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THE FREE MUSEUM IN THE HEART OF THE FRENCH QUARTER
Delayed St. Patrick’s and Argus parades start at noon today on Metairie Road map 2B
N O L A.C O M
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S u n d ay, M a r c h 16, 2025
$2.50X
STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER
New Orleans residents Janet Livingston, from left, Jim Knickles and Tap Bui discuss the priorities they will be looking for in the next mayoral election.
N.O. VOTERS DAUNTED BY ENDURING ISSUES Ahead of electing a new mayor, polling shows residents deeply unsatisfied with city’s leadership
BY JAMES FINN, DESIREE STENNETT, SOPHIE KASAKOVE and JONI HESS
Staff writers
New Orleanians preparing to elect a new mayor want better roads, working streetlights, more economic opportunities and cheaper housing — perennial issues that, to many, seem never to improve.
But many are so disillusioned by the way City Hall has operated under outgoing Mayor LaToya Cantrell that they’re finding it difficult to pay much attention to the race to succeed her. That sentiment spans race, class, gender and neighborhood. A White b e d - a n d - b r e a k f a s t Cantrell owner in Bywater said onerous regulations had slowed businesses’ growth, while a Black printing shop owner in New Orleans East said
no one pays attention to his part of the city. A retired gardener said friends are leaving because of affordability. Another retiree said politicians only listen around election time. In more than a dozen interviews about the city’s 2025 mayor’s race, which will appear on local ballots on Oct. 11, New Orleanians shared few opinions on the handful of candidates who have already launched campaigns. Instead, they described feelings of apathy and, for some, outright disgust they harbor toward the city’s leadership, describing local politicians as out of touch and inept at tackling the entrenched problems that shape people’s daily lives.
ä See MAYOR, page 4A
Candidates hoping to succeed Latoya Cantrell in the upcoming mayoral election will have to break through voter disillusionment over the city’s seemingly intractable challenges.
Faith leaders divided over capital punishment Religious elements are part of Louisiana’s death penalty practices
BY ANDREA GALLO and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writers
Before Jessie Hoffman Jr. enters Louisiana’s execution chamber at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, which is expected on Tuesday, he will walk past two colorful paintings of scenes from the Bible. One shows Elijah, the Old Testament prophet, ascending to heaven on a chariot engulfed with flames. The other depicts Daniel praying for God to save him from the lion’s den. “That was the attempt of the prison to give the blessing of religion on what was about to happen,” said Sister Helen Prejean, a Baton Rouge native, Roman Catholic nun and famed anti-death-penalty activist. “That just as Elijah was brought up in a fiery chariot, so now
ä See FAITH, page 8A
Addition eyed for Pentagon Barracks awaiting upgrades BY TYLER BRIDGES
Staff writer
They are called the Pentagon Barracks, and getting an apartment there from the House speaker is a choice perk for a state legislator. Staying at one of the red brick apartments means living in a historic building while paying cheap rent a stone’s throw from the Capitol. The courtyard in the middle serves as the focal point for gatherings hosted nearly every night by interest groups and lobbyists during
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
ä See PENTAGON, page 6A
Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Nalty selected to receive the Loving Cup BY SARA PAGONES
Contributing writer
Most people don’t embark on their life’s work until early adulthood, but Elizabeth “Betsy” Nalty’s lifelong dedication to volunteering was ignited when she was very young, watching her mother’s community work in the post-World
WEATHER HIGH 71 LOW 51 PAGE 8B
War II era and getting involved in civic endeavors herself when she was just a child. Nalty recalled her Brownie troop leader, who had involved the girls in everything from watching the polls during political campaigns to being escorts for King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece when they visited the city. “The rewards of
greeting people, meeting people and making them happy just stuck with me,” she said. Now 82, the fifth-generation New Orleanian has a decadeslong résumé of community service that would be hard to match. She’s served on dozens of boards, including those of the
Elizabeth Nalty is the 2024 Loving Cup recipient. STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
ä See NALTY, page 10A
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World ................2A Classified ..................... 1F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
12TH yEAR, NO. 216