The Advocate 10-28-2025

A BULL MARKET

An inmate gets slammed into the dirt by a bull during the Angola Prison Rodeo on Oct. 12. Every April and October the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola hosts the last remaining prison rodeo in the nation.

for the region.

Angola’s prison rodeo is a major economic driver for the region and for inmates

BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer

The gospel music flickers into range around mile 17 on the Tunica Trace, a trail formerly used by the Tunica Native American tribe paved into a 20-mile highway in West Feliciana Parish. As hundreds of cars pass churches releasing their congregations, the broadcast of 91.7 KLSP FM “The Incarceration Station” — sharpens.

“I’m doing the best I can; I’m doing the best I can,” the Rev Andrew Cheairs and The Songbirds sing. “While I’m traveling, I’m traveling through this land.”

The broadcast emanates from the road’s end: the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola It’s a destination few ever leave, imprisoning around 3,900 inmates, with roughly 70% of those sentenced for life.

However, on Oct. 12, the prison’s inmate-run radio station

played for thousands of people driving toward the Angola Prison Rodeo. Every Sunday in October and one weekend in April, crowds witness incarcerated men voluntarily participating in rodeo events

Some are traditional bull- or horse-riding competitions, but there are also events like “Convict Poker,” where four inmates compete to be the last man sitting at a poker table with an angered bull charging them.

Inmates generally speak highly of the event, which allows them to earn money Under pavilions outside the arena, other inmates sell handcrafted items ranging from wooden swing sets to American flag paintings at a craft fair

The festival the last remaining prison rodeo in the nation — has achieved a semimythic status in American culture, with books, news reports and documentaries

ä See RODEO, page 7A

BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer

Two Christian schools have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s new law that imposes sweeping regulations on private pre-kindergarten programs, arguing that the law unconstitutionally disadvantages religious schools.

Act 409 sets new minimum safety standards for all preschools and requires pre-K programs at private schools to obtain a day care center license, subjecting the schools to dozens of additional regulations, site inspections and staff background checks. While the safety standards apply to all schools with preK programs, public schools and Montessori schools are exempt from the licensing requirement.

“Louisiana nonpublic schools have every right to challenge some of the unintended consequences of this new law.”

Proponents of the law which took effect in August, have celebrated it as a win for child safety and school accountability But critics call the regulations excessive, warning that some private schools might raise tuition or discontinue their pre-K programs due to the costs of compliance, such as hiring extra staffers, conducting background checks and making facility upgrades.

Act 409 “unlawfully discriminates against religious schools and the families they serve by subjecting them to unfunded mandates in the form of burdensome licensure and regulatory requirements,” says the complaint, which asks the court to strike down the law’s licensing requirement. It was filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

About 80% of the state’s private schools with pre-K programs are faith-based, including Chris-

Emerson to challenge Cassidy for Senate seat

Carencro Republican joins crowded field

BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writers

State Rep. Julie Emerson, RCarencro, announced Monday that she is running for the U.S. Senate, giving Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, another prominent challenger Emerson, 37, is chair of the influential House Ways and Means

Committee, which oversees legislation concerning taxes and major state construction projects.

“It’s clear that Louisiana Republicans have grown frustrated with our incumbent senator, and they’re looking for a fresh new voice, and we want to make sure that we have someone in there who can get the job done,” Emerson said Monday Emerson sponsored several prominent bills in recent sessions, including flattening the corporate income tax rate, ending the corporate franchise tax and creating LA GATOR, a program backed by

Gov Jeff Landry that gives parents money to help pay for private school. She also sponsored the legislation that moved Louisiana to a closed party primary system, in which the Republican and Democratic candidates compete for their party’s nomination before the general election. Previously, all candidates, regardless of party, competed in an open primary election.

Emerson emphasized her legislative record in her announcement saying “our country doesn’t need

more ineffective legislative outrage.”

“Voters want a strong conservative senator who can get things done — someone focused on results, not rhetoric,” she said in a news release. “I’m running to bring home real outcomes for Louisiana: infrastructure investment, new jobs, and a seat at the table where decisions get made.”

Emerson joins a crowded field of Republicans in the race. Many political observers believe Cassidy

ä See EMERSON, page 5A

R-Carencro, is chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

World’s oldest president reelected in Cameroon

YAOUNDE, Cameroon

The world’s oldest president, Cameroon‘s 92-year-old Paul Biya, has won election again, the country’s top court said Monday after days of protesters’ clashes with security forces left at least four people dead as opposition supporters demanded credible results.

Biya has led the central African nation since 1982, ruling longer than most citizens have been alive. Over 70% of the population of almost 30 million is below 35. The Oct. 12 election has displayed growing tensions between Africa’s youth and its many aging leaders.

The Constitutional Council said Biya received 53.66% of votes while former ally Issa Tchiroma Bakary got 35.19%.

The turnout was 57.7%.

In a social media post after the announcement, Tchiroma asserted that security forces had shot at civilians, killing two in his hometown of Garoua.

“Shooting point-blank at your own brothers — I can’t help but wonder if you’re mercenaries,” he posted. “Kill me if you want, but I will liberate this country by any means necessary What blatant impunity.”

Tchiroma had claimed victory days ago, citing results he said were collated by his party Biya’s party members dismissed the claim.

Biya in a statement on Monday said his “first thoughts are with all those who have unnecessarily lost their lives, as well with their families, as a result of the postelection violence.”

Biden warns of ‘dark days,’ urges optimism

Former President Joe Biden called these “dark days” as he urged Americans to stay optimistic and not to check out in response to what he says are attacks on free speech and tests on the limits of executive power by President Donald Trump.

“Since its founding, America served as a beacon for the most powerful idea ever in government in the history of the world,” Biden said. “The idea is stronger than any army We’re more powerful than any dictator.” Biden, 82, speaking publicly for the first time since completing a round of radiation therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, addressed an audience in Boston on Sunday night after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. He said America depends on a presidency with limited power, a functioning Congress and an autonomous judiciary With the federal government facing its second-longest shutdown on record, Trump has used the lapse in funding to exercise new command over the government.

“Friends, I can’t sugar coat any of this. These are dark days” Biden said. He then predicted the country would “find our true compass again” and “emerge as we always have — stronger, wiser and more resilient, more just, so long as we keep the faith.”

U.K. king dedicates LGBTQ+ troop memorial

LONDON King Charles III on Monday dedicated Britain’s first national memorial to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender troops, 25 years after the U.K. ended a ban on homosexuality in the armed forces.

The king, who is the ceremonial head of the armed forces, laid flowers at the monument in the National Memorial Arboretum in central England at a service attended by scores of serving troops and veterans. The sculpture takes the form of a crumpled bronze letter bearing words from personnel who were affected by the ban.

Between 1967 and 2000, soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who were or were thought to be — gay or transgender were labeled unfit to serve and dismissed or discharged from the forces. Some were stripped of medals or lost their pension rights, and many struggled with the stigma for decades

The government lifted the ban after a 1999 ruling from the European Court of Human Rights In 2023 then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak formally apologized for what he called “an appalling failure of the British state.”

Melissa bears down on Jamaica

Category 5 hurricane could be strongest on record for island

BY JOHN MYERS JR. and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press

KINGSTON, Jamaica Hur-

ricane Melissa intensified into a Category 5 storm

Monday as it drew closer to Jamaica, where forecasters expected it to unleash catastrophic flooding, landslides and widespread damage. At that strength, it would be the strongest hurricane to hit the island since record-keeping began in 1851

Blamed for seven deaths in the northern Caribbean as it headed toward the island, Melissa was on track to make landfall Tuesday in Jamaica before coming ashore in Cuba later in the day and then heading toward the Bahamas. It was not expected to affect the United States.

Anticipating the hardship in store for his country Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “I have been on my knees in prayer.”

Hanna Mcleod a 23-yearold hotel receptionist in the Jamaican capital of Kingston, said she boarded up the windows at her home, where her husband and brother are staying. She stocked up on canned corned beef and mackerel and left candles and flashlights throughout the house.

“I just told them to keep the door closed,” she said “I am definitely worried. This is actually the first time I’ll be experiencing this type of hurricane.”

Category 5 is the top of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, with sustained winds exceeding 157 mph.

Melissa would be the strongest hurricane in recorded history to hit the small Caribbean nation directly, said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather.

A storm surge of up to 13 feet was expected along coastal Kingston, which Porter said is home to critical infrastructure such as Jamaica’s main international airport and power plants. “This can become a true humanitarian crisis very quickly and there is likely going to be the need for a lot of international support,”

Porter said in a phone interview

On Monday night, Melissa was centered about 155 miles southwest of Kingston and about 335 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. The system had maximum sustained winds of 175 mph and was moving northwest at 2 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Parts of eastern Jamaica could see up to 30 inches of rain while western Haiti could get 16 inches, the hurricane center said, citing the likelihood of “catastrophic flash flooding and numerous landslides.”

Mandatory evacuations were ordered in flood-prone communities in Jamaica, with buses ferrying people to safe shelter But some insisted on staying.

“I hear what they say, but I am not leaving,” said Noel Francis, a 64-year-old fisherman who lives on the beach in the southern town of Old Harbor Bay, where he was born and grew up. “I can manage myself.”

His neighbor, Bruce Dawkins, said he also had no plans to leave his home.

“I am not going anywhere,” Dawkins said, wearing a raincoat and holding a beer The fisherman said he had already secured his vessel and planned to ride out the storm with his friend.

Several towns along Jamaica’s southern coast already reported power outages as winds picked up throughout the night.

Officials said the biggest storm surge was expected in the Black River community in western Jamaica, where Sandra Walker was the sole street vendor working just hours ahead of the hurricane.

“I have no choice but to be here,” she said as she sorted potatoes, green bananas, tomatoes and scallion stalks in her stall.

Walker, a single mother of two, is still struggling to recover after Hurricane Beryl destroyed her business and home last year She lives by the ocean but does not plan to go to a shelter because she had a “terrible” shelter experience during Hurricane Ivan, when the facility offered only a handful of tins of corned beef to share.

Jamaican government officials said they were worried that fewer than 1,000 people were in the more than 130 shelters open across the island.

“It’s way, way below what is required for a Category 5 hurricane,” said Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s transport minister, who urged people “to be smart If you are not, unfortunately, you will pay the consequences.”

The slow-moving storm has killed at least three people in Haiti and a fourth person in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing Two people died in Jamaica over the weekend as they cut trees ahead of the storm, and a third one died after being electrocuted.

“My only concern is flooding because we live near the sea,” said Hyacinth White, 49, who said she had no plans to evacuate to a shelter

Israel: Turkish troops won’t have role in Gaza force

BY JUSTIN SPIKE and RENATA BRITO Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Is-

rael will not allow Turkish troops to take part in an international force the United States has proposed to oversee the ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Israel’s top diplomat said Monday

The 20-point deal brokered by President Donald Trump earlier this month calls for a force to monitor the ceasefire but does not mention which countries would provide troops.

It says the U.S. would “work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force” to deploy in Gaza. The force would train and provide support to “vetted Palestinian police forces” and will “consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have extensive experience in this field.”

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement is still being carried out, and focuses on the release of

that,” King Abdullah II of Jordan said in an interview with the BBC.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to Hungary Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel opposes the participation of Turkish troops in Gaza because of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-standing hostility to Israel. Saar said Israel has communicated its stance to U.S. officials.

“Countries that want or are ready to send armed forces should be at least fair to Israel,” Saar said. He did

not elaborate. U.S. officials have said there would be no American boots on the ground in Gaza. Around 200 U.S. troops are now in Israel working alongside its military and other countries’ delegations at a coordination center, planning Gaza’s stabilization and reconstruction.

During visits to Israel last week, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said multiple countries would be interested in joining the international force for Gaza.

the remaining dead hostages in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian bodies held by Israel.

Late Monday, Israel’s military said Hamas has handed over the remains of another hostage to the Red Cross in Gaza.

Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. After the latest body is returned to Israel, another 12 bodies still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over

Judge says suspect

Countries that are considering taking part in the international force in Gaza also want more clarity on its mandate. Officials from some Arab and Muslim nations have said the focus must be on peacekeeping in Gaza, not acting as an enforcer of peace between Israel and Hamas.

“What is the mandate of security forces inside of Gaza? And we hope that it is peacekeeping, because if it’s peace enforcing, nobody will want to touch

in Kirk killing can wear street clothes in court

BY HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY The 22-year-old Utah man charged with killing Charlie Kirk can appear in court wearing street clothes but must be physically restrained due to security concerns, a judge ruled Monday

Attorneys for Tyler Robinson argued images of him shackled and in jail clothing would spread widely in a case with extensive press coverage and public interest, which they said could prejudice future jurors.

Judge Tony Graf agreed to make some allowances to protect Robinson’s presumption of innocence before a trial, agreeing that

the case has drawn “extraordinary” public and media attention.

“Mr Robinson shall be dressed as one who is presumed innocent,” Graf said during a virtual court hearing.

Utah prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on a Utah college campus and plan to seek the death penalty

While Robinson has no prior criminal history, Graf said the charges he faces are extremely serious and present safety concerns in the courtroom. It’s the court’s highest priority to protect the attorneys, court staff and Robinson himself during what could be emotional

hearings, Graf said before denying Robinson’s request to appear without restraints. He did, however, prohibit members of the media from photographing or filming Robinson’s restraints.

Robinson is accused of firing a fatal gunshot at Kirk, a close ally of President Donald Trump who worked to steer young voters toward conservatism, from a rooftop overlooking a crowded courtyard at Utah Valley University in Orem. He was arrested the following night when he showed up with his parents at his hometown sheriff’s office in southwest Utah, more than a three-hour drive from the site of the shooting, to turn himself in.

Venezuela moves to cancel energy deals with Trinidad

More response to U.S. warship docked at island nation

BY JORGE RUEDA Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuela’s vice president said Monday that energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago should be canceled over what she described as “hostile” actions by the island nation.

Trinidad is now hosting one of the U.S. warships involved in a controversial campaign to destroy Venezuelan speedboats allegedly carrying drugs to the United States.

On Sunday, the USS Gravely, a destroyer fitted with guided missiles, arrived in Trinidad to conduct joint exercises with Trinidad’s navy Venezuelan authorities described Trinidad’s decision to host the ship as a provocation, while Trinidad’s

government has said that joint exercises with the U.S happen regularly

“The prime minister of Trinidad has decided to join the warmongering agenda of the United States,” Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said Monday on national television.

In an email to The Associated Press, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she was not concerned over the potential cancellation of the energy agreement, adding that the military training exercises were exclusively for “internal security” purposes.

“Our future does not depend on Venezuela and never has,” PersadBissessar wrote. “We have our plans and projects to grow our economy both within the energy and non-energy sectors.”

Rodríguez, who is also Venezuela’s minister of hydrocarbons, said she would ask President Nicolás Maduro to withdraw from a 2015

agreement that enables neighboring countries to carry out joint natural gas exploration projects in the waters between both nations.

Indiana governor calls special session to redraw House maps

BY ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press

The Republican governor of Indiana said Monday he’s scheduling a special session to redraw congressional boundaries after weeks of pressure to back President Donald Trump’s bid to add more winnable seats with midcycle redistricting.

ish their voice in Washington and ensure their representation in Congress is fair,” Braun said in a statement Monday Typically, states redraw boundaries of congressional districts every 10 years after the census has concluded. Opponents are expected to challenge any new maps in court.

ment Monday Republicans could also zero in on Indiana’s 7th Congressional District, comprised of Marion County and the Democratic stronghold of Indianapolis. But that option would be more controversial, potentially slicing up the state’s largest city and diluting Black voters’ influence.

are

rated by a small bay that is just 7 miles wide at its narrowest point. Unlike other leaders in Latin

America and the Caribbean who have compared strikes on alleged drug vessels to extrajudicial killings, Persad-Bissessar has supported the campaign. She has said that she’d rather see drug traffickers “blown to pieces” than have them kill the citizens of her nation.

“I am tired of seeing our citizens murdered and terrorized because of gang violence driven by illegal drugs and arms trafficking,” she said.

Trinidad, which has a population of about 1.4 million people, is sometimes used by smugglers to store and sort drugs before shipping them to Europe and North America.

Venezuela’s government has described the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean as a threat, with government officials there claiming that the deployment of U.S. warships to the region is part of an effort to overthrow Maduro, who has been widely accused of stealing last year’s election.

Trump meets Japan’s

PM, will address

BY JOSH BOAK and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press

U.S. troops during trip

down $550 billion in Japanese investment as part of a trade deal that would reduce U.S. tariffs.

As Trump and Takaichi met on Tuesday, they shook hands and he paid her a compliment: “That’s a very strong handshake.”

Braun

Trump has pressed Republicans to draw new maps that give the party an easier path to maintain control of the House in the midterms. But Democrats have pushed back in some states, including Virginia, where a special session Monday marked a first step toward redistricting.

While Republicans in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina already have enacted new congressional districts, Indiana lawmakers have been hesitant. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun called for the General Assembly to convene Nov 3 for the special session. It’s unclear whether enough of the GOP-majority Senate will back new maps. Democrats only need to gain three seats to flip control of the U.S. House Trump hopes redistricting can help avert historical trends, in which the president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections.

Vice President JD Vance and Trump have met separately with Indiana Republicans, including Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, in recent months. Braun is a staunch Trump ally in a state the president won by 19 percentage points in 2024, but said previously he did not want to call a special session until he was certain lawmakers would back a new map. Indiana Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers.

“I am calling a special legislative session to protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to dimin-

When Indiana Republicans adopted the existing boundaries four years ago, Bray said they would “serve Hoosiers well for the next decade.”

A Bray spokesperson said last week that the Indiana Senate lacked the votes to pass a new congressional map, and on Monday said votes are still lacking, casting doubt on whether a special session can achieve Braun’s goals With just 10 Democrats in the 50-member Senate, that means more than a dozen of the 40 Republicans oppose the idea. Some Republican state lawmakers have warned that midcycle redistricting can be costly and could backfire politically Republicans who vote against redistricting could be forced out of office if their colleagues back primary opponents as punishment.

Republicans outnumber Democrats in Indiana’s congressional delegation 7-2, limiting possibilities of squeezing out another seat. However, many in the GOP see redistricting as a chance for the party to represent all nine seats.

The GOP would likely target Indiana’s 1st Congressional District, a longtime Democratic stronghold encompassing Gary and other cities near Chicago in the state’s northwest corner.

“I believe that representation should be earned through ideas and service, not political manipulation,” third-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, who holds the seat, said in a state-

Changing Virginia’s congressional districts requires more steps than in Indiana. The state is currently represented by six Democrats and five Republicans who ran in districts established by a court in 2021 after a bipartisan commission failed to agree on a map.

Because Virginia’s redistricting commission was created by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, voters must sign off on any changes to the redistricting process. A proposed constitutional amendment would have to pass the General Assembly in two separate sessions and then be placed on the statewide ballot. Democrats are scrambling to hold that first legislative vote this year, so that they can take a second vote after a new legislative session begins Jan. 14. Democrats also are hoping for gains in California. Voters there are deciding Nov. 4 whether to scrap districts drawn by an independent citizens commission in favor of ones drafted by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win up to five additional seats in next year’s election Democrats already hold 43 of the 52 seats.

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was in Illinois Monday to meet with Democratic state lawmakers about the possibility of redrawing the state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats even more heavily Democrats already hold 14 of the 17 seats.

The Democratic-led Illinois General Assembly was scheduled to be in session this week.

Wisconsin Planned Parenthood

BY SCOTT BAUER Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. Planned

Parenthood of Wisconsin resumed scheduling abortions on Monday after a nearly monthlong pause due to federal Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill that took effect at the beginning of October Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it was able to resume scheduling abortions as of noon on Monday because it no longer fits the definition of a “prohibited entity” under the new federal law that took effect this month and can receive Medicaid funds. The organization said it dropped its designation as an “essential community

provider” as defined under the Affordable Care Act Dropping the designation will not result in changes to the cost for abortions or other services or affect the organization’s funding, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin president and CEO

Tanya Atkinson said

“At this point, in all of our research and analysis, we really shouldn’t see much of an impact on patient access,” she said. “If relinquishing this does ultimately impact our bottom line, then we will have to understand what that path forward is.”

Abortion funding has been under attack across the U.S., particularly for affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the biggest provider The abortion landscape has shifting frequently since the U.S.

Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that allowed states to ban abortion. Currently, 12 states do not allow it at any stage of pregnancy, with limited exceptions, and four more ban it after about six weeks’ gestation.

Planned Parenthood has warned that about half its clinics that provide abortion could be closed nationwide due to the ban in the new federal law on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood for services other than abortion. Wisconsin, where abortion is legal but the Republicancontrolled Legislature has passed numerous laws limiting access, was the only state where Planned Parenthood paused all abortions because of the new federal law, Atkinson said.

TOKYO President Donald Trump began one of his busiest days of his Asia trip on Tuesday by meeting with the new Japanese prime minister, with plans to later speak to U.S troops aboard an aircraft carrier and mingle with business leaders.

Although Trump is visiting one of America’s most steadfast allies in Asia, there’s no shortage of uncertainty while he’s there.

Sanae Takaichi, who became the country’s first female prime minister only days ago, must solidify her relationship with Trump while defending her country’s economic interests.

Trump is trying to nail

Takaichi is primed for a charm offensive, including a potential purchase of Ford F-150 trucks. Reporters arriving for the event were hustled past a goldhued Ford F-150 as well as what appeared to be white American-made Toyota vehicles parked outside the Akasaka Palace, which is Tokyo’s guesthouse for visiting foreign leaders.

Trump has often complained that Japan doesn’t buy American vehicles, which are often too wide to be practical on narrow Japanese streets.

Although Trump has focused his foreign policy toward Asia around tariffs and trade, he’s plans to speak aboard the USS George Washington, which is docked at an American naval base near Tokyo. Trump arrived in Tokyo on Monday, when he met with the emperor in a ceremonial visit. He was previously in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he participated in the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The gathering was an opportunity for Trump to celebrate an expanded ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, which skirmished along their disputed border earlier this year Trump had pressured them to stop fighting by threatening to withhold trade agreements.

Kremlinsaysmissile test reflects security concerns

By The Associated Press

Russia’stest of anuclear-poweredmissile that it claims can’tbestopped by air defenses reflects Moscow’sdetermination to look out for its security interests,aKremlin officialsaid Monday,after the United States and European countries increased pressureon President Vladimir Putin to negotiateanend to the invasion of Ukraine.

President Donald Trump saidPutin should focuson making apeace deal, not testing missiles.

Little is known about Russia’sBurevestnik missile, which the NATO military alliance has code-named Skyfall.PutinappearedSunday in an official video, wearing camouflage fatigues, to hear Russia’schief of general staff report that the missile had covered 8,700 miles in a test.

Thenewscameafter a week that sawtough new U.S. sanctions preparedfor Russia’skey oil and gas sector and new European commitments of military aid to Ukraine.

“Russia is consistently working to ensure its own security,” Kremlinspokes-

Aman carries aphoto of cameraman yevhen Karmazin after funeral service MondayatSt. MichaelMonasteryinKyiv,Ukraine. Karmazin waskilled Thursdayalongsidecorespondent Olena Hubanova,who worked under the pseudonymAlyona Gramova,when aRussian Lancetdrone

person DmitryPeskov said when asked whether the missile announcementwas aresponse to thesanctions andasignal to the West

“Ensuring security is a vitalissue forRussia,especially against thebackdrop of the militaristicsenti-

Pope Leo XIV delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer on Sundayfromthe windowofhis studio overlooking St. Peter’sSquare at theVatican.

Pope to pray at site of Beirut port blast

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and ABBY SEWELL

Associated Press

ROME Pope Leo XIV will pray at the site of the 2020 port blast in Beirut that killed over 200people and compounded Lebanon’s economicand politicalcrisis during his first foreign trip as pope next month that will also take him to Turkey to mark an importantanniversary with Orthodox Christians.

The Vatican on Monday released the itinerary of Leo’sNov.27-Dec. 2trip. It includes several moments for history’sfirst American pope to speak about interfaith and ecumenical relations, as well as the plight of Christians in the Middle East and regionaltensions overall.

Pope Francis had planned to visit both countries but died earlier this yearbefore he could. He had particularly long wanted to go to Lebanon,but thecountry’s economic and politicalcrisis prevented avisitduring his lifetime.

The main impetusfor travelling to Turkey this year is to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council.

Leo made clear from the start of his pontificate that he would keep Francis’ commitment, andhas sev-

eral moments of prayer planned with the spiritual leaderofthe world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I. Nicaea, today located in znik on alake southeast of Istanbul,isone of seven ecumenicalcouncilsthat are recognized by the Eastern Orthodox. Leowill travel there by helicopter on Nov 28 for abrief prayer near thearchaeological excavations of the ancient Basilica of Saint Neophytos.

Another significant moment in Turkey is Leo’s Nov.30 prayer at theArmenianapostolic cathedral in Istanbul.Francis didn’tgo thereduring his 2014 trip, but ayear laterheangered Turkey when he declared the slaughterofArmenians by OttomanTurks “thefirst genocide of the20th century.”

Historians estimatethat up to 1.5 millionArmenians were killedbyOttoman Turksaroundthe timeof World WarI,an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.Turkey,however, hasinsistedthat the toll hasbeeninflated, and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide.Ithas fiercely lobbied to prevent countries, including theHolySee, from officially recognizing theArmenian massacre as genocide.

Ukraine’sKramatorsk, about 12 miles from the front line.

ment that we are currently hearing, primarily from the Europeans,” Peskov told reporters.

Trump, speaking to reportersonanofficial trip from Kuala LumpurtoTokyo, said Putin’stalk about missiles was not “appropriate.”

“You’vegot to getthe war ended. Awar that should have taken oneweek is now in its soon fourth year,” Trump said.“That’swhat youought to do,insteadof testingmissiles.”

RussianForeign Minister SergeyLavrov on Monday

Argentina’sleader gets bigwin in midtermelection

Victoryboosts markets

BY ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina

MarketsinArgentina rallied, the peso surged and the country’ssovereign bonds jumped on Monday as libertarianPresident Javier Milei hailed his party’sresounding victory in midterm congressionalelections as amandate to press forwardwith radical free-market reforms.

Investors recovered confidence in the chronically depreciating Argentine peso that they were dumping in drovesjust last week to hedge against aMilei defeat. The currency surged more than 10% to tradeatover 1,300 perdollar on Monday Argentine stocks soared 20% and the country’sdollardenominated bonds set to expire in 2035 climbedover10 centsafter markets opened.

The price movements over Milei’sparty doubling its representation in Congress appeared to validatethe Trumpadministration’sbet

on its close ideological ally in SouthAmerica.

“Hehad alot of help from us,”President DonaldTrump told reportersonAir Force

One Monday,referringto $40 billion in promised U.S. support to help Milei avert a currency crisis. “He’s working against 100 years of bad policies, and he’sgoing to break them, thanks to support from the United States.”

After decades of populist governments in Argentina printing money to finance unbridledspending and running up massive budget deficits, Milei has shrunk the government’s bureaucracy, slashedthe public payroll and deregulated the economy.His brutal cost-cutting measures have inflicted painful joblosses and eroded purchasing power but also tamed runaway inflation.

Trump raised the stakes of the vote earlier this month when he threatenedtorescind the financiallifeline if Milei’sparty lost to the leftleaning opposition.

Perhaps never in history hasa limitedArgentine legislative election generated so much interest abroad

criticized the Trump administration forchanging its approach. After talks with Putin in Alaska in August, Trump said he wanted an agreement on long-term peace anddidn’tinsistona prior ceasefire, but now he’s changed his mind, Lavrov told Hungary’sUltrahang YouTube channel.

“Nowall they’re talking about is an immediate ceasefire …this is aradical change,” Lavrov said.

Trump’ssanctions decision,withthe punitive measures possibly coming into effect by Nov. 21, has raised the stakes in efforts to stop the fighting. As Russia and Ukraine assessed next steps, they also sought out allies.

Lavrov washosting his North Korean counterpart, Choe Son Hui, for talks in Moscow.Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops, as well as artillery andmissiles, to support Russia’sinvasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Sunday that France is providing additionalMirage fighterjets andair defense missiles, while the United Kingdom will supply more missiles andhelpproduce interceptor drones.

Ukraine’sshort-handed forces arestraining to hold back the bigger Russian army on thefront line in eastern andsouthern parts of the country

Heavy fighting is taking place in Pokrovsk, where Russian units have pushed into several neighborhoods but have failedtotakecontrol of the eastern Ukrainian city,Ukraine’s7th Rapid Reaction Corps wrote on social media Monday Over thepast two days, troopsfrom the corps repelled 42 enemy attacks, the statement said, after reinforcing Ukraine’sdefensive positionswithassault troops, artillery and drone units. Meanwhile,the Russian Defense Ministry said Mondayits airdefensesintercepted and destroyed 193 Ukrainiandrones over Russian regions, including 34 drones it said were heading toward Moscow.Nodamage or casualties were reported in the Russian capital.

TwoMoscow airports, Domodedovo andZhukovsky,briefly closed overnight because of the attack Airports in other Russian regions also faced restrictions.

in Washington andonWall Street.

As farawayasIsrael, the government congratulated Milei, comparing the Argentine’svictory in Congress to its own on the battlefield.

“Wehave asaying in our brave military: Who dares wins,”IsraeliPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“You dared, you won.”

Overthe past fewweeks Argentina marketshave floundered as the country faced asevere cash crunch. Alandslide local election winfor the left-leaning populist opposition last month raised fears that Argentines were losing patience with Milei’sharsh austerity measures.

Alarmed that Argentina could return to the budgetbusting populism of its long-

dominant Peronist opposition, investors rushed to pull their moneyout of the countryasanalysts predicteda tough slog forMilei in the midterms. The Argentine peso plunged to arecord low of over 1,500 against the dollar last week.

But in the end, Milei’sLa Libertad Avanza party on Sundayscored nearly41% of thenationalvotefor the lower house, triumphing over the Peronist coalition that won32%.

On Monday,Trumpimplied that the market rally over Milei’svictory had offered a windfall to American investors and fund managers. “The bonds have gone up, theirwhole debt rating has gone up,” Trump said. “That election made alot of money for the UnitedStates.”

BY RIO YAMAT AP airlines andtravelwriter

Ashortage of air traffic

controllers caused more flight disruptions Monday at airports around the country, includingbriefly at Los Angeles International Airport, where staffing problems a day earlier had led to flights being halted for ashorttime. The Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing-related delays on Monday afternoonaveragingabout 20 minutes at the airport in Dallas, while the airport in Austin, Texas,

was seeing delays averaging about 40 minutes after theFAA issued atemporary ground stopfor about an hour there beforeitwas lifted at about 4:15 p.m.

Earlier Monday,flights were also briefly delayed on averagefor about25minutes at LAX. On Sunday,the FAA hadissued aground stop at LAXfor about two hours, meaning planes headed for LosAngeleswereheldat their originating airportsuntil it was lifted. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said about 72% of theflights scheduled Sunday at LAX took off with-

in 15 minutes of their scheduled departure times.

The disruptions comeas thefederal government shutdown thatbegan Oct. 1 nears the one-month mark.

Just last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had predicted that travelers would start to see more flightsdelayed and canceled as the nation’s airtraffic controllers work without pay during the shutdown.

During aweekend appearance on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures,” Duffy saidmore con-

trollers were calling in sick as money worries compound thestressofanalreadychallenging job.

“And that’sa sign that the controllers are wearing thin,” Duffy said. Most controllers are continuing to work mandatory overtimesix days aweek during the shutdownwithout pay,the National Air Traffic Controllers Association said Mondayastheir members braced fortheirfirst full missing paycheck on Tuesday.That leaves little time foraside job unless controllers call in sick to the FAA.

tian, Islamic and Jewish schools, accordingtothe lawsuit,which alleges that the law violates the schools’ religious libertyand equal protection rights.

The federal lawsuitwas brought by two Christian schools thatofferpre-K —ProvidenceClassical Academy in Bossier City and The Dunham SchoolinBatonRouge

—and acouple, Claire and Joshua Cox, whose child attends Providence’spre-K program. Representing the plaintiffs are two conservativeadvocacygroups: the Louisiana-based Pelican Institute for Public Policy and the Center for American Rights, anational nonprofit basedinChicago.

State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley is responsible for enforcing the legislation, also known as Charlie’sLaw,which gives private schools that offer pre-K until Jan. 1toapply for “early learning center” licenses. While Brumley is one of the defendants named in the lawsuit, he suggested that private schools have legitimate grievances with the law

“While many in Louisianaunderstand the purpose behind Charlie’s Law,there are concerns around the final legislation representing government overreach into private institutions,” he said in astatement.

“Louisiana nonpublicschools have every right to challenge some of the unintended consequences of this new law.”

State Sen. Regina Barrow,D-Baton Rouge, who authored the bill, called Brumley’sstatement“very disappointing.” She said her staff worked closely with the state Department of Education when craft-

EMERSON

Continued from page1A

is vulnerable because of hisvote to convict PresidentDonaldTrump during his second impeachment trial over theJan. 6, 2021,riots at theU.S. Capitol.

State Treasurer John Fleming; state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-Lafayette; Public Service Commissioner Eric Skrmetta; and St. Tammany Parish Council member Kathy Seiden have all announced campaigns.

ingthe legislation andhad tried to address issues theagency flagged.

Barrow said she could not comment onthe lawsuit, but explained that her bill focused on private schools partly because public and Montessori schools were already heldtohigher standards in certain areas,suchasstaff-to-student ratios. Still, sheadded, she is working on anew billthat should address someofthe regulatoryconcerns that private schools have raised.

“We’re not trying to make this onerous on any nonpublic entity, we’re not trying to infringe on anybody’srights,” shesaid. “What I’m tryingtodoisensurethat we are safeguarding children. Period.”

The newregulationsfollow allegations by aMetairie couple that

In avideo launching hercampaign, Emerson,like other candidates, expressed hersupport for President DonaldTrump; she also shared her optimism aboutthe country’sfuture.

“Under Republican leadership in Louisiana and asecond Trump administration, I’ve watched with hope, even awe, as mainstream America has begun to embrace theconservative ideas many of us have been fighting for for years,” she said.

“The eraahead will demandvision andconviction. Thelight is

their daughterwas assaulted by another student at aprivate preschool, which,atthe time,did not need astate license. The school denies the allegations andsaysit complies with all state laws. Inspired by thecouple’stestimony,Barrow drafted abill to further regulate preschoolsthatthe Legislature passedunanimously this year and Gov.Jeff Landrysigned into law

The 32-page law includessome rules that apply to allpreschool programs, such as minimum staffing levels.But thelicensing requirementonly applies topreKprograms at private schools. Schools that fail to obtain licenses can be fined $1,000 per day

The lawsuit asks thecourt to inval-

returning, thefutureiscalling, and I’muniquely preparedtohelp lead America toward it,” she added.

Pearson Cross, who teaches political science at the Universityof Louisiana-Monroe, said Emerson “brings aspirit to therace that maybe we haven’t seen in theother candidates.”

“She’sdefinitely kind of the youth candidate, so to speak,” he added. With so manycandidates in therace, thepercentageofvotes needed to enter aprimary election runoff grows slimmer,Cross said.

idate the licensingrequirementand block the state from enforcing it Aspokesperson for state Attorney General LizMurrill, who is responsible for defending the state in court, said her office needs moretime to review the complaint beforecommenting. The lawsuit lists dozens of child care regulationsthat will apply to the state’s roughly 250 private schools with pre-K programs once they become licensed. Theywill have to undergo state Fire Marshal and Health Department inspections, assign employees to monitor all school visitors,keeppre-K students separatefrom older children at recess, accompany 3-year-olds to the restroom and more, the lawsuit says.

Many private schools, including

“This has certainly got really interesting,” he said. “The wild card here hastoreally be President Trump’sendorsement.”

The field of candidates has long been vyingfor that endorsement, but Cross saidhesuspects Trump mightnot give one until after the Republicanprimary Unlike in previousLouisiana elections, Republican candidates will compete against each other to decide whowill represent the party in November 2026. If neither candidate gets over 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will

Providence Classical Academy andthe DunhamSchool, will need to hire additional teachers and administrators to comply with the regulations, the lawsuit said.

“Act409, if implemented, could forceschoolslike Providence Classical Academy to raise tuition or shut down,” Pelican Institute General Counsel Sarah Harbison said in astatement.“Thiswould severelylimit optionsfor families in North Louisiana like the Coxes, who choseaChristian, classical curriculum for theirnine children, including their prekindergartner.”

While no Catholic schoolsare named in the lawsuit, their leaders have spoken outagainst Act 409, arguingthatthe schools already follow extensive safety protocols andthatthe daycare regulations are not suited for school-based pre-Kprograms. They alsohave said it’sunfair to only impose the licensing requirement on private schools, most of which arereligious.

“If this were about the safety of all children, this would apply to public schoolsand Montessori pre-K programsaswell,” RaeNell Houston, schools superintendent forthe ArchdioceseofNew Orleans, said during aprivate school advisory group meeting in July Barrow said she has spoken with some private school leaders and advocates abouttheir problems with the law.But, she added, some of the law’scritics have not responded to her outreach.

“Thatmakes me wonder if they aretruly looking andseeking to address those concerns,” she said, “or if they’re just trying to be obstructionist.”

Email Patrick Wall at patrick. wall@theadvocate.com.

advance to arunofffor that spot. Emerson said in August she was considering running but was waiting to see whether U.S.Rep.Julia Letlow would enter the race. Letlow,whose district stretches from Baton Rouge up to Monroe, has long been rumoredasa potential candidate but hassofar not announced she is running.

Aspokesperson for Letlow did notreturn arequest forcomment Monday Email Matthew Albright at malbright@theadvocate.com.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

List of potential Federal Reserve chairs at 5

WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday confirmed the names of five candidates to replace Jerome Powell as chair of the powerful Federal Reserve next year.

On an Air Force One flight to Asia with President Donald Trump, Bessent said he would engage in a second round of interviews in the coming weeks and present a “good slate” of candidates to Trump “right after Thanksgiving.” Trump said he expected to decide on Powell’s replacement by the end of this year

The five people under consideration are: Federal Reserve governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman; former Fed governor Kevin Warsh; White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett; and Rick Rieder, senior managing director at asset manager BlackRock

The names suggest that no matter who is picked, there will likely be big changes coming to the Federal Reserve next year Bessent, who is leading the search for Powell’s replacement, last month published extensive criticisms of the Fed and some of the policies it has pursued from the Great Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 to the pandemic. Trump on Monday, meanwhile, repeated his long-standing attacks on Powell, charging that he has been too slow to cut interest rates.

4.9M pounds of Hormel frozen chicken recalled

WASHINGTON Hormel Foods is recalling nearly 4.9 million pounds of frozen boneless chicken products it sold to restaurants, cafeterias and other outlets, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday Customers reported finding metal in the chicken breast and thigh products. Hormel concluded that the metal came from a conveyor belt used in production, the food safety service said. There have been no reports of illnesses or injuries.

The recalled Hormel Fire Braised chicken items were distributed to HRI Commercial Food Service, a restaurant supply company, at locations nationwide from Feb. 10 through Sept 19 Consumers can reach out to Hormel Foods through the company website or by calling (800) 523-4635.

Soybeans surge amid talks by U.S.-China

Soybeans and other crops soared as progress in negotiations between the U.S. and China lifted hopes that the world’s two largest economies were edging toward a deal in their protracted trade war Soy futures rose as much as 2.8% in Chicago, reaching the highest amount since July 2024 That came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China would make “substantial” purchases of the oilseed under a pact the two countries are close to finalizing. Wheat jumped by the most since Aug. 12. Agricultural trade was among a range of issues that American and Chinese negotiators said they came to terms on over the weekend, setting the table for leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to finalize a deal and ease tensions that have rattled global markets. The two are expected to meet later this week in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

Soybeans have been a central point of tension between the two agricultural giants. China, the world’s top importer of the crop, has deployed it as a bargaining chip in its trade war with the U.S., shunning shipments from its second-largest supplier, and turning instead to South America for record imports. U.S. farmers, suffering from financial strain as their top consumer walked away, have urged Washington to reach an agreement with Beijing.

Cadence Bank purchased for $7.4B

Huntington Bancshares negotiates all-stock deal

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP business writer

Huntington Bancshares is buying regional bank Cadence Bank in an all-stock deal valued at $7.4 billion that will strengthen its position across the Southern U.S. Cadence, which has headquarters in Houston and Tupelo, Mississippi, has more than 390 locations across Texas and the South. Cadence has 24 branches in Louisiana. The company entered the Louisiana market in 2022, when it merged with BancorpSouth.

Huntington runs more than 1,000 branches in 14 states. It is typically referred to as a super regional

bank, a group of large national banks that are significant in size, often hundreds of billions in assets and hundreds of branches, but are dwarfed in size by the banking giants Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, who have size and scale that the super regionals cannot replicate. The super regionals have been growing considerably in recent years in order to better compete with the Wall Street titans in various businesses. For example, Capital One bought Discover Financial, which jointly created the nation’s largest credit card company Huntington Bancshares bought Detroit’s TCF back in 2021. And last

month, PNC Financial announced that it plans to buy Colorado-based FirstBank for $4.1 billion. Huntington said Monday that once the deal closes, it will become the No. 1 bank in Mississippi and a top 10 bank in both Alabama and Arkansas by deposits. The transaction will also give it a foothold in high-growth markets such as Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa.

Bank transactions are on the upswing of late. Merger and acquisition activity among U.S. banks jumped to a four-year high in the third quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data through Sept. 30. There were 52 U.S. bank deals announced in 2025’s third quarter That’s the

highest quarterly number of deals since the third quarter of 2021, when the industry disclosed 59 transactions.

Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington will issue 2.475 shares of common stock for each outstanding share of Cadence common stock. Huntington does not plan to close any of Cadence’s branches. Cadence Bank teams and branches will operate under the Huntington Bank name and brand.

Cadence Bank Chairman and CEO James D Rollins III will become nonexecutive vice chairman of the board of Huntington Bancshares Inc. once the deal is complete. He will also serve as a director of Huntington Bancshares and The Huntington National Bank.

China’s C919 jet faces turbulent skies as trade tensions add delays

Passenger planes meant to rival Boeing, Airbus

BY CHAN HO-HIM Associated Press

HONG KONG China’s ambition to challenge Boeing and Airbus with its own homegrown passenger jet is running into turbulence, with deliveries of finished aircraft likely to fall far short of its target announced for this year

The C919 jet — a single-aisle passenger plane aiming to rival Boeing’s 737 and Airbus’ A320 — is made by state-owned aircraft manufacturer COMAC Beijing is showcasing it as evidence of China’s technological advancement and progress in self-reliance, though it uses many Western sourced components.

Trade friction with Washington threatens to prevent COMAC from securing core parts for the program that has been supported by huge Chinese government subsidies.

“COMAC faces significant risk from the volatile policy environment, with its supply chains vulnerable to export restrictions and tit-for-tat measures between the U.S. and China,” said Max J. Zenglein, Asia-Pacific senior economist at The Conference Board think tank

The C919 has 48 major suppliers from the U.S including GE, Honeywell and Collins — 26 from Europe and 14 from China, according to analysts at the Bank of America. Trump threatened to impose new export controls on “critical” software to China after Beijing imposed stricter export controls on rare earths.

“Existing choke points are being exploited in the deal making process between governments,” Zenglein said. “This is likely to continue as critical dependencies have become political bargaining chips.”

Beijing has high hopes for the C919, which made its maiden commercial flight in 2023.

The mid-sized jet is meant to help fill vast domestic demand for new aircraft over the next few decades. China hopes to expand sales beyond its borders and fly globally, including in Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe.

COMAC delivered 13 C919s to Chinese carriers last year and only seven as of October this year, despite plans to ramp up production and deliver 30 jets in 2025, according to the aviation consultancy Cirium.

China’s biggest state-owned airlines — Air

ASSOCIATED

The COMAC C919 has 48 major suppliers from the U.S — including GE, Honeywell and Collins.

China, China Eastern and China Southern are the only commercial airlines currently flying a total of around 20 C919s. Trade tensions between the U.S. and China have “directly affected” delivery schedules for the C919, said Dan Taylor, head of consulting at aviation consultancy IBA. For one, output plans were disrupted when the U.S. suspended export licenses for the jet’s LEAP-1C engines around May, resuming them in July he said.

U.S.-controlled technology that needs export licensing for the LEAP-1C engines — jointly built by the U.S.’s GE Aerospace and France’s Safran -— means the C919’s engines require U.S. export clearance, Taylor said, making it “inherently sensitive to political shifts.”

“Engine and avionics dependence on Western suppliers continues to expose the program to policy decisions beyond COMAC’s control,” Taylor explained.

Geopolitical tensions alone are not the only cause for slower than expected production of the C919s The program has been “marked by caution and prioritizing quality and safe-

ty, so there also may be some operational reasons for the slower production ramp up,” said Zenglein from The Conference Board. While “it has always been the aim to reduce the reliance on foreign components as quickly as possible” for the C919, Zenglein said, many analysts say it is a challenging process. China’s own engine alternative — the CJ-1000A under development by stateowned Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC) is still under testing, according to IBA.

Several airlines outside of China, including AirAsia, have expressed interest in flying the C919, but a lack of international certification has so far prevented the C919 from flying beyond China. Certifications from the U.S. and the European Union’s aviation regulators could take years.

For the C919 to succeed, it “needs to have each one of three things: good economics, a prompt global product support network, and certification from safety agencies”, said Richard Aboulafia, managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory “Any one of these three alone doesn’t mean much,” he said.

Wall Street rallies to more records as gold’s

BY STAN CHOE AP business writer

NEW YORK Stocks climbed to more records on Monday ahead of a week packed with potentially market-moving events for Wall Street. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 337 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.9%. Each of the trio set an all-time high for a second straight day Stocks also rallied in Asia ahead of a meeting on Thursday between the heads of the United States and China. The hope is that the talks could clear rising tensions between the world’s two largest economies and allow the global economy to keep motoring.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there’s “a framework” for U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss at their meeting, while Trump said, “We feel good” about working things out with China. That’s just one of many things that will need to go right this week in order for the U.S. stock market’s tremendous, record-breaking rally to continue. The S&P 500 has shot up a stunning 38% since hitting a low in April, when worries about Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries were at their peak. Besides hopes for easing trade tensions, the rally has also been built on expectations for several more things to happen. One is that the Federal Reserve

price slumps again

will keep cutting interest rates in order to give the slowing job market a boost. The Fed’s next announcement on interest rates is due on Wednesday, and the nearly unanimous expectation among traders is that it will cut the federal funds rate by a quarter of a percentage point at a second straight meeting. It’s not a certainty though, because the Fed has also warned it may have to change course if inflation accelerates beyond its still-high level. That’s because low interest rates can make inflation worse. The latest monthly report on inflation came in slightly better than economists expected, raising hopes, but it may be the final update for a while if the U.S. govern-

ment’s shutdown continues. That could cloud the forecast for cuts to rates to continue. Besides lower interest rates, another expectation that’s propped up stock prices is the forecast that U.S. companies will continue to deliver solid growth in profits. Keurig Dr Pepper climbed 7.6% Monday after reporting profit for the latest quarter that matched analysts’ expectations. The company behind Canada Dry and Green Mountain coffee said it benefited from higher prices for K-Cup products, among other things

Some of Wall Street’s most influential stocks are set to report their results this week, including Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft on Wednesday and Amazon and Apple on Thursday

covering it. But at the rodeo’s center is a large economy, beginning with the monetary awards and winding outward to St. Francisville hotel reservations and Little Debbie bakery sponsorships.

‘We get slammed’

Economic indicators flashed from the start.

On Oct. 12, a wooden sign warned that all $20 rodeo tickets were sold out, while a nearby billboard advertised correctional officer positions starting at a salary of $45,437.

West Feliciana Parish historically depended on plantation agriculture that used slave and sharecropper labor In 1900, the U.S. Census Bureau data shows there were more than 2,300 farms and 146,000 acres of farmland; by 2022, that had declined to 95 farms at just under 37,000 acres.

The prison lies atop the former Angola plantation, which operated until the state purchased the land in the early 1900s. Today, the 18,000-acre penitentiary is the region’s largest employer, with more than 1,400 workers, with up to 750 people — employees and their families living in a town inside the gates.

The penitentiary continues to use the land for agriculture. Working at a pay of up to 40 cents an hour, inmates raise cattle, some of which were exhibited at the rodeo, and harvest crops, including soybeans and cotton. Statewide, prison agricultural sales generated around $3.8 million from 2023 to 2024.

In the parish seat of St. Francisville, the economy has shifted to tourism, with some remaining plantation houses now hotels. John Kean, the chair of the parish tourism commission, said hotels are generally booked full for the rodeo.

The Francis Southern Table and Bar just marked its 10th anniversary, and event coordinator Casey Sanders said other restaurants are closed on Sunday, so it brings in a significant amount of business.

“We kind of base scheduling our workers around Sundays in October because we know that we get slammed,” she said. Cash only

On Oct. 12, the vehicle line rose and plunged over the loess hills before rounding the final curve and ascending toward the prison. A monument behind the gates welcomed the roughly 10,000 people entering with a quote from a former inmate: “You Are Entering The Land of New Beginnings.”

Inside, cash is king. Inmate bands sang gospel songs while others sold crawfish étouffée and funnel cakes. Children circled on a carousel or played Dunk-A-Con, a dunk tank with an inmate. Rodeo ticket sales go into the Inmate Welfare Fund, which pays for inmate recreational and

educational programs.

Attendees on Oct 12 hailed from Denmark, Georgia and Alabama. Joey and Stacy Whitfield, of Greenwood, Mississippi, visited for the first time and stayed at the nearby Greenwood Plantation. They said competitors’ lack of experience makes it more entertaining than regular rodeos

“I’ve been to a bunch of rodeos,” Joey Whitfield said. “It’s good. It’s entertainment; it’s different.”

Department of Corrections staff accompanied The Advocate during interviews. At one point, when a reporter asked an inmate how much he earned from hobby-craft sales, staff said money questions were offlimits.

Inmate Charles Grace, convicted of armed robbery, sells handmade grills and tables in the hobbycraft area. It’s intricate handiwork, with one metal table created to look like a spiderweb. He mentioned he had earned around $5,000 that day, before the prison deducted taxes and fees.

“I’ve been out here 10 years, and I try to make just a high-quality product,” he

said. “It really basically sells itself.

Blue Bell and Little Debbie Since ticket sales fund inmate programming, sponsors from Tractor Supply to the Louisiana Lottery pay for the rodeo itself. Cornerstone Inc., a prison equipment contractor; Gerry Lane Enterprises; and West Feliciana Hospital paid for the PremiumElite tier The Francis restaurant was a VIP sponsor; United Equipment Rentals was Elite tier

The crowd packed into the inmate-built arena. Events advanced in quick succession. Bust Out, sponsored by Little Debbie bakery, opened the competition. Blue Bell Ice Cream sponsored Wild Cow Milking, where teams of three battled to be the first to squeeze milk into a Blue Bell cup.

During bareback riding, one inmate hit the ground and lay motionless. Prison medical personnel stationed nearby rushed over; after a few minutes, the man was placed on a stretcher and carried out. Inmates are outfitted with

a helmet and padding. All those who spoke praised the event, although some admitted they felt scared

during the competitions. Christopher Bounds, sentenced to life for murder, said he’s grown bolder over the years and that the competitions release tension for him.

“I look forward to it. Not only the money, but just the competition,” he said. “Being able to really just release the energy you have in you.”

The bull riding event, sponsored by Bunny Enriched Bread with prizes from local sheriffs, mixed up the only-inmate competitions.

“We have what we call ‘free bull riders’ here. We’ve got three guys that are not incarcerated here at Angola State Penitentiary,” the announcer explained. “They’re going to be a part of the bull riding against our inmates here.”

An inmate perched on the 2,000-pound animal, waiting to be released. “Black Betty” by Ram Jam a 1977 cover of an African American prison work song famously sung by Lead Belly,

who was once imprisoned at Angola blasted from loudspeakers. The mostly White crowd stomped and clapped and shrieked, a swelling roar The gate opened. Guts, Glory and $500 For inmates, sometimes it pays to be wild. Five hundred dollars, to be exact. It’s time for the final event — “Guts and Glory,” sponsored by M&L Industries. Fifty inmates spread across the dirt while a red chip is tied between the horns of a bull. The men have three minutes to seize it.

“The first inmate to grab that chip is going to win $500 here this afternoon,” the announcer explained. “That might as well be $5,000 here at Angola.” The charging bull is loosed upon the prisoners. Most jump onto the arena fence, avoiding confrontation. One man moves toward the beast. It slams him into the dirt as he struggles for the $500. It drives over him.

Others try to snatch the prize and hit similar fates. Thirty seconds remain. The animal backs into a corner Some inmates scoot on their butts, angling to get low and close.

The crowd tenses, urgent and expectant. The beast launches at multidecade rodeo veteran Buckethead, the nickname of Travis Johnson. He’s rammed beneath its hulking mass, reaching for the chip His hand clasps it and pulls. The crowd roars, thousands stomping, standing, howling and cheering. Buckethead rises, raising his fist and clutching the chip. A smile bursts across his face. The rodeo is over until the following Sunday Everyone shuffles out, some going home and some, like the Whitfields, driving to nearby lodging. In the arena, the inmates wait to be taken back to their cells.

Email Christopher Cartwright at christopher cartwright@theadvocate. com.

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LOUISIANA AT LARGE

Chiefjustice showstrue colors in art

Rarely have Ifelt as fancy as Idid last week when Idrove up to the guards’ booth at the Louisiana Supreme Court and the guards greeted me by name and ushered me to basement parking. First of all, basement parking less than three blocks from the Mississippi River in New Orleans, acity largely below sea level, took me by surprise. Driving down the ramp beneath the beaux arts-style, neoclassicalbuilding, Icouldn’thelp but think, as Ieased my car underground, “Well, Ihope it doesn’t rain today.”

Iwas on my way to meet Chief Justice John Weimer in his chambers —Ihad never met anyone in their “chambers” before. The chief justice’schambers were, according to all sources, notintheir typical state. Dozens of framed and unframed pieces were leaning against the walls and furniture.

“These are the rejects,” Weimer explained. He had just met with acurator who also visited his chambers to decide which pieces of the chief justice’sartwork would be included in an upcoming art show,set to open Nov.14, at the Rodrigue Gallery,730 Royal St., in the French Quarter In judicial fashion, he couldn’t resist explaining the term and chuckled as he said, in legal terms, that a“curator” is acourtappointed guardian with the legal duty and power to manage the property and affairs of an individual deemed incapable of doing so for themselves.

Shemsi Frezel wasn’tthat kind of curator for Weimer.She was there to see his art and select piecesfor the show

“I was curated yesterday,and I’ll be hung next week,” he said with asmile. “She said she was surprised at the quantityof paintings —and Iguess the, I don’twant to say quality,but the acceptance. She said they met her standards.”

Weimer readily admits that his title is what is probablyattracting people to look at his work “as opposed to the quality” of the art. He’swilling to let others give the final verdict and poke some fun in the process by titling the show,“Youbethe Judge.” Wayne Fernandez, “strategy consultant”for Rodrigue Gallery, and Weimer go back all the way to their college days at Nicholls State University

“John and Iwere in student government together at Nicholls,” Fernandez said. “He was the president of the student body andIwas asenatorfor the CollegeofLife Sciences. Iwasn’t surprised that he became the chief justice, but what did surprise me is that he is atalented visual artist.”

After some persuasion, Fernandez said Weimer agreed to do a showing of his works.

Frezel describes the pieces she selected as asampling of Weimer’swork that look at his interpretations of the Louisiana landscape. He also paintsanarray of duck decoy paintings.

“It was interesting to hear his stories. He feels very connected to the places he paints,” Frezel said. “I’venot curated ashow like this before. There are an abundance of options, alot of ground to cover —work he’screated recently and work he created years ago. The show is about finding the through line.”

For Weimer,connectionto place is at hiscore. Behind the robe and the paintings lies astory of resilience. He was the oldest of five kids, and his

ä See RISHER, page 2B

‘Everythingisatstake’

La.Democrats blast potentialredistricting at Capitolprotest

BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN

Staff writer

As Democratscontinuetooppose

Republican legislation that could set thestage for the eliminationofone or both of the state’stwo majorityBlack congressional districts, they ledseveralhundred people in aprotest on the steps of the Louisiana StateCapitolonMonday

“What is at stake? Everything is at stake,” stateRep. Edmond Jordan, D-BatonRouge,who chairs the LegislativeBlack Caucus, told the crowd Jordan stoodwith agroup of Black politicians, including U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge,and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter,D-New Orleans.Officials took turns addressingthe pro-

BelleofBaton Rouge is nowBally’s casino

Rebrandadds restaurantsahead of December opening

BY TIMOTHY BOONE Staff writer

The Belle of Baton Rouge will beknown as Bally’sBaton Rouge Casino and Hotelwhen thedowntown casinoopensits land-based expansion in December Bally’sofficials announced the change Monday morning. The move comesafter thecasino’s hotel was rebranded Bally’s when it opened earlier this year Thecasino will feature a“dining depot” —anupscale food hall that pays homage to the building’shistoryasatrain depot. There will be four restaurants: Hearth Pizzeria, which will offer pizza, calzones and other Italian dishes; Shuck’s Oyster Bar,which will serve fresh Gulf oysters; Vintage 1806, which will offerwine and

small plates; and MaritimeCoffee, which will sell coffee, pastries and sandwiches. Aprivate dining area will also be available. Shuck’spaystribute to Shuck’sonthe Levee, an oyster bar that was in the Belle atrium about 10 years ago. Plans are to take some of the dishes from the Shuck’smenu, give them aspin andput them on the newmenu, saidLauren Westerfield, aBally’sspokesperson. Plans aretoopen the landbased casino on Dec. 6, pending approval from theLouisiana Gaming Control Board and the Louisiana State Police, Gaming Enforcement Division. The casino’saging riverboat sailed away in January, and gamblingoperations arehappening in atemporary spaceon land. When the land-basedcasino opens in December,itwill take up 25,000 square feet of the Belle’satrium andinclude 800 slotmachines, 20 to 25 table games, asports book, acenter

BY IANNE SALVOSA Staff writer

Butagroup of non-Black voters challenged that mapina caseknown as Louisiana v. Callais, which has made its way to theSupremeCourt. The casegives thecourt theopportunity to overturnSection 2ofthe Voting Rights Act, which has for decades allowed civil rights groups to challenge maps they say disenfranchiseBlack voters.

“If this fails for us,ifthe Supreme Court comes back and rules against us as it relates to Section 2ofthe Voting Rights Act, everything is at stake —every congressional district, everylegislative district, everymetro council and town city district, every school board district, every elected position that you can think of in which you have amajority-minority

testers during the hourlong event. Inside the Capitol, Republican lawmakershave spent recent dayspushing through legislation that would delay next year’sprimaries, giving them time to potentially redraw the state’scongressional map, which is being challenged in acloselywatchedSupreme Court case, Louisiana v. Callais Democratic lawmakers, most of whom are Black,are trying to stop thelegislation but standlittle chance of doingsowhile Republicans hold supermajorities in both theHouse andSenate Aboutone-thirdofLouisiana’spopulation is Black,but untillast year, just oneofthe state’ssix congressional districts wererepresented by Black politicians.Lawmakers redrewthe state’scongressional map to adda second majority-Black districtafter ajudge ruled that theold maps violatedthe Voting Rights Act. With thenew map, voters elected Fields, aBlack Democrat, to Congress. That gave Democrats two seats in the six-member delegation; previously,Carter,who also is Black, held the delegation’sonly Democratic seat.

Orion Engineers +Constructors is relocating itscorporate headquarters in St.George,a move that will create 50 newdirect jobs. The jobs will have an average annual salary of $100,000, according to Louisiana Economic Development. Orion’sexpansion is expected to create 61 indirect jobs.

Orion Engineershas an office on Highlandia Drive. Thecompany has45local employees Thecompany,basedinTheodore, Alabama, will immediately relocate its corporate operations to theHighlandia Driveoffice. That will serve as atemporary headquarters; Orion will start construction on anew office in St. George, setfor completion by June 2030. An exact location was notdisclosed

Orion President and CEO Billy Novaksaid he looked at relocating the headquarters to any of

thecompany’ssatelliteoffices. After afew meetings with state officials,Novak found that Louisiana offered themostcompetitive incentives The move will strengthen Orion’s ability to deliver exceptional service to clients, along with attracting and retaining topemployees and deepen its commitment to local clientsand communities, he said.

“It’ll be ahuge benefit to the workforceinthe area,” Novak said. The company was founded in 2001 and provides project consultation for industries including oil and gas,life sciences and government. Orion also hasoffices in Houston and Pascagoula, Mississippi. The Theodore office will relocate to downtownMobile on Jan. 1.

Orion lists AirProducts and CF Industries as clients on its website, which arebuilding blue hydrogen and blue ammonia facilities,respectively, in Ascension Parish.

Novak said Orion works with

New Orleans mayor announces nightlife plan

Report details threats, sets framework to address challenges

BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

Three months before she leaves office, Mayor LaToya Cantrell has announced a “strategic plan” to support the city’s nightlife as her administration seeks to cement one of the more-publicized community initiatives of her embattled second term. The report lists threats facing the city’s vibrant nightlife that will likely come as little surprise to New Orleanians They include “seasonal instability,” inconsistent code enforcement, competition from national entertainment conglomerates and “overcommercialization” that risks “eroding the authenticity of New Orleans nightlife,” the report states. To combat those challenges, the framework issued Monday by Cantrell’s press office covers five areas: Nightlife Business Support and Visibility; Summer Sustainability; Access, Mobility and Space; Public Safety and Quality of Life; and Music Industry Development

The plan “outlines a clear

set of directives to strengthen nightlife governance, support the nighttime workforce, and enhance the quality of life across New Orleans,” Michael Ince, the Office of Nighttime Economy director, said in a statement The framework details near- and long-term goals that it suggests should be implemented between now and 2029. But it’s unclear if incoming Mayor Helena Moreno — who won the race to replace Cantrell in October and is set to assume the Mayor’s Office in January — will implement it Spokespeople for Moreno’s transition team did not immediately respond Monday to an inquiry about the proposals.

Launched in 2022 as New Orleans and the nation were emerging from the economic crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, the goal of the Mayor’s Office of Nighttime Economy was to breathe fresh life into New Orleans’ nightlife industry at a precarious moment for the city’s tourism, music and food scenes. The effort received publicity as Cantrell enlisted Howie Kaplan, the Howlin’ Wolf club owner and Rebirth Brass Band manager, as the office’s first head.

The office launched with a slim annual budget of around $500,000,

agement best practices, according to the strategic plan.

The 27-page plan outlines short-term goals including implementing a training series for nightlife operators by next summer; mediumterm objectives, such as a shuttle to limit drunk driving and circumvent traffic challenges by 2028; and long-term goals, like nighttime child care for hospitality workers, it suggests should be implemented by 2029.

As she prepares to assume the Mayor’s Office, Moreno and a new slate of City Council members set to take office in January are facing down a gaping budget deficit they will be tasked with filling.

In an email, Ince said the office’s staff “have not gotten the chance to meet with the transition team yet but very much looking forward to meeting and working with them.

according to news reports at the time. It shrank to about $460,000 this year, according to city budget documents. The office also has a staff of only three: a director, a policy and outreach manager and a community liaison and projects manager

The biggest challenges that emerged over the past three years, the report states, are “limited night-

time parking enforcement, recurring sound complaints, gaps in hospitality worker transportation options, and the ongoing need for balanced quality-of-life management in mixed-use neighborhoods.”

The office has also distributed a “library” of nightlife resources including a hurricane checklist, safety guidelines and sound man-

When he resigned last year, Kaplan said the office had mostly lived up to its goal of being a liaison rather than regulatory force on the city’s nightlife scene. He touted efforts to coordinate discussion between nightlife businesses, neighbors and government and said he was proud of an initiative to put Narcan, a life-saving overdose medication, in nightlife venues.

The council, of which Moreno is a leader, voted unanimously last week to take what amounts to a $125 million payday loan measure in a bid to secure cash quickly as the city risks being unable to pay its employees’ payroll in the coming weeks, officials have said.

Email James Finn at jfinn@theadvocate.com.

Trial date for case tied to Gaza attack up in the air

Lafayette man not facing death penalty

BY CLAIRE TAYLOR Staff writer

Recent Lafayette resident Mahmoud al-Muhtadi, accused of conspiring with the terrorist group Hamas in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, could be on trial next fall.

An FBI affidavit presented in federal court Oct

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district is at stake,” said Jordan. It remains unclear when the Supreme Court will make a decision in the case, or what that decision will be. But if the court rules before the end of the year, Landry and lawmakers have said they could draw a map with fewer majority-Black districts At the protest, Press Robinson, a plaintiff in the court case that got Louisiana a second majority-Black district, worried Republicans could get rid of both Black seats.

“This playbook is as old as Reconstruction itself,” said Carter “After the Civil War, Black Americans helped build multiracial democracies, and when those who had always held power couldn’t win fairly, they imposed poll taxes, literacy tests, violence and gerrymandering.”

Louisianans from as far

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BELLE

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17 accuses al-Muhtadi of gathering armed men in Gaza shortly after the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel began, then crossing the border to participate in the attack where children, men and women were killed, some tortured and some taken hostage. The FBI based its report on interviews, cellphone tower pings and emails, and was aided by Israel. A federal grand jury on Oct. 17 indicted al-Muhtadi on charges of conspiring to provide material sup-

port to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death and visa fraud for providing false information June 26, 2024, on his visa application to enter the United States and obtain legal permanent resident status. Al-Muhtadi pleaded not guilty

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Nickel said prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty U.S. District Judge David Joseph, of the Western District of Louisiana,

Members of several groups including the

gather for a protest over the special session on election maps on the steps of the State Capitol on Monday Baton Rouge.

away as Shreveport came out to rally in support of the existing maps Sona Anderson, of Opelousas, said she came to Baton Rouge to “defend our right to fair voting in Louisiana as African American citizens.” The fight comes as Democrats and Republicans

across the country look for any advantages they can get ahead of next year’s midterms, when control of Congress will be at stake.

Email Meghan Friedmann at meghan. friedmann@theadvocate. com.

Quality Jobs program, a cash rebate for up to 6% of annual gross payroll of new jobs.

Orion will receive a $500,000 performancebased grant from LED and will participate in the

bar, a two-lane bowling alley and a dedicated smoking area. The $141 million expansion and remodel of the casino will add about 350 jobs, bringing the total workforce to just over 500. The new jobs will boost the casino’s payroll by $13 million Bally’s will be the second land-based casino in Baton Rouge. The Queen, formerly Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge, opened on land in August 2023. It is also owned by Bally’s. To strengthen ties between The Queen and Bally’s, a bus has been

Email Ianne Salvosa at ianne.salvosa@ theadvocate.com.

purchased to shuttle gamblers between the two properties. That will let the Queen take advantage of the Bally’s hotel. The two casinos will also share a player’s club, allowing gamblers to earn points for placing bets at both properties.

Email Timothy Boone at tboone@theadvocate.com.

met Monday morning in Lafayette with federal prosecutors and al-Muhtadi’s defense counsel to begin hammering out a deadline schedule for motions, discovery and a trial date

Nickel presented a proposed deadline schedule tentatively agreed upon by the defense with a suggested trial date in a year “A year’s a long time for a criminal case,” Joseph said.

Al-Muhtadi is being held in Calcasieu Parish.

One of al-Muhtadi’s attorneys, Dustin Talbot, agreed with a trial in about a year based on several significant issues such as al-Muhtadi speaks only Arabic and it is difficult to arrange for interpreters to meet with him and his attorneys in Lake Charles. Because of the federal government shutdown, interpreters cannot be paid at this time, he said.

Defense attorneys have only been able to meet with al-Muhtadi twice. They are scheduled for another

meeting next week, Talbot said, to discuss through an interpreter the scheduling order and al-Muhtadi’s right to a speedy trial. Another problem, Talbot said, is that the alleged crime occurred in a war zone, making it difficult to conduct an international investigation. Joseph said he won’t set a trial date until defense attorneys have discussed the date with al-Muhtadi. Email Claire Taylor at ctaylor@theadvocate.com.

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mother passed away when he was 9.

“That left my dad with five kids to raise on his own,” he said. “Work was mandatory.”

Working hard became the guiding principle of his life — offshore, boats and more.

His father ran a service station in Thibodaux.

“He sold motorcycles out of his service station. So we pretty much opted not to go to school,” Weimer said. “And now, I’m engaged in this major truancy issue.”

When he was 16, his father got sick. Ultimately, the service station closed. Weimer ended up working and eking out a way to go to college and, eventually to law school.

“I’ve always told people that working for my father in that service station taught me invaluable life lessons,” Weimer said. “The virtue of honesty, the value of hard work and how very important it is to treat everyone regardless of their station in life with dignity.”

Somewhere along the way, he realized he could draw and paint. He primarily does so late at night.

As a practice, he doesn’t sell his work. Though he did sell one piece while he was in law school and nearly “destitute,” he said. These days, he donates pieces to auctions to help organizations raise money I asked him what commonalities he sees between capturing beauty and his work as the chief justice

Both, he said, require his full attention.

“It requires preparation and being your own

worst critic,” he said. “As a painter, I am very slow and methodical — as I am as a judge.”

We walked from his chambers throughout the historic building as he told me many of its stories and pointed out exceptional pieces in the collection of portraits that hang in its halls. Whether on the bench or on canvas, Weimer seems intent on getting the details — and the judgment — just right.

Email Jan Risher at jan. risher@theadvocate.com.

Badeaux, Brenda Bello Brenda BelloBadeaux

78, of BatonRouge, LA, passed away peacefully Monday, October 20, 2025 Brenda enjoyed reading, playing cards, and traveling. But her true joy came from being with her family and her dogsand from her faith. She was aloving wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and friend and will be missed by all who knew her. She was preceded in death by her stepson, Bradley(Brad) Badeaux; parents, Mr. and Mrs.J.B Bello; siblings,Stella Peck, J.B. Bello, andRonald Bello; father and mother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Badeaux; niece, Janice Leckert; and nephews, KelvinDuke andBrent Bello. Brenda is survived by her devoted husband, Willis"Billy" Badeaux; stepson, Andrew "Andy Badeaux(Susan); grandchildren, Jordy and Kelsey Badeaux; sister-in-law, Pam Wilson; brother-inlaw, Richard Badeaux; and nieces and nephews, Carolyn Duke, Terry Duke, Angela Ferrara, Ivan Duke, Charles Bello, Stanley Bello, Steve Bello, Neal Bello, Tina Bello,AnnaDuke, and Nicole Melancon. She also had numerous great nieces and nephews that she loved dearly and enjoyed spending timewith.Visitation willbeheldatSt. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Greenwell Springs, Thursday, October 30, from 10a.m. until Celebration of Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at Louisiana National Cemetery, Zachary, at 1 p.m. Please share your condolences at www.sealefuneral.com. In lieu of flowers,please considerdonations to St. Jude Children's Research, St. Alphonsus Catholic Church.

Caillais,Vera MarieAdams

Vera Marie-AdamsCail‐lais,86years old, was called to be with herLord andSavior, JesusChrist, on October24, 2025. Sheen‐teredthisworld on April 10, 1939, born to Evance andRuthAdams,inThibo‐daux,LA. Shewas amem‐berofImmaculate Concep‐tion Catholic Church,Den‐hamSprings,LA. Vera was averylovingand dedi‐catedwife, mother,grand‐mother,great-grand‐mother,great great-grand‐mother,sister, andfriend. Vera is survived by herlov‐ingsons, Gary Caillais,Troy Caillais,and Ronald Cail‐lais;daughters,Charlene Knot andMelissa Ferguson (Herschell); 8grandchil‐

dren;17great-grandchil‐dren;and 1great greatgrandchild;brother, Evance P. Adams, Jr.(Ear‐line); sisters, Sylvia Babin andCatherine Duplantis; anda host of nieces and nephews. Vera is preceded in deathbyher husband, Albert James“Jimmy” Cail‐lais;father, Evance Paul Adams; andmother, Ruth TheresaBourg Adams. Rel‐atives andfriends arein‐vitedtojointhe familyfor thevisitationatBaker Fu‐neralHome, 6401 Groom Road,Baker,LAonThurs‐day, October30, 2025, from 10:00 AM until theFuneral Serviceat12:00 PM,offici‐ated by Deacon Tommy Benoit.The gravesideser‐vice andburialwillfollow at HillcrestMemorialGar‐dens,inBaker,Louisiana

Gloria Dowdy Chaney 86, of Clinton passed awayon ThursdayOctober 24, 2025 at her home.Private family services willbeheldata later date.

Gloria is precededin death by herhusband Eddie Chaney, son Eddie(Bo) Chaney,parents, Torris and Maureen Dowdy; two brothers, Robert Dowdy andEveritt Dowdy and three sisters, VeraGrove, Cherry Kajorand Dolly Trauth. Gloria was adevoted wife, mother, grandmother, sisterand friend. Sheenjoyedspending time with her family and was known for her strength, and quick wit. Gloria will be remembered for her love of crossword puzzles, Facebook, music, poetry and animals. Gloria worked as an Executive Secretary at Albermarle.She will be deeply missedbyall who knew and lovedher.Those left to cherishher memory include daughtersDonna Morel, Pamela Windham (Jeff); 4grandchildren Ryan Windham(Jacqueline), McKenzieMayeaux(Jesse), Patrick Chaney, Kayla Chaney(Brian),5 great grandchildren Quinn Windham, Cade Windham, Evangeline Windham, Ava Mayeaux, FinleyLaiche , and daughter in lawJenetta Chaney. Shewill be missedbyher beloved rescues, SweetPea,Mimsy, Beyonce, Tomand grand pup Chloe. In lieuofflowers, we ask for donations to St JudesChildren's hospital and Dante's Hope Animal Rescue. "And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance." -Kahlil Gibran

Chaney, Gloria Dowdy Obituary forGloria DowdyChaney

Gloria DowdyChaney, belovedwifeofthe late Ed-

dieR.Chaney, passed away peacefully on Friday morning, October 25, 2025. She was the devoted mother of Donna L. Moreland Pamela K. Windham, and was precededindeath by her son, Eddie (Bo)R ChaneyJr.

Gloria wasthe greatgrandmother of five and will be remembered for her unwavering love for her family,her quickwit, and her remarkable strength and humor.

Friends and family are welcome to attend theintimategraveside ceremony held on Tuesday, October 29that2:00 PM at theMasonicCemetery on Hwy 10 in Clinton,Louisiana.

Davis, EldonEugene

He wasa resident of Chipola, LA,passedaway on Sunday,October 26, 2025 at hishome. He was born June 13, 1936 in Lib‐erty,MSand was89years of age. He wasknown to many as Man, Mr.Man,or Slick, he hada true talent forbeing able to repair just aboutanythingand he lovedspendingtimeinhis shop workingonhis many projects.Hewas always willingtodropeverything when friendsorneighbors needed help with theircars or tractors.Healsoloved travelingwithhis wife to themountains andgoing to bluegrassconcerts. He will deeply be missedby hisfamilyand everyone who knew him. Aspecial thankyou to Burt Broad‐wayfor hiskindnessand wonderfulcarehepro‐videdthese last couple of months.Heissurvivedby hiswifeof57years,Mar‐garetCarol Davis;daugh‐ter, SusanDavis DeLacerda (Mike);son,Edwin Scott Davis; granddaughter, StormieRenee Davis. Pre‐cededindeath by his mother,Pearl Lilly. Grave‐side Services will be held at WalesCemetery, Chipola, LA at 2:00PM Thursday,October 30, 2025. In lieu of flowersdonations maybemadetoWales Cemetery Fund 27208 Hwy 43 Greensburg, LA.McK‐neelyFuneralHome, Amite, in charge of arrangements Foranonlineguestbook visithttp://www.mckneelys.com

Guillory,Bennie Foret'Bee'

Bennie “Bee” ForetGuil‐lory,71, anativeofMorgan City,LAand acurrent resi‐dent of Plaquemine,LA, passedawayonFriday, Oc‐tober24, 2025. Bennie was adevoted mother,grand‐mother,great-grand‐mother,sister, aunt,and friend whose love knew no bounds. Shewas awoman whose love touchedevery‐onewho knew her. Known forher kindness and steady presence,she al‐ways hada way of making people feel welcomed and caredfor.Whether it was throughher delicious home cooked mealsorher infectious laugh, shelefta lastingmarkonall in her life.Her greatest joyinlife washer family. Shewas theheart of everygather‐

ing, theone who made sure everyone felt loved, caredfor,and at home.Her children,grandchildren andgreat-grandchildren were herpride andjoy and shenever missed an op‐portunity to supportthem in everymomentoftheir lives. Shelived each day with agratefulheart anda steadfasttrust in God’s plan.Bennie’slove, kind‐ness andunwavering sup‐port will be deeply missed, butshe will live on in the hearts of allwho knew her. Sheleavesbehindtocher‐ishher memory,her daughter,TalleyDevillier andhusband Bradley; son, Marlin Guillory Jr.and fiancé Mary;six grandchil‐dren,ParkerDevillier (Brooke),Lakelyn Devillier, Christen Gomez(Seth), GenesisGuillory,Cameron Guillory (Rayne), and KayneGuillory (Emily); threegreat-grandchildren, Caroline Badeaux, Amelia Gomez, andKodiJane Gomez; sister-in-law, Tish Foret; anda host of nieces andnephews.She is pre‐cededindeath by her daughter,Tonia Guillory; parents, Delmaand Roo‐sevelt Foret; sisters, Joyce Weeksand DeltaRatcliff; andbrother,Louis J. Foret. Visitation will be at Wilbert FuneralHomeinPlaquem‐ineonWednesday,October 29th, from 9a.m.until time of religiousservice at 1 p.m.,conducted by Rev. RonnieMelancon. Burial will follow in GraceMemor‐ialPark. Pallbearerswillbe Marlin Jr Cameronand KayneGuillory,Bradleyand Parker Devillier, and CharlesRatcliffJr. The familywould like to thank thestaff at OurLadyofthe Lake fortheir care and compassion.Pleaseshare memories at www.wilbert services.com

Elizabeth"Liz" Kelsoen‐teredintoeternal rest at TheSt. Joseph's Carpenter HouseofBaton Rougeon October21, 2025. Shewas an 85-year oldnativeof NewOrleans,Louisiana anda resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Viewing will be held at Shiloh Mis‐sionaryBaptist Church, Rev. Fred Smith, pastor,on Saturday,November1,2025 at 9:00 am until Celebration of Life Serviceat11:00 am conducted by Drs. Allysia andDerrick Gibson.Sur‐vivors includeher children, Terrence Anderson,Lo‐ganville City,Georgia;An‐drea andKevin Kelso, BatonRouge;MarkAnder‐son, Atlanta, Georgia; Kim Kelso, Gretna,Louisiana; Camara Dupre(Kemba) Marrero, Louisiana; Derrick Anderson (Katrina), Dallas, Texas; andAlisonKelso Valentine, Frederick, Mary‐land;sister, JuanitaMiller, BatonRouge;numerous grandchildren; nieces nephewsother relatives andfriends;precededin deathbyher husband, ClintonKelso;daughters, Iris Kelsoand Leslie Ander‐

son; parents, Wilson and Mary Anderson;and asis‐ter, Gloria Donatto.Ser‐vicesentrusted to Miller & Daughter Mortuary

Koenig,William G. 'Bill'

William“Bill” G. Koenig passedawaySunday, Octo‐ber26, 2025, at 11:16 a.m. at hishomesurrounded by familyatthe ageof87. A resident of Port Allenand a native of Youngstown, Ohio,heservedinthe United States Navy as an Aviation Machinist'sMate Petty Officer2nd Class from June 1956 to Septem‐ber1959 andretired from DowChemicalasanOper‐ations Supervisor at the ageof50. Heissurvivedby daughters, Yvette Korn‐rumpfand husband Bobby, andTracy Hebert andhus‐band Dean;sons, Michael Koenig andwifeHeavenly, andJason Koenig andwife Buffy;grandchildren,Kyle Kornrumpfand wife AJ Kaci Tucker andhusband Ronnie, Michalyn Milazzo andhusband Rowland, Nicholas Hebert and fiancé SarahAtkinson, Matthew Hebert andwifeSara, Cam‐ronKoenigand wife Haley, Mason Koenig andwife Alice, Meghan Koenig and fiancé Kane Nielsen, Mon‐icaEllis andhusband Mike Austin Koenig andwife Courtney andPhilip Koenig;great grandchil‐dren,Brayden,Kinley, Makenna,Ezra, Eli, Evelyn Hope,Rain, Ayda,Ellie Mae, Arlo,Oliverand IvyFaith Preceded in deathbyhis wife,Jeanette Odom Koenig;parents,William andGrace StroussKoenig; andbrother,Michael Koenig.Hewas lovedand will be missedbyfamily andfriends.Hewas adedi‐catedhusband andfather who lovedgardening and woodworking. Aspecial thankyou to hisloving caretakers Barbara, Irma andGeralynn. Aprivate familycelebration of life will be held at alater date If you’dliketohonor Bill’s life,pleasemakea dona‐tion to TheAlzheimer's Foundation

HarveyClementTemplet passedaway peacefullyon

October27, 2025 at the age of 86. He wasa native of WhiteCastleand alongtime residentofGonzales. He leaves behind to cherish hismemory his loving wife of 65 years, Audrey Bourque Templet; his children, Donna Brignac (Gordan Ray), Mike Templet (Jill), Melissa Burns (Steve)and Suzette Richardson; his grandchildren,Ace Templet (Lacy), Blaire Melancon (Garett), JadeTemplet, Taylor Watkins (Lane), DexTemplet, Brandon Brignac,Joe Richardsonand Ani Richadson;his greatgrandchildren, JaxonTemplet, Lennon Templet, Laynie Melancon, Mollie Melancon,AudrieMelancon, Kaylee Templet, Braden Templet andLayton Templet. He is also survived by hissiblings, Feltus Templet (Linda), Russell Templet (Charlotte),Terry Templet (Charlene) and Clement Templet Jr.and numerousnieces, nephews, familymembers andfriends Harveyhas nowgoneto join those whopassed before him; his parents, Clement Templet Sr.and Mable Daigle Templet and hissiblings, Donald Templet andMarilyn Militello Harveywas ahardworkingman anda familyman. He wasthe proudowner of TMCContractors for many years. Histruelove was beingoutdoors,especially whiletraininghis rabbit dogs and taking them on hunts. In hispastime he enjoyed goingfishingand tending to thegarden.But above all he lovedtospend time with familyand friends havinggatherings at thehouse. He will truly be missed by all of those whoknewand lovedhim. Familyand friendare invited to attendaMass of Christian Burial on Wednesday, October29, 2025 at St.Theresa of Avila Catholic Church,1022 N. Burnside Ave.Gonzales, LA 70737. The visitation will begin at 8:30AM with Mass to startat11:000AM. Harveywill be laidtorest following Mass at Hope Haven Garden of Memory in Gonzales, La .Words of condolence may be expressed at www.OursoFH.comfor the Templet family.

OPINION

OUR VIEWS

AfterBrian Kelly’souster, what comes next is crucial forLSU fans

As the final seconds ticked down inside Tiger Stadium Saturday night, the unthinkable happened.

Visiting fans from TexasA&M grewlouder and more boisterous, drowning out the home support. LSU fans headed for the exitsin droves. There were evenafew “Gig Ems” from Aggies in the LSU student section. Less than 24 hours later,LSU brass parted ways with head coach Brian Kelly,reportedly after aheated meeting withAthleticsDirector Scott Woodward. Now as Woodward and other universityleaders turn to findinga replacement,weurge them to keep the fans at the forefront of their minds. The next LSU coach will not only occupy one of the best jobs in college football, he willalso be the state’shighest-paidand most visible public employee.He will carry the hopes of many LSU fans onto that field every Saturday night.

The search comes at akey time for LSU, which is also in the midst of asearch for anew president.

Kelly’souster wasn’tsurprising after Saturday night. He will leave withtens of millions of dollars in abuyout, even more than former LSU Coach Ed Orgeron got just afew years ago.

Kelly departs LSU witha34-14 overall record in his three-plus seasons, winning nearly 71% of his games. However,his teams nevermade the College Football Playoff and struggled in key SEC matchups.

In previouseras, Kelly’srecord would have been more than enough to ensure along tenure in purple and gold. But not anymore. Thestate of college sports right now,college football in particular,issuch that it demands sterling results or else.

To add insult to injury,atthe same time the team was struggling, LSU was announcing football ticket priceincreases for next year That reflects increasing focus on revenue in college athletics, where competition has moved beyond the gridiron to the new arenas of name, image and likeness and revenue share payouts directly from schools to athletes.

While it would be easy to decry recent changes in college sports as the source of LSU’sproblems, that is too simplistic. The new situationmeans the players —the young men andwomen who put in thework and put their bodies on the line bringing millions in revenue forthe school —are now being compensated forthat.

LSU’snext coach will need toconfront all of these evolvingdynamics. It’sabig joband LSU’sdecisions now will have aprofound effect on the fans.

It was those fans whodeserted the stadium Saturday night, many of them disgusted by what they considered asubpar performance that comes at an ever-increasing premium. The right hire can bring back the magic to Death Valley on Saturday nights. And in today’senvironment,the choice is more crucial than ever

LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE AREOUR

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

TheAdvocate |The Times-Picayune require astreet address andphone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor,The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

Smarterjustice means asafer BatonRouge

Public safetyisnot apartisan issue —it’sa community issue. In East Baton Rouge Parish,whether you live in Mid City,Gardere, Scotlandville, Shenandoah or Zachary,every family wants safe streets, secure neighborhoods and ajustice system that works efficiently Louisianahas long carried theburden of high incarceration and persistentcrime. Spending millionstolock people up has not madecommunities safer Baton Rouge is proving that asmarter approach is possible. The Criminal Justice Coordinating Council brings law enforcement, courts, service providers and community voices together to rethinkpublic safety.Programs like pretrial diversion and recovery hold people accountable while addressing root causes of crime, such as addiction andmental illness. The result: fewer repeat offenses, safer neighborhoods and stronger families.

Graduates of these programs are far less likely to be rearrested than those who cycle through jail without support.Every prevented crimereduces victimization, protectsfamilies and saves taxpayer dollars. Instead of

repeatedly paying to incarcerate the sameindividuals, we invest in their recovery once and get lasting benefits. This is not about being softoncrime —it’sabout being smart. Conservativescan appreciate the efficiency and cost savings. Progressives value the fairness and opportunity it provides. Baton Rouge has achoice: continue funding an ineffective cycle of incarceration or invest in strategies that produce results. Expanding diversion and recovery programs, supporting reentry and allowing law enforcement to focus on serious crime builds ajustice system that is botheffective and fair Crime doesn’tcheck your incomeor political affiliation before it strikes. Likewise, solutions that reduce crime and strengthen communities should unite, not divide us. Baton Rouge has an opportunity to lead Louisiana in demonstrating that criminal justice reform is common sense —not partisan politics. Smarter justice creates safer neighborhoods, stronger families and acommunity where everyone can thrive.

CHRISTOPHER CSONKA

executivedirector,Criminal Justice Coordinating Council

Supportlocal nonprofits trying to help youth

Experiencing thenonprofit landscape in Baton Rouge is bothinspiring and challenging. The joy of leading afunding organization comes from meetingpassionate nonprofit leaders and seeing their commitment to serve others. Watching four nonprofits unite to serve disadvantaged youth—and dream big to reach more children —has been remarkable. Yet, many struggle to raise thefunds needed to achieve maximum impact.

FrontYard Bikes, Big Buddy,Line For Lineand Humanities Amped envisioned ashared space where youth could access opportunities ranging from barbering to bicycles.Realizing their missions were complementary, they came together to create Youth City Lab

Located at 4385 Government St.ina former church and rug store, the project took shape with support from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. Front Yard Bikes, led by Dustin Lafont, purchased thebuilding and is leading renovations.

FrontYard Bikes teaches bicycle mechanics, allowing youth to earn a bike through after-school andsummer programswhile developing teamwork, leadership and job skills. Big Buddy pairs youthwith mentors whoguide their path and broaden their horizons. LineFor Line trades haircuts for reading timeand links older youth to barbering credentials. Humanities Amped helps students amplify their voices through research, writing and presentation skills while fostering a positive culture.

Renovations are underway,but fundraising has been challenging. When complete, Youth City Lab will offer apowerful, educational experience for youth and serve as amodel of collaboration. It should be amust-see stop on every Chamber of Commerce tour, showing what Baton Rouge can achieve when we come together for thenext generation of leaders.

DAVID BEACH president and CEO, Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation

appreciation for family’s culture

Congratulations to St. Sharbel Catholic Church and the manyevent sponsors forpresenting the second annual Lebanese Festival held on Oct. 3. The festival was well planned and featured food, crafts, Arabic music and dance on the grounds of the mainlibrary on Goodwood Boulevard. It wasanopportunity to introduce my granddaughters to the food, entertainment and culture of Lebanon, and to touch base with our roots and enjoy the togetherness and uniqueness of the culture of my grandparents whoimmigrated to America from Lebanon in the late 1800s. We were three generations in attendance and continue to cook Lebanese occasionally in our homes. However,the visual and further culinary experience at the festival gave anew appreciation to the fourth generation of my Lebanese grandparents, John and Rose Hallal Bahry In the words of my granddaughter Kelsey: “I loved this so much. Ijust love my culture.”

Icouldn’thave said it better in anticipation of the 2026 event.

YVONNE BAHRYCABALLERO Baton Rouge

LSUfanslet down their team with earlyexit

Iama Texas A&M fan, as anyone whoknowsmeknows. Iwas thrilled with the winand happy forour team But Isaw something that wasjust gut-wrenching and had to say something. If you ever go to agame with me, you will know Idonot leave till it is over

Watching those so-called LSU fans empty the stands while their guys were playing their hearts out was just wrong. So what if they werelosing? They never stopped trying and having to look up and see all those empty seats that were full when the gamestarted, had to be crushing. Ilived mostofmylifeinNew Orleans, and sorry,LSU,I was never a fan, but those young men should be praised forthe waythey did not give up —unlike those fans wholeft the game.

MARYCARNES Clarendon, Texas

Everytownneeds aStanley Nelson

If the value of local news were incarnate, it would be in the person of Stanley Nelson.

Nelson, who died earlier this year at the age of 69, was the longtime editor of the Concordia Sentinel, the local newspaper based in Ferriday,just across the Mississippi Riverfrom Natchez, Mississippi. A native of Catahoula Parish, Nelson spent most of his journalism career working for small papers in Louisiana. He became the editor of the Sentinel in 2006.

And that’swhere he found his calling. Thanks to arandom snippet on aTV news broadcast, Nelson learned about the case of Frank Morris, aBlack ownerofaFerriday shoe-repair shop whowas burned alive inside his shop in 1964bya group of Klansmen. Morriswas inside the shop when the men doused it in gasoline and set it on fire. When he tried to escape,they forced himback in at gunpoint. He died four days later No one was ever prosecuted for the crime. Four decades later,Nelson took to the story with the same qualities that he brought to police jury,school board andother local stories: patience, determination and an unflappable manner.Hetracked down former Ku Klux Klanmembers and informants, writing scores of stories and eventually findingone of the men he believed was at thestore that night. Then, like agood reporter, he went to the man’sfarm and asked him about it.

That man denied it, but his kids later told Nelson that they hadheard their father talk about the incident.As aresult of Nelson’swork, agrand jury was convened. Sentinel owner Sam Hanna told me he had few doubts about the man’sguilt and Nelson’sreporting.

Ididn’tknow Stanley Nelson, and it is aprofoundregret. To understandhim alittlebetter,Ialsoreached out to Joe Curtis, whowas hiredasareporter by Nelson in 2013 andtook over as editor of the Concordia Sentinel when Nelson retired in 2023.

“He just went about his business every day as acommunity journalist,” Curtisrecalled. In other words, Nelson didn’tchasestories with theidea of getting aNew York Times profile. He did it out of love and service to his community Atruenewspaperman, Nelson once toldareporter he made every approach withhis notebook in his back pocket and his pen in his shirtpocket and “just try to talktothem.”

“He was always even-keeled,” Curtis said. Andfocused on reporting.

“You got to just put thefacts out there andpeople will know,” Nelsonremembers Curtistelling him.

Hanna agreed.

“He didn’tbring any bias to the table,” he recalled. “Hejustgave everyone afair shake.”

Idon’tget politicians whorail against billionaires. There are all kinds of billionaires. Many got rich inventing products we hold dear.Others got rich doing societally useless things like inventing crypto meme coins. And somemade their pile through corruption and crime.

This is about the good ones.

Nelson’scoverageofthe Morriscase ruffledsome feathers, including at the FBI, where officials asked Nelson to hold aMorris story naming thesuspect because it might interfere with their investigation. He agreed to waitone month, then he ran it over theirobjections

Thestory was areflection of Nelson’s style,which was one of quiet resolve, Hanna told me.

“Stanley would just dig until he got the truth,” Hanna said.

For his work on the Morris case, Nelson was aPulitzer Prize finalistin 2011, a“big honor”for the smallpaper Hanna said.

The Morris story set Nelson on a journey.Hetook on anumber of the Civil Rights-era murdersofBlack men in Louisiana andMississippi, including Deputy O’Neal Moorejustoutside Bogalusaand Wharlest Jackson in Natchez, who died when abomb exploded inside his truck.

Nelson wrote two books about Klan murders in Louisiana and Mississippi. Andthe LSU Cold CaseProject, in which studentssift through old cases, is an outgrowthofthe workthat Nelson began. Since he passed,remembrances have focused on Nelson’sdogged pursuit of thetruth in those cases, andrightfully so. He’sdone more to give thefamilies of those racist murders closure than local or federal authorities ever did. But his legacy was alsomore than that. It was the reporters and editors he mentored andwho worked for him and the studentshetaught. It was his love for and commitment to serving his community

Curtisfeels it every day

“It’sanhonor,and Iwant to make him proud,” he said. “Hewas something else.”

Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

ThetrendsinNew Jersey andVirginia

No two states voted more alike and closer to the national averageinlast year’s presidentialelection than thetwo states that have gubernatorial elections in this odd-numberedyear: New Jersey and Virginia. New Jersey voted 51.8%for Kamala Harris and 45.9% for Donald Trump. Virginia voted 51.8% for Harrisand 46.1% for Trump. Aside from the seven target states and Democratic underperformance in New Hampshire and Minnesota, these were the two closest states in the country

Hamdi Ulukaya made billions founding Chobani, aproducer of high-quality yogurt. AKurd born in Turkey,Ulukaya created jobs in struggling parts of the U.S. His factory in Twin Falls, Idaho, is now the largest yogurt production plant in the world. Ulukaya also promotes paying workers well. Does anyone resent the estimated $11 billion that Steve Jobs had amassed when he died way back in 2011? The genius behind Apple created the coolest tech products for the masses.

Other billionaires are admirable because they don’tgobegging fortax cuts. Warren Buffett, the legendary investor with anet worth of $150 billion, famously said: “There’sclass warfare, all right, but it’smy class, the rich class, that’smaking war, and we’re winning.”

Buffett once complained that he only paid 19% of his 2006 incomewhile his office workers paid 33%.

And he said it before Donald Trump further slashed his taxes through tax cuts forthe richest few. That tax policy leftordinary Americans to foot the bill through shrinking programsand supercharged deficits.

They have other similarities. Large percentagesoftheir voters live in metropolitan areas centered on cities outside the state,such as New York City and Washington, D.C. Bothofthose metroareas have populations far above the national average in education credentials and income.

That has tilted them toward the Democratic Party in this era when upscale voters, in line with their liberal stands on cultural issues, trend that way.It’s atime when million-plus metro areas, evenly divided in the 1980s, havebecome heavily Democratic, while the half of Americans living outsidethose big metro areas have,often despitehistorical Democratic allegiances, been deliveringincreasingmarginsfor Trump’s Republicans. It comes as second nature to political writers to seek omensinthe results and trends of off-year elections. It helps that Democrats havemanaged to nominate candidates with attractive biographies and reputations, despitetheir generally party-line voting records, as centrists. Both arewomen with national security experience who were first electedtothe House of Representatives in the Democratic year of 2018.

U.S.Rep.Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., was a Navy helicopter pilot andlater worked as alawyer After her military service, she wentto graduate school, earning alaw degree and an Arabic language certificate. She captured an exurban, traditionally Republican New Jersey district when the incumbent retired. Shewon her first primary easily and has won general elections with 53% to 59% of the vote.

FormerU.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., also earned agraduatedegree, taught at northernVirginia’sIslamic Saudi Academy, and was an intelligence officer in the CIA for six years. Shewon her suburban House seat, stretching from Richmond to Fairfax County,against an incumbent Republican by 2points, twice won reelection —first by 2 points, then by 5—and stepped down in 2024, with thegovernor’s race in mind.

Current RealClearPolitics pollingaverages have Sherrill ahead of 2021 nominee Jack Ciattarelli by a48% to 44% margin,and Spanberger leading Lt. Gov.Winsome Earle-Sears by 50% to 44% —margins not that far from the virtually identical margins by which Harris carried bothstates.Republicans hold outsome hope in bothraces.

Ciattarelli lost by only 51% to 48% against incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021, campaigning against the high taxes that have helped Republicans win fourofeight New Jersey elections starting in 1993, despitethe state’sDemocratic lean in presidential politics.

And Sherrill, Republicans say,ison the defensive for having been required not to appear at her graduation from the Naval Academy, apparently for not having reported another cadet’sviolation of the honor code.

In Virginia, Spanberger was set back by the revelation on Oct. 3that Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones sentmessages in 2022 expressing adesire to shoot the then-Republican House speaker and see his children murdered in their mother’sarms. Spanbergerexpressed abhorrence but refused to call on him to step aside and announced her early vote for him.

October polling shows Jones trailing incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares47% to43%.

Despite their identical responses in 2024, these two states have different traditions. In assessing thechances for an upset in either race, it may be useful to look at thedifferent surges of migration,immigrant and internal, that have populated these two states over the years. In New Jersey,one can find traces of

Dutch settlers from Nieuw Amsterdam and Quakers in theDelaware River Valley from colonial days. But thebig surge of migration came from the descendantsofthe Ellis Island migration of 1892 to 1924, Italians, Jews and Poles spilling over from the big cities across theHudson and Delaware rivers. Their offspring responded favorably to theappeals of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as the anti-tax constituency was reduced by migrantstoFlorida.

Butinflation and illegal immigration in the Biden years have pushed them towardTrump, who raised Republicans’ presidential percentages from 41% in 2012 to 2020 to 46% in 2024. That move was accentuated by Trumpwardmoves among Hispanics. The 1940 to 1965 northwardmigration of Black people has ebbed in New Jersey, leaving only twomunicipalities (EastOrangeand Lawnside)withBlack majorities.

In contrast, thepost-1982 Hispanic migration has produced 29 municipalities with Hispanic majorities.

In those two-thirds or more Hispanic, Trumpmade major gains in 2024, reducing their average Democratic margins from 40% in 2020 to 12%. NBC analyst Steve Kornacki pointed out that if Ciattarelli in 2021 had won Trump2024 percentages in majoritynon-White municipalities, he would have lost by only 0.3%.

Virginia is adifferent story.The demographic surge has been an influxof affluent, highly educated Americans plus relatively high-skill immigrants, with significant numbers of Asians and Hispanics, over the past 30 years. Northern Virginia’sshare of the statewide vote has increased from 25% in 1980 to 36% in 2024.

In that setting, Spanberger’scoldblooded refusal to renounce Jones, and her stubbornrefusal to oppose girls in boys’ sportslook like efforts to avoid disenchanting Democratic votersin one of the strongest anti-Trump constituencies in America.

Trends may be working for Trump’s party in New Jersey but lesssoinVirginia.

Michael Barone is on X, @MichaelBarone.

Rich people whopay their taxes are the major source forsafety net spending. I must repeat that Sweden has morebillionaires per capita than the U.S., and they pay high taxes forpublic benefits. And after taxes, they are still unimaginably rich. Which brings us to the subject of Mike Bloomberg, whose net worth is estimated at over $100 billion. Bloomberg madehis fortune in finance and media. But he then served his city,New York, as the best mayor in memory. (First as aRepublican, then as an independent, finally as aDemocrat.) Sen. Bernie Sanders is always hollering about “billionaires” this and “billionaires” that. It used to be millionaires until Sanders becameone.

There wasamemorable momentduring a 2020 Democratic presidential debate, when Sanders asked candidate Bloomberg in his righteous gotcha voice, “Which tax haven do you have your home?” Bloomberg answered: “New York City, thank you very much, and Ipay all my taxes. And I’mhappy to do it because Iget something forit.”

The above multi-billionaires all established charitable foundations. They have vowed to give much or nearly all their wealth to worthy causes. Charles and David Kochbuilt the enormousKoch Inc., based in Wichita, Kansas. Charles wentontosupport conservative and libertarian causes. David favored cultural landmarks, from the Smithsonian in Washington to the Metropolitan Museum in NewYork. And he has financed medical facilities in various places. His widow,Julia, continues the good deeds.

Alice Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune, donates to the arts, education and health care.

There’snow an Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart is based. There’snoneed to worship or envy any billionaire’sassets. Many superrich people are depressed and lonely.(Thomas Lee, aprivate-equity mogul worth $2 billion, died by suicide in 2023.) Somebillionaires are pitiful in their unquenchable need for showymega-yachts, private islands and penthouses in the sky.And one can smirk at those whodisplay their half-dressed femalesex trophies, supposedly as amark of their virility From apolitical standpoint, manyonthe farleft and farright often mechanically link enormous wealth with destructive tendencies. Billionaires ought not be lumped into adespised class but judged forthe deeds they do as individuals —like the rest of us.

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

MARKED MAN?

Scott Woodward has builthis reputation as an athletic director on making the big hires. The splashy hires. Landingthe fish no onethought he could land. The kind of hiresthat define a career

At Washington, he lured Chris Peterson away from Boise Statewhen no onethoughthecouldtoleadthe Huskies to the national championship game. At Texas A&M, he lured Jimbo Fisher away from an increasingly unhappy relationshipwith Florida State. And at LSU, he got Hall of Fame women’sbasketballcoach Kim Mulkey to leave Baylor and stunned the collegefootball world whenhegot

Brian Kelly to leaveNotre Dame, where he was the program’swinningest coach. But big hires don’talways mean successfulhires. Not everyone is aMulkey. That’s certainly been thecase with Woodward’s two biggest footballhires —Fisher and Kelly Both turned outtobeswings and

misses, their firings leaving their respective schools with huge buyouts to payoff. Woodward didn’tgive Fisher the contract extension that led to his record $77 millionbuyout there two years ago, but he did give him the keys to the Aggies’ football complex in the first place. And after LSUparted ways with Kelly on Sunday, the school is contractually obligated to pay him about $54 million.

LSU’speople andKelly’speople are in theprocess of negotiating that settlement, andifKelly gets another coachingjob or aTVgig, thebuyout

Thesecoaches couldreplace Kelly

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

LSUfootball is moving on from Brian Kelly

LSUfires OC Sloan dayafter Kelly

BY WILSON ALEXANDER and REED DARCEY Staff writers

LSUfiredoffensivecoordinator

Joe

Sloanthe dayafterBrian Kelly waslet go as head coach, the school announced Monday morning.

The movecomes after athletic director Scott Woodward decided to elevate associate head coach Frank Wilson to takeoverthe programonaninterim basis. Tight ends coach and run game coordinatorAlexAtkins will take over as the play-caller for LSU, The Advocate hasconfirmedthrough asource with knowledge of the decision. Atkins was the Florida State offensive coordinator forthree seasons before the Seminoles firedhim last season in the midst of a 2-10 campaign.

Filling Sloan’s role as quarterbacks coach will be offensive analyst Tim Rattay,asource said. Rattay joined the program in February after spending the past five years as theOklahomaState quarterbackscoach.Hewas also the quarterbacks coach forthe Washington Commanders in 2019. Wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton will stay in his position as passing gamecoordinator,asource said. And

Kelly’s firingmeans that LSU willneedto find anew coach Here’salist of 15 potential candidates to replace Kelly

Coaching candidates

Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss coach

Kiffin is an intriguing candidate.Despite failed stints at Southern Cal and the Oakland

The program fired the Tigers headcoach after lessthan four seasons in Baton Rouge. Thedecision comesafterLSU lost 4925 to Texas A&M on Saturday, dropping to 5-3and essentially ending the Tigers’hopes of reachingthe College Football Playoff.

Raiders, Kiffinhas turned the Rebels into aconsistent winnersince taking the job in 2020. OleMisshas won at least eight games in each season since his first and already has led the Rebels to twoNew Year’sSix bowl appearances.The Rebelsmissed theCollege Football Playoff last season, but theyare poisedto makeitthis year thanks to a7-1 start

JonSumrall, Tulane coach Sumrall has continuedthe successofhis predecessor, Willie Fritz,atTulane,guiding the Green Wave to a15-6 record since hisappointment at thestart of last season. Before he arrived in NewOrleans, Sumrall lost just four games in two seasons at Troy.Sumrall

Caesars Superdome isn’t supposedtolook like it did in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon The Dome was almost completely empty,asifit was doing an impression of LSU’sTiger Stadium from the night before. The Saints were in the closing minutes of being throttled 23-3 by the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers,much like LSU had been hammered 49-25 by Texas A&M lessthan24 hours earlier Only two groups of people stuck around until the end Saturday at Death Valley and Sunday at the Dome 1. Fans of the Aggies andBuccaneers.

ä Saints at Rams, 3:05 P.M.SUNDAy,FOX

clean upthe mess on thefield. Fans ofthe hometeams couldn’t stomach stickingaround to see the clock strikezero this weekend,and who could blame them?

Whether your colorsofchoice are purple and gold, black and goldorboth,this isn’twhat you payyourmoney to see.

It was aroughweekend in both the225 andthe 504. Tulane had abye week,sothe Green Wave wasn’table to salvage the weekend How bad of aweek has it been for football in southeast Louisiana?

LSU fired head coach Brian Kelly on Sunday.Six days earlier, Southern fired Terrence Graves, meaningboth Baton Rouge schools are searching for ahead coach

The Saints, meanwhile, are 1-7. It’s their worst start since 1999, when they lost to (you guessed it) theBuccaneers to fall to 1-7. That team 26 years ago won its next gametoimprove to 2-7. The Saints travel to face the Los Angeles Rams next week, so history isn’tlikely to repeat itself. The Saintsopened as 131/2-point underdogs and likely will be 1-8 this time next week. It’sunclear who will start at quarterback for the Saintson Sunday at SoFiStadium. On aday when acollege head coach in Louisiana lost his job,a starting NFLquarterback in Louisiana also may have lost his. Spencer Rattler was benched Sunday after being unable to get theSaints into the end zone. He committed

5

Notable transfers can make big impact

Ex-New Mexico guard is among top transfers

BY STEVE MEGARGEE Associated Press

UCLA guard Donovan Dent embraces the responsibility that comes with playing for one of college basketball’s most storied programs.

“It’s an honor just having the four letters in front of you,” the former New Mexico guard told reporters. “It’s a very historical program. The point guard position has been very elite here It’s a blessing for me.”

Once Dent entered the transfer portal, he didn’t need much persuading to pick UCLA. He already had a relationship with UCLA coach Mick Cronin from high school. He enjoyed watching former Bruins point guard Lonzo Ball while growing up in Riverside, California. UCLA’s campus is a relatively short drive from his family’s home.

Dent now wants to build on the success he enjoyed last season while leading New Mexico to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2025 Mountain West Conference player of the year enters this season as one of the most notable transfers.

He had 20.4 points and 6.4 assists per game last season. Dent averaged 17.5 points and 6 assists in two NCAA Tournament games as New Mexico defeated Marquette before losing to Michigan State.

Dent can team up with Louisville transfer Skyy Clark to give UCLA a speedy new backcourt. They combined for 31 points this month in the 12th-ranked Bruins’ 67-60 exhibition victory over San Diego State. Dent went 4 of 16 in that game, but he continually drew fouls and made all 10 of his free throws to end up with 18 points.

“To have a guy who knows that if he is struggling to score, let me just get fouled and go make a one-and-one, that is so big in a college game, for him and Skyy to do that,” Cronin said.

Cronin noted the 6-2 guard will need to be able to pressure the ball 94 feet and serve as a defensive sparkplug to have a successful NBA career

“When (Cronin) called me, he knew exactly what he wanted,” Dent said. “He wanted to play faster because that’s how his defense is. His defense creates faster offense. So he felt like I could fit right into that system He just needed someone he could trust with the ball in their hand I felt like that’s what I could bring to the table.”

all-Big East pick.

Tennessee G Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Maryland)

Gillespie had 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 1.9 steals per game and shot 40.7% from 3-point range last season. He had 17 points in an NCAA regional semifinal loss to eventual national champion Florida. That followed a 2023-24 season in which the 6-foot-1 guard scored 17.2 points per game for Belmont. Gillespie was a preseason secondteam all-Southeastern Conference along with Florida’s Boogie Fland, another transfer (Arkansas).

Kansas State G P.J. Haggerty (Memphis)

a first-team all-American Conference player and the league’s defensive player of the year for two straight seasons.

Iowa G Bennett Stirtz (Drake)

Despite upheaval, LSU football lands WR pledge

LSU football picked up a verbal commitment from a three-star wide receiver recruit on Monday even though it has fired both coach Brian Kelly and co-offensive coordinator Joe Sloan.

Kervin Johnson, a senior from Tioga, flipped his pledge from Louisiana Tech to LSU after visiting the Tigers for their loss to Texas A&M. According to 247Sports composite rankings, he’s the 16thranked recruit from Louisiana. LSU’s 2026 class is ranked as the 11th-best group in the country As of Monday none of the 17 recruits now pledged to the class have backed off of their commitments.

The two headliners are Lamar Brown, five-star U-High defensive lineman, and Trenton Henderson, a Florida edge rusher who’s among the nation’s top 30 recruits.

Dodgers shortstop Betts wins humanitarian award LOS ANGELES Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts has won the Roberto Clemente Award for his humanitarian work.

The former AL MVP and eighttime All-Star founded the 5050 Foundation in 2021 to help underserved youth with their mental and emotional health, nutrition, financial literacy and physical fitness.

Betts donated over $30,000 in Nike apparel to victims of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires in January He also founded an AAU basketball program and an eponymous baseball tournament in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee.

Betts also contributed $160,000 to hunger and homelessness initiatives. His efforts include founding sports programs and supporting pediatric patients at UCLA Children’s Hospital.

Some other potential impact transfers (former schools in parentheses):

Creighton F Owen Freeman (Iowa)

Freeman, who is 6-10, was averaging 16.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.8 blocks through 19 games with Iowa before a broken finger ended his 2024-25 season early He scored in double figures in each of those 19 games. Freeman had 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in 2023-24 and became Iowa’s first Big Ten freshman of the year since Jess Settles in 1994. Freeman was a first-team preseason

Haggerty is the only active Division I player to average at least 21 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals each of the past two seasons. The 6-4 guard scored 21.7 points per game for Memphis last season to rank third in Division I. Haggerty also was an AP AllAmerica second-team selection that season. He scored 21.2 points per game for Tulsa in 2023-24. Kansas State is his fourth school. Michigan F Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB)

Lendeborg was a first-team selection on the AP preseason AllAmerica team. The 6-9 graduate student averaged a double-double each of the past two seasons (17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds). A year earlier, Lendeborg had 13.8 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game while helping UAB reach the NCAA Tournament. He was

Stirtz, a preseason all-Big Ten selection, began his college career playing for Ben McCollum at Division II program Northwest Missouri State. He followed McCollum to Drake and helped the Bulldogs reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Now he’s at Iowa, which hired McCollum in the offseason. Stirtz was the first player in Missouri Valley Conference history to compile at least 600 points, 200 assists and 70 steals in a season. He led the conference in scoring (19.2), steals (2.21) and assist-turnover ratio (2.86) and ranked second in assists (5.7). Stirtz scored 21 points in each of Drake’s two NCAA Tournament games — a 67-57 victory over Missouri and a 77-64 loss to Texas Tech.

NC State F Darrion Williams (Texas Tech)

Williams comes to NC State after collecting 15.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season to earn first-team allBig 12 honors at Texas Tech. He averaged 21 points in four NCAA Tournament games and scored at least 20 in each of Texas Tech’s past three March Madness contests, including a 23-point effort in a regional final against Florida. The 6-foot-6 forward is a preseason all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection.

Hendrick, JGR rekindle rivalry for championship

BY NATE RYAN Associated Press

Jeff Gordon was in the thick of dissecting Hendrick Motorsports’ prospects for the NASCAR championship when he was interrupted by a text message from his team’s chief rival This wasn’t any typical trash talk about the title.

Joe Gibbs Racing president Dave Alpern instead was contacting the Hendrick vice chairman to convey how privileged JGR felt in facing a longtime adversary

“He just beat me to the punch; I would have done the same thing,” Gordon said Sunday night at Martinsville Speedway, where Hendrick locked up the final two berths in the title round of NASCAR’s premier series. “It just goes to show you the respect we have for one another We’re honored as well I’m really proud to have the relationship that we have with Gibbs. Off the track, we say we’re teammates, but on the track, we’re fierce competitors.” For the second time in four years, the Championship 4 in the Cup Series is an even split be-

William Byron

a NASCAR

and Kyle Larson

tween the two winningest playoff teams in NASCAR history The best finisher of four drivers in the Nov 2 season finale at Phoenix Raceway will claim the crown. Hendrick will be represented by 2021 champion Kyle Larson and William Byron, who beat Ryan Blaney at Martinsville for the team’s record-extending 62nd playoff victory Ranking second with 42 playoff victories (including wins in five of the first nine playoff races this season), Gibbs has Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe. It’s the third time Hendrick has owned half the title field

and the fourth time with at least two Championship 4 drivers for JGR, which had a record three in 2019 (winning the title with Kyle Busch).

The powerhouses have combined for 547 Cup wins in a friendly rivalry dating back more than three decades, when Joe Gibbs consulted Rick Hendrick about starting a NASCAR team after winning three Super Bowls as a Hall of Fame football coach. With five Cup championships, Gibbs eventually became a NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner in 2020, three years after Hendrick was inducted into the stock-car racing shrine.

This year’s title field is deep, featuring the regular-season champion (Byron) and the leaders in wins (Hamlin with six) and top-five finishes (Briscoe with 15).

Toss in Larson, the only former champ in the bunch who ranked second in laps led and top fives, and it’s a wide-open championship without a clear favorite because there is no driver from Team Penske, which won the past three championships with Blaney and Joey Logano.

Peterson arrested in Texas on DWI and gun charges

SUGAR LAND, Texas — Former NFL running back Adrian Peterson remained jailed on Monday after being arrested a day earlier in a Houston suburb on charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawfully carrying a weapon, according to authorities.

Peterson was taken into custody Sunday morning by the Sugar Land Police Department, said agency spokeswoman Alicia Alaniz. It’s the second DWI arrest in seven months for the 2012 NFL MVP and three-time league rushing champion.

Peterson, 40, was a high school football star in East Texas and has lived in the Houston area. He played at Oklahoma before spending the first 10 years of his NFL career with Minnesota.

Manning in concussion protocol ahead of Vandy AUSTIN, Texas Texas quarterback Arch Manning was in concussion protocol and did not practice Monday ahead of the No. 20 Longhorns’ game against No. 9 Vanderbilt. Coach Steve Sarkisian said the team would get an update on Manning’s injury later in the week. Manning was injured on the first play of overtime in Texas’ 45-38 win over Mississippi State. If he can’t play against the Commodores (7-1 3-1 Southeastern Conference), Texas (6-2, 3-1) would hand the offense to graduate transfer Matthew Caldwell, who has seen only spot duty this season but came off the bench to throw the winning touchdown pass against the Bulldogs on his only pass attempt of the game.

Hard-hitting Raiders great Atkinson dies at age 78

George Atkinson, a hard-hitting former Raiders safety who struck fear in the opposition, has died. He was 78. The Raiders said Atkinson’s family informed the team of his death on Monday. The team said he died in Georgia without revealing a cause of death.

The Raiders called Atkinson the anchor of the team’s “Soul Patrol” secondary of the 1970s that helped lead the team to its first Super Bowl title.

Atkinson had disclosed he was suffering symptoms consistent with CTE.

Atkinson’s most famous hits came against Pittsburgh and Hall of Fame receiver Lynn Swann. He knocked him out in the 1975 AFC championship game and again in the 1976 opener on a play when Swann didn’t even get the ball.

Moore details driving force behind QB choice

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

New Orleans Saints coach Kellen

Moore said Sunday he would take 48 hours to name his starting quarterback for next weekend’s game against the Los Angeles Rams.

So naturally less than 24 hours after the team’s 23-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Moore wasn’t ready to announce whether he’s going with Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler

Moore benched Rattler in favor of Shough in Sunday’s defeat, with the rookie taking over more than midway through the third quarter The coach said afterward he made the change in search of a spark. The Saints committed three turnovers two by the quarterback — with Rattler under center, while Shough threw an interception in his 30 passing attempts Moore does plan on naming a starter before traveling to face the Rams. While New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn chose to keep his cards close to the vest this past weekend with the Jets not naming Justin Fields the starter until Saturday, when Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with an injury Moore has said he doesn’t believe in keeping the decision a closely guarded secret

“We just got done closing the book on this Tampa Bay game,” Moore said. “We’ll now begin really starting here soon our plan of action on LA, and we’ll make a decision shortly and just go down that path to maximize as many reps and opportunities as we can

moving forward.”

Rattler went 15 of 21 for 136 yards, fumbling once and throwing a pick-six against the Bucs. Shough went 17 of 30 for 128 yards with one interception.

Moore has said he’ll make his decision based on whoever gives the Saints the best chance to beat the Rams.

“We have a couple of really young quarterbacks,” Moore said. “They’re both young. These guys are going to keep developing and doing it the right way We’ve just got to find the right way to play a little bit better.” Standings win

The Saints didn’t beat the Buccaneers on Sunday, but they did get a win elsewhere.

If the season ended today the Saints would have the No. 1 overall pick, thanks to the New York Jets earning their first victory Sunday with a come-from-behind win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Miami Dolphins, in the mix for the top selection, also did the Saints a favor by beating the Atlanta Falcons

According to Tankathon, the Saints have the No 1 pick thanks to several tiebreakers. While they have the same record as the 1-7 Jets and the 1-7 Tennessee Titans, and the same strength of schedule as the Jets at .496 the team with the easier strength of schedule normally breaks the record tie — the Saints separated themselves because of “strength of victory.”

At 3-5, the Bengals are considered a more formidable opponent than the 2-6 New York Giants (the Saints’ lone win), thus giving the Saints the top spot

The Titans have a tougher strength of schedule than both, putting them third.

The Saints haven’t held the first overall pick since 1981, when they picked running back George Rogers out of South Carolina. Rogers played four of his seven seasons with the franchise, rushing for 4,267 yards and 23 touchdowns in 51 games. He led the league in rushing as a rookie with 1,674 yards on 378 attempts.

This year’s draft has no consensus top pick. Though many draft analysts expect the Saints to pick a quarterback in the first round, few

Struggling Steelers defense not making money plays

BY WILL GRAVES AP sportswriter

PITTSBURGH Mike Tomlin’s very public (and very calculated) shot at Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry for trading Joe Flacco to Cincinnati earlier this month was out of character for a coach who typically demurs when asked about things that happen outside of Pittsburgh. In the moment, it provided a bit of viral theater In hindsight, maybe it was also Tomlin’s way of hinting at an underlying concern that his team’s well-compensated defense might not be up to the task when forced to face quarterbacks who don’t play for the Browns. On a night where so much attention focused on Aaron Rodgers facing his former team for the first time, the takeaway from Pittsburgh’s 35-25 defeat at the hands of Green Bay isn’t that Rodgers “lost.” If anything, the 41-year-old Rodgers has proven through seven games that he remains a worthy investment nearing the midpoint of his 21st season.

Far more troubling for the suddenly skidding Steelers (4-3) is that the star-laden defense isn’t earning the considerable zeros on its collective paycheck. Nine days after Flacco picked them apart in an upset loss to the Bengals, Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 20 consecutive passes while throwing for at least 350 yards without taking a sack or committing a turnover In a quiet locker room afterward, T.J. Watt, Jalen Ramsey, Cam Heyward and company offered clipped responses as to why a unit that Tomlin said over the summer might have the chance to be among the best ever for a fran-

Continued from page 1C

in the past two games. A season that started with him doing a splendid job of taking care of the ball (three turnovers in the first six weeks) all of a sudden went south. Tyler Shough, drafted by the Saints with the No. 40 pick in April, took over for Rattler Shough completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards but also couldn’t get the Saints into the end zone.

Coach Kellen Moore said he would use the next 48 hours to decide who will start in L.A. Truth be told, it may not matter

chise that has long been defined by its defense appears lost.

“There’s not a lot of fight in us right now,” Heyward said. Pittsburgh was able to cover up its defensive issues during its 4-1 start by regularly creating turnovers, five alone in a win over New England that helped mask a massive yardage discrepancy between the losers (369) and the winners (203)

Those takeaways have dried up. The Pittsburgh defense has gone three straight games without getting its hands on the ball, the first time that’s happened since 2022. That’s also the previous time the Steelers missed the playoffs. While it’s far too early to make that sort of proclamation, the reality is that Pittsburgh has squandered multiple opportunities to take firm control of the wildly underachieving AFC North. The issue hasn’t been Rodgers and the offense; instead, it has been the de-

Yes, the Saints need to figure out who their quarterback of the future is going to be. Rattler? Shough? Or someone who isn’t on the current roster

But as Sunday reminded us, the Saints’ issues are more than just at quarterback. The receivers and tight ends drop way more passes than NFL players in those positions should. The offensive line play hasn’t been great, a big reason Rattler and Shough found themselves under so much duress. Penalties still plague the team The defense, which has had its rough moments this season, played well enough to win Sunday Unfortunately, it didn’t get any help from the offense. “Defense is doing their thing,”

fensive unit that was supposed to be this team’s anchor It has indeed been that, just not in the way Tomlin or his players imagined.

The Steelers will enter November in the bottom five in the NFL in yards allowed. The franchise hasn’t finished a season in that kind of company since 1988 and has ranked in the bottom half of the league just three times in Tomlin’s first 18 years. All three of those seasons — 2014, 2015 and 2021 Pittsburgh managed to reach the playoffs anyway, thanks in large part to Ben Roethlisberger’s late-game brilliance. That might be a more fraught proposition this time around if the defense can’t figure things out quickly

“It’s a long season,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said. “We’re just going to keep building, keep stacking, learn from these and get better.”

They don’t really have a choice.

Rattler said. “Offense has to wake up.” The offense has pretty much been asleep all season. The Saints have scored 20 points just twice in eight games.

Moore, hired because of his offensive mind, will have to figure it all out.

“We have a lot of stuff to work through, improve and get better at,” Moore said. “That’s the journey we get to take.”

So far, the journey has been a rough one.

It’s been hard to watch at times.

On Sunday, most chose not to stick around to watch.

Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

“He’s a great guy but the standard at LSU is very high,” Godchaux said. “He didn’t have a bad record, but you lose two games at LSU — it’s time for you to get fired. That’s just the nature of the business. It was like that when I was there, before I was there and it’s still like that now.”

So who does Godchaux think will replace Kelly?

The defensive tackle said he could see Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin as a favorite for the job, but he threw out an unconventional choice as his preference.

“I’m actually (interested in) the guy, an LSU alumni, Kelvin Sheppard has been doing an excellent job at (defensive coordinator) with the Detroit Lions,” Godchaux said. “I don’t know if he has much experience to take the job as of right now, but he’s been doing a hell of a job with Detroit as a defensive coordinator

college prospects have separated themselves — with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza Oregon’s Dante Moore and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers all seen as in the mix.

If the Saints don’t go with a signalcaller, Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain, Auburn defensive end Keldric Faulk and Ohio State safety Caleb Downs are highly regarded prospects from the 2026 class.

Godchaux’s choice

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Davon Godchaux is an LSU alum, so he gets why the school fired coach Brian Kelly on Sunday

“So he’s one of the guys for sure to look out for a future head coaching job, whether that’s college or the NFL. Who knows. Whoever it is, he’s got to get us back to the promised land, which is a championship at LSU, for sure.”

Sheppard, 37, was at LSU from 2006-10 before playing eight years in the NFL. He got into coaching in 2021, but the year prior, he spent one season as the LSU director of player engagement.

Sheppard is in his first year as the Lions defensive coordinator, taking over from Glenn after the latter was hired to coach the Jets.

Falcons looking for answers after loss to lowly Dolphins

BY BILL TROCCHI Associated Press

ATLANTA When the Atlanta Falcons last left Mercedes-Benz Stadium, they had just finished off an impressive 24-14 “Monday Night Football” win over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 13.

Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was looking like an MVP candidate and at 3-2, there was legitimate hope Atlanta would end its seven-year playoff drought.

That hope was nowhere to be found Sunday after a 34-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins dropped Atlanta to 3-4. Only a late touchdown by Tyler Allgeier prevented the Falcons from a second 30-point loss this season, something that has not happened to the franchise since 2003.

The Falcons entered Sunday’s game with several key players injured, including quarterback Michael Penix (knee) and leading receiver Drake London (hip), and they struggled against the Dolphins, who had just one win prior to Sunday and a struggling quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa who had thrown six interceptions in the two previous weeks.

Falcons coach Raheem Morris wasn’t looking for silver linings after the loss.

“It was bad across the board and it starts with us,” he said. “It’s something that we’ve got to fix all together, and we’ve got to go get those things done this week.”

There was an expectation that Kirk Cousins could step in for Penix and produce for the of-

fense. The 37-year-old made 14 starts for the Falcons in 2024. The four-time Pro Bowler said he felt comfortable in terms of being back on the field for the first time since December of last season, but he acknowledged the results were not there. He was 21 for 31 for 173 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, but 76 yards came in the fourth quarter with the game essentially decided.

Cousins led the team on a nineplay scoring drive that resulted in a field goal on the team’s second possession. The Falcons did not score again until late in the fourth quarter when they went 65 yards in 11 plays with Cousins completing 6 of 9 passes. Corrections are needed elsewhere too, but it was the run defense that really struggled against the Dolphins. Miami tried to take pressure off of Tagovailoa with a run game that gained 141 yards, allowing Tagovailoa to use play-action passes.

“They ran the ball with a lot of different variety,” said linebacker Kaden Elliss, who led the Falcons with 12 tackles. “They hit us with gap scheme, inside zone, all the different runs, and marrying some good play-action shots.”

The Dolphins ran the ball on third or fourth down nine times and converted six of them into first downs, including a thirdand-9 in the second half that went for a 12-yard run by De’Von Achane.

“(This game) is a tough one to swallow, but we have to swallow it as a group,” Elliss said. “Once we watch the film, we’re going to see a lot of things we don’t like.”

BATONROUGE AREA FOOTBALLTOP 10s THE VARSITYZONE

CLASS5A-4A

1. Plaquemine (7-1): The Green Devils retain the top spot after taking down Tara 47-8 to stretch their win streak to seven.

2. Catholic-BR (6-2): The Bears shut out Scotlandville 49-0 to keep the top spot in District 5-5A play with twoweeks left in the regular season.

3. Zachary(6-1): The Broncos bounced back from their loss to Liberty with an emphatic 44-8 win against Woodlawn.

4. Denham Springs (6-2): The yellowJackets took down Prairieville 5113 to move intoathree-way tie forDistrict 4-5A.The offense has scored at least 40 points in its past four games.

5. Brusly (7-1): The Panthers used strong defense and special teams to shut out McKinley39-0 on Thursday.

6. Central (6-2): The Wildcats handled Liberty 49-14 to bounce back froma loss against Catholic.

7. Dutchtown (5-2): The Griffins held on to win aclose one against Walker,19-14. Dutchtownisalso in athree-waytie for District5-5A.

8. East Ascension (5-3): The Spartans fell to Teurlings Catholic 64-29 last week but are thethird team in athree-waytie for the District 5-5A title.

9. St. Amant (6-2): The Gators cameout on topina shootout with LiveOak for a55-52 win.

10. St. Michael (6-2): The Warriors bounced back from twostraight losses witha 56-0 win overPort Allen.

CLASS3AAND BELOW

1. Dunham (7-1): The Tigers took down East Feliciana 42-0 in Week

8.The offense has scored more than 40 points in its past five games.The defense has had three shutouts in its past five games.

2. Madison Prep (7-1): The Chargers shut out Collegiate Baton Rougeina50-0 win. Madison Prep will playU-High this week to decide theDistrict 6-3A title.

3. University (6-2): The Cubs rolled past ParkviewBaptist 57-17 in

Week 8. U-High has nowwon five straight games.

4. St. James (6-2): The Wildcats

dominated Donaldsonville 51-7 to makeittwo straight wins 5. Ascension Catholic (6-2): The

Bulldogs move into the top spot in District 8-1A aftertaking down North Iberville 50-28 fora fourth consecutivewin.

6. North Iberville (7-1): The Bearstook their first loss, falling to AscensionCatholic 50-28.

7. Catholic-PC (6-2): The Hornets fell in overtimetoSt. Edmund 5250 for their second loss.

8. Donaldsonville (6-2): The Tigers losttoSt. James51-7for their second defeat of the year

9. Episcopal (4-4): The Knights continue theirlate-season success with a40-14 win overNortheast to getto3-1 in District 8-2A play.

10. SouthernLab (4-4): The Kittens wonadefensive showdown with Kentwood 12-8 to getback to .500. Jackson Reyes

AlabamaState takesovertop spot in poll

Forthe first time in 2025, a newfootball team claims the No. 1spot amongHBCUs. Here’s how Ivoted in the BOXTOROW HBCU football media poll after Week 9:

1. Alabama State (5-2): TheHornets are the first top team that’s not Jackson State since the preseason.Theywere elite on offense and defense in their 56-13 win over AlabamaA&M Alabama State only allowed 1.5 yardsper carryand 99 total passing yards.

2. Delaware State (5-3): Delaware State takes ajump from sixth last week because it spoiled the homecoming of an impressiveNorth Carolina Central team, winning 35-26 on the road. Hornets wide receiver NyGhee Lolley was the top option in the win, as he had five catches for 124 yards and three touchdowns.Earning this victory against afellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team makes them areal contender in the conference.

3. Grambling (5-3): From unranked to the third-best team after Week 9, Grambling could only accomplish such afeat by beating Jackson State 26-24 on agame-winning 44-yard field goal with 21 seconds left. Coach MickeyJoseph’steam took down Jackson State for the second straight season, and Grambling finished this year’sgame without starting quarterbackC’zavian Teasett, who got injured with two minutes left in the game.

4. Jackson State (5-2): TheTigers takea nose dive from the top spot, not only because of their loss to Grambling in LasVegas. They also lost their starting

quarterback, JaCobian Morgan, due to an injury with 5:22 left in the first quarter.Hewas seen laterwearing aboot on his left foot and on crutches on thesideline.Ifhehas tomiss games for Jackson State, there will be reason to worry ifthe offense can continue tochurn.

5. Prairie View (6-2): Prairie View extends its win streak tofive as it cruised toa38-0 homecoming win over Lincoln (Calif.). While the Panthers didn’tprovemuch against this weaker opponent, theyare agroup that has adefense theycan rely on against any Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent.They are first in scoring defense and yards al-

lowed in conference play

6. South Carolina State (5-3): The Bulldogs beat theirfirst MEAC opponent in Norfolk State, winning 51-20 on the road.Quarterback William Atkins had asurreal performance, completing 24 of 36 passes for 428 yards, four touchdowns and one interception 7. North Carolina Central(5-3): North Carolina Central’s four-game win streak was snapped coming offabye week againstavastly improved DelawareState team. Losing its first MEAC gameat home is not ideal, but it is still atop-notch offense that could be favored to win the rest of its games. Email Toyloy BrownIII at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com.

SCOREBOARD

Celtics rout Pelicans as Zion misses game

BY LES EAST Contributing writer

ZionWilliamson missed a game for the first time this season, and the New Orleans Pelicans had the same result as their first two games —a loss. But for the first time this season, they weren’tcompetitive. Williamson was sidelined by aleft foot bone contusion, and the Boston Celtics defeated the Pelicans 12290 on Monday night in the Smoothie KingCenter Anfernee Simons scored 25 points to lead abarrage of 3-pointers by the Celtics (1-3), who beat New Orleans for the ninth straight time. PaytonPritchardscored 18, Luka Garzahad 16, Jaylen Brown and Josh Minott had 15 each, and Derrick White scored 11. Simons made 6of133-pointers, and the Celtics made 18 of 53, compared to 9of36for the

Pelicans Jordan Poole led the Pelicans with 22 points, rookie first-rounddraft choice Derik Queen had 12, and Herb Jones and Saddiq Bey 11 each for thePelicans. Rookie Jeremiah Fears madehis first start forthe Pelicans,but he hadjust two points, two assists andone steal,making just 1of11 shots, in 26 minutes. ThePelicans begin athreegame road trip when they visitDenver on Wednesday “It’ssomething that kind of popped upthis morning,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of Williamson’sinjury “Itdidn’tseem like it wastoo serious, butI’m not sure.” Jones went to the bench after committing his fourth foulbarely aminute into the thirdquarter,and he was replaced by Bey,who made two3-pointers to help the Pelicans triman11-point halftime deficit to 75-71 midway through theperiod.

Sam Hauser and Baylor Scheierman each made a 3-pointer, andthe Celtics extended the lead to 87-78 at theend of the third quarter

Poole’s3-pointer got New Orleans within five points early in thefourth quarter, butSimons made two 3-pointers and Hauseradded onetoextend the lead to 10286. TheCeltics outscored the Pelicans35-12 in the fourth quarter

The Celtics led by as many as 14 points during the first quarterbeforefinishingthe period with a34-26 lead as Brown scored nine points.

Veterancenter DeAndre Jordan, signed as afree agent on Friday by thePelicans,made his debut to start the second quarter and made adunk14seconds intothe period. The Pelicans scored the first six points of the periodtoget within two points Boston rebuilt the lead to 14 pointsonits way to a6554 halftime lead.

Fourth Quarter GB_Jacobs 3run (Doubs pass from Love), 15:00. GB_Kraft 24 pass from Love (McManus kick) 11:05. GB_FGMcManus 28, 5:28. GB_FGMcManus 25, 3:59. Pit_R.Wilson 21 pass from Rodgers (pass failed), 2:07 A_67,386. GB Pit First downs 22 16

Total Net Yards454 295 Rushes-yards26-94 18-93 Passing 360 202 Punt Returns 4-17 2-21 Kickoff Returns5-119 6-123

InterceptionsRet.0-0 0-0

Comp-Att-Int 29-37-024-36-0

Sacked-YardsLost0-0 3-17 Punts 3-50.667 4-48.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-01-1

Penalties-Yards 5-47 6-65 Time of Possession31:48 28:12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Green Bay, Wilson11-61, Jacobs 13-33, S.Williams 1-1, Love 1-(minus 1).Pittsburgh, Warren 13-62, Gainwell 5-31. PASSING_Green Bay, Love 29-37-0-360. Pittsburgh, Rodgers 24-36-0-219. RECEIVING_GreenBay,Kraft 7-143, Watson 4-85, Doubs 3-44,

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

Here’s what to know about LSU’s new play-caller

BY SPENCER URQUHART Staff writer

LSU fired offensive coordinator Joe Sloan on Monday a day after Brian Kelly was terminated as head coach. Run game coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Atkins has taken over as the new play-caller

Atkins will assume the playcaller role in his first year at LSU after previously serving as the Florida State offensive coordinator Below are five things to know about Atkins, who will take over the LSU offense with four regular-season games remaining.

Previous OC experience

Atkins was the Florida State offensive coordinator the previous three seasons before joining the LSU coaching staff prior to the 2025 season. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022 after two years as the Florida State of-

COACHES

Continued from page 1C

doesn’t have experience as a Power Four conference head coach, but his track record is as strong as it gets as a Group of Five coach.

Dan Lanning, Oregon coach Lanning has been successful in his short time as the Ducks coach. Oregon has lost just seven games in four seasons under his leadership and he guided the Ducks to the CFP and an undefeated regular season last year At 39 years old, Lanning’s youth and ability to connect with players in the era of NIL and the transfer portal would make him a slam-dunk choice.

Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri coach Drinkwitz, 42, has turned Missouri into a consistent winner After a 5-5 campaign and consecutive 6-7 seasons, he led Missouri to the Cotton Bowl in 2023 and a 10-win campaign last year Missouri still has an outside shot of reaching the CFP this year with a 6-2 record. Clark Lea, Vanderbilt coach Lea has built a serious CFP contender at Vanderbilt, a statement that seemed unfathomable just a few weeks ago. The Commodores are 7-1 this season after taking down LSU and Missouri the past two weeks, and they won seven games last season. Vanderbilt is Lea’s alma mater Brent Key, Georgia Tech coach

The Yellow Jackets are undefeated this season under Key’s leadership after back-to-back seven-win campaigns Georgia Tech, despite its academic restrictions and shared recruiting footprint with Georgia, nearly took down the Bulldogs last season and has

SLOAN

Continued from page 1C

created an unmistakable identity structured around physicality under Key

Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame coach

Replacing one Notre Dame coach with another wouldn’t seem like a prudent strategy on the surface. But in just three-plus seasons since replacing Kelly, Freeman led Notre Dame to the national championship game last season, and the Fighting Irish may be poised to make the playoff again this year Freeman doesn’t turn 40 until January, making him another intriguing long-term candidate

Kelvin Sheppard, Detroit Lions DC Sheppard doesn’t have any head coaching experience, but he is leading a Lions defense that is eighth in the NFL in points allowed per contest in his first season as defensive coordinator He was a three-year starter at linebacker for LSU and was the director of player development at LSU in 2020 under Ed Orgeron.

Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State coach Dillingham is from Phoenix and is an Arizona State alum, meaning that a move to the Bayou — or anywhere else — may be unlikely. But Dillingham’s credentials warrant him getting a look. He led the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff in just his second season in Tempe last season.

Willie Fritz, Houston coach Fritz was the head coach at Tulane for eight seasons before leaving for Houston ahead of the 2024 season. He led the Green Wave to a victory in the Cotton Bowl in 2022 before guiding Tulane to an 11-win season the next year Now with Houston, the Cougars are 7-1 and in the AP Top 25 after struggling in Year 1 under the 65-year-old Fritz.

Nick Saban ex-Alabama, LSU coach For obvious reasons, whoever

is tasked with leading the LSU coaching search should call Saban first. The legendary coach won a national championship with the Tigers in 2003 before winning six more titles at Alabama. But the odds of bringing back Saban are really long. Saban said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday that he isn’t interested in returning to coaching.

James Franklin, ex-Penn State coach Franklin was fired by Penn State just a few weeks ago, but the former Nittany Lions coach has accomplished something Kelly couldn’t in three-plus seasons in Baton Rouge: make the CFP Penn State was a win away from playing for the national championship last season, and the Nittany Lions went 104-45 under his leadership.

Rhett Lashlee, SMU coach Lashlee led SMU to the CFP last season, the program’s first in the ACC. The Mustangs hadn’t lost an ACC regular-season game under Lashlee until Saturday, and SMU went 11-3 under his command the season before joining the conference.

Alex Golesh, South Florida coach Golesh has turned the Bulls into a CFP contender after they took down Florida and Boise State to begin this season. He has SEC experience as the Tennessee offensive coordinator for two seasons before he was hired at South Florida. The Bulls won seven games in 2023 and 2024 before their hot start this fall.

Kalani Sitake, BYU coach BYU has become a consistent winner under Sitake’s leadership. The Cougars nearly reached the playoff last season and have started this year at 8-0. In 10 seasons with BYU, he has an 80-43 record and only two losing campaigns.

Email Koki Riley at Koki Riley@theadvocate.com.

fensive line coach. Atkins’ time at Florida State ended last November when he was fired after a 1-9 start.

Success as an OC Atkins had success at Florida State prior to 2024, with the offense averaging more than 30 points per game during both the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Florida State averaged 36.1 ppg during a 10-win 2022 season and followed that up with 13 victories in 2023 with Atkins’ offense averaging 34.6 ppg.

Big Kelly hire Kelly didn’t make major changes to his coaching staff prior to the 2025 season, but he brought Atkins on to replace previous tight ends coach Slade Nagle. Kelly said, “(Atkins) brings a great deal of experience as a coordinator, but more importantly, his depth and background in the run game as an offensive line coach, he adds another perspective in that room.”

RABALAIS

Continued from page 1C

could be mitigated. But LSU officials sent Kelly packing fully aware they may have to pay him all of that money That’s money that counts on Woodward’s ledger As much as the money, it’s the lack of significant winning by Fisher and Kelly that counts most. Fisher was 45-25 and never led A&M to an SEC title or the College Football Playoff. Kelly was 34-14 and never led LSU to an SEC title (his Tigers did play in the 2022 SEC championship game) or to the CFP

It’s great to hire a Jay Johnson to steer the LSU baseball team to two College World Series titles. It’s great to hire a Mulkey to lead the women’s basketball team to a national title. Same for Jay Clark, who Woodward gave the job to for gymnastics after D-D Breaux retired. Clark subsequently led the Tigers to their first NCAA crown. But athletic directors at football-mad schools like LSU are defined by their football hires. Even Skip Bertman, who led the Tigers to five CWS crowns, was reminded that the man he hired as athletic director to replace Nick Saban would define a large part of his legacy at LSU.

“All the championships you’ve won, all of the games, all of that goes down the drain if you don’t hire the right one,” assistant athletic director Verge Ausberry told Bertman in 2004. Bertman hired Les Miles. He was eventually fired in 2016, but not before leading LSU to the 2007 BCS title and a second trip to the national championship game in 2011.

Right now, the Kelly and Fisher hires are anchors on Woodward’s resume. If you swing and you miss even a couple of times, the prospect of getting a third

Well traveled

Atkins was born in Chicago and graduated from Tennessee-Martin, where he began his coaching career in 2007. He has coached at eight different schools since leaving his alma mater for Marshall in 2009. Florida State was Atkins’ longest stop, which began in 2020 and lasted nearly five years.

Tulane ties

Atkins got familiar with the state of Louisiana prior to joining the LSU coaching staff, serving as the Tulane offensive line coach beginning in 2016 for a total of three seasons. He took on the added role of run game coordinator in 2018 under former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz, who Atkins previously coached under at Georgia Southern.

Email Spencer Urquhart at surquhart@theadvocate.com.

chance is extremely iffy

This is a tricky time for LSU. The school is expected soon to hire a president to replace William F. Tate IV (he left in May for Rutgers). Governor Jeff Landry will get the president he wants to run LSU, one of the biggest appointments any Louisiana governor can make It should be expected he will want to have influence on who LSU’s next football coach will be, and the future of the person who will be that coach’s boss.

Being athletic director at LSU is pretty much a thankless job.

When Joe Dean took the job he was “Mr String Music” on SEC basketball telecasts, virtually a folk hero in these parts. He was vilified for hiring Curley Hallman, arguably LSU’s worst football coach ever Even Bertman’s considerable star lost some luster for decisions he made as athletic director

Hiring the next LSU football coach will be the most important hire in the history of the school’s athletic program. LSU won’t finish paying Ed Orgeron’s $17 million buyout until December after firing him during the 2021 season It could be paying Kelly’s buyout through 2031, to the tune of about $740,000 per month. The school can’t afford to miss on Kelly’s replacement. Another big buyout four years from now is too staggering to contemplate.

When LSU introduced Kelly in December 2021, Woodward was the man standing next to him, handing Kelly a replica of the “Win!” bar that hangs over the Tigers’ locker room door The next coach needs to win big. With an exclamation point. That’s an easy assumption to make. Will Woodward be the man standing next to him is the bigger question.

For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter with

to

being

coach, a

told The Advocate that offensive

Cordae Hankton will

larger role in coaching the running backs Sloan a former East Carolina quarterback and Louisiana Tech assistant — worked as LSU’s primary offensive play-caller for the past two seasons. Kelly hired him to coach the LSU quarterbacks in 2022, then named him and Cortez

Hankton as co-offensive coordinators after former play-caller Mike Denbrock left for the same job at Notre Dame after the 2023 season. In 2024, LSU signed Sloan and Hankton to three-year, $3.05 million contracts. Then the Tigers took a couple of steps backward on offense. Last season, LSU finished 25th among FBS teams in total offense but 47th in scoring offense. It finished last in the SEC in both rushing attempts per game and rushing yards per game, while also struggling to convert in the red zone. More than 90 FBS teams scored touchdowns on a higher percent-

age of their trips inside the 20 that year than the Tigers did. LSU then lost four offensive linemen to the NFL but it also brought back quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and added skill-position talent in the transfer portal. The results didn’t match the investment. Through the first seven games of the 2025 season, Nussmeier battled injuries, but the Tigers rushed for even fewer yards per game than they did in 2024. Their red-zone touchdown conversion rate plateaued, while their thirddown conversion rate fell from a league-leading 49% to a 10th-

ranked 42%. LSU entered Week 9 as one of only two power-conference teams that hadn’t scored at least 25 points in a game against an FBS opponent this season. The Tigers hit that mark against Texas A&M, but only after their offense allowed 35 second-half points go unanswered. LSU punted on each of its first four drives of the second half, then turned the ball over on downs on its fifth. Nussmeier threw for only 168 yards before he was pulled late in the fourth quarter, and he was sacked six times. LSU also converted only 2 of 12 third-down tries and

rushed for just 60 net yards. Sloan has one year left on his contract, and LSU owes him 90% of its remaining value, which means his buyout could cost the school up to $990,000. “When things are not going well from a football standpoint,” Kelly said after LSU’s loss to Texas A&M, “the head football coach has

agile enough and able

those changes and find out what we need to do to get our football team to play better.” For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

DC Sniper’s trailled through Louisiana. Hisex-wife tellsstory of abuseinnew documentary

‘The man that I married wasa

complete stranger

BY JUDYBERGERON Staffwriter

In September 2002, Hong Im Ballenger,45, aBaton Rouge wife and mother,was robbed and killed by asingle gunshot to the head as she left work at aFlorida Boulevard beauty supply store. “She was abeautiful woman and awonderful mother to my three sons,” her husband, Jim Ballenger,said the followingday His wife died at the hands of JohnAllen Muhammad, 41, a NewOrleans-bornand Baton Rouge-raised former U.S.Army sergeant who later became known as the DC Sniper,and his accomplice, Lee BoydMalvo, 17, born in Jamaica andrelocating to Miami illegally in 2001. The woman was oneofthe duo’s preliminary victims. Shootings in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Texasand Washingtonalsowereeventuallylinked to the pair

When their subsequent23-day reign of terror through Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia was over,10people were dead and three critically injured, bringing the assailants’ 10-month tally to 17 deaths and 10 wounded. Theywere captured at arest stop in Maryland on Oct. 24, 2002.

Although all of the serialattacks seemed random at the time, it would be revealed in court proceedings thatitwas allpartof an elaborateplantokillMuhammad’s ex-wife, Mildred, and gain custody of their three children. Mildred Muhammad, 65, who lives in Maryland, will tell her story in ID’s“Hunted by My Hus-

band: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper” at 8p.m.Tuesday Appropriately,the newdocumentary is airing during Domestic Violence AwarenessMonth.

“The man thatI married was acomplete stranger,” Mildred Muhammad says in the

See DC SNIPER, page 2D

BY MADDIE SCOTT Staff writer

ABOVE: Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By STEVE HELBER

LEFT: James Ballenger holdsupapicture of his wife, Hong Im Ballenger,athis Baton Rougehome in 2002 which he shares with their twosons Joshua, 10, left, and Jimmy 20. Ballenger has found peacesince the murder of hiswife in 2002.

These flowers thrive in the kind of warm,dry weather that Louisiana is experiencing so farthis fall. Their yellow,orange and red bloomsaswell as their fine-textured foliage are stunning. You’ll probablyfind both African andFrench marigolds at thegarden center.African marigolds typically grow to 1to2 feet tall, butsome varieties can reach up to 4feet talland have large, ruffledblooms. Their French counterparts are more compact, usually staying under 1foot tall, making them ideal for borders andfronts of beds Chrysanthemums

These classic fall plants are triggered to bloom when days get shorter.With their signature mounded shape and flower colors ranging from white and yellow to red and purple,

are a traditional choice forfall gardening and decorating

By The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday,Oct. 28,the 301st dayof2025. There are 64 days left in the year

Todayinhistory: On Oct. 28, 1886, the Statue of Liberty,agift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland. Also on this date: In 1636, the General Court of Massachusetts passed alegislative act establishing Harvard College.

In 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened his firstNew York store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan.

In 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, which provided the means for enforcement of a Prohibition era ban on alcohol, over President Woodrow Wilson’sveto.

In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicatedthe Statue of Liberty on its 50thanniversary In 1962, Soviet leaderNikita Khrushchev informed the United States that he had ordered the dismantling of missile bases in Cuba; in return, the U.S. secretly agreed to remove nuclear missiles from U.S.installations in Turkey as the two superpowers defused tensions of the Cuban missilecrisis.

In 1991, what became known as “The Perfect Storm” began forming hundreds of miles east of Nova Scotia; lost at sea during the storm were the six crew members of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat from Gloucester, Massachusetts.

In 2001, the families of people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in New York gathered at ground zero in lower Manhattan for amemorial service filled with prayer and song.

In 2012, the San Francisco Giants won their second World Series title in three years, beating the Detroit Tigers to completea four-game sweep.

In 2018, The Boston RedSox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the World Series in five games. In 2021, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company was rebranding itself as Meta, an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future, while keeping theFacebooknamefor the social network itself.

In 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk took control of Twitter for$44 billion after aprotracted legal battle and months of uncertainty.Hesubsequently rebranded the social media platform as X in 2023.

In 2022, Paul Pelosi, the 82-year-oldhusband of House SpeakerNancyPelosi, was severely beaten by ahammerwielding assailant who broke into their San Francisco home. Less than three weeks later, Nancy Pelosi announced she would remain in the House but step down as speaker in the next Congress.

In 2024, the Pentagon disclosed that NorthKorea had sent about 10,000 troops to Russia to train and likely fight against Ukraine, amove seen as piling more pressureon Ukraine’soverstretched army and stoking geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. Today’sBirthdays: Basketball HallofFamer Lenny Wilkens is 88. Actor Jane Alexander is 86. Actor Dennis Franz is 81. Actor-singer Telma Hopkins is 77. TV personality and Olympic gold medal decathlete Caitlyn Jenner is 76. Actor Annie Potts is 73. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is 70. Actor Daphne Zuniga is 63. Actor Lauren Holly is 62. Talk show host-comedian Sheryl Underwood is 62. Football Hall of Famer Steve Atwater is 59. Actor-comedian Andy Richter is 59. Actor Julia Roberts is 58. Singer Ben Harper is 56. Football Hall of Famer Terrell Davis is 53. Country singer Brad Paisley is 53. Actor Joaquin Phoenix is 51. Actor Gwendoline Christie is 47. Actor Matt Smith is 43. Actor Troian Bellisario is 40. Singersongwriter Frank Ocean is 38. Tennis player Taylor Fritz is 28. Actor Nolan Gould is 27.

DUTCH BROS

Continued from page1D

Wish list takesfun outofchoosinggifts

Dear Miss Manners: Each year,Halloween heralds my own personal horror: theseason during which my family harassesmetoprovide them with alist of itemsthat Iwould like for Christmas. Iabhorthisannual ritual. To me,the value in receivinggifts is the knowledge that the giver took the time and effort to thinkabout what Imight really like andselect something they thought might please me Thebeauty in gift-giving is in the attention paid to thereceiver: looking carefully around their home to see if there is an item of comfort they might be missing;

Judith Martin MISS MANNERS

listening to their conversations for tidbitsabout their interests and hobbies; noticing theslight look of pleasure in their eyes when they see an artwork in agallery window and deciding to makethat pleasure permanent Ihave tried to gently explain this to my family,yet they are adamant that I should give them alist. My sister has taken to calling me daily to demand such a document,and she is now threatening tohave my father,stepmother and other siblings do the same until Ichange my phone number or crack under thestrain.

Iwould prefer receiving no

gift at all to receiving one Iselected myself.I doubt my family membershave noticed, but each year they makelists and circulate them, andeach year Igotoa great deal of effort to select gifts for them that are NOTontheir lists, yet areareflection of their personal tastes and interests. How can Ipolitely decline their repeated demands? Idonot wish to suppress their joy in the holiday,but Isimply cannot bring myself to accede to their wishes.

Gentlereader: Alas, it is timeto point out to them how much more efficient it would be to have all of you do your own shopping. Miss Manners is sorry to see theend of an ancienttradition that was oneofthe hallmarks of

civilization. As you have experienced, the giftregistry/wish list has killed it.

Just look at what this has done to what used to be referred to as the Christmas Spirit. If they won’t agree to dropping either the lists or the entire custom, you will have to tell them that you are opting out. And you may have to change your telephone number after all.

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

Dating appmatch leadstoworkplace tension

may be able to help you.

Dear Harriette: Irecently matched with someone on adating app, and after chattingfor abit, we realized we work at the same company.It’sahuge organization, so we had never crossed paths before —until, of course, we suddenly started running into each other in the office after matching. We never acknowledged it directly, andsince then, things have felta little awkward.It’snot like anythinginappropriate happened between us. We just exchanged afew friendly messages before things fizzled out, butnow every hallway run-in feels tense. Ican’ttell if he’spretending it never happened or if he’s just as unsureasIamabout how to act. Part of mewants to laugh it off andbreak theice, but another part worries that it might make

Harriette Cole SENSE AND SENSITIVITy

thingseven weirder.I’ve caught myself overthinking what to say when Isee him and wondering if other co-workers have picked up on the tension. It’sgotten to the point where Isometimes takeadifferent route to avoid the awkwardness altogether.Should Ibring it up to clear the air or just keep acting like nothing happened and hope the awkwardness fades on its own? —Unmatched Dear Unmatched: Be the adult in the room. Next time you see this man, walk up to him and discreetly address theobvious.You can start with humor.Yes, it is uncanny that the two of you would meet online and end up working in the sameplace, but it doesn’tneed to be awkward. Youdidn’tend up hooking up. It was innocent enough, and now it’sover.Agree

to stop dodging each other in the building, be cordial and moveon. Dear Harriette: This year has been stressful for me. Ilost my job and have used most of my savings just to survive. Ihaven’ttalked about my situation muchatall. It’sfrustrating enough to live it without the embarrassment of admitting that, at 40 years old, my great career ended because of no fault of my own. Isuddenly became seen as aDEI hireeven though my job had nothing to do with diversity.I feel deflated and scared. I’ve been looking for work but can’tfind anything, and I’m worried about what to do next. —Lost Dear Lost: Sadly,there are hundreds of thousands of wellcredentialed, hardworking people like you in this country whoare recently outofwork with seemingly nowhere to turn. Nowisthe time to talk to your friends and reach out to organizations that

With friends, band together and help each other —first by revealing your situation and then asking forhelp. Somepeople have formed meal collectives where they cook together and share the expenses of food. Others help with babysitting. Still others have provided shelter fornewly unhoused former professionals. On adifferent level, reach out to human rights organizations forhelp. The ACLU,for example, is looking to support people whofeel they were wrongly dismissed. Drop the shameand speak up foryourself. Telling your story may be the waytosave yourself and others like you.

Sendquestions to askharriette@ harriettecole.com or c/o AndrewsMcMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

Lightupany room by alternativemeans during outages

Dear Heloise: Acautionary thought to aneighbor across the river in Omaha, Nebraska, who had asuggestion on solar lightsfor emergency use. Be sure not to depend on bringing them in during athunderstorm. Stay in the house when thunderstorms are in the area. Use thealternative optionsthat you should alreadyhaveon-hand in case thepower goes out. Save the solar lights for long-term outages after any storms are out of the area. —Steve T.,inCouncil Bluffs, Iowa

PLANTS

Continued from page1D

mums work wonderfully in almost any seasonal display

Hints from Heloise

Steve, there are also light bulbs thathave batteries in it, and every time you turn on the lamp thatcontains one of these lights, you can charge up the battery When astorm (orany other mishap) comes along, you can turn on the lamp that contains this bulb because it will be running on the battery ratherthan electricity Allmylamps contain these bulbs, and Iget themata hardware store. —Heloise Test your hearing Dear Readers: How’syour hear-

ing? If you’re like mostfolks, you might ignore the signs of potential hearing loss. Millions of people experience unsafenoise levels at work, and 20% of teenagers have reported hearing loss due to loud noise. Hearing loss is the second most-widespread healthissueworldwide.

The National Campaign for Better Hearing (CampaignForBetterHearing.us) wants you to check your hearing beginning at age 60 with its “Test Your Ears at 60 Years” campaign, and then once ayear after this. To schedule afree hearing assessment, call

866-TEST-AT-60 (866-837-8286). For every hearing test given, participating health practices will donate $5 toward upping the awareness of the risks of ignoring hearing loss. They will also distribute free hearing aids to those whocan’tafford them.For more information, you can email Info@ CampaignForBetterHearing.us. P.S. Experts agree that 30 minutes of exercise five times per week can help maintain your good hearing! —Heloise

Send ahinttoheloise@heloise com.

When shopping for mums, avoid plants that are in full bloom (unless you’rebuyingthem to decorate for aspecial occasion or havesome other need for instant flower power). Instead, pick plantsthat have tightly closed buds. This will extend theamount of time you can enjoy these pretty flowers. Mums can stay in bloom and look attractivefor several weeks.

Most people keep mums in containers, but they can be planted into the ground, too, and sometimes will perennialize this way.Just be careful when handling mums;they tendtobequite fragile.

Crotons

With leaves featuring vivid streaks of red, orange, yellow andgreen,crotonsare another

DC SNIPER

Continued from page1D

documentary Viewers will hear hertellof years of emotional, financial and psychological abuse she endured before herex-husband’skilling spree. “When the person you love becomes the one you fear,you are scared to the core of your being. Everythingyou thought was real has become an illusion, it is disconcerting,” Muhammad said in 2009. “You feel as though you have fallen into adeep hole and there is nothing to hold onto, because there, everythingyou thought was there is gone,and youslip deeper anddeeper.” “Through exclusive interviews,

quintessential plant for autumn.

These tropical plants thrive in bright,indirect light and will lose their colorful variegations if they receive too much shade. Crotons

never-before-seen home video of the Muhammadfamily,and commentary fromdomestic violence expertsand law enforcement officers whoworked tirelessly to track and identify the snipers, the documentary explores how the justice system, media and public perceptionmissedcriticalwarning signs of abuse and coercive control, and challenges oursociety as awhole to rethink what we know of domestic violence,” a show synopsis states.

“John Muhammad hada plan. He was going to kill her and thenshe would be just another random victim of the DC Sniper,” says oneof thedetectives.

Charged with murder,terrorism, conspiracy and the illegal use of afirearm,John Muhammad was convicted, received the death penaltyand died by lethal injec-

can live many years and even do well as houseplants.

Ornamental peppers

There’sawide variety of orna-

tionin2009. Malvo, now 40,was also found guilty and is serving four consecutive life sentences in aVirginia prison. MildredMuhammad hasturned hertrauma into an avenue to helpother abuse victims. She is an award-winning author,public speaker anddomestic violence awareness advocate. She also servesonthe Maryland Board of Victim Services, is acertified Consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice, aspeaker for the U.S. DepartmentofState anda CNN contributor The NationalDomesticViolence Hotline is available to provide help at thehotline.org or the No More Foundation at declarenomore.com.

Email JudyBergeron at jbergeron@theadvocate.com.

mental peppers to choose from these days. Traditional options with yellow,orange and red peppers andgreen foliage are always awelcome addition to the fall garden. But youalso cannow find cultivars with unique featuressuchaseye-catching variegatedgreen,white and purple leaves anddeep redand purple fruit setagainst purple-to-black foliage.

Ornamental peppers often are waxy and very spicy,sothey’re not pleasant to eat —but they are aLouisiana Super Plant.

Kale andcabbage

While ornamental peppers generally aren’tedible, kale and cabbage are —and they also can add interesting foliage and, depending on the cultivars you grow, shades of red to the garden. Mix and match these plants, and you’ll create an aesthetically pleasing landscape that will tide you over until it’stimetoplant things like petunias and violas later this fall.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Refuse to let what others do aggravate you. Channel your time and energy into finishing what you start and doing the best job possible. Change what you don't like.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Explore possibilities. If you limit yourself, you'll do yourself an injustice. Consider how you can use your skills and knowledge to do something you enjoy.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Create opportunities, and you will advance. Be aware of your limits and any health restraints. Avoid situations that pose a risk to your physical well-being.

AQUARIUS (Jan 20-Feb. 19) High energy alongside good timing and the urge to make a move will pay off. Fine-tune your skills, invest in yourself and take measures to look and do your best.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Refrain from taking a leap of faith. You have time to consider every angle and redefine what you want to pursue. Trust your knowledge, intelligence and insight, and you'll discover the road that leads to victory.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) A change in how you earn or handle money will intrigue you. Find out as much as you can and submit your resume. Be reserved when reacting to emotional situations.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Build with what you have already instead of overpaying for something you don't need. Put more energy and time into partnerships and your home environment. Distance yourself from divisive people.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Impulsive action will tempt you. Be cautious when dealing with associates or those trying to provoke a reaction or prompt a hasty decision. Refuse to let anyone coax you into buying something you don't need.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) Put your energy into work, discipline and doing your utmost to thrive and survive. A unique approach to developing or showcasing your skills will help you advance. Think big, but don't lose sight of the budget.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Avoid debates or making impulsive moves under emotional conditions. Refrain from making a big decision without conducting a thorough investigation. Someone will take advantage of you if you give them the chance.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Chat up someone who can offer something in return. Be careful not to oversell or undersell yourself; truth matters and will determine your future. Display what you can contribute, and you'll find your niche. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Refrain from overdoing it today. The temptation to take on too much or make promises you cannot keep is looming. Channel your energy and pay attention to what's going on around you.

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

Sudoku

InstructIons: Sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. 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 theSudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

nea CroSSwordS La TimeS CroSSword

BY PHILLIP ALDER

Alexandre Dumas, the father, not his son, said, “All human wisdom is summed up in two words wait and hope.”

At the bridge table, one wishes that all wisdom isn’t summed up in two words — play and hope. Yes, you will often be hoping for the best, but ideally you find a 100 percent line of play or defense.

In yesterday’s deal, declarer had two chances to make his contract. Today’s is similar. South is in six hearts. West leads the club queen. What are declarer’s two chances? How should he play to combine them?

North’s two-no-trump response was the Jacoby Forcing Raise, guaranteeing at least four-card heart support and game-going values. South’s three-spade rebid indicated a singleton (or void) in that suit Then, after two control-bids (cue-bids), North made a very aggressive jump to slam.

If you bid the spots off the cards, you had better play them off, too — and get lucky.

South can see two possible losers: one diamond and one club. He has only 11 top tricks: one spade, six hearts, one diamond, two clubs and a spade ruff in South, the shorter trump hand. Declarer’s first thought is probably that the diamond finesse needs to work. But he might also find clubs 3-3. And that should be tried first.

South takes the first trick, draws trumps, and plays two more rounds of clubs. Here, they divide evenly and declarer can claim, stating that he will discard one of dummy’s diamonds on his last club. But if the clubs were not 3-3, the diamond finesse would still be available. © 2025 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews

InstRuctIOns: 1. Words

tODAY’s WORD — AnALYZED: AN-uh-lyz’d: Examined in detail to understand.

Average

Jury Type:Petit Judge: Elizabeth A. Engolio Date: Monday,December 1, 2025

ADAMS, JECARLO 59070 MARTINLUTHER KING BLVD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3034

ADDISON SR, DONALD RAY77425 COMSTOCK ST MARINGOUIN,LA70757

AILLET,MAURICE LANDESS 57964 BORRUANO DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2003

ALBERADO, APRIL COUSSOU59855 THOMAS ROSS DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5273

ALEXANDER, ALICIA KRYSTEN 54925 TASSIN DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2331

ANDERSON, XAVIERM 5070 IBERVILLE ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4946

ANTHONY,CIERRA RAYNAE 58437 CAPTAIN THARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3139

ANTHONY,SHELTON BRONCE 1440 BUR OAK DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4613

ARMSTEAD, JAMES 55020 CYPRESS ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2350

ARTHUR, KIMIA6610 HWY 74, #1102 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4570

BABIN, JOSH EDWARD 4430 HWY 75 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4202

BADEAUX, RANDEL JOSEPH 17015 SIDNEYRDROSEDALE, LA 70772

BAGGETT, KIERA LYNN 28360 INTRACOASTAL RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764

BAISE, KENNETH RANDALLLOUIS10940 CHURCH ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

BAKER,CLAY33095 BOWIE ST #9WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2352

BALL, AMIRA DESIRAE 58810 ISLAND DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

BANKS,GREGORYL 58452 NATS ALYPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2855

BANTA, JOHN MERLIN 58160 RANDOLPHS DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7430

BARBEE, ALYSSA REGIRA 59235 ISLAND DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7426

BARRETT,DONOVAN T57915 GOVERNMENT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2307

BATISTE, LILLIE NICOLE76685 ROSEDALE RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772

BATTON, JEFFERYADAM 955-ARIVER RD SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3101

BAZILLE, ROSLANDROCHELLE 3640 MAGNOLIA DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

BERAUD, NIKETRA SHAVONNE 76425 COREYRDROSEDALE, LA 70772

BERTHELOT,JOSEPH LITTON 36925 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7710

BERTHELOT,STEPHANIE A36309 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7704

BLANCHARD, HIRAM JAMES 76885 GARNERLNGROSSE TETE, LA 70740

BLANCHARD, KAYLA PITRE1410 SPANISH LAKESAVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5331

BORDELON, RENEE MAYEUX 1635 HWY 75 SUNSHINE,LA70780-3211

BOUDREAUX, CHERIE JUMONVILLE 36420 NESSIE ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4627

BOUDREAUX, KRISTINA MEDINE24654 EISENHOWER DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

BOUDREAUX, LESLIE HEBERT24230 FREDRICK DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5551

BOURGEOIS, TONI P60175 LAFOURCHE ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4635

BREAUX, MADISON SHARAE 16915 AUDREY LN GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3028

BROWN, CRYSTALL 32840 ADAMS DR WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2604

BROWN, HAILEY ANNIQUE77540 JACOBSTMARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3609

BROWN,LATRESHA M 58470 WWHARLEAUX ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3136

BROWN, TENISHA DESHEA 77140 COURTABLEAU AVEMARINGOUIN, LA 70757

BURNSTEIN, JOYCE MARIE 57755 REVILLETOWN DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7502

BUTLER JR, HOWARD JEROME 77265 RIDGEWOODDRMARINGOUIN, LA 70757

BUTLER, QUINTON 58215 PEAR ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4037

CALLEGAN, BAILEY ELIZABETH58725 NEW CAMP RD WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4136

CAMBRE JR, JOHN DAVID 1390 HWY 75 SUNSHINE,LA70780-3110

CAMILLE, ALICIA RACQUEL57860 SCHNEBELENSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2426

CAPONE, ROSE RODRIGUEZ59415 ISLAND DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7424

CARLINE, JO ANN 65185 LITTLE FARMS RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5823

CARTER, ANTHONY 5544 MAGNOLIA SPRINGS PKWY #B CARVILLE,LA70721-2101

CARTER, ERICA DESHAWN 31943 DORCY RD WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-3616

CARTER, JALISACIACASSANDRA 530-A BAYOUPAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5404

CARTER, JESSICA LYNN 58745 BELLEVIEW RD #2PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3950

CAVALIER, DANIEL JOSEPH 24760 STASSI RD #BPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5950

CHEATUM, KIVALYNNESSA 1785 RAVIER LN SUNSHINE, LA 70780-3518

CHRISTIANSON, GABRIELLE RHIANE 56260 BAUDOIN ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4327

CHRISTMAS III,HARRYLEQUINEY58727 JETSONAVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4237

CHRISTOPHE III, HERMAN C58660 JETSONAVE PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4236

CHRISTY II,ISAAC PRESTON58465 IRONFARMRD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3019

CLAFLIN, SHARON 1420 BAYOUPAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4942

COLE, DAJANEE LESHAI 59655 HWY 1148 #11PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5333

COLLINS,BARBARA JEAN 24141 BAIST ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3650

COMEAUX, GLORIA ANGELLETTE

MARIE 5675 MAGNOLIA DE CHRISTOPHE DR CARVILLE,LA70721-2131

COOPER, DERICK SHANDAL 57940 CENTERSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4365

CORLEY,MADISON BRYANT 2100 BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4935

COX, TALACIYAANAE 77225 JACKSON AVEMARINGOUIN, LA 70757

CROCHET,MICHELLE LEE 1504 SIDNEYSTSUNSHINE, LA 70780-3216

CZECH, EARL W25327 FENNER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4425

DAIGLE, LACEY HEMPHILL 66440 STAMPLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7310

DANIELS,TIMOTHY G670 BAYOUPAUL LN ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5403

DARDENNE, TINA MARKS 76945 DEWEY DR GROSSE TETE, LA 70740-3015

DARVILLE, TY’QUION DA’SEAN4765 MARYLAND ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4249

DARVILLE, YVONNE LATRESE 1905 BESSONLNSUNSHINE, LA 70780-3528

DAVID, TIFFANY FLEMING 20025 HWY 77 GROSSETETE, LA 70740-3423

DAVIS, DESRINY D15245 DEPOTSTROSEDALE, LA 70772

DAVIS, GWENDOLYN J23979 FLENIKEN LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3013

DAVIS, MICHAEL JASON10980 CHURCH ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

DAWSON, SHEDRICK DWAYNE 23904 TAYLORST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3041

DELOCH, JAVEN MARQUISE 32905 OAK ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4910

DESHOTEL, BRIDGETT W27430 INTRACOASTAL RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5717

DESLATTE, EMILYELIZABETH 24210 MARSHALL ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3514

DICKERSON JR, RALPHJ 58525 CAPTAIN THARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3157

DILL, GABRIEL KAY1860 ROLLINGWOOD DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5355

DININO, TRENT STEVEN 35715 HWY 3001 WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4308

DION, CARMELITE ROSA 1955 PINEGLENDR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4619

DOMINGUE, CARMELITA SERPLOINA 58130 MERIAM ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2719

DOMINO,DANNA KATE 58365 BAYOURDPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-2653

DOSS, SANDRA ANN 28600 INTRACOASTALRDPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5808

DUNCAN, ESTORIA MILLS 58700 ALLENSTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3050

DUNN SR, BILLYJ 24425 CROSS ST PLAQUEMINE LA 70764-4041

DUPONT JR, ROBERTJAMES 60200 CHOCTAW ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4632

EASTERLING,VICKIE LYN25840 SAWMILL RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5406

EDMOND JR, ROLAND JAMES59027 NATHAN GEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3035

EDWARDS, LOUIS COURTNEY54825 GLEASONST WHITECASTLE,LA70788-2310

EDWARDS, SYLVIA ANN 31820 DORCY RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3617

ELLIS, CIERRA T63490 OLD HWY 77 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5617

FALCON,BRITTANY ANN 59235 BELLEVIEW RD #5PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3827

FOSTER, LANDON DOUGLAS 1061 RIVER RD SUNSHINE,LA70780-3102

FOX, CAROLYN K22705 BLAKENEYLNPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5234

FREY,KATEMCGEE 8400 MANCHAC RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5806

FULLER, JANINA MARIE 7350 BAYOU PAUL RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5719

FUSELIER SR, STEPHENADAM23335 KIRTLEY DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5534

GAMBLIN, CARLA NICOLE 23050 JADE DR DPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5259

GEORGE, MICHAEL J4715 POINT CLAIR RD ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

GOMEZ, CHARLOTTE PITRE 58185 RANDOLPHS DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7430

GOMEZ, DUSTY RENEE 25358 FENNER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4426

GORE,KIMBERLYMORGAN 32410CHAIRMONTE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2022

GRAHAM,JOEY LEMONT1085BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5105

GRAY,EDWARDNIC KENDREA 55121CAMBRE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2110

GREMILLION,PATRICE J1295HWY 75 SUNSHINE,LA70780-3108

GRIFFIN, JAMES EILLIOT 76975DEWEY DR GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3015

GROS,CHERYL LEBLANC 25415HWY 77 PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-5432

GUERCIO, STACYB 54955BLUE ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4626

GURVIN,GARYIANA NICOLE 6610 HWY 74 #1208STGABRIEL,LA70776-4570

HALL, JANEE D5684MAGNOLIA DE PERCYDRCARVILLE, LA 70721

HANDLEY,NAKIAJQUAN 4905 LANDRY ST ST GABRIEL,LA70776

HARMASON-BUTLER, KENDRAJ 58707CAPTAIN THARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3003

HARRIS,JENNIFER 57850GUIDRY ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2102

HARRIS,LETIKI DESHAWN58513 WARE DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4247

HARRIS JR, MAURICEL 11275HWY 77 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

HEARNS, DORISBLANCHARD 59129NATHANGEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3072

HEBERT,ANNEWRIGHT20785 CHARLES ORYDRPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

HIDALGOJR, JERRYA 460CLOCK TOWER DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-4449

HILL, MARK ALLEN77510 WHEELOCK LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3624

HILLIARD JR, GEORGE MICHAEL2160BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL,LA70776-4935

HOFFMAN,CADE ADAM 26250BAYOU BLUE RD GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3731

HOLLAND JR, RAYMOND4675MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY ST GABRIEL,LA707764217

JACKSON, ANGELA DEON 23925HARMASON ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3069

JACKSON, JESRIELLE NICOLE 1330 BELLETERRE DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5222

JAMES, CYNTHIAMARIE57737 CANAL ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3760

JAMES,LARRY F23710 BRUSLE ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-2802

JENKINS, KASEY LACHE32750 ADAMS DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2602

JOHNSON, BURKEW 5560 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY CARVILLE, LA 70721

JOHNSON, JOSHUA GERARD 59040MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3034

JOHNSON, KEJUANSHARIF58022 BARKERSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2523

JOHNSON, TERRILL W29560 HWY 405BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3025

JONES, BURL FRANKLIN16855 SIDNEY RD ROSEDALE, LA 70772-3822

JONES, CHRISTINEMICHELLE 32310LEONAAVE #1WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2400

JONES, KIRKLAND 24542PECAN MEADOW DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-6055

JORDAN, ANGELA M24840 RAILROAD AVEPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4244

JOSEPH,DSHAWNNICHELLE58405 HIRIARTSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2837

JOUBERT, CRYSTALANNE1290KNOTTAWAYDRSTGABRIEL,LA70776-5206

KELLYJR, JAMES LAMAR 415CLOCK TOWER DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-4449

KENNY,CLAUDIA JWAN 29550HWY 405BAYOU GOULA, LA 70788-3025

KIMBLE, COREYEDWARD23920 FLORENCE DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3410

KING,ALONCIA DENISE 5445 POINT CLAIR RD CARVILLE, LA 70721-2119

KIRKLAND,JACOB MORTON 24000MARSHALLSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3156

KIRKLAND,LES ANN58510 DELACROIX AVEPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3526

KNIGHTEN,AURIC REON 77280RIDGEWOOD DR MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

KOLB,HALEY MARIEPAIGE ZACHARY 32510LEONAAVE WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2514

LANAUTE, HERMAN CHARLES 1340 BESSON LN SUNSHINE,LA70780-3539

LANDRY, EDNA YVETTE 57715LABAUVE AVE#10PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3370

LANG,ASHLEYELIZABETH 310FACULTYDRSTGABRIEL,LA70776-4447

LASALLE, SAVANNAHENDRY58147 ROBERTSON ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3641

LASSEIGNE, AMBERDANIELLE 57715ELI CRAIG ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4543

LAURENT,KENNETH P24110 CHARLES DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3522

LAZARUS, LUIS EDUARDO 58235DESOBRYSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3627

LEACH JR, STEVEN JAMES 25322FENNER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4426

LEAL, FELICIAPATRICE 5663 MAGNOLIA DE CHRISTOPHE DR CARVILLE, LA 70721-2131

LEBLANC,CLAYTON JOSEPH WILBERT 24114BAIST ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3245

LEBLANC, JENNIFER LEWIS 36735HWY 69 BYPASS WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4449

LEBLANC, RITA LAMBERT 6330 BAYOU PAUL RD #DSTGABRIEL,LA70776-5522

LEE, CHRISTIANDUNN58385 HOMESTEAD DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-5203

LEJEUNE, CODY TAYLOR1950ROLLINGWOOD DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5358

LEWIS, ALASIA58660 ALLENSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3052

LEWIS, DAWN 17065A THOMAS LN GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3026

LINDSTROM, ANDREA LYNN 76360SPDUMPRDGROSSE TETE,LA70740

LIRETTE, LOUIS JOSEPH 60800BAYOU JACOB RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5532

LOMAGLIO, JULIE 700PECAN DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5506

LOPEZ, HEAVEN MARIE2235BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL,LA70776

MAHAJAN,GAURAV62255-A BAYOU RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-6048

MAKER JR, CLEVELAND24850 ALEXANDER ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4202

MANGUNO SR,FRANK DAVID58325 BELLEVIEW RD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3910

MANOLA, HANNAH JOLIE 22160HWY 77 GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3619

MARANTO, JACOB ANDREW 59230ISLANDDRPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7426

MARSHALL, MICHELLE MARIE33250 ADAMS DR WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2617

MARTINEZ,CHRISTINEMICHEL 65700TOT CARLINE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7302

MATTHEWS, JOYCE M10765 RAILROAD DR MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

MAYEUX, JESSED 19425HWY 77 GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3429

MCDONALD, JIMMIE D23014 WEST ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-2210

MCINTYRE,EMILYSALZER 77040JESSIE ROMIGDRGROSSE TETE,LA70740-3439

MEDINE JR, CALVIN A36705 RICHLANDRDWHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4305

MELLIEON, KRISTIN DANIELLE 58965MARTIN LUTHER KING BLVD PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3031

MEREDITH,DEANA LOSAVIO 115GRACES DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-4443

MICHELLI, MARISA BARDWELL 25505SPRING ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-6318

MIMS,HAROLD 11515BAYOU RD MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3601

MITCHELL, AUSTINMICHAEL23470 RICHSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2646

MITCHELL, LEROY H57784 GROVERDPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4538

MITCHELL, MADDISONELISE 59800CLIFTS COVEDRPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4601

MOONEYHAN,ERIKALLEN2125MEADOWOAK DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5225

MOONEYHAN,LINDA J2125MEADOWOAK DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5225

MOORE, SCHAYLA MONEE DELONE 58070BELLSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

MORGAN,JOSHUA STEPHEN 65125A BELLEVIEW RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-6216

MORRIS,FELICIADUBOC 240CHANCELLOR AVESTGABRIEL,LA70776-4450

NAQUIN, GARRETT MITCHEL 35952HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-7700

NELSON, LATERRANCE LYNDELL 1705 JAKE LN SUNSHINE,LA70780

NEWELL, CATINA JACOBS 5530 MAGNOLIA SPRINGS PKWY #ACARVILLE, LA 70721-2101

NORMAN, SHAWNMICHAEL 17415SIDNEY RD GROSSE TETE,LA70740-3002

NORTHERN,JOVAN LATRELL 76360ASHLANDDRROSEDALE, LA 70772-3832

OBEAR,BREYONZHANE 58541NATSALY PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2888

OLINDE, JAYNEEILEEN 1625 HWY 75 SUNSHINE,LA70780-3211

OSBORNE,CHRISTOPHER GEORGE 58700JETSON AVEPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4238

OUBRE, PATRYSHA 59119BIRCH ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3805

OURSO, DRENAD 56940OURSO RD WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-3827

PARKER, DAVID24220 CHURCH ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3735

PASSANTINO, JOLIN MARIE57930 JOSEPH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2019

PASSANTINOJR, JOSEPH F57930 JOSEPH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2019

PASSANTINO, TAYLORLYNN57930 JOSEPH ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2019

PATTERSON, JANET JONES 77665JACOB ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

PEAK, KIESHAWNA MARIAH 32230 FRANCISE ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2059

PEARCE JR, WILLIAM ALLEN55645 GRAND RD WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4622

PETERSON, SIERRA LYNN 24825 HARRISSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4228

PHILLIPS,ANDRETREVON 58206 MERIAMSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2814

PICKLE, CHRYSTAL SPENCER 22930 AIDAN RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-5239

PINKNEY JR, LEROY 1465 SPANISH LAKESAVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5331

PITCHER, TRAMIRIADESHAE 58160 DESOBRYSTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764

PITRE, KELLIE RAYNE 60235 GROSSETETESTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4634

PIZZOLATO, KATHLEEN STACIE 79075 KEY ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3914

PONVELLE, SEAN PATRICK 1915 PINEGLENDR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

PREJEAN, LAWLYN HEBERT23165 NADLERSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2422

PRESBOT,NATHANAEL DE JESUS 32010 CORA RD WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-4813

PRUSKI, JENNA 540 SOUTH CLUB AVESTGABRIEL, LA 70776-4452

RAFFRAY, TRAVIS JAMES 58505 ST CLEMENT AVEPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3531

RAMAGOS, CLIFTON ANTHONY 23650 EDEN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2739

RANDALL, JUSTIN CHARLES 22330 TALBOT DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5216

RARICK,MICHAEL DUSTIN 20160 TONI LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5308

REIMONENQ, ASHLEY JOHNSON22070 TALBOT DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5213

RICARD, TEMICHELL S58413 ALLENSTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3149

RICHARD, HAYLEE MARIE 31055 HWY 75 PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6120

RILLS, PAYTON OBLAIN 58130 DIVISION ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2506

RIVET,ELIZABETH B 23160 SHORTSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2429

ROBERTSON, CHARLIE 23975 BAYTOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3007

ROBERTSON, LORENZO QUENTIN 76305 ASHLAND DR ROSEDALE, LA 70772-3832

ROBERTSON, TANISHA LASHEA 15320 WILEYHAWKINS STROSEDALE, LA 70772

ROBINSON, JOHNISHA JANACHA 32590 LEONA AVEWHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2514

ROBINSON, KIERSTINMICHELLE32590 LEONA AVEWHITE CASTLE,LA70788

ROBINSON, LAKIANICOL 5475 MORRIS ST CARVILLE, LA 70721

ROSS, KIAMETHIA DISHAE 4925 LANDRY ST ST GABRIEL, LA 70776

ROSS, NATHAN 58570 WARE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4248

ROUCHER, JUDY EDWARDS 22165 WALKER ST #34PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2047

ROWE, DANIEL LEE 11490 FLINTSTOCK ST MARINGOUIN,LA70757

SAIZON, MARK A20730 HWY 77 GROSSETETE, LA 70740-3500

SAKOVICH, JONATHAN 375 SOUTH CLUB AVESTGABRIEL, LA 70776-4440

SANTEE, NICHOLE LYNN 1102 MADRIDAVE ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5332

SAYLOR, KENNEDY FRAZIER 55070 CYPRESS ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2350

SCISCOE, DEWANNA FAIRCHILD 4430 HWY 75 ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-4202

SERUNTINE, CASSANDRA JERRY635 PECAN DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5512

SHEPPARD, BILLIE JEAN 32330 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2404

SIMMONS, JAMAR MAURICE 31986 DORCY RD WHITECASTLE, LA 70788-3616

SIMMONS JR, WALTER 58785 MERIAMSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2947

SIMON, DENISE 58260 FORTSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3108

SIMPSON, HEATH DANIEL24535 PECAN POINTE DR PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6054

SIMS, LATOYADENISE 59225 WWHARLEAUX ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2968

SINGLETON, CORTNEY LESHA 32900 BOWIE ST WHITE CASTLE,LA70788-2319

SMITH, ANGELA RENEE MORRIS 76360 GRIFFIN DR ROSEDALE,LA70772-3834

SMITH, LEANDRIA SEMAIJ 57905 DESOBRYSTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3708

SMITH, SANDRA BROWN 23971 JACKSONSTPLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3029

SPEARS, JAQUORI 52510 STEWARTSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6955

STGERMAIN, BREE 1555 TASAJILLO DR ST GABRIEL, LA 70776-5339

ADJOURNMENT Therebeing no further business, it wasmoved by Morgan,and sec‐ondedbyAllen,toad‐journat5:26p.m Yeas:All present. Nays:None. Absent:Simpson Themotionwas declared adoptedbythe Advisory Board. /s/ MACY W. OURSO COMMISSIONCLERK /s/ RANDALLDUNN COMMISSIONCHAIRMAN 164283Oct.28, 1t $62.04

PUBLIC NOTICEIBERVILLEPARISH COUNCILMINUTES BOARDOFREVIEW, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER23, 2025

TheParishCouncil of IbervilleParish, Stateof Louisiana, metinSpecial Sessionatthe regular meetingplace of the Parish Council, in the CouncilMeeting Room 58050 Meriam Street Plaquemine,Louisiana on Tuesday, the23rdday of September, 2025.

TheCouncil Chairman SteveC.Smith,calledthe meetingtoorder at 6:20 p.m. followed by theroll call with thefollowing CouncilMembers in at‐tendance:ShalandaL Allen, District 1; Chasity B. Easley;District2; Thomas E. Dominique, Sr District 3; Freddie Frazier, Sr District 4; SteveC.Smith,District5; Raheem T. Pierce,District 6; NadiaJenkins,District 7; Hunter S. Markins, Dis‐trict8;Terry J. Bradford District 9; ChasityMar‐tinez, District 10; Charles Dardenne,District11; Matthew H. Jewell, Dis‐trict12; Bart B. Morgan District 13. Absent:None. Aquorumwas present anddue notice hadbeen posted andpublished in TheAdvocatenewspaper on the18thday of Sep‐tember,2025.

Assessor,Mr. RandySex‐tonwas also in atten‐dance.

Chairman Smithstated thepurpose of themeet‐ing, wastosit as the “Board of Review”for Ad Valoremtax appealsto consider anyappealsby Parish taxpayersre‐ceived by theParish Council. TheCouncil Clerkdid not receiveany appeals. As‐sessor Sexton stated the open book period was from August 15, 2025 throughAugust29, 2025 forcitizenstocomein andinspect theirtaxes

STACEY,DANIELLE DAVID1155BAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5104

STEIN,SEBASTIAN JOSEFBENEDITO 25322FENNERSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4426

STEWART IV,CLARENCE58641 CAPTAIN THARRIS ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3001

STEWART, HENRYR 58380ROBERTSON ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-3518

STEWART, JAMES 4935 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY ST GABRIEL,LA70776

STEWART, KRISTEN MICHELLE 1355 MIGUELAVE ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5346

STEWARTJR, TERRY JEROME 53305POINT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6916

TANNER,DAVID LEE32795 BAYOU SORREL RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-7123

TASSIN,CLAYGERARD 21690HWY 77 GROSSE TETE,LA70740

THERIOT,JOHNMARK58375 ELMSTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3151

THIBODEAUX, MOLLYMICHELLE 23070JADEDR#CPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764

THOMAS, CIERANICHELLE 2095 RAVIER LN SUNSHINE,LA70780-3535

THOMAS, DEBRA ANN33495 BOUDREAUX ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2705

THOMPSON,BRUCE 58085PLAQUEMINESTPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2730

TODD, SHARON DENISE 5015-A MARTIN LUTHER KING JR PKWY ST GABRIEL,LA70776

TROSCLAIR, TAWANDA77450 WHEELOCK LN MARINGOUIN, LA 70757-3731

TULLIER, BREAYNNALEXANDRA20130 CHARLES ORYDRPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5312

TURNER,DEMETRICDEON23952 HARMASON ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3016

VEAL, LEROY 107201ST ST MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

VELTMAN JR, KEITH P1515SIDNEY ST SUNSHINE,LA70780-3216

VERRET, MARTHA J23430 EAST ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2508

VIDAL, VIRGINIA NATHALY1850WILLOWBENDRDSTGABRIEL,LA70776-5351

WALKER, BHRIEANRESHAUN 62405JONES ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-6019

WALLACE, CORINTHIANS 1755 BESSON LN SUNSHINE,LA70780

WASHINGTON,MARYLOUISE32525 GRAHAM ST WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2209

WASHINGTON,STALEIGHA 77120OAKS AVEMARINGOUIN, LA 70757

WATTS,DAVID LEE5530OAK TRACE DR ST GABRIEL,LA70776-4713

WEAVER, COLTON CHASE23057 JADE DR #CPLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-5266

WHITE, CLINTON BLAINE57715 ELICRAIG ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4543

WILLE, JEFF ALLEN26055 TENANT RD PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-6539

WILLIAMS,DOROTHYMAE 33541BOUDREAUXSTWHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2726

WILLIAMS,GERALD DEWAYNE 24700HEBERT ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-4034

WILLIAMS,JERMAINE RASHAAM 510-ABAYOU PAUL LN ST GABRIEL,LA70776-5404

WILLIAMS, KINTEAKA 57930TROSCLAIR ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-2336

WILLIAMS,SHAWNDRALETTE DENISE 10210HWY 77 MARINGOUIN, LA 70757

WILLIAMS,TYRAN NEVILLE 76735CEDARSTGROSSE TETE,LA70740

WILLIBY, JASMYN 58845GUM ST PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-2925

WILSON, COREY W58553 WARE DR PLAQUEMINE,LA70764-4247

WILSON, DEAN ALLEN32675-D GRACIE LN PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-7112

YOUNG,ANISSA SHAUNETTE32850 LEESTWHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2312

YOUNG, APRILL 32674LEONAAVE WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2516

YOUNG,PATRICIAANN 59100NATHANGEORGETOWN ST PLAQUEMINE, LA 70764-3036

ZACHARY, TRUDY MARIE32230 BOWIE ST #AWHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-2402

ZERINGUE, PEGGYLEBLANC 32830HWY 405WHITE CASTLE, LA 70788-4802

proximately $1,217,692,390with a dif‐ferenceof$77,774,171 Theoverall increase is about6%, attributed to an increase in Taxable Values as follows; Per‐sonalProperty $74,724,092; Real Prop‐erty $3,050,079; Public Service$10,666,260. The floorwas opened to comments andques‐tions. Therewas no one presentfromthe public andnoopposition. Thetax roll wasac‐cepted as presentedby theIbervilleParishAs‐sessor andnochanges were made by the Board of Review Upon amotionbyCoun‐cilman Dardenne,and seconded by Councilman Markins, it wasmoved to accept thetax roll forthe year 2025 as presented by theAssessor with no changesbeing made Themotionhavingbeen duly submittedtoa vote wasdulyadopted by the followingyea andnay votesonrollcall: YEAS:Allen,Easley, Do‐minique, Frazier, Pierce Jenkins, Markins, Brad‐ford, Martinez Dardenne,Jewell, Mor‐gan. NAYS:None. ABSTAIN: None ABSENT:None. Themotionwas declared adoptedbythe Chairman on the23rdday of Sep‐tember,2025. Therebeing no further business to be con‐ducted,the meetingwas adjournedat6:33p.m /s/ MACY W. OURSO COUNCILCLERK /s/ STEVEC.SMITH COUNCILCHAIRMAN 164275 Oct. 28, 1t $50.59

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC HEARINGNOTICE

REQUESTFOR SUBDIVI‐SION OF PROPERTY

THEOWNER OF PROP‐ERTY LOCATEDINADDIS, LOUISIANAHAS FILEDAN APPLICATIONFOR SUBDI‐VISION OF PROPERTY LEGALDESCRIPTION:LOT 4A JOHN EYOUNGER SD CONT 1.09 AC 48B-18 CB141 E198 CB207 E142 (MAP ATTACHED CB518 P361) WEST OF THEMIS‐SISSIPPI RIVER, TOWN OF ADDIS, WEST BATON ROUGEPARISH, LOUISIANA. THETOWNOFADDIS PLANNING ANDZONING COMMISSION WILL HOLD APUBLIC HEARINGON THIS REQUESTONNO‐VEMBER 04, 2025 AT 6:00 P.M. AT THEREGULAR MEETINGATTHE ADDIS MUNICIPALCENTER. THETOWNOFADDIS MAYORAND TOWN COUNCILWILLHOLD A PUBLIC HEARINGONTHIS REQUESTONNOVEMBER 10, 2025 AT 6:00 P.M. AT THETOWN'SREGULAR MEETINGATTHE ADDIS MUNICIPALCENTER. ALLINTERESTEDRESI‐DENTSARE INVITEDTO COMMENT ANDEXPRESS THEIRVIEWS ON THIS RE‐QUESTEDCHANGE. ROBERTHEBERT CHAIRPERSON PLANNING &ZONING DAVIDH.TOUPS MAYOR TOWN OF ADDIS 164418-OCT28-1T $

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING West BatonRouge Parish Planning Commission Owner: TerenceT.and PattiJackson Kelly Appli‐cant:CletusPatin,R.L.S Address: 6512 S. RIVER ROAD PORT ALLEN, LA 70767 File #2025-25: FINAL PLAT SHOWINGTHE BOUNDARY SURVERY ANDCOMBINATION OF THREESEPARATE PARCELSOFLANDINTO ONELOT THEREBYCRE‐ATINGNEW LOTBEING DESIGNATED AS TK-1 THIS SURVEY LOCATEDIN SECTION20, TOWNSHIP 8 SOUTH, RANGE12EAST, S.E. LAND DISTRICT,WEST OF THEMISSISSIPPI RIVER, WEST BATON ROUGEPARISH, STATEOF LOUISIANAFOR TERENCE T. KELLYAND PATTI JACK‐SONKELLY 6512 S. RIVER ROAD PORT ALLEN, LA 70767WITH WAIVER LOT WIDTH. APUBLIC HEARING will be held by theWest BatonRouge Planning Commissionon: Date: Tuesday November 4, 2025 Time:5:30pm APUBLIC HEARING will be held by theWest BatonRouge Parish Councilon: Date:Thursday November 13, 2025 Time 5:30pm Public hearings will

IBERVILLE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES PUBLIC HEARING, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2025 PROPOSED ORDINANCE

The Parish CouncilofIberville Parish, State of Louisiana, held aPublic Hearing in the Council Meeting Room, 58050 Meriam Street,Plaquemine Louisiana, on the 23rdday of September,2025at6:00P.M. pursuant to a Notice of Public Hearing published on the25thday of August, 2025inThe Advocate andposted on theIberville Parish website

The Council Chairman, Steve C. Smith, called themeetingtoorder at 6:00 p.m.followed by theroll call with thefollowing Council Members in attendance: Shalanda L. Allen, District 1; ChasityB.Easley; District 2; Thomas E. Dominique, Sr District 3; Freddie Frazier,Sr.,District 4; Steve C.Smith,District 5; Raheem T. Pierce, District 6; Nadia Jenkins,District7; Hunter S. Markins, District 8; Charles Dardenne,District 11; MatthewH Jewell, District 12; Bart B. Morgan, District 13.

Absent: Bradford, Martinez.

Councilman Bradford&Councilwoman Martinez arrived after roll call.

Chief Administrative Officer-DwayneBoudreaux, Chief OperatingOfficerRandall Dunn, and Legal Counsel- Scott Stassiwerealso in attendance.

Mr. Boudreaux &Mr. Dunn read thefollowing ordinance in entirety

ORDINANCE 1 ORDINANCE TO ADOPT UNIFORM WATER AND SEWER RATES WITHIN THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE

ORDINANCE 2 ORDINANCETOAMEND THE2025TOURISM SPECIAL REVENUEFUNDBUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $70,000 FROMTHE STATEOFLOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE RECREATION ANDTOURISM

ORDINANCE 3 ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION11-1 OF ARTICLE 1 OF CHAPTER 11 OFTHE COMPILED ORDINANCESOF IBERVILLE PARISH,RELATIVE TOTHE PERMISSIBLE HEIGHTOFGRASS AND WEEDS

The floor was opened to commentsand questions. Therewas no opposition tothis ordinance from the public.

Therebeing no further businesstobeconducted, thehearingwas adjourned at 6:18 p.m.

/s/ MACY W. OURSO /s/STEVE C. SMITH COUNCIL CLERK COUNCILCHAIRMAN IBERVILLE PARISH COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING, TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER 23, 2025

TheParish Council of Iberville Parish, State of Louisiana, met in Regular Session, in the Council Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, Courthouse Building 58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine,Louisiana, on the23rdday of September,2025.

The Council Chairman, Steve C. Smith, called themeetingtoorder at 6:30 p.m. followed by the roll call with thefollowing Council Members in attendance: Shalanda L. Allen, District 1; ChasityB.Easley; District 2; Thomas E. Dominique, Sr District 3; Freddie Frazier,Sr.,District 4; Steve C.Smith,District 5; Raheem T. Pierce, District 6; Nadia Jenkins,District7; Hunter S. Markins, District 8; Terry J. Bradford, District 9; ChasityMartinez, District 10; Charles Dardenne, District 11; MatthewH.Jewell, District 12; Bart B. Morgan, District 13.

Absent: Parish President- Chris Daigle, Chief Administrative Officer-Dwayne Boudreaux, Chief Operating Officer-Randall Dunn werealsoinattendance.

A quorum was present and due notice had been postedand published in The Advocate newspaper on the18thday of September,2025. The Pledge ofAllegiance followed.

CouncilChairman Smith called for anyone wantingtomake public comments to register with the Clerk.Noone registeredtospeak.

ADDENDUM

A) None.

PRESENTATIONS AND APPEARANCES

A) IPRD Update from DirectorErik Willis

•This item was passed on.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon amotion by Councilwoman Jenkins, seconded by Councilman Markins, it was moved to wave thereading of theminutes of August 19 2025 and approve as written. The motion having been duly submitted to avote was duly adopted by thefollowing yea and nay votesonroll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins, Markins,Bradford, Dardenne, Jewell, Morgan.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:Martinez.

The motion was declared adoptedbythe Chairman.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

President Daigle reported on thefollowing:

•Herecognized Clayton Howardfor 20 years of service, Kristi McPhatefor 10 years of service and Charles Neely for 5years ofservice to Iberville Parish.

•The HWY 1drainageproject is still ongoing due to theCity’s water line. They arecoming up with aplan to moveforwardwith the project and not interferewith theCity’s water line.

•The new boom truck is coming in this week and theother one should be cominginsoon. Crewsare working to clear any main drainage ditches in theParishtopreparefor hurricaneseason.

• They Hwy 30 school zone safety flashing sign has been approved by the State, theBayou Pigeon Boat Launch should becompleted by theend of theyear,the speedlimit caution signs have been begging to be installed around theParish, the Bayou Blue water park contract has been signedand work should start in the next30-60 days. The library renovations will start soon at thesmaller branches,the St. Gabriel drainage ditch behind Margaret drive should begin soon,just waiting on the right of way beforeworkcan begin. The State is changing the 3 bridges on Hwy 404 and theCalleganRoad bridge

•Hestated that theseare afew grants that theParishhas received over the lastfew months, GrosseTete Bayou Clean up for $900,000, theGreener Grounds Grant,for $3,000,the Seymourville Drainage Ditch grant for $300,000.

• Thereare some upcoming events that he wantedtohighlight as well, on October 4willbeEmployeeFamily Fun Day,October 21 will be Wear Pink Day,and November 11 willbethe Veterans Day event

FINANCIAL REPORT

FinanceDirector, Randall Dunn stated that thecouncil weresent their budget to actual financial statements.The budget ordinance will be introduced next month and set for public hearing for November OLD BUSINESS

ORDINANCE IPC# 000-25

ORDINANCE TO ADOPT UNIFORM WATERAND SEWERRATES WITHIN THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE

Upon amotion by CouncilmanDardenne,seconded by Councilman Pierce itwas moved to reset this matter for apublic hearing be held on Tuesday October 21, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

The motion having been duly submitted to avote, was duly adopted by the following yea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley,Dominique, Frazier,Pierce, Jenkins,Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne,Jewell,Morgan.

NAYS: None.

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None.

The motion was declared adoptedbythe Chairman on September 23 2025.

ORDINANCE IPC#000-25

ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE 2025TOURISM SPECIAL REVENUE FUND BUDGET IN THE AMOUNT OF $70,000 FROMTHE STATEOF

with this amendmentand acceptanceofstate funding thereare funds available in theTourismSpecialRevenueFund to maintain thePlaquemine Lockhouse;and WHEREAS,the Iberville Parish Council recognizesthatthe maintenance ofthe Plaquemine Lockhouse is needed in ordertooperate; NOW,THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by theIberville Parish Council that the2025TourismPlaquemine LocksSpecialRevenue Fund Budget amended as follows:

1. An additional amount of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000)ishereby appropriatedinthe Tourism PlaquemineLocks Special Revenue Fund in thefollowingrevenue account Tourism PlaquemineLocks SpecialRevenue Fund –118,IGR -Operating-Culture, Recreation, Tourism -1355, Plaquemine LocksAccount –7254, State Grants –Culture, Recreation& Tourism -433035

2. An additional amount of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000)is herebyappropriatedinthe Tourism PlaquemineLocks Special Revenue Fund in thefollowingexpenditure accountTourism PlaquemineLocks Special Revenue Fund -118,Cultureand Recreation -55, Plaquemine LocksAccount -7254, Maintenance Miscellaneous –526900.

Theforegoingordinance whichwas previously introduced at the meeting of theIberville Parish Council on August19, 2025 andacopy thereof having been publishedinthe official journalonAugust25, 2025 thepublic hearing on this ordinance held on the23rdday of September 2025, at 6:00 p.m., in theCouncil Meeting Room,58050 Meriam Street, Plaquemine, Louisiana, wasbrought up for finalpassage withamotionby Councilman Bradford,and seconded by Councilman Markins, havingbeen duly submitted to avote, theordinance wasduly adoptedbythe following yeaand nayvoteonroll call:

YEAS: Allen,Easley, Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell, Morgan

NAYS: None

ABSTAIN: None

ABSENT:None.

Theordinance wasdeclaredadoptedbythe Chairmanonthe 23rd dayof September, 2025

ORDINANCE IPC#000-25

ORDINANCE TO AMEND SECTION 11-1 OF ARTICLE1 OF CHAPTER 11OFTHE COMPILED ORDINANCES OF IBERVILLE PARISH RELATIVE TO THE PERMISSIBLE HEIGHTOFGRASS AND WEEDS

WHEREAS,the legislative powerofthe Parish Government is vestedin theParish Council; and WHEREAS;the Parish Council hasthe authority to enactand amend ordinancesproviding forthe safety, health, andwelfareofthe residents of Iberville Parish;and WHEREAS,inorder to providefor thesafety, health, andwelfarefor individuals livinginIberville Parish,the Parish hashistorically regulated the permissible height of grassonproperties located withinthe Parish;and WHEREAS,the Parish Council desires to amendits ordinance regulating theheightofgrass andweedswithinthe Parish THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THEPARISH COUNCIL FOR THE PARISH OF IBERVILLE:

SECTION 1. Section 11-1 of Article IofChapter 11 (Health& Sanitation) ofthe Compiled Ordinancesofthe Parish of Iberville is hereby amendedand reenacted to read as follows:

Sec.11-1–Trimming of weeds andgrass;noticetocut;causing to cut and collecting of cost

(a)Itshall be unlawfulfor theowner of anytract of land, whichtract of landislocated adjacenttoanother tractcontainingaresidential orcommercialbuilding, to allow theheight of anyweedsorgrass located on said property to exceed nine(9) inchesinheight.This provisionshall notapply to portions of landthatare properly planted andcultivatedfor agricultural purposes,pastureland upon whichlivestock is routinely present,orforestedareas

(b)Uponnotificationtothe parish council that an ownerofalot or lots isinviolationofsubsection (a), thecouncil will notifysaidowner by registeredorcertified letterand by placing asign, whichsign isatleast onesquarefoot in area,withinthe road right of wayof the property being investigated,notifying him of theviolations and thatthe grassand obnoxiousweeds must be cutand removed within fifteen(15)days. In theevent thecertified/registeredletter is deliveredtothe owner’saddress, the fifteen(15)day period shall runfromthe date of thedelivery of theletter.Inthe event the certified/registered letterisundeliverable or unclaimed, the fifteen (15) dayperiod shall runfromthe date thesign wasposted in the right-of-way

(c)Ifafter fifteen(15)days theowner of said lothas notcut andremoved the grassand obnoxiousweeds, thecouncil shall have authority tohavesuchgrass andobnoxious weedscut andremovedbya private contractor whowill be chosen from thelowestquote or by theuse of council manpower andequipment (d) Thelot ownerthenwill be chargedtwenty-five dollars ($25.00)per lotplusthe cost of theprivate contractor,ifaprivate contractor is used by thecouncil. If thecouncil uses its ownmanpower and equipment to cutand remove thegrass andobnoxious weeds, the parishmanagershall determine thecost. Upon completionofsuch work by aprivate contractor or by thecouncil, theparish manager shallprepare acertificate showing thecostofsuchwork, thename of theowner andadescriptionofthe property andshall mail acopy of said certificate to thepropertyowner.Ifthe chargesare notpaid within fifteen(15)days of thedate of mailingofthe copy of the certificate,the parish managershall file acertified copy of said charges withthe parish taxcollectortobeaddedtothe annual ad valorem taxbill of thepropertyinvolved (e)The Iberville Parish Council mayundertake thecutting,destruction orremovalofnoxious grass/weedsorotherdeleterious unhealthful, or noxious growthsonany property withinIberville Parish,excluding theboundaries of anymunicipality,ona monthly basis or as necessary,withoutthe noticerequired in subsections (b)and (c)ofthissection, if theproperty ownerliablehas been notified pursuant to said subsections (b)and (c)atany timeduring theimmediately preceding twelve-monthperiodand hasfailedto dothe work himself or afterhaving an opportunity to do so.Prior toundertakingany additional cuttings withinthe twelve-month period, theParish shall post, for five consecutive days prior to the cutting, asignonthe property notifying interestedparties of the currentviolationand need to remedy same.The signshall be at least onesquarefoot in area.Additionally,prior to undertaking suchadditional cuttings, theparish governingauthority,through its designatedinspectorshall file andrecordanaffidavitsignedbythe inspectoratits administrative office withthe Iberville Parish Clerk of Court,whichaffidavitshall include thefollowinginformation:

(1) Description of thepropertysufficienttoreasonably identify it.

(2) Adate-stamped photograph of theproperty sufficientto reasonably identify its unsafeorunsanitary conditionand to justify thenecessityfor cutting,destroying,orremovingweeds grass or othernoxious growths.

(3)A statement that thepropertyowner liable haswithinthe past twelve(12)months failedtodosuchworkafter proper notificationand opportunity to do so pursuant to subsection(b) of this section.

Within sixty (60) days of theparish or its designeeperformingthe necessary work to abatethe noxious weedsorgrassorother deleterious, unhealthful, or noxious growths, theparish shall file a notice of lien/privilege in theIberville Parish Mortgage Record, in accordancewith law

(Res. of 8-1-72;Ord.of6-21-88, §1;Ord.of10-15-96;Ord.of10-1706; Ord. No.**of2025, 9-16-25)

SECTION 2. All former ordinancesorparts thereof conflicting or inconsistent withthe provisions of this ordinance or of the Codeherebyadoptedare hereby repealed.

SECTION 3. TheParish Council of theParish of Iberville,State of Louisiana hereby declaresthatshouldany section paragraph,sentence, or word of this ordinance or of theCodeherebyadoptedbedeclaredfor anyreason to be invalid, it is theintentofthe Parish Council that it would have passedall otherportionsofthisordinance independent of theeliminationofany such portion as shall bedeclaredinvalid

SECTION 4. Theordinance shall take effect andbeinforce beginningon October1,2025.

SECTION 5. Theforegoingordinance whichwas previously introduced at theregular meeting of theIberville Parish Council on August 19, 2025,and asummary thereofhaving been publishedin theofficial journalonAugust25, 2025,the public hearing on this ordinance will be held on the23rdday of September 2025,at6:00p.m.,inthe Council Meeting Room, 58050 MeriamStreet, Plaquemine,Louisiana,was broughtup for finalpassage withamotionbyCouncilman Dardenne andsecondedbyCouncilman Pierce,havingbeen duly submitted to avote, theordinance wasduly adoptedbythe followingyea andnay vote on roll call:

YEAS: Allen, Easley, Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell, Morgan

NAYS: None

ABSTAIN: None

ABSENT:None.

Theordinance wasdeclaredadoptedbythe Chairmanonthe 23rd dayof September,2025.

NEW BUSINESS

A) Introduction of Ordinances 1. Ordinance providing forthe incurring of debt and issuance of [notexceeding $9,000,000] of LimitedTax Bonds (Library) of the Parish of Iberville, StateofLouisiana, andproviding for other matters in connectiontherewith. Setfor Public Hearingon October 21, 2025

Upon amotionbyCouncilmanBradford, seconded by CouncilmanFrazier it was moved thatapublichearingbeheldonTuesday, October21, 2025at 6:00 p.m. on the introduced ordinances.

The motionhavingbeendulysubmitted to avote, was duly adopted by the followingyea and nay votes on roll call:

YEAS:Allen, Easley,Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell, Morgan.

NAYS:None

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None

The motionwas declaredadoptedbythe Chairman on September 23, 2025.

RESOLUTIONCOMMITTEE REPORT

The Resolution Committeemet on Tuesday, September 23, 2025at6:18 p.m.,followed by the roll call with the following Resolution Committee Members onlyinattendance: Jewell, Dardenne, Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Martinez, Frazier, Morgan,Dominique

Absent: None.

The following resolution was read aloudbyMr. Dunn: A) Resolution adopting the Annual CertificationofCompliance with the StateofLouisiana OffSystem Bridge Replacement Program CouncilmanJewellmade arecommendationtoforward the resolutions to the regular meeting,seconded by Councilwoman Martinez. The recommendation having been duly submitted to avotewas duly adopted by the following yeaand nay votes on roll call by Resolution Committee Membersonly:

YEAS:Jewell, Dardenne, Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Martinez, Frazier, Morgan, Dominique

NAYS:None

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None

The recommendation was declaredadoptedbythe Chairman to forward these itemstothe regular meeting During the RegularMeeting:

RESOLUTIONIPC# 2025- 000

RESOLUTIONADOPTING THE ANNUAL CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATEOFLOUISIANA OFF SYSTEM BRIDGE REPLACEMENT PROGRAM

WHEREAS,the Code of FederalRegulations, as enacted by the United States Congress, mandates that allstructuresdefinedasbridges located on allpublicroads shallbeinspected, ratedfor safeloadcapacity,and posted in accordance with the National Bridge Inspection Standards, and that an inventory of these bridgesbemaintained by each state; and WHEREAS,the responsibility to inspect, rate,and load post those bridgesunder the authorityofIberville Parish, in accordance with those Standards, is delegated by the LouisianaDepartment of Transportationand DevelopmenttoIberville Parish.

NOW,THEREFORE,BEITRESOLVED by the governingauthorityof IbervilleParish (hereinreferredtoasthe Parish) that the Parish in regular meeting assembled does herebycertify to the LouisianaDepartment of Transportation andDevelopment (DOTD) that forthe period of January1, 2026throughDecember31, 2026:

1. The Parish will performall interim inspections on allparish-owned or maintained bridgesinaccordancewiththe National Bridge Inspection Standardsand Specifications forthe National Bridge Inventory; 2. Allbridges ownedormaintained by the Parish will be structurally analyzed and ratedbythe Parish as to the safe load capacity in accordance with the American Association of State Highwayand Transportation Officials (AASHTO)Manual forBridge Evaluation. The load posting information thathas been determined by DOTD forall bridgeswherethe maximum legalloadunder Louisiana StateLaw exceeds the load permitted under the operatingrating as determined abovewillbecritically reviewed by the Parish. Load posting information will be updatedbythe Parish to reflectall structuralchanges, anyobsolete structuralratings, or any missing structuralratings;

3. AllParish-owned or maintained bridgeswhich requireloadposting or closing will be load posted or closed in accordance with the table in the DOTD LoadRating Directives. AllDOTD supplied load posting information concerning abridgehas been critically reviewed by the Parish Engineer prior to load posting; and

4. Allbridges ownedormaintained by the Parish are shown on the attachedlist in the format specified by the DOTD.Correctionsto data supplied to the Parish by the DOTD arenoted

5. Allbridges ownedand maintained by the Parish areaccessible to DOTD forall routine bridge inspections. Parish will clear vegetation as required upon DOTD request.

These stipulations areprerequisites to participation by the Parish in the OffSystem Bridge Replacement Program.

The aboveresolution was duly adopted in regular session on this23rdday of September,2025bythe following votes on roll call:

YEAS:Allen, Easley,Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Jewell, Morgan.

NAYS:None

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None

The resolution was declaredadoptedbythe Chairman on the 23rdday of September,2025.

PLANNING COMMISSION REPORT

a) Approve Consideration of re-subdivision forTrenny Barbato

Upon amotionbyCouncilmanMorgan, seconded by CouncilmanJenkins, it was moved to approve as is. The motionhaving been duly submitted to avote, was duly adopted by the following yeaand nay votes on roll call:

YEAS:Allen, Easley,Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Morgan,Jewell.

NAYS:None ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None

The motionwas declaredadoptedbythe Chairman on September 23, 2025

b) Approve Consideration of re-subdivision forJohn W. Blanchard

Upon amotionbyCouncilwoman Allen, seconded by Councilwoman Martinez, it was moved to approve as is. The motionhaving been duly submitted to avote, was duly adopted by the following yeaand nay votes on roll call:

YEAS:Allen, Easley,Dominique,Frazier,Pierce,Jenkins, Markins, Bradford, Martinez, Dardenne, Morgan, Jewell.

NAYS:None

ABSTAIN: None.

ABSENT:None

The motionwas declaredadoptedbythe Chairman on September 23, 2025

BOARDS&COMMISSIONS REPORT

None.

DISCUSSIONS

None.

ANNOUNCEMENT

None.

ADJOURNMENT

There beingnofurther business, it was moved by Councilwoman Allen, and seconded by Councilwoman Jenkins, to adjournat7:00p.m.The motion was unanimouslyadopted.

/s/ MACY W. OURSO/s/ STEVE C. SMITH

COUNCIL CLERK COUNCIL CHAIRMAN