N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, a p r i l 1, 2025
LAST CALL? Regulars pack Uptown’s Milan Lounge on what could be its final night
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Teachers pay hike uncertain No plans in place after Louisiana voters rejected constitutional amendment
BY ELYSE CARMOSINO
Staff writer
A dog named Buddy and his owner, Billy Gans, walk into the Milan Lounge on Monday. BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
Stopping by the Milan Lounge on Monday afternoon, just before the bar opened at 3 p.m., a couple of regulars asked for a drink. But not before they picked up a mop and broom. The owner’s lease was set to end at midnight, so the regulars who’d come to rely on the Uptown dive bar — to watch the Chicago Cubs, to play a game of darts, to shout at an episode of “Jeopardy” — had come to help with the final cleanup and pay their respects. Not only to the place, an affable hole-in-the-wall on a residential
“When I worked here, I could go down the bar and name every person. I could tell you where they live, what their dog’s name is. It’s that kind of place, that kind of community.” VINCENT GIUSTI, former bartender at Milan Lounge stretch near the intersection of Prytania and Milan streets, but to the people who frequented it. The ones who ran the leagues, boiled the crawfish and, when the neighborhood’s power went out, offered up the ice. “When I worked here, I could go
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
down the bar and name every person,” said Vincent Giusti, who spent five years behind the bar before leaving for a job at Pascal’s Manale. “I could tell you where they live, what their dog’s name is. It’s that kind of place, that kind of community.” Giusti, who had returned to tend bar in recent months to help out the owner, made a recent offer to the landlord, Robert Haylock, to run the Milan with George Johnson, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, transplant who has been playing steel-tipped darts with Giusti since 2015. Giusti said he’d aim to keep it “very close to what it is.”
ä See MILAN, page 5A
After voters on Saturday rejected a constitutional amendment that would have funded higher salaries for teachers, it’s unclear whether educators will still receive a raise next school year or instead see their paychecks shrink. One of four constitutional changes championed by Gov. Jeff Landry that failed to pass over the ä Lawmakers are weekend, Amendment 2 working on an would have made one-time alternative plan pay stipends the Legislaafter the defeat of ture approved last year an amendment to — $2,000 for teachers and change state tax $1,000 for support staff — a recurring part of their policy.. PAGE 7A salaries. But now, without funding for permanent raises and with the stipends set to expire after this school year, there are no plans to keep teacher pay at its current level. As a result, Louisiana educators could see their paychecks decrease unless the Legislature finds funding for another round of stipends or a permanent increase. While campaigning for the amendment, Landry said there was no alternative plan to raise teacher salaries: “If Amendment 2 does not pass,” he posted on X last week, “there is no backup stipend.” When asked Monday, a spokesperson for Landry did not say whether the governor would support additional stipends for teachers if lawmakers proposed them during the coming legislative session. “We tried to give them a permanent pay raise so our teachers never had to go back to the (Legislature) again to advocate for their money,” the
ä See TEACHERS, page 7A
OMV has new head as computer outages continue BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
A sign above the doorway to the Milan Lounge has weathered lots of humidity and hurricanes over the years.
Bartender Vincent Giusti, right, pours shots for customers and for himself on the last night inside the Milan Lounge on Monday.
During a time of turmoil for the Office of Motor Vehicles, State Fire Marshal Bryan Adams will take over the agency after Commissioner Dan Casey stepped down last week, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Monday. In a statement, Landry pointed to Adams’ career in public service as making him exceptionally qualified for the role. “He is committed to moderniz- Adams ing the outdated OMV system to better serve the people and ensure it operates efficiently moving forward,” Landry said.
ä See OMV, page 5A
High-stakes archdiocese talks with victims begin this week BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL
Staff writer
Dozens of attorneys for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, its parishes, charities, lenders and hundreds of survivors of clergy sex abuse will meet face-to-face this week for a three-day, highstakes mediation aimed at bringing an end to the long-running bankruptcy case. The settlement talks, which
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begin Tuesday at the Central Business District offices of archdiocese law firm Jones Walker, come as the fifth anniversary approaches of Archbishop Gregory Aymond’s move to place the local Roman Catholic Church under federal bankruptcy protection. The May 1 milestone will make it one of the costliest and longest running of the 40 Catholic Church bankruptcies filed around the country over the past two decades.
In recent court hearings, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Grabill has suggested that if the two sides cannot come together soon, she will consider dismissing the case — a move that would open the nation’s second-oldest diocese to a flurry of lawsuits detailing decades-old allegations of child rape and molestation. The talks will aim to bridge the gap between what the church is offering to pay survivors as finan-
cial compensation for the abuse they suffered as children and how much they are willing to accept, according to comments both sides have made in court in recent weeks. Attorneys for both sides have indicated during the hearings they have made some progress closing what is, effectively, a $150 million gap. But even if the parties agree on a dollar figure in the coming days,
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
the case won’t necessarily be resolved any time soon, at least if the experience of other dioceses is any indication. That’s because church insurance companies must agree to whatever is ultimately negotiated, and the local diocese’s four insurers are not a part of this week’s settlement talks. A separate mediation with them is scheduled for later this
ä See TALKS, page 5A
12TH yEAR, NO. 232