Louisiana Considered

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards wants to give employees at the Baton Rouge Police Department a raise. Edwards’ plan hopes to give sworn officers at least a 15% raise, non-sworn employees a 3.5% raise and the chiefs a 5.9% raise. But this still needs to be approved by the East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council, which they will consider in an upcoming meeting. Report for America corps me...

Curbside recycling in New Orleans may soon disappear. Mayor Helena Moreno floated the possibility of eliminating it as a potential cost-saving measure to help deal with a massive budget deficit. This is despite the fact that New Orleans was poised to participate in a universal recycling initiative, which would have been fully funded.  Katie Jane Fernelius has been reporting this story for Verite N...

She’s been a part of thousands of listener’s mornings for more than three and a half decades. And now, Morning Edition host Diane Mack has decided to retire.  Diane joins us to reflect on her life and career. She tells us how she first discovered NPR, offers advice to the next Morning Edition host and shares her most memorable moments on air. It’s March Madness! The time of year when 68 men’s team...

It’s Thursday, and that means it’s time to catch up on politics with Stephanie Grace, editorial director and columnist for The Times Picayune/The Advocate, for our week in politics. Today, she tells us about a legislative proposal to name a Louisiana bridge after President Donald Trump, and breaks down Mayor Moreno’s latest challenges.  In the last few weeks, New Orleans has seen multiple water ma...

Analysis from Pew shows state reserve funds — often called rainy day funds — largely fell in 2025. That's the first time that happened since the Great Recession. It's down from a record high for state rainy day funds nationwide just the prior year.  But Louisiana actually had a record-high rainy day balance in 2025, but we can’t rest easy, as it still falls short of the national average.  To learn...

The Nous Foundation is a New Orleans-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting Louisiana’s French, Creole and Indigenous cultures and languages. Recently, the organization received a $100,000 grant to launch an archival initiative.  Scott Tilton, co-founder of the Nous Foundation, and Dr. Kim Vaz-Deville, leading scholar of African American ceremonial culture in Louisiana, tell us how the grant will...

It’s March in Louisiana, and that means one thing: crawfish season. This year, the industry is facing major labor shortages due to federal immigration caps. This is despite the fact that most seasonal crawfish workers are typically authorized to work temporarily in the U.S.  Avery White and Sheridan White reported this story for the LSU Manship School News Service. They join us for more.  A new se...

It’s the end of the week, and time to catch up on politics. The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace discusses Gov. Landry’s priorities for the state legislative session.   Last month on Louisiana Considered, we brought you Voices of the Culture, a podcast hosted by two Black Masking Indians who shared their preparations for Mardi Gras day.  Today,...

The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane kicks off tonight, and among the featured authors, directors and journalists is Clint Smith, a staff writer at The Atlantic and author of the poetry collection “Above Ground” and the best-selling book “How the Word Is Passed.”  Smith is no stranger to New Orleans. He’s a native of the city who wrote a reflection on Hurricane Katrina’s 20th anniversary in Aug...

When a United Kingdom-based company promised to revive the pine lumber industry and produce green energy, three majority-Black towns in the deep South — including two in rural Louisiana — jumped at the opportunity. But residents are now thinking better of the deal after seeing massive spikes in air pollution. Verite News’ Tristan Baurick joins us to share what he’s learned about international wood...

Throughout 2025, the population at the Orleans Justice Center continuously exceeded capacity. This came even as violent crime rates and the New Orleans population continued to decline.  Ashley Cusick reported this story for Verite News. She joins us with the latest This Women’s History Month, “Two Elizas,” a poignant solo theatre piece, returns to the Hermann Grima House. Playwright, actress, and...

The LSU women’s basketball team has wrapped up the regular season and is headed to March Madness. The team last won the tournament in 2023. In 2024 and 2025, they lost in the Elite 8 round. Reed Darcey covers LSU women’s basketball for The Baton Rouge Advocate. He joins us for more on the team’s regular season and how they’re shaping up for the big dance. Louisiana’s state bird, the Brown Pelican,...

A New Orleans initiative to increase citywide recycling is under threat. This is despite the fact that the city has more than 5 million dollars worth of support from the EPA and a national nonprofit to support this program. Reporter for Verite News, Katie Jane Fernelius, tells us more.  Sea habitats are vanishing in the Gulf due to overfishing. Now, there’s a potential human-made solution for this...

The Louisiana legislative session is just around the corner, and conversations on the state budget are set to dominate. The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace joins us for a preview.  The Tulane Book Fest is just around the corner. If you attend and decide you’d like more author discussions, writing contests and book sales, you might want to chec...

The trial has begun for three people, including two lawyers, accused of staging car accidents throughout the Crescent City. The trial is the first in a widespread insurance fraud scheme and is even connected to a possible murder plot.  John Simmerman has been covering this story for The Times Picayune/The Advocate, and joins us now for more. LSU Health New Orleans has been selected to take part in...

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week is back. More than 100 summit sessions, 12 city-wide events and numerous workshops, pitch competitions and founder stories geared towards promoting business ventures will take place March 9-14.  Sam McCabe, director for the Center of Entrepreneurship and Community Development at Loyola University of New Orleans, gives us the details. The Marigny Opera Ballet continues...

Reproductive health is back in federal court. Louisiana lawyers are trying to persuade a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction against an FDA rule that allows abortion medication to be prescribed through telemedicine and sent through the mail. This is just the latest step in the anti-abortion campaign working to make abortion pills more difficult to access.  Mother Jones reporter Nina Ma...

It’s the end of the week and time to catch up on politics with The Times-Picayune/The Advocate’s editorial director and columnist, Stephanie Grace. She tells us about President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Julia Letlow (R-LA) in her challenge for Bill Cassidy’s Senate seat.  When you’re approaching your 50s, most people don’t expect to learn about a life-changing family secret. But that was...

Louisiana will have to pay a larger share of its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) because of changes made in the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to shift costs to states. Starting in October, Louisiana will be required to pay an additional $50 million. In October 2027, a cost increase could occur based on the state’s error rate. WRKF’s Alex Cox spoke with Gina P...

Louisiana public schools must display the Ten Commandments after a federal appeals court allowed the law to take effect late last week, overturning a lower court’s decision. But critics have vowed to keep fighting it. And schools are weighing what it all means for them. WWNO and WRKF’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz tells us more.  Artificial intelligence data centers are growing across the count...

Norman C. Francis, the New Orleans civil rights leader, businessman, educator and president of Xavier University for nearly half a century, died last week. He was 94.  Francis is remembered for his commitment to making the city a better place to live, whether through integration efforts or recovery after Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, then-president George W. Bush  honored him with the Presidential M...

Louisiana has passed a number of laws since the pandemic meant to improve students’ reading scores — and they appear to be working. In 2019, Louisiana’s fourth graders ranked 50th in the country for reading. As of last year, they’d risen to 16th.  WWNO and WRKF’s education reporter Aubri Juhasz joins us with more.  Earlier this month, Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whiteh...

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.  Today, she breaks down some of the satirical floats during Mardi Gras season, which krewes criticized the presidential administration, and which krewes defended it. Last year, some Louisiana residents experienced a scheduled blackout, an...

For four years, the podcast “Voices of the Culture” has been sharing stories about Black Masking Indian traditions. Today, we’ll listen to the second part of their latest episode.  Hosts Spyboy Horace Anderson of the Creole Wild West and Big Chief Dowee Robair of the 9th Ward Black Hatchet sit down with Big Chief Dow Edwards of the Timbuktu Warriors. They discuss the pressures and responsibilities...

For four years, the podcast “Voices of the Culture” has been sharing stories about Black Masking Indian traditions. Today, we’ll listen to the first part of their latest episode.  Hosts Spyboy Horace Anderson of the Creole Wild West and Big Chief Dowee Robair of the 9th Ward Black Hatchet sit down with Big Chief Dow Edwards of the Timbuktu Warriors. They discuss putting the finishing touches on th...