After residents of America’s ‘Cancer Alley’ in Louisiana put a national spotlight on their fight for a healthy environment, the state’s economic interests and petrochemical giants are backing the creation of a new “sustainability council” to counter grassroots activists, documents show. In recent years, the activists have successfully fought construction of two multibillion-dollar plastics facilities […]
Posted inNew OrLEaNS
Requiem for a Big Man Gone
After playing a night of gigs – and maybe shooting a few games of pool – Jeffrey Hills Sr. walked into the door with his sousaphone slung over his shoulder, pulled on his plaid pajama pants with a muscle shirt, made himself a little snack and crawled under the covers. If that sleep was like […]
Posted inCharter Schools
Gifted group asks school district to expand services
Universal screening and a gifted coordinator could help expand gifted services in Orleans Parish, advocates say.
Posted inEnvironment
Offshore wind workforce a weak link in plan to build out renewables
A national push toward offshore wind energy could create thousands of well-paying domestic jobs in Louisiana and elsewhere, according to clean energy advocates and President Joe Biden, who wants to establish 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. But it’s unlikely there will be enough trained and certified workers to fill those positions, and […]
Posted inAudio
Behind The Lens: Episode 201
Reporter Katy Reckdahl, talks about strip searches at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola, and education reporter Marta Jewson discusses changes to how charter schools are evaluated.
Posted inCriminal Justice
A Louisiana lawmaker wants mandatory life without parole sentence for fentanyl distribution
A measure that would add a conviction for fentanyl distribution to the short list of crimes punishable by a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole is being backed by Louisiana prosecutors as a response to the opioid epidemic in the state, while advocates warn that the harsh sentence will throw people away for […]
Posted inSchools
NOLA Public Schools considers third tier of charter school warnings
The administration presented draft recommendations of the Charter School Accountability Framework on Tuesday.
Posted inNews
Award-winning reporter Katy Reckdahl joins the staff of The Lens
Award-winning reporter Katy Reckdahl is a new staff writer with The Lens. Reckdahl was a staff reporter for The Times-Picayune and the alt-weekly Gambit before spending a decade as a freelancer, writing frequently for the New Orleans Advocate | Times-Picayune, The New York Times and the Washington Post. She’s received more than two-dozen first-place New […]
Posted inEnvironment
Oil sprayed on neighborhood from S&WB plant for second time
Residents living across Spruce Street from the Sewerage and Water Board’s Carrollton Power Plant found their homes and property coated in oily residue over the weekend of April 8-9 — for the second time in just over a year. The pattern and distribution mimic a 2022 venting of lubrication oil from the exhaust stack of […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 200
Reporter Joshua Rosenberg talks about a lawsuit in St. John the Baptist Parish seeking to force the company proposing a new grain elevator in the area to pay $200 million in taxes on the project. Reporter Nick Chrastil speaks about the controversy over what records the Orleans Parish Sheriff is and isn’t turning over related to use of force at the jail