Last week, the state Senate Judiciary committee passed SB 74, a bill that would automatically funnel all arrested 15- and 16-year-olds into the adult court system. Yet, as Sarah Omojola notes, every single senator on that committee comes from a district that recently voted down Amendment 3.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 272: ‘Growing threat’
Delaney Dryfoos on the Calcasieu River’s concerning pollution. Marta Jewson on Lycee’s $400k property tax bill and the city’s offer to settle a lawsuit with the school board.
Posted inSchools
School leaders, board “cautiously optimistic” about city’s settlement offer in tax-skimming lawsuit
Over the past five months, as the two parties negotiated, charter leaders have been tightening belts and hoping that the city will finally agree to hand over 100% of property-tax money to schools, instead of skimming away millions each year.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Screen Time
Disciplinary incidents dropped sharply within the Orleans Justice Center with the advent of electronic tablets, which stay on for 17 hours a day, bringing those in the jail new options — movies, music, videogames, and e-messages — all of which are tied to new charges — 50 cents for an e-message and about a penny a minute for streaming content.
Posted inEnvironment
LNG terminals threaten to push Calcasieu River pollution ‘beyond repair’
The shrimp stopped coming up the Calcasieu River after Venture Global built its Liquified Natural Gas terminal. The river’s ongoing pollution, on top of decades of hazardous waste dumping, earned the Calcasieu the #9 slot on American Rivers’ 2025 list of most endangered rivers.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Angola’s Farm Line again asks judge for consistent shade and water
While prison officials and Farm Line workers disagree about whether the incarcerated workers have all the shade and water they need, Farm Line workers are asking the judge to reverse DOC’s recent policy changes, which make field work even more dangerous in Louisiana’s summer heat, they contend.
Posted inOpinion
Levee board members have no sway over Army Corps design
The Army Corps controls the design and operational procedures of flood reduction, so it doesn’t matter whether the governor selects the levee board members or if a panel picks candidates – or even if we choose the first nine people coming out of church on Sunday.
Posted inEnvironment
In Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, a legacy of resistance lives on.
In the River Parishes, at the site of the largest slave revolt in history, a new generation is fighting for a cleaner future.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 271: ‘Death warrant’
Nick Chastil and Katy Reckdahl on working conditions at Angola’s Farm Line, with an eye on summer heat, and execution in Louisiana, following the first state execution in more than a decade.
Posted inEnvironment
Mississippi River named the most endangered of 2025 by non-profit American Rivers
With budget losses to both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, mitigation grant programs to address riverine flooding could be impacted substantially. According to FEMA, every federal dollar spent on flood mitigation yields $7 in benefits.