Kelvin Sampson learned a lot about his Houston team in Saturday’s 74-69 loss to Auburn.

Now the Cougars get a chance to put those lessons into action when they face Louisiana on Wednesday night.

“We could’ve went and played one of those other games and be 2-0 and people would be running around here slapping us on the back telling us how good we are, knowing damn well we’re not,” Sampson said after the Auburn loss. “We got exposed on some areas that we’ve got to go back and figure out how we can get better and clear up some things.”

A big emphasis for Sampson is getting forward Ja’Vier Francis back into game shape. Francis missed three weeks with a groin injury and only played nine minutes against Auburn.

“Ja’Vier’s not ready to play,” Sampson said. “I think his injury is getting better, he’s just not in game shape. He hasn’t done anything since October 11. I think he missed 20-something days. So it’ll take him awhile to get in shape.”

Francis, a 6-foot-8 senior with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, averaged 6.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 20.6 minutes per game last season. He combines with JoJo Tugler and J’Wan Roberts to give Houston one of the best frontcourts in the country.

No. 8 Houston enters Wednesday’s home game vs Louisiana as 30.5-point favorites. Here are details on how to watch and follow Houston’s nonconference matchup with Louisiana:

Auburn vs. Louisiana TV Channel, Live Stream, Betting Odds

Who: No. 8 Auburn (1-1) vs. Louisiana (1-1) in a nonconference men’s basketball game

When: 7 p.m. CT | Wednesday, November 13

Where: Fertitta Center | Houston, Texas

Live Stream: Stream Auburn-Louisiana live on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

TV Channel: ESPN+

Our Prediction: Houston 87, Louisiana 59

Betting Odds: Houston is favored by 30.5 points per FanDuel Sportsbook

Live Updates, Highlights: Follow the game on Houston On SI for live updates and big-play highlights throughout Wednesday’s matchup

A couple were shocked to discover what was inside a hidden compartment in the bathroom of their 80-year-old home.

Bo Grant lives in Louisiana with her husband in a house they bought nine years ago. The property was originally built in 1948 and, to the surprise of the couple, there was a hidden part in which old items had been stored.

“We thought the wall was open to our attic,” Grant told Newsweek. In a video posted to @marriedtoalunatic on TikTok, which has received over 902,000 views since it was shared on October 30, Grant’s husband can be seen opening the compartment above the shower that had been covered up by previous owners.

Once the compartment had been unveiled, the couple discovered 21 items inside. The video shows what the couple found, including scrolls of what appears to be decorative wallpaper and old bank checks.

“The oldest dated items we found were from 1941 and 1940,” Grant says in the video. “It was super cool to find some old antique stuff.”

Then, the finds take an eerie turn as the couple find a box labeled as poison tablets and a bottle labeled as poison.

“We do know the original owner’s wife outlived him, for people thinking he used it to kill his wife and hide the evidence,” Grant said. “The original owners have passed away so there is no one for us to contact for more information on the odd things found in there.

“We plan to preserve the historical pieces and frame the wallpaper to keep as heirlooms to share the fascinating story.”

Grant and her husband are among the many people in the U.S. who bought an existing home rather than a new build; in this case in Louisiana, where the average house price is $198,951, according to Zillow.

In 2023, 4 million people bought existing homes across the country, compared to the under 1 million who bought new builds.

Many were impressed by the couple’s finds and took to the comments of Grant’s video to share their thoughts.

“You should look back in records if there was any past unexplained deaths in your home,” a TikTok user with the name Winter Wonderland said.

“Don’t dispose of it! pass it off to historians to study and preserve,” posted @PandoraPanther. Meanwhile, joseecousineau371 commented: “I’m 65 and I remember when I was young, and I had a knee scrape or cut, my mom would put an antiseptic that was red and it was call mercury chrome.”

Renee Hughes-Bourass wrote: “Everyone loving the wallpaper, it’s cool, but I’m loving the poison bottles!! as a vintage bottle collector to find them with intact labels is amazing. highly collectible! Great finds.”

Have you transformed your house into something you are proud of? Whether it’s a DIY project or a full-scale renovation, share your success stories with us. Let us know via life@newsweek.com, and your dream home could be featured on Newsweek.

BATON ROUGE, La. (WVUE) – Following its passage through Louisiana’s House of Representatives on Tuesday (Nov. 12), the state Senate now will take up a bill that would lower personal income tax for state residents.

While 87 lawmakers pushed the bill forward, 12 skeptics expressed a number of concerns over the legislation’s implementation.

State Rep. Julie Emerson (R-Carencro) said the ultimate goal is to eliminate personal income tax entirely, but that it must happen incrementally. Supporters believe flattening the personal income tax rate to 3% is fairer and will attract more businesses.

“When you drop bills, you expect them to be worked on, debated on, changed, modified and made better,” Gov. Jeff Landry said. “The bills that will end up on my desk, no doubt, will place Louisiana in a better position economically than we’ve been in a long, long time.”

Under Louisiana House Bill 1, if you’re paying more than 3% income tax, it will be lowered to 3%. If you’re currently paying less than 3%, you won’t have any personal income tax.

“We want everyone in Louisiana to save more money, which they are in this bill,” Emerson said.

It’s the start of a larger tax reform package proposed by Gov. Landry that Emerson said aims to modernize the state’s tax policy.

Related Coverage

Tax cut bill clears its first hurdle after Gov. Landry’s testimony

Landry urges lawmakers to overhaul Louisiana’s tax code

The bill is being discussed alongside bills to lower corporate taxes and add a host of new sales taxes on various goods and services.

But some worry reducing income and corporate taxes could cost the state budget billions.

State Rep. Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans) posed the question, “Where is this hole going to be plugged from?”

Meanwhile, State Rep. Matthew Willard (D-New Orleans) asked if “we’re putting the cart before the horse by voting for the revenue decreases before we vote for the bills that would raise revenues?”

Emerson replied, “I don’t.”

While lowering personal income taxes would decrease the state’s revenue, Emerson said the proposed new sales taxes would help make up the difference.

“Income tax, obviously, punishes people for making more money. Sales tax allows people to choose where they pay their tax,” she said.

Emerson said she believes consumption-based taxes give Louisianians more control over their finances and how they choose to spend their money.

She said small businesses would also benefit. Plus, Emerson said the state would benefit from tourism sales taxes.

For example, those with a $40,000 income would go from paying $1,400 a year to $1,200. If you make $100,000 and pay $4,250, you’d end up paying $3,000.

But some remain skeptical that this proposed bill will help people save money.

“We would be raising this money, essentially, from the same people we are cutting it from,” Rep. Landry said.

Willard said, “Many of the sales and services that are currently taxed and being proposed to tax are essentials. How can we truly say we’re giving the people of Louisiana a tax break?”

Those in favor of the bill’s passage said states such as Texas, Florida and Tennessee don’t have a personal income tax, while Mississippi and Arkansas are moving in that direction. They argued many of those states are growing in population, unlike Louisiana, suggesting there must be a correlation.

“We’re losing Louisiana. I mean, we’re losing our people. We’re doing this to try and be more competitive,” Emerson said.

Gov. Landry told Fox 8, “It’s demonstrable. We’ve seen this in other states, when they move from the Bottom 10 to the Top 10, according to the Tax Foundation. It’s like a barometer. All of the sudden, the economies get kicked up and everybody makes more money.”

He said this is the largest tax cut in the history of Louisiana and said he’s pleased with how the legislative process is progressing.

“I had a great conversation with the Senate president today. We’re engaging the senators. I think the way that the process is working now is much better than what we had in the previous session,” the governor said.. “We’re all kind of learning. Kind of like a football team, playing ball for the first couple of times. We’re getting in the game, and I think that we’re going to end up with a great product for the people of the state of Louisiana.”

Emerson said that if the bill is passed and signed into law, residents would start seeing savings in their paychecks come January.

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