Louisiana has secured supply of lethal injection drug, corrections official says BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer Updated Oct 29, 2026 Louisiana has placed a deposit on a lethal injection drug with a secret supplier as it prepares to execute condemned killer Todd Wessinger, the state corrections secretary revealed Wednesday i…
New indictment filed against LaMont Cole in Attorney General bribery investigation BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 28, 2026 A new indictment was filed against former Metro Councilman LaMont Cole earlier this month, reducing the total number of charges against him in the Louisiana Attorney General鈥檚 investigation in…
Louisiana father gets 40 years for beating, starving 5-year-old son to death BY GIGI LIMAN | Staff writer Oct 27, 2026 An Albany man聽was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading no contest to manslaughter in the death of his 5-year-old son, who prosecutors say he and his then-girlfriend beat and starved …
Director Lance Oppenheim accused of misusing footage from Louisiana defendants: 鈥楴ot fair game鈥 BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer Updated Oct 26, 2026 Hollywood director Lance Oppenheim鈥檚 newest film, 鈥淵ou Can See Everything,鈥 has stirred rave reviews for its experimental look at convicted Silicon Valley fraudster Elizabeth Holmes during her…
+6 Family of Baton Rouge mom killed by girlfriend learn to live without her: 'Was never this quiet' BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 26, 2026 According to 27-year-old Brittney Williams鈥 sister and mother, every morning at their house used to start with wall-shaking Afrobeats music and the aroma of breakfast wafting from the kitchen.
+3 Immigrants have no constitutional right to bond hearings, New Orleans federal appeals court says By JAMES FINN | Staff writer Updated Oct 25, 2026 Federal officials can detain immigrants without allowing them to challenge their detention before judges, the New Orleans-based U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday, handing a maj…
Hillar Moore and Ryan Thompson say the safety of East Baton Rouge rests on who wins DA BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 23, 2026 If you ask incumbent District Attorney Hillar Moore or challenging attorney Ryan Thompson, the safety of all of East Baton Rouge Parish rests on who wins the district attorney鈥檚 race on Nov. 3.
Fort Polk soldier pleads guilty to making online threats to 鈥榢ill every single Jew鈥 BY MEGAN WYATT | Staff writer Oct 23, 2026 A soldier stationed at Fort Polk has pleaded guilty to a federal charge that stemmed from his threats on a social networking platform earlier this year to bring an assault rifle into a synagog…
Louisiana says it now has access to lethal injection drug used in botched Tennessee execution BY JOHN SIMERMAN and PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writers Oct 22, 2026 Early last year, before Louisiana used nitrogen gas for the first time in an execution, a top state prison official testified that lethal injection wasn鈥檛 a viable option.
Court rejects city-parish motion in DA funding lawsuit. Here鈥檚 what it means for Baton Rouge. BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 22, 2026 Four cities in East Baton Rouge Parish 鈥 St. George, Baker, Zachary and Central 鈥 won't be part of District Attorney Hillar Moore鈥檚 ongoing lawsuit against the city-parish alleging his office …
Louisiana Supreme Court rejects requests from both sides over Liz Murrill indictment BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer Updated Oct 22, 2026 The Louisiana Supreme Court has turned away competing requests by lawyers for Attorney General Liz Murrill and the special prosecutor who led the grand jury that indicted her, in their tug-of-…
Two reform-minded candidates compete for criminal judge seat in Baton Rouge district court BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 22, 2026 With early voting underway, residents are already making their choices in multiple races for open judge seats on this election season鈥檚 extra-long ballot.
+6 How a small Louisiana airport powers ICE鈥檚 third-country deportations: 鈥榃here am I going?鈥 By JAMES FINN and JUSTIN O鈥機ONNOR | Staff writers Updated Oct 22, 2026 Long a hub of the federal government's deportation system, a central Louisiana airport is now the nation's leader in dispatching controversial "third-country" deportation flights, which the Tr…
New suit questions Port of South Louisiana鈥檚 plans for a new dock that will serve Hyundai Steel BY ANNAKATE FREELAND | Staff writer Oct 20, 2026 Two environmental groups are challenging the Port of South Louisiana鈥檚 approval process for $400 million in bonds intended to finance a marine terminal dock that will support Hyundai Steel鈥檚 p…
Judge declines to punish defense attorney for contempt over 鈥榩ink鈥 motion in Madison Brooks case BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 19, 2026 Judge Gail Horne Ray issued an order Monday admonishing defense attorney Caitlin Fowlkes for using Madison Brooks鈥 full name in a motion filed over the summer.
Louisiana says it can use lethal injection to execute Todd Wessinger if he rejects nitrogen gas BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer Oct 19, 2026 Louisiana officials are asking a federal judge to dismiss death row inmate Todd Wessinger鈥檚 legal challenge to a looming execution by nitrogen gas, saying they will allow him to choose lethal …
+2 Activist to receive new trial in St. John free speech case after federal court ruling BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer Updated Oct 17, 2026 A federal appeals court panel on Friday ordered a new trial for Joy Banner, a local environmental activist who accused St. John the Baptist Parish leaders of violating her rights by shutting h…
Baton Rouge justice of the peace race draws councilwoman, retired appellate judge, 3 others BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 16, 2026 Races for justice of the peace in Louisiana are usually low-key affairs with lesser-known lawyers vying for an office that handles small property claims and approves eviction orders.
Baton Rouge woman who told repair shop she鈥檇 鈥榮truck a deer鈥 pleads guilty in fatal hit-and-run BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 15, 2026 A 36-year-old Baton Rouge woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to striking a group of pedestrians with her SUV last year, killing a 22-year-old woman before fleeing the scene.
A Baker man was allegedly misled into investing $100,000 in a fake medical marijuana pharmacy BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 15, 2026 A Gretna man is accused of misleading a Baker property owner into investing more than $100,000 in a fictional medical marijuana business he wasn鈥檛 licensed to open.
+2 Courtesy or collusion? Texts show Orleans officials鈥 conversations before AG indictment. BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer Updated Oct 14, 2026 When Judge Leon Roche plucked former criminal judge Laurie White from a retiree鈥檚 life to oversee the grand jury that went on to indict Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill in July, it came …
Louisiana governor, judge reject Todd Wessinger鈥檚 requests to reconsider death penalty BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer Oct 14, 2026 A Baton Rouge man convicted of double murder saw his path to avoid the death penalty get narrower this week when a federal judge denied a request to reconsider his sentence and the governor sa…
Former St. Francisville cop drugged woman, staged drowning death, family lawsuit alleges BY GIGI LIMAN | Staff writer Oct 14, 2026 For years, Debbie Hinze believed her daughter died after accidentally slipping, falling and drowning in the bathtub of a St. Francisville hotel.聽
+2 Todd Wessinger asks Jeff Landry for death row mercy, says jury never heard key evidence BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer Oct 13, 2026 A few days after he was denied a rehearing, Louisiana death row inmate Todd Wessinger is asking to swap his looming execution for life without parole, pointing to two past federal opinions tha…
+2 Liz Murrill, special prosecutor spar over records in pleas to Louisiana Supreme Court BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer Updated Oct 13, 2026 The special prosecutor who led the grand jury that indicted Attorney General Liz Murrill over the summer is pleading with the Louisiana Supreme Court to stop Murrill鈥檚 lawyers from suing her f…
Meet the candidates for the new at-large judicial seat in East Baton Rouge Parish BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer Oct 9, 2026 For the first time in more than three decades, one judge in the 19th Judicial District Court will be elected from across East Baton Rouge Parish. The seat will command a civil docket at the co…
+6 An alleged Hamas fundraising ring spanned 3 continents. The feds say it ran through Louisiana. By JAMES FINN | Staff writer Updated Oct 8, 2026 A few months into Hamas鈥 rickety ceasefire with Israel in the Gaza Strip, a senior official in the Palestinian militant group messaged with a New York Police Department detective last year, ne…
+2 New Orleans police drop criminal investigation into WWL-TV initiated by judge鈥檚 complaint By JAMES FINN | Staff writer Updated Oct 8, 2026 New Orleans police have closed a criminal investigation into journalists with WWL-TV, officials said, after finding no legal grounds for a local judge鈥檚 effort to press charges against the sta…