Around 175 million tons of freight travels on the Mississippi River each year, and from the river’s headwaters to southern Illinois, a series of locks and dams guide barges through the journey. Traffic is only increasing, but the locks and dams have aged far past their life expectancy. Even functioning properly, they slow barges down, […]
Posted inOpinion
Our children are too precious for us to give up and go home
There are a lot of injustices that come with living in an area surrounded by polluting plants. Knowing that the air is constantly being poisoned and causing your children to develop health problems is a major one. Living with the fear that major fires and explosions will happen is another. But realizing that the folks […]
Posted inNews
Orleans jail monitors disclose for first time issues found under Hutson’s leadership
Monitors tasked with overseeing the New Orleans jail and tracking its compliance with the long-running federal consent decree said staff falsified suicide-watch documentation, rubber-stamped investigations to justify uses of force, and that the facility is dangerously understaffed.
Posted inNews
A charter group closes final school, makes decision on future of daycare
NOCP CEO J’Vann Martin said the board directed the center’s staff to report directly to them and has implemented “strict financial controls” and will help ensure the center has back-office support from NOCP or a third-party business vendor.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens Episode 203: ‘They wanted to go after the grannies in the River Parishes’
Pam Radtke from Floodlight talks about how industry is pushing back against local opposition groups, Lens reporter Nick Chrastil speaks about Louisiana’s incarceration rates and reporter Marta Jewson talks about a daycare run by a closing charter school group.
Posted inEnvironment
Report: Maps show Louisiana plants disproportionately located near Black communities
Thirty years ago, a report called out Louisiana’s petrochemical industry for building plants in areas with a large Black population. On Monday, a new update to the report found that little had changed, and new plants in the state’s chemical corridor are still disproportionately planned near Black communities, according to an analysis by a New […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Louisiana leads nation in percentage of people in adult prisons for crimes they committed as kids
A new report by the national non-profit Human Rights for Kids has found that the degree to which the United States punishes crimes committed by kids is far out of line with international standards, calling the mass incarceration of children as adults “one of the largest government-sanctioned human rights abuses against children in the world […]
Posted inOpinion
Now is the Time to Speak up for Parks in New Orleans!
A city-wide plan aiming to create an equitable and resilient park and recreation system is underway. Attending one of four community workshops between now and May 11th will give you a chance to speak up and voice your concerns. Most notably, your input at this week’s public workshops can augment the information on personal preferences […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
After 23 years in prison for killing her abuser, she hopes no one in Louisiana has to do that again
On Dec. 2, 1996, Beatrice Taylor hobbled out of her apartment complex to a nearby payphone and dialed 911. She told a Gretna police dispatcher she needed officers to come out to her home for the second day in a row, according to court records. Her ex-boyfriend had become violent again, stomped on her foot and broken […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind the Lens Episode 202: Gifted students and a musician remembered
Marta Jewson talks about the push for more gifted offerings in New Orleans schools, reporter Nick Chrastil discusses a measure being considered by lawmakers to increase penalties for fentanyl dealers and reporter Katy Reckdahl remembers a musician and friend.