After more than a year of work, and a bailout of about $9 million in state and federal funds, the water in a small Tensas Parish town is once again safe to drink.

In many ways, Louisiana is one of the states worst positioned to deal with trade conflicts and thus suffers under President Donald Trump's belligerent new policies of tariffs and tough talk against longtime trading partners.

After a high court overturned a Baton Rouge federal judge's stay, construction along the entire length of the Bayou Bridge pipeline is now in progress.

When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death on April 4, 1968 — 50 years ago today — his friend Sybil Morial wondered what would happen next.

Louisiana lawmakers are debating whether the state should change its unusual law allowing defendants to be sent off to jail even if all of the jurors do not agree on a verdict, a proposed policy reform that could ultimately rest in the hands of voters.

In 2016, Louisiana lawmakers agreed to include 17-year-olds in the juvenile justice system, reasonably concluding that it didn’t make sense to house them with adult prisoners. That change brought the state in line with the rest of the country, but…

One of the fundamentals of free markets is freedom to enter them, to set up a new business and trust to the discernment of customers to determine success or failure.

In a country created through noble dissent, Americans rarely expect or demand that even a small group of citizens will fully agree on anything.

During Holy Week, the most solemn stretch of days on the Christian calendar, residents of Baton Rouge revisited the grim case of Alton Sterling, an armed black man shot to death during a struggle with two white Baton Rouge police officers in 2016.…

Good Friday, the most solemn day in the Christian church, is an occasion to reflect on the suffering that often touches the human condition, and how that suffering connects us with each other — and with the wider currents of history.

Cynthia Nixon, famous star of the "Sex and the City" franchise on TV and the big screen, is causing a stir by announcing she will run for governor of New York. Her candidacy is already being dismissed because she’s just an actress, but they said t…

Lasting 30 years past 2024, the proposed extension of the casino contract for Harrah's in downtown New Orleans is one of the most important decisions that the state will make for decades.

Placing loved ones in a nursing home is always a difficult choice. Part of the anxiety comes in not being able to quickly check on a family member while they are in an institution away from home.

In announcing his findings in the shooting death of Alton Sterling, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has helped clarify a controversial case that attracted international attention. The public will have an even better grasp of the tragedy whe…

With Louisiana’s criminal justice reforms still in their infancy, some lawmakers are trying to push several bills in the current session of the Legislature that threaten to strangle progress in its cradle.

The old saying is that demography is destiny, and nowhere is it more true than in public retirement systems, many of them — not only in Louisiana — providing old-style pension plans based on the conception that folks will work 30 years or more for…

The last time the state of Louisiana increased its licenses for hunting and fishing, at least in any across-the-board fashion, was 2000. During the intervening years, our Southern neighbors were raising their fees and restructuring their licenses …

Louisiana’s modern gambling industry was born a quarter-century ago, and the debate was so toxic that politicians have been understandably reluctant to revisit the topic.

A basic principle of American life is that home ownership is the foundation of strong communities, a belief that runs especially strong in Louisiana.

If Tennessee Williams were alive today, he’d probably be a star of Twitter. The thought comes to mind with the news that a new collection of Williams’ letters has been published just in time for this week’s Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary …

Earlier this month, when CBS devoted part of its “Sunday Morning” program to exploring the nature of genius, two Louisiana figures were among the commentators on hand to discuss what makes some thinkers truly great.

Members of the Baton Rouge Recreation and Park Commission are slated to decide on Thursday whether to go ahead with plans to move the Baton Rouge Zoo. Ultimately, parish voters should be able to weigh in directly at the ballot box.

We never thought that quoting an American president could get a citizen threatened with jail. But in a political climate in which all sorts of civic norms seem to crumble by the day, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.

In a Pennsylvania House race, the winner, Democrat Conor Lamb, is being dubbed John Bel Lamb — a nod to another Democrat, Louisiana’s John Bel Edwards, who was elected in a race that favored the GOP.

The Louisiana Constitution was enacted in 1974, and it's showing its age. But we urge legislators, as well as the public, to reflect on a maxim that’s even older: Be careful what you wish for.

Disgraced Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler has cast his refusal to resign as a profile in courage. But his decision seems defined by hubris, not bravery, and the people he was elected to represent deserve better.

Christopher Lawton was both a firefighter and a policeman for the city of Zachary, so his death this week was a double blow to his community — and to a state where bloodshed is all too common.

Although government transparency is often regarded as a running dispute between reporters and politicians, all citizens — not just media types — need an open look at the work being done by public servants.

One of the rules of political life is that if you have anything to say, you will be sick and tired of saying it before the public has started to pay attention.

With only a couple of months left in office, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has landed a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation to get ideas from the public on what should replace the statue of Robert E. Lee removed from Lee Circle last year.

As legislators gather for the regular session of the Legislature, their failures follow them.