Category: News
Timely coverage of the people, policies, and events shaping New Orleans and Louisiana. This category delivers clear, factual reporting that keeps readers informed about local government, community issues, and stories that matter most to everyday residents.
LSU’s fossil-fuel partnerships
At Louisiana’s flagship university, oil companies can influence research and coursework for a price. One critic described the industry votes on research agendas, as described in the boilerplate document, as “an egregious violation of academic freedom.”
Where Was Exxon Planning to Inject CO2 in Louisiana? It’s a Trade Secret.
Two dozen carbon capture projects are proposed in Louisiana — but where is a bit of a mystery. A 2021 state law regulating carbon capture includes a provision allowing companies to claim a wide range of project information — including location — as trade secrets.
Thousands of food-stamp recipients may face stricter work requirements
In Louisiana, one of the nation’s most impoverished states, recipients could easily lose food stamps through the work-requirement red tape, advocates say. The sponsoring legislator says that “work provides lasting value we can give back to our families, our community, and God.”
Greenfield wins in St. John, for the moment
After the parish council granted heavy-industrial zoning to Greenfield Louisiana for its grain terminal, Greenfield's legal counsel thanked supporters for enduring a lengthy legal back-and-forth. But the Banner sisters, founders of The Descendants Project, pledged that the battle would continue.
Join us April 18 for a new event: Breaking Bread, Breaking News
New Orleans and South Louisiana have a rich tradition of gathering, and food plays a major part in bringing people together. When people gather and eat, they inevitably talk about the issues of the day. For many people that means what is happening in their own backyards. Local news as it were.
St. John the Baptist Council could sanction ‘dangerous formula’
While a judge ruled it was too early to block rezoning for the Greenfield Grain Terminal, neighbors fear that the parish council could sanction what one advocate called a “dangerous formula” used in the rezoning plan. That formula, she said, could expose Wallace, and the entire parish, to encroachment by industrial developers.
Let the bargaining begin
In a Tuesday letter to Tulane University president Michael A. Fitts, a group of non-tenured faculty asked him to recognize their new union, Tulane Workers United. An election is likely in early May.
Flood of suggestions
Recommendations for fixes to the city’s chronically troubled Sewerage & Water Board are now flowing from Gov. Jeff Landry’s task force and from the Water Justice Fund, which issued a report earlier this year. Advocates warn that, without a new revenue structure that includes tax-exempt properties, customers could shoulder the financial burden for citywide problems.
St. John Parish vote opens door to controversial grain terminal
Commissioners approve rezoning of Greenfield property for heavy industrial use, despite a prolonged community push to keep the land’s residential zoning in this largely rural part of St. John.
