Louisiana Considered

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is about to leave office, and the Democrat will soon be succeeded by Republican Jeff Landry. The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us to discuss the state’s political transition.  As we step into the New Year, Greater New Orleans, Inc. is highlighting $3.5 billion in projects that have been completed or are...

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is warning SNAP and EBT beneficiaries about potential benefit theft from card skimmers found at retail stores. Louisiana Considered assistant producer Aubry Procell spoke with Rhonda Brown, fraud and recovery director for DCFS about the issue and what cardholders can do to protect their benefits. The holiday season is just behind us,...

Today on Louisiana Considered, we hear from two former weightlifters on how the sport opened up new opportunities for them and introduced them to cross-cultural friendships.  Walter Imahara tells us about growing up in a Japanese internment camp before becoming a national weightlifting champion. Then, we hear from his friend and former weightlifter Warren Perrin, who discusses his book about David...

Today on Louisiana Considered, we’re revisiting some of our favorite stories from 2023. We hear an initiative from the LSUAgCenter to address the state’s feral hog problem and chat with MacArthur ‘genius’ grant recipient and Tulane professor and composer, Courtney Bryan. Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Bob Pavlovich. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our assistant...

Today on Louisiana Considered we are revisiting some of our favorite stories from the past year. We look back on a conversation with activist John Achee about the dangers of burning sugarcane and rice fields – and his quest for alternative practices. Plus we encore a conversation with Maxine Crump, founder and president/CEO of the organization Dialogue on Race, about her mission to eliminate racis...

Today on Louisiana Considered, we are revisiting some of our favorite stories from the past year. We look back on a conversation with two traiteurs about Louisiana’s health and wellness traditions and hear from New Orleans night mayor Howie Kaplan about his first year on the job.  Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our ass...

Early next year, Louisiana will inaugurate an all-Republican slate of statewide officials — a significant shift from almost 20 years ago, when a Republican from the state had never won a U.S. Senate seat.  Politics reporter Molly Ryan explores the changes in the state’s political parties and how the current Democratic Party is in a period of reckoning.  Five Louisiana judges recently heard argumen...

It has been a hot year for the economy, at least on paper. But in the Gulf South, many people are still turning to food banks for help. Each year around this time, Stephan Bisaha of the Gulf States Newsroom checks in with food banks and the people using them to see how things are going.  Between the race for governor, the appointment of Shreveport representative Mike Johnson to speaker of the hous...

Over 100 years ago this month, Congress approved the act that would soon make prohibition the law of the land. While some Louisianans supported the so-called “noble experiment,” most were unhappy with the idea. Not only has the state long been home to carnival celebrations where alcohol plays a prominent role, but the location of New Orleans and Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River made them impor...

Last month, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson announced plans to upgrade jail communication services by offering tablets to people incarcerated at the Orleans Justice Center. Under the plan, anyone held at the jail would be allowed to use the devices to contact doctors, lawyers and loved ones on the outside.  Verite News’ Bobbi-Jeanne Misick joins us for more on why the sheriff believes offering...

The Central Wetlands Reforestation Collective recently launched an initiative to plant 63,000 thousand trees in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes. This is part of larger efforts to restore the bayou ecosystems that have been impacted by coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion and hurricanes.  In October, we reported on the early stages of this project . Today, we check back in with Verite’s Lue Palmer...

There are only around 51 Rice’s whales left in the world. And they’re the only whale that stays in one country’s territory: they live exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico…in US waters. A uniquely American whale. This also means the responsibility to protect these whales lies with the United States, but are we protecting them? That’s a question NPR Investigations reporter, Chiara Eisner had. With so f...

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to catch up on the week in politics. The Time- Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us to discuss newly-sworn in police chief Anne Kirkpatrick’s efforts to combat crime, recruit more officers and bring state police into the French Quarter. While the holidays are meant for relaxing and relationship building, there’s ofte...

For the past three years, Jackson, Mississippi has been looking for solutions to urban heat islands — places in the city where temperatures are higher because buildings and roads absorb heat. Data shows the hottest areas in Jackson are usually near neighborhoods that have been historically discriminated against. The Gulf States Newsroom’s Danny McArthur visited one green infrastructure project des...

Hundreds of nurses at University Medical Center New Orleans voted to unionize last week. It’s one of Louisiana’s largest union elections in recent decades and the first private hospital in the state to unionize, according to National Nurses United , a union representing nurses across the country. Lucy Mendez is a registered nurse at UMC New Orleans in the emergency department. She spoke with the G...

School board members in East Baton Rouge Parish  rejected a proposal to rehire Superintendent Sito Narcisse last week. Many are pointing to Narcisse’s proposed salary bump as one of the main reasons. Charles Lussier reports on education for The Baton Rouge Advocate. He joins us for more on Narcisse’s rift with some newer board members and what might happen next. According to a report from the LSU...

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans has a new photo exhibit that tells the story of Rosenwald schools, a joint project started by Jewish philanthropist Julius Rosenwald and Black educator and activist Booker T. Washington in the early 1900s. Together, they built schoolhouses for Black children throughout the South, which for many, provided their first educational opportunit...

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for Louisiana Considered to catch up on the week in politics. The Time- Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us to discuss Gov.-elect Jeff Landry’s latest appointees –  and a recent announcement he made alongside Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams. The University of New Orleans has had enrollment challenges...

Last month, we discussed new efforts to close down New Orleans homeless encampments and relocate unhoused people. But now that the project is officially underway, some are raising concerns over who is being prioritized in the rehousing initiative. Verite News’ Lue Palmer has been covering the story and joins us for more. Louisiana has $154 billion worth of construction projects for industrial faci...

A police department in Alabama is asking residents and business owners to lend a hand in fighting crime. In November, the city of Birmingham launched a program that encourages people to share footage from their private surveillance cameras. As the Gulf States Newsroom’s Kat Stromquist reports, this type of cooperation doesn’t come without risks.  Every election cycle, we hear the same phrase: Ever...

During the first two years of the pandemic, public school enrollment in the U.S. fell by more than 1.2 million students. While some enrolled in private schools or formal homeschooling programs, others switched to unapproved schools that have little oversight and don’t need state permission to grant degrees. Sharon Luyre recently published an investigation into these schools for AP News and joins u...

Today, we are exploring a growing threat to our freshwater supplies in coastal regions all over the country. With climate change, we are experiencing sea-level rise and more frequent droughts, both of which make it easier for saltwater to creep into places we don’t want it. First, we go to Plaquemines Parish, an area that’s been dealing with the effects of saltwater intrusion on their drinking wat...

Three New Orleans residents sued the city in 2021, alleging that the city had failed to ensure wheelchair accessible sidewalks – which, they said, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. While the city later agreed to a settlement that required it to install ramps and curb cuts on hundreds of street corners, the city’s own data revealed that less than half of the intersections identified for...

Water leaks come with some simple math: The longer the leak continues, the more it costs. But utility companies don’t always warn customers about potential leaks in their pipes. That’s the story at the heart of our latest Utility Bill of the Month. The Gulf States Newsroom’s Stephan Bisaha reports on how an undetected leak led to one Alabama family owing thousands of dollars.  With Thanksgiving of...

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast expanded its service in Baton Rouge this month, following a similar expansion at the organization’s New Orleans location earlier this fall .    Neither clinic performed abortions before the state’s near-total ban went into effect last year. Since then, both clinics have added pre- and post-abortion care and are connecting patients to abortion providers out of state. T...