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Author: Della Hasselle

About 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

Louisiana faces unexpected shortfall in major source of funding for coastal protection

October 18, 2017 Updated November 7, 2019
The state coastal agency expected $140 million next spring. Now it looks like it will get $60 million to $70 million.

Louisiana plans to restore the dying Maurepas Swamp with water diverted from the Mississippi

September 29, 2017 Updated November 7, 2019
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.

Louisiana will use $20 million in BP fines to expand a coastal monitoring program

September 13, 2017 Updated November 7, 2019
The system will help scientists learn how restoration projects are working.

Lake Pontchartrain storm surge barrier could worsen flooding in St. Bernard and Mississippi

August 18, 2017 Updated November 7, 2019

Flooding is expected to get worse in St. Tammany Parish. How can communities adapt?

August 9, 2017 Updated November 7, 2019
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.

Executions in Louisiana on hold until at least January 2018

June 1, 2016 Updated November 7, 2019
The state didn't say exactly why it needs more time, but execution drugs are scarce nationwide.

Mayor pledges $7 million to expand city’s juvenile-detention center by 2018

November 11, 2015 Updated November 7, 2019
Effort is aimed at getting those younger than 18 out of the Orleans Parish Prison.

With youths still in danger in OPP, group pushes again for separate facility

October 23, 2015 Updated November 7, 2019

Executions on hold for at least a year as Louisiana sorts out death penalty method

June 23, 2015 Updated November 7, 2019
The ruling delays a child-killer’s execution, as well as four others on death row.

New Orleans officials work to keep juveniles out of Orleans Parish Prison as they await trial

May 18, 2015 Updated November 7, 2019
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.

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