Hundreds of people dressed in costume will reconstruct an 1811 Louisiana slave uprising, the largest in US history
In the middle of a grassy traffic island, adjacent to a nondescript strip mall in southern Louisiana, stands the only physical memorial to an event that rocked the racist foundations of the United States.
A brown plaque, erected to commemorate a plantation home, has one short, embossed aside: “Major 1811 slave uprising organized here.”
Continue reading...Louisiana’s governor, John Bel Edwards, is fighting to hang on to a rare Democratic governorship in the deep south, against a national Republican offensive aimed at forcing him into a run-off after Saturday’s election.
Republicans are trying to hold Edwards under the 50% benchmark the region’s only Democratic governor needs to win outright over five other candidates. On Friday night, Donald Trump made a last-minute appeal to Louisiana voters.
Continue reading...Emissions of a likely carcinogen emitted by a nearby plant have been recorded at levels hundreds of times above the safe limit
Local officials in Reserve, Louisiana, are examining the prospect of removing pupils from an elementary school situated a few hundred feet from a chemical plant that presents the highest risk of cancer due to airborne toxins anywhere in America, the Guardian has learned.
The Fifth Ward elementary school, which educates close to 500 students aged up to 10 years old, has become a focal point in environmental activism in Reserve after emissions of a likely carcinogen, chloroprene, emitted by the nearby plant have been recorded at the school at levels hundreds of times above the safe limit recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Continue reading...The Guardian invited the civil rights leader to the community on the banks of the Mississippi River where the people face the highest risk of cancer due to airborne toxins in the United States. Lending his support to their struggle, he said: 'When you poison the air … it is a form of idolatry. It is to worship money and to worship profit over people'
Continue reading...Thousands of homes have been left without power after Storm Barry battered parts of Louisiana early on Sunday. The storm flooded highways, forced people to scramble on to rooftops, and dumped heavy rain as it made landfall 160 miles west of New Orleans. Authorities have warned of disastrous flooding across the Gulf Coast
Continue reading...Tropical Storm Barry strengthened into a category one hurricane on Saturday as it neared the Louisiana coast, threatening millions with heavy rains and storm surge. The storm was expected to weaken after it moved inland but forecasters encouraged residents in New Orleans to be patient and stay vigilant.
More than 12 hours after city officials anticipating crippling and potentially historic flooding told residents to “shelter in place”, a few rays of sun peeked through the clouds on Saturday morning, adding a glint to the mostly dry city streets.
Continue reading...Forecasters say the biggest danger is not destructive winds but heavy rain as it was upgraded to tropical storm Barry on Thursday
Mandatory evacuations were ordered south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday as the city and a surrounding stretch of the Gulf coast braced for a possible hurricane over the weekend that could unload heavy rain and send water spilling over levees, in the first big test for flood defenses since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The strength and speed of the wind increased on Thursday and by mid-morning was upgraded to become tropical storm Barry.
Continue reading...The state legislature is to vote on a bill banning terminations after six weeks but so-called Trap laws have already severely restricted access
Kathaleen Pittman still remembers the first time she had to turn away a patient because of new intrusive anti-abortion laws in Louisiana.
“We had the patient already prepped and ready to go – medicated and everything. Then we got a call from our attorney saying that the governor had just signed the 24-hour waiting period into law,” said Pittman, who has worked on staff at the Hope Medical Group For Women in Shreveport, Louisiana, for more than 26 years.
Continue reading...Amendment, which would change state constitution to say Louisianans have no right to abortions, set to go before voters
The Louisiana senate approved a state constitutional amendment on Tuesday declaring that citizens have no constitutional right to abortions. The move is the latest salvo in a broader assault against reproductive rights in the state, and it comes on the heels of extreme legislation in Georgia, Missouri, and Alabama all aimed at near-total bans of the procedure.
The measure now heads back to the house, which has already passed a version, for final approval. The amendment still, however, needs to be ratified by Louisiana voters in a referendum this fall.
Continue reading...Residents of the town on the banks of the Mississippi River have watched as family members and neighbors have been lost to cancer. Official figures show the risk of cancer from toxic air is 50 times higher in Reserve than the national average. Feeling neglected by politicians, they are fighting back against the chemical plant has been emitting chloroprene into the air for half a century
Continue reading...As rentals with companies such as Airbnb proliferate in the area, raising rent and property taxes, officials are enacting laws to protect local residents
New Orleans’ Treme is regarded as the nation’s oldest African American neighborhood, but some of its residents, like Darryl Durham, now say that legacy is fading quickly.
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