BATON ROUGE, La. — Luke Letlow, Louisiana's incoming Republican member of the U.S. House, died Tuesday night from complications related to COVID-19 only days before he would have been sworn into office. He was 41. Letlow spokesman Andrew Bautsch confirmed the congressman-elect's death at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport. “The family appreciates...
Photos Fuel Concerns Over in-Custody Death of La. Black Man
Graphic photos that surfaced online this week appear to show deep bruises on the face of a Black man who died following a police chase in Louisiana last year, raising new questions about whether his injuries were caused by the crash that ended the chase or an ensuing struggle with...
Laura Blasts Gulf Coast With Wind, Rain and Wall of Seawater
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Hurricane Laura pounded the Gulf Coast with ferocious wind and torrential rain Thursday and unleashed a wall of seawater that could push 40 miles inland as the Category 4 storm roared ashore in Louisiana near the Texas border. At least one person was killed. Laura arrived...
Evacuations Ordered as Hurricane Laura Aims at U.S. Coast
NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate the Texas and Louisiana coasts Tuesday as Laura strengthened into a hurricane that forecasters said could slam into land as a major storm with ferocious winds and deadly flooding. More than 385,000 residents were told to flee the Texas cities...
Acclaimed Novelist Ernest Gaines Dies at 86
NEW ORLEANS — Novelist Ernest J. Gaines, whose poor childhood on a small Louisiana plantation germinated stories of black struggles that grew into universal tales of grace and beauty, has died. He was 86. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which sponsors a literary award in Gaines' honor, confirmed he died...
Supreme Court to Hear Abortion Regulation Case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to plunge into the abortion debate in the midst of the 2020 presidential campaign, taking on a Louisiana case that could reveal how willing the more conservative court is to chip away at abortion rights. The justices will examine a Louisiana law requiring...
Dressed up, Ready for Fun: New Orleans Celebrates Mardi Gras
NEW ORLEANS — The streets of New Orleans were filled Tuesday with excited kids hoping to catch beads from atop ladders, revelers in fancy v walking through the French Quarter and Mardi Gras Indians wearing finely beaded costumes. Tuesday marks the final day of the Mardi Gras season, which began...
Supreme Court Restricts the Reach of Endangered Species Act
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court, on an 8-0 vote, ordered a lower court to take a new look at a federal agency's designation of Louisiana timberland as a critical habitat for an endangered frog found only in Mississippi. The court ruled Tuesday in a case involving a 1,500-acre tract owned...