The Times-Picayune 11-04-2025

‘The

greatest honor’

Many others get recognitionin first regional guide

BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer

The stars have finally fallen on New Orleans as one of the oldest and most prestigious diningawards, the Michelin Guide, on Monday awarded stars to three restaurants, along withother distinctions to many other local eateries.

One of the biggest names in New Orleans dining, Emeril’sRestaurant,earned aremarkable two Michelin Stars, afirst

forthe entire South. It is exceedinglyrare forrestaurantstodebut in aMichelin Guide above the one-star level.

Bywater standout Saint-Germain and under-the-radar Mid-Citybistro Zasu both earned one star each.

TheMichelin Guide celebrated the results of its new regional guide for the American South, including Louisianaand theGulf Coast,onMondaynight at an awards ceremonyinGreenville, South Carolina.

Michelin Stars are aglobally recognized standard for excellence in the culinary world, awarded on rising scale of one to three. Michelin’sanonymous reviewers, dubbedinspectors, determineifthey feel arestaurant deserves astar rating,and how many. Emeril’sindowntown andSaint-Ger-

main are bothtasting menu restaurants that have garnered previous high-profile praise. Given their style andambition, they were front-runners in predictions of which restaurants could land stars.

Zasu, meanwhile, is asmall, upscale bistro in Mid-Citythat arrives on the Michelin Star list as more of asurprise.

Many other New Orleans restaurants received Michelin recognition at other levels.One is BibGourmand, an award for what Michelin calls “simpler style of cooking” at the“best value formoney restaurants.”

Andthen thereare “recommended” restaurants, which are endorsedbyMichelin but not at the star level or with the value proposition of aBib Gourmand winner

ä See STARS, page 4A

Judgevoids LNG buildout permit

Ruling citesfailure to studyclimate risks

BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer

Afirst-of-its-kind ruling by aLouisianajudge has interrupted the state’s rapidbuildoutofits LNG industry,raising questions over whether regulators will have to look more closely at the facilities’ environmental impacts before granting permits. The recent decision struckdownakey permit for aliquefied natural gasplant overfailing to consider the impacts of climate change, effectively halting construction for themultibilliondollar project in Cameron Parish. Environmental and community groups applauded the decision as an incremental win in

ä See LNG, page 5A

N.O. looking forextra cash

Officialsset new meetingwithstate to deal with budget

BY BLAKEPATERSON Staff writer

New Orleansofficials began this week by turning over every couch cushion in city government, scrambling to scrounge up loose change —including from the city’sreal estate manager and apot of unspent federal pandemic aid —totry to ease the city’scash flowcrisis andensure city workers continue to get paid.

The rush to find revenues comes after New Orleans’ original plan to address its cashcrunch, selling $125 millioninemergency bonds, was scuttled by state officials, who made clear last week that they would only sign offonthe plan if local officials ceded control to a state fiscal administrator

Thatwas anonstarterfor the City Council, whichlater withdrew its request forapproval from the State Bond Commission. City leaders, however,are attempting to revive that plan, andonWednesday arescheduledtomeet in Baton Rouge with state officials to try to convince them to change course. CityCouncil President JP Morrell on Monday said during an interview on WWL Radio that Mayor-elect Helena Moreno and council memberJoe Giarrusso will join him at the meeting.

It’s unclear if MayorLaToya Cantrell will be in attendance. Her spokesperson declined to commentonWednesday’smeeting. Moreno, who is serving as the vice president of the City Council andtakes over as mayor on Jan. 12, said in atext message Monday she’sbeen working with state leadersall weekendtocome up with a “workable oversightplantomake everyone comfortable.”

“I welcome thisapproach because it will ensure that the current administration is responsible with spending andfits with my incoming administration’splan to operate with much greater

ä See CASH, page 5A

Council on Aging for

MondayinBaton Rouge.

Administration says it will fund half of program

BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer

WASHINGTON— Louisianafood banks have seen an influx in demand as federal funding for food stamps expired due to the federalgovernment shutdown, which has gone on 34 days with no end in sight Monday Louisiana started using state money Saturday, when federal dollars stopped, to provide some benefits to the elderly,disabled people and children. But that has not covered allofthe nearly 800,000 people in thestate whouse the program —about 53,164 people considered able-bodiedadultswillnot receive state-funded assistance, the state Department of Health said. And state officials are looking to the feds to renew the program soon. The Trump administration, after rulings from two federal courts, announced Monday it would start providing funds forabout half theSupplemental NutritionAssistance

BRIEFS FROM WIRE REPORTS

Mass murdererGeorge Banks dies in prison

HARRISBURG,Pa George Banks, one of the most notorious mass murderers in the U.S., has died. Banks, 83, died Sundayafternoon at Phoenix stateprison in Pennsylvania, the state Department of Corrections said. Banks died of complications from renal neoplasm, or kidney cancer, said Montgomery County Coroner Dr Janine Darby

Banks had been in prison since 1982 after shooting 14 people, and killing 13, including his own children, during arampage in Wilkes-Barre. At the time, it was considered one of the worst mass murders in American history

He was convicted of 12 counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder.

Banks had been drinking ata party late at night before using an AR-15 rifle to start the rampage at his home.

Five victims were his children, ages 1to6.Four more were the mothers of his children. Other victims were bystanders, including an 11-year-old child who sometimes stayed with his family, a7-year-old child and ateenager who saw Banks leaving his home armed with the rifle and recognized him.

Banks killed three women and five children at his home,authorities say.Then, dressed in green Army fatigues with an ammunition bandolier around his chest and shoulders,Banks left, when he saw four teenagers walkingto their car from anearby friend’s house. He shot one fatally,and another,who survived,authorities said.

Ukraine gets more Patriot defense systems

KYIV,Ukraine Ukrainehas received more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to help it counter Russia’s daily barrages, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russiandrones killed aman and injured five of his family members, including two children,inthe latest nighttime attack.

Russia’srelentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four yearsago has killed thousands of civilians. It has also targeted the energy supply to deny civilians heat and running water in winter,aswell as disrupt industrialproduction of Ukraine’snewly developed drones and missiles

The sophisticated Patriot systemsare the most effective weapon against Russian missiles. Zelenskyy has pleaded with Westernpartnerstoprovide more of them, but production limitations and theneed to maintain stockpiles have slowed their delivery

“More Patriots are now in Ukraine and being putinto operation,” Zelenskyy said on social media late Sunday.“Of course more systems are needed to protect key infrastructure sitesand our cities across the entire territory of our state.” He thankedGermanyand its Chancellor Friedrich Merzfor the Patriots. Germany said three months ago it would deliver two more U.S.-made Patriotair defense systems to Ukraine. It agreed to themoveafter securing assurancesthat the U.S. will prioritize the delivery of new Patriots to Germany to backfill its stocks.

Judge rejectsplea deal for funeral home owner

DENVER AColorado judge on Monday rejected the plea agreementofafuneralhome owner accused of stashing nearly 190 decaying bodies in abug-infested building after family membersofthe deceased argued that the agreement’s15- to 20-year sentence was too lenient

“The sentence negotiated by the parties does not adequately account for the harms that these crimes have caused,” said State District Judge Eric Bentley,describinghis rare decisiontoforego an agreement reached bythe prosecution and defense for funeral home owner Carie Hallford. Carie Hallfordand herhusband, Jon Hallford, owned Return to Nature FuneralHome and are accused of dumping the bodies between 2019 and 2023 in abuildinginPenrose,Colorado, abouta two-hour drive south of Denver and giving families fake ashes.

Shutdown maybecomelongest ever

Trumpsays he ‘won’t be extorted’by Democrats

BY MARYCLARE JALONICK Associated Press

WASHINGTON The government shutdown is poised to become the longest ever this week as theimpasse betweenDemocrats and Republicans has dragged intoa new month. Millions of peoplestand to lose food aid benefits, health care subsidies are set to expire andthere arefew real talks betweenthe partiesover howtoend it.

President DonaldTrump said in an interview that airedSundaythat he “won’t be extorted”byDemocrats whoare demanding negotiations to extend the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies. Echoing congressional Republicans, the president said on CBS’ “60 Minutes”he’ll negotiate onlywhen the government is reopened.

Trump saidDemocrats “havelost their way” and predictedthey’llcapitulate to Republicans. “I think they have to,” Trump said. “And if they don’tvote, it’stheir problem.”

Trump’scomments signal the shutdown could drag on forsometimeas federal workers, includingair traffic controllers are setto miss additional paychecks and there’suncertainty over whether42 millionAmericans whoreceive federal food aidwill

be able to accessthe assistance. SenateDemocrats have voted 13 times against reopening the government, insistingtheyneedTrump and Republicans to negotiatewith themfirst

The presidentalsoreiterated his pleas to Republican leaderstochangeSenate rules and scrap thefilibuster.Senate Republicans have repeatedly rejected that idea since Trump’s first term, arguing the rule requiring 60 votestoovercome any objections in the Senate is vital tothe institutionand has allowed them to stopDemocratic policies whenthey’re in theminority Trumpsaidthat’strue, but “we’rehereright now.”

“Republicans have to get tougher,” Trump told CBS. “Ifweend the filibuster, we candoexactlywhatwe want.”

With the two parties at a standstill, the shutdown,

now in its 34th day and approaching its sixth week, appears likely to become the longest in history.The previous record was set in 2019,whenTrump demanded Congress give him money for aU.S.-Mexico border wall.

Trump’spush on the filibustercould prove adistraction for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., and Republican senators who’ve opted instead to stay the course as the consequences of theshutdown become moreacute.

Republicansare hoping at leastsome Democrats will eventually switch their votes as moderates have been in weekslong talks with rank-and-file Republicansabout potential compromises that could guarantee votes on health care in exchange for reopening the government.Republicans need five additional Democrats to pass theirbill.

Thune told reporters Mondaythathewas “optimistic” that the Senate could vote to reopen the government by the end of the week.

But he also added, “If we don’tstart seeing some progress or some evidence of thatbyatleast the middle of this week,it’shard to see how we would finish anything by the endofthe week.”

Virginia Sen. TimKaine, aDemocrat, said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday there’s agroup of people talking about“apath to fix the health care debacle” and acommitment from Republicans nottofire more federal workers. But it’s unclear if those talks could produce ameaningful compromise.

Trump said in the“60 Minutes” interview that the Affordable Care Act —oftenknown as Obamacare because it was signedand

championedbythen-President Barack Obama —is “terrible” and if the Democrats vote to reopen the government, “we will work on fixing the bad health care that we have right now.”

Democrats feel differently, arguing that the marketplaces setupbythe ACA are working as record numbers of Americans have signed up for the coverage. But they want to extend subsidies first enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic so premiums won’t go up for millions of people on Jan. 1.

Senate Democraticleader Chuck Schumersaid last week that “we want to sitdown with Thune,with (House SpeakerMike) Johnson, with Trump, and negotiate away to address this horrible health care crisis.”

As Democrats have pushed Trumpand Republicans to negotiate, Trump has showed little interest in doing so. He called for an end to the Senate filibuster after atrip to Asia while the government was shut down. WhiteHouse spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on FoxNewsChannel’s“Sunday Morning Futures” that the president has spoken directly to Thune and Johnson, R-Benton, about the filibuster. But aspokesman for Thune said Friday that his position hasn’tchanged, and Johnson said Sunday that he believes the filibuster hastraditionally been a “safeguard” from far-left policies.

Trumpsaidon“60 Minutes” that he likes Thune but “I disagree with him on this point.”

Israel handsoverbodiesof45Palestinians

Move comesafter Hamasreturns theremains of 3soldiers

BY WAFAA SHURAFA and JULIA FRANKEL Associated Press

DEIR AL-BALAH, GazaStrip Israel handed over the bodies of 45 Palestinians on Monday,the Red Cross said, aday after militants returned the remains of threehostages. Israeli officials identifiedthe three as soldiers whowerekilled in the Hamas-ledattack on Oct. 7, 2023,thattriggered the war in Gaza. The exchangemarked another step forward for the tenuous, U.S.-brokered ceasefire intended to end thedeadliestand most destructive war ever fought betweenIsrael andHamas. Sincethe trucetook effect on Oct. 10,Palestinian

Red Cross vehicles carrying the bodies of three people believedtobedeceased hostages handed over by Hamas make their waytoward the border crossing with Israel on Sunday to be transferred to Israeli authorities in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.

militants have released the remains of 20 hostages, with eight nowremaining in Gaza. For each Israeli hostage returned, Israel has been releasing the remains of 15 Palestinians. With Monday’sreturn, the bodies of 270 Palestinians have been handed back since thestart of the ceasefire.

The Red Cross said it had facilitated the transferof 45 Palestinianbodiesto Gaza on Monday morning. Zaher al-Wahidi, aspokesperson at the Gaza Health Ministry,toldThe Associated Pressthat Nasser Hospital received the bodies around noon. Only 78 of thebodiesreturnedsofar have been

identified, theministrysaid Forensicwork is complicated by alack of DNA testing kits in Gaza,itadded. The ministry posts photos of theremains online,inthe hope that familieswill recognize them

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’soffice identified the threehostages, whose bodieswerereturned to Israel on Sunday night, as Capt. Omer Neutra,anAmerican-Israeli,

Sgt. Oz

Hamami. AHamas statement earlier said their remains were found on Sunday in atunnel in southern Gaza “Our hearts areshattered, yetatlastwecan begin the process of bringing Omer to his final resting place in the land he loved and defended,” Neutra’smother,Orna, told reporters Monday in Tel Aviv

BY JILL LAWLESS Associated Press

LONDON— U.K. police on Monday chargeda 32-yearoldman with attempted murder over amass stabbing attack on atrain that wounded 11 people, and revealed that he may have stabbed two other people in the24hours before the attack.

British Transport Police said Anthony Williams is charged with 10 counts of attempted murder,one of actual bodilyharm and one of possession of abladed article over the attack on Saturday.

He is also charged with attempted murderover an earlier incident at Pontoon Dock light rail stationin

London just before 1a.m. on Saturday, in whicha victim “suffered facial injuries after being attacked with aknife” by an assailant who fled thescene. Another police force, Cambridgeshire Constabulary,said it is investigating whether Williams was involved in threeincidents in the cityofPeterborough —aFriday evening stabbing in which a14-year-old boyreceivedminorinjuries and two reportsofa man with aknife at abarber shop on Friday evening andSaturday morning. In all threecases,the suspect quickly left thescene and police did not detain anyone. Police say they are not treating thetrainstab-

bings as an act of terror andare not looking for other suspects. Asecond man initially arrested as a suspect was released without charge on Sunday Williams,a Britishcitizenliving in Peterborough, made abrief appearance at Peterborough Magistrates’ Courton Monday Flanked by four security officersashestood in the dock wearing agray prison tracksuitand handcuffs, Williamswas ordered detained until his next hearing on Dec. 1. He wasnot asked to enter pleas The charge of

cer and breaking his nose after Williams’ arrest.

NewOrleans chefs andrestaurateurs at the ceremony framed the Michelin recognition as awin for the city’sculinary scene and hospitality culture overall

“In my family,wetalk aboutthe legacy of New Orleans and how it’s on us as the next generation to continue the culture,” saidchefEdgar “Dook” Chase IV,part of the fourth generation of the Dooky Chase’s Restaurant family,which earned a BibGourmand distinction.

“That’swhat this means. It’s recognizing that New Orleanscontinuestobeonthe map for foodand for our culture. It’satribute to all thehardworkthatpeople do all across the city,and it’sgoing to meanmorepeople are coming to ourcity to eat, with us and with the next restaurant.”

New Orleans has 11 Bib Gourmand restaurants,running the gamut from thenew and modern to deeply old school NewOrleans

They are:

n Acamaya (modern Mexican)

n Cochon (modern Cajun)

n Cochon Butcher (sandwiches and charcuterie)

n Domilise’sPo-Boys &Bar (poboys)

n Dooky Chase’sRestaurant (Creole)

n Hungry Eyes (moderneclectic)

n LUFU NOLA (Indian)

n Mister Mao (pan Asian)

n Parkway Bakery &Tavern (poboys)

n Saba (modern Israeli)

n Turkey and the Wolf (sandwiches).

The 18 New Orleans Michelin recommended restaurants show a similarly broad range of styles and price points. The recommended restaurants are:

n 34 Restaurant &Bar (modern Portuguese)

n Addis NOLA (Ethiopian)

n Atchafalaya (contemporary Creole)

n August (contemporaryCreole)

n Clancy’s(Creole)

n Compère Lapin(modern Caribbean)

n Dakar NOLA (modernSenegalese tasting menu)

n Galatoire’s(French Creole)

n Herbsaint (modern American/ Louisiana)

n Killer Po-boys (sandwiches)

n The Kingsway (pan Asian tasting menu)

n La Petite Grocery (contemporary Creole)

n Molly’sRise and Shine (breakfast)

n Osteria Lupo (regional Italian)

n Patois (contemporary Creole)

n Pêche Seafood Grill (seafood)

n Saffron NOLA (upscale Indian)

n Willie Mae’sNOLA (Creole) NewOrleans’new stars

This new Michelin GuideAmeri-

can South coversrestaurants in a six-statearea: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, SouthCarolinaand Tennessee. Atlanta restaurants, which Michelin has covered since 2023, are also now grouped inthis guide. It includes 228 restaurants total, and 19 restaurants with stars, plus fivemore with Michelin’s Green Star award for environmental sustainability

Emeril’sisthe only restaurant in the region with atwo-star rating, andone of just35across thecountry with two stars, which Michelin says denotes “excellent cooking, worth adetour.”

Emeril’s was startedbynamesake Emeril Lagasse in 1990, immediately turning heads as anew styleofNew Orleans cuisine and propellinghis rise as acelebrity chef. In 2023, son E.J. Lagasse joinedthe restaurant as chef and steeredits transformation intoa more eleganttasting menumodel.This menu is an exquisitely wrought ode to Louisiana flavors

and food heritage.

Michelin’sreviewers saidhis “determination is palpable as he charts anew course, bringing contemporary refinement and vibrant originality to the fore” and praised cooking that “bursts with personalityand class and never at the cost of flavor.”

The restaurant’srevamp also saw thetransformation of its bar into theWine Bar at Emeril’s, with aseparate alacarte menuand morecasual approach.

Michelin also awarded E.J. Lagasse its regionwide Young Chef honor in this inaugural guide.

“I’ve been chasing Michelin for 35 years,”since first opening Emeril’s, said chef Emeril Lagasse. “I never thought I’d win. Butnow that I’m working with my son, it happened and Ican tell you it’sthe greatest honor.”

Saint-Germain andZasuare each much smaller restaurantsthat now join theMichelin Star Club.

Saint-Germain was started in 2018 by co-chefs Trey Smithand

Blake Aguillard with business partnerDrewDelaughter in an old shotgunhouse on St. Claude Avenue that’seasy to miss. The sign for the previous restaurant, apizzeria, is stillmoreprominent than it’sown

“The old adage about not judging abookbyits covercouldn’tbemore apt for this little restaurant in Bywater,” Michelin’sreviewers wrote.

Its 10-course tasting menu is a dissertation on creative culinary technique, with aging, preservingand fermentation displayed in dishes that frame familiar ingredients in revealing new ways.

While the dining room has just ahandful of tables, the restaurant doubles as awine barwithanoutdoor patio available for drinks only

Zasu was opened on NewYear’s Eve in 2018 by chef Sue Zemanick, who had earned afollowing and previous awards as the longtime chef at Gautreau’sRestaurant and acontestant on Bravo’s“TopChef.”

Zasu is jewel-box small, and the kind of place people return to because they cravecertaindishes and because they trust the menu through its perpetual changes.Fish is aspecialty,and so are pierogi, inspiredbythe chef’s family roots.

Michelin’sreviewers call Zasu an “elegant oasis” with a“tightly edited” menu“blending local flavors withFrench techniques.”

While 32 NewOrleans restaurants can now claim somelevel of Michelin recognition, the selectionssurely will ignite debate in this food-obsessed city over which made thecut, and which didn’t.

For instance, the inaugural guide does not include establishments from any branch of the Brennan family,among the mostprominent names in NewOrleans dining.

Outside of New Orleans, the selections weresparse. There are none from therestaurant-rich suburbs, andacross the rest of Loui-

siana only two restaurants made the “recommended” list —Elsie’s Plate &Pie in Baton Rouge and St. Francisville Inn &Restaurant in St. Francisville. On the Gulf Coast, The Noble South in downtown Mobile, Alabama, won aBib Gourmand award, while in coastal Mississippi White Pillars in Biloxi and the tasting menu restaurant Vestige in Ocean Springs got “recommended” status. NewOrleans waitedalong time to see which local restaurants could rise to the level of Michelin Stars. In the end, the answer came abit sooner than anticipated. The Michelin Guide wasset to reveal theresultsatMonday’s awardsceremony, buthours earlier,local chefs gathered for the eventwere already getting congratulatory texts and emails from friends around the country

Anewsrelease detailing the winners wasreleased Monday morning, and picked up by multiple newsservices.

Michelin Stars andreviews were created acentury ago by the French tire company of the same name. They wereaEuropean institutionuntil relatively recently, when aglobal expansion began. Thefirst U.S.guide,for New York,appeared in 2005,and since then itsrange has been gradually expanding onestate or group of cities at atime.

The brand now partners with city andstate tourism agencies and other groups to help finance its work. It selectsareas to expand coverage based on this backing and its own assessment that an area hasenough destination-worthy restaurants.

That practice has drawn some criticism in the industry,though Michelin has maintained that once it enters amarket, itsculinary judgmentsand editorialdecisions remain independent.

New Orleans& Co thecity’s tourism sales and market agency, andthe Louisiana OfficeofTourism are two of the local groups from the region that partnered with Michelin on the new guide, providing financialsupport for its entry in the market, apractice that’s become standard as Michelin has expanded in the U.S. TheMichelinGuide explains that restaurants areassessedfor stars on fivecriteria: “quality products;the harmonyofflavors; themastery of cookingtechniques; thevoice andpersonalityofthe chef as reflected in the cuisine; consistency between each visit and throughout the menu.”

Allthe otherrestaurantsin other states included in the new American South guide received one-star ratings. These are CounterinCharlotte,North Carolina; Malagón Mercadoy Taperia, Vern’sand Wild Common, all in Charleston,South Carolina;Scoundrel in Greenville, South Carolina; andBaston, Locust andthe Catbird Seat, all in Nashville, Tennessee.

Continued from page 1A

an ongoing fight against the LNG export expansion in southwest Louisiana, which they stress will damage the coast and emit polluting fossil fuels.

State officials, meanwhile, vowed to appeal the ruling and praised the federal government for giving the facility an extension to build.

Judge Penelope Richard, of Louisiana’s 38th Judicial District Court, ruled Oct 10 that state regulators are required by law to consider the impacts that the export terminal will have on the coastal zone and nearby communities. She mentioned potential harms to “those living in poverty, and those who fish not only for recreation but for their livelihood, which has always been a defining characteristic of Cameron Parish.”

The decision invalidated a coastal use permit that the Louisiana energy department had granted to Commonwealth LNG, the company building the terminal. The approved facility is one of 13 LNG terminals existing, approved or proposed in Louisiana Richard noted in her

judgment that Commonwealth would be the third LNG facility on the Calcasieu Ship Channel, located near Lake Charles and the Texas line.

The state regulators have an obligation to consider all impacts of the project, “including the potential impacts on storm severity or sea level rise in the coastal zone together with two other LNG facilities,” she stated.

The state energy agency must prove that the benefits of the project outweigh the costs of the community before giving the company the green light to build

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade and two national nonprofits the Sierra Club and the Turtle Island Restoration Network, brought the case against the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy (formerly the Department of Energy and Natural Resources).

Eric Huber an attorney at the Sierra Club, noted that the ruling was unprecedented: the first time that a court has invalidated an LNG permit based on climate change and environmental justice.

Clay Garside, another attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling a “warning shot over the bow” for LNG companies and regulatory authorities that these con-

which is intended for emergencies and can be unlocked only with a two-thirds vote of council members.

cerns can’t be ignored.

Houston-based Commonwealth LNG did not respond to requests for comment. The department said it cannot comment on pending litigation.

Tyler Gray, the director of the state energy agency until he stepped down in September, disagreed with the judge’s conclusion that the agency was required to independently analyze the impacts of climate change and environmental justice. He also noted that the state relied on a federal environmental analysis in approving the permit. “Why shouldn’t you be able to use that in your own analysis?” Gray said. “Why do you need your own?”

He pointed to a court case decided last year between the Louisiana energy agency and environmental groups that reached the opposite conclusion, affirming the state’s coastal permit for a pipeline related to another LNG facility

“Eventually this is what’s going to happen,” Gray said.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state is appealing the decision. The ruling overreads state law and “ignores the actual facts in the record,” Murrill wrote in an email. She applauded federal regu-

9th Ward Athletic Center

The city obligated $2.5 million in aid cash toward the planned football stadium.

lators for doing “the right thing” in granting Commonwealth a four-year extension to finish construction of the facility In order to move forward with the proposed project, the company needs approval at both the federal and state levels.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday gave the company until the end of 2031 to finish construction.

The extension was in response to an Oct. 2 letter from an attorney for Commonwealth citing past litigation and “historic, unprecedented delays” under the Biden administration as primary reasons that the company had not finished constructing and begun operations. The company lawyers did not mention the separate state lawsuit in the extension request to FERC. Louisiana has positioned itself as the epicenter of the global LNG export market. In 2023, the state produced more than 60% of the na-

tion’s LNG exports. The technology at these massive facilities converts natural gas into liquid form by supercooling it, allowing the fuel to be loaded on tankers and exported worldwide.

Proponents of LNG tout job creation and the importance of supplying U.S. allies with fuel long seen as burning cleaner than coal.

The Biden administration had paused approvals for new export permits for LNG plants in part to study the facilities’ impact on global warming, while the second Trump administration has approved LNG terminals and relaxed barriers that restricted use of the fuel.

Recent studies have found that natural gas may be no better than coal when taking into account leaks across the supply chain of methane, a powerful heat-trapper Making LNG is more energy-intensive than burning natural gas alone, accounting for even more emissions.

Watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project

released a report last week that reviewed public records and found all operating LNG export terminals in the country violated air pollution rules. The report highlighted multiple Louisiana facilities as some of the biggest polluters.

“We’re the bullseye of this destruction,” said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. State industry leaders discredited the validity of the report. Tommy Faucheux, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, said the findings were “another in a long line of attempts to fearmonger by an activist organization.”

“U.S. LNG is one of our nation’s most heavily regulated industries, which has set the global standard for providing cleaner-burning and reliable energy to the world,” he said.

Email Josie Abugov at josie.abugov@theadvocate. com.

transparency and accountability,” she said.

House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, who is also a member of the Bond Commission, said he’s hoping to learn more at Wednesday’s meeting about the city’s plan to get its finances back on track.

“We need to sit down and go over of what their plan is, understand how we got to where we are, and their plan moving forward to make sure the city is in good financial shape,” he said

Attorney General Liz Murrill, Treasurer John Fleming and Louisiana Legislative Auditor Mike Waguespack also confirmed they’ll be in attendance. A spokesperson for Gov Jeff Landry didn’t immediately respond to a question about whether he’d attend. Senate President Cameron Henry R-Metairie, who helped orchestrate Wednesday’s meeting, didn’t respond to a phone call

If state officials don’t change course, local officials will have to search for other ways to quickly come up with revenue so the city’s 5,000 employees continue to be paid every two weeks through the end of the year. The $125 million loan was intended to cover payroll through January

Morrell said Monday the city has $25 million in cash on-hand — enough for about two weeks of payroll. He said the city is looking at which contracts can be pushed to next year and ways it can collect outstanding parking tickets.

The council is also eyeing tapping into the city’s $37 million rainy day fund

“There’s a whole bunch of potential piles of money that we’re pulling at,” Morrell told WWL Radio.

On Monday, the board of the New Orleans Building Corp., which leases, develops and operates city-owned properties, held a special meeting to approve sending $6.5 million in excess funds to the city

That’s on top of $5 million in funds it sent in July.

The corporation historically waits until the beginning of the new year to send a check to the city, but was asked by Cantrell’s administration to provide the cash sooner, according to its CEO, Annie McBride.

Officials are also looking into whether the city can redirect around $45 million in unspent federal aid from the American Rescue Plan Act back into its own coffers to alleviate the cash crunch. Those funds have already been obligated, but the checks haven’t gone out the door, Giarrusso said last week.

The decision to reassign the aid funds will be left up to the Cantrell administration, Morrell said after the building agency meeting, adding that Chief Administrative Officer Joe Threat is in discussions with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness on how to reappropriate the money in a way that follows federal rules.

It’s unclear which aidfunded initiatives could be on the chopping block. The city maintains a dashboard showing how much money has been drawn down on each obligation.

One project that’s still waiting for its funding is the

Arnie Fieklkow, a former City Council member who has spearheaded fundraising efforts for the project, said they’re hoping to start construction next year He said he hasn’t heard from city officials whether the project is vulnerable.

“It would truly be a shame at this point to take (the $2.5 million) out of the equation because it would clearly have a detrimental effect on the completion of the project,” he said.

Another initiative that’s counting on aid funds is the Opportunity Pass pilot program, which provides New Orleans residents ages 16 to 24 with access to free public transit through the Regional Transit Authority Around 7,500 youth have signed up for the program.

Courtney Jackson, executive director of the transit advocacy group RIDE New Orleans, which also manages the program, said the program is a lifeline for many youth trying to get to work.

“Imagine waking up tomorrow and hearing that a program you rely on to help you take care of yourself has been cut,” she said. “We understand the City Council is in a really tight spot, and doing the very best they can, but reallocating ARPA funds from youth-serving programs will devastate an already vulnerable group of people.”

The mayor’s spokesperson Terry Davis, declined to answer a series of question on Monday about the fate of the unspent federal aid money

Email Blake Paterson at bpaterson@theadvocate. com.

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Microsoft to ship Nvidia AI chips to UAE in deal

WASHINGTON Microsoft said Monday it will be shipping Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence chips to the United Arab Emirates as part of a deal approved by the U.S Commerce Department.

The Redmond, Washington, software giant said licenses approved in September under “stringent” safeguards enable it to ship more than 60,000 Nvidia chips, including the California chipmaker’s advanced GB300 Grace Blackwell chips, for use in data centers in the Middle Eastern country

The agreement appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s remarks in a “60 Minutes” interview aired Sunday that such chips would not be exported outside the U.S Asked by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell if he will allow Nvidia to sell its most advanced chips to China, Trump said he wouldn’t. “We will let them deal with Nvidia but not in terms of the most advanced,” Trump said. “The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States.”

Despite EV declines, Ford sales up in Oct.

Ford Motor Co.’s larger SUVs and trucks outweighed a downward sales trend from the expiration of the federal government’s plug-in vehicle tax credit, propelling the Dearborn automaker to a 1.6% increase year-over-year in October U.S. deliveries.

Ford’s EV sales declined almost 25%, and hybrids fell 4%, while internal combustion engine vehicles represented 87% of sales. CEO Jim Farley has forecasted U.S. EV sales will halve as a result of the lost upto $7,500 tax credit for eligible electrified vehicles as obstacles among many consumers persist around EV affordability, accesses to charging stations, range anxiety, grid reliability and behavioral changes. Average transaction prices for new EVs rose to $65,021 in October, the second-highest on record, according to auto information website Edmunds.com Inc. Cox Automotive Inc. was predicting a “collapse” in EV sales in October after a record high in the third quarter Overall, Cox was predicting a more than 3% decline in U.S sales last month Ford in total last month sold 175,584 vehicles Trucks rose 4.9%, SUVs fell by 4.7% and the Mustang coupe grew by 43%. The Ford brand rose by 2.5%, while the luxury Lincoln brand fell by 13.4%.

AI darlings soar as most other stocks fall NEW YORK More gains for Nvidia, Amazon and other AI superstars propped up Wall Street on Monday

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and pulled closer to its all-time high set last week, even though the majority of stocks in the index sank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 226 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%.

Nvidia was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500, just like it has been for the year so far The chip company rose 2.2% to bring its gain for the year to date to 54.1%.

Amazon was the No. 2 force pushing the market higher It rallied 4% after announcing a $38 billion agreement with OpenAI, which will use Amazon’s cloud computing services to run its AI workloads IREN, an AI cloud service provider, jumped 11.5% after Microsoft announced a $9.7 billion contract with it that will give the tech giant access to some of Nvidia’s chips. Palantir Technologies, which came into the day with a stunning 165% gain for the year so far rose another 3.3%.

Traders pushed the AI darling higher in the final hours before the data platform company reported its latest quarterly results after trading closed for the day

BUSINESS

NOLA.COM/BIZ

OpenAI, Amazon sign $38B deal

Systems would run on cloud services

By The Associated Press

SEATTLE OpenAI and Amazon have signed a $38 billion deal that enables the ChatGPT maker to run its artificial intelligence systems on Amazon’s data centers in the U.S OpenAI will be able to power its AI tools using “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia’s specialized AI chips through Amazon Web Services as part of the deal announced Monday

Amazon shares increased more than 4% after the announcement.

The agreement comes less than a week after OpenAI altered its partnership with its longtime backer Microsoft, which until early this year was the startup’s exclusive cloud computing provider California and Delaware regulators also last week allowed San Francisco-based OpenAI, which was founded as a nonprofit, to move forward on its plan to form a new business structure to more easily raise capital and make a profit.

“The rapid advancement of AI technology has created unprec-

edented demand for computing power,” Amazon said in a statement Monday It said OpenAI “will immediately start utilizing AWS compute as part of this partnership, with all capacity targeted to be deployed before the end of 2026, and the ability to expand further into 2027 and beyond.” AI requires huge amounts of energy and computing power and OpenAI has long signaled that it needs more capacity, both to develop new AI systems and keep existing products like ChatGPT answering the questions of its hundreds of millions of users. It’s recently made more than $1 trillion

worth of financial obligations in spending for AI infrastructure, including data center projects with Oracle and SoftBank and semiconductor supply deals with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom. Some of the deals have raised investor concerns about their “circular” nature, since OpenAI doesn’t make a profit and can’t yet afford to pay for the infrastructure that its cloud backers are providing on the expectations of future returns on their investments. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last week dismissed doubters he says have aired “breathless concern” about the deals.

Tylenol maker to be purchased by Kimberly-Clark in $48.7B deal

Massive health goods company to include Band-Aid, Listerine

BY MICHELLE CHAPMAN Associated Press

Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker

Kenvue in a cash and stock deal worth about $48.7 billion, creating a massive consumer health goods company

Shareholders of Kimberly-Clark will own about 54% of the combined company Kenvue shareholders will own about 46% in what is one of the largest corporate takeovers this year The deal must still be approved by the shareholders of both companies.

The combined company will have a huge stable of household brands under one roof, putting Kenvue’s Listerine mouthwash and Band-Aid side-by-side with KimberlyClark’s Cottonelle toilet paper, Huggies and Kleenex tissues. It will also generate about $32 billion in annual revenue.

Kenvue has spent a relatively brief period as an independent company, having been spun off by Johnson & Johnson two years ago. J&J first announced in late 2021 that it was splitting its slow-growth consumer health division from the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions.

Kenvue has since been targeted by activist investors unhappy about the trajectory of the company and Wall Street appeared to anticipate some heavy lifting ahead for Kimberly-Clark

Kenvue’s stock jumped 12% Monday afternoon, while shares of Kimberly-Clark, based outside of Dallas, slumped by nearly 15%.

Kenvue shares have shed nearly 50% of their value since approaching $28 in the spring of 2023.

Morningstar analyst Keonhee Kim said Kenvue’s volatile journey as a public company may have been driven in part by poor execution and a lack of experience operating as a stand-alone business.

He said the leadership of a more-established consumer products company like Kimberly-Clark could help unlock some of Kenvue’s value.

He also noted that Kenvue brands include Neutrogena, Benadryl and other names that have been in store consumer health aisles for decades. Kim said he thinks KimberlyClark may have seen upside in adding those products.

“I think that may have made the deal a lot more attractive especially after the past couple of months of Kenvue’s stock price decline,” he said.

Kenvue and Tylenol have been thrust into the national spotlight this year as President

Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and the complex brain disorder autism.

Trump then urged pregnant women against using the medicine. That went beyond Food and Drug Administration advice that doctors “should consider minimizing” the painkiller acetaminophen’s use in pregnancy amid inconclusive evidence about whether too much could be linked to autism.

Kennedy reiterated the FDA guidance during a news conference last week. He said that there isn’t sufficient evidence to link the drug to autism.

“We have asked physicians to minimize the use to when it’s absolutely necessary,” he said.

Kenvue has continued to push back on the Trump administration’s public statements about Tylenol and acetaminophen, the active ingredient it contains.

“We strongly disagree with allegations that it does and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents,” Kenvue said in a statement on its website.

The merger could face other hurdles. Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni said he is concerned about the deal’s size given the recent history in the sector, particularly given the challenges faced by Kenvue. In July, Kenvue announced that CEO

Thibaut Mongon was leaving in the midst of a strategic review, with the company under mounting pressure from activist investors unhappy about growth. Critics say Kenvue has relied too much on its legacy brands and failed to innovate.

Industry analysts also point out the poor track record for mergers involving consumer packaged goods companies. In September, Kraft Heinz said it would break up its decade-old merger Its net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.

Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue, like Kraft Heinz, are facing increasing competition from cheaper store brands. In 2024, 51% of toilet paper and other household paper products sold in the U.S were store brands, according to Circana, a market research company, while store brands held a 24% share of sales of health products, including medications and vitamins.

On Monday, a bottle of 100 extra-strength Tylenol caplets cost $10.97 on Walmart’s website. A bottle of 100 extra-strength acetaminophen caplets from Walmart’s Equate brand cost $1.98.

Inflation drove some of that buyer behavior, Circana said. Shoppers are also shifting their purchases to stores with more privatelabel brands, like Aldi and Costco. And stores are improving their offerings and adding more of them; last year, Walmart and Target both launched new store brands to complement their existing ones.

OPEC+ halts first-quarter production hikes

Abu Dhabi hosts oil summit

BY JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Abu Dhabi opened a major oil summit Monday with officials offering bullish optimism that power demands for artificial intelligence and global aviation will boost energy prices, just hours after OPEC+ paused production increases planned for next year

The comments at the annual Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference in the Emirati capital highlighted the contradictions in the market

and in the United Arab Emirates, a major oil producer that hosted the United Nations COP28 climate talks in 2023. Sultan al-Jaber, the head of the state-run Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. who led COP28, described the energy market as needing “reinforcement, not replacement.” U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum applauded al-Jaber’s remarks and criticized what he described as “a set of policies that have been driven by an ideology around climate extremism.”

“The demand for power is going to go up and up and up,” Burgum said. “Today’s the day to announce that there is no energy transition. There is only energy addition.”

On Sunday, OPEC+ met and de-

cided to increase its production by an additional 137,000 barrels of oil beginning in December However, it said other adjustments planned in January, February and March of next year would be paused “due to seasonality.”

OPEC+ includes the core members of the cartel, as well as nations outside of the group led by Russia.

Benchmark Brent crude sold Monday around $65 a barrel, down from a post-COVID high of some $115 a barrel after Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It had fallen to $60 a barrel in recent days over concerns that the market had too much production.

“Yes, OPEC+ is blinking, but it’s a calculated move,” said Jorge

León, the head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy “Sanctions on Russian producers have injected a new layer of uncertainty into supply forecasts, and the group knows that overproducing now could backfire later By pausing, OPEC+ is protecting prices, projecting unity and buying time to see how sanctions play out on Russian barrels.”

Suhail al-Mazerouei, the Emirates’ energy and infrastructure minister, however, dismissed any idea long-term of too much oil being in the market.

“I’m not going to talk about a an oversupply scenario,” he said. “I can’t see that. I can’t justify that. And I think all of what we are seeing is more demand.”

Miss.mother, fearingfor children’s safety,kills escapedmonkey

BY MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press

One of the monkeys that escaped last week after atruck overturned on aMississippi highway was shot and killed early Sunday by a woman who says she feared for the safety of her children. Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted earlySunday by her 16-year-old son whosaid he thought he had seen amonkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone and steppedoutside where she saw the monkey about 60 feet away Bond Ferguson said she and

SNAP

Continued from page1A

Program that provides food stamps for about 42 million Americans.

But just when, how and who will receive benefits is still being worked out.

Meanwhile,the Health Department suggested in astatement that SNAP recipients not receiving benefits should go to local food banks.

But that could prove problematic as the food banks already are receiving less money and fewer foodstuffs from previous budget cuts said Pat R. VanBurkleo, the executive director of Feeding Louisiana, the Baton Rouge-based trade association for the state’slocal food banks.

“If everyone rushes to the food bank, there will definitely be some food shortages goingoninthe state of Louisiana and across the country,” VanBurkleo said Monday.“We just don’thave the dollars,the manpower, the food,togive that much food out at one time, at a timethat wasalready at an all-time low.”

Louisianafoodbanks, which are seeking additional fundsfrom private sources and the government, don’t have the resourcestocover theonslaught. Forevery mealafood bank can provide, SNAP can providenine meals, VanBurkleosaid

The Health Department and the Louisiana Workforce Commission,which administer the foodstampsthe federal government pays, have furloughed about 1,100 state employees who work on SNAP and receive half their pay from the federal government

The state Legislature put asideabout $150millionto cover what the federal government can’tduring the shutdown whenCongress has no legalauthority to spend money

“We’re utilizing the dollars in the existing (Health Department)budget first,” said Louisiana House Appropriations Committee Chair Jack McFarland, R-Winnfield.

“Any dollars we have that don’thave to be used right now for other things, we’re going to use for that.”

The Department of Health is sending $11 millionto coverthe firstweekofthe

other residents had been warned thatthe escaped monkeys carried diseases so she fired her gun.

“I didwhat any other mother would do to protect herchildren,”

Bond Ferguson, who has five children ranging in age from 4to16, told The Associated Press. “I shot at it and it just stood there, andI shot again, and he backed up and that’swhenhefell.”

TheJasper County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in asocial media post that ahomeowner had found oneofthe monkeys on theirproperty Sunday morning but said the office didn’t have anydetails.The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, andParks took possession of the monkey,the Sher-

month’sbenefits for about 200,000 people. The elderly and disabled get their SNAP benefitsfromthe first to the fourth day of each month. Then the cards usedtobuy food in grocery stores are refilled for others throughout the rest of monthto aboutthe 23rd day

The cardsare receiving 25% of the monthly allotment each week, according to theHealth Department.

After that money is used up, the state will tap the$2.5 billion Revenue Stabilization Fund, which was set aside generally for emergencies.

Louisiana is OK forNovember and December but if the government doesn’t reopen, the state will have some problems.

“I mean, we just couldn’t keep going to revenue stabilization, because then you start jeopardizing your bond rating and other things that would cost you on theback end,” McFarlandsaid.

McFarland said Monday he doesn’tknow yet howthe Trumpadministration’s decision to start fundingpart of SNAPwill affect Louisiana’sfinances. No details have beenreleased yet.

“Ifthe federal government decides to disperse dollars, then (the HealthDepartment) will have to identifythose individuals and those are less dollars thatwe would have to putout on the state level,” hesaid

TheU.S. Department of Agriculture, which funds SNAP, stated in court filings Monday that the agency has enough money to provide food assistancefor about half their benefits in November

In separaterulings, U.S. District Judges John McConnell, of Providence, Rhode Island, and Indira Talwani, of Boston,onFriday ordered the Trumpadministration to continue supportingfood stamps.

PresidentDonaldTrump,

iff’s Office said.

Before BondFergusonhad gone out the door,she had called the police and was toldtokeep an eye on the monkey.But she said she worried that if the monkey got away it would threaten children at another house.

“Ifitattacked somebody’skid, and Icould have stopped it,that would be alot on me,” said Bond Ferguson, a35-year-old professional chef. “It’s kind of scary and dangerous that they arerunning around, and people have kids playing in their yards.”

The Rhesus monkeys had been housedatthe Tulane University National Biomedical Research Center in New Orleans,which

speaking toreporters on his return from Asia last week, said he would not appeal the decisionsbecause he too wanted to find the money for SNAP, he just wanted to know how

TheTrump administration had argued thatitcould not tap afund set aside for contingencies,like disasters, because legally that fund could not be touched since theunderlying support for SNAPwas suspended due to thegovernment shutdown.

In acourt filing, Patrick A. Penn, thedeputy undersecretary who oversees SNAP, reversedthe administration’s position after the court rulings.

He agreed to use the $4.65 billionleft in the emergency fund “tocover 50% of eligible households’ current allotments. This means that no funds will remain fornew SNAP applicants certified in November, disasterassistance, or as acushion against the potential catastrophic consequences of shutting down SNAP entirely.”

ButPenn also wrote that the USDA wouldn’ttap the ChildNutrition Programto cover the remaining $4.5 billion needed to fully fund SNAP for November becausethat “merelyshifts theproblem to millions of America’slow-income children that receive their meals at school.

Speaking at anews conference Mondaymorning before the Trump administration’s announcement, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton,noted that SNAP costs about $9 billion amonth.

“It’snot as easyashitting ‘go send’ on acomputer. You’ve gottogothrough andrecalculate partial payments to the 42 million recipientsofthe program. That’sa huge burden,”Johnson said. It may take afew weeks

routinely providesprimates to scientificresearch organizations, according to the university.Ina statement last week, Tulanesaid themonkeys do notbelong to the university, andtheywerenot being transported by the university

Atruck carrying the monkeys overturned Tuesday on Interstate 59 north of Heidelberg.Ofthe 21 monkeys in the truck, 13 were found at thesceneofthe accident andarrived at their original destination last week, according to Tulane.Another five were killed in the huntfor them andthreeremained on the loose before Sunday.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol has saiditwas investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred

for the funds to be disbursed because each stateadministersSNAP differently

Like Trump and other Republican leaders, Johnson argued that Senate Democratsshouldjustapprove

about 100 miles from Jackson. Rhesus monkeystypicallyweigh about 16 pounds and are among the most medically studied animals on the planet. Video recorded after the crash showed monkeys crawlingthrough tallgrass beside the interstate, where wooden crates labeled “live animals” werecrumpled and strewnabout. Jasper County Sheriff Randy Johnson had said Tulane officials reported the monkeys werenot infectious, despite initial reports by thetruck’soccupants warning that the monkeys were dangerous and harboring various diseases. Nonetheless, Johnson said the monkeys still needed to be “neutralized” because of their aggressive nature.

the House-passed resolution to continue government operations.

“The simplest waytoget all these issues resolved —health care, everything else, to get it all finished up

for the year —isfor them to just reopen the government,” he concluded.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate. com.

CoastGuard responds to gasleakinLafourche

Planstoplug wellhead in place as boom deployed

BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday prepared aplan to plug anatural gasleak in southern Lafourche Parish after deploying thousands of feet of boom to contain it over the past few days.

The gas release first reported Friday morning re-

mains uncontrolled, and the federal agency is working alongside state and local authorities to contain the pollutionand plug the wellhead. A sheen is visible onthe water nearby,but the Coast Guard says that it “disperses and evaporates quickly,and thereare no indications of significant environmental impact.”

Theagency said thegas release currently poses no risk to Golden Meadow.The wellhead is about 31/2 miles southeast of the town

“They have vessels currentlymonitoring theair as well as thewater,”saidCoast

Famine gripping two regionsof war-torn Sudan, groupsays

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press

CAIRO— Tworegions of war-torn Sudan are enduringa faminethatisatrisk of spreading to other areas of the sprawlingnortheastern African country,where paramilitary fighters have been battling the military for power for more than two years, aglobal hunger monitoring group said Monday Famine is happening in el-Fasher,amajor city in thewestern Darfur region and the town of Kadugli,in the southern South Kordo-

fanprovince,the Integrated Food Security Phase Classificationsaidinanew report.Itisalso threatening 20 other areasinDarfurand central Sudan’sKordofan region, where fighting has intensified in recentmonths, accordingto the IPC, the leadinginternational authority on hunger crises “Famine and the riskof famine are urgent priorities, but theyare only the most severe symptoms of afar broader and deepening crisis affectingmillions across Sudan,” the IPC wrote in its report. “Thisisa man-made

Guard Lt. Joshua Turner

The agency is staging aplan to plug the gas release now, and it hopes to be ready to implement it by Wednesday

The agency saidithad deployedabout 5,100 feet of hardboom —ahard barrier meant to keep oil contained in aparticulararea— as well as 106 bales of absorbent boom, whichhelpto absorbthe gas out of the water

The well is owned and operated by Castex Energy, aHouston-based company that owns about130 oiland gaswells across Louisiana according to records from

thestate’sDepartment of Conservation and Energy

Only 11 of the company’s wells areactive,state recordsshow. The remaining wells are largely permanently plugged, but six are temporarily shuttered and may produce oil again.

The leaking well was first drilled on Nov.19, 2012, and hasbeen brought in andout of activeproduction nine times since then, records show Matt Driscoll, apublic information officer for Castex, declined to comment and referred furtherquestions to theU.S. CoastGuard.

Displaced women and children standMonday at acamp where theysought refugefrom

government forces and the RSF in Tawila,Darfur region, Sudan.

emergency,and all steps needed to prevent further catastrophe are clear.”

The Rapid Support Forces besiegedel-Fasher for 18 months, cutting off much of the food and other supplies to tensofthousands of people. Lastweek, the paramilitarygroup seized thecity, whichhad been the

military’slast major holding in Darfur,and reportedly unleashed attacks that killed hundreds of civilians, though the scope of violence is unclear becausecommunications are poor

The RSF has also besieged Kadugli town for months, with tens of thousandsof people trapped.

2accused of plotting attacksatLGBTQ+barsinMich.

By The Associated Press

DETROIT

Two20-year-old

men who had acquired highpowered weapons and practiced at gun ranges were scouting LGBTQ+ bars in suburban DetroitinSeptem-

ber fora possible Halloween attack, authorities saidMondayinfiling terrorism-related charges MohmedAli, Majed Mahmoud and co-conspirators were inspired bythe Islamic State group’s extremism, ac-

cordingtoa72-pagecriminalcomplaint unsealed in federal court. Investigators say aminor, identified only as Person 1, was deeply involved in thediscussions.

“Our American heroes preventeda terror attack,”

U.S. AttorneyGeneral Pam Bondi said on X.

The men, described as too young to drink alcohol, had looked at LGBTQ+barsin Ferndale for apossible attack,according to the complaint.

State Rep. Joe Orgeron, R-Golden Meadow,said he stoppedbythe site of the leak over the weekend after he received inquiries from constituents.

3-time

By The Associated Press

OJAI,Calif DianeLadd, a three-time Academy Award nominee and actor of rare timing and intensity whose roles ranged from the brash waitress in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” to the schemingparentin“Wild at Heart,” has died at 89.

“I’m getting questions from people from out of townwho have camps back there,” he said. Theycan’t access theirproperty, he said, because the canals they use to get to their camps are blocked off with containmentbooms. “I spoke to some of the cleanup people,” Orgeron said. “Theytoldmethat, one, the well hadnot been contained and, two, that it was messier than one might imagine.” Orgeron stressed that he hadnot yetspokentoanyone at Castex, nor hadhebeen briefed by the Coast Guard.

Lad d’ s death was announced Monday by da ught er Laura Dern, whoissued astatement saying her mother and occasional co-star had died at her homeinOjai, California, with Dern at her side. Dern, whocalled Ladd her “amazing hero” and “profound gift of amother,”did notimmediately cite acause of death.

“She was the greatest daughter,mother,grandmother,actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern wrote. “Wewere blessed to have her.She is flying with her angels now.”

Agifted comic anddramatic performer,Ladd had a long career in television and on stage before breaking through as afilm performer in Martin Scorsese’s1974 release “Alice Doesn’tLive Here Anymore.” Sheearned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for her turn as the acerbic, straight-talking Flo, and went on to appears in dozens of movies over the following decades. Her many credits included “Chinatown,” “Primary Colors” and two other movies for which she received best supporting nods, “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose,” both of whichcostarred her daughter.She also continuedtoworkin television, with appearances in “ER,” “Touched by an Angel” and“Alice,” thespinoff from “Alice Doesn’tLive Here Anymore,”among others. Through marriage and blood relations, Ladd was tied to the arts. Tennessee Williams was asecond cousin andfirst husband Bruce Dern, Laura’sfather,was himself an AcademyAward nominee.

JanRisher

LOUISIANA AT LARGE

If this secret room couldtalk

Late Saturday afternoon, a friend came over to our home and said, “I have amission for you.”

Ididn’t know what kind of mission he meant —but Iwas in. He went on to explain that Ross Dellenger,formerly of this newspaper,now with Yahoo Sports, wrote astory titled “The sordid tale of LSU football, the Louisiana governor and ayearslong feud,” chronicling the topsyturvy madness of the past 10 days of LSU football, the state’s governor andthe remaining cast of characters that could rival any teledrama.

Speaking about Scott Woodward, Dellenger wrote, “Like any good Louisiana politician, he’d prefer to keep things quiet, work in the shadows, possibly even operate in the backroom of abackroominacertain Baton Rouge seafood house.”

Years ago, Dellenger wrote that he had been to the secret room, entering through a“trap door built into the wall of the eatery’sbackroom,revealing beyond it acove with atelevision, mini kitchen and —wouldn’tyou know it —acard table.”

My mission was simple: find the back room. It was enough to make my heart sing.

Consulting avariety of sources, within minutes, Ihad narrowed my options. Idecided, “Why not go to the horse’smouth?” and messaged Dellenger,who confirmed my suspicions.

It’sPhil’sOyster Bar on Perkins Road.

On Monday,Idrove to Phil’s, aBaton Rouge institutionI had somehownever visited. Iarrived 10 minutes beforeitopened and watched peopleapproach, waiting for the magic hour of 11 a.m. —onaMonday morning, mind you. By the time Ientered at 11:09 a.m., 23 people were seated in Phil’s.

Iexplained to the hostess why I was there. She took my business card and said, “Let me go talk to the manager.” Afew minutes later,she asked if Iwould like atable. Isaid, “Yes.”

Celeste Thomas, who has waitressed at Phil’sfor nineyears, approached within nanoseconds. If Central Casting was searching for the ideal waitress, Thomas would be thepick. Isat with the menu, not sure whatwould happen next.A few minutes later,Anthony Piazza walkedtoward me, hand extended. Istood up and shook his hand.

“Miss Jan,” he said, “I’m the owner,and Idon’twant totalk about the back room.” Well, Ithought, so much for my mission.

Piazza explained that his father,who passed away in 2007, hadworked in Louisiana government for awhile before he got intothe restaurant business. Phil’sclosed after his father’s death, but Piazza and his brother reopeneditin2016, at 4335 PerkinsRoad. He was tight-lipped about the secret room

“I want people to feel like they can come here and be themselves and not worry about what somebody might say or about what they hear back there,” Piazza said. “So, it’sjust something that we try to keep in-house.”

Iawkwardly invited Piazza to sit down at atable at his own restaurant. He did. We chatted. His grandmother’srecipe of spaghetti and meatballs,hesaid, was his favorite menu item. He explained the 120-person capacity restaurant was open seven

ä See RISHER, page 2B

METRO

School buildingssellatauction

6propertiesfetch afractionofappraisals

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

Six pieces of surplus real estateowned by theOrleans Parish School Board, including an art decoschool building in the Warehouse District,will be sold at a fraction of their appraised price after theboard narrowly voted to accept bids forthe properties it received at arecent auction.

The properties, whichinclude the 87-year-old former L.E. RabouinMemorial School at 727

CarondeletSt.,willgeneratea totalof$3.7 million for the cashstrapped School Board.

Earlier this year,the properties were estimated collectivelytobe worth more than $10 million.

The board’sexperience underscores the challenges thatNew Orleans school systems, churches, governments andother institutionsface when trying to sell

The former L.E. Rabouin Memorial School at 727 Carondelet St. was among sevenproperties the Orleans Parish School Board originally put up for auction on April 30. The board hasagreed to sell the building at $2.1million, afraction of its $5.2 million appraised price

off unused and aging properties to generatecash.

“We’vebeen sitting on some of these propertiesfor 20 years, andit’stimetomoveforward,” said School BoardPresident Katie Baudouin. “There was alot of

interest in the properties, but this is what the market decided the value is.”

The three-story former Rabouin school,the most valuable and highest profile of the properties, was valued at $5.2 million. It sold

Catchofthe day

at auction for $2.1 million. The winning bidders, agroup of Louisiana developers, hope to convert it to ahotel,according to Bear Cheezem,apartner in the group.

“Our hope is to turn it into ahospitality concept,” Cheezem said. “But we have along way to go with planning, permitting andfinancing. Having it under contract does not guarantee anything.”

Despite thedisappointing “fire sale” prices for the properties, as oneSchool Boardmember described them at the Thursday meeting where the vote wastaken, the board accepted the bids because two previous auctions failed to attract any bidders.

Both of those auctions, in April and July,had reserve prices, or minimum amounts the board was willing to accept,for the properties.The September auctionhad no reserve.

Despite market realities, the former L.E. Rabouin Memorial

Leaderssplit over how to tackle homelessness

BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer

Adebate over howtotackle homelessness in the French Quarter has split membersofthe agency responsiblefor overseeing the neighborhood’s affairs.

Some board members of the French QuarterManagement District areproposing to put aportion of the agency’s 2026 budget toward providing case management and subsidies for homeless peopletomove into long-term housing, in line withits priorities in recent years.

Others wanttoredirect the funding toward mental health treatment and shelter services.

Thefull board of commissioners will weigh thecompeting proposals —whichwere approved by two of the district’s committees,one last week and one on Monday —atits Nov.17 meeting.

Therifthas emerged as French Quarter officials, business owners and residents have raised repeated concernsabout the consistentpresence of homelesspeopleinthe neighborhood. And it comes as neighborhood voters consider whether to renew the salestax that themanagementdistrict

usestosupport its homeless services efforts and its public safetyprograms Early voting runs through Saturday; theelection is Nov.15.

The management district collected $3.75 million from the tax this year

It usedaround $250,000 to fund casemanagerswithTravelers Aid of Greater New Orleans, which works to connect homeless people with subsidized housing. It also dedicated more than $350,000 to house20people between July 2024 andJuly2025 through rental subsidies and other support for people moving off the streets and into housing.

In ameeting last week, the Security andEnforcementCommitteeofthe district proposed cutting the funding for housing case managers and declined to renew rental subsidies in the budget.Instead,itproposed atotal of $252,000 toward other programs the committeethinks will better address homelessness.

Some $120,000 of that redirected fundingwould supportoutreach workers with the city’sMobile Crisis Intervention Unit,which assists people experiencing behavioral healthcrises, while $132,000 would fund six beds in

9diedinearly Saturday blaze

BY BOBWARREN Staff writer

GregoryLewis got word just after3 a.m.Saturday that thestable where he housed four of his horses was on fire. By the time he made it fromNew Orleans to Slidell “30to40minutes” later,his heart wasbreaking.

“I thought it was maybe asmall fire at thebarn or something. Iwas hoping it was justthe barn and the horsesgot out,” Lewis said Monday morning.

Butsoon after arriving fromNew Orleans, Lewis discovered not all the horses made it to safety,and that three of his four had died in the flames

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” he said. “These weren’tjust animals —they’remyfamily.” Investigators with St. Tammany’s1st FirePro-

tection District spent the weekend combing through the debris at Lewis Stables On Saturday,the fire district said that nine horses died in theblaze, but that 28 others had managed to get out safely The owner of the stable was not immediately available for comment Monday Brian Macaluso, assistant chief of fireprevention for St. Tammany Fire District 1, said theblazewas reported at 3:19 a.m.and firefighters were on the scene at 3:26 a.m. Twenty-two firefighterswereonthe scene, he said. He said Mondayafternoon that acause has not yet been identified. “We’re still investigating several different avenues,” Macalusosaid. Macaluso said thereare several different stables on the site, and the firewas contained to one of them He said initially firefighters thought 10 horseshad died,

Judge limits contact between Cantrell, Vappie

Mayor argues that restriction unnecessary

BY JOHN SIMERMAN Staff writer

A federal judge has barred Mayor LaToya Cantrell and co-defendant Jeffrey Vappie from contacting each other without an attorney present while an 18-count indictment hangs over them.

The ruling Friday from U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Phillips Currault amended Vappie’s bail conditions. It came in response

RISHER

Continued from page 1B

days a week, employing 70 people, about 30 being fulltime employees.

I confessed that it was my first visit to Phil’s because oysters are rarely at the top of my list, but to my surprise, the menu has all sorts of things.

“I think that’s the biggest misconception about this restaurant because of the name,” he said of the full menu.

It was 11:15 a.m. on a Monday, and the place was two tables away from being at full capacity

He told me that Pam Beard, a waitress, has worked at the restaurant for 42 years. He explained that she’s a big part of what makes the backroom special.

“Honestly, she makes the backroom what it is. She has regulars back there every day,” he said. “She knows what they want before they order it. So, they come for that treatment — that’s also what makes that room really special.”

How does one get into the secret room, I wondered.

I asked if there was a secret password to get in.

“No,” he said. “It’s one of those things. If you know you belong, you belong. You just kind of walk back there and sit.”

to a request from federal prosecutors who argued that Cantrell and Vappie, her former police bodyguard and alleged paramour, might continue “colluding” as they await a trial next year Prosecutors did not detail instances of Cantrell and Vappie both 53, interacting since their Aug. 15 indictment on wire fraud, conspiracy and other corruption charges. They’re accused of scheming to hide an affair by claiming Vap-

He acknowledged the following:

n Technically, there are two backrooms the original backroom and the one through the trapdoor

n The room can be reserved for private events, but there’s still mystery behind it.

n He wants people who use it to be able to continue using it.

n The room operates on Vegas rules: “Whatever happens back there, stays back there.”

“Honestly, it’s more of a boys club, I would say,” Piazza said. In the evenings, the room can be reserved for private events and is used for overflow dining, especially on Friday nights or busy weekends.

It’s lunchtime when the real conversations happen.

“It’s a room where regular guys go multiple times a week,” he said. “Some influential people and some regular Joes who mix and match and just talk about daily things and daily happenings and try to make decisions based on what they hear, I guess.”

I asked whose idea it was to add the trapdoor through a cinderblock wall. Piazza said he and his brother came up with that idea.

Then, he said the magic words I had been waiting for: “Do you want to see it?”

pie was on duty, siphoning $70,000 in taxpayer money in the process and lying about it to the feds Cantrell and Vappie both have pleaded not guilty and are free on bail.

In court filings, Cantrell and Vappie both argued against the no-contact rule, saying they’ve each abided by their bail conditions and shouldn’t be restrained any further Vappie “has ceased communicating with Ms. Cantrell” because of the order but “would like to be

able to communicate with her” if it’s lifted, his attorneys wrote. On Thursday, Cantrell argued that the restriction was unnecessary before a trial now scheduled for next October Vappie was first charged in July 2024 with wire fraud and lying to FBI agents as part of the same alleged scheme before prosecutors added Cantrell in August through a superseding indictment. A judge initially barred Vappie from communicating with some 30 witnesses in his case but agreed to allow him to communicate with Cantrell after a hearing where Vappie’s lawyer argued

that the mayor was important to him as he endured “the greatest ordeal of his life.”

In recent months, “evidence of their individual and collective obstructive efforts has grown in scope and scale,” wrote Jordan Ginsberg, an assistant U.S. attorney for the New Orleans-based Eastern District of Louisiana.

“Restricting future unsupervised communications is significant to prevent the codefendants from colluding further and continuing their attempts to undermine the judicial process.”

Cantrell is set to leave office in January

I left the meatball quesadilla I had ordered and followed Piazza through the original backroom, a secret door, down a hallway and into a dark room

Investigators work the scene of a

re at Lewis

HORSES

Continued from page 1B

original inhabit-

SPLIT

Continued from page 1B

the city’s low barrier shelter that would be reserved for people sleeping in the French Quarter Committee members cited the continued challenges with homelessness in the French Quarter as a sign that the money redirected from rent subsidies and case managers could be better spent on other priorities.

“FQMD has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars and did not see the results we were hoping for based on the money spent,” said Christian Pendleton, chair of the security committee and general manager of Brennan’s Restaurant.

ants). Dogs smoking cigars could have been playing poker in the corner, and I wouldn’t have been surprised.

On Monday, the management district’s Livability Committee proposed a different breakdown. Under its plan, $365,000 would go toward homeless services in the 2026 budget.

The proposal would fund the shelter beds and Mobile Crisis Intervention unit.

But it would also fund a case worker with Travelers Aid and cover expenses for 12 people moving into housing.

Neither committee’s proposal included renewing the longer-term rental subsidies.

In an interview Monday Mamie Gasperecz, chair of the Livability Committee and a vice president at Gulf Coast Bank & Trust, said she believed that the proposal from the security committee was “super conservative” and didn’t

in

on Saturday.

address the needs of the homeless people who are in the Quarter

“I don’t really think you can secure the Quarter from the unhoused — the unhoused are part of all of our lives,” Gasperecz said. “Part of our mission is about helping and the quality of life for everyone everyone who is there.”

Email Sophie Kasakove at sophie.kasakove@ theadvocate.com.

Lewis, a former member of the Buffalo Soldiers Horse Riding Club, said his four horses marched in a multitude of parades and second-lines over the years. They were used in photo shoots and birthday parties as well, he said.

“They’re my babies,” he said.

but later found one of the horses in the neighborhood near the stable. “Twenty-eight to 30 horses were saved. That’s good news,” he added. Lewis, who is no relation to the stable owners, said he’s kept horses there for years. He and other horse owners often work together to take care of the animals there, a timeconsuming and demanding process. “Horses require a lot of care. It’s every day,” Lewis said “It’s not a hobby when it comes to horses. It’s part of your life.” Lewis said he was thankful that one of his horses, a mare called “Lotto,” survived. “At least one made it,” he said.

AUCTION

Continued from page1B

School is an attractive asset, saidCheezem. Built in 1937, the building was a vocational-technicalschool for much of the 20th century andremained in operationuntil it wasshuttered after Hurricane Katrina. It reopened afew years later as the International High School of New Orleans, a charterschool,which operatedonthe site untilit moved to Gentilly last year

At nearly 58,000square feet, the U-shaped building takesupmuch of the block between Julia and Girod streets and has a large courtyard as well as aparking lot that backs up to BaronneStreet. Itsinterior still has classic art decofeatures, including terrazzo floors andinlaid chrome molding.

The building’spast includes aprominentrole in an MTV-era video of BruceSpringsteen’s “Human Touch.” Cheezem is partneringonthe project with New Iberiabusinessman Thomas R. LeBlanc Jr

Both have experience in commercial real estate, and Cheezem, anative of South Carolina who now lives in New Orleans, spent nearly adecade at Woodward Interests, where he was part of the team thatconverted the WorldTrade Center into the Four Seasons.

Cheezem saidpreliminary plans forthe CarondeletStreetbuildingcall for turning it intoahotel with roughly 75 rooms. He declined to provide a cost estimate or timeline for the project.Heand LeBlanc do noteven officially ownthe building yet,asthe sales are not scheduled to close until late December

“Themostimportant thing is that we preserve thebuilding— thearchitecture, the detailing, all the reasons it is special and that we were so attracted to it to begin with,” Cheezem said. “We do not want this to become another blighted, deteriorated buildinginNew Orleans.”

Other properties that sold at the September auction were: McDonogh

No. 32 in Algiers,a twobuilding complex with a winning bidof$400,000; a vacantlot on St.Maurice Avenue in the Lower9th Ward, with awinning bid of $120,000; andavacant lot on Reynes Street in New Orleans East,witha winningbid of $120,000.

The former Jean Gordon Elementary School in Gentilly sold at oneofthe earlier auctions this year for $977,000.

Market realities

The School Boardhas nearlythree dozenvacant or unusedproperties, many of which date back to Katrina. Someofthe buildingscould stillpotentially be usedasschools or for education-related purposes, so they are not considered surplus property

Others, however,nolonger fit the needs of amodern school facility,hence the SchoolBoard’s efforts to sellthem At Thursday’smeeting, board members signaled theirwillingnessto accept therecent bids for the Algiersschool and two vacant lots. However,three board members raised questions about the$2.1 millionbid forthe Rabouin building, arguing thatwhenmarket conditions improve,abuyer might be willing to pay moremoney for it.

“Weare treatingthis as afire sale anditreally isn’t,” said board member Nolan Marshall. “We’re leaving $3 milliononthe table, and Isay let’s give it at least anotheryear.”

Board member Carlos Zervigonalsopushed for rejecting the bid.

“I would like to explore what happensifweput together sealed bids or treat this more strategically,” he said. “This is aunique building.”

Amajority of the board disagreed, however.

“I worry aboutusasa board trying to time the marketand believe in a market that doesnot exist,” said board member OlinParker. “I am of the impression while Iwish thenumberwas higher and believe it should be, realityisreality.”

Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@ theadvocate.com

NewOrleans Area Deaths

Hurst, Florestine

Jones, Oneata

O'Rourke,Laura McGee, Stephen MayhewJr.,Zeb

Tully,Robert Smith,Raymond

NewOrleans

Jones, Oneata Elaine Stewart

BY MARCOCARTOLANO Staff writer

MichelleMiller,aformer WWL Louisiana anchor and wife of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Mor ia l, was laid off from herrole as co-host on “CBS Saturday Morning,” according to reports. Miller and fellow cohost DanaJacobsonhad their jobs cut as partofa massive round of layoffs at CBS’ parent company Paramount, TheLos Angeles Times reported. She had been named co-host of “CBSSaturday Morning” in 2018. After amajor merger with Skydance in August, Paramount’snew chief executive, David Ellison, announced the layoffs of about 1,000 people last week, The New York Times reported. Miller and Jacobson were reportedly cutas CBS plans to change the show’sformat to be closer to the weekday show “CBS Mornings,”according to The Los Angeles Times. “CBS Mornings Plus” and “CBS Evenings Plus,” two extensions to “CBS Mornings”and “CBS Evenings,” were also canceled. Miller workedasare-

porter and anchorfor NewOrleans’ CBSaffiliateWWL-TV from 1994 to 2003. She also held various roles in New Orleans organizations and taught journalismand mass communications coursesat Dillard University While at WWL, Miller wonthe Edward R. Murrow Award in 1998 for her coverage of astandoff at aNew Orleans day care center.Milleralsocovered Hurricane Georges in 1998and Hurricane Lili in 2002 The Los Angeles native receivedher bachelor’s degree from Howard University and amaster’s degree inurban studies at the University ofNew Orleans.

Duringher career,Miller’sworkwas alsofeaturedinThe Los Angeles Times; The Minnesota Star Tribune; WIS-TV in Columbia, SouthCarolina; the Orange County Newschannel; and “Nightline” at ABC News. She joinedCBS News in 2004, regularly contributing to various CBS shows. Some of the major stories shecovered included hurricanes Katrina, Ireneand Sandy; unrest inFerguson,Missouri;the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, Connecticut; and Whitney Houston’sdeath.

Email Marco Cartolano at marco.cartolano@ theadvocate.com

Hurst, Florestine

Estelle JWilson

Lake Lawn Metairie

Tully,Robert Charbonnet

St Bernard

CharbonnetLabat

Smith,Raymond

EJ Fielding

O'Rourke,Laura

Honaker

MayhewJr.,Zeb

St Tammany West Bank

DavisMortuary

Jones, Oneata

Obituaries

Florestine Jefferson Hurstwas born into this worldwitha purposeand missionfromGod.Our belovedwas takenhome by theLordonWednesday, October29, 2025. Sheal‐readyiswithher Savior andwillbemissedbyall who knew andloved her. Shewillberemembered forher directness, her sassyspirit, herkindness, hercompassionaswellas herlovefor family and friends. As anativeNew Orleanian, Florestine at‐tended school,worked, marriedand hadsix chil‐dren.She hasalsoresided in Houston, TX andGautier MS.She attended church wherevershe livedand be‐came aborn-againChrist‐ianlateinlife. ThankGod forhis mercy. Mrs. Hurstis preceded in deathbyher parents, Emileand Mayola Jefferson; husband,Harry Hurst, Sr;daughter, Irma L. Dixon; grandsons, Sterling Addison, Jr.and Harry (Busta) Howard;siblings, PearlJefferson,Lovenia Rush,MayolaOsirio, ShirleyMuseWright, De‐loresReid, Waldo, Shack, Joe, Em ferson;A Raymon leaves to ory, chil FayCol Jr Felix Hurst(Ki host of greatgra greatg nieces,n otherrel associat Celebrat ingthe thelateF sonHur theCha LabatG Home,1 Street,/ 70116 on ber6,2 vate Inte Park,8 Metairie sign on www.cha me.com Glapion, 4411.

Oneata Elaine Stewart Jonesentered eternalrest at SlidellMemorialHospi‐talonFridayOctober 24, 2025, at theage of 73. She wasa native of Vacherie LA andresidentofWest‐wego, LA.Oneatawas a graduate of L. W. Higgins High School Classof1970. Shereceivedher Bachelor of ScienceDegreeinnurs‐ingfromDillard University anda Master of Science degree in nursing from LSU MedicalSchool.Later she served hercountry in the United States Navy for3 yearsreceiving theNa‐tional DefenseService Medal. Oneata wasa re‐tiredregisterednurse with West JeffersonMedical Center.Beloved wife of the late Larry Jones. Loving daughter of thelateCleve‐land andFannieStewart Sister of thelateAnna Mae Williams,MarionS.Francis, Robert,Isaac,Martin, and MableWashington, and Brenda Stewart, also sur‐vivedbya host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relativesand friends. Rela‐tivesand friendsofthe family,alsopastors,offi‐cers,and membersofDo‐minion andPower Min‐istries, ShilohMissionary BaptistChurch,and all neighboringare invitedto attend theCelebration of Life at ShilohMissioanry BaptistChurch 1419 4thSt. Westwego,LAonWednes‐day, November 5, 2025, at 9:30am.PastorWoodrow Hayden,HostPastorBishop Tyrone Washington, Sr., officiating. Visitation will beginat8:30amuntil servicetimeatthe above namedchurch.Interment: SoutheastLouisiana Veter‐ansCemetery- Slidell, LA Arrangements by Davis Mortuary Service230 Mon‐roeSt. Gretna,LA. To view andsignthe guestbook, please go to www.davismo rtuaryservice.com. Face MasksAre Recommended.

ZebMayhew, Jr,82, of Vacherie,Louisiana,died peacefully at hissecond home in Slidell, Louisiana, on October31, 2025. Born on October30, 1943 in Venezuela, where hisfa‐ther worked forCreolePe‐troleum, he wasthe sonof Zeband Ruby Odom May‐hew. When hisfatherwas promoted to an executive position with Standard Oil of NewJerseyin1953, the family movedtoGreen‐wich,Connecticut, where Zeband hissiblings, Jonathan andSheridan, spenttheir formative years. ZebattendedSt. Paul’s School in Concord,

vision forcreatinga worldrenownedhistoricdestina‐tion extended to building a complementaryhospitality business on hisadjoining plantation land,a business that he owned andoper‐ated.Asthe Louisiana tourismindustrygrew, and notablyasvisitationtothe historic plantation homes alongRiver Road in‐creased, theimportanceof OakAlley,and Zeb’svision forpreservingand present‐ingits historical signifi‐cancetovisitors, ex‐panded into abroader leadership role in Louisianatourism andeco‐nomicdevelopment.He worked tirelesslyin pro‐moting allofLouisiana’s treasuredhistoricloca‐tions, viewingcommunal successascriticalfor all. Hisextensive roles, among others,includedboard ser‐vice on theLouisiana Travel PromotionAssocia‐tion (pastPresident), the LouisianaBed &Breakfast Association(past Presi‐dent), theVacherieArea ChamberofCommerce (pastPresident), theSt. JamesParishEconomicDe‐velopmentBoard,the GreaterNew Orleans Touristand Convention Commission,the Louisiana Preservation Alliance,and theRiver Parish Tourist Commission.Hewas previ‐ouslyhonored with the Lifetime Achievement Awardbythe Louisiana Travel andTourism Associ‐ation. Beyond hisprofes‐sional pursuits,Zeb was very well knownfor his wide circle of friends, his loyalty, and his“generous commitmentofhis time to discussany topic, and upon which he always left onewithhis clearpoint of view.While sometimeshis legendaryconversational skills mighthavetaken cir‐cuitousroutesacrossinnu‐merabletopics, therewas always some embedded logic, at leasttohim!That said,hecared foreveryone in hisuniverseand was generous to afault in as‐sistingthoseinneed.Zeb is survived by hisloving wife andsoulmate, Debra Daigle Mayhew,and three children:Elizabeth Shelby Mayhew Saer (John),of Greenwich,CT; ZebMay‐hewIII, of Prairieville, LA; andAaron Munro (Amanda),ofFrankfort,KY. He wasthe adored Paw Pawtohis sevengrand‐children,being John Ken‐neth Saer III, TobinMay‐hewSaer(Erin), JuliaArm‐strong Saer,Zeb Mayhew IV,MaryKatherine May‐hew, Skyler Nova Munro, andSummerEllaMunro. Zebisalsosurvivedbyhis brother, Jonathan (Chichi); hisniecesAshleyMayhew Dineen (David), Cristie Mayhew Veeder (Gerrit); andsix greatniecesand nephews. Zebispreceded in deathbyhis parents, his sister,Sheridanand nephew,Trevor. Thefamily extendsheartfelt gratitude to theextendedfamilyof employees of OakAlley Plantation andMayhewEn‐terprises, whose dedica‐tion to OakAlley andtire‐less effortsinits preserva‐tion were greatlyappreci‐ated by Zeband Debra. Zeb’swidecircleoffriends provided unrequited mean‐ingtohis life,and so often inspired hisjoiedevivre and, at times, loquacious‐ness. Debraand Zeb’sfam‐ilyare also grateful forthe devotion andexpertise of Zeb’sdoctors,the skilled assistance of hishospice caregiverSonny Small, and thecomfortingcareof Montrell Bacchus and Brenda Njike. Amemorial servicewillbeheldatOak AlleyPlantationinthe coming weeks, with notice to be provided.Internment will be at OakAlley. In lieu of flowers, anyremem‐br fZeb nb

www.honakerforestlawn. comtosignguestbook Arrangements by Honaker FuneralHome, Inc.,Slidell, LA

McGee, StephenArchie

StephenArchieMcGee, 85, of NewOrleans,passed away at hishomeonOcto‐ber25, 2025. He wasborn on February 15, 1940, in Evansville,Indiana Stephenwas theson of the late FreddieL.and Leonide B. McGee. He wasone of sevensiblings. He gradu‐ated from Booker T. Wash‐ington High School in 1958. He metand marriedthe late NellouiseCowartMcGeeJuly1,1961. To this union oneson wasborn AaronStephen McGee. Mr StephenMcGee joined the U. S. Army where he served hiscountry.After complet‐inghis tour in theArmy, he joined theU.S.Coast Guard Reservewhere he retired after 42 yearsofservice Mr.McGee worked for OchsnerHospital, he was an exemplaryemployee whose hard work andcom‐mitmentwererecognized with multiple awards.Mr. McGeeretired from OchsnerHospital after working40years as acook anddietary manager. He waswellloved andre‐spectedbymanagement andco-workersat Ochsner. Mr.McGee worked forRock' n' Bowl andhewas thelongest liv‐ingmemberofthe Rock 'n' Bowl staff. He washired at Rock'n'Bowlin1956 until hishealthfailedin2018 andheretired.Despite threechanges in owner‐ship,heremaineda de‐pendable andhighlyval‐ued member of theRock'n' Bowl team for62years.He hada specialbondwith theownerofRock'n' Bowl Mr.JohnBlancher, whom he wasproud to call his friend andbrother.Mr. McGeewas proudtotell thestory of howheworked threejobsfor over half of hislifetoprovide forhis family. He is survived by hisson Aaron, bonus daughter Kim, grandson Stephen(Jena), great granddaughterCarlee, sis‐ters,GladysMcKnight (Rufus), Emelda Plummer (Marshall),a host of nieces andnephews.Hewas pre‐cededindeath by hispar‐ents Freddieand Leonide, wife NellouiseMcGee, brothers Fred Jr., Walter, Israel,and sister Isabelle Hebert.A Celebrationof Life Servicewillbeheldon Thursday November 6, 2025 for10:00 a.m. at Estelle J. Wilson FuneralHome2715 Danneel St.New Orleans, La.70113. Visitationfrom 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. Rev. JerryDarby officiating. Burial will be held on Fri‐dayNovember7,2025 for 9:00 a.m. at Southeast LouisianaVeteransCeme‐tery 34888 Grantham Col‐lege Dr.Slidell, La.70460. Arrangements Entrusted To EstelleJ.WilsonFuneral Home,Inc.2715 Danneel Street,NOLA70113. Infor‐mation:(504) 895-4903. To sign online guestbook

11/27 ur /25.

duties of ExecutiveDirec torofthe OakAlley Foun‐dation,a role he held until hisdeath.Concurrently, his

OUR VIEWS

Changesto election laws only serveto confusevoters

Last week, as expected,the Legislature approvedameasure that will push back the dates of the springtime elections by onemonth,a move aimed at perhaps drawingnew congressional district lines after apotential Supreme Court ruling in aLouisiana case later this year That case, Louisiana v. Callais, could have wide-ranging applications forvotingrights if, as some hope, thenation’s highest court rules that Louisiana’scurrent map, withtwo majorityBlackdistricts, is unconstitutional. If thathappens, legislators would likely reconvene early next year to redraw the districts, potentially creating another seat that would likely be won by Republicans and help that partymaintain its slim majority in theU.S. House. The move is just the latest in ablizzard of election-law changes pushed throughbyGov Jeff Landry and the state’sRepublican supermajoritysince the beginning of 2024. These rapid-fire adjustments do little to improvethe integrity or fairness of Louisiana’s elections while almost certainly adding to voterconfusion and disinterest.

To recap briefly: Last year,the Legislature redrew the state’s congressional map to include District6,a twisty majority-Black district that was the state’ssecond, amove lawmakersconsiderednecessary in order to prevent afederal judgefrominvalidating theentire mapand perhaps imposing one on the state.

State leadersalso partially convertedLouisiana’spopular open-primary systemtoclosed party-primaries, meaningthat, forsome offices, voters registered as DemocratsorRepublicans will be able to vote only in the primaryfor candidates of the party they belong to, while voters choosing the “no party” option can picktheir primary.Candidates now have to win aparty primary, aparty runoff andthen the general election. They also tightened rules around voterregistrationdrivesand absentee voting.

This year,some of those same leaders who defended the congressional map lastyear attacked it in the hopes that the conservativemajority on theSupreme Court will strikedownthe longheld interpretations of Section 2of theVoting Rights Act, which consider astate’sracial makeup when determiningwhether mapsare fair.Louisiana’spopulation is aboutone-third Black. Federal courts and officials bear some of the blame for this morass.Over the years, they have offeredconfounding guidance on Section 2, making it difficult and sometimesimpossible for legislaturestocomply with bothconstitutional requirementsand jurisprudence

We think making so many changes soquickly is bad for Louisiana’sdemocratic process.Redrawinglines in the middleofthe normaldecennial cycle and getting ridofthe state’s open primary system—which recent polls have shown is very popular. It should be abedrock principle thatencouraging voting and participation in electionsisa good thing. The more people vote, the better we are. Louisiana already has aproblem with lowturnout elections. These steps will makeit worse.

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

TO SEND US A LETTER SCANHERE

Not so fast on thesaleof waterfromToledoBend

Planstosell Louisiana’swater to Texas at first seem simple. Texas needs water; Texas has money.Louisiana has water; Louisiana needs money Butthe value of water is complicated. Transferring water from Toledo Bendwill prevent it from flowing downstream intoSabine Lake and the adjacent coastal wetlands. That will makethe coastal wetlands around Sabine Lakemore like Texas’ coastal wetlands around Galveston Bay and Matagorda Bay,which support fewer fish (andsofewer recreational and commercial fishermen) fewer ducks (andsofewer duck hunters and hunting leases),fewer alligators (and so fewer alligator hunters, fewer alligator eggs and fewer farm-raised alligators), fewer migratorysongbirds and waterbirds (andso fewer birdwatchers) and fewer acres of marsh grasses (andsolessofa

speed bumptoslow storm surges moving inland) than in the coastal marshes around Sabine Lake.

This situation is caused partly by the fact that wetland owners are not paid for many of theeconomic activities that their wetlands support, and partly by thefact that most people whoeconomically benefit from wetlands that they never see are unaware that some of their expenses will increase as those wetlands change and/or convert to open water

The full economic costs of diverting freshwater from Sabine Lake probably cannot be accurately estimated, but that does not mean that the costs are zero or should be ignored

Unfortunately,the $50,000 study will focus only on water levels in Toledo Bendand ignore salinity in the coastal marshes around Sabine Lake.

J.A. NYMAN Baton Rouge

We thepeoplehavethe powertochangeeverything

We need morevisionaries.Even when things are at their worst in our country,weare still great

Ourpoliticians and leaders may be lessthan we want, need or deserve, but we the people have thepower and ability to rise above it. We just have to step up anddoit. Peacefully, nonviolently but actively,visibly and in ways that ourelected officials and corporate executives cannot ignore. Actions that will affect the direction that these “leaders” takegoing forward. Be avisionary! We need visionaries, not ideologues

Think Walt Disney,the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs,Henry Ford, our Founding Fathers. Not perfect people but ones who had thecourage, dedication and imagination to initiate and nurture not denigrateand destroy.Visionaries who embodied life, liberty andthe pursuit of happiness

What if some deitydecided to return to Earth to renew our faithinour respective beliefs? Would we accept this identity to actually be thesavior or like everything else these days to be ahoax? Anymir-

and embraced thedeclaration that we are all created equal —not identical —equal. People who understood and embraced the blessings andopportunities of being aUnitedStates citizen. Visionaries are unique and essential. They institute enhancements to our lives but don’ttell us how to live them.

No organization, foundationor political entity has the authority to eliminate an individual’sliberty nor stipulatethat there is only one “right” way to live.

That’snot what our Founding Fathers risked theirlives to provide for us.Their vision was for abetter, more respectful society than our current political leadersare fostering. Look pastthe tangible, unwelcome negative aspects of our current political situation. Be avisionary

STEVE PEARCE Mandeville

acle would be considered atrick and prophecy to be alie. Hope it’snot too late to recognize the real saints from thedeceivers.

STEPHENPOL Baton Rouge

Trustingovernment erodingfor good reason

If Iwere afederal employee today, I’d be looking for another job. Not because Idon’tvalue public service —I do —but because our government has become too unstable to trust. Shutdown threats have become routine. Congress no longer functions as agoverning body but as astage for partisan performance. Elected officials chase headlines instead of solutions, treating every disagreement as abattle to be won rather than aproblem to be solved. This dysfunction has real consequences. Federal workers miss paychecks. Veterans face delays. Public services stall. Behind every political stunt are real people trying to get by This isn’tabout party.It’sabout the absence of maturity,responsibility and basic respect. We were built on the idea that disagreement could coexist with dignity.But today’spolitics rewards outrage and punishes cooperation.

Worse, we’ve seen faith twisted into apolitical weapon. Many leaders preach morality but practice cruelty Using religion to divide while ignoring its core values —compassion, humility,honesty —isn’tjust hypocrisy It’samoral failure.

America doesn’tneed perfect leaders —just decent ones. People who can admit mistakes, seek common ground and put service over spectacle.

Until that becomes the norm, it’sno surprise that trust in government is eroding.

We deserve better —now,not someday.Remember your vote matters, and remember who put us in this position.

Because agovernment that refuses to govern with civility won’tjust lose effectiveness. It will lose the moral authority to lead.

CHRISTINE

DILL FORREST Houma

Congress is useless

So, explain how this works: We are in agovernment shutdown. We are losing health care, jobs and hospitals. People are working forfree. We can’tafford groceries. Somehow,we can find $40 billion to give Argentina. Why? We don’tneed Congress. They serve no purpose. When are we going to say enough?

JERMAINE DUPLESSISLEWIS NewOrleans

Landry’s role in LSUcoaching saga puts La.ina badlight

Let’sstart with what Gov.Jeff Landry got right.

Faimon Roberts

He’scorrect that ScottWoodward has been responsible for two of the biggest coaching contractsincollege football history: Jimbo Fisher’s10-year,$75 million deal at Texas A&M in 2017 and Brian Kelly’s10-year,$95 million pact at LSU. Neither coach lived up to high expectations and both were eventually fired, triggering large buyouts. So the governor’scriticism of LSU’snow-terminated athletics director for richly rewarding football coaches who ultimately didn’tdeliver is legitimate.

Also props to Landry for noting that massive buyout provisions are good for only one of acontract’s parties: the coach. They leave the universities holding the bag.

Taken on their face, neither of these critiques is out of bounds. But everything else about Landry’srole in the LSU saga has been wrong.

Landry has bashed Woodwardfor his actions at both schools, but Woodward was not technically responsible for Fisher’s$77 million buyout in 2023.

That buyout was the result of the extension and raise Woodward’ssuccessor gave to Fisher two years after Woodward left for LSU.

More importantly,Landry messed up when he decided to publicly kneecap one of the flagship university’stop officials.

It began Wednesday,when he was asked at anews conference about the LSU coaching vacancy,and he took aim at Woodward.

“I can tell you right now,ScottWoodward is not selecting the next coach,” Landry said. “Hell, I’ll let Donald Trump select it before Ilet (Woodward) do it,” Landry said.

Even though Landry then insisted that LSU’sBoard of Supervisors would

process, but getstoblame somebody else if it goes badly

With those statements, Woodward’s departure became littlemore than a formality.Landry had publicly ridiculed the six-year AD whobrought LSU athletics an impressive runof success.

During Woodward’stenure, LSU teams won sixnational titles, including two in baseball under Jay Johnson (Woodward hire),the first by gymnastics under Jay Clark(Woodward hire) and the first women’sbasketball title under Kim Mulkey (Woodward hire). Of course, Woodward’sdeparture means another buyout,this one about $6.7 million.

HowJohn Brennanlied to Congress

form acommittee to pick thenext coach (apparently asurprisetoBoard ChairmanScott Ballard), Landry’s own words made his meaning plain: Power in this situation flows from him alone.

Landry could havebackpedaled at this point,realizing that the optics of having the governor this deeply involved in coachingdecisions does not reflect well on the university or the state. Instead, he doubled down when he went on ESPN’sPat McAfee show Thursday.

“There’sanumber of bad contracts thatseem tohave followed Scott Woodward,” he saidonthe show Landry then again insisted he would not be picking the coach.

“That is not my job,” he said. He also said that whoever getsthe jobwill have a“patently different contract.”

So, to sum up: Landry decides who will hire the next coach and gets to approve the contract, but he doesn’t hire the new coach. He controls the

Landry didn’tmention that, though. The governor’s roleinthis sagadid serveone purpose: It put LSU’scoaching search and Landry at the center of thesports media spotlight —and not not in agood way Now,much of the rest of the sports world is chuckling and noting that Louisiana is “its own country,” as McAfee said, or “less astate than a rogue nation,” as The Dallas Morning News called it.

Landry would have done well to takehis cues from Texas.Gov.Greg Abbott, like Landry,isaconservative firebrand, buteven he stayed out of the fray when the Aggies ponied up to JimboFisher.And look how it’s helped: Texas A&M got agood coach, beat thecrap out of LSU and is now enjoying its best season in years. Whether Landryrealizes it or not, coach contracts, outrageous though they may be, arethe products of a market-based system. If LSU is not willing to offer top dollar for top talent, somebody else will. Thereare anumber of premier jobs already open: PennState andFlorida, for example. LSU was considered agreat job.Isit still? Idoubt it.

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

ObamachallengesTrump’s remappower grab

Friends who are frustrated bythe current White House regime still ask me, “Where is Obama?” As ifhemight miraculously arise again in the politicalskies like Mighty Mouse singing, “Here Icome to save the day!” Dream on, Ipoint out. Havingserved two full terms, Obama hasmaxed out of his constitutional eligibility. But, behind the scenes,hehas found more to do than, say,add to therising outrage over President Donald Trump’s demolition of the East Wing of the White House.

Specifically,Obama has lent his support to aplanto counteract Trump’splans to lock in aRepublican majority in theHouse of Representatives through gerrymandering. Unfortunately,that effort looks a lot like gerrymandering itself Republicans in several states, at Trump’surging, have set about an unprecedented mid-decade wave of redistricting. Typically,redistricting happens every decade, after the U.S. Census. However, Trump has accurately intuited that the thinGOP majority in the House is in peril thanks to hishighly polarizing policies. To help extend Trump’sabsolutecontrol of theU.S. government, TexasGov.Greg Abbott convenedaspecial session of the state legislature lastsummerto redraw Texasdistricts in away thatis likely to deliver five more Republicans to Congress.

Democrats would have to fight fire with fire

At aboutthe sametime, California Gov.Gavin Newsom, aDemocrat, met with legal experts to explore his state’s options, including how to workaround aconstitutional requirement of nonpartisan redistricting —without looking too hypocritical.

The situation brings to mindanold saying well known to observers of politics in the Windy City.They are the words, uttered more than acentury ago, bythe notoriously colorful, corrupt and charismatic Alderman Paddy Bauler: “Chicago ain’t readyfor reform.”

Clarence Page

It’seasy for wags on the other side of the partisan divide to call out Newsom, Holder and Obama for conveniently abandoning their high ideals, but at this pointtostick to apolitical redistricting in blue states looks alot likeunilateral disarmament

Obama and Holder supported Newsom on thegrounds that his plans for redistricting were temporary and required the approval of California’s voters.

By mid-August, Obama had become anational advocate for Democrats taking up the redistricting fight. Illinois also got into the action when Texas Democrats slipped away to the Land of Lincolnfor two weeks to temporarily blockaGOP vote on thenew map.

takingdirection from apartisan White House that is effectively saying: Gerrymander for partisan purposes so we can maintain the House despiteour unpopular policies, redistrict right in the middle of adecade between censuses —which is not how thesystem was designed. Ihave tremendous respect for how Gov.Newsom has approached this.”

Obama also filmed an ad for Prop 50, Newsom’sredistricting ballot initiative, aimed at motivating Democrats and independents, saying, “California, thewhole nation is counting on you. Democracy is on the ballot Nov.4.”

The ad also featured video images of Trumpand National Guard and Immigration and CustomsEnforcement in U.S. cities.

“Republicans want tosteal enough seatsinCongress to rig thenext election and wield unchecked power for two moreyears,” says thenarration. “WithProp 50, you can stop Republicans in their tracks.”

Efforts to redraw U.S.Housedistricts for partisan advantage have been taken up in Republican-led Missouri, where thelegislature approved revised districtsbut thechanges are being legally contested, and officials in more states are considering following suit. So, to those who are wondering, Obama is doing his part for his party as it struggles to unify itself after itsdevastating defeat by Trump’swell-oiled machine.

In late July,Obama spoke withhis former attorney general, Eric Holder, about how Democrats should respond. Notably,both Obama and Holder have been outspoken advocates of independent commissions to draw congressional districts free of thepolitical gerrymandering. Holder founded the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which advocates drawing nonpartisan maps, and Obama has endorsed its efforts.

According to an in-depth Washington Post report, Obama and Holder concluded that those aspirationswould have to be put on hold, andthatthe

When Texas Republicans threatened to arrest thedissident lawmakers andremovethem from office, Obama called in to one of the Democrats’ meetingsatasecret location in Illinois to lendsupport to their stance —and later released aportion of the call to the public.

Afew dayslater,ataMartha’sVineyard fundraiser for Holder’sredistricting committee, Obama gave his fullthroated endorsement of theCalifornia proposal

“I want to see as along-term goal that we do nothave political gerrymandering in America. That would be my preference,”Obamasaid. “Texas is

That machine operates at ascale of thoroughgoing corruption and coercion that would have blown Paddy Bauler’s mind. The United States governmentis in desperate need of reform. The question is whether the Democrats, in their post-Biden funk, are able tosell the American electorate on theproposition that they can deliver it.

Obama, apolitician who knows a thing or two about overcoming corrupt political machines, can help the Democrats make aconvincing case.

Email Clarence Page at clarence47page@gmail.com

The Justice Department is evaluating a criminal referral accusing former CIADirector John Brennan of lying to Congress. In the referral, Republican members of the House allege that Brennan lied to investigators trying to figure out what the nation’sintelligence agencies did in their pursuit of President Donald Trumpover the Russia collusion matter.The case is astrong one. It started back in 2017. Congressional Republicans were trying to trace the FBI,CIA and other agencies’ activities in what is often knownasthe “Russia hoax.” One central focus wasthe Steele dossier,the collection of false and salacious accusations that Trumpconspired with Russia to steal the 2016 election.

The dossier,aseveryone knowstoday,was apolitical opposition research job. It wasput together by aformer British spy who washired and paid by operatives working on behalf of the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign. As an investigative document, it was 100% BS.

That, of course, did not stop the FBI from embracing it. The bureau accepted the dossier as a legitimate source. Here was where things did not add up forHill investigators. Given what the FBI was doing, one might have expected that the CIAwould also have played somerole in the whole dossier saga. But Brennan, then the head of the CIA, swore under oath that the CIAhad nothing to do with the dossier GOPinvestigators wanted to know: Wasthat conclusion based on the dossier? Did Brennan’s CIAsupport including the dossier in the assessment? In testimony on May 23, 2017, Brennan said absolutely not, that the dossier played no role in the CIA’swork. Brennan told lawmakers the dossier “was not in any way used as abasis forthe Intelligence Community Assessment.” Six years later,onMay 11, 2023, Brennan again found himself answering questions from Hill Republicans, and he again denied CIAinvolvement with the dossier.“Iwas not involved in analyzing the dossier at all,” Brennan said. “I said the first timeI actually saw it, it wasafter the election. And the CIAwas not involved at all with the dossier It was[the FBI’s]purview,their area, not ours at all.” Brennan also reiterated earlier testimony when he said, “The CIAwas very much opposed to having any reference or inclusion of the Steele dossier in the Intelligence Community Assessment.” Now it appears that what Brennan told congressional investigators wasfalse. The current CIAdirector,John Ratcliffe,who used to be one of the House investigators looking into the Russia matter,has declassified documents from Brennan’stimeatthe agency which show that, farfrom keeping the dossier at arm’sreach, Brennan actually forced CIAanalysts to use it and overruled those whowanted to leave the dossier out of the Intelligence Community Assessment.

Ratcliffe has also declassified a2020 House Intelligence Committee report, which the CIA had kept under wraps, that outlined Brennan’sinvolvement in the dossier.The report, based on the committee’sinterviewswith CIA staff, said that “twosenior CIAofficers,” both with extensive Russia experience, “argued with [Brennan] that the dossier should not be included at all in the Intelligence Community Assessment, because it failed to meet basic tradecraftstandards, according to asenior officer present at the meeting. The sameofficer said that [Brennan] refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier’smany flaws responded, ‘Yes, but doesn’titring true?’ Taken together,these accounts show that significant portions of Brennan’scongressional testimony about the dossier and the Intelligence Community Assessment wereuntrue. Here’sthe bottom line, which Republicans have believed foralong time. In the politically supercharged atmosphere of late 2016 and early 2017, the FBI and CIAboth knew the dossier wasBS. And then, under oath before Congress, Brennan lied about it. In arecent letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-OH, wrote that the 2020 House report and the CIA’sanalysis “confirm not only that the Steele dossier wasused as abasis for the Intelligence Community Assessment, but that Brennan insisted on its inclusion.” Brennan’stestimony to Congress, Jordan continued, “was abrazen attempt to knowingly and willfully testifyfalsely and fictitiously to material facts.” Jordan asked Bondi to investigate whether Brennan’sstatements warrant acriminal charge of making false statements. Now it is up to the attorney general. Will Brennan contend that he somehow wastelling thetruth whenhemadethe above statements? Of course he will. But if he is charged, that will be ahard case to make.

Byron York is on X, @Bryon York

with meteorologist DamonSingleton

Afteraclear, cold and calm morning, we’reall in store for anothergreat daytoday. Expect a mostlysunnyand mild daywith alight breeze. Temperatures thisafternoon willrisetothe low to mid-70s. Winds todayare light and more easterly than yesterdayatabout 5to10mph. Dewpoint temperatures arestarting to rise. Rainchances todaywill remain at zero. We’ll waketomorrowmorning to the 40s and50s, with temperatures rising to the 70s.We’ll be back in the 80s Friday.The tropicsremain quiet

please visitwww.estelle jwilsonfh.com

O'Rourke,Laura

Laura O'Rourke (19432025) was aradiant, loving, and family-oriented woman who always prioritized the needs of others over her own. Laura Burton O'Rourke, 82, of Madisonville, Louisiana died in herfamily'shome of complications from dementia on October 29, 2025. Laura attended Convent of Mercy High School in Mobile, Alabama, before initially going to work as a branch manager at Hibernia Bank and lateras achiropractic assistant for her son-in-law. In addition to work, she served as a Eucharistic Minister at LSU Christ the King Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana before relocating and attending weeklymass at the St. Joseph's Abbey in Covington, Louisiana.

Laura met her husband Joseph "Joe" O'Rourke on ablind double date with friends, and they couldn't wait to start afamily of their own. Despitethe many titles Laura would wear throughout her lifetime, mother and later (great)grandmother, were undoubtedly her favorite. Shetreasuredher time with her grandchildren and loved being their Mimi Outside of cooking and time with family, her favorite hobbies included spending time in her garden, reading, and taking her annual family vacationstoSt. Augustine, Florida. Laura will always be remembered for her love of flowers,singing and whistling around the house, and the way that she would inevitably stick her tongue out when she was deeply focused on a

task. One couldn'thave askedfor abetter friend sister, wife, mother, grandmother, or great-grandmotherthan Laura.She impacted everyone lucky enough to meether,and the world willundoubtedly be alesserplace without her in it. Hermemorywill live oninthe heartsofall those who lovedher Laurawas precededin death by hermother, MargaretBurton, father, John Burton; and siblings Peggy Clolimger, Marcia White,and Billy Burton, and is survivedbyher husband, JosephO'Rourke; daughter,MaryNicaud (Harvey "Nicky" Nicaud); grandchildrenAbagail Nicaud (Luke Avenel), Ian Nicaud, ClaireNicaud, Luke Nicaud, and Genevieve Nicaud; great-grandchildrenElijah Nicaud and Evangeline Avenel;and siblings HarryBurton, Eddy Burton,Manny Burton,and MikeBurton In lieu of flowers,donationstothe Alzheimer's Associationwouldbe greatly appreciated Relativesand friends of the family are invited to attend aMassofChristian Burial at MaryQueenof Peace Church, 1501 W. Causeway Approach, Mandeville,Louisiana,on Wednesday,November 5, 2025 at 12:00pmand the visitation willbefrom11:00 am until mass time. Interment willbeon Friday, November 7, 2025 at 1:00 pm in Catholic CemeteryinMobile, Alabama.

E.J. FieldingFuneral Home has beenentrusted with funeral arrangements. Please signthe guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com.

Smith, RevDr. Raymond Allen

RevDr. RaymondAllen Smith,was born on Febru‐ary 22,1938, in Verrett, LA tothe union of thelate PastorSam andGladys NormanSmith.Hepeace‐fullytransitioned from

earthtoglory andeternal restonSunday, October26, 2025, surrounded by his family. Pastor Smithisthe devoted husband of Mar‐ion Smith; loving father of LionelSmith,Sr. (Darleen), EricRay Smith, WandaFar‐lough (Richard), Tenessia McBride,HaroldSmith,Ter‐rea Waiters(James), Clifton McBride, Tequia McBride andthe late Tanya Cosie (Lyndell).Beloved brother of MabelS.Stew‐art,ElritaS.Hughes, Va‐lerie Stewart(Charles),the lateMarionS.Franklin, Betty AnnMiltonand Don‐ald LeeSmith.PastorSmith was ordained in theGospel MinistrybyPastorSamuel S.Brooksatthe Mount Olive BaptistChurch in Oakland CA in 1967. He re‐ceivedhis Doctor of Divin‐ity degree in 1982 from the Bay City instituteinBerke‐ley CA on June 7th, 2016 PastorSmith received his DoctorofLetters Degree (Litt. D) from Christian Bible CollegeofNew Or‐leans,LA. Churches he pas‐tored were NewTestament Baptist Church of Oakland, CA, Progressive Baptist Church of Lafayette,LA and UnionBaptist Church ofSt. Martinville, LA.In 1986 Pastor Smithreturned toSt. Bernard, LA andin 1990 he became thepastor ofhis home church,First Baptist Church of Verrett, LA, where he served faith‐fully for35years.Pastor Smith is recognized as the “PatriotofPastors”inSt Bernard Parish.Heisthe president emeritus of the SouthernGeneral Mission‐ary BaptistAssociation, memberofthe Plaquem‐inesParishChristian Minis‐tersMissionaryBaptist As‐sociation,memberof Louisiana StateHomeand Foreign MissionsState Convention, member of the Christian MinisterialUnion ofNew Orleansand Vicin‐ity,memberofthe National Baptist Convention of America Incorporated.He isthe founder and1st president of theNational Association forthe Ad‐vancement of Coloredpeo‐ple of SaintBernard Parish Heleavesa legacy of love and servicetohis wife Marion; hischildren, along withtwenty five grandchil‐dren, twenty onegreat grandchildren,three greatgreat grandchildren, sib‐lings,his FirstBaptist Church of VerrettFamily and St BernardParishat large.A Celebrationser‐vicehonoringthe life and legacyofthe late Rev. Dr Raymond AllenSmith will be held at Garden of Prayer

Family WorshipCenter, 2605 MunsterBlvd.,Mer‐aux,LA70075 on Saturday, November8,2025 at 11 am withvisitationbeginning at9 am in thechurch.En‐tombmenttofollowatFirst Baptist Church of Verrett Cemetery. AMusical will beheldatGardenofPrayer onFriday, November 7, 2025 at 6pmwithvisitation beginning at 3pm. Rev. Dr Smith will lieinstate at First BaptistChurch of Ver‐rett, 3737 BayouRoad, Ver‐rett, LA 70085 on Thursday November6,2025 from 3 pmto6 pm.Pleasesignon‐lineguestbook at www.cha rbonnetfuneralhome.com. Finalarrangementsen‐trusted to Charbonnet FamilyServices(504)302 1520.

Robert CurtisTully passedawayonFriday, October31, 2025 at the age of 76. He wasa native of Charleston,WVand residentofKenner, LA.He graduatedfromWarren Easton High School in 1967 and Louisiana State University in 1972 witha bachelor'sdegree.Robert wasa salesman of industrial supplies.Heenjoyed golfing, LSUfootball and baseball, snowskiing and mostly spending time with hisgrandchildren. Robert by hiswife of PhyllisKenner ter, Jordan Tull Randy Rabalais); vis Kenner Tully CurtisTully; and sgrandchildren,

Benajmin Kenner Tully, GavinCurtisTodor,Aidan JamesRabalaisand SydneyLeigh Rabalais. He waspreceded in death by hisparents, Harry Atley Tully andDorothyLeigh Tully, andhis brother, Gary WayneTully. Thefamily wouldliketogive special thanks to thedoctors, nursesand staff at OchsnerKenner ICU as well as theHeart of Hospice nurses. Relatives andfriends are invited to attendservicesfor Robert held at Lake LawnMetairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd.New Orleans, LA on Thursday, November 6, 2025. Visitation will be from 10:00am untilthe service begins at 11:00am. Gravesidewill follow in MetairieCemetery.To view andsignthe online guestbook, please visit, www.lakelawnmetairie.co m.

SPORTS

Hopefully, Benson feels N.O. sports fans’agony

If Gayle Benson didn’talready knowhow bad her two professional franchisesare,an embarrassing four-hour windowSunday afternoon should have madeitloud and clear HerPelicans got stomped 137-106 in Oklahoma City.

At the same time, her Saintswere experiencing asimilar beatdown in California: a34-10 thrashingbythe Los Angeles Rams.

MiLaysia Fulwileydecided she‘needed to leave’ the placeshe spenther whole life.Thisiswhy LSUwas herpreferred destination.

On theday we turned our clocks back an hourtoend daylight saving time, the Saints turned the clock all the way back to 1980. That’s the last time theSaints started aseason worse than this one. The time change caused it to get dark aroundhere Sunday around 6p.m. That’sright aboutthe time things got even darker for New Orleans’ sports fans. The Saints (1-8) andPelicans (0-6) have combined for one win

The Saints’ last win cameamonth ago against the New York Giants. The Pelicans haven’twon agame since lateMarch.Sunday’sloss to the Thunder was their13thin arow,tied for the longest losing streak in franchise history

Owning the worst team in theNFL and NBAatthe same time isn’t agood look. It’s anew low for sports in New Orleans, acity where fans are known to wear paperbags over their heads.

The paper bags aremakinga comeback. Somewerespotted at SoFi Stadium on Sunday for the Saints’ debacleagainstthe Rams.Therelikelywillbeplentymore when the Saints return to theSuperdome in afew weeks. Heck, there may be some in the Smoothie King Center,too. Frustrationisatanall-time high. Last season, Benson’stwo teams combined to win 26 games. The Saints went 5-12 and the Pelicans were 21-61. They could smash that dubious mark this season the wayboth teams have played

PATH

he feeling hitMiLaysia Fulwiley when shewoke up one morning in April. She needed to get out.It wastime for somethingdifferent.A fresh start.

BY KOKI RILEY Staff writer

Mike Alden calls them investors.

6:30 P.M.SATURDAy,ABC ä SEASONOPENER Houston Christian at LSU 7P.M.TUESDAy,SEC NETWORK+

Sure, most college football people would label them as donors or boosters, but Alden —who was the Missouri athletic director for 17 years —said they are investors because their investment comes with asense of power over thedecisions that aremade within the program. The introduction of NIL and revenue sharing isn’tthe firsttime collegiateathletes have beenpaid, but creating adirect correlationbetween theathletes anddonors haschanged the power dynamics within college sports, Aldensaid.

“Investors believe they’re going to have a higher say into what takes place in an athletic program,” Alden said, “probably than ever before.”

Perhaps no school has experienced this shift more violently than LSU last week.

LSUfired coach Brian Kelly on Oct. 26, watched Gov.Jeff Landry declare threedays later that athletic director Scott Woodward wouldn’thire Kelly’sreplacement and then parted ways with Woodward the day after Landry’scomments.

The whiplash and chaos of theweekdidn’t settle until Friday,when LSU announceda five-man committee, led by interim athletic director Verge Ausberry, thatwill select the next coach.

“Verge is the ideal person to lead this department through this change,” said John

Fulwiley’s whole life had unfolded within thesame 10-mile radius in Columbia, SouthCarolina. It was her home. She was first labeled agenerational talent there, then christened a hero there once she helped her hometown South Carolina Gamecocks win anational championship.

“When Ileft there, Ijust cut out all the distractions,” Fulwiley told The Advocate, “and now it’sjust strictly

basketball, strictly focused on my goals and where Iwant to be in life.”

In April, Fulwiley decided she wanted to be in Baton Rouge instead. That’swhere her junior season will begin when her LSUwomen’sbasket-

ball team hosts Houston Christian on Tuesday (7 p.m., SEC Network+)in the first gameofits fifth season under coach KimMulkey

Hundreds of women’scollege basketball players entered the transfer portal in the offseason. None of them settled on amore intriguing destination than Fulwiley,the dynamic

See FULWILEY, page 4C

BY TOYLOY BROWNIII Staff writer

Coach Matt McMahon called the NCAA Tournament the “North Star” for LSU basketball acouple of times this offseason Every roster decision andnew staff hire —suchasRonaldDupreeasthe program’sfirst generalmanager —has been motivated by the team’sdesire to return to The Big Dance forthe first time since the 2021-22 season. That missionstartsat7 p.m. Wednesday when LSU faces Tarleton State at the Pete MaravichAssembly Center In chargeofleadingthe Tigers for a fourth year is McMahon, who fielded a team that went 14-18 overall and 3-15 in the Southeastern Conference last year The Advocatespoke to 11-year ESPN national college basketball writer Jeff

Borzello about McMahon’sjob security entering the 2025-26 season.This interviewhappenedbeforeLSU fired football coach Brian Kelly McMahon’s position on thehot seat is clear to Borzello. He has an SEC record of 14-40 in threeyearsand no NCAA Tournament appearances. “You take that in avacuum,and that’s enough to be on thehot seat,” Borzello said. “Throw in the fact that, again, even with an improved roster, they’renot projectedtomakethe NCAA Tournament. And so just those two things combined, it’spretty easy to make acasethatheisonone of the hottest seatsinthe Power Five level right now.”

McMahon inherited abasketball program in 2022 withwhatBorzello calleda “dark cloud” hanging over

5:30

7:30 p.m.

LSU coaches reaching out to recruits

BY WILSON ALEXANDER Staff writer

Often when a head coach gets

fired, some of the team’s recruits back off their commitments.

So far for LSU, that has not happened in the wake of Brian Kelly‘s firing. A little more than a week later, the Tigers’ 2026 class has remained intact.

A month out from the early signing period Dec 3-5, interim coach Frank Wilson shed some light Monday on how the coaches are trying to keep the class together

“For us, it’s the 30-day countdown to signing day,” said Wilson, a key figure in LSU’s recruiting the past four years. “So, we have a plan, a systematic plan, and the responsibility of the primary recruiter, the coordinator, the head coach and the support staff that will allow us to do that.”

Wilson said he would spend Monday night calling recruits in the 2027 class. He has already talked to all 17 players committed in the current cycle, and he said he would speak to at least 10 of them again Tuesday On Wednesday LSU’s coaches will talk to more prospects.

“The whole key is communication, and so to be able to speak on our behalf and not allow someone to speak on behalf of us is the most important part,” Wilson said “When there’s a void, someone else steps in and says, ‘Hey, you hear what’s going on at LSU? This is what I heard. This is what I know.’ And we tell our committed guys, ‘You don’t have to listen to that because you have a direct line to the source.’ ” Injury updates

injury after Curne went down in the fourth quarter of a loss Oct. 25 to Texas A&M.

LSU is already down its starting left tackle after redshirt sophomore Tyree Adams got hurt against Vanderbilt. Adams has a “long-term” injury, Wilson said.

Curne started in his place against Texas A&M.

“We’re hopeful,” Wilson said.

“We’re taking it day-by-day.”

If Curne can’t play, Wilson said redshirt sophomore DJ Chester would “probably” play left tackle, which he has done multiple times this season. Wilson said LSU is also considering moving right tackle Weston Davis to the other side of the line.

Arkansas game time set

LSU’s kickoff time against Arkansas has been set. The Tigers will play at 11:45 a.m. inside Tiger Stadium on Nov. 15, it was announced Monday The game will air on SEC Network.

It will be LSU’s first home game since the firing of Kelly

After playing Alabama, LSU has games left against Arkansas, Western Kentucky and at Oklahoma. Arkansas will be the last SEC opponent the Tigers play at home.

Both LSU and Arkansas will have an interim coach. LSU appointed Wilson, and Arkansas is being led by Bobby Petrino after the mid-season firing of Sam Pittman

Fuaga expected to miss Saints’ game this week

New Orleans Saints right tackle Taliese Fuaga suffered a high ankle sprain against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday and probably won’t be available to play this week against the Carolina Panthers, head coach Kellen Moore said Monday Fuaga, the Saints’ 2024 firstround draft pick out of Oregon State, was seen in the locker room Monday wearing a protective boot on his right foot.

Fuaga was injured in the Saints’ 34-10 loss to the Rams. He left the field on a cart late in the fourth quarter with a towel covering his face. Asim Richards replaced Fuaga in the lineup. Fuaga has dealt with several injuries this season, including knee and back injuries.

Dolphins trade edge rusher Phillips to Eagles

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. The Miami Dolphins are trading edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round pick in next year’s draft, a person with knowledge of the move said Monday

The move reunites Phillips with Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who was in that same role with Miami in 2023. Phillips was on pace for a huge year that season before a season-ending Achilles tendon tear, with 61/2 sacks and 43 tackles in only eight games. Phillips figures to be an instant boost for the Eagles’ pass rush. Philadelphia has only 16 sacks through eight games, tied for ninth fewest in the league so far this season.

Braves promote bench coach Weiss to manager

ATLANTA

Star linebacker Whit Weeks and freshman offensive lineman Carius Curne are questionable to play against the Crimson Tide, Wilson said.

Weeks missed the past two games with an ankle injury It is the same right ankle that re-

Wilson gave an update Monday on the Tigers’ injured players heading into their game Saturday night against No. 4 Alabama.

LSU

Continued from page 1C

Carmouche, the chairman of the LSU athletic committee on the LSU Board of Supervisors “And I want to be very clear, he has full authority to do so, that includes leading the search for our next head coach and hiring our next head coach.”

But the drama of the past week at LSU has made hiring the next coach more difficult.

“We are not going to let this program fail,” Ausberry said Friday “LSU has to be in the playoffs every year in football; there are 12 teams that make it. It’s going to expand here. We have to be one of those at LSU.”

LSU is without a full-time athletic director or a sitting university president, greatly complicating matters in its coaching search.

Before Woodward’s dismissal, LSU president William F. Tate IV suddenly left his post in May to become the next president at Rutgers. Having an athletic director and president in place is critical on two fronts during a search. Not only does it help the university make the right choice for a new coach but a sound structure also helps reassure coaches who are interested in the job that the chain of command at the school is solid.

“I learned something several years ago (from) a governor of a state in our country A very admired person this is what that person shared with me directly,” Alden said. “Governors appoint boards. Boards hire presidents. Presidents hire chancellors, and chancellors hire athletic directors, and athletic directors hire coaches, and you always have to keep that alignment.”

A typical football coaching search involves the athletic director working with the university president and maybe a small handful of other individuals.

For this LSU search, instead of having that typical alignment in place, the school has created a

committee to hire its next coach, including Ausberry, Carmouche, LSU Board of Supervisors chairman Scott Ballard, former LSU offensive lineman Ben Bordelon and Francis Missionaries of Our Lady Health System president and CEO EJ Kuiper.

Bordelon is a major booster for LSU football, and Kuiper leads an organization that is also a significant donor for the program, meaning that boosters will be directly involved with the coaching search.

That’s something Gene Smith never experienced in his decades as an athletic director at Iowa State, Arizona State and Ohio State. If anything, the boosters he dealt with at Ohio State wanted nothing to do with hiring the next coach.

“I’ve been in the industry for a long time, so I was fortunate to make the selections without donor involvement,” said Smith, who retired as the Ohio State athletic director in June after 19 years.

“... I didn’t have an environment where donors would call me and say, ‘I want to be involved in the search,’ or call our president and say, ‘I want to be involved in the search.’

“

Smith acknowledges that the situation at LSU, where there is no sitting president or athletic director, makes it so the search committee may need different perspectives in the room, including using the expertise of donors.

But Alden is skeptical of how boosters can be a significant help to a program’s coaching search outside of their financial contributions. He points to former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s involvement in reshaping the Oklahoma football program as an example of why he believes direct donor involvement can complicate an athletic department’s decisionmaking process

“When you see all these different people with no experience that are being involved to try to make that type of decision, it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out,” Alden said, “because that would not take place for AT&T when they’re trying to identify who the next CEO is.”

quired surgery after he suffered an injury during the Texas Bowl.

“We’ll get him out there (Tuesday) to see what he can do,” Wilson said, “and kind of measure it and we’ll build it as the week goes on based on his pain tolerance.”

Curne participated in a walkthrough Sunday, Wilson said. He did not specify the nature of the

Affecting matters further is Landry’s involvement Besides declaring that Woodward wouldn’t choose the next coach, he also said LSU wouldn’t hand out a major contract to the next coach, incorrectly stated that Kelly’s buyout may need to be paid by taxpayers and blasted the agents who construct major coaching contracts.

Just hours before Kelly’s firing was announced, Landry also hosted a meeting at the governor’s mansion regarding the financial logistics of Kelly’s buyout

Smith never consulted with a governor when it came to his decision to hire a coach.

“We always communicated with the governor once we made a choice, so he wasn’t caught off guard. Just from a communication point of view, it was appropriate,” Smith said, “but I never had a situation where he was involved in a search.”

Witnessing a governor take this much action for a college football coaching search is something Alden said he’s never seen. He believes Landry’s comments have complicated matters for potential candidates, as they would wonder who they’d report to if they take the job.

“Who is it that I work for? Do I work with this person, or do I have these 12 people (I work for)?

Or is it the governor that I’m answering to? I mean, who am I answering to here?” Alden said.

“Because once you’ve broken that seal by making those kinds of comments, then you’ve created confusion. You’ve created misalignment, not sharing exactly what’s going on.

“How do you get clarity on that when you’re out recruiting your next coach? I don’t know I’m sure that’ll get solved, but that certainly is a big challenge.”

LSU hopes Ausberry can create that alignment. The longtime LSU administrator is in his 24th year working for the department and has been the executive deputy director of athletics since 2019.

Both Alden and Smith have great respect for Ausberry and his work at LSU. Smith went as far as to say

Arkansas is 2-7 overall and 0-5 in the SEC heading into an open date before it plays LSU. The Razorbacks rank 24th in the country in scoring offense at 35.4 points per game, but they have the worst defense in the SEC.

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that Ausberry deserves to become the next full-time athletic director

“I just respect him, and I’ve seen him on panels, and I just think he’s been through every job that exists in that athletic department,” Smith said, “and so I just think he understands the culture and he obviously has great respect on the board because he was chosen to be the interim.”

Alden also noted that Ausberry has had “plenty of opportunities” to further his administrative career around the country, but his commitment to LSU has kept him in Baton Rouge.

“He’s a person that has been seen as being professional, consistent, respectful, knowledgeable and engaging,” Alden said. “And I think when you have all of that kind of stuff, there’s a value-added piece to that also means he is fully committed to LSU.

“At the end of the day LSU is really fortunate that they have a guy as talented as Verge Ausberry.”

Ausberry still faces a steep hill to find the next LSU coach. He has donors he’ll need to manage on his search committee and a governor peering over his shoulder who’s already created confusion and misalignment, all while dealing with the typical pressures of hiring the next coach of a program that has won three national championships this century

It’s a wild situation for Ausberry, one that was borne from an environment that already has affected schools across the nation.

“I think the genesis of it,” Alden said, “was when athletic directors and presidents (were) going out and asking people ‘Hey for us to be in the game, we’ve got to have you not only donate what you donate on a regular basis to our annual fund, but we have to ask you to step it up even more so that we can be out there in a more aggressive space,’ in the NIL and now the revenue-share space.

“And when you did that, you created a direct connection between donors and a student-athlete. And that is completely foreign towards what the model has always been in college athletics.”

The Atlanta Braves hired Walt Weiss on Monday as their manager, promoting from within for the successor to 2021 World Series winner Brian Snitker. Weiss has been the Braves’ bench coach since 2018 and was on Snitker’s staff four years ago when they won the fourth championship in franchise history Snitker also was an internal hire, coming from Triple-A in 2016, when he replaced Fredi González midseason and then got the full-time job the following year

This is Weiss’ second major league managing job after four seasons with the Colorado Rockies (2013-16). Weiss finished his playing career as a shortstop with Atlanta from 1998-2000.

Delgado, Kent, Sheffield, Valenzuela join Hall ballot

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy were held over on the Hall of Fame’s contemporary baseball era committee ballot and will be joined next month by Carlos Delgado, Jeff Kent, Gary Sheffield and Fernando Valenzuela.

The 16-person committee meets on Dec 7 at the winter meetings in Orlando, Florida, and a 75% vote is necessary for election. Anyone elected will be inducted on July 26, along with anyone chosen in the Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote, announced on Jan. 20. Albert Belle, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling were dropped after appearing on the previous contemporary era ballot in December 2022.

Packers TE Kraft out for season with torn ACL Green Bay’s Tucker Kraft seemingly was on his way to putting together one of the most prolific seasons by any tight end in Packers history Now he’s done for the season before the halfway mark. Kraft tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the third quarter of Green Bay’s 16-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers and will miss the rest of the season. The news came Monday on Kraft’s 25th birthday Kraft lined up left and was moving to his right behind the line of scrimmage when he ran into the backside of Packers guard Sean Rhyan, who was blocking Carolina’s Nic Scourton on the play Kraft had 32 catches for 489 yards and six touchdowns this season. He led the Packers (5-2-1) in yards receiving and touchdown catches.

Tulane women take opener on putback

BY DARRELL WILLIAMS Contributing writer

Campbell had its way rebounding against the Tulane women all day — until the game was on the line.

Green Wave forward Jordyn Weaver’s putback with two seconds left provided the winning points in a 74-72 victory at Devlin Fieldhouse in the season opener

Monday Campbell had a last-second chance to win or tie. The ball was inbounded to forward Jasmine Felton at the left free-throw line elbow with two seconds left, but she couldn’t find an open cutter before the clock ran out

“Any time you can pull out a close win against a battle-tested team early in the season, I’m happy,” Tulane coach Ashley Langford said. “I’m proud that our players were able to pull through because we weren’t in a flow necessarily.”

Senior forward Amira Mabry led Tulane with 19 points, and sophomore point guard Kendall Sneed had 14.

Guard Jasmine Nivar scored a game-high 20 points for Campbell, while Felton and guard Olivia Tucker each had 12. Campbell, who last year went 2213, is a member of the Coastal Athletic Conference, in which Langford coached Stony Brook before coming to Tulane last season The Camels reached the second round of the WNIT last season.

Tulane won despite getting outrebounded 43-29, including a 2311 deficit in offensive rebounds.

Campbell coach Ronny Fisher said there was some irony in Tulane winning on a last-second putback, but he said a 3-pointer by guard Tamiah Robinson with 3:08 left in the game and one by sophomore guard Sadie Shores at the 1:46 mark were key

Those two gave the Wave a 70-

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

Tulane forward Jordyn Weaver shoots over Campbell forward Carla Baguda during the season opener Monday at Devlin Fieldhouse.

Weaver’s putback with two seconds left gave Tulane a 74-72 win

68 lead The score was tied twice after that, including 72-72 on a putback by Felton with 31 seconds showing.

“I thought the difference in the game was that in the last three minutes, we missed a few block outs and they made a couple big 3s,” Fisher said. “We also got a couple of (offensive) rebounds and had really good looks but just couldn’t put the ball in.”

Tulane next will play Missouri at 6:30 p.m. Thursday It is the first of three games against SEC foes, the first two at Devlin Fieldhouse.

The Wave will play host to LSU on Nov 17.

“We obviously have to clean up our rebounding,” Langford said, “but I liked our effort.”

The Wave trailed 27-19 entering the second quarter against the hot-shooting Camels, but Tulane’s

depth and pace got it back in the game. With Langford substituting freely, the Wave outscored Campbell 20-6 to take a 39-35 lead with three minutes left in the half.

Tulane made four 3s during the run — two by guard CC Mays and one each by guard Jayda Brown and Mabry, who started the flourish with a corner 3 off a break at the 7:13 mark.

The Wave shot 8 of 16 in the second quarter, including 4 of 7 on 3s after making just 1 of 8 attempts in the first. Campbell shot just 4 of 19 (21.1%) in the second quarter after torching Tulane on 9-of-15 shooting in the first quarter

Led by Sneed, Tulane attacked the lane with drives, scoring 20 points in the paint.

Tulane led 41-38 at halftime, and the score was tied 56-56 at the end of the third.

Tulane to get top linebacker Howard back vs. Memphis

BY GUERRY SMITH Contributing writer

Coming off an abysmal defensive performance against TexasSan Antonio, Tulane is getting a huge boost before a must-win game at 22nd-ranked Memphis on Friday (8 p.m., ESPN).

Senior Sam Howard, the Green Wave’s spiritual leader and one of its top tacklers, practiced Monday and has been cleared to play against the Tigers after missing the past two games with a leg injury he suffered in the fourth quarter vs. East Carolina on Oct. 9.

“He’s a guy that elevates everybody,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “He’s a thermostat guy, not a thermometer He changes the temperature for everybody He doesn’t take the temperature.”

A week ago, Sumrall said Howard was questionable for Memphis, but he has made rapid progress since then. After finishing second on the team with 63 tackles last season, he was third this year with 31 before getting hurt.

His absence left Tulane without both of its starting linebackers from the beginning of the year Dickson Agu tore an ACL in the conference opener at Tulsa and will miss the rest of the season.

“He (Howard)’s such a good player on the field, but his difference is felt not just on the field with how he plays,” Sumrall said. “It’s what he does to everybody around him. He’s such a high-standard, highcharacter guy that it forces everybody else to try to match his tempo and his urgency and his energy, coaches included. I grabbed him today in the middle of practice and was like, I’m better because you’re here today.”

The entire defense will need to play better Friday after the lopsided 48-26 loss to Texas-San Antonio, when Roadrunners quarterback Owen McCown completed 31 of 33 passes for 370 yards and four touchdowns on his way to being named American Conference offensive player of the week.

The task is not any easier this week. Dual-threat Memphis quar-

SCOREBOARD

12. (9) Chris Buescher, Ford, 319, 27.

13. (13) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 319, 29.

14. (29) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 319, 23.

15. (8) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 319, 26.

16. (15) Erik Jones, Toyota, 319, 21.

17. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 319, 20.

18. (12) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 319, 24.

19. (14) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 319, 18.

20. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 319, 17.

21. (25) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 319, 16.

22. (30) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 319, 15.

23. (32) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 319, 14.

24. (31) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 319, 13.

25. (27) Cole Custer, Ford, 319, 12.

26. (24) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 319, 11.

27. (18) Noah Gragson, Ford, 319, 10.

28. (6) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 319, 16.

29. (22) Zane Smith, Ford, 319, 8.

30. (33) Cody Ware, Ford, 319, 7.

31. (28) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 319, 6.

32. (35) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, 317, 0.

33. (2) William Byron, Chevrolet, 317, 22.

34. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, 301, 10.

35. (34) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 296, 2.

36. (36) Casey Mears, Ford, 284, 0.

37. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, brakes, 165, 1.

8 P.M.FRIDAy,ESPN

terback Brendon Lewis has passed for more than 300 yards in a game this year (307 vs. South Florida) and run for more than 100 in another (103 against Arkansas).

Tulane (6-2, 3-1) and Memphis (8-1, 4-1) are two of six teams with one loss in the bunched-up American. The winner of their matchup will be in good position to reach the championship game, while the loser will face incredibly long odds considering all the teams that would be in front of them.

“We’re just trying to be dialed in and making sure our guys are focused on details,” Sumrall said.

“Look, nobody’s happy with the performance a week ago. The only way you can make it better is by getting prepared to play better

“We’re all displeased Anybody that’s comfortable with that is going to be a loser in life, but we’re not going to sit around and mope.”

It was not just the defense that came up empty in the Alamodome. Tulane committed four turnovers, losing a fumble early before Jake Retzlaff threw a pair of critical interceptions into coverage. The game was out of reach by the time backup Brendan Sullivan tossed another pick.

“We can’t beat air if we turn the ball over four times, unless we get four of them back,” Sumrall said.

“When there’s any sort of proximity in ability, minus-four is going to kill you, so it’s just about showing the guys, hey, this is what wins games and this is what loses games.”

Texas-San Antonio coach Jeff Traylor was highly critical of Sumrall after the game, saying his comments earlier in the week about the Roadrunners cheating by piping in crowd noise when it was not allowed were disrespectful.

“To the victor goes the spoils,” Sumrall said. “Me and him (Traylor) talked on Friday We’re friends. I didn’t listen to what he said (Thursday night). We spoke as friends on Friday, and he was like I didn’t mean any animosity I didn’t know there was anything there. There’s no ill will.”

Sea_Arroyo 26 pass from Darnold (Myers kick), 8:41. Sea_C.White 60 pass from Darnold (Myers kick), 4:34. Was_Daniels 1 run (Gay kick), :53 Sea_FG Myers 41, :00 Third Quarter Sea_Barner 1 run (Myers kick), 1:53 Fourth Quarter Was_Rodriguez 4 run (Gay kick), 7:14 A_64,197. SeaWas First downs 21 19 Total Net Yards 418

Rushes-yards

Fumbles-Lost

Penalties-Yards

Time of Possession

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Seattle, Walker 11-42, Charbonnet 8-25, Smith-Njigba 1-11, Holani 3-9, Barner 1-1. Washington, Rodriguez 12-65, Daniels 10-51, Croskey-Merritt 12-38, Samuel 1-3, McNichols 1-0. PASSING_Seattle, Darnold 21-24-1-330. Washington, Daniels 16-22-1-153. RECEIVING_Seattle, Smith-Njigba 8-129, Horton 4-48, Barner 3-24, Arroyo 2-29, Walker 2-19, C.White 1-60, Charbonnet 1-21. Washington, Samuel 5-41, Ertz 4-46, Lane 3-29, Bates 2-20, Burks 1-14, Croskey-Merritt 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALS_None. Auto racing NASCAR Cup Series Championship Results Sunday At Phoenix Raceway Avondale, Ariz. Lap length: 1.00 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (5) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 319 laps, 58 points. 2. (19) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 319, 35. 3. (3) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 319, 47 4. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 319, 39 5. (11) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 319, 32 6. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 319, 49.

7. (7) Josh Berry, Ford, 319, 30. 8. (37) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 319, 29. 9. (21) Ryan Preece, Ford, 319, 28. 10. (17) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 319, 28. 11. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 319, 32.

38. (38) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 146, 1. Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 97.714 mph. Time of Race: 3 hours, 15 minutes, 53 seconds. Margin of Victory: .097 seconds. Caution Flags: 9 for 65 laps. Lead Changes: 16 among 6 drivers Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 0-52; W.Byron 53-64; D.Hamlin 65; R.Blaney 66-79; D.Hamlin 80-188; R.Blaney 189-193; W.Byron 194-221; D.Hamlin 222; C.Elliott 223-252; W.Byron 253-261; D.Hamlin 262; W.Byron 263-265; D.Hamlin 266-281; C.Briscoe 282-284; D.Hamlin 285-312; B.Keselowski 313-318; R.Blaney 319 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): D.Hamlin, 7 times for 208 laps; W.Byron, 4 times for 52 laps; C.Elliott, 1 time for 30 laps; R.Blaney, 3 times for 20 laps; B.Keselowski, 1 time for 6 laps; C.Briscoe, 1 time for 3 laps. Wins: D.Hamlin, 6; S.Van Gisbergen, 5; C.Bell, 4; K.Larson, 3; C.Briscoe, 3; W.Byron, 3; R.Blaney, 3; C.Elliott, 2; J.Logano, 1; B.Wallace, 1; R.Chastain, 1; A.Cindric, 1; A.Dillon, 1; J.Berry, 1. Top 16 in Points: 1. D.Hamlin, 5000; 2. K.Larson, 5000; 3. C.Briscoe, 5000; 4. W.Byron, 5000; 5. C.Bell, 2371; 6. R.Blaney, 2315; 7. T.Reddick, 2298; 8. J.Logano, 2291; 9. C.Elliott, 2282; 10. B.Wallace, 2255; 11. R.Chastain, 2243; 12. S.Van Gisbergen, 2198; 13. A.Bowman, 2166; 14. A.Cindric, 2146; 15. A.Dillon, 2135; 16. J.Berry, 2120. NASCAR Driver Rating Formula A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race. The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish. College basketball Women’s State Schedule Monday’s games Southeastern 105, Centenary 49 McNeese 100, Pensacola Christian College 38 Nebraska 103, Northwestern State 46 Tulane 74, Campbell 72 Nicholls 72, Alcorn 66 Bowling Green 55, UL 46 Iowa 86, Southern 51 Oklahoma State 109, UNO 48 UL-Monroe 80,

FULWILEY

Continued from page 1C

guard who left the Gamecocks so she could play for their top rival. Why did Fulwiley turn to the other side in the LSU-South Carolina rivalry?

On Friday, after a light practice, the 5-foot-10 guard sat down in the Tigers’ training facility and said she needed some things that the Gamecocks could no longer offer her

A chance to show WNBA scouts she can play point guard A distraction-free environment that she could tailor solely to her development as a basketball player

A new place that could strip away everything else and show her who she really was.

“My real close people and people that’s really in my circle and know me in real life,” Fulwiley said, “they understand why I made that move, and they never questioned it because they already knew They see me every day They knew that I needed to leave.”

‘The best-kept secret’

It’s not unusual to see a bigname coach walking around WJ Keenan High School in Columbia. The place tends to produce college basketball players. Longtime boys basketball coach Zachary Norris has coached his fair share of Division I talents, which means he’s also hosted his fair share of Division I coaches.

Like Gregg Marshall, the disgraced former Wichita State men’s basketball coach. He was watching Keenan’s team practice one day when a smaller, younger player caught his eye. She played with the girls Sometimes, she’d practice with the boys.

“Who’s that?” Marshall asked Norris.

“I said, ‘That’s MiLaysia Fulwiley,’ ” Norris said. “ ‘That’s the best-kept secret around here.’ ” Norris — a South Carolina Hall of Famer beginning his 39th season as a high school basketball coach — used to tell his team that he’d be late to pregame meetings because he wanted to watch Fulwiley play in her middle school games. Even then, she was a big deal. Reggie McLain, the Keenan girls coach, let Fulwiley join his varsity team when she was in seventh grade.

A year later The State newspaper in Columbia ran a story about a local basketball star who was seeking her second high school state championship — before she even started high school.

The subject, of course, was Fulwiley She already was a dazzling talent magnetic enough to attract a few spectators at her first varsity practice, then later, draw crowds large enough for games that Keenan’s coaches brushed up on the fire code.

“She was just a great person,” Norris said. “Great to be around. Always made you laugh and smile. And then on the court, she was just, oh man, amazing. Just the things that she could do, some of the guys couldn’t even do them.”

As a freshman in high school, Fulwiley scored 54 points while South Carolina coach Dawn Staley watched from the bleachers. As a junior, she dueled with future LSU star Flau’jae Johnson. Keenan had to start turning fans away from that game. Inside, the two traded deep 3s, trash talk and crafty tran-

LSU MEN

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it. The previous coach, Will Wade, was fired for cause after committing NCAA violations. McMahon signed a contract that lasts until 2029 to rebuild the program. His buyout, if fired after this season, is roughly $6.5 million.

“We’ve seen it on the football side that many times that amount of money is not going to stop a school from making a move if they feel that it’s time,” Borzello said Borzello thinks McMahon will be gone if LSU misses the tournament again, but he can also see a scenario where McMahon stays if the team is one of the first four out when the bracket is revealed. What also would factor into the decision is the risk of losing players from the high school recruiting trail and the following season’s transfer portal cycle.

Regardless, the only way for McMahon to “feel safe” is by making the tournament.

“I don’t know if LSU — with the resources they have and with the resources they use on this year’s roster — just don’t know if they’re going to go into year five without being to a tournament under McMahon,” Borzello said “I wouldn’t say it’s guaranteed he gets fired if

sition layups, foreshadowing their subsequent matchups in college. Fulwiley committed to South Carolina as a senior then helped her hometown Gamecocks win a national championship as a freshman. Bradley Elementary, her former school, invited her to speak to its students that spring.

So, too, did Keenan On that visit, Fulwiley wore a shirt that read “Homegrown Champion.”

“She had a dream,” said Kezia Myers, principal at Bradley, “and now her dream is reality. They can do it as well. So, she inspires other people, even if she knows it or not. Because they look up to her.”

Now, with Fulwiley at LSU, Columbia residents have to do so from afar

“I respect her for what she did,” Norris said. “I really do. Because it takes a lot to leave your hometown and leave your family and everything. It takes a lot. But to me, that’s a part of maturity, too, and maybe she needs another avenue to show her stuff and the skills that she has.

“But it hurts now because I can’t go down to (South Carolina) to watch her, you know?” Norris said with a laugh. “I’m kind of caught in between on that one.”

‘Get the best of her’

In the memoir she published in May, Staley called Fulwiley “a younger, savvier version of myself.” She’s naturally reserved, the South Carolina coach wrote, and quiet. She’s also a “show woman.”

She embraces the spotlight when she’s playing well and shies away

he doesn’t make the tournament, but I don’t think he’ll feel safe at all if they find themselves on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday.”

Winning more games than last season especially during SEC play will alleviate some pressure. Being a competitive team in the conference is a possibility that’s not outlandish, Borzello said. He said LSU did a “quietly good job” improving its roster with mostly older players who can be “plug and play.”

The crown jewel of the overhaul is the new junior point guard from UNLV.

“I love Dedan Thomas,” Borzello said. “I’ve liked him since high school. Really good point guard, really good passer, one of the better non-Power Five point guards in the country last year.”

The SEC will be deep again after a season where an NCAA-record 14 teams made the tournament While the top of the conference won’t be as elite, several teams in the middle and back half of the standings should be vying for bids again.

Finding a way to “thread the needle” will be tough, but it’s something LSU is capable of achieving.

“From a pure talent perspective, I think there’s certainly enough on the roster,” Borzello said.

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy brown@theadvocate.com

from it when she isn’t.

Fulwiley is also “prideful,” Staley said. She doesn’t want to need anything, and she’d rather not ask for help.

Staley penned that description of her former star guard in a chapter she wrote about the importance of developing good habits. That wisdom is what the Gamecocks coach spent the previous two seasons trying to instill in Fulwiley, as she said in an April appearance on “The Breakfast Club” radio show

“I thought MiLaysia was getting better,” Staley told the show’s hosts. “I saw a whole lot of growth, on and off the court. LSU’s gonna get the best of her now.”

Fulwiley is one of the country’s most electrifying players. She’s quick and fast. For a guard, she’s tall and long, and she can swarm opposing ballhandlers at the point of attack. Few players are more adept at navigating tight spaces, dishing out crafty passes or finishing layups from difficult angles.

At South Carolina, Fulwiley changed the complexion of games.

She scored a career-high 24 points in an SEC Tournament final win over LSU as a freshman The next season, she notched 16 of her 23 points in the second half of a tight NCAA Tournament victory over Maryland, propelling the Gamecocks into the Elite Eight.

Staley, however, preferred to play Fulwiley in spurts.

Sometimes, she’d commit a costly turnover or miss a defensive assignment.

Fulwiley played at least 30 min-

utes in only one of the 77 games she appeared in as a Gamecock. Before she was unleashed last season in the Sweet 16, she was benched in the second round. Those struggles were carrying over from one round of the tournament to the next, so Staley tore into her in the third quarter of the game against the Terrapins, then watched her catch fire the next time she checked in.

“I think what we saw over her time at South Carolina is decision-making being a big thing for Dawn Staley,” ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said on a recent conference call with reporters, “in terms of on the offensive end of the floor and her improvement there.

“Also, on the defensive end of the floor, you just saw her grow and mature throughout the last couple of years, and I think you will continue to see those things.”

South Carolina’s last chance to climb back into its national championship loss to UConn last season was starting to slip away Then Fulwiley checked in late in the third quarter and gave the Gamecocks a chance. She banked in a runner Blocked a shot. Stole a pass and assisted a fastbreak layup. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma, sensing a shift, called a timeout.

“She can change the course of a game in just a few possessions,” Lobo noted on the broadcast.

The run was short-lived. On the first play after the break, UConn star Sarah Strong caught Fulwiley out of position and passed to the open sharpshoot-

ing guard Azzi Fudd, who buried a corner 3-pointer that negated what South Carolina had done on the previous few possessions. The broadcast then captured Staley yelling in frustration on the bench. Her reaction was quickly clipped and plastered across social media, and now it’s immortalized in gif form.

“You don’t help off the strongside corner,” Lobo said.

A month and a half later, Fulwiley signed with LSU, and Staley was booked for a press tour of her book.

“We went through the hard part of just smoothing some rough edges,” Staley said on the radio show, “and getting her to create good habits. I do think habits are the thing that allows you to elevate. So, I think what we’ve given her and what she’s given us, will allow her to have much better days, much more consistent days, than she had with us at her next stop.”

‘Mixed views’

LSU checked every box for Fulwiley

She can play point guard there. She can compete for a national title there. She can play the only way she knows how to there — fast, loose and free and she can do so in the SEC, arguably the most competitive league in the country She didn’t want to leave the conference.

Still, Fulwiley’s decision rocked the college basketball world while puzzling some folks from her hometown — and rankling others.

“At first, I was trying to figure out why,” said Norris, the Keenan boys basketball coach.

Said McLain, her high school coach: “The thing that I think shocked the people was the destination.”

Myers, the principal at Fulwiley’s elementary school and an avid South Carolina fan, said Fulwiley’s move was “totally her decision.”

“She has to make her own way,” Myers said, “so we are extremely proud of her and know that she’s going to do well.”

Running point in Mulkey’s system has its challenges. Hailey Van Lith chose LSU for the same reason in 2023, and she reentered the portal after one rocky season with the Tigers, though she later said her initial decision to move to Baton Rouge helped her get drafted into the WNBA in 2025. Fulwiley is following that same path, except her transfer move happened to spice up one of the sport’s bitter rivalries.

“I think you’re gonna have mixed views,” McLain said. “You got some that’s still gonna support her like us. We’re gonna support her and her coaches and family You got a lot that are not gonna support her They didn’t like the decision. They were not for it.”

But Fulwiley wants those folks to know she simply did what she thought was best for her and her family and that above all else, it was important for her to choose a team that she could help win a national title.

“I also wanted to be on a team that fit my style of play,” Fulwiley said, “where I can just be myself, but also be coachable and be disciplined while being myself. And I felt like this was one of those programs.”

Email Reed Darcey at reed. darcey@theadvocate.com. For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Pels look to ‘turn page’ starting against Hornets

BY ROD WALKER Staff writer

Willie Green understands the frustration that comes with an 0-6 start to the season and a 13-game losing streak dating back to last season So as the New Orleans Pelicans return home from a three-game road trip to host the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday night at Smoothie King Center, Green is viewing it this way

“Turning the page,” he said “Obviously we’re all disappointed, frustrated with our start. But we continue to come in, work at it and address it.” Green said he and executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars talk daily about where the team stands.

“We all echo the same sentiment,” Green said. “We’ll continue to work at it. We are all frustrated and want to be better We’re all a part of making sure that we do what we can to be better.”

After a tough road trip against three Western Conference heavyweights, the Pelicans will try to pick up their first victory since last March. The Hornets bring a 3-4 re-

ä

cord to the Smoothie King Center

“We are definitely in a spot where we need to win games,” forward

Trey Murphy said. “We are not happy with what’s going on right now We will have to play better as a team. We are going to have to go out there and fight and compete.

That’s the biggest thing right now.”

Competing wasn’t always the case through the first six games

The Pels have lost three of those games (Celtics, Nuggets and Thunder) by at least 30 points.

The Pelicans rank 27th in the league in offensive efficiency and next-to-last in defensive ef-

ficiency

“Not to make any excuses, but it’s a new group playing against really experienced teams,” Green said. “With Boston, Denver and OKC, if you don’t compete for 48 minutes — play hard and play together against groups like that they expose you.”

Green understands that as the losses mount, so does the displeasure among fans.

“When you take these positions, this is what comes with it,” he said.

“There is no way around that. If the team doesn’t do well or doesn’t start the way you want it to, I’m up front and center It’s my responsibility to continue to help these guys get on track.”

The season is still young, and Murphy isn’t discouraged by the slow start. There is still time to turn things around.

“A lot of times you need just one (win),” Murphy said. “My rookie year, we started 1-12 and we ended up making the playoffs. It’s not about how you start It’s how you finish.”

Zion Williamson (left hamstring soreness) and Yves Missi (illness) are both listed as questionable for Tuesday It’s the first of back-toback games for the Pelicans. They play at the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. They follow that up with a road game Saturday against the San Antonio Spurs and a road game Monday against the Phoenix Suns.

The goal is to end some of the frustration Tuesday night against Charlotte.

“I totally understand the frustration from fans,” Green said. “We all feel the same way and we want to get it right.”

Quinn takes blame for Daniels’ dislocated elbow

BY NOAH TRISTER AP sportswriter

Jayden Daniels has a dislocated left elbow, and Washington coach Dan Quinn did not have a timetable for his return when he provided an update Monday

Some Saints putting trade rumors aside

BY MATTHEW PARAS Staff writer

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Asked how he’d go about the next few days, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Rashid Shaheed said he wouldn’t dwell on Sunday’s 3410 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, adding he and his teammates would be ready to work.

But at his locker, Shaheed had to be politely corrected about what the reporter meant.

How would he go about handling Tuesday’s trade deadline?

“It’s not really up to me,” Shaheed said. “That’s not my decision. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no idea. It’s kind of up in the air.”

Before Shaheed answered, a few of his teammates chuckled nearby The wide receiver can be forgiven if he’s not used to his name being in rumors, but that’s changed of late. Shaheed is one of the Saints’ most frequently mentioned trade candidates, arguably even more so than teammate Chris Olave.

Pro Football Talk reported Saturday that the 27-year-old Shaheed is “seen as widely available” around the league, and the Saints reportedly are asking for at least a third-round pick in return.

Shaheed is in the final year of his contract, and the Saints are rebuilding at 1-8.

“I just take it as respect from other teams,” Shaheed said of the interest. “They feel that way about me, and that’s a good thing. But you know, I’m here, and that’s where I want to be.”

Shaheed’s future with the Saints is in question in part because of his contract uncertainty While Olave confirmed the Saints have been discussing a contract extension with him since the beginning of the season, Shaheed said his own negotiations with the franchise have been quiet.

The same agent represents Olave and Shaheed, but Olave’s deal isn’t up until after the 2026 season, because the Saints decided to pick up the former firstrounder’s fifth-year option.

“We haven’t really talked about it much since the season has started,” Shaheed said. “I can’t really say much about it.”

It remains to be seen whether any team will meet the Saints’ reported asking price, or if New Orleans would accept less when push comes to shove The Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Seattle

WALKER

Continued from page 1C

The Saints are just past the midway point of their season, but they have some winnable games (I think) left against struggling teams such as the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.

The Pelicans are just six games in. It’s too soon in an 82-game season to hit the panic button, but it’s more about the way the Pelicans have lost. Three of the losses have been by 30 or more points.

Things were so rough Sunday that you could have a serious debate about whose defense was worse: Willie Green’s team or Kellen Moore’s team?

Green’s Pelicans gave up 108 points through the first three quarters against a Thunder team missing three of its four best players. Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Lu Dort all sat out.

Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers have been among the teams reportedly looking for help at receiver Shaheed has 44 catches for 499 yards and three touchdowns in nine games this season. If Sunday was his final game for the Saints, he finished his time in New Orleans by leading the team in receptions (five) and receiving yards (68). But the performance arguably wasn’t splashy enough to boost his trade value.

The Saints have only five picks in next year’s draft after making several trades earlier this season. The team sent its fourth-rounder and 2027 seventh-rounder to the Denver Broncos in exchange for wideout Devaughn Vele. And in March, they sent a seventh-round selection to the New England Patriots for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux. New Orleans also could gain a fourth-round compensatory pick to account for Paulson Adebo’s departure to the New York Giants.

Shaheed and Olave also have not been the only Saints mentioned in rumors Cornerback

Alontae Taylor is in the final year of his deal and declined to comment Sunday about whether he and the Saints have had conversations about an extension. The Saints, like with Shaheed, are reportedly seeking at least a thirdround pick for Taylor

“Man, I’m a God-fearing man; I feel like that’s all up to God,” Taylor said. “I love being here. I enjoy being in this locker room, with this team and this squad. If I can stay here and be here, that’s where I want to be. But I just want to be wherever God wants me to be.”

As many as a dozen Saints have been floated in trade rumors over the last few weeks, including veterans such as running back Alvin Kamara and linebacker Demario Davis.

Kamara threatened to retire if traded, while Davis recently said he doesn’t worry about matters out of his control.

“I’ve had a blessed career here,” said Davis, who has been with the Saints since 2018. “It’s been everything that I can ask for and imagine in terms of a team to be on. I’ve been able to help the team, and this team has helped my career This city means so much to me and my family

“But at the end of the day, it is a business. And you have to be aware of that.”

away in June to move up in the 2025 draft.

So neither of these teams will be fixed overnight. It’s going to take some time.

It’s almost fitting that this is being written on Nov 3. On that date a year ago, Dennis Allen coached his final game for the Saints in Charlotte, North Carolina, against the Carolina Panthers. He was fired the next day

The Saints, after striking out on several coaches they targeted, hired Moore.

Across the parking lot, the Pelicans fired executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin at the end of the second-worst season in franchise history and replaced him with Louisiana native Joe Dumars.

“By Wednesday and Thursday, I’m sure I’ll be able to update that a little bit further, once other opinions and those things are there,” Quinn said “It’ll knock him out for a while, for sure.” Quinn began his video conference by admitting it was a mistake to leave Daniels in the game in the fourth quarter Sunday night The Commanders were down 38-7 to Seattle in a game they’d eventually lose 38-14, and Daniels already had missed time this season with knee and hamstring problems. The second-year quarterback was hurt with 7:29 remaining, when he was tackled and his non-throwing arm bent gruesomely after he put his hand on the ground. Quinn said that was going to be the last drive for a few key players, and the plan was to avoid having Daniels run the ball, but that wasn’t enough to keep him out of trouble. He took a shotgun snap near the goal line, faked a handoff and then moved to his right to avoid pressure before being brought down.

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By NICK WASS

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is helped off the field after injuring his arm during a play in the second half of a game on Sunday in Landover, Md.

“That’s where I missed it,” Quinn said. “Of course, he could scramble. It’s Jayden. It’s what he’s special at. That is 100 percent that’s on me.” Daniels was apparently in so much pain that he started swinging his right leg back and forth while lying on the ground, but perhaps fortunately for him and the Com-

manders, the injury wasn’t related to his legs. Quinn said it’s just a dislocation, no fractures.

Although Quinn stopped short of ruling Daniels out for the season, the Commanders (3-6) might need to make a significant run without him for his return later on to make much sense. “Haven’t even gone there,” Quinn said. “That’s a way-downthe-line space to get into.”

Moore’s Saints allowed 438 yards of offense and had no answer for Matthew Stafford and his offense.

To be fair, the overmatched Saints and Pelicans were playing teams that very well could be lifting the Lombardi Trophy and Larry O’Brien Trophy at seasons’ end. But Sunday also showed just how far away the Saints and Pels are from being on the same tier with those elite teams

Neither of Benson’s teams is trending in the right direction.

If there is some light somewhere at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel is too long to actually see it. The Saints currently are in position for the No. 1 draft pick in next year’s draft. But one draft pick won’t solve all of the issues on the roster Mickey Loomis and his staff have put together The Pelicans are in line for a very high draft pick, too. Well, except they traded their first-round pick

Both hires were supposed to be a fresh start and a turning point for the franchises. Neither has been yet. Green, whose seat is as hot as it’s ever been, and Moore are both optimistic they can get things turned around.

“The biggest thing is just stay together,” Green said after the Pelicans’ loss Sunday “Keep fighting for each other, (and) let’s try to string together a consistent game.”

A little over an hour later, about 1,300 miles away in Inglewood, California, Moore had a similar message.

“It’s challenging,” he said. “We are going through a challenging storm. We’ve faced some adversity We’ve got to keep pushing. We’ve got to keep pushing together You get through this storm, you’re going to tell one heckuva story But you’ve got to get there. We’re not there yet.” Sunday showed neither team is even close.

Players are frustrated.

Fans are frustrated. Mrs. Benson should be, too. Email Rod Walker at rwalker@ theadvocate.com.

LARGE SCHOOLS (5A-4A)

1. Edna Karr, 9-0 (1): Two touchdowns on defense among the four takeaways against John Curtis helpedKarrrun its overall winning streak to 21 games with Rummel next on the schedule.

2. St.Augustine, 8-1 (3): The Purple Knights, a32-24 winner after trailing Holy Cross by three points at halftime, will face Curtis in amatchup between apair of teams that each has one loss, bothagainst Karr.

3. John Curtis, 7-1 (2): ThePatriots surrendered four touchdowns off four turnovers, including twoscored by the Karrdefense. Can theyget back on track against St.Augustine?

4. Destrehan, 7-2(4): Malachi Dabneyscored all seventouchdowns in awin against Hahnville. Upnextis achance to win the outright district title against Thibodaux.

5. St. Charles, 8-1 (5): TheComets, No.1 in the updated LHSAADivision II select powerratings, can win the outright district title this week against Shaw.

6. Rummel, 6-3 (6): The Raiders scored touchdowns on defense and special teams in afour-pointwin againstJesuit.

7. Brother Martin, 5-4 (8): Awin against Warren Easton snapped a

four-game losingstreak that came againstfour schoolslisted above the Crusadersinthisranking 8. Lakeshore,8-1 (9): The Titans, No.2 in theupdated Division II nonselect powerratings,can keep that highplacement with awin this week against7-2 Hahnville. 9. Belle Chasse,8-1 (NR): The Cardinals, No.3 in Division III nonselect, posted their fifth shutout with a14-0victory against reigning statechampion Shaw 10. St.Paul’s, 7-2(NR): TheWolves, withlossestoBrotherMartinand U-High, areonafour-gamewinning

streak after beating Mandeville. Up next is Covington.

SMALL SCHOOLS (3A ANDBELOW)

1. Kennedy,6-3 (1): Atouchdown on defense put Kennedy ahead of De La Salle in agame that clinched a share of the district title.The Cougars, on a five-game winning streak, can win it outright against L.B. Landry.

2. Riverside, 8-1 (2): The Rebels have scored 40 points or more in sevenconsecutivegames, the latest a56-8 victoryagainst Varnado.

3. Newman, 5-2 (3): Newman, set

to face SouthPlaquemines in a game that will decide the district title, beat CountryDay as Jake Randle accounted for more than 400 yards in total offense and six TDs.

4. South Plaquemines, 7-1(5): The reigning state champion Hurricanes are No. 1inthe updatedLHSAA DivisionIVnonselect powerratings.

5. NorthlakeChristian, 5-3(4): The Wolves,after aloss to St. Helena in agame that decided the district title, will face Independence.

6. De La Salle, 3-6(6): The Cavaliers failedtoget a firstdown the last four times theyhad theball in aone-point loss to Kennedy that decided the district title

7.Young Audiences, 7-0(9): The yaks have achance to endthe season with an undefeated record and will face Patrick Taylor thisweek.

8. Haynes Academy,5-4 (10): The yellowJackets beatPatrick Taylor for a share of the district and can win the title outright by beating Jefferson Rise

9. CountryDay,5-4 (7): The highscoring Cajuns failedtoscoreon four of theirtrips inside thered zone and lost by four touchdownsagainst Newman.

10. Pope John Paul II, 5-4(8): The Jaguars, after losing to Class 4A PearlRiver,can playfor ashareof the 9-2A title against St.Helena. Christopher Dabe

‘Itreallyisall

aboutlove’

Ministry worksto bringin LGBTQ faithful

BY RACHEL MIPRO

Contributing writer

Preachinglove andacceptance in aturbulent time, LouisianaEpiscopalians areworking to rally supportfor the LGBTQ+community Their latest effort, afundraising concert, stems from InclusiveLouisiana, an organization of LGBTQ+ Episcopalians and their allies. Inclusive Louisiana’s mission, as described on thewebsite of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana, is to help the church “to proclaim and embody God’s all-inclusive love for LGBTQ personsand those who love them.” Clergy within the organizationstress the importance of their work.

The Rev.TommyDillon, who became the first openly gay priest ordained in the Diocese of Louisiana in 2003,helped form the first versionofthe group, then called Integrity. Dillon, now rector of St.Margaret’sEpiscopal Churchin Baton Rouge,saidthe focuson equality helps create apeaceful environment for all.

“When they (parishioners) become part of acommunityfullof arainbow of people, of Republicans, straight, gay,trans, rich, poor,you know,that’swhat the kingdom of God is,” Dillon said. “Itreally,reallyisall about love,and that’s whattransforms them. And so ithelps heal the spiritual trauma that they’ve had, to be able to be in aplacewhere they truly feel the presence of God that’sloving, ratherthan some judgmental deity trying to pit people against one another.”

THRELKELD

Tammany Parish in 2024.

Notaneasyroad

Dillon has had to increase security outside St. Margaret’s becauseofthe church’smessage of LGBTQ acceptance. The churchhad to issue arestraining order against one protester, who then took to thesidewalks outside with abullhorn to tell parishioners they weregoing to burn in hell.

Dillon said thechurchalso applied for asecurity grant to get afence and implement other safetymeasures, following other protests. While protests have died down, Dillon still gets asmatteringofhate mail every year

As an out rector in ared part of ared state, Dillon hasn’thad an easy road.

“What I’ve had to do is to become more compassionate, like Jesus in walking with peoplein love that disagree with me,”Dillonsaid. “I think the hard part is just walking with people in love. And it’snot the easy way, but in the long run, it really does amazing things.And that’s where you find transformation.”

ä See LGBTQ, page 2D

From then to now, Paul McCartneycelebrated oneofpop’s greatcatalogsinNew Orleans

BY KEITH SPERA Staff writer

If you are Paul McCartney on tour in 2025, how do you properly represent one of the greatest, mostbeloved songbooks in all of popular music while not seeming stuck in 1965?

How do you deal with the nearmythic status of the Beatles?

Simply put,how do you reconcile now and then?

With “Now and Then.” Nineteen songs into Wednesdaynight’stourdeforce at afull Smoothie King Center,McCartney arrived at “Now and Then.” Releasedin2023, the “last Beatles single” originated as aJohn Lennonhome cassette recording in the 1970s. McCartney,Ringo Starr and —during afirst,ultimately abandoned attempt to flesh out the song in the 1990s —George Harrison completed it decades later

During Wednesday’sperformance of “Now and Then,” avideo on the stage’sLED backdrop insertedthe young Beatles intomore recent footage of McCartney and

When

When shopping for bulbs, examine

Starr in arecording studio. True to their irreverent nature,the young Beatles clown around.

Goofy faces aside, the video was poignant, as Wednesday’sconcert was at times. But ultimately,the video, like the whole of McCartney’sGot Back Tour,isa seamless, celebratory fusion of now and then.

For anonstop two hoursand 40 minutes, he and his band treated his myth like what it originally was:music. Music thatdeservesto

be played, not just preserved. And not just played but played by actual humans on actual instruments. At 83, McCartney is still playing it very well.

BeatlestoWings

The cross-generational, crosscultural crowd at the Smoothie King Center encompassed a number of NewOrleans music

ByThe LSU Ag Center

Continued from page 1D

Warm welcome

Nowadays, Episcopal clergy take part in Pride parades to show solidarity. The Rev John Pitzer co-chair of the Inclusive Louisiana Ministry and senior associate rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in New Orleans, describes the scene: clergy marching with their bishop, with 50 to 100 Episcopalians behind a banner that says “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.”

“When we turn the corner and the community sees this group of priests, sometimes they think it’s a joke,” Pitzer said. “They’re not sure if it’s real; it might be a costume. But when they realize that it’s real, they grab our hands, and tears are streaming down some of their faces and they grab our hands and they say, ‘Thank you for loving me, thank you for being here, thank you for supporting me.’” Pitzer had a unique path to the Episcopalian Church. He started out as a Roman

Catholic priest, but, conflicted over LGBTQ+ views and the limited church roles offered to women in the Roman Catholic Church, ultimately switched over

“I think the minute I made the switch, I felt like 20 tons were lifted off my shoulder,”

Pitzer said. “I didn’t have to look over my shoulder anymore.”

Parishioner Don Paul Landry echoed this view Landry said many people were hurt by the church they grew up in, and had religious trauma that has now helped by a healing ministry

“It is so shocking to the people who come that sometimes they cry, because it’s not just me and other gay parishioners who are welcoming them,” Landry said. “It is the straight and other people in the congregation that also welcomes, that people view that these LGBTQ individuals were created in God’s image, and that we are not defective. There’s nothing that we have to do, and they love us just the way that we are.”

A new road forward

The love and acceptance modeled by religious lead-

ers can have an impact.

Dillon, the Baton Rouge priest, saw this with one very sick member of the church, who called him early before the service one day to ask him about his views on samesex marriage. When Dillon confirmed he had been an officiant at a gay wedding, the man said he was going to leave the church.

“I said, ‘You’re not gonna have to deal with this, because, No. 1, you’re never gonna get gay married. No. 2, because of the way you’re acting you’ll probably never be invited to one.’ He started laughing,” Dillon said.

Dillon went to the man’s house to pray with him. His daughter disapproved and kept interrupting Dillon: “She kept on with me, saying, ‘I’m going to pray for you. You know, you’re leading people astray.’ And I looked at her and I said, ‘I thank you for your concern, but I’m not here for you. I’m here for your father, and he’s dying, and let’s offer prayers for him. She just kind of looked at me.

“I gave him communion, I offered him a blessing, and the next day, he called me and

said, ‘Oh my God, I haven’t felt this good in years. I think there’s been a healing.’ He said, ‘I’m going to start sneaking back over to church and not let my family know.’”

When he eventually died, Dillon and an evangelical preacher both spoke at the service.

“It was really powerful. I much prefer being in a church that I call the purple church, where it’s Republicans and Democrats together doing the hard work of living in community with our differences, rather than just having an ultra conservative church or ultra liberal where you become silos,” Dillon said. “I think that’s the model we need in this country right now, for people to actually hear each other’s stories and their struggles and have compassion and then walk together in ways of love.”

Inclusive Louisiana will host a benefit concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov 7, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Ave. in New Orleans, featuring folk-pop singer-songwriter Bobby Jo Valentine. Suggested donation is $10.

By The Associated Press Today is Tuesday, Nov 4, the 308th day of 2025. There are 57 days left in the year Today in history: On Nov 4, 2008, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the first Black president of the United States, defeating the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, of Arizona. Also on this date: In 1922, the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered in Egypt. In 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began as militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants; 52 of the hostages were held for 444 days and were released on Jan. 20, 1981.

In 1980, Republican Ronald Reagan won election to the White House for the first time as he trounced Democratic President Jimmy Carter In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel,

was assassinated by a rightwing Israeli minutes after attending a peace rally In 2007, King Tutankhamen’s face was unveiled for the first time to the public more than 3,000 years after the pharaoh was buried in his Egyptian tomb. In 2016, the Paris climate accord, reached the previous year, took effect; the first global pact to fight climate change called on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas

notables. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival producer Quint Davis was there, as was Jazz Fest’s Gospel Tent sponsor Morris Bart Singer Judith Owen attended with husband Harry Shearer, who as his heavy metal alter ego Derek Smalls, shot a memorable scene with McCartney at the Ranch Film Studios in Chalmette for “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”

A Preservation Hall delegation included saxophonist Charlie Gabriel, who, at 93, is a full decade older than McCartney New Orleans keyboardist Jon Cleary came out to see his fellow Brit. Newscaster Arthel Neville and husband Taku Hirano, percussionist for Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, LeAnn Rimes and many others, were there too.

At 8:20 p.m., McCartney led his band onstage. He’s been backed by these core four musicians guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, drummer Abe Laboriel Jr and keyboardist Paul “Wix” Wickens — for 24 years, longer than his combined time in both the Beatles and Wings. Their collective cohesion and identity was evident right from the night’s crackerjack opening of “Help!” Three horns joined in for the subsequent “Coming Up,” the first of several Wings favorites.

By the fourth song,

BLOOMS

Continued from page 1D

might know more than you think. Consider the onion that may be sitting around in your kitchen. That’s a bulb that happens to be edible. A bulb is an underground structure that some plants use to store their food supply It also produces shoots — so a bulb simply functions as a sort of giant seed that can be used to grow a new plant. Over time, that plant may eventually produce clumps of more bulbs called bulblets or offsets

Many people order their bulbs from seed catalogs and websites. Your local garden center probably has a good selection of bulbs, too. (If you’re lucky you might have a gardening friend who has divided and saved their own offsets and is willing to share from their stash.)

“Drive My Car,” McCartney was warmed up, swaying his shoulders in time with the rhythm Coming out of the guitar solos on “Letting Go,” his signature Hofner bass stepped up prominently in the mix. Following “Come On To Me,” from McCartney’s 2018 album “Egypt Station,” he shed his slim-cut double-breasted jacket in “the only wardrobe change of the night.” He switched to an electric guitar as Ray took up the bass for a muscular take on Wings’ “Let Me Roll It.”

That gave way to the aural sunshine of the Beatles’ “Getting Better.” On the screen, animated flowers sprouted in the post-apocalyptic, post-humanity ruins of London, Paris and New York. Footage of various marching bands — including Mardi Gras clips of the St. Augustine Marching 100 — illustrated the martial beat and flutes of “Let ’em In.”

At a grand piano, he dedicated “My Valentine” to his wife, Nancy Shevell, who was in attendance. Still at the piano, he scaled the

Wherever you shop, you’re likely to come across many bulbs labeled as various kinds of narcissus. This is a reference to the Narcissus genus, many members of which are commonly called daffodils. These classic spring flowers come in shades of yellow, pink, orange, coral and white. For most daffodil species, each stem produces a single, large, trumpetshaped bloom. The Narcissus genus also includes species that feature clusters of smaller blooms that are highly fragrant, such as jonquils (Narcissus jonquilla) and paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus).

Bulbs typically are packaged in perforated plastic or paper bags, and they look a lot like onions — round with papery skins If you’re shopping in person, take some time to carefully examine the bulbs Squeeze them — they should feel firm with no soft spots. Make sure there are no signs of mold growing on them.

Once you bring your bulbs home, choose a welldrained bed that is sunny in the winter and early spring. Full sun is preferable, and part sun is OK. Steer clear of shady locations or you’ll have fewer blooms and floppy plants. Don’t plant the bulbs as deeply as advised on their package labels. LSU AgCenter horticulturists recommend planting larger bulbs no more than 4 to 5 inches deep and smaller bulbs 1 to 2 inches deep. We usually aren’t at risk of the ground freezing during winter in Louisiana so it’s unnecessary to bury the bulbs as deeply here Planting too deeply also can cause bulbs to rot in our climate. While many springflowering bulbs should be

scalded vocal heights of the “Maybe I’m Amazed” refrain. Wickens dug in on organ as Laboriel, who drums with his entire body, seemed to be in danger of falling apart.

With McCartney on an acoustic guitar, the band embarked on the bouncy sprint of “I’ve Just Seen a Face.” Wickens worked an accordion for “In Spite of All the Danger.”

Despite his everyman geniality and relatively relaxed demeanor, there were many reminders that, yes, this was in fact THE Paul McCartney from the Beatles. In the anecdotes and asides that prefaced or followed many songs, he’d casually say something like, “This was the first song we sang with George,” then go into “Love Me Do.”

Elsewhere, he recounted checking out a new guitarist in London named Jimi Hendrix, popping into Abbey Road Studios and how the title and lyrics of “Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite” came from an 1800s circus poster Such references are sacred in Beatles

planted in October and November there are some exceptions — notably, hyacinths and tulips, which you’ll also find for sale this time of year These need to be planted later, but go ahead and buy them, as they take some additional prep work.

You’ll need to refrigerate hyacinth and tulip bulbs for a minimum of six to eight weeks before planting. Place them in paper bags and store them in the fridge away from fruits, which emit ethylene gas as they ripen. This substance can damage the bulbs and prevent them from flowering. Wait for a cold, wet day in January to plant. You may be miserable, but those conditions are ideal for putting these bulbs in the ground. Hyacinths, tulips and many modern daffodils available in the general market likely will produce flowers for just one year We tend to treat these bulbs as annuals in Louisiana because our climate just isn’t conducive to repeat blooming. North Louisiana may see better reblooming of these selections. Finding high-performing, perennial Southern bulbs takes a little research. These heirloom varieties with proven heat tolerance and little demand for chilling are much better suited for naturalizing and providing years of enjoyment.

mythology To McCartney, they are simply his life. His most extensive anecdote involved “Blackbird,” which he performed alone with an acoustic atop an elevated riser He wrote the song as encouragement during the Civil Rights Movement; the Beatles, he recalled, refused to play a show in Jacksonville, Florida, unless the audience was integrated.

Back then, he and his bandmates weren’t inclined to express feelings Years after Lennon’s death, McCartney wrote “Here Today” for him. Images of Lennon flashed onscreen as McCartney sang “Here Today.” He signed off with, “Finally got to say, ‘Love you, John.’”

A big finish

Moving on from that sentimentality, horns punched

up “Lady Madonna” and a turbo-charged “Jet.”

McCartney opened the George Harrison composition “Something” on ukulele. The audience sang the “I don’t know” chorus before the full band jumped in and “Something” fully bloomed.

The rest of the show was one big song after another The band stuck the landing on a fun “Ob-La-Di, Ob-LaDa.” The electric guitars grafted heft onto the “Band on the Run” title track before Ray switched to an acoustic as the arrangement pivoted into a secondary liftoff.

“Get Back” gave way to the warm embrace of “Let It Be,” which in turn led to the percussive pyro blasts of “Live and Let Die.” A “Hey Jude” singalong closed the regular set.

The band returned waving British, American, Loui-

siana and LGBTQ+ pride flags to open the encore with “I’ve Got a Feeling.” That song was “very special to me,” McCartney said, as it allowed him to sing again with Lennon via synced-up footage from the Beatles’ farewell rooftop concert. After a mashup of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Helter Skelter,” they plunged into “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End,” the trinity that closes the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” album. At one point in that revered trio of songs, McCartney traded rough and ready garage band guitar licks with Anderson and Ray — still treating his canon like songs that deserved to be played.

Email Keith Spera at kspera@theadvocate.com.

SCoRPIo (oct. 24-nov. 22) It's up to you to promote what you can do. Stick to the truth. If you promise more than you can deliver, it will lead to unnecessary stress. Keep your message strong, honest and reasonable.

SAGIttARIuS (nov. 23-Dec. 21) Take the initiative and make things happen. Relying on others to do things for you will lead to disappointment. Rise above negativity and walk away from whatever and whoever holds you back.

CAPRICoRn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Let go of toxic or indulgent situations. Ask what you can do that will help you get back on track. Being in a stalemate situation will continue to numb you. Shake things up and learn something new.

AQuARIuS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Amentalreset may help you change course. Make yourself aware of what's adaptable and what isn't. Learn how to manipulate your happiness. Implement something that will bring joy to your routine.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Spontaneity will work against you. Don't feel pressured to make a purchase, a choice or a move. Refuse to let outside influences infiltrate your decision-making.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Stick to basics, be direct and verify information before sharing it. Excess is the enemy, and discipline is your ticket to flourishing. Nurture meaningful relationships.

tAuRuS (April 20-May 20) Emotions will run high when dealing with personal

and business relationships. Clutter and indulgent tendencies require your attention. Let go of dead weight

GEMInI (May 21-June 20) Unresolved issues will take a toll on you emotionally. Verify information, confirm facts and address matters directly. Avoid purchasing costly products promising unrealistic things.

CAnCER (June 21-July 22) Being receptive to new technology or ways of doing things will help you advance. Don't fall behind because you don't like change. Look at what you cannot control as a new adventure.

LEo (July 23-Aug. 22) Socializing more will enhance your curiosity and lead to new friendships and pastimes that bring you a sense of vitality. Don't drown yourself in screen time when physical connection is what you need.

VIRGo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Address financial, medical and legal matters that are weighing you down. You have more options than you realize. Exhaust your resources and put out a call for help. LIBRA (Sept. 23-oct. 23) Aggressive moves will not resolve issues. Consider what's stopping you and adapt rather than try to change what's heavily rooted. Let go of negative partnerships.

The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2025 by nEa, inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

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

Sudoku

InstructIons: sudoku is anumber-placing puzzle based on a9x9 grid with several given numbers. Theobject is to place the numbers 1to9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. Thedifficulty level of thesudoku increases from monday to sunday.

Yesterday’s Puzzle Answer

Bridge

By PHILLIP ALDER

Alexander Smith,a19th-century Scottishpoet,said,“Everythingissweetened by risk.”

Notwhen you are adeclarer!Then, you shouldaim to make your contract withoutrisk.

However, declarer usually faces various dangers. In today’s deal, he must work to keep aparticular opponentoff the lead.

Southcruises into four spades. West, whoovercalled in clubs, leads thediamond king. After Eastsignals with the jack, how should declarer plan the play?

In the modern style, North responded three spades, showing aweak hand with four-card spade support. With agameinvitational hand, North would have cue-bid three clubs.This is agood idea becauseitallows responder to bid both constructively and obstructively.

Declarerstartswithninetoptricks(six spades,twoheartsandonediamond)and hopes to establish dummy’s heartsuit. But he is in danger of losingfour tricks: one heart, one diamondand twoclubs However,heriskslosingthosetwoclubs onlyifEast gains lead.

South must duck at thefirst trick avoidance play number one. East’s careful play of the diamond jack indicates thathealso has the 10, apotential entry card.

Then,aftertakingthesecondtrickwith his diamond ace, declarer draws trumps

endingontheboardandleadsalowheart to his10— avoidance play number two. West winswithhis queen, but cannot do better than cash the club ace to stopan overtrick.

Note that if South takes the first trick or plays off three rounds of hearts, East gets on lead to pushaclubthrough South’sking. ©2025 by nEa,inc., dist. By andrews mcmeel syndication

Each Wuzzle is awordriddlewhich creates adisguised word, phrase, name, place, saying, etc. For example: nOOn gOOD =gOOD aFTErnOOn

Previous answers:

word game

InStRuCtIonS: 1. Words must be of fourormore letters. 2. Words that acquire fourletters 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 wordsare not allowed

toDAy’S WoRD SIAMAnGS: SEE-uh-mangs: Black gibbons of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula.

Average mark12words Time limit 30 minutes Can you find 22 or morewords in SIAMANGS?

yEStERDAy’S WoRD —DRuPES

and that the

dIrectIons: make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. all the words are in the Official sCraBBlE® players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

ken ken

InstructIons: 1 Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 thorugh 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner.

Puzzle Answer

HErE is a

Well

*504-885-8060 504-454-1333

CONSTRUCTION DBEOPPORTUNITY: YES(35%) RELEASED ON: NOVEMBER 4, 2025 DEADLINETORESPOND: DECEMBER 5, 2025 @10:00 A.M. PRE-BIDCONFERENCE: November 21, 2025 at 10:00 A.M. TEAMS: MeetingID: 268 100 513 462 5 Passcode: az9ze9Gr

Datesare subjectto changesvia an adden‐dumpostedbythe Bu‐reau of Purchasing on theCity’ssupplierportal. If this solicitation is fed‐erally funded,prospec‐tive bidder/respondent must payparticularat‐tentiontoall applicable laws andregulations of theFederal government andthe Stateof Louisiana.

TheBureauofPurchas‐ingusescommodity codestonotifysuppliers of therelease of asourc‐ingevent andsubse‐quentmodificationsvia addendum. Note that you wouldreceive thosenoti‐ficationsifyou selected thefollowing commodity code(s) before there‐leaseofthe sourcing event: COMMODITY CODE(s): 745, 750, 760,912-40,91347,913-82,914-30,755,210 TheCityofNew Orleans strongly encourages mi‐nority-owned and women-ownedbusi‐nesses, socially andeco‐nomicallydisadvantaged businessesand small businessestorespond to this solicitation,orto participateinsubcon‐tracting opportunities pursuant to this solicita‐tion Formoreinformation

andpro‐posalforms areavailable fordownloadon Novem‐ber4,2025,atthe follow‐ingwebsites: SWBNO: https://www2.swbno org/business_bidspecific ations.asp LAPAC: https://wwwcfprd.doa. louisiana.gov/OSP/ LaPAC/dspBid.cfm?sea rch=department& term=181 A NON-MANDATORY prebidconferencewillbe held on November 19, 2025, at 11:00

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TheLouisiana Depart‐ment of Culture, Recre‐ation& Tourism, Office of StateParks is issuing a Requestfor Information (RFI)tosolicit anyand all projectideas to addor improvecabins, cot‐tages, andother lodging facilities at anypark within theLouisiana StateParkSystem. The objectivesinsoliciting informationare to pro‐mote theState Parks mission, achieveproper balanceofpreservation andutilization of State ParksPropertieswhile becoming more finan‐cially self-sustaining, andbetterserve the needsofcitizensand of visitors to Louisiana throughcollaboration utilizingPublicPrivate Partnerships.The RFI packet,which includes a timeline,instructionsfor proposal submission andselection criteria,is available at http://www opportunitiesinlouisiana com. It mayalsobe picked up between 9a.m and4 p.m. weekdays at theOffice of StatePark, CapitolAnnex, Third Floor,1051

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TYPE OF SOLICITATION: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DBEOPPORTUNITY: YES(35%) RELEASED ON: November 4, 2025

DEADLINETORESPOND: November 25, 2025 PRE-BIDCONFERENCE: November 13, 2025

Datesare subjectto changesvia an adden‐dumpostedbythe Bu‐reau of Purchasing on theCity’ssupplierportal.

If this solicitation is fed‐erally funded,prospec‐tive bidder/respondent must payparticularat‐tentiontoall applicable laws andregulations of theFederal government andthe Stateof Louisiana. TheBureauofPurchas‐ingusescommodity codestonotifysuppliers of therelease of asourc‐ingevent andsubse‐quentmodificationsvia addendum. Note that you wouldreceive thosenoti‐ficationsifyou selected thefollowing commodity code(s) before there‐leaseofthe sourcing event: COMMODITY CODE(s): 961-13, 962-16, 962-17, 975-44, 958-96

TheCityofNew Orleans strongly encourages mi‐nority-owned and women-ownedbusi‐nesses, socially andeco‐nomicallydisadvantaged businessesand small businessestorespond to this solicitation,orto participateinsubcon‐tracting opportunities pursuant to this solicita‐tion

Formoreinformation aboutthissourcing event, go to www.nola. govand clickon“BRASS SupplierPortal” under “BIDS& CONTRACTS” Once on theSupplierPor‐tal, search “Open Events.” Thankyou foryourinter‐estindoing business with theCityofNew Or‐leans. JamesC,Simmons,Jr. ChiefProcurement Officer AdvertisingDates: November 4, 11 &18, 2025 NOCP 8752 165432-nov4-11-18-3t $109.32

Board: https://www2 swbno.org/business_bid specifications.asp LAPAC:https:// wwwcfprd.doa.louisiana. gov/OSP/LaPAC/dspBid cfm?search=departm ent&term=181 Allbiddersmay attend a non-mandatorypre-bid conference at 11:00 AM November 12, 2025 at the Sewerage &Water Board Administrative Building theProcurement Confer‐ence Room,Rm131, lo‐catedat625 St.Joseph St., NewOrleans, Louisiana70165 or if you areunabletoattendthis in-personmeeting, you canalsojoinvia telecon‐ferencecall: MicrosoftTeams Join themeetingnow MeetingID: 236 702 342 126 0 Passcode:Rw3sG6zv Dial in by phone +1 504-2248698,,105680247# United States,New Orleans PhoneconferenceID: 105 680 247# Faxand emailsubmis‐sion will notbeaccepted. Bids will be received by theSewerageand Water BoardofNew Orleans ProcurementDepartment by December 1, 2025 at 11:00 AM.(CentralTime) Forsubmissioninstruc‐tions,