LSU CLOSES OUT REGULAR SEASON AT OKLAHOMA 1C TULANE TRIES TO KEEP PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE AGAINST CHARLOTTE 5C
N O L A.C O M
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S at u r d ay, N ov e m b e r 29, 2025
“Bayou Classic is so much more than just a football game. It’s a reunion.” U.S. REP. TROy CARTER, D-New Orleans
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La. dodges hurricanes in 2025 season Researchers still consider it above-average for activity
BY KASEY BUBNASH Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By ENAN CHEDIAK
Grambling State University and Southern University fans look for merchandise ahead of the Bayou Classic in a street market on the corner of Poydras Street and Loyola Avenue on Friday.
Bayou Classic unites generations of families
Fans, alums flock to events surrounding annual faceoff BY DESIREE STENNETT Staff writer
The first time Chantell Wallis brought her son to see Grambling State take on Southern University for the annual Bayou Classic, he was just 3 months old. Still a baby, she wanted D’Vante to don Grambling State University’s black and gold and ä BAYOU get a taste of what she experienced CLASSIC: Southern vs. when she played clarinet in the TiGrambling, ger Marching Band 1 p.m., NBC in the ’90s. Decades later, D’Vante Wallis is now 32, and attending the Classic is still their tradition. “I feel like I never left,” he said. “I’m part of the family.” Since Chantell Wallis moved back to Baton Rouge last year after many years in Missouri, she’s only missed two Grambling games. Her support runs deep, she said, but it’s about more than just who wins. It’s about
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close Sunday as the latest in a long line to see above-average tropical storm activity, but an unusual set of circumstances left Louisiana and much of the nation unscathed. For the first time in 10 years, this season will end without a hurricane landfall in the U.S. Only one named storm, Tropical Storm Chantal, hit the country this year, bringing gusty winds, heavy rainfall and millions in damages to the Carolinas in early July. Tropical Storm Barry, which hit Mexico in June, was this year’s only system to reach the Gulf. Louisiana never found itself within a forecast cone. But despite the quiet in nearby waters and another midseason lull in tropical activity, the hurricanes that were able to form developed an explosive strength, eventually bringing the season
ä See HURRICANES, page 5A
‘You get a new lease on life’
La. veterans pushing for psychedelic-assisted treatment BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer
Michelle Howell looks at Grambling merchandise at a street market on Friday. family, education and a love for her alma mater. “My sister went to Southern,” she said as her family and a college friend wandered through a sea of vendors selling items branded with both universities. “Even though we
have the competition, in the end we’re all going to hug because we’re all family and that’s what it’s all about.” Even though neither school is in
ä See CLASSIC, page 5A
Retired Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis spent a decadeslong career climbing the ranks of the Army, deploying in 2004 to Iraq and returning home to eventually serve as the leader of the Louisiana National Guard under two governors during major hurricanes, floods and other disasters. But he found himself in unusual territory earlier this year, as he trekked alongside other veterans to a clinic in Mexico. They all sought the same opportunity: a chance to ingest a powerful psychedelic from Africa called ibogaine, which is illegal in the U.S. Curtis and his son had traveled to Tijuana as part of an ongoing pilgrimage of military veter-
ä See VETERANS, page 4A
Suspect in National Guard shooting facing murder charge BY COLLIN BINKLEY and BEN FINLEY Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Charges against the man accused of shooting two National Guard members have been upgraded to first-degree murder after one of the soldiers died, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia announced Friday, while investigators continue to seek a motive and the U.S. government announced a halt to all asylum decisions. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24 were hospitalized in critical condition after the Wednesday afternoon shooting near the White House. Trump announced Thursday evening that Beckstrom had
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died. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said the charges against Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who worked with the CIA during the Afghanistan War, now include one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with intent to kill while armed. Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard as part of President Donald Trump’s crime-fighting mission that federalized the D.C. police force. The president also has deployed or tried to deploy National Guard members to other cities to assist with his mass deportation efforts but has faced court challenges. Trump called the shooting a “ter-
rorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has said he wants to “permanently pause migration” from poorer nations and expel millions of immigrants from the country. The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joseph Edlow, said in a post on the social platform X that all asylum decisions will be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.” In an interview on Fox News, Pirro said there are “many charges to
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By RAHMAT GUL
National Guard troops patrol the National Mall near the ä See SHOOTING, page 4A Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Friday.
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13TH yEAR, NO. 109