Louisiana Considered

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s Stephanie Grace. Today, we discuss the two candidates still in the race vying for Bill Cassidy’s Senate seat.  Last week, a ruling came down in the case of the notorious farm line at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. A federal judge ruled that while men forced to work on the farm line a...

Lawmakers in Baton Rouge wrapped up the regular session this week without money in the budget to give teachers another one-time stipend, as they’ve done for the past three years. Instead, Gov. Jeff Landry is asking lawmakers to pull the money needed from existing school funding.  WWNO and WRKF’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz joins us for more on this topic.  Summer is right around the corner, an...

After 12 weeks, Louisiana’s regular legislative session officially wrapped on Monday night. Capitol Access Reporter Brooke Thorington gives us the latest, including the new congressional voting map, teacher pay raises and environmental legislation.  Students in New Orleans recently celebrated the end of the school year and all the milestones that come with it. This was Fateama Fulmore’s first full...

Shortly after his inauguration, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a package of tough-on-crime bills that drastically changed the state’s sentencing laws. Now, two years later, the governor is hoping to add even more beds to the state’s largest prison through a newly proposed corrections budget. ProPublica and Verite News have spent more than two years investigating the impact of Landry’s policies on the cri...

Today we’re bringing you the second part of the latest Sea Change episode, Losing Paradise. As Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are claimed by the rising Gulf, fishermen and oil companies disagree over who has the right to the drowned land.  Oil companies say they still pay taxes on the drowned property and have a right to keep off trespassers. Meanwhile fishermen say these are public navigable waters...

Why are fishermen being arrested in Louisiana? An epic battle over "Sportsman's Paradise" is being waged on Louisiana's water. This is a story about public rights and private power colliding. As more and more of Louisiana’s coast disappears underwater, the state’s two most powerful and iconic forces – fishing and fossil fuels – are waging war over who owns the drowned land. This episode was hosted...

The new documentary “ Steal This Story, Please! ” tells the story of independent investigative journalist and co-founder of Democracy Now, Amy Goodman. Produced by Elsewhere Films, the documentary explores Goodman’s globe-trotting reporting, covering the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, tracking down oil executives in Nigeria and her advocacy for the release of a man she believes was wrongfully...

The Louisiana legislative session is entering its final week. Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace, tells us what bills passed, which failed, and what efforts are underway to change voting in the party primary system.  Another school year has come and gone. In Louisiana, reading scores are continuing to rise after a COVID drop. WWNO and WRKF’s education r...

Louisiana lawmakers recently passed a bill eliminating New Orleans’ clerk of criminal court. The parish had been the only one with two clerks, one for criminal court and another for civil. Governor Jeff Landry signed the bill into law just days before Calvin Duncan, a formerly wrongfully incarcerated Black man, was set to take office, after being elected to the criminal court position in November....

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. We discuss Governor Landry’s recent trip to Greenland and his less than warm welcome. We also hear what Senator Bill Cassidy has been up to in Congress following his primary defeat. Youth sports continue to face a shortage of referees. Foo...

It’s the time of year when all eyes are on LSU Baseball, a team that’s won two College World Series championships in the last three years.  But this year, it’s LSU softball that’s grabbing the spotlight, as the team heads to the Super Regional where they’ll aim to punch a ticket to the Women’s College World Series. Scott Rabalais has been covering the team for The Times-Picayune/The Advocate and j...

Roughly two weeks ago, the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling to ban the distribution of Mifepristone — one of two widely used drugs used for medication abortion — following telehealth appointments.  The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay of the ruling before releasing a new decision to keep Mifepristone available while the case proceeds in lower courts.  Rosema...

Saturday’s election results came as a shock to some amid rumors of voter discrepancies in the closed primaries. Some analysts view the results as a major pushback against Gov. Jeff Landry, whose five amendments were all rejected.  Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington joins us with more. In the Spring of 1960, Black residents boycotted stores along one of New Orleans’ busiest shopping stretche...

Nicholas Lemann, author, longtime New Yorker writer and professor at Columbia University, is out with a new book,  “Returning: A Search for Home Across the Centuries.” The book serves as both a memoir of his own reform Jewish childhood in New Orleans and a wider examination of Jewish assimilation in the American South.  His New Yorker article, "A Childhood in Jewish New Orleans, " a preview of the...

Statewide elections are approaching this Saturday, but there’s confusion over which votes will count. While residents will weigh in on ballot amendments, the Senate race and judgeships, Gov. Jeff Landry postponed the U.S. House race after the Supreme Court deemed the state’s congressional map unconstitutional. Still, the candidates remain on the ballot, and there are lawsuits circulating that advo...

This Saturday, Louisiana voters will weigh in on whether to let the new city of St. George form its own school district. To do that, they have to amend the state’s constitution. The Baton Rouge breakaway suburb has been trying to start its own school system for more than a decade. WRKF’s Report for America corps member Alex Cox joins us with more. The Louisiana Association of Chamber of Commerce E...

A new study from researchers at Tulane University is delivering a stark message about the future of coastal Louisiana: New Orleans is not forever. The study warns that rising seas, sinking land and ongoing coastal erosion mean the question is no longer if the coastline will move inland, but how we prepare for the inevitable reality that our region will be taken over by the Gulf of Mexico.  Torbjör...

A new podcast from WNYC’s “On The Media” seeks to tell the story of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA,” is a four-part series that chronicles the agency from its founding to its current uncertain status in the Trump Administration. The second episode takes a deep dive into the failings of FEMA during Hurricane Katrina.  Micah Loewinger ,...

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional election map is unconstitutional. Governor Jeff Landry quickly responded with an emergency declaration to suspend the ongoing congressional primary election. While the state argues it now has to redraw the maps  before the election can move forward, some legal experts are asking whether it’s right to suspend an election when so...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. Today, we discuss the latest in the postponed elections, as well as the ongoing court battle over the elimination of Calvin Duncan’s office as clerk of the Orleans Criminal District Court.  The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says that one in fou...

Last Friday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a ruling from the FDA that allowed the medication abortion drug mifepristone to be sent to patients without an in-person visit to a healthcare provider. Shortly after, the Supreme Court issued a temporary stay, allowing the drug to continue to be distributed for a short period of time. Kelcie Moseley-Morris has been covering this story for the...

After last week’s historic ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that Louisiana's congressional map is unconstitutional, Gov. Jeff Landry issued a state of emergency to postpone the U.S. House of Representatives race in the state. Capitol Access Reporter Brooke Thorington joins us with the latest. Nurses at University Medical Center (UMC) New Orleans are wrapping up a five-day strike. This is the sixth...

Southern University in Baton Rouge is requesting urgent funds from the state legislature. Interim President Orlando McMeans is asking lawmakers to approve a $19 million one-time investment to help address infrastructure concerns and campus blackouts.  The Louisiana Illuminator’s Piper Hutchinson joins us with more.  The Louisiana legislative session is in its final months, and there have been both...

 If you’ve ever attended Jazz Fest then it’s likely you’ve seen the Black Masking Indians, dancing and singing on stage or parading down the path. The Indians have actually played a role in Jazz Fest since its founding, and the music event helped to make more people aware of the Backstreet culture. Last week, WWNO’s Alana Schreiber spent some time with Black Masking Indians getting ready for Jazz...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. She breaks down the constitutional amendments Louisiana voters will soon weigh in on, including a new school district in St. George, permanent teacher raises and changing the retirement age for judges. The United States Supreme Court has invalida...