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ICE self-deport facility to open in Alexandria STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

A growing number of parents are voicing concerns about students’ screen time in school.

Teachers, parents torn as AI expands

Tech tools for learning plentiful, but critics say they aren’t backed by research BY PATRICK WALL

Staff writer STAFF PHOTO By JAVIER GALLEGOS

rounding the Alexandria International Airport, is a controversial next step in the ongoing mass-deportation campaign by President Donald Trump’s administration. Louisiana has become a national immigration enforcement hub, with more than 7,000 immigrants held in facilities statewide — the second-most of any state. Sheriffs and state prison ofﬁcials have lent empty jails to private prison companies involved in the crackdown. The airport in Alexandria is the country’s busiest deportation center under an agreement with the federal government.

When Catherine Bixler’s daughter entered kindergarten in St. Tammany Parish public schools last year, she began using a Chromebook during class to practice reading. Before long she was begging to log into the online reading program at home. She wanted to keep “leveling up” as she answered questions correctly. Bixler wouldn’t allow it. “You’re giving them these dopamine hits,” she said. “But where do these games really get you?” Louisiana schools have sped headlong into digital learning. After stocking up on devices during the pandemic, schools now have more laptops and tablets than students. Thousands of young students read aloud to artiﬁcial intelligence “tutors” and the state education department released updated AI guidance last month that says “Louisiana schools will lead the nation in leveraging this technology.”

ä See FACILITY, page 6A

ä See EXPANDS, page 4A

Alexandria International Airport is the country’s busiest deportation center under an agreement with the federal government. A new self-deportation facility is located next to the airport.

Families will be held in center, which has become a political flashpoint BY JAMES FINN Staff writer

ALEXANDRIA — Jumbo jets roar low in the sky every day over rows of freshly constructed mobile homes a few miles northwest of this central Louisiana city. The structures, which local ofﬁcials call “cottages,” are clustered near two

soccer fields, jungle gyms for kids and an old building that once held Army barracks. Inside, according to officials and government records, are dorm-style rooms that have bunk beds and phone stations with free international calling, 24 hours a day. Posters advise people waiting to be deported of their legal rights. Women, children and families who have elected to be deported are set to arrive at the facility soon. They will not be prisoners, officials say. But if they try to leave, federal agents may await them at the gates. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-contracted facility, located in a sprawling complex sur-

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ELECTION

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‘You have to get out and see people’ Jamie Davis relies on personal biography in run for U.S. Senate BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Jamie Davis peered into the machinery between the wheels of a Peterbilt truck that hauls grain on his farm in northeast Louisiana. On a hot summer morning, he was trying to locate a broken part known as a leaf spring that had suddenly made the truck inoperable and threatened to ruin his plans that day to begin har-

WEATHER HIGH 83 LOW 69 PAGE 6A

vesting corn. Unable to see the damaged piece, Davis dropped to his knees, crawled underneath the chassis and laid ﬂat on his back. A minute or two later, he spotted the part and, while still on the ground, pulled out his cellphone and called a local distributor to buy a new one. “Getting a little dirty won’t kill a farmer,” Davis said as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his khaki pants and blue polo shirt. Davis is a Democrat running to be Louisiana’s next senator in a state where Republicans have won the past five Senate elections, by anywhere from 12 to 44 percentage points. He is also attempting to become the ﬁrst

ä Editor’s note: This is the first of two profiles on the candidates for the U.S. Senate race. A profile on Republican Julia Letlow will appear in tomorrow’s edition. Black candidate elected statewide in Louisiana since the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. As he campaigns across the state, Davis downplays his party afﬁliation and avoids national Democratic talking points. He relies more on his personal bi-

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Jamie Davis, a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, is a farmer from Tensas Parish who grows corn, cotton and ä See DAVIS, page 4A soybeans.

Classified .....................4B Deaths .........................4B Nation-World ................2A Comics-Puzzles .. 9C-11C Living............................7C Opinion ........................2B Commentary ................3B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

102ND yEAR, NO. 97

2A ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Yemen plans operation against Houthi rebels

Yemen’s internationally recognized government has announced a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels as they advance in the outskirts of a key city. Speaking from neighboring Saudi Arabia, he said the operation aims at “recovering the remaining territories” controlled by the Houthis, who made their largest land grab in recent years last month when they seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Al-Alimi called for the international community to provide support to his Saudi-backed government. In a separate statement, a Saudi military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, stressed the kingdom’s right to take all necessary measures to deter the rebels. The Houthis have launched a major offensive in recent days against government forces and their allies on the outskirts of Taiz, disrupting a major road linking the city to the port city of Aden, the seat of al-Alimi’s government. The rebels have besieged Taiz for more than a decade. Earlier, the Houthis said airstrikes hit the capital, Sanaa, overnight, without giving details. The Yemeni military, backed by Riyadh, claimed responsibility, saying it struck “vital targets” in Sanaa as well as the northern province of Saada on the border with Saudi Arabia.

Search ongoing for missing medical flight

A search continued Sunday off the Massachusetts coast for an air ambulance carrying six people that disappeared during a flight from Bermuda to Boston as authorities planned to comb the seabed floor, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The Federal Aviation Administration contacted the Coast Guard at 2 a.m. Saturday that it had lost contact with the Gulfstream G100 carrying four Canadians and two Bermudian nationals over the Atlantic Ocean. Searchers later Saturday found a “debris field” off the coast of Nantucket, Coast Guard Northeast District Rear Adm. Matt Lake said at a news conference Sunday. Coast Guard crews along with the New York National Guard’s Air Rescue Wing and Massachusetts authorities have since searched an area encompassing 2,840 square miles using fixedwing aircraft, helicopters, boats and cutters. “This is a large and demanding search area,” Lake said. The depth of the water around the debris field was 80 to 90 feet. The Coast Guard was in the process of deploying sonar to search the seabed floor, he said. The Coast Guard has been updating the next of kin of those aboard the Canadian-registered air ambulance jet with the progress of the search, Lake said.

Marine booked in killing of woman on Okinawa

TOKYO — Japanese police arrested a U.S. Marine in the alleged robbery and killing of a woman on Okinawa, ofﬁcials said Sunday, the latest criminal case on the southern island where the heavy American troop presence has remained a sensitive issue. The Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested a 20-yearold Marine stationed at the Futenma Air Station on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old local woman at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday. Kyodo News agency, citing the police, reported the woman’s body was found in her hotel room and she appeared to have been strangled to death. Police said security camera footage showed the man believed to be the suspect entering the hotel with the victim and coming out alone. An ofﬁcer arrested the suspect after spotting him walking alone on a street in Naha’s entertainment district late Saturday, Kyodo said. “The case deals a major shock and adds fear to the Okinawans who have already been forced to live next to U.S. bases,” newly elected Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja told reporters. “It is absolutely unforgivable and we are outraged.”

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U.S. pulls bombers from base in U.K. Site targeted by suspected terror attack

ployed back to their home bases in the United States, according to a Pentagon ofﬁcial who was not authorized to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke Sunday on condition BY KONSTANTIN TOROPIN of anonymity. Associated Press Aviation watchers such as WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air the Military Air Tracking Force has brought home Alliance have observed dozits bombers stationed at a ens of B-52 and B-1 bombU.S.-run military air base in ers operating out of RAF England used to strike Iran Fairford since the opening following an investigation days of the Iran war. Obinto a planned terror attack servers noticed a host of at the RAF Fairford base. B-1 bombers ﬂy out of the The bombers were rede- base on Sunday.

The move comes as President Donald Trump weighs options for his war on Iran — including new strikes — despite his initial promises to Americans that the campaign would last a matter of weeks. “We have decisions that I’ll make about Iran. Iran’s been decimated. So the only question is — it’ll either be the easy way, or the hard way,” Trump told reporters on Saturday as he left the White House for a rally in Ohio. A dual British-Iranian

national was arrested in central London last week on suspicion of plotting a terror attack, following a security incident at RAF Fairford in late September. In total, six people have been taken into custody and then released on bail during the investigation. British authorities have linked the incident to Tehran. Iran has denied involvement. RAF Fairford, located 100 miles west of London, has been used by American bombers during decades of

conflicts in the Middle East. The U.S. military still maintains a sizable presence in the Middle East. On Thursday, a U.S. official said the recently deployed USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, as well as the USS Malkin Island amphibious readiness group — a group of ships that together carry over 7,000 sailors and 2,000 Marines — are heading for the region. The official said the move could result in three carriers in the region as early as the end of October.

UAE shared details of flight with Israel Info included pilots’ names, nationalities for FlyDubai plane

BY MELANIE LIDMAN and SAMY MAGDY

Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel — Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shared with Israel a list of passengers and crew ahead of the FlyDubai flight on which a pilot attempted to seize control of the Israel-bound aircraft and crash it, regional officials said Sunday, raising new questions over how the attacker evaded detection. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later told the head of the National Security Council to appoint an examiner to review “all security aspects regarding foreign civil aviation to Israel.” With the investigation into the FlyDubai incident underway, preliminary details have highlighted several major security lapses. Officials already have said the Omani co-pilot had been barred from flying by his own country because of concerns about his extremist views. It also remains unclear how a citizen of Oman, an Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel, was allowed to fly a planeload of Israelis to Tel Aviv. The UAE, which is lead-

PROVIDED PHOTO By GOVERNMENT OF DUBAI MEDIA OFFICE

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, left, visits injured Indian FlyDubai Capt. Smit Machchhar on Friday at a hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ing the investigation, said the co-pilot attacked the flight’s captain with the cockpit’s crash ax and tried to take control of the plummeting plane in a “terrorist attack” Wednesday. His actions nearly crashed the flight with 182 people on board before the Indian captain managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and others to rush in and subdue the attacker. The regional officials said Emirati authorities had shared information about the passengers and crew, including their na-

tionalities. Israel hadn’t raised red flags on any passenger or member of the crew, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters about the probe. The Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, said the Transportation Ministry is responsible for vetting passenger lists from foreign flights. Transportation Minister Miri Regev on X said the security agencies are responsible for flight security and that her ministry wasn’t given a list of passengers or any

Woman’s lawyer says she remains unconscious after failed execution Christa Pike on ventilator in hospital

BY JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press

Christa Pike has remained unconscious and on a ventilator at a hospital in the four days since her failed execution in Tennessee, and her prognosis might not be known for days more, one of her lawyers said Sunday. Little has been released about Pike’s condition since Wednesday night’s execution attempt. She has since remained hospitalized under Pike guard as doctors try to get the massive dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital out of her system. When asked whether she ever regained consciousness after the execution attempt, Assistant Federal Defender Stephen Ferrell, Pike’s lawyer, said on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “Not that I am aware of.” Pike, now 50, was 18 when she and her boyfriend tortured and killed a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, in a jealous rage in 1995. She became one of the youngest women to be sent to death row. Tennessee prison ofﬁcials

gave Pike two doses of the lethal injection drug on Wednesday night. The pentobarbital didn’t kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were burned and blistered from the caustic drugs. Pike gave someone her medical power of attorney and that person is protecting her privacy, Ferrell said. “I’m not sure what all they may have told that person,” Ferrell said. Pike’s attorneys have not identified who is making Pike’s medical decisions. They said they may not know for several more days whether or not she can recover. “We don’t know right now, and we may never know what sort of torture she endured during that process, where her consciousness was, what physical pain there was — what mental torture she went through,” Ferrell said. A spokeswoman for Pike’s defense team said in a statement early Sunday that “we appreciate all respect for Christa’s rightful privacy.” Pike’s execution was delayed for more than eight hours Wednesday as the U.S. Supreme Court considered, and ultimately overturned, a federal appeals court ruling to halt her lethal injection so

judges could thoroughly review whether the jury that sentenced her to death should have considered sexual abuse she said she suffered as a child. Her attorneys asked a court Friday to order Tennessee prison ofﬁcials to preserve any written records, communication, images or video from the execution. Tennessee, like many other states with capital punishment, keeps many details about executions secret from the people involved to details about how the drugs are manufactured or obtained or any tests done on their quality. “The state of Tennessee has got to start telling its people exactly what it is doing so that in the democratic process, the people of Tennessee can decide if that’s what they want to be done in their name,” Ferrell told CNN. This was the second time this year Tennessee has not been able to execute a prisoner who was seemingly moments away from death. In May, Tennessee stopped the execution of Tony Carruthers after staff placed an IV into his right arm but couldn’t get a secondary IV line. Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Correction Frank Strada announced Saturday he was resigning.

warnings. Sharing the list is standard aviation procedure. But the head of aviation security at the Transportation Ministry, Dvir Rubenstien, told Army Radio that the ministry relies on local security checks and does not have the tools or the ability to run checks on each passenger on every ﬂight. Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel has longstanding agreements with foreign carriers to keep pilots from ﬂying into the country if they are citizens of nations that don’t main-

tain diplomatic relations with Israel. Australian police said Sunday that counterterrorism investigators were looking into the attacker’s possible connections to Australia. The passengers who halted the attack and helped regain control of the aircraft have been hailed as heroes in Israel. But as the initial euphoria of the rescue has subsided, officials have begun to raise difficult questions and trade accusations about the security blunders that could have led to a major disaster. Ahead of the elections at the end of the month, some opposition candidates have seized on the security failures to highlight what they perceive as negligence on the part of Netanyahu and his supporters. Transportation Minister Regev is a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and a staunch supporter. “This is exactly what system collapse looks like,” Yair Golan, head of the opposition Democrats party, wrote on X. “A transportation minister who completely abandons our skies, and a prime minister who abandons national security.” It also remains unclear how FlyDubai, a low-cost Emirati airline that operates flights between Israel and the UAE, had failed to identify the Omani pilot as a security risk.

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LOUISIANA CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

A story of pride A story of courage. MARKER LLOCATIONS: 1. Friendship CME

Robert “Bob” Hicks House (Bogalusa)

2. Deacons for Defense

McDonogh 19 Elementary School (New Orleans)

Camp Beauregard – 761st Tank Battalion (Pineville)

Dooky Chase’s Restaurant (New Orleans)

Church (Lisbon)

and Justice (Jonesboro)

3. Baton Rouge Sit-Ins (Baton Rouge)

a 4. University of Louisiana Lafayette (Lafayette)

5. William Frantz Elementary School (New Orleans)

10. Old State Capitol (Baton Rouge)

11. Little Union Baptist Church (Shreveport)

12. Bogalusa To

Baton Rouge March (Baton Rouge)

13. The Texas and

Paciﬁc Railroad Depot (Natchitoches)

14. Canal Street

(New Orleans)

Some of the most significant moments in “America’s Civil Rights Movement happened here in Louisiana. The Louisiana Civil Rights Trail invites visitors to learn, reflect, and be inspired by the people whose extraordinary courage and determination changed history. It’s a journey every Louisianan should take. Plan yours today at LouisianaCivilRightsTrail.com.

Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor

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4A ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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DAVIS

He was a cotton farmer through and through.”

Continued from page 1A

‘Get out and see the people’

ography and a background that makes him unique among political candidates. “I’m just a farmer from Tensas Parish,” he likes to say. Besides corn, he also grows cotton and soybeans on 3,200 acres overall spread over four parishes. Louisiana has not elected a farmer to the Senate over the past 100 years. “I’m not polished. I don’t have H H H H H H my verbiage and my message down where it sounds pretty,” said Davis, who dropped out of LSU and later served a single term on the Tensas Parish Police Jury before losing his reelection. But at a time when voters yearn for authenticity, Democratic Party leaders say Davis is the real deal. He doesn’t need a political consultant to advise him to wear blue jeans and work boots to seem genuine with voters. That’s been his everyday attire for years. Davis faces off against U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow in the Nov. 3 general election to determine who will be Louisiana’s next senator. Endorsed by President Donald Trump, Letlow knocked Sen. Bill Cassidy out of the race in the Republican primary.

ELECTION

A farming family Davis’ grandfather Abe Davis, nicknamed Uncle Son, sharecropped on 15-20 acres outside of Waterproof, a wisp of a town in Tensas Parish. As a sharecropper, Uncle Son worked the land, while the farm owner provided the seed and chemicals and capital. Uncle Son shared in the proﬁt but couldn’t always count on being treated fairly since Black people were often regarded as second class citizens. Davis’ father and mother followed custom by leaving school early to perform farm work, his mother in 11th grade, his father in eighth. Farms in the 1950s and 1960s still required large numbers of laborers to plant and harvest the crops. James Davis Sr. was known as “Stump,” and he was so respected as a farmer that the heirs of the man who owned the land where Uncle Son sharecropped sold it to

EXPANDS

Continued from page 1A But some parents and educators are pushing back, saying it’s time to slow the spread of AI and tech in schools. Bixler and several other St. Tammany Parish moms recently formed a local chapter of Schools Beyond Screens, a national group calling for more restrictions on classroom technology. The St. Tammany group surveyed teachers and parents about students’ device use and created an online petition, which has received more than 600 signatures, urging the school district to reduce students’ screen time and evaluate its impact on student learning. “What are these digital tools?” Bixler asked. “How are they affecting our kids?” Supporters of the technology, including many educators, say it is beneficial, citing software that tailors instruction to individual students and helps teachers grade assignments and plan lessons. Some programs like Amira, the AI reading tutor, have been found to boost student learning. But other teachers are concerned, arguing that schools have adopted tech tools that aren’t backed by solid research — often at the urging of corporations like Google, whose Chromebook laptops, education software and AI chatbot are now ubiquitous in classrooms. They say students are watching YouTube videos and playing games on their school-issued laptops, skirting internet ﬁlters and using AI tools like ChatGPT to do their work for them. Some teachers warn the tools are eroding students’ critical thinking and social skills, their attention spans and their handwriting. “It’s changed how they think, how they talk, how they interact,” said Jacob Newsom, a high school teacher in St. Amant.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Jamie Davis inspects cotton bolls as he walks through one of his cotton fields in Tensas Parish. Stump in the early 1990s. Stump’s son Jamie grew up as a country boy, helping out in the ﬁelds and learning to drive a giant farm combine that cut corn by the time he was a teenager. He and his friends liked to catch catfish in the Mississippi River nearby that they would skin, cook and eat. Davis became known as “Lil Stump.” There were 27 students in his graduating class at Waterproof High School, which has now closed because, as in many rural towns throughout Louisiana, the mechanization of farm equipment has caused would-be farmworkers to move away in search of better opportunities. Davis became the first one in his family to go to college when he went off to LSU in 1988. But he left during his sophomore year after getting what he called a “Ph.D. in partyology.” “I made a bad choice in not focusing on my schoolwork,” he said. “Small-town guy in a big city. My focus was not on education at the time.” Now he has a Ph.D. in farming. “Ain’t nothing on the farm I can’t

New York City and Los Angeles school systems have banned AI-powered tools for some students and a few states are limiting students’ device use. Louisiana, which was one of the ﬁrst states to ban cellphones in schools, has encouraged schools to experiment with AI even as most school systems have yet to put in place AI policies, according to a state report in January. State leaders are aware of the growing ed tech concerns. Larry Carter, president of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said the union plans to survey members about AI use in their schools. State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a recent interview that educators should be openminded about AI, but also “skeptical of every product.” And, for the ﬁrst time, he said he supports limiting students’ use of devices at school. “It’s a question now,” Brumley said, “of what those limits should be and who should set them.”

Rising concerns The pandemic turbocharged schools’ embrace of classroom tech, making the days of computer labs and “smart boards” look quaint. Now, Louisiana students use Chromebooks and other devices to access math and reading programs like i-Ready and Lexia, the software Bixler’s daughter used, which feature gamelike animations and questions adapted to students’ skill level. Recently, the Louisiana education department has funded artiﬁcial intelligence pilot programs. Last school year, nearly 1 in 3 students in grades K-8 worked with Amira, which uses AI to give students real-time feedback as they read aloud. More than 23,000 high school students used Khanmigo, an AIpowered math chatbot. Many parents say they

do,” he said. In all, Davis owns 700 acres and pays rent to harvest crops on the other 2,500. He now lives in Ferriday to be near his 13 grandchildren. He also has three greatgrandchildren.

Kissing babies, shaking hands Davis, 56, ﬁts in with the mostly White farmers who make a living by growing crops in the rich soil of the Mississippi Delta. That was evident when Davis went to purchase a new spring leaf part at the Ater Warehouse in Ferriday, the nearest town to his farm. “So you’re kissing babies and shaking hands?” one of the store clerks asked with a smile. After ordering the part, Davis showed another customer, a farmer, photos of his campaign stop the day before in Prairieville. “You have a lot of White folks supporting you,” the farmer observed. Davis began talking with another store clerk about the clerk’s brother, Jeff Britt, the Tensas Parish sheriff who died in June. “That was my guy,” Davis told

have limited information about their kids’ tech use in school. “What we know about what our kids do on those devices just comes from asking them,” said Jordan Dinser, who has two children in St. Tammany schools. Across the country, longstanding concerns’ about the impact of cellphones and social media on young people have expanded to include classroom tech use. Parents have objected to widely used software like i-Ready, which they say consumes too much class time and is backed by insufﬁcient evidence. Some also have raised privacy concerns, including about Amira, which records student voices. (The company says it complies with all student-privacy laws, never sells student data and only uses voice recordings to give personalized feedback.) In May, the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office issued a warning about the risks of screen time for young people, advising schools to ban cellphones and limit classroom device use. Six states passed screentime legislation this year, including Iowa, which restricted daily device use to 60 minutes in grades K-5, and Utah, which prohibits device use in most classes in grades K-3. Like most states, Louisiana has not adopted screen time limits. But in July, the state education department published digital device guidelines that suggest giving students screen breaks every 20-30 minutes and encouraging them to blink frequently to prevent dry eyes. The updated AI guidance describes criteria schools can use to evaluate the safety and efﬁcacy of AI tools. It doesn’t provide a list of state-approved tools, which some educators had sought. “It’s not as much guidance as we would have wished,” said Michael Foy, technology supervisor for the Caldwell

the clerk. “I loved him to death. We have people who leave too early.” Both men teared up. “I’m pulling for you,” the clerk said. On the drive to his farm, Davis pointed out farmland set aside by absentee owners who get paid by the federal government to grow trees instead and use it for hunting. “I hate the program,” Davis said. He said it’s not because of the hunting. Davis carries a 7 mm rifle with him in his truck in case he comes upon wild hogs. “They bid up the cost of land,” he said of the practice, known as the Conservation Reserve Program. Davis parked by one of his cotton fields, waded into the bushes and picked a bulb from one plant. “That is an immature boll,” he said and peeled it open. “In that boll, when it matures and dries down, they pop open. When they pop open, we have exposed cotton. The seeds dry. This green field, in the words of my father, will look like a snowbank. All you can just see is snow white across the whole field. It’s just beautiful. He loved to see that.

Parish school system, whose board adopted an AI policy in July. “It’s everything we kind of already knew in our district to do.”

‘Strong feelings’ Inside Louisiana schools, educators are divided about classroom tech — and AI in particular. Some say the tools can speed up planning and paperwork, freeing teachers to spend more time with students. Others worry about ﬂashy programs that resemble video games or chatbots that students can use to outsource their thinking. “Some educators are just terrified of it, so they say, ‘I’m not going to touch it,’ ” said Regena Beard, a science and robotics teacher in the Zachary school district. She thinks it is schools’ responsibility to show students how to use AI responsibly. “It’s our job to educate.”

While still standing in the cotton field, Davis’ thoughts turned to the Senate race. “I probably shouldn’t say this: If I was a White guy, this race wouldn’t be close,” he said. “But we are in the dirty South. I’m a husband with four kids who has served his community in important ways. I’ve been a volunteer in Head Start and the Farm Bureau. I do things that most public servants do.” While he served on the Tensas Parish Police Jury, he said, lead was found in the water pipes. Davis said he helped secure state funding to replace those pipes. Davis lost his reelection campaign in 2019 with 46% of the vote. “I thought the work I had done, was doing and had done was enough,” he said. “I was out harvesting my crops while he (Davis’ opponent) was on the street campaigning.” Davis believes that defeat and a failed run to be a state representative in 2023 are benefiting him this year. “It can take a loss to build the character that you need to win,” he said. “You have to get out and see the people. That’s very important. Those lessons learned in the police jury race and the state rep race were valuable lessons.” Last year, he began campaigning for the 5th Congressional District seat that Letlow currently holds. Davis found he had to drive long distances north to Monroe or south to the Florida Parishes to begin introducing himself to voters. He decided it was just simpler to run for the Senate seat. After all, no major Democrat had stepped up. Earlier this year, Davis defeated two little-known candidates to win the Democratic nomination. Davis steered his truck on a dirt road and parked alongside one of his cornfields. Waiting for him was his son Justin, who farms with him, and a couple of other workers. They were ready to harvest the corn. For most of 2026, Davis has tried to spend two days a week working on his farm. He climbed into the cab of a combine. “This is what I’d be doing fulltime if I wasn’t running for the U.S. Senate,” he said, as the combine mowed down the stalks of corn and deposited the kernels into a pile in the back.

At Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans, math and engineering teacher Rebecca Gaillot has helped organize faculty discussion groups and trainings on AI, including a session with legal experts on student privacy protections. She said she welcomes debate among her colleagues, who range from loving to loathing AI. “I think it’s good that people are coming in with strong feelings,” she said, “because other technologies we’ve just kind of let waltz into our lives.” Using a grant from a new philanthropic venture called the New Orleans AI Education Fund, Gaillot developed an “AI literacy” course that she is teaching to freshmen this year. Ninth grader D’Nali Dilosa said the course has given her a better understanding of the technology, but she still has mixed feelings about it.

“I don’t want to end up being too dependent on AI,” she said, “where you’re using AI to the point where you’re not using your brain to think.” In Ouachita Parish, the school system established an AI task force, developed a districtwide AI policy, and purchased a generative AI tool called MagicSchool that will be available to staffers and students. While the district is trying to tap the potential of digital tools, it’s also aware of the risks, said Garrah Lee, the district’s STEM and computer science coordinator. To that end, the school system started “Tech-Free Tuesdays.” The idea is for students to put down their devices, Lee said, and interact face-to-face. Email Patrick Wall at patrick.wall@theadvocate. com.

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● 5A

2 killed, dozens hurt in Georgia party shooting lll

BY MIKE STEWART and SCOTT BAUER

Associated Press

VIENNA, Georgia — Two people were shot to death in a hail of gunfire and nearly three dozen others were injured at a homecoming weekend block party early Sunday morning in southern Georgia, according to state law enforcement officials. More than 1,000 people were gathered at the site, and more than 50 shots were fired in at least two locations about a block apart in Vienna, Dooly County Sheriff Craig Peavy told WMAZ-TV. Peavy said people were “going every direction” and that, even while officers were on the scene, more gunfire erupted about a block away. “We don’t know if it’s coming at us or someone else,” he said. “You just have to keep doing what you’re doing and hope you don’t get hit by gunfire.” The incident took place over homecoming weekend for Dooly County High School.

The shooting was not at a school-sponsored event, said Sherrod Willaford, superintendent of the Dooly County School System. “We recognize that its impact may reach many of our students, families, and staff,” he said in a statement. Schools will open Monday, he said, but additional safety measures have been put in place. He did not specify what they are. Dooly County Sheriff’s Office deputies were on patrol at a neighborhood block party around 1:25 a.m. Sunday in Vienna when shots were fired, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. Vienna is about 130 miles south of Atlanta and about a 50-mile drive south on the Interstate 75 corridor from the central Georgia city of Macon, where authorities say 12 teens were wounded by gunfire during a confrontation between people at a birthday party last week at a city park. Deputies found two people dead at the scene and mul-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MIKE STEWART

Authorities investigate the scene of a mass shooting where at least two people were killed and 35 were injured Sunday morning in Vienna, Ga., according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. tiple others who had been shot, ofﬁcials said. Police did not specify how many of the 35 injured had been shot or provide any details about the injuries or their severity. The victims were taken to several hospitals for treatment, the GBI said.

Dooly County Coroner Brett Walls said the two men, ages 20 and 23, were pronounced dead at the scene with fatal gunshot wounds. He said multiple other people were also shot, calling the scene “horriﬁc.” Walls told The Atlanta

Journal-Constitution that multiple people were struck by bullets and roughly a dozen others were hurt while trying to ﬂee. “This doesn’t — it’s not supposed to — happen in a small town like that. It’s something you hear on the news

in bigger cities,” Walls told the newspaper, adding hospitals were ﬂooded with the injured. “And even in bigger cities, you don’t hear that kind of a number.” Authorities have not said whether any suspects are in custody or being sought. No motive has been given for the shooting. Vienna Mayor Eddie Daniels said the shooting was about a block from his house and he “saw a lot of blue lights.” Daniels said he hadn’t spoken with law enforcement ofﬁcials yet and had no details about what had happened. Daniels said the city hadn’t issued any kind of permit for the block party and he didn’t know if it was a homecoming party. Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Lydia Bullard declined to answer questions about the shooting, saying it was an ongoing investigation. Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

Cornell leader calls alleged Serb separatist Dodik declares gang rape ‘deeply disturbing’ victory in Bosnian election BY ELDAR EMRIC

University president pledges greater transparency

Associated Press

BY LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press

Cornell’s president called the alleged gang rape of a student at a fraternity house in 2024 “deeply disturbing” Saturday, said it would weigh on the university for years to come and pledged greater transparency amid mounting outrage over the school’s handling of the case. In an eight-minute video message to the Cornell community, Michael Kotlikoff described the past week as one of the most difﬁcult in the university’s history and acknowledged troubling questions about the investigations that followed the allegations. “My heart aches when I think of what she experienced,” Kotlikoff said. “It raises heartbreaking and troubling issues about sexual assault, dehumanization and aspects of party culture, alcohol and drug use.” Kotlikoff reaffirmed his commitment to supporting an independent review of Cornell’s handling of the case called for by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and said the school’s Board of Trustees would announce details next week. He also expressed sup-

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MATT ROURKE

Pedestrians walk Thursday on the campus at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.y. port for Hochul’s decision to turn the criminal investigation over to the state attorney general. “I want to acknowledge something that can be difﬁcult for an institution to say,” Kotlikoff said. “We don’t have all the answers, but we are committed to investigating and ﬁnding the answers our community deserves.” Scrutiny has mounted in recent days over Cornell’s response to allegations that the woman was sexually assaulted by multiple fraternity members in 2024. The woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, has sued the university and seven former students. During a student assembly hearing Thursday that gave students an opportunity to voice concerns and discuss proposals to improve Cor-

nell’s response to sexual assault, several speakers called for Kotlikoff’s resignation. Hochul, asked at a news conference Friday whether she believed Kotlikoff should resign over the university’s handling of the case, declined to take a position, saying she did not yet have enough information. Kotlikoff acknowledged frustration that Cornell has not communicated enough, saying that has led to distrust. While citing “real legal and privacy limits” on what the university can disclose, he pledged greater transparency and more opportunities for students, parents and others to engage with university leaders. He also committed Cornell’s support to legislative efforts to change New York’s sexual assault laws.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in an election in Bosnia on Sunday that was shaped by economic pressures, the prospect of the Balkan nation joining the European Union, and ethnic tensions that have divided the country since its brutal 1992-95 war. Dodik is a staunchly proRussia politician who, despite not appearing on the ballot, has dominated the campaign and inflamed

divisions with separatist rhetoric that have sparked fears of renewed instability in Bosnia. Formerly the president of the country’s Serb-majority entity of Republika Srpska, Dodik was banned from holding public office after being convicted last year of defying decisions by the international envoy overseeing the 1995 peace agreement that ended the war. With nearly 90% of votes counted, Dodik’s ally Zeljka Cvijanovic of the right-wing Alliance of Independent Social Democrats had more than 55% of votes to take one of the three seats in the

country’s tripartite presidency, leading her nearest opponent by around 30 percentage points. Speaking at a news conference late Sunday, Dodik said his nationalist party would also hold a “vast majority” in Republika Srpska’s assembly, and credited U.S. President Donald Trump’s “magnificent victory” in 2024 and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support for the election win. “No one should ask us to change our politics,” Dodik said. “We will not give up. but continue for our people ... I cannot believe that we smashed it like this.”

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Trump names national intelligence director to lead new AI task force By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Sunday tapped Jay Clayton, his director of national intelligence, to lead a new government task force on artiﬁcial intelligence. Trump is calling it the “Super Intelligence Force,” because he has tried to rebrand AI as “super intelligence.” The announcement comes after Trump hosted top executives of AI com-

panies at the White House last week and said they had signed a voluntary accord that would effectively selfpolice the development of the technology. The task force will coordinate the federal effort “to ensure that America continues to lead the World in Super Intelligence, which many say is bigger than the Industrial Revolution, and the Internet, and will protect the interests, and improve the lives, of all Americans,” Trump in a post

on social media Sunday. The task force will reach out to consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers and AI companies, the Republican president said. Others on the task force include the Federal Trade Commission’s chairman, Andrew Ferguson; Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s chief technology ofﬁcer; and Scott Kupor, the director of the Ofﬁce of Personnel Management.

Ethiopia’s government retakes Mekelle BY RODNEY MUHUMUZA and KHALED KAZZIHA Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda — Government-allied ﬁghters entered Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a witness said Sunday, after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front announced its withdrawal following renewed ﬁghting. The TPLF last month seized the Mekelle airport and the

city, one of Ethiopia’s largest. In a statement Saturday, it said its forces had pulled out. They had done so in the previous two-year war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022, apparently to spare the city from destruction. Ethiopian Airlines had suspended ﬂights to Mekelle and the Tigrayan cities of Axum and Shire after the rebels seized the airport. The African Union urged restraint, warning that renewed ten-

sions threatened the 2022 agreement. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has tried and failed to subdue Tigray’s rebellious leaders in recent months, with TPLF Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael openly challenging him. Debretsion said Thursday that the ﬁghting was a “continuation of the previous war” and that his ﬁghters would keep attacking and defending Tigray from its enemies.

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6A ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

lll

TODAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Humid with a shower or two

A brief afternoon shower

Partly sunny, a stray t-storm

Sun and areas of high clouds

Some rain and a thunderstorm

Dull and dreary

HIGH

LOW

83°

69°

LOW

85°

69°

88°

LOW

67°

Beaumont 85/70 Port Arthur 84/73

Hattiesburg 84/67

Alexandria 84/67 Baton Rouge 84/69

Lafayette 83/69 Lake Charles 85/69

New Orleans 82/74 Houma 78/72

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

10s

20s

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50s

81°

60s

70s

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High/low Normal high/low Last year’s high/low Record high Record low

LOW

67°

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

OCT 10

City

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

HIGH

3:50p 9:32a 2:54a 5:20a 5:36a 4:49a 6:44a

7:04 a.m. 6:49 p.m. 1:50 a.m. 3:56 p.m.

FIRST

FULL

OCT 18

TODAY

87 71 85 43 87 95 75 90 81

65 46 61 31 73 74 48 78 49

LAST

OCT 25

s pc s c r s s t s

NOV 1

87 62 83 40 87 97 75 90 81

TUE. Lo

62 45 61 30 73 75 51 78 56

s s s c sh s s t s

FT.

0.9 2.1 2.4 2.1 1.6 2.0 2.0

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3:09a 9:41p 5:11p 9:24p 5:10p 3:27p 6:12p

0.03” 0.47” 0.59” 46.63” 49.29”

FT.

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Continued from page 1A The new facility is different because of who it’s designed to hold: It’s billed as a last stop for undocumented families, women and children who voluntarily agree to be deported rather than potentially endure prolonged detention inside a prisonlike lockup. It appears to be one of the nation’s only facilities built to hold unaccompanied immigrant children, whom federal officials say they only detain “in rare instances.” Records obtained by The TimesPicayune | The Advocate, interviews with officials and testimony lodged at a public hearing last week shed new light on how officials plan to run the facility when it opens. The plans say families and children will arrive in Alexandria on commercial flights and will be held for up to 72 hours before being deported from the airport, which sits yards from the facility. The site is set to begin receiving them within two weeks, said three officials familiar with the plans, though it’s unclear how many people will take the feds’ offer to selfdeport from the facility. The facility’s intended occupants resemble those held at a facility in Dilley, Texas, which is the nation’s only other lockup for immigrant families. Detainees there have complained of squalid living conditions and long stays. Advocates for the families and children say they fear the same at the Alexandria site. The new facility is a political flashpoint in Alexandria, population 43,000, where federal contracts have long powered the local economy. Critics are questioning the deal’s transparency and turning meetings of a quasi-governmental panel that oversees the mixed-use airport complex, the England Authority Board of Commissioners, into a recurring protest site. An ICE spokesperson declined to answer detailed questions for this story. In a statement, the spokesperson said only that the site “is a staging facility for deportations.” At a meeting last week of the England Authority board, executives with Anovaeon, a self-described “humanitarian response” firm founded in 2024 and subcontracted to run the facility’s operations, pushed back on claims that the site would involve forced detention. They stressed their backgrounds in international

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READING 33 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

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times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter. MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

Today 7:47a Tuesday 8:35a Wednesday 9:18a Thursday 9:59a Friday 10:40a Saturday 11:23a Sunday 12:32p

City

New Orleans Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Raleigh St. Louis San Diego Tampa

1:33a 8:14p 2:22a 9:00p 3:06a 9:42p 3:48a 10:21p 4:29a 11:02p 5:11a 11:45p 5:57a ----

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82 88 72 98 65 76 76 93 88

74 75 49 78 40 53 52 73 76

t t pc s s pc s s t

GOOD

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be

Weather (W): s -sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf

AIRPARK

YESTERDAY GOOD

PRECIPITATION

81°/76° 85°/65° 86°/66° 95° in 1924 44° in 1987

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

NEW

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

68°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 85/65

Many 84/63

84°

LOW

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Sunday

Longview 86/60

-0s

67°

Monroe 89/62

Shreveport 88/62

-10s

88°

LOW

rain. In fact, there is about a 20% chance of rainfall in the forecast, so keep the umbrella with you just in case. Otherwise, today will be a partly to mostly cloudy, warm and breezy day. Temperatures this afternoon will rise to the mid-80s. Winds are out of the northeast at 10-20 mph. Over the next several days, expect sunshine and higher temperatures. Rain chances will return Friday.

82 83 66 99 62 73 78 90 83

2:01p 2:48p 3:30p 4:10p 4:51p 5:34p 6:20p

TUE. Lo

74 73 47 78 44 48 58 72 74

sn-snow, i-ice.

c t s s s s s s t

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

FLOOD SUN. 24-HOUR STAGE STAGE CHANGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

6.40 25.90 27.40 11.80 7.10 5.17 5.00

-1.70 +1.00 +1.00 +0.90 +0.40 +0.59 none

18.99

-1.20

-1.63

+0.01

18 29 8

-1.23 9.78 3.37

+0.06 +0.02 +0.15

13 15

1.62 0.69

+0.21 +0.11

47 34 29 20 12 6

10.52 7.01 5.79 5.13 3.80 2.84

+0.91 +0.43 +0.65 +0.21 -0.10 +0.17

data as of 7 a.m. Sunday

site care, he said Anovaeon “family services” staff will take them there. Three unarmed security officers will be present at the site, Fritz said. The company has gone on a hiring spree in Alexandria, posting listings on indeed.com for intake specialists, logistics managers, recreation and security staff, among other roles. Planning documents say families and children staying at the facility “can only be released at the direction of ICE.” Federal agents will always be nearby. STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS “(ICE) is a constant presence Diane Mobley, center, and other protesters react there if there’s a safety issue, a nonto someone in the board meeting referring to the compliance issue, a medical issue,” England Airpark Authority members, from left, Chair said the England Authority’s lawyer, people gathered outside as ‘crackpots’ as they Oday Lavergne and Vice Chair Jamar Gailes listen Matt Nowlin. listen to the meeting using a speaker at the England to speakers during the board meeting at England A few hours before their schedAdministration Center in Alexandria on Thursday. Administration Center in Alexandria on Thursday. uled deportation flights, immigrants will be transferred to another modaid — the CEO’s LinkedIn says he Then, he added, they will call ICE ity’s executive director. A Compass ular building set up as an outtake has managed humanitarian projects agents located nearby. spokesperson declined to comment, room. They will wait there, then on in Ukraine and Asia — as well as in “I think we would open the gate” and a LaSalle spokesperson did not the tarmac before boarding being federal law enforcement. for occupants who ask to leave, said respond to inquiries. escorted aboard the flights. “This project is not a detention Lynch, a former ICE official who Documents show the 10-acre facenter,” said Anovaeon CEO Eric will run operations at the site. “At cility, which is now surrounded by Finances detailed Fritz. “It is a staging center for fam- the same time, we would be in com- an eight-foot fence draped in green The new facility is expected to ilies who are voluntarily departing munication with ICE, letting them cloth which officials said is meant to generate the England Authority the country, admittedly through know what’s happening. There’s an prevent photos of immigrant chil- about $500,000 annually in rent from pretty crappy circumstances on ICE office literally steps away. They dren, will house up to 528 people at the nonprofit LaSalle Family Fountheir end, I acknowledge that.” would be there to either intervene, once. (That is far smaller than the dation, records show. The nonprofit Immigrant advocates are flagging convince them to come back in, or Dilley site, which ProPublica re- received two $275,000 contributions the record of LaSalle Corrections, a take whatever steps they would take ported housed 750 families and 370 in 2025, public tax records show. One private prison firm whose nonprofit in terms of their case management.” single women earlier this year.) of them came from a Ruston-based arm is running the new facility with Commissioner Joe McPherson, a Immigrants will arrive at the Al- company affiliated with William McAnovaeon. Three immigrants have former state senator who authored exandria airport on commercial Connell. William “Billy” McConnell died at a LaSalle-managed ICE de- legislation three decades ago that flights. Outside the small red-brick is the founder of LaSalle’s private tention facility in north Louisiana created the England Airpark, ques- airport terminal, Anovaeon staff prison business. The new site also set to generate this year, adding to multiple prison- tioned whether immigrants’ pres- will guide them to waiting vans. er deaths in other LaSalle facilities ence at the facility could truly be They will drive a half-mile, pass revenue for each immigrant in its through a gate and drop the passen- custody under a fee known as a “bed in recent years, according to court considered voluntary. records. Pointing to reports that “I wanted to clarify that they’re gers at an “intake center” inside one rate.” Those figures are left blank on immigrants have been held at Dil- there under duress, and you of the modular buildings, Anovaeon a draft intergovernmental services agreement between ICE and the ley for weeks, advocates have also don’t disagree with that, I think,” officials said. There, new arrivals will receive England Authority. Officials have called the facility’s 72-hour timeline McPherson told the Anovaeon offiunrealistic. cials. “When (you say) they’re free colored wristbands that signal to declined to publicly release copies “To say that individuals will only to leave, we don’t really know if staff their food allergies or religious of the active agreement, citing a dietary restrictions. Residents will prohibition from ICE on sharing it. be here for an average of 72 hours they’re free to leave or not.” Anovaeon’s job postings on Indeed be fed three times per day in a cafis categorically misleading,” said Tania Wolf, a New Orleans-based Bunk beds, wristbands eteria area. Refrigerators in each offer hourly pay ranging from $22 advocate with the National ImmiThe “Airpark Staging Center,” living area are stocked with snacks, for transportation staff to $47.50 per hour for security managers. Fritz gration Project. “The process of as it’s described in official records, Fritz said. Inside the modular buildings and said the company would cover the deporting an unaccompanied child, is overseen by three entities: the a single woman or a family unit, it England Airpark and its associated old barracks, bedrooms are outfit- entirety of employees’ healthcare board; the LaSalle Family Founda- ted with televisions offering Span- premiums. takes more than 72 hours.” Hennessy, the England Airpark diFritz said the Alexandria site tion, a nonprofit arm of the LaSalle ish-language programs, he said. falls under federal standards for private prison firm; and Anovaeon, Children can play on the two soccer rector, in an interview described the “temporary housing,” drawing a the subcontractor enlisted by La- fields and outdoor jungle gyms. In- facility as one in a series of Airpark contrast between that classifica- Salle responsible for day-to-day door areas will have video games projects that have injected money and board games. Immigrants will into Louisiana’s economy. The protion and standards applied to high- operations. A different Texas-based subcon- have to hand over their cellphones, testers don’t grasp that benefit, he er-security ICE detention facilities. No occupants will be shackled tractor, Compass Connections, was but calls from the phones inside the said. “Some of these people are just not or handcuffed, he said. initially slated to run the site but dormitories will not be monitored, happy with the fact that there are Another company official, Jef- later “parted ways” with LaSalle, officials said. A psychiatrist, nurse practitioners kids involved who in their mind are frey Lynch, said staff would open which enlisted Anovaeon to hanthe facility gates for anyone who dle operations instead, said Ralph and other medical staff will be on- being detained in cages,” he said. wishes to leave. Hennessy, the England Author- site, Fritz said. If migrants need off- “That’s far from the truth.”

METRO

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

M o n d ay, o c t o b e r 5, 2026

1bn

Gunfire hits St. Landry deputy’s home 1-year-old daughter inside, uninjured

suspects are high school students who drove through the area firing guns at homes, according to a The deputy’s 1-year-old daugh- Tuesday news release from SherBY DEAN BOUDREAUX ter was sleeping in a room next to iff Bobby J. Guidroz. Staff writer Investigators are reviewing the exterior wall that was struck camera footage and checking the Someone fired gunshots at a St. by the gunfire. “No one was hurt, thankfully,” area for suspects, Leblanc said. Landry Parish sheriff’s deputy’s home Sunday evening, striking said Maj. Mark Leblanc, the of- The shooting occurred during a weekend of homecoming activithe house three times, the Sher- fice’s public information officer. The Sheriff’s Office believes the ties, but investigators have not iff’s Office said.

identiﬁed a school associated with the suspects. “School resource officers are asking students for information,” Leblanc said. Crime Stoppers is encouraging students to submit anonymous tips. Guidroz called ﬁring a gun from a moving vehicle “one of the most reckless and dangerous things that can be done.” He said the

suspects could face charges of negligent injuring or negligent homicide. “Parents, speak to your children about this,” Guidroz wrote. “Let’s do everything possible to make homecoming safe and memorable for everybody.” Email Dean Boudreaux at dean. boudreaux@theadvocate.com.

Festivals Acadiens expanding offerings One of original stages returns for tribute BY JA’KORI MADISON Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS By BRAD KEMP

Wavemakers Melissa Bowen, from left, Blake Miller, Desiree Hebert and Joyce Gaymon stand onstage with host David Begnaud during the sixth annual Undercurrent Awards, produced by The Current and Begnaud’s Do Good Crew, on Sunday at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette.

Making waves

The Current presented its sixth annual Undercurrent Awards on Sunday at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, recognizing “Wavemakers” in the Acadiana community. According to the website for the event: “Wavemakers are people who demonstrate selﬂessness in their work or service, creativity in problem solving, a passion for Lafayette and a vision for its future. They can come from any sector — health, education, business, public service, nonproﬁts, communities of faith — and contribute at any scale, big or small.” The 2026 Wavemakers are Blake Miller, of LeBlanc Elementary Fiddle Club; Melissa Bowen, of Authenticity Center; Joyce Gaymon, of Camp Inspire; and Desiree Hebert, of LaMARC. The event was hosted by journalist David Begnaud, founder of Do Good Crew.

ABOVE: Host David Begnaud, right, greets Wavemaker Blake Miller, of LeBlanc Elementary Fiddle Club. LEFT: Desiree Hebert, left, of LaMARC, tells her story to Begnaud.

Horror book buff compiles guide with 700 reviews BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

Jason Cavallaro is something of a scholar of horror. Scholars have to read a lot, and Cavallaro is no slouch in that department. He reads well over 100 books a year, and over 3,000 of them have been horror novels — monster tales, slash fests, ghost stories, psychological thrillers, and everything in between. Now he has turned that decadeslong obsession into a guide for other readers. His book, “Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror,” features around 700 book recommendations, broken down into numerous categories. “Scary Humans,” for example, focuses on books about serial killers, and the “Weird Stuff” section includes recommenda-

“I really believe that anyone has a potential obsession with books inside of them, and you have to get them at the right time with the right book.” JASON CAVALLARO, author of “Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror” tions in science ﬁction horror and dark fantasy. Each title is accompanied by a brief, spoiler-free description and Cavallaro’s assessment. He has been publishing book reviews online for years, and has reduced his approach to one basic question: Is it any good? “All the reviews are very,

very succinct. Almost every book review online has a plot synopsis in the ﬁrst two paragraphs, and then they get to the opinion piece. I just skip to the end part,” he said. If readers want a plot summary, Cavallaro said, they can ﬁnd one elsewhere. “If you want a summary of what happens in the book, you can go on Amazon, or just read the back of the book, because that’s the author’s preferred summary and won’t have anything they don’t want spoiled. My book is meant to sort of dip in and out, like, ‘I want a serial killer novel. Oh, this sounds good.’ ” Cavallaro’s appreciation for horror stems from the genre’s ability to explore powerful emotions and ignite the

STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK

Jason Cavallaro’s book, ‘Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror,’ features around 700 book ä See HORROR, page 4B recommendations.

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles returns Thursday through Sunday to Girard Park with new and expanded ways to experience the music, history and culture of Acadiana. This year’s festival includes a new area focused on the region’s cultural history, the return of an original festival stage first used in 1976, expanded conversations with artists and scholars, and a new Folklife Village highlighting Indigenous, Acadian and Creole crafts. The festival also was selected as one of 34 festivals nationwide to participate this year in the Smithsonian Institution’s “Festival of Festivals,” a national initiative highlighting festivals as spaces for cultural exchange, civic engagement and dialogue. The recognition fits with this year’s festival theme: “Revolution and Evolution — Celebrating 250 Years of Cultural Fusion on the Bayou.” Here’s what’s new and expanded at this year’s festival: n “Dry Bones” docuseries premiere: The festival gets underway Thursday at the Acadiana Center for the Arts with the premiere of “Dry Bones,” a new multimedia project that brings contemporary musicians into conversation with archival recordings from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Center for Louisiana Studies. The premiere will include afternoon and early evening sessions, with screenings of all episodes, conversations with filmmakers and artists, and more. n Scène ’76 returns: One of the festival’s original stages is coming back this year. Scène ’76 will be set up near the pond at Girard Park as part of a partnership with the Smithsonian. The stage pays tribute to the festival’s first stage after the event moved from Blackham Coliseum to Girard Park in 1976. Its lineup will focus on south Louisiana’s musical traditions and how they intersect with other American musical styles, featuring regional musicians and Acadiana’s frequent musical guests. n Folklife Village and Language Lounge: A new Folklife Village will explore Louisiana’s material culture through displays of Indigenous, Acadian and Creole crafts, folk arts and everyday objects. The Language Lounge, in the A. Hays Town Building at the Hilliard Art Museum, will feature language keepers leading informal immersion activities and sharing insights into Louisiana’s linguistic diversity. Both additions build on Scène Atelier’s mission of encouraging dialogue and cultural appreciation. n Waterfowl Heritage Area: Festivalgoers also will have a chance to explore south Louisiana’s waterfowl traditions. The Waterfowl Heritage Area, located next to Scène ‘76 and Girard Park Pond, will feature duck call and decoy craftsmanship, restored dugouts and pirogues, duck blind demonstrations and more. n Elemore Morgan Jr. photography exhibition: A new exhibition at the Hilliard Art Museum will feature 23 photographs

ä See ACADIENS, page 4B

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Political signs turn into litter the day after the election Anyone who drives the roads of southeast Louisiana has seen it: political signs lining highways, intersections, medians and rightsof-way — and, all too often, litter and discarded campaign materials left behind after the election. Whether every piece of litter can be directly attributed to a campaign sign is beside the point. The larger issue is accountability. Political candidates are quick to put their names and faces along our roadsides when they want our votes. But after Election Day, who is responsible for removing the signs, stakes, wire, plastic and other materials? Why shouldn’t candidates and political organizations be held to the same basic standards of cleanliness that businesses and residents are expected to follow? Our roadsides belong to the public. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay to clean up campaign debris, and local governments shouldn’t have to look the other way because the offenders happen to be politicians. And this raises an even bigger question: Why won’t politicians do something about it? They certainly have the authority to propose ordinances, strengthen enforcement and establish reasonable deadlines for removing campaign signs. They can also lead by example by making sure their own campaigns leave nothing behind. Instead, campaign signs often seem to receive special treatment. Politicians ask citizens to obey littering laws while their own campaigns can contribute to visual clutter and roadside debris with little apparent consequence. This isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about whether elected ofﬁcials are willing to apply the same standards to themselves that they do to everyone else. If a candidate wants to put a sign on a public roadside to ask for our vote, that candidate should also accept responsibility for removing it. If politicians won’t clean up the mess, perhaps voters should start asking them why.

BILL WALSH New Orleans

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If drugs or alcohol are involved, consent isn’t possible Rape: Until we name it, we won’t ever change it. To those who are offended by the reopening of the Cornell investigation, I want to clarify something: Non-consensual sexual contact is assault; non-consensual penetration is rape. If drugs or alcohol leave a person unable to understand what is happening, make decisions or say no, she legally cannot consent. She is incapacitated; the act is nonconsensual. Anyone who has sexual contact with her, knowing that drugs and alcohol are involved, is committing sexual assault or rape, even if she doesn’t resist, even if she seems to go along with it, even if she consented to drinking and taking drugs. Anyone who promoted her availability for sex and knew that drugs and alcohol were involved was legally complicit in a crime. We all — society, law enforcement and lawyers — have a tendency to blame and shame victims; victims have a tendency to blame and shame themselves. I know about that personally. I wrote on Substack: “Until we name it, we won’t ever change it. It was sexual assault; it was rape.” And, for those dozens of young men who read the Snapchat and chose not to interfere, it should be criminal complicity, which is deﬁned as “knowing someone is intentionally harming another and failing to report the activity to authorities,” according the web site of Grifﬁn Law Group PLLC. You don’t have to be physically present to be complicit; you don’t have to be a mandatory reporter. Those young men should all be charged.

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Scaffolding surrounds the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge during a multiyear exterior restoration project.

Outside of State Capitol under repair. But what about inside? Our state has a tall order to fulﬁll for all people. When crews ﬁrst started building the scaffolding around the Louisiana State Capitol, I used my phone to capture the image. The newspaper posted a great photo on the front page recently. Scaffolding helps workers repair the exterior, but I wonder what’s really going on in the interior of the State Capitol. For example, the regressive policies have negative impacts and further harm people’s lives.

Sure, this is a much-needed construction upgrade. But what’s really concerning me are the conversations and policies that shape the lives of everyday people across this state, including voting rights, healthcare, education, housing, data center energy and water trade-offs and gasoline and diesel prices. Now that’s a tall order to fulﬁll. Need I say more?

LAQUITTA BOWERS Baton Rouge

Witnessing the latest chapter in the saga of La.’s ruin Though I taught for 40 years, I never taught American history. As a child of the Vietnam War era, I had seen too much to be able to deliver convincingly the exaggerations of most highschool textbooks. Today, Louisiana is a subject in another chapter. This is the latest section of a long chapter that has been a century in the writing. Its title is simple: “Corporate Annihilation of the Cultures and Landscapes of Louisiana.” In the past century, French was beaten out of the population, underground pipelines tore up sugar ﬁelds, above-ground pipelines scarred the marsh landscape, cancer and asthma became endemic upriver from New Orleans and around Lake Charles and the state Legislature refused to levy property taxes on offending companies. The ﬁrst chapters were written about oil, and the middle chapters were about petrochemical production. The new chapters are being written

about data centers and space ports. Tried and true techniques are used to silence opposition. The false promise of job creation is still used. Newer promises about how the corporations will save Louisiana’s vanishing coast ring hollow the moment they are proclaimed. Finally, calls to modernize are used to shame those who do not see why we need these things. The Legislature has passed a law permitting nondisclosure agreements between elected ofﬁcials and industry executives, even though the law itself is probably illegal and will not stand up to a challenge in a fair court. They are feeling heat. I hope they are feeling some shame as well, but that is more than likely a fantasy. Legislators and executives are in this for their bottom line, and we the people must remain alert to block their intent to destroy even more.

MONA VILLARRUBIA Metairie

Love South Louisiana? Better take a picture Re: “Inside the seven-month sprint to bring Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Louisiana,” Sept. 27. This was a great article! I suggest everyone take pictures of the Mississippi River Delta, like the ones with the article. It won’t take long before anything beautiful in South Louisiana will be gone. Some people (you can imagine who) are going to make an obscene amount of money.

ROBERT DESMARAIS New Orleans

Hamas poked a bear, and suffers the consequences It was more than a little disturbing to read the letter to the editor claiming how terrible Israel has been in defending itself after the attack by Hamas, which murdered more than 1,200 innocent people including children, at the music festival on Oct. 7, 2023 (“Expect Israel to honor the principles of the United States,” Sept. 28). The writer claims that Israel’s reaction is contrary to our country’s standards and beliefs. However, maybe the writer doesn’t remember when we, in the United States, were the victims of a terrorist attack by another terrorist organization, Al Qaeda, that had forced our airplanes into the Twin Towers, also murdering thousands of innocent people. What was our response? We went to war to track down Osama Bin Laden and his fellow ter-

rorists in Afghanistan. And maybe the writer doesn’t remember but over 46,000 civilians in Afghanistan were killed, in part, because the terrorists used civilians as shields, just as Hamas has done in Palestine. So, the truth is that both Israel and America had no choice but to attempt to destroy the terrorists in hopes of preventing another similar attack. And yes, neither Israel nor America wanted the wars they were drawn into or the lives that were lost. But here’s the lesson: You poke a bear, you better be ready for a ﬁght and all of its horrible consequences.

STAFFORD LYONS Shreveport

Was fawning content real or satire? Take our quiz! When I saw the Sept. 28 headline ”How does Todd Graves’ wealth stack up to other fast food billionaires? Take our quiz!” I wasn’t quite sure if it was maybe satire. If you indeed wanted to make fun of the fawning ways local journalism is kissing up to our billionaire overlords, kudos to you, well done! If not, I have a suggestion to make. The quiz “How does Todd Graves’ wealth stack up to the income of his workers who generate said wealth?” is one I would actually take.

MIKE GERTLER New Orleans

Sen. Kennedy’s antics at hearing were nauseating Sen. John Kennedy was on camera when Sen. Eric Schmitt, of Missouri, falsely accused former Special Counsel Jack Smith of being in Atlanta to attend a basketball game. Kennedy helped a Senate aide hold up a blown-up copy of

an email that confused two basketball teams. Kennedy’s antics made me “want to throw up in my mouth.”

BROBSON LUTZ New Orleans

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COMMENTARY Religious ‘integralists’ on the right, meet your socialist soulmates Undeterred by the axiom that there tegralists promise to do this directing can be indecent exposure of the mind enthusiastically and comprehensively. as well as the body, the Democratic So- So, consider: One reason abortions occur more frecialists of America candidly announce their agenda. Religious “integralists” quently since the Supreme Court’s 2022 should be similarly explicit. decision overturning Roe v. Wade is the DSAers want to scrap the Constitualmost simultaneous mass availability of the abortion-inducing drug tion in order to facilitate confismifepristone. While pursuing a cating wealth, private property national abortion ban, integraland other impediments to government-enforced equality and ists presumably would want to social perfection. Christian inteban this. And to make divorce — putgralists, who are disproportionately Catholic, are devout and George ting asunder what God has determined to make the nation joined — more difficult. The Will more so. They would enliven road to Roe in 1973 was paved politics if they would specify by the Supreme Court’s 1965 the measures they advocate to (as they decision overturning a Connecticut mistakenly say) return America to beintegralist law affirming that state’s moral objections to contraception. The ing a “Christian nation.” regime change today’s integralists Integralists want to integrate spiritual and temporal (government) power, envision might protect states’ rights to use such laws to bolster community subordinating the latter to the former. values, solidarity and natalism. Harvard law professor Adrian VerVermeule notes that in 1811 the influmeule, the most intellectually interesting integralist, opposes “the relentless ential New York Supreme Court Chief expansion of individualistic autonomy,” Justice James Kent wrote the opinion and those who are “enslaved to the upholding a conviction for blasphemy original meaning of the Constitution.” against Jesus. An integralist regime Integralists have no “horror of politimight favor, as New York did, laws cal domination and hierarchy” because criminalizing blasphemy as an offense against public peace and morals. law — government — must be “paren“Blue laws” once restricted work, tal, a wise teacher and an inculcator of commerce and pleasure on Sundays. good habits.” Until 1934, Pennsylvania’s piety preVermeule’s constitutionalism aims not to “protect liberty” as “an end in vented the Pirates and Phillies from itself,” because “constraints on power playing home games on the Sabbath. are good only derivatively,” by serving Integralists could court, and probably the integralist agenda, which requires achieve, martyrdom by banning all robust parental government. GovernNFL Sunday games. DSA radicalism is ethereal because ment should “direct” individuals and society toward virtuous living through of society’s thickness, the rootedness of America’s social arrangements built “respect for the authority of rule and by, and for the perpetuation of, private of rulers; respect for the hierarchies property bolstering individual striving. needed for society to function.” Well. Integralists’ unreal radicalism preAll societies somewhat legislate morality by prescribing and proscribsumes a root-and-branch rejection of all jurisprudence construing the First ing, and otherwise encouraging and Amendment’s proscription of “estabdiscouraging, certain behaviors. Classically liberal societies do this lishment” of religion. School prayers tentatively and warily. Vermeulean inagain? Of course, as 50 state govern-

ments write them. Integralists illustrate the “horseshoe” rather than the linear conception of the political spectrum: Integralism and socialism bend toward each other. Vermeule: “Libertarian conceptions of property rights and economic rights will also have to go, insofar as they bar the state from enforcing duties of community and solidarity in the use and distribution of resources.” “The bureaucracy,” Vermeule promises, “will be seen not as an enemy, but as the strong hand of legitimate rule,” protecting “atomized individuals” from, among other things, “corporate exploitation.” Where, one wonders, do the devout integralist vice president, JD Vance, and New York’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, differ concerning what the mayor calls “the warmth of collectivism?” An integralist might oppose immigration and a socialist might oppose economic disparities for similar reasons: Both favor government-enforced social homogeneity. Neither agrees with Robert Frost, who opposed the urge to “homogenize society,” because, he said, “I want the cream to rise.” Integralists who speak, as Vance does, of “the Christian foundation of this country” are baptizing the Founders without their permission. The six most important — Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton — held, tepidly, various ﬂavors of deism, which says a clockmaker deity got the universe going, then His attention wandered. The six tended toward unitarianism, the watery belief that there is at most one God. Integralists, like socialists, promise political transformations that will achieve salvation for our fallen world. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Integralists, like socialists, are more ambitious. Email George Will at georgewill@washpost.com.

Are GOP doomers overreacting? This has been a time that a deep sense of pessimism about the upcoming midterm elections set in among Republicans around the country. Not just the political class of consultants and others intimately involved in campaigns — they have been pessimistic for a while, although their sense of foreboding seemed to rise to a higher level in recent days — but also among those who follow the news closely but don’t get down into the weeds of the race for control of the House and Senate. They were rattled by headlines like this, from the Cook Political Report: “GOP on Track to Lose Byron House Majority as 15 York Race Ratings Shift Toward Dems.” They were unnerved by troubling assessments from conservative commentators. They were worried by reports from wellconnected observers. They were vexed by stubbornly high prices for fuel and food. A lot of the elevated sense of pessimism is related to President Donald Trump’s job approval rating. It seems that every few days there is a new poll showing Trump’s number sinking a bit lower; the most recent was a Wall Street Journal survey that pegged the president’s job approval at 37%. The other most recent polls in the RealClearPolitics average were at 44%, 39%, 35%, 41%, 43%, 36%, 35%, 40%, 33% — you get the idea. The RCP average is 38.7%, which is terrible for a president leading his party into midterm elections. Nevertheless, there is also a sense among some political practioners that there is too much wailing and garmentrending over the current situation. Yes, Republicans are very likely going to lose, but maybe not by the blue wave, or even blue tsunami, that some are talking about. “Many Republicans are believing/ hoping in this idea, that it will be bad, but not real bad,” said one GOP politico. “It’s possible but not likely. Narrowly

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By MARIAM ZUHAIB

The U.S. Capitol is seen on Sept. 25 in Washington. losing the House and holding on to the Senate is the best scenario. Losing both is a distinct possibility.” Another conceded that there might be “a bloodbath nationally,” but urged Republican incumbents to stay away from whatever the hair-on-ﬁre issue of the day is in Washington. “Stop using D.C.based messages,” he recommended, instead urging a focus on “local, local and more local.” The ﬁrst politico pointed to one particularly acute problem: “One thing that is consistently true in EVERY survey is the independents are against us,” he said. “Every survey.” In an email exchange, David Winston, a longtime Republican strategist and pollster, said much the same thing. “The reason we didn’t have a red wave in 2022 is that Republicans ran a base election,” Winston explained. “That netted Republicans the best Party ID advantage in the history of exit polling, but unfortunately Republicans lost independents by 2 points — the key voter group in competitive races.” Winston pointed out that in 2010, the Republican blowout that netted the party 63 seats, the GOP won independent voters by 19 points. “In 2010, Republicans won 242 House seats, and in 2022 Republicans won 222 seats — a difference of 20, about the same difference in the margin among independents,” Winston said. Now, Winston concluded, the question is where do independents go? The voters’ negative views of both parties and

their high anxiety about the economy, Winston added, make the electorate particularly volatile this time around. So what does this add up to? If the situation is as volatile as Winston suggests, that means it could improve a bit for Republicans (although it could also get worse). Perhaps the 2022 lose-butnot-as-bad-as-expected scenario is not only possible but likely. But of course, that’s still losing. The problem for Republicans who want to be optimistic is that the best-informed people running many races are simply not optimistic, although they are plugging away in the hope that things will improve. Recently, a follower on X responded to something I had posted with the message, “Dude, you’re nothing but a doomer now.” Maybe that’s true. I have been saying things look bad for the GOP for some time now. But that is, in fact, how things look. So are GOP doomers overreacting? In a situation where optimists believe the party will lose, but not by a lot, and pessimists believe it will lose in a landslide, it’s not unreasonable to say they’re all doomers of one stripe or another. Of course party leaders would prefer to lose by a little rather than a lot, if those were the only two choices. But winning? It’s hard to ﬁnd a seriously involved Republican who thinks that’s going to happen. Byron York is on X, @Bryon York. Email him at byronyork@yorkcomm. com.

The great awokening is over For years, the first thing I did upon awakening was check Twitter to see if I had been canceled. After a quick name search to ensure that there was only the usual amount of frothing denunciation, I could get on with my day. Writing that now, it sounds overwrought. But it seemed wise a few years ago, when every day brought a new cancellation attempt. Cancel culture had metastasized from obscure corners of the internet to some of the nation’s most venerable institutions: university campuses, establishment media outlets, nonprofits and Fortune 500 corporations. Someone would say or do something that might have seemed reasonable only a short time before but was now Megan ega proclaimed to be the vilest sort McArdle of bigotry — subject to mass public denunciation, vicious personal attacks and institutional struggle sessions. I had a flashback recently when The Boston Globe published an article on a meltdown at a lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The story had already been broken by the “Blocked and Reported” podcast, but the Globe made it viral. Every detail was eerily reminiscent of the old days, and just like back then, it was suddenly everywhere in my social media feeds. The difference is that this time, I followed it with great enjoyment, rather than outrage and fear. For those who missed the news, Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue recently announced that one night a week, it would relax its policy requiring customers to wear KN95 masks. You might think that’s reasonable, given that it is hard to eat or drink with a mask on and dubiously effective to keep pulling one up and down. A passionate faction in the Last Ditch community didn’t think it was at all reasonable. Those patrons thought it was a “pander” to “capitalism and white supremacy.” You can guess what followed: social media pile-ons and a heated community meeting. Jackie Matellian, one of three founders, spoke during the meeting. Matellian explained that the bar was unprofitable, subsidized by her working multiple jobs while living in her truck. This part is not enjoyable. It takes pluck and grit to build a business, especially when you’re not doing it just to make money (hard enough!) but to serve your ideals and a community you care about. I admire anyone who tries this hard to live out their commitments, and I’m really sorry for what’s happened to her. The Globe’s article generated a fierce denunciation from the Western Massachusetts branch of the Communist Party USA. Semafor’s Max Tani reports it also generated 1,000 subscriptions for the Globe in one day and is “on pace to shatter all sorts of Globe records,” probably for the reason suggested by podcaster Armand Domalewski: “Basically every left wing person in America has personally experienced some version of this story in their life over the course of the last decade.” And, Domalewski added, they are really sick of it. To which I might add: Now they get to laugh about it. For Woke 1 is dead, and this story is its epitaph. Six years ago, these shame storms were shaking corporate boardrooms to the teakwood paneling. Now they’re convulsing one fledgling bar and a few communist fellow travelers. Those who remember the old days fondly might see this as an indictment, arguing that under pressure from right-wing reactionaries, including in the government, many companies stopped listening. You can’t really blame this on President Donald Trump; companies began retreating from Woke 1 before Trump took office the second time. Those institutions had been bullied or fooled into taking controversial stances that appealed mostly to politically active customers. Embracing politics can work as a business strategy, but it’s risky; when you choose one side of a contentious issue, you alienate the other. Before the Great Awokening, political pronouncements tended to come from niche firms that could survive on a modest but fiercely devoted fan base. But for about a decade, social media dynamics gave larger firms the misimpression that woke was a mass movement rather than a fringe phenomenon. It wasn’t. Moreover, that fringe — the customer base Last Ditch was built for — contains too many people who hate the very idea of running things like a business. They will demand policies that are incompatible with making a profit or running a functional organization, and if you capitulate, they will wreck you. Organizations got wise, and the fringe retreated to its proper sphere: the radical communities that flourish in any liberal society. Those communities still have to negotiate with the mob. For the rest of us, however, the Great Awokening is over, because its targets woke up. Megan McArdle is on X, @asymmetricinfo. Email her at Megan.McArdle@washpost.com.

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2 LSU students accuse man of rape La.’s Kennedy mulls apartment and drove warrant for his apartment. Police: Incident happened on campus his to the Circle K gas station Police said he told ofﬁcers

BY OLIVIA TEES Staff writer

A man is accused of raping two LSU students in his on-campus apartment after buying them alcohol from a gas station on Highland Road, police said. Ty’Juan Bovie, 26, was arrested by the LSU Police Department on Saturday. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on two counts of third-degree rape and two counts of unlawful purchase of buying alcohol for people underage. LSU police responded at

5 p.m. Saturday to Woman’s Hospital after they were contacted by the ﬁrst victim, who said she was sexually assaulted by Bovie at the East Campus Apartments about 1 a.m. that day. Police also responded to Baton Rouge General Medical Center, where a second victim said he was heavily intoxicated that night and didn’t remember anything, according to the arrest warrant. According to the arrest warrant, the two victims, who were friends, asked Bovie to buy them alcohol. They picked Bovie up from

on Highland Road, where Bovie purchased alcohol, police said. They returned to Bovie’s apartment and got severely intoxicated between 10:50 p.m. and 1 a.m., the arrest warrant says. One victim passed out on the ground and was unable to move, police said. He was unconscious and did not give consent, according to the warrant. The other victim told police that Bovie raped her while she was too drunk to communicate, the warrant says. Bovie was arrested after police executed a search

he had sex with one victim who did not give verbal consent but gave him consent through body language. Bovie also told police that the second victim was unconscious while he had sex with him and did not give any consent, police said. LSU released a statement saying it is working with investigators. “LSU can conﬁrm this incident happened on campus and that the victims, working closely with LSU Police, were able to provide information resulting in an arrest of the suspect,” the statement says.

ACADIENS

Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. warms up the crowd during the 2025 Festivals Acadiens et Creoles at Girard Park in Lafayette.

Continued from page 1B by Louisiana photographer Elemore Morgan Jr. Many of the photographs have never been shown publicly. They were printed posthumously from Morgan’s original slides. The exhibition opens Friday and runs through Dec. 19. The photographs capture Cajun and Creole musicians as they appeared at the Smithsonian Institution’s 1976 Festival of American Folklife on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the Center for Louisiana Studies and the Morgan family. n Scène Atelier expands: Scène Atelier also is expanding its programming this year, with discussions featuring artists, musicians, scholars and cultural leaders. Topics will include Juré, La-La, the roots of zydeco and Louisiana French songwriting. Among the featured speakers are Poet Laureate Kristi Guillory and song scholar Megan Con-

HORROR

Continued from page 1B

STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

stantin. The programming also includes a ﬁddle summit with Renée Reed. The complete Festivals Acadiens et Créoles event and music schedule is available at festivalsacadiens.com/music-andevents.

imagination. But “Cracking Spines” isn’t limited to traditional horror. He includes plenty of horror-adjacent books and unexpected recommendations for readers willing to explore. “An Untamed State” by Roxane Gay, for example, has a premise Cavallaro said is “right out of the extreme horror playbook.” More than anything, he wants readers to find a book that sparks something in them. “I really believe that anyone has a potential obsession with books inside of them, and you have to get them at the right time with the right book,” he said. “You know, if you don’t like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ that doesn’t mean you don’t like books. That means you don’t like that one.” Cavallaro knows something about the power of a good story. An Abbeville native, he was on the school bus when he heard that a real horror movie was going to be ﬁlmed in town — the 1988 remake of “The Blob,” with locals serving as extras to be eaten by the Blob. The memory has stuck with him. “Every time I go by the courthouse, I’m like, ‘the Blob died here,’” he said. Cavallaro’s life outside books is almost as eclectic. When he’s not writing reviews, Cavallaro works as the monkey breeding coordinator at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette New Iberia Research Center. When the Saints are playing, he’s at the Superdome on the snare drum as part of the team’s pregame hype drum line. He also plays drums for Email Joanna Brown Lafayette metal band Ver- at joanna.brown@ theadvocate.com. tigo Sun.

U.S. senator says he could step in ‘if a bunch of goobers’ are in race BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer

move to permanent daylight saving time. He said he did not think Trump should have done so. “The president, as we know, can be sometimes … he exists loudly. He can be tempestuous. He can go from zero to a-hole in about three seconds,” he said. Kennedy has in recent weeks made several comments critical of Trump administration policies, though he is careful to note he is still a friend and supporter of the president. The senator is not the only Louisianan who has told national media in recent weeks they are considering a presidential run. Mitch Landrieu, the former New Orleans mayor and lieutenant governor, said in an interview with Politico last month that he was also considering a run.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, of Louisiana, said Sunday o n N B C ’s “Meet the Press” that he is thinking about running for president. “My plans right now Kennedy are to run for reelection, but as I’ve said before, if I don’t think I can be effective in the Senate anymore, I would consider it,” Kennedy said. Kennedy, R-Madisonville, quoted a song by The Judds: “Why not me on a rainy day? Why not me to love your blues away?” “On my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they’re goobers and one of the goobers might win, Email Matthew Albright at and I think I can do a better malbright@theadvocate. job, I would consider run- com. ning,” he said. “But right now I’m running for reelection.” LOTTERY Kennedy is up for reelection in 2028. SATURDAY, OCT. 3, 2026 When asked about the prosPICK 3: 7-7-1 pect of running against Vice PICK 4: 1-5-5-8 President J.D. Vance, KenPICK 5: 8-2-1-3-5 nedy demurred. “I’m not going to talk about EASY 5: 21-23-31-35another potential candidate,” 37 he said. “I’m just not there LOTTO: 3-14-19-20-24yet.” 27 Kennedy was asked about POWERBALL: 4-42-44President Donald Trump giving out the cellphone 55-59 (14) number for Sen. Tom CotUnofficial notification, keep your tickets. ton, R-Arkansas, after Cotton refused to back a bill to

.theacadianaadvocate.com

Email Ja’kori Madison at jakori.madison@ theadvocate.com.

There’s a lot competing for his attention. But whenever he has downtime, Cavallaro said, there’s usually a book in his hands. One of his biggest motivations for publishing “Cracking Spines” is making sure great books don’t disappear simply because they weren’t bestsellers. “The review market is always flooded with new, new, new, and all of these books that I talk about are just lost in the shufﬂe, man. God forbid it’s an indie author. You could even take a somewhat obscure Stephen King novel and it’s relatively forgotten now,” Cavallaro said. “I just hate that idea so much. These books have brought me so much joy, and they just get forgotten. Not like H.P. Lovecraft or Arthur Machen or Robert Bloch — all these great classic authors that are all dead. I’m talking about the guys that are alive and writing these masterpieces that just get no traction. Well, I’m talking about them.” Cavallaro is selling copies of “Cracking Spines: Three Decades of Horror” at Louisiana book events this fall, including book signings on Oct. 16 at The Book Rack and Oct. 17 at Barnes and Noble, both in Lafayette. Readers can also get copies at the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge on Oct. 31, the Bayou Bloodfest Horror Expo in Lafayette from Nov. 2122, and at the Vertigo Sun reunion show at the Feed and Seed in Lafayette on Dec. 5. The book is available for sale in the Lafayette area at The Book Rack, Cavalier House Books and Barnes and Noble, and on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online.

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F A L C O N S A T S A I N T S • 7 : 1 5 P. M . M O N D A y • E S P N

Kamara’s time to ‘lock in’ Latest act can reveal Saints RB’s full potential

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

In a recent sit-down interview with NBC’s Jason Garrett, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton reminisced about his time coaching Alvin Kamara. When he was with the Saints, Payton found that the running back tended to get bored. Kamara, as talented as he was, could coast in practice, occasionally leading him to drop an easy pass. So one day, the two had an honest conversation — spurred by a text message the night before in which Payton asked Kamara if he could coach him hard. Payton began the dialogue with a question: Did Kamara see himself making the Hall of Fame one day? According to Payton, Kamara answered yes. “I said, ‘All right, well, I don’t think your trajectory right now is steep enough to make that goal happen,’ ” Payton said. “I think your trajectory is five Pro Bowls, a couple All-Pro teams, phenomenal career, all-time leading rusher, but I think your trajectory, and I think your practices have to be (better).” Weighing in on social media, Kamara said it was a true story and that he was “forever grateful.” But he also wanted to make one thing clear. “He always knew that when it was time to lock in, I was ready though,” Kamara wrote, adding a laughing emoji. Payton may no longer be with the Saints. But once again, it is time for Kamara to lock in. With Travis Etienne landing on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, Kamara is suddenly poised to return to his role as New Orleans’

ä See KAMARA, page 4C

Saints RB Alvin Kamara

AP PHOTO By GERALD HERBERT

STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

Nathan Jeansonne, back right, closes the van door after helping Steve Gleason get out of it on June 24 at Gleason’s home in New Orleans.

20 years after blocked punt that changed his life, Saints icon Gleason is thriving, embracing the unknown

DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE

Steve Gleason’s life changed on Sept. 25, 2006. In the span of seven seconds, he went from unknown to unforgettable. His blocked punt in the 2006 Domecoming game against the Atlanta Falcons is one of the most iconic plays in NFL history. It spurred the Saints to a cathartic 23-3 win against their longtime rivals and cemented his legacy across the Gulf Coast region. A 12-foot bronze statue titled “Rebirth” stands on the apron of the stadium today to commemorate Gleason’s heroics. Five years after his historic play, Gleason’s life changed again. He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, an incurable neuromuscular disease that robs people of the ability to use their muscles. Since 2014, he has not been able to walk, talk, eat or breathe without the aid of human or technological assistance. Thanks to a ventilator, high-tech wheelchair and devoted team of 24-hour caregivers, he gets through each day on the strength of his extraordinary will. In the face of unconscionable adversity, Gleason has managed to not just survive but thrive. He married New Orleans native Michel Varisco in 2008, and she gave birth to the couple’s two children, Rivers and Gray, in 2011 and 2018. Gleason’s

Jeff Duncan children are his greatest inspiration, a daily source of motivation for him and Michel. So, too, are the countless people living with ALS (PALs) who have been inspired by Gleason through his work at Team Gleason, the organization he and Michel founded in 2011. Over the years, Team Gleason has raised and donated more than $65 million to assist people living with the disease. Its sister research initiative, Answer ALS, is currently assisting 730 research projects in 35 countries in an

effort to improve treatment and find a cure for the disease. “None of this happens without Steve Gleason,” said Clare Durrett, the managing director of Answer ALS. Time has afforded Gleason the benefit of perspective. There was a time, shortly after the punt block, when he resisted talking about the play. Understandably, it bothered him that people tended to reduce his life and eight-year NFL playing career to a single play. But over time, his resistance thawed — and yielded to enlightenment. As Gleason navigated his journey with ALS, he came to understand that the punt block raised his profile in ways he never could have on his own.

ä See DUNCAN, page 3C

SEC trio could stand in way of LSU’s playoff push Kentucky, Mississippi St. and Auburn no pushovers

BY JON BLAU Staff writer

When LSU’s schedule was released, a three-game stretch in November caught everyone’s eye because it presented a gauntlet of big brands. Alabama on Nov. 7. Texas on Nov. 14. Tennessee on Nov. 21. That’s a string of games against the current No. 6, No. 1 and No. 15 teams, respectively, in the Associated Press Top 25. While the Tigers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will likely need two wins in that three-game stretch to clinch a bid to the College Football Playoff, they have to sweep in October to keep their aspirations within reach. And it’s an intriguing SEC trio that stands in LSU’s way. Kentucky and Mississippi State are both 4-1. Auburn just played to within 10 points

of the Volunteers in Knoxville, Tennessee. That’s a pair of adequately sized stumbling blocks that could send Lane Kifﬁn’s debut season ﬂoundering into a realm of disappointment. Here’s why LSU might have a tougher October than anyone estimated in the preseason.

Kentucky Will Stein, the son of a Kentucky defensive end, has LSU at the center of one of his fondest Wildcat memories. He was an 18-year-old fan who stormed the field in 2007 when No. 17 Kentucky downed No. 1 LSU, the eventual national champs, in triple overtime. Stein is now the head coach of another ranked Kentucky squad that wants to leave a stain on the Tigers’ postseason résumé. He’s also the first Kentucky coach to win four of his first five games since Bear Bryant in 1946. A squad Stein beefed up in the transfer portal beat Texas A&M, like LSU, though the Wildcats’ 31-21 margin was tighter than the

Tigers’ 35-6. Kentucky also gave Alabama a game well into the third quarter, but the Crimson Tide washed away the Wildcats, 4517, with a 32-0 second half. In their past two games, the Wildcats have built positive momentum with a 45-21 win over South Alabama and a 35-34 overtime win over South Carolina, which erased a 17-point deﬁcit for the largest road comeback in program history. It remains to be seen if Stein’s squad, top in the “receiving votes” category of the AP poll this week, can relive 2007. But there is good reason for LSU to be wary. Stein, the former Oregon offensive coordinator, has found a quarterback, Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey, who takes care of the ball; the senior has 11 touchdowns to just one interception, completing just over 68% of his passes for 1,148 yards. The Wildcats play with pace but also employ a two-headed ground attack with Texas

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

LSU coach Lane Kiffin walks up the sideline during a break in a game against McNeese ä See LSU, page 2C on Saturday at Tiger Stadium.

2C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Dream takes Game 1 of semifinals Canada’s big second half helps Atlanta beat Liberty BY ALAN COLE

Associated Press ATLANTA — Jordin Canada scored 20 of her 25 points in the second half and had five steals to help the Atlanta Dream beat the New York Liberty 92-82 on Sunday in Game 1 of the best-of-five WNBA semifinals series. DeWanna Bonner added 23 points and helped fill the void when Allisha Gray went down with a left hand injury in the second quarter. Atlanta once again played stellar defense, scoring 32 points off 21 forced turnovers, including 16 in a dominant third quarter. The 32 points off turnovers tied an alltime WNBA playoff record. “Everybody stepped up, and that’s what we need,” Canada said. “Next man up mentality. I just tried to do what I do best. I tried to be aggressive, find my shots and take my shots with confidence.” Gray’s injury was the key moment of a very even first half. Neither team led by more than six points in a half that had 14 lead changes. New York went into the locker room with a slim 40-37 advantage. But Atlanta outscored New York 32-15 in the third quarter, seizing control with relentless defensive pressure. “We knew we didn’t play our best in the first half,” Canada said. “We gave up a lot of defensive assignments, we weren’t playing

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By COLIN HUBBARD

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, left, dribbles against New york Liberty forward Leonie Fiebich during the first half of Game 1 of the WNBA semifinals on Sunday in Atlanta. up to our schemes and we just weren’t being aggressive enough on the offensive end.” Angel Reese and Canada had three steals apiece in the third, keying a 13-3 run to start the half which gave Atlanta a lead it never surrendered. Seven New York players recorded at least one third-quarter turnover, and the team shot just 4 of 14 from the ﬂoor in a stretch that created a margin too big to overcome. “Live ball turnovers,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said made the difference. “We couldn’t get

a basket until pretty late in the third. We know what Atlanta likes to do. Similar situation to what happened to us at home (in last week’s regular season matchup) where they just came out and raced it down our throats. We need to be better.” New York trimmed a 16-point deﬁcit down to ﬁve in the closing minutes, but a clutch 3-pointer by Canada just before the shot clock buzzer followed by another transition layup off a stop stemmed the tide. Sabrina Ionescu led the Liberty with 27 points and Stew-

art added 19. The win marked Atlanta’s ﬁrst victory in the semifinal round since 2018, and left it as the only undefeated team remaining in the postseason. The Dream is also on an eight-game winning streak dating back to the regular season. “I thought we had a great third quarter,” Dream head coach Karl Smesko said. “They made a run at us, but we were just able to make enough plays down the stretch to close them out.” Game 2 of the series is Wednesday in Atlanta.

THE AP TOP 25

BY ERIC OLSON Associated Press

LSU

Continued from page 1C transfer CJ Baxter (361 yards) and holdover Jason Patterson (355), which can help Kentucky control the ball. LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt’s turnover issues, with seven interceptions to eight touchdowns, could spell trouble if they aren’t remedied.

Mississippi State Alabama pumped the brakes on the Mississippi State and Kamario Taylor hype train with a 56-23 win in Starkville, Mississippi, this past weekend.

BEIJING — Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka was ousted in the third round of the China Open in straight sets by the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartunkova on Sunday. In the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic maintained his perfect record at the tournament with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over U.S. Open champion Alexander Zverev in the quarterﬁnals. The No. 34-ranked Bartunkova defeated the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour and a half, leaving the tournament without its two top seeds in the ﬁrst week. Djokovic is bidding to win his seventh China Open title and is now 32-0 in Beijing, eclipsing Rafael Nadal’s 31-0 start at the French Open for the best start at a tour-level tournament in the Open era.

Meronk of LIV Golf rallies to win Dunhill Links

Missouri makes big jump to No. 14 in AP poll Missouri made a big jump to No. 14 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday following its rout of Florida while the Gators dropped eight spots to No. 16 and were replaced by LSU in the top 10. Texas will go into Saturday’s Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma as the No. 1 team for the fourth straight week. The rest of the top five stood pat with Georgia, Notre Dame, Miami and Ohio State following the Longhorns. Texas received 61 of the 70 firstplace votes from the media voting panel, one less than last week. Georgia, whose 24-point win over Vanderbilt was its closest of the season, got six first-place votes. Miami, which beat Clemson by four touchdowns on the road, got two. No. 6 Alabama and No. 7 Indiana flip-flopped, with the Hoosiers receiving the remaining first-place vote. BYU moved up two rungs to No. 8, Ole Miss remained No. 9 and LSU went up one spot to No. 10. Missouri’s 11-spot promotion from No. 25 was the second-biggest jump by a team this season following Florida’s 13-spot rise last week. The Tigers sent the Gators plummeting with their 45-17 win in Columbia, Missouri, and have their highest ranking since Oct. 5, 2025. Iowa fell six spots to No. 20 after a 17-point home loss to Ohio State, and SMU slipped three to No. 24 after an uninspired home win over Boston College. Pittsburgh made its season debut in the poll at No. 25 and Ken-

Sabalenka knocked out in straight sets in China

Rec.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JEFF ROBERSON

Missouri defensive tackle Jason Dowell celebrates a victory over Florida with his teammates on Saturday in Columbia, Mo.

tucky, No. 24 last week, dropped 1 is the program’s longest since out. it topped the poll for six weeks in 1977. In and out n No. 13 Oregon is making its Pittsburgh is 5-0 for the second 70th straight appearance in the time in three seasons and ranked Top 25. n Missouri’s biggest promotion for the ﬁrst time since last November after holding off Vir- before this week also came after a ginia Tech 35-33. The bad news win over Florida, when the Tigers is that the Panthers will go for- got a nine-spot bump to No. 5 on ward without quarterback Mason Oct. 20, 2013. n No. 12 Utah has risen in each Heintschel, who tore his ACL on Friday and will miss the rest of poll this season after starting at the season. No. 21. n No. 7 Indiana has dropped one Kentucky, which won 35-34 in overtime at South Carolina after spot each of the past three polls. erasing a 17-0 deﬁcit, is the unranked team receiving the most Conference call votes, two points behind PittsSEC (9 ranked teams): No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Alabama, No. burgh. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 LSU, No. 14 Poll points Missouri, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 16 n Texas’ four-week hold on No. Florida, No. 17 Mississippi State.

If anything, the Tide appear to be a tremendous second-half team, outscoring the Bulldogs 28-6 in the final two quarters. Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell and his comrades are a problem for LSU to solve later. In the near term, Tigers defensive coordinator Blake Baker could try to mimic what his Alabama counterpart, Kane Wommack, accomplished in flummoxing Taylor. The sophomore quarterback, who has 1,450 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, was sacked five times by the Tide defense and threw two interceptions, including a pick-6. Taylor completed 69% of his passes in Mississippi State’s first four games; he connected on just 56% this past Saturday.

LSU’s defense would appear to have the pass rushers to affect Taylor, currently sitting second nationally in sacks with 22. That includes eight for senior edge Princewill Umanmielen and ﬁve for freshman defensive tackle Deuce Geralds. Plus, LSU gets No. 17 Mississippi State in Tiger Stadium, where Kiffin currently holds a 194-44 scoring advantage in four wins. But this one’s far from a gimme.

Pts.

Prv.

1. Texas (61) 4-0 1737 1 2. Georgia (6) 5-0 1647 2 3. Notre Dame 5-0 1532 3 4. Miami (FL) (2) 5-0 1524 4 5. Ohio State 4-1 1490 5 6. Alabama 5-0 1460 7 7. Indiana (1) 5-0 1380 6 8. BYU 4-0 1144 10 9. Ole Miss 3-1 1095 9 10. LSU 4-1 1087 11 11. Texas Tech 5-0 1062 12 12. Utah 4-0 996 13 13. Oregon 3-1 831 15 14. Missouri 4-1 755 25 15. Tennessee 4-1 746 17 16. Florida 4-1 691 8 17. Mississippi State 4-1 487 16 18. Oklahoma State 3-1 477 19 19. USC 5-1 439 18 20. Iowa 4-1 367 14 21. UCLA 4-0 287 23 22. Houston 4-1 279 20 23. Boise State 4-1 271 22 24. SMU 4-1 167 21 25. Pittsburgh 5-0 162 NR Others receiving votes: Kentucky 160, Wake Forest 142, Wisconsin 88, Duke 83, Northwestern 59, Nebraska 48, Minnesota 19, Arizona 19, James Madison 12, North Dakota State 7

Big Ten (6): No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Indiana, No. 13 Oregon, No. 19 USC, No. 20 Iowa, No. 21 UCLA. Big 12 (5): No. 8 BYU, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 12 Utah, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 22 Houston. ACC (3): No. 4 Miami, No. 24 SMU, No. 25 Pittsburgh. Pac-12 (1): No. 23 Boise State. Independent (1): No. 3 Notre Dame.

Ranked vs. ranked No. 2 Georgia at No. 6 Alabama: The two Southeastern Conference powers split two games in 2025. The Bulldogs haven’t been tested yet, and the Crimson Tide hasn’t scored fewer than 45 points in a game so far this season. No. 21 UCLA at No. 13 Oregon: Last met in a Top 25 matchup in 2022. The Bruins, who have lost ﬁve straight to Ducks, get their biggest test after four impressive wins.

playing to a 44-39 shootout loss to Florida before notching a 2115 win over Vanderbilt. Tennessee’s offense has been scattershot behind young quarterbacks, but it’s admirable to play the Volunteers to a 24-14 result in Neyland Stadium. And it was 1714 until Tennessee added its ﬁnal touchdown with 3:30 left. The question is how much of an outlier Auburn’s 39-point outburst was, especially after Florida was just blown out 45-17 by Missouri. Auburn Maybe it’s a flash of Auburn’s The other Tigers don’t appear potential under former South Florida coach Alex Golesh and his feckless. Auburn opened the season by uptempo scheme. Maybe it’s an squeaking by an otherwise un- outlier from an undeveloped probeaten Baylor, 17-16, blasting gram that still needs time to put Southern Miss 43-8, and then the pieces together.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Adrian Meronk caught up quickly and pulled ahead on the mistakes of Casey Jarvis to win the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday with a 4-under 68, giving the 33-year-old from Poland a full card on the European tour when he desperately needed it. Meronk was the tour player of the year in 2023 when he was left off the Ryder Cup team in Rome, and then defected to LIV Golf the following year. He was among eight players who accepted a deal from the European tour earlier this year that allowed him to keep his membership. Victory was not secure until Jarvis failed to hole out for eagle from the Valley of Sin on the 18th at the Old Course.

17-year-old is youngest USMNT player to score

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Cavan Sullivan became the youngest player to score a goal in U.S. men’s national team history, fellow teenager Julian Hall added another goal and the Americans cruised to a 3-0 victory over Mexico late Saturday night in an international friendly that was the 80th match between the rivals. At 17 years and five days old, Sullivan scored his stunning goal in the 62nd minute, intercepting a sloppy pass from Mexico goalkeeper José Rangel and then lofting a long shot over the goalkeeper’s head into the net for a 2-0 lead. The Philadelphia Union forward sprinted to the corner of the ﬁeld where he was mobbed by teammates. “This is what you dream of,” Sullivan said.

Verstappen tops Antonelli to win F1’s Bahrain GP

SEPANG, Malaysia — Max Verstappen’s long wait for another Formula 1 race win is finally over. The title race might be over, too. Verstappen took his first victory of an often-frustrating year for the four-time champion at Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday. A retirement for George Russell handed a huge title boost to Kimi Antonelli. Verstappen was leading from Antonelli and Russell behind the safety car with five laps to go when Russell suddenly pulled over in his Mercedes. The retirement allowed Antonelli to further stretch his lead over teammate Russell from 66 points to 84, with seven races remaining on the schedule.

Colorado St. DC leaves game, fired afterward

Not long after the start of what turned into a 56-26 loss to Oregon State on Saturday in Fort Collins, Colorado State defensive coordinator Tyson Summers was nowhere to be found. When the game ended, Rams coach Jim Mora said Summers was, in fact, no longer with the team. “That is a permanent move that was made following tonight’s game,” Mora said. Mora said he had relieved his assistant of his play-calling duties in the first half, though telling him to leave the sideline “wasn’t anything that I would ever consider.” The latest defensive debacle came a week after a 59-45 loss to UTSA. Colorado State (2-3) has now allowed 193 points over five games, the fifth most of the 138 schools in the FBS.

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SAINTS GAMEDAY

ROSTERS SAINTS No. Player Pos Ht Wt Exp College 1 Kool-Aid McKinstry CB 5-11 199 3 Alabama 2 Spencer Rattler QB 6-0 211 3 South Carolina 4 Oscar Delp TE 6-4 245 0 Georgia 5 Kendre Miller RB 6-0 220 4 TCU 6 Tyler Shough QB 6-5 219 2 Louisville 7 Jonas Sanker SAF 6-1 211 2 Virginia 10 Daniel Carlson K 6-5 222 9 Auburn 11 Zach Wilson QB 6-2 214 6 ByU 12 Chris Olave WR 6-0 187 5 Ohio State 14 Devaughn Vele WR 6-5 210 3 Utah 17 Ryan Wright P 6-3 245 5 Tulane 18 Bryce Lance WR 6-3 204 0 North Dakota St. 19 Barion Brown WR 5-11 177 0 LSU 20 Pete Werner LB 6-3 242 6 Ohio State 21 Justin Reid SAF 6-1 207 9 Stanford 22 Martin Emerson Jr. CB 6-2 201 5 Mississippi State 23 Julian Blackmon SAF 6-0 202 7 Utah 24 Ulysses Bentley IV RB 5-10 200 1 Ole Miss 25 D. Richardson CB 6-2 188 4 Mississippi St. 28 Danny Stutsman LB 6-3 233 2 Oklahoma 29 Quincy Riley CB 5-11 195 2 Louisville 31 Jordan Howden DB 6-0 209 4 Minnesota 33 Anfernee Jennings DE 6-2 255 7 Alabama 38 Jayden Price CB 5-11 185 1 North Dakota St. 41 Alvin Kamara RB 5-10 215 10 Tennessee 42 Mike Reid SAF 6-2 200 1 South Dakota 43 CJ Donaldson RB 6-1 230 0 Ohio State 44 Isaiah Stalbird LB 6-1 215 2 South Dakota St. 46 Cal Adomitis LS 6-2 238 5 Pittsburgh 50 Colby Wooden DL 6-4 273 4 Auburn 51 Cesar Ruiz OL 6-4 316 7 Michigan 52 Christen Miller DT 6-3 321 0 Georgia 55 Kaden Elliss LB 6-2 238 8 Idaho 56 David Ojabo DE 6-4 255 5 Michigan 58 Chris Rumph II LB 6-2 244 6 Duke 65 Jeremiah Wright G 6-5 331 0 Auburn 66 William Sherman G 6-4 300 2 Colorado 72 Asim Richards OL 6-4 307 4 North Carolina 74 Mason Murphy T 6-5 315 0 Auburn 75 Taliese Fuaga T 6-6 324 3 Oregon State 76 David Edwards G 6-6 308 8 Wisconsin 78 Erik McCoy OL 6-4 303 8 Texas A&M 81 Kevin Austin Jr. WR 6-2 200 3 Notre Dame 82 Treyton Welch TE 6-4 240 1 Wyoming 83 Juwan Johnson TE 6-4 245 7 Oregon 87 Noah Fant TE 6-4 249 8 Iowa 91 Vernon Broughton DL 6-5 311 2 Texas 92 Davon Godchaux DL 6-3 330 10 LSU 93 Nathan Shepherd DL 6-4 315 9 Fort Hays State 94 Cameron Jordan DE 6-4 287 16 California 95 John Ridgeway III DL 6-5 321 5 Arkansas 96 Carl Granderson DE 6-5 261 8 Wyoming 97 Khristian Boyd DL 6-2 320 3 Northern Iowa 98 Tyree Wilson DE 6-5 263 4 Texas Tech 99 Chase young DE 6-5 265 7 Ohio State

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This is more than just Saints vs. Falcons on Monday night. This game commemorates the 20th anniversary of one of the most important games in Saints history. Many of the players are too young to remember Steve Gleason’s blocked punt, but Kellen Moore made sure they understood the significance. The Saints are pulling out all the stops, bringing back former players and an all-star cast of halftime performers. It won’t be a normal game, so the Saints will have to stay locked in.

The season started with Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs (156 yards rushing). The defense fared better against Baltimore’s Derrick Henry (68 yards) and Las Vegas’ Ashton Jeanty (56 yards). Now they get Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (5.3 yards per carry). Cam Jordan said it best: “Can we get a regular running back?” Robinson had 213 total yards in the Falcons’ win over the Packers last week. “you can’t stop him. you just have to try to get there and create more negatives than positives,” Jordan said.

The Falcons have the league’s stingiest run defense, yielding just 47.7 yards per game. The Saints, meanwhile, are trying to get their running game going. They now have to do so without Travis Etienne, who was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. So it’ll be up to Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller to carry the load. Kamara is averaging a career-low 2.8 yards per carry. Miller is averaging 3.4 yards per carry. They need to get the running game going.

The Saints have yet to play a complete game. They’ve played six halves — three good ones and three bad ones. They looked like a really good football team in the second half against the Lions and Ravens as well as the first half against the Raiders. Now they need to do it for 60 minutes. The Saints have struggled in the Dome recently, with a 6-12 home record since 2024. A win Monday would put them at the top of the NFC South while removing the sour taste from last week. Rod Walker

STAFF FILE PHOTO By MICHAEL DEMOCKER

FALCONS No. Player Pos Ht Wt Exp College 0 Divine Deablo LB 6-3 223 6 Virginia Tech 1 Tua Tagovailoa QB 6-1 225 7 Alabama 3 Jessie Bates III SAF 6-1 210 9 Wake Forest 4 Jahan Dotson WR 5-11 184 5 Penn State 5 Drake London WR 6-4 215 5 USC 6 Nick Folk K 6-1 225 19 Arizona 7 Bijan Robinson RB 5-11 215 4 Texas 8 Kyle Pitts Sr. TE 6-6 250 5 Florida 9 Michael Penix Jr. QB 6-3 220 3 Washington 12 Avieon Terrell CB 5-11 180 0 Clemson 13 Cooper Rush QB 6-3 224 9 Central Michigan 14 Olamide Zaccheaus WR 5-8 194 8 Virginia 15 Brian Robinson RB 6-1 225 5 Alabama 16 Jake Bailey P 6-2 212 8 Stanford 17 Zachariah Branch WR 5-10 180 0 Georgia 18 Jack Strand QB 6-5 240 0 MS Moorhead 19 Chris Blair WR 6-2 215 2 Alcorn State 21 Mike Hughes CB 5-10 190 9 UCF 22 yasir Abdullah LB 6-1 234 4 Louisville 23 DeMarcco Hellams SAF 6-1 203 4 Alabama 26 C.J. Henderson CB 6-1 205 6 Florida 28 Mike Ford Jr. CB 6-0 199 9 SEMO State 29 Sydney Brown DB 5-10 211 4 Illinois 31 Xavier Watts SAF 6-0 203 2 Notre Dame 33 Billy Bowman Jr. CB 5-10 194 2 Oklahoma 36 Malcolm DeWalt IV CB 6-2 190 0 Akron 37 Robert Longerbeam CB 5-11 178 2 Rutgers 45 Christian Harris LB 6-2 232 5 Alabama 46 Josh Woods LB 6-1 235 7 Maryland 49 Liam McCullough LS 6-2 245 5 Ohio State 51 Jared Ivey LB 6-6 274 2 Ole Miss 52 Samson Ebukam DE 6-3 245 10 Eastern Wash. 53 Kendal Daniels LB 6-5 242 0 Oklahoma 54 Brandon Dorlus DL 6-3 295 3 Oregon 55 Za’Darius Smith DE 6-4 270 11 Kentucky 56 Harold Perkins Jr. LB 6-0 223 0 LSU 62 Corey Levin OL 6-4 307 8 Chattanooga 63 Chris Lindstrom G 6-4 310 8 Boston College 64 Ryan Neuzil OL 6-3 305 5 App. State 65 Matthew Bergeron OL 6-5 315 4 Syracuse 68 Kyle Hinton OL 6-2 315 4 Washburn 70 Jake Matthews T 6-5 310 13 Texas A&M 71 Jawaan Taylor OT 6-5 312 8 Florida 72 Michael Jerrell OL 6-5 309 3 Findlay 75 Ethan Onianwa T 6-7 331 0 Ohio State 81 Austin Hooper TE 6-4 254 11 Stanford 87 Nick Muse TE 6-5 252 3 South Carolina 88 Beaux Collins WR 6-3 206 2 Notre Dame 89 Charlie Woerner TE 6-5 250 7 Georgia 92 Maason Smith DL 6-5 306 3 LSU 94 LaCale London DT 6-3 297 3 Western Illinois 95 Gervon Dexter Sr. DT 6-6 326 4 Florida 96 Zach Harrison DL 6-5 270 4 Ohio State 99 Cameron Thomas DE 6-4 265 5 San Diego State

INJURY REPORT SAINTS OUT: LB Kaden Elliss (calf), EDGE Carl Granderson (ankle), EDGE Anfernee Jennings (knee). QUESTIONABLE: LB Pete Werner (stinger),TE Noah Fant (abdominal).

FALCONS QUESTIONABLE: LB Divine Deablo (hamstring), DE Samson Ebukam (hamstring).

With one of the most iconic moments in the history of the New Orleans Saints, Steve Gleason blocks a punt by Atlanta’s Michael Koenen on Sept. 25, 2006, as the Superdome reopened for the first time since Hurricane Katrina.

DUNCAN

screen, those are the fans of New Orleans,” Payton said to the team after the Continued from page 1C video was finished. “They’re going to be here Monday night, and we can’t let them down. We’re playing for them. The only way to make this a special night is to win It opened doors for Team Gleason and this football game.” provided a platform to impact people’s “It was an overwhelmingly emotional lives that never would have been possible moment,” Gleason said. And it set the otherwise. Gleason came to understand that those stage for Monday night. The anticipation for the Saints’ home seven seconds on Sept. 25, 2006, didn’t opener had been building for months. just change his life. They saved it. To allow time for workers to complete “If I don’t block that punt,” Gleason the seven-month, $195 million renovasaid, “I’d be dead.” tion, the NFL scheduled all of the Saints’ ‘A Super Bowl for locals’ preseason games and first two regularseason games on the road. A massive The reopening of the Superdome banner announcing the kickoff date — was one of the most anticipated events “REOPENING 9-25-2006” — had hung in New Orleans’ long, proud history. on the side of the building since the The stadium had suffered hundreds of construction project began in January. millions of dollars in water and wind Every commuter on I-10 coming and godamage when it was torn asunder by ing through New Orleans could read it. Hurricane Katrina. The damage was so great many feared the stadium would be The Dome was bathed in lights nightly demolished. But Louisiana Gov. Kathleen for the first time. “This is going to be big,” Doug ThornBlanco thought otherwise. She knew the importance of the Superdome to citizens ton, former Superdome management exof the city and state — both economically ecutive, said on the eve of the game as he watched musical superstars Green Day and symbolically. Blanco fast-tracked funds to renovate the iconic stadium dur- and U2 rehearse the pregame musical performance. “This is like a Super Bowl ing the first nine months of 2006. — a Super Bowl for locals.” For New Orleanians, the Superdome By the time Monday morning arrived, has long been much more than a football stadium. It is a civic treasure, revered in the energy, emotion and anticipation for the game was palpable across the city. It the same way Chicagoans love Wrigley felt like Fat Tuesday. Field and Bostonians feel about Fenway By 4 p.m., the crowd around the staPark. And over the years it served the dium was so large it spilled onto Poydras Gulf Coast region well, as a storm shelter during hurricanes and as a communal Street, blocking traffic to and from the gathering spot for countless games, con- stadium. The situation became so unruly south of the stadium, police interrupted a certs, Mardi Gras parades and parties. free Cowboy Mouth concert and stopped In times of joy and sorrow, the Superdome has been here for the people of New the band for 20 minutes mid-set to ask for its permits and allow the streets to clear. Orleans. And on Monday, Sept. 25, 2006, it Around 5 p.m., a large crowd gathered was back from the brink of destruction. at the front entrance of the Superdome While the excitement of the big day where Saints players were debuting a was undeniably tangible, an undercurrent of apprehension remained. Nothing Payton-inspired idea: valet parking and black-carpet entrance to the stadium. was certain in New Orleans back then, Fans cheered wildly at the arrival of including the Saints’ future in the city. each luxury vehicle. The largest cheers “I think there are more questions than were reserved for rookie sensation Regthere are answers right now toward the gie Bush and star receiver Joe Horn, community,” NFL commissioner Roger who arrived in a gold three-piece suit Goodell said during a pregame press and black felt fedora. conference that night. “We should do this every week,” Horn In that regard, the reopening of the said as we walked to the locker room. Superdome was bigger for New Orleans “I’m just overjoyed for the fans, the than Super Bowl XLIV or the 2010 NFC championship game. It certainly was the people of this city. The icing on the cake will be the butt-whooping we put on the biggest regular-season game in New OrFalcons tonight.” leans history. Leading up to the game, Gleason reTo hammer home this point at the members people stopping him on the Saints’ practice on Friday night before street or at the store to tell him how the game, Saints coach Sean Payton showed the team a 5-minute documentary proud they were to be New Orleanians and how much they wanted the Saints to on the history of Hurricane Katrina and win the game. the previous 13 months in New Orleans “In many ways, the Saints repreon the video boards inside the stadium. sented the city’s return to glory, and its The video showed images of the storm’s residents’ return to normalcy,” he said. destruction and relayed messages from “A victory would be redeeming. A loss New Orleans citizens and Saints fans. would be crushing.” “Now you see those people on the

The NFL understood the game’s significance and had lined up a Super Bowlworthy lineup of musical entertainment. The Goo Goo Dolls played an hour-long set outside the Dome before the game. Two of the biggest bands in the world, U2 and Green Day, performed a threesong pregame set at midfield, backed by the Rebirth and New Birth brass bands. Spike Lee, Snoop Dogg and former president George H.W. Bush were on the sidelines, along with a bunch of other celebrities and dignitaries. The crowd’s emotion and passion were palpable in the Dome as kickoff approached. Gleason said he could feel the pulsating energy on the field. The entire stadium was still buzzing from the U2/Green Day performance when the Saints kicked off to start the game. Atlanta failed to get a first down on its first series, so the punt team lined up on the sideline. “I heard (special teams coach John) Bonamego walk over to coach Payton and say he wanted to go for the punt block,” Gleason said. “I was shocked to hear the block called right after that very first series, especially in that field position, which usually calls for a return. But that was the maverick style that made Payton the most successful coach in Saints history. And I was all in!” During their preparation for the game, Saints coaches noticed a weakness in the Falcons’ punt protection scheme. Specifically, the center and the personal protector, the player positioned halfway between the center and punter, always blocked opposite one another. When the personal protector lined up to the right side of the formation, the Saints felt confident the center was going to block to the left, so the coaches schemed up a play to try to block one of their punts. Of the eight players in the Saints puntrush package, six of them were going to remain unchanged. But the two inside players, Gleason and Aaron Stecker, had to focus on the alignment of the personal protector. The Saints’ plan was to run a stunt at the line of scrimmage to create havoc with their blocking scheme.

‘Get to the punter’s foot’ When Gleason aligned in his threepoint stance to the right of the Falcons’ center, he had no way of knowing he was about to make history. He did know, though, that he had a chance to make a play. He had blocked a punt against the Arizona Cardinals two years earlier using a similar scheme, so he was familiar with the techniques involved. “My responsibility was pretty simple: Get to the punter’s foot,” Gleason said. “When the ball was snapped, their protection slid away from me and the big gap opened. When I saw the opening, I knew I had a chance. Then suddenly it

ä See DUNCAN, page 4C

4C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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FALCONS at SAINTS

7:15 p.m. Monday, Caesars Superdome Line: Saints by 1½ (Over/Under: 47½) TV: ESPN | Radio: WWL-AM, 870; WWL-FM, 105.3

DUNCAN

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

Continued from page 3C felt like the world slowed down and everything became clear. I blocked the punt with my left hand. As I was giving up, I saw Curtis (Deloatch) recover the ball in the end zone.” Deloatch celebrated the one and only touchdown of his career by spiking the ball over the goal post. As he did, Gleason raised his arms to his side, sprinted to the southwest corner of the end zone and slid to his knees, awash in the bedlam of the sellout crowd. “This was the moment, our moment,” Gleason said. “I understood that the night was bigger than football, but none of us could have understood what those few seconds would come to mean 20 years later. And strangely enough, those few seconds radically changed STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD the course of my life, too.” Steve Gleason listens to Troy Andrews, also The game drew an average viewing audience known as Trombone Shorty, perform at a of 14.9 million viewers across 10.85 million households, making it the most-watched prorecording session on Sept. 14 at Esplanade gram in ESPN’s 27-year history. In a memo to Studios in New Orleans. Gleason recently NFL staff three days after the game, Goodell called the game and events surrounding it one finished producing an album featuring a collection of songs written by him performed by of “the NFL’s finest moments.” artists from across the country. “The blocked punt was the kind of moment you dream about your entire life: Being in award-winning documentary of his life, “Gleafront of tens of thousands of fans in the stadium and millions of fans on TV and doing some- son,” in 2014. A decade later, he wrote his critically acclaimed memoir, “A Life Impossible.” thing of great consequence. I did it, and I love He recently finished producing an album, that I did it. That’s why we watch sports and “Rebirth,” a collection of songs performed why we play sports — for a moment like that. by artists from across the country. The lyrics I love the people of New Orleans, and for me to get a chance to give them that much joy was were written by Gleason. Marc Broussard will perform a set of Gleason’s songs at 5:50 p.m. extraordinarily special. For many people, it’s Monday in Championship Square. the only thing in my playing career that they “Steve doesn’t let anything remember me for, and that’s get in the way,” Goodell said. cool with me. I’m the little kid “If I didn’t block the “He’s just like, ‘This is what who dreamed of playing in punt, I don’t see any I want to do,’ and he goes and the NFL and doing something does it. Michel’s there with great. And that night, I did.” of this happening. him and the family and the Still creating, exploring That moment kids. It’s an incredibly inspiring and special story. And difThe blocked punt was the connected my life to ficult. And challenging. And highlight of Gleason’s career New Orleans in a way heartbreaking. But through it and the tipping point in the all, he just keeps triumphing. Saints’ storybook 2006 seaI never could have There’s nothing he can’t do.” son. They went on to finish planned.” As Gleason navigates Year 10-6, win the NFC South and 16 of his journey with ALS, he advance to the NFC championSTEVE GLEASON, still finds reasons to get out of ship for the first time in franFormer Saints safety bed each day. He’s motivated chise history. most by being a good father to Late in the third quarter of Rivers and Gray and a capable that game, the Saints were forced to punt after a safety, and Gleason tack- provider for his family. But despite the physiled Devin Hester after a short 5-yard return. It cal limitations, he finds excitement in all corwould be the final tackle of his NFL career. He ners of life. Where “No White Flags” was once his daily mantra, he now finds “Keep Explorretired in 2008. Considering Hester’s reputation as the best return man in NFL history and ing” more fitting. “The thing I’m most excited about is what a future Hall of Famer, it wasn’t a bad way for I don’t know yet,” Gleason said. “I’ve always Gleason to end his career. been curious. Before ALS, that curiosity took After he retired, Gleason worked briefly as an executive at the Shaw Group before his ALS me into the mountains, onto rivers, into different countries, into football, music and whatdiagnosis forced him to resign in 2011. Since ever adventure seemed interesting at the time. then, he’s focused on advocacy work at Team ALS changed how I explore the world, but it Gleason and Answer ALS. Gleason’s life-changing work has been recog- never changed my desire to explore it. In some nized around the globe. He’s received the Con- ways, it actually expanded it. “I want to keep writing, keep making music, gressional Gold Medal, the Arthur Ashe Courkeep traveling and experiencing things with age Award and the NCAA Inspiration Award. Michel, Rivers and Gray. Keep having ridicuHe’s been inducted into the Washington State Athletic Hall of Fame and been honored by the lous conversations with my friends. Keep learning from people who know things I don’t Saints Hall of Fame, Louisiana Sports Hall of know. Keep pushing technology into places we Fame and Pro Football Writers of America. haven’t considered yet. “If I didn’t block the punt, I don’t see any of “One of the things ALS has taught me is that this happening,” Gleason said. “That moment your world doesn’t have to become smaller connected my life to New Orleans in a way I just because your body does. I don’t know exnever could have planned.” actly what comes next. That’s probably why Since his diagnosis, Gleason has kept busy I’m excited about it.” in a variety of ways. He co-produced an

Saints

Falcons

PASSING

Player

Cmp-Att-Pct Yds TD Int

Tyler Shough

91-132-68.9

917

RUSHING

Player

Att

Net

Continued from page 1C starting running back. This wasn’t the spot either he or the Saints envisioned when they haggled for months over his contract, ultimately leading the 31-year-old to take a $5.5 million pay cut. But the Saints kept Kamara for a reason. New Orleans could have moved on, but chose to bring back its all-time leading rusher. The driving factor went beyond what it would mean for Kamara to finish his career in New Orleans. The reason went beyond the idea that the running back could be arguably more effective in a reduced role. The Saints brought Kamara back because they still believed he had enough left in the tank to contribute. “Listen, if you can’t play on the field, then they can’t play,” Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said in July. “It’s that type of business.” The Saints’ actions since have reiterated that belief. After a competitive training camp, New Orleans let go of talented running backs such as Devin Neal and Audric Estime — first stashing them on injured reserve before waiving them with a settlement. Then when the season began, Kamara’s usage was higher than many anticipated. After missing New Orleans’ season opener with a knee injury, Kamara returned to play 29.4% and 32.4% of the snaps. But within those numbers, he had more carries than Etienne in a Week 2 win over Baltimore and while that was on pace to correct itself a week later, Etienne then got hurt. “Very few times in this league is one running back going to haul the load,” coach Kellen Moore said. “That’s just what this league is.” But the question remains: How effective can Kamara still be? Last season, he was statistically one of the league’s worst running backs. The 2017 third-rounder not only put up career lows in several categories (yards, yards per carry), but he ranked near the bottom of the league in advanced categories like rushing yards over

expected and rushing yards after contact. That was even with Kamara missing the last six games because of an injury. Still, the Saints struggled to run the ball as a team. Were the stats a sign of Kamara’s decline — or a team that couldn’t block properly? Kamara, too, was coming off a resurgent 2024 when he seemed to thrive in then-offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s outside zone scheme. The early returns this season haven’t provided an answer. In his season debut, Kamara averaged only 1.7 yards per carry — but that was a game in which New Orleans again couldn’t generate much on the ground. Last week against the Las Vegas Raiders, Kamara’s numbers improved — a respectable 4.0 yards per carry — but finished with 6 fewer yards than expected, according to Next Gen Stats. Teammates continue to voice confidence in his abilities. Guard David Edwards has only been with the Saints this season, but he saw what Kamara was still capable of last season when New Orleans gave a spirited effort against the Buffalo Bills. From the other sideline, Edwards saw a team that controlled the line of scrimmage — and a premier running back who capitalized on those holes. Edwards’ appreciation has only grown over the last few months, having gotten to know the running back. “Alvin’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around,” Edwards said. “His library of football is obviously so vast that when you talk to him about a certain play or a certain look, he’s able to recall, maybe a play, a cut or a situation that he’s already experienced.” That library can take people by surprise. For about the first year and a half of his career, Kendre Miller admitted he had a tough time following whenever Kamara brought up “a look from 2018” or some other random year and dove into the details. “He can pretty much see the play happen before it happens,” Miller said. Can Kamara’s legs match what his eyes see? If they can’t, the Saints and Kamara might need another honest conversation.

Avg TD

Rec Yards Avg TD

Player

128 51 67 44

4.3 2.8 4.8 3.4

Chris Olave Juwan Johnson Devaughn Vele Travis Etienne Noah Fant Alvin Kamara

27 15 15 11 8 6

375 173 172 51 66 12

13.9 11.5 11.5 4.6 8.3 2.0

1 3 1 0 3 0

22-39-56.4 18-25-72

Att

Bijan Robinson Brian Robinson Drake London Cooper Rush

XPM XPA FGM FGA

Daniel Carlson

Net

66 30 2 2

349 132 4 20

1 1

4 1

Avg TD 5.3 4.4 2.0 10

2 1 0 0

RECEIVING Drake London Bijan Robinson Jahan Dotson Austin Hooper Olamide Zaccheaus Zachariah Branch

KICKING Player

229 256

RUSHING

RECEIVING Player

Cmp-Att-Pct Yds TD Int

Cooper Rush Michael Penix

Player

30 18 14 13

PASSING

Player

0 0 1 1

Travis Etienne Alvin Kamara Tyler Shough Kendre Miller

Rec Yards Avg TD 15 13 4 4 4 3

274 118 41 31 17 21

18.3 9.1 10.3 7.8 4.3 7

0 1 0 1 0 0

KICKING Player

XPM XPA FGM FGA

Nick Folk

DEFENSIVE LEADERS TACKLES

TACKLES

Player

Tot Solo Ast TFL Sk

Player

Kaden Elliss

Jessie Bates

Pete Werner

Xavier Watts

Jonas Sanker

Mike Hughes

Danny Stutsman

CJ Henderson

Tot Solo Ast TFL Sk

Kool-Aid McKinstry

Divine Deablo

Justin Reid

Sydney Brown

Julian Blackmon

Kendal Daniels

Davon Godchaux

LaCale London

Cameron Thomas

1.5

Gervon Dexter

0.5 0

Carl Gradnerson

Nathan Shepherd

0.5

Anfernee Jennings

AJ Terrell

Quincy Riley

Harold Perkins

Vernon Broughton

Za’Darius Smith

2.5

Martin Emerson

Nick Muse

Isaiah Stalbird

Brandon Dorlus

Colby Wooden

Maason Smith

Chase Young

3.5

Samson Ebukam

0.5

Khristian Boyd

Chris Blair

Jordan Howden

Zach Harrison

TEAM STATS OFFENSE PER GAME Yards gained: 382.6

OFFENSE PER GAME Yards gained: 340.7

Plays: 70.7

Plays: 61.0

PASS 281.3

RUSH 101.3

PASS 44.0

RUSH 26.7

Turnovers: 2.33 INTERCEPTIONS 1.00

FUMBLES 1.33

PASS 167.7

RUSH 173.0

PASS 26.3

RUSH 34.7

Turnovers: 2.67 INTERCEPTIONS 2.00

FUMBLES 0.67

DEFENSE PER GAME Yards allowed: 340.4

DEFENSE PER GAME Yards allowed: 310.7

Turnovers forced: 1.00

Turnovers forced: 0.66

PASS 211.7

RUSH 128.7

INTERCEPTIONS 0.33

FUMBLES 0.67

SCORING PER GAME

SCORED ALLOWED

PASS 263.0

RUSH 47.7

INTERCEPTIONS 0.33

FUMBLES 0.33

SCORING PER GAME

SCORED ALLOWED

27.7

27.0

22.5

18.0

KAMARA

six-day-a-week newsletter

2026

22.7

17.0

2025

23.6

20.8

2026

2025

CONVERSION SUCCESS

Third down

Fourth down

20% 46.8%

Fail

50%

34.3% 53.2%

Convert

80%

Fail

50%

65.7%

Fail

Convert

Fail

Convert

STAFF PREDICTIONS JEFF DUNCAN

SAINTS 27, FALCONS 16: The Saints are banged up right now, but all of the intangible factors are in their favor. They will have the emotion and enthusiasm of the home crowd on their side as the city commemorates the 2006 Domecoming game. And they’ll be extra motivated after squandering last week’s game to the Raiders.

LUKE JOHNSON

SAINTS 30, FALCONS 28: I felt a lot better about this one before the injury report came out. Playing without Kaden Elliss, Carl Granderson and Anfernee Jennings — and potentially Pete Werner — against a team that has Bijan Robinson is going to make things tough. But the Superdome atmosphere should be a big lift, and I think the Saints offense has enough juice to overcome what the team is missing defensively.

MATTHEW PARAS

SAINTS 38, FALCONS 17: The Saints haven’t had a true blowout like this under Kellen Moore — that they’ve been on the winning end, anyway. But there’s no time like the present, especially given the circumstances surrounding Monday’s game. The Saints could very well struggle against Bijan Robinson and the Falcons without their starting linebackers. Still, the Saints have been unpredictable through three games.

ROD WALKER

FALCONS 27, SAINTS 24: If you had asked for my prediction two weeks ago, I would have picked the Saints in a blowout. But the Falcons’ win at Lambeau was impressive, even if the Packers were hampered by injuries.They are coming off 11 days of rest, have QB Michael Penix back and are facing a banged-up Saints team. Missing linebackers against a back like Bijan Robinson isn’t ideal.

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● 5C

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SCOREBOARD Odds

East

Sports Betting Line NFL Monday

FAVORITE at N.O.

OPEN 2½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ (47½) Atlanta

College Football Tuesday

FAVORITE at TROY

OPEN 9½

Wednesday

FAVORITE OPEN Jax St 2½ at FLA INTL 4½

Thursday

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 10½ (49½) S. Miss TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 3 (49½)at KNSW ST 5½ (47½) Nmsu

FAVORITE OPEN at W. KENT 2½ at LIBERTY 13½ at UTSA 6½ at ARKAN ST 1½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 2½ (55½) Missou St. 13½ (52½) Sam Hou 6½ (52½) S. Florida 1½ (57½)S. Alabama

FAVORITE OPEN at LOUSVLLE 7½ at SJSU 6 at WASH 1½ at UTAH ST 1½ at BYU 14½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 5½ (58½) Florida St 6½ (44½) Wyoming 2½ (41½) Iowa 3½ (43½) Wash St 10½ (48½) Iowa St

FAVORITE OPEN Indiana 8½ at ARMY 6½ at PITTS 4½ at B. GREEN 6½ at MISSOURI 1½ Arizona 3½ at OKLAH ST 9½ Wake Forest 2½ at NWSTRN 34½ at FLORIDA 14½ at APP ST 5½ at UMASS 2½ Va Tech 11½ E. Michigan 5½ at KANS ST 1½ Illinois 2½ at W. MICH 13½ Duke 5½ at N. TEXAS 24½ at OREGON 12½ Ole Miss 10½ at TOLEDO 17½ at OHIO 3½ at NAVY 3½ at N.D. 35½ Texas 6½ at TEMPLE 3 at E. CAR 9½ Tennessee 14½ at OSU 37½ at ORGN ST 14½ LSU 10½ Nevada 9½ N. Dakota St 1½ at MEMPHS 16½ at MARSHLL 2½ USC PK at LA TECH 1½ Air Force 12½ J. Madison 10 at VIRGINIA 6½ Georgia 2½ Minnesota 5½ at UTAH 13½ Boise State 10½ at ASU 17½

TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 8½ (51½) at NBRSKA 3½ (46½) Tulane 4 (46½) N. Carolina 7½ (42½) Sac State 4½ (48½)Texas A&M 2½ (59½) at W. VA 10 (53½) UCF 3½ (59½) at NC ST 35½ (52½) Ball State 14½ (61½) S. Carolina 9½ (51½) Old Dom OFF (48½)Miami (OH) 10½ (52½) at CAL 5½ (50½) at AKRON 2½ (55½) Houston 3½ (49½) at MICH ST 14 (43½) Kent State 7 (49½)at GA TECH 25½ (59½) Charlotte 11½ (60½) UCLA 10½ (57½) at VANDY 19½ (54½) Buffalo 3½ (47½)C. Michigan 2½ (50) Tulsa 37½ (54½) Stanford 8½ (39½) at OKLA 3½ (54½) UConn 9½ (50½) Rice 13½ (49½) at ARKAN 35½ (56½) Maryland 14 (56½)San Digo St 9½ (54½) at KENT 9½ (49½) at UTEP 3½ (49½) at UNLV 14½ (58½) UAB 3 (56½) C. Carolina 1½ (55½) at PENN ST 2½ (49½) UL 12½ (47½)at N. ILLINS 9½ (54½) at GA SO 9½ (50½) Syracuse 1½ (56½) at BAMA 2½ (51½) at PURDUE 14½ (51½) Kansas 6½ (48½) at FRESNO 21½ (51½) Hawaii

Friday

Saturday

MLB

NHL

Monday

FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -197 at PITTSBURGH -174 Ottawa -114 at DALLAS -169

PA 107 77 84 86

Jacksonville Indianapolis Tennessee Houston

W 3 2 0 0

L 1 2 4 4

Pct PF .750 104 .500 102 .000 55 .000 84

PA 53 104 83 109

Cleveland Baltimore Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 3 3 2 2

L T Pct PF 1 0 .750 81 1 0 .750 116 2 0 .500 77 2 0 .500 97

PA 95 96 87 85

South

North

West

Kansas City Las Vegas Denver L.A. Chargers

W 3 3 2 0

T 0 0 0 0

L 0 0 1 3

T Pct PF 0 1.000 88 0 1.000 88 0 .667 60 0 .000 44

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

N.Y. Giants Philadelphia Dallas Washington

W 3 2 2 1

L 1 2 2 3

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF PA .750 82 79 .500 75 93 .500 122 112 .250 88 122

Carolina New Orleans Atlanta Tampa Bay

W 1 1 1 0

L 2 2 2 4

T 0 0 0 0

Pct .333 .333 .333 .000

Minnesota Chicago Detroit Green Bay

W 3 3 2 2

L 0 1 1 2

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 71 41 0 .750 112 65 0 .667 93 95 0 .500 73 105

San Francisco Seattle L.A. Rams Arizona

W 3 2 2 1

L 0 1 2 3

T Pct 0 1.000 0 .667 0 .500 0 .250

South

North

West

Thursday’s Games

PA 50 54 70 76

PF PA 89 83 81 83 51 68 76 96

PF PA 98 50 75 50 85 83 87 117

Cleveland 27, Pittsburgh 24

Sunday’s Games

Indianapolis 30, Washington 13, London, GBR Baltimore 24, Tennessee 18 Chicago 23, N.Y. Jets 12 Dallas 34, Houston 30 Green Bay 17, Tampa Bay 14 Jacksonville 22, Cincinnati 17 L.A. Rams 24, Philadelphia 20 N.Y. Giants 36, Arizona 24 New England 29, Buffalo 26 Minnesota 15, Miami 10 Kansas City 30, Las Vegas 27 San Francisco 24, Denver 14 Seattle 30, L.A. Chargers 23. Detroit at Carolina, n

Monday’s Games

Atlanta at New Orleans, 7:15 p.m.

Major League Baseball MLB Postseason Glance x-if necessary

DIVISION SERIES

(Best-of-5) x-if necessary

American League

(TBS, TruTV, HBO Max)

Monday

American League FAVORITE LINE at CLEVELAND -159 N.Y Yankees -131

Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami

W L T Pct PF 3 1 0 .750 127 2 2 0 .500 65 1 3 0 .250 76 0 3 0 .000 36

Chicago White Sox 1, Cleveland 0 UNDERDOG Chi White Sox at TAMPA BAY

LINE +131 +109

UNDERDOG Philadelphia Winnipeg at BOSTON San Jose

LINE +159 +141 -108 +138

Pro basketball WNBA Playoff’s First Round (Best-of-3) (x-if necessary No. 8 New York 2, No. 1 Minnesota 0

Sunday, Sept. 27: New York 91, Minnesota 75 Tuesday, Sept. 29: New York 87, Minnesota 71

No. 2 Golden State 2, No. 7 Dallas 1

Sunday, Sept. 27: Golden State 104, Dallas 80 Wednesday, Sept. 30: Dallas 108, Golden State 100, OT Friday, Oct. 2: Golden State 77, Dallas 73

No. 3 Las Vegas 1, No. 6 Indiana 1

Sunday, Sept. 27: Las Vegas 102, Indiana 85 Tuesday, Sept. 29: Indiana 99, Las Vegas 89 Thursday, Oct. 1: Las Vegas 95, Indiana 83

No. 4 Atlanta 2, No. 5 Washington 0

Sunday, Sept. 27: Atlanta 92, Washington 77 Wednesday, Sept. 30: Atlanta 93, Washington 75

Semiﬁnals (Best-of-5) (x-if necessary) Sunday, Oct. 4

Game 1: Atlanta 92, New York 82 Game 1: Golden State 71, Las Vegas 60

Wednesday, Oct. 7

Game 2: New York at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m. (NBC) Game 2: Las Vegas at Golden State, 8:30 p.m. (NBCSN)

Friday, Oct. 9

Game 3: Atlanta at New York, 6:30 p.m. (NBCSN) Game 3: Golden State at Las Vegas, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sunday, Oct. 11

x-Game 4: Atlanta at New York, TBD (NBCSN) x-Game 4: Golden State at Las Vegas, TBD (ABC)

Wednesday, Oct. 14

x-Game 5: New York at Atlanta, TBD (ABC) x-Game 5: Las Vegas at Golden State, TBD (NBCSN)

Pro football NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Saturday, Oct. 3: Chicago White Sox 3, Cleveland 0 Monday, Oct. 5: Chicago White Sox (Kay 109) at Cleveland (Williams 14-8), 5 p.m. (TBS/ TruTV/HBO Max) Wednesday, Oct. 7: Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 4 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Thursday, Oct. 8: Cleveland at Chicago White Sox, 5 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Saturday, Oct. 10: Chicago White Sox at Cleveland, 5 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max)

Tampa Bay 1, N.Y. Yankees 0

Saturday, Oct. 3: Tampa Bay 1, N.Y. Yankees 0 Monday, Oct. 5: N.Y. Yankees (Schlittler 14-6) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 10-11), 8 p.m. (TBS/ TruTV/HBO Max) Wednesday, Oct. 7: Tampa Bay at N.Y. Yankees, 8 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Thursday, Oct. 8: Tampa Bay at N.Y. Yankees, 8 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Saturday, Oct. 10: N.Y. Yankees at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) National League (FOX, FS1)

L.A. Dodgers 1, Atlanta 0

Saturday, Oct. 3: L.A. Dodgers 5, Atlanta 3 Sunday, Oct. 4: Atlanta at L.A. Dodgers, n Tuesday, Oct. 6: L.A. Dodgers at Atlanta, 6:08 p.m. (FOX/FS1) x-Wednesday, Oct. 7: L.A. Dodgers at Atlanta, 6 p.m. (FOX/FS1) x-Friday, Oct. 9: Atlanta at L.A. Dodgers, 8 p.m. (FOX/FS1)

Milwaukee 1, San Diego 0

Saturday, Oct. 3: Milwaukee 3, San Diego 2 Sunday, Oct. 4: Milwaukee 4, San Diego 3 Tuesday, Oct. 6: Milwaukee (May 7-9) at San Diego (Pivetta 3-2), 9:38 p.m. (FOX/FS1) x-Wednesday, Oct. 7: Milwaukee at San Diego, 10 p.m. (FOX/FS1) x-Friday, Oct. 9: San Diego at Milwaukee, 4:30 p.m. (FOX/FS1)

Late Saturday Tampa Bay 1, N.Y. Yankees 0 New York

Tampa Bay ab r h bi ab r h bi Rice dh 3 0 0 0 Díaz dh 4 0 10 Bellinger lf 4 0 0 0 Aranda 1b 4 1 11 García 1b 3 0 0 0 Caminero 3b 2 0 0 0 Jones rf 3 0 0 0 Mateo pr 0 0 00 Lombard ss 3 0 0 0 Williamson 3b 0 0 0 0 Chisholm 2b2 0 0 0 Hicks c 3 0 10 Grisham cf 3 0 0 0 Simpson lf 4 0 00 A.Wells c 3 0 1 0 Mesa rf 3 0 10 McMahon 3b2 0 0 0 DeLuca cf 3 0 00 Stanton ph 1 0 0 0 Palacios 2b 3 0 10 Walls ss 3 0 00 Totals 27 0 1 0 Totals 29 1 5 1 New York 000 000 000 — 0 Tampa Bay 001 000 00x — 1 LOB_New York 2, Tampa Bay 7. 2B_A.Wells (1), Palacios (1), Hicks (1). HR_Aranda (1). SB_Chisholm (1). IP H R ER BB SO New York Cole L,0-1 5 5 1 1 1 5

Weathers 1 0 0 0 0 0 Blackburn 1 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 1 Headrick ⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 Tampa Bay Rasmussen W,1-0 8 1 0 0 2 10 Baker S,1-1 1 0 0 0 0 2 ABS Challenge_Caminero (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Simpson (Strike-Overturned to Ball); McMahon (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Rasmussen (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Baker (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Baker (Ball-Conﬁrmed). Umpires_Home, Shane Livensparger; First, Jeremie Rehak; Second, Dan Bellino; Third, Ben May; Right, Ryan Wills; Left, D.J. Reyburn. T_2:30. A_40,542 (25,025).

Late Saturday Milwaukee 3, San Diego 2 San Diego

Milwaukee ab r h bi ab r h bi Tatis rf-2b 5 0 1 0 Chourio lf 4 1 12 Harris lf 4 0 2 0 Turang 2b 3 0 00 Machdo 3b 4 0 2 0 Contreras c 3 1 11 France 1b 4 0 1 0 Bauers 1b 3 0 20 Merrill cf 5 0 0 0 Yelich dh 3 0 10 Bogaerts ss 3 1 1 0 Vaughn ph-dh 1 0 1 0 Salas c 3 1 1 0 Pratt ss 4 0 00 Andujar ph 1 0 0 0 Lara rf 3 0 00 Taylor pr-rf 0 0 0 0 Mitchell cf 3 1 10 Campsno dh3 0 1 1 Ortiz 3b 4 0 00 Bowen dh 0 0 0 0 Cronnwrth 2b 3 0 0 1 Hays ph 1 0 0 0 Fermin c 0 0 0 0 Totals 36 2 9 2 Totals 31 3 7 3 San Diego 020 000 000 — 2 Milwaukee 002 000 10x — 3 E_Rodriguez (). DP_San Diego 0, Milwaukee 1. LOB_San Diego 12, Milwaukee 9. 2B_Machado (1). HR_Chourio (1), Contreras (1). SB_Turang (1), Mitchell (1). IP H R ER BB SO San Diego Ray 2 2⁄3 4 2 2 2 1 Rodriguez 1 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 2 Matsui 1 0 0 0 0 1 Adam 1 0 0 0 1 0 Morejon L,0-1 2 3 1 1 0 2 Milwaukee Misiorowski 4 4 2 2 1 6 2 Senzatela ⁄3 2 0 0 1 0 2 Ashby 1 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 1 ⁄3 2 0 0 0 0 Uribe Hall W,1-0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1 Megill S,1-1 1 ⁄3 1 0 0 0 2 Hall pitched to 4 batters in the 8th. HBP_Matsui (Bauers), Uribe (France). WP_ Misiorowski, Ashby. ABS Challenge_Misiorowski (Ball-Conﬁrmed); Misiorowski (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Senzatela (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Ashby (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hall (Ball-Conﬁrmed). Umpires_Home, Nick Mahrley; First, Lance Barrett; Second, Alfonso Marquez; Third, Nic Lentz; Right, Brennan Miller; Left, Quinn Wolcott. T_3:28. A_42,843 (41,700).

College football Major scores Saturday’s games EAST

Albany (NY) 28, Delaware St. 3 Bryant 31, NC A&T 30 CCSU 45, Wagner 14 Cornell 35, Georgetown 14 Dartmouth 14, Penn 10 E. Michigan 38, UMass 14 Harvard 20, Colgate 17 Indiana 47, Rutgers 15 LIU Brooklyn 27, Mercyhurst 24 Lehigh 34, Fordham 0 Monmouth (NJ) 41, Towson 40 Morgan St. 38, Villanova 35 New Hampshire 30, Elon 23 Princeton 35, Columbia 7 Rhode Island 13, Brown 10 Richmond 40, Lafayette 31 Robert Morris 33, Norfolk St. 31 Sacred Heart 24, Maine 16 Syracuse 42, UConn 41, OT W. Michigan 20, Buffalo 17 Yale 41, Merrimack 24

Ohio St. 31, Iowa 14 Purdue 24, Illinois 17 S. Dakota St. 31, Illinois St. 14 South Dakota 44, Indiana St. 14 Toledo 39, Ball St. 24 W. Illinois 28, Tennessee St. 21 Wisconsin 31, Michigan St. 3 Youngstown St. 28, S. Illinois 16

Buffalo 4, Chicago 3 Tampa Bay 3, Washington 1 Utah 4, Columbus 1 Edmonton 3, Seattle 1 Carolina 3, Philadelphia 2, OT Ottawa 3, Toronto 2 Pittsburgh 6, Montreal 5, OT N.Y. Islanders 6, New Jersey 0 Nashville 2, Dallas 1 Minnesota 4, Boston 1 Colorado 6, St. Louis 1 San Jose 5, Los Angeles 4, OT Vancouver 4, Calgary 1

SOUTHWEST

Abilene Christian 35, West Florida 7 BYU 17, TCU 10 East Texas A&M 20, UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 17 Houston 27, UCF 17 Houston Christian 16, Nicholls 2 Lamar 42, Northwestern St. 14 SMU 25, Boston College 16 Stephen F. Austin 28, Incarnate Word 26 Tarleton St. 56, Chicago State 21 Texas A&M 34, Arkansas 7 UTSA 16, Rice 14

Sunday’s Games

Winnipeg 3, Detroit 2 Utah at N.Y. Rangers, 5 p.m. Calgary at Seattle, 7 p.m. Florida at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Vegas at Vancouver, 8 p.m.

Monday’s Games

Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m. Ottawa at Boston, 6:30 p.m. Winnipeg at Pittsburgh, 6:30 p.m. San Jose at Dallas, 7 p.m.

FAR WEST

Air Force 14, Navy 9 Arizona 34, Cincinnati 7 Baylor 55, Arizona St. 19 Boise St. 37, Utah St. 18 Fresno St. 26, Washington St. 6 Montana 36, N. Colorado 14 N. Arizona 38, Idaho St. 31 New Mexico 61, UTEP 7 Oregon St. 56, Colorado St. 26 S. Utah 46, Utah Tech 33 San Diego 63, Davidson 14 San Diego St. 31, Texas State 29 San Jose St. 20, Hawaii 16 Southern Cal 25, Washington 21 Texas Tech 29, Colorado 7 UC Davis 49, E. Washington 38 UNLV 39, California 31 Weber St. 42, Cal Poly 34, 2OT

Tennis ATP China Open Results Sunday

At National Tennis Center Beijing Purse: $4,089,385 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Sunday from China Open at National Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

Late Saturday

No. 11 LSU 63, McNeese 14

McNeese St. 0 0 14 0 — 14 LSU 14 21 14 14 — 63 First Quarter LSU—D.Jones 1 run (Starzyk kick), 9:23. LSU—Mothershed 1 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), 3:18. Second Quarter LSU—Clark 3 run (Starzyk kick), 7:37. LSU—Barber 6 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), 4:01. LSU—Barber 12 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), :57. Third Quarter LSU—Geralds 1 run (Starzyk kick), 11:34. LSU—H.Berry 11 run (Starzyk kick), 8:22. MCNS—Levi 43 pass from Barrier (De.Camron kick), 4:48. MCNS—Levi 64 run (De.Camron kick), 3:32. Fourth Quarter LSU—Gage 46 run (Starzyk kick), 13:56. LSU—Gage 39 run (Starzyk kick), 10:55.

A_102,321.

MCNS LSU First downs 6 39 Total Net Yards 196 731 Rushes-yards 30-102 53-367 Passing 94 364 Punt Returns 3-30 0-0 Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-19 Interceptions Ret. 1-7 1-21 Comp-Att-Int 8-17-1 31-48-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-16 0-0 Punts 10-43.6 3-43.0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0 Penalties-Yards 4-32 3-11 Time of Possession 22:47 37:13 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—McNeese St., Levi 1-64, Wiggins 10-21, Swilley 5-18, Citizen 6-4, M.Davis 1-2, Barrier 3-0, Strong 4-(minus 7). LSU, Berry 15-125, Gage 6-110, D.Jones 16-79, Longstreet 4-32, Durham 5-13, Clark 3-11, Geralds 1-1, Gainey 2-0, (Team) 1-(minus 4). PASSING—McNeese St., Barrier 5-7-0-74, Strong 3-10-1-20. LSU, Leavitt 18-23-1-176, Clark 7-16-0-126, Longstreet 6-9-0-62. RECEIVING—McNeese St., Levi 2-46, So.Lewis 1-17, Deville 1-11, Senegal 1-7, Swilley 1-6, Haman 1-5, Citizen 1-2. LSU, Barber 7-83, Wilson 4-58, Jayc.Brown 4-52, Harris 4-37, T.Brown 3-50, Watkins 3-40, Mothershed 2-11, D.Jones 2-5, Elzy 1-25, Jo.Jackson 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Hockey

SOUTH

Alabama 56, Mississippi St. 23 Ark.-Pine Bluff 41, Southern U. 10 Austin Peay 42, New Haven 17 Bethune-Cookman 16, Alabama St. 10 Campbell 38, NC Central 31 ETSU 14, Chattanooga 3 FAU 66, Texas Southern 10 Florida St. 38, Virginia 7 Gardner-Webb 12, Charleston Southern 10 Georgia 38, Vanderbilt 14 Georgia Southern 31, Coastal Carolina 24 Georgia St. 42, Old Dominion 10 Grambling St. 63, Alcorn St. 59 Holy Cross 41, William & Mary 14 Howard 27, Hampton 13 Jackson St. 31, Alabama A&M 28 James Madison 45, Marshall 17 Kentucky 35, South Carolina 34, OT LSU 63, McNeese St. 14 Louisiana Tech 31, Army 29 Louisiana-Lafayette 23, Arkansas St. 20 MVSU 28, Prairie View 27 Marist 28, Stetson 14 Memphis 59, Charlotte 8 Mercer 54, VMI 3 Miami 41, Clemson 13 NC State 31, Louisville 28 North Alabama 20, E. Kentucky 16 Notre Dame 37, North Carolina 26 Presbyterian 55, St. Thomas (Minn.) 21 South Alabama 52, Louisiana-Monroe 35 Temple 17, South Florida 13 Tennessee 24, Auburn 14 The Citadel 34, SC State 31 UAB 33, Samford 14 Valparaiso 37, Morehead St. 3 W. Carolina 44, Tennessee Tech 20 Wake Forest 57, Stanford 3 Wofford 32, Furman 25

MIDWEST

Bowling Green 24, Miami (Ohio) 20 Cent. Michigan 41, Akron 17 Drake 30, Dayton 22 Iowa St. 45, West Virginia 42 Kansas 55, Middle Tennessee 0 Minnesota 20, Michigan 14 Missouri 45, Florida 17 N. Dakota St. 28, Wyoming 0 Nebraska 48, Maryland 23 North Dakota 55, Murray St. 28 Ohio 13, Kent St. 10

NHL Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Boston Montreal Florida Ottawa Buffalo Tampa Bay Toronto Detroit

GP W L OT Pts GF 3 2 1 0 4 8 2 1 0 1 3 8 2 1 0 1 3 4 1 1 0 0 2 3 2 1 1 0 2 7 2 1 1 0 2 4 3 1 2 0 2 6 2 0 2 0 0 2

GA 7 8 4 2 9 6 7 5

Pittsburgh N.Y. Rangers Carolina N.Y. Islanders Washington Columbus New Jersey Philadelphia

GP W L OT Pts GF 2 2 0 0 4 13 3 2 1 0 4 7 3 1 1 1 3 5 2 1 1 0 2 7 2 1 1 0 2 6 2 1 1 0 2 7 2 1 1 0 2 3 3 0 1 2 2 4

GA 5 4 8 2 5 7 8 13

Metropolitan Division

WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division Colorado Utah Minnesota Winnipeg St. Louis Nashville Dallas Chicago

GP W L OT Pts GF 2 2 0 0 4 14 2 2 0 0 4 10 2 2 0 0 4 7 2 1 0 1 3 6 2 1 1 0 2 5 2 1 1 0 2 3 2 0 2 0 0 1 3 0 3 0 0 5

GA 5 1 2 6 6 4 6 15

Paciﬁc Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA Edmonton 3 2 0 1 5 17 14 San Jose 2 2 0 0 4 9 7 Vancouver 3 2 1 0 4 17 15 Anaheim 1 1 0 0 2 4 3 Seattle 2 1 1 0 2 7 4 Vegas 2 1 1 0 2 8 6 Los Angeles 2 0 1 1 1 8 13 Calgary 2 0 2 0 0 2 10 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs.

Saturday’s Games

Quarterﬁnals Hubert Hurkacz, Poland, def. Karen Khachanov, Russia, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Alex de Minaur (5), Australia, def. Andrey Rublev, Russia, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Daniil Medvedev (3), Russia, def. Francisco Cerundolo, Argentina, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Novak Djokovic (6), Serbia, def. Alexander Zverev (1), Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Men’s Doubles

Quarterﬁnals Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash (2), Britain, def. Marcelo Melo, Brazil, and Alexander Zverev, Germany, 6-2, 6-4.

Men’s Doubles

Semiﬁnals David Pel and Sander Arends, Netherlands, def. Alexander Bublik, Kazakhstan, and Juncheng Shang, China, 6-4, 6-4.

Auto racing Late Saturday NASCAR-O’Reilly Focused Health 302 Results Saturday

At Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas. Lap length: 1.50 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 201 laps, 75 points. 2. (9) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 201, 42. 3. (10) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 201, 44. 4. (4) Brent Crews, Toyota, 201, 43. 5. (5) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 201, 38. 6. (8) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 201, 50. 7. (21) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 201, 36. 8. (36) William Sawalich, Toyota, 201, 35. 9. (12) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 201, 31. 10. (18) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 201, 27. 11. (6) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 201, 42. 12. (20) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 201, 31. 13. (2) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 201, 24. 14. (11) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 200, 23. 15. (23) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 200, 22. 16. (22) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 200, 21. 17. (16) Brennan Poole, Ford, 200, 20. 18. (26) Lee Pulliam, Chevrolet, 199, 19. 19. (17) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 199, 18. 20. (19) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 199, 17. 21. (14) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 199, 16. 22. (15) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, 199, 15. 23. (25) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 199, 14. 24. (13) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 198, 13. 25. (31) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 198, 12. 26. (30) Lavar Scott, Ford, 198, 11. 27. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 198, 10. 28. (28) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 197, 9. 29. (29) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 197, 8. 30. (34) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 195, 7. 31. (24) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 193, 6. 32. (32) Blake Lothian, Chevrolet, 192, 5. 33. (27) Mason Maggio, Chevrolet, 175, 4. 34. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, dvp, 56, 5. 35. (35) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, transmission, 13, 2. 36. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, disqualiﬁed, 54, 1. Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 135.377 mph. Time of Race: 2 hours, 13 minutes, 38 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.287 seconds. Caution Flags: 3 for 21 laps. Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers. Lap Leaders: C.Day 0-1; S.Creed 2-8; C.Day 9-48; R.Caruth 49; B.Jones 50-53; S.Mayer 54-93; R.Caruth 94; W.Sawalich 95-99; C.Day 100-144; A.Alfredo 145-146; J.Burton 147-148; C.Day 149-189; C.Kvapil 190-191; C.Day 192198; C.Kvapil 199; C.Day 200-201 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Day, 6 times for 136 laps; S.Mayer, 1 time for 40 laps; S.Creed, 1 time for 7 laps; W.Sawalich, 1 time for 5 laps; B.Jones, 1 time for 4 laps; C.Kvapil, 2 times for 3 laps; A.Alfredo, 1 time for 2 laps; R.Caruth, 2 times for 2 laps; J.Burton, 1 time for 2 laps. Wins: J.Allgaier, 6; S.Creed, 3; C.Day, 3; C.Kvapil, 2; A.Hill, 2; J.Love, 1; T.Gray, 1; B.Jones, 1; W.Sawalich, 1; R.Sieg, 1. Top 16 in Points: 1. S.Creed, 2259; 2. C.Kvapil, 2240; 3. J.Love, 2238; 4. J.Allgaier, 2229; 5. C.Day, 2218; 6. S.Mayer, 2207; 7. T.Gray, 2169; 8. S.Smith, 2165; 9. A.Hill, 2160; 10. P.Retzlaff, 2142; 11. B.Jones, 2122; 12. R.Caruth, 2113; 13. B.Crews, 758; 14. W.Sawalich, 711; 15. R.Sieg, 650; 16. A.Alfredo, 606. NASCAR Driver Rating Formula A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race. The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

Transactions HOCKEY

National Hockey League BOSTON BRUINS — Placed RW Michael Eyssimont on waivers.

NFL ROUNDUP

CINCINNATI — The Jaguars didn’t have a nightmare ﬁnish in Cincinnati for the second straight year. Jacksonville’s defense made two key stops in the red zone — including stopping Bengals running back Chase Brown 1 yard shy of a ﬁrst down with 50 seconds remaining — and Trevor Lawrence passed for 227 yards and a touchdown as the Jaguars held off the Bengals 22-17 on Sunday. Being able to hold on for a tight victory marked a milestone for Liam Coen’s team. Jacksonville lost to the Bengals 31-27 in Week 2 last year on Jake Browning’s 1-yard sneak with 18 seconds remaining. VIKINGS 15, DOLPHINS 10: In Minneapolis, the Minnesota

touchdown passes and the Packers overcame two fourth-quarter turnovers to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. DALLAS 34, TEXANS 30: In Houston, CeeDee Lamb shined in his ﬁrst NFL game in the city he considers his second home to carry the Dallas Cowboys to a victory on Sunday. Lamb had a career-high 17 catches for 189 yards and his 12-yard TD reception with 40 seconds left lifted Dallas to the win over Houston to keep the Texans winless. RAMS 24, EAGLES 20: In Philadelphia, Kyren Williams ran for two touchdowns in the final four minutes as Stafford and the Rams rallied from a 10-point deﬁcit to beat the Eagles on Sunday.

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Vikings stayed undefeated with more dominance by their defense and five field goals from Will Reichard, sidestepping their early passing game problems to secure a victory over the winless Miami Dolphins on Sunday. T.J. Hockenson had a career-high-tying 13 receptions for 119 yards on 13 targets from Kyler Murray, including the game-sealing 8-yard catch on third-and-5 from the 10. Hockenson was wide open and could’ve coasted into the end zone, but he wisely slid in front of the goal line to drain the clock down to the two-minute warning. PACKERS 17, BUCCANEERS 14: In Tampa, Florida, an ugly win left the Green Bay Packers dissatisﬁed. Jordan Love threw two

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6C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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CAJUNS 23, RED WOLVES 20

THREE AND OUT: KEVIN FOOTE’S THREE TAKEAWAyS FROM CAJUNS’ HOMECOMING WIN OVER ARKANSAS ST.

IMPRESSIVE DRIVES Down three early in the fourth period, UL’s offense drove 67 yards on 11 plays in 6:10 to tie it and then covered 73 yards on 13 plays in 3:54 to set up Tony Sterner’s 37-yard field goal on the game’s final play to win it. After struggling in the second quarter, UL’s offense scored on all four of its drives in the second half — three field goals and one touchdown. Every one lasted at least nine plays and covered at least 52 yards. That means the Red Wolves only got three drives in the second half — field goal, punt and touchdown. Lunch Winfield continued his incredible efficiency this season at 18-of-21 passing for 189 yards and 64 more on the ground.

STILL TOO MANY MISCUES The best way to deal with persistent issues is to do so while still winning. That’s exactly what the Cajuns keep pulling off. The fear is real; soon these self-inflicted wounds will come back to bite them. In Saturday’s win, Darrell Smith fumbled again to squash a promising UL drive at the ASU 18 in the first quarter. Also, the special teams had two penalties that backed up the offense at the 7 and gave up an 82-yard kickoff return. UL won in first downs 26-16 and total yards 435-293, but almost lost because of these same mistakes that have been plaguing the Cajuns throughout the season. The offense’s performance in the second half covered up those sins in this one.

IT’S GARNER’S TIME? It’s never been a secret about the natural ability of redshirt freshman running back JJ Garner. It’s always been a question of consistency and avoiding freshman mistakes. But when the offense really needed a spark in the running game after the Red Wolves took a 13-10 lead midway through the third quarter, Garner added instant life to the Cajuns’ offense with runs of 17 and 15 to ignite a go-ahead drive and then finished it off by breaking a tackle on a 13-yard TD run. Simply put, he’s the most dangerous runner of UL’s four backs. Darrell Smith left with an injury and it appears he may be missing some time. That means more carries for Garner and that could be a good thing in the long run.

STAFF PHOTO By BRAD KEMP

UL wide receiver Trenton Chaney breaks the tackle of Arkansas State safety Ag McGhee during the Cajuns’ 23-20 homecoming win over Arkansas State on Saturday.

Stepping up UL’s offense carries larger load to defeat Arkansas State

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

UL redshirt junior quarterback Lunch Winfield has been around long enough to know it would happen sooner or later. After the offense struggled through much of the first four games, the time would come to have the defense’s back to win a game. Well, it happened sooner than expected and Winfield’s group responded in style to lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to a 23-20 homecoming win Saturday in the Sun Belt opener at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. “We told the defense, there’s going to be a day when they needed us,” said Winfield after going 18-of21 passing for 189 yards. “It was our time to take that step because we didn’t play our best in the first four games. We know that as an offense. “We knew there was going to come a time and we knew what we needed to do.” During the week, it was announced the defense’s leading tackler — linebacker Conor McPherson — was out for the season. Then during the first half Saturday, second-leading tackler safety Collin Jacob exited with an injury. “Anytime you lose a signal caller like that — a guy that’s a leader on the defense, you know, you’re going to have some gaps,” UL coach

UL 23, Arkansas State 20 Arkansas St. 0 10 3 7 — 20 UL 7 0 3 13 — 23 First Quarter UL—Winﬁeld 2 run (Sterner kick), 1:59. Second Quarter ARST—FG Van Andel 25, 5:27. ARST—Bonelli 21 pass from Owens (Van Andel kick), :31. Third Quarter UL—FG Sterner 38, 9:04. ARST—FG Van Andel 21, 5:08. Fourth Quarter UL—Garner 13 run (Sterner kick), 14:54. ARST—Baggett 6 run (Van Andel kick), 11:48. UL—FG Sterner 25, 5:38. UL—FG Sterner 37, :00.

A—21,211.

ARST UL First downs 16 26 Total Net Yards 293 435 Rushes-yards 23-87 42-246 Passing 206 189 Punt Returns 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns 2-104 3-45 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 20-31-0 18-21-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 0-0 Punts 3-48.667 2-34.5 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 2-15 4-29 Time of Possession 25:52 34:08 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Arkansas St., Baggett 12-51, Owens 5-13, Cobb 1-12, Lee 3-11, Ti.Carter 1-2, Dickey 1-(minus 2). Louisiana-Lafayette, Garner 7-78, Winﬁeld 14-64, Blanco 9-42, Reagan 8-25, D.Smith 2-15, Chaney 1-13, Strother 1-9. PASSING—Arkansas St., Owens 20-31-0-206. Louisiana-Lafayette, Winﬁeld 18-21-0-189. RECEIVING—Arkansas St., Cobb 8-65, Summers 4-52, Bonelli 3-44, Little 2-21, Burrell 2-16, Bush 1-8. Louisiana-Lafayette, Jensen 4-30, Chaney 3-27, Chappell 2-26, Brooks 2-24, Babineaux 2-0, Wade 1-36, Strother 1-24, Blanco 1-10, Reagan 1-8, Garner 1-4. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

Michael Desormeaux said. “I think especially when you add Collin Jacob to that, there’s probably a little bit of a gap in communication. We did some uncharacteristic things on defense tonight as far as, you know, just kind of some mental errors.” After an encouraging ﬁrst quar-

ter, Arkansas State seized the momentum with a 10-0 edge in the second quarter. The Red Wolves’ passing game was heating up and the defense forced two UL punts to take a 10-7 lead into half. “The drives tonight, possessions were pretty valuable,” Desormeaux noted. “You know, when you felt like you could kind of tell the way the game was going. They played a little slower than I think I thought they did on tape. You know, they had everybody in the huddle and they broke and kind of took their time. Kind of surprised me a little bit.” Consequently, when UL’s offense faced a fourth-and-2 from the ASU 48 on the first drive of the third quarter, the Cajuns plunged forward with a 5-yard gain with Winfield to extend the drive. “I felt like that drive was critical,” Desormeaux said. “I’m not a big go-for-it-on-fourth-down guy, but sometimes I just feel like you have to do it for your team and unfortunately, we were able to get it.” And it set the tone for the rest of the second half. No, the offense didn’t post glittering numbers necessarily, but its efficiency and possession time aided the defense greatly. UL scored on all four secondhalf possessions — at the average of 10.75 plays, 65.25 yards and 5:16 off the clock. The Cajuns ran for 246 yards and were 6-of-11 on conversion downs. At one point in the second quarter,

the Red Wolves had run 29 plays to only 18 for UL. The Cajuns finished with a 34:08-25:52 edge in time of possession. Arkansas State ran 16 plays over three drives the entire second half. In other words, the Cajuns chose slow death and it worked like a charm. In addition to Winfield, running back JJ Garner emerged with 78 yards and a score on seven carries, and 10 different targets caught Winfield’s 18 completions. Shelton Sampson played but was obviously still limited and didn’t catch a pass. “JJ is really talented and we know that JJ’s someone that we know is going to be a force,” Desormeaux said. “Now he’s going to be forced into it a little bit more.” Winfield is sold on Garner, saying, “he’s going to go out there and play his heart out. That’s the type of guy he is. I love that kid. He’ll do anything for the team and we went out there and showed the world what he can do.” Also, the tight ends Caden Jensen and Brock Chappell combined for six catches and 56 yards. “They’ve been my leading receivers probably the whole year since like a lot of people were hurt,” Winfield said of the tight ends. “Just everything we do at practice, like these guys are always there ... these guys trusting me and I trust them. It’s just a bond is always there, man.”

UL kicker Sterner more conﬁdent in second year BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

If you listen to UL placekicker Tony Sterner in the postgame news conference after his 37-yard field goal on the game’s final play earned the Ragin’ Cajuns a 23-20 victory over Arkansas State, he didn’t seem a bit fazed. As usual, the opposing head coach called a timeout to ice him. It perturbed him a bit, but that was about it. “I kind of wish Notebook they didn’t ice me, just so the game would be over a minute earlier, celebrate a minute earlier,” Sterner said. And no, Sterner said he wasn’t stressed as he watched UL’s offense drive the ball 73 yards on 13 plays in 3:54 to put him in position for the 37-yard game-winner. “I’m just trying to stay calm,” Sterner said. “I mean, I just have to go out there, execute. I have to wait my time. They got in field goal range; I knew it was going to happen. I knew we were going to just run down the clock, and I would have to go out there and just do my job.” Actually, the redshirt senior did his job three times in the game. First, he booted a 38-yarder to tie the game at 10-all after UL’s first drive of the second half. Then he tied the game at 2020 with 5:37 left with a 25-yard kick, before nailing the 37-yarder on the next drive. “After last year, I got experience last year; now, this year, I’m using my experience to translate to kick,” Sterner said. “It wasn’t my best ball, wasn’t my A ball, but it went in. I stayed calm the whole way. Once it left my foot, I knew it was going in.” And no, the Russell Babineaux run on the previous play before the field goal wasn’t to set him up on his favorite hash. “I kind of want to stay off the right hash, but I’m 4 for 4 on that hash this year, I believe,” Sterner revealed. “So it was just a normal kick, but as a lefty, I’d rather be on the left side.” Either way, UL coach Michael Desormeaux has grown to trust his kicker. “It’s peace of mind that you know you don’t have to be perfect when you get down there,” Desormeaux said. “We talk on the headsets, like, ‘Hey, we got points here.’ I mean, that’s what we use when we get to the kick line. “I’m not saying we quit throwing the ball, but we don’t feel like on third-and-12th, you don’t feel like you got to get 13 yards to get a first down.” Making the game-winner even sweeter is former teammate and Lou Groza Award winner Kenny Almendares was at the game for homecoming.

Plaguing issues While Sterner certainly did his job with the three field goals, the rest of the special teams units didn’t fare as well. Twice, the punt return team was flagged on fair catches, backing UL’s offense up to the 7 both times. The kickoff coverage team also allowed an 82-yard return to set up a short field goal for a 13-10 Arkansas State lead in the third quarter. Also, UL lost another fumble in the first quarter on a play in which running back Darrell Smith left the game injured. “Certainly, you know, I mean, we’re working really hard on correcting it,” Desormeaux said. “When you put the ball on the ground, there’s a technical issue now. I think when the guy gets hurt on the play, it’s a little different than just putting it on the ground.”

Defense hung tough After shining throughout the ﬁrst four games of the season, UL’s defense took a little bit of a back seat to the offense in Saturday’s win. Coach Jim Salgado’s unit, though, did step up in a big way on two drives in the second half to help get the win.

LIVING

T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

M o n d ay, o c t o b e r 5, 2026

7cn

There’s a reason people are still talking about Julie Andrews

Andrew Jackson statue at Jackson Square in 1975 FILE PHOTO By WILLIAM F. HABER

SHAMS-IL AREFIN ISLAM Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Is New Orleans’ Andrew Jackson statue the ﬁrst with a horse on hind legs?

BY RACHEL MIPRO

Contributing writer

One reader’s question: Is the statue of Andrew Jackson in front of St. Louis Cathedral the ﬁrst statue of a man on a horse on two legs? The French Quarter square, once under the French-era name Place d’Armes, had been renamed in Jackson’s honor in 1851, a few years after Jackson’s death, honoring his victory in the 1815 Battle of New Orleans. The battle marked the last major conﬂict in the War of 1812, when a ragtag band of soldiers under then-General Jackson’s command successfully fought off the British, defending the Crescent City. This battle was fought after the war had ended THE TIMES-PICAyUNE ARCHIVES A 1934 story in the New Orleans States with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent; news hadn’t newspaper reported the decapitation of reached troops that an agreement had been reached. the statue of Andrew Jackson by Clark Mills While the war was over, the American victory helped cement a sense of patriotic pride for the young nation, both in the city and country at large. After neglect left the square desolate and surrounded by crumbling architecture in the 1840s, area revitalization led by Baroness de Pontalba in the early 1850s created new landscaping, building repairs and other renovation and improvements. ä See STATUE, page 8C

Summer mornings in the Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh are a respite from the dissonance of honking cars and construction of the capital city of Dhaka. It was a welcome change to hear chickens and the sound of … wait, was that Julie Andrews’ voice echoing over the hills? I was visiting my home country when I heard a group of schoolchildren playing Andrews ektaras, a traditional string instrument, and singing the “Do-Re-Mi” song for their morning assembly. I used my phone to show them a picture of Andrews. “Do you know her?” They immediately leaped in excitement. They didn’t know the composer Richard Rodgers or lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. But they knew Andrews — even though 60 years have passed since “The Sound of Music” and these children live in a remote Bangladeshi village. The recognition is evidence of something extraordinary. Andrews is turning 91 on Thursday, and there are calls online to bubble wrap her, just in case. She is indeed a global treasure, and she has been earning plaudits and admirers for eight decades. Andrews trained in the Italian bel canto tradition and from a young age sang challenging coloratura arias with precision, clarity and range. The bright, happy tone, perhaps a subconscious decision rather than anatomical alone, provided her respite from the doodlebug bombs that fell during her childhood in England in World War II. British critics had dubbed her as the “youngest prima donna,” a title usually reserved for opera greats, and it wasn’t undeserved. At just 12, she routinely ﬂoated high Fs above the treble staff during live performances. Yet before opera could claim her, Broadway stepped in. From “The Boy Friend” to “My Fair Lady” and then “Camelot,” she won the hearts of theatergoers and creators alike. Lyricist Alan Lerner described her as “an amazingly quick study in music … who meets any challenge with an unabated eyelid that makes you wonder how Britain ever lost the empire.” Her voice then was so precise that the late maestro André Previn, who led the London Symphony Orchestra, proclaimed: “No one’s diction in any ﬁeld of singing can come close. … You understand every syllable from the second balcony — I don’t understand how you do that.” It’s inaccurate to romanticize her legacy in 2026 as simply nostalgic. That would overlook the depth and progressive

ä See ANDREWS, page 8C

Dance program helps people with disabilities ﬁnd their rhythm BY OBED LAMY and MEAD GRUVER

or intellectual disabilities. Now dance has become his way to communicate and connect with FISHERS, Ind. — Finn Vester, who others, his mom, Nicole Vester, has autism and Down syndrome, said. Claire Graham, the founder of tried a martial arts class but it proved unsuitable because he Dance Abilities, got the idea for learns differently, his mother the program in high school after realizing while she was studying said. Then he joined Dance Abilities, dance, she was never able to cona program at Academy of Dance nect with her sister with Down Arts in the Indianapolis suburb of syndrome while she took part in Fishers for people with physical her own activities. The program

Associated Press

has grown in three years from a summer camp for eight youngsters to year-round classes for about 20 people. Dance Abilities has separate classes for children ages 18 months to 4, ages 4-7 and 8-12, teenagers, and for adults, too. A successful day for Graham, who has a degree in dance and a master’s in recreational therapy, is

ä See RHYTHM, page 8C

A student’s feet perform a dance move using visual cues during a Dance Abilities class at the Academy of Dance Arts in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By OBED LAMy

8C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Elderspeak can cause risks to physical health

STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

The statue of Andrew Jackson stands against a foggy Christmas night in Jackson Square.

STATUE

Continued from page 7C Enter the landmark New Orleans sculpture, of Andrew Jackson astride his horse, installed in 1856, five years after the square’s renaming and a few years into the beautification process. The statue features Jackson on a rearing horse, meant to invoke his address of troops before the Battle of 1812. The statue’s inauguration ceremony had a large turnout by all accounts, with overflowing streets, bands playing music, and the governor in attendance, along with veterans holding up the original banner from the Chalmette battlefield. One newspaper account of the ceremony reads: “No man has ever earned for himself a dearer or more enduring place in the popu-

ANDREWS

Continued from page 7C nature of her characters. She was essentially the first female superhero on the big screen, as Mary Poppins — who could fly and create alternate realities with the snap of her heels, but whose more stunning superpower at the height of the Cold War was to charmingly portray capitalism as dangerous. In “Victor/Victoria,” she navigated a gender-bending performance that challenged societal norms, playing a woman who impersonates a man impersonating a woman when it was taboo to speak about any layer of that. Her most overlooked and perhaps her best dramatic role was in “Duet for One,” a 1986 film about a musician who suffers from multiple sclerosis. Tragically this became a moment of life imitating art, foreshadowing her own destiny to lose her instrument after throat surgery in 1997. Rather than retreat, Andrews adjusted and leaned

RHYTHM

Continued from page 7C when everyone has had fun and been challenged. “I’m not looking for perfection of position and not looking for a perfect performance,” Graham said. “Only a performance that they can feel conﬁdent about.” These dancers are not the only ones performing through challenges. Ezra Frech, a two-time gold medal Paralympian, is competing on this season’s “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC. Frech, a track and ﬁeld athlete, has a prosthetic leg.

Classes build confidence Finn’s mom values her son’s confidence-building that will help him be able to go into the world and learn new things, she said. “Claire teaches him at his level. She teaches him a little slower. She teaches him a couple more extra times. And he feels proud and he feels accomplished and he feels like he’s part of

lar regard of our southern people, and the equestrian statue, the inauguration of which was yesterday witnessed amid so much of pomp and circumstance, is but the substantial embodiment of a people’s gratitude, expressed in bronze and granite.” The statue was created by sculptor Clark Mills, hailed as a feat of construction at the time. The mass of metal is balanced without any support, and has remained upright, weathering winds and hurricanes without falling. The statue has also endured countless members of the public — one crime report from two days after the statue’s installation reported a drunken attempt by a German shoemaker named Otto to climb the pedestal and break off the statues’ stirrups and spur. The man was arrested and ﬁned $100 for the endeavor. The statue isn’t original

though; Mills created three other identical Jackson statues, found in Washington, D.C.; Nashville, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida. The D.C. statue was the first of Mills’ creations, and it did represent the first equestrian statue created by an American, as well as the first to be found anywhere that featured a horse standing on its rear legs without support, according to The Historic New Orleans Collection. New Orleans’ statue, while the second one made, still managed to become a celebrated piece of local history.

into voice acting with characters like the dominant Queen Lillian in “Shrek” ﬁlms, Gru’s hilariously villainous mother in “Despicable Me” and the mysterious Lady Whistledown in “Bridgerton,” for which she won an Emmy, twice. In real life, the ﬂying super governess fought to adopt two babies from Vietnam just after the fall of Saigon, helping to raise awareness of the need for adoptive parents. She then co-founded the Operation USA disaster relief charity and opened the Japanese wing for the United Nations Development Fund for Women. Whether it was to support UNICEF after the devastating Bhola cyclone hit present-day Bangladesh in 1970 or jetting to Jordan and Senegal to support women’s and children’s activities, she was a quiet champion for the underserved. In her most famous role, in “The Sound of Music,” she was a savior for children being displaced by war. Andrews is mostly out of the public eye, but her singing is eternal and accessible.

YouTube is home to a trove of Andrews performances, including “This Is My Beloved” from “Kismet,” full-voiced “When You Wish Upon a Star,” from pianissimos to fortes, high B-flats and all — her classical skill shines through. These recordings remind us that beyond just the formulaic legato phrasing that singers from the Italian tradition follow, and the clear resonance, her work it set a gold standard for musical storytelling that few have surpassed since. Julie Andrews is no longer trilling on the Alps, nor is she reprising her role as queen of Genovia in a “Princess Diaries” film, but her voice, and what it represented for more than 80 years, endures. It lives on not just in films and recordings but also ringing in the minds of children and adults alike, from her hometown of Walton-onThames to the Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. In an age of doom scrolling (and alarmingly low singing standards), her vast career offers a rare resonance and a continuing masterclass.

a group,” Vester said. Accommodations at Dance Abilities include slowing down, using more visual cues than verbal instruction, and teacher “helpers” who physically guide students through the movements. “Sometimes, we’ll add something new that they can work on to make it a little harder,” said one helper, Catherine Benko, 16.

with all my dance crew.” Tucker McGarrell, 13, who has Down syndrome, doesn’t walk but runs into his dance classes, his mom, Amanda McGarrell said. “It’s not speech therapy or physical therapy or occupational therapy appointments. This is actually something he enjoys doing,” McGarrell said. McGarrell loves to see her son have an accepting, accommodating place. “It’s just such a huge thing that Tucker’s given a space and a stage to be himself and get to be with friends and learn new things,” McGarrell said. “It just like ﬁlls me with joy knowing that he’s getting to do something that he loves too just like typical kids do.” Whoever her students are, Graham said, “if you give them the chance to succeed and meet them where they are, they can 100% grow.” Seeing her students smile is the ultimate metric of success. “It warms my heart to hear my kiddos saying, ‘Look, Mom, I did it!’” she said.

A focus on specific needs Dance is good for the body, too, with different needs for different students. For students with Down syndrome, who tend to be naturally more ﬂexible and less strong, Graham emphasizes developing muscle tone. Students with autism, she said, often need more help stretching. Abigail MacGregor, who has Down syndrome, loves to dance through an obstacle course and to perform her latest moves for friends and family after she’s been practicing all week. “I just love dance,” Abby said. “The best thing of dance is having fun, being

Have a question about something in Louisiana that’s got you curious? Email your question to curiouslouisiana@ theadvocate.com. Include your name, phone number and the city where you live.

Dear Doctors: My mother is 82 and mentally sharp. She’s frustrated because in medical appointments, she often gets talked down to. They call her “young lady,” people don’t listen to her and when I’m in the room, they talk to me but not to her. Can you give some specifics of what she can say to stop this? Dear reader: The pattern of communication you described is widespread enough that it has its own name: Known as elderspeak, it is a style of speech in which an older person is addressed in a simplified and often patronizing way. Rather than the person’s name, they may be called pet names like sweetie or honey, or as happened to your mother, young lady. The speaker may use simplified language or adopt a sing-song tone. The older adult’s contributions to the conversation may be minimized, brushed aside or even ignored. No matter how well-meant, elderspeak is demeaning. It has the effect of dismissing the older person’s status as an adult and chipping away at their dignity. It is also potentially harmful. Studies into the phenomenon have found it can have emotional and psychological consequences. In addition to being infantilizing and dismissive,

Dr. Elizabeth Ko Dr. Eve Glazier ASK THE DOCTORS

repeated exposure can undermine an older adult’s self-confidence. When elderspeak enters medical care, the risks can extend to physical health. Older patients can find that hearing or visual limitations are treated as evidence of poor cognition. Physical symptoms may be brushed off as an expected part of aging. In more extreme situations, older patients may not be offered the same diagnostic tests or the same range of treatments as those who are younger. Dealing with elderspeak means setting boundaries. It is perfectly reasonable for your mother — or you — to let her healthcare providers know how she wants to be addressed. Some people are comfortable being on a first-name basis. Others prefer the honorifics of Mrs., Mr. or Ms. If someone slips into elderspeak, be prepared to politely point it out. For example, she could say, “You may not be aware, but you are speaking to me like I

am a child.” Then follow up by asking them to change course. It can be as simple as, “Please treat me like any other adult.” If vision or hearing loss is involved, remind the healthcare professional that it does not affect cognition. “Although I need you to speak clearly and slowly, this doesn’t mean my ability to understand you is impaired.” When you accompany your mother for medical care, make it clear that she is in charge of the appointment and that the healthcare provider should direct their remarks to her. It’s natural that you would have follow-up questions. However, to preserve the patient-first dynamic, save them for the end of the appointment. If you find that, after repeated requests, a healthcare provider is unable or unwilling to make these adjustments, it is reasonable to consider finding someone else. Awareness of elderspeak and its potential ill effects is growing, and respectful communication is increasingly recognized as an essential part of care. Send your questions to askthedoctors@mednet. ucla.edu, or write: Ask the Doctors, c/o UCLA Health Sciences Media Relations, 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA, 90024.

TODAY IN HISTORY to the peaceful end of the country’s communist rule. He served as democratic Today is Monday, Poland’s first popularly Oct. 5, the 278th day of elected president from 2026. There are 87 days 1990 until 1995. left in the year. In 1986, Nicaraguan Today in history: Sandinista government On Oct. 5, 2011, Steve soldiers shot down a cargo Jobs, the Apple founder and former chief executive plane carrying weapons and ammunition bound for who invented and masterContra rebels; the event marketed ever-sleeker exposed a web of illegal gadgets that transformed everyday technology, died arms shipments, leading to the Iran-Contra Scandal. in Palo Alto, California, at In 1989, a jury in Charage 56. Also on this date: lotte, North Carolina, conIn 1892, the Dalton Gang, victed evangelist Jim Baknotorious for its train robker of using his television show to defraud followers. beries, was practically wiped out while attempting Initially sentenced to 45 years in prison, Bakker was to rob a pair of banks in freed in December 1994 afCoffeyville, Kansas. In 1947, President Harry ter serving 4½ years. S. Truman delivered the In 2001, Florida tabloid first televised White House photo editor Robert Stevens address as he spoke on the died from inhaled anthrax, world food crisis. the first of a series of cases In 1953, Earl Warren in which anthrax-laced was sworn in as the 14th letters also were mailed chief justice of the United to television networks and States, succeeding Fred M. a U.S. Senate office buildVinson. ing in Washington, killing In 1958, racially desegre- four other people. The FBI eventually concluded that a gated Clinton High School government scientist who in Clinton, Tennessee, was killed himself in 2008 was nearly leveled by an early responsible, but some who morning bombing. In 1983, Solidarity found- worked with him expressed er Lech Walesa was award- doubt that he did it. In 2018, a jury in Chicago ed the Nobel Peace Prize. convicted White police ofStarting in 1980, Walesa spearheaded Poland’s pro- ficer Jason Van Dyke of democracy movement second-degree murder in that nine years later led the 2014 shooting of Black By The Associated Press

teenager Laquan McDonald. In 2020, President Donald Trump made a dramatic return to the White House after leaving the military hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19. In 2025, Syria held its ﬁrst parliamentary elections, nearly a year after a rebel-led offensive unseated longtime autocratic leader Bashar Assad. The People’s Assembly was tasked with passing a new constitution to move the country past the Assad era and more than a decade of civil war. Today’s birthdays: College Football Hall of Fame coach Barry Switzer is 89. Rock musician Steve Miller is 83. Rock singer Brian Johnson (AC/DC) is 79. Actor Karen Allen is 75. Singer-songwriter Bob Geldof is 75. Astrophysicist-author Neil deGrasse Tyson is 68. Architectdesigner Maya Lin is 67. Golf Hall of Famer Laura Davies is 63. Hockey Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux is 61. Hockey Hall of Famer Patrick Roy is 61. Actor Guy Pearce is 59. Actor Josie Bissett is 56. Actor Parminder Nagra is 51. Actor Kate Winslet is 51. Actor Jesse Eisenberg is 43. NFL tight end Travis Kelce is 37. Actor Jacob Tremblay is 20.

YEARS

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zodIAC LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Refine your spending habits, eliminate what isn't necessary and lower your overhead. Less stress will help you see the beauty around you and the possibilities that exist. Refuse to let anyone tempt you. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Take off the armor. Be kind, relax and be good to yourself and those you encounter. Discipline and patience will be necessary when dealing with people who don't share your opinion. sAGITTARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) If you stay in your lane, you will reach your destination unscathed. Don't ask for trouble when you can achieve the most with a positive attitude, lots of energy, and a chance to use your skills with a little finesse. cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Leaveyourself plenty of time to take care of business. Holding up your end of an agreement is vital to maintaining a stellar reputation. Confidence will help you gain respect and excel. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Bide your time, consider your options and maintain secrecy until you are ready to make a move. The less information you share, the stronger your position becomes. Focus on your living arrangements. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) Get what you want in writing. Be sure to go through the proper channels to avoid mistakes and setbacks. Don't trust someone to do things for you. Take better care of your health. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) Don't slow down for anyone or anything. Put emotions

aside, finish what you start, and make your time and skills count. You have plenty to gain if you put yourself out there. TAuRus (April 20-May 20) Address your feelings, relationships, lifestyles and what's meaningful to you. Don't let the inability to admit you made a mistake hold you back. Sometimes it's best to let go and get on with life. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) You'll crave change, excitement and educational pursuits. What you discover will encourage a lifestyle adjustment, conversations and harsh decisions about how and where you choose to live. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Spend more time on self-improvement, personal growth and the pastimes that keep you busy. Decline invitations that bring you in contact with anyone who makes you feel uncomfortable. LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Concentrate on expanding your skills, knowledge and expertise. Help with causes that concern you, but don't take on projects that are not suitable or can reflect on your reputation. VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Look inward; change yourself instead of trying to change others or remove yourself from whatever situation is causing you grief or holding you back. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

For better or For WorSe WonderWord

peAnUtS

SALLY Forth

beetLe bAILeY CeLebrItY CIpher Celebrity Cipher cryptograms are created from quotations by famous people, past and present. Each letter in the cipher stands for another.

ToDAy's cLuE: u EQuALs L

Mother GooSe And GrIMM

SherMAn’S LAGoon FAMILY CIrCUS

dooneSbUrY

10C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

CurTiS

Hi and LoiS

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Sudoku InstructIons: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday. Saturday’s Puzzle Answer

BaBY BLueS

BLondie

THe wiZard oF id

nea CroSSwordS

La TimeS CroSSword

The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● 11C

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B.C.

Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Sydney Smith, an English humorist, writer and cleric who died in 1845, said, “Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession, do not run after distinctions and rewards, but do your utmost to find an entry into the world of beauty.” How attitudes change! Some would say that the world is more beautiful when you win distinctions and rewards. But today’s key word in Smith’s comment is “entry.” In this deal, South needs an entry to his hand. Where is it? After South made a weak jump overcall, North was tempted to advance with three no-trump. That would not have worked well against best defense. EastWest could have taken one spade and four clubs. South sees four potential losers: one spade, one diamond and two clubs. To have any chance, he should assume that West has the diamond king (which is more likely than East’s holding a singleton king). But if the finesse is working, declarer needs a hand entry. A heart ruff looks like a candidate, but South also needs heart winners on which to discard club losers. He should win the first trick with dummy’s heart ace, then play the heart queen. First, assume East covers with his king. South ruffs, draws trumps ending on the board and discards two clubs on the heart J-10. He concedes one spade and one club.

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

Second, if East does not play his heart king, South pitches a club and continues with the heart jack. If East plays low again, South throws another club. Then — this is tough to spot — he must continue with the heart 10 and jettison his last club. Surprisingly, his hand entry becomes a club ruff. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

wuzzles Each Wuzzle is a word riddle which creates a disguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: NOON GOOD = GOOD AFTERNOON

PiCKles

Previous answers:

mallard fillmore

word game InsTRucTIons: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

ToDAy’s WoRD — LEXIcon: LEX-ih-kon: Dictionary.

Bizarro

marmaduKe

Average mark 14 words Time limit 20 minutes Can you find 17 or more words in LEXICON? sATuRDAy’s WoRD — PATRIcIAn pact pain paint pair panic pant part patina pica pinata pint

pita print acai anti antic apart aria arnica atria tapa tarn

tarp tiara train trap trip rain rani rant rapt riata ricin

inapt cant captain carat carp cart catnap catnip

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34

Sin is a tough taskmaster. Repent and give your life to Jesus. He loves you. — G.E. Dean

12C ● Monday, October 5, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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