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Category
Opinion

Perspectives and reflections that challenge, question, and inspire.

aerial view of hurricane damaged area

Will New Orleans face fewer, but more powerful storms?

Was the 2025 hurricane season a glimpse of of the future? Though Louisiana had a quiet season, an analysis of this year's storms in the Atlantic basin. points to a new trend—of more intense but less frequent hurricanes.
by Marc Alessi December 29, 2025 Updated December 25, 2025

Will NOLA Public Schools fulfill its promise to the Leah Chase School community?

Leah Chase School, it seems, was never meant to exist—at least, not as a traditional public school. Less than two years later, NOLA Public Schools’ board members are debating whether to close it.  
by Elizabeth K. Jeffers December 18, 2025 Updated December 28, 2025

Usted puede hacer cumplir la ley de inmigración de maneras profesionales

La forma en que se aplica la ley es tan importante como la ley misma.
by Arthur Hunter Jr. December 17, 2025 Updated December 22, 2025
A wide, low tree branch covered in textured bark stretches diagonally across a grassy field, with sunlight filtering through dense leaves and other large trees in the background. The scene is peaceful, natural, and spacious.

When the land sickens: the public health cost of environmental rollbacks

by Dr. Rachel Bervell December 11, 2025 Updated December 9, 2025

You can enforce immigration law in professional ways

How you enforce the law is just as important as the law itself.
by Arthur Hunter Jr. December 9, 2025 Updated December 9, 2025
A bright pink Roseate spoonbill flies low over the grassy wetlands of south Louisiana, its wings fully extended against a backdrop of wildflowers and marsh vegetation.

Nobody seems to want carbon capture — not even Air Products

Air Products wants to off-load its risk for a proposed carbon-capture project in Lake Maurepas, which the writers see as a signal that carbon-capture technology, “a corporate experiment,” is also too risky for the state of Louisiana.
by Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré and Livingston Parish Councilman Dean Coates December 8, 2025 Updated December 11, 2025
A low-angle view of a tall bronze monument featuring a worker holding a broom, with additional sculpted figures and architectural forms rising behind him, set against a bright sky with scattered clouds and surrounding trees.

New Orleans does not want or need a mass enforcement operation

New Orleans cherishes its immigrant community. We owe them safety, dignity, and the assurance that this city will stand with them. What is happening across the country cannot become our reality.
by Royce Duplessis December 5, 2025 Updated December 5, 2025

We learned from Katrina what government-created trauma looks like. Let’s not repeat it.

As we learned from Katrina, when government decisions destabilize families and communities, the psychological impact on children is profound and lasting.
by Stacy Overstreet December 4, 2025 Updated December 6, 2025
Dominque Jones-Johnson sits at a table showing photos of her incarcerated father on her phone to a group of smiling young girls at the Daughters Beyond Incarceration headquarters in New Orleans.

When a parent goes to prison, a child pays the price

Louisiana spends too much of its budget on criminal justice while ranking low in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and economic wellbeing. We could redirect those resources.
by Dominque Johnson October 28, 2025 Updated October 28, 2025

It takes all of us to help our unhoused neighbors

To further expand services for our neighbors in New Orleans, START CORP is working to develop a new clinic at the former St. Jude Community Center on North Rampart Street.
by Casey Guidry October 9, 2025 Updated December 17, 2025

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Our reporting has more urgency than ever.


For more than a decade, we have reported on issues as well as public policy meant to address the needs of residents. The Lens seeks to focus on the inherent inequality that has created a multi-tiered system. We, at The Lens seek to uncover, illuminate, inform and take part in a forward-looking community. Join us.

 
 

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