ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
|
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
T h u r s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 11, 2025
$2.00X
Temps in Gulf reach record highs Milestone comes at peak of 2025 hurricane season
BY JULIA GUILBEAU Staff writer
THE DESERET NEWS PHOTOS By TESS CROWLEy
Charlie Kirk hands out hats Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot and killed shortly after.
Conservative activist fatally shot in Utah
Governor: Charlie Kirk’s death a ‘political assassination’
BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and MARK SHERMAN
It’s been a quiet few weeks in the tropics, but weather experts are warning that record-high temperatures in the Gulf will require continued vigilance from Louisiana residents in the coming months. Though the Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1, peak season is considered to be between mid-August and mid-October, a time when the Gulf of Mexico reaches its warmest temperatures and the winds that break up cyclones are at their lowest. The Gulf’s ocean heat content, a measure of surface temperatures combined with the temperatures of deeper waters, is at an all-time high, according to Brian McNoldy, a climate researcher at the University of Miami. Though hot waters alone don’t create hurricanes, they are a main source of fuel for rapidly intensifying hurricanes, allowing them to strengthen and become more resilient against factors that break up storms, like wind shear. The ocean’s heat content in the Gulf has surged in the past two to three weeks after remaining fairly average for much of this hurricane season, according to McNoldy. Sea surface temperatures in the Gulf are hovering around 87 degrees Fahrenheit, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data, about two degrees higher than average for this time of year. Near the Louisiana coast they are around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Coastal Data Information Program.
ä See GULF, page 4A
Associated Press
OREM, Utah — Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump who played an influential role in rallying young Republican voters, was shot and killed Wednesday at a Utah college event in what the governor called a political assassination carried out from a rooftop. “This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation,” said Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. “I want to be very clear this is a political assassination.” No one was in custody late Wednesday, though authorities were searching for a new person of interest, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss the situation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities had earlier provided evolving information on the status of the manhunt, with FBI Director Kash Patel initially saying on social media that a “subject” had been taken into custody, only to later say that the person had been released after being questioned. Authorities did not identify the person who had been in custody, a motive or any criminal charge.
ä See ACTIVIST, page 4A
Landry scolds Cassidy on COVID vaccine
Senator suggested ways to circumvent new hurdles BY MARK BALLARD
Law enforcement members tape off an area after Charlie Kirk, the CEO and co-founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, was shot at Utah Valley University.
The deal also involves other key provisions, which could be modified as the sides hash out final details. Among them: the Saints’ share of revenues from stadium concessions on game days; terms of the state lease for offices at Benson Tower; and other future revenue streams and costs. The two sides have wanted to sign the lease by Sept. 17 because that’s the day an NFL owners subcommittee on special events will meet to begin considering who will host Super Bowls beyond 2028. After receiving broad acclaim for hosting the game in February, New Orleans hopes to be invited to bid on the 2031 Super Bowl. But it can do so only if the Saints have a signed lease agreement in effect for the year of the game, according to league policy.
WASHINGTON — Gov. Jeff Landry took exception to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s suggestion that the state surgeon general could easily get around recent federal hurdles for people trying to access the COVID vaccine. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week proposed new restrictions for administering the COVID vaccine, which many pharmacies have interpreted as requiring preCassidy scriptions. Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, recommended state Surgeon General Ralph Abraham write a “blanket prescription” that would allow drugstores to handle the inoculations as they did in the past. Landry Landry, a Republican, wrote on X: “The last time I checked you have a prescription pad, why don’t you just leave a prescription for the dangerous Covid shot at your district office and anyone can swing by and get one! I am sure big pharma would love you for that one!”
ä See SAINTS, page 4A
ä See VACCINE, page 4A
Saints set to sign new Superdome lease Long-term deal could keep team in New Orleans for at least another decade
BY JEFF DUNCAN, ANTHONY McAULEY and TYLER BRIDGES Staff writers
The New Orleans Saints and Gov. Jeff Landry’s team are closing in on a new longterm lease of the Caesars Superdome that aims to keep the franchise rooted in New Orleans for at least another decade. The deal, which three sources familiar with the talks said could be announced as soon as next week, culminates more than a year of grueling, often contentious negotiations between the Saints and the Louisiana
WEATHER HIGH 93 LOW 69 PAGE 6B
Stadium and Exposition District, the board that oversees the state-owned Superdome. Neither the Saints nor the district, known as the Superdome Commission, have announced specifics publicly. But the sources close to the negotiations said the agreement calls for a 10-year lease followed by four five-year extensions, with the Saints retaining the right to exercise each extension. If all the extensions are agreed on, it would run through 2055. The deal adds a new provision — absent from the Saints’ current lease — requiring arbitration and potential “equitable damages,” measures designed to discourage any future owner from moving the team out of New Orleans. The exact amount of that relocation penalty hasn’t been finalized, but the sources said it could reach $250 million.
Staff writer
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................6D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-5D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 73