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M o n d ay, M ay 12, 2025
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Rural La. families have few options for school grants More than a third of parishes have no local providers
BY PATRICK WALL and JEFF ADELSON Staff writers
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
People line the beach in Gulf Shores, Ala., on June 7. While the Alabama Gulf Coast remains popular with beachgoers and many parts of Baldwin County are booming, the massive condominium complexes that line the shore are having a harder time attracting buyers.
Alabama condo market facing a quiet storm
Beaches a big lure for Louisianans, but property sales are suffering Louisianans will flock to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach over the next few months, drawn to the 32-mile stretch of sugar-white sand and blue water less than a three-hour drive from New Orleans. But while the Alabama Gulf Coast remains popular with beachgoers and many parts of Baldwin County are booming, the massive condominium complexes that line the shore are having a harder time attracting buyers. Condo sales in Baldwin County, which includes Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, were down 17% last year compared to the year before, and are half what they were in 2021, according to the Alabama Center for Real Estate, which is part of the Culverhouse College of Business at the University of Alabama. So far this year, the trend has continued. From January through March, there were 24% fewer condo sales than during the first quarter of 2024, though prices are up slightly. The insurance crisis that has had a chilling effect on real estate activity in south Louisiana is also dampening sales of beachfront property two states over, according to brokers. And further complicating matters, they say, is a growing “blacklist” of condominium complexes that Fannie Mae, the federally backed mortgage finance giant, will no longer underwrite because it says the properties have not been adequately maintained or don’t carry enough insurance to meet new, stricter guidelines. Nearly 70 complexes in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are on the list, according to Boston attorney and condo-
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
WEATHER HIGH 78 LOW 61 PAGE 8C
ä See FAMILIES, page 4A
Baldwin County condo sales 2019-2024
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL | Staff writer
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said at least some of the pro-industry car insurance bills will likely survive a committee hearing and advance to the Senate floor. He said, however, he couldn’t predict what would happen next.
Jacqueline McCardie wants badly to put her grandson in a new school. The public elementary that 11-year-old Jah’Derrick attends is crowded and outdated, and the baby-faced fourth grader says he gets bullied. But McCardie, 62, is a single guardian on a fixed income, so her only real option is the local public school in Winnfield, the small town in north-central Louisiana where they live. A new state program called LA GATOR was designed to give families more choices by providing grants to pay for private education. But even if McCardie received a grant, she isn’t sure where she’d spend it: There are no private schools in Winn Parish — or in four of the six surrounding parishes — that are participating in LA GATOR. “There’s no opportunities here,” she said. The state Legislature established the tax-funded grant program last year, adding Louisiana to a growing roster of Republican-led states that use public money to subsidize private schooling. Proponents, including Gov. Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump, call it “education freedom.”
Condo sales along the popular Alabama beachfront county have been declining since 2021. 2,379 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000
1,600 1,144
500 0
2019
2020
2021
2022
Source: Alabama Center for Real Esteate, Culverhouse College of Business, Univeristy of Alabama
2023
Staff graphic
ä See MARKET, page 3A
Car insurance bills set for Senate hearing BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer
John Foster shines on Disney night
2024
minium law expert Stephen Marcus, who has reviewed the list, which isn’t available publicly. Real estate brokers and mortgage lenders said that with about one-fourth of all condo buildings in Baldwin County on the list, it is making it harder for people to buy and sell individual units. “We’ve had some deals crater because of all this,” said Chuck Norwood, a real estate broker with The
Contentious measures may face tough path
Addis singer makes top 5 on ‘American Idol’
blame for Louisiana’s high rates on insurance companies. In something of a surprise, Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, said in an interview that at least some of the pro-industry bills will likely survive a committee hearing and advance to the Senate floor. He said, however, he couldn’t predict what would happen next. Meanwhile, a high-profile House bill strongly backed
Car insurance bills favored by business interests that blew through the state House will likely face a tougher path when they get their first hearing in the Senate this week. The Senate has typically been more aligned with trial lawyers, who pin the ä See INSURANCE, page 3A
BY JUDY BERGERON | Staff writer In just a week, Louisiana singer John Foster could become the next “American Idol.” Foster, 18, of Addis, moved two steps closer to the title on Sunday night’s show after the remaining seven contestants in the ABC singing competition were trimmed to five. Joining LSU premed student Foster in the top 5 are: stay-at-home mom Breanna Nix, of Denton, Texas; teacher Jamal Roberts, of Meridian, Mississippi; musician Thunderstorm Artis, of Haleiwa, Hawaii; and high school student Slater Nalley, of Atlanta. Award-winning multi-hyphenate artist LinManuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “In the Heights,” Moana”) mentored the contestants last week at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California.
ä See FOSTER, page 5A
PHOTO PROVIDED By ERIC McCANDLESS/DISNEy
Louisiana singer John Foster performs ‘I Cross My Heart’ on May 5 on ‘American Idol.’ Judge Carrie Underwood had chosen the George Strait tune for Foster for the ‘Judge’s Song Contest’ episode.
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100TH yEAR, NO. 316