LOUISIANA

Police said Jonshel Alexander and a man were shot inside a vehicle in New Orleans and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A former Louisiana sheriff pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge on Wednesday, weeks after a state jury convicted him of sexually abusing boys. Rodney J. “Jack” Strain, who lost a reelection bid in 2015 after five terms as St. Tammany Parish's sheriff, appeared in court in shackles and an orange prison jumpsuit, news outlets reported. Federal prosecutors dropped 15 other charges when Strain pleaded guilty to a single count of bribery involving federal funds.

A Louisiana man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Lackey worked as an employee for two commercial construction companies, SES Construction Consulting Group (SES) and Global Technical Solutions (GTS). To hide his income from the IRS, Lackey had his SES and GTS wages paid to R&O Renovations and Reconstructions (R&O), a company he owned. For the 2012 through 2017 tax years, Lackey did not file corporate income tax returns for R&O or personal income tax returns with the IRS. Lackey’s co-conspirators furthered the scheme by falsely classifying Lackey as a contractor of SES and GTS rather than an employee.

A Louisiana marketer was sentenced today to 30 months in prison in the Southern District of Mississippi for his role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to defraud TRICARE and private insurance companies by paying kickbacks to distributors for the referral of medically unnecessary prescriptions. TRICARE is the health care program for uniformed service members, retirees and their families. The conduct resulted in more than $180 million in fraudulent billings, including more than $50 million paid by federal health care programs. Shoemaker pleaded guilty on Aug. 12 to conspiracy to defraud the United States and solicit, receive, offer, and pay illegal kickbacks. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Shoemaker was ordered to pay restitution and forfeit all assets traced to his ill-gotten gains.

Ida roared onto the Louisiana coast exactly 16 years, to the day, Aug. 29, that Katrina struck.

Florida has found its next football coach — Louisiana’s Billy Napier.

An oil tanker hit an offshore oil platform at night off Louisiana because its Turkish operating company didn’t give the ship’s master time to recover from days of sleepless travel, federal investigators have found. The master, or person in charge of sailing the Atina, had traveled from Istanbul and told investigators “he was tired from having no sleep for over 50 hours,” according to a National Transportation Safety Board report made public Tuesday. The crash early Oct. 17, 2020, did an estimated $72.9 million in damage — $72.3 million to the platform SP-57B and the rest to the tanker Atina, the board said.

Job candidates rarely know when hidden artificial intelligence tools are rejecting their resumes or analyzing their video interviews. But a New York City Council bill passed in early November would ban employers from using automated hiring tools unless a yearly bias audit is reported. (Nov. 19)

Montgomery played a key role in the debate over life sentences for juveniles.

In recent years, hundreds of people once destined to spend the rest of their lives in prison after being convicted of crimes as juveniles have gone free.

The I-14 Corridor across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia will be built primarily by incrementally upgrading existing highways.

The I-14 Corridor across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia will be built primarily by incrementally upgrading existing highways.

A federal court has declined to lift its stay on the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more workers.

The Louisiana Board of Pardons voted unanimously to pardon the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 "separate but equal" ruling.

The Louisiana Board of Pardons voted unanimously to pardon the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1896 "separate but equal" ruling.

The American workers allege in the suit that they were being paid $7.25-$9 an hour while white South African workers were paid $11.83.

City officials believe a $3,500 annual payout to young people could help solve the "unbanked" problem plaguing the Big Easy.

A Louisiana board has voted to posthumously clear Plessy's conviction for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892. The governor will have the final say.

A Louisiana man who owns construction and building inspection businesses, along with his brother and sister who were employed by the construction businesses, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Randy Farrell also conspired with Matthew Reck, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the IRS on July 7. Since 2007, Randy Farrell has also co-owned a building inspection business, IECI & Associates LLC (IECI). To help conceal the income he received from IECI, Randy Farrell directed IECI to issue checks payable to nominees in amounts under $10,000 and then cashed the checks, keeping the funds for himself. Randy Farrell, David Farrell and Ruiz are scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

Ella Conrad's mom started listening to doctors and following the science — going from a QAnon follower to a vaccine advocate for her state.

Republican governors, lawmakers and attorneys general are forming a wall of opposition to President Joe Biden's plan to require vaccinations or COVID-19 testing at all private employers of 100 workers or more.

Faith leaders and activists across the world are increasingly joining the fight against climate change driven by a moral imperative to preserve creation for future generations.

A group of dads showed up at a Louisiana school after 23 students were arrested in a rash of fights.

U.S. governors are taking a seat at the table as international leaders gather in Scotland at a critical moment for global efforts to reduce fossil fuel emissions and slow the planet's temperature rise.

A federal grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana, returned an indictment charging Jared Desadier, 43, with assaulting an arrestee in Ouachita Parish. The two-count indictment charges Desadier with willfully depriving an individual of his right to be free from unreasonable seizure and with witness tampering. The indictment further alleges that Desadier attempted to cover up his misconduct by engaging in misleading conduct towards his supervisors. Specifically, the indictment alleges that after the arrestee complained in the presence of supervising officers that he had been assaulted, Desadier claimed that he had not touched or harmed the arrestee and blamed the arrestee’s injuries on a fall. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Flanagan of the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Thomas Johnson of the Civil Rights Division.

A federal grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana, returned an indictment yesterday charging a Louisiana man with fraudulently obtaining more than $1.1 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program loans. According to the indictment, Tolliver falsified information in the loan applications and supporting documents, including falsely claiming that some of his businesses had over 100 employees. In total, Tolliver sought more than $7.6 million in PPP and EIDL Program loans and obtained more than $1.1 million. Tolliver is charged with two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s prosecution of fraud schemes that exploit the PPP.

Extreme winds and heavy downpours battered neighborhoods in Texas and Louisiana.

The Fair Fight Political Action Committee says its donation to the RIP Medical Debt nonprofit will benefit residents in 5 Southern states, part of Fair Fight Action's advocacy for Medicaid expansion.

Residents of and around Jean Lafitte, La. say they haven't seen storm damage like this before. And they say the federal government could have done more for them as it did for the city upriver.

The political organization led by prominent Democrat Stacey Abrams is branching out into paying off medical debts.

The film industry and its unions provide guidelines on how to deal safely with prop guns on movie sets.

Declaring an impasse in contract talks with striking union workers, global spirits producer Heaven Hill said Monday it will start hiring permanent replacement workers for bottling and warehouse operations in Kentucky.

Trump launched a series of insults at Cassidy, declaring "he could not even be elected dog catcher today, the great people curse him."

Data: CDC; Note: Data represents 30% of Americans across 16 jurisdictions: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York City, Seattle/King County, Wash., Utah and Wisconsin; Chart: Danielle Alberti/AxiosEven vaccinated Americans who are 80 or older are at higher risk of dying from the coronavirus than anyone — vaccinated or not — under the age of 50, according to CDC data.Why it matters: The vaccine

"Elections are about winning," Cassidy told "Axios on HBO." adding that if Trump does run, he won't be voting for him.

Once-endangered alligators are thriving in the wild, so Louisiana authorities are proposing a deep cut in the percentage that farmers must return to marshes where their eggs were laid. “Over the past 50 years, alligator nest surveys have increased from an estimate of less than 10,000 in the 1970s and 1980s to well over 60,000 nests in recent years," the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission said in a notice published Wednesday. "This increase in nesting has produced a population that can now be sustained with a much lower farm return rate.”

A former Louisiana State Police trooper has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge in the 2019 beating of a man whose injuries included a broken jaw and broken ribs.

A former Louisiana State Police trooper pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a federal charge in the 2019 video recorded beating of a man whose injuries included a broken jaw and broken ribs. Jacob Brown is charged with “deprivation of rights under color of law” in the beating of Aaron Bowman following a north Louisiana traffic stop. Brown’s September indictment came amid federal scrutiny of other troopers who punched, stunned and dragged another Black motorist, Ronald Greene, before he died in custody.

After Hurricane Ida, many residents are weighing the emotional, cultural, and financial costs of leaving the place they call home.

Gorillas and orangutans at the Audubon Zoo are in the process of getting their first dose.

Crews are working to locate caskets and vaults after powerful winds and rains moved them from their original resting place.

Crews are working to locate caskets and vaults after powerful wind and rain moved them from their original resting place.

In Shreveport, La., near the Texas border, the Hope Medical Group for Women is seeing increased demand after the restrictive law was passed — and after a hurricane impacted other parts of the state.

Authorities say the restoration of a southwest Louisiana island is proving wildly popular with the many species of birds it was rebuilt for.

Residents in Louisiana want to get back to the way life was before the hurricane.

Residents in Louisiana want to get back to the way life was before the hurricane.

“The most respectful, polite, helpful, caring, and spirited young man.”

The oil spill spread more than 100 miles downriver and covered over 5,000 acres of shoreline habitat. The oil spill caused significant impact and injuries to aquatic habitats within the Mississippi River and along its shoreline, as well as to birds and other wildlife. The designated state trustees are LOSCO, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. The oil spill spread more than 100 miles downriver and covered over 5,000 acres of shoreline habitat. The designated state trustees are LOSCO, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

By nature and necessity, the Houma people are a sprawling but tight-knit community in the bayou region. Federal recognition for the tribe could keep them out of harm's way.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, said the Biden administration seeks to "tax unrealized gains on inherited property" on its divine mission to appease the nation's "wokers."

A Louisiana coroner’s office has released the name of a baby found dead in a lake after his mother allegedly threw him and his older brother into the water. The child was identified as 10-month-old Joshua Black, the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office said in a news release Wednesday night. An official cause of death was pending based on autopsy results, coroner's office spokesman John Andrew Prime said in an email.

Louisiana is letting men on death row share at least one of their daily meals and enjoy other time together, settling a 2017 lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions.

A lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Louisiana is alleging sheriff's deputies in that state beat a Black man so brutally in 2019 that they broke his nose and left eye socket.

Sterling Guidry's home was destroyed during Hurricane Ida when a tree fell through it.

A lost piece of the moon belonging to Louisiana may have remained missing, if not been discarded or destroyed, had the plaque on which it was mounted not attracted the eye of a Florida gun collector.

A fatal head-on crash between barges pushed by two towboats in Louisiana was caused by inadequate communication and failure to broadcast their total sizes, the National Transportation Safety Board says. The RC Creppel overturned and sank after the collision with the Cooperative Spirit about 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 26, 2020. Its pilot, captain and one of two crewmen were never found. A second crewman was rescued.

Volunteers have stepped up to offer meals and laundry services to linemen who are helping restore power.

S.B. 8 bans most abortion after as early as six weeks and allows private citizens to sue anyone who "aids or abets" in abortion. It went into effect this month.

A grand jury has indicted Jacob Brown for the 2019 beating following a traffic stop that left Aaron Larry Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and a gash to his head.

Jacob Brown, 31, a former trooper with the Louisiana State Police, was indicted today by a federal grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana, for using excessive force against an arrestee. The indictment charges Brown with a single count of deprivation of rights under color of law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke Walker for the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Katherine G. DeVar of the Civil Rights Division are prosecuting the case. The department has previously acknowledged that it has open and ongoing criminal investigations into incidents involving the Louisiana State Police that resulted in death or bodily injury to arrestees. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook of the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.

“Fire Shut Up in My Bones” is the first production by a Black composer to be staged by the Met.

The Biden administration is moving to protect workers and communities from extreme heat.

When mass evacuation becomes the primary response to hurricanes and wildfires, leaders are admitting that they cannot protect their citizens from threats of climate change.

“It was always about when we come back. It was never about if,” producer Sue Frost says of the Tony-winning musical, which shut down with the rest of Broadway in March 2020 and reopens Sept. 21.

Bands of heavy rain have been pummeling parts of the Alabama Gulf Coast and the Florida Panhandle.

Tropical Storm Nicholas has weakened to a tropical depression as it slowed to a crawl over southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana as its heavy rains continued to drench the area, maintaining a flood threat.

A Louisiana man who is the oldest living World War II veteran in the United States has marked his 112th birthday.

A cool start to the day with seasonal September temperatures under partly cloudy skies.  Showers with storms will increase midweek as Tropical Storm Nicholas moves toward Louisiana.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Nicholas has strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall in Texas.

Lafourche Parish is a small parish south of New Orleans, Lousiana and also the place that Buddy Cantrelle calls home.

Tropical Storm Nicholas is expected to strengthen as it heads for the Gulf Coast.

At 400 PM CDT (2100 UTC), the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Nicholas was located near latitude 32.0 North, longitude 92.7 West. The post-tropical cyclone is moving toward the north near 2 mph (4...

Small businesses from Louisiana to Connecticut are facing an uncertain recovery after being walloped by Hurricane Ida and its residual rains and flooding last week.

A swath of the Florida Panhandle was under a tropical storm warning after Tropical Storm Mindy made landfall Wednesday night.

Louisiana health officials are revoking the licenses of seven nursing homes that were evacuated to a warehouse where residents died after Hurricane Ida amid conditions deemed squalid and unsafe.

President Joe Biden will visit all three 9/11 memorial sites to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and pay his respects to the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.

Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told residents “I know you’re hurting."

Less than a week after Hurricane Ida battered the Gulf Coast, President Joe Biden walked the streets of a hardhit Louisiana neighborhood on Friday and told local residents, “I know you’re hurting, I know you’re hurting.”.

A New Orleans newspaper columnist is under fire from Jacksonville city officials and Jaguars fans over an article about the New Orleans Saints moving their season opener to TIAA Bank Field.

Since Hurricane Ida, life in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish is a mix of frustration and a little adventure.

Hurricane Ida may not pack the strong winds it once had when it hit Louisiana, but it’s still dumping an insane amount of rain in its path, including on New York City.

President Joe Biden is pledging robust federal help for the Northeastern and Gulf states battered by Hurricane Ida and for Western states beset by wildfires.

Before reaching the seawalls, levees and other flood controls that shield New Orleans, Hurricane Ida's storm surge also encountered natural barriers that can help blunt the impact of storms.

Entergy said Wednesday that it is slowly adding power back to New Orleans, and the pace of that work will determine how quickly the region’s important oil refineries can restart operations that were shut down by Hurricane Ida.

A new report from the United Nations weather agency finds the world is getting several times more weather disasters than in the 1970s.

Main Street in the Louisiana town of Houma resembles a canyon of rubble after Hurricane Ida.

Response to disasters such as Hurricane Ida falls primarily to state and local officials, but the federal government is playing an important support role.

Ida caused mass devastation on Grand Isle, a Louisiana town on a narrow barrier island that bore the full power of the Category 4 storm Sunday.

Response to disasters such as Hurricane Ida falls primarily to state and local officials, but the federal government is playing an important support role.

A man was attacked by a large alligator while walking through floodwaters from Hurricane Ida and is now missing, a Louisiana sheriff said.

Louisiana communities battered by Hurricane Ida are now dealing with the possibility of weeks without power in the stifling, late-summer heat.

Category 4 Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday afternoon in Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.

Roads were turned into rivers and trees and power lines were snapped as Hurricane Ida swept through Louisiana.

A storied New Orleans jazz site where a young Louis Armstrong once worked toppled when Ida blew through Louisiana as one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S. The Karnofsky Tailor Shop where a young Louis Armstrong worked collapsed Sunday during the storm.

After Florida drivers have seen a drop in gasoline prices in recent weeks, Hurricane Ida is likely to make it more expensive to fill up.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday that state and local emergency responders conducted 20 rescues from flooded areas in the state’s three coastal counties.

Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday, wreaking havoc on the Louisiana coast, and leaving major cities like New Orleans without power.

JEA is taking action—its plan to restore power and help communities facing devastation.

Hurricane Ida continues to push through New Orleans with wind speeds of up to 120 miles per hour.

With more than 1 million customers in Louisiana and Mississippi having lost power, Hurricane Ida is sure to take a toll on the energy, chemical and shipping industries that have major hubs along the Gulf Coast.