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Top Story

This category showcases the lead coverage readers need to know, offering context, clarity, and insight into issues shaping New Orleans and beyond.

St. John the Baptist Parish cleared in First Amendment lawsuit

A jury found that the defendants didn’t violate Joy Banner’s right to free speech or the Louisiana Open Meetings Law. But testimony revealed a hatred the Parish President harbors against the co-founders of The Descendants Project.
by Delaney Dryfoos January 29, 2025 Updated January 29, 2025

Losing a community pillar

by Lolis Eric Elie January 28, 2025 Updated December 28, 2025

Trial begins in First Amendment suit against St. John the Baptist Parish

Joy Banner of The Descendants Project brought the lawsuit after the Parish Council chairman threatened her with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a 2023 meeting.
by Delaney Dryfoos January 27, 2025 Updated January 27, 2025

Pairing of Arctic air and moisture from the Gulf created record-breaking snowfall

The celebrated New Orleans snowfall is twice what Anchorage has recorded all winter long. Meteorologists attributed it to a perfect dance between weather systems.
by Delaney Dryfoos January 23, 2025 Updated January 30, 2025

New Orleans Health Department launches a misoprostol map

To assist physicians and patients, the NOHD announces the launch of a map of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes, which pinpoints pharmacies that are stocked with the controlled substance misoprostol.
by La'Shance Perry January 16, 2025 Updated January 16, 2025

The shelter that the Super Bowl made

The leader of the governor’s temporary shelter says they are fully staffed and genuinely ready to move people into permanent housing. But it is several miles from the Superdome and is seen by critics as a way to warehouse homeless people away from Super Bowl crowds.
by Nick Chrastil and Katy Reckdahl January 15, 2025 Updated December 28, 2025

Getting Greenfield to pay what it promised

The Descendants Project sues, contending that public officials had no right to forgive Greenfield’s grain-elevator-project debts.
by Delaney Dryfoos January 13, 2025 Updated January 14, 2025

Kaleidoscope Reprise

This poem received second prize for poetry in the 2024 PEN Prison Writing Awards.
by John Corley January 2, 2025 Updated December 30, 2024

Waiting.

This story was awarded the top PEN Prison Writing Award for fiction.
by Lawson Strickland December 26, 2024 Updated December 27, 2024

Top debate student couldn’t sway School Board to keep his school open

Delores Taylor Arthur School for Young Men closed Friday, and its students are now frantically trying to find spots to finish out the school year. Parents say that the school’s mid-year closing was a tragedy that could have been foreseen – and prevented.
by Marta Jewson December 21, 2024 Updated December 21, 2024

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Most Popular

Footprint of solitary confinement in Louisiana expands because of ICE use of isolationFootprint of solitary confinement in Louisiana expands because of ICE use of isolationJanuary 20, 2026Bernard SmithCriminal Justice
Four injured, one dead, after man enters Dooky Chase’s with gunman in pursuitFour injured, one dead, after man enters Dooky Chase’s with gunman in pursuitJanuary 17, 2026Katy Reckdahl with photos by Gus BennettCriminal Justice
When the power goes out, churches offer shelter through the Community Lighthouse networkWhen the power goes out, churches offer shelter through the Community Lighthouse networkJanuary 21, 2026Delaney DryfoosEnvironment

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