In 2012, as social worker Danielle Wright was conducting behavioral health screenings in public schools around New Orleans, she kept meeting students in their preteens or early teens who were suicidal. Part of Wright’s job was to go to schools and assess the overall mental health of students who were participating in a sexual and […]
Posted inArts
Lit Louisiana: New Orleans writer among few women to gain fame during Harlem Renaissance
Lit Louisiana highlights the state’s contemporary literature and brings significant books and authors from the past to the readers of Verite. There were few women writers who became well-known for their participation in the Harlem Renaissance, the era when cultural Afrocentrism arose in New York City. Among the most famous authors were Zora Neale Hurston, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Tragic Prison Death of Markus Lanieux Jr. Sparks Inquiry
The son of Markus Lanieux – the Louisiana prisoner who was the subject of a joint report last week by Verite News and ProPublica – died Thursday (Sept. 7) while in state custody at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport. Ken Pastorick, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Corrections said last week there […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Fled a traffic stop in Kenner. Now he’s in prison for life
Update, Sept. 8, 2023: The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday, declaring unconstitutional a recently passed Louisiana law that empowers district attorneys to revisit and reduce excessive sentences. The ruling reverses that of a district court that had rejected Landry’s challenge and reinstates the life sentence of William […]
Posted inGovernment
City Council nixes Nyx; city to be added as party to River District agreement
A roundup of news items from the May 16, 2024 New Orleans City Council regular meeting.
Posted inPorch Poppin'
Porch Poppin’ Episode 55: Endangered whale spotted in western Gulf
Scientists spotted two Rice’s whales — a highly endangered species — in the western Gulf in April, and some are concerned about the dangers the species faces from industry activity off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas.
Posted inBack in the Day
Filipino settlers introduced Louisiana to dried shrimp
Filipino settlers in Louisiana are credited with revolutionizing the fishing and shrimp industries, writes Tammy C. Barney.
Posted inPorch Poppin'
Porch Poppin’ Episode 54: New Orleans invites musicians to take New Orleans Music Census
The New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Nighttime Economy, in partnership with Sound Music Cities, invites New Orleans musicians and service providers to take the New Orleans Music Census.
Posted inNews
Cyclists to commemorate traffic deaths ahead of ‘ghost bike’ sculpture removal
‘It hurts every time,’ Clark Thompson said of cyclist deaths in traffic crashes.
Posted inNews
Supreme Court orders Louisiana to use congressional map with two majority-Black districts
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered Louisiana to use maps with two majority-Black districts approved earlier this year for this fall’s congressional elections.
Posted inBack in the Day
Rodolphe Desdunes: Civil rights activist involved in Battle of Liberty Place
Columnist Tammy C. Barney looks at the significant role in New Orleans history played by Rodolphe Lucien Desdunes, a customs clerk, journalist, historian, poet, police officer, teacher and civil rights activist.
Posted inTransportation
More than a year after bus system redesign, New Orleans riders still waiting for new street markers
More than a year and a half after the RTA overhauled its bus routes, virtually none of the city’s 2,000-plus bus stops have new signage.
Posted inGovernment
Council could be new party in River District agreement
Months after the city of New Orleans was cut out of an operating agreement for the $1 billion River District project, developers are playing nice with a new proposal that gives the City Council oversight of sales and hotel occupancy taxes in the planned neighborhood.
Posted inEducation
Educators at French immersion charter school vote overwhelmingly to unionize
Following a vote this week, Lycée Français De La Nouvelle-Orléans joins a growing list of unionized schools in New Orleans.