Tourists continue to visit Louisiana’s River Parishes, drawn by the canopy of oaks and the image of the Old South. At places like Oak Alley and Laura Plantation, they stroll through gardens, take photos on columned porches, and hear stories about elegance and tradition. What they rarely hear is how the legacy of these estates […]
Earth Day lands differently here. In New Orleans, residents don’t need reminders about the environment. They live with its consequences daily. Flooding is no longer seasonal; it’s expected. Heatwaves last longer. Insurance rates are pushing people out of their homes. And every year, the coastline slips further away. Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost over […]
In New Orleans, when basic services fail, the answer often sounds the same: the city is “working with outside partners” to address the issue. Whether it’s crumbling roads, persistent homelessness, or failing utilities, more and more of the public response is being managed by private consultants or nonprofits funded with public dollars. On paper, it […]
You don’t need a city council report to know something’s wrong. The roads say it all. Torn up asphalt, fences around half-dug trenches, and crews that come and go without warning. Some blocks haven’t seen progress in months. Others get repaved, only to be torn up again—clear signs of ongoing New Orleans infrastructure issues. New […]
Every spring, caterpillars return to New Orleans in full force, dropping from the city’s historic oak trees and surprising anyone walking beneath them. These aren’t just any caterpillars. One of the most common species spotted around this time is the oak leafroller caterpillar (Archips semiferana), which feeds on the fresh leaves of Southern live oaks. […]
In 2020, Big Easy Magazine reported that one in three children in New Orleans were expected to experience food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the economy, shuttered businesses, and pushed more families to rely on food banks and school meal programs just to get by. That moment revealed how fragile the city’s food access […]
Louisiana is facing a long emergency. Storms are more frequent. Insurance costs are rising. Jobs are not keeping pace. Climate change and economy are deeply connected — and all of it is holding the state back. The Data Center’s 2024 report, Pathways to Prosperity: Louisiana, shows that while the rest of the country added jobs […]
Louisiana residents are accustomed to weathering storms, but in recent years, it’s not hurricanes that have posed the greatest threat—it’s insurance. The Louisiana insurance crisis has led to rapidly rising premiums for home and auto insurance, squeezing the middle class across the state and impacting housing security, financial stability, and economic resilience. The current crisis […]
Editor’s Note: This article is intended as an exploratory overview of the past, present, and future of New Orleans East amid the climate crisis. While it draws from a wide array of public sources and verified data, it is not a long-form investigative feature. Instead, it serves as a foundation for ongoing conversations and reporting […]
Community Members Brace for More Betrayal in a New Era of Environmental Justice At the Wednesday, April 2nd meeting of the St. James Parish Council, I was shocked and personally disappointed to see that our councilmember for the 5th District of St. James, AJ Jasmin, introduced a resolution that called for the Parish Council “to […]
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