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N O L A.C O M
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M o n d ay, au g u s t 25, 2025
$2.00X
ELECTION 2025 NEW ORLEANS MAyOR
Duplessis
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
The Treme Brass Band plays during a pre-opening event for the Treasure Chest’s new land-based casino at the end of Williams Boulevard near Lake Pontchartrain in Kenner on June 5, 2024.
‘A WIN-WIN FOR EVERYBODY’ A year after new Treasure Chest opens, revenue is way up for casino and Kenner
BY LARA NICHOLSON | Staff writer For Mary Rose Christopher, the Treasure Chest is her “happy place.” The 82-year-old Metairie resident visits the gambling hot spot three times a week, logging up to eight hours on the slot machines each time. She’s frequented the casino since it opened in 1994, and was among the first customers to board the Treasure Chest’s former riverboat venue. Three decades later, Christopher still loves the staff and the casino — even if it’s harder to find an empty slot machine now that the Treasure Chest is on land. “If you go there after 5 o’clock, you can’t get a machine that you want because it’s so crowded,” Christopher said. The Treasure Chest Casino has seen major growth since opening its larger, $100 million land-based casino in June 2024, with no sign of letting up. In the
The Treasure Chest Casino is seen in Kenner on Aug. 14.
Candidates weigh in on fixing S&WB Officials warn distressed infrastructure and uncertain funding pose threats
BY BEN MYERS | Staff writer The mayoral election comes at a critical juncture for the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, as agency officials warn the board’s distressed infrastructure and uncertain funding pose threats to public safety. As election season shifts into high gear, the S&WB has also tapped a new executive leader, Randy Hayman, who took over last month for former chief Ghassan Korban after a national search overseen by Mayor LaToya Cantrell. The new mayor and executive director will join in an arranged marriage with enormous implications. The mayor serves as the board president, appoints nine of the 10 other board members and acts as the executive director’s de facto boss. Together, they will oversee the S&WB’s strategy for pitching new revenue sources, restoring neglected catch basins, tackling a billion-dollar drainage maintenance backlog and replacing lead water pipes. Hayman’s immediate tasks include seeing two of Korban’s signature projects to the finish line. A citywide water meter replacement
STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
year since its opening, the casino has The casino’s average patronage also collected an average gross revenue nearly doubled during that period, with of $12.6 million per month, about 82% about 89,000 customers visiting each higher than the year before, according month compared to about 47,000 the to gaming revenue reports by Louisiä See CASINO, page 6A ana State Police.
BY MARIE FAZIO | Staff writer
BY JAMES FINN | Staff writer The cousins fled Guatemala’s rural highlands, seeking stability in the United States. They found it in a city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. Arriving in New Orleans after the storm, Abner Uriel Gomez Velasquez and Ever Eliseo Velasquez Fuentes found jobs in the booming industry Spanish speakers came to call “reconstrucción” — the backbreaking work of ripping mold-infested flooring, sodden drywall and fried appliances from flooded homes, and then, eventually, rebuilding them. At least in the short-term, when a lack of electricity,
ä See WORKERS, page 6A
Longtime N.O. educator celebrates 85th birthday
Crier has taught students life skills since 1964
2 caught in ICE sweep helped rebuild post-Katrina
PAGE 6B
Thomas
ä See CANDIDATES, page 7A
Community rallies around detainees
WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 78
Moreno
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
The Rev. Augustine DeArmond, back left, stands with the family of Abner Uriel Gomez Velasquez — his wife, Olivia, and kids Oliver, 6, Axle, 12, and Kalany, 4 — on Friday at St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Orleans.
When a group of students filed into the McDonogh 35 High School library one recent morning, Sylvia Crier snapped into action — just as she has for the past six decades. “I didn’t hear a good afternoon,” said Crier, the school librarian who turned 85 this month. “Y’all know better than that.” “Hi Ms. Crier, happy birthday!” rang a chorus of voices. “Happy birthday, queen,” one student added. Another reflexively pulled up his sweatshirt to show that his shirt Crier was tucked in. Crier has worked in New Orleans schools for over 60 years — likely one of the longest tenures in the district’s history. When she started teaching at Alfred C. Priestley Junior High School in 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson was
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
ä See CRIER, page 5A
13TH yEAR, NO. 13