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Candidates focus on policy at forum Activity in mayor’s race expected to ramp up
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
Three leading candidates for New Orleans mayor on Tuesday evening delved deep into policy during a good-natured debate that came at a pivotal moment in the city’s municipal races. Hosted by the Junior League of New Orleans, the Links, the National Council
ELECTION 2025 NEW ORLEANS MAyOR
of Jewish Women and Women United, the forum focused closely on policies to uplift minorities, low-income New Orleanians, women and people with young children. The candidates — a state senator, Royce Duplessis, plus two City Council members, Helena Moreno and Oliver Thomas — each plugged legislation they’ve helped pass in those areas. And in a running theme of the race, the candidates vied to cast themselves as the most effective agent of change for a
city whose residents bemoan streets that crack too readily, a power grid that fails too frequently and housing costs that have grown exorbitantly. The discussion at the Junior League’s Carondelet Street headquarters marked the start of a post-Labor Day period when the mayoral contest is expected to ramp up with more advertising buys and debates. The race is building toward an Oct. 11 primary, followed by a Nov. 15 runoff, if necessary. Though its tone was mostly staid, Tuesday’s forum came at a moment of intense jockeying among the major candidates, as Duplessis seeks to capitalize on momentum
Moreno
Duplessis
Thomas
his campaign says it has harnessed in recent weeks, and Thomas pushes to regain his position as the projected second-place candidate. For Moreno, analysts say, the question
A streetcar and desire
ä See FORUM, page 4A
Higgins: Defund N.O. Health Department Congressman fights promotion of COVID-19 vaccine for kids
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
A couple shares a quiet moment while riding the St. Charles Avenue streetcar on Monday. The city’s historic green cars have long been part of its love affair with both romance and tradition.
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Acadiana, is urging his colleagues to ban funding to organizations that promote the COVID-19 vaccine for kids. “I urge the subcommittee to protect our children and adolescents by prohibiting federal funding to state health departments and national associations that promote the COVID-19 shot,” Higgins Higgins wrote in a letter Saturday to the House Appropriations subcommittee that is working on a bill to fund
ä See HIGGINS, page 5A
Fast internet will reach rural La. under revamped rules Some communities feel left out
BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
Fast, fiber internet is coming to Buras in Plaquemines Parish, fulfilling a federal grant aimed at bringing high-speed connections to more rural areas. But after a rewrite of rules for the program, fiber internet is no longer being planned for Lake Providence, in the state’s northeast corner. In August, the state Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity released the new awardees of a highly anticipated, highly debated federal grant program meant to fuel broadband availability across the country. Most
WEATHER HIGH 92 LOW 73 PAGE 8B
of the $499 million headed to Louisiana will go to fiber companies, including Cajun Broadband, the homegrown company set to build in Plaquemines and several other areas. The Trump administration rewrote the rules for the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment grant program earlier this year. Some internet companies and activists feared that rural Louisiana residents would be left with few options beyond satellite service already available. And while some areas will now see satellite services instead of fiber, it’s only a small slice of overall funding. SpaceX, the company expected to benefit from that rewrite, will receive just $7.7 million of Louisiana’s grant allocation, or 1.5%. The state’s draft plan still needs approval from the National Tele-
communications and Information Administration. Cajun Broadband, based in Broussard, will get $18.2 million to bring fiber to 4,000 locations. That’s less than the $26.2 million it would have received before the program’s revamp because the company, knowing that its previous winning bids were now public information, lowered its bids this time around “to protect ourselves,” co-founder Chris Disher said. “The goal of it was to save the government money, and it did,” Disher said. “And we can still build what we want to.” In addition to rural Plaquemines, Cajun will be running new fiber in North Vermilion and West St. Mary, Disher said. The Louisiana
STAFF PHOTO By JENNA ROSS
Wanda Manning, a retired teacher, has been pushing for broadband in ä See INTERNET, page 4A Lake Providence.
Business ......................8A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................9D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....5D-8D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
13TH yEAR, NO. 22