The Advocate 09-05-2025

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

As Bay St. Louis thrives, a neighboring bayou town struggles to hold on 20 years after Katrina

BY POET WOLFE and MARTHA SANCHEZ

The Times-Picayune and Sun Herald

On a Thursday morning, three regulars sit in cool darkness. Two shoot pool, another sips a Coors Light. The smell of cigarette smoke clings to walls and hangs in the air Turtle Landing Bar & Grill, tucked off U.S. 90 in Pearlington, Mississippi, was once lively, until Hurricane Katrina emptied the town and Louisiana later closed nearby bridges. Now, 20 years after the storm, the isolation is heavier

“Big time,” the bar’s owner Janyne Crapeau said, perched on a bar stool. Daylight briefly seeps in as a man comes in from fishing for bass in the bayou and takes a seat at the bar He orders a plate of red beans and rice. Beers, at $2.50 a bottle, don’t keep Turtle Landing running. The food does. It’s the only restaurant in town.

Two decades after Katrina, Pearlington remains stranded. Unlike nearby towns that were rebuilt with the help of government aid, this one — unincorporated with no form of government never quite gained a foothold.

ä See CITIES, page 4A

Owner Janyne Crapeau stands recently in the Turtle

& Grill in Pearlington, Miss. The bar was once lively until

the town and Louisiana later closed nearby bridges.

restaurant in town.

BR leaders eye stricter juvenile curfews

Crime, truancy concerns cited

BY AIDAN McCAHILL

Staff writer

As part of a broader push to curb crime and improve school attendance, East Baton Rouge Parish officials are considering implementing stricter curfew laws for juveniles.

Details are sparse, but leaders say strengthening the controversial policy would hold parents more accountable while connecting struggling families with more

support.

“We have more and more of our youth committing violent crime,” said Lt. L’Jean McKneely spokesperson for the Baton Rouge Police Department. “It’s just another layer we are looking at.”

Under the current municipal code, anyone younger than 17 is required to be indoors between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on school nights, and between 1 and 5 a.m. on weekends (exceptions exist, including for work and school purposes). If a youth is found breaking the curfew, authorities can escort them home, release them into the care of a guardian,

or issue a misdemeanor offense. Parents or guardians of offenders can face a $500 fine, 60 days of community service, or up to six months in jail — though it is unclear how often that is actually enforced. District 5 Metro Council member Darryl Hurst says the law doesn’t account for situations where parents aren’t home or when youths are from out of state, and overburdened law enforcement can’t always keep track of offenders once they return home. He said updated curfew laws may include keeping juveniles in custody until parents

pick them up.

“It has not been enforced because of those challenges,” Hurst said. “If the parents are not accessible, we can still ensure we can do our due diligence to keep that kid safe.” If parents don’t show, then lawenforcement would know the youths aren’t being properly cared for and can act accordingly, Hurst said.

Cassidy criticizes RFK Jr. on vaccines

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON In his strongest criticism to date, U.S Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is the senator most responsible for confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accused the nation’s health chief Thursday of preventing Americans from receiving COVID vaccinations.

“I’m approaching this as a doctor, not as a senator I am concerned about children’s

perhaps the nation’s leading vaccine skeptic. Cassidy has said he supported Kennedy for confirmation after receiving a promise not to meddle with vaccination policies. Kennedy argues that he’s only taken precautionary steps until research is complete on whether inoculations have serious side effects, such as causing autism. New rules proposed by Kennedy have confused many, causing some pharmacists to start requiring doctors’ prescriptions for the vaccination that fights COVID, Cassidy said.

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

Northwestern University president to resign

Northwestern University President Michael Schill said Thursday that he will resign, ending a three-year tenure marked by the freeze of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding by the Trump administration and heated criticism from House Republicans over the university’s response to campus protests.

The funding freeze and uncertainty over its finances contributed to Northwestern’s decision to lay off around 200 people over the summer In a statement announcing his resignation, Schill acknowledged the pressure from the White House.

“It is critical that we continue to protect the University’s research mission and excellence while preserving academic freedom, integrity, and independence,” he said.

Northwestern emerged as a prominent target of President Donald Trump’s campaign to reshape elite colleges he has derided as hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. In April, the administration froze $790 million in federal funding for the private school in Evanston, Illinois, one of dozens of colleges under investigation over claims they did not do enough to protect Jewish students.

During the wave of pro-Palestinian protests in spring 2024, Northwestern drew ire from conservatives over an agreement it struck with demonstrators to take down their encampment. In exchange, Northwestern pledged to reestablish an advisory committee on university investments and made other commitments.

Schill defended the arrangement during an appearance in May 2024 before a House committee investigating campus antisemitism.

Police kill man in burning Georgia house

LOCUST GROVE, Ga. Police in an Atlanta suburb say they shot and killed a man inside a burning house early Thursday then found a woman dead with burns and rescued two other women and a child who were inside a bedroom.

Officers responded around

3:40 a.m. to a report of a house

fire with people trapped inside, Locust Grove Police Chief Derrick Austin said. They broke through the back door and found Stefan Lee, 29, wielding a large knife. Lee refused commands to drop the knife, police said, before officers fired a Taser and a bean bag shotgun, which were both ineffective

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says Lee then rushed at officers with the knife and officers shot Lee He died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Firefighters who were putting out the fire in an upstairs bedroom found Jazzlyn Philips, 26, dead with burns there It is not clear what caused her death. Officers found the three others, who had locked themselves in a second bedroom. Police escorted them safely outside.

Man passes out ice cream on Colo. peak

DENVER Hikers who climbed a Colorado mountain got more than just a sweeping view at the top. A man in an ice cream cone costume unexpectedly was handing out frozen treats.

No one seemed to know the man who carried ice cream sandwiches and bars and dry ice in a 60-pound pack up Huron Peak over the Labor Day weekend. But word of him spread quickly to hikers still making their way up the more than 14,000-foot mountain that’s one of Colorado’s tallest.

Blaine and Katie Griffin were about three-quarters of the way up Huron Peak when other hikers told them about the man. They worried he would run out of ice cream by the time they got there.

“Eventually we got up to the top of the mountain and, tired, hot, thirsty and didn’t know it, but ice cream was just kind of what we wanted,” Blaine Griffin said

He and his wife enjoyed their ice cream sandwiches, which still were surprisingly very cold with some leftover pizza they carried with them.

Monument with the Capitol seen in the distance as part of President Donald Trump’s order to impose federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital on Aug. 28 in Washington.

D.C. suit challenges Guard deployment

BY LINDSAY WHITEHURST and GARY FIELDS Associated Press

WASHINGTON The District of Columbia on Thursday challenged President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Washington, asking a federal court to intervene even as he plans to send troops to other cities in the name of driving down crime

Brian Schwalb, the district’s elected attorney general, said in a lawsuit that the deployment, which now involves more than 1,000 troops, is an illegal use of the military for domestic law enforcement.

“No American jurisdiction should be involuntarily subjected to military occupation,” Schwalb wrote.

The White House said deploying the Guard to protect federal assets and assist law enforcement is within Trump’s authority as president

“This lawsuit is nothing more than another attempt — at the detriment of D.C. residents and visitors — to undermine the President’s highly successful operations to stop violent crime in D.C.,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said.

Members of the D.C. National Guard have had their orders extended through December, according to a Guard official.

While that does not necessarily mean all those troops will serve that long, it is a strong indication that their role will not wind down soon.

The Republican president has credited the weekslong surge in Washington with reining in crime and said he plans to send the National Guard into Chicago and Baltimore, despite staunch opposition in those Democrat-led cities. In the nation’s capital, Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, has backed up some of Trump’s claims that crime is down during the takeover Still, data shows and critics argue that crime was already falling before the surge Bowser said Thursday that her focus is on preparing for when the emergency ends, which under the law would be Sept. 10, unless Congress extends it. In the order she issued this week, that preparation centered on how the District could best coordinate with and communicate with

the federal law enforcement agencies that will likely remain in contact with the city’s citizens.

A federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles after protests over immigration raids in June was illegal. It does not directly apply to Washington, where the president has more control over the Guard than in states.

Several GOP-led states have added National Guard troops to the ranks of those patrolling the streets and neighborhoods of the nation’s capital.

Schwalb’s filing contends the deployment also violates Washington’s Home Rule Act, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1973, and wrongly asserts federal control over units from other states.

The lawsuit is the second from Schwalb — whose office is separate from Washington’s federal U.S. attorney, a presidential appointee against the Trump administration since Trump asserted control over the city’s police department and sent in the Guard Those actions have been met with protests from some residents.

Violent crime has been an issue in the capital for years, though data showed it was on the decline when Trump intervened with an executive order on Aug. 11.

Bowser has pointed to a steep drop in offenses such as carjackings since it began, while also expressing reservations about the use of the Guard from other states.

There are clear divides between some D.C. Council members and Bowser, whom critics have accused of acquiescing to the administration.

Speaking at a Free DC “Federal Forces Out Now” news conference on Capitol Hill, one council member, Robert White, said his own young daughters do not see the military personnel and officers as protectors.

“They are here to catch them, to condemn them, to take away their rights,” he said.

White said when history is written about this moment “we will have to justify what we did and did not do I’m not prepared to say that I capitulated. I’m prepared to stay the course. I’m not prepared to say I went along to get along.”

Investigators seek cause of Lisbon streetcar crash

16 people killed, 21 injured

BY BARRY HATTON and SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal Investigators sifted through the wreckage of a streetcar in downtown Lisbon on Thursday, trying to determine why the popular tourist attraction derailed during the busy summer season, killing 16 people and injuring 21, five of them seriously Portugal’s attorney-general’s office said eight victims have been identified so far: five Portuguese, two South Koreans and a Swiss person. There is “a high possibility,” based on recovered documents and other evidence, that the victims also include two Canadians, one American, one German and one Ukrainian, according to the head of the national investigative police, Luís Neves. Three remain to be identified. Among the injured are Spaniards, Israelis, Portuguese, Brazilians, Italians and French people, the executive director of Portugal’s National Health Service, Álvaro Santos Almeida, said.

The nationalities appeared to confirm suspicions that the Elevador da Gloria was packed with tourists as well as locals when it came off its rails during the evening rush hour Wednesday Lisbon hosted around 8.5 million tourists last year, and long lines of people typically form for the streetcar’s short and picturesque trip a few hundred meters up and down

Police officers inspect the site Thursday where a tourist streetcar derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal.

a city street. “This tragedy goes beyond our borders,” Prime Minister Luis Montenegro said at his official residence, calling it “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past.” Portugal observed a national day of mourning Thursday Montenegro, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas were among the hundreds of people who attended a somber Mass at Lisbon’s imposing Church of Saint Dominic on Thursday evening. Many of the stricken attendees were dressed in black, some embraced, and others carried flowers into the majestic candlelit sanctuary

In his sermon, the city’s archbishop, Patriarch Rui I of Lisbon, talked of how humans have faith in machines but in this instance, the streetcar betrayed that trust.

Palestinian death toll passes 64,000, health officials say

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip

More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly two-year war in the Gaza Strip, local health officials said Thursday, as Hamas and Israel reiterated their incompatible demands for ending the fighting sparked by the militant group’s 2023 attack.

Israeli strikes killed 28 people, mostly women and children, overnight and into Thursday according to hospitals, as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive in famine-stricken Gaza City

Brig Gen. Effie Defrin, the military spokesman, said Israeli forces control 40% of the city and that the operation would expand “in the coming days.”

In the occupied West Bank, Israelis established a new settlement in a Palestinian city according to an anti-settlement monitoring group.

The latest strikes came as Israeli troops were operating in parts of Gaza City with plans to take over all of it. The most populous Palestinian city is home to around a million people many of whom have already been displaced multiple times.

Shifa Hospital in Gaza City received 25 bodies, including nine children and six women, after Israeli strikes hit tents housing displaced people, according to hospital records. Among those killed was a 10-day-old baby

Another three people were killed in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Maha Afana said the strikes woke her up in the middle of the night as she slept in a tent in Gaza City with her children. When she checked on them she found the bodies of her son and daughter drenched with blood. “I started screaming,” she said.

Associated Press footage of thev aftermath showed charred tents and debris.

The sound of further Israeli bombardment echoed in the background.

“What did those children do to the state of Israel? They didn’t carry a knife or artillery They were just sleeping,” said Hayam Basous, who lost a relative in the strike.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas, saying militants are entrenched in denselypopulated areas.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that 64,231 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war The latest update includes around 400 who were presumed missing but whose deaths it says have been confirmed.

The ministry doesn’t say how many of those killed in the war were militants or civilians. It says women and children make up around half the dead.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate of wartime deaths by U.N. agencies and many independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in their attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas released a statement late Wednesday saying that it was open to returning all 48 hostages it still holds — around 20 of them believed by Israel to be alive — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all of Gaza, the opening of border crossings and a start to the daunting challenge of rebuilding Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the offer as “spin” and said that the war would continue until all the hostages are returned, Hamas is disarmed and Israel has full security control of the territory, with civilian administration delegated to others.

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The few businesses, fading population and grassy,vacantlotspoint to an uneven recovery along the Mississippi Coast.

Pearlington’sonly schoolwas washed awayand never rebuilt

Thereisnohospitalor emergency room, forcing residents to drive elsewhere for care, including Crapeau,who was diagnosed withthroatcancer and makes the 45-minute trip to Gulfport every threeweeks for chemotherapy

Public buildingsare scarce: alibrary,a community centerand a volunteer fire department are all that remain.

After the storm, volunteers and churchgroups trickled into Pearlington while much of the aid was concentrated in other areas. Residents were faced with achoice:to rebuild or leave. Most fled to nearby towns with better outcomes.

BaySt. Louis,17miles away, was one of them.

Katrinabattered Bay St. Louis destroying half the city’shomes, blowing out the bridge that connects it to Pass Christian anddecimating the population. The downtown area, once busy,was essentially flattened to ablank slate Recovery was ayearslong effort sustained by an outpouring of assistance from the government, volunteers and locals who stayed. Public buildings, roadways and vital bridges were eventually repaired andreplaced by federal money.By 2013,new developers were flocking to downtown as longtime business owners rebuilt.

Today,the ghost of Katrina’s devastation is hard to find in most parts of Bay St. Louis. In Pearlington, though, it lingersjustabout everywhere.

Astorm-batteredtown

The two-lane road to Pearlington cuts through dense woodsand bayous. The old river town boomed with newcomers in the1960s, when NASA commandeered a swath of Hancock Countyand displacednearby villages to build the Stennis Space Center.

Now the streets arequiet But signs of the pastendure. Aman wearing afaded NASA T-shirt rides arumbling lawn mowerthrough his yard. ACocaCola delivery truck pulls past sunbleached gas pumpstodeliver

sweet teaatthe Rockets Express convenience store.

Down the road, Elbert Walters swivelsinadesk chair at his auto body andpaintshopand calls himself one of the “real die-hards.” His family arrived in Pearlingtonsix decadesago with the influx ousted by NASA.After Katrina, he rebuilt hisshop with salvaged wood.

Walters wears aplaid shirt and camouflage baseball cap embroidered with the words “Amazing Grace.” He studiesblack-andwhite photographs on his wall and considers thechanges.

“All this history,” he said, “seems like it got washed away.”

Twodecades after Katrina made its last landfall in Pearlington, the town has succeeded andstruggled The county installedwater and sewage systems,but low elevation droveupinsurance costs.Volunteers rebuilt wood homes,but neighbors movedaway

Now,the closureofseveral deteriorating bridges at thestate line

“has impacted me more than Katrina,”Crapeau said. “They ought to fix thedamn highway.”

Pearlington’sstory might have gone differently.Tim Kellar,a longtime county leader and former chancery clerk, said he got calls afterthe storm from investors as far away as California. They wanted to buythe whole town. But most die-hards wouldn’tsell.

Locals saythe neighbors who have left Pearlington for higher ground are usually from somewhere else.

Speaking by phone last week from acounty government office built withFEMAmoney,Tax AssessorJimmieLadner carefully describedthe place where he hunted and fished as aboy

“The problem,” Ladner began, then he paused. “I hate using the termproblem.”

“Partofthe issue,” he said,“is theisolation.”

Atownreborn

On Friday, theanniversary of Katrina, Nikki Moon sits in her Bay St. Louis home andremembers that day 20 years ago. When thestorm hit, she clungtoabald oak with herScottish terrier and three guests from herbed-andbreakfast,Bay Town Inn.

Today, that tree still stands by the inn. Carved into its branches are two angels, one facing thewater andanother lookingtoward Beach Boulevard, linedwithbusy seafood restaurants and palm trees rustling in thebreeze.

Even on itsslower days, the town’s rebirthisunmistakable.

On thecorner of Main Street and Beach Boulevard, acouple walks into Pearl Hotel with rolling luggage. Afew blocks away,inMockingbird Cafe, agroup of locals sit at atable and talk about howBay

MacPhaille said.“Back then, they were barely making it. We had like three or four tenants roll in and out.” In 2018, he opened twoNew Orleans staples —PJ’sCoffee and CreoleCreamery—inhis twobuildings on Main Street. Today,that onceempty corridor is filled with new boutiques and restaurants. There’s littletrace of the blight Katrina left behind.

Signsofhope

EveninBay St.Louis, the story of recovery extends beyond downtown.

Afew blocks away in the Depot District, new restaurants, boutiques and other businesses have opened across from the Amtrak train station,where BaySt. Louis is astop along the Mardi Gras Service from New OrleanstoMobile In otherparts of thecity,new subdivisions areemerging withhouses and condos.

St. Louis hastransformedinthe last decade.

“It is acommunitythatcame back very strongly,” Moon said, “Andits people are really somethingspecial.”

Several businesses, including BayTown Inn, began reopening on Beach Boulevard in 2013. Moon hadapplied fora $150,000 grant from the Hancock CountyChamberofCommerce, which she said gave her “the seed money” to rebuild her bed-and-breakfast. The county’stourism office also provided funds for advertising.

“Wehad no roads. We had no water.Wehad no power,” Moon said.

“Our infrastructure was starting from scratch.The city andthe countyhad to raise the money.”

Bay St. Louis slowly cameback to life, regaining its pre-Katrina identity as aquaint art colony and weekend retreat for New Orleanians.

Moon sold theinn in 2022 to Jim MacPhaille, aNew Orleans developer who owns arestaurant and severalother businesses in Bay St. Louis. Adecadeearlier,hehad already seen the town’spotential. In 2013, MacPhaille purchased two buildings on Main Street. Despite its damaged infrastructure andlack of tourism,herecognized how BaySt. Louis was “eager to get things done” as storm recovery in New Orleans lagged. Butstill, “business was tough,”

Bay St. Louis also keeps growing in population. According to data from theU.S.Census Bureau, it’s grown faster thanany other city across theMississippi Coastin the last four years. At over 11,000 people, it’sthe only coastal city in the state to surpass its pre-Katrina population.

In Pearlington, the population has steadily increased in the last two decades, but is still far from its pre-Katrina numbers. Census data from 2000 shows the population wasjust above 1,600. In 2020, therewere1,100 people living in Pearlington.

Despitethe population shift, many locals have stayed loyal to their homes on the bayou, surrounded by marshes and oak trees that tunnel over country roads. Crapeau said shesoldTurtle Landing before the bridges closed, then the buyer backed out. She had plans to retire and step away from arestaurant that brought people together after the storm. But for now she’sstill at her bar stool, welcoming guests to her bar and grill. She’sproud of what she’sbuilt in Pearlington,pointing to aframed newspaper front page featuring Turtle Landing. Walters is not sure he could rebuild after another storm. Buthe does not wanttoleave the quiet community where his family has lived for generations.

“It’shome,” he said. “It’sjust home.”

Email Poet Wolfe at poet.wolfe@ theadvocate.com.

Thank You Senator Cassidy,

forstanding strong—for Louisiana science.

HereinLouisiana, we knowwhat it takestoimprove lives and supportAmerican progress: hardwork, high standards, and sciencethat deliversreal results. And that starts with strong federal supportfor American research.

With Senator Cassidy’s leadership, patients acrossLouisiana benefit every day from life-saving cures,breakthrough therapies, and long-awaited treatments

Thank you, Senator Cassidy, for backing sciencethat changeslives,strengthens families, and builds astronger future in Louisiana and allofAmerica.

CURFEWS

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He said he first contacted the parish attorney about tightening gaps in the curfew law after alate-night shooting on Choctaw Drive in June killed 25-year-old Prenseha Wagner.An18-year-old and a15-yearold have since been arrested in connection with her death.

Then on Tuesday,Aug. 26, Hurst andcouncil members TwahnaHarris and Carolyn Colemanmet with localofficialsbehindcloseddoors at the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Office to discuss updating laws.Those in attendance included Police Chief T.J. Morse, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Assistant Chief Administrative OfficerJeffrey LeDuff and School Board President ShashonnieSteward.

“At this time, our administration is having conversations about potential adjustments to thisordinance, but it would be premature to give any details,” Falon Brown, aspokesperson for the Mayor’sOffice, wrote in an email.

Details, like whereyouthswould be held in custody, and the resources provided if parents don’t show,will likely require partnerships with state agencies like the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services.Ifchanges to the 30-year-old curfew ordinance move beyond the brainstorming

CONFIRMATION

Continued from page1A

Durbin, the highest-ranking Democrat on the GOP-majority Judiciary Committee,saidVicePresident JD Vance did the same thing when he was asenator during theDemocratic Biden administration.

University of Richmond Law Professor Carl Tobias, who follows federal judicialnominations closely, said this stall is based on Vance’s move during thelastadministration. Vance effectively limited the number of U.S. Attorneynominees Biden could get confirmed, allowing Trump to confirm about20more so far “Durbin’spositionisthere shouldn’tbeone rule for Republicans and another for Democrats,” Tobias said, adding that no senator has raised anysubstantive objections to any of the 10 federal prosecutors involved in the Democratic

stage, itwould still require Metro Councilapproval. Is it needed,oreveneffective?

Although overallviolent crime is downfrom lastyear,McKneely said violentcrimebyjuveniles has beenrisingfor years. By midyear, eight juveniles inBaton Rouge had been arrested as murder suspects andanother five were victims of gun violence.

Meanwhile,1 outof3studentsin East Baton Rouge public schools missed more than 10% of school days in 2024, astatewide truancy issue thatremains severely chronic in theparish. Decadesofresearch suggest that truancyand violent crimeare closely linked, and Hurst says anew curfew would go hand in hand with effortstoaddressboth.

With fewer youths roaming the streets late at night, the logic follows that morewill be in the classroom, or at least less likely to causetrouble.Yet,since the Clinton administration supported thepolicy’sspreadtomajor U.S. cities in the 1990s, itseffectiveness is unclear.A 2018 study published in the Review of Economics and Statistics found that curfews implemented in the Washington, D.C.,area increased the amount of gunfire incidents by 150%, with researchers theorizing the results weredue to the reduced numberof potential witnesses

Many criminal justice advocates have also criticizedcurfews for be-

block.

In recent days, Durbinhas also been critical of Trump’sthreatsto send troopstoChicagoand his administration’srefusal to spend $500 million appropriated by Congress.

“Communities around our country areindesperateneed of U.S Attorneys to protect the public and upholdthe rule of law,” said U.S. Sen. ChuckGrassley, theIowa Republican who chairs theSenate committee.“TheactionsofSenate Democrats areputtingthe American public in harm’sway.There’s simply no otherway to sayit.”

Usually,noncontroversial candidates for U.S. Attorney areapproved through the expedited process of avoice vote —but none of Trump’snominees in the second administration have been confirmed by voice vote, Grassley said. Without avoice vote,the majority is required to go through time-consuming procedures forcandidates subject to ablankethold to win confirmation.

ing too draconian, arguing that the policies put disadvantaged youth at increased risk of entering the criminal justice system.

But Hurst said that while it is still in its infancy,the goal of anew curfew ordinance wouldn’tbetopunish more people, and youths held by law enforcement wouldn’tbe put behind bars.

“This is primarily done by the minority members (of the Metro Council) to makesure we can bring ourcommunitiesback,”Hurst said, adding that enforcement of curfews would be the same, regardless of “whether you come from the richest neighborhood or the poorest.”

He said the idea is to create another mechanismfor identifying risk factors thatlead kids astray. For example, requiring parentsto pickuptheir childrenmight triggeraninterventionthatconnects youths and their families with individualized services —likebehavioral counseling or even workforce development,hesaid.

“Sometimes youhavepeople who areshy or insecurebecausethey lack resources for theirfamilies,” Hurst said. “This will give us the opportunity to open that window andsee what toolsand resources we can offer.”

Email Aidan McCahill at aidan.mccahill@theadvocate. com or follow himonX, @AidanMcCahill47

“The Middle DistrictofLouisianadeserves aSenate-confirmed U.S.attorney,and historicDemocrat obstructionism doesn’tchange that,” said Sen. John N. Kennedy,RMadisonville and the only Louisiana senator on theJudiciaryCommittee. “Every minute thatmyDemocratic colleagueswaste holdinguphighly qualified nominees like Kurt Wall is aminutethat he isn’thelping put bad guys behind bars.”

Wall prosecuted violent crime, drug andwhite-collar cases as an assistant district attorney in LivingstonParish, and he worked in East BatonRouge Parish. If the full Senate approveshis confirmation, Wall would succeed Ronald C. Gathe Jr.asthe chief federal law enforcement officer for Ascension, East BatonRouge, West Baton Rouge,EastFeliciana, West Feliciana, Iberville, Livingston, Pointe Coupee and St.Helena parishes. Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

from page1A

“I would say,effectively,we’re denying people vaccines,” Cassidy said. Kennedy replied, “You’re wrong.”

Congressionalshoutingmatch

The Senate Finance Committee called in Kennedy,the secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to discusshis “Make America Healthy Again” program. Butthe hearing quickly turned intoshouting matches between the health secretary on oneside and Democratic senators, several of whom calledfor Kennedy’s resignation. Some Republican senators alsoraisedsharp questionsaboutKennedy’spolicies.

Kennedy has laid off thousands of agency personnel; recommendeda 33%,or$31.3 billion reduction, in funding forthe fiscal year that begins Oct. 1; fired thedirectorofthe Centersfor Disease Control andPrevention, which spurredanexodus of other top staff; recommended vaccinationlimits; andcanceled $500 million forresearch of mRNA vaccines.

“It seems like an incredible waste of money,” Cassidy said of canceling mRNA projects that were already underway.“It also seemslike acommentary upon what the president wasattempting, what the president did, in Operation Warp Speed,whichis to create aplatform by whichto create vaccines.”

Republicans and Democrats alikesay asignature achievement of President Donald Trump’sfirst administration was the quick development of a COVID vaccine during the pandemic, whichhad forced schools and businesses close.

Trump relieved private pharmaceutical companies of certain regulations and distributed grantstojump-start development of avaccine usingthe mRNA platform.

“President Trumpdeservesa Nobel Prizefor Operation Warp Speed because of Operation Warp Speed,forcing the federal government to cometoavaccine development within 10 months when others said it couldn’tbe done,” Cassidy said.“We saved millions of lives globally,trillions of dollars. We reopened the

economy —incredible accomplishment.”

Kennedy agreed—but notjust forgetting aviablevaccine so quickly.Healso praisedTrump for notlimiting possible alternatives andfor not requiring people to be vaccinated. Kennedy later said that COVID’spropertieskeep changing.

“I can’ttell where you are on Operation Warp Speed,” said Sen. ThomTillis, R-N.C. Cassidy also raised questions aboutKennedy’shandlingofa civilian panel called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP,thatmake recommendations to the CDC on what vaccinestouse on whom andwhentheyshould inoculate.

Kennedy in June forced the retirement of all 17 ACIP members, made up of physicians and scientists knowledgeableabout vaccinations, and named eight newmembers—including some who have used conservative media platforms to voice skepticism aboutvaccines.

Cassidy specifically pointed to new members whohad been hired to provide expert testimony in anti-vaccine lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies.

“That seems like aconflict,” Cassidy said.

Kennedy replied, “It maybea bias and that bias if disclosed is OK but it’snot afinancialbias. It’snot afinancialconflict.”

“It surprisesmethatyou think so highly of Operation Warp Speed when as an attorney you attempted to restrict access,” Cassidy said.

Ongoingtensions

More thanany othersenator, Cassidy is responsible for confirming Kennedy,one of Trump’s most controversialcabinetnominees As chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Cassidy’sendorsement helpedpersuade some senators who were cautious about promoting sucha prominent vaccine skeptictoleadthe nation’s health agency Cassidy faces at least three conservatives in his campaign for reelection next year who are angry over his vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges stemmingfrom the Jan.6,2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

a depth alongIts South‐ern sideline of OneHun‐dredThirty-Five (135') feet,and measuringSev‐enty(70')feet across the rear; said lotbeing sub‐jecttosuchservitudes as· shownonsaidsubdi‐visionmap;subject to re‐strictions, servitudes rightsofway andout‐standingmineral rights ofrecordaffecting the property. Municipalad‐dress: 3541 WayneDrive Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70805 TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der,atPublicAuction WITHAppraisement and accordingtolaw

Rouge, State ofLouisiana,inthatsub‐divisionknown as Red‐wood Lake Subdivision and beingdesignatedon the official plan of said subdivision,on file and ofrecordinthe office of the clerkand recorder of saidparishand state, as lot numbersix (6), said subdivision,saidlot hav‐ing such size,shape and dimensionsand being subject to such servi‐tudes as areshown on saidmap TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der,atPublicAuction WITHOUTAppraisement

FOREST SUBDIVISION, EIGHTHFILING, anddes‐ignated on theofficial map of said subdivision on file andofrecordat Original729, Bundle 9146 inthe Office of theClerk and Recorder forthe ParishofEastBaton Rouge,Louisiana,asLOT NUMBEREIGHT HUNDRED FORTY-SIX (846),said subdivision,saidlot,hav‐ing such measurements and dimensions as shown on said map. MunicipalAddress: 4038 LassenDrive,Baton Rouge,LA70814 Subject toExceptionsasde‐scribed in theMortgage. Together with allthe im‐provementsnow or here‐after erectedonthe property, alleasements appurtenances, and fix‐tures notorhereafter a partofthe property.All replacementsand addi‐tions shallalsobecov‐eredbythisSecurity Agreement.All of the foregoing is referred to inthisSecurityAgree‐mentasthe "Property. TERMSOFSALE: Cash to thehighest bid‐der,atPublicAuction WITHAppraisementand accordingtolaw SidJ.Gautreaux,Sheriff EastBaton RougeParish ADVERTISED

Trumpcalls forjusticestorulehis tariffsare legal

Presidentclaims

U.S. wouldbeon ‘brink of economic catastrophe’ if they’renot upheld

BY LINDSAYWHITEHURST and MARK SHERMAN Associated Press

WASHINGTON President Donald Trump is seekinga swift and definitive decision on tariffs from the Supreme Court that he helped shape, saying the countrywould be on “the brinkofeconomic catastrophe” withoutthe import taxes he has imposed on U.S. rivals and allies alike.

The administration used near-apocalyptic terms that are highly unusual in Supreme Court filings as it asked the justices late Wednesday to intervene and reverse an appeals court ruling that foundmostof Trump’stariffs are an illegal use of an emergency powers law.The tariffs remain in

place, for now.

The case comes to acourt that has so far been reluctant to check Trump’sextraordinary flexof executive power

One big questioniswhether thejustices’ own expansive view of presidential authority allows for Trump’stariffs without the explicit approval of Congress, which theConstitutionendowswith the powerover tariffs. Three of thejusticesonthe conservative-majority court were nominatedbyTrump in his first term

The tariffs and their erratic rollout have shakenglobal markets, alienatedU.S. tradingpartners and allies, and raisedfears of higherprices and slowereconomicgrowth.

But theRepublican president has also used the trade penaltiestopressurethe European Union, Japan and others into acceptingnew deals. Revenue from tariffstotaled $159 billionbylateAugust, more than double what it was at the same point ayear earlier.

Raising the stakes even higher,

SolicitorGeneral D.

PresidentDonald Trumpisseeking aswiftand

decisionontariffsfrom

ruled unconstitutional

JohnSauer urgedthe Supreme Courttodecide in a week’stime whether to hear the caseand hold arguments thefirst week of November That is far faster than the pace of the typical Supreme Court case.

“The President and his Cabinet officials have determinedthat thetariffs are promoting peace andunprecedented economic prosperity,and that the denial of tariff authoritywould expose our nation to traderetaliation without effective defenses andthrustAmerica back to thebrink of economic catas-

trophe,” Sauer wrote. He wrote that it is notjust trade that is at issue, but also the nation’sability to reduce the flow of fentanyl andefforts to end Russia’swar against Ukraine

The tariffs will almost certainly remainineffect until afinal ruling from the SupremeCourt. But the Republican administration nevertheless calledonthe high court to intervene quickly and reverse the rulingfrom the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

“That decision casts apall of uncertainty uponongoing foreign negotiations that the Presidenthas beenpursuing through tariffs over the past fivemonths, jeopardizing both already negotiated framework dealsand ongoing negotiations,”Sauer wrote. “The stakes in this case could not be higher.”

The filing cites not only Trump but also the secre-

taries of the departments of Treasury,Commerce and State in support of the urgent need for the justices to step in.

“The recentdecisionbythe Federal Circuit is already adverselyaffecting ongoing negotiations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote. The stakes are also high for small businesses battered by tariffs and uncertainty,said Jeffrey Schwab, senior counsel and director of litigation at theLibertyJusticeCenter

“These unlawful tariffs are inflicting serious harm on small businesses and jeopardizing theirsurvival. We hope for aprompt resolution of this case forour clients,” he said.

Thebusinesses have twice prevailed, once at afederal court focused on trade andagain withthe appeals court’s7-4 ruling. Their lawsuit is one of several challenging the tariffs.

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON— The Justice Department has begun examining mortgage fraud allegations against Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor who is challengingaTrump administration effort to remove her from her job in amove she says is designed to erode the central bank’sindependence. Investigators have issued subpoenas as part of an inquiry into Cook that was spawned by acriminal referral from the country’stop housing regulator,according to aperson familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the probe and spokeoncondition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

AJustice Department spokesperson declined to comment on theinquiry, which was earlierreported by The Wall Street Journal.

“Predictably and recognizing the flaws in challenging their illegalfiring of GovernorCook, the administration is scrambling to invent new justificationsfor itsoverreach.ThisJusticeDepartment— perhapsthe most politicized in American history— will dowhatever President Trump demands,” Cook’s lawyer,Abbe David Lowell, said in astatement News of the investigation comes amid ahigh-stakes legal fightover President Donald Trump’sannouncement last month that hewas ousting Cook, an action she says is being undertaken

so that he can seize control over acentral bank typically shielded from political pressure and tasked with making decisions aboutwhetherto raise or lower interestrates Trump moved to fire Cook on Aug. 25 after oneofhis appointees alleged that she committed mortgage fraud relatedtotwo properties she purchased in 2021, before she joinedthe Fed. Bill Pulte, whomadethe criminal referral inhis capacity as director of theFederal Housing FinanceAgency, hasasserted that Cook,had claimed twoprimary residences, in AnnArbor,Michigan,and Atlanta,in2021to getbetter mortgageterms. Mortgage rates are often higheronsecondhomes or those purchased to rent.

Appealscourt panelstops ‘Alligator Alcatraz’wind-down

By The Associated Press

ORLANDO,Fla. Afederal appeals court panel on Thursday put on holda lower court judge’s ordertoend operations indefinitely at theimmigrationdetention center in the Florida Everglades dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The three-judge panel in Atlanta decided by a2-1 vote to stay the federal judge’sorder pending the outcome of an appeal, sayingitwas in thepublic interest. The ruling will allow the facility to continueholding detainees for the time being.

U.S. District Judge Kath-

leen Williams in Miami issued apreliminary injunction lastmonthordering operations at thefacilityto be wound down by theend of October,with detainees transferredtoother facilities andequipment and fencing removed. Williams’decision was issued in response to alawsuit brought by Friends of the Everglades, the Centerfor Biological Diversityand the Miccosukee Tribe, whoaccused thestate and federal defendantsofnot following federal law requiringanenvironmental review for the detention center in the middleofsensitivewetlands.

“This is aheartbreaking

blow to America’sEverglades and every living creature there, but thecase isn’t even closetoover,” Elise Bennett, asenior attorney at theCenterfor Biological Diversity,said Thursday Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration in late June raced to build the facility on an isolated airstrip surrounded by wetlands to aid President Donald Trump’sefforts to deportpeople in the U.S. illegally.The governor said the locationinthe rugged andremote Everglades was meantasa deterrent against escape, much like the island prison in California that Republicans named it after

26 countrieswould join Ukrainereassuranceforce

Macron says nationspledged troops forafter warends

BY ILLIA NOVIKOV and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press

KYIV,Ukraine French

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that 26 of Ukraine’s allies have pledged to deploy troops as a“reassurance force” for the war-torn country once fightingends in the conflict with Russia.

Macron spoke aftera meeting in Paris of the socalled “coalition of the willing,” agroup of 35 countries who support Ukraine. He said that 26 of the countries had committed to deploying troops in Ukraine —or to maintaining apresence

on land, at sea, or in the air

—tohelp guarantee the country’ssecurity the day after aceasefire or peace is achieved

Earlier Thursday, Macron and other European leaders metwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the U.S. envoy forpeace talks, Steve Witkoff, to discuss waysofensuringlongterm military support and continued American backing for Ukraineoncethe conflict ends. Zelenskyy also held aclosed-door meetingwith Witkoff.

Macron said at anewsconference alongside Zelenskyy that the reassuranceforce “does nothave the will or the objective of wagingwar against Russia,”but will aim “to prevent any new major aggression and to involve the26states very clearly in thelastingsecurity of Ukraine.”

Thoughdetailsofany U.S.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By LUDOVICMARIN

Ukraine’sPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and French PresidentEmmanuel MacronarriveThursday to attend a summit on Ukraine at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

participation in thesecurity guarantees remainunclear both Macron andZelenskyy saidWashington had expressed willingness to be part of theplan,and the Ukrainianpresident saidhe was grateful about that. “As for in what format, Iamnot yet ready to tell you in detail,” Zelenskyy added.

“The planning work will be finalized with theUnited

States,”Macron said.

Macron and BritishPrime MinisterKeirStarmer,who lead the“coalitionofthe willing,” previously have insisted that anyEuropean “reassurance” force in Ukraineneeds the backing of the United States.

The European leaders some of whom joinedthe meeting virtually —said Russian President Vladimir

Putin must now work toward ending the fighting, and the German government suggested European sanctions on Russia would increase if Moscow drags its feet.The European leaders also spoke by phone with U.S. President Donald Trump after their meeting.

Starmer’soffice said the British primeminister “emphasized that the group had an unbreakable pledge to Ukraine, with President Trump’sbacking, and it was clear they now needed to go even furthertoapply pressure on Putin to secure a cessation of hostilities.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Finnish media that, in the phone conversation with European leaders, Trumpemphasized the need to put economic pressure on Russia, and said Europe must stop buying Russian oiland gasthathesaidwas funding the war.

Trump stressedthatRussia received 1.1 billion euros in fuel sales fromthe EU in oneyear,according to a White House official. Trump also emphasized that European leadersmust place economic pressure on China for indirectly funding Russia’swar efforts, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the private talks and spoke on the condition of anonymity German government spokesman StefanKornelius said that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz laid outthree“areas of action, including working toward a summit that would include Zelenskyy,and “a ceasefire must be agreed there.”

“If the Russian side continues to play fortime, Europe will increase the pressure of sanctions to increase the chances of adiplomatic solution,” the statement said.

Famedfashion designer GiorgioArmanidiesat91

BY COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

MILAN Giorgio Armani, the iconic Italian designer who turned the conceptof understated elegance into a multibillion-dollar fashion empire, has died, hisfashion house confirmed. He was 91. Armani died at home, the fashion house said. Armani, one of the most recognizable namesand faces in the global fashion industry,missed Milan Fashion Week in June 2025 for the first time during the previews of SpringSummer 2026 menswear to recover from an undisclosed condition.

He was planning amajor event to celebrate 50 years of his signature Giorgio Armani fashion house during Milan Fashion Week this month. Armani, who maintained a firm griponhis empire and collections until the end,had been reluctanttodiscuss succession, buthad announced afoundation as asuccession tool to avoid his businesses being split up.

He also indicated the creative succession to Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani, who have headed the menswearand womenswear collections, respectively,for all Armani

as Olympia Milano. Armani opened more than than 20 restaurants fromMilanto Tokyosince1998,and two hotels, oneinDubaiin2009 andanother in Milan,in2010.

Armanistyle began with Giorgio Armani himself, from the penetrating blue eyes framed in apermanent tanand early-age shock of silver hair,tothe trademarkjeans and T-shirt work clothes and the minimalist decoration of his private homes.

Armani’s fashion vision was thatofeasygoing elegance where attention to detail made the difference.

Milan, Armanidreamed of becominga doctor before a part-timejob as awindow decorator in aMilandepartment store opened his eyes to the world of fashion.

In 1975, Armani and his partner Sergio Galeotti sold theirVolkswagen for$10,000 to start up their ownmenswear ready-to-wear label. Womenswear followed a year later

collections: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Exchange Starting with an unlined jacket, asimple pair of pants andanurban palette, Armani putItalian ready-to-wear styleonthe international fashion map in the late1970s, creating an instantly recognizable relaxedsilhouette that has propelled the fashionhousefor half acentury From theexecutive office to the Hollywood screen, Armani dressed the rich and famousinclassic tailored styles, fashioned in supersoft fabrics and muted tones

His handsomeblack tieoutfits and glittering evening gownsoften stolethe show on awardseason redcarpets

At the time of his death, Armani had put together an empire worth over $10 billion, whichalong with clothing included accessories, home furnishings,perfumes, cosmetics, books, flowers and even chocolates, ranking him in the world’stop 200 billionaires,according to Forbes.

The designer also owned severalbars, clubs, restaurants and his own basketball team EA7Emporio Armani Milan, betterknown

“I design for realpeople. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories thatare not practical,” he liked to say when asked to identify his clientele.

In conversation, the designer’sdisarming smile and exquisitely mild manners belied the tough businessman underneath, who was able to turncreative talentintoa fashionempire worth over $10 billion.Never amerger nor asale, Re Giorgio (King George) as the Italians call him, wasalwayshis own boss.

BornJuly11, 1934, in Piacenza, asmall town southof

NorthKorean, Chineseleaders meet at event

BY KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press

BEIJING North Korean leaderKim Jong Un met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of festivities commemoratingthe end of World WarII, state media reported Thursday Kim attended aChinese military paradeinBeijing a day earlier,alongside other foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin.Kim is makingarare tripoutside North Korea Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

said that the two leaders would conduct in-depth exchanges ofviews on bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern He saidthat Kim’s attendance at theparade and the talks with Xi “carry great significance.”

TheNorth Korean leader, who arrived in Beijing by train onTuesday, wasamong 26 foreign leaders who watched the parade marking the 80thanniversary of the end of World WarII. It was the first time that he joined an event with alarge group of world leaderssince taking

office in late2011.

Kim, on his first visit to China in sixyears,brought his young daughter,adding to speculation that she’sbeing primed as thecountry’s next leader

Experts sayKim likely hopes to restore ties with China,North Korea’sbiggest trading partnerand aid provider,asthere have been questions about the bilateral relationship. In recent years, Kim’sforeignpolicy has focused heavily on Russia. He has sent combat troopsand ammunition to back Russia’sfull-

U.S. designates 2moregangs in LatinAmerica as terroristgroups

BY MATTHEW LEE, REGINA

GARCIA CANO and JACQUELYN MARTIN Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador The United States is designating two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the Trump administration's latest step to target criminal cartels in Latin America.

U.S. SecretaryofState Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday while in Ecuador as part of a trip to LatinAmerica overshadowed by an American military strike against a similarly designated gang, Venezuela's Tren de Aragua. That attack has raised concerns in the region about what may follow as President Donald Trump'sgov-

ernmentpledges to step up military activity to combat drug traffickingand illegal migration.

“This time, we're not just going to hunt for drug dealersinthe little fast boats and say,'Let's try to arrest them,’ ”Rubio told reporters in Quito, Ecuador'scapital. “No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they've been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.” Los Lobosand LosChoneros are Ecuadorian gangs blamed for much of the violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Theterrorist designation, Rubio said, brings “all sorts of options” for Washington to work inconjunction with the government of Ecua-

dor to crack down on these groups That includes the ability to kill themaswell as take action against the properties and banking accounts in theU.S. of the group's membersand those with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said. He said thelabel also would help with intelligence sharing. Los Choneros,Los Lobos and other similar groups are involvedincontract killings, extortion operations and the movement and saleofdrugs Authoritieshave blamed them for theincreased violenceinthe country as they fight over drug-trafficking routes to thePacificand control of territory,including within prisons, where hundreds of inmates have been killed since 2021.

The symbol of his new style was theliningless sports jacket,which waslaunched in the late 1970s and became an instant success from Hollywood to Wall Street. The designer paired the jacket with asimple T-shirt, an item of clothing he termed “the alpha and omega of the fashion alphabet.”

The Armanisuitsoonbecamea must in thecloset of the well-heeled man.And for women, theintroduction of thepantsuit in theexecutive workroom wasall butrevolu-

tionary.Dubbedthe “power suit” with its shoulder-padded jacket andman-tailored trousers, it becamethe trademark of the rising classofbusinesswomen in the1980s. Over theyearsArmani would soften the look with delicate detailing, luxurious fabrics andbrighter shades for his basic beige and gray palette. His insistence on pants and jackets led some critics to label his fashion “androgynous.”

The 1980 film classic “American Gigolo”launched both Armani and actor Richard Gere on their Hollywood careers. DressedinArmani, Gere became America’snew favorite heartthrob, and “Geeorgeeo” as they called him, the glam set’smost popular designer TheHollywoodconnection earned him wardrobe film credits in over 200 films, and in 2003 aplace on Rodeo Drive’s“Walk of Fame.”

scale invasion of Ukraine in return for economic and military assistance. At ameeting with Kim in Beijing after the parade, Putin praised the bravery of NorthKorean soldiers in thefighting.

But experts say that Kim would feel the need to prepare for the possible end of the Russia-Ukraine war Someobservers say Kim’s trip could also be meant to increaseleverageinpotential talks with U.S. President DonaldTrump,who has repeatedly expressed his hopestoresumediplomacy between the two countries.

Court denies Orgeron’s appeal

Ex-LSU coach must split buyout with ex-wife

BY ANDREA GALLO

Staff writer

Former LSU football coach Ed Orgeron remains on the hook for more than $8 million that he owes to his ex-wife, Kelly Orgeron.

After the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in June that Kelly Orgeron was entitled to half of

But the Louisiana Supreme Court released a 4-3 decision Thursday saying they stand by their previous ruling. They denied Ed Orgeron’s application for rehearing.

Kelly Orgeron and her legal team “could not be more delighted” with the ruling, her

Ed Orgeron’s $17 million buyout from LSU firing him in 2021, the former coach asked the court to rehear his case and reverse their decision. Ed Orgeron’s legal team argued that the high court ignored long-established precedent along with tax implications in their ruling, which they warned could upend decades of decisions on splitting community property

lead attorney said Thursday

“The original opinion was a proper application of Louisiana’s community property and contract law,” said attorney Robert Lowe, who represents Kelly Orgeron. “Hence, it does no violence to either area of the law notwithstanding all the hyperbo-

WORK IN PROGRESS

SCHEINUK

Crews make progress on the Capital Area Transit System’s new North Transit Center on Airline Highway in Baton Rouge on Aug. 25. CATS broke ground on the project July 9, marking the first phase of Louisiana’s Bus Rapid Transit project.

A Darrow 17-year-old was arrested Thursday in connection with the killing of another teenager, according to the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office. Peyton Jackson was booked into the parish jail on a count each of second-degree murder, illegal use of weapons and obstruction of justice. The charges stem from the deaths of 18-year-old Tyjon Comery, also of Darrow Deputies originally responded to a homicide at a residence on

Brown Extension Road on Aug. 28. They found Comery inside, dead from gunshot wounds. During their investigation, detectives developed Jackson as a suspect, saying he was a “close acquaintance of Comery” in a release issued Thursday The investigation is ongoing, and further details are limited at this time.

Second teen booked in April killing

A second teenager turned himself

BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer

le surrounding it in Mr. Orgeron’s application for rehearing. Justice was served.”

The justices in the majority are Justice Jefferson Hughes, who wrote the initial majority opinion, along with Justice Piper Griffin and two retired judges appointed ad hoc in the case, Martin Coady and John Conery Former state Supreme Court

Sheriff’s deputy fired

Another demoted for actions on arrest video

BY CLAIRE GRUNEWALD Staff writer

A Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy has been terminated and another demoted for their actions caught on video while the deputies and a police dog were apprehending a suspect.

The video, which depicts a man on the ground with one arm held by a deputy and the other by the dog, prompted the Sheriff’s Office to conduct an internal affairs investigation.

Sheriff Jason Ard said in a statement Wednesday that the deputies involved were disciplined for violations of policy and procedure of the office, and a criminal review is underway

Carlos Jose Leon Hernandez, 31, was arrested on Aug. 27 in the area of La. 16 and Lockhart Road. Deputies originally were responding to calls about a medical incident until more reports came in about an intoxicated man moving around a nearby parking lot, the Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

Once they arrived, deputies tried to talk to the man, but he ran away and became combative, according to the Sheriff’s Office. A deputy was then reportedly injured, and the police dog was deployed.

A video of the arrest posted to social media shows Hernandez lying on the ground on his stomach while a deputy holds his right arm behind his back and the police dog has the suspect’s other arm.

One deputy repeatedly tells Hernandez to put his hands behind his back in the video, and the deputy is seen striking Hernandez.

Hernandez was arrested on counts of resisting an officer, resisting an officer with force or violence, battery on a police officer disturbing the peace and public intoxication.

He is also on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer

Email Claire Grunewald at claire. grunewald@theadvocate.com.

Texasman sentencedinchild porn case

Underage girls’ pictures sold online

BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

ATexas photographer wassentenced to 61/2 years in federal prison for hosting photo shoots with an underage model and selling racy pics of the bikini-clad girl online.

Grant McKay Durtschi, 51, pleaded guilty to afelony count of productionofchildpornin March 2023 tied to dozens of photoshesnappedofa13-year-old Prairieville girl.During an Aug. 27 hearing inside the U.S. Middle DistrictofLouisiana Courthouse in Baton Rouge, U.S. District Judge John deGravellesordered Durtschi to serve 78 monthsin federal lockup and pay a$25,000 fine. He must remain under court supervision for five years after he is released from prison, according to court records. Texas court documents show

Durtschi was known for traveling across state lines to film andphotograph teenagegirls, often in sexually explicit ways. Hannah Kinchen was indicted in 2023 for her role in the scheme to produce anddistribute child pornography.She was charged with productionofchild porn, conspiracytoproducechild porn,conspiracytodistribute child porn and receipt of child pornography.The Gonzaleswoman pleaded guiltyto thereceipt of child pornography charge on April 7and has yet to be sentenced, according to Middle District court records. Federal indictments show the victim’sstepfather reported Durtschi to the FBI in August 2021, tellingfederal authorities Kinchenwas working with Durtschitophotograph the13-year-old girl to produce pornographic material.The stepfather told investigators the victim began an acting andmodelingcareer in March 2020. Anothermodel’s mother introduced the teenage victim and

Hackerstarget OrleansParish Sheriff’sOffice

Officialssay cyberattack didn’t impact jail

BY JOSEPH CRANNEY and MARCO CARTOLANO Staff writers

Online hackers struck the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office in aransomwareattack early Thursday, which officials said didn’tthreaten the jail’s security computers, but could still causehuge headaches for an already hobbled and cash-strapped agency OPSO was the “target of a ransomware cyberattack,” around 4:30 a.m. Thursday, the agency said in astatement. Such attacks relyon viruses that lockupcomputerdata, used as akind of hostage while hackers demand ransoms from the owner OPSO, an 800-person agency,didn’tsay how much or what kindofdata is at risk, only that the “jail computer system hasnot been compromised,” suggesting that the lockup’s security functions weren’t affected.

“Wedid suffer acyberattack this morning that did impact some of our systems,” Sheriff Susan Hutson said in avideoed statement. OPSO’semployees discovered the problem around 8a.m. whenthey had trouble logging into their computers, according to the agency “But we’ve isolatedthat, and the jail systems are

VOTERS

Continued from page1B

Kinchen to Durtschi, and the two of thembegan traveling with him andothermodels to stateslike Texas, Floridaaswell as partsof Louisiana for photo shoots, according to court documents.

At some point,the victim’sstepfather sent instantmessages to Durtschi through an online app. He told federalinvestigators Durtschi informed him about male “sponsors” who gave the minorgirls money to fund their modeling careersinexchange for photos from theirshoots and, occasionally, opportunities to attend thephotoshootsinperson.

Durtschi told the concerned stepfatherhedidn’ttake nude photos of the models, but admitted he knew “pedos” were the main customers that bought his photos, investigators said.

TheFBI acquired80ofDurtschi’sphotosfrom theLouisiana Bureau of Investigation, and there were dozens of revealing pictures of thegirl in bed wearing aGstring bikini in various sexually

ORGERON

Continuedfrom page1B

justice Joseph Bleich, also appointedadhoc in the case, originally sidedwith themajority but said in an opinion Thursdaythat he would have approved the application for rehearing.

BLOTTER

explicit poses, agents said. When investigators questioned the girl in September 2021,she told themabout her last photo shoot with Durtschi at an Airbnb he rented near Dallas. The girl saidshe got upset when Durtschi “touched her butt” while trying to position her for apicture during the shoot. She saidhealso untied the string on her bikini bottoms and tried to convince her to take nude photos, telling her “it was artistic,” according to court documents. The girlrefused but told investigators it made her uncomfortable and she stopped working with Durtschi. Durtschi often wentback home to Texas after the shoots and uploaded the photos to aGoogle Drive that he used to share the images with Kinchen and the victim. Kinchen told federalauthorities she found asecondGoogle account anddiscovered emails that revealed Durtschi was selling videos and pictures of the girl to other men online. She identified at least 20 different buyers and said

Continuedfrom page 1B immigration and citizenship status administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Landry said the Trump administration revamped and improved SAVE and made the federal data availabletoLouisiana at no cost, which was not the case previously Thefreeand easieraccess has allowed Louisiana officials to compare state voter registration lists to federal SAVE data.

That cross-check then allows Louisiana election officials to, with the help of the FBI, investigate the citizenship statusofregistered voters flaggedas noncitizens. The secretary of state’s officethenissuesanotice to those individuals indicating it has reason to believe the registered voter may not be acitizen. The person has21daystorespond with documentation

on aseparate server and they’refunctioningjust properly,” Hutson added. “So we’re able to run the jail, getpeopletocourt and continue to do what we do every day.”

An OPSO spokesperson didn’t respond to questions on the scope of the attack or say if it wascomparable to the last major breach at City Hall six years ago, which took months to fix and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

Hackers reportedly never demanded aransom in thatcase, and it’sunclear if they’ve demanded one from OPSO.The agency’s “IT team isactively working to restore systems, secure our network, and determine theoriginof the attack,” OPSOsaid in abrief statement Hutson’s department has already been hobbled by the May escapeof10 detaineesfrom the jail.

In the months since then, they’verushedto complete millions of dollars in repairs to help harden the facility.

OPSO issued $15 million in bonds to cover most of those costs, but Hutson told the New OrleansCity Council in Julythat her department needed an additional $9million. The city of New Orleans, as a whole, is staring down a $100 milliondeficitof its own.

Thelast major cyberattack amongthe NewOrleans localgovernment targeted City Hall’scomputer networks in late 2019.

of citizenship status. While elections officialshave run citizenship checksonessentiallyall currently registered Louisiana voters, Landry said theinvestigation process is ongoing and doesn’thave an expected timeframe for completion. She called the findings announcedThursday“preliminary results.” Louisiana will also check thecitizenship status of anynew registered voters, shesaid Oncethe investigation concludes, state electionsofficials will refer appropriatecases to law enforcement for prosecution,Landry said, including for both state andfederal crimes.

“My office will be workingwith the appropriate authorities for prosecution,and Iwillbeencouragingthoseauthorities to filechargesinevery single case that thelaw allows,” shesaid

EmailAlysePfeil at alyse.pfeil@theadvocate com.

Justices Jay McCallum and CadeCole dissented from the originalruling andalso said they would have granted the rehearing.

Chie fJ ustic eJ oh n Weimer,Justice Will Crain and JusticeJohn Michael Guidry were recused from the case.

Legal arguments largely revolved around acontract extension that Ed Orgeron signed with LSUin2020, shortly after winning the CollegeFootballNational Championship, which raisedhis salarytoroughly $7 million annually.Orgeron signedthe extension, which included terms for apotential future buyout, 43 daysbefore filing for divorce.

The buyout clausewent into effect thenextyear, when LSU fired Orgeron without cause in 2021.

“The promise was made effective during the legal regime,”Hugheswrote in his denial of the application for rehearing.

Ed Orgeron’slead attorneydid notreturn messages Thursday.

After thehigh court’s initial ruling against Ed Orgeron,20new law firms signed on tohis applicationfor rehearing, saying they wereworriedabout what the ruling meant for other cases involving community property law. The state does notallowamicus briefs with applications for rehearing, so the law firms enrolled in the case instead.

On aBarstool Sports show last month,Orgeron saidhe’sbeen “getting the itch again” to return to coaching football.

His attorneys had asked that theSupreme Court,at minimum, account fortax implications in their ruling. They argued thatthe formercoachneverreceiveda netpayment of $17 million becauseoftaxes, andthat thecourt should change its ruling to award Kelly Orgeron half of her ex-husband’snet buyout.

Attorneys for Ed Orgeron argued that his buyout was compensation for future work, notareward for past performance while he was coaching football. But his ex-wife’sattorneys disagreed, saying theraise in thecoach’s2020 contract was meanttoreward him for hispast success, which happened while he was still married andhis wife supportedhis career Kelly Orgeronhas already received half the money Orgeron received in incentives for winning the national championship, including $1.775 million, according to Ed Orgeron’s attorneys. Theysaid she’s alsoreceived millions of dollars worth of assetsin retirement accounts, property and more.

Thursday in connection to the April shooting death of 18-year-old Jonathan Triplett.

Jeremieah Davis, 19, was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prisonon counts of second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon.

Local authorities receivedhelpfrom Capital AreaCrimeStoppers and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force in identifying Davis as asuspect Davis is thesecond suspect to turn himself into police in theinvestigation intoTriplett’sdeath.Keithan Lee,19, turned himself in last monthafter seeing his photoonthe “OnPatrol: Live” realityTVprogram.

BRPD officers first began an investigation into Triplett’sdeathafter areport of ashooting in the 2400 block of North 38th Street just before midnight on April 26.

Triplett was in avehicle at thered light on North 38th Street and Choctaw Drivewhenhewas shot and killed.

BR man accused of raping 4-year-old

ABaton Rouge man is beingsoughtbypoliceafter he was accused of raping a 4-year-old girl and passing on asexually transmitted disease to thechild.

Anthony James Jelks Jr., 25, hasnot been located. He is wanted on acount of first-degreerapeofavictim younger than 13.

Baton Rouge police officers became aware of the incident on Aug. 5after responding to OurLady of theLakeRegionalMedical Center in response to areport of asexual assault.

Aguardian of the child hadbrought hertothe hospital after discovering redness and irritationaround

he even sold underwear that the underage girl wore, according to court documents. Phone recordsshowed conversationsbetween Durtschi and Kinchen where he admitted to being apedophile and estimated 99% of peopleinthe teen modeling industry are pedophiles. Federal authorities raided Kinchen’shome in March 2022 and seized herlaptopand hard drives The devices hadnearly 30 images of the victim posing sexually in aone-piece leotard with white stockings andred high heels, according to indictmentrecords. Investigators determined Durtschi uploaded the photos he took to Google Drive and Kinchen downloaded the files. When customers contacted Durtschi to buy photos of the girl, he sent the requests to Kinchen andshe selectedwhich photos to distribute, federal authorities alleged.

Email Matt Bruceatmatt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

thechild’s genitals while bathing her.The girl told her guardian that Jelks had sexually assaulted her, according to awarrant forhis arrest issued Thursday

Theguardiantoldpolice she had allowed the victim to stay at Jelks’ residence on the night of Aug. 1.

The girl testedpositive for chlamydia after being examined by anurse.

Theguardiantoldpolice she hadalso contracted chlamydia from Jelks several years ago, the warrant states. Aforensic interview with thevictimwas conductedat the Baton Rouge Children’s Advocacy Center

During the interview, the child disclosed that Jelks had “pull her pants down,” “turned her around” and “did things to her,” the warrant states.

On an anatomical model, the victimcircled the lower abdomen, vaginalarea and inner thighs as to where Jelks had touched her

Jelks had previously been investigatedfor indecent behaviorwitha juvenile in November 2022 forallegedly attempting to solicit lewd photos from a9-year-old girl using Instagram messenger. He also hasbeen arrested multiple times for domestic-abuse child endangermentinthe past, records show White Castle fire chiefresigns

The fire chieffor the town of WhiteCastleresigned Thursday after allegedly battering avolunteer firefighterworking for his department.

John Marque received a misdemeanor summons for simple battery on Aug. 22.

The count stemsfrom an incident on Aug. 14 involving avolunteer firefighter, in whichMarque allegedly told the volunteer to wear a safety vest,areport of the incident reads.

ButMarque then allegedly grabbedher by the

vest after she put it on, and “he held me stronger” aftershe triedtoleave, the report says.

The firefighter told police she was emotional and had to leave the scene after the incident.

The resignation was confirmed by Iberville Parish President Chris Daigle on Thursday,who thanked Marque forhis 44 years of volunteer serviceasWhite Castle’sfire chief.

“Throughout his career he guided the department through countless emergencies, training initiatives, andcommunityneeds,” Daigle saidina statement to The Advocate. “With his retirement, thedepartment now looks ahead to new leadership and the continuedmissionofprotecting andserving theWhite Castle community.”

BUSINESS

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Boeing victims’ families urge judge to reject deal

FORT WORTH, Texas Carrying photos of their loved ones into court Wednesday, family members of victims killed in Boeing 737 Max crashes urged a judge to reject a deal that would spare the company from criminal prosecution.

Some of the relatives of the 346 victims — killed in crashes off the coast of Indonesia and in Ethiopia less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019 — saw the hearing as their final chance to demand a public trial.

That’s because U.S District Judge Reed O’Connor is weighing whether to approve the federal government’s motion to dismiss its criminal case against Boeing. The judge said Wednesday after hearing from the relatives and attorneys for both the Justice Department and Boeing that he would issue a decision at a later date. In exchange, the company said it would pay or invest another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the crash victims’ families, and internal safety and quality measures

“What part of this screams justice?” said David Moore, whose 24-year-old sister, Danielle was among the 157 passengers and crew members killed in the Ethiopia crash.

Boeing is charged with conspiracy to defraud the U.S government after allegedly misleading Federal Aviation Administration regulators about a flight-control system tied to the crashes.

Applications for jobless benefits rise

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking jobless benefits rose modestly last week, suggesting that employers are still retaining workers even as the economy has showed signs of slowing. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 30 rose by 8,000 to 237,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s more than the 231,000 new applications economists were expecting.

Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. began to emerge from the COVID pandemic nearly four years ago

While layoffs are low, hiring has also weakened as part of what many economists describe as a “no hire, no fire” economy Still, the unemployment rate remains a historically low 4.2%.

On Wednesday, the government reported that U.S. employers were advertising 7.2 million job openings at the end of July, fewer than economists had forecast and the latest sign of weakness in the U.S. labor market.

Last month’s grim July jobs report, which showed job gains of just 73,000 and included massive downward revisions for June and May, sent financial markets spiraling.

President Donald Trump fired the head of the agency that compiles the monthly data.

Google faces $425.7M in snooping damages

SAN FRANCISCO A federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425.7 million for improperly snooping on people’s smartphones during a nearly decadelong period of intrusions.

The verdict reached Wednesday in San Francisco federal court followed a more than two-week trial in a class-action case covering about 98 million smartphones operating in the United States between July 1, 2016, through Sept 23, 2024. That means the total damages awarded in the five-year-old case works out to about $4 per device Google had denied that it was improperly tracking the online activity of people who thought they had shielded themselves with privacy controls. The company maintained its stance even though the eight-person jury concluded Google had been spying in violation of California privacy laws.

Fed nominee would stay at White House job

Pick is currently chair of advisory council

BY JOSH BOAK Associated Press

WASHINGTON Stephen Miran, President Donald Trump’s pick to join the Federal Reserve Board, said Thursday that he would remain a White House employee even if the Senate confirms him to fill an unexpired term at the central bank Miran, who was nominated to fill a gubernatorial term set to expire in January, made the disclosure at

a hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

He said that on the advice of his lawyers he would take an “unpaid leave of absence” as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Miran later said he would only resign from the Republican administration if he were nominated for a longer term at the Fed.

His answer instantly triggered alarm bells about the Fed’s independence, suggesting that the central bank could ultimately become subservient to Trump’s whims in-

stead of its congressional mandates to keep prices stable and maximize employment. Political control of the Fed could erode the faith that the American population and investors worldwide place in the U.S. economy, which could threaten global markets and national prosperity Democrats blasted Miran’s plan to keep his day job at the White House.

“Your independence has already been seriously compromised,”

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said “You are going to be technically an employee of the president of the United States but an independent

member of the board of the Federal Reserve. That’s ridiculous.” Miran’s hearing reflected the broader battle over Trump’s efforts to gain control of the Fed. Because of the possible negative impacts on the economy the Fed has tried to act based on the economic data rather than electoral considerations.

Trump, however, has engaged in a prolonged campaign of pressuring and mocking Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not cutting the benchmark interest rate to Trump’s liking, a move that could end up pumping more money into the economy and creating greater inflationary risks.

Trump’s credit card rate cap could save Americans $100B

Vanderbilt University study says companies would still be profitable

BY KEN SWEET Associated Press

NEW YORK Americans would save roughly

$100 billion a year in interest costs if President Donald Trump’s campaign proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10% were implemented, according to a paper published by Vanderbilt University on Thursday

Further, the banks and credit card companies would be able to withstand, and even still be profitable, if there were to be a national cap on interest rates. While limited in scope, the paper gives some academic backing to Trump’s campaign promise.

The paper found that banks would still be able to earn a profit on most of their customers even if credit card interest rates were capped at 15%, and if the banks continued to offer rewards and perks like points and airport lounge access. If interest rates were capped at 10%, the business model gets more difficult for the banks, but they could still make money off most card customers by cutting back on some rewards.

Usury laws are as old as the Bible but have gotten traction again through Trump’s populist politics.

When he was a candidate in the 2024 election, Trump proposed a temporary 10% cap on credit card interest rates. He has not spoken about it since the election.

That said, politicians have seized on the idea. Sen Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in Congress that would match Trump’s campaign proposal of capping interest rates at 10%. A similar bill was introduced in the House by Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y

There are already some interest rate caps in effect in the U.S. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active servicemen and women more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions, the NCUA, has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

The banking industry is adamantly against any caps on credit card rates. Historically, the industry has argued that any cap on interest rates would decimate the credit card business model and would threaten the viability of popular rewards and perks programs that millions of Americans use for free flights and hotel stays.

It was this rhetoric that made Brian Shearer, the author of the report, start to look into the issue. Shearer previously worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as the regulator’s assistant director of policy

“I wanted to see if President Trump’s proposed cap could be taken seriously, and the idea appears that it could be seriously considered and it would not have the amount of downside that often the pundits assume there will be.”

BRIAN SHEARER, the author of the report

planning and strategy, working under Republican and Democratic administrations.

“I wanted to see if President Trump’s proposed cap could be taken seriously, and the idea appears that it could be seriously considered and it would not have the amount of downside that often the pundits assume there will be,” Shearer said.

Americans are carrying more credit card debt than ever before, to the tune of $1.21 trillion, or roughly $6,400 per person. The average credit card interest rate is roughly 21%, according to data from the Federal Reserve. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

Banks earn revenue from credit cards two different ways: the amount of money they charge merchants to process a credit card transaction, often referred to as interchange, and the interest and fees the banks charge customers. That could be the annual fee on a credit card, or the monthly interest that accrues when a customer carries a

balance.

Shearer says the revenue earned from interchange is why banks would remain profitable, even if credit card interest rates are capped. Credit card rewards programs are largely funded through interchange. American Express, for instance, earned $35.2 billion in revenue from the fees they charge merchants.

Under Shearer’s analysis, if interest rates were capped at 15%, Americans would save roughly $48 billion in interest a year, while at 10%, that figure goes to $100 billion. In his analysis, Shearer assumed that banks would charge as close to the national cap as possible.

The Vanderbilt paper finds that banks, because they largely fund their rewards programs from interchange, would not likely universally cut back on rewards for Americans Instead, the Americans who would likely see the biggest reduction in rewards would be those with low credit scores, because they are considered the riskiest borrowers. However, Shearer believes that any modest reduction in rewards for those customers would likely be made up in the interest they would save annually Historically, bank customers with low credit scores tend to be “revolvers,” or those who carry a balance, instead of “transactors,” which are customers who pay off their credit cards at the end of each month.

“It is true that there would need to be some reward reduction, but it’s not the kind of skyis-falling story that you often hear,” Shearer said.

Markets hold steady following signs job market is slowing

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK U.S. stocks rose to a record on Thursday as Wall Street made its final moves ahead of an update on the job market, one that could clear the way for the cuts to interest rates that investors love.

The S&P 500 added 0.8% to top the all-time high it set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%.

Stocks got some lift from easing pressure from the bond market, where Treasury yields fell following the latest reports on the U.S. job market to come in worse than economists expected. One report suggested employers, not

including the government, nearly halved their hiring in August from the prior month. Another said that more workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of rising layoffs.

Neither number is flashing a recession, and a third report on activity for businesses in the information and other services industries showed stronger-thanexpected growth.

The upside for investors of a slowdown in the job market is that it could push the Federal Reserve to cut its main interest rate for the first time this year at its next meeting in a couple weeks. Such cuts can kickstart the economy and job market, though they can also accelerate inflation.

So far this year, the Fed has kept its main interest rate on hold because it’s been more worried about inflation potentially worsening because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs than about the job market.

“The year started with strong job growth, but that momentum has been whipsawed by uncertainty,” according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP She said several things could be behind the slowdown, including ”labor shortages, skittish consumers, and AI disruptions.”

A more comprehensive report on the job market’s health during August will arrive on Friday from the U.S. Labor Department, and it will likely carry much weight with the Fed. Last month’s grim jobs

report, which included massive downward revisions for June and May, sent financial markets spiraling and prompted Trump to fire the head of the agency that compiles the monthly data.

On Wall Street, American Eagle Outfitters jumped 38% after the retailer reported more than double the profit that analysts had expected for its latest quarter. It benefited from a frenzy of media attention in late July over a provocative advertising campaign featuring actor Sydney Sweeney

The ads — which featured the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans” — sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture.

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Obituaries

Butler, Brenda Joyce

Brenda Butler, native of Maringouin, LA. passed away on Sunday,August24, 2025 at her resident in the loving arms of her daughter. Visitation will be held on SaturdaySeptember6, 2025 at 9:00AM until religous service at 11:00AM at Rock Zion Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, LA. Interment will be at Rising Star BaptistChurch, Ramah,LA. Avisitation will be held from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM on 2025-09-06at Rock Zion Baptist Church , 3996 Billops St.

Corbitt Jr., Charles William 'Charlie'

Charles "Charlie" William Corbitt, Jr. passed away peacefully on Tuesday, September 2, 2025,at home surrounded by his family. He was born on October 31, 1933, in Saline, Louisiana, to the late Charles W. Corbitt, Sr. and Evie Hood Corbitt. He graduated from Saline High School in 1952. Charlie married the love of his life, Gladys "G" Babers Corbitt, and together they moved to Baton Rouge,where they raised their family. Charlie proudly served his country in the United States Army as aMilitary Police officer from 1955 to 1963. He then began his long and respected career working for Turner Industries Group in 1973 untilhis retirement. He made such an impact and earned respect from all who had the privilege of working alongside him. He was aproud father, grandfather,and great-grandfather. He had adeep love for his family

and took great pride in the home he and hiswifebuilt together.Heloved the outdoors, always working in his garden and keeping his yard perfectly manicured He enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping. Hewas a long-time member of Mud Creek HuntingClub, where he made lasting memories. He also lovedfootball and baseball,especially LSU and the Saints. He will be rememberedfor his unwavering faith, love forhis family,and the quiet strength he carried throughout his life. His legacy of service,hard work,and devotion will live onthrough those who loved him. Charlie is survivedbyhis lovingwifeof 71 years; childrenRhonda Watson (Gil), Melinda Rogillio (Ricky); grandchildren, who lovingly knew him as "Pawpaw,"Amanda Cooper(Jason), Kristen Rogillio, RickyRogillio,Jr. Michael Rogillio (Berkeley);great-grandchildren Grace Cooper, Gavin Cooper,Grant Cooper,Mykal Rogillio, Ella Rogillio,Lexi Rogillio; sister-in-law Louise Jones, and numerous niecesand nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents; sisters Lucille Watts, InevaCorbitt, Eloise Dison,Charleen Watts; son,Charles Kerry Corbitt; and mother-in-law, Shirley Babers.Visitation willbe held on Monday, September 8, 2025from 9:00 am to 11:00 am at SealeFuneral Home in Denham Springs, Louisiana. Serviceswill begin at 11:00amand will be officiated by Brother Brian Morgan with graveside service immediatelyfollowing. Pallbearersare Ricky Rogillio, Jr.,Michael Rogillio, Jason Cooper, Gavin Cooper,Grant Cooper and Don Edleston.

Billy was born on November 19, 1929 and passedintothe loving arms of his Savior on September 1, 2025 at the ageof95. Billywas in the Navyduring the Korean war as aPhysician'sAssistant. He faithfully attended church and servedhis Lord and Savior.Hevolunteered in the Lion's Club International forover50years and was honored to serve as theirDistrict Governor. There are peopleyou will run into over time whom you willnever forget. Billy Dean was thatman. His steady demeanorand simple approach to thiscomplex world made us all slowdown and just enjoy the simplethingsinlife, especially goodfood, good company and goodtimes. He lovedhis monthlyoutingstovarious restaurants with hiswifeand dear friends, Greg and Vicki Politz. He is survived by his lovingwifeof40years, Charlene Dean, hissister Delores Ann "Tope"Colvin, his step-childrenShayne Crouch (Caroline), Tracey Cottano, and Tami Barnes (Trey), Grandchildren: Brandon, Joey,Derrick, Stephanie, Danny, Julia, Joy, Jeri, Jennifer,Tanner, Trinity, Thomas, Tate, and Talia.Billyisalsosurvived by 10 great granddaughters, 2great grandsons, nieces, nephews,cousins and friends thatare too numerous to list. He was precededindeathbyhis

parents John "Dadaw" and Ruth"Nanaw" Dean, his biological parents Elisha and SallyDeanWomble,his son John Randall "Randy" Deanand his twograndsons, Taylorand Connor Deanand brother-in-law Roland Colvin.Services will be Saturday, September 6, 2025, at FamilyofFaith Church at 10748 Perkins Rd.Visitation willstart at 10:30 followedbya service at 12:30 officiatedbyour pastor, Mike Erickson. We wouldliketothank him for his unwavering support prayersand love during this difficult time. The familywouldalso like to say a special thanks to thestaff at BR Rouge FamilyMedical Center, Dr. Brad Gaspard,Sunny Green his P.A. and hisnurse Candace who always tookthe time to listen and love on Billy and hisfamily

Duhon, Carl Funeralservicesfor Carl DuhonwillbeheldSatur‐day,September 6, 2025 at Saintsville COGIC, 8930 Plank Rd.A public visita‐tionwillbeheldfrom11:00 a.m.until 12:00 p.m. with religious services begin‐ningat12:00 noon.Inter‐ment: Thomas Chapel Cemetery. Professional servicesentrusted to Charles Mackey Funeral Home.

Foster, Nicolette Ann

In eight shortyears, Nicolette "Nikki" AnnFoster, made an impression that willlast forever.Born September 19, 2016, to Brennan Foster and Stefany Badyna,Nikki passed away August 31, 2025. Although she endured many challengesduring her lifetime, Nikki quickly stole theheart of everyoneshe encountered.She is survivedbyparentsBrennan and Melissa Foster, brother Beau Foster, mother Stefany Badyna, sister Evie Badyna,grandparents Larry and Charlotte Foster, Denise Badyna, Stephan and Penny LeSage, great grandparents Ricky and Darline Nichols, Uncles ChaseFoster (Meagan), AndrewHerbert (Alex), Aunts Lauren Foster and Katie Herbert, and Paw PawKenny. She is preceded in deathbygrandmother TressieFoster, grandfather Paul Badyna and great grandparents BJ and Pat Foster. We are forever grateful forour timewith Nikki and thosewho providedlovingsupport along theway, including Jodi Sonja, Donna, Suzi, Yasmin and The Hospice of Baton Rouge.

God is good allthe time, all thetime God is good

Serviceswilltake place at Seale Funeral Home in DenhamSpringsonFriday September 5, 2025 with visitationfrom 10:00 AM-1:00 PM and service beginning at 1:00 PM

In lieu of flowers,please considera donationin Nikki's memory to your favorite charity.

Gautreaux, Timothy James

Timothy James Gautreaux, anative of BatonRouge,LA, born on December 18, 1956, departed this life at hisresidence in SouthSt. Paul,MNonMay 25, 2025. Timwas akind andgenerous personwith asenseofhumorand a love of family,which was proven by thesometimes toofrequent phone calls He is survivedbyhis three children: Cetric Thomas, Tiffany Mitchell,and Orlicia Moore; his grandchildren Chelsen Thomas, Cetric Thomas, Jr, Callie Thomas, Siyor Paynes, Timmie-MarieMitchell, Anthony Mitchell,Daraneshia Williams and Jac'ques Moore; and hisgreat grandchildrenAvontea Guiden, Jr, and Journee Moore; his siblings Randall Gautreaux, Gail Gautreaux and Mona GBruner. He is predeceased by hisparentsMalcolmJ and Doris "Dot" James Gautreaux, brotherGary Paul Gautreaux, and hisgrandparents Nathan "Shon" and Ozile BabinGautreaux and Marshalland Lela BroussardJames. Visitation willbeatSt. Jude Catholic Church, l950 Highland Road,Baton Rouge, La,at9:30 AM, with amass to follow at 11:00 AM, officiatedbyFather Trey Nelson.

Handy, August

Aretired electrician and lifelong resident of Plaquemine, LA,hepassedon Monday, September1, 2025, at Our Ladyofthe Lake Medical Center.He was 82.

Visiting at Mt.ZionInner CityPlaquemine,LAon SaturdaySeptember 6, 8 am until 10am. Religious Service at 10am conducted by Rev. Ricardo Handy, Sr. Interment in Grace Memorial Cemetery Plaquemine, LA Survived by his wife Barbara AndersonHandy, Four sons. Dr. Jeffrey A. Handy ofAtlanta GA, Rev. Ricardo L. Handy Sr. and hiswife LaTroya W. Handyand Gerard G. Handy, Sr.both from Plaquemine, LA, Greg Jackson of Baton Rouge, LA

Twelve grandchildren, Ezkeill, Sydney, Ricardo, Jr., Gerard,Jr.,Jolie,Anthony, Treyshon, Greg Jr., Markil, Dijion, Jeremiah, and Paula.

ArrangementsbyHall Davis &Son FuneralService (225) 778-1612.

Hour of Prayer,5211 Ford

St. Apublicvisitationwill beheldfrom9:00a.m.until 10:00 a.m. with religious servicesbeginning at 10:00 a.m.Interment:Private Professionalservicesen‐trusted to CharlesMackey FuneralHome.

Knobloch,Warren Marshall

WarrenMarshall Knobloch passedaway peacefully in hishome at theage of 83 on August 30, 2025. He was born in Baton Rouge on April 8, 1942. He lived andthrived thanks to thelove and devotion of hislateparents Woodrow Marshall Knoblochand Dorothy Bourgeois Knobloch.Warren wasa kind and gentle soul who wasverysweet andcompliant.Hewould greeteveryonewith asmileand offer hisfriendship.He taughtothers aboutacceptance,love, patience, and thejoy of life'ssimple pleasures. He is survived by hissister Diane Knobloch Silarais, many wonderfuland supportive friends, andespecially his advocate Thelma Keller Jones. He is preceded in death by hisparents, his brother-in-law Ojars"Olie" Silarais, hisgrandmother Eva MarchandBourgeois, aunts anduncles Jimmy and EthelBourgeois, Alex andJuliette Bourgeois, Marjorie Longlanais, and Gloria LaBorde.Warren wasanextremely hard worker. He began working at theage of 14 as a"bag boy" at theA andP store in Westmoreland Villageat Government Street.After many years he then workedanadditional 44 years in competitive employmentatthe DepartmentofTransportation andDevelopment.Warren wasa lifelongmember of OurLady of MercyCatholic Church andthe Knights of Columbus. As ayoung man he attended10:30 mass everySundayfollowed by familylunch at thedowntownPiccadillyonThird Street.Heloved LSUfootballespecially theGolden Band from Tigerlandashis father was amember duringthe Huey P. Longera in the1930s. He wasalso a bigfan of Coach Bear Bryant. He waspresent in Tiger Stadiumfor Billy Cannon'sfamous touchdown in 1959. Thedestination he lovedthe most wasLas Vegas andhis favorite concertswereElvisPresley andDiana Ross.Deepappreciation is expressed to the medical staff for their care andsupport, Dr.R Todd Cooley, nursesKristie and Freddie,Dr. Mark Posner, andDr. DannyWood. Many thanks to theladies of AllKareAlternative for theirlove andservice, Monica Johnson, Brenda Kingston, Tawanda SchofieldKnightshed,Lora McKee, andthe lateCinder Smith Aclise,and director Jeremy Jones alongwith friendSarah Buckhalter. A special thankyou to Hospice of Baton Rouge and nurse Debbie,Toni, Carrie, andJay. Religiousservices will be held at OurLady of MercyonFriday, September5 with visitation at 9:00

am followed by mass at 10:00 am celebrated by Fr. Cleo Milano.Reception

Timothy WayneLee,age 64 of Montgomery,Aldiedunexpectedly on August 28,2025. NativeofBaton Rouge,hegraduatedBelaire High andFaulkner University and built a37year successful career as MajorAccountExecutive forDeltaCom. Survivedby hiswife of 40 years, Sharon Lee, daughters Priscilla Montiel(Diego) of Birmingham, AL;SabrinaCauthen (Shelby) of Denver,COand son, Tabor Lee, Montgomery AL;grandchildren Xavi andLeo'Montiel. Also survivedbysistersPam Hemingway (Robert)ofIllinois,BrendaCrump (Dan) of Tennessee and brother Larry LeeofBaton Rouge as well as nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by parents, Leopold (Leo) and Evelyn (Winstead) Lee. Visitation will be held Monday, September8 from 9-11 followed by service at 11:00 am Landmark ChurchofChrist, Montgomery,ALwhere he wasafaithfulmember Serviceswill also be streamed online at Landmark ChurchofChrist (Facebook). GEAUX TIGERS!!

Moore, Carrie Funeralservicesfor Car‐rie MoorewillbeheldSat‐urday,September 6, 2025 at Olive GroveBaptist Church, 358 Hwy. 964, Jackson, La 70748. Apublicvisitation will be

until2:00p.m.withreli‐gious services beginningat 2:00p.m.Interment:Olive Grove B.C. Cemetery.Pro‐fessional services en‐trusted to CharlesMackey Funeral Home

Ransom, August 'Geese'

August "Geese" Ran-

som, 79, of Erwinville, LA, passed awayAugust22, 2025. Agifted musician,he played bass with Slim Harpo, contributing to classics like Scratch My Back, and later inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He was amember of The Falling Stars Quartet Gospel Group. He's survived by three brothers, two sisters, and ahost of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends. Homegoing service Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, at 10 a.m., officiated by Pastor Oliver Washington. Viewing will be Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, from 3-5 p.m. Arrangements entrusted to Hall Davis and Son, 9348 Scenic Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70807.

John Benard Richard, re‐tired Director of theEast Baton RougeParishLibrary System, died on Sunday, August31, 2025.Hewas bornNovember2,1932, in Gulfport, Mississippi to JohnJesse Richardand Helen Schott Richard. John issurvivedbyhis wife of 54 years,SandraDavis Richard,son,JohnBlake Richard(Kristy),daughter,

ElizabethRichard Griffin (Shane),and daughter-inlaw,Susan Mosley Reech; ninegrandchildren:Madi‐son Croom,OliviaMosleyBelsha(Ian),Jackson Mosley(Abigail),Henry Mosley, John BradyRichard (Cappi), Andrew Richard LukeRichard,Grant Griffin, and Blake Griffin; 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 Davis Mosley.Johngradu‐atedasvaledictorian from Woolmarket High School in 1950. He graduatedfrom PerkinstonJuniorCollege in1952, received aB.S fromMississippi Southern College in 1954, anda M. S. in LibraryScience from Louisiana StateUniversity in1960. John served three years in theArmySecurity Agency, mostly in Europe from1954-1957. Hislibrary careerbegan in thesev‐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,plan theli‐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, he became 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 technologies to make the 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 LouisianaLibrary Associa‐

tion’s EssaeM.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. Alov‐ing husband,father, grand‐father, son, brother, uncle, and friend,hewas espe‐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 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September6 2025, at St.GeorgeCatholic Church,7808 St.George Drive in BatonRouge.A Visitationwillbeheldat the church beginningat 9:30a.m.Entombmentwill followatSt. 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 theonlineguest‐book or leavea personal notetothe familyatwww resthavenbatonrouge.com

Larry Rogers was born September 21, 1957 and departed this life on August 26,2025. He leavestocherish his memory, his wife,

Terrelyna Rogers, 2sons: Larry Rogers Jr.and Michael Rogers. 1daughter, ShandriaRogers. 8 grandchildrenand 2great grandchildren. 2brothers, Arthur and Rickey Rogers. 3sisters, Bernadine Green,(Charlie), Linda Rogers and Lorraine Jones, 5nephews, 2nieces. Services willbeheldatDays Chapel A.M.E.Church, 17717 Highway 10, Clinton LA Saturday September 6, 2025 at 11am

GoldieMae

Evangelist GoldieMae Smith-Wiley, entered into eternal rest on Saturday, August 16, 2025. She was 82, anativeand life-long resident of Plaquemine, LA. Viewing at Zion Field Evangelistic Ministries,24105 Berra St. Plaquemine, LA, on Saturday, September 6, 2025 from 8am -noon, followed by ACelebrationof Life Service conducted by PastorLeslie Crockett. Survivorsincludeher husband, GeorgeWiley, Sr; daughter, Stephanie Marshall and threesons, Stanleyand James Washington and George(Angellica) Wiley, Jr.Arrangements entrusted to Roscoes Mortuary.

Curtis LeeStevenson passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at theage of 68. Family and friends are invitedtoattend aVisitation in his honoronFriday, September 5, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Hall's CelebrationCenter,9348 Scenic Hwy, BatonRouge, LA.Visitation willresume on Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, followedimmediatelybythe FuneralService, officiated by Pastor Henry Brown.

Tucker,Linda Faye Mitchell

Serviceshave been entrustedtoHallDavis and SonFuneral Services. www.halldavisandson.c om andCharles C. Davis on August 25, 1964. She enteredintoeternal rest on Monday, August 25, 2025, at the age of 61. Sheaccepted Christ at an early ageatRedwood Baptist Church underthe leadership of thelateReverend Ed Coner. Beverlyissurvived by twosonsBen Jones, Sr.and Alan G. Jones both of Baton Rouge LA; onesister Carla (Stepfan)Henderson, Sr.of Zachary, LA; twobrothers, Reginald (Charlene) Jones of Baton Rouge,LA; and Corey C. Jones of Houston TX; threegrandchildren, Brandi,Ben Jr.and Joslyn

LindaFayeMitchell Tucker, aresidentofAddis, LA, passedawayMonday, September 1, 2025 at Our Ladyofthe Lake Regional Medical Center,atthe age of69. Visitation on Friday September 5, 2025, 4p.m to6 p.m. at Pugh's Mortu‐ary,58233 Plaquemine Street,Plaquemine, LA 70764. Visitation continues Saturday, September6, 2025, 9a.m.until religious service at 11 a.m. at Mount Olive BaptistChurch,27320 Hwy.405, Caddoville, LA 70764. Rev. Joseph Jones, Pastor. Intermentin Church Cemetery

Upkins,Julia Funeralservicesfor Julia Upkins will be held Saturday, September6 2025 at Promised Land Baptist Church,7234 Plank Rd. Apublicvisitationwill beheldfrom9:00a.m.until 10:00 a.m. with religious servicesbeginning at 10:00 a.m.Interment:Macedonia Church of Deliverance Cemetery, 17560 Hwy. 933 Prairieville, LA 70769. Pro‐fessional services en‐trusted to CharlesMackey FuneralHome.

Williams, Beverly Denise Aresident of Baton Rouge,Laand anative of Zachary, La was born to thelateThelmaB.Hayes,

MaryLouise Shepherd Williams passedawayon Saturday, August 30, 2025, at OurLady of theLake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge,LA. Shewas 82 anda residentofBrusly, LA. Visitationwillbeheld on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at Israelite Missionary Baptist Church, 6644 RiverRoad, Brusly, LA, from 9:00am untilreligious servicesbeginat11:00am. Interment: Israelite Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery.Arrangements by Hall Davis and SonFuneralServices.

OPINION

Cassidyshouldstepupto fighthighdrugprices

Down here in Louisiana, we’ve gotenough financial worries, especially after four years of Bideninduced inflation.

Yet, Louisianans also have to worry about prescription drug prices. Whether they are in Baton Rouge, Lafayette or Shreveport, folks know the feeling of showing up at the pharmacy,and even with insurance, the price makes your heart race. Americans pay the highest drug prices in theworld. That’swhy many of us took notice when President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month directing his administration to deliver on his promise to

lower drug prices. With U.S.medications reaching eight times the prices abroad,thispolicy is commonsense. Butexecutive action can only go so far To meaningfully lower prices, Congress must act fast andfinish thejob. Luckily,STATNews recently reported that U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy is workingonabill to execute Trump’sreforms. It’sexactly thekind of conservative action that Louisiana families need,but there’ssomuch moreCassidy can do. He’s adoctor,and he knows what it’s like to sit across from patients who can’t afford their medication. Now,he’s in aposition to lead.

Oneplace Cassidy can look is another Trump-endorsed policy: Medicare drug price negotiation. Thanks to a2022 law,Medicare is finally allowed to negotiate lower prices for some of the most expensive drugs on the market. That first round of negotiations is expected to save 9million Americans $1.5 billion and slash Medicare spending by $6 billion by 2026. That’sbig news for Louisiana, where nearly 1in5folks rely on Medicare, and even struggle to afford their medications with Medicare. Of course, BigPharmaisthrowing everything it can in court to block these reforms. They want to keep prices high, even if that meansmore seniors splitting pills

La.leaders’support for oil, gaslawsuitsechoes blue statestrategies

It’sadark day for Louisiana conservatives when the state’stop law enforcement officer takes up the mantle for the left’sclimate lawfare agenda.

Attorney General Liz Murrill, elected with the promise of advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda, now sides with Democrat-aligned trial lawyers in an absurd campaign to pin the blame for Gulf Coast erosion on oil and gas producers operating in the state. In May,alocal jury returned a$745 million verdict against Chevron that the attorney general’soffice intervened in as athird-party plaintiff. And there are dozens of othersimilarcases pending.

and more working families skipping doses of drugs they need. Butthe Trumpadministration is thankfully defending Medicare price negotiationsincourt. We’ve seen how effectively these drug pricing reforms can work if done right. Now, Cassidy has achance at aone-two punch: expanding Medicare drug price negotiationsand codifying Trump’spolicy.One helps Medicare bargain forbetter prices, and the other makes sure the U.S. is getting the sameprices as folks abroad. It’scommon sense.

Cassidy’staken the first step, but Louisianans don’twant halfmeasures. We’re not looking for headlines —we’re looking for results. That meansreal relief at

the pharmacy counter and real action against the companies that have been ripping us off for decades.

So let’ssee it through. Support Medicare negotiation. Pass Most Favored Nation legislation. Stand with President Trumpinfinally bringing someaccountability to Big Pharma.

Cassidy says he wants to fix what’sbroken in American health care, and there’snobetter place to start than with the price of medicine. Louisianans are ready Is he?

Roger Villere is aflorist and an elected member of the Louisiana Republican Executive Committee.

Ourstate is polarized, butit doesn’thavetobethatway

It seems harder than everfor Americans to find common ground. Political debates quickly turn into shouting matches, and too often, people stoplistening altogether

series, Pizza andPublic Affairs, will give LSU students the chance to hear directly fromleaderswho have built coalitions andbridgeddividestoget real things done

In 1942, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt issued awartime executive order establishing the Petroleum Administrationfor Wartohelp win WorldWar II. Oilproduction dramatically increased in Louisiana to comply withthe federal mandate maximizing petroleumproduction. The Louisiana State and Local Coastal Resources Management Act of 1980 further legitimized thewartime projects’ necessity and legitimacy,explicitly grandfathering them intothe permitting process.

The Louisiana land loss cases —now heading to the Supreme Court —are cut from the same cloth as the climate cases being litigated in deep blue states and municipalities across the country.Like those cases, the primary objective is extracting money,not fixing coastal erosion. This isn’t“justice,” it’sashakedown. Left-wing trial lawyers —pocketing huge contingency fees —target companies like Chevron in order to destroy the oil and gas industry in theUnited States. To do this,they are rewriting history by blaming industry for century-old, government-made problems. And Murrill is playing right along.

The true story of Louisiana’scoast isn’tone of corporate villainy; it’sthe saga of the 1927 Mississippi River floods and the government’sresponse. After catastrophic floods, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built extensive levees and dikes to protect communities and farmland. This flood control infrastructure, necessary as it was, hampered the Mississippi’snatural delivery of silt tothe delta —sediment crucial for replenishing barrier islands and wetlands lost to natural erosion.

How much sediment are we talking?

In the late 1800s, as much as 750 million cubic feet of Mississippi silt reached the Gulf yearly —enough to bury asquare mile under 27 feet of earth. These vital deposits were systematically reduced by federal leveeing.

The scientific and historical realityis that without that silt, the coast subsides and erodes, independent of oil industry activity

Multiple university studies and even prior lawsuits by Louisiana politicians blamed not Chevron, but the very federal government whose flood control policies turned the Mississippi from alandbuilding powerhouse intoasilt-starved trickle.

Thisbayou shakedown isn’tjust legally suspect —it’seconomically destructive. The oil and gas industrycontributes $77.7 billion to thestate’s economy annually,representing 25% of the totalgross domestic product,and the industry supports 306,750 jobs, accounting for 15% of thestate’stotal employment. Taxrevenue from the energy sector made up morethan 20% —or$3.48 billion—ofthe state’s2024 fiscal year budget, helping to fund public education, Medicaid, public safety and yes, environmental and natural resources. Theirony is biting. Lessthan ayear after Chevron abandoned California’spunitive climate regime, thecompany faces echo-chamber litigation in the supposedly “red” state of Louisiana. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry and Murrill’sjoint prosecution agreements with trial lawyer and Democrat megadonor John Carmouche risk billions in new Louisiana energy investments. Energy producersare not going to invest in projectsthat invitejunk science lawsuits. But at least Landry has some good news:Carmouche donated $300,000 tohis super PACduring his last campaign, and his law firm gave $25,000 to Murrill’ssuper PACin2024. If these baseless lawsuits succeed, the only winners will be theleft-wing trial lawyers and liberal moneyed interests who want to destroy American energy production —not the people of Louisiana, and certainly not thecoastal communitiesintrue need of real,science-based solutions.

If Louisiana’sRepublicans want to avoid becoming indistinguishable from their blue-state counterparts, they must reject this leftistclimatecrusade. The real pathforward requires confronting nature, history and engineering —not scapegoating theindustries that built and sustained modern America. Enough with thepolitical theater.Restore common sense, defend real science, and put an end to this Louisiana blues act. Steve Milloy abiostatistician and lawyer,publishes JunkScience.com and is on X, @JunkScience.

Political polarization isn’tjust a national problem. That’s why LSU’sReilly Center for Media and Public Affairs and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana believe theCommon Ground Project is urgently needed.

In recentyears, the Pew Research Center has found that supermajorities of bothDemocrats and Republicans saymembersofthe other party are more closed-minded, dishonest and even immoral compared to other Americans.

Academic research on polarization suggests that such survey findings arepartlythe result of something like caricatures, with news and social media amplifying thebeliefs of the extreme ends of the political spectrum. When polarization takeshold, real discussion becomes difficult

Our Civic Sips series will invite citizens into relaxedbut serious inpersondiscussions about civic responsibility,media literacy,policy issuesand polarization’ssources andremedies. Meanwhile, astatewide Common Ground Survey, conducted by LSU’sPublic Policy Research Lab, will measure polarization andidentify where Louisianans agree. By comparing state and national trends, we’ll gain insight into what makes Louisiana unique and where opportunities for collaborationexist.

People talkpast one another,assume theworst about others’ motivesoravoid conversation altogether.Thatmakes solutions harder to find, because if every problem is framed as “us versus them,” compromise feels like defeatrather than progress. Andinthe end, no one is satisfied.

The constantstalemate leaves citizensfrustrated and convinced government no longer works for them. At its core, polarization drains energy from problem-solving and fuels division for itsown sake.

Research pointstoatleast one way to counter the problem: by encouraging more face-to-face interpersonal experiences.

The Common Ground Project builds off that idea.

It’snot about turning everyone into moderates or erasing deeply held beliefs

Whether you’rearock-ribbed Republican, adie-hardDemocrat or somewhere in between, thefocus is on talking to each other —withrespect, openness and awillingnesstolisten.

We can and will disagree. The goal isn’ttoend debateorflattendifferences.

Disagreementisvital to democracy.But when disagreement turns into demonization, it becomes impossible to solve problems together

Ouremphasis is on finding areas where we can acknowledge sharedvalues,cooperate across dividesand make progressdespitedifferences.

The project will begin with several initiatives Amonthly on-campus lunchtime

These efforts combine civic engagement, dialogue and data, drawing on the Reilly Center’sacademicexpertise and PAR’strack recordinnonpartisanresearch Louisiana is notimmune to the nationalcurrents of polarization. We’ve seen urbanand rural communities pull apart, trust in media decline andpolitical sorting intensify But Louisiana hassomething powerful on its side:adeep sense of community andculture thatcuts across politics. Fromfestivals andfootball to food and faith, Louisianans know how to come together

Thatspirit makes finding common ground easierherethan in many places. We may notalways agree on solutions, but we share pride in our communities, alovefor ourculture and adesire to see Louisiana thrive

Those sharedbonds arethe foundationfor ahealthiercivic life.

The Common Ground Project’svision is ambitious. With the help of partners, funders andcitizens acrossthe state,we aimtoexpand this work to more communities. We want to createspaces where people can disagreehonestly but still cooperateconstructively and where dialogue, trust andshared experiences replace hostility andcynicism.

Polarization can feel overwhelming, but we seereason for hope. Louisiana is known forits resilience. Now,wecan showresilience by proving that even in an eraofdivision, we can find shared community

More informationabout the Common Ground Project andits events can be found in the Reilly Center’snewsletter andinPAR’sregularemails.

MichaelDiRestoisthe director of LSU’sReilly Center forMedia& Public Affairs. Steven Procopio is thepresident of thePublic Affairs Research Council of Louisiana.

COMMENTARY

ISSUE OF THE WEEK THE FEDERAL RESERVE

TheFederal Reservewas setupbyCongress as an independent agency so it could makedecisions about interestrates and monetary policyfree of politicalinterference. Butinrecent months, President Donald Trumphas increasingly targeted the Fed.Heclashed with FedChairman JeromePowellfor not lowering interest rates and forthe cost of renovations to Fed buildings in Washington. Lately, he has set out to fire Lisa Cook,a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, claimingshe is guilty of mortgagefraud. But Cook has foughtback, saying the president is using theissue as apretext to takecontrolofthe Fed. Some worrythat if the president is successful in threatening the Fed’sindependence,itcouldhavesevere consequences forour economic system. Others sayFed governors should notbeabove the law.Whatdoesthis conflict mean forthe future of the Fed? Here are twoperspectives:

Lisa Cook is wrongin thinking shecan’t be fired

Uncharacteristically for him, Donald Trump is being too modest inasserting his power over the Federal Reserve

He’sfired Lisa Cook “for cause,” citing aclearly pretextual alleged mortgage infraction, when as aconstitutional matter, he should be able to fire her,or Chairman Jerome Powell, for any reason he deems appropriate.

The independence of the Federal Reserve largely rests on its status as aconstitutionalanomaly, exercising executive authority without being subject to thesame rules as the rest of the executive branch. There are good policy reasons for this —anindependentcentral bank promotes monetarystability —but the Fed has been granted, in effect,anexemption from our constitutional order for prudential reasons.

tiveofficers is essential to theexecution of thelaws by him, so must be his power of removing those for whom he cannot continuetoberesponsible.”

The rise of independent agencies with the New Deal and aSupremeCourt decision called Humphrey’sExecutor, saying FDR couldn’tfire at will the commissioner of theFederal Trade Commission, sent theremoval powerintoretreat.

Rich Lowry

The Fed itself isn’tinonthe joke. Lisa Cook thinks she can’tbefired andissuing to keep her job, while Jerome Powell has laughably maintained that he can’tberemoved fromthe chairmanship. Cook can only be given apink slip for “cause,” according to the statute. “Cause is abroad term, though. If it isinterpreted the usual way,itwould includea refusal to carry out apresidential directive or policy disagreements. As for Powell, there isn’tevenany statuary restriction on dismissing him as chairman The head of the ConsumerFinance Protection Bureau was also supposed to be insulated from removal thanks to aprovision saying that it had to be “for cause.” How did that turn out? In 2020, theSupreme Court held thatsuch aconstraint was unconstitutional.

This decision was in keepingwiththe Court’srecent drive to vindicatethe president’spower to fire at will officials whose agencies carry out executivefunctions.

Article II of the Constitution doesn’t explicitly say the president canfire executive-branch officials, but itis impliedin thepresident’spowertorun theexecutive branch, as such Founding-era luminaries as James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson recognized. In a1922 Supreme Court case, Chief Justice Taft wrote for the majoritythatas the president’s“selection of administra-

published. Letters are not to exceed

But thedecision in the CFPB case undercut thelogic of Humphrey’s Executor,ashave other recent decisions. In aconcurrence in the CFPBcase, Clarence Thomas said it wasn’tclear what was left of the reasoningofHumprhey’s. Whatever remained, he wrote, wasn’tenough “tojustify the numerous, unaccountable independent agencies that currently exercise vast executivepower outside the bounds of our constitutional structure.”

That should have gotten theFed’sattention.

Thecourt has sidestepped the status of the Federal Reserve in its removal-power jurisprudence. Butthere’snolegal reason that it should be considered an oasis standing apart from theCourt’s ruling that there is no “de facto fourth branch of government” lacking “accountability to either thepresident or the people.

The Fed clearly exercises executive power in its vast regulatory functions, just as theCFPB does. It promulgates rules, polices banks and issues fines. The court has held that if an agency exercises executivepower only in afraction of its functions, it is subject to the president’s removal power

The cleanest solution would be to pass a constitutional amendment authorizingan independent Fed or asimilar entity.Short of that, theFederal Reserve’sregulatory functions could be handed over to another executiveagency (although core monetary functions of the Fed also may be executiveinnature)

The Supreme Court will surely be reluctant to grasp the nettle on the Fed. Yet, there’slittle doubt that, on the legal merits,LisaCook should be sending out herresume.

Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry

Fedgovernorneeds to come cleanonfraud claim

Arecurring theme of this column— perhaps themost unpopulartheme —is that theoptimal amount of fraud in a system is not zero. I’ve been thinking about that theme as the drama surrounding Federal Reserve governorLisa Cook has unfolded.

Before you get mad, let me explain that I’m not talking about theideal amount of fraud, which is definitely zero.

Butcheatersabound in this vale of tears, and it’soften cheaper to tolerate some smallamount of grift than to make themaximum effort to stop all of it.

That’swhy your employer doesn’ttake every possible step to ensure that you’re not taking office supplies home, and why most retailers (until recently) left goods on open shelves instead of putting the razors and Tide pods in locked display cases.

Similarly,banks don’twant you to commit “occupancy fraud” —where you say you’regoing to live in ahome to get alower loan rate, even though it’sactually avacation or investment property

While technically this kind of lie is afederal felony,inpractice individuals are rarelyprosecuted,because thatwould takealot of time that the bank andprosecutors could more profitably spend doing something else.

Which brings us to Cook, whom the Trump administration is accusing of having committed —oratleast created the appearance of —occupancyfraud.

Apublic-records search by Reuters appears to confirm that on June 18,2021, Cook obtained amortgage from aMichigan credit union for aproperty in Washtenaw County,Michigan, which she said would be her primary residence. Two weeks later,she obtained amortgage from adifferent credit unionfor acondo in Atlanta, which shealsosaidwould be her primaryresidence. Obviously,she could not live in two places at once.

Assuming shedid engage in some chicanery,though, howoutraged should we be?

Youcan argue that aFed governor has to be above reproach.But you can also argue that this is an almost victimless crime, and that thecurrent investigation

is apretextual witch hunt that threatens the Fed’sindependence. I, for one, find thatsecondargument pretty convincing. The problemisthat though it is true thatthe optimalamount of fraud is not zero,the systemcan’tafford to publicize thatfact.Welearnedthat lesson from the shoplifting debacle. Retailers adoptedhands-off policiesthatprevented employees from stopping thieves, which minimized employee injuries, legalliability andbad publicity from employee mistakes. That trade-off made sense as long as the public didn’trealize just how much it could getaway with.

Whenthe internet taught us that brazenshoplifting was tolerated, those policiescontributed to ashoplifting explosion—and storeswere forced to take stronger measures, suchasbanning bags andlocking up merchandise,making everyone worse off. Protecting the Fed’sindependence is much, much, much more important to the health of the banking system than reducing asmall amount of occupancy fraud to aslightly smaller amount. The president appearstobeusing government agencies suchasthe FederalHousing FinanceAgencytopursue personal political goals, like settling scores,or replacing Fedgovernors he dislikeswith someone more pliant. Bill Pulte, that agency’s director,should not have abettedthis.

But nowthathehas,can we afford to say, “Well, occupancy fraud is really not abig deal,ithappens all the time, and, realistically,almost no one is ever punished?” Because that’sa good way to ensure thatoccupancy fraud really does happen allthe time,oratleast more of the time, forcing banks to do whatever the banking equivalent is of putting the Target deodorantaisle on lockdown. And Idon’t love thatsolution, either The only wayout of that conundrum is forCook to tell us why what looks like occupancy fraud wasactually no such thing. So Isure hope she does,and soon MeganMcArdle in on X, @asymmetricinfo.

BY WILSON ALEXANDER

Staff writer

LSU is set to make Jay Johnson the highest-paid college baseballcoach in the countryafterthe Tigers wonthe 2025 national championship, his secondinthreeyears.

Johnson’snew contract will pay him more than $3 million annually and runs through the 2032 season, according to acopy of the deal included Thursday in the meeting agenda for LSU’sboard of supervisors.

Johnsonwillmake$3.05millionoverthe

Southern ‘firedup’ forhome opener

AlabamaState coachnot taking Jaguars’ home-field advantagefor granted

BY TOYLOYBROWN III Staff writer

Eddie Robinsonhas areverence for Southern’sA.W.Mumford Stadium

SPORTS

next year. His compensation increases annually untilitreaches $3.65 million in the final yearofthe contract.

After Johnson signedthe agreement in mid-August, the deal is expected to be approved Friday morning by LSU’s board. In total, he is set to make$23.45 million before bonusesover thenext seven years.

TwoLSU assistants,recruitingcoordinator Josh Jordan and director of baseball operations Josh Simpson, also receivednew contracts. Since arriving in Baton Rouge, Johnson

has restored LSU’s status as abaseball powerhouse. He led theTigers to their first nationalchampionship in 14 yearsduring his secondseason in 2023, then won the title againthis year by going undefeated at theCollegeWorld Series,includinga two-gamesweep of Coastal Carolina in thefinals.

Johnsontook LSUtothe NCAAregionalthe two seasons he did not win a national title. He has a190-77 record in four years.

When Johnson was hired at LSU after six seasons as the head coachatArizona, his ä See LSU, page 6C

ä Alabama State at Southern 6P.M. SATURDAy

However, 6p.m. on Saturday will bethe first time the Alabama Statecoach will ever lead his team at the venue. Thelast time his program visited the Jaguars in BatonRouge was in 2016, which took place five yearsbefore his hiring. Robinson, aNew Orleans native, has experience with the stadium as aspectator and before that, as a collegeplayer for Alabama State. His first collegiate game of his playing career was at Southern in 1988, which the Jaguarswon 20-12.

“Itwas an eye-opener for me andwehave alot of young players and some olderguys (where) this willbetheir first game playingat SouthernUniversity,” thefourth-year coach said on avirtual media availability Tuesday “It’sagreat atmosphere to play if you’rethe home team, but as avisiting team, it’stough.”

Possessing astrong home-field advantage is something Southern coach Terrence Graves takes prideinand is happytohave after his team dropped its neutral site contest against North Carolina Central in Atlanta and narrowly beat Mississippi Valley State on the road.

“With the crowd that we have,the energy, the atmosphere,” Graves said, “a lot of peopledon’tlike to come to Baton Rouge to play Southern because they know that the crowd is really hostile.”

Winning the home opener is Southern’s priority.Graves doesn’tcare that the result doesn’tcount toward the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings. What matters is pride. The Jaguarsdon’twant to letfans’ first home experience of 2025 be aloss. His playersare extra motivated.

“Our guys are fired up tohave an opportunity to finally play at home, play agame

ä See SOUTHERN, page 4C

Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler runs the

preseasongameonAug.17atthe Caesars

fyou’ve followed closely,you’ve heard some interesting linguistic gymnastics from New Orleans Saints campthis offseason. Team officials have been careful to characterize the upcoming campaign as a“reset” rather than a “rebuild.” Likewise, they’veused the word “aspirations” instead of “expectations.” Maybe the Saintsare simply trying to drive ticket sales and maintain positive vibes for first-yearhead coach Kellen Moore, but theverbal subterfuge has been noticeable to anyone paying attention. Yet, while team officials sayone thing, their actions indicate another.The Saintsare in the midst of afullblownrebuild. Every offseason moveappears to have been executed with the futureinmind. It began with the decision not

BYREED DARCEYand SCOTTRABALAIS

Staff writers LSU must soon find asuccessor

to pursue aveteran quarterback in the wakeofDerek Carr’sretirement and extended to this week with the surprise release of All-Pro special teamer J.T.Gray

Out are veterans Carr,Gray,Khalen Saunders, Dante Pettis, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Cam Akers, D’Marco Jackson and Nephi Sewell. In are newbies andyoungsters Tyler Shough, Khristian Boyd, Devaughn Vele, Mason Tipton, Velus Jones, Devin Neal, Jaylan Ford, Isaiah Stalbird and Danny Stutsman.

The result: The Saints will enter the 2025 season as adecidedly younger,cheaper and less experienced team than those of years past. They have anew head coach,anew quarterback, anew offensive and

See DUNCAN, page 5C

Sinner meets Aliassime in U.S. Open

BY HOWARD FENDRICH AP tennis writer

NEW YORK — Before knowing for sure that he would need to get past Jannik Sinner to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time, Felix Auger-Aliassime was asked to assess the U.S. Open’s No. 1 seed and defending champion.

“What to say about Jannik’s game?” said Auger-Aliassime, who is seeded 25th. “He’s been obviously untouchable, at times.”

That’s a pretty apt description for a guy closing in on becoming the first man to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer collected five in a row from 2004 through 2008. Sinner meets Aliassime

In Friday’s semifinals, AugerAliassime might be taking on the toughest task in tennis at the moment, particularly on hard courts: Sinner is on a 26-match Grand Slam unbeaten streak on that surface, which includes titles at the past two Australian Opens in addition to last year’s U.S. Open.

The 24-year-old from Italy also is coming off a Wimbledon championship in July for his fourth career major trophy

Nothing easy about the other men’s semifinal, either That one features 24-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who is 38, against Carlos Alcaraz, who already owns five such titles at age 22.

Alcaraz vs. Djokovic

“I know he’s hungry,” Alcaraz said about Djokovic, who exited each of the year’s other three majors in the semifinals. “I know his ambition for more.”

Just three weeks ago, AugerAliassime went up against Sinner at the Cincinnati Open and it

wasn’t exactly a close contest. Sinner won 6-0, 6-2. They hadn’t met since 2022, when Auger-Aliassime won both matchups against a guy who wasn’t yet the Sinner the world knows today Auger-Aliassime offered a rundown of ways in which Sinner is a different player now “I give him credit You have to give credit when it’s due. When somebody does the work and they improve and they get to that level, you just have to tip your hat,” said the 25-year-old from Canada, who lost his only previous Grand Slam semifinal at the 2021 U.S. Open. “Physicality movement got much better Stronger physically The serve, the forehand more precise. The backhand was always consistent. The return was always

good, deep. Yeah, those are the main things.”

That’s all, huh?

Sinner ‘on another level’

There’s certainly quite a lot Sinner that does well, as he demonstrated by overwhelming his last two opponents. In a performance Sinner described as “very solid,” he dismissed No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti in the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in just 2 hours on Wednesday, two nights after an even more lopsided win, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 against No. 23 Alexander Bublik in 1 hour 21 minutes in the fourth round. That’s less than 3 1/2 hours combined over two matches. AugerAliassime needed 4 hours, 10 min-

utes just to get past No. 8 Alex de Minaur in his quarterfinal.

Sinner goes into Friday having claimed his past 31 service games in a row, saving 10 break points in that span.

Against Musetti, he won 42 of the 46 points — 91% — when he got his first serve in.

And then there are those crisp, clean, booming groundstrokes, including one 97 mph up-the-line forehand on a run-and-reach to earn the last break point he would need against Musetti.

“Jannik was on another level,” Musetti said. “I never played, honestly, someone who put me (in) this kind of rush in the rally.”

Alcaraz and Sinner have combined to win the last seven major tournaments — while playing each other in the last two finals and Djokovic was the champ at the other three in that stretch, including the 2023 U.S. Open.

During that same 12-Slam span, Auger-Aliassime never made it past the fourth round and exited in the first or second round at nine of them.

Not that he ever worried he wouldn’t return to the latter stages again.

“If I was 35 now, maybe I would doubt if it would ever come again, like if I was losing first round (at the) back end of my career,” said Auger-Aliassime, who is getting married two weeks after the U.S. Open.

“Even those last few years, I was young enough to think ‘OK, what do I need to improve? What’s happening? Which areas do I need to improve? What changes do I need to make?’” he said. “That’s really what I was focused about and the day-to-day and the process.”

Reigning champ Sabalenka beats Pegula

BY HOWARD FENDRICH

AP tennis writer

NEW YORK Reigning champion

Aryna Sabalenka was simply too good for Jessica Pegula yet again, winning their U.S. Open semifinal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s final.

The No. 1-seeded Sabalenka moved one victory away from becoming the first woman to claim consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams got three in a row from 2012 to 2014.

On Saturday, Sabalenka will meet No. 8 Amanda Anisimova or No. 23 Naomi Osaka for the trophy

This matchup was quite close, far closer than the straight-set triumph for Sabalenka over Pegula 12 months ago that gave the 27-year-old from Belarus her third Grand Slam title, all on hard courts

Since then, Sabalenka was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June, then was eliminated in the Wimbledon semifinals by Anisimova in July

When this one ended on Sabalenka’s third match point — after two bad errors on her initial chances — she rocked back on her heels,

spread her arms and screamed.

“I had to work really hard to get this win,” she said in her on-court interview after improving to 8-2 against Pegula over their careers.

“Hopefully I can go all the way again.

Arthur Ashe Stadium’s retractable roof was shut before the semifinals began, which prevented disruption from the wind outside gusting at up to 30 mph and the rain that arrived during play In the good, indoor conditions, No. 4 Pegula played about as cleanly as possible in the first set and the third, making just three unforced errors in each. But in the second, that count was nine.

By the end, Sabalenka had accumulated more than twice as many winners as Pegula, 43-21.

All evening, Pegula went after her returns, taking big cuts and not playing it safe, by any means. This, then, was the key: Sabalenka was able to save all four break points she faced in the final set, when the stakes — and tension were highest.

Asked how she managed to handle those moments, Sabalenka replied with a laugh: “I don’t know. I was just praying inside and hoping for the best.” Hard to believe the serve was once a real problem for Sabalenka. But she began retooling her motion in 2022 with a biomechan-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By FRANK FRANKLIN II

Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot to Jessica Pegula during a semifinal match of the U.S Open championships on Thursday in New york

ics coach, Gavin MacMillan, who was hired by Gauff just before this U.S. Open. In her first two service games alone, Sabalenka delivered one ace at 114 mph and a couple of winners at 109 mph and 117 mph. Entering Thursday, neither player had lost a set in the tournament, although Sabalenka only needed to go through four matches, instead of five, to reach the semifinals, because her quarterfinal opponent, Marketa Vondrousova, withdrew with an injured knee.

That meant Sabalenka hadn’t competed since Sunday Might she be rusty? Sure didn’t look that way at the outset, and Sabalenka used a nifty dropshot-volley-winner combination to help go up a break and grab a 4-2 lead.

But Pegula didn’t fold. In the next game, with the thousands in the stands roaring for every point gained by the American, Sabalenka netted off-balance groundstrokes on two points in a row and double-faulted to get broken right back.

McIlroy fades to a 71 in first round of Irish Open

The Associated Press STRAFFAN, Ireland Rory McIlroy bogeyed two of his last three holes and faded to a 1-under 71 in the first round of the Irish Open on Thursday in his latest homecoming. The world No 2, who attracted the biggest galleries of the day at The K Club, was looking to sharpen up his game a few weeks out from the Ryder Cup in Bethpage Black, where

Star Fulwiley opens up about transferring to LSU

Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated published a new edition of “Around the W” with former South Carolina guard Milaysia Fulwiley as the special guest. Host Maria Clifton asked Fulwiley why she picked SEC rival LSU to join this season.

South Carolina’s a great program, but I’m from there,” Fulwiley said. “I’ve been there my whole life. (The) school is like 15 minutes away from my house, so I kind of felt like I just needed a new environment.

I feel like everyone deserves a new, fresh start. While in college, while you have the chance to just leave, I think that’s when you should do it because in the W, you can’t just say you want to leave type way.”

WR Cooper retires days after signing with Raiders HENDERSON, Nev Five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper retired Thursday, a little more than a week after signing a oneyear contract to return to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said Cooper called coach Pete Carroll on Thursday morning and gave him the news.

“It’s unfortunate because I think the world of him,” Kelly said. “I think he’s a heck of a football player He’s had a heck of an NFL career, but he knows in his heart what he wants to do, so I wish him the best. I’ve always been a big fan of his.”

Cooper, 31, played 10 seasons for four teams and finished with 711 catches for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns.

Slovakia stuns Germany in World Cup qualifying Germany lost an away World Cup qualifying game for the first time in a 2-0 upset against Slovakia on Thursday which threw its campaign to reach the 2026 tournament into immediate jeopardy David Hancko and David Strelec each exploited mistakes in Germany’s defense to give Slovakia — which last qualified for the World Cup in 2010 a surprise lead. Germany couldn’t find a way through the Slovakian defense to get back into the game. It was a blow to coach Julian Nagelsmann and his new-look lineup, including Newcastle’s new striker Nick Woltemade in his third Germany game and 21-year-old Nnamdi Collins making his debut at right back.

Shelton, Paul will miss Davis Cup team matches

NEW YORK Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul have withdrawn from the U.S. Davis Cup team’s matches next weekend with injuries, and the Americans named three replacements for the squad Thursday Reilly Opelka, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek were added for the Sept. 12-13 second-round matches against the Czech Republic that will be played in Delray Beach, Florida. They join Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe on the team.

The sixth-ranked Shelton had to stop playing during his thirdround match at the U.S. Open because of left shoulder pain. Paul, who is ranked 14th, was eliminated in the same round by Alexander Bublik and appeared to be struggling with an ab injury

Koch family to buy 10% stake in New York Giants

The Koch family has agreed to purchase a 10% stake of the NFL’s New York Giants, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday night because the deal must be approved by owners. That could come as soon as their next meeting in October

McIlroy, who was in Northern Ireland in July for the British Open at Royal Portrush, was five strokes off the clubhouse lead

His finish hurt him most, missing the green at Nos. 7 and 8 and failing to get up and down for par “Game feels pretty good,” McIlroy said, adding: “Just a matter of being more efficient with the scoring.”

held by Nacho Elvira, whose 66 was bogey-free and contained birdies in four of his last six holes. The Spaniard was one shot ahead of Bernd Wiesberger Daniel Brown and Adrien Saddier Ireland’s Shane Lowry, another member of Europe’s Ryder Cup team, was playing in front of his home crowd and birdied three of his last six holes to shoot 69.

The Mara and Tisch families announced in February they were exploring the possibility of selling a minority, noncontrolling stake in the team.

Julia Koch, the widow of David Koch, who died in 2019, has a net worth of $81.2 billion,

THE VARSITYZONE

U-High rollsinopener

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

The University High running back duo of senior Sage Ingram and junior Corbin Odell never gave the Woodlawn defense abreak.

The two, known as “Fire and Ice,” combined for 211 yards on 31 carries. Odell scoredtwice and Ingram rushed forone touchdown in a49-8 Cubs win on Thursday night at home.

“(Ingram) goes in, he’sgoing to destroy it,” Odell said. “I go in, I’m going to destroy it. That’show it’sgoing to be.” The dynamic duo combinedfor nineruns of 10 or more yards.

Defensively,the Cubs started slow,but stood strong when they needed to. Woodlawn droveinto UHigh territory five timesin the first half, but came away with points just once. The Cubs forced them into two turnovers and two turnovers on downs.

Amix of high Panthers snaps and stout defensive plays led to seven fumbles by Woodlawn. U-High recovered two.

“Offensively,wenever missed abeat,” Cubs coach Andy Martin said. “Our offense did agreat job being physical up front.” Martin said having two

THURSDAY’S SCORES

threw an interception to Emmanuel Moses.

The Cubs started their second drive inside their own 5-yard line. Despite the poor fieldposition,senior quarterback Ethan McGlynn quickly wenttowork and found wideout Lawson Dixon down theright sideline for a28-yard gain. The Cubs then relied on their run game to moveinto the Panthers’ side of thefield.

McGlynnfound Dixon againlater in thedrive for a31-yard touchdown pass. fora7-0 lead with 5:02 left in the first.

U-High forced aturnover on downs afteranother Woodlawn fumble to get the ball back withashort field.

From trenches to TE

BY JACKSONREYES Staff writer

ast Ascension se-

EniorBrysten Martinezspent nearlyhis entire footballcareer playing offensive tackle.

But for his senior season, that all changes. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound lineman will move to tight end. Martinezhas played footballsincehewas 3 years old, andfor as long as he can remember,he’s been blocking. But when the move was pitchedto him, he was allin.

The ideaofscoring touchdowns quickly came to mind, but he’s made the mental shift to understand howthe move can open up his teammatesand make the offense more successful.

“It’snot just about having fun,”Martinez said. “It’sabout winning games.”

Martinez isn’tjust some offensive lineman either —he’sthe top-rated offensive lineman in the state, and the ninth-ranked tackle in the country,according to Rivals. He’s alreadycommitted to LSU after his high school career wrapsup.

ing players.

He sawMartinez and said the chance to coach him played abig partin his taking the job. Since getting to know Martinez, Matherne said he’sagreat talent but an even better person.

“He’slike abig teddy bear,” Matherne said. “Inside the white lines, he’s physical, he’sviolent. But when you’rejusttalking to him one on one, he really is agood kid.”

Whatseparates Martinez fromother athletes Matherne has seen is the athleticismhepossessesfor his size.Beforehebecame a head coach, Matherne was an equipment managerfor the Saints

“Whether it’shim just making aplay or him just having really great effort.”

Afteralong offseason, Ward said he is excited to seewhat Martinez can do on the field after watching him in practice. He has given teammates on the defensefits, Ward said, and he’sready to see him continue to perform during the season.

“Watching Brystendo that to somebody else in adifferent jersey,” Ward said. “I can’twait forthat.” Matherne said every stepofthe position change has shown Martinez’s willingnesstohelp make the team better.Another factor that makes him special is his desiretobecoached.

greatrunning backs this seasonis exciting. Whatstands outthe most about the duo is their unselfishness and how they support each other on andoff thefield On the first drive of the game,Woodlawn drove past midfield before U-HighseniorTalamesi Albert broke through the offensive line and stripped the ball from Panthers senior quarterback Ahmad Price. Woodlawn drovedown the field on itsseconddriveof thegame before the Cubs forced them into afourth andshort just outside the red zone. Price dropped backonfourthdown but

Five plays later,Odell scored on a10-yard run. Afterapenalty, U-High went for two, and Odell scored again to complete the conversion for a15-0 lead at the 11:17 mark of the second.

Woodlawn finally finished off itsthird drive of the game. After apassinterference callextendedthe drive, Price found astreaking TrintonBennettfor a49-yard gaintothe Cubs’ 1. Cayden Randallpunched it in and the converted the 2-point conversion to make it 15-8 with 8:10 left in the half.

U-High scored on its next two possessions to make it 26-8 at halftime.

Enticing matchups on tap

Destrehanvs. Catholic, Dunham vs.Parkviewhelp highlight Week 1games

BY JACKSON REYES Staff writer

The high school footballseason is finally here in the Baton Rougearea.Here’swhat to know about the top games for Week 1. All games will kick off at 7p.m. Friday DestrehanatCatholic

The Wildcats travel to BatonRouge to take on the Bears in one of the more intriguing matchups to open the season. Both teams are ranked in the top fiveof the LWSA Class 5A rankings.Catholicisranked No. 2, while Destrehan is tied for fifth.

The matchup featurestwo of the top seniors in the state. Bears safetyBlaine Bradford is atop-100 recruit who iscommitted to Ohio State. Wildcats wide receiverJabari Mack 72nd overallnationally,per Rivals, and is committed to LSU Catholic’soffensive line is be led by senior Blaise Thomassie, aStanfordcommitment. Dunham at Parkview Baptist

The name to watch in this game is Dunham quarterback Elijah Haven. Haven is rated as thetop signal caller in the class of 2027. The 6-foot-5 Haventotaled 56 touchdowns last season —37through the air and 19 on the groundinleading the Tigers to the state final. Haven willhave 6-5 wide receiver Jarvis Washington as amain target. Thesenioris committed to South Alabama. Parkview Baptist’sDevinDucotewill coach his first regular-season gamefor his alma mater.The Eagles will feature anew startingquarterback in senior Logan Sorrel, a6-4 senior who is also apitcher in baseball. BrotherMartinatEastAscension

The Spartans’ game against Brother Martin will be the first chance to see senior Brysten Martinez at his new position. The East Ascension senior is afour-star LSU commitment at tackle, but he will make the switch to tight end for his last year of high school football. Martinez’s size at 6-5, 290 pounds might make him amatchup nightmare for defenses

SCHEDULE

Brother Martin features an offensive standout of its ownwith juniorwidereceiver Easton Royal, afive-starplayerby247Sports Composite. TheCrusadersrankNo. 4in NOLA.com’sarea rankings for Class 4A-5A Plaquemine at Zachary

The defense is thestrengthfor theBroncos.Zacharyreturns eight starters on that side of theball, including seniorlinebackers Dylan Shelmire and IsaiahStokes. Shelmire is committed to Southeastern Louisiana.Onoffense,ULcommitmentKristionBrooks is anametowatch. The6-3 receiver will look to make an impact early Plaquemine returns 16 starters from a team that finished12-2last season and made it to the state semifinals. The Green Devils bring in anew quarterback in junior Brennan Miles. He’llhave second-team all-statewide receiver John Walker,who accounted for16 touchdowns last season

The Plaquemine defense also returns senior safety Roderick Bingham, who is committed to playatUL.

Madison Prep at Dutchtown

MPAlooks to build on its9-4 season from 2024. Senior safety Javen Holmes iscommittedtoHouston. TheChargerswillfeature new starting quarterback LandonJohnson, a junior whoplayed at receiverand defensive back before this season

Dutchtown returns just three starters, all on offense. An entirely newstartingdefense will take thefieldFriday. The Griffins’ quarterback battleisbetween senior Clay WalkerVice and junior OwenFletcher.

The change coincides with what motivateshim to playthe sport.

“What Iloveabout footballisthe ability to violently attack somebody withoutgetting in trouble forit,” he said.

He takes pride in dominating edge rushers when he’s at tackle,and he sees it as achancetoshowcase his true ability.Now up against smallerdefenders in the openfield, he’s ready to show what he can do with theballinhis hands.

“Transitioning fromlinebackers to safety,it’slike hammering anail,”Martinez said. “It’sjust going frommoving aboulderto moving afeather.”

While he knows he’llstill be blocking, he relishes the chance to be part of the shine the receivers andrunning backsreceive when scoring touchdowns He said coach Brock Matherne hasastrict rule aboutnodancing in the endzone, but make sure to watch the newtight end show off some moves on the sideline.

“Y’all are going to see a couple of celebrations,” he said. “Wait andfind out.” Doingitall

WhenMathernewas offered the job at East Ascension in2023, he looked over theroster forreturn-

He sawseveral players at the NFL level with his stature who could only play defensive or offensive line. ButMartinez is different.

“I haven’tseen anything he can’tdo,” Matherne said. “Brystencan do everything.” Matherne said Martinez can catch, run, throw the ball and, of course, block.

During the offseason, the coaching staff sat down and wondered what to do with Martinez. He’s adominant lineman, but moving him to tight end creates mismatchesfor defenses

He creates angles forthe rungame, he’sfast enough to line up out wide on cornersand linebackers still might lack the size to keep up with him in the middle of the field. Matherne is a defensive-minded coach, and as he drew up plays that the Spartans could use Martinez in, one thought came to mind.

“I just don’tknow how Iwould defend it,” Matherne said. “I’mglad I don’t.”

Tight ends coach Joel Ward agrees.Hewas Martinez’soffensive line coach the pasttwo seasons, and seeing him make the move has been fun to watch.

“It’salmosteverysingle day,it’ssomething that he does that puts asmile on my face ”Wardsaid.

SomeofMatherne’sbiggest wins as acoach are seeing the players from his program go on to become great young men.Hesaid Martinez can do just that once he leaves East Ascension and spends his Saturdays in Tiger Stadium Martinezsaid he’sworked to take the little things moreseriously,too. From tucking in his shirt before walkthroughs to even making the mostofrecovery with ice baths, the way he viewed football changed afterhereceived his first college offer in his sophomore year of high school.

“I could do something to change my family trajectory,” he said. “Dosomething to setupmykid’s kids.I was like, ‘This could be alifestyle forme.’

The change in attitude helped lead him to LSU. The chance to play forthe Tigersisadream come true forMartinez.He grew up spending Halloweens at LSU, surrounded by all things Tigers and with people who’ve loved the school since beforehe was born.

But beforeheheads up the road to Death Valley, he has unfinished businessinhigh school that he hopes the position change can help him achieve.

“State championship,” Martinez said. “That’sall I can say.”

NCAA committee recommends nixing spring transfer window

By The Associated Press

The NCAA’s FBS Oversight Committee has recommended eliminating the spring transfer window and having just a 10-day window starting on Jan. 2. The committee is also proposing that December be a recruiting dead period. Coaches would still be able to call, write, text or email prospects but visits on or off campus, would not be allowed

The Division I Administrative Committee must approve the legislative changes. The vote is expected to occur before October 1. FBS coaches voted unanimously to support the January portal proposal during their American Football Coaches Association conven-

tion earlier this year The changes, if implemented, would allow coaches to focus more on coaching during bowl season, and it would prevent most teams from losing active players as they prepare for important games.

The spring portal period, which was April 16-25 this past offseason, had many players and coaches juggling transfers and spring practice. Nico Iamaleava, a quarterback who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, left the Volunteers for UCLA in the spring, leaving Tennessee scrambling. The issue might have been avoided without a spring window

The NCAA’s FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended

eliminating the spring window last August, but other concerns, such as revenue sharing, took precedence.

In 2024-25, the NCAA’s Division I Council voted to reduce the total number of days players in FBS and FCS can be entered into the portal from 45 to 30. That resulted in a 20-day period in December and a 10-day period in April.

Players can commit and transfer to their next school at any time after their names have been entered into the portal. If the recommendation is approved, graduate transfers would also have to wait until Jan. 2 to enter their names in the transfer portal. Last year they could enter their names starting on Oct. 1.

Manning gets chance to turn things around at home with San Jose St.

BY MARK ROSNER

Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas The good news for Texas: There are opportunities to improve the next three weeks after its loss at Ohio State, just not against elite competition.

The Longhorns dropped from preseason No. 1 to No. 7 in this week’s AP Top 25, and they do not face another Power Four opponent until a trip to No. 13 Florida on Oct. 4. First come home games against San Jose State on Saturday, UTEP and Sam Houston. Senior defensive back Michael Taaffe, an Associated Press preseason first-team All-American, sounded like a coach describing how the Longhorns must play to a standard regardless of the opponent.

“You take it as the faceless opponent,” Taaffe said this week. “So whether it’s Ohio State, whether its Colorado State week one, whether it’s Michigan or whether it’s San Jose State week two, you treat it all the same. That’s just what you have to do as a competitor.”

The Longhorns struggled with recurring problems against Ohio State, including scoring in the red zone — 0 for 2 — and converting short-yardage plays. There was the ineffectiveness of first-year starting quarterback Arch Manning.

Manning completed 10 of 17 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown and an interception against a strong Ohio State defense He missed some open receivers, sometimes badly He and coach Steve Sarkisian acknowl-

SOUTHERN

Continued from page 1C

on a new turf, playing in front of our crowd and the band and everything that goes with it,” the secondyear coach said. The Jaguars went 4-1 at home last season and their only loss was to Nicholls of the Southland Conference.Theyhaven’thadalosinghome recordsince2021,whenitwent2-4at A.W Mumford and 4-7 overall.

Robinson, who played 11 years in the NFL, didn’t downplay how much of a factor the raucous crowd will impact the outcome. To

edge technical issues Manning exhibited under pressure, including faulty footwork that resulted in a side-arm delivery He did pass for 132 yards in the fourth quarter as Texas kept it close in the 14-7 loss.

“I gotta start faster,” Manning said. “Get completions, get it to my guys in space. I didn’t do that well.”

Missed kicks and picks

San Jose State lost 16-14 to Central Michigan last week after Spartans kicker Denis Lynch missed on two field goal attempts in the final 1:13. The first was from 33 yards, the second from 56 as time expired.

Coach Ken Niumatalolo said quarterback Walker Eget assigned himself blame for the defeat. Eget completed 24 of 43 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions, one in the Central Michigan end zone in the first quarter

“He’d be the first to tell you he didn’t play very well,” Niumatalolo said. “He texted me at 1:30 in the morning on Saturday taking accountability for the loss. Shows you the type of kid this kid is. I still have the most faith in Walker.”

Finishing runs

Texas rushed for 166 yards with an average of 4.5 per carry at Ohio State. Quintrevion Wisner gained 80 on 16 tries. Sarkisian said the Longhorns could have performed better on some plays

“We weren’t bringing our feet the way I would have liked, and we were kind of falling off blocks,” Sarkisian said. “Where we felt like

“We’re gonna have to go down there and kind of just settle into the game and execute early Try to take the crowd out the game, that’s gonna be hard.”

EDDIE

ROBINSON Alabama State coach

rob a fanbase of a home-opening win, he wants Alabama State to have a fast start.

“We’re gonna have to go down there and kind of just settle into the game and execute early,” Robinson said. “Try to take the crowd out the

$80 million in NIL approved by College Sports Commission

BY EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer

The new College Sports Commission has cleared more than 8,300 name, image and likeness deals worth nearly $80 million, it said Thursday in its first full update on how the new system is working. The commission, which is in charge of approving contracts worth $600 or more between college athletes and third-party companies that pay them, said 28,342 students signed up on its NIL Go platform between June 11, when it launched, and Aug. 31 Nearly 3,200 “representatives” or agents had also signed up. The platform was created as part of the House settlement, which allows schools to pay athletes directly for their NIL, while also offering them a chance to make money from

outside groups. NIL Go is in charge of analyzing the outside deals.

It said 332 deals had not been cleared to date and 75 had been resubmitted, while none had entered arbitration, which is available for parties who feel their deals have been wrongly rejected.

The commission said the most common clearance issues were delays in attesting to or providing required information; contradictory deal terms, misreporting of deal terms or mistakes in entering deal terms; and deals that don’t satisfy the “valid business purpose” requirement that caused confusion when the platform first rolled out.

The CSC said values of the deals ranged as high as $1.8 million. It said its “deal flow reports” will be updated on a regular basis.

LSU

Continued from page 1C

we were going to have runs for 8, 10, 12 yards, we were getting three, four and five yards. We’ve got to finish a little better.”

Hot hands for San Jose

Danny Scudero isn’t large for a college receiver, but he had big game against Central Michigan. The 5-foot-9, 174-pound sophomore caught nine passes for 189 yards — both career bests — and a touchdown in his first game for San Jose State. Scudero’s touchdown covered 45 yards. He had another reception for 46. Scudero had 53 receptions for 667 yards and five touchdowns for Sacramento State last season.

Pretty salty defense

The Longhorns were pleased that they limited Ohio State to 203 yards and 3.8 per play but disappointed that they did not force any turnovers. Last season, Texas forced 31 turnovers, which ranked No. 1 nationally “We weren’t good enough with the second tackler in attacking the ball,” Sarkisian said. “When the first guy had him wrapped up, we really pride ourselves on the second guy punching and stripping the ball.”

Another big target

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers had valuable tight ends the past two seasons, both now in the NFL, Ja’Tavion Sanders with Carolina and Gunnar Helm with Tennessee. The starter this season is Jack Endries, a 6-4, 234-pound junior transfer Endries had 56 receptions for Cal last season and had four for 50 yards at Ohio State.

game,that’sgonnabehard.Weknow how passionate the Jaguar fans are, so it’s gonna be a big challenge and that’s how we’re looking at it.”

Southern will have to ensure that the opposite happens. The Hornets are hungry after losing 52-42 on the road at UAB Aug. 28. Despite the defeat, they appear to be one of the more high-powered offenses in the SWAC after a single-game conference-high 518 total yards of offense. Graves’ players are aware of their opponents’ scoring, but aren’t concerned. Southern players said they like the challenge and the fact the home opener has the feel of a bigtimegame.Theonlythinglefttodois give the fans what they want: a win.

yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Bulldogs lost all seven matchups he started against SEC opponents.

“Remember, he was thrown into the fire as a true freshman, right?” Kelly said. “So even though he did play, I’m not sure he knew a lot of stuff that was going on. He instinctually just played and did what he does as a quarterback. He is so much further along in terms of his depth of knowledge of protections and progressions and what things look like.”

LSU’s only other scholarship quarterback is Colin Hurley, a redshirt freshman who’s now fully recovered from the serious car crash that hospitalized him in January Throughout preseason camp, he practiced behind Van Buren.

Both Hurley and Van Buren may one day battle for LSU’s starting quarterback job. But for now, they’ll try to take advantage of any snaps they may play in the Tigers’ three nonconference games against overmatched, nonpower conference opponents (LA Tech, Southeastern Louisiana and Western Kentucky Van Buren will be the first LSU quarterback off the bench.

“He’s a talented player,” Kelly said “He’s one that we feel that if he had to go in, we can win the game with him in there, and that’s what you want with your No. 2 quarterback.”

Kelly on transfer windows

The NCAA could soon eliminate college football’s spring transfer portal window, while shortening the one that opens in the winter

And Kelly supports that change, as he said Thursday in a news conference.

“We think that’s going to allow us to set our rosters for the rest of the year,” Kelly said, “not put us in a position where we’re using revenue share or NIL and then we don’t see them because they transfer

“So yeah, I think that that’s a great move.”

The current calendar allows college football players to transfer in one of two windows: a 20day period that begins on Dec. 8 and a 10-day period that begins on April 16.

The proposed change to the calendar — recommended Thursday by the NCAA’s FBS oversight committee is to drop the spring window entirely and chop 10 days off the winter window, which would now open on Jan. 2 after the College Football Playoff’s quarterfinal round is complete and close on Jan. 11.

The NCAA’s Division I administrative committee must approve the change before Oct. 1 for it to take effect.

Last year, LSU signed 16 transfers in the winter and two in the spring.

By the numbers

LSU brings a 37-game winning streak against in-state opponents into Saturday’s game against LA Tech and is 142-25-8 against Louisiana schools overall That includes a 19-1 record against the Bulldogs.

LSU and LA Tech last met in 2018, with the Tigers winning 3821 at home. In all non-conference home games, LSU is 67-1 since 2000, the only loss coming in 2017 against Troy

The Tigers are also 19-2 at home under Kelly

Gannon’s trackrecord‘notgood’ vs.Moore

BY MATTHEW PARAS and LUKE JOHNSON Staff writers

As opposing coaches, Kellen Moore and Jonathan Gannon haven’tfaced each other in three years. They were coordinators then,when Moore called plays for the Dallas Cowboys and Gannon did the same for the Philadelphia Eagles’ defense. But when thetwo were in theNFC East, there was atwo-year stretch when their teams battled twice per year

And Gannon still remembers the damage

“If you go backand look at my track record against him,” said Gannon, now the coach of the Arizona Cardinals, “it’snot good, truthfully.” Moore holds a3-1 record overGannon, whichiswhy the Cardinals coach said he hassucha“high opinion” of the New Orleans Saints’ newest coach ahead of their season-opening matchup Sunday.Moore will look to win his debut as ahead coach, while Gannon enters histhird year with theCardinals. In three of the four matchups, Moore’sunit hung 34, 51

and 40 points on Gannon’s defense— resultinginvictories for the Cowboys.

The pieces, of course, will be much different Sunday, but theway Moore approached those matchups from agame-planningand play-calling standpoint clearly left an impression on Gannon.

“He’svery creative,” Gannon told reportersWednesdayinArizona. “It makes it very hard on adefense, how he calls the game. He’s been in acoupleofdifferent stopsand his offenses playina way that’shard to defend. It really is, and not just because he’sgot good players. Take thatout of it Schematically,he’shardto defend. Thepace that he plays withishard to defend. It puts you on your heels.

“And he’salwaysbeen ahead of me, so we’ve got our work cut out for (us).”

Gannon’slone victory over Moore came in Week 6 of the 2022 season —when the Eagles held theCowboys to just 17 points in a26-17 win.

Dallas, however,notably played that game without startingquarterback Dak Prescott, with backup Cooper Rush filling in.

be in this (type of defense) andsureashell, Iwas in that and he got me “He’sgood. He’sreally good.There’s no wonder he’s ahead coach.”

DE Youngsidelined

Aday after suffering acalf injury,Saints defensive end ChaseYoung did not participate in Thursday’spractice.

Mooreobviously won’t have Prescott on Sundayeither,asthe Saintswill start Spencer Rattler at quarterback. The 37-year-old also had high praise for Gannon, who Mooresaid designs an “innovative system” thatrelies on a“ton of flexibilitywithin their structure.”

Sunday’smatchup won’t exactlybethe same type of chess match as theirpreviousmeetings. In Arizona, Gannon electednot to call

thedefense’splays and turned over theresponsibilities to defensive coordinator Nick Rallis.

Moore, though, will call plays for New Orleans— keeping Gannon on his toes.

“Hetypically designs it the right way,” Gannon said.“Youlook back,the art of learning. Coaches aren’t alwaysright in howtheydesign agame plan. Whenever Iplayedthem, he wasalways right. Thought iwas gonna

Moore downplayed the injury afterWednesday’s practice, saying Young “just had alittle something,” but his absence Thursday now creates some doubt abouthis availability for the Saints’ Week 1opener against the Arizona Cardinals —what would be a huge defensive loss as New Orleans kicks off its 2025 season After practice, Young did notofferwhether or not he would play,but said he does not consider his injury to be along-term issue.

TheSaints pass rusher signed abig contract extension this offseason, and looked poised to deliver on his promise in 2025. He turned in an impressive training camp under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, routinely disrupting the Saints’ offensive plays.

If Young can’t go,itwould leaveNew Orleanswith Carl Granderson, Cam Jordan and Chris Rumph at its edge position. Seventh-round rookie Fadil Diggs could also be acandidate to be called up from the practicesquad. The only other change to the injury report Thursdaywas defensive tackle Khristian Boyd (hand) being upgradedtoa full participant. Defensive back Alontae Taylor (groin) and safety Jordan Howden (oblique) continued to be limited, while Trevor Penning (toe) missedpractice.

Transactions

With Young nursing acalf injury,Saintshaveadded another pass rusher The Saints signeddefensive end Garrett Nelson to the practice squad Thursday andreleasedquarterback Hunter Dekkers from it, the team announced. Nelson, whois6-foot-3 and249 pounds, spent the summer with the Denver Broncos after aUFL stint with the San Antonio Brahmas. Nelsonwent undrafted outofNebraska in 2023. In four yearsfor the Cornhuskers, he recorded 167 tackles, 27 tacklesfor loss and12sacks.

Chiefs andChargersclash in Brazil in NFL’ssecondgame

BY BETH HARRIS AP sportswriter

Once again, the Kansas City Chiefs open the season coming off aSuper Bowl.

This time is different, though. They’re not the champions.

Last year,the Chiefs were trying to become the first team in NFL history to win three straight Super Bowls. But they got blown out 40-22 by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Already one of the NFL’s dynasties, the Chiefs are looking to add to their lore heading into the season opener on Friday nightagainst the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil, the second NFL game in South America.

“Wegot alot of guys that are super hungry and want to go out there and put on a show,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomessaid

The Chargers have their own motivation, having lost

DUNCAN

Continued from page1C

defensive scheme and new play-callers on both sides of the ball. Nine of the projected 22 starters for the opener are different from the lineup that started Week 1last season. Twenty-four of the 53 players on the active roster are new Tenofthem are rookies With so many new,inexperienced moving parts, growing pains are not just expected. They are inevitable. Whether the Saints callit arebuilding season or not, that’sexactly what we’re looking at. It makes sense to play the long game and think big picture, considering the state of the roster, the club’srecent salary cap issues and the relative inexperience of their head coach and quarterback.

In Moore and Spencer Rattler,the Saints will field the youngest head coachquarterback battery in the league. Moore turned 37 in July.Rattler will turn25 in Week 3, making him the second youngest startingquarterback in franchise history behind Archie Manning. Winning with such a young combo isn’timpossible. The Los Angeles Rams went 11-5 in 2017 with 23-year-old Jared Goff at quarterback and Sean McVay as a31-year-old rookie head coach. And Kevin O’Connell led the Minnesota Vikings to a13-4 record in his first NFL season at age 37 But more often than not, the merciless NFL

seven straight to theChiefs “Two opposing wills meeting each other,” second-year Chargers coachJim Harbaugh said. “If you don’tlike thechallenge, you don’tlike to compete.” Harbaugh guided the Chargers to awild-cardappearance last season while revivinga woebegonefranchise that hadsingle-digit winsinfouroffive previous seasons. He overhauled the roster andimplemented a culture change.

“He wants to win all the time,”said wide receiver Keenan Allen, who is back with the Chargers after a season in Chicago.

While the Chiefshave owned theAFC West for the last nine seasons, the Chargers haven’twon aplayoff game since the 2018 season

eatsits young.

“Wehave thetalent,we’ve gotthe guys,now we gotto just go out there and do it,” Rattler said. “We’reexcited to get out there and show theworld what we got.”

Fewoutside the504 area codeare as optimistic about theSaints’ chances. ESPN ranks their roster as the least talentedinthe NFL. The Saints didn’thave a single representative on the NFL’slistoftop 100players. Almost everypreseason powerrankinglists the Saints last or next-to-last to last in the league.Meanwhile,Vegas oddsmakers have made them underdogs in all but one game this seasonand assigned them 400-to-1 odds to win the SuperBowl, making them the longest shots in the league. The lasttime the Saints entered aseasonwith such lowexpectations was2006 —and we allknowhow that turnedout. Indeed, dramatic turnaroundshappen often in the NFL. TheHouston Texans went from worst to first in 2023. TheWashington Commandersdid it last season. Theleague’sbusiness model is built to ensure parity Can Moore, Rattler and theSaints thread theneedle in arebuilding campaign? It’spossible. Buta lot will need to go right For starters, theSaints will need to stay healthy, something they haven’t done in recent years. The roster remains shy of experienced depth, largely because of astringofsubpar recent drafts. The Saints’ starting units are relatively talentedand experienced. If theycan stay healthy,itwill

and quarterback Justin Herbert has no playoff victories on his resume.

Allen,one of Herbert’sfavorite targets during their previousrun together,sees amorecomfortableHerbert since their recent reunion.

“Everything hasslowed down for him and he’scomposedand more confident,” Allen said. Mahomes and the Chiefs arelooking to set the tone forthe season withawin over their division rival.

“I feel like we’ve gotten better and better and better each year,” Chiefs cornerback TrentMcDuffie said, “and Ithink guys are comfortable now.Webrought backmost of thedefense, and we all kind of know how each other plays. Ialways sayCoach Spags’(Steve Spagnuolo) thingthis year, ‘Be bold, be great,’ like that’s truly just what we want to be.”

be abig step toward acompetitive season. Because of the inexperience at quarterback, the defense and running gamewill need to be improved from a year ago. Defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’scomplex 3-4 scheme is highly regarded around the NFL, but it’snew to the Saints and will have to incorporate six new starters and others switching to new positions. The unit will need to coalesce quickly to take the pressure off Rattlerand the offense. Meanwhile, therunning game will need to carry the load offensively,especially early as Rattler finds his footing. For that to happen, the line, which features multiple high draft picks, needs to play at ahigh level. And finally,the Saints could use alittle luck. They’re due forthings to go their way Afew fortunate breaks and bounces of theballcan instill confidenceand create momentum. Exhibit A: the 2024 Commanders. If Moore can push the right buttons and Rattler can overcome his inexperience, the Saintshave a chance to compete in the perennially weak NFC South division. But alot of things have to fall into place.

More likely,achallenging season awaits. Patience will need to be a virtue for Saintsfans this season. Understandably that reality might be abitter pill to swallow,given theclub’sstringoffour consecutive playoff-less seasons. Butall signs point to adifficult season. That’susually how rebuilds work, even if they’re called something else.

Defensivedefects

Thebiggest concern on defense for the Chiefs comes in stopping the run. In fact, they had to reacquire defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi in atradewiththe Jets last week after theywereunsatisfied with theirperformance up front in thepreseason.

Slip slidin’away Everyone from LosAnge-

les Lakers superstar LeBron James to retired NFL player J.J. Watt weighed in on the spotty field conditions at Arena Corinthians during last year’sgame at the same soccer stadium in Sao Paulo. Players on theGreen Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles struggled to keep their footing on thefield, withsome falling or slipping on the mixof naturalgrass andsynthetic fibers.

Chargers running back Najee Harris said slippery conditions are“extremely difficult”because of the forceheexerts making cuts. Typically,players wear cleats withshort rubberor plastic studs to provide safe traction. He’ll have screw-in cleats available, whichhave studs that are threaded into the sole, allowing players to change the length of the studs to match different playing conditions.

You knowhim well.Scotthas been covering LSU since 1992. He is theauthor of three highly acclaimed booksonLSU and was chosen as an LSU Expertfor ESPN’s SEC 150 Documentary

Each Monday,Scottwill puthis thoughts on the last week’sgameand thenextweek’sgame into avideo essayplacing the game in its context anddrawing historical parallels

FREE FIRST SUNDAY

Get complimentaryadmission from noon to 4p.m. at these locations:the CarySaurageCommunity Arts Center, Magnolia Mound Museum +Historic Site, Louisiana Art& Science Museum, the Capitol Park Museum, the LSU Museum of Art, the Old State Capitol and Old Governor’sMansion.

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

7:30 p.m.Tuesday l Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St l $40-$60 l manshiptheatre.org and karlabonoff.com

Songstress brings her hits to La. ‘personally’

BY JOHN WIRT

Contributing writer

When Karla Bonoff was an aspiringsinger-songwriter,she didn’twrite her songs for others to sing.

CELEBRATING LOCAL MUSIC

The Red Stick Rhythms ConcertSeries will bring musicians to the Main Library at Goodwood through November CatchMr. Versatile akaLil Daddyand International Bleuskiinthe plaza from 6p.m.to8 p.m. Sunday.Bring achair and catch the show. ebrpl.com.

FALL INTO HISTORY

Spend the dayatthe historic Old Governor’sMansion, 502 North Blvd., where nine former state leaders and their familieslived. This free event will offer fall fun—food trucks, musical acts, yard games and history—from 11 a.m. to 4p.m.Sunday. laogm.org

But then, after striving for years in the crowded LosAngeles music scene, Bonoff gave her work to afew famous voices. Linda Ronstadtrecorded three Bonoff songs —“Someone to Lay Down Beside Me,” “IfHe’s Ever Near” and “LoseAgain” —for her1976album, “Hasten Down the Wind.” Another Bonoff composition, “Home,” made the track list for Bonnie Raitt’s1977album, “Sweet Forgiveness.”

“When you don’tknow where your career is going,” Bonoff said of her tough early years, “and someone who sells amillion records wants to do your song, you’d be stupidnot to letthem.” Bonoff, who’sperforming Tuesday at the Manship Theatre, eventuallyclinchedamajor label deal.In1977, Columbia Records released her self-titled album debutaswell as 1979’s“Restless Nights” and 1982’s“Wild Heart of the Young” albums.

Bonoff’s third Columbia album containedher Top40hit, “Personally.” The songstress whose words and melodies had been recorded by stars didn’t write “Personally.” Afriend, Glenn Frey of the Eagles, introduced hertothe song, which hadbeen an unsuccessful single for rhythm-and-blues singer Jackie Moore.

“Glenn played the Jackie Mooreversion of ‘Personally for me and the light went on,” Bonoff remembered. “I said, ‘Oh,I should recordthat. That sounds like ahit.’ ” Bonoff’s instincts proved correct. The catchy and gently grooving“Personally”peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the song’smusic video received airplayonthe newly launched MTV

“In those days,” Bonoff reflected, “the record company pushed you to have up-tempo songs for singles. Becauseballads weren’tplayed much on the radio. It was along time after that when someone like Sarah McLachlan could have ‘Angel.’ So, Ialways needed something thatcould be asingle, becauseotherwisethese albums wouldn’tsell or get promoted.”

In addition to “Personally,” Bonoff’s finalColumbiaalbumfeatured eightofher own compositions.Not aprolific songwriter,her songs nevertheless have been recorded by the previously mentioned Rait and Ronstadt as well as Aaron Neville (with Ronstadt), Wynonna Judd, Trisha Yearwood andLynn Anderson. She’s also

SMASHING SUCCESS

BY JUDY BERGERON Staff writer

The numbersare in for the first Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival, and it’s officially aboxoffice hit.

Presented by Visit Baton Rouge, the four-day event Aug. 21-24 drew 1,800-plus attendees over the course of thefestival. Original projections for theinaugural event were200 to 500 people.

“Weknewwehad afantastic programorganized,” said Joe Carleton, financial director of the nonprofit BRUFF.“Theonly thing left was to wonder,‘Will BatonRouge show up for itsfilmmakers?’ We are happy to report that Baton Rouge showed up in a major way.Wesaw an absolutely electrifying energyinevery singleroom, allthe way from 10 a.m. to midnight each day.” During the festival at the Man-

ship Theatre,10feature-length films and 39 short film projects wereshowcased, highlighting independent film in Louisiana and across the globe.

“At BRUFF,our mission has alwaysbeen to platform incredible filmmakersand thisyear,there was no shortage of them,” said BRUFF Creative Director Brendan Pyron. “Wecreated 13 awards to celebrate the talented artists screening at the festival, especially those who went aboveand beyond in their craft. Theseawards areareflection of the passion and dedication that makeBRUFF such aspecial place to showyour film.” The winners were: n Best Picture,Louisiana ShortsBlock,“Ruby,” directed by Jaclyn Bethany n Best Picture,Louisiana Genre Shorts Block,“Benediction,” written and directed by

Gathered at the opening night festivalgalaare fromleft, Baton RougeUnderground Film Festival board member KellySwift, financial director JoeCarleton, technical director Michael Prince-Bouton, board member Jenika Kolacz, and co-creative directors Brendan Pyron and

Louisianamakes return to Rose parade on

BY JUDYBERGERON Staff writer

By The Associated Press

Today is Friday,Sept. 5, the 248th day of 2025. There are 117 days left in the year

Todayinhistory:

On Sept. 5, 1972, Palestinian militants attacked the Israeli Olympic delegation at the Munich Games, killing two andtaking nine others hostage; five of the militants, aGerman police officer and all nine hostages were killed in the following24 hours.

Also on this date:

In 1774, the first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

In 1836, Sam Houston won the first presidential electioninthe newly established Republicof Texas.

In 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth was signed, ending the Russo-Japanese war; for his efforts in mediating the peace negotiations, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following year.

In 1957, Jack Kerouac’snovel “On the Road” was published.

In 1960, Muhammad Ali (as Cassius Clay) won the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing division at the Olympic Games in Rome.

In 1975, President Gerald R. Ford survived an assassination attempt by Lynette “Squeaky”

PARADE

Continued from page1D

“Really early on in my music career,probably 2023, Iremember seeing Lainey Wilson representing Louisiana at the RoseParade and thinking, man, that would be really cool if one day Ihad the honor to represent my stateat such agreat event like that,” Foster said last week in aFacebook video. “…It’sgoing to be such an amazing event, so whether you tune in live or whether you come to Pasadena, please join me and I can’twait to see you there.” Foster,19and anative of Addis, finished as runner-up on Season 23 of ABC singing competition series “AmericanIdol” in May Since the show,he’sperformed close to home, with two sold-out performances at The Texas Club in BatonRouge,and nationally with apair of shows at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. He’ll sing soon at the Opry for athird time Meanwhile, Foster’sfall calendar is filling up with the following concerts:

n Sept. 7: Little Cousin Jasper Festival, Rensselaer,Indiana

n Sept. 13: Grand Old Opry, Nashville

n Oct. 3: Fort Bend County Fair &Rodeo, Rosenberg, Texas

n Oct. 5: Gretna Fest, Gretna

n Oct. 10: The Blue Note, Columbia, Missouri

n Oct. 24: Homecoming Concert, Plaquemine

n Oct. 25: Hobart Arena, Troy, Ohio.

The Rose Parade’stheme is “The Magic in Teamwork.” The Louisiana float, Gulf to Gumbo, will recognize all the individuals who contribute to Louisiana’s mostfamous dish. Thefloatwill feature ashrimp boat, fresh Louisiana seafood andalarger-thanlife chef bringing it all together, according to anews release from the LouisianaDepartment of

BONOFF

Continued from page1D

recorded duets of her songswith Vince Gill and Michael McDonald Bonoff’s especially popular creations include “All My Life.” Originallyatrack on her1988 album, “NewWorld,”it’sone of Ronstadt’sduets with Neville on her 1989album, “Cry Like aRainstorm, Howl Like the Wind.”“All My Life” reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won the Grammy Award for best pop performance by aduo or group with vocals.

“Linda was lookingfor asong to do with Aaron,” Bonoff recalled. “I suggested ‘All My Life.’ At one point, they said, ‘Why don’tyou sing it (in the studio with them) andwe’ll use thatasamap.’ The songworked greatfor them. I think it’swonderful.”

In the vibrant Los Angeles music scene of the late 1960s through early’70s, Bonoffsaw writing and performing as inseparable. An L.A. native, she wasinthe right place and time to become asinger-songwriter.Beingthere, for instance, provided theopportunity to study guitar

When preparingprecooked chicken

Fromme,a disciple of Charles Manson, in Sacramento, California.

In 1986, fourhijackerswho hadseized aPan Am jumbo jet on thegroundinKarachi, Pakistan, opened fire on the jet’spassengers; atotal of 20 passengers andcrew members were killed before Pakistani commandos stormed the jetliner In 1991, the 35th annual Naval Aviation Symposium held by the Tailhook Association opened in LasVegas; duringthe four-day gathering, there were reports that as manyas90 people, most of them women, weresexually assaulted or otherwise harassed. (The episode triggered the resignation of NavySecretary Henry L. Garrett III.)

Today’sbirthdays: Actor Lucille Soong (TV:“Fresh Off the Boat”) is 90. Baseball Hall of Hamer Bill Mazeroskiis89. Actor William Devane is 86. Actor George Lazenby is 86. Film director Werner Herzog is 83. Singer Al Stewart is 80. “Cathy” cartoonist Cathy Guisewite is 75. Actor Michael Keaton is 74. Actor Rose McGowan is 52. Olympic gold medalgymnast Tatiana Gutsu is 49. Actor Carice VanHouten is 49. Mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou is 39. Olympic gold medalfigure skater Yuna Kim is 35. Soccer player Bukayo Saka is 24.

PROVIDED PHOTO FROM JOHN FOSTER MUSIC

Rising country singer and ‘American Idol’runner-up John Foster,anAddisnative, will representLouisiana in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Tourism

The state’sparticipation in the 2025 paradeyielded media coverage that reached an advertising value of morethan $50million, the release also said.

The 137th Rose Parade will roll at 10 a.m.Jan. 1, and will airlive all over the world through Rose Parade broadcastpartners, including ABC,NBC, Univision and Pluto TV

For information on how to join Louisiana to decorate the 2026 Louisiana float in Pasadena,visit the ExploreLouisianaRose Parade webpage.

Email Judy Bergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.

with folkmusician, educator and songcollector FrankHamilton. The lessons happenedatBarney Kessel’sMusicWorld on Vine Street, up the hill from the Capitol Recordstower at Hollywood andVine.

“Frank was amusical genius,” Bonoff said. “He was amentor, really,much more thana guitar teacher.”

Lessons with Hamilton included “The Water is Wide,” the traditional Scottish folk song that’s become astaple of Bonoff’s concerts.Inthe streaming era, it’s amongher most popularrecordings.

Duringher teens,Bonoff played openmic nightsatThe Troubadour on SantaMonica Boulevard —during theera when The Troubadour presented the solo,Los Angeles and/or U.S. debuts of Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Neil Young, James Taylor, Kris Kristofferson and Billy Joel.

“I was younger than those acts, learning, in my late teens, in the middle of it,” Bonoff remembered. “There was so much music and so many clubs, concerts. You couldgoout every night in L.A. andhear somebody amazing.”

Email John Wirt at j_wirt@msn. com.

Dear Heloise: Ilove precooked whole chickens from the grocery store as much as anyone, but Idislike the fat in them. So, Idothis: When Ibuy one, Iremove the chicken pieces from it while it’sstill hot/warm and put them into acontainer spread out flat Ithen put apaper towel on top of it, repeating the layers and pressing down on each one. Youwill end up with less fat and still have adelicious chicken. Removethe paper towels andrefrigerate. —CaryS., via email Cary,when Ibuy aprecooked chicken, Iusually takeitout of theplastic container,and using

FRIDAY

LIVE MUSIC: Cane River Pecan CompanyPie Bar New Iberia, 5p.m

MELISSASINGS: Adopted DogBrewing,Lafayette, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson,6 p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza&Brewery,Lafayette, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s, Broussard, 6p.m

JAKE KNOTT: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

THE CAST: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE &FRENCH

ROCKIN BOOGIE: La PoussiereCajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 7p.m

HIGH NOTES FEATURING

GREGWRIGHT: Chez La Fête, Lafayette, 7p.m

LEAN ON THE SCENE: The Loose Caboose, Lafayette, 7p.m

MATT GARYTRIO: Whiskey &Vine, Lafayette, 7p.m

X-CHANGE: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7p.m

“FENCES” BY AUGUST

WILSON: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

ANDREW DUHON: Acadiana Center for the Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m.

JULIAN PRIMEAUX: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8p.m

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8p.m

SPANK THE MONKEY: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9p.m

SATURDAY

CHUBBYCARRIER: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 8a.m

DON FONTENOTBAND: Fred’s, Mamou,8 a.m.

ZYDECO BREAKFAST: St Landry Parish Courthouse Square, Opelousas, 9a.m.

SATURDAY MORNING JAM

SESSIONS: Savoy Music Center,Eunice,9 a.m.

CAJUN JAMLED BY RICK AND TOMMY MICHOT: Moncus Park,Lafayette, 9a.m

CAJUN JAM: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

CAJUN FRENCH MUSIC

JAM: Vermilionville, Lafayette, 1p.m

DRUM CIRCLE: NUNU Arts &CultureCollective, Arnaudville, 2:30 p.m.

COLBYHEBERT&FRIENDS: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3p.m

GREGGORDON PROJECT: BayouTeche Brewing, Arnaudville, 4p.m

DERRICK SAVOIE: Adopted DogBrewing,Lafayette, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Charley G’s

FESTIVAL

Continuedfrom page1D

paper towels, Ipress the towels all over the chicken to remove as much oil and fatasI can. I like to buy whole chickens rather than parts. —Heloise Newbluejeans

Dear Heloise: Ijust bought three pairs of jeans, two black andone dark blue. How do Ikeep them from fading after they’ve been washed several times? —Carrie R., in New London, Connecticut Carrie, here is what Idotokeep my jeanslooking new and nice: n Always turn your jeans inside out before washing them.Never use starch on your jeans. (And yes, somefolks do.)

n Useamild detergent and cold water.Only launder your jeans when they are dirty and spotclean when you can rather than washing the entire jean. n According to Levi’s, never place your washedjeansinadryer Hangthemuptodry on ashower curtainrod or aclothesline —Heloise Ashiny surface

Dear Heloise: Isaw the tip regarding using cutup tissue paper to blot oil off your face. An easier solution is using end papers, which can be bought at abeauty supply! —Patricia B.,via email Sendahinttoheloise@heloise com.

SHOWSTOWATCH —ACADIANA

at 7p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11. Joining the showwill be Ashland Craft, Cole

Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Prejean’s Broussard, 6p.m

LIVE MUSIC: Jim Deggy’s Brick Oven Pizza&Brewery,Lafayette, 6p.m.

CAJUN BREAKFAST: Naq’sn-Duson,Duson, 6p.m.

BEAUYOUNG: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m.

TONY BRUCE &CLASSIC COUNTRY: Buck & Johnny’s, Breaux Bridge, 6:30 p.m.

NEXT GENZYDECO: Silver Slipper, Arnaudville, 7p.m.

TET DUR: Pat’sAtchafalaya Club, Henderson, 7p.m.

BLUE BURNS BAND: Whiskey&Vine, Lafayette, 7p.m

“FENCES” BY AUGUST WILSON: Cité des Arts, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m. 4-HORSES: La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall, Breaux Bridge, 8p.m

AMIS DU TECHE: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8p.m.

JAMIE BERGERON &THE KICKIN’ CAJUNS: Lakeview Park,Eunice, 8p.m

LIVE MUSIC: The Barrel of Broussard, Broussard, 8p.m

EIGHTIES EXPERIENCE: Rock ’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 9p.m

TERRY&THE ZYDECO BAD BOYS: The Grouse Room, Lafayette, 9p.m

SUNDAY

GLENN ZERINGUE: Whiskey &Vine, Lafayette, 11 a.m. BRUNCH SHOW —ABI CLAIR: HideawayonLee, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Tante Marie, Breaux Bridge, 11 a.m.

LES FRERES MICHOT: Prejean’s,Carencro, 11:30 a.m.

JAMBALAYA ACOUSTIC MUSIC JAM: Tom’s

Zandashé Brown n Best PictureShortsand Pilots Block, “R&R,”directed by JJ Herz

n Best Picture, GenreShorts Block, “The Travelerand the Troll,” directed by Adam Murray n Best Picture,Student Shorts Block, “Lucid,” directed by Marcelle Tiblier

n Best Picture, Animation and Documentaries, “Jan Beauboeuf: TheCreative Spirit,”directed by Graham Holt n Best Picture, “F*ckToys,” Annapurna Sriram, TimPetryni Trashtown Pictures n Best Director,“Off Ramp,” Nathan Tape n Best Cinematog rap h y, “F*cktoys,”Cory Fraiman-Lott

n Best Performance, “FanBoy,”

Jon Washington n Best Louisiana Feature, “Senior Prank,” directed by Bailey Waxand Gray Fagan, Fagan Films

n Best Editing, “TimeTravel is

Fiddle&Bow,Arnaudville

12:30 p.m

BALDUDIMANCHE—

JAMIE BERZAS &CAJUN

TRADITION: Vermilionville Lafayette, 1p.m.

CAJUN JAM: BayouTeche Brewing, Arnaudville, 2p.m.

GENO DELAFOSE: Cypress Cove Landing, Breaux Bridge, 3p.m.

SINGER/SONGWRITER OPEN MIC: Adopted Dog Brewing, Lafayette, 4p.m.

JUSTIN CORNETT: Pat’s Atchafalaya Club,Henderson, 4:30 p.m

LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m.

JESSE BROWN TRIO WITH GINA FORSYTH: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8p.m.

MONDAY

PATRICIO LATINO SOLO: Cafe Habana City, Lafayette, 11 a.m.

BLUE MONDAYJAM —A SALUTE TO MALACO &STAXRECORDS: The GrouseRoom, Lafayette, 5p.m. LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m. THE DAVE MOUTON EXPERIENCE: The Brass Room, Lafayette, 7p.m.

BLUEGRASS JAM: Citédes Arts, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m

TUESDAY

TERRYHUVAL &FRIENDS: Prejean’s Restaurant Lafayette, 6p.m.

PAUL TASSIN: Whiskey& Vine,Lafayette, 6p.m. LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m.

KILLER KARAOKE: Freetown Boom Boom Room, Lafayette, 8p.m.

Dangerous,” Chris Reading, AnnaElizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare n Best Writing, “Crossword,” Michael Vlamis and Kyle Anderson. With major support fromthe city and state, as well as manylocal companies and individuals, the festival awardedmore than $50,000 in grantstolocal filmmakers:

n Panavision Grant, “Trip,” No

One Productions, directed by Mack Cormier,$15,000 camera rental

n Celtic Studios Grant, “Senior Prank,” FaganFilms, directed by Bailey Waxand Gray Fagan, five freedays of stage space at Celtic Studios soundstages n Shoestring Award, “Contact,” directed by Reece Loustalot, $5,000 cash to be utilized to create anew project, also includes supportfrom the festivaldirectors in order to properlyplan, budget and execute their project.

“Wecreated theBaton Rouge Underground Film Festival to celebrate, support and uplift thevisionarynew voices coming to and

WEDNESDAY DULCIMERJAM: St. Landry VisitorCenter,Opelousas, 10 a.m.

CHARLES AND WENDY: Whiskey& Vine,Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Park Bistro, Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m.

RAEKWON GREEN: Tap Room, Youngsville, 6:30 p.m

CAJUN JAM: Blue Moon Saloon, Lafayette, 8p.m.

THURSDAY

JOSH LEBLANCTRIO: Whiskey& Vine,Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Naq’s-n-Duson, Duson, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: CharleyG’s Seafood Grill, Lafayette, 6p.m.

LIVE MUSIC: Buck & Johnny’s, BreauxBridge 6p.m.

TROUBADOUR: SHUCKS!, Abbeville, 6:30 p.m LUKE BRYAN: Cajundome, Lafayette, 7p.m. BRAVO BROADWAY: Heymann Performing Arts Center,Lafayette, 7p.m. HORACE TRAHAN: Rock’n’ Bowl, Lafayette, 7:30 p.m

ABI &KJ: Gloria’s Bar & Grill, Lafayette, 8p.m.

PRENDSCOURAGE TRIO: Hideaway on Lee, Lafayette, 8p.m.

Compiledby

MarchaundJones

Want yourvenue’s music listed?

Email info/photos to showstowatch@ theadvocate.com. The deadline is noon FRIDAY forthe following Friday’spaper.

from our community,said BRUFF Creative Director Nathan Hall. “By investing in our local talent, we ensure that thenextgeneration of filmmakers continue to stay and create here in BatonRouge andthe surrounding area.”

Adozen-plus volunteersalso assisted the festival.

If you or someoneyou know is interested in volunteering to help support BRUFF,send an email to info@batonrougeunderground. com.

“The festival’ssuccess is shared by our team of volunteers whose warmth, generosity and service turned BRUFF into atrue community,” said BRUFF Technical Director Michael Prince-Bouton. “We’re proud to celebrate their efforts as an important part of what madethis year asuccess.”

The BatonRouge Underground Film Festival is acertified 501©(3) organization. If you are interested in supporting Louisiana film and making atax-deductible donation, visit BatonRougeUnderground. com. Alist of sponsors also can be found there.

7:30 p.m., Manship Theatre’s Hartley/Vey Studio Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. A night filled with unscripted hilarity and surprises. Rated R-ish due to improv content. $14 manshiptheatre.org.

FRIDAY NIGHT LECTURE:

7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., BREC’s Highland Road Park Observatory, 13800 Highland Road. Skygazing tips, physics phenomena, space programs and famous events are covered. For ages 14 and older. Free. hrpo.lsu.edu. Also, evening sky viewing from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday.

SATURDAY

BATON ROUGE ARTS

MARKET: 8 a.m. to noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Vendors sell a variety of unique, original works of art including pottery, woodwork, textiles glass, paintings, sculptures, photographs, handmade soaps, handmade toys, jewelry and more. artsbr.org.

RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 8 a.m. to noon, Fifth and Main streets, downtown. Farm-fresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada.org.

FIRST RESPONDER COM-

MUNITY EVENT: 10 a.m.1 p.m., Old Bogan Fire Station, 427 Laurel St. A day of exploration and engagement from first responder personnel and the equipment they use. Free. https://www.boganfire.com/. CREATIVE COLLAGE WORK-

SHOP: 10 a.m., The Red Shoes, 2303 Government St. Artist Veronica Hallock will lead a fun, hands-on exploration of collage. No experience needed. All materials are provided, but pre-registration is required. $30. theredshoes org.

FAMILY-HOUR STARGAZ-

ING: 10 a.m., Irene W Pennington Planetarium at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. Learn about the stars and constellations in the local nighttime sky, followed by an all-ages show. lasm.org.

“THE PLANTATION CAR-

PENTER”: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Audubon State Historic Site, 11788 La. 965, St. Francisville. Watch the park carpenter at work creating items for the park and learn about life for the enslaved carpenters who built most of Oakley Plantation. Regular admission applies. https:// audubonstatehistoricsite. wordpress.com/. TUNNELS2TOWERS BENEFIT CONCERT: 11 a.m.2 p.m., Mason’s Grill, 13556 Jefferson Highway. Free. (225) 756-8815.

EGYPTIAN STAR DANCE:

6 p.m., Irene W Pennington Planetarium, 100 S River Road. Dancers transform the night sky into a living story $25, adults; $10, children; or $15, adult members; $5, child members. tinyurl.com/ LASMEgyptianStarDance.

SUNDAY

“THE WILD ROBOT”: 10:30 a.m., Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Presented by Films at Manship. Family/sci-fi movie. “After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh surroundings, she

PROVIDED PHOTO

Celebrate the glamour and creativity of the Jazz Age while exploring the art of 1920s-style headwear at ‘Fascinate Me — A 1920s Chapeaux Affair’ at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum on Thursday Designers and co-founders Karla Coreil, left, and Jenn Loftin of Chapeaux, lead the fun.

bonds with the native animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.” Free. manshiptheatre.org.

FREE FIRST SUNDAY: Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road; Old State Capitol, 100 North Blvd.; Old Governors’ Mansion, 502 North Blvd.; Magnolia Mound Museum + Historic Site, 2161 Nicholson Drive; LSU Museum of Art, 100 Lafayette St.; and Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, 233 St. Ferdinand St. Free admission to all exhibits and installations, plus reduced-price entry to LASM’s Irene Pennington Planetarium shows

“ALL ABOUT RODRIGUE”:

1 p.m.-4 p.m., LSU Museum of Art, 100 Lafayette St. Create artwork inspired by George Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog.” Free. lsumoa.org.

MONTHLY CONTRA DANCE: 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m., St. Alban’s Chapel, corner of Highland Road and Dalrymple Drive. Newcomer instruction at 1:15 p.m. Singles and couples welcome. $7 per person; free for first-timers. Louisianacontrasandsquares.com or (225) 803-9194.

“PRINCESS MONONOKE”:

2 p.m., Manship Theatre 100 Lafayette St. Presented by Films at Manship Fantasy/adventure. “While seeking to cure himself of a curse, young warrior Ashitaka stumbles into a conflict between the people of Iron Town and Princess Mononoke, a girl raised by wolves, who will stop at nothing to prevent the destruction of her home.” $11.50. manshiptheatre.org.

ARTICULATE ARTIST TALK: 4 p.m., Dalrymple Drive. With exhibiting artists Rob Lamb Carpenter, David Dubose, Ross Jahnke and Jill Stoll. Free. batonrougegallery.org.

TUESDAY RED STICK FARMERS MARKET: 3 p.m.-6 p.m., Main Library at Goodwood, 7711 Goodwood Blvd. Farmfresh produce, goods, cooking demonstrations. breada.org.

MEDICINAL MYCOLOGY: PART II: 6:30- 8 p.m., LSU Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Road. Jordan Gros will guide participants through practical, accessible ways to “access the medicine in mushrooms” at home. $10, students and members of Hilltop and/or LMNGBR; $15, nonmembers; free Hilltop members at the Magnolia Level ($250) and above. www.lsu.edu/

hilltop.

TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m., Burgersmith, 18303 Perkins Road. Collect your team and jockey for first place. loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.

WEDNESDAY

RED STICK FARMERS

MARKET: 9 a.m. to noon, ExxonMobil YMCA, 7711 Howell Blvd. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. www.facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket.

TRIVIA NIGHT: 6:30 p.m. Burgersmith, 27350 Crossing Circle, Suite 150, Denham Springs. Collect your team and jockey for first place. loom.ly/y-CKtQ4.

THURSDAY

RED STICK FARMERS

MARKET: 8 a.m.-noon, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 6400 Perkins Road. Farm-fresh produce, goods and more. facebook.com/redstickfarmersmarket. “FASCINATE ME — A 1920S CHAPEAUX AFFAIR”:

5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Louisiana Art & Science Museum, 100 S. River Road. An Art After Hours event. $60, LASM members; $70, nonmembers. tinyurl.com/ LASMFascinateMe.

PUBLIC RECEPTION: 6 p.m.8 p.m., LSU Museum of Art, 100 Lafayette St. Celebrating fall exhibitions “A Bayou State of Mind” and “Carved and Crafted: The Art of Letterpress.” Free. lsumoa.org.

WEEKLY SOCIAL BIKE RIDE:

7 p.m., Geaux Ride, 521 N. Third St., Suite A. Free. fareharbor.com.

TRIVIA NIGHT: 7 p.m., Bayes Oyster Bar, 315 North Blvd. Test your trivia skills with your friends and family. Free.

ONGOING

ART GUILD OF LOUISIANA: Independence Park Theatre, 7800 Independence Blvd. “Workshop Show,” to Sept. 11. (225) 773-8020 or artguildlouisiana.org.

BATON ROUGE GALLERY CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART: 1515 Dalrymple Drive. Group exhibit by Rob Lamb Carpenter, David Dubose, Ross Jahnke and Jill Stoll, through Sept. 21. batonrougegallery.org.

CAPITOL PARK MUSEUM: 660 N. Fourth St. “Billy Cannon: They Called Him Legend,” through Jan. 10. “Grounds for Greatness: Louisiana and the Nation” and “The Louisiana Experience: Discovering the Soul of America,” permanent exhibits. (225) 342-5428 or louisianastatemuseum org.

GLASSELL GALLERY: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “Disk Full: Christine Breuning and Janna Ahrndt,” SaturdayOct. 9.

LOUISIANA ART & SCI-

ENCE MUSEUM: 100 S River Road. “Landscapes Along the Railway: The Art of John Cleaveland,” Soupçon Gallery; “Going Places: Transportation Toys of the Past,” Discovery Gallery; “Shelf Queens: Model Train Masterpieces,” Colonnade Gallery; “Threads of Evolution: Engineering a Community That Sparkles,” engineering meets imagination through the work of Jaime Glas Odom, founder and creative director of fashion brand Queen of Sparkles, through Nov. 9; “Discoveries on the Nile: Exploring King Tut’s Tomb and the Amin Egyptian Collection,” through Oct. 31. (225) 344-5272 or lasm. org.

LOUISIANA STATE ARCHIVES GALLERY: 3851 Essen Lane. “55th Annual River Road Show,” a national, juried show, through Sept. 23. Free. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

LSU MUSEUM OF ART: Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St. “A Bayou State of Mind,” highlighted by the exhibition “The Bayou Collection,” a series of 40 paintings by George Rodrigue, through Jan. 4. “Carved and Crafted: The Art of Letterpress,” through Sept. 21. (225) 3897200 or lsumoa.org.

MANSHIP THEATRE GALLERY: 100 Lafayette St. “Michalopoulos: Happy Times, Summer in the City,” through Oct. 10.

Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.11 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

MAGNOLIA MOUND MUSE-

UM + HISTORIC SITE: 2161

Nicholson Drive. Guided and self-guided tours. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. brec.org/facility/ MagnoliaMound.

OLD GOVERNOR’S MANSION: 502 North Blvd. Open for tours. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. MondayFriday. Free admission. oldgovernorsmansion. com.

OLD STATE CAPITOL: 100 North Blvd. “Contemporary Views of the Castellated Capitol,” exhibit celebrating the 175th anniversary of the OSC and featuring the works of 19 well-known Louisiana artists. Free. louisianaoldstatecapitol.org.

USS KIDD VETERANS MUSEUM: 305 S. River Road. Displays of a variety of artifacts that celebrate veteran and naval military history. Note: Vessel is in Houma for dry dock repairs. usskidd.com.

WEST BATON ROUGE MUSEUM: 845 N. Jefferson Ave., Port Allen. “Radbwa ê tire tik-layé: The Art of Jonathan Mayers,” through Oct. 12. (225) 3362422 or westbatonrougemuseum.org.

Compiled by Judy Bergeron. Have an open-to-the-public event you’d like to promote? Email details to red@theadvocate. com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday for the following Friday’s paper

SHOWS TO WATCH — BATON ROUGE

in Tigerland, 10 p.m.

FRIDAY

JOE NEELY: The Brakes Bar, 6 p.m.

KEEPIN’ TIME BAND: T’Quilas, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m.

DON POURCIAU & KONSPIRACY: El Paso, Denham Springs, 6 p.m.

LANCE WOOLIE: Court To Table, 6 p.m.

JOSHUA MAGEE: BLDG 5, 6 p.m.

KIRK HOLDER: Galvez Seafood, Prairieville, 6 p.m.

SHADES OF GRAY DUO: Crowne Plaza, 7 p.m.

THE LEE SERIO BAND: Phil Brady’s, 7:30 p.m.

SARA EVANS: L’Auberge Event Center, 8 p.m.

THE DRUNK UNCLES: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 8 p.m.

HENRY TURNER JR. & ALL-STARS: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

BLIND AMBITION 2.0: Charlie’s Lounge, Addis, 8 p.m.

DUSTIN LEE GUEDRY: Spanky’s, Dutchtown, 8 p.m.

MATT HOLT: Spanky’sSherwood, 8 p.m.

225 BAND: Cousin’s Bar, Port Allen, 8:30 p.m.

WILLIE STONEMORE: Court To Table, 8:30 p.m.

TROY TURNER: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

FRANK FOSTER: The Texas Club, 9 p.m.

YEAH YOU RIGHT: Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9 p.m. SOUTH OF CENTRAL: T’s Country, Denham Springs, 9 p.m.

MONSTER CRAWFISH: Double D Daiquiris, Denham Springs, 9 p.m.

I-10 BOUND BAND: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

RYAN FORET & FORET

TRADITION: Southern Rhythm, Denham Springs, 9 p.m.

N’TUNE: The Showroom, 9 p.m. THE BENDS: Fred’s Bar

SATURDAY

KEITH HARELSON/ JOE SULLIVAN/GARY

RAGAN/RAY STUMBO: Mason’s Grill

THOMAS CAIN: LSU Tiger Fan Zone, 1:30 p.m.

KENNY ACOSTA: Court To Table, 6 p.m.

SOUTH OF CENTRAL: Backstreet Lounge, 8 p.m

ACOUSTIC SATURDAYS

WITH DIXIE ROSE: Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room, 8 p.m.

AC CAMPBELL BAND: Court To Table, 8:30 p.m.

DJ DOC: Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 9 p.m.

AFTER 8: Fred’s on the River, Prairieville, 9 p.m

SPANK THE MONKEY: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 9 p.m.

TIGER LILY: Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, St. Amant, 9 p.m.

DOMINICK MICHAEL/ JOHN RUIZ JR.: Southern Rhythm, Denham Springs, 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY

CONNOR UNDERWOOD: Crowne Plaza, 11 a.m.

ROBERT CALMES: Cocha, 11 a.m.

JUSTIN BURDETTE TRIO: Superior GrillMidCity, 11 a.m.

SONGWRITER SUNDAYS: La Divina Italian Cafe, 5 p.m.

LUCY YOES: Pizza Byronz, 5 p.m.

RED STICK RHYTHMS: Main Library at Goodwood, 6 p.m.

QUIANA LYNELL: The Edge Bar at L’Auberge, 6:30 p.m.

OPEN MIC JAM: Fat Cat Saloon, Prairieville, 7 p.m

MONDAY

MIKE ESNEAULT: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m

ACOUSTICRATS: Phil Brady’s, 6 p.m.

TUESDAY

STEVE GUSTAFSON: Stab’s Restaurant, 6 p.m

RALPH DAIGLE: Rio

Verde Mexican, 6 p.m.

EDDIE SMITH: On The Half Shell, Prairieville, 6:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

KIRK HOLDER: Bin 77, 6:30 p.m.

SONGWRITERS OPEN MIC W/HEATH RANSONNET: Coop’s on 621, Gonzales, 7 p.m. ANDY PIZZO TRIO: Hayride Scandal, 7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY PEYTON FALGOUST:

VIRGO(Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Keep asking questions until you are satisfied with the answers. Trust will be broken if you are gullible or letsomeone do things for you. Set boundaries with those who try to cross the line

LIBRA(Sept.23-Oct. 23) Recap what's happeningand refrain from making a hasty decision.Trust your instincts and askfor what you want in writing. Avoid unnecessary expenses and those who ask fortoo much.

SCORPIO (Oct.24-Nov. 22) Keep your thoughts andplans to yourself. Emotions will fluctuate throughout the day. Considerwhatyou wanttoachieve, and demonstrate discipline and ingenuity.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Look for thegood in everyone and everything. Howyou approach others will make a difference in the outcome. Don'texpect everyone to agree with you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Be honest with yourself when it comes to money health and legalmatters. Refuse to spend on unnecessarygoods or on someoneyou want to impress. Use your sharp witand charm to reach your goal.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Achange to your surroundings, lifestyle or attitude will give youthe boost youneed to shine brightly whendealing with others. Put your energy where it counts,and the rewards will be forthcoming.

PISCES (Feb.20-March20) Use reason when dealing with your peers, and

you'll gain acceptance. Refuse to let the changes others make set you offorpush you in the wrong direction.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Share your vision, and participate in events that can help you makeadifference to acause youbelieve in. Put more energy into exploring the possibilities of alifestyle change or commitment.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Look over your options, but don't feel pressured to decide. Discuss concerns, alternatives andnew possibilities, andyou'llfindthe path that leads to positive change and inner peace.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Learn something new and add it to your qualifications. You stand to prosper if youare willing to adoptwhat's new andtrending into your lineofwork.Attend networking events.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Simplify your life. Refuse to let discord or anger take over and ruinyour day. Aphysical outlet will help you avoid stewing over something you have no control over.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Engage in projects that add to your comfort and entertainment. Free yourself fromliving in the past and holding on to what is holding you back. Live, love and be happy.

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

Andrews McMeel Syndication

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of the Sudoku increases fromMonday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

BY PHILLIP ALDER Bridge

Aime Cesaire, apoet, author and politicianfromMartinique, said, “Reason, Isacrifice you to the evening breeze.”

Bridge players must try never to sacrifice reason. But there can be agood reason to sacrifice —you may suffer a smaller loss.

In today’s deal, how would East have done in four heartsand what should happen in four spades doubled? West did not want to passover one spade,but herhand was not strong enough for twodiamonds or suitable, in herpartnership,for three diamonds. So she passed. However, when East reopened with atakeout double,West correctly jumped to three diamonds East then wondered about five and six diamonds, but sensibly went for the 10-trick heart game.

If that hadbeen passed out, Eastwould probably have lost one spade and one heart to come home withanovertrick for plus 650.

WhenSouth bid an undisciplined four spades, West happily doubled. She led thediamondaceandcashedthediamond king. What should she have done next?

WherewereEast’spointsforhisstrong bidding? He had to have good clubs.So Westshouldhaveshifted to that suit, which would have resulted in down four, plus 800. But West actually ledthe diamond jack at trick three. South ruffed, drew trumps (discarding twohearts from the board), and ducked aheart to East. Endplayed, he could takeonly two heartsandtwoclubsfordownthree,plus 500. So thesacrificegained,but it wasa close-runthing. ©2025 by NEA, Inc dist.ByAndrews McMeel Syndication

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

InstRuctIons:

toDAY’sWoRD

Average

Time

Can

Previous answers:

today’s thought “Give us help from trouble:for vain is thehelpofman.” Psalms 60:11