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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.

Pregnant in Louisiana Now, After Roe Fell

She is now past her first trimester and doing well. But after two miscarriages, she is aware that a new Louisiana law blocks crucial care for her, if – ‘god forbid’ – something goes wrong.
by As told to Marta Jewson October 9, 2024 Updated October 9, 2024

The majority-Black districts that became Cancer Alley

Lifelong residents of St. James Parish will speak in federal court on Monday about how parish officials and ordinances have, for generations, explicitly directed industrial plants into predominantly Black neighborhoods.
by Delaney Dryfoos October 6, 2024 Updated April 14, 2025

Licensing a troubled juvenile jail

by Nick Chrastil October 1, 2024 Updated March 28, 2026

Pregnant and hemorrhaging, without a key solution within reach

Lawmakers passed a law designed to limit reproductive rights in Louisiana. But it may also limit patients’ chances of surviving common life events like miscarriages and births.
by Marta Jewson September 27, 2024 Updated October 11, 2024

Unlikely alliance forms to boost community air monitoring in Louisiana

A bulk storage facility plans to join with activists from the Louisiana Environmental Action Network to monitor air quality in St. Rose, a ‘Cancer Alley’ community.
by Terry L. Jones for Floodlight September 20, 2024 Updated September 24, 2024

Mississippi River mayors agree to unify ports from Louisiana up to Minnesota

The cooperative agreement is the first between the inland ports in the heart of the Corn Belt and the coastal ports of Louisiana, which together export 60% of the nation’s agricultural products.
by Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens, and Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator September 19, 2024 Updated September 19, 2024

Louisiana sanctions use of pepper spray and mace on detained juveniles

In July, a new state law put all Louisiana pretrial juvenile detention centers under the umbrella of the state Office of Juvenile Justice. Soon after, the agency filed an ‘emergency order’ approving the use of ‘chemical agents’ in those facilities. 
by Nick Chrastil September 9, 2024 Updated March 27, 2026

To bring insurance companies back to Louisiana, some suggest tackling it as a federal issue 

At the height of hurricane season, Congressional candidate Devin Davis announces a plan to combat Louisiana’s home-insurance crisis. U.S. Rep. Troy Carter says he’s focused on a more apt federal concern: FEMA’s flood-hazard ratings.
by Delaney Dryfoos, The Lens, and Eva Tesfaye, WWNO September 2, 2024 Updated September 9, 2024

Pencils, Laptops, and Guaranteed Income

Across the nation, there’s been an increase in programs looking at ways to help lift up young people – and move them from poverty into more secure futures. Administrators at Rooted School saw fewer absences, a jump in reading scores, and a boost in independence for students who received $50 weekly stipends.
by Marta Jewson August 27, 2024 Updated September 9, 2024

Formosa Plastics returns to fight again

In January, an appeals court injected new life into Formosa’s plans to build a huge plastics plant in St. James Parish. But to make plastic requires vinyl chloride, which already has a toxic 40-year track record in Louisiana.
by Delaney Dryfoos August 19, 2024 Updated August 19, 2024

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