Artist Mickalene Thomas discusses Michelle Obama and Solange Knowles

A suite of Mickalene Thomas's lush, glittering photos and paintings of women went on display at the Newcomb Art Museum on the Tulane University campus on Wednesday evening . Thomas's career is especially resonant on the eve of Inauguration Day 2017, because her art had a role in the inauguration of the current president.

You be the federal sentencing judge: how long a prison term for convicted Philly US Representative?

I find high-profile, white-collar sentencing cases to be among the most interesting and dynamic because they often require a judge to balance and calibrate competing punishment theories and goals. Because most white-collar offenders are not violent and oftenhad a successful/productive life before getting into trouble, the need for severe punishment to incapacitate or specifically deter an offender from committing future crimesis often diminished.

Mike Pence Returns to Campaign Trail for GOP Senate Candidate in Louisiana

Nearly a month after the GOP won the presidential election, Vice President-elect Mike Pence is back on the campaign trail helping Republicans try to increase its U.S. Senate majority. The Indiana governor appeared in New Orleans on Saturday with Republican Senate candidate John Kennedy to urge GOP voters to turn out for the last day of early voting prior to Louisiana's Dec. 10 runoff between Kennedy and Democrat Foster Campbell.

Gov. Edwards doubts budget cuts can be avoided, but agrees to delay them

Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday that none of the cuts he has proposed to erase the deficit are what he wants to do, but he believes they're necessary given the ongoing financial crisis. Edwards was to sign an executive order Friday that would trigger hundreds of millions in cuts, but he granted a request by a legislative panel to delay the planned cuts for 30 days in hopes that higher education can be spared.

Stephanie Grace: Fringe figure David Duke hijacks final Senate debate

The U.S. Senate Debate for Louisiana gets underway at Georges Auditorium including David Duke, a convicted felon and Ku Klux Klan grand wizard, attorney Caroline Fayard, and U.S. Rep. John Fleming at Dillard University in New Orleans, La. Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016.

Our Views: An agitator instead of an attorney general

The principle of what's good for the goose ought to be good for the gander appears lost on Capitol Hill. If the anti-immigrant agitation over so-called "sanctuary cities" for immigrants who are here illegally has any basis in fact, the concern should be grounded in policy, not politics.

7 arrested at New Orleans protest seeking removal of Andrew Jackson monument

The juxtaposition of drumbeats and chants of "No justice, no peace" filled the air on Saturday afternoon as hundreds marched toward Jackson Square in New Orleans in an act of protest against four monuments honoring Civil War era figures . Take 'Em Down NOLA arrived at Jackson Square at 2:17 p.m., where a horse-mounted New Orleans Police patrol blocked access to the Andrew Jackson monument.

LSU seeks new hospitals to train doctors in north Louisiana

LSU is shopping around for new health care deals in north Louisiana, hoping to move some of its doctors-in-training to more hospitals in the region because the university's relationship with the operator of its own hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe continues to deteriorate. The Associated Press reports that LSU President F. King Alexander calls the university's arrangement to have the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana run the two north Louisiana hospitals "a three-and-a-half-year thorn in our side.

1 rescued, 2 missing after plane crash in New Orleans lake

U.S. Coast Guard officials say one person has been rescued and crews are searching for two others after a small plane crashed into a lake near a New Orleans airport. Multiple media reports say Coast Guard personnel responded to the scene Saturday night after the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the Seabrook Bridge near New Orleans Lakefront Airport.

Small plane crashes into lake near New Orleans airport

U.S. Coast Guard officials say one person has been rescued and crews are searching for two others after a small plane crashed into a lake near a New Orleans airport. Multiple media reports say Coast Guard personnel responded to the scene Saturday night after the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of the Seabrook Bridge near New Orleans Lakefront Airport.

Baton Rouge I-10 traffic relief party becomes a political fight

Louisiana politicians are squabbling over who gets credit for a federal grant designed to alleviate Baton Rouge traffic on Interstate 10 over the Mississippi River Bridge by moving the Washington Street exit. , at old McKinley High School with U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond by his side, telling the world Louisiana will be getting between $20 million and $25 million in FASTLANE grant money to move the dreaded Washington Street exit.