Author

JC Canicosa is an award-winning journalist at The Louisiana Illuminator. Canicosa has previous experience at Investigate-TV and The Loyola Maroon and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Loyola University New Orleans. At Loyola, he was the senior staff writer at The Maroon and the president of the school's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Off the clock, Canicosa enjoys playing basketball, watching movies and dabbling in comedy writing.
Calcasieu Parish public schools’ academic calendar could extend to early June
By: JC Canicosa - November 9, 2020
The Calcasieu Parish School Board is scheduled to vote on a proposed change to the system’s school calendar Tuesday that, starting Nov. 30, would add 30 more minutes to each school day. Even with those added minutes, a school year interrupted by two hurricanes and an ongoing pandemic wouldn’t end before early June. “Staff has […]
Five more parishes can apply for Hurricane Delta aid
By: JC Canicosa - November 9, 2020
Beauregard, Lafayette, Rapides, St. Landry and St. Martin parishes have been added to FEMA’s individual assistance program, bringing the total number of parishes impacted by Hurricane Delta where residents are eligible for aid to 10, the governor’s office announced Saturday. Delta made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Oct. 9 near Creole, Louisiana, about […]
Calcasieu Parish reopens 66 public schools after Hurricane Laura
By: JC Canicosa - November 6, 2020
More than two months after Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm that heavily damaged 74 Calcasieu Parish public schools, the school board has reopened 66 public schools. “The reopening process is going really well,” Holly Holland, the public information officer for the Calcasieu Parish School Board, said. “Our students, faculty, and staff have all been […]
Defying his Republican opponents, Gov. Edwards extends COVID-19 restrictions
By: JC Canicosa - November 5, 2020
Louisiana will remain in Phase 3 of its coronavirus reopening plan through Dec. 4, Gov. John Bel Edwards, announced Thursday as he said that risky behavior from residents over the Halloween weekend had him “on pins and needles” worrying that a new surge of COVID-19 is coming. “I’m hoping, praying, it doesn’t show up in […]
Amendment 5 opponents say Louisiana lawmakers should take the amendment’s defeat to heart
By: JC Canicosa - November 5, 2020
During Tuesday’s statewide election, Louisiana voters rejected Amendment 5, which would have allowed some manufacturers to avoid the property taxes they would otherwise owe local taxing jurisdictions for new projects or additions and instead negotiate lower payments with those jurisdictions. Edgar Cage, a leader of Together Louisiana, a statewide network of congregations and civic organizations, […]
Sen. Bill Cassidy ready to push alternative COVID-19 relief package
By: JC Canicosa - November 4, 2020
After U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Baton Rouge, won his first-ever bid for re-election Tuesday night, he talked to members of the press about what he felt he’s done right during his first term and what his plans are for his second term. Congress failed to pass another COVID-19 relief package before Election […]
More Louisianans cast a ballot this year than any other in the past 30
By: JC Canicosa - November 4, 2020
With 92 percent of precincts reported as of 12:30 on Nov. 4, 2,100,291 voters cast their ballots in Louisiana, the most ever in a presidential election. 2,100,291 of the 3,092,871 is an unofficial turnout of 69.4 percent. An increase of the 67 percent voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election. Before Nov. 3, about a […]
400,000 Southeast Louisiana customers still without power after Hurricane Zeta
By: JC Canicosa - October 29, 2020
Hurricane Zeta’s death toll increased to six in the Southeast as of 5 p.m. on Oct. 29. A man was electrocuted by a downed power line in New Orleans, another drowned in Biloxi and a man in Acworth, Georgia was killed when an oak tree fell on his home. Two people were also killed near […]
Hurricane Zeta tears through New Orleans area toppling trees and power lines
By: JC Canicosa - October 29, 2020
A 55-year-old man was fatally electrocuted by a downed powerline in New Orleans Wednesday evening, becoming the first known casualty of Hurricane Zeta, a rare late-October storm that quickly tore through New Orleans and the surrounding area toppling trees, downing powerlines ripping off roofs with winds of over 100 miles per hour. Another death was […]
“Zeta is literally on our doorstep,” Gov. John Bel Edwards says
By: JC Canicosa - October 28, 2020
“Zeta is literally on our doorstep,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a press conference on Wednesday. Edwards said residents in Southeast Louisiana need to “now be where you want to be as you ride the storm out and get you and your family in the best posture possible for the storm.” Edwards said, “All […]
Southeast Louisiana residents have only today and tomorrow morning to prepare for Hurricane Zeta, Edwards says
By: JC Canicosa - October 27, 2020
Southeast Louisiana residents have only today and tomorrow morning to prepare for Hurricane Zeta’s Wednesday afternoon landfall, Gov. John Bel Edwards said. Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened into a hurricane Monday and is expected to hit the Gulf Coast Wednesday as a Category 1 storm somewhere between Southeast Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. At a press […]
Gov. John Bel Edwards issues emergency declaration ahead of Hurricane Zeta landfall
By: JC Canicosa - October 26, 2020
Tropical Storm Zeta strengthened into a hurricane Monday and is expected to hit the Gulf Coast Wednesday as a Category 1 storm somewhere between Southeast Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an emergency declaration on Oct. 26 and advised Louisianians to get ready once again. “At this time, the hurricane is […]