The state coastal agency expected $140 million next spring. Now it looks like it will get $60 million to $70 million.
Author Archives: Della Hasselle
Della Hasselle, a freelance journalist and producer, reports environmental and criminal justice stories for The Lens. A graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Hasselle lived in New York for 10 years. While up north, she produced and anchored news segments, wrote feature stories and reported breaking news for DNAinfo.com, a hyperlocal news site. Before that, she worked at the New York Daily News. She obtained her master
Posted inEnvironment
Louisiana plans to restore the dying Maurepas Swamp with water diverted from the Mississippi
The swamp is suffering from a lack of freshwater from natural flooding and from the penetration of saltwater through canals dug for logging. If nothing is done, scientists say the forest will become open water over time. The first phase of the project will be funded with $14 million in BP oil spill fines.
Posted inEnvironment
Louisiana will use $20 million in BP fines to expand a coastal monitoring program
The system will help scientists learn how restoration projects are working.
Posted inEnvironment
Lake Pontchartrain storm surge barrier could worsen flooding in St. Bernard and Mississippi
Flood gates at the Chef Menteur and Rigolets passes are part of the state’s plan to protect coastal communities.
Posted inEnvironment
Flooding is expected to get worse in St. Tammany Parish. How can communities adapt?
With the help of a $40 million federal grant, residents of six parishes in southeastern Louisiana have been talking about how their communities could be redesigned to deal with increased flooding. The plans are meant to complement the state’s expectations that thousands of homes will have be elevated, and some bought out, in the coming decades.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Executions in Louisiana on hold until at least January 2018
The state didn’t say exactly why it needs more time, but execution drugs are scarce nationwide.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mayor pledges $7 million to expand city’s juvenile-detention center by 2018
Effort is aimed at getting those younger than 18 out of the Orleans Parish Prison.
Posted inCriminal Justice
With youths still in danger in OPP, group pushes again for separate facility
Despite a sweeping federal consent decree for Orleans Parish Prison, youth advocates say the facility remains unsafe for inmates 17 and younger. The City Council has declared that the juvenile detention center is the best place for all those 17 and under, but that facility doesn’t have enough room.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Executions on hold for at least a year as Louisiana sorts out death penalty method
The ruling delays a child-killer’s execution, as well as four others on death row.
Posted inCriminal Justice
New Orleans officials work to keep juveniles out of Orleans Parish Prison as they await trial
Officials say the juvenile facility is the best place for most young defendants, even if they’re charged with serious felonies in Criminal District Court. An ordinance before the City Council would require juveniles to await trial in the Youth Study Center, not OPP.