FOR THE LATEST ON LANE KIFFIN AND LSU GO TO NOLA.COM
N O L A.C O M
J A G U A R S
28
|
S u n d ay, n ov e m b e r 30, 2025
$2.50X
Louisiana homeowners remain stuck on safety net insurer
T I G E R S
27
Citizens policyholders have nowhere else to turn
BY SAM KARLIN Staff writer
IN TRADITION ABOVE: Grambling State Tigers running back Tony Phillips Jr. tries to avoid a tackle by Southern University Jaguars during the second half of the 52nd annual
Nearly 15 years ago, Gerard Braud and his wife bought a raised cottage home in Mandeville, nestled on a sprawling yard with a live oak tree overlooking Lake Pontchartrain. He thought they would spend the rest of their lives in it. Life was affordable. His insurance premium with Lighthouse, a small company based in Louisiana, was around $4,400 a year. Then the storms came. He managed to avoid major damage from Hurricane Ida and other storms that hit south Louisiana in recent years. But Lighthouse went belly up in 2022, one of 12 insurers doing business in Louisiana to fold in the two years after Ida. Four years after the storm, he still can’t find anyone willing to write him a policy. That forced Braud to get insurance from the state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens, which charges him north of $12,000 a year for home insurance, triple what he paid with Lighthouse. His flood insurance — a separate system handled by the federal government — has soared as well.
ä See STUCK, page 8A
Bayou Classic game at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday. LEFT: Southern University Jaguars fans celebrate after a touchdown against the Grambling State Tigers during Saturday’s game. STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
ä SEE COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE BAYOU CLASSIC GAME. PAGE 1C
Natchez mayor dedicated to revitalizing village Says her fight is ‘for another generation’
BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
NATCHEZ, La. — Natchez Mayor Patsy Ward Hoover weeds as she walks, plucking errant grass from flower beds beside city buildings, in the city park and along her property, just down the road. “Got ’em,” she said, clad in cowboy boots and a gold cross, holding up a bit of crabgrass with a grin. Ward Hoover had been on her knees, weeding around the flowers beneath a city sign, when
ä See MAYOR, page 4A
WEATHER HIGH 70 LOW 53 PAGE 8B
Natchez Mayor Patsy Ward Hoover streams the National Night Out Against Crime party on Facebook to get residents to come to Natchez Pecan Park in Natchez on Oct. 7. STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday Billions of dollars spent despite wider economic uncertainty BY WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS Associated Press
NEW YORK — Despite wider economic uncertainty hovering above this year’s holiday season, shoppers turned out in big numbers for Black Friday — spending billions of dollars both in stores and online. Adobe Analytics, which tracks e-commerce, said U.S. consumers spent a record $11.8 billion online Friday, marking a 9.1% jump from last year. Traffic particularly piled up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time nationwide, when $12.5 million passed through online shopping carts every minute.
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 2F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See SHOPPERS, page 9A
13TH yEAR, NO. 110