Investigations
Louisiana officials use campaign cash to buy LSU, Saints tickets
Editor’s note: This story is the first in a two-part series that looks into the spending of campaign money on sports tickets. The second installment will be published Wednesday. If you’re looking for tickets to an LSU or Saints game this year, you might want to ask an elected official for help. Forty-nine Louisiana politicians spent […]
Former pro wrestler: Gov. Phil Bryant cut nonprofit funding for supporting his opponent
JACKSON, Mississippi – A former professional wrestler and defendant in the Mississippi welfare scandal is alleging that he personally witnessed Republican Gov. Phil Bryant instruct an appointee to cut welfare funding to a nonprofit because its director supported Democrat Jim Hood in the 2019 governor’s race. The allegation that Bryant leveraged his control of welfare spending […]
Bryant moves to keep texts private, denies he helped channel welfare for Brett Favre’s project
JACKSON, Mississippi – Former Gov. Phil Bryant has publicly produced dozens of text messages in an attempt to prove he was unaware that former NFL quarterback Brett Favre was using welfare money for his volleyball project. The court documents filed Friday come within a court battle between Bryant and the attorney for nonprofit founder Nancy […]
In Shreveport, meth addiction overshadows opioids
SHREVEPORT – Staff at the Philadelphia Center, an HIV resource center, spend their Friday mornings sifting through boxes of needles, condoms and lube. While the smaller needles tend to go faster, the center stocks all varieties for methamphetamine users who need clean supplies. “It’s not just about syringes for us,” Hershey Krippendorf, the center’s development […]
Abort Offshore has a fervent founder — and doubters
Michael Kimbro wants his “conservative friends” to know he is white and that, while he was raised in Texas, he now lives in Manhattan with his “third, much younger, wife.” These are details Kimbro shared in a now-deleted blog post to convince others they should embrace the pro-abortion rights cause – or risk being “tricked […]
LSU will no longer receive sexual harassment awareness and prevention training from local nonprofit
LSU has declined to renew the contract of Sexual Trauma and Response (STAR), the organization that has provided sexual assault and harassment awareness training to university employees following multiple instances of federal Title IX law violations. STAR is a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit dedicated to building a sexual assault-free community. Its employees help shape legislation, provide […]
Over a dozen nursing homes could evacuate to facilities that failed state inspections
Ahead of hurricane season this year, Ferncrest Manor Living Center in New Orleans submitted a summary of its evacuation plan to the Louisiana Department of Health – just like the 93 other nursing homes in Louisiana’s most storm-prone parishes. Ferncrest Manor’s plan garnered special attention from state health officials. The nursing home listed a campground […]
Officials find problems with several more Louisiana nursing home evacuation sites
Hundreds of nursing home residents in southeast Louisiana may be still at risk for evacuating to inadequate or unsafe shelters through the end of this hurricane season, according to limited data the health department provided.
Louisiana health officials told to remove LGBTQ Pride content from web
Following a call from a state legislator in June, the head of the Louisiana Department of Health allegedly asked staff to scrub the agency’s online accounts of all content related to LGBTQ+ Pride month, according to internal emails among LDH staff. In one of the emails dated June 29, press administrator Michelle McCalope wrote to […]
Peterson pushed Edwards campaign, Democratic Party to work with firms in fraud scheme
NEW ORLEANS – Karen Carter Peterson pushed for the Louisiana Democratic Party to award a contract worth tens of thousands of dollars to a New Orleans political consulting firm just a few weeks before the 2019 primary election for governor. That’s according to the state party’s executive director at the time, who says he questioned […]
Former Miss. governor directed $1.1M welfare payment to Brett Favre, defendant says
JACKSON, Mississippi – Former Gov. Phil Bryant instructed his wife’s friend — whose nonprofit was receiving millions in subgrants from the welfare department he oversaw — to pay NFL legend Brett Favre $1.1 million, according to a new court filing. Nancy New alleges Bryant directed this and other spending, resulting in a massive scandal and […]
Drag queen tweet stirs controversy for Louisiana Department of Health
The Louisiana Department of Health faces backlash over a social media post that included a picture of a local drag queen at a health awareness event in Alexandria as part of LGBTQ Pride Month. The controversy began June 24 when LDH tweeted photos of a “family-friendly Pride event” at the Alexandria Convention Center with a […]