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SAINTS DROP THIRD STRAIGHT GAME IN UGLY LOSS TO VIKINGS 1C THE

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

M O N D AY, O C T O B E R 12, 2026

TRADITIONS

KEPT ALIVE

Festivals Acadiens a celebration of French Cajun music, food, culture

$2.00X

Homeschool option taking off in Acadiana Parents say lessons provide more individualized instruction

BY JOANNA BROWN Staff writer

STAFF PHOTOS BY BRAD KEMP

When Lafayette parent Michelle Matt ﬁrst started homeschooling, it was because she knew her oldest son needed something more than he was getting during the regular school year. It began as summer school, with lessons and activities to keep a boy who loved to learn engaged when school was out. Her son remained enrolled in public school through graduation and is now a computer engineering freshman at Auburn University. But the practice of working at home and helping her children follow their passions remained a cornerstone of the family’s life. Her two youngest children are now in fourth and ﬁfth grades and have been homeschooled from the start. Their days include a mix of at-home schoolwork, lessons at a local microschool and extracurricular activities such as martial arts and ballet. Fifth grader Noah will perform as a Party Boy in this season’s production of “The Nutcracker” by Lafayette Ballet Theatre. “That is something that, as a public school kid, other boys his age might be like, ‘That’s

Williams Family Zydeco Tradition band plays on Scène Ma Louisiane during the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles at Girard Park in Lafayette on Sunday.

John Pastor, left, dances with his daughter Elle to the music of the Williams Family Zydeco Tradition at Scène Ma Louisiane on Sunday.

BY DEAN BOUDREAUX

Staff writer

Music filled the air, the smell of smothered duck drifted across the grounds and players gathered to toss steel boules in a game rooted in French tradition at Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, held Thursday through Sunday at Girard Park in Lafayette. The annual festival, which began in 1974, continues to draw large crowds to celebrate the music, food and language of Acadiana. ä See more For the people who photos from perform, cook and play there, the fesFestivals tival is more than a Acadiens gathering. It is a way et Créoles. to keep Cajun French PAGE 1B culture alive and pass traditions on to the next generation. For Geno Delafose, founder of the band French Rockin’ Boogie, a good set is one that gets people moving. “We played a little bit of traditional stuff and a little bit of up-tempo stuff,” Delafose said. “I wanted to make sure we could play something that the people would dance to and make the dust ﬂy.” The Grammy-nominated accordionist from Eunice said Cajun and Creole music is all he knows. “I love making people dance,” he said. “I guess you could say I’m kind

ä See HOMESCHOOL, page 7A

Property sales firm under scrutiny N.O. company allegedly owes millions in court judgments BY JAMES FINN and BEN MYERS

Staff writers

of like a pastor. I’m trying to spread the gospel around.” His music is available on Amazon and Spotify, he said. Food is another way Acadiana’s culture is shared, and chef Curt Guillory brought that tradition to life with a cooking demonstration of smothered duck in brown gravy, served with po-

tatoes and smoked sausage. “Everybody in Louisiana grows up cooking and around good food,” Guillory said. “My family is a long line of cooks.” Guillory said he took his ﬁrst kitchen job because he needed work. He

ä See FESTIVAL, page 7A

A New Orleans-area company that handles online property auctions owes millions in court judgments stemming from allegations that it bilked local governments, investors and buyers across the country. The firm, CivicSource, has sold tax-delinquent properties on behalf of local governments across Louisiana — and other states — for years, running a website where potential buyers can peruse and bid on properties that would otherwise be sold at sheriff’s auctions. In New Orleans, city ofﬁcials say CivicSource abruptly stopped handing over proceeds from those sales, accusing the company of cheating the city and buyers out of $3 million. The company disputes that claim.

ä See FIRM, page 6A

WEATHER HIGH 91 LOW 69 PAGE 12C

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

102ND YEAR, NO. 104

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Six senators call for president to reverse course on diesel plan

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Iran calls U.S. response to proposal insufficient

The head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says Tehran finds the latest response from the United States “insufficient” as efforts at negotiations to end the war and fully open the Strait of Hormuz limp along. The comments by Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guard commander, were carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. Rezaei added that Iran is no longer responding to the U.S. and said Washington must clarify certain issues, without giving details. He said the U.S. has accepted some of the seven conditions but others remain unclear. Iran’s delegation to the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders last month proposed a spedup agreement that echoed the memorandum of understanding that collapsed days after the U.S. and Iran signed it in June. The new proposal was rejected, but the two sides have remained in contact via mediation. Rezaei also threatened “cables, data centers, AI facilities and other sites in the region” if intense fighting breaks out again. Meanwhile, the Guard’s navy warned that any ship on the strait that turns off navigation and identification systems would be “identified as hostile,” according to an IRNA report. Attacks on ships transiting the strait have increased since Iran’s proposal was rejected. One attack was reported Sunday.

British PM says Russia interfered in Brexit vote

LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is clear that Russia interfered with Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, adding it was important to put Moscow’s tampering on the record because countries across Europe are facing the same threat. In excerpts from “The Rest is Politics’’ podcast released Sunday, Burnham said that when he became prime minister in July he asked his advisers whether Russia had interfered with the 2016 referendum. The full podcast is scheduled to drop on Monday. “I’ve had the clear answer that yes, there was,’’ Burnham said. “These things are important now to put clearly on the record and I believe help voters in Germany and France understand that some of this politics is instigated via our enemies, namely Russia.” Russia has long said it does not meddle in other countries’ elections or referendums. Burnham’s comments come as U.K. intelligence agencies warn about the increasing threat of Russian interference in Britain’s democratic institutions. The intervention is believed to be the ﬁrst time a British prime minister has publicly acknowledged Russian interference in the Brexit vote.

Ethiopia official pledges change in Tigray

NAIROBI, Kenya — A former Tigray leader now advising Ethiopia’s prime minister on Sunday promised a “visible change” in the region after governmentallied units retook Mekelle city following renewed fighting with opposition forces. Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to the city of Mekelle on Sunday for the first time since rebels led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized the airport on Sept. 23. They withdrew Oct. 3, when government-allied fighters entered the city. Renewed fighting in Tigray has undermined the 2022 peace agreement that ended a twoyear war, as mounting tensions between Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea have raised fears of a wider conflict. “I would like to assure you on this occasion that we will bring visible change, a change beyond mere hope,” Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, told supporters who greeted him and intelligence chief Redwan Hussein at Mekelle airport. He did not elaborate. The 2020-22 war in Tigray caused about 500,000 civilian deaths from violence, famine and the collapse of health services, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.

a legitimate case Bipartisan group there’s for saying the president following the law if decries purchase isthenotadministration goes through with its diesel purfrom Russia chase plan.

BY KEVIN FREKING Associated Press

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY ANDRII MARIENKO

A car burns Sunday following a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Trump: Kyiv, Moscow agree to energy truce But Ukraine says attacks continue

BY SUSIE BLANN, ELISE MORTON and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an “energy ceasefire” in the 4½-year-old war, but he offered no details on it and Kyiv reported attacks by Moscow on energy sites after his statement. Trump’s brief social media post said only that the ceasefire took effect immediately, adding: “Do not break it!” Moscow did not immediately comment. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that while his country “welcomed” the announcement by Trump as “good news for everyone,” Russia was still hitting energy infrastructure in Kyiv and in the city of Kharkiv. “Unfortunately, Ukrainian skies have been infested with Russian ‘shaheds’ all day today,” he said in an evening address, referring to drones launched by Moscow. “There have been glide bomb strikes and strikes on our energy infrastructure too. A power plant in Kharkiv was attacked this evening.” The presidential office confirmed the Kharkiv attack came after Trump’s ceasefire post. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “ready to refrain from striking Russian energy infrastructure — and we count on the same readiness from Russia.” Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians power, heat and running water during the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.” Zelenskyy said Ukraine has proposed many de-escalatory steps but Russian President Vladimir Putin “had one an-

swer to all of them — ‘nyet.’ We do hope that he will finally say something different to America, Ukraine, and the entire world.” He said Kyiv is maintaining contact with the U.S., and he thanked Americans for their support. He said on X that he had spoken about the development with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. In an interview broadcast earlier Sunday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to stop striking Russian refineries if Moscow halted attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, and he asked Trump to press the Kremlin to agree. “We are asking President Trump, (to) give them (a) signal, not (to) attack energy infrastructure of Ukraine,” he told ABC’s “This Week.” On Sept. 14, Trump claimed on social media that both countries had agreed “not to hit” each other’s energy infrastructure but offered no details on that proposal either. While Zelenskyy had said Ukraine was ready to comply if Russia did, nothing came of the proposal. Trump said Saturday it was time for Ukraine to get a new president, suggesting Zelenskyy has not done enough to end the war and blaming him for high diesel prices in the U.S. Zelenskyy said in response to Trump’s comments that Ukraine could hold elections if Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire. “Give us two months, 60 days off. Total ceasefire, 60 days, and we will organize elections,” he said, adding that Ukraine would be ready to accept whatever choice its people made. “With all respect to President Trump, it’s up to our society, up to our people to choose one or another leader,” he said. Holding an election during the war would be unlawful and Ukraine would need security guarantees to allow for safe voting, Zelenskyy added.

Saudi airport terminal struck again BY SAMY MAGDY, CARA ANNA and JULIA FRANKEL

GET IN TOUCH Customer Service: HELP@THEADVOCATE.COM or 337-234-0800 News Tips / Stories: NEWSTIPS@THEADVOCATE.COM Obituaries: 225-388-0289 • Mon-Fri 9-5; Sat 10-5; Closed Sun Advertising Sales: 337-234-0174 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Classiﬁed Advertising: 225-383-0111 • Mon-Fri 8-5 Subscribe: theadvocate.com/subscribe E-Edition: theadvocate.com/eedition Archives: theadvocate.newsbank.com The Acadiana Advocate (USPS # 25-866) is published daily by Capital City Press, LLC at 203 W. Third St., Lafayette, LA 70501. Periodicals postage paid at Lafayette, LA ISSN 2643-7252 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Acadiana Advocate, Circulation Accounting, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821. Newspaper carriers are independent contractors and not employees of Capital City Press.

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People gather Saturday outside a metro Associated Press station on the road to King Khalid CAIRO — A projectile struck a passenger International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi terminal at the international airport in Arabia. Riyadh on Sunday, a day after a missile hit the same terminal and killed 12 people, the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iranbacked Houthi rebels in Yemen said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for those attacks and others. Saudi authorities said there were injuries in the latest attack on the King Khalid International Airport complex for terminals 3 and 4, serving domestic flights. The airport — struck four times in the past five days — has been closed since Saturday’s missile attack, which was the deadliest in a Gulf Arab nation since the Iran war began. Over 300 other people were wounded, some critically. The sharp escalation in the war’s new front threatens to draw in greater U.S. military involvement. President Donald Trump has said he is weighing joining the fight against the Houthis. There was no White House comment Sunday. India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia said one of its citizens died Sunday of injuries sustained in Saturday’s attack, which would bring the toll to 13. Saudi authorities later said King Fahd International Airport in Dammam also was attacked, with few details. The city is on the Persian Gulf near Bahrain and Qatar.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of six senators on Sunday called for President Donald Trump’s administration to “immediately reverse course” on a plan to purchase diesel from Russia as part of an effort to lower high fuel prices. Trump shocked lawmakers when he announced on social media Friday that he struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call. He said Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to the American and global market, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote. Four Republican senators and two Democratic senators signed onto the statement released Sunday in protesting the deal. They said the administration failed to consult with Congress or submit any explanation to justify its decision as required by statute. “The United States should not provide Putin with a financial lifeline while Russia continues to kill Ukrainian civilians. The Administration must immediately reverse course,” they wrote. The Republican senators who signed onto the statement are Sens. Susan Collins, of Maine; Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska; Thom Tillis, of North Carolina; and John Curtis, of Utah. The Democratic senators are Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire; and Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut. Tillis, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said

“We were very clear that Russia is the aggressor. Russia is the one who can end this war by backing out of territory that they occupied,” Tillis said. Trump’s announcement came just a few weeks after Congress passed legislation that directed Trump to impose substantial tariffs on the top importers of Russian oil or natural gas, with an exception for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s natural gas exports and have taken significant steps to reduce those imports. The congressional effort was aimed at cutting the flow of money Russia receives from oil and gas sales to finance its war against Ukraine. The lawmakers also noted that Congress explicitly banned Russia energy imports in 2022 to prevent the United States from financing the war. “Congress was clear: the U.S. should not import oil from Russia until it ends its aggression against Ukraine and ceases threats against our NATO Allies,” the six lawmakers wrote in their statement. “President Trump’s decision to allow Russian diesel imports to the U.S. runs directly counter to that law.” Sen. John Barrasso, RWyo., said Trump is focused on reducing the cost of energy when asked whether the president’s action would be in violation of U.S. law. “The president is balancing and has to make tough decisions,” Barrasso said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He also encouraged Trump to enforce the sanctions law that Congress passed last month. “This is just another point of leverage for the president to use against Putin in an effort to get a long-term solution in that part of the world,” Barrasso said.

The latest strike in Riyadh came shortly after the Houthis said the airport in the rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa had been struck again, and blamed the Saudis. At stake, again, in this escalation are global supplies and prices of oil as well as commercial shipping through a crucial alternative waterway to the Iranthreatened Strait of Hormuz — along with civilians and aviation throughout the region. There was no sign Sunday that Trump had followed up on plans to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been seeking assistance against the war-hardened rebel group that is currently Iran’s most dynamic proxy. A U.S. intervention could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen, further restricting the ﬂow of oil out of the Persian Gulf. The rebels seized key areas along the strait last month. The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces with Yemen’s internationally recognized government, has been trying to seize them back.

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Pope says he will undergo lung surgery Small nodule found in early stage

BY NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday he will undergo surgery “in the coming days” to remove a nodule on his lung, in the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate. The 71-year-old Leo said the nodule was found at an early stage and was “circumscribed” or small and well-localized. The Vatican said Leo’s expected recovery time from surgery would be a week. The American pope made the announcement during his Sunday noon blessing in an unusual display of transparency about his health. He thanked the crowd for their closeness and entrusted himself to their prayers. The Vatican didn’t say exactly when the surgery would take place, other than in the early days of this week. Leo has one upcoming main event: the closing Mass on Wednesday of a weeklong conference on family ministry, but Vatican officials suggested he might miss it. A lung nodule is a small abnormal area measuring less than 1 inch that sometimes appears on a CT scan of the chest or abdomen, according to the American Cancer Society. Often, the scans are done to investigate trauma or a lung infection, unrelated to a lung cancer screening. “Lung nodules are fairly common and are often be-

nign, but benign and cancerous nodules can have a similar appearance on imaging,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. “When there is sufficient concern, and when it is safe to do so based on the location of the nodule and the overall health of the patient, surgical removal can provide a deﬁnitive diagnosis,” he said. If the nodule turns out to be cancerous, the prognosis is “excellent” since it will have been removed at an early stage and surgery alone might be all Leo needs in terms of treatment, he said in an interview. “It often can be a blessing in disguise to remove that cancer before it has a chance to grow or to spread,” he said. Leo has no previously known health problems and is physically active, with weekly tennis matches and swimming at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo. The pope has a major trip planned Nov. 6-17 to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. It’s unclear how or whether the planned surgery and recovery might affect the itinerary, but Leo said earlier in his remarks Sunday that he still planned to go. In his remarks, delivered in Italian, Leo said that during a recent medical check, “doctors found a circumscribed nodule in my lung. It was detected at a very early stage and is well-localized. The doctors believe it’s best to take action, so, following their advice, I have decided to have surgery to remove it.” He thanked the faithful “for your spiritual support,

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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY GREGORIO BORGIA

Pope Leo XIV leaves at the end the Angelus prayer on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. and I entrust myself to your prayers.” Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, died April 21, 2025, of a stroke following a long hospitalization brought on by a respiratory crisis that developed into double pneumonia. Francis suffered from chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man. Francis’ illnesses were characterized by a dizzying and sometimes problematic release of information from the Vatican, which always closely guards the privacy of a pope’s health. In one infamous incident, the Vatican said Francis had gone to the hospital in March 2023 for scheduled tests, but the pontiff later revealed he had felt pain in his chest and was rushed to the hospital where bronchitis was diagnosed. He

ended up being admitted for three days. This time around, Leo appeared keen to control the message and deliver it himself, using one of his most public encounters with the faithful to alert them of his condition and impending hospital stay. Leo is expected to undergo surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where Francis and popes before him were treated and where there is a special apartment for pontiffs. On Sunday, there was no obvious sign that the pope had already been admitted. Dr. Dionysis PapadatosPastos, an oncologist and lung cancer specialist at The London Clinic, stressed that an incidental ﬁnding of a lung nodule doesn’t mean lung cancer. And in fact “a well-circumscribed nodule

Source: Trump, Rubio weigh firing U.S. envoy to Greece

Simon pounds resorts, towns on Mexico’s coast BY FERNANDO LLANO and MARTIN SILVA Associated Press

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Hurricane Simon pounded Mexico’s Paciﬁc coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, its eye remaining just offshore as its most powerful winds and rain slammed people living between the Sierra Madre and the ocean. The hurricane’s center swirled parallel to the coast, closing in on the Puerto Vallarta area, where its most damaging winds and rain were expected to hit around midnight and continue through Monday morning. Its maximum sustained winds weakened Sunday to 130 mph, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, but it was still expected to remain a dangerous hurricane. That’s not good news for people in and around Puerto Vallarta, a popular tourist destination in the state of Jalisco. Just inland and uphill from the resort areas, many Mexicans live in communities where housing might not stand up to the storm. By Sunday afternoon, Simon’s eye was moving within about 55 miles of Cabo Corrientes at about 6 mph.

A senior hurricane center specialist, Phillipe Pappin, said this westernmost tip of mainland Mexico is the area most likely to get a direct hit from the system. Cabo Corrientes is at the southern tip of Bahia de Banderas, the wide bay where Puerto Vallarta looks out to the Paciﬁc. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles, and tropical-storm-force winds reach up to 60 miles from Simon’s center, meaning the entire area between Mexico’s western coast and the Sierra Madre mountains could be affected. “We’re expecting catastrophic wind and lifethreatening storm surge impacts along that west-central coast of Mexico where the hurricane warning is currently in effect,” Pappin said. “They’re also getting very heavy rainfall associated with the storm that’s likely going to produce lifethreatening flooding and mudslides in areas of higher terrain along the Mexican coastline, and there will be signiﬁcant swells.” The hurricane center on Sunday afternoon said Simon was expected to dump an additional 2 to 4 inches of rain, with some areas getting up to 8 inches, in the states of Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit

BY MATTHEW LEE AP diplomatic writer

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY FERNANDO LLANO

A National Guard member patrols Sunday along the seawall as Hurricane Simon approaches Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. and Sinaloa through early Thursday. “Isolated maximum storm totals of 30 inches are possible over portions of the states of Michoacan, Colima, and Jalisco,” the center said in its latest advisory. “This rainfall will produce life-threatening ﬂooding and mudslides or worsen any ongoing ﬂooding, especially in areas of steep terrain.” As the storm approached Puerto Vallarta, National Guard vehicles patrolled the streets while police used a megaphone to call out the few people who were jogging, walking their dogs or biking by the waterfront. Officers reminded people that the area was closed and urged them to take shelter. Not everyone followed the orders. Jalisco state suspended classes on Friday and Monday in 22 coastal municipalities and began evacuating people from at-risk areas while asking the tourism sector to make sure workers

and visitors are fully accommodated in shelters or safe zones. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum took to the social platform X on Sunday to urge people in Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Michoacan to stay sheltered until the government issues a notiﬁcation that the danger has passed. She also asked people to follow recommendations from civil protection ofﬁcials and to avoid traveling on public roads. “Precautionary evacuation efforts to safe zones are ongoing; the priority is our safety,” she wrote. Despite the risks posed by Simon, tourists were still arriving in Puerto Vallarta. Visitors Ricardo Ramírez and Brenda Villarreal, who have never lived through a hurricane, went looking for food by the city’s boardwalk and came across police urging people to take shelter. Ramírez said they were completely unprepared for the situation.

Man suspected of planning to attack Polish PM arrested BY CLAUDIA CIOBANU Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland — A man suspected of threatening and planning to attack Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was arrested, the country’s interior minister said Sunday. Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski gave no details about the identity of the man nor the type of attack planned. Poland has been on high alert following a series of school stabbings this week, as well as fears of a pos-

sible Russian hybrid attack to weaken Western support for Ukraine in its war against Moscow’s full-scale invasion. “The man who threatened an attack was detained,” Tusk wrote on X. “Thanks to the police for fast and decisive action.” Poland’s police had said earlier on Sunday they received information about a possible plot to attack Tusk and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. “We take this matter extremely seriously,” said

does suggest that this is less likely to be cancer.” But he said cancer was possible and the main imperative is to investigate. “The worst thing you can do is ignore a lung nodule,” he said in an interview. Liu, the Georgetown oncologist, said surgical removal in such a case was standard, especially for someone in otherwise good health and if the nodule is in an easily accessible location. A needle biopsy on a lung nodule can be difﬁcult and may not provide doctors with enough information, he said. “In these cases, surgery itself, while it may seem dramatic, is often very safe, very straightforward with a rapid recovery,” he said, adding that Leo should be in good shape to travel to Latin America barring any compli-

cations. Leo is not known to be a smoker. Liu noted that 1 in 5 people diagnosed with lung cancer have no history of smoking. Dr. Massimo Di Maio, president of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology, said it will be important to determine if the nodule is benign or malignant, and if it is malignant, whether it has spread. When the disease is detected at an early stage “the aim … is curative,” he added. Depending on what is found, possible treatments can include chemotherapy and radiation therapy, Di Maio told Italy’s private Sky TG24. “When we talk about something being localized, that can also refer to the need to establish whether the disease is conﬁned to that one site or whether scans show signs of disease elsewhere,” he said, adding that he has not treated the pope and was speaking about the disease in general. “Being physically fit and healthy is certainly an important starting point for coping as well as possible with treatment, including surgery,” he added. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, among the few outsiders to visit Francis during his long ﬁnal hospitalization, expressed her support, and that of the Italian government, for Leo “as he faces this challenge in the coming days.” In a statement, she added that “the serenity and calm with which he spoke about it” were reassuring. Barry reported from Milan; AP reporter Danica Kirka contributed from London.

Jacek Dobrzynski, spokesperson for the minister overseeing Poland’s intelligence services. He said authorities considered there was a “high probability” the threats would be carried out. Dobrzy ski was speaking after an emergency meeting of security services, police and representatives of the Interior Ministry on Sunday. He said information about the threat ﬁrst reached the state protection service, which then passed it to the police. He gave no other information about the reported plot,

but said the intelligence services were receiving an increasing number of various threats with every month. Government spokesperson Adam Szłapka told Polish media Tusk learned about the threat ﬁrst thing on Sunday morning. He said that, even if ofﬁcials do occasionally get threats, this one was “exceptionally concerning.” Three attacks at schools in Mazovia province in central Poland took place within four days this week, leaving one dead and many wounded, including children.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considering firing U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle after a series of reports alleging she has engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens. A senior U.S. official said Sunday that Trump and Rubio are “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct and would likely decide on what action to take this week after Monday’s Columbus Day holiday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Rubio had been particularly angry, not least because he visited Athens just last week and Guilfoyle attended most, if not all, of his events and greeted him on his arrival with a bear hug as the allegations swirled. In a series of stories, The Wall Street Journal has reported questionable conduct by Guilfoyle, including an alleged threat to a host country official, accepting improper gifts and services and offering to use her influence inside the administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill. Guilfoyle has not addressed the reports directly, although her lawyer has said she did nothing wrong and the U.S. embassy in Athens has tacitly expressed support for her. After defending Guilfoyle following the first report, Rubio has declined to comment publicly on the growing allegations. On Wednesday, Rubio said: “Our ambassador has been a strong ambassador here.” But after another report appeared late Wednesday, Rubio on Thursday before leaving Athens berated journalists for asking about the allegations saying he didn’t know if they were true and that he would not respond if he could not con-

firm. “You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something and you reported it, it’s the gospel. It’s not the gospel. It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things,” Rubio said at the foot of his plane as Guilfoyle, who was there to see him depart, looked on. The official said that Rubio had grown increasingly frustrated as the reports multiplied. A second U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said the State Department’s inspector general is looking into the allegations, which first began surfacing in the Journal late last month and have since multiplied. The second official could not say if a formal IG probe had begun. Inspectors general often conduct informal inquiries into complaints against staffers and many times those inquiries do not result in a full-on investigation, which can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. The State Department has declined to comment on a potential IG investigation. The top two Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, as well as the ranking member on the House Committee for Oversight and Government Reform, Robert Garcia, DCalif., have already called for an investigation into Guilfoyle. Since late September, the Journal has detailed numerous accounts of questionable conduct by Guilfoyle. Its first report said that she had told guests at a reception that the U.S. could undermine the Greek government if it chose to, promoted the business interests of one particular Greek construction and energy company, and allowed its lobbyist into private diplomatic meetings.

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The Acadiana Advocate l theadvocate.com l Monday, October 12, 2026 l 5A

Republicans face midterm backlash on tariffs fancy timepieces such as its Some factory signature grandfather and clocks. So the comworkers squeezed mantel pany broadened its offeryears ago to include bar out of jobs by ings carts, cabinets and consoles. But those products also Trump’s levies

Nebraska, said manufacturing woes may not convert to Democratic victories. He said some people may “think the tariffs in the long run will work.”

BY BERNARD CONDON

Wendell Young, a union leader in Pennsylvania, where several factories have had layoffs, said he senses a backlash among workers. Last summer, Young said he got a ﬁrestorm of angry responses to his email blaming tariffs for a decision by Post Holdings to cut 160 jobs at a local pet food factory. “Keep politics out of this,” wrote one of workers at the plant in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. “President Trump isn’t the reason.” “People used to beat me up for not supporting Trump. I haven’t heard that in a year,” said Young, president of Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Some of these people are red Republicans and they are shocked. They expected more jobs.” Post Holdings ultimately agreed to reduce the head count by offering severance for people to leave, but lower production had a ripple effect. Local can manufacturer Trivium Packaging decided to cut several jobs because they were getting less orders from Post and other companies, according to Young’s union. “I understand the mindset behind tariffs, but I just don’t know if it’s working,” said former Trivium worker Heather Kingston. She left for another company before the layoffs, and her husband is still working at Trivium. “There doesn’t seem to be many manufacturing jobs moving into the area,” she said. Kingston said she voted for Republican Dan Meuser in the 9th District last time but is having doubts this year. Meuser’s seat is considered safe, but other races in the state are up for grabs, including in the 7th and 8th districts, which are near the Post and Trivium factories.

depended on glass and other parts from abroad, and diAP business writer versiﬁcation did not ensure survival. “I could still have a job, but NEW YORK — Nelson Vandermeer voted Republican for now I don’t because of tardecades but balked at sup- iffs,” Vandermeer said. “It porting President Donald was like taking a knife to the Trump, fearing that the Re- back.” publican’s plan for tariffs on imports would hurt workers Job losses pile up more than help. Vandermeer lives in MichiLast year, Vandermeer’s gan’s 4th Congressional Dispremonition came true in trict, which is represented a very personal way. The by Republican Bill Huizenga, 62-year-old lost his job as a who is running for a ninth product designer at Howard term in the Nov. 3 election. Miller, a clockmaker that Before Trump implementrelied on parts produced ed his broadest set of tariffs overseas. After a century last year, on what the presiin business, the company in dent called “Liberation Day,” Zeeland, Michigan, closed its Huizenga was supportive. factory, sold off its inventory “Is it going to be easy? Not and brand name and laid off necessarily. Is it the right nearly 200 workers. thing to do? Absolutely it is,” “So much for bringing jobs he told reporters at the time. back,” Vandermeer said. A spokesperson for HuizNext month, he plans to vote enga said last week that the straight Democrat in the congressman “sees a potenmidterms. tial role for tariffs” for boostAs if an unpopular war ing domestic manufacturing with Iran and persistent in- “while recognizing the need ﬂation were not enough trou- to address their broader ecoble for Republicans, they are nomic effects.” His Democonfronting a backlash over cratic opponent, state Sen. the tariffs that Trump made Sean McCann, has criticized a cornerstone of his eco- the incumbent for opposing nomic agenda. He promised legislation that would rein in that charging higher taxes on tariffs that Trump imposed imports would spur a factory unilaterally. There are similar issues renaissance in the United States, but that has not come in competitive races in Kanto pass. Although the coun- sas, Iowa and Ohio, where try has added manufactur- Republican acquiescence ing jobs so far this year, the could hurt the party on Elecsector has fewer employees tion Day as their constituents than when Trump returned face factory layoffs, farm to the White House in Janu- foreclosures and higher prices. ary 2025. Tracy Chew, 55, voted White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted for Trump in 2016, then for that a factory boom is un- Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 derway, citing increases in and Democrat Kamala Harmanufacturing output and ris in 2024. more work in certain nonresShe used to work for Case, idential construction trades. a backhoe manufacturer, but “Factory construction jobs the company announced beof today mean more manu- fore the tariffs that it would facturing jobs down the road close its plant in Burlington, once those factories come Iowa. She lost her job in April, as did her daughter, online,” she said. Even before the tariffs, followed by husband and Howard Miller struggled as son-in-law over the next few Americans lost their taste for weeks.

Some turning on Trump

CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO BY NICK IWANYSHYN

Rolled coils of steel sit in the yard on Aug. 20 at the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ont. Chew is leaning toward voting for Democrats again this year, feeling that Trump let them down. “I’m furious he isn’t doing enough,” she said. “Tariffs are not targeting the right companies, the right amount.” Layoffs in Iowa have piled up elsewhere. Winnebago Industries, which produces recreational vehicles like campers, cut 200 jobs last year after the cost of importing aluminum, steel and electronics increased by tens of millions of dollars. “It’s a day to day battle,” said Michael Happe, the company’s chief executive. In the tight race for an open U.S. Senate seat in Iowa, U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek. There is a close contest, too, in Kansas, where Democrat Adam Hamilton, the pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S., is trying to unseat Republican Roger Marshall. Cole Hoppock, chief executive of appliance maker Vornado Air in Wichita, Kansas, said Trump’s tariffs “impacted virtually everything.” The company known for its retro household fans laid off more than 70 factory workers in February, blaming higher prices for imported parts.

Trump’s trade policy could force cutbacks soon at another Kansas employer, Canadian jet manufacturer Bombardier. Trump has threatened to ban the company’s sales in the U.S. if Bombardier does not start making all its planes in the U.S. Bombardier said it buys parts from 2,800 companies in 47 states, including in Kansas, where it employs more than 1,000 people

Unpopular approach Trump has spent years complaining that other countries are ripping off the U.S. when it comes to trade. Most economists say he is wrong and that his remedy — broad universal tariffs — would cause more pain than help. Now most Americans disagree with Trump’s approach, according to The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. A September poll showed only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults approve of Trump’s handling of trade negotiations, compared with 4 in 10 in March. Some of Trump’s tariffs have been haphazard. He targeted Brazil because of political differences and he jacked up tariffs on China to levels so extreme that they risked a recession and forced the

president to retreat. The Supreme Court in February ruled against Trump’s declaration of an emergency to roll out his “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, leaving foreign trade unsettled as the administration continues to adjust with new levies and threats. Tariffs are far from the only reason for the lost of manufacturing jobs, and factories have cut workers for decades with or without them. Even some Republicans who dislike Trump’s approach will not split with the party. Bicycle Corp. of America, which closed its factory in South Carolina last year, blamed rising prices for imported parts. Koby Bird, who retired after working in quality control, likes tariffs but was frustrated by Trump’s habit of raising and lowering them seemingly at whim. “It was all over the place,” Bird said. “Businesses couldn’t plan.” Next month, Bird is likely to stick with Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, because tariffs are only one issue and he believes Democrats would spend too much money on the wrong things. Ernie Goss, an economist at Creighton University in

Fugitive businessman taken into DOJ probing whether White House TV custody in Venezuela bribery case pool’s coverage halt broke antitrust law

India’s ‘Cockroach’ protest leaders freed from detention, vow to continue BY SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press

NEW DELHI — Leaders of a popular Indian youth movement vowed to continue protests Sunday after being released from detention, a day after police cracked down on demonstrations against a controversial revision of voter lists. The movement is demanding the resignation of the country’s election chief. The protests were triggered after authorities removed more than 130 million voters from the list since last year. Critics say the move is politically motivated. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission deny manipulation allegations. The Cockroach Janata

Party’s three leaders — Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka — were freed on condition that they commit “no breach of peace for one year,” Ratna Singh, the movement’s legal director, said in a social media post. It was unclear what the condition meant or whether it would restrict their participation in protests. Police boarded the leaders’ ﬂight from Mumbai after it landed in New Delhi on Saturday and took them into custody as they prepared to lead a demonstration in New Delhi. After his release, Dipke called Modi “an embarrassment to India.” “Never has this country seen a bigger coward and bully,” he wrote on X. Das, a spokesperson for the movement, urged sup-

porters to take to the streets. “A situation has been created where the state is at war with its own citizens,” he told reporters Sunday. Following Saturday’s protests, authorities launched a sweeping security crackdown in the capital, detaining more than 2,000 protesters, including several opposition lawmakers. Train services to the capital were canceled, metro stations closed and mobile internet suspended in parts of the city. Most of those detained were released late Saturday, police said. Small groups of protesters returned to the Indian capital on Sunday, staging marches across the city. The police quickly broke up most of the demonstrations, detaining some protesters again.

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and AMY TAXIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether the decision of the White House television press pool to halt coverage of President Donald Trump last month violated antitrust law, an agency spokesperson said Saturday. Emily Covington, a spokesperson for the department, said group boycotts among business competitors might violate U.S. law. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine

whether these news organizations have violated the antitrust laws,” she said. The announcement came after the television pool of five broadcasters last month ceased presidential coverage after the administration barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. Messages were sent late Saturday to the five outlets seeking comment: ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC. The White House press pool, which is a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, has become a proxy for the wider fight over whether the president,

or anyone, can control the content of news reports — a type of free speech, pillar of American democracy. Last month’s developments marked an extraordinary escalation in Trump’s efforts to restrict news reporters and outlets that he ﬁnds insufﬁciently supportive. CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued over the dayslong ban. It was lifted after a judge handed the three news organizations a reprieve, which is in place until Tuesday. Television pool coverage of the White House has also resumed.

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MIAMI — A businessman wanted for years in the U.S. for allegedly paying bribes to top Venezuelan ofﬁcials in exchange for lucrative state contracts in Venezuela has been taken into custody. Alvaro Pulido was indicted in Miami federal court in 2019 and again in 2021 as part of an investigation into his longtime business partner, Alex Saab, a one-time ally of ousted President Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and State Department had been offering a

ing coalition that want her to resist attempts by the Trump administration to round up scores of Venezuelan insiders wanted by the U.S., sometimes for years, for serious crimes ranging from corruption to drug trafﬁcking. The Colombian-born Pulido was arrested in Venezuela in 2023 as part of a sprawling crackdown on corruption inside state-run oil company PDVSA that was led by Rodríguez while she was serving as Maduro’s vice president. She took over as Venezuela’s acting president following the U.S. military’s ouster of Maduro in January.

Associated Press

reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest. Pulido was taken into U.S. custody after an investigation led by the DEA, FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agencies, Nicole Navas Oxman, a Homeland Security Task Force spokesperson, said Sunday. Oxman didn’t say how Pulido ended up in U.S. custody but said he will make his initial court appearance Tuesday in Miami. Venezuelan authorities have so far been silent about the arrest, reflecting the challenge acting President Delcy Rodríguez faces appeasing elements of the rul-

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6A l Monday, October 12, 2026 l theadvocate.com l The Acadiana Advocate

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Isaias remnants bring flooding risk across regions Deaths linked to hurricane reported

a success!” the county emergency management agency posted online. Nearly a dozen local weather stations in the western North Carolina county reported torrential 24-hour rainfall totals at 9 a.m. Sunday, from about 5 inches to as much as 9.57 inches at the ﬁre/rescue station in Enola. The weather service said rainfall was diminishing in the area but that rapid river rises and ﬂooding remained possible.

BY SOPHIE BATES, KATE BRUMBACK and JULIE WALKER

Associated Press

PENSACOLA, FLA. — People in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama cleaned up after Isaias swept through as the storm’s remnants brought the risk of flooding to the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic region on Sunday. Meanwhile, significant waves from Rachel, a former tropical storm, battered the coast of Southern California. In western North Carolina, rivers overflowed as heavy rainfall raised the risk of flash and urban flooding, according to the National Weather Service. Tornadoes were possible in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were expected along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts. At least four deaths were linked to Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, which came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane Friday near Destin, Florida, a Gulf Coast vacation spot filled with high-rises and tourist shops. The storm then roared into Alabama with tropical-force winds before heading farther north. In Florida’s Escambia County, Sheriff Chip Simmons said a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home and a man died of carbon monoxide fumes from a generator running in his garage. One person died when a tree fell on a house in Birmingham, said Cory Moon, the city’s fire chief. A second storm-related death in Alabama was attributed to a motor vehicle crash involving a downed tree in Barbour County, said Josh Johnson of the state’s emergency management agency. Heavy rains cause problems in North Carolina

FIRM

Continued from page 1A St. Tammany Parish officials contend the company shorted them by an estimated $500,000, while leaders in St. Bernard Parish say they are “evaluating our legal options” over the company’s work. County governments in Kansas and Tennessee have each secured sevenfigure court judgments against CivicSource. The company faces additional lawsuits from lenders who say it never repaid loans, as well as a law enforcement investigation. In all, court judgments against the firm total at least $6.9 million over the past four years, according to records. In court filings and interviews with The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, dozens of would-be property buyers in south Louisiana said they paid deposits to the company and never received ownership documents. CivicSource’s business took off in the early 2010s across Louisiana, with the company landing government deals to sell abandoned properties in Baton Rouge, Acadiana, Shreveport and elsewhere before eventually taking hold in other states. After the firm listed properties online, bidders would pay CivicSource for the property’s lien or title, plus costs for tasks like title research and attempts to track down prior owners. CivicSource would route the full amount to the local government, which would reimburse the company’s administrative costs, plus a commission. In a lawsuit New Orleans filed against the company in May, city officials allege the Metairie-based firm kept more than $1 million in deposits owed to potential buyers, plus nearly $2 million owed to the city from sale proceeds between 2023 and 2025. CivicSource owner Bryan Barrios has defended his company in interviews and legal filings. Instead, he blames New Orleans officials for the company’s problems and has filed his own claims against the city. For the better part of a decade, Barrios says New Orleans improperly calculated costs it was obligated to reimburse his firm, leaving CivicSource deep in the red and unable to resolve mounting debts. In an interview, Barrios said he realized the accounting error only after company officials scoured its books in 2024, as court claims and judgments against the firm mounted. “What this has managed to do is collapse a 20-year (company) that’s done nothing but good in every jurisdiction it’s in,” he said. Barrios’ suit is seeking $22 million from the city, whose leaders are facing a serious budget deficit.

Dealing with Isaias aftermath

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY OCTAVIO JONES

Curt Brown picks up debris left by Isaias around his RV home in Milton, Fla., on Saturday.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY GERALD HERBERT

An apartment complex that had its roof ripped off is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias in Milton, Fla., on Saturday.

Hurricane-force winds in the Florida Panhandle blew the roof off a Pensacola hotel. The storm ﬂattened a boathouse in Destin and ripped away part of the facade of a high-rise in Panama City Beach. At a church in Pensacola where the United Cajun Navy was distributing supplies Sunday morning, a line of hundreds of cars stretched around the block. Yvette Haro said she arrived at 5 a.m. after being turned away the previous day because supplies had run out. With a 10-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter at home, she said it’s hard to go to stores and wait in long lines. She was looking for water, paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning supplies. “Anything that they’re willing to give us is helpful,” she said. While her home didn’t suffer any damage, the loss of electricity was making things difﬁcult, Haro said. “The biggest thing is our food going bad.” Roughly 328,000 customers were without power in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to poweroutage.com. Sarah Gatewood, a spokesperson for Florida Power & Light, said workers from all over Florida and from more than two dozen other states were mobilized to help restore power.

In Burke County, North Carolina, an unhoused male and female were camping when ﬂoodwaters from the Catawba River caught them off guard. They were rescued, along with their dog, according to a spokesperson for the county emergency management agency. Separately, a woman trapped inside her car in floodwaters was freed outside of Morganton.

In McDowell County, North Carolina, just west of Burke County, first responders said they dealt with ﬁve landslides and voluntary evacuations overnight Saturday into Sunday as they responded to flooded roads and streams overﬂowing their banks. “Despite a challenging night, we Rachel brings wind, rain are thankful to report no known Rachel became a post-tropical injuries or loss of life. We call that cyclone overnight, bringing unusu-

Lawyers for Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration call his claim “preposterous and demonstrably false.” “CivicSource owes both the City and its citizens money,” City Attorney Charline Gipson said in a statement. “The City will not stop fighting for the refunds for which CivicSource is responsible and has improperly taken.” Legal claims against the firm began emerging several years ago. In St. Tammany, parish spokesperson Michael Vinsanau said Barrios’ company owes the parish government $500,000. (Barrios says the correct number is $23,000.) St. Bernard Parish officials “are working with all of our affected citizens to ensure the best outcome,” said John Brian White, St. Bernard’s executive counsel. CivicSource has also filed a lawsuit against newspapers in Louisiana, including The Times-Picayune | The Advocate, alleging that publications have overcharged them for legal advertisements related to tax sales the company was facilitating. The newspapers have disputed CivicSource’s claims in legal filings, and the case is pending in Civil District Court. Last year, law enforcement became involved through the dispute the company faced in Kansas. The Sheriff’s Office in Sedgwick County opened an investigation after the county treasurer accused CivicSource of pocketing $1.2 million in auction proceeds. The FBI’s New Orleans office has since taken over the case, a Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. The court filings show Barrios allegedly threatened at least one claimant with physical violence. He did so during a 2023 argument with Michael Kirschman, who served in leadership roles at Barrios’ companies and later secured a $2.9 million court judgment against Barrios in Jefferson Parish for outstanding loans. Barrios warned Kirschman of “a hellacious ass whipping in this life or next in accordance with Universal law,” according to a text thread contained in court filings. Barrios said he and Kirschman shared a 10-year business relationship before Kirschman tried to “steal” ownership of Archon Information Systems, CivicSource’s parent company, through litigation. Kirschman in an interview denied trying to steal the company. He said he frequently lent Barrios money to help keep Barrios’ various businesses solvent before their relationship soured. “The company was not good at retaining funds for the quieter times,” Kirschman said. “There was a need for lending, which led Bryan to come to me a number of

times. For a very long time, this was a very easy relationship. When I lent him money, he would pay me back. That changed.” Kirschman is still trying to obtain his judgment and has intervened in the New Orleans litigation.

Novel idea Barrios started CivicSource’s parent company, Archon Information Systems, in 2008 out of an office in Metairie. CivicSource — Archon’s marquee product — started online property sales around that time in New Orleans, whose leaders touted the company as a solution to widespread blight. Land parcels whose owners hadn’t paid taxes in three years or longer were eligible for the sales. By its own count, CivicSource has returned more than 8,000 properties that weren’t generating tax revenue for New Orleans to commerce in the city since 2014. As it expanded nationwide, CivicSource maintained an especially broad footprint in Louisiana. Officials in Allen, East Feliciana, East Baton Rouge, St. Martin, Caddo, Bossier, Union and Ascension parishes have advertised property sales through the firm. So have city governments in Lake Charles, Leesville and Bogalusa. The approach presented a helpful option for casual investors like New Orleans resident Todrick Carmouche, who started buying properties through CivicSource in 2010, eventually creating a modest portfolio. “That convenience created a lot of flexibility for a person like me,” said Carmouche, who works in education. “I don’t have the ability to say, ‘I’m going to take off the first Wednesday of the month’ to go bid at a sheriff’s sale on a property I might not even get.” Barrios also set up a second company that would help bolster CivicSource’s business model. That firm, U.S. National Title Insurance Company, sold policies that assured investors that property titles obtained through online auctions were legitimate. Many mortgage lenders require title insurance.

Allegations emerge In 2024, CivicSource inked a fresh contract with New Orleans, but the city contends the company did not deliver auction proceeds for most of the following year. The outstanding amount owed to the city grew to $1.7 million by May 2025, according to a contract amendment Barrios signed later that year. The city refused to continue paying CivicSource’s costs until the debt was satisfied. CivicSource tried to recover those costs in a December 2025 lawsuit, setting off a messy ﬁght in Civil District Court over who owes what. The city now says CivicSource owes $192,000 af-

ter reconciling CivicSource’s debt with its costs. But CivicSource is now also demanding $22 million for unpaid costs — the amount Barrios said he only recently discovered — stretching back more than a decade. Judge Monique Barial is scheduled to hear arguments on summary judgment motions on Wednesday. County officials in two other states have obtained seven-figure court judgments stemming from similar claims against CivicSource. Shelby County, Tennessee, home to Memphis, sued CivicSource and Archon in federal court in 2024. The company had worked for the county since 2015, the county’s lawyers wrote, but in late 2023 stopped sending auction proceeds. A federal judge ordered the company to pay the county $1.5 million. Barrios said he fired several senior staffers at the time, believing they were responsible for accounting errors. Through that litigation, he said the company learned that New Orleans hadn’t been reimbursing his costs. “Now, in hindsight, I get why we couldn’t pay it,” he said. “We were getting shorted $2.5 million a year by New Orleans.” In Kansas, Sedgwick County officials filed a theft report last year with the Sheriff’s Office. CivicSource owed Sedgwick County taxpayers $1.28 million in tax sale revenue it never handed over, officials said. The county treasurer sent a report to the sheriff, who referred the probe to the FBI. Responding to Sedgwick County officials’ written demand for sale proceeds in November 2025, Barrios blamed the stalled payments on outstanding invoices in New Orleans and a revolving door of chief financial officers who had failed to inform him of the problem. “I have not in 20 years dealt with any financial aspect of my business,” Barrios explained. Neither Shelby nor Sedgwick counties have received payments on their judgments, officials in both jurisdictions confirmed this week. Some of CivicSource’s other contracts have been canceled: Across Louisiana, local officials in 10 cities and parishes issued termination notices in a four-month period earlier this year, according to records.

Insurance company woes This year, insurance officials in Mississippi and Louisiana moved to seize Barrios’ title insurance company, claiming Archon — CivicSource’s parent company — owed the insurer $1.9 million for premiums that property buyers had purchased. Ofﬁcials said in court ﬁlings the money was likely embezzled or illegally misappropriated. Archon failed to remit insurance premiums for years, and the missing payments destabilized the insur-

ally big waves to Southern California, and it dissipated over Las Vegas as it drenched deserts across the Southwest. An inch of rain fell in Las Vegas by early Sunday afternoon, leading to about 10 water rescues. Video posted on social media showed gushing water and ﬂooded streets on the Las Vegas Strip. The footage also showed partially submerged shopping carts strewn about the street and water pouring into a concrete channel. In California, waves battered a century-old wooden boardwalk on the Long Beach peninsula and forced homeowners to evacuate. The strip of multimillion-dollar oceanfront properties, along with much of the Southern California coastline, was already reeling from Hurricane Marie in September. “This area is completely shattered and vulnerable,” Jack Gordon, a Long Beach real estate agent, said. The Paciﬁc Ocean is abnormally warm, about 7 to 8 degrees F warmer than normal for this time of year, due to the El Niño weather pattern, said Joe Sirard of the National Weather Service in Oxnard, California “When we have this warm water, it actually causes the ocean to rise above the normal predicted tide levels,” Sirard said. That’s affected by Rachel’s ocean swells and wind gusts. Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said that the storm would affect the whole city, and urged city residents to avoid the peninsula through the weekend as crews worked to clean up the area. More than half a dozen houses along the coast were declared structurally unsafe. “It is not normal that we see this type of activity, especially for our residents in the peninsula,” Richardson said Saturday. “These kind of impacts are not normal, they are unprecedented for our community.”

ance company, jeopardizing thousands of Louisiana property titles, said John Ford, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Ford said the insurance company, U.S. National, is improving its financial standing under the state’s direction in receivership, and the company has adequate reinsurance. Ford said it is common for title insurers like the U.S. National to do business with affiliates, but they are required to disclose material transactions with the affiliates to regulators. He said U.S. National failed to disclose “numerous” required transactions with Archon. Barrios said the arrangement called for U.S. National to pay a fee to CivicSource, but he did not accept it because he “suspected that our premium remissions were down.” He estimated the fee was $2 million, but said he never took money from the insurance company. Local officials across south Louisiana, meanwhile, were hearing from property buyers who said CivicSource made off with their money. Some said they never received titles. Carmouche said CivicSource took a $7,000 deposit he paid on a New Iberia property and ghosted him. He says he never received the property. “Are we supposed to just let people steal hardworking taxpayers’ money?” Carmouche said. “What are we doing?” Barrios said he felt “sick” at the thought of people losing money. But he blamed the problem on New Orleans. “It’s all related to the New Orleans situation,” he said.

Law enforcement scrutiny Several people who were involved in CivicSource transactions in Louisiana told The TimesPicayune | The Advocate that FBI agents contacted them over the past year with questions about the firm. Citing Justice Department policy, a spokesperson for the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office declined to answer questions about the case’s status. Barrios initially denied his company had faced criminal scrutiny. Asked about the Sedgwick County Sheriff Office’s case referral to the FBI, he acknowledged that he had heard of the FBI’s interest in his company from a former investor. Barrios later provided emails he sent to an FBI special agent in May in which he sought to explain the company’s financial struggles. Barrios said he also asked prosecutors from the local U.S. Attorney’s Office to press criminal charges against city officials for pocketing money from his company. A spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment. “I had nothing to hide,” Barrios said.

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The Acadiana Advocate l theadvocate.com l Monday, October 12, 2026 l 7A

Festival attendees line dance to the music of Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush during Festivals Acadiens et Créoles at Girard Park on Sunday.

FESTIVAL

Continued from page 1A started by chopping vegetables at Prudhommes diner in Carencro, which his family owned. The diner is no longer open, he said. What began as a job grew into a career. Guillory has been cooking for 30 years and hosts two television shows, “Grillin’ with the Guru” and “From the Bayou to the World.” This was his 11th year giving cooking demonstrations at the festival, he said. Across the festival grounds, members of La Boule Cadienne de Lafayette gathered to play pétanque, tossing steel boules toward a small target ball. Pétanque is a French game in the same family as bocce, said Gavin Faulk, the club’s co-captain. He described it as a national sport in France.

Williams Family Zydeco Tradition band plays on Scène Ma Louisiane during the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles at Girard Park on Sunday.

Players toss a target ball, called a cochonnet, or “little pig,” then try to land their boules as close to it as possible. Players must keep both feet on the ground inside a circle, and the team with the closest boule scores. The club, which is about 20 years old, began as a way for people to speak French casually, Faulk said. Many of its members are retired French teachers. “We’re big on trying to promote the language for those who speak it,” he said. The game is accessible to people of different ages, Faulk said. “Older people can play because it’s less impact on the body,” he said. “Young people can play it. Little kids can play it, because it’s a simple game.” For club members, the game offers a chance to gather around a shared tradition while keeping the French language in conversation.

HOMESCHOOL

Michelle Matt works with her homeschooled children Noah and Elaina at Moncus Park in Lafayette on Thursday.

Continued from page 1A

not cool.’ His homeschool friends are like, ‘That’s awesome,’” Matt said. “He thinks it’s great, and he’s really proud. They grow up in an environment that encourages them to do what they like and what brings them joy, and they’re not as worried about peer pressure. “The beauty of homeschooling is you can tailor it the way you want to, and you can follow the child’s interests.” Last week, the Matts brought their schoolbooks to Moncus Park to enjoy the start of fall weather. Noah read a few pages while his sister Elaina hunted for science facts. They were practicing writing by ﬁnding 10 facts they didn’t already know and expressing them in complete sentences. “It hasn’t always been a super easy road. There’s been times where I’m like, ‘I don’t know if this is working,’” Matt said. “We’ve had to reset or readjust, but we did. That’s one thing I wish homeschooling parents knew in the beginning — you don’t have to do it perfectly. You can change and adjust as you go, and life will change and adjust it for you.” Homeschooling has continued to grow in Louisiana, one of the few states where the number of homeschoolers has increased continuously since rates peaked nationally during the pandemic, according to research from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. During the 2024-25 school year, about 50,000 Louisiana students were homeschooled through one of two pathways: Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved home study, which allows students to remain eligible for the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students scholarship and participate in athletics at local schools, or registration as a home-based private school not seeking state approval, which offers more ﬂexibility and has no state testing requirements.

STAFF PHOTOS BY BRAD KEMP

STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK

If homeschoolers were their own school district, it would be one of the largest in the state, said Christopher Chin, president of Homeschool Louisiana. The homeschooling population across Acadiana totaled about 8,000 students during the 2024-25 school year, with Lafayette Parish accounting for more than 2,000. Louisiana Department of Education data include both BESE-approved home study students and students registered in private schools not seeking state approval. Chin and his wife have homeschooled in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina disrupted the school system in 2005. He said he has seen a shift in why families choose homeschooling. What was once largely an ideological or family-based decision is now often a response to problems parents see in traditional schools. “Maybe it’s bullying or violence in schools, or families after COVID seeing the curtain pulled back. Like, wait, what are my kids learning? This is one I’ve heard — ‘My child was a B student, and when I got him at home, he couldn’t read,’” Chin said. “It was conventional wisdom after COVID that everyone was going to go back, and I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. Once people got a taste of it, they realized it’s not that hard. It’s not that difﬁcult to do. With all the resources out there, we can get this done at a fraction of the cost.” Families can ﬁnd curricu-

la online, resources to help identify their children’s learning styles and extracurricular activities designed for homeschoolers. In Lafayette, Matt created The Workable Homeschool website after fielding repeated questions from families about where to start. She and her husband, Chad, are also developing a homeschool program at San Yama Ryu Martial Arts Academy, where he is a sensei. Homeschooling does not always mean learning exclusively at home. Chin noted the growing popularity of microschools, learning pods, programs such as Classical Conversations and other parent-led educational structures as key parts of the state’s homeschooling community. Twice a week, the Matt children supplement their home-based schooling with lessons at Little Learning Village, an Acadiana microschool run by educator Natalie Chustz. Chustz and her team of former and retired public schoolteachers provide individualized instruction to homeschool students. She said much of the program’s growth has come from families trying homeschooling for the first time, particularly those whose children struggled in other educational settings. “It started with helping one family, and it just evolved through word-ofmouth,” said Chustz, who started Little Learning Village in April after leaving

her position at a charter school. The program works with children with dyslexia, ADHD and other learning differences. Chustz said small-group settings allow teachers to provide more individualized attention than may be possible in a traditional classroom. Chustz also said declining teacher morale helped

prompt her departure from the traditional school system. “I’ve been a teacher for 14 years, and the school systems are just going down as far as teacher morale,” she said. Her colleague Karen Langland, a retired teacher from Pointe Coupee Parish, said working with homeschool families helped reignite her love of teaching. “After 20 years of teaching, I’ve seen it all, done it all,” she said. “I love my community. I love my district. I love educating children and building strong community bonds. But it just became a little bit overwhelming — you know, we couldn’t really teach. There’s so many other jobs they give teachers now, and teaching was put on the back burner and just wasn’t like it used to be.” For Acadiana homeschooling mom Paige Doherty, the decision was about what her family needed as much as what her son needed. She began homeschooling her third grader about two weeks

ago, seeking more time, less stress and better boundaries between her roles as a mother and educator. Doherty previously taught in private and public schools. She said homeschooling offered a chance to build a more positive relationship with teaching while creating a better environment for her son. “The demands were too much for me. You’re working nights and weekends under all this pressure and stress and demand, and it’s just not there with homeschooling,” Doherty said. “My son could tell that Mom was just maxed out. I had to think mentally, what’s best for my family — not just for myself, but for my son, too. We’ve been really enjoying it so far. When he’s in high school, we may go the BESE-approved home study route where we do the state testing needed to apply for TOPS, or I could see him maybe at a high school like Teurlings. I can’t really tell the future, but the goal is just happiness and peace.”

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SoLAcc awards more than $186,000

College doles out scholarships to Acadiana students BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

South Louisiana Community College awarded more than $186,000 in scholarships to students for the fall 2026 semester, the college announced. The Foundation for SoLAcc recognized scholarship recipients and the donors who support them during a reception Tuesday at the Downtown Convention Center in

Lafayette. The scholarships, funded by businesses, organizations and individuals throughout Acadiana, help students offset the cost of their education as they work toward academic and career goals. “These scholarships are about more than ﬁnancial support. They are a reminder to our students that our community believes in them and is invested in their success,” said Brittany Ducote, develop-

ment and alumni coordinator at SoLAcc. “The generosity of our donors helps remove barriers for students while giving them the opportunity to focus on completing their education and building their futures.” Scholarship recipients represented programs and areas of study across SoLAcc. Donors included businesses, industries, organizations and individuals from the communities served by the

college. Jim and Alice McDuff, of Live Like Liam of Iberia Inc., were among the donors supporting SoLAcc students this fall. “SoLAcc scholarships are a perfect fit for Live Like Liam of Iberia. It’s an honor to have a meaningful impact on a student’s journey as they work toward their goal of obtaining a degree,” the McDuffs said. “How often do we get a chance to affect someone’s life? Partnering with students striving for a better life is Live Like Liam of Iberia’s mission, in

Three students arrested after fight

BeauSoleil plays on Scène ’76 on Sunday during Festivals Acadiens et Créoles at Girard Park in Lafayette.

Assistant principal struck at Northwest High

BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

Three high school students were arrested after a fight Thursday at Northwest High School left an administrator injured, authorities said. Zhamiya Shelita Cary, 18; Morgan Alyssa Edwards, 17; and Terriyhanna Milburn, 17, all of Opelousas, were each booked on counts of battery of a schoolteacher and disturbing the peace by fighting. All three were booked as adults, officials said. The students were involved in a fight at the school, according to St. Landry Parish Sheriff Bobby J. Guidroz. “During the course of attempting to separate the students, the assistant principal, Sara Melancon, was struck,” Guidroz said. “On-scene school resource officers separated the students and initiated the investigation that led to the arrests.” Melancon was treated and released from a hospital, officials said. Booking details were not released.

FESTIVAL JAMS

STAFF PHOTOS BY BRAD KEMP

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles wrapped up this

year’s cultural experience on Sunday after four days of Cajun and Creole musicians over six stages at Lafayette's Girard Park.

ABOVE: Guitarist Dennis Paul Williams plays with the Williams Family Zydeco Tradition. LEFT: Festival attendees line dance to the music of Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush.

Opelousas police ID, search for suspect in fatal shooting BY KRISTIN ASKELSON Staff writer

The Opelousas Police Department is investigating a fatal shooting Saturday evening near the intersection of Melancon and Jefferson streets. Emergency personnel provided aid at the scene then transported the victim to a hospital, where they later died, police said. Investigators are working with surrounding law enforcement agencies to locate and arrest the suspected shooter. The identities of the victim and suspect have not been released, and the motive remains unknown. Police are asking anyone who witnessed the shooting, observed suspicious activity in the area, or has surveillance footage or information about the shooter’s whereabouts to contact the Opelousas Police Department at (337) 948-2500. Anonymous tips can be submitted to St. Landry Crime Stoppers at (337) 948-8477. Information will be released as it becomes available, police said.

honor of Liam McDuff.” The fall 2026 scholarship reception brought students, donors and college representatives together to recognize scholarship recipients and the impact of scholarship support. For information about SoLAcc scholarships or establishing a scholarship through the Foundation for SoLAcc, contact Ducote at (337) 521-6673 or brittany.ducote@ solacc.edu. More information is also available at SoLAcc’s scholarship website, solacc.edu/ﬁnancialaid/scholarships.

ABOVE: Danery Rosalie dances with Melvin Smith under the Salle De Danse tent. RIGHT: Cajun musicians jam under the Jam Ca! (Jam That) tent.

2B l Monday, October 12, 2026 l theadvocate.com l The Acadiana Advocate

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YOUR VIEWS T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M/opinions

Let’s elect a Congress that will tackle complex problems

Remembering attack on Israel and honoring allies

All elections are important. When we cast our votes, our voices are counted. Our votes say that the candidates we choose are the ones we believe will most likely take America in the direction of our hopes. I am both alarmed and deeply saddened by our current direction. What are you seeing? I see an arrogant America, focused on money, power and acquisition. I see an America that has suggested ending the Russian war against Ukraine by having Ukraine give some of its territory to the Russian invader. I see inhumanity in the actions of ICE. I see citizens struggling economically due to tariffs, the Iran war and the $40 trillion debt, while being offered $5,000 if the GOP takes Congress. These payments would purportedly come from tariff funds. Ironically, the tariffs are inﬂationary and part of the economic problem. I have seen more than this. I hear AI developers urgently pleading for a slowdown due to AI rogue activity, while the administration advocates full steam ahead because America must be ﬁrst for national security reasons and because there is so much money invested in this tech-heavy stock market. Which is more dangerous to our national security: an uncontrolled AI or being second? And what if the dangerous predictions occur? What would the stocks be worth then? Unknowns require caution and wisdom. President Trump’s congressional candidates will do as President Trump directs. Their votes since 2025 tell the tale. Let’s elect a Congress that will work to solve our many complex problems. In 2003, David Sipress, a New Yorker cartoonist, wrote: “You say it’s win-win, but what if you’re wrong-wrong and it all goes badbad?” Indeed.

On Oct. 7, 2023, I was at Disney World with my family when I awoke to messages that Hamas terrorists had attacked Israel. One year earlier, during my 27th trip to Israel, I visited Kfar Aza, a kibbutz that was brutally attacked. Were the people I met still alive? What about the therapy animals that comforted traumatized residents on the Gaza border? Three years later, the fear and uncertainty from that day have not passed. Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, poignantly noted that Oct. 7 was “cultivated in an ideology that believes killing Jews is admirable and that there is no place for an Israel, any Israel.” As the recent thwarted FlyDubai terrorist attack and the alarming rise of global antisemitism grimly illustrates, that hatred threatens Jewish communities everywhere. In every generation, our allies have played a critical role. Today is no different. The Oct. 7 attack fell on Simchat Torah, one of Judaism’s most joyous holidays. Each year, we complete the annual cycle of Torah reading. We return to the beginning carrying forward the values and responsibilities entrusted to us by previous generations. We have a responsibility to remember those murdered Oct. 7 and to speak boldly whenever Jewish lives are threatened. We must also teach the next generation that Judaism means more than simply surviving whoever hates us today. It means building community, pursuing justice and choosing, relentlessly, to bring light to a dark world. To those who’ve stood with the Jewish people these past three years: We see you. We thank you. We hope you’ll continue standing with us. Oct. 7 was intended to be an ending. Instead, let us together make it the beginning of a brighter future for all.

ANN GONZALES Baton Rouge

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are

published identifying name and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and TO SEND US A LETTER, phone number SCAN HERE for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

Starship is launched from Starbase, Texas, on Sept. 28.

Say farewell to quiet moments, clean waterways Kids ﬁshing with Dad quickly learn not to throw sticks in the water or drop pliers in an aluminum boat. Calling ducks, we are careful not to overcall, make the wrong sounds or make big movements. Whoa! What was that?! It sounded like a rocket taking off! Oh, wait ... it was a rocket taking off! SpaceX might blast off as many as 30 rockets a day ... but surely not during the nesting seasons of pelicans, eagles or cranes, right? I’m sure they would not launch during duck hunting season in the fall, right? Oh, well, Gueydan used to be the duck capital of America. Toxic components of rocket fuel to be stored near our bayous include hydrazine, perchlorate and nitrogen tetroxide. These are nasty poisons to put into plankton, minnows, shrimp, oysters, crabs, black drum, ﬂounders, specks, reds and our chil-

dren. When SpaceX was first pitched to Louisiana, did our officials lack the common sense to Google “rocket fuel toxicity”? It is even more troubling to think they actually did look into it, got the horrifying answers about threats to our coastal environments and people ... and just went ahead with it anyway. Why would Louisiana government officials sign nondisclosure agreements at the expense of our natural resources and traditional way of life? Was it greed for money to be slipped to them now, or just promised for future campaigns? Such a callous, corrupt betrayal was once called a sellout. Judas had his price, selling out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We can’t begin to imagine how many pieces of silver might be dangled by the richest man in the world.

E.C. BRITTON Baton Rouge

Becomimg ‘legal’ is not that simple Your paper’s recent editorial about Vilma Palacios rightly focuses attention on the human, often tragic, consequences of our ﬂawed immigration system (“What La. loses with indiscriminate immigration crackdown,” Oct. 7). However, it leaves an important question unanswered: What are young immigrants and their families supposed to do in order to obtain lawful status? A child who arrives in the United States at age 6 does not acquire legal status by living here, graduating from secondary school and college or building a successful career. Current immigration laws have various avenues to legal status — asylum application, humanitarian and family-based protections — but each has very complicated eligibility requirements, deadlines and arcane procedural rules; some of these avenues depend on actions taken while a child is still a minor. Families such as Vilma’s need information and guidance long before an immigration crisis occurs. I felt compelled to comment on this because several of my friends and family members re-

sponded to your article by asking “Why didn’t she and her family just follow the law and become legal?” Which brings me to my main point: Rather that focusing mostly on those governmental agencies that ultimately carry out removals (guaranteed to inﬂame the minds of your readers) please have one of your able associates write a piece that helps your followers understand the convoluted process that, unfortunately, leads many like Vilma to simply despair and take their chances. What applications should families consider? What deadlines matter? What protections are available to immigrant minors? Most relevant, where can families obtain competent and affordable assistance in navigating our nation’s regrettable morass of immigration laws? Vilma’s story should prompt not only compassion but also education and practical solutions. Please help educate those, like Vilma, on how to stay in the place they call home.

SHERRI TARR CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans Metairie

CHARLES RIVET River Ridge

New online platform streamlines foster families’ path For many years, Louisiana families who stepped forward to become kinship or foster caregivers have faced a certification process that could be confusing, time-consuming and difficult to navigate. The commitment these families make is enormous, yet their first step to becoming a caregiver has not always been clear or accessible. Louisiana is leading the way in changing that with the launch of HomeReady, an online platform that simplifies and strengthens how families begin their caregiver journey. Families will now be able to complete applications, access required training, submit documents and track their progress in one place. This change becomes even more important when we look at the goals of A Home for Every Child, our statewide effort to expand

family-based care and reduce reliance on congregate settings. This means making sure families are supported from the moment they choose to help. HomeReady does not solve every challenge in our foster care system, but it addresses one of the ﬁrst barriers families encounter and allows caregivers to move forward with conﬁdence. Louisiana’s children deserve the chance to grow up in families who are prepared, supported and equipped to meet their needs. HomeReady is one step toward building the statewide network of caregivers our children rely on.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

An evening of remembrance was held at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center in 2024, commemorating the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023.

REBECCA HARRIS secretary, Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services Baton Rouge

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COMMENTARY If Pete Hegseth wants to strip the military of weirdos, he should resign Where did this guy come from? How did a TV personality end up leading America’s defense department, especially in a time of war? Donald Trump put Pete Hegseth in charge of the Department of Defense. It’s now ofﬁcially called the War Department, but I’m not ready to go there. In one of his stranger announcements, Hegseth vowed to rid the U.S. military of “weirdos” and “beardos.” Sure enough, Hegseth does not have a beard, unlike the “beardo” Ulysses S. Grant or his Confederate opponent, Robert E. Lee. Froma As for the weirdo part, Harrop well ... Jury’s out for Hegseth. Take a look at his gelled hairdo with the Cruella de Vil white streak. Or his insistence in creating a cinematically pleasing military. And for all his talk of manliness, here’s a military leader who brought his wife to high-level intelligence briefings. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said it was “not normal at all” for spouses to sit in such meetings. “Not normal at all” is a polite way of saying “weird.” It should be noted that Hegseth is not the weirdest member of Trump’s Cabinet. That distinction goes to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “Bobby” was busy peddling suspicion of vaccines while holding a stake in lawsuits against the companies that make them. The truly weird stuff — dropping a dead bear cub in Central Park, talking about the worm in his brain — you already know. Hegseth’s weirdo speech was mocked by conservative and liberal media alike. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board was gentler about it. While approving some of Hegseth’s proposals, it condemned his strange attacks as “gratuitous potshots” that could make military recruiting harder. One can agree with some Hegseth initiatives, for example, removing DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) practices from the department, though he overstated how widespread they were. DEI has reportedly played no role in

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a briefing at the Pentagon in Washington. warﬁghting decisions. But Hegseth went about it in a way that seemed designed to humiliate women and men of color serving their country, and without explanation. He made a show of removing four Army colonels, two Black males and two females from a list of ofﬁcers slated for promotion to brigadier general. This was despite objections from then-Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran who led a cavalry platoon in Baghdad. In fairness, we must mention that Hegseth was also a combat veteran, with two Bronze Stars. But that’s all the more reason not to turn the Defense Department into an elimination-style TV game show. Hegseth has called for speeding development of robotics and autonomous systems, which is necessary. But has he ever looked at the beardos, weirdos and, in his word, “fatties” working in these kinds of labs? We must concede that the world would be a safer place if Iran did not have nuclear weapons. Also, that the

U.S. military, despite its current secretary, has performed well in battle. But our soldiers — and civilians — deserve better than a made-for-TV secretary of defense appointed by a made-for-TV president. Recall how tough-talker Trump avoided the Vietnam War draft through five deferments, four for school and one medical. The medical one was allegedly for bone spurs in his heel, although he had been a star high school athlete. He couldn’t remember which heel. The “War Department” TV ads, narrated by Cadet Bone Spurs himself, portray a fighting force of Tom Cruises. The ad ends with a shot of an American eagle flying to a stop at the center of a dark screen with the words WAR.GOV below. Very Marvel Comics. Is the former Department of Defense now run by the Avengers? Follow Froma Harrop on X, @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail. com.

Bring on the midterm GOP carnage. But spare these two Senate candidates. not” standard. Read her statement and Few who have ever lived could have marvel at its sobriety about the Senhad inscribed on their gravestones epitaphs as stirring as Thomas Jefate’s “advice and consent” duty. This is vanishingly rare among incumbent ferson’s: “Author of the Declaration of senators of both parties. American Independence, of the When judging Republican Statute of Virginia for Religious incumbents who have enabled Freedom, and father of the Trump’s rampancy, and RepubliUniversity of Virginia.” All but a few Americans currently livcan candidates eager to further abet it, voters should remember: ing can, however, inscribe this: If there is no penalty for traves“At least I was not a Republican George ties, travesties will proliferate. member of Congress during Will Donald Trump’s presidencies.” The president’s aching neediIt is sensible to hope that on ness explains his lengthening Nov. 3 most of the Republican Party list of legally dubious, and unhinged, will be smashed to atoms. It is now a acts of self-celebration. Such as, taxtrembling and embarrassed, because payer-financed ads praising him. And frightened, emanation of one man. his proposed Arc de Trump that will Justice, of a rough sort, but still jusdouble as a sniper’s nest. Voters should ask: If there were tice, will be done if the undertow of his only enough Republicans in Congress unpopularity drowns many who have tried to buy political longevity through to sustain a presidential veto, would anything, including the president’s beobedience to him. Vast Republican carnage should not havior, be any different? There will be be entirely indiscriminate. Two Repub- enough in 2027. Beyond this number, any surplus of congressional Republilicans especially deserve to win their Senate contests. cans is superfluous. If Mike Rogers, former seven-term The electorate generally and particucongressman and chair of the House lar constituencies are unhappy about Intelligence Committee, is not Michithe promised four-week war with Iran gan’s next senator, Abdul El-Sayed will now in its eighth month. And about be. The Democrat is comfortable in the high gasoline prices. And about high company of antisemites and Holocaust diesel and fertilizer costs for farmers. And about another war of choice, deniers. Trump’s trade war, which has resulted If Sen. Susan Collins loses in Maine, in agriculture exports to China plumthis will be partly because she did something admirable and senatorial. meting from $38.1 billion in 2022 to Standing against manufactured hys$8.4 billion in 2025. And about deportateria, she voted to confirm Brett M. tions and immigration restrictions that Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. In have disrupted industries from con4,192 words spoken on the Senate floor, struction to meatpacking. And about she examined his extensive judicial re- much else. Congressional Republicans can truthcord and the sexual assault allegations against him. fully, if humiliatingly, say: Don’t blame Demonstrating the complete lack of us. We have nothing to do with the nacorroborating evidence, she concluded tion’s governance. that the allegations could not meet Other than by passively ratifying, even the minimal “more likely than through acquiescence, the exercise

of powers that Congress has often improvidently and sometimes unconstitutionally delegated to the president. Perhaps congressional Republicans harbor ineffectual resentments of their irrelevance regarding foreign and domestic policies, his vandalism of the White House, and much else. This irrelevance is, however, a sufﬁcient reason for retiring them. Voters should say to many Republican incumbents what Oliver Cromwell said in 1653 to England’s Long Parliament: “You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing … Depart, I say, and let us have done with you.” If Republicans lose not only their House majority, but Senate seats they currently hold in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and Texas, they might begin to wonder: Could we be doing something wrong? Such a resort to thinking is necessary to begin restoring legislative checks on the executive. And it is necessary if America is ever again going to have a conservative political party. At last month’s Dallas “convention,” a video told the Republican congregation this: “On June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a caretaker.’” So, “God gave us Trump.” God’s caretaker constantly gives us an illuminating contrast with President John F. Kennedy, whose name on Washington’s performing arts center stirs Trump’s envy. Kennedy, when praised for his heroic leadership of his crew adrift in South Paciﬁc waters after combat, was laconic: “It was involuntary. They sank my boat.” People who prefer Trump’s manner, and people who do not, know how to vote.

Are GOP doomers overreacting? This has been the week 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 House Majority as 15 Race Ratings Shift Toward Dems.” They were unnerved by troubling assessments from conservative commentators. A lot of the elevated sense of pessimism is related to President Donald Trump’s job approval Byron rating. It seems that every few York 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 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 garment-rending 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. Optimists point to the 2022 midterms, when it was Republicans who were in the lead, with some expecting a red wave. When the election came, Republicans won, but by a far smaller margin that the GOP leaders had thought. Now, maybe Democrats, while leading, aren’t quite as far ahead as they think. “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 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 hairon-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. 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? “They are a centerright group, but currently 44% of them have an unfavorable view of both parties, and their top issues are economic-related by a very wide margin. “ 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 losebut-not-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. 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, @Byron York. Email him at byronyork@yorkcomm.com.

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Parish goes pink for Candidates offer views on war, prices 4 vying for cancer awareness 6th District not alone.” Livingston agencies they’re The town of Livingston wrap vehicles Police Department started the initiative ﬁve years ago. for a good cause The next year, two other

BY GIGI LIMAN Staff writer

From fire trucks to sheriff’s vehicles to tow trucks, Livingston Parish’s roads are looking a little more pink these days. Parish law enforcement agencies and first responders have teamed up for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, wrapping several vehicles in full pink and organizing a campaign to bring attention to the disease. Seven of the parish’s agencies, each of which secured donations from local businesses to fund their participation, have added a pink vehicle to their fleet for the month. Some vehicles have motivational quotes, while others are covered in bright, eye-catching glitter. All of them are adorned with the signature pink breast cancer ribbon and QR codes that link to donation hubs. Driving the vehicles are members of the multiagency “pink crew,” who are equipped with candy for children, breast cancer awareness bags and giveaways for adults and markers for survivors to sign the vehicles. “I know how much that diagnosis hits,” said Livingston Parish sheriff’s Deputy Nancy McDonald, a breast cancer survivor. “I want people to see LPSO’s pink unit and our team of units in Livingston Parish and know

agencies joined them in the effort, and participation has grown every year since. This year, 80% of the parish’s agencies are taking part in the campaign, the highest yet, according to Janet Melancon, Denham Springs city deputy marshal. “Born out of a desire to interact with the community and show the community that law enforcement was there for more than just arresting people, one single, small town police department decided to show up and show out ﬁve years ago to raise money for cancer support,” Denham Springs City Marshal Joe Shumate said. “Seeing the success from just using a few pink ribbons and social media, it was decided to start doing what first responders do best and join forces with other agencies.” In addition to parish and city law enforcement agencies, fire departments and a towing company are participating. The QR codes on the vehicles link to donation pages for cancer treatment and research institutions — some to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Foundation and others to the Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Institute. Multiple agencies are scheduled to bring their pink-wrapped vehicles and breast cancer awareness items to events throughout the month, part of an effort to reach as many people as possible.

seat debate

BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer

Three Democrats had the rare opportunity to shine during a televised debate Friday night featuring four candidates for a Baton Rouge-based congressional seat that was drawn to elect a Republican. Democrats Pat Forbes, Lindsay Garcia and Chauna Banks all criticized President Donald Trump’s conduct of the war against Iran and using the National Guard to supplement the police in cities such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans. “They are not trained to go in arresting people and running down folks,” Banks said. State Sen. Rick Edmonds, the lone Republican to participate in the debate, indicated that he supported the war in Iran and said he favored the use of the National Guard “in certain cases.” People, Edmonds said, “want to bring up their children somewhere where they feel safe and secure. I am an A-plus vote with the Louisiana Sheriffs Association.” A ﬁfth candidate, Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez, qualiﬁed for the debate but skipped the event. WBRZ-TV organized the hourlong debate at the Manship Theater in downtown Baton Rouge less than four weeks before the Nov. 3 jungle primary when 10 candidates for the

6th Congressional District seat will be on the ballot. The TV station invited only the top five candidates in a districtwide survey conducted by pollster John Couvillon. Those who didn’t make the cut were Republicans Michael Mebruer, Monique Appeaning, Stephen Wagley and Larry Davis III; and Rufus Craig, a Libertarian candidate. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in next month’s primary, the top two finishers — regardless of party — will advance to a runoff in December that will decide who replaces U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields. A Democrat, Fields chose not to run for reelection after the Republican-controlled state Legislature redesigned the state’s congressional boundaries in May to favor a Republican in the 6th Congressional District. Forbes offered the most aggressive and specific stances throughout the debate, beginning with his opening statement. Referring to Edmonds and Miguez, he said, “they’ll say they are 100% for the president, and they are going to work to reduce prices and the cost of living. Those two things cannot be mutually true. You’re either going to vote against this war, vote against these tariffs, vote to reverse that tax bill that gave millionaires tax breaks or you’re going to work for the people.” Forbes noted that he spent the ﬁnal 20 years of his career overseeing disaster relief in Louisiana for Democratic and Republican governors. (John

from Sylvia Weatherspoon, the WBRZ-TV anchor who served as moderator, Edmonds said his solution to reducing high grocery and fuel prices is to reduce “out-of-control spending.” But Edmonds never specified what programs he would cut. At several points, he advocated for more government spending when he called for more investment in early childhood education, for federal dollars to help build another bridge in Baton Rouge over the Mississippi River and for the federal government to assist people in ﬂood zones. After the debate, Mebruer released a statement in which he said of the five candidates: “It was ‘onion talk.’ Once you peel away the layers of virtue signaling and political pandering, there was nothing of substance there, no real plans for change or reform.” Edmonds, in his closing remarks, referred to the empty podium bearing Miguez’s name and said he wasn’t surprised by the candidate’s absence, saying Miguez missed 200 votes this year in the Senate. “I’m here today to tell you I’m not that guy,” Edmonds said. “I’m the guy who works hard. … In 12 years, I haven’t missed a day.” Miguez’s campaign didn’t respond to two requests beforehand on why he would miss the debate. Miguez posted photos and video on social media of him attending the Louisiana Gumbo Festival in Thibodaux on Friday night.

Bel Edwards, the former Democratic governor, has endorsed him.) “Nobody in this race has the experience that I have working across this district, working the political spectrum with anybody and everybody who would help, working across every level of government to make life for people in Louisiana safer and better than it was before,” Forbes said. Garcia touted her endorsement by the Louisiana Democratic Party and described herself as a mom and former teacher who wants to restore the additional Medicaid subsidies instituted by the Biden administration for the working poor that Trump and the Republican-majority Congress eliminated as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill. “The power of the people is more powerful than the people in power,” Garcia said, a line she repeated twice. Banks noted that she served three terms on the Baton Rouge Metro Council, saying she worked tirelessly to keep the Baton Rouge Zoo at its current location and to help the community recover from the devastating ﬂood in 2016. Banks said she worked well with the Republicans who held a majority on the Metro Council, saying, “I have commonsense politics.” Edmonds, in his opening remarks, repeated six times that voters can count on him “to get things done,” based on his record of nearly 12 years in the state Legislature. Answering a question

Drunken driving deaths plummet in New Orleans NOPD ramps up traffic safety enforcement BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer

Five years ago, as an overwhelmed New Orleans police force grappled with a surge in homicides and carjackings, efforts to keep drunken drivers off the city’s streets fell by the wayside. Now, with violent crime down and the agency turning efforts toward qualityof-life concerns, the NOPD is making a dent in getting people suspected of driving under the influence off the streets. In 2021, 51 people were killed or seriously injured in alcohol-related crashes in Orleans Parish, according to LSU’s Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Safety. This year, through September, only one person has died, and two others have been seriously injured. The decline comes as a yearslong drop in killings and an increase in murder clearance rates have freed up NOPD resources to crack down on dangerous driving. Meanwhile, the NOPD is working alongside the Department of Public Works and the New Orleans Health Department to eliminate traffic deaths by 2041, a goal outlined in the city’s Safety Action Plan finalized in March. “All traffic deaths are preventable,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, deputy mayor of health and human services. “We are encouraged by the progress that this is an achievable goal.” The numbers represent a stark turnaround from 2022, when New Orleans had the nation’s highest per capita homicide rate and 40 people were killed or seriously injured in alcoholrelated crashes, according to LSU CARTS. That year, NOPD arrested just 153 drunken drivers. By 2025, DUI arrests had climbed to 397, while the number of people killed or seriously injured in al-

cohol-related crashes fell Total fatalities and injuries in Orleans to 23, according to CARTS data. DUI arrest ﬁgures for Parish due to alcohol-related crashes 2026 were unavailable from The total number of injuries and fatalities linked to NOPD and LSU CARTS. alcohol-related crashes has ticked downward amid an uptick

A shift in policing

Each agency has a different role in the city’s traffic safety efforts. DPW focuses on infrastructure improvements along highrisk, high-injury corridors, such as St. Claude Avenue, Avegno said. The Health Department leads an interagency review of every traffic fatality and conducts DUI prevention outreach at festivals, schools and college campuses. NOPD, meanwhile, has stepped up traffic enforcement. “That’s an unintended benefit of our drop in violent crime: When you have fewer murders, police officers can do other things,” Avegno said. “And one other thing police officers have been tasked with is traffic enforcement.” NOPD declined to disclose specifics of its traffic enforcement strategy, saying that doing so could undermine operations. But traffic citations have surged in recent years, climbing from 5,212 in 2023 to 30,940 in 2024 and 35,098 in 2025. As of July 9, officers had issued 17,486 citations in 2026. “Our Traffic Division has been employing focused patrols in high-volume areas and in areas where we have received requests for patrols and/or information that impaired driving may be impacting quality of life,” the NOPD said in a Friday morning statement. NOPD Traffic Division

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open.” NOPD’s calls for service log shows at least three DUI incidents reported at the same intersection so far this year. “It’s New Orleans. Drinking is 24 hours,” he said. Avegno said she hopes planned improvements, including ones to add high-visibility crosswalks and “Yield to Pedestrians/No Turn on Red” signage, will help reinforce a broader shift in attitudes toward trafﬁc safety. “Every resident that chooses not to drive impaired, not to run the red light, to let the pedestrian walk through the walkway — all that creates a culture of safety,” she said. “As people normalize this, then that’s when you get to see more accelerated gains in safety.”

In New Orleans, Mid-City has the most DUI incidents reported so far this year, with 28, according to NOPD’s calls in NOPD traffic enforcement. for service log. The 7th Ward 51 ranks second, with at least 17, and Treme is third, with at least 13. 40 The intersection of North Claiborne and Elysian Fields avenues, which straddles the boundary between Treme 23 21 and the 7th Ward, is among the high-risk corridors targeted for improvements in 11 the city’s safety plan. For Christopher Jones, 3 who panhandles from his rolling walker seven hours 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026* a day along the intersection, *The 2026 total reflects data collected through Sept. 2026 dangerous driving remains Source: LSU Center for Analytics & Research in Transportation Saftey Staff graphic a daily reality. He described frequent crashes, cars jumpcommander Capt. Buddy swerving and driving with- ing the curb and motorists Micheu has described the out headlights. who appear intoxicated. department’s “saturation A couple of weeks ago, Statewide, DUI arrests Funerals Today patrols,” conducted rough- have also risen, climbing Jones said, he watched one ly every other week, as a from fewer than 11,000 in driver pass out at the red Gaspard White, Karen roving alternative to tra- 2021 to roughly 16,000 in light. “This dude fell straight Holy Cross, 415 Robley Dr., ditional DUI checkpoints. 2025 — an increase of near- to sleep,” Jones said Thurs- Lafayette, LA at 11:00 am. Ofﬁcers watch for signs of ly 50%, according to LSU day afternoon. “A ﬁre truck Manuel, Barbara impaired driving, including CARTS. came and busted the car Martin & Castille Funeral Home Scott Location at 11am.

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STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough is pressured by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson during the first half on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. The Saints lost 23-13, dropping their third consecutive game of the season.

Brees echoes concerns around Saints, Moore in loss to Minnesota

After another sickening loss, Moore must find cure for ailing Saints

BY MATTHEW PARAS

All that good equity Moore built That sick feeling the New Orleans up at the end of last season is slipSaints and their fans left Caesars Superdome with Sunday is far worse ping away. than the bug that kept defensive lineFor the third time in 14 days, an opposing team came into the Caemen Nathan Shepherd and Vernon Broughton from dressing out. sars Superdome and handled their At least Shepherd and Broughton, business against the Saints. both inactive because of an The latest one came Sunday, illness, likely will bounce a 23-13 clunker to the Minneback and be good to go next sota Vikings. week. By the time this one was As for whatever is ailing over, a noisy multitude of the Saints, who knows if or fans clad in purple had taken when they will bounce back. over the building, their Skol Rod There just doesn’t seem to claps just as loud as those Walker “ATL” chants from Atlanta be a cure for it all. And if there is one, secondFalcons’ fans six days earlier. year coach Kellen Moore surely Or those “Raiders” chants hasn’t discovered it yet. two weeks ago. The longer it takes for him to All that optimism the Saints gave ﬁgure it out, the more these losses their fans after going on the road will pile up. And the more the losses and stunning the Baltimore Ravens pile up, the more Mickey Loomis in Week 2 is gone. If Moore doesn’t and company will have to ask themﬁgure things out quickly, this entire selves if Moore is the guy to get this ä See WALKER, page 5C team pointed in the right direction.

Staff writer

As he was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Ring of Honor at halftime, Drew Brees sounded genuinely proud. The Hall of Fame quarterback, a beam of light reﬂecting off his gold jacket, told the crowd he loved them — and that he would always represent New Orleans. An hour or so later, Brees sounded genuinely critical. This time in the broadcast booth, calling the Saints’ 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Brees was back in his role as a color commentator for Fox. And technically, the former Saints great was just doing his job. But here, a part of him was still representing New Orleans. Brees’ comments reflected the growing conversation around coach Kellen Moore and the Saints, now 1-4 to start the season. Brees said Moore’s offense was

“pretty predictable” on ﬁrst down. He questioned, for instance, why the Saints hadn’t leaned on a play-action attack against a blitz-heavy team like the Vikings. He noted how running back Alvin Kamara was put into “impossible situations” when asked to block Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson three plays in a row. “You gotta have answers,” Brees said. The Saints again had little to none. Unlike last week, when the Atlanta Falcons stomped New Orleans on “Monday Night Football,” Moore did not blame Sunday’s loss on a lack of preparation. But even if they were ready, the Saints couldn’t solve what was in front of them. And too often, that was a blitzer right in front of quarterback Tyler Shough. Shough was blitzed on 16 of his 26 dropbacks — and that relentlessness contributed to the worst start of his

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Georgia takes over at No. 1 BY ERIC OLSON Associated Press

Georgia moved up to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday following its win at Alabama, Texas dropped six spots to No. 7 after its loss to rival Oklahoma and Oregon was unranked for the first time in four years after losing for the second time in the past month. The Bulldogs, who had been No. 2 for five straight polls while rolling off five straight lopsided wins, went on the road and beat Alabama 20-17 with the help of what appeared to be a missed pass interference call in the end zone late in the game. Georgia received 66 first-place votes from the panel of 70 media members after its first victory in Tuscaloosa since 2014 and ascended to the top of the poll for the first time since Sept. 8, 2024. Notre Dame, which tuned up for this week’s top-10 matchup at BYU with a 58-7 rout of Stanford, moved up one spot to No. 2. The Fighting Irish got one first-place vote and have their highest ranking since they were No. 2 in the final poll of the 2024 season. No. 3 Miami, which received two first-place votes, is followed by Ohio State and Indiana. The Hoosiers, who received the remaining first-place vote, got a two-spot promotion after their narrow win at Nebraska. Alabama remained No. 6, and Texas, BYU, Ole Miss and Texas Tech completed the top 10. Oregon came into the season with its highest preseason ranking ever at No. 2. The Ducks’ turnover-fueled 17-15 home loss to UCLA dropped them to 3-2 and knocked them out of the poll for the first time since they went from No. 11 to unranked following a 49-3 loss to Georgia in the 2022 opener. No. 12 UCLA and No. 15 Kentucky got the biggest promotions. The Bruins moved up nine spots with their win over Oregon, and the Wildcats went from unranked

MILWAUKEE — Miguel Rojas is on the NL Championship Series roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers after being sidelined by lower back pain. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski also is part of the Dodgers’ roster for their matchup with Milwaukee. The Brewers went with the same 26-man group that they had for their NL Division Series against San Diego. Rojas underwent testing after he left the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory at Atlanta in Game 3 of their NL Division Series. The imaging mostly showed prior back issues. The veteran inﬁelder worked out with Los Angeles on Saturday at American Family Field, and manager Dave Roberts said Rojas was available for Sunday night’s NLCS opener.

Irving scores 17 for Mavs in return game after injury

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY VASHA HUNT

Georgia defensive back Demello Jones celebrates with fans as the final seconds tick off the clock in a win over Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. to No. 15 with their 35-34 overtime win over LSU, which dropped from No. 10 to No. 22.

Poll points n This is the second time in three years there have been three or more No. 1 teams in the ﬁrst six polls. Georgia, Texas and Alabama took turns holding the top spot in the ﬁrst six polls in 2024. The only other time in the Top 25 era that three teams had been No. 1 at this point of a season was 1990. n Notre Dame and Miami, dubbed “Catholic vs. Convicts” rivals since their classic game in 1988, haven’t been together in the top three since Nov. 9, 1993. n Texas’ six-spot fall from No. 1 to No. 7 matched its drop following a season-opening loss to Ohio State last year.

Ranked vs. ranked No. 4 Ohio State at No. 5 Indiana: Ohio

State plays its second top-five AP TOP 25 POLL matchup of the season. Indiana Rec. Pts. Prv. won the last meeting 13-10 in the 1. Georgia (66) 6-0 1745 2 2. Notre Dame (1) 6-0 1630 3 2025 Big Ten championship game 3. Miami (FL) (2) 5-0 1594 4 when the Hoosiers were No. 2 and 4. Ohio State 5-1 1508 5 5. Indiana (1) 6-0 1461 7 the Buckeyes were No. 1. 6. Alabama 5-1 1372 6 4-1 1371 1 No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 8 BYU: First- 7. Texas 8. BYU 5-0 1237 8 ever top-10 matchup at LaVell 9. Ole Miss 4-1 1135 9 5-0 1132 11 Edwards Stadium. Cougars won 10. Texas Tech 11. Utah 5-0 1073 12 the last time Notre Dame visited, 12. UCLA 5-0 951 21 13. Missouri 5-1 882 14 in 2004. 14. Tennessee 5-1 706 15 No. 16 Mississippi State at No. 22 LSU: 15. Kentucky 5-16 55 NR 4-1 650 17 First time the teams have met as 16. Mississippi State 17. Iowa 5-1 621 20 ranked opponents since 2018. 18. Oklahoma State 4-1 604 18 6-1 505 19 No. 6 Alabama at No. 14 Tennessee: 19. USC 20. Houston 5-1 380 22 Crimson Tide lost the last two 21. Wake Forest 5-13 26 NR 4-2 274 10 times they’ve visited Knoxville. 22. LSU 23. Boise State 5-12 68 23 The big question for the Volun- 24. SMU 4-11 42 24 25. Northwestern 4-11 12 NR teers is who will start at QB. Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 92, No. 13 Missouri at No. 9 Ole Miss: Mo- Oregon 86, Arizona 82, Nebraska 65, Oklativation will be no problem for homa 44, James Madison 29, Florida 9, Duke 5, New Mexico 3, Oregon State 1. Mizzou QB Austin Simmons. He began last season as Ole Miss’ No. 18 Oklahoma State at No. 20 Housstarter, got hurt, recovered and stayed on the bench behind a guy ton: This will be the ﬁrst time these named Trinidad Chambliss. teams meet as ranked opponents.

Re-evaluating Kiffin’s ﬁrst LSU squad after loss BY JON BLAU Staff writer

As high as expectations soared after a clobbering of Clemson to open the Lane Kiffin era, there was opportunity for a nosedive after an overtime loss at Kentucky. The Tigers’ rumored $50 million roster, short a couple of star players to injuries, failed to overcome upstart Kentucky, led by a first-time head coach, Will Stein, who just won a game on a twopoint conversion call for a second week in a row. This wasn’t a game LSU could afford to lose if it wanted any margin for error heading into a November slate that includes Alabama, Texas and Tennessee. Then again, Texas just lost to Oklahoma. Tennessee struggled to beat Arkansas. Alabama is no longer unbeaten after a loss to Georgia. Ole Miss, the other team LSU nearly beat on the road, has since lost big to Florida, which has just lost back-to-back games to Missouri and South Carolina — the latter being the other team Kentucky beat on a two-point conversion. “I know everyone gets tired of me saying the SEC is so hard,” Kiffin said, “but this year in the SEC, I really feel like you can win every game on the schedule, and we can lose every game on the schedule.” This might just be life in the SEC during the transfer portal era, a time when parity is ruling college football. Maybe there’s no amount of money LSU could have spent to assure Kiffin clinched the playoff in Year 1, especially with No. 7 jersey wearers Trey’Dez Green and Whit Weeks sidelined with injuries. But a loss at Kentucky demands a reassessment of where now-No. 22 LSU (4-2, 1-2 SEC) stands halfway through its regular-season

Dodgers keep IF Rojas on roster against Brewers

AP PHOTO BY TANNER PEARSON

McNeese State is ranked 46th in the FCS. This isn’t to say the Tigers are bad defensively. They were much better in the second half at Kentucky, allowing just 24 rushing yards after surrendering 131 in the ﬁrst half. But it was jarring to see LSU notch just one sack and fail to really affect quarterback Kenny Minchey. Minchey also had free access to the end zone on a two-point conversion run, partially due to a called adjustment to LSU’s pass rush that wasn’t executed by one defender. The Tigers’ defense just wasn’t elite, which maybe isn’t a surprise given injuries to Weeks and safety Dashawn Spears (ACL tear) have thinned the Tigers’ ranks. They could still be very good, but they have much to prove this weekend against Mississippi State.

LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt, center, is tackled by Kentucky defensive lineman Jamarrion Harkless on Saturday in Lexington, Ky. LSU’s offensive line

schedule — and where the Tigers’ On the flip side, Kentucky stock just took the biggest dips. seemingly won the line of scrimmage. LSU’s defense The Wildcats racked up eight Belief in Blake Baker’s unit had tackles for loss, including three never been higher coming into sacks. Sam Leavitt was the TiSaturday’s contest. gers’ most productive rusher, Through five weeks, the Tigers removing sack yardage, gaining were second nationally in to- 61 yards on 12 rushes versus Dital defense and sacks, fourth in lin Jones’ 56 yards on 16 carries. rush defense and seventh in first Harlem Berry had three rushes downs surrendered. Opponents for just 4 yards. were converting just 26% of It was never expected this LSU their third downs, which nearly offensive line would be roadmatched Kentucky’s woeful 25% grading, but the Tigers’ inconsissuccess rate. tencies in run and pass blocking But the Wildcats converted appear to have limited the ceiling 36% of their third downs on LSU of Charlie Weis Jr.’s first offense. and became the second straight On LSU’s first drive, these were SEC home team to put up 30-plus the yardage outputs on five runpoints on the Tigers. It’s reason- ning back carries: 2, minus-1, 11, able to ask how much Baker’s 2 and minus-4. That possession defense was feasting on lesser stalled in the red zone for a chipshot field goal. offenses. The very next series, there Clemson and Texas A&M are the 118th- and 113th-ranked of- were three carries: minus-2, zero fenses in the country, respective- and zero. It took a flea flicker ly, and Louisiana Tech sits at 61st. from Leavitt to tight end Zach

Grace to earn LSU a touchdown. “There was some really inconsistent play up front,” Kifﬁn said, “which led to a not great game running the ball.” It’s hard to consistently overcome long down-and-distance situations with quarterback runs and trickery. And Leavitt gets into trouble when he’s trying to do too much. LSU still ranks 27th nationally in rushing offense at 213 yards per game, but the Tigers are averaging 133 yards per contest in SEC games with some unproductive quarters sprinkled in. There’s deﬁnitely room to grow there.

The quarterback Quarterbacks always receive too much credit and too much blame. And it’s not like Leavitt hasn’t improved in many respects. He’s completed better than 73% of his passes in three straight games, which follows a 62% success rate in his ﬁrst three contests. His touchdownto-interception ratio of 7-to-3 in LSU’s past three games is better than his 3-to-5 output to open the season. But it remains troubling that Leavitt has an interception in every game, and his fumble in LSU’s own end, even though it didn’t result in points, handed an additional opportunity to Kentucky while stealing another chance from LSU to build positive momentum. “Sam played really well, majority of his plays,” Kifﬁn said, “and then had two really bad plays.” LSU is in the red in turnover margin, giving away two more than it has forced in six games. The Tigers rank 90th nationally in that ratio. Leavitt, in particular, needs to cut out the errors if the Tigers are going to resuscitate their CFP hopes.

Kyrie Irving waited nearly 600 days for his return to the NBA. The Dallas Mavericks didn’t keep him waiting any longer for his welcome-back basket. Irving got a reverse layup on the game’s opening possession Sunday night, setting the tone for him scoring a team-high 17 points in the Mavericks’ 132-115 preseason win over the Houston Rockets in Macao, China. It was Irving’s ﬁrst game action since he tore the ACL in his left knee on March 3, 2025. Irving shot 6 for 13 in just under 22 minutes, plus he had three assists and two rebounds. The nine-time All-Star was averaging 24.7 points for Dallas when he got hurt late in the 2024-25 season.

Kings center Raynaud hurts patella in right knee

SAN FRANCISCO — Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud received some encouraging news from imaging on his injured right knee that showed a patellar subluxation and not anything far more serious that might jeopardize his season before it begins. The Kings said Sunday their second-year big man would be reevaluated again in about two weeks. Raynaud underwent an MRI exam late Saturday after going down with 2:32 left in the second quarter of a 111-106 preseason loss to Golden State when he collided with Stephen Curry as he was making a screen on the Warriors star. Kings general manager Scott Perry was positive afterward, saying, “he’ll be back.”

Forrest birdies final hole to win Spanish Open

MADRID — Grant Forrest got upand-down for birdie on the reachable par-4 18th for a 2-under 70 and a one-shot victory in the Spanish Open on Sunday, earning the 33-year-old from Scotland his ﬁrst trip to Augusta National for the Masters. Forrest was tied with late-charging Victor Perez of France going to the 322-yard closing hole. Both drove into rough just beyond the green, their golf balls separated by the length of their shoes. Perez chipped to 10 feet and missed. Forest’s chip ran out to just over 3 feet for the winning putt. The victory also gets Forrest into the British Open, which he has played twice previously. The closest he came to the Masters was in 2015 when he was runner-up in the British Amateur.

Zverev advances in China; Shelton and Tiafoe fall

SHANGHAI — Top-seeded Alexander Zverev let two match points slip in the second-set tiebreaker before winning 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3 against Quentin Halys at the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters on Sunday. Zverev never gave up a breakpoint chance in a third-round match where the U.S. Open champion needed seven of his own just to break the 48th-ranked Frenchman’s service in the opening game. Earlier Sunday, U.S. Open ﬁnalist Ben Shelton was beaten 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) by 21-year-old Frenchman Arthur Gea in the third round. Seventh-seeded Francis Tiafoe also lost, after having a match point in the decisive tiebreaker, to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who won 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (6).

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The Acadiana Advocate ● theadvocate.com ● Monday, October 12, 2026 ● 3C

BULLDOGS 32, CAJUNS 31 THREE AND OUT: KEVIN FOOTE’S TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM UL’S LOSS IN RUSTON

HEARTBREAKING LOSS Coaches often say you win and lose as a team.That’s kind of what happened to UL in Saturday’s 32-31 loss at Louisiana Tech.The offense had its moments with huge pass completions, especially a 46-yarder to KeDarius Wade for a 3119 lead with 11:34 left to play, but then suffered two three-and-outs in the fourth quarter to open the door for Louisiana Tech’s offense. Meanwhile, the defense seemed to force just enough turnovers to win, but seemingly had nothing left on the final two drives to put up much of a fight against Tech’s passing game. Quarterback Blake Baker completed passes with ease the whole night.

TIGHT END DIFFERENCE One of the biggest differences between the two teams Saturday was the tight end position. Going in, it was no secret Louisiana Tech had a plus tight end in Eli Finley, who stood out for four quarters with nine receptions out of nine targets for 114 yards and two touchdowns. On the flip side, UL’s two tight ends, Caden Jensen and Brock Chappell, had to play more like extra tackles to help the offensive line. Chappell had no receptions on one target and Jensen wasn’t targeted in the game.That certainly made it much easier on Tech’s quarterback Baker to spot open targets.

ONE PLAY AWAY It was likely a long three-hour ride home for the Cajuns after this game. One more stop could have done it. One more turnover and the Cajuns are 5-1 and 2-0.Wrapping up on one more sack could have secured the win. One more productive drive with a lead in the fourth quarter would have given UL a ton of cards. Instead, now the Cajuns have to put their broken hearts back together in time to meet the two-time Sun Belt West champions next week. UL’s leaders have their work cut out for them this week.

PROVIDED PHOTOS BY BENJAMIN MASSEY/UL COMMUNICATIONS

UL linebacker Lester Jones, bottom center, forces a fumble on Louisiana Tech quarterback Blake Baker during Saturday’s 3231 loss in Ruston.

‘We left a lot on the table’ Cajuns ‘crushed’ after critical Sun Belt loss

Things were looking good for UL’s chances of spoiling Louisiana Tech’s Sun Belt debut early in the fourth quarter. Lunch Winfield connected with KeDarius Wade on a 46-yard touchdown pass for a 31-19 lead with 11:34 left to play. At that point, UL coach Michael Desormeaux faced a dilemma. There were several ways for his Ragin’ Cajuns to hold on for the victory, but none of them would be easy to pull off. As it was, the Cajuns had to get creative to Kevin run for the 160 yards Foote they gained. Louisiana Tech’s aggressive defense made life tougher on Winfield than any defense so far, limiting him to 34 yards on 13 carries. Running the ball without the perceived threat of the deep passing game wasn’t going to be easy. The other option was to keep throwing the ball down the field and hoping for a big play. “There’s a certain point in the game, you got to run the ball, and we weren’t able to do it consistently,” Desormeaux said. “We tried to get in some more open sets to do that. We weren’t able to get it done. “I feel like we left a lot on the table in the run game. We missed some cuts, missed some reads and missed some of those things and that’s going to be really disappointing when we go back and watch it.” Indeed, it’s the kind of loss that gnaws at you for weeks, months, even years. “This one’s going to stay for a long time,” Desormeaux said. “You know, plenty of opportunities to finish the game and put it away and we didn’t get it done.” Winfield’s precise passing was quite there in this one, finishing 14-of-24 passing for 239 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. “When we got a team down, we’ve got our foot on their neck,” Winfield said. “We’ve just got to stomp their necks. We’ve just got to finish. That’s the best thing — keep scoring. We keep scoring and they don’t win.” The other method was the defense getting a turnover or a stop on either of Tech’s two drives. However, UL’s defense didn’t stop Baker’s passing game all night. He was 32-of-42 for 319 and three scores. “I think there’s a lot of things we

UL wide receiver Shelton Sampson caught one of four completions of 32 or more yards to give the Cajuns a pair of double-digit leads. could do a lot better across the board,” Desormeaux said. “It starts with coaching. We’ve got to coach it better to be able to get them to execute the way we want to.” It’s certainly tougher in the secondary after the loss of redshirt senior safety Collin Jacob last week. “We’re not getting those things done right now,” Desormeaux added. “So we got to figure out a better way to coach it and to explain it and teach it and get them to do it.” UL’s defense had no answer for tight end Eli Finley, who had nine catches for 114 yards and two scores. So the real big chance of the defense slamming the door on the win was a potential sack of Baker on fourth down, but Baker somehow escaped and went 12 yards for a touchdown to cut it to 31-26 with 3:44 left. “We had a couple where we have the guy wrapped up and he made some great plays and got to give him a lot of credit,” Desormeaux said. “I thought we were in some really good calls on defense and had a chance to finish some drives and we weren’t able to finish on the quarterback. “That’s like an old problem from a couple years ago that’s come back to bite us a little bit right now. Then really, Tech’s final drive just looked inevitable. The defense looked spent and had no answers.

“These guys are freaking beat up ... it mattered to them a whole lot,” Desormeaux said. “We just didn’t execute great at times when we had to.” There were 46 seconds left after Tech’s game-winning touchdown and the Cajuns only trailed by one point. Instead of a comeback, Winfield threw his second interception. That was more of a desperation pass, but three total turnovers continue a season-long trend of giving the ball away “We turned the ball over too many times,” Desormeaux said. “We had a couple turnovers that were able to turn into points. One of them was just a field goal. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to, when you have momentum, you’ve got to capture it and you got to find a way to take their hope away.” In many ways, the Cajuns played well enough to win the game to get to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in league play. “Our kids are crushed ... we all are,” Desormeaux said. “This is a huge game for us and we kind of let it slip. We can’t let them beat us twice. We’ve got to use it the right way. “We’ve got to get back to work because if we want to try to make a run at this, you certainly can’t lose another division game. That we know, that’s a fact.” Email Kevin Foote at kfoote@ theadvocate.com.

UL defense unable to hold off La. Tech

BY KEVIN FOOTE Staff writer

The big question going into Saturday’s Sun Belt showdown against Louisiana Tech was: could UL’s defense hold up after linebacker Conor McPherson and safety Collin Jacob were lost over the past two weeks? As the Ragin’ Cajuns walked off the field in utter disappointment, the answer was a bit startling. After carrying the Cajuns for most of the first four and a half games, Louisiana Tech’s offense posted 28 first downs, 485 yards and converted seven times in 13 attempts on third down. More importantly, the Bulldogs also ruled time of possession — 33:18 to 26:42. UL’s defense seemed to fade down the stretch, yieldgame-winNotebook ing ning TD drives of 8 plays, 63 yards and then 8 plays and 66 yards. “Yes, I did,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux responded if 31 points would be enough. “I thought 31 would be hard to get. I thought we could, and I thought we could keep them under 30. “I thought we could play really good defense and keep it down. We just weren’t able to. I mean, look, it’s not a knock on the. It was just the way we’ve been playing defense. They did some good stuff. They threw it and caught it well, and their quarterback played big in big moments.” Tech QB Blake Baker was 32-of42 passing for 319 yards with three touchdowns. And not known as a runner, he also ran for 35 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Baker’s 12-yard scoring run with 3:44 left after avoiding an apparent sack was arguably the biggest game-deciding play. While UL’s passing game hit bigger plays, Tech’s passing game controlled the clock. The Bulldogs had 18 first downs in the air to nine for the Cajuns. It’s hard to know how much McPherson was missed. UL’s other linebacker led the team in tackles: Jake St. Andre with 14 and Micah Johnson with 10. Fitzgerald West caused and recovered a fumble and Lester Jones forced a fumble himself for a Priest Ashe recovery, but the defense wasn’t able to stop Tech’s offense enough without turnovers. Jacob’s absence in the secondary certainly hurt in the passing game. The biggest issue was Tech tight end Eli Finley, who had nine receptions on nine targets for 114 yards and two touchdowns. “We mixed up man and zone,” Desormeaux said. “We didn’t play very great man coverage tonight. Then in zone, we had a couple balls that are right off the fingertips that are kind of right off the hands.”

Leaders tested You could see the pain in the face of quarterback Lunch Winfield after the heartbreaking 32-31 loss Saturday. It was his least efficient game of the season so far, with 10 incompletions and two interceptions. On third down, UL’s offense was a respectable 5-of-11 conversion rate. But when the final score left you one point short, those numbers no longer matter. “You see good, you see bad, and we got a lot of good that we could look from and a lot of bad to see and learn from,” Winfield said. “I think what you got to go out there, fix what we need to fix, and do what we got to do.” Winfield and the other leaders will have their work cut out for them to keep the team confident with the upcoming home game against reigning West champion Troy. There’s no room for error moving forward.

4C ● Monday, October 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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VIKINGS 23, SAINTS 13

‘That’s not good’ Saints have now lost 14 of past 20 games at home

BY LUKE JOHNSON

Staff writer

The last man in the New Orleans Saints locker room listened to the question and let out the heaviest sigh as he considered his answer. The New Orleans Saints had just been handed their third straight defeat inside their own home stadium, this one a 23-13 loss at the hands of the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. The offense in particular had no answers outside of one 15-play touchdown drive that required two fourth-down conversions to succeed. And as Erik McCoy let out that sigh, he was tallying up all the ways it went wrong. “I think it’s pretty blunt and pretty simple: It was a s****y performance by us,” McCoy said. Three weeks ago, fresh off the Saints’ upset road victory against the Baltimore Ravens, the Caesars Superdome was rollicking as the home team took a five-point lead into the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders. Since that point, any good will the Saints had built up has turned to dust. The Raiders outscored New Orleans by 13 in the final quarter, and in their last nine quarters — all at home — the Saints have been outscored 81-37. When McCoy began his career with the Saints as a rookie in 2019, home-field advantage truly meant something in the Superdome, especially late in games. Knowing what it can look like has only made what has happened lately an even more bitter pill. “I mean, you only get so many games at home in front of this crowd, who consistently shows up, and we have done nothing but crap the bed in those opportunities,” McCoy said. Sunday, it was the offense’s turn to disappoint. Even giving Minnesota credit where it was due — the Vikings came into the game with the NFL’s fiercest pass rush and the No. 1 scoring defense — the Saints repeatedly made the going

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints center Erik McCoy and quarterback Tyler Shough prepare to run a play during the first half of the game on Sept. 27 at the Caesars Superdome. even tougher by getting in their own way. There was a false start on a third-and-6 coming out of the 2-minute warning. There was a sequence in the second half with the Saints driving in Vi-

kings territory in which they committed penalties on three straight plays — the last of which was declined after Tyler Shough threw an interception. There was another holding penalty that nulliﬁed what would’ve

been the Saints’ longest run of the game (13 yards). There were three turnovers, including one back-breaker when return man Jayden Price coughed the ball up on the opening kick of the second half. Since the start

of that fourth quarter against the Raiders, New Orleans has given the ball away eight times in nine quarters. “We need a fire lit under our a***s,” McCoy said. “Because our last three performances we’ve turned the ball over, what, eight times? It’s unfathomable. It’s not OK.” Edge defender Cam Jordan has seen what the Superdome can be at its heights, too. Now in his 16th season, he’s been on a pair of Saints teams that went undefeated at home and six of them that went 6-2 or better in the Superdome. After Sunday’s loss, the Saints have won just six of their last 20 games at home. And that’s not even the number that really bothered Jordan the most at the moment. “We’re 1-4,” Jordan said. “… We’re sitting at a 20% win rate; that’s not good.” Obviously, Jordan said, the home losses are concerning. He said the team has to find a way to “bring the energy back” to what had been a difficult place for opponents to play. But the problem is larger. “First of all, we’ve got to find a way to win,” Jordan said. “I’m not even worried about just winning at home — I want to win on the road, at home, in the sky, in the alley, it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to learn how to win together and be a more disciplined team.” It took three weeks for the Saints to go from an intriguing team with upside to one that was fuming in the postgame locker room, searching for answers in the only statistical category that really matters. The only response they could find in the moment was a simple acknowledgement that they clearly didn’t know how. “The reality is, offensively, we don’t know how to win right now,” McCoy said. “It’s something we’ve got to get fixed and fixed fast, because we just went on a threegame losing skid at home with all of our fans showing up. That s**t’s not OK.”

SAINTS NOTEBOOK

Shough gives non-denial when asked if hand is broken Brees inducted into Saints’ ring of honor

Minnesota 23, New Orleans 13 Minnesota 3 3 7 10 — 23 New Orleans 0 7 6 0 — 13 First Quarter Min—FG Reichard 40, 9:04. Second Quarter NO—K.Miller 2 run (Carlson kick), 8:23. Min—FG Reichard 54, :00. Third Quarter Min—Jefferson 15 pass from Murray (Reichard kick), 12:06. NO—Sanker 87 fumble return (kick failed), 2:34. Fourth Quarter Min—A.Jones 8 run (Reichard kick), 14:06. Min—FG Reichard 55, 7:01.

BY MATTHEW PARAS AND LUKE JOHNSON

Staff writer

Whenever the New Orleans Saints ran a rushing play to the left in Sunday’s 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, quarterback Tyler Shough still handed the ball off with his right hand. The New Orleans quarterback had to make this adjustment after injuring his left, non-throwing hand in the previous game against the Atlanta Falcons. In practice throughout the week and against the Vikings, Shough wore a glove to protect it from further damage. Is it broken? “I’m not even sure I can answer that,” Shough said with a shrug, “but it was kind of banged up a little bit this week. But it didn’t really affect me.” Shough may have issued a nondenial, but the quarterback refused to let the issue linger as an excuse for his play in Sunday’s loss. The quarterback posted a 38.1 quarterback rating as he threw for only 96 yards and two interceptions. Beyond the run-game differences, Shough often got up off the ground with only his right hand. “It wasn’t bothering me,” Shough said. “It was just kind of a habit probably throughout the week, just not trying to put a bunch of

A—70,006.

STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson and former Saints quarterback Drew Brees look up as his name is unveiled in the team’s Ring of Honor during halftime of a game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. weight on it, I guess. There’s no issues throughout the game.”

Brees honored The best player in Saints history officially landed in a place of honor Sunday, when New Orleans officially inducted quarterback Drew Brees into their ring of honor during the halftime break of its game with the Minnesota Vikings. Brees, who was enshrined as a first-ballot Hall of Famer earlier this fall, wore his gold Hall of Fame jacket and stood next to his Hall of Fame bust during the ceremony.

“It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to represent this city, this community, this fanbase and our organization,” Brees said after his name was unveiled. “I will always love you, New Orleans; I will always represent you, and I will always love the Who Dat nation.” Brees landed between fellow Hall of Famers Morten Andersen and Rickey Jackson on the Saints ring of honor, at the 50-yard line above the opposing sideline. Saints owner Gayle Benson, president Dennis Lauscha and general manager Mickey Loomis were present

Min NO First downs 18 9 Total Net Yards 364 142 Rushes-yards 36-153 17-55 Passing 211 87 Punt Returns 2-57 0-0 Kickoff Returns 3-83 5-116 Interceptions Ret. 2-14 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 24-30-0 16-25-2 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-18 1-9 Punts 3-43.667 4-57.25 Fumbles-Lost 3-2 1-1 Penalties-Yards 4-30 6-41 Time of Possession 39:37 20:23 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Minnesota, A.Jones 25-113, Murray 10-51, Jefferson 1-(minus 11). New Orleans, K.Miller 10-30, Donaldson 4-13, Kamara 3-12. PASSING—Minnesota, Murray 24-30-0-229. New Orleans, Shough 16-25-2-96. RECEIVING—Minnesota, Jefferson 6-79, Bartholomew 5-33, Price 3-20, A.Jones 3-4, Felton 2-27, J.Jones 1-32, Dallas 1-11, Yurosek 1-10, Hockenson 1-7, Claiborne 1-6. New Orleans, Olave 4-46, Vele 4-26, Johnson 4-16, Kamara 2-(minus 6), Donaldson 1-7, Fant 1-7. MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.

on the ﬁeld for the ceremony. The Pro Football Hall of Fame also presented Brees with his Hall of Fame ring of excellence during the halftime ceremony. Brees became the ninth Saints player or executive to be included in the ring of honor, joining Andersen, Jackson, Jahri Evans, Archie Manning, Sam Mills, Willie Roaf, Will Smith and the late Tom Benson. No answer for Murray Coming into Sunday’s game, Kyler Murray had not had much of an impact as a scrambler early on in his tenure as Minnesota’s starting quarterback.

That was not the case against New Orleans, against whom he more than doubled his previous season rushing total. Murray carried the ball 10 times for 51 yards in the Vikings 23-13 win, with eight of those 10 rushes being scrambles. And several of those plays were costly for the Saints. Murray’s longest run of the game was an 18-yard scramble on third and 10, which kept an eventual touchdown drive alive, one of two third-and-longs he converted with his legs Sunday. He also picked up a seven-yard gain on a third-and-13 play — which, while it didn’t move the chains, it did allow kicker Will Reichard to come on for a 55-yard ﬁeld goal that pushed Minnesota’s lead to 10 points in the fourth quarter. “He’s a gamer,” defensive end Cam Jordan said. “That’s been the tale since he got to the league, and that was no different today. … He’s a hell of a competitor and you know going in that he doesn’t have an escape pattern — he (just) gets out.”

Odds and ends Joe Horn was Sunday’s Saints Legend of the Game … The Saints held a moment of silence for the late Mike Ditka before kickoff. Ditka, who died this week, coached the Saints from 1997-99 … Edge rusher Chase Young led the pregame Who Dat chant … Jonas Sanker’s 87yard fumble return for a touchdown was the second-longest in franchise history, behind only Keith Mitchell’s 90-yard return against the Carolina Panthers in November of 2000.

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

VIKINGS 23, SAINTS 13

THREE AND OUT: JEFF DUNCAN’S TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM NEW ORLEANS’ LOSS TO MINNESOTA

VIKINGS DEFENSE DOMINATED Minnesota entered the game with the topranked scoring defense in the league and it showed throughout the game. They dominated from start to finish, shutting down the Saints’ running game and flustering quarterback Tyler Shough repeatedly on third down. The Saints mustered just one scoring drive in nine offensive possessions. They had four punts, all on three-and-outs, and two turnovers on their eight offensive possessions. In all, the Saints totaled just nine first downs and 142 yards total offense. The only reason the Saints stayed in the game was because of a fluky 87-yard fumble return TD by Jonas Sanker.

QB MURRAY WAS A DIFFERENCE-MAKER The Minnesota Vikings quarterback bedeviled the Saints time and again on third down, constantly scrambling for first downs or buying time with his legs to deliver back-breaking pass completions. The Vikings converted nine of their first 15 third downs, largely because of Murray’s athleticism and elusiveness. Murray completed 24 of 30 passes for 229 yards and a touchdown for a 109.6 passer rating. Murray added 54 rushing yards on seven scrambles in the Vikings’ 23-13 win over the Saints to remain undefeated.

TAKEAWAYS WERE HUGE Sanker’s fumble return TD in the third quarter briefly stemmed the tide and kept the Saints in contention. It was the second big takeaway for the defense on the day. The Saints seized the early momentum when Chase Young scooped up a fumble at the Saints’ 8-yard line and returned it 26 yards to the 34. The recovery thwarted an early scoring opportunity for the Vikings, who were threatening to extend their early 3-0 lead. Khristian Boyd forced a fumble from Aaron Jones on the play. The Saints defense entered the game having forced just two turnovers in the first four games. So the timely takeaways were much-needed for the unit.

Continued from page 1C season may be gone, too. “Losing the way we have lost these last three games is gut-wrenching,” said Saints guard David Edwards. “It sucks. The competitor in you wants to smash your face against the wall. (We have to figure out) how do we move forward in a way that’s constructive and positive and moving people together along.” That is the question Moore has to solve. Whatever he’s been doing the past few weeks hasn’t worked. As a result, the Saints have all the symptoms of a bad team: costly penalties, slow starts, lack of a running game, inability to stop the run, inability to sustain drives are all reasons the Saints have dropped to 1-4. Moore’s postgame news conferences after the losses are all starting to sound the same. Unfortunately for Moore, the results have been the same, too. “You have to stick together through these type of storms,” Moore said. “You have to get better. That’s the thing we have to focus on. We have to get better during the week and give ourselves an opportunity to play better football next Sunday.” Moore was able to weather the storm last season when the Saints started 2-10 before winning four of their last five. Now he all of a sudden finds himself having to keep things afloat again. There is no indication that he’s losing the locker room yet. But if things continue down this path, he will.

31-30

Sept. 20

24-17

35-27

Continued from page 1C

WALKER

Sept. 13

Sept. 27

SAINTS

young career. The 27-year-old threw for only 96 yards (16 of 25) and was picked off twice, resulting in a careerlow 38.1 passer rating. But the Saints’ problems went beyond the quarterback. The Saints finished with 142 yards, their lowest since Week 2 of the 2021 season. Despite forcing two turnovers, the defense was carved up by Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray (229 yards on 24 of 30 passing) — especially on third down (8 of 16). And on special teams, the Saints committed two major blunders that shifted momentum to Minnesota. Simply put, at 1-4, the Saints don’t look like a very good football team right now. “I felt like we had a plan (against the blitz),” Moore said. “Obviously the plan wasn’t good enough. They did a better job. They got us in too many of those favorable passing situations, and then they were able ot take advantage of them. “We weren’t able to get those done. Obviously, that’s on me.” This was a matchup, especially, where coaching was poised to matter. The Vikings (5-0) are undefeated in part because they blitz like no other team. Handling that pressure required Shough and the offense to be on the same page, and it required the coaching staff to help them identify those looks. Moore’s strategy, on paper, made sense. The best way to stop a team from blitzing is to avoid obvious passing situations entirely, so New Orleans tried to run the ball. And initially, that plan looked sound. The Saints went into halftime with a 7-6 lead largely because of a 15-play, 66-yard drive that saw Kendre Miller punch in a 1-yard touchdown. New Orleans also played aggressively on the series, converting two short fourth downs to keep the chains moving. But unsurprisingly, the Saints’ rushing attack was too inconsistent to make the game plan reliable. After Miller’s touchdowns, the Saints rushed for just 10 yards on their next six possessions. They had seven carries, five of which came on firstand-10 — and only one of those five had positive yardage.

RESULTS

Oct. 5

45-24

Oct. 11

23-13

Oct. 18 at Giants Noon

Oct. 25 STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD

Steelers 8:30 a.m.

Former Saints quarterback Drew Brees shares a smile with team owner Gayle Benson during his induction into the Ring of Honor at halftime of a game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Caesars Superdome. A gain of 1 yard, mind you. Pre-snap errors and other penalties further put New Orleans in unfavorable down-and-distances. “Those odds are not really in your favor for those situations,” Shough said of facing tasks like second-and-20 and third-and-15. “It’s hard to get drives going when we draw up plays that hit like we expected it to and we shoot ourselves in the foot (with a penalty),” wide receiver Devaughn Vele said. Once New Orleans fell behind, Minnesota’s lead felt almost insurmountable. Even after safety Jonas Sanker recovered a fumble and returned it for an 87-yard touchdown, Saints kicker Daniel Carlson missed the extra point, keeping the game tied at 13. Carlson’s miss was another critical special-teams mistake, following Jayden Price’s fumble on a kickoff return to start the second half. Each time, the Saints couldn’t respond. After Carlson’s miss, the defense returned to the

ﬁeld and gave up a touchdown in just six plays. Shough, too, started to press. On third-and-7, he was nearly intercepted on a target to Bryce Lance when he anticipated the rookie receiver cutting inside on a slant, only for Lance to go deep on a double move. Then, to seal New Orleans’ defeat, Shough went back again to the double move on a pass to Chris Olave — only for Minnesota cornerback Byron Murphy to know that was coming and stay deep to intercept the throw. That time, Olave slowed down his route by cutting inside. “They were really prepared for those moments,” Shough said of the Vikings. The sequence arguably suggests New Orleans’ offense was predictable, just as Brees had suggested on the broadcast. Minnesota could tell what was coming because of the Saints’ repetition. And while every team repeats concepts throughout a game, the Saints don’t seem to break

tendencies enough. Take play action, the area Brees highlighted the most in the fourth quarter. According to FTN Fantasy, the Saints entered the afternoon with a play-action rate of just 17.7% — the fourthlowest in the league. On Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus, the Saints ran play action just once — a 14-yard completion to Olave. To be fair, play action might not have been the answer. Maybe Moore and his staff didn’t trust the offensive line to hold up against a ferocious Vikings defense. Maybe Moore felt the Saints were in too tough a spot — whether it was the game clock or the down and distance — for the plays to work. But on the call, Brees was right to wonder why. And “why?” lately keeps coming up with these Saints. “Sometimes, you go through storms,” Moore said. “Inevitably, storms end. But we’re going through a little bit of one.”

were celebrating Domecoming and Steve Gleason’s blocked punt. The trifecta was completed Sunday, which was supposed to be a game where the Saints got up off the mat from that beatdown from the Falcons six days ago. Instead, they continue to fall apart at home. “Three games in a row?” center Erik McCoy asked rhetorically. “S**t’s unacceptable.” Let’s be fair. The Vikings are a good team, evident by their 5-0 record. They are good because of their pressuring defense and special teams. Their offense came into the game as one of the worst in the league. But you wouldn’t have known it by watching this game. Minnesota came into the game last in the league in passing yards per game (156 per game). They had more than half of that by the end of the first quarter and finished with 229. The Saints’ offense, meanwhile, managed just 142 yards and committed three turnovers. That will lose STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD you a lot of football games, which is exactly what the Saints have managed Saints coach Kellen Moore is not pleased with a call during a game against the to do these last three weeks. Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. “They played better than us and coached better than us,” Moore said. That’s been a familiar theme and the The Saints hit the road next week Saints Ring of Honor. Seeing Brees’ main reason Saints fans haven’t seen a to play Jameis Winston and the name in the rafters was the only reawin at home since December. New York Giants. Then they travel son for Saints fans to look up Sunday. “We’ve got to find a way to win,” across the pond to Paris to play the The Saints are now 3-8 in the Dome Pittsburgh Steelers before their bye under Moore. The three losses on this said Saints defensive end Cam Jorweek. Maybe getting away from New home stretch are even more surprisdan. “I’m not even worried about just Orleans will do this team some good winning at home. I want to win on the ing when you look at how well the considering how bad they’ve been in road, at home, in the sky, in the alley, Saints played on the road against the what used to be one of the most intim- Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to learn how to win together and be a more to start the season. Then they came idating venues in the NFL. That’s no disciplined team.” longer the case. The loudest cheers of home and blew a lead against the The losing has become sickening. Raiders and got embarrassed by the the game came at halftime for Drew It’s up to Moore to find the cure. Falcons on a Monday night when they Brees, who was inducted into the

Nov. 8 Browns Noon

Nov. 15 Panthers Noon

Nov. 22 at Bears Noon

Nov. 29 at Bengals Noon

Dec. 6 Packers Noon

Dec. 13 at Panthers Noon

Dec. 20 at Buccaneers Noon

Dec. 27 Arizona Noon

Jan. 3 Falcons Noon

TBD Buccaneers TBD

6C ● Monday, October 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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Burrow throws 4 TDs as Bengals beat Dolphins The Associated Press MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase connection never seems to fail for the Cincinnati Bengals. Chase missed practice time this week after suffering a concussion last Sunday against JacksonRoundup ville, but that didn’t stop the All-Pro receiver from coming down with a highlight-reel, one-handed touchdown on a 45-yard throw from Burrow Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. “I saw the protection that I really like. It buys me time and space,” Burrow said. “Pushed the ball downﬁeld, and when you push the ball downﬁeld with the guys that we have and (with) that kind of time, you can see what number one can do whenever the ball’s in the air. Obviously, an unbelievable play. You don’t want to take it for granted, but we’re used to it at this point.” Burrow threw four touchdown passes, safety Jordan Battle had a pair of interceptions and the Bengals beat the Dolphins 31-24 on Sunday. “It’s a blessing to get these opportunities,” said Chase, who secured the bobbling pass with his right forearm while he was being defended by cornerback Jason Marshall Jr. late in the third. He caught six passes for 77 yards, and his touchdown made it 28-10. Burrow completed 23 of 32 passes for 190 yards and also threw touchdowns to tight ends Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson and running back Samaje Perine. The Bengals quarterback took advantage of the Dolphins’ young secondary, completing passes to nine different receivers. Battle picked off Malik Willis on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. The veteran had a big game after saying this week he had a tell on how Willis throws the football — pointing out the Dolphins quarterback apparently taps the ball before he throws.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY REBECCA BLACKWELL

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow calls a play during the second half of a game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Fla. “You study players and see things,” Battle said Sunday, “but it’s just trusting the game plan and putting me in position to make plays.” The Dolphins (0-5) pulled within 7 with 45 seconds left on a Willis’ 1-yard touchdown run, set up by a 23-yard catch by rookie Kevin Coleman Jr., who also caught a touchdown earlier in the fourth. Riley Patterson clanked the extrapoint attempt off the left upright, and the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds to end it and snap the Cincinnati’s two-game skid. Willis had just ﬁve completions in the first half and finished 15 of 27 with 137 yards passing. The Dolphins offseason free-agent pickup was late on throws and missed several open receivers in addition to the pair of interceptions and a lost fumble. “We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board,” Willis said, “watch these last few games, compare it to practice, understand what we’re good at, what we’re not good at, understand what guys are comfortable with and what they’re not comfortable with, and then just try to go and execute the next opportunity we can get.”

The Dolphins moved the ball inside the Cincinnati 1 on a 26-yard rush by rookie Chris Bell and runs by Ollie Gordon late in the third. But Willis took an 8-yard sack, then forced a pass to tight end Greg Dulcich that fell incomplete, and Miami settled for Patterson’s 29-yard ﬁeld goal to make it 21-10. Cincinnati (3-2) led 21-7 at the half, mostly by capitalizing on numerous Dolphins blunders. Miami gave up an 81-yard return to Dohnte Meyers on the opening kickoff. That set up Gesicki’s 4-yard TD catch three plays later, and the former Dolphin celebrated by Griddy-ing near the end zone. The Dolphins responded with an 11-play, 60-yard drive that featured no completed passes — Willis was 0-for-2 — but 51 yards rushing. Ollie Gordon capped it with a 1-yard rush. Gordon began the season as Miami’s third-string running back, but has seemingly moved up the depth chart past backup Jaylen Wright in the absence of De’Von Achane, who suffered a seasonending ACL injury in Week 3. Gordon ﬁnished with 18 rushes for 88 yards. PATRIOTS 45, RAIDERS 17: In Foxbor-

ough, Massachusetts, Drake Maye didn’t have his top receiver, and the New England Patriots were missing both of their starting cornerbacks. The third-year quarterback found plenty of other targets, and his defense still found a way to slow down Kirk Cousins and the Las Vegas Raiders. Maye threw four touchdown passes and ran for another score, helping the Patriots pull away in the second half of a victory on Sunday. Maye was 26 of 34 for 374 yards passing in the second 300-yard game of his career. Two TDs went to Pop Douglas and one each to Hunter Henry and Kyle Williams. TEXANS 26, TITANS 3: In Nashville, Tennessee, C.J. Stroud carried the Houston Texans to their ﬁrst victory of the season, then his coach announced the quarterback is being reunited with his old Ohio State teammate after a trade with Arizona. A very nice Sunday indeed for both Stroud and the Texans. Stroud threw for 261 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score and the Texans snapped their winless start to the season by routing the Tennessee Titans. After the win, Stroud was excited at getting to work with wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. again. JETS 17 BROWNS 12: In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Braelon Allen ran 22 yards for the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter after New York recovered a fumbled punt snap, and the Jets ended a three-game skid with a victory over the Cleveland Browns on a rain-soaked Sunday. Rookie David Bailey had three of New York’s eight sacks of Deshaun Watson, and Geno Smith had a touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson on the first drive for the Jets (2-3), who ended the Browns’ three-game winning streak. Cleveland (3-2) had a ﬁnal chance with 1:41 left and no timeouts. But New York’s defense, as it did all game, stiffened and sealed it when

Will McDonald had a strip-sack of Watson on fourth down and recovered the fumble. PACKERS 31, BEARS 7: In Green Bay, Wisconsin, Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers wanted to make sure they didn’t let a big lead against the Chicago Bears slip away again. With help from a ball-hawking defense, the Packers poured it on instead. Christian Watson caught two long touchdown passes from Love, MarShawn Lloyd also scored twice and the Packers forced five turnovers as they exacted a measure of revenge against their rivals by trouncing the Bears on Sunday. COMMANDERS 27, GIANTS 27, OT: In Landover, Maryland, Jayden Daniels took off on an ill-advised scramble in the closing seconds of overtime with the Commanders in field goal range and Washington was unable to stop the clock before time expired, settling for a tie with the New York Giants on Sunday after both teams made critical mistakes in the extra period. Washington (1-3-1) got the ball with 2 minutes left in OT when Daron Payne stripped the ball from Cam Skattebo with the Giants in range for a game-ending field goal. Daniels quickly moved the Commanders to the Giants 24, but with 12 seconds left and Washington with no timeouts, he held onto the ball and went down for no gain. Washington lined up in a bid to spike the ball but the clock ticked down to zero, and coach Dan Quinn ripped off his headset in disgust. The Commanders had a twotouchdown lead in the fourth quarter before Jameis Winston led a furious comeback for the NFC Eastleading Giants (3-1-1). He connected with Isaiah Likely for a 17-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter — Likely’s second TD catch of the game — and then found Malik Nabers for the tying score, also from 17 yards out, with 1:43 left.

SCOREBOARD Odds Sports Betting Line NFL Monday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG at LA RAMS 3 3½ (54½) Buffalo

College Football Tuesday

FAVORITE Delaware at JAX ST

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 1½ 2½ (48½) at M. TEN 2½ 3 (43½) Florida Intl

Wednesday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Kennesaw St 5½ 3½ (51½)at MISOU ST W. Kentucky 1½ 1½ (51½)at SAM HOU

Thursday

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG East Carolina 6½ 4½ (49½) at UAB Ga Southern 2½ 4 (47½)at OLD DOM at TEXAS ST 9½ 12½ (68½) Colorado St

Friday

FAVORITE Memphis App St at PURDUE

Saturday

OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG 6½ 6½ (53½) at TULANE 2½ 1½ (51½) at C. CAR 2½ 3 (52½) Wash

FAVORITE OPEN TODAY O/U UNDERDOG Ohio State 1½ 3½ (51½) at INDIANA Pittsburgh 6½ 6½ (43½) at B. COLL Northwestern 7½ 9½ (48½) at MSU at ARMY 3½ 2½ (56½) Florida Atl at KANSAS ST 8½ 6½ (55½) Kansas at WEST VA 2½ 1½ (62½) Cincinnati at J. MADISN 10½ 11½ (57½) Georgia St at B. GREEN 8½ 7½ (44½) Ball State at LSU 10½ 10½ (59½) Miss St. at SMU 6½ 8½ (52½) Virginia at TEXAS 9½ 9½ (52½) Florida at MARYLND 4½ 4½ (59½) Rutgers at BUFFALO 3½ 3½ (44½) UMass at TEMPLE 23½ 22½ (50½) Charlotte W. Michigan 8½ 7 (42½) at C. MICH at DUKE 4½ 3½ (47½) N. Carolina at TEX TECH 12½ 14 (48½) Arizona St. at VA TECH 8½ 9½ (55½) Ga Tech at GEORGIA 16½ 18½ (48½) Auburn Toledo 6½ 4½ (52½) at E. MICH at MICHIGAN 6½ 6½ (42½) Penn State at OLE MISS 7½ 6 (59½) Missouri Alabama 1½ 6½ (53½) at TENN at MIA (OH) 9½ 10 (46½) Akron at WYOMING 8½ 7 (40½) N. Illinois UNLV 3 1½ (46½) at A.F. Tulsa 3 4½ (46½) at RICE at UL 3½ 4½ (49½) Troy at OREGN ST 13½ 17½ (53½) Wash St. at NDSU 14½ 14½ (45½) Nevada at MIA (FL) 16½ 21½ (56½) Florida St at S. FLA 18½ 19½ (46½) Kent State at VANDER 6½ 6 (50½) Arkansas at BAYLOR 6½ 6½ (49½) TCU Arkansas St 6½ 7 (61½) at S. MISS at UCLA 3 3½ (46½) Wisconsin Louisville 12½ 13½ (56½) at SYRACSE at HOUSTON 2½ 4½ (60½) Oklah St. Notre Dame 10½ 10½ (47½) at BYU at OKLAH 6½ 6½ (43½) Kentucky at UTSA 7 6½ (55½) Navy La Tech 14½ 14½ (54½) at ULM San Jose St. 10 8½ (49½) at UTEP Ohio 13½ 14½ (48½) at SAC ST Utah 13½ 16½ (49½) at COL Fresno State 8½ 8½ (44½) at SDSU Wake Forest 8½ 9½ (53½) at CAL New Mexico 17½ 14½ (45½) at HAWAII at OREGON 7½ 7 (52½) Nebraska

MLB

Monday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -171 National League FAVORITE LINE LA Dodgers OFF

NHL

Monday

FAVORITE LINE Florida -117 at NEW JERSEY -132 at MINNESOTA -120

UNDERDOG Cleveland

LINE +141

UNDERDOG at MILWAUKEE

LINE OFF

UNDERDOG at BUFFALO Ottawa Vegas

LINE -105 +108 -103

State, 2:30 p.m. Monday, October 19: Atlanta at Golden State, 7 p.m. Thursday, October 22: Golden State at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Saturday, October 24: Golden State at Atlanta, 2:30 p.m. x-Monday, October 26: Atlanta at Golden State, TBA x-Thursday, October 29: Golden State at Atlanta, TBA x-Saturday, October 31: Atlanta at Golden State, TBA

NFL Glance AMERICAN CONFERENCE Buffalo New England N.Y. Jets Miami

W 3 3 2 0

L 1 2 3 5

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF PA .750 127 107 .600 110 94 .400 93 96 .000 70 132

Jacksonville Indianapolis Houston Tennessee

W 4 2 1 0

L 1 3 4 5

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF PA .800 123 70 .400 124 138 .200 110 112 .000 58 109

Baltimore Cleveland Pittsburgh Cincinnati

W 3 3 3 3

L 1 2 2 2

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF PA .750 116 96 .600 93 112 .600 111 109 .600 128 109

Kansas City Las Vegas Denver L.A. Chargers

W 4 3 2 0

L 0 2 2 4

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 118 77 0 .600 132 129 0 .500 74 94 0 .000 67 106

N.Y. Giants Philadelphia Dallas Washington

W 3 2 2 1

L 1 3 3 3

T 1 0 0 1

Pct PF .700 109 .400 92 .400 138 .300 115

Carolina Atlanta Tampa Bay New Orleans

W 2 2 1 1

L 2 2 4 4

T 0 0 0 0

Pct PF PA .500 121 109 .500 96 92 .200 100 112 .200 118 151

Minnesota Green Bay Chicago Detroit

W 5 3 3 2

L 0 2 2 2

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 109 64 0 .600 104 112 0 .600 119 96 0 .500 119 127

San Francisco Seattle L.A. Rams Arizona

W 4 3 2 1

L 0 1 2 3

T Pct PF PA 0 1.000 122 64 0 .750 105 73 0 .500 85 83 0 .250 87 117

South

North

West

NATIONAL CONFERENCE East

South

North

West

Thursday’s Games

Tampa Bay 24, Dallas 16

Sunday’s Games

Jacksonville 19, Philadelphia 17, London, GBR Cincinnati 31, Miami 24 Green Bay 31, Chicago 7 Houston 26, Tennessee 3 Minnesota 23, New Orleans 13 N.Y. Giants 27, Washington 27, OT N.Y. Jets 17, Cleveland 12 New England 45, Las Vegas 17 Pittsburgh 34, Indianapolis 22 Denver 23, L.A. Chargers 17 Detroit 45, Arizona 21 San Francisco 32, Seattle 29 Baltimore at Atlanta, n Open: Kansas City, Carolina

Monday’s Games

Buffalo at L.A. Rams, 7:15 p.m.

Major League Baseball MLB Postseason Glance

Pro basketball

x-if necessary

WNBA Playoff Glance

(Best-of-7)

(x-if necessary) Finals

(TBS, TruTV, HBO Max)

(Best-of-5)

No. 2 Golden State vs. No. 4 Atlanta Saturday, October 17: Atlanta at Golden

National League (FOX, FS1)

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee

Pro football

East

Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) Thursday, Oct. 15: Game 3: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 5 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) Friday, Oct. 16: Game 4: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 5 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Saturday, Oct. 17: Game 5: Tampa Bay at Cleveland, 7 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Monday, Oct. 19: Game 6: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) x-Tuesday, Oct. 20: Game 7: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max)

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

American League

Cleveland vs. Tampa Bay

Monday, Oct. 12: Game 1: Cleveland at Tampa Bay, 8 p.m. (TBS/TruTV/HBO Max) Tuesday, Oct. 13: Game 2: Cleveland at

PA 106 112 136 149

Sunday, Oct. 11: Game: 1 Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwauke, n Monday, Oct. 12: Game 2: Los Angeles Dodgers (Yamamoto 14-9) at Milwaukee (Henderson 11-3), 4 p.m. (Fox/FS1/Fox One/ Fox Deportes) Wednesday, Oct. 14: Game 3: Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 p.m. (FS1/Fox One/ Fox Deportes) Thursday, Oct. 15: Game 4: Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8 p.m. (FS1/Fox One/Fox Deportes) x-Friday, Oct. 16: Game 5: Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers, 8 p.m. (FS1/Fox One/Fox Deportes) x-Sunday, Oct. 18: Game 6: Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. (FS1/Fox One/ Fox Deportes) x-Monday, Oct. 19: Game 7: Los Angeles Dodgers at Milwaukee, 7 p.m. (Fox/FS1/Fox One/Fox Deportes)

Late Saturday Cleveland 2, Chicago White Sox 0 Chicago

Cleveland

ab r h bi ab r h bi Antonacci lf 4 0 1 0 Kwan lf 3 1 1 0 Teel c 4 0 1 0 Ramírez 3b 3 1 1 2 Vargas 3b 3 0 0 0 DeLauter rf 4 0 1 0 Murakmi 1b 4 0 0 0 Adell dh 4 0 1 0 Bnintndi dh 4 0 0 0 Lowe 1b 3 0 0 0 Peters rf-cf 3 0 1 0 Bazzana 2b 3 0 0 0 Meidroth 2b 3 0 0 0 Genao 2b 0 0 0 0 C.Mntgry ss 2 0 0 0 Bailey c 3 0 0 0 Doyle cf 2 0 0 0 Halpin cf 3 0 2 0 Grichuk ph-rf1 0 0 0 Rocchio ss 3 0 0 0 Totals 30 0 3 0 Totals 29 2 6 2 Chicago 000 000 000 — 0 Cleveland 000 200 00x — 2 E—C.Montgomery (0). DP—Chicago 1, Cleveland 0. LOB—Chicago 6, Cleveland 5. 2B—Halpin 2 (1). HR—Ramírez (1). IP H R ER BB SO Chicago Burke L,1-0 5 4 2 2 0 4 Newcomb 2 2 0 0 0 3 Taylor 1 0 0 0 2 0 Cleveland 1 0 0 2 12 Williams W,0-0 5 2⁄3 1 ⁄3 0 0 0 0 1 Sabrowski H,0 Gaddis H,1 1 1⁄3 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 C.Smith S,0-0 1 2⁄3 Newcomb pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. HBP—Williams (C.Montgomery). ABS Challenge—Williams (Ball-Confirmed); Rocchio (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Williams (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Sabrowski (Ball-Confirmed); Peters (Strike-Confirmed). Pitch timer violations—Taylor (pitcher). Umpires—Home, Vic Carapazza; First, Tom Hanahan; Second, Cory Blaser; Third, Gabe Morales; Right, Jansen Visconti; Left, Todd Tichenor. T—2:36. A—36,889 (34,788).

College football Major scores Saturday’s games EAST

Arizona 52, West Virginia 31 Army 20, Tulane 17 Brown 28, Bryant 13 CCSU 51, American International 14 Coastal Carolina 27, Marshall 21 Delaware St. 34, Franklin Pierce 0 Fordham 20, Richmond 14 Georgetown 21, Bucknell 14 Harvard 41, Cornell 29 LIU Brooklyn 17, Duquesne 14 Miami (Ohio) 20, UMass 19 Morgan St. 28, Robert Morris 27 Navy 34, Tulsa 26 North Carolina 21, Pittsburgh 17 Penn 24, Howard 20 Princeton 28, Wagner 13 Southern Cal 31, Penn St. 23 Stonehill 28, Sacred Heart 7 Stony Brook 31, Towson 24 UConn 34, Temple 20

Yale 28, Dartmouth 7

SOUTH

Alabama A&M 55, Bethune-Cookman 17 Alcorn St. 63, Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes 7 Charleston Southern 49, SC State 39 Chattanooga 19, Samford 3 E. Illinois 21, Gardner-Webb 7 E. Kentucky 30, West Georgia 20 ETSU 34, The Citadel 16 East Carolina 28, Rice 12 Georgia 20, Alabama 17 Georgia Tech 28, Duke 25 Grambling St. 45, Jackson St. 38 James Madison 27, Georgia Southern 24 Kentucky 35, LSU 34, OT Louisiana Tech 32, Louisiana-Lafayette 31 Memphis 38, UAB 13 Mercer 17, W. Carolina 14 Mississippi 52, Vanderbilt 17 NC A&T 30, New Hampshire 27, OT Norfolk St. 62, Va. Lynchburg 0 Old Dominion 10, Appalachian St. 3 Presbyterian 38, Davidson 21 South Carolina 38, Florida 19 Tarleton St. 40, Austin Peay 32 Tennessee Tech 20, Furman 15 UT Martin 42, Tennessee St. 28 UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 13, SE Louisiana 3 Virginia 28, Syracuse 25 Wake Forest 38, NC State 14 William & Mary 17, NC Central 14 Wofford 16, Elon 0

MIDWEST

Air Force 28, N. Illinois 7 Bowling Green 38, Sacramento St. 10 Buffalo 23, Toledo 8 Butler 41, San Diego 10 Dayton 56, Morehead St. 28 E. Michigan 25, Akron 23 Houston 35, Kansas St. 16 Illinois 38, Michigan St. 37, OT Indiana 20, Nebraska 17 Missouri 27, Texas A&M 6 N. Iowa 24, North Dakota 17 Northwestern 45, Ball St. 14 Notre Dame 58, Stanford 7 Ohio 31, Cent. Michigan 14 Ohio St. 45, Maryland 16 Purdue 41, Minnesota 13 SE Missouri 38, Lindenwood (Mo.) 27 South Dakota 31, S. Illinois 10 St. Thomas (Minn.) 64, Stetson 21 Valparaiso 21, Drake 13 W. Michigan 38, Kent St. 7 Youngstown St. 57, Indiana St. 24

SOUTHWEST

Abilene Christian 20, Cent. Arkansas 14 Lamar 38, Incarnate Word 35 MVSU 38, Texas Southern 34 Nevada 30, UTEP 13 North Texas 50, Charlotte 10 Oklahoma 27, Texas 24 Oklahoma St. 42, UCF 28 Southern U. 28, Prairie View 14 Tennessee 24, Arkansas 17

FAR WEST

Arizona St. 30, Hawaii 12 Boise St. 38, Fresno St. 31 Cal Poly 25, Idaho St. 24 California 25, Virginia Tech 20 E. Washington 31, N. Colorado 22 N. Arizona 49, Montana 44 Oregon St. 66, San Diego St. 14 Portland St. 30, Utah Tech 14 UCLA 17, Oregon 15 UNLV 13, N. Dakota St. 7 Utah 41, Kansas 24 Weber St. 38, Idaho 27

Late Saturday

Kentucky 35, No. 10 LSU 34, OT

LSU 10 7 3 7 7 — 34 Kentucky 7 14 0 6 8 — 35 First Quarter LSU—FG Starzyk 24, 8:45. UK—Baxter 3 run (Zouagui kick), 8:10. LSU—Z.Grace 22 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), 1:39. Second Quarter UK—Coffman 55 punt return (Zouagui kick), 13:06. LSU—Harris 10 pass from Leavitt (Starzyk kick), 6:11. UK—Minchey 1 run (Zouagui kick), :00. Third Quarter LSU—FG Starzyk 24, 2:13. Fourth Quarter UK—FG Zouagui 28, 11:54. LSU—Mothershed 41 pass from Harris (Starzyk kick), 9:42. UK—FG Zouagui 33, :12. First Overtime LSU—Leavitt 15 run (Starzyk kick), :00. UK—Baxter 1 run (Minchey run), :00.

A—61,897.

LSU UK First downs 26 19 Total Net Yards 410 401 Rushes-yards 36-94 32-155 Passing 316 246 Punt Returns 1-16 2-61 Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-20 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-9 Comp-Att-Int 26-35-1 23-36-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 3-22 1-6 Punts 3-43.0 3-40.333 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0 Penalties-Yards 7-50 2-20 Time of Possession 32:30 27:30 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—LSU, D.Jones 16-56, Leavitt 15-39, Berry 3-4, Clark 1-0, (Team) 1-(minus 5). Kentucky, Baxter 19-123, J.Barnes 3-14, Minchey 7-12, Patterson 2-6, Rodriguez 1-0. PASSING—LSU, Leavitt 25-34-1-275, Harris 1-1-0-41. Kentucky, Minchey 23-36-0-246. RECEIVING—LSU, D.Jones 7-84, Watkins 6-62, Harris 6-54, Mothershed 2-56, Berry 2-22, Z.Grace 1-22, T.Brown 1-11, Wilson 1-5. Kentucky, Rodriguez 6-25, Darby 4-79, D.Miller 4-54, Ferguson 3-43, N.Anderson 3-29, Patterson 1-7, J.Barnes 1-5, Boyer 1-4. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Kentucky, Zouagui 42, Zouagui 26.

Late Saturday Louisiana Tech 32, UL 31

UL 0 10 14 7 — 31 Louisiana Tech 0 13 0 19 — 32 Second Quarter LT—Finley 10 pass from B.Baker (Rioux kick), 14:53. UL—Winﬁeld 7 run (Sterner kick), 10:45. UL—FG Sterner 30, 6:52. LT—Mickens 14 pass from B.Baker (kick failed), 1:48. Third Quarter ULL—Garner 20 run (Sterner kick), 9:51. ULL—Chaney 25 run (Sterner kick), 1:50. Fourth Quarter LT—Mickens 3 run (pass failed), 13:01. ULL—Wade 45 pass from Winﬁeld (Sterner kick), 11:35. LT—B.Baker 12 run (Rioux kick), 3:44. LT—Finley 7 pass from B.Baker (run failed), :46.

A—20,035.

UL LT First downs 22 28 Total Net Yards 399 485 Rushes-yards 34-160 34-147 Passing 239 338 Punt Returns 0-0 2-4 Kickoff Returns 2-48 5-102 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 2-27 Comp-Att-Int 14-24-2 33-43-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-11 1-0 Punts 3-41.0 3-49.333 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2 Penalties-Yards 3-16 8-81 Time of Possession 26:42 33:18 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Garner 7-36, Blanco 8-36, Winﬁeld 13-34, Chaney 2-25, Dennis 1-23, Reagan 3-6. Louisiana Tech, Burnette 14-85, Baker 11-35, Snider 3-18, Brooks 3-6, Mickens 1-3, Shettron 1-1, (Team) 1-(minus 1). PASSING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Winﬁeld 1424-2-239. Louisiana Tech, Baker 32-42-0-319, Brooks 1-1-0-19. RECEIVING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Wade 2-88, Sampson 2-60, Chaney 2-32, Strother 2-19, Garner 2-15, Reagan 2-9, Brooks 1-12, Blanco 1-4. Louisiana Tech, Finley 9-114, Mickens 9-92, Shettron 8-102, Burnette 3-7, Wilkerson 2-2, Brooks 1-11, Calwise 1-10. MISSED FIELD GOALS—Louisiana Tech, Rioux 50.

Transactions Major League Baseball

National League LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Reinstated LHP Justin Wrobleski.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League BOSTON BRUINS — Reinstated D Charlie McAvoy from suspension. NEW YORK RANGERS — Placed G Igor Shesterkin on long-term injured reserve. Recalled C Gabriel Beaudoin from Hartford (AHL). OTTAWA SENATORS — Recalled D Jorian Donovan from Belleville (AHL). PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Placed RW Travis Konecny on injured reserve. Recalled D Oliver Bonk from Lehigh Valley (AHL). VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS — Placed LW Victor Olofsson and D Max Crotty on injured reserve. Recalled D Ville Heinola from Henderson (AHL).

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 12, 2026

7cn

‘I want to ... give back’

With violins, trumpets and the guitarrón, Las Vegas is training the mariachi educators of tomorrow BY JESSICA HILL Associated Press

STAFF PHOTOS BY DOUG MACCASH

‘The Spirit Stones of Nouvelle Orleans’ are like a fragmented mural composed of faces, skulls and other images, painted on the rocks along the Mississippi River bank at the edge of the French Quarter by a mysterious artist, known only by pseudonyms.

NO STONE UNTURNED

Who’s been painting faces on the rocks down by the river in the New Orleans French Quarter? BY DOUG MacCASH

buskers and passing freighters, just like the mad music of the Steamboat Natchez pipe organ.

Staff writer

When the Audubon Nature Institute’s Riverfront Park opened this spring, it became possible to saunter along the mighty Mississippi, all the way from deep in the Bywater, to the Riverwalk mall. If you haven’t yet strolled this picturesque promenade, you certainly should. As you amble along the area adjacent to the French Quarter, be sure to cast your eyes downward to the countless broken gray rocks along the river’s edge. There, a mysterious artist has provided an affable addition to the scenery. The jagged jumble of stones, known as rip rap, is meant to keep the river edge from washing away. Risking a twisted ankle or skinned knee, the artist has used a few dozen of the jagged stones as canvases, where they’ve painted faces, skulls, stars and other shapes.

Good-natured graffiti The colors of the faces and skulls are soft not garish, the brushwork blunt yet neat. The im-

The faces are already there

In a Facebook video, the artist behind ‘The Spirit Stones of Nouvelle Orleans’ said that they don’t invent the faces and skulls that they paint on the rocks along the Mississippi River bank at the edge of the French Quarter, they discover them. ages are so simplified that some are unrecognizable. The fragmentary, mineralogical mural has some of the audacious outlaw vibe of graffiti. But it’s clearly the good-natured sort of graffiti, meant as an embellishment, not a violation. On one hand, the faces and skulls are strange and out of place. Yet they seem to belong there among the tourists and

A sign posted among the rip rap paintings reads “The Spirit Stones of Nouvelle Orleans.” It is signed Phoen9X. A Google search of “The Spirit Stones of Nouvelle Orleans,” leads to a Facebook video attributed to someone known as Hood Critic. In those videos, the artist describes his methods. “Those faces that I bring out in the stones are already there,” explains the artist, whose own face is never seen. As they speak, the artist points to a rock with a jagged edge that could be a human proﬁle, with a dark patch that could be an eye. Above those natural features, they’ve added “hair, headgear and a plume,” as if the face in the rock were wearing a costume. The artist explains that it’s unnecessary to paint everything. Sometimes, they allow the raw stone surface to come through. “I might leave the rest of the stone as it was when I ﬁrst met it,” the artist said. “You might say

AP PHOTO BY JOHN LOCHER

Brenda Guzman performs with other University of Nevada Las Vegas mariachi students at a football game Oct. 3 in Las Vegas.

A year-round presence

ä See CURIOUS, page 8C

Dolly Parton’s legacy showcased at museum, hotel BY KRISTIN M. HALL

for the opening of a new museum in Nashville dedicated to the beloved singer who died in August NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dolly Parton’s at age 80. The 20,000-square-foot Dolly’s longtime creative director, Steve Summers, designed hundreds of Life of Many Colors Museum dresses and outﬁts for the late includes exhibits focused on singer and entertainer every many different aspects of her year, so he saw her in many stag- life and legacy, from her Smoky Mountain roots and Dollywood, es of her career. “Every person in here has a to her movie roles, her fashion, different Dolly Parton that they her faith, her family and the are in love with,” Summers told a ä See DOLLY, page 8C crowd of fans gathered Tuesday Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Axel Rodríguez Olivas nervously steps on stage, carrying a violin. He raises his bow and begins to play, his nerves melting away. Mariachi music explodes throughout the room as violins, trumpets, the guitarrón, and a stringed instrument called the vihuela launch into an upbeat melody. There they are joined by a warm voice as a tenor begins to sing. “I think joy is what I feel ultimately,” said Rodríguez Olivas, dressed in an ornate “traje charro,” the traditional mariachi suit brightly decked out with decorative metal buttons and a wide bow tie. The 20-year-old musician is set to become the ﬁrst student to graduate with a minor in mariachi from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, one of the only universities in the country to offer such a niche specialization. In a city where Latinos comprise more than a third of the population, mariachi music is so popular in schools that there often aren’t enough teachers to meet demand. The minor was created to train students to become mariachi educators in the Clark County School District, which boasts of one of the largest mariachi programs in the U.S. with about 6,000 students taking part.

Portraits of Dolly Parton fill the Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum in Nashville, Tenn. AP PHOTO BY GEORGE WALKER IV

Not just a popular student extracurricular, mariachi culture is a staple and deep-seated form of entertainment across Las Vegas. “If you go out today, there’s going to be mariachi somewhere on the Strip,” said Stephen Blanco, who oversees the mariachi minor at UNLV and directs Las Vegas High School’s Mariachi Joya. A form of Mexican folk music, mariachi was born out of joy and pride in Mexico, he said. Its songs tell stories of pain, love, joy and excitement, capable of tugging at the heartstrings of audiences everywhere, he added. “I think that it’s just something that everyone enjoys,” Blanco said. “You don’t even have to be able to speak Spanish or understand it. I think it’s impossible for someone to walk away without a smile on their face.” As members of the professional group Mariachi Paloma Azteca, Rodríguez Olivas and Blanco perform at birthday parties, weddings and funerals. Recently, at a concert in Las Vegas, the ensemble opened with

ä See MARIACHI, page 8C

8C ● Monday, October 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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No dogs are allowed here

STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG MacCASH

‘The Spirit Stones of Nouvelle Orleans’ are Mississippi River rocks at the edge of the French Quarter, painted by a mysterious artist.

CURIOUS

Continued from page 7C ‘He’s not ﬁnished yet,’ but actually I am.” For the rip rap artist, studying the rough mosaic of river rocks is like looking for pictures in the clouds.

“The face is already there, I just came along to highlight it. I gave it a little makeup. I like to consider myself the rock’s makeup artist.” The artist promises there will be more painted rocks to come. Hood Critic has not yet responded to a direct mes-

sage sent via Facebook. 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.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY JOHN LOCHER

Dear Heloise: I’m flying means that we’re together home for my sister’s wedfor most of the day. Well, Heloise, have you ding, and I want to take got any hints to help me along my little Yorkie, handle this situation? — ReTommy. Tommy is a very small dog who’s housebronee H., in Spokane,Washington Renee, I know ken and not at all firsthand how hard “barky.” My mother it is to leave a pet in adores Tommy, but the hands of other my dad hates small people. However, dogs. In fact, he there may be doggy said that if Tommy daycare centers in comes with me, I have to stay at a ho- Hints from the area near where Heloise the wedding’s betel, not their house. My dog is a rescue ing performed or and was clearly abused by close to where you’re staywhoever had him before ing. Tommy would have me, which is why I refuse to other dogs to play with and leave him with a friend or snacks. at a kennel. He has serious If this doesn’t work out, issues with being left alone. perhaps your parents might My vet believes he was on know of someone who’s willthe streets, alone and terriing to keep Tommy for the fied, for several months, so I day. Someone retired who refuse to leave him behind. I likes dogs might be ideal. As a last option, have a heart-towork from home, and Tommy curls up on my lap while heart with your father about I’m on my computer, which how much Tommy means

to you. He might change his mind. — Heloise

Cardboard roll hint Dear Heloise: Here’s a hint for toilet paper rolls. Slide one into disposable rubber gloves, breathe into the tube to inﬂate gloves, then grab a clothespin to keep the pair of gloves together for use later. The tubes help provide ventilation and keep the gloves from sticking to themselves. You can also cut paper towel rolls to length and use these for longer, cuffed gloves. Tape three paper towel or gift wrap rolls in a side-to-side bundle, and you can slide these into tall rubber boots. It holds the boots upright and keeps them ventilated. — David S., in Buffalo, New York Send a hint to heloise@ heloise.com.

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Monday, Oct. 12, the 285th day of 2026. There are 80 days left in the year. Today in history: On Oct. 12, 2002, bombs blamed on al-Qaida-linked militants destroyed two nightclubs on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing 202 people, many of them foreign tourists. Also on this date: In 1492, Christopher Columbus’s ﬁrst expedition made landfall on what is now San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. In 1870, Gen. Robert E. Lee, former overall commander of the Confederate States Army in the Civil War, died in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63. In 1960, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev protested remarks at the United Nations by pounding his shoe on his desk

in the General Assembly Hall. In 1968, Mexican track and field athlete Enriqueta Basilio became the first woman to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremonies of the Mexico City Summer Games. In 1973, President Richard Nixon nominated House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed Spiro T. Agnew as vice president. In 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher escaped an attempt on her life when an Irish Republican Army bomb exploded at a hotel in Brighton, England, killing five people. In 1997, musician and activist John Denver died when the experimental light plane he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay off the California coast. In 2000, the destroyer

USS Cole was attacked by boat-borne al-Qaida suicide bombers during a refueling stop in Yemen’s port city of Aden, killing 17 on board. In 2019, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge became the ﬁrst person to run a marathon in less than two hours, crossing the ﬁnish line of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in Vienna, Austria, with a time of 1:59:40. Today’s birthdays: Journalist Chris Wallace is 79. Singer-songwriter Jane Siberry is 71. Actor Hiroyuki Sanada is 66. Jazz musician Chris Botti is 64. Actor Hugh Jackman is 58. Country musician Martie Maguire (The Chicks) is 57. Actor Kirk Cameron is 56. Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller is 49. Actor Josh Hutcherson is 34. Actor Ferdia WalshPeelo is 27. Actor Iris Apatow is 24. Ventriloquist Darci Lynne Farmer is 22.

Stephen Blanco, the mariachi chair at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, speaks with his students before a performance at a UNLV football game Oct. 3 in Las Vegas.

MARIACHI

Continued from page 7C the quintessential “El Jalisciense,” a song celebrating the Mexican state of Jalisco made famous by the Regional Mexican music superstar Vicente Fernández. Holding her violin and a microphone in one hand, Emily Vargas sang, “Yo me muero donde quiera,” — “I’ll Die Wherever I Please” — as she belted out the story of a woman proudly dying for her country.

Connection to the roots There is beauty in the mariachi performance from the way the group plays in unison right down to how the violinists hold their bows, Rodríguez Olivas said, calling it a powerful means of expressing the deepest of emotions through storytelling and music. Rodríguez Olivas played saxophone in a middle school band, but he grew up watching mariachi performances in school and always found the music exciting and intriguing. When he saw mariachi being offered in his high school, he thought it would be fun to learn a new instrument. “The rest is history,” he said. “It connects me to my roots,” Rodríguez Olivas said. “My family is from Mexico, so you know it kind of brings that conversation

DOLLY

Continued from page 7C Imagination Library. “You’ve got to ﬁnd her and ﬁnd out where you fell in love with her and then follow the path from there. So I think the journey is what most people are going to enjoy the most,” Summers said. The museum is located inside a 240-room themed hotel called Dolly Parton’s SongTeller, where the lobby

with my parents, other family members and friends as well.” In high school, he was the student director of Mariachi Joya, an award-winning mariachi from Las Vegas High School that performed for Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021. Mariachi Joya is Las Vegas High School’s top mariachi ensemble, though there are about 350 students in the program. During practice, Blanco runs the mariachi through their setlist, correcting an out-of-tune student and improving an intonation. A ﬁrst-place trophy from the 2026 Mariachi Extravaganza Las Vegas sits in front of the classroom. During a performance, the high school ensemble dresses in bright red suits. The violinists raise their bows and shout “joya” — Spanish for “jewel” — before they launch into an upbeat melody. A mariachi lets out a “grito,” the iconic yell or whistle of excitement, and the audience claps along. Instructors begin teaching the students early about mariachi repertoire. Ramiro Benavides, director of a middle school mariachi in the district, not only drills his students on how to play their instruments and sing, but also how to bring a theatrical and dramatic ﬂair to their performances. During one middle school mariachi practice, an instructor encourages a girl to come out of her shell and

yell excitedly. She starts off timidly, but when joined by her classmates, her yell becomes more conﬁdent.

and open spaces are adorned with glitter, rhinestones, guitars, butterflies, Dolly portraits and lots and lots of pink. The building also includes two performance spaces, a cafe and hotel rooms that come with musical instruments to encourage songwriting. One of the not-to-bemissed sights is Parton’s original wedding dress that she wore when she got married to husband Carl Dean. The dress was believed lost until Parton’s niece Rebecca

Seaver, who is curating the museum, found it about a year ago wrapped in a paper bag and shoved into a trunk, Summers said. For many in Parton’s orbit, the opening of the museum and hotel is bittersweet without the person who inspired it. “We were as surprised as anybody that she’s not here to see it,” Summers said. “It’s beautiful to get to see all of her work come to life, and it’s hard to know that she won’t ever have seen it.”

Shortage of instructors The mariachi program at Clark County School District has grown significantly since its 2002 inception, and in recent years it’s become increasingly difficult to find enough mariachi teachers, said Jeffrey Williams, the director of CCSD’s Fine and Performing Arts Department. To fill the gap, Blanco recently launched a 22-credit curriculum for the minor program at UNLV, joining only a few universities in Texas that offer such training. Students learn about mariachi repertoire and how to teach the mariachi genre. In one class, students study more than 70 mariachi songs over a semester, discussing their lyrics and style and what makes each unique, Blanco said. Students are trained in the traditional mariachi repertoire one would expect to hear regularly — ready to perform and pass on the music to those who will follow after. When Rodríguez Olivas graduates in three years, he plans to go back to Clark County School District and teach mariachi. “I want to kind of give back to future generations and give them the same opportunities that I had, and make it as fun as it was for me,” he said.

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FrAnK And erneSt

roSebUdS

zItS

zodIAC LIBRA (sept. 23-oct. 23) Put on your power suit and do what needs doing. Procrastinating and chattering about what you want to do won't help you get where you want to go. scoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) Be cautious when designating what you can do or volunteering for something you don't have time for. Time management is necessary today if you want to keep the peace and ease stress. sAGIttARIus (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Providing a space that is conducive to what you need goes part and parcel with how well you do. Clearing a space for what's most important to you and to keep your life running smoothly will determine your success. cAPRIcoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Pay attention, listen carefully and question everything. Someone will lead you astray if given the opportunity. Assisting others is honorable, but don't let anyone take advantage of you. AQuARIus (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Embrace what comes your way, and deal with it quickly. The longer you linger over what to do, the more difficult it will be. Actions speak louder than words, and situations mount. PIscEs (Feb. 20-March 20) You may not relish change, but once you start the process and get your life in order financially, medically and legally, you'll realize how much stress you've been handling. ARIEs (March 21-April 19) A reality check is in order. Being honest with yourself

will help you make decisions and moves that honor who you are and what you want. Happiness begins with you. tAuRus (April 20-May 20) Lean in and tell it like it is. Share your feelings and intentions with someone who will offer alternatives and help you fine-tune your dreams to align them with reality. GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Be bold, but don't share too much information with others. It's best to blunder your way through thick and thin until you reach a point that satisfies your soul. Put your energy into researching. cAncER (June 21-July 22) Explore your creative ideas. Stop thinking about what you can do; start turning your thoughts into something tangible. The confidence you gain by engaging in something that makes you happy will be good for the soul. LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Take a step back and contemplate what you want. A change is overdue; push forward with positivity to avoid backlash from those who don't like change. Be kind and charming. VIRGo (Aug. 23-sept. 22) Speak up, share your thoughts and see who's on board. Take the initiative to find out the proper protocol before you begin to make moves. Trust your instincts and enrich offers with incentives. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, Inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

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10C ● Monday, October 12, 2026 ● theadvocate.com ● The Acadiana Advocate

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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

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B.C.

Bridge By PHILLIP ALDER Judith Martin, who is better known as Miss Manners, said, “We are born charming, fresh and spontaneous and must be civilized before we are fit to participate in society.” To participate effectively in a bridge deal, we hope to find a fit with partner. This week we will look at the factors affecting your choice when you have two fits. First, should you prefer a 4-4 fit or a 5-3 fit? Almost always, you should pick the 4-4. If the 4-4 fit is a side suit, you will get at most four tricks. But if it is the trump suit, you will often get an extra trick by ruffing a loser in one hand or the other. And a 5-3 side-suit fit will usually provide two discards on the fourth and fifth cards. But if the 5-3 fit is the trump suit, it will rarely furnish a sixth trump trick from a ruff in the shorter trump hand. Look at today’s deal. How does South get on in four hearts or four spades? In the auction, North might have started with a negative double to show his four hearts, especially as his singleton made his hand a tad strong for a single spade raise. After the spade raise, the South hand was just worth game, but he wisely showed his heart suit. Then North raised to four hearts, a tad worried about his weak trumps. Against four hearts, West should realize that East is highly unlikely to have an

garfield

Pearls Before swiNe

hagar the horriBle

entry, so should start with three rounds of trumps. But South can easily restrict his losers to one spade and two trumps. In spades, West can cash his two high hearts and give his partner a heart ruff. Then West’s trump trick defeats the contract. © 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 — oRAnGE: OR-inj: Any of a group of colors that are between

Bizarro

marmaduKe

red and yellow in hue. Average mark 14 words Time limit 25 minutes Can you find 19 or more words in ORANGE? sAtuRDAy’s WoRD — WALLABIEs wail wale wall wasabi weal well wile will wise abase able

aisle alas alias allies label lase liable libel lisle bail balas

bale ball balsa basal base basil bawl bell bias bile bill

blase blew isle sable sail sale seal seawall sell sill slab

slaw slew swab swale swell swill

loCKhorNs hidato Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

today’s thought “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

Do you love the Lord? The verse above will answer your question. — G.E. Dean

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

lll

TODAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Sunny to partly cloudy

A t-storm around in the p.m.

Mostly sunny and warm

Mostly sunny, a stray t-storm

Less humid with plenty of sun

HIGH

LOW

HIGH

91° 69°

LOW

HIGH

89° 68°

LOW

91° 66°

Beaumont 89/77 Port Arthur 87/79

Baton Rouge 93/65

Lake Charles 90/73

New Orleans 89/67 Houma 89/62

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

Hattiesburg 94/60

Alexandria 93/68

Lafayette 91/69

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

LOW

HIGH

LOW

77° 55°

YESTERDAY

Lafayette through 5 p.m. Sunday

Jackson 94/60 Many 93/70

HIGH

90° 60°

TEMPERATURE

Longview 91/74

-0s

LOW

Monroe 96/65

Shreveport 92/72

-10s

HIGH

88° 68°

Well, if you enjoyed the weather yesterday, you’re gonna love it again today. Expect a mostly sunny and hot day with a light breeze. Temperatures this afternoon will be well above average, rising to the upper 80s to low 90s. Our temperatures will likely stay that high until a cold front moves through late this week. Winds are becoming more southerly again, so you may start noticing the humidity on the rise. Rain chances today remain at zero but will rise to about 20% tomorrow.

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

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

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today

OCT 18

City

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

88°/60° 83°/62° 84°/61° 95° in 1912 39° in 1906

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

FIRST

Austin Boston Dallas Fairbanks Honolulu Las Vegas Louisville Miami Nashville

PRECIPITATION

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

HIGH

8:50a 2:57a 3:52a 4:51a 10:56p 10:18p ---

7:08 a.m. 6:40 p.m. 9:04 a.m. 7:41 p.m.

FULL

LAST

OCT 25

90 68 88 43 88 72 86 91 89

TODAY Lo

77 54 76 28 76 56 66 77 62

NEW

NOV 1

t pc s c s t s t s

NOV 9

93 64 91 42 86 69 88 89 90

TUE. Lo

77 60 77 28 72 55 70 75 64

t c t sn sh pc s s s

FT.

LOW

0.00” 0.89” 1.55” 47.05” 50.25”

FT.

0.8 8:05p 0.2 2.0 12:25p 0.5 2.1 9:45a 0.4 1.5 1:52a 1.5 1.5 9:15a 0.3 2.0 7:31a 0.4 --- 10:17a 0.4

HIGH

FT.

P U acadiana wake

presented by

Every morning.

Everything you need to start your day

Meteorologist Damon Singleton

READING 54 MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

MAIN POLLUTANT Ozone

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

LOW

FT.

--- ----- ----- ----- --7:29p 2.4 11:13p 2.1 10:31p 1.7 1:20p 0.2 --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---

Today 12:35a 6:47a 12:59p 7:11p Tuesday 1:28a 7:40a 1:52p 8:05p Wednesday 2:23a 8:35a 2:48p 9:01p Thursday 3:19a 9:31a 3:44p 9:57p Friday 4:14a 10:27a 4:39p 10:52p Saturday 5:08a 11:20a 5:33p 11:45p Sunday 5:58a 12:10p 6:23p ----

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

89 88 75 80 70 81 93 71 88

TODAY Lo

67 68 58 66 59 58 72 60 70

s pc pc t sh pc s sh pc

89 89 81 79 82 85 94 73 89

TUE. Lo

66 69 67 59 62 61 73 58 71

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Wake up with me every morning

MODERATE

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those 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

City

TODAY

MODERATE

t s s sh c s pc s s

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 STAGE

34 48 48 35 27 22 17

SUN. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

9.60 21.50 24.60 11.10 6.90 5.67 4.20

+0.70 -0.73 -1.03 -1.16 -1.76 -2.33 -1.56

23.66

-0.77

-1.58

+0.17

18 29 8

-1.32 9.74 3.87

-0.03 -0.04 +0.02

13 15

1.47 0.60

none -0.05

47 34 29 20 12 6

9.46 6.63 5.20 5.05 4.00 3.77

-0.70 -0.40 -0.37 -0.17 +0.10 +0.29

data as of 7 a.m. Sunday