THE LATEST
Calogero Minacore and the Making of Carlos Marcello
Part One of the Bayou Brief's Godfather Trilogy
As the Coronavirus Pandemic Spreads, the French Quarter Empties.
A photo essay by J.S. Makkos.
Love In The Time Of Coronavirus
The COVID-19 pandemic has Peter Athas thinking about Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood. We’ve gone from “heckuva job, Brownie” to “heckuva job, Trumpy.”
A Medical Worker Describes Terrifying Lung Failure From COVID-19 — Even in His Young...
“It first struck me how different it was when I saw my first coronavirus patient go bad. I was like, Holy shit, this is not the flu. Watching this relatively young guy, gasping for air, pink frothy secretions coming out of his tube.”
In Acadia Parish, A Family Empire Built Through the Clerk of Court’s Office
In the late summer of 1999, after a career spanning more than four decades, Andy Barousse (pronounced BAH-roos) finally decided it was time to pass the reins of the family business over to his 35-year-old son Robby. Andy had been in charge since 1968; it was the same job his father had held until the day he died.
For 59 of the past 68 years, the Acadia Parish Clerk of Court’s Office has been led by three generations of Barousse men. It is supposed to be an...
OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY
The COVID-19 pandemic has Peter Athas thinking about Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood. We’ve gone from “heckuva job, Brownie” to “heckuva job, Trumpy.”
Peter Athas on Elizabeth Warren, Mary Landrieu, Lindy Boggs, and his mother.
Ghost town of a single-industry economy
REGIONAL
THE CAPITOL BRIEF by Sue Lincoln
Trying to Prevent Coronavirus From Going Viral
Louisiana's Legislature adjourns for two weeks to try and help minimize the spread of COVID-19
Opening Day Signs and Portents
Session begins with a broken gavel and the state’s first positive test in the predicted COVID-19 pandemic
Behind the Not-So-Magic Eight Ball
“For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the future.” – Barbara Jordan
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Supports Gender Discrimination in Auto Insurance Rates
“I do think there should be a rate difference. I am for gender as a rate-setting factor.”
So says...
To See or Not To See
Dear readers,
I know it’s been nearly a month since I initiated this series to gaze into the murky...
Turn the Pages or Close Our Books?
New decade, new terms of office. But will it just be more of the same-old, same-old?
WRECKED: HOW CAR INSURANCE TAKES LOUISIANA FOR A RIDE
Careless Operation: Tort Reform and the Fight Brought To You By...
It is impossible to separate the well-funded campaign for "tort reform" and the proposals in the Louisiana legislature to change state law, under the pretense of lowering auto insurance premiums, with the legacy of Big Tobacco.
Careless Operation: Part One
Following the defeat of a thinly-disguised series of so-called "tort reforms" that were marketed to the public as a way to decrease the price of car insurance in Louisiana, conservative lawmakers and their patrons at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) are once again attempting to push through legislation that would bargain away the legal rights of innocent victims.
Deployment Penalty: How Big Auto Insurers Hike Premiums on Returning Vets
In what amounts to a deployment penalty, several large Louisiana car insurers raise rates, in some cases by nearly 30%, on National Guard...
Insurance Commissioner Donelon Accepts $20K from Man Indicted for Attempting to...
Since 2015, Donelon has received more than $680,000 in campaign donations from insurance companies and agents.
Major Insurers Charge Louisiana’s Blue-Collar Workers More for Basic Coverage Than...
The research highlights a problem that impacts a significant proportion of Louisiana drivers, yet one that was apparently unknown to Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon.
The Task Farce: What a Missing Report Reveals About the Insurance...
On April 15th, when state Rep. Kirk Talbot first introduced HB 372, a now-defeated proposal that had been known as the...
EDUCATION
In 2012, almost all of Sci Academy’s seniors were accepted at college; seven years...
Nearly all the seniors at this charter school went to college. Only 6 out of 52 finished on time.
The Other General
William Tecumseh Sherman was the school's first superintendent, but "the father of LSU" was a Virginia-born aristocrat who moved to Rapides Parish, earned a fortune through his cotton plantation, and then lost almost everything during the Civil War.
Louisiana College’s Draconian Policies on Social Media Use Horrifies Students, Professors, and Alumni
Multiple students believe the policy, among other things, will prevent victims from coming forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
Books for Your Gift List
“A story is a letter that the author writes to himself, to tell himself things that he would be unable to discover otherwise.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
Book Review | Nothing to Write Home About: Sarah M. Broom’s The Yellow House
In her debut memoir, Broom misapprehends the geography of the city and reveals a disorientation with the lived experiences of Black New Orleans.
Book Review | “Back in the Game” by U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise
A politician’s memoir that somehow avoids all mention of the politician’s politics.
ERECTOR SET
In Secret Recording, Eddie Rispone Claims High-Dollar Fundraisers “More Important” Than...
“... the time that it takes to get ready for those, when I need to be doing this,” Rispone said during a top-dollar fundraiser at the home of a Monroe oil and gas executive.
