns,

He said the administration’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, public health agencies across the country have started taking steps to ensure their states have access to vaccines after U.S. regulators came out with new policies that limited access to COVID-19 shots.

Illinois Gov JB Pritzker’s health department said last week it is seeking advice from medical experts and its own Immunization Advisory Committee on COVID-19 vaccines and other immunizations for the fall

respiratory season. The New Mexico Department of Health said it would work with the state’s Board of Pharmacy to remove barriers and allow access to COVID vaccines at pharmacies across the state.

On Wednesday, Pennsylvania Gov Josh Shapiro said at his request, the State Board of Pharmacy voted to protect access to COVID-19 vaccines for those most in need and make it available at CVS pharmacies across the state. Last month, public officials from eight Northeast states met in Rhode Island to discuss coordinating vaccine recommendations. The group included all the New England states except for New Hampshire, as well as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Massachusetts Gov Maura Healey, a Democrat who has been critical of federal cuts to public health funding and restrictions on vaccines, said her state was leading the bipartisan coalition.

WASHINGTON The House rejected a resolution to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., and remove her from a committee that oversees immigration and national security as she faces federal charges ste mming from a visit to an immigration detention facility The House voted 215207 to table the measure, a sign that some were uncomfortable moving forward with censure while McIver’s case is still pending in the courts. A trial in her case has been scheduled for November Democratic lawmakers

unanimously voted to table the resolution, which was sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette. Five Republicans joined them and two others voted present. As the resolution was being read, some Democrats were incensed “Liar,” some shouted; “Shame,” yelled one Democratic lawmaker Many Republicans streamed out of the chamber before the vote concluded. Democrats cheered and hugged at the final tally’s reading “The censure attempt against me has failed. Rightfully so. It was a baseless, partisan effort to shut me up,” McIver wrote on social media after the vote. “I was not elected to play political games — I was elected to serve. I won’t back down. Not now Not ever.” Republicans sought to punish McIver for a confrontation with federal law enforcement during a congressional visit to a new immigration detention facility in Newark, N.J. McIver has pleaded not guilty to federal charges

accusing her of assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside the facility

The censure resolution recounted how McIver is alleged to have interfered with Homeland Security Investigations officials’ ability to arrest an unauthorized visitor It said she is alleged to have slammed her forearm into the body and forcibly grabbed an HSI officer The resolution also said body camera and other video evidence supported the allegations made in the federal indictment.

Higgins said he would not have moved forward with the resolution if McIver had withdrawn from the Homeland Security panel pending a resolution of the federal charges against her He said it was a conflict for her to serve on a panel with oversight authority over the agencies at the center of her criminal investigation.

“We didn’t expect it to fail. We knew it would be close, but it’s quite disappointing,” Higgins said.

1,040 HHS workers want RFK Jr. out

BY BRIAN NIEMIETZ

New york Daily News (TNS)

More than 1,000 past and present Health and Human Service workers signed a petition calling for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr

The dissatisfied health care professionals addressed their “Enough is Enough” request to Kennedy and Congress asking the latter to appoint a new HHS leader should the current one choose to remain in his position.

“Our oath requires us to speak out when the Constitution is violated and the American people are put at risk,” the petition published online Wednesday reads. “Thus, we warn the president, Congress, and the public that Secretary Kennedy’s actions are compromising the health of this nation, and we demand Secretary Kennedy’s resignation.”

The 71-year-old Trump administration appointee’s position on medical issues including vaccines alarmed many in the medical

community before the activist was sworn in to lead the HHS in February.

The 1,040 Kennedy critics cite his refusal to be briefed by “well-regarded CDC experts on vaccine-preventable diseases” among their reasons for demanding his dismissal.

He’s also blamed for facilitating the departures of medical experts including Senateconfirmed CDC Director Dr Susan Monarez and “appointing political ideologues who pose as scientific experts.”

Those who signed the petition include workers with ties to the Administration for Children and Families, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency

HHS responded to Wednesday’s petition with a statement claiming the CDC has been “broken for a long time” and vowed to fix it

Vance meets with families of shooting victims

BY STEVE KARNOWSKI and MARK VANCLEAVE Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS Vice Presi-

dent JD Vance on Wednesday met with families and victims of a deadly shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis, and heard a heartfelt plea for action from at least one of those families.

Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, visited the Annunciation Catholic Church one week after an attacker opened fire during the first Mass of the school year for students of the nearby Annunciation Catholic School. According to Vance’s office, the vice president and second lady Usha Vance met privately with family members of victims, the pastor of the parish and the school principal. They included the parents of the two children who died, Fletcher Merkel, 8, and Harper Moyski, 10, and families of some of the 21 people who were injured. The couple also visited the church sanctuary where the shootings took place, to pay their respects to the victims and their families, and laid bouquets at a me-

this day did,” Vance told reporters.

The Vances also went to Children’s Hospital, where several victims were treated, and met Lydia Kaiser who is recovering from surgery Her parents urged Vance to use his position to find real solutions to gun violence.

“When you pray move your feet.” It’s an expression of the idea that thoughts and prayers are not enough.

morial outside. They paused to read messages chalked on the church steps, including. “God Heals The Broken Hearted,” “We Love you,” and “Show Love.”

“I have never had a day that will stay with me like

“We disagree about so many things,” her father, Harry Kaiser, a gym teacher at the school, told reporters, reading from a letter he wrote to Vance. “... But on just this one issue of gun violence, will you please promise me as a father and a Catholic — that you will earnestly support the study of what is wrong with our culture — that we are the country that has the worst mass shooter problem?”

The parents did not take questions. But mother Leah Kaiser cited a proverb quoted by Principal Matthew DeBoer and many others in the days since the shootings,

“Vice President Vance, you have enormous authority,” she continued. “Please use this moment to move your feet and transcend our political divides to promote peace and unity and hope. This is what the people of the United States will hold you accountable to.”

Some family and neighbors gathered nearby as the Vances arrived at the church, holding signs calling for bans on assault weapons. One read, “Pro-Life = Pro-Gun Safety.” Another referred to comments by Pope Leo on Sunday, “Listen to the Pope, End the Pandemic of Arms.”

“It keeps happening over and over and over, and nothing changes,” said Kacie Sharpe. Her 8-year-old son, Trip, considered Fletcher his best friend, and was sitting nearby when he was

shot and killed. “And it’s the most helpless feeling in the world to know that you can’t send your kids to school and have them be safe.” Vance later declined to weigh in on how Minnesota lawmakers or Democratic Gov Tim Walz should respond to the tragedy, including the governor’s stated intention to call a special session of the Legislature to address gun and school safety “I would just say, take the concerns of these parents seriously,” Vance told reporters. “I think all of us, Democrat, Republican and independent, want these school shootings to happen less frequently Hopefully there’s some steps that we can take to make that happen.” The meeting at the church lasted roughly an hour and 45 minutes. As Vance left, his motorcade rolled past a few dozen protesters, several holding signs saying, “Hate Won’t Make America Great.”

House votes to establish subcommittee to reinvestigate Jan. 6

BY JUSTIN PAPP

WASHINGTON A select subcommittee to continue a Republican-led reinvestigation of the events around Jan. 6, 2021, has officially been given the green light.

It’s been a long time coming for Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., who helmed a similar subpanel under the House Administration Committee last Congress and lobbied leadership for a new venue in the 119th. Roughly eight months after Loudermilk and Speaker Mike Johnson announced their intentions to form the subcommittee — and after prolonged negotiations — he’s finally cleared to get to work No roster for the subcommittee has been announced but Loudermilk said Wednesday he had plans to meet later that afternoon with the speaker’s office and expects to be up and running “very quickly.”

“It’s like deer hunting. The fun ends when you pull the trigger Now you’ve got to clean the deer Now the work begins,” Loudermilk said outside the House chamber following the vote. “I want to be able to get to the truth find out where the failures were, and let’s fix them. That’s all we’re asking.”

House leaders tucked the resolution creating the subpanel, which will operate under the Judiciary Committee, into a rule teeing up the fiscal 2026 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill and other measures, avoiding a standalone vote on the highly controversial Jan. 6 subcommittee The House voted on party lines in favor of the rule, authorizing the subcommittee in the process through a tactic known as “deem and pass.” The panel will consist of five Republicans appointed by Johnson, R-Benton, and three Democrats appointed by House Minority Leader

Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and is instructed to publish a final report at the end of the 119th Congress, according to the resolution.

Democrats have panned Loudermilk’s efforts around Jan. 6 as a thinly veiled attempt to redirect blame for the attack and exonerate President Donald Trump, who fueled conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. They’ve pointed to the fact that Loudermilk was investigated by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 select committee in the 117th Congress for allegedly leading a reconnaissance tour the day before the attack, though Capitol Police cleared him of wrongdoing.

“I confess that I’m delighted to hear our Republicans colleagues are going to carry out another self-inflicted political wound by creating a nationwide televised opportunity to review their ongoing complicity with, and apologetics for, violent insurrection and Donald

Trump plans to ask court to toss verdict

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press

NEW YORK President Donald Trump will soon ask the Supreme Court to throw out a jury’s finding in a civil lawsuit that he sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, his lawyers said in a recent court filing.

Trump’s lawyers previewed the move as they asked the high court to extend its deadline for challenging the $5 million verdict from Sept. 10 to Nov 11. The president “intends to seek review” of “significant issues” arising from the trial and the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ subsequent decisions upholding the verdict, his lawyers said Carroll testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack in the dressing room at a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower The jury also found Trump liable for defaming Carroll when he made comments in October 2022 denying her allegation. A three-judge appellate panel upheld the verdict last December, rejecting Trump’s claims that trial Judge Lewis A Kaplan’s de-

cisions spoiled the trial, including by allowing two other Trump sexual abuse accusers to testify The women said Trump committed similar acts against them Trump denied all three women’s allegations. In June, 2nd Circuit judges denied Trump’s petition for the full appellate court to take up the case. That left Trump with two options: accept the result and allow Carroll to collect the judgment, which he’d previously paid into escrow, or fight on to the Supreme Court. Trump skipped the 2023 trial but testified briefly at a follow-up defamation trial last year that ended with a jury ordering him to pay Carroll an additional $83.3 million. The second trial resulted from comments Trump made in 2019 after Carroll first made the accusations publicly in a memoir

Judge Kaplan presided over both trials and instructed the second jury to accept the first jury’s finding that Trump had sexually abused Carroll.

Trump’s lawyers said Kaplan compounded his “significant errors” at first trial by “improperly preventing” Trump from contesting the first jury’s finding that he had sexually abused Carroll, leading to an “unjust judgment of $83.3 million.”

Trump’s sinister attempt to overthrow a presidential election,” House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in July, after Loudermilk introduced the resolution to form the subcommittee. The announcement of plans for the new subcommittee earlier this year came directly on the heels of Trump’s decision to pardon most Jan. 6 defendants. Since then, the government agreed to a nearly $5 million settlement with the family of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer during the melee.

Loudermilk, as chair of the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee in the 118th Congress, led the charge to publish Jan. 6-related security footage online. He produced a report and documents clearing his own

name. And he took aim at Liz Cheney, the former Wyoming Republican lawmaker who sat on the Jan. 6 Select Committee and has become a vocal Trump critic.

In a final report released in December Loudermilk recommended that Cheney should be investigated by the FBI for her handling of witnesses. Cheney at the time described the findings as “a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth,” adding that “no reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.” Despite accusations of whitewashing, Loudermilk said he’s not out to rewrite history

Loudermilk said he wants to better understand the politics that may have led to a delay in calling the National Guard to assist law enforcement during the attack. He also wants to look closer at

the confidential informants the FBI has acknowledged were in the crowd that day and how intelligence agencies missed warnings about the attack.

“How did they not know this was coming, if you pay somebody to give you intelligence, right?” Loudermilk said. “I think the answer is, they probably did. What did they do with that intelligence?”

Democrats on Wednesday reupped their criticisms of the effort.

Rep. Jim McGovern, ranking member on the House Rules Committee, said Republicans were creating the committee “to rewrite the history of what happened here on Jan. 6, 2021. They are so desperate to paper over what happened that day, to whitewash it, and to pretend it was a normal tourist visit.”

BUSINESS

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Newsmax files antitrust lawsuit against Fox

NEW YORK The conservative news network Newsmax filed an antitrust lawsuit against Fox News on Wednesday saying Fox has sought to maintain its market dominance through intimidation and exclusionary business practices designed to stifle competition.

Fox has sought to block television distributors from carrying Newsmax or minimize its exposure, pressured guests not to appear on the rival network and hired private detectives to investigate Newsmax executives, said the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in south Florida Newsmax seeks a jury trial.

Newsmax, which has operated since 2014, is attacking Fox News at perhaps its most popular point: the cable network’s opinion programming has consistently beaten broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC in prime time over the summer months Its rivals pointed at a series of hardball business tactics in the complex world of television distribution. Fox’s success enables it to charge distributors “outsized” fees to carry the network, and it tries to force distributors either not to carry competitors who seek access to conservative viewers or make it hard to find them. Fox has also tried to deliberately block Newsmax from growing platforms like Hulu, Sling and Fubo, the complaint alleged ConocoPhillips to lay off 25% of its workforce

NEW YORK Oil giant ConocoPhillips is planning to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, amounting to thousands of jobs, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs.

A spokesperson for ConocoPhillips confirmed the layoffs Wednesday noting that 20% to 25% of the company’s employees and contractors would be impacted. ConocoPhillips currently has a global headcount of about 13,000 meaning that the cuts would impact between 2,600 and 3,250 workers.

“We are always looking at how we can be more efficient with the resources we have,” a ConocoPhillips’ spokesperson said via email, adding that the company expects the “majority of these reductions” to take place before the end of 2025. News of the coming layoffs was first reported by Reuters, with anonymous sources telling the outlet that CEO Ryan Lance detailed the plans in a video message earlier Wednesday In that video, Reuters reported, Lance said the company needed “fewer roles” while he cited rising costs.

C-SPAN reaches deal with YouTube, Hulu

NEW YORK C-SPAN said Wednesday that it had reached a deal to have its three channels air on YouTube TV and Hulu’s live television feed, ending a dispute that had led to a revenue squeeze for the public affairs network in the cordcutting era. The network said the streaming services would pay the same fee as cable and satellite companies, roughly 87 cents a year per subscriber, and that CSPAN would continue its no-advertising policy on television Congress involved itself in the issue, passing a resolution this spring calling on the services’ parent companies Alphabet for YouTube and Disney for Hulu — to add C-SPAN to their programming. Because congressional sessions and hearings represent a big portion of C-SPAN’s programming, the politicians faced diminished airtime without a deal. At its peak a decade ago, CSPAN was seen in some 100 million homes with television. The number of homes paying for TV has since dropped to some 70 million, with roughly 20 million of those consumers now getting television through services like YouTube and Hulu and they weren’t showing C-SPAN.

Markets steady as tech stocks rise

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK Wall Street steadied on Wednesday after Alphabet and other technology stocks rallied. It also got some relief from easing pressure from the bond market, where the latest discouraging report on the U.S. job market bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon to support the economy The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to

break the two-day losing slide it had been on since setting its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 24 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1%.

Google’s parent company was one of the strongest forces lifting the market and jumped 9.1% after avoiding some of the worst-case scenarios in its antitrust case. A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a shake-up of Google’s search engine but did not force a sale of its

Chrome browser Also helping to steady Wall Street was a calming bond market. A day earlier, yields climbed worldwide on worries about governments’ abilities to repay their growing mountains of debt, as well as concerns that President Donald Trump’s pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut short-term interest rates could lead to higher inflation in the long term. On Wednesday, Treasury yields retreated following the latest

report on the U.S. job market to come in weaker than expected.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.22% from 4.28% late Tuesday, for example. The report showed that U.S. employers were advertising 7.2 million job openings at the end of July, fewer than economists had forecast.

The number bolsters the sense on Wall Street that the job market may be ossifying into a low-hire, low-fire state.

ROBOT REVOLUTION

Auto workers are being retrained for automation improvements

BY SUMMER BALLENTINE and LUKE RAMSETH

The Detroit News (TNS)

General Motors Co. worker Annie Ignaczat spent years walking in circles on concrete factory floors, assembling the same parts and counting down hundreds of pieces she and her co-workers needed to finish before lunch.

“You’re doing the same movement hundreds, if not thousands, of times every day for the week,” Ignaczat said. “It wears your body down.”

Work at GM’s Parma metal plant near Cleveland, Ohio, was monotonous, she said, and the risks of knee and shoulder replacements caused by the stress of repeated movements were well known.

Over time, Ignaczat watched the facility become more automated, adding new robots to complete the same tasks that she once performed. She didn’t immediately see another option for herself until co-workers urged her to join a GM apprenticeship program at the carmaker’s Technical Learning Center in Warren.

“I used to do a job that a robot does now,” she said. “But now my new job being in the trades, I service the robot So when the robot breaks, that’s what I work on.”

Automakers, including GM, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV, often point out how robots are used to increase safety ergonomics and product quality But experts say another benefit of robots for automakers is keeping labor costs down, meaning fewer jobs for humans.

“You’re going to see lots more automation because assembly labor is expensive,” said Dan Hearsch, global co-leader of automotive and industrial practice at the consulting firm AlixPartners.

The auto industry first adopted robots in the factory back in 1961 with a machine called Unimate that was installed in a New Jersey GM plant.

Now, all types of robots can be found in auto plants, shaping sheet metal and parts, welding together bodies and painting. And there are signs that higher levels of automation are coming even in the car’s final assembly process, which has been notoriously tough to automate due to its complexity and moving lines.

Take Ford, which last month announced a $2 billion investment in its Louisville Assembly Plant to build a new $30,000 electric pickup truck. The factory — which Ford says will be its most automated in the world will include three streamlined sub-assembly lines that incorporate robots and artificial intelligence features. The new system will limit the number of difficult maneuvers that employees must perform to install parts.

The plant is expected to require about 40% fewer workstations and 600 fewer workers to keep running than are currently needed to build gas-powered SUVs, though the car-

maker said those extra employees will be able to find work at another facility

“What this does is, in the final (assembly) where typically you’re in the low single-digit percentages in automation, we’re substantially higher than that,” said Bryce Currie, Ford’s vice president of manufacturing for the Americas, of the revamped plant.

Another example is Hyundai Motor Co. The Korean automaker recently opened a Georgia factory to build EVs; it says the facility uses more than 1,000 robots and automated guided vehicles that will, when fully staffed, eventually work alongside more than 8,000 humans. Among them: robotic dogs named Spot that conduct quality control tasks.

The company said last week it will set up a new robotics innovation facility in the United States to develop and produce additional robots for its factories.

GM says beyond adding robots to handle repetitive or heavy tasks, it is integrating automation features in the product development phase, and as it checks for defects.

Ed Duby, who heads propulsion systems for the Detroit automaker said the company now uses imaging tools often found in health care to analyze issues in batteries or engine parts, rather than workers needing to carefully take them apart. Those images can then be paired with machine learning to more quickly identify defects on other components.

Tariff effect

Robot installations by automakers in the United States were up 11% last year, according to the International Federation of Robotics. In North America, automakers and suppliers bought almost 9,000 robots in the first half of this year — an increase from last year and accounting for about half of the robots purchased across all industries, according to

data from the Ann Arbor-based Association for Advancing Automation.

Still, analysts and executives said the robot market’s growth is being temporarily held back by uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs as well as a pullback in EV investments.

In theory, higher tariffs mean auto companies will need to shift more of their manufacturing to the United States, and that will mean building more automated factories to save money on the higher cost of labor

But Hearsch said companies are still holding off on these big decisions, as they continue to wait and see how Trump’s tariffs play out and which levies will remain in place long-term.

Any companies looking to make a quick move stateside to avoid tariffs aren’t likely to be buying up lots of new robotics and other equipment, he said, but rather shifting their existing production line from another country to a building in the United States. In the longer run, though, robot companies that serve the auto industry expect to capitalize on Trump’s reshoring push — even as some of their own imports are hit by higher tariffs that include 50% levies on steel and aluminum.

“The high cost of labor is on everybody’s mind,” said Ed Marchese, head of automotive at ABB Robotics, which has its U.S. factory in Auburn Hills. “So as companies look to reshore, the question is, how am I going to be competitive? At the end of the day, take the tariffs away, take all the other political stuff away, anybody producing in this country still has to be globally competitive.”

He expects automakers and suppliers to have more clarity by the end of the year and that will mean a rise in robot sales. “Robots are coming — we have faith in the market,” Marchese said during a tour of the company’s Michigan factory earlier this summer

Preliminary list of jobs exempt from income tax released

BY FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON Golf caddies, blackjack dealers and house painters are among the jobs covered under the Trump administration’s preliminary list of occupations not required to pay income tax on their tips under Republicans’ new tax cuts and spending bill. A bit more unexpected? Podcasters and social media influencers will also be excluded from forking over a portion of their tips, accord-

ing to the list released Tuesday by the Treasury Department. The provision in the law signed by President Donald Trump in July eliminates federal income taxes on tips for people working in jobs that have traditionally received them It’s temporary and runs from 2025 until 2028. It applies to people who make less than $160,000 in 2025. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that there were roughly 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023, which amounts to roughly 2.5% of all jobs. The administration was required to publish a list of qualifying occupations within 90 days of the bill’s signing. The full list of occupations is located on the Treasury Depart-

ment website. They are broken down into eight categories, including beverage and food service; entertainment and events; hospitality and guest services; home services; personal services; personal appearance and wellness; recreation and instruction; and transportation and delivery Among other jobs exempted from tax on tips are sommeliers, cocktail waiters, pastry chefs, cake bakers, bingo workers, club dancers, DJs, clowns, streamers, online video creators, ushers, maids, gardeners, electricians, house cleaners, tow truck drivers, wedding planners, personal care aides, tutors, au pairs, massage therapists, yoga instructors, cob-

blers, skydiving pilots, ski instructors parking garage attendants, delivery drivers and movers.

A report from the Budget Lab shows that the effects of the law would be small, given that tipped workers tend to be lower income. More than 37% of tipped workers, or over one third, earned income low enough that they faced no federal income tax in 2022.

“The larger and far more uncertain effect would stem from behavioral changes incentivized by the bill, such as substitution into tipped employment and tipped income, which would increase the bill’s overall cost,” states the report, which was written by Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at the Budget Lab.

Trump proposes sending Guard to patrol N.O.

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Sparking strong local and state reactions, President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he could send federal agents and National Guard troops to patrol New Orleans, part of a series of intervention threats the president has levied against Democratic-led cities. If the Republican president follows through, it would make New Orleans the first Democratic city in a Republican-led state to become a target of Trump’s widening bid to flex federal power in Democratic

LETLOW

Continued from page 1A

Louisiana at Monroe before her husband’s death in 2020 prompted her to run for Congress — and the positive reviews she’s received during her four years in Washington, D.C.

“I think she is brilliant as it relates to higher ed,” Ballard said, adding that he guessed “family and politics played a role in what was best for her I thought it was 50/50. She didn’t consult me.”

Letlow, who is from the Monroe area, recently moved to Baton Rouge with her two small children. She is expected to run for reelection if she doesn’t give up her seat to run against Cassidy

Search ramps up

In the meantime, the outside firm hired by LSU’s Board of Supervisors began accepting “inquiries” last week, said Christel Slaughter, the CEO of SSA Consultants in Baton Rouge, after placing job postings on the websites for the Chronicle of Higher Education and higheredjobs.com.

Slaughter said potential applicants are posing questions and, in some cases, providing cover letters, résumés and references. SSA will forward the top applicants to the search committee chaired by Ballard, who owns PJ’s Coffee with two of his brothers. Ballard also chairs the LSU Board of Supervisors

The presidential search committee has met once and will gather next on Oct. 1, Ballard said. He said the 19-member search committee — which includes seven of the 16 members of the LSU board — will issue a recommendation to the full LSU board.

“By the middle of October, we should have the names and narrow it down to five, four or three,” Ballard said. After that, Ballard added, the finalists will meet with the university’s 13 Boyd Professors, “who have attained national or international distinction for outstanding teaching, research, or other creative achievement,” according to LSU’s website.

The finalists also will meet separately with senior university staff.

The presidential search members will attend those two meetings and seek the views of Boyd professors and senior staff afterward.

enclaves Crime is on a decline in the city, data shows.

“We’re making a determination now: Do we go to Chicago, or do we go to a place like New Orleans, where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that’s become quite tough, quite bad,” Trump told reporters while meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki. Trump’s remarks were welcomed Wednesday by Landry, a Republican who has intervened in the city’s affairs in varied ways since his 2024 inauguration, including by sending

State Police troopers to patrol the city’s streets.

“We will take President Trump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport,” Landry a conservative Trump ally, responded in a post on X.

Trump has sent troops to two other majority-Democratic cities — Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. And he has threatened to send them to Baltimore and Chicago.

Local and state Democratic leaders there have fought the dispatches and have argued that federal resources would be better spent elsewhere. California, meanwhile, has sued, challenging the president’s

right to intervene at all.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who is under federal criminal indictment brought by Trump’s Justice Department, in a statement did not critique the proposal. Instead, the mayor’s administration and the New Orleans Police Department praised past partnerships between the state and the federal government, including after the New Year’s Day vehicleramming attack on Bourbon Street earlier this year

“We have consistently worked with our federal partners, including collaborations with the Louisiana State Police,” the statement read.

“This collaborative approach has been instrumental in our ongoing success in reducing crime.”

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, who represents New Orleans and Baton Rouge and who is one of two Democrats in Louisiana’s six-member congressional delegations, swiftly condemned the proposal, calling on Trump to use federal powers in different ways that Carter said would bring more meaningful change than the president’s plan. Other Democrats also offered loud criticism.

“Militarizing the streets of New Orleans is not a solution. Period,” Carter said in a statement.

ANGOLA

Continued from page 1A

Political insiders have been saying in recent weeks that Wade Rousse, who has been president of McNeese State University since April 2024, has the inside track. The insiders believe he’s the favorite of Landry and Lee Mallett, the vice chair of both the LSU board and the search committee, who is close with the governor

“Wade is a smart person,” Ballard said. “I know him from higher ed. If he chooses to apply he should be looked at closely He’s had a phenomenal career I would not say he has an inside track. He’ll be given a fair shake like any else.”

Ballard added that he has not discussed any candidates with Landry Mallett, who was originally appointed to the board by then-Gov Bobby Jindal and was reappointed by then-Gov John Bel Edwards and then Landry, said news accounts that he is supporting Rousse are incorrect.

“He’s done a fabulous job at McNeese State, but it’ll be up to him to prove himself among all the candidates,” Mallett said. “My main objective is I want to get someone from Louisiana. I don’t understand why we have to think we have to bring someone from out of state. Then we have to teach them the culture and teach them the politics.”

Ballard said he would leave questions about changing the responsibilities of LSU’s president to Tate’s successor, including possibly dividing those responsibilities between two jobs LSU previously had a system president and a chancellor in charge of the main Baton Rouge campus. Mum on Senate run

Now that Letlow has ruled out trying to replace Tate, the time is drawing near for her to make a decision on whether she’ll run against Cassidy and the other candidates who have already declared Candidates have to qualify for next year’s elections in mid-January Plans by Landry to call a special legislative session beginning on Oct. 23 could complicate Letlow’s timetable, because that session will redraw Louisiana’s six congressional districts in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling that could invalidate the current congressional map. For now, Cassidy’s challengers are: Treasurer John Fleming; state Sen. Blake Miguez, of New Iberia; and Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta, who represents suburban New Orleans.

“I’m looking for someone who has previous experience in higher ed,” Ballard said. “It would be awesome if they had previous experience in the real world as well. I’d like someone who can fundraise — raising money is a big part of being president today and understands (Washington) D.C. I’d like someone who has experience working with endowed professors. I hope that person understands our culture not only in Louisiana but across the SEC and our flagship-type schools.”

TEACHERS

Continued from page 1A

district-funded stipends — East Baton Rouge would be the fourth. East Feliciana, Livingston and Pointe Coupee parishes are the only districts in the region that have yet to approve either pay raises or stipends. Baker in June opted to convert its remaining schools into charter schools.

East Baton Rouge school leaders are estimating the cost of the proposed stipend at almost $12 million The

money would come from Proposition 3, a portion of the proceeds from a 1-cent sales tax earmarked for education. In June, Proposition 3 was projected to start the current school year with a surplus of $36.9 million. As far as the changes to the salary schedule, Cole said he is hoping to see some recommendations from LEAN Frog by late October

“We believe that a large part of the (employee) population will get a raise naturally as a result of the salary study,” Cole said. For employees who don’t,

The building was shuttered in 2018 amid safety concerns, but Landry signed an emergency declaration allowing the state to skip regular bidding processes and swiftly renovate the building.

The cells have been refurbished and have air conditioning, said Kate Kelly, a Landry spokesperson.

The federal government approached Landry about the need for more detention space for ICE, and “he offered us a solution,” Noem said. “Louisiana is one of several states that have been stepping up to help solve these problems,” she said. Angola was chosen in part because of its notorious reputation, in an effort to convince people to self-deport, she said.

Immigration crackdown

Trump and Republicans have made halting illegal immigration a top priority, dramatically increasing funding for ICE and tasking it with ramping up arrests and deportations.

Under Landry, a Republican and a vocal supporter of Trump’s immigration agenda, the state has taken a more active role in that crackdown. State Police recently entered into a partnership with the federal government that gives them more power to help carry out immigration laws; Landry has urged local law enforcement agencies to do the same.

Home to a cluster of ICE detention facilities, many of which are privately run, Louisiana already plays a key part in immigration enforcement. Now, the governor is taking the state’s involvement further by establishing an ICE detention center on the grounds of Louisiana’s largest prison, which houses the state’s highest-security inmates.

Earlier this summer, Florida, led by Republican Gov Ron DeSantis, speedily turned an isolated airfield in the Everglades into a detention center called “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Praised by Republicans as an effective tool in Trump’s immigration crackdown, Alligator Alcatraz was built to hold several thousand people Trump and Florida officials said it would house only detainees accused of serious crimes.

But the Miami Herald reported that hundreds of people held there faced no criminal charges. Detainees also told news outlets they were fed worm-infested food, and that malfunctioning toilets flooded the floors with fecal waste. Officials disputed those accounts.

A federal judge recently ordered Florida to shut down Alligator Alcatraz after environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe sued over the facility, arguing it threat-

Cole said he will look to see how much the district can afford so that they can get raises as well.

A permanent pay raise from the state may also be coming. A proposed constitutional amendment, if approved by voters on April 18, would fund a permanent pay raise of $2,250 a year for teachers and $1,125 a year for support workers. A similar constitutional amendment failed in March.

Email Charles Lussier at clussier@theadvocate. com.

to reduce the use of solitary confinement.

ened sensitive wetlands. DeSantis has vowed to open a new detention facility called Deportation Depot.

Critics have argued these facilities are publicity stunts.

In a statement, Bill Quigley the former director of the Law Clinic and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University New Orleans, said he feared Louisiana’s new facility was a “continuation of performative detention like the Alligator Alcatraz” that was “made for TV.”

Over 7,000 migrants are already held in nine ICE detention facilities across Louisiana, Quigley said. He also worried housing migrants at Angola would make it especially difficult

for them to visit with their attorneys.

As of June 29, about 70% of detainees had no criminal convictions, The Associated Press reported, citing ICE statistics Roughly half of all detainees also had no criminal charges, according to the report.

Where the building was

The new detention center will be established in a oncenotorious section of Angola known as Camp J, formerly used to punish state prisoners who broke the rules by putting them in solitary confinement. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections closed Camp J in 2018, citing safety concerns and a push

State officials said dozens of weapons were found there during the first seven months of 2017; 85 corrections officers assigned there left within a year; and Camp J’s locks malfunctioned, allowing inmates to jam cell doors and circumvent security checks. Criminal justice advocates also condemned the conditions at Camp J as being overly harsh Officials say they have overhauled the facility Sheahan, ICE’s deputy director and the former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said it would have a law library and places for detainees to meet with their attorneys. The detainees would be isolated from Angola’s general population, Landry said. He did not answer a question about whether the facility was still set up for prisoners to be in solitary confinement.

In July, Landry signed an executive order meant to speed renovations at Camp J, a hint the prison wing would reopen. The order, which suspended procurement and public bidding rules for the repairs, said the state needed to ready the unit because Angola lacked the bed space to house violent offenders who would be transferred there. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Wildfire devastates historic Calif. gold mining town

BY NOAH BERGER and SARAH BRUMFIELD Associated Press

CHINESE CAMP, Calif. — One of nearly two dozen fires burning across Northern California on Wednesday scorched homes in a Gold Rush town settled in the 1850s by thousands of Chinese miners who had faced discrimination and were driven out of a nearby camp.

The quick-moving fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills threatened the few remaining historic structures in Chinese Camp, forced the evacuation of its roughly 100 residents and closed a highway that’s a main route between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park.

It’s not clear yet whether the town’s handful of Gold Rush era structures including an old post office built in 1854 were damaged in the fire that erupted Tuesday and continued burning without any containment.

A shuttered Catholic church dating back to 1855 appeared to have survived the flames. The town’s general store where tourists could pickup supplies and

on Tuesday.

see historic artifacts also seemed to be intact But on some lots, all that remained were charred brick walls and scorched trees.

A large number of lightning strikes early Tuesday set off at least 22 fires that have burned about 20 square miles in Calaveras, Tuolumne

and Stanislaus counties, said Emily Kilgore, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the state’s chief fire agency

The fires are spread across the region about 120 miles east of San Francisco. There have been no reports of inju-

ries, but several structures were destroyed in two of the fires, Kilgore said Wednesday. Damage assessments have not been completed.

“There still may be fires that haven’t been discovered yet,” Kilgore said, warning that more evacuations may be necessary Temperatures

were expected to be in the 90s over the next few days with little rain in sight.

Strong winds were adding to the challenge as the flames strengthened in areas filled with dry, tall grass and brush, CalFire said.

The largest of the fires crossed 10 square miles around Chinese Camp, where at least five homes burned.

During the first hours, residents moved tree branches and shoveled sand onto flames in a desperate attempt to stop them from spreading until firefighters arrived. A recreational vehicle on the property was damaged.

Chinese Camp, now a crossroads for tourists traveling to Yosemite, flourished in the 1850s as a stagecoach stop and supply hub for mining camps during the Gold Rush.

Thousands of Chinese came to California during the Gold Rush and faced persecution that included an exorbitant Foreign Miners Tax designed to drive them away from mining It was a time when Chinese people all across the state faced widespread discrimination.

The town grew as the Chi-

nese miners arrived after being thrown out of a nearby camp by European miners who didn’t want any competition and discriminated against the Chinese. Originally called Camp Washington, its name was soon changed to Chinese Camp to reflect the thousands of new settlers. But within three decades, most of the Chinese residents had moved away, the last two leaving in the early 1920s, said Stephen Provost, who recently wrote “Chinese Camp: The Haunting History of California’s Forgotten Boomtown.”

The saloons, temples, stables and homes built by the Chinese have long been gone too, he said.

But some structures built by European settlers in the 1800s could still be found, including a saloon, a boarding house and a few old residences, said Provost.

“It was like a town that had been trapped in time,” he said recalling his first visit. Now he is anxiously waiting for news about what’s left. “These are places that are personal to our hearts,” Provost said. “We got there just in time.”

BY AAMER MADHANI, MATTHEW LEE and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified the lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the United States to send an unmistakable message to Latin American cartels.

Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the U.S.

“There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people, and everybody

fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President Karol Nawrocki at the White House. He added, “Obviously, they won’t be doing it again. And I think a lot of other people won’t be doing it again. When they watch that tape, they’re going to say, ‘Let’s not do this.’”

Tuesday’s strike was an astonishing departure from typical U.S. drug interdiction efforts at a time when Trump has ordered a major Navy buildup in the waters near Venezuela.

Later Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that such operations “will happen again.”

Rubio said previous U.S. interdiction efforts in Latin America have not worked in stemming the flow of illicit drugs into the United

States and beyond. “What will stop them is when you blow them up, when you get rid of them,” Rubio said on a visit to Mexico.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on “Fox & Friends” that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was running his country “as a kingpin of a drug narco-state.”

Hegseth said officials “knew exactly who was in that boat” and “exactly what they were doing.” But the Republican administration has not presented any evidence supporting Trump’s claim that operators of the vessel were from the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and were trying to smuggle in drugs.

“President Trump is willing to go on offense in ways that others have not seen,” said Hegseth, who declined to detail how the strike

was carried out.

Trump and administration officials have repeatedly blamed the gang for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some American cities.

The president on Tuesday repeated his claim — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua is operating under Maduro’s control.

In announcing the strike, Trump said the operation, which he said killed 11 was carried out in international waters. He also noted that the gang is designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.

Unlike its counterparts from Colombia, Brazil and Central America, Tren de Aragua has no largescale involvement in smuggling

cocaine across international borders, according to InSight Crime, which last month published a 64page report on the gang based on two years of research.

“We’ve found no direct participation of TdA in the transnational drug trade, although there are cases of them acting as subcontractors for other drug trafficking organizations,” said Jeremy McDermott, a Colombia-based co-founder of InSight Crime, referring to the Venezuelan gang by its initials.

“It is almost impossible today to determine who is TdA and who is not,” said McDermott “Deportations and statements from the United States suggest that TdA is now being used as a catch-all description for Venezuelan criminals acting abroad.”

La. Republicans tout ‘real momentum’

Representatives claim progress on multiple fronts

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT

Staff writer

Echoing a speech given by Gov. Jeff Landry two weeks ago in Donaldsonville, Republican representatives portrayed Louisiana as a state with forward momentum in industry, education and crime reduction during a “legislative road

show” Wednesday in Gonzales.

The event focused on an array of subjects, but it came amid rising pushback against industrial facilities by residents in the river parishes. Last week, former Vice President Al Gore attended a rally focused on phasing out the region’s economic reliance on fossil fuels. Those who spoke, including

Speaker of the House Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, closely followed the message portrayed by Landry, who argued the state was on the verge of economic revitalization.

“We have moved fast in 18 months, moving up in our national rankings and down in our insurance premiums. We are paying down debt and holding criminals

accountable,” DeVillier said. “We are writing Louisiana’s comeback story.”

The first in a series of nine sessions planned across the state, Wednesday’s event at the Price LeBlanc PACE Center was sponsored by the Ascension Chamber of Commerce, Baton Rouge Area Chamber and the city of Gonzales. It opened with a video that played before Landry’s speech in Donaldsonville. Produced by two

powerful state political action committees Senate President Cameron Henry’s Cameron PAC and DeVillier’s Foundation PAC — it opens by stating “there’s finally real momentum coming out of the Legislature and Gov Jeff Landry’s administration.”

As a narrator describes various bills, the video shows images of many of the representatives who

TAKING A BREAK

A group of bikers from Minnesota take a break in the shade of Affordable Home Furnishings’ breezeway in north Baton Rouge on Tuesday. Their four-day journey will end in the French Quarter in New Orleans, where the group will stay for a few days before driving back north.

BR man arrested in shooting that killed pregnant mother

BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer

available.

Sheriff: Darrow teen ID’d as shooting victim The

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Superdome vendor vows improvements this season

ASM Global replaced Sodexo in July

BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer

After a rocky preseason debut, the new concessions operator at the Caesars Superdome is promising a better experience for Saints fans as Sunday’s regular season home opener against the Arizona Cardinals nears.

Legends Hospitality, which took over the Superdome’s exclusive food and beverage contract in July after Sodexo’s 25-year run, faced a wave of complaints during the Saints’ first preseason home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Aug. 17.

The issues included slow service and poor food quality, and were particularly noticeable in the highpriced suites that ring the Dome, according to people who attended the game — prompting a written apology to suite holders from Legends.

“Clearly, we did not meet your expectations yesterday, nor did we

come close to the high standards

we set for our company,” wrote Legends’ vice president of hospitality Lauren “Fitz” Fitzmorris the day after the Jaguars game.

She said Legends wanted to “sincerely apologize” and had learned important lessons from the debacle, promising improvements.

Long lines, ‘Play-Doh’ pizza

Though it was only a preseason outing, the first chance to see the Saints at home under new coach Kellen Moore drew a near-capacity crowd of just over 70,000.

Some fans who received catering service in the 165 exclusive suites complained of long delays and poorquality food.

“The pizza was like Play-Doh and the wings were burned to the bone,” said an attendee who was in a suite for the Jaguars game. He didn’t want to be quoted by name as he was a guest of a company leasing the suite and wasn’t authorized to speak.

Some ordinary ticket holders also faced long lines at the nearly 100 fixed and mobile concession stands

PHOTO PROVIDED By ST. TAMMANy PARISH FIRE DISTRICT 3 Lacombe-based firefighter Jordy Johnson holds Meatball the blind and deaf Shih Tzu that was rescued from a culvert Tuesday night.

Dog rescued from culvert in St. Tammany Parish

10-pound Shih Tzu named Meatball is blind and deaf

BY BOB WARREN Staff writer

Meatball is blind, deaf and 15 years old (at least), but that doesn’t stop him from getting around his home turf in Lacombe.

“He’s a bit of a wanderer,” said owner Chuck Gorney That wandering took a turn for the worse Monday when Meatball got lost. Gorney said the family searched and searched but couldn’t find the 10-pound Shih Tzu.

Luckily, Gorney’s family had equipped the pooch with an AirTag to track his whereabouts The AirTag was showing Meatball in a nearby location, but there was no sign of the dog.

“We were frantically searching,” Gorney said. “I was just baffled.” Monday turned into Tuesday and still no Meatball sighting. Then, Gorney said, there was a bark and what sounded like an echo.

Meatball had made his way into a long culvert near the Gorney’s home that empties into a bayou. But he couldn’t find his way out — and Gorney couldn’t see him deep inside the huge metal drain pipe.

“We didn’t know how to get him,” Gorney said.

The family started making phone calls, eventually dialing the Lacombe-based St. Tammany Fire District No. 3. Firefighters responded, as well as workers from St. Tammany Parish’s Public Works Department.

“When we first arrived, we heard a few faint barks, so we knew he was in there,” said Jordy Johnson

a firefighter

The searchers debated a few different ways to reach the dog, but eventually decided they’d have to

UNIFORMS

Continued from page 1B

LaMont Cole, superintendent of East Baton Rouge Parish schools, said he wants to “open doors” of opportunity for students. Quality uniforms make it more likely that student musicians can participate in Mardi Gras parades, festivals and competitions near and far and perhaps land college scholarships.

“Our band programs give students the chance to perform in parades and competitions not just in

around the stadium, and complained of poor quality wings, nachos and the near absence of local food options, according to the organizer of one of the Saints’ fan clubs, who didn’t have authorization to be quoted by name.

“Guess the true test will be this Sunday,” the fan club organizer said via text.

A new vendor’s first day

Legends, headquartered in New York City is owned by a private equity group and counts Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the New York Yankees organization as minority stakeholders.

The stadium completed its takeover of ASM Global last year, creating one of the world’s largest venue and hospitality groups ASM and a local predecessor company have run the Superdome for the state of Louisiana since 1977.

Legends was chosen by ASM to replace Sodexo as the Superdome concession provider after a process that involved a consultant’s report on the relative merits of the two firms.

PROGRESS

Continued from page 1B

spoke at Wednesday’s event.

Cameron PAC received more than half a million dollars in contributions between January and May of this year, while Foundation PAC reported having more than $198,000 in funds in April, according to reports filed with the state Ethics Board.

The narrative of growth portrayed by the video and politicians was met with some resistance when Landry spoke in Ascension Parish, where several large industrial companies hope to construct new plants. At that event, various locals from Donaldsonville and Modeste held a news conference with environmental advocacy groups during which they asked for nonindustrial economic investments in the area.

Crime bills

take the long trip into the culvert.

Johnson estimated it at around 1,000 feet.

“It wasn’t a crawl, really, more of a duckwalk,” Johnson said with a laugh. “My quads were burning.”

Though blind and deaf, Johnson said Meatball seemed to sense his rescuers were at hand. They found the pup in several inches of water He was soaked and shivering,

Johnson said

“When we finally got him out I actually put him in my shirt,”

Johnson said “He was shaking.”

Johnson said the rescue operation took several hours, stretching beyond dusk Tuesday “We were getting eaten up by insects we call ’em ‘flying vampires,’” he said with a chuckle.

Gorney said his family is grateful.

Tuesday marked the second rescue of Meatball’s life. Gorney’s daughter found him wandering around Lakeview years ago and took him in. He’s lived in Lacombe for a decade since then.

“My daughter asked us to keep him for a weekend,” Gorney said.

“Well, that turned into 10 years.” Meatball was resting Wednesday after his big adventure.

“He sleeps a lot these days,” Gorney said with a laugh.

Baton Rouge but across the state and the nation,” Cole said. “With proper uniforms, our students can proudly represent our schools and community on every stage they step onto.”

The fundraising goal for the campaign is $500,000. No deadline has been set for the campaign to end, but organizers are hoping to raise as much money as soon as possible to aid local high school bands.

School Board member Emily Soulé said being in a school band builds discipline, teamwork, leadership and pride.

The seven-member Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District board — known as the Superdome Commission — approved ASM’s move in June.

Promises of better service

The Superdome suites, which typically offer a host of different food and beverage options, were a primary focus of the recently completed $560 million stadium renovation. Saints President Dennis Lauscha described the upgraded suites as the “engine” for generating revenue to help pay off the $300 million renovation bonds issued by the state to help fund the project.

The suites typically cost from $10,000 to $30,000 per game to lease, depending on size and importance of the event. Leasing a suite for a full season can cost $1 million or more, depending on size, location and other options like corporate branding, according to specialist stadium suite brokers.

Under the current lease agreement, the Saints receive 42% of all concession revenue generated at the stadium.

Fontenot, R-Thibodaux; and Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock.

Each one covered laws passed by the Legislature on different topics. Bacala touted crime-related bills seen as controversial by some, including one that abolished parole and a 2024 law that made 17-year-olds eligible to be prosecuted as adults. By enacting that law Louisiana became the first state in the country to pass and then reverse a “raise the age” law, which had moved 17-yearolds to be tried as juveniles.

“I was all for it; I thought it was a great idea. It was a horrible idea,” Bacala said. “Because you know what, 17-year-olds suddenly realized they had no consequences.”

It is not clear what led to the poor service and food quality last month. When it took over the contract in July, Legends said it expected to rehire essentially all of the 880 staff that had been employed by Sodexo. Legends spokesperson Stacey Escudero referred to the letter from Fitzmorris and declined to comment further

ASM Global general manager Evan Holmes made a brief reference to the issues at the Superdome Commission’s last meeting on Aug 27, noting that “we had some opportunities for improvement after the first game.” ASM declined to comment further In response to complaints from the Jaguars game, Saints spokesperson Greg Bensel said that the organization “learned about the issues facing Legends at the Jacksonville game as they were happening” and “immediately worked with them to help mitigate as best possible the issues that they were facing.” “A positive experience on gameday for all of our fans and our suite holders is extremely important,” Bensel said.

budget and education initiatives. Schlegel focused on various education laws, including ones focused on literacy policies and numeracy

She highlighted a rise in rankings by the Nation’s Report Card assessments, which are created by scoring reading and math tests given to fourth and eighth grade public school students. The 2024 scores ranked Louisiana as 38th overall and 16th in the nation for fourth grade reading.

“We were at the bottom, now we’re 16th, and we’re in the top 5 for math growth,” she said. “So we’re really heading in a positive trajectory.”

Speakers at Wednesday’s event included Rep. Tony Bacala, RPrairieville; Rep. Laurie Schlegal, R-Metairie; Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro; Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro; Rep. Bryan

BLOTTER

Continued from page 1B

as 18-year-old Tyjon Comery, of Darrow, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Comery was found dead of gunshot wounds at a home on Brown Extension Road in Darrow, according to the agency

“We do have a person of interest,” Donovan Jackson, Ascension Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said in a new release “We continue to encourage anyone with informa-

TAILGATES

Continued from page 1B

Tech Tailgates with this tradition, we’re creating a bucket-list experience that not only celebrates what makes Baton Rouge unique but also spotlights our local tech founders.”

Attendees will discuss opportunities in Louisiana industries at each tailgate, which take place on the lawn in front of Matherne’s Market from noon to 5 p.m. Due to limited space, the tailgates will be invite-only with wristband access. The tailgates are another recent move by Nexus to elicit collaborations. Last month, the organization decided to move its operations downtown after its lease expires next summer in hopes of igniting “creative collisions” with other groups downtown.

Zanders said Baton Rouge does

“A new uniform is more than fabric; it’s a symbol of belonging, unity and school spirit,” Soulé said. “When our teens step onto the field or stage together, they gain confidence and a sense of purpose that will carry far beyond high school.” Amanda Martin, the CEO of Studyville, a Baton Rouge-based tutoring company, kicked off the campaign by donating $25,000.

“Nothing brings a community together like Friday night lights, and our high school bands are at the heart of that spirit,” Martin said. “Too many of our high school

Earlier this year, a constitutional amendment that would have expanded the age for juveniles to be tried as adults in certain cases failed to pass, with only 34% of votes in favor of it. Last fall, the reversal’s effects led to police incarcerating a 17-year-old girl in St. James Parish on alleged drug charges — later dropped — for three weeks.

Education gains

Other speakers discussed insurance-related bills, the state

tion to come forward.”

Anyone with a tip can call the Sheriff’s Office anonymously at (225) 621-4636 or text 847411 or call Crime Stoppers at (225) 3447867.

Man arrested in fatal hit-and-run crash

A White Castle man has been arrested in connection with a hitand-run crash Wednesday morning that killed a pedestrian, according to State Police. Richard Wagner, 46, was booked into the Iberville Parish jail on

not have many “cultural moments” that tech leaders have capitalized on to bring industry professionals together Zanders said Nexus Louisiana partnered with Louisiana Innovation because the Louisiana Economic Development division has streamlined resources and support for innovators.

“The most logical thing is to not create a new wave but ride an existing wave,” he said. He said the tailgates will allow tech professionals to “cross-pollinate” with one another in an unstructured space and discuss the state’s key industries.

“Our philosophy is that Louisiana is not like California or New York or any other state,” he said.

“There’s industries we can punch above our weight in.” LED launched Louisiana Innovation in February to support homegrown ventures. The division maintains the Louisiana Growth Fund, a pool of $50 million in fed-

The average score for fourth grade mathematics increased by a statistically significant amount from 229 to 235 between 2022 and 2024, according to the data. The average scores for fourth grade reading and eighth grade math increased, but not in a statistically significant way, in the same period. Eighth grade reading scores remained the same between 2022 and 2024.

Email Christopher Cartwright at christopher.cartwright@ theadvocate.com.

counts of hit-and-run, failure to render aid, driving under suspension of a license and an expired motor vehicle, according to the agency

The body of the victim, 29-yearold Kade Dupree of Plaquemine, was found by the side of the road on La. 75, near Plaquemine, shortly before 7 a.m., State Police said in a news release.

Parts of a 2001 Ford F-150 were left at the scene of the crash, which investigators used to identify the owner of the vehicle. The crash remains under investigation, according to State Police.

eral funds to fuel local startups and the Louisiana Institute for Artificial Intelligence, a nonprofit that will provide AI technology to 5,000 small businesses in the state. Josh Fleig, chief innovation officer at Louisiana Economic Development, said Nexus and Louisiana Innovation have the same goals of fueling technology startups.

LSU students and others in Louisiana may not be aware that the opportunities in the city extend beyond petrochemicals, he said. But the presence of industry leaders at LSU games can make students aware of technology jobs in Baton Rouge.

Fleig said the tailgates leverage some of the region’s greatest assets: a potential for technological innovation and love for LSU football.

“We tailgate well. It’s just something that Baton Rouge does better than anywhere else. So why not blend the two?” he said.

bands cannot march in parades simply because they don’t have uniforms. Our student-athletes are suited up to represent their schools, and our band members deserve the same opportunity to shine. We’re not just outfitting students for parades we’re investing in their future.” The push for new band uniforms is part of a larger effort by Cole to improve the “high school experience,” an area where he says Baton Rouge secondary schools have fallen behind their peers. Cole is proposing selling $40 million in bonds to finance projects to upgrade local high schools.

Ficklin,Raymond

Carpenters

Fourrier,Steve

Griggs,Cathie University BaptistChurch,5775 HighlandRoad, at 2p.m

Lemoine, Mary

St.GeorgeCatholic Church at 11

a.m.

Major, Virginia St.AloysiusCatholic Church,2025

StuartAvenue,at11a.m

Palermo, Robert SJBinBruslyat11a.m

Obituaries

Acosta, Mercedes Falcon'Decie'

Mercedes "Decie" FalconAcosta, life-long native andresident of Smoke Bend, LA. She was Born on July 3, 1928, passed away at her home surroundedby loved ones on August 30, 2025, at the age of 97. Decie was afaithful servant of God andenjoyedspending time with her kids and grandkids. She was a parishioner of St. Franics of Assisi Catholic Church of Smoke Bend, LA. Decieis survived by her 11children, Lee "Tip" Falcon, Jr. (Ann), Richard "Chuck" Falcon (Darlene), Margaret "Gal Barrient (Frank), Claude Falcon (Rose Marie), Renard Falcon (Ella), Mark Falcon, Andrea Williams (Terry), Claire "Boozie" Casso, Jerome "Rommie Falcon, Donna Madere (James), Lawrence "Nutchie" Falcon (Kim); 30 grandchildren; 42 great grandchildren; 1great greatgrandchild. She is preceded in death by her husbands,Lee Falcon, Sr. and Lloyd Acosta; daughter, Yvonne Beasley; parents, Oscar and Irma Lanoix; siblings, Norma Lanoix, Ella "Laloot" Denoux, Florence "Totee" Denoux, Irma "Tiny" Marino, Elmo, Oscar "Khaki", Earl "Chumbo" Landry "Benny" Lanoix,and Una Lanoix Caballero. Visitation will be held on Friday, September 5, 2025, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Smoke Bend, LA from 9am until Mass of Christian Burial at 12pm. Burial to follow at Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church Cemetery. The family would like to thank the staff of Amedisys Hospice for their compassion and care, as well as Ellen Guilott for administering Communion to Mercedes once she was unable to attendmass.

Alice entered into eternal rest on Thursday, August 28, 2025 at her residence in Clinton, LA surrounded by her loving family. She was an 1972 graduate of Clinton High School. She married the love of her life, Ernest Cain on June 29, 1974 and were blessed with 3children: Chico, Kermitricas and Darrell Sr. Avisitation will be held from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Friday (9/5) at Richardson Funeral Home Of Clinton, 11816 Jackson Street.

Her celebration of life will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday (9/6) at Beachum Grove Baptist Church, 8877 Battle Road Ethel, La.

Alice final resting place will be at New Hope Baptist Church, 1405 Hwy 409 Slaughter, La.

ter,made an impression that willlastforever. Born September 19, 2016,to Brennan Foster andStefany Badyna, Nikki passed awayAugust 31, 2025.Althoughshe endured many challenges during her lifetime,Nikki quicklystole the heartofeveryone she encountered. Sheissurvived by parents Brennan and MelissaFoster,brother Beau Foster,motherStefany Badyna, sisterEvie Badyna, grandparents Larry and CharlotteFoster, Denise Badyna, Stephan and Penny LeSage,great grandparents Ricky and Darline Nichols,Uncles Chase Foster (Meagan), Andrew Herbert (Alex), Aunts LaurenFoster and KatieHerbert,and Paw Paw Kenny. She is preceded in deathbygrandmotherTressie Foster, grandfather Paul Badynaand great grandparents BJ and Pat Foster.Weare forever grateful forour time with Nikki and those who provided lovingsupport along the way, including Jodi Sonja,Donna, Suzi, Yasmin and The Hospice of Baton Rouge.

God is goodall the time, allthe time God is good

Serviceswilltakeplace at SealeFuneral Home in Denham Springs on Friday September 5, 2025 with visitation from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM and servicebeginning at 1:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, please consider adonation in Nikki's memory to your favorite charity.

Handy, August Aretired electricianand lifelong resident of Plaquemine, LA, he passed on Monday, September 1, 2025,atOur Lady of the Lake Medical Center.He was 82. Visiting at Mt. Zion Inner City Plaquemine, LA on Saturday September 6, 8 am until 10am. Religious Service at 10amconducted by Rev. Ricardo Handy, Sr. Intermentin Grace MemorialCemeteryPlaquemine, LA Survivedbyhis wife Barbara Anderson Handy, Foursons.Dr. JeffreyA Handy of Atlanta GA, Rev. Ricardo L. Handy Sr.and his wifeLaTroya W. Handy and Gerard G. Handy, Sr. both from Plaquemine, LA, Greg Jackson of Baton Rouge, LA Twelvegrandchildren, Ezkeill, Sydney, Ricardo, Jr., Gerard, Jr., Jolie, Anthony, Treyshon,GregJr. Markil, Dijion,Jeremiah, and Paula. Arrangements by Hall Davis& SonFuneral Service (225) 778-1612.

Jeansonne,Dr. James Louis 'Jim'

James LouisJeansonne, "Jim"tofamilyand friends, was our beloved husband, father, grandfather,brother,uncle and friend. He passed away, at the age of 75, on August 30, 2025,surroundedbyhis family. Born September10, 1949 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jim liveda life defined by strength, generosity and quiet sensitivity. Well-read and deeply curious, Jim found joyinhistory,literature and allthingsofnature. He loved spending time inthe woods, whether huntingorsimplyobserving and nurturingall of God's wondrous gifts blossoming at his farm in Norwood,Louisiana.Hewas a curious amalgamation of the eclectic -a "modern Renaissance man"; he enjoyed scuba diving, travel and an appreciationofa vibrant music spectrum that ranged fromRandy Travis to The Rolling Stones, classical music and everything in between. His family willalwaysrememberhim for his sharp mind, kind heart and calm presence. He knew when to foldanother into hisembrace,sharingtheirsorrows or magnifying their joys.Hewas largein frame and in heart.

Jim graduated from Broadmoor HighSchool, earneda Bachelor of Science degree from LouisianaStateUniversity in 1972 and then went on to graduateasa Doctorof Dental Surgery from LSUin 1976. Following his graduation, Jimserved activeduty as aCaptain in theUnited States Army, stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, from1976 to 1979, carrying thevalues of patriotism and servicethroughout his lifetime.

In 1979, Jim launchedhis dental practice in Gonzales, Louisiana—a career he carried forward withcompassion, skilland passionatededication until retiring in 2025. Hispassion for hisprofession led him oftentoremark "I lovedmy work; Ihavenever feltthat I'worked'a dayinmylife. Every daywas ajoy."That dedication and drive was echoed in the assurances of anumber of colleagues, who haveshared that Jim was vitaltolaunchingtheir careers Jimwas activeinhis community,servinginthe Gonzales Rotary Club,acting as itspresident in 2022 and 2023. He was also a FellowCraft Mason working towardshis degrees with lodgeFeliciana #31 whenhepassed.

He is survivedbyKathy, hislovingand faithful wife of 43 years and his children,Stephanie Marie Jeansonneand her husband Billy Tullier, James Robert Jeansonneand his wife Paige, and Katie Jeansonne Maxwell and her husband Jack;his grandchildren, Pilot, Ronin, Freya, Maudie James and Cannon,who affectionately called him "the Dude" (AKA: "the most awesome Dude"); his siblings, WendyAnne Jeansonne and her husband DaveDargo and StephenPrince Jeansonne and hiswife Nancy;numerous nieces and nephews; and many other lovedones, including his beloved four-legged furry side-kick "Buddy." He is preceded in death by his parents, Robert Louis Jeansonne and SylviaAnne Hernandez Jeansonne. While Jimtreasuredhis relationships with many special people,Drexell Boggs, ChrisReily and Dr. Chad Spillers held cherishedplacesinhis heart With each, many years of shared professional and recreational endeavors forged unbreakablebonds of brotherhood Jim's drink of choice was bourbon or whiskey over severelycrushed ice, which he referred to as a "snowcone." It was integral to toasts of "tothe family"when lovedones gatheredand it consistently kicked off arousing game of spades and other shared moments of good company.

In time, thefamily will holdtwo memorial celebrations in honorofJim: one at hishome in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and another at his home in Norwood, Louisiana. Dates and times forthese celebrations willbeannounced. In themeantime we knowthateach of us now have stewardship over thegifts that Jimhas shared;itwould puta smileonhis face to know that you took aleisurely walkinnature, preferably with abeloved family member or friend and perhapsa furry friend, and that you just inhaled the beauty that is God's most generous gift to each of us -seize it.Hug your loved ones. Tell them what is in your heart.Hewould be honored to knowthat you thought of him as you drankinthese things.

Jim's family would like to thank his entirecare team at Our Ladyofthe Lake Regional Medical Center fortheir compassionatecare. In lieu of flowers,donations may be madetothe Tunnelto Towers Foundation, in honor of his lifelong commitment to serviceand community.

Knobloch,Warren Marshall

Warren Marshall Knoblochpassedaway peacefully in his home at theage of 83 on August 30, 2025. He was borninBaton Rouge on April 8, 1942. He livedand thrivedthanks to theloveand devotion of his lateparents Woodrow Marshall Knobloch and Dorothy Bourgeois

Knobloch. Warren was a kind and gentle soul who was very sweetand compliant. He wouldgreet everyonewith asmileand offer hisfriendship.He taught others aboutacceptance, love,patience, and thejoy of life's simple pleasures. He is survived by his sisterDiane KnoblochSilarais,many wonderful and supportive friends, and especiallyhis advocate Thelma Keller Jones. He is preceded in death by his parents, his brother-in-law Ojars "Olie" Silarais, his grandmother Eva Marchand Bourgeois, auntsand uncles Jimmy and Ethel Bourgeois, Alex and JulietteBourgeois MarjorieLonglanais, and Gloria LaBorde. Warren was an extremelyhard worker. He began working at theage of 14 as a"bag boy" at theA and Pstore in Westmoreland Village at Government Street.After many years he then worked an additional 44 years in competitive employment at theDepartment of Transportation and Development.Warren was alifelong member of Our LadyofMercy Catholic Church and theKnightsof Columbus. As ayoung man he attended10:30 mass every Sunday followedby family lunch at thedowntown Piccadilly on Third Street. He lovedLSU football especially theGolden Band from Tigerland as his father was amember during the HueyP.Longera in the1930s. He was also a big fan of Coach Bear Bryant.Hewas present in TigerStadiumfor Billy Cannon's famous touchdown in 1959. The destinationhe lovedthe most was Las Vegas and his favoriteconcerts were ElvisPresley and Diana Ross. Deepappreciationisexpressedto themedical staff fortheir care and support, Dr. R. Todd Cooley, nurses Kristie and Freddie, Dr. MarkPosner, and Dr. Danny Wood. Many thanks to theladies of AllKare Alternativefor their love and service, Monica Johnson, Brenda Kingston,Tawanda SchofieldKnightshed, Lora McKee, and thelateCinder Smith Aclise,and director Jeremy Jones along with friend Sarah Buckhalter. A special thank youtoHospice of BatonRouge and nurse Debbie, Toni, Carrie, and Jay. Religious services willbeheldatOur Lady of Mercy on Friday, September5 with visitation at 9:00 am followedbymass at 10:00 am celebrated by Fr. Cleo Milano. Receptionto follow at theParish Activity Center immediatelyfollowing theservice. Burial willbeheldatRoselawn Cemetery in thefamily plot.Rabenhorst Funeral Home downtown is in charge of arrangements.

Mavis Marie Breaux

Landry passedaway at her home, August 30thsurrounded by her family.She was 85 years old. She is survivedbyher loving husband of 61 years, Carl B. Landry, Sr.; daughters, Desiree (Pat) Fairley,Yvette (Dwayne)LeBlanc; Gabrielle Jewisonand fiancé Jim Rupert; Bridget (Chris) Drumm and son, Carl (Jill)Landry Jr., grandchildren, Daniel (Camryn) Fairley;Robert (Megan) Fairley;Matthew (Katie) LeBlanc; Laura LeBlanc; Jacqueline Jewison, Jean Pierre Jewison; Jimmy Jewison; Jennifer(Joe) Youngblood; Stuart Landry; CamilleLandry; and Corin Drumm. Great granddaughters, EdenFairley; JulietFairley; Claire Fairley; siblings JaneMiller; Laura Nell Pipsair; John Breaux; Valerie Landry; AmelieMimi Blanchard; Michael Breaux; Christine Templetand Matthew Breaux and alarge extended family.She was preceded by her parents, Herbert A. Breaux, Sr.and Amelie Crochet Breaux; and her brother, Herbert A. Breaux, Jr.She was an excellent cookand seamstress and had azest forlife. She will be deeply missed by her family and friends. Her family wouldliketothank Cardinal Hospice,Callie Templet, Wanda Matthews, Dr. Aimee Moran,her wonderfulcaregivers, Jenny Aucoin; Heather Barbier; Nadine Landry and Tina Guillory.

Also,thankstoDrNatalie Dishman,and Dr.Dean Listi.A memorial visitation will be held on Saturday, September6,2025 from 9:00 am at OursoFuneral Home untilthe memorial mass for 11:00 am at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Pierre Part. Intermenttofollow at SacredHeart Cemetery in Belle River. FatherAl Davidson willofficiate. In lieu of flowers, the familyrequests donations be made in herhonor to St Jude's ResearchHospital andthe AlzheimerAssociation

Virginia A. Majorpassed awaypeacefullyonSatur‐day,August30, 2025, at her home. Shewas born in Glynn, Louisiana, on No‐vember6,1925. Virginia ob‐tainedanaccountingde‐greefromLSU in 1946, fol‐lowingwhich shebecame a Certified Public Accoun‐tant. Shewas an original partner in Posthlewaite Netterville from which she retired after alongand successfulcareer.Funeral serviceswillbeheldatSt. AloysiusCatholicChurch 2025 Stuart Ave.,Baton Rouge,LA70808 on Thurs‐day,September 4, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. Father Allelo will officiate. Visitation will be atSt. Aloysius priortothe service from 10:00 a.m. until servicetime. Inter‐mentwillbeheldin Resthaven Cemetery under the directionofRaben‐horst FuneralHome.

Morgan Sr., Nelson Pierce

High School anda Veteran ofthe United States Army Nelsonissurvivedbyhis children, CathyB.Stewart, Wanda E. Morgan andNel‐son P. Morgan Jr.(Frances); grandchildren,CarmenM Lavergne(David),Brice N. Matthews(Ashlee),and Madison F. Morgan (An‐thony); great-grandchil‐dren, HayesLavergne, Camille Lavergne,Alexa Matthews, Evan Matthews, and Collin Matthews; and numerousnieces, nephews,and friends. He was preceded in deathby his wife of 35 years, ThelmaTripp Morgan;par‐ents, John Pierce andRo‐syleanWascomMorgan; sisterand brother-in-law, Francis ”Beth” andIvy Van FosterSr.;brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law,Vincent and GeorgiaMae Trippand Josephand SueTrippi, Roseand J.B. Broussard, and Joyceand Marion Crawford. Services will be heldonFriday, September 5,2025, at OursoFuneral Home13533 AirlineHwy Gonzales, La.The visitation willbefrom9 am untilthe funeral serviceat11am. Hewillbelaidtorestat HolyRosaryCemetery 44450 Hwy429 St.Amant LA. Arrangements by Ourso FuneralHome, Gon‐zales,La.

John Benard Richard, re‐tired Director of theEast Baton RougeParishLibrary System, died on Sunday August31, 2025. He was bornNovember2,1932, in Gulfport, Mississippi to JohnJesse Richardand Helen Schott Richard. John issurvivedbyhis wife of 54 years,SandraDavis Richard,son,JohnBlake Richard (Kristy),daughter, Elizabeth RichardGriffin (Shane),and daughter-inlaw,Susan Mosley Reech; ninegrandchildren:Madi‐son Croom, Olivia MosleyBelsha(Ian),Jackson Mosley(Abigail),Henry Mosley, John BradyRichard (Cappi), Andrew Richard, LukeRichard,Grant Griffin, and BlakeGriffin; greatgranddaughter,Emmy Croom;sister, Shirley Richard Foss;and sister-inlaw,VirginiaCarrRichard Heisalsosurvivedbynu‐merousnieces, nephews, and cousins. John is pre‐ceded in deathbyhis par‐ents, hisbrother,Carroll Richard,and hisson,Brian DavisMosley. John gradu‐

Nelson Pierce Morgan Sr.,a resident of St.Amant LApassedawayonTues‐day,September 2, 2025 surrounded by hisfamily. Hewas 92 yearsold.He wasa graduate of Live Oak See more DEATHS page

This week marks the full launch of oneof the most important periods of thecalendarfor many Louisianans:football season. And it can’tcome too soon

The advent beganinearnest this past weekend with the first full slate of collegefootball

We cheered along with many Louisianans to see LSU travel to South Carolina and remind Clemson’s(alleged) Tigers thatthe real Death Valley is along the Mississippi, not nestledinthe Palmetto State

We were also buoyed by Tulane’sdomination at home of Big 10 team Northwestern, especially after the Wildcat brassdeclined Tulane’s request to wear white uniforms as away to honor their2005 team, which had itsopener delayed by Hurricane Katrina. That year’steam ended up playing its opener against Mississippi State in Shreveport.And they wore white Northwestern representatives said therequest came too late for them tohonorit, but Tulane coach Jon Sumrall was able to use Northwestern’srefusal as motivation to help propel his team to abig win over amajor conference opponent.

“Don’tdisrespect the cityof New Orleans,” he said after the game. Around the state, othercolleges and universities also got their seasons off to astart, with mixed results. But more important than the wins and losses is the way football season brings so many of us together tosit and watch andunite to cheer on the Tigers and Jags, Wave and Cajuns,Bulldogs andCowboys, Lionsand Colonels, among others.

That expressionofcommunitywill expand on Thursday and Friday nights, when manymore Louisianans will brave humidity,mosquitoes andsoggy nachos to watchthe opening week of the high school football season.FromOak GrovetoEdna Karr,South Cameron to Plain Dealing, fans from around the state willcongregate in bleachers to support thekids on the field. And notjust the football players, but the cheer team members, dancers and band members whoeach get achance to show off what weeks or months of off-season work haveproduced Of course, on Sunday,the Saints will open the season against the Arizona Cardinals. Prognosticators have not been kindtothe Saints’ chances this year,but they have never questionedthe fans’ devotion or the team’s importancetothe SouthLouisiana community

In these days of noise-canceling earphones and smart devices,too often we shutout the folks around us and turn ourattention to the virtual world. Football games,especially in those smaller venues, pull us out of that. They force us, at least for ashort time, tolive in the moment, to cheer and groan alongsideour fellow Louisianans. And now that theseasonishere again, thisannual ritual begins anew We canall celebrate that.OrDat,asthe case maybe.

Washington, D.C., this nation’s capital, is definitely becoming Trump, USA. He seemstowant to refurbish everything in thecity to his tastes or inclinations at amoment in time.

His tastes include refurbishing the WhiteHouse into an incomprehensible mess. Now the Oval Office looks like a gaudy bordello; thewhitestone-tiled area that was once the RoseGarden is now filled withwhite bistro tables and chairs, plus thekeynote: Mar-a-Lago umbrellas; and the proposed ballroom addition, larger than the entire White House, is so grandiose that it really belies comprehension as to its worth or need.

President Donald Trumpalso wants to refurbishthe Kennedy Center for PerformingArtsand, perhaps, rename it. TrumpCenter would be great, don’t you think?The Smithsonian was given 30 days to makeits historical accounts presentations more positive. Trump rewrites history.That would be atragedyindeed.

His inclinations so far have been to dismantle the federal agencies, send National Guard troops and U.S. ser-

vice memberstothe border and cities of his choice across America, spend billions to build unnecessary/unsafe detention centers for illegal immigrantsand on hiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. His Big BeautifulBill will delete many Americans’ medical benefits, increase thedefense budget andborder wall completion budget plus manyadd-on pork projectsfrom toadyCongress members. His choices for Cabinet heads and any other positions in the White House staff are all known toadies. So sad to be governed by such an egomaniac. He has no concern for the American people, just himself. I’ve been alive 78 years. Trump’s style of governing has caused many Americanstobeanxious and depressed withhis ever-changing policies and hundreds of nonsensical presidential orders. He never keeps his promises: peace, atremendous economy for the U.S., border security, etc.

LYNEDWARDS Jackson

Iwill neverunderstand how anyoneisable to sleep at night knowing their actions arecausing many to sufferand many to die. The millions of dollars thathavebeen denied for children’scancer research and the continuationofthe mRNA vaccine research is beyond my belief. Istrongly encourage all involved in these cuts to visit apediatric oncologyunit andexplain your actions to the parents of babies struggling to survive.Itisonly whenyou hear, firsthand, what the parents endure thatyou will realize the impact of your votes.

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

In his first inaugural Ronald Reagan famously said, “Government is not the solution to our problem;government is the problem.” Not manypeople listened.

By almost any measure, government keeps growing, mainly because the costs of government creep are distant and obscure. Onesuch “cost”has been underscored by Stanford economist John Cogan, who maintains that our crushing national debt ($37 trillion and counting) is due to thefederal governmentexpanding beyond itsenumerated powers. If not already dead, federalism in the U.S. is on life support. Insidiously,the popularityofthe welfare state has becomeanational burden weighing on our fiscal sanity The average state depends on Washington for 37% of its annual budget. Louisianatopsthe list of dependents, relying on federal support for more than half its budget. Moreover,the trend is not our friend. Continuation of thepresent trajectory will eventually

result in therespective states becoming merevassals of One, Big Beautiful Government. Trumpers might blindly rejoice, but theeconomy will pay Sadly,resistance seems futile. Those few who resist theabrogation of state authority to the central government flirt withpolitical suicide. They are denounced from both sides of the political spectrum as enemies of the poor for turning down “free” money Milton Friedman warned us decades ago, “There’snosuchthing as afree lunch.” His subtle, albeit homely message is that all economic choices involve tradeoffs. Yetmost contemporary participantsinour ongoing political experiment live in constant denial of basic economic facts. It’s as though we are barreling down the path of ancient Rome but expecting adifferent result.With so manyerrant “leaders” flouting economic reality,what could possibly go wrong?

ROBERT HEBERT Baton Rouge

On amorepersonal note, Irecently became awarethat the FDA issueda lettertomanufacturers of NDT (naturaldesiccated thyroid) or as the FDA lists it, ADT (animal desiccatedthyroid) medications. The letterstatesthat action will be takenagainst these manufacturers to discontinue production of NDT andencourage patients to transition to synthetic thyroid medications, suchasSynthroid, Levothyroxine andCytomel. The problem is that the synthetic drugs contain talc, mannitol, andcancer-causing dyes thatcause severe allergic reactions in hypothyroidism patients like myself.

Ihavesuccessfully taken NDT meds for the past 30 yearsand in doing so,havereceived aconsistent dose of allofthe thyroid hormones Ineed,without the deadly additives. And the real issue Itake with this decisionisthatitisbased on the economicgoalsofpharmaceutical companiesand made by incompetent people with no education or experience in the field. Finally,their statements regarding NDT arecompletely false

There areseveral petitions against the FDA in circulation. And Iimplore patients and medical professionals to take up armsagainst this outrageous threat to choose what we andour doctors decide is best.

CATHERINE ALTAZAN Port

Allen

CrackerBarrellogo flap wasnot aboutbeing woke

Isuppose it’snatural to think of Cracker Barrel in summer.Sweltering days call to mind road trips, rocking chairs and atall glassofice-cold lemonade. But if we aregoingtotalk about therestaurant chain, I’d rather discuss thequality of its biscuits than the tiresome question of whether Cracker Barrel has gone woke. Three Augustsago it was the chain’sdecision to introduce vegan sausage that spawned afew unhinged social media posts and alegion of think pieces about whether conservatives were losing their minds. Today,it’sthe move to rebrand the company,sheddingthe iconic logo with aman in overalls cuddlingupto, yes,a cracker barrel.Surely we have something better to do with our vacations than debate the strategic choices of a casual-dining franchise.

Idon’tblame Cracker Barrel for this sorry state of affairs.The companyisa victim of the internet’sendless search for something to be mad about Alas, Iwas shouting into thesocial media void, becausehere we are again, trying to turn astruggling restaurant chain into ametaphor for American politics.

This time, the president’s sonjoined the unhinged, retweeting apostfrom an accountcalledWoke WarRoom that had, for some unaccountable reason, gotten mad about the change.This was followed up by our poster in chief himself, who advised Cracker Barrelto restore the old logo. Then, the company announced it was taking this advice. And thus we had aweek of discourse aboutwhatitall means. So, with asigh, it’sonce more unto the breach to stress that Cracker Barrel is just arestaurant, notthe avatar forwhatever you’re upset about. It’sobvious why Cracker Barrel keeps being chosenasthe internet’s main character.

Its branding places it firmly on one side of various cleavages in today’s politics: country vs. city,tradition vs modernity, north vs. south. But when you are tempted to think that Cracker Barrelmust offer some insight into What America Is Becoming,please remember that this is just branding.

The companyistrying to sell food, not apolitical program.

Thechainwas founded in 1969 —not 1776. It adopted the country branding becausedown-homecooking and folksy kitsch were trendy back then, not because they were trying to restore America to the Good Ole Days. Now, the market has moved on, and Cracker Barrel has been trying to adapt —not because thecompany “read theroom” and decided that aWhiteguy in overalls is a“badlook,” but because its profits suffered as economic conditions shifted, American consumer tastes changed,and the market was flooded with casual-dining rivals.

Itendtoagree with marketing analysts whosay the update has made some mistakes;Cracker Barrel might have done better by leaning intoits quirky decor and iconography rather than refreshing it to asleeker,contemporary country vibe. Butyou can see howithappened, given that trafficto Cracker Barrel restaurants is down 16% since thepandemic. Companies in that position have to do something to attract new customers, and while I doubt younger consumers would have flocked to the evanescent new logo which looked as though it belongs on ano-name, down-marketbuffet —I’m notsureI’d have comeupwith any-

thingbetter than, say,jettisoning the “Uncle Herschel” illustration introduced in 1977.

But“venerable company makes mistakes trying to refresh itsbrand” is not thekind of story that usually leaps to national attention. It has happened now only because of the particular pathologies of our political moment. We have confused brands withmoral values, and we demand tosee our politics reflected everywhere, even in restaurant signage. We have also confused social media withsocial lives.And alone with our screens, too many of us have becomeaddicted torage, mashing therefresh button for thedopamine that rushes through us every time we discover that someone, somewhere, is wrong on the internet.

The addiction is so consuming that when no ready source of rage is available, we start cooking up our own out of whatever we can find in thecupboard.

Butifthe cupboard is really this bare, Isuggest people put down the phone and head to Cracker Barrel, rock themselves to serenity in thechairs on theporch, then head inside for adelicious helping of hash-brown casserole. MeganMcArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo.

Why do theworld’spoor make abeeline for New York City? It is nowhome to over 3million immigrants, thelargest influx coming from the Dominican Republic, China, Jamaica, Mexico, Guyana, Ecuador,Bangladesh, Haiti and India. How can these overwhelmingly poor new arrivals stay if no one can afford to live there?

Answer: They crowd into small apartments and work their tails off.

They’re largely there because there’smoney to be made. Like it or not, rich people have the money and spend it in thecity. That’swhy the creative class also gravitates to New York. The rich can afford to patronize the theater and the arts. Which brings us to mayoral candidate ZohranMamdani andhis family His father was aprofessor in Uganda and his mother a filmmaker.BothofIndian descent, they moved toNew York, where his father became director of Columbia University’sInstituteofAfrican Studies. Columbia became arich elite institution thanks to thewealthy New Yorkers who since the Gilded Age have bestowed the universitywith large gifts. Zohran Mamdani lied on his college application to Columbia aboutbeing “Black or African American.”Hethus took aspot intended for theBlack descendants of slaveryand Jim Crow. Perhaps the public City CollegeofNew

York wasn’tgood enough for him. TheMamdanis were never your huddled masses, yearning tobreathe free. AndZohran was hardly theonly privileged kidtoaccessorize with Socialist ideology.But modernDemocratic Socialists in Europe would regard hisviews as naive. They are certainly foreign to thechurn of the New York economy Take Mamdani’sidea of city-run grocery stores.They would compete with thebodegas now largely operated by Dominicans, Yemenis andother Middle Eastern immigrants. These little stores are theeconomic ladder on which generations of New Yorkers have climbed out of poverty andinto themiddleclass. Their proprietorsput in brutal hours, working harder than mostany public employee would Mamdani, meanwhile, has never run alemonadestand. New York’s Social Democratsrevere Sweden for its wide social safety net. “I don’t thinkweshould have billionaires,” Mamdani said, perhaps unaware that Sweden has morebillionaires per capita than the United States does. The rich in Sweden makethe socialwelfare system possible. Youcan’t have one without theother Mamdani has plans to raise taxes on city residents making more than $1 million. Wealthy New Yorkers already pay some of the highest combined in-

come taxes in the country

The richest 1% of residents pay nearly 48% of all New York Citypersonal incometax. That’supfrom 40% in 2019. This doesn’taccount for the propertytaxes on their co-ops, condos and brownstones. Nor the high sales tax on their luxury purchases and dining at the restaurantsthat employ immigrants, command of English not required.

Mamdani’svow to raise taxes on “richer,whiter neighborhoods” is hardly arecruiting tool for willing taxpayers. None of the inhabitants needs apassport to lower their taxes by movingelsewhere. Housing is very expensive, but Mamdani’splan for extending rent control over afraction of New York’srentals, his among them, would discourage the building of new units. This is aproblem of supply and demand. There are ways to ease thehousing burden, but New York will always be an expensive address. Without adoubt, the city is home to somestarkcontrasts between the rich and poor,but it also offers aconveyor belt between the two groups. Many who take the ride out of poverty leave thecity for the suburbs.

That’sthe way it’s always been. Mamdani understands neither economics nor New York City.

Froma Harrop is on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com.

About 70%ofthe nation’spublic schoolteachers belong to aunionoremployees’ association. The two largest teachers unions, the NationalEducation Association (NEA) and the American FederationofTeachers (AFT), together represent about 4.7 million members. Politically,according to a study by Pew Research, about 58% of public school K-12teachers identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party,compared to about 35% who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party Last year,NEA President Rebecca Pringle told aPhiladelphia public radio station that her organization’smembership is “nearly evenly split betweenDemocrats, Republicans andindependents.” Whether that is true or not, we’ve known for alongtime that the union’sleadership does not reflectthe diversity of its membership; it donates the vast majority of the organization’smoney to liberal, progressive and Democratic causes and candidates. Anew compilation of data shows just howmuch.

Defending Education is agroup that says it seeks to free schools “fromactivists imposing harmful agendas” and to fight indoctrination in classrooms and on campus to promote the reestablishment of aquality,non-political education for all students.” Recently,itreleased an accounting of $43,524,125 donated to left-wing causes by the NEA and AFT in two years, from July 1, 2022, to July 30, 2024.

Starting with the biggest numbers, the NEA contributed $9.5 milliontoState Engagement Fund, an organization that in turn parcels out the money amongprogressive groups. NEA also contributed $6.95million to the For Our Future Action Fund, a liberal political action committee focused on electing Democratsinthe key statesofMichigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Florida. AFT contributed an additional $2.35 milliontothe fund, for atotal of $9.3 millionbetween the groups for Democratic candidates in those states.

The money,ofcourse, camefrom the dues of teachersbelonging to the unions.

The NEA gave $2.415million to agroup called Protect Our Schools KY,anorganization that fights Republican education reforms in the Bluegrass State.NEA gave $620,000 to the Democracy Alliance, another left-wing pass-through that distributes money to progressive groups.

The NEA gave $500,000 to the Hopewell Fund, $500,000 to the Color of Change.org Education Fund (AFT gave another $100,000); $500,000 to Defend Our Constitution (AFT gave another $150,000); $500,000 to the Centerfor American Progress (AFT gave another $200,000); $500,000 to Future Forward USA Action (AFTgaveanother $250,000); and $645,000tothe State PowerAction Fund.

To take one example, if you haven’theard of the Hopewell Fund, it is anonprofitassociated with Arabella Advisors, anotorious “dark money” network for Democratic causes. (The nation’slargest charity,the Gates Foundation, recently cut ties with Arabella Advisors.) The Hopewell Fund, according to the monitoring group InfluenceWatch, “primarily exists to sponsor anumber of ‘fake’ groups: websites designed to look like standalone nonprofits [that] typically exist to effect an issue advocacy campaign pushing left-wing policies and maydisappear after the campaign is finished.”

If you did not recognize Future Forward, it was the biggest political actioncommitteefor the Joe Biden presidential reelection campaign, and after Biden withdrew, the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.

Defend Our Constitution, for its national-sounding name,isactually an Alaska group dedicated to stopping Republicaninitiatives in that state.

AFT gave $1.6 milliontothe House Majority PAC, which seeks Democratic control of the House, and $1.25 milliontothe Senate Majority PAC, which seeks Democratic control of the Senate

AFT gave $870,000 to agroup called Red Wine & Blue, whichisinvolved in lots of left-wing political causes. AFT gave $100,000, and NEA gave $85,000, to Al Sharpton’sNationalAction Network, which is involvedinpromoting Al Sharpton.

NEA gave $30,000 to GLSEN, which usedtobe known as the Gay,Lesbian, Straight Education Network, but now just goes by GLSEN. NEA gave $60,000 to the LGBT organization Human Rights Campaign, and $29,250 to something called GenderInclusivity LLC, which appears to refer to a company called GenderInc., which says it seeks to “create agender-sensitive and inclusive environment supportive of the transgender community.”

The Defending Education report includes many other lefty organizations to whichthe nation’stop two teachers unions have contributed. And the $43,524,125 listed in the report is notthe entire amount the unions spent on political and ideological causes. But you get the idea. The report is nota surprise, and this kind of spending hasbeen going on for years. Still, it is stunning to confront the hyperpoliticized priorities of unions that are supposedly devoted to education.

Email Byron York at byork@washingtonexaminer com.

ated as valedictorianfrom Woolmarket High School in 1950. He graduatedfrom PerkinstonJuniorCollege in1952,receiveda B.S. fromMississippi Southern College in 1954, anda M. S. inLibrary Sciencefrom Louisiana StateUniversity in1960.Johnservedthree years in theArmySecurity Agency, mostly in Europe from1954-1957. Hislibrary career beganinthe sev‐enthgrade as alibrary page, andhecontinued working in libraries throughouthis collegeca‐reer.Heworkedinthe Hu‐manitiesDivisionand the PreparationsDepartment atLSU-BRuntil he wasse‐lectedtostart alibrary at the newlylegislatedLSUAlexandriain1960, where heremainedfor 16 years. His leadership andorgani‐zationalskillswereusedto selectstaff,planthe li‐brary building,develop the library collection as well as teach Booksand Libraries. Healsotaughtlibrary ad‐ministrationand library reference sourcesinthe LSU Graduate School of Li‐brary andInformation Sci‐ences.In1977,hebecame the thirddirectorofthe EastBaton RougeParishLi‐brary System,where he re‐maineduntil hisretirement in2003. With theLibrary Board of Control, he was responsible forencourag‐ing thecitizensofEBR Parishtovotefor the first dedicated millagefor the support of thelibrary sys‐tem.The continuedpas‐sageofthistax,built new buildings,programs, and technologiestomakethe EBR Parish Libraryone of the premierpubliclibrary systems in thecountry Johnwas recognized for his many accomplishments inlibraries andreceived manyawardsincluding: the Alexandria DailyTown Talk’sNoteworthyAchieve‐mentAward forthe Central Louisiana Area,the Louisiana LibraryAssocia‐tion’sEssaeM.CulverDis‐tinguishedService Award, the MedalofHonor from the SNDAR, theOutstand‐ing Alumna of theYear fromthe LSUBoard of Li‐brary andInformation Sci‐ence, andthe LouisShoresOnyxPress Awardfor Ex‐cellenceinReviewing Ref‐erenceBooksand otherLi‐brary Materials. He served asPresident of the Louisiana LibraryAssocia‐tionand wasa delegate to the firstWhite HouseCon‐ference on Libraries. A lov‐ing husband, father,grand‐father, son, brother, uncle, andfriend, he wasespe‐

DEATHS continued from cially closetohis grand‐childrenand affectionately known as Pawpaw John Johnnie,and Guy. Alifelong Catholic,Johnwas along‐timememberofSt. George Catholic Church,where he servedonseveral commit‐tees throughout theyears Relatives andfriends are invited to attend theFu‐neral Mass at 11:00a.m.on Saturday, September6, 2025, at St.GeorgeCatholic Church,7808 St.George Drive in BatonRouge.A Visitationwillbeheldat the church beginningat 9:30a.m.Entombmentwill followat St.George Catholic Church Cemetery Mausoleum.Inlieuof flow‐ers,memorials in honorof JohnB.Richard canbe madetothe Patronsofthe PublicLibrary fund https:// www.ebrpl.com/about/ patrons-of-the-publiclibrary/ or St.George Catholic Church Building Fund https://osvhub.com/ st-georgebatonrouge/ giving/funds/buildingfund.Familyand friends may sign the online guest‐book or leavea personal notetothe family at www resthavenbatonrouge.com

Slaughter LA. Norman N. Spann(Scooter) entered into eternal rest at Lane Memorial HospitalZachary LA. August 30, 2025.Viewing at Greater Philadelphia BaptistChurch from 9:00am until 10 am September5,2025.Celebrationoflifeservice at 10:00am. Survivorsinclude Threesisters Deborah Spann (Arthur)Woodside, Carolyn Spann (Jeffery) Brookshire,Twayna Spann, Two Brothers Melvin (Cynthia)Spann,Dwayne (Pamela) Spann otherrelatives and friends, Arrangement entrusted to Richardson Funeral Home, Clinton Louisiana

SueCarol Toler, 87, of Baker,LA, passedawayon Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, sur‐rounded by hertreasured familyand friends. A1964 graduateofBaker High School,she worked forthe state of Louisiana, begin‐ningwiththe Department ofHighways andlater retir‐ing in 1997 from theDe‐partmentofSocialSer‐vices,where shecreated policiesstill used today. A force to be reckoned with and awoman of many tal‐ents, Suebalancedlifebe‐tween workingatthe Baton RougeBingo Hall curatingexperiences at Fe‐liciana CellarsWinery, ded‐icating hertimetovolun‐teer work,and fillingher daysand nights with fam‐ily andfriends.Sue lived her life with no regrets. She lovedgathering loved onestomakememories, fishing, gardening, expand‐ing herknowledge of wine and travelingwithher clos‐est companions.Her love was fierce,unrelenting, and unapologetic. Sheis loved allthe same,and she willcontinue to live in allof us— Fiercely.Unrelent‐ingly.Unapologetically. She was preceded in deathby her parents, Elizabeth Marie andJackCarrolToler Jr.,her sister,Treasure Hurst,and herson,Timo‐thy "Timmy"Bourgeois She is survived by her sons, Brandon“B.B.”and BeauBourgeois,and daughter, BeverlyBour‐geois Lasseigne(John) She is survived by her grandchildren,Destiny, Brenden,Adleigh,Fawn, John, andGregand greatgrandchildren,Bailey, Hay‐den,Marlayna, andMya She also leaves behind her siblings, Adele“Dell”and Travis“Terry,” multiple niecesand nephews, and her best friends, Janice Beam, CarolEdwards,and Neila Eckler.Memorialser‐vices will be held at the Toler House, 4720 Lavey Lane, Baker, LA on Friday 09/05/2025 from 3to6 p.m

Waggenspack, Elizabeth Ber 'Betty'

ElizabethBer Pace Waggenspack, affectionately known as Betty, passed away peacefully at 11:00 PM on Tuesday September 2, 2025 at Hospice of Acadiana'sCalcutta House in Lafayette,surrounded in love by her family Betty was born in HoumaonAugust 27, 1938, thethirdoffive children born to theunionofWarren and Margery Ber. When she was very youngher family moved to New Iberiawhere she attended and graduated fromMount Carmel Academy. She was blessed withfour children Tappi,Tina, Chip, and Lisa. Later in life,Betty furthered her education, earning her Bachelor's Degree fromLouisiana State University. One of her greatest joys in life was her grandchildren. She was an avid reader and gardener who also enjoyed traveling Those she leavesto cherish her memory includeher four children, Patricia Pace "Tappi Waggenspack, Tina Marie Pace, Jackson Allen"Chip" Pace Jr.and his wife Olga, and ElizabethPace"Lisa" Nugent and her husband Steve; her six grandchildren who lovingly called her BB, Emily Waggenspack (Dan) Vizzard,Adam (Aubrey) Waggenspack, Kathryn Waggenspack, LeighAnne Nugent (Matthew) LaFleur, David (Makenzie) Nugent, and Anna Marie Pace; her brother, Warren C. (Frances) Ber; her sister, Mary CarolBer (Tommy) LeBlanc; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces, and greatnephews She wasprecededin death by parents, Warren Isidore Ber and Margery LaFleurBer; her siblings, Barbara BerHebert and John Edward "Johnny" Ber; her husband Louis Laville Waggenspack; and her former husband and father of her children, Jackson Allen

Pace. Funeral serviceswill be held on Friday, September 5, 2025, at St.Joseph Catholic Church in Centerville duringa 1:00 PM Mass of Christian Burial.Intermentwill follow in the St Joseph Cemetery.Father Joel Faulk willbethe Celebrant for theMass and conductthe services.

Visiting hourswill be held Friday at thechurch beginningat10:00 AM with therecitation of theHoly Rosary at 11:00 AM concluding with theMass at 1:00 PM Thefamilywishestoexpresstheir deepestgratitude to thestaffsof Camelot of BroussardAssisted Living andHospice of AcadianaCalcutta Housefor theexceptional care given to Betty in her time of need In lieu of flowersthe familyasks that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Acadiana, 2600 Johnston St Lafayette, LA 70503.

Familyand friends may view theobituaryand expresstheir condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert's Mortuary, Inc.,1007 Main Street,Franklin, LA 70538, (337) 828-5426.

HenryHamilton Wallace passedaway on Sunday, August 31, 2025. He was 89. Henry wasbornon February 23, 1936 in Stockdale, Texas andmoved to Louisiana as achild.Heattended Louisiana Tech University andthenentered theUnited States Coast Guard wherehewas stationed in Brownsville Texas. He marriedPatricia Roshto and afterhis honorable discharge from the service,theymoved to Houston, Texas andeventually returned home to Baton Rouge wherehe workedasa buildinginspector for theCityParish He later became aConstruction Superintendent

and spentthe majority of hisworkingyearsatJim Best Construction andEllis Electric.Hewas alongtime memberand deacon at Parkview Baptist Church whereheservedfaithfully with humility and integrity. He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Pat Roshto Wallace; daughter, WendyWallaceTerHaar andher husband, Brian; and grandchildrenAbigail Kathryn TerHaar andJack Shaffer TerHaar. He wasprecededin death by hisparents, RaymondHamiltonWallace andDella Shaffer Wallace; sister,AlmaWallaceFluker;brother,CharlesRaymond Wallaceand sisterin-law,NonaDay Wallace. Henryloved to work with hishands andfor yearshevolunteered with the"Tuesday Crew"atJudson Baptist Retreat Center He wasa quietman who lovedthe Lordand hisfamily. He washumble, patient, andtender-hearted Visitation will be at Parkview Baptist Church on Monday, September8 from 9:00AM untilthe funeralservice at 11AM.A private burialwill follow at ResthavenGardensof Memory.

SPORTS

Southern celebrates receiver’s hustle tackle

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Jamari Stokes turned his head, feeling the presenceofaSouthern player behind him.

TheMississippi Valley State defensive back retrieved Trey Holly’sfumble from theopposite 30-yard line andseemed bound for atouchdown going the other way.That was until Stokeslooked back while 20 yards away from the end zone and sawthe imminent chase-down tackle cominghis way.

Southern wide receiver Cam Jefferson’sfootball instincts kicked in when his teammates on the sideline yelled ‘ball,’and his eyes saw the pigskinscooped up. Without thought, his legs —which have graced a football field’s turf since he was 6—jetted to the opponent who had at least a5-yard head start.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound wideout showcased his running form that he honed as a track star at Airline High School.

“I’m steady closing the gap,soI’m like, ‘Man, Iknow Ican catch this dude,’ ”the redshirt sophomore said.

With ahead-first dive, Jefferson shoved the ball carrier who was ruledout of bounds at the 1-yard line. Southern rewatched the play on film and saw it was actually at the 4-yard line.

Regardless, Jefferson’snearly 70-yard chase in the third quarter prevented a touchdown, and the ensuing Southern goalline defense allowed onlya fieldgoal in the 34-29 win against MVSU.

In agame that Southern coach Terrence Graves described as tougher thanit should have been, he was still enthralledby

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

Hours before they stood on oppositesidelines for apreseason game last month, Sean Payton and Kellen Moore greeted each other andtooka fewminutes tochat. Their conversation centered on the trade they had made days earlier,when Payton and the Denver Broncos sent wide receiver Devaughn Vele to Moore and the New Orleans Saints. The meeting also was aglimpse into the Saints’ pastand present Inside theCaesars Superdome, where the men stood,nocoachhas delivered more victories—and more hope —tothe city of New Orleans than Payton, the former Saints coach whose reign lasted 15 years.Then there’sMoore, the first-year coach tasked with reviving the franchise coming off its worst season since 2005, the year before Payton’sarrival. The parallels betweenthe twoare unavoidable.

SU SE STARTER

BY REED DARCEY Staff writer

When it lined up for its first snap of theseason, theLSU defense contained asurprise. It had not given one of its first-teamcornerback spots to the incumbent starter,the prized five-starfreshman or the third-yeartransferit plucked from aSoutheastern Conference rival.

The job belonged to PJ Woodland, the true sophomore who joined the No. 3Tigers (1-0) last season as alightly recruited, undersized three-star prospect.

Why start Woodland against Clemson? Why start him over more experienced LSUcorners?

“Well, he earned it,”coach Brian Kelly said Wednesday In doing so, Woodland jumped twoorthree rungs up the cornerbackladder that LSU usedtobegin preseason practices, provingthe Tigers have moredepth in thesecondary thanthey’ve ever had in Kelly’sfour-year tenure.

Moore, likePayton when theSaints hired him, is afirst-timeheadcoachknown for hisoffensive intellect.Moore, like Payton, worked for theDallas Cowboys —thoughin Moore’scase, that was his first play-calling gigbefore stops withthe LosAngeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. And Moore, like Payton then,isyoung but still old enough to have been in the mix for head coachingjobsbefore landing with theSaints.

Moorestarted hearing the comparisons well before the Saints hired him, and the 37-year-old even joked that general manager Mickey Loomis “might have atype” at his introductory news conference, given the executive hiredPayton, too. But is Kellen Moore the next Sean Payton?

He doesn’thave to be as he prepares for the noon Sunday season opener against the Arizona Cardinals in the Dome.

Virginia Tech transfer Mansoor Delane is still at the topofthe depth chart,asexpected, and freshman DJ Pickett is rotating in. But junior Ashton Stamps and Florida transfer Ja’Keem Jackson are, as of the opener, relegated to the sideline.Neither playeda single snap against Clemson.

Woodland logged51snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, and Pickett played 33. That action was the first extended playing time of their careers,and they each playedtight coverage against the Clemsonwide receivers.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik targeted wideouts they were covering just six times on Saturday,per PFF, andcompleted only threepassesfor 37 yards when he did. Woodland even led LSU with five tackles, one of which was an early third-down sack that dropped Klubnik 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, ending

On TV

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WOMEN’S

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6p.m.WTA:U.S.Open

6:30

Anisimova upsets Swiatek

BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP tennis writer

NEW YORK AmandaAnisimova

upset Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open quarterfinalsWednesday,less than twomonths after losing to the six-time GrandSlam champion in the Wimbledon final by a6-0, 6-0 score.

The No. 8-seeded Anisimova reached her third major semifinal and first at Flushing Meadows.

“Tocome back from Wimbledon like that is really special to me,” said Anisimova, a24-year-old who was born in New Jerseyand grew up in Florida. “I feel like Iworked so hard to try and turn around from that. Today is really special.”

The powerful strokes and poise she displayed in Arthur Ashe Stadium against No.2 Swiatek —the 2022 U.S. Open champion —were such astriking contrastto what happened at the All England Club’sCentre Court on July 12

That title matchlastedjust57 minutes,and Anisimovaonly managed to win 24 points that day,a total she eclipsed about midway through the first set this time

“Everybody knows how Amanda can play. Yeah, shedidn’tplay well in Wimbledon,” said Swiatek, a24-year-old from Poland,“but it’snot like she’salways going to do the same mistakes or feel the same.”

Anisimova cried during her runner-up speech duringthe trophy ceremony at Wimbledon; on Wednesday,she was allsmiles while addressing thousands of supportive spectators who kept interrupting her on-court interview with cheers.

“Playing here is so freaking special,” Anisimova told them, and I’ve been having the run of my life here.”

On Thursday,Anisimova will try to reach asecond consecutive major final.

She’ll facefour-time GrandSlam champion Naomi Osaka —who eliminated Coco Gauff on Monday —after the No. 23 seed beat No. 11 Karolina Muchova 6-4,7-6 (3). After one game against Swiatek in the quarterfinals Wednesday Anisimova might have beenforgiven for thinking, “Oh,no. Not this again.”

That’sbecause Anisimova served first and got broken immediately when she lost three points in arow by missing forehands —one into the net, one wide, one long. But Anisimova broke right back andsoonwas theone dictating points with her strong, flat groundstrokes that wound up contributing to 23 total winners, 10 more than Swiatekaccumulated. Anisimova also playedquite cleanly, making just 12 unforced errors. “She moved better,she played better,” Swiatek said, comparing

this match to the one at Wimbledon. “Everything wasdifferent.”

Swiatek’s serve was problemat-

ic: She only put in 50% of her first serves and was broken four times.

“I couldn’twin today’smatch playing like that, serving like that,”Swiatek said, “and with Amanda being so aggressive on the returns.”

In the second set, Anisimova fell behind early again, this time 2-0. But she again regrouped and quicklygained theupper hand

Swiatek was the one looking increasinglyfrustrated, shaking her head or slumping her shoulders between points, spreading her arms wide and looking to her coach for advice, and leaning back in her changeover chair as if pondering what,exactly, she could do differently

When Swiatek double-faulted to trail 5-3 in the second set, that allowed Anisimova to serveout the victory

“From the get-go, Iwas trying to fire myself up,” Anisimovasaid

“She is oneofthe toughestplayers I’ve ever played. Iknew Iwas goingtohave to digdeep.”

Auger-Aliassimeprevails

Felix Auger-Aliassime gotpast Alex de Minaur4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-6(4) at theU.S. Openacross 4 hours, 10 minutes on Wednesday to reach his second Grand Slam semifinal—and second at FlushingMeadows.

TheNo. 25-seeded Auger-Aliassime’sonly other trip to the final fouratamajor came in New York in 2021 at age21.

“Fouryears ago. It feels like more,” saidAuger-Aliassime, who advanced backthenwhen Carlos

Alcarazstopped playing in the quarterfinalswith an injuredleg muscle.

“It was atough couple of years.”

Auger-Aliassime, who is Canadian, will meet No. 1Jannik Sinner or No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti on Fridayfor aberthinthe championship match.No. 2Alcaraz faces No. 7Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal.

“It’snot over.There’sstill some tennistoplay andthe biggestchallenges areyet to come,”AugerAliassime said.

“That’swhat Ilive for.That’s what Itrain for He hit 22 aces and finished with atotalof51winners to the 29 for de Minaur,who dropped to 0-6 for his career in Grand Slam quarterfinals.

“Right now I’m looking at this like awastedopportunity,”said de Minaur.“It’stough.”

Auger-Aliassime wasone point from trailing two sets to none when de Minaur led 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker.But AugerAliassimeerasedthatset point witha 120mph ace. That began a run in which he grabbedfour of five points to even the contest at aset apiece.

“Just alot of nerves today,during the whole match. Itwasn’t pretty at all times,” Auger-Aliassime said during hison-courtinterview in Arthur Ashe Stadium

“I waswilling to dig really deep anddoeverything Ican to stand here, right now.”

This is the first timeAuger-Aliassime has eliminated three seeded players during asingle major, adding this victory over No. 8de Minaurtowinsagainst No.3Alexander Zverev in the thirdround

andNo. 15 Andrey Rublev in the fourth.

Djokovic survives Tuesday

Novak Djokovic is 38 and trying to conquer ayounger man’s game as he heads into the U.S. Open semifinals on Friday.It’sbeen two yearssince hismostrecentGrand Slam title.

Lastseason was his first without earning at least one since 2017. AndDjokovic is clear that, at this point in his career,those big trophiesfrom thesport’sfourbiggest eventsare all he really cares about.

At this year’sthree other majortournaments, he exited in the semifinals, twoafter getting hurt: quitting at the Australian Open because of atornhamstring and clearly limited at Wimbledon by an injured groin muscle.

He hadn’tcompeted anywhere since leaving the All England Club in July until arriving at Flushing Meadows.

Djokovic faces No. 2Carlos Alcaraz, 22, next afterreaching a53rdmajor semifinal and 14th by eliminating No. 4seed Taylor Fritz,27infour sets Tuesday night

NowthatDjokovicisbackinthe finalfourinNew York, he wins thisand a final on Sunday against No. 1Jannik Sinner,23, could await,ifthe defending champion beats Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals and whoever his semifinal opponent is.

Djokovic currently owns nearly everyrecord of anysignificance in men’s tennis, including 24 major championships, 37 major final appearances and themost weeks at No. 1inthe rankings.

McIlroyturns ablind eyetowardhostility

ByThe Associated Press

STRAFFAN, Ireland RoryMcIlroy watched Novak Djokovic handle boisterous spectatorsduring a win at the U.S. Open and is ready to follow the tennis star’slead at the Ryder Cup held in the United Statesthis month.

Ahostile and partisan crowdis settogreet McIlroy and the European teamatBethpage Black for the Sept. 26-28matches as the Americans look to regain the cup two years after losing in Rome.

Djokovic had to deal with asimilar environment during his U.S. Open quarterfinal matchagainst home favorite Taylor Fritzand handled it well, even blowing kisses at one point to the fans rooting against him.

McIlroy liked what he saw from Djokovic, whogaveEurope’s golfersamotivational speech intheir team room beforethe victory at the 2023 Ryder Cup about dealing with high-pressure moments.

“He’sbeen the best at handling that,” McIlroysaid Wednesday at the Irish Open, being staged at The KClub —the venue of

the2006 Ryder Cup —this week.

“He’shad to deal with it his whole life, whether it’s playing against an American in New York or playing againstRoger (Federer) or Rafa (Nadal).

“He came and spoke to us alittle bitabout that stuff last time in Rome. Somaybetaking aleaf out of hisbook and channeling that energy the rightway.But again, all we can do is control our reaction and our emotions to it.Ithink the less we playintoit, the better it is forus.”

Theexperience of Rome should comeinhandyatBethpage fora European team finalizedMonday —showing just one change twoyears on, withRasmus Hojgaard qualifying automatically to be the only rookie in the 12-man roster McIlroy,who will be competing in his eighth Ryder Cup, used RobertMacIntrye —a rookie in Rome and now aregular contender for events on thePGA Tour —asan example to back up his belief that “pretty much everyplayer on the team is more accomplishedthan what they were two years ago.”

Pelicans add two new playerstothe roster

The NewOrleansPelicans announced Wednesday thesigning of two players, center Garrison Brooks and forward Jalen McDaniels. The signing of McDaniels previously had been reported.

The6-foot-10 Brooks played at North Carolina before transferring to Mississippi State. After going undrafted in 2022, he started in the GLeague withthe WestchesterKnicks, New York’s affiliate. Brooks also played on thePelicans’ Summer League team in 2023.

McDaniels played his first 31/2 seasons with the Charlotte Hornets before being tradedtothe Philadelphia76ers in his fourth season.Lastseason, McDaniels signed a10-day contract with the Washington Wizards. He is averaging 6.7points and 3.3 rebounds in his career

Boston rookie to miss restofseason from injury

Red Soxrookie Roman Anthonyis expected to missthe rest of the regular seasonafter he wasplacedon the 10-day injured list on Wednesdaywitha left oblique strain.

The 21-year-old Anthony departed Tuesday’s11-7 victory over Cleveland after striking out in the fourth inning.AnMRI revealed theextent of the injury.There is no timetable for Anthony’sreturn, but manager Alex Cora saidplayers are typically sidelinedfor four to sixweekswith this kind of oblique issue.

Entering Wednesday’saction, Boston was 21/2 games back of AL East-leading Toronto.Anthony,one of baseball’stop prospects, made his major league debut on June 9. He is batting .292 witheight homers and32RBIsin71games with theRed Sox.

WR Meyerssays his trade requestdenied by Raiders Las Vegas wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said theRaidersturned down his trade request and he didn’tknow what his future looked like with the organization.

Meyers, who turns 29 on Nov. 9, requested atrade last weekwhen he andthe club failed to reachan agreementona contract extension. He enters the final season of a three-year,$33 milliondeal.

Meyers comes off his first 1,000yard season. He caught 87 passes in 2024 for 1,027 yards andfourtouchdowns. Meyers wasthe only NFL receiverwithatleast 85 targets andnodropped passes. Butrather than hold out or attend but not participate in practices, Meyers has continued to work with his teammates as they prepare for Sunday’s season opener at New England.

Jets O-lineman has injury before seasonopener

New York Jets right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker has an arm injury that could sideline him forthe season opener and perhaps longer The offensive linemanwas listed Wednesday on the team’s injury reportasnot participating in practice with atriceps issue.

Aperson withknowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Vera-Tucker wasinjured

The news came just four days before the Jets open their season against Pittsburgh. The Athletic first reported that Vera-Tucker was dealing with apotentially serious injury.ESPN reported VeraTucker hasa torntriceps— the same injury that cut short his2022 season —and could need surgery, but theoffensive linemanwas seeking asecond medical opinion.

NBA opens investigations on Clippers, Leonard deal

The NBAsaid Wednesday that it will investigate if a$28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard anda Californiabased sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules, following areport by journalist Pablo Torre.

The probe will focus on ties among Leonard, the Clippers and acompany called Aspiration Fund Adviser,which filed forbankruptcy this year

The Northern Irishman believes Europe has a“wonderful opportunity” to win aRyder Cup on the road for the first time since 2012.

“They have avery strong team,” McIlroy said of the Americans.

“They’re going to have apretty raucous crowd on their side and

on agolf course that alot of them know pretty well from previous tournaments there.

“Somake no mistake, we know we’re up against it and we know we’ve got atall task on our hands, but Ilove the team that Luke has assembled.”

It listed several creditors at that time, among them the Clippers, who wasowed$30 million, anda companycalled KL2 Aspire LLC that was owed $7 million.

Leonard is listed as the manager of that company in California filings. KL is his initials, and 2ishis jersey number

LSU women to again open first practice to the public

BY REED DARCEY, SCOTT RABALAIS and KOKI RILEY Staff writers

The LSU women’s basketball team is once again opening its first preseason practice to fans in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center

This year, the practice will start at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 23. The Tigers will begin the 20252026 season their fifth under coach Kim Mulkey — a little more than a month later Their first exhibition contest against Mississippi College is set for Oct. 23, and their first regular-season game against Houston Christian will tip off Nov 4. Before the SEC slate begins in January, LSU will play 14 nonconference games. The headliner is a road matchup against Duke set for Dec. 4 in the ACC/SEC Challenge The Tigers also will play a road game against Georgia Southern on Nov 9 near Flau’jae Johnson‘s hometown, and a neutral-site contest against Mulkey’s alma mater Louisiana Tech in the Smoothie King Center on Dec. 13. That game is one of three that LSU will play in New Orleans this season. The Tigers also will visit Tulane on Nov 17 and UNO on Dec. 7. Last year, LSU reached the Elite Eight for the third consecutive NCAA Tournament but lost to No. 1 seed UCLA 72-65. Gymnastics

EXHIBITION GETS NEW DATE: LSU’s annual Gymnastics 101 exhibition meet is on the move.

Traditionally held in December during the Christmas holidays at

the Pete Maravich Assembly Cen-

ter, the event will be held on Jan. 2 of next year The Tigers will open the 2026 regular season Jan. 9.

LSU coach Jay Clark said his goal is to make attendance for the Tigers’ exhibition meet rival the packed houses the team has drawn for the regular season.

LSU has led the nation in attendance over the past four seasons, averaging more than 12,000 fans per meet from 2023-25. Typically, Gymnastics 101 draws about a quarter of that despite having no admission charge.

“We need to grow this event,”

Clark said. “I would like to promote it and have a lot more fans for it than we’ve had.”

Clark said Gymnastics 101 will remain a free event, but the plan is to include the ticket for that meet in the 2026 season-ticket package.

LSU’s regular-season schedule is expected to be released later this month

The Tigers won a share of the Southeastern Conference regularseason championship this past season and the SEC championship meet, then went on to be the No. 1 seed for the first time in the NCAA championships LSU, which won its first national title in 2024, reached the NCAA semifinals.

The Tigers lost prominent seniors such as Haleigh Bryant, now an LSU assistant coach; 2024 Olympian Aleah Finnegan; and Olivia Dunne But the Tigers are again expected to be a top-three team nationally with a lineup built around NCAA vault champion and SEC freshman of

the year Kailin Chio and former U.S. national champion Konnor McClain

Clark also said former U.S Olympic alternate Kaliya Lincoln appears to be fully healthy after an injury-plagued freshman season and is poised to be an all-arounder

The Tigers also added a host of prominent transfers and freshmen, including three-time AllAmerican Madison Ulrich from Denver Baseball

TIGERS TO FACE INDIANA, NOTRE DAME:

The Tigers will face Indiana on Feb. 20, followed by Notre Dame the next day and Central Florida the day after at the Live Like Lou Jax College Baseball Classic, the tournament announced Wednesday LSU’s matchup against Indiana will be at 1 p.m. It will face Notre Dame at 11 a.m. and UCF at 2 p.m.

LSU’s trip to Jacksonville, Florida, for the tournament follows its opening weekend series against Milwaukee at Alex Box Stadium. The Tigers will return from their trip with matchups against Northeastern and Dartmouth in Baton Rouge the next weekend.

LSU will host Sacramento State in the fourth and final weekend before the start of Southeastern Conference play In preparation for the upcoming season, the Tigers will begin their fall practice schedule Oct. 9. Those practices will continue until the weekend before Thanksgiving, as LSU also will compete in scrimmages against Samford in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Nov 2, and in Hammond against Southeastern Louisiana on Nov 9.

St. Joseph’s late change enough to upend Dutchown

BY CHARLES SALZER Contributing writer

It was only the second match of the season for St. Joseph’s Academy and Dutchtown, but the intensity was high in Wednesday night’s nondistrict volleyball contest.

The Redstickers dropped two of the first three sets before a defensive change helped them rally to take a 3-2 win at Dutchtown.

“It was two really good teams,”

SJA coach Donna Pixley said.

“We just changed our defense a little bit for the fourth and fifth sets and it came together for us.

“We were doubling them from our right side in the first three sets Then we backed off and doubled from the outside. They did what they wanted, but our defense was there.”

Gracie Mann had seven of her match-high 26 kills in the fifth set. After the score was tied 6-6, she led the way with four kills, the last one a blast through a Dutchtown block that gave the Redstickers a 15-11 win in the final set.

Mann also made her defense felt with 20 digs while teammate Caroline Burkhalter had 23 assists as St. Joseph’s improved to 2-0.

For Pixley the match was just her second regular season-outing with the Redstickers after taking over the program in January

“In this game, coach really showed a lot to us,” Mann said.

“She really helped us push through.”

The match opened up with the closest set of the night After Dutchtown (1-1) took a 2-0 lead, there were 12 ties and five lead changes. The final lead change came after Dutchtown’s Deanne Melancon found an open spot in the left corner to tie the score 2525.

Mann followed with a kill down the left line and a hitting error allowed the Redstickers to take a 27-25 opening set win.

In the second set, Dutchtown pulled away after the score was tied 15-15. The Griffins won four straight points and went on to close out a 25-21 set to even the match.

The teams traded one-sided wins in the third and fourth sets. In the third, Dutchtown led 2011 before claiming the set 25-19.

SJA moved out to a 17-5 lead in the fourth on its way to a 25-17 win.

“It was a great match,” Dutchtown coach Patrick Ricks said.

“We tried our best to score points whenever (Mann) went to the back row

“I thought we did a good job of that in the sets we won, but in the other sets we couldn’t shield the ball.”

Au’Brei McCoy led the Griffins with 15 kills and 5 blocks, and Hayden Herring added 13 kills. Chloe Phillips pitched in with 26 digs and Kinsey Phillips had 26 assists.

PREP REPORT

Clemson’s first drive of the game.

“We’re gonna play the guys that, obviously, give us the best chance to win,” Kelly said. “It’s depth It’s competition. We like the way (Woodland) was consistent in his performance in camp, and that led him to the starting position.” Kelly said after LSU’s sixth preseason practice that he also liked the fact Woodland now is around 12-15 pounds heavier than he was during his freshman season. The added weight has helped him improve as a tackler Before, Kelly said, he was a little too light to push for a larger role in the secondary Now Woodland can start, especially because LSU trusts him to play on both the outside and inside. Against Clemson, according to PFF, the Tigers lined him up wide on 33 snaps and slid him over the slot on nine.

“He’s a very smart player,” Kelly said about Woodland on Aug. 5, “so we can move him around.” Now the odd man out is Stamps, the former Rummel star who started 17 games across the first two seasons of his career He and Woodland enrolled at LSU in similar positions. In 2023, Stamps was a three-star recruit, slotted well outside the top-500 prospects of 247Sports Composite rankings. He played an important role as a freshman anyway The LSU

secondary was that thin on talent one of the key reasons why its defensive struggles derailed the 2023 season Now the Tigers have a deep, talented group of corners. They have veterans such as Delane, Stamps and Jackson, and younger players such as Pickett and Woodland. All of them can play significant snaps on a defense that helped LSU make a strong statement in the season opener Stamps may find his way into the rotation later in the season, Kelly said. But for now, he’s run-

ning behind Woodland, the sopho-

more who rode a strong preseason camp into a rise up the depth chart — and a starring role on a defense with a much stronger secondary “It’s hotly contested,” Kelly said. “We’ve got great depth, and all those guys are extremely capable players. “It will be closely contested all year, and that competition is the big difference in this program in that it drives consistency day in and day out because you know if you don’t have that consistency you won’t be a starter.”

SOUTHERN

Continued from page 1C

Jefferson, who also made a special teams tackle on a fake punt in the first quarter Jefferson epitomized the will that Graves believes leads to success.

“That’s what you want to see,” the second-year coach said. “We want to see the guys give great effort, regardless of what side of the ball it’s on or if it’s the kicking game. He embodied that and of course, we celebrated that, and we made a point to talk about that (because) those things right there will give you chances of winning championships.”

Efforts like this are what Southern needs in its home opener at 6 p.m. Saturday against Alabama State. Jefferson, a starting receiver, finished the game with one catch for 14 yards, but he wasn’t concerned about his stats. He doesn’t let the number of targets affect his tenacity Wide receivers coach Quentin Burrell applauded Jefferson’s touchdown-saving tackle just like he would if it was a touchdown catch. “Burrell, he just was like, ‘I can’t even grade that, because that’s above the grade’ ” Jefferson said.

“Just being the true heart of the Jaguar, and coach Graves always talks about being bought in, all-in and everything.”

Running back Mike Franklin didn’t see the play in real time but

still was inspired by the moment when he saw it during the team’s film breakdown.

“That just sends a message like we all gotta just come together and then just go hard,” the Jacksonville State transfer said.

Jefferson, a Bossier City native, was raised in a household that taught him the value of giving your best effort.

When Jefferson’s friends played video games on Saturday mornings, he instead went to Planet Fitness with his parents or would go to the football field to do speed ladder drills. After working on his craft, he worked on his mind by watching the games on TV during the evening.

Studying the sport is still important. Mastering offensive coordinator Mark Frederick’s playbook with teammates such as wide receiver Darren Morris was an emphasis for Jefferson this offseason. Coaches say the more you understand the game, the more valuable you are as a player Jefferson’s improved mind for the game also informs him on how he can affect the outcome, even with one reception like he had against MVSU. Graves wants every player to practice Jefferson’s unselfishness and make plays like his tackle the norm.

“Just doing what my team needs to win, honestly,” Jefferson said. Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com.

Eagles insist championshipisbehindthem

Theyare some of the best— if not, the best (Barkley was voted No.1inthe NFLTop 100list) players at theirpositions and largely responsiblefor two trips to the SuperBowl in the previous three seasons.

BY DANGELSTON AP sportswriter

PHILADELPHIA NickSirianni is the son of ahigh school football coach, using what he learned from his dad into his own successful coaching career, first in college, then eventually in the NFL.

Sirianni is abit of acoaching lifer,and knows intricate details about the game.

So it seemed abit implausible when the Philadelphia Eagles coach confessed this week that he did not know the team was set to unveil itsSuper Bowl championshipbanner in apregame ceremony ahead of the NFL season opener against Dallas on Thursday night.

Sirianni wantsfresh startinopener againstDallas ASSOCIATEDPRESS

The more educated guess is that while Sirianni surely knows there’salready enough hype and excitement around the game the Eagles asked fans without tickets to not come to the stadium complex to avoid traffic headaches —healso wants to avoid any kind of reminder of last season’schampionship. Shut the door on 2024.

On to the Cowboys.

“The city and everybody has been talking about it,” wide receiver A.J.Brown said. “This buildinghas been locked in.We put that to bed long ago.We’rejust ready to go. That’sover with.”

The Eagles have not only struck theword “repeat,” from theirvernacular,Sirianni saidthe Eagles won’teventake the fieldfor the ceremony —anot uncommon practiceinthe NFL.

Oh, but take alook around and more than abanner will show why the Eagles areagaina betting favorite (7-1, per BetMGM Sportsbook) to win another Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.Brown and DeVonta Smith. Jalen Carter and Cooper DeJean.

While the Eagles have stockpiledtalent, the Cowboys are set to playtheir first regular-season game since they traded star edge rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bayaspartofa deal for two firstround draft picks. The Cowboys missedthe playoffs in what ended up being Parsons’ final season with the team that drafted him 12th overall in 2021. Part of the reason for the team’sstruggles was the hamstring injurythat sidelined quarterbackDak Prescottfor half of the season. Each ofthe NFC East rivals are ready to move on from something. But theEagleswillgladlytake the challenge of trying to win another Super Bowl against aCowboys team stilldigesting another complicated move under owner Jerry Jones.

“What Igot fromthe feel of thelocker room,I don’tthink there was needed, atalk, or liftingguysupoverthe divorce, or feeling down about themselves, or aboutthe situation,” Prescott said. “If anything, Ihopeitwas a wakeup call to some of the guys, right?Thisisfor our life, andevery day you come in here and you approach it like it is for your life. The locker room has seemed upbeat. The pingpong gameshave still been going on, and we’re focused on Philly.”

He’llbewatching

While the Eaglesare sitting out the bannerceremony,Dallas receiverCeeDeeLambsayshe will make apoint of watching the Eagles’ title celebration =It burns alittle deeper for a rival, andLamb’sresponseisanother reminder that one of these twoteams has finished first in the NFCEasteight ofthe past nine seasons.

Thedifference is, the Eagles have two Super Bowl titles in that

span.The Cowboys have a2-5 postseason record

“I’m going to watch it.I’m going to watch it,” Lamb said. “Shout outtothem, because I’vestill got brothers over there. It’snot really anything personal, but it’s something that I’m chasing.”

Pressed on whyhewanted to watch, Lamb said,“Uh,motivation.Motivation.”

Gettinghealthy

Theopenerwill be thefirst snaps sincethe Super Bowl for thebulk of the Eagles starters. Hurts, Barkley,Brown and Smith were among the firstteamers whosat outthe preseason games. Brown, though, also missed asignificantamount of practice time in trainingcamp with ahamstring injury.Brown missed three games last season with ahamstring issue —the Eagles losttwice without him. Brown has 261 catches for4,031 yards and 25 touchdowns in three

EBENHACK

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PHELAN M.

Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos divesfor extra yardageasAlabama defensivebackZavier Mincey makes the tackle during agame on SaturdayinTallahassee, Fla.

No.21Alabama lookstostep up intensityafter loss in opener

BY KENNINGTON LLOYD SMITH III

Associated Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Of all the things that went wrong for Alabama in its season-opening loss at Florida State, this stood out: a lack of effort.

It was evident when the Crimson Tide evaluatedthe 31-17 setback in Tallahassee.

“A lot of coaches (are) fed up,” tight end Josh Cuevas said. “But it’sjust kind of how it’sgoing to be for the rest of the season.”

No. 21 Alabama, with its lowest ranking in 17 years, is trying to step up its intensity and hustle during practice this week before hosting Louisiana-Monroe onSaturday.It’sall about reclaiming the“Bama standard.”

The Tide didn’tcome closetoit against the Seminoles, and players don’thave to look far to find clips showing them loafing at times and getting outmuscled on nearly every play

“Everybody sees it watching film,” linebacker QuaRussaw said. “Everybody’snot running to the ball. We addressed that at practice. Coaches are on our tail about getting to the ball and finishing with the ball carrier the right way.” Where does Alabama go from

here?The Tide held aplayersonly meetingbeforepractice Sundaytoaddress issues. Perhaps the most perplexing part of the performance: Alabama is aveteran team with15returning starters and only twounderclassmen in the starting lineup. Given that, players are confidence a turnaround is imminent.

Several veteran leaders spoke up, including receiver Germie Bernard, center Parker Brailsford, linebacker Deontae Lawson, offensive tackle KadynProctor and quarterback Ty Simpson.

“We’re goingto allow ourplayers to getit fixed,” defensive coordinatorKaneWommack said “Certainly there was enough blame to go around. Youcan point to every position on the fieldthat had issues in termsofnot executingatthe levelthey’re capableof and not playing with the passion, energy and effort thatwehave established here already.Those are thingswe’re going to allow guys to get fixed.”

Getting to the why of the performance is another part of the process.

Coaches andplayerswere unified in saying they feltthe preparation wasstrong, but the execution wasn’tuptopar

Given that Alabama is 5-5inits

last 10 games, it seemstobeleaning towardatrend. The biggest message from staff to players is to just playfree. “I wouldn’tsay it’s the pressure,” Russaw said. “I feel like it’s more of guys trying to do their jobs anda little scared to mess up. We’ve got guys all over theteam athletic-wise who can just have fun. That’s all the coaches aretrying to get us to do. Just be ourselves. No matter the call, the scheme, no matter what, just flying around having fun.”

Coach Kalen DeBoer’smessage Mondaywas to “cut it loose,” meaning block out the outside noise and play theright way Alabama has back-to-back home games against ULM andWisconsin, followed by abye week anda trip to No. 4Georgia on Sept 27. “These guys, they’re great kids. They wantitbad,” DeBoer said. “It’sjust showing them. Alot of times, they already know. And making sure that we continue to be intentional. That’saword that Iuse alot and it’sgoing to be something Iuse alot more this week again. Just be intentional on what we’re trying to accomplish with qualityreps and make sure that everyrep is done at ahigh level, from theeffort to theexecution.”

seasonswith the Eagles. Brown said he “feels great” and wasready to go against Dallas.

“I stayed up to beat with the plays,”Brown said.“Iwas working my mind more thanthe physical (part) during camp.”

Smith, whotopped1,000 yards receiving in 2022 and 2023, also battled groin and back injuries during camp, leaving few reps together for the first-team offense.

“That’snothing to worry about,” Brown said.

Three-time Pro Bowloffensive lineman LandonDickersonrequiredmeniscus surgery on his right knee after getting hurt in the preseason. He missed practice on Monday with abackinjury,but reportedly returnedtopracticeon

Tuesday

ThenewestCowboy

In addition to the two first-round picks, Dallas acquired defensive tackle Kenny Clark in the Parsons deal. The Cowboys weren’tvery

ä Cowboys at Eagles. 7:20 P.M.THURSDAy,NBC

good at stopping the run when Parsons was disrupting opposing quarterbacks.

Theythought if theyweregoing to give up astaredge rusher, they were going to shore up the middle of their defensive line.

It appearsDallaswill getits first look at Clark against Barkley’s Eagles.

The question is, how much of a look with just aweektomakethe transition after spending his first nine seasons, andone more training camp with the Packers.

“I’m gonna try to learn the playbook as fast as Ican, so Ican just play as fast possible,” said Clark, athree-time Pro Bowlerwho was limitedlastseasonbya toeinjury.

“I’minshape.I’vebeen practicing in Green Bay.Sowhether it’s30 plays, 50 plays, 20 plays, whatever it is, I’m going to be able to play.”

Etiennebrothersplay on oppositeteams for 1sttimesince childhood

BY MARK LONG AP profootball writer

JACKSONVILLE,Fla.— Travis and Trevor Etienne have to go back to their childhood to find agame in which they were on opposing teams. Even then, they were merelyplaying forfun. The brothers will have more at stake Sunday in Jacksonville. The Etiennes, both running backs who were born 51/2 years apartinJennings, Louisiana,will square off for the first time at any competitive levelwhenTravis andthe JaguarshostTrevorand theCarolina Panthers during the NFL’s opening weekend. They arethe NFL’snewest brotherly rivalry,joining adistinguished list that includes Bosa, Cook,Diggs, Harbaugh, Kelce, Manning, Pouncey,Sharpe and Watt siblings.

Travis Etienneisenteringthe finalyear of his rookie contract, making thisgame essentially the first of manyauditions before free agency in March. Trevor,meanwhile, is beginning his rookie season after Carolina drafted him in the fourth round in April.

“I want him to have the best game ever,” Trevor said. “They just can’twin. That’sit.” Travis and Trevor spent part of theholiday weekend together in Jacksonville andreminisced about theiryouth andtheirpaths to the NFL.

“I feel likeit’salreadya dream come true, but it’sgoing to be a surreal moment,” Travis said. “It’ssomething that me andhim kind of joked about, laughedabout growing up as kids. But we always knew it could happen.”

Traviswas astar at Clemson, finishing his college career as theAtlantic CoastConference’s all-time leading rushing (4,952 yards). Jacksonville drafted him 25th overall in 2021. But his professional career has been filled withups and downs. He sustainedaLisfrancinjury to his left foot as arookie and missed the entire season. He returned the following year and notchedthe first of consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He scored 17 touchdowns in those two years, but he averaged

acareer-low 3.7 yards acarry in 2024 and found the end zone just twice.

Now,he’sonhis third head coach,inhis thirdoffense and having to compete fortouches with Tank Bigsby and two rookies: Bhayshul Tuten from Virginia Tech and LeQuintAllenJr. from Syracue. And with Etienne in the finalyearofhis contract, no one would be surprisedtosee the Jaguars part withhim at the trade deadline in early November

“In reality,Ifeel like it’sthe biggest season of my career because it’s thenextone,” Travis said. “I just have to attack it like that and understandthatifI don’tgoout there and produce, then where are we going to be?

“For me,it’sjust attacking each and every day.Myresults rely on my daily habits, so just coming in here and working eachand every day,let that take care of itself, and then therestisgoing to take care of itself. Ireally can’tworry about the end result.”

Trevor ended his college career at Georgia after spending his first two seasons at Florida, just a90-minute drive from Jacksonville. He totaled 2,072 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground with the Southeastern Conference rivalsdespiteconstantly sharing carries.

He’llopenhis NFL career playing behindChubaHubbard in Carolina. But it starts in afamiliarplace, at EverBankStadium. Trevor playedthreegames in his brother’shome stadium, winning once.

He’spart of aCarolina offense that expects to makestrides in coachDaveCanales’ second season. Canalesreturned much of his staff, including running backs coach Bernie Parmalee, who worked with Travis forthree seasons (2021-23) in Jacksonville, and hopes last year’slate-season surge carriesoverwith quarterback Bryce Young, Hubbard, young receivers Xavier Legetteand Tetairoa McMillan, and an upgraded offensive line.

Trevor is counting on it —along with having family bragging rights until their next matchup. “I can’t wait,” Trevor said. “I’m excited about this one.”

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

Rattler understands why he’s not a captain

BY MATTHEW PARAS and LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

There have been 27 NFL teams that have named captains for the 2025 season.

Of them, the New Orleans Saints are the only club whose starting quarterback was not chosen

The Saints did not select SpencerRattler as a captain when players voted on the honors Monday, but the second-year quarterback said he was not disappointed about the vote. The Saints named eight total captains — three on offense, three on defense and two on special teams.

“I’m not looking too deep into that,” Rattler said. “The guys we have on the offensive side are very experienced, great vets on our team, very deserving of it. I think we picked the right guys.”

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C

“You have to be your authentic self,” Moore said. “If I become some raging screamer, the guys are going to look at me like I’m an idiot.”

Searching for Sean?

Sitting in his office, Loomis let out a small laugh after he answered the question posed to him: Does he have a type?

The general manager said he doesn’t know What he does know is that he didn’t go into the Saints’ coaching vacancy with the intention of finding a Payton clone. He noted he interviewed offensive and defensive coaches. Loomis said he found the pool of candidates to be the strongest of the three coaching searches that he’s conducted.

But Loomis didn’t shoot down the similarities.

He said there are “natural comparisons” between Moore and Payton, from their coaching backgrounds to their days as college quarterbacks Loomis said there’s a lot of overlap in the things that they talk about as well. He said he even thinks the two look “a little bit alike.”

“Look, Sean’s the standard for the Saints,” Loomis said. “... So everyone, no matter who it is, is going to be compared to him. It’s not a bad thing.”

Dennis Allen, Moore’s predecessor, can attest to those comparisons. The Saints promoted Allen from defensive coordinator to head coach after Payton’s resignation in 2021 in an attempt to maintain continuity, but he was unpopular with the fan base and fired midway through his third season. Darren Rizzi, who took over in the interim, wasn’t seen as much of a direct link to Payton, but he still was part of the previous staff.

The Saints’ lack of success in recent years is why many wondered whether Loomis needed to completely move on from the Payton era for the franchise to have a fresh start this offseason.

This narrative always seemed to baffle Loomis. Didn’t the Broncos and the Detroit Lions launch two of the more successful rebuilds of late? Each of those franchises held ties to Payton or his assistants, Loomis pointed out at the end of the season. Loomis said he’d be concerned only with finding the best candidate for the job.

“You could do a lot worse than trying to emulate Sean Payton,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick said. “The NFL truly is a copycat league. I wouldn’t blame Mickey for leaning into the similarities, if that’s what he did.” Still, there are plenty of differences between the two — especially in their personalities. Payton is a Bill Parcells disciple and had the fiery persona to match. Moore is more even-keeled after watching his dad coach high school football in their small hometown of Prosser, Washington.

The situations the men stepped into aren’t nearly the same, either Payton was tasked with taking over a franchise whose city had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but he had at least successfully recruited Drew Brees to be the team’s starting quarterback. Moore has a far less definitive answer at the position: Second-year QB Spencer Rattler beat out rookie Tyler Shough to start the season Loomis was drawn to Moore nonetheless. During the interview process, the general manager was struck by Moore’s intentionality Every answer Loomis recalled, had a well-layered reason behind it. The answers felt genuine, no matter the topic. The Saints, for instance, held part of training camp in California because Moore brought up the idea

On offense, the Saints selected wide receiver Brandin Cooks center Erik McCoy and running back Alvin Kamara On defense, defensive end Cam Jordan, safety Justin Reid and linebacker Demario Davis earned the honors Long snapper

Zach Wood and kicker Blake Grupe rounded out special teams.

Coach Kellen Moore said he “didn’t make much” of players not including their starting quarterback. The Saints held a lengthy quarterback battle this summer, with Rattler beating out rookie Tyler Shough for the starting job

Moore, who said he believes players have confidence in the quarterbacks, said the votes reflect the team’s veteran leadership and experience of the group.

“Spence has done an awesome job,” Moore said. “I don’t think you need a C to lead.”

Players who are named captain wear a “C” logo on their jerseys for the season.

Taylor returns Moore said earlier this week that he was optimistic several injured players would return to practice ahead of Sunday’s season opener against the Arizona Cardinals.

When the Saints took the field Wednesday, the coach got his wish.

Cornerback Alontae Taylor returned to practice for the first time since injuring his groin Aug. 8 while the Saints were in Irvine, California, for training camp Along with Taylor, safeties Julian Blackmon (undisclosed) and Jordan Howden (oblique), and defensive tackle Khristian Boyd (hand) also participated in the session after missing part of last week.

Taylor was listed as limited.

“I’m way ahead of (schedule),”

Taylor said. One notable absence was guard Trevor Penning The fourth-year offensive lineman has been out since Aug. 10 with a turf toe injury, an ailment that carried a recovery timeline of four to six weeks.

The Saints also saw defensive end Chase Young limited after he suffered a calf injury during practice.

“He just had a little something,” Moore said.

If Taylor is unable to go Sunday, the Saints likely would rely on veteran Ugo Amadi Palmer reps The last time Trey Palmer played in the Caesars Superdome, he caught a touchdown pass.

The thing is, he did it in a visitor’s uniform. He’s looking forward to doing that for the home team this time around.

as a way of building team chemistry over the course of a long season, Loomis said. Moore also brought up the ways he’d go on to incorporate team-bonding activities, such as the team’s afternoon at a paintball course.

“Here’s what I like about him:

He’s open-minded,” Loomis said.

“He’s not looking for — and Sean’s the same way he’s not a guy who thinks he has every answer, particularly early on. He likes having opinions and likes dissent. We grow from that.”

Creating a culture

Charlie Smyth knew to keep it brief this time.

After an August practice in which the kicker nailed a 58-yarder to win the simulated game, Moore told the Ireland native to break down the team’s huddle. It was only the second time Smyth, who didn’t start playing football until August 2023, had been given such a task — and he caught flak for his first speech.

“IrememberIdidoneatthe(International Player Pathway program) and the boys were like, ‘Is this a novel or whatever?’ ” Smyth said.

Smyth appreciated Moore’s invitation. To Moore, it was a small way to praise the second-year kicker’s progress after an admittedly rough start to training camp.

“I think it really is a cool example of development in our league,” Moore said. “Charlie, he’ll be probably the first one to tell you that the start of training camp wasn’t great He was missing more than he made for a couple days, and he just kept going for it.”

This, to Moore, is culture.

He is not the kind of football coach who stands at a lectern, pounds his fist and goes on and on about the importance of culture. Moore, like Loomis, views the term as a misnomer Culture is the result of creating an environment that allows every player and every coach to be their best, he said.

The approach is also why Moore wasn’t determined to make changes for the sake of change.

Moore wanted to understand what the Saints already had in place, adding that he recognized there was a “lot of good here.” He opted, for example, to keep some of the key messaging from the Payton era — including the “Compete Street” signs installed in 2015 at the team’s practice facility

We’re going to lean into competition, because that’s part of the NFL,” Saints director of sports science Ted Rath said. “You have to compete now We can do it in a healthy manner We’re going to build upon those things and continue to keep that competitive edge.” Instead, Moore has focused on

blending all parts of his background to put his imprint on the Saints.

His assistants can recognize the influences. Rath said the flow of the Saints’ schedule — aimed at optimizing efficiency can be traced to Jim Caldwell’s days in Detroit, when Rath was an assistant strength and conditioning coach and Moore was a backup quarterback.

Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, once Moore’s boss as head coach of the Chargers, ran the same kind of “call-it” periods of unscripted plays in Los Angeles that Moore frequently utilized in training camp here.

“He tries to perfect that (borrowing),” said Saints senior offensive assistant Scott Linehan, who also overlapped with Moore in Detroit and Dallas. “He takes those pieces, logs that away and says, ‘I’m going to use that someday.’ It might be something from 12 years ago.”

The pieces extend to the building’s aesthetics. Outside the Saints’ locker room,Moorehadthearearemodeled so that the right side of the hallway would pay homage to the Saints’ past andtheleftsideofthehallwaywould recognize the Saints’ future.

On the right side of the hallway, there are decals featuring franchise legends, their positions and the years they played for the franchise through the decades. On the left side of the hallway, there are the core values — big, bolded type that shows Moore’s vision for the Saints, backed up by photos that capture the moments.

There are five core values down the left side: takeaways, play style, team fundamentals situational masters and ball security Each value also has key components written out, such as “smart, fast, physical.”

Moore got the idea after seeing the Eagles and the Golden State Warriors execute similar concepts.

Moore is quick to get the walls updated with relevant examples: Less than two weeks after Jonas Sanker’s game-tying interception in the preseason, a decal of the rookie was put up near the takeaways section.

It took Sanker by surprise.

“It’s awesome,” Sanker said.

“They emphasize it all the time.” Unexpected challenges

When he meets with candidates in person, Loomis likes to toss out hypothetical scenarios to see how they would react.

But nowhere in the interview did Loomis ask, “What if your starting quarterback suddenly retires?”

Not even the Saints could have seen that coming.

“Mickey and I had some fun conversations there for the first few months,” Moore said with a grin. “A couple of times where we’d joke, ‘You wanted to be a head coach in the NFL? Here we go.’

The New Orleans Saints claimed Palmer a Kentwood native off waivers last week after he was let go by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s safe to say he is excited to be back in the boot.

“I’m home,” Palmer said “I’m home, baby!” Palmer began his college career at LSU before transferring to Nebraska, where he flourished. The Buccaneers selected him in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, and he carved out a role, catching 39 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns — two of which came against New Orleans.

But when the Buccaneers waived Palmer on cut day this summer, he didn’t know what to expect next.

“I was just sitting there waiting patiently,” Palmer said. “It was God’s plan, and God told me to come back home.”

There are impossible jobs and good jobs, he said.To Payton, the New Orleans front-office structure and ownership make the Saints a good NFL job.

Derek Carr’s retirement in May because of a shoulder injury marked the stunning conclusion of a months-long saga that saw Carr disclose in late March he was hurt, with the quarterback and the Saints trying to determine the severity of the ailment.

During that time, Loomis said he never saw Moore panic; instead, he pivoted to find a solution. The team’s scouting of college quarterbacks “intensified,” Loomis said, but work already had been underway given Carr’s age (34).

“Different coaches react differently to — I think all eventually are going to attack the problem, but how they react initially can be different,” Loomis said.

Moore’s tendency to attack the problem is nothing new When Linehan served as the Lions offensive coordinator in 2012-13, he noticed how Moore, a third-string quarterback, would study TV copies of games to steal defensive signals, and then he’d share those observations with the rest of the room. Linehan could tell Moore thought like a coach

In 2016, with the pair now in Dallas, Linehan started to expand Moore’s responsibilities when the quarterback was out for the year with a leg injury At first, Linehan had Moore compile the defensive signals just as he did in Detroit. But one week, Linehan asked Moore to put together clips from the red zone. Another week Moore’s task was two-minute situations. The work got to the point where Linehan had Moore start presenting the information to the rest of the quarterbacks in the room.

“You could tell he was on the fast track,” Linehan said. “He wasn’t promoting himself. He was just working behind the scenes, getting himself ready (to become a coach).”

In 2018, Moore made the decision to retire once the Cowboys offered him a job to coach the team’s quarterbacks. By 2019, he became the offensive coordinator after Linehan was fired.

Moore spent five years as an assistant in Dallas. Of all his NFL experience, the time perhaps best prepared Moore for the realities of losing a starting quarterback on the fly The Cowboys lost starter Dak Prescott twice in Moore’s tenure, once for most of the year in 2020 and again for the first five games in 2022.

When Moore thinks of Carr’s retirement these days, he said he thinks of a sign that Jason Garrett used to hang in the Cowboys’ training room: The only thing that matters is what we do now Carving his path

At the NFL owners’ meetings this past spring, Payton said Moore will do well leading the Saints.

“Generally you’re going somewhere that’s broken and you’ve got to fix it quick,” Payton said. “I think Kellen has that calmness about him. And I think there’s a uniqueness to that city, that maybe’s not for everyone, but I think he’ll do well there.” Moore and Payton know what it’s like to wait for the right job. Before theSaintshiredthem,bothmenwere part of the league’s annual coaching cycle. Moore was linked to head coaching jobs as early as 2021, when he interviewed by the Eagles. He was later a finalist in the Miami Dolphins’ 2022 coaching search. Payton turned down the Oakland Raiders in 2004 after Parcells and others persuaded him to stay in Dallas. For Moore, each rejection was an opportunity to refine what he needed to work on. Before the Super Bowl, Moore admitted he was too pass-happy as a play-caller earlier in his career It’s fitting, then that his first job comes after he designed an Eagles offensethatrankedsecondinrushing en route to winning the Super Bowl. Rath was part of the Eagles’ hiring committee in 2021 when Philadelphia hired Nick Sirianni instead of Moore Though Philadelphia went in a different direction, the sports science director recalled how Moore “crushed” the interview and how evident it was he’d be a head coach one day Then the Eagles brought on Moore as their coordinator last season. Rath said Moore’s growth since then has stemmed from his changes of scenery “Experiencing new organizations and different methods, that’s a blessing in this business,” he said.

Moore now gets to run the show in New Orleans. So far, players have embraced his approach. The vibes are always high in scenarios like these, but this offseason, long snapper Zach Wood and tight end Juwan Johnson remarked that this was the best it has felt in a long time.

The two are also part of the handful of players left who experienced the team’s success under Payton.

“With Sean here, he was very aggressive and (had an) assertive personality,” Wood said, bringing up Payton unprompted. “Kellen is laid back. Just himself, which I think everybody appreciates when somebody can get up in front of a room of a bunch of guys who think they’re alpha males and lead a team and not try to be anybody but yourself. Because people can usually see right through that.

“With Kellen, he’s super genuine up there.”

The mood can change if losses start to pile up. As high as those within the Saints are on Moore, New Orleans is still widely expected to be one of the NFL’s worst teams. Challenging times may lie ahead.

But they did for Payton, as well. Because the Saints took the league by surprise with an NFC championship game appearance during the 2006 season, it is to forget now that Payton’s teams went 7-9 and 8-8 over his next two seasons.

“One thing that happens is (people) are going to talk about Sean like the Sean that left here and was here for 15 years,” Loomis said. “But you should be comparing (Moore) to the Sean that was here in Year 1 and 2. He evolved and was different in the mid and latter part of his career than he was at the beginning of his career.

ButLoomisisconfidentthe37-yearold Moore is the right man for the job, just as he was once confident about a 42-year-old quarterbacks coach who just needed a chance. Is Kellen Moore the next Sean Payton? All he has to do is be himself.

Zucchini, delicate leeksthe starsof carbonara

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Tribune News Service (TNS)

Pasta Carbonara,with its rich and creamy sauce, is a classic Italian favorite. This light twist brings afresh,seasonal touch to the traditional dish.

Iprepare it using tender zucchini and delicateleeks,adding sliced mushrooms for asatisfying, meaty texture. The flavors are brightened withfragrant fresh basil whileParmesan cheese adds asavory finish.It’s aquick, easy,vegetarian dish, bursting with freshness.

HELPFUL HINTS:

n 3teaspoons minced garlic can be used instead of garlic cloves n Any type of long pastasuch as spaghettican be used

Vegetable Carbonara

Yields 2servings. Recipe is by Linda Gassenheimer

basil leaves

2tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring alarge saucepan ¾ filled with water to aboil. Stir in the pasta and boil for 10 minutes, taste to make surethe pasta is cooked but firm; add 2more minutes if necessary.

2. Remove ½cup of cooking water to abowl and set that aside. Drain therest of the pasta.

3. Heat the oil in alarge skillet and add the leeks and zucchini. Cook for 4minutes and add onionand garlic.Saute 6to7minutes. Add the oregano andstir to combine with the ingredients.

4. Add the cooked pasta to the skillet.Toss welltocombine all ingredients. Stir in the mushrooms.

5. In asmall bowl, whisk the egg and cream together.Pour into the skillet and toss again. Add some of the reserved pasta cooking water if needed to make asmooth sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Dividebetween two dinner plates and sprinkle basil and parmesan on top.

NUTRITION INFO PER SERVING: 520 calories (36 percent from fat), 20.9 gfat (9.4 gsaturated, 6.3 gmonounsaturated), 131 mg cholesterol, 18.3 gprotein,70.0 gcarbohydrates, 7.7 g fiber, 182 mg sodium.

Howdoyou create asimpleand satisfying fish dish that’s difficult to mess up?The secret is foil packets

One of my favorite childhood memoriesinvolves riding down St.Charles Avenue in my Dad’snew company car to get ice cream. Life was good in our brandnew fancy tan Oldsmobile. It was not thebest-looking car, but it came withafreecassette tapeofWillie Nelson’s1978 album “Stardust.” Ican still picture riding with thesunroof open under live oak trees and hearing the slow somberopening notes to “September Song.” The lyrics and melody capture thefeeling when another summer ends and fall begins. The whole album is great and it makes cooking and cleaning more fun. The shorter days and busier schedules of September call for easy weeknight meals. This recipefor baked white fish seasoned with green onions, ginger and bok choy is simple and satisfying. Ihave heard from alot of people that they do not feel confident cooking

Foraquick meal,try whipping up ahealthful grainbowl Goingwiththe grain

BY LINDAGASSENHEIMER

Tribune News Service (TNS)

Have you thought about eating more whole grains?

We keep hearing they’re good for us. Ifound abox of bulgur wheat in my pantry and thought this would be perfectfor aquick meal using awhole grain.

Bulgur,sometimes called bulghur,iswheatkernels that have beensteamed, driedand crushed.For this dinner they only need to soak in hotwater for 20 minutes. Istart soaking them while gathering my other ingredients. Store bought hummus, crumbled feta cheese and vegetables complete this deliciousand easy,quickdinner.

4tablespoon soy sauce

2tablespoons rice wine vinegar

2teaspoons toasted sesame oil 1tablespoon honey 4babybok choy (cut stem and clean and separate leaves)

4(5-6 ounce) red snapper fillets (substitute: cod, halibut or sea bass) 1teaspoon salt (divided) 1teaspoon pepper (divided)

10 green onions (white parts sliced thin; save some for garnish) 1piece of fresh ginger (peeled and sliced into thin sticks)

1⁄3 cup of cilantro (chopped and divided)

1. Preheat the oven to 425F

2. Place 4 large sheets of heavy tin foil (approximately 12 inches-by-14 inches each) on abaking sheet to wrap each fish fillet.

3. Make the sauce: In a small mixing bowl, add the soysauce,rice wine vinegar,sesame oil and honey whisk together untilthe honey incorporatesinto the sauce.

4. In thecenter of each piece of tin foil, place about 5leaves of baby bok choy,add one fish fillet on topofthe leaves. Season each fish fillet with salt and pepper,then top with theslicedgreen onions and fresh ginger

5. Bend the tin foil up on all sides of each fish fillettoform abowl shape; pour one tablespoon of

Yields 2servings. RecipeisbyLinda Gassenheimer.

theprepared sauceoverthe fish. Close the tin foil at the top, completely sealing the fish, vegetable and saucewithin apacket.Be very careful to seal the tin foil so that the sauce stays in the foil packet.

6. Arrange each packet on the baking tray.Add the tray of fish to the oven and bake forabout 15 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven. Let sit 1minute. Carefully open the packets(don’tburn yourself) fromthe top so that you do notspill thesauce. Remove the fish onto aplate with aspatula. Add the bok choy.Pour the sauce from the packets over the fish. Use the freshly cut cilantro and reserved greenonionstogarnish. Serve with rice.

Mediterranean GrainBowl

1. Place bulgur wheat in a medium-size bowl and add hot watertocover.Let stand for 20 minutes and drain.

2. Place dressing in asmall bowl. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Addtothe dressing and toss.

3. Divide in half and place them around the edge of two bowls, reserving the dressing left behind. Working around the edge of the two bowls, place tomatoes next to the chickpeas and

4.

Just parkouraroundthe hallwayconversations

Dear Miss Manners: Iamacollege student who lives in the dormitoriesoncampus. The hallways are average-sized —about 5 feet wide —and arenever crowded, though residents often have conversations in the hall.

Often, two or more people will be leaning on opposite walls, making it impossible to go around the conversation. Ialways walk through the opening, which is wide enough to go through without comingincontact with either party,and Isay “excuse me” to both for interrupting them. Is this properetiquette,or is there amore polite way to go down the hall?

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

Gentle reader: Your solution is proper.But it doesleave Miss Manners racking her brains for any other possible solution that wouldnot involve climbing gearorcoming into closer contact with the floor than might be desirable. Dear MissManners: Iwas alwaystaught that one’s bread plate is placed to the left. Whenever Iamwith a largegroupatatable at a wedding (or another function), at leastone person always takesthe bread platetotheir right. Their neighbors then follow suit, eventually meeting theside of the table using the left plate, leaving someone without one. Iusually just quietly go without

Vigilanceatall times

Dear Heloise: An article about purse safety just appeared in this week’sSt. Louis Post-Dispatch. Awoman came out of the grocery store, placed her grocery bags in her car, put her purse in thefront seat, and walked only a few steps to the rack to return the cart. As she was doing so, avery polite man stopped her to ask if she knew the name of avet nearby as he had asick dog. After avery brief conversation, she returned to her car and drove home only to discover her purse wasmissing. Obviouslythe man had an accomplice whoremoved her purse from the unlockedcar in seconds. Be warned! Do not leave your car unlocked evenif it’sjust to return your cart. —Francesca R., via email

Unique gift wrapping

bread if I’mthe stranded guest, andIdon’treally get upset by it. Butthis seemslike such abasic element of table manners that I can’tbelieve so manypeople don’t know it Can you please weigh in, just for public education, assuming I’mright?

Gentlereader: Youare right.The good news is that most dinner tables are not flush to thewall. If diners are evenly spaced around theedges, then once everyone has, incorrectly,grabbed the platetothe right,the unused platewill be found to your right Allthat will then remain will be to clear space to the left for your plate —and seeing if there is any butter left.

Dear Miss Manners: Ihave aneighbor who texts me on afairly regular basis, asking me for all kinds of differentthings —usually food items.

She is not poor; she seemstogo out multiple times aday and has delivery trucks at her house daily Iamnot sure whyshe can’tmake her own grocery runs, as we live very close to multiple stores.

If Irespond that Idon’thave whatever she is looking for, she usually replies, “That’sOK, I found something else to use,” as if it is my fault she doesn’thave somethinginher house. It is very irritating, to say the least! This is aneighbor who,when she is out of thehouse, is more interested in herphone than in talk-

ing to my husband or me. Ihave blocked her in thepast, but Iam notsurethis is theright thing to do Gentle reader: What she is doing only works if you are responding “in real time” —asone apparently says these days —which is not yet arequirement of being a good neighbor If you take along time to respond to these texts, she will stop sending them

Sendquestions to Miss Manners at herwebsite, www missmanners.com; to her email, dearmissmanners@gmail.com; or through postal mailtoMiss Manners, Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City,MO 64106.

that is special to recipient! —Judi B.,inGreen Valley,Arizona Judi, this was an old Heloise hint andone my mother andIloved!It’sespecially fun to use amap when wrappinga wedding gift if youcan find oneof where the couple plans to honeymoon. —Heloise By hook orbycrook

Dear Heloise: Icarry a large plastic hook with me in my purse.Itcomes in handy in apublic restroom to hang my bagon. Many stalls don’tprovide hooks. Andwhen I’m finished, I pull thepaper down off the roll for thenextpatron.This is abig courtesy —Ellen M., in New Jersey

Nailed it

Dear Heloise: Old or outdated maps are great for wrapping paper! Thrift stores often have themfor aquarter or less. It is especially fun if you can wrap agift with amap from an area

By The Associated Press

Dear Heloise: Isecuresmall nails to my hammerwith arubber band so that they are conveniently there whenIneed to hang apicture.No moresearching for nails! —Letty R., in San Antonio

Send ahint to heloise@heloise. com.

TODAYINHISTORY

Today is Thursday,Sept. 4, the 247thday of 2025. There are 118 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Sept. 4, 1949, more than 140 people were injured following aperformance by singer Paul Robeson in Peekskill, NewYork, as an anti-Communist mob attacked departing concertgoers. Also on this date: In 1781, Los Angeles was founded by Spanish settlers underthe leadership of Governor FelipedeNeve.

In 1944, during World WarII, British troops liberated Antwerp, Belgium.

In 1957, Arkansas Gov.Orval Faubus ordered ArkansasNational Guardsmen to prevent nine Black studentsfrom entering all-White Central High SchoolinLittle Rock.

In 1972, U.S. swimmerMark Spitzbecame the first to win seven medals at asingleOlympic Games, winning aseventhgold at the Munich Olympics in the 400-meter medley relay In 1972, the longest-running gameshow in U.S.history,“The Price is Right,” debuted on CBS In 1974, the United Statesestablished diplomatic relations

FISH

Continued from page1D

fish. Well, this fish recipe comes together in minutes and it is hard to mess up. The use of tin foil packets steams the fish and seals in the moisture and flavor of the vegetables. Iservedthis dish over rice and toppeditwith crunchy green onions and cilantro. Learning to cook fish in afoil is agame changer,because once you understand the method with one fish you can use it with many others.This method of cooking comes from aclassic French dish called poissonenpapillote, which means fish in paper or parchment to make asealed pouch. Using aparchmentpaper packet or atin foilpacket creates aclosed environment that steams the fish and melds all the flavors within the packet together.The result is moist delicious fish and asauce that you can use to pour overaside of rice. Iused red snapper,but halibut,

with East Germany. In 1998, Google was founded by Stanford University Ph.D. students Sergey Brin and Larry Page. In 2016, elevatingthe “saint of thegutters” to one of theCatholic Church’shighesthonors, Pope Franciscanonized Mother Teresa, praisingher radical dedication to society’soutcasts and hercourage inshaming world leaders for the “crimes of poverty they themselves created.”

In 2018, the SenateJudiciary Committee began confirmation hearings forfuture Supreme Court Justice BrettKavanaugh on aday that saw rancorous exchanges between Democrats and Republicans. Today’sbirthdays: Golf Hall of Famer RaymondFloyd is 83. Golf Hall of FamerTom Watson is 76. Actor Lawrence HiltonJacobsis72. Actor Khandi Alexander is 68. Actor-comedian DamonWayansSr. is 65. Baseball Hall ofFamer Mike Piazza is 57. DJ-musician-producer Mark Ronson is 50. Actor WesBentley is 47. Actor Max Greenfield is 46. Singer-actor Beyoncé is 44. Actor-comedian Whitney Cummings is 43. Actor-comedian Kyle Mooney (TV:“Saturday NightLive”) is 41.

cod andsea bass would all work well with this recipe. To boost the flavor,Iincludedsoy sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesameoil which created an Asian flavor profile.

Ihappened to havea container of black rice in my pantry,soI decided to use it withthis fish dish. Black rice is also called “forbidden rice.” It was given this name because in ancient China, it was rarer than white rice andreserved for royalty

These days we can find it on the shelves in most local grocery stores. When Isee it, Ibuy abag becauseit reminds me of my mother-in-law,Mae Faul. The first time shehad “forbidden rice” was at my house. She joked with me aboutserving what sounded likea wicked grain. Food memories are as precious as an old songthat transports and remindsusofgood times.

Liz Sullivan Faul is aregistered dietitian nutritionist who enjoys cooking and sharing meals with herfriendsand family

TIME TO SAVOR THESUMMER

BY BETH DOOLEY

Corn, sweet and tender,isin joyful high season. There’slots of it, and it’seasy to find, easy to love. The best way to eat corn is straight off the cob, dripping with butter and showered with coarse salt …orgrilled to roasty, caramelized perfection and slathered with spicy lime mayo. Buthurry,the season for corn is now.Enjoy it by the bushel before it fades intoa hazy memory. Make sure thecorn is local and fresh. Look for plump, dark green husks that are heavy in thehand. This means theear is mature and the

kernels are theproper size.

(Pleasedon’tpeel back the husk to check the interior.)

In our home, we eat cob after cob, night after night, until sometime near mid-August, when we’re ready foranother approach. Corn and tomato salad? Creamed corn?Corn chowder? Succotash? Better yet,savory corn pancakes. Studded with sweet corn kernels, garden herbs and a kick of chili crisp, these are not your breakfast pancakes. They’re morelike cornbread with alovely crisp, crusty edge. The batter of cornmeal adds texture, flavor and crunch; browned butter adds a dark, nutty touch. These are just as delicious

withfresh raw corn cutstraight from the cob as they are with leftover corn from last night’s barbecue. Whether grilledor steamed, you’llwanttouse up that corn. Youcould also stir intothe batter shreddedCheddarorParmesan cheese, alittle choppedham or cooked bacon forheft. Topthese withpeppers andcherry tomatoes that have been roasted to turn jammy, tangy andsweet.Fresh tomato salsa andadollopofsourcream also would be lovely Corn and tomatoes are the season’sperfect partners. Served as asubstantial side dish to roasted or grilled chicken or as alight dinner, this pair shines with summer’s pizazz.

SavorySweet CornPancakes with Jammy Tomatoes and Peppers

Makes 1dozen (3-inch) pancakes,serving about 4to6.Studded withsweet, tender corn kernels andfragrant garden herbs, these pancakes aretopped with jammy tomatoes and peppersfor a tasteofsummer on aplate. Youcan make the batter several hoursinadvance, hold in acovered container in therefrigerator,and cook rightbefore serving.

JAMMY TOMATOES,PEPPERS:

1pint cherry tomatoes

1largered or orangebell pepper,cored and cut into

or

1teaspoon

1. To makethe jammy tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2. In alarge bowl, toss the tomatoesand peppers withenoughoil to generously coat.Spread outon abaking sheet in one layer.Season with saltand pepper.Roast until thetomatoes begin to split and the peppers become very tender. Remove, top with the chopped basil, and cover to keep warm.

3. To makethe sweet corn pancakes: In asmallsaucepan or skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.Stirand watch as it becomes foamy, then begins to smellnutty golden and starts to brown, about 4 to 5minutes 4. Remove from the stove and set aside.

5. In alarge bowl, stirtogether the cornmeal, flour,baking powder and salt.Inaseparate medium bowl, whisk together the browned butter,buttermilk,chili crisp and

eggs. Fold this into the dry ingredients until no dry streaks of flour remain. Fold in the corn kernels and herbs.

6. Film alarge skillet or griddle withalittle oil andset over medium-high heat. Ladle about ¼cup of the batter onto the griddle, spreading it out with aspatula, repeating withasmanyasyou can fitontothe pan.

7. Cook undisturbed until the edges of the pancakes begin to set and bubbles start to break the top surface, about1½to2½minutes. Carefully flip the pancakes witha thin, flexible spatula and cook on asecond side until golden brown and set, about 2minutes longer Transfer to awire rack and set in arimmedbaking sheet in awarm oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.

8. Serve topped withthe jammy tomatoes and peppers.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Address your to-do list. Do the legwork yourself, rather than relying on others. Changing how youearn aliving won't turn out as planned. When in doubt, take apass and look for other outlets.

LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Makingtime to participate in uplifting pastimes will also lead to new friendships and plans that blend business with pleasure.A lifestyle change, moveorreunion is encouraged, and romanceisprevalent.

sCoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Take notes, getyour facts straight and refusetolet emotions interfere with common sense Refuse to let anxiety and indulgence disrupt your day. Apositive attitude and discipline will promote success.

sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Process your financial situation.Refuse to let minorsetbacksorinterference weigh youdown when an unexpected change can help you turn the next page and carry on with strength and courage.

CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Simplify instead of intensifying situations. If you dwell on mattersyou cannot control, you are wasting time and energy that can lead to success. Change begins with you.

AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Do it. Stop waiting forsomeone to go first when youhave the wherewithal to fine-tune what comes next to your liking. Limit spending to ensure you don't go over budget.

PIsCEs(Feb.20-March 20) Don'tgrapple unnecessarily. Opena dialogue with

those who rely on you, and establish boundaries to protect yourself from potential harm. Take control,and you will get your way.

ARIEs (March21-April 19) Socializing will lead to chance meetings with people in aposition to help you reach your aspirations. Romance and personalimprovement are prevalent. Be bold, brave and proactive.

tAuRus (April20-May 20) Close the door on those who take morethanthey give and consider your needs. Take charge of your life and incorporate more of the pastimes that bring you joy.

GEMInI (May21-June 20) Raising your profile and eliminating mediators will support your objective andconvince onlookersthatyou have more to offer Upgrade your look to suityour goal, and you will impress someone special.

CAnCER (June 21-July 22) Opportunity knocks; send out resumes, setupinterviews or get together with someone who can participate in your plans. Take the high road, andyou'll getpositive results.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Rev up the engine andhead in adirection that shows promise. Whatyou discover will change how you approach those in aposition to help youand howyou can manipulateyour status into something tangible.

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

FAMILYCIrCUS

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place thenumbers 1to9inthe empty squaressothat each row, each column and each 3x3 boxcontainsthe samenumber only once. The difficulty level of theSudoku increasesfromMonday to Sunday

Yesterday’s PuzzleAnswer

By PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Groucho Marx said, “I’m not feeling verywell—Ineedadoctorimmediately. Ring thenearest golf course.”

Before we get to the relevance of that, look at the full deal and auction. Whatdo you thinkabout thevarious calls? Here is agood guideline: If your hand is notstrong but has along suit, show it immediately. In this case, East should have opened four hearts. Similarly, after theone-heartopening,Southshouldhave overcalled with three spades.

West was right to make anegative double, promising length in both minors. Then, if East, with scant defensive values, was going to bid four hearts over three spades, sheshould have bid it over two diamonds. Do not give the opponents afielder’s choice —todouble or to bid higher. And South should have passed four hearts around to North, who would have been happy to double.

Fourhearts should go down two. South leadsthespadeace,thenshiftstohersingleton diamond. North takes two tricks in thesuitand leadsthe diamondthree, suit-preference for clubs. South ruffs and switches to aclub. North wins with theace and plays another diamond. East can ruff high, but must lose onemore trick to North’s heart king.

Four spades can be made. West leads his singleton. East takes two heart tricks, then does best to lead her trump(but would probably play another heart). South wins with her ace and cashes the king. Eventually, Southmust guess to lead theclubqueen fromher hand to pin East’s jack. ©2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

Each Wuzzleisaword riddle whichcreates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD =GOOD AFTERNOON

Previous answers:

InstRuCtIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,”

thought

your burden on the Lord,and he shall sustain you: he shallnever suffer the righteous to be moved.”Psalms55:22