Reforms resulted from the thousands left to drown in OPP
The 2005 abandonment of incarcerated people within the flooded Orleans Parish jail complex became one of the catalysts to reform the city’s dysfunctional justice system
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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.
Finding hard-fought stability after the storm
“There’s something full circle about our Katrina baby protecting swimmers in the Lower 9th Ward from deep water,” Lens editor Katy Reckdahl writes in an essay about the city and her son, who was born 23 hours before Katrina struck the city.
‘It’s a warning, set to a dance beat’: Jon Batiste on his new song urging climate action at Katrina20
The global music star, whose hometown of New Orleans was devastated in 2005 by the hurricane and subsequent levee engineering failures, says ‘people power’ can change the world.
A ‘college for all’ push thrived in New Orleans after Katrina. It wasn’t for everyone
KIPP New Orleans pushed 'college for all' in its early years. Schools are now adding career and personal counseling, and offering technical education courses.
FEMA failures in Katrina aftermath serve as stark warning for today’s FEMA cuts
As the Trump administration hobbles FEMA, experts warn the agency is backsliding towards the same failures seen after New Orleans’ levees failed.
Hoping to distract displaced Katrina children with cameras, she ended up launching a nonprofit
On Friday evening, The Contemporary Arts Center will kick off an exhibit for Danette Vincent’s Katrina Camera Kids, who picked up cameras for the first time after the storm and ended up capturing important moments in their lives.
The long arc of John McDonogh Senior High School
The ups and downs within the John McDonogh High School building illustrate the persistent inequities of New Orleans public schools
Threatening the bridge that defines the Lower 9
Revived after 25 years, the Army Corps’ project would expand the Industrial Canal lock and destroy the historic St. Claude lift bridge, in a construction project that will last 14 years.
Rust and corrosion threaten levee steel pumps and supports
A permanent fix is still on the way for corrosion found in the massive lakefront pumps – and there’s likely more corrosion on the underground steel supporting certain floodwalls, because the Army Corps only painted a fraction of it with protective coatings
20 years after Katrina, New Orleans schools are still ‘a work in progress’
New Orleans schools show improvement from pre-Katrina days, but families have had to weather the growing pains of the charter movement, including too many school closures, "no-excuses" discipline, and an inordinate focus on academics and not on the extracurriculars that help create well-rounded students.
