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N O L A.C O M
N.O. homeless numbers still rising
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S at u r d ay, S e p t e m b e r 27, 2025
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SHOWDOWN FILE PHOTO
Louisiana officials are continuing efforts to limit the control pharmacy benefit managers have over the pharmaceutical market in the state.
Fewer are on the streets, more are living in shelters
State continues push to regulate PBMs
BY BEN MYERS Staff writer
Increased efforts by New Orleans-area service providers to provide permanent housing for homeless people over the last two years have yielded mixed results: While fewer people are living on the street, more are living in shelters and the rate of homelessness continues to rise. That is according to the most recent “point in time” count conducted by UNITY of Greater New Orleans, which coordinates homeless outreach services in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. The count of people living outside and in shelters in those areas is conducted every January, but the results released on Friday came later this year to include an additional partial count in July. “Staying in The annual a shelter is count from Janua lot better ary found a total of 1,563 homethan being less individuals on the street, living outside but it’s still and in shelters, homelessness. a 7.5% increase over last year, These are marking the our fellow fifth consecutive neighbors who year of rising do not have a homelessness. That reflects home.” an increase in MARTHA KEGEL, people living in UNITy executive shelters, from director 970 to 1128. At the same time, the number of people observed living outside fell from 553 to 435 over the last two years. That number dipped a bit more after an additional count of unsheltered people in July, when 422 people were counted. “Staying in a shelter is a lot better than being on the street, but it’s still homelessness. These are our fellow neighbors who do not have a home,” said UNITY Executive Director Martha Kegel, addressing the organization’s annual meeting on Friday at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. While homelessness overall continues to rise, UNITY and Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration say the 24% decline in street homelessness over the last two years shows progress in the city’s “Home for Good” campaign, which launched in 2023 with the goal of placing 1,500 people in permanent
Leaders target CVS, other middlemen
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
President Donald Trump shakes hands with James Comey, then director of the FBI, in the White House in 2017.
BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO By ANDREW HARRER
Trump celebrates Comey charges, but critics say he’s targeting rivals BY JILL COLVIN Associated Press
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s unprecedented retribution campaign against his perceived political enemies reached new heights as his Justice Department brought criminal charges against a longtime foe and he expanded his efforts to classify certain liberal groups as “domestic terrorist organizations.” Days after Trump publicly demanded action from his attorney general and tapped his former personal lawyer to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Virginia, former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime target of Trump’s ire, was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly lying to Congress during testimony in 2020. Hours earlier Thursday, Trump signed a memorandum directing his Republican administration to target backers of what they dubbed “left-wing terrorism” as he alleged without evidence a vast conspiracy by Democrat-aligned nonprofit groups and activists to
finance violent protests. The developments marked a dramatic escalation of the president’s extraordinary use of the levers of presidential power to target his political rivals and his efforts to pressure the Justice Department to pursue investigations — and now prosecutions — of those he disdains. It’s a campaign that began soon after Trump returned to office and one that critics see as an abuse of power that puts every American who dares to criticize the president at risk of retaliation. “Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Comey indictment came less than a week after Trump installed a former White House aide and confidant to the role of U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. The president had forced the ouster of his previous pick because he wasn’t sufficiently responsive to
ä See SHOWDOWN, page 6A
A spectacular political fight between state lawmakers backed by Gov. Jeff Landry and health care giant CVS defined the final days of the Louisiana Legislature’s regular session this year. At issue was the influence of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, over the prescription drug market. Landry pressured lawmakers to limit the companies’ control over the pharmaceutical market in Louisiana by prohibiting PBMs from owning pharmacies here. In response, CVS launched a massive public lobbying campaign, sending text messages to customers saying the new rule would force it to shut down over 100 pharmacies across the state. Landry’s sweeping proposal ultimately did not pass. But Louisiana officials are still targeting the prescription drug intermediaries on multiple fronts: taking a contract worth millions of dollars away from CVS and giving most of the business to a Louisiana company instead; pursuing three separate lawsuits against CVS for alleged unfair trade practices; and continuing to explore more stringent regulations. Landry has continued to publicly criticize PBMs as “corporate profiteers” who game the system, saying the acronym stands for “profiteering big money.” Major PBMs, on the other hand, say they go to bat for consumers and use their market power to fight Big Pharma for better drug prices and easier access to health care.
ä See REGULATE, page 5A
ä See HOMELESS, page 5A
New Orleans mayor’s race tops Oct. 11 ballot as early voting begins BY CHAD CALDER
seats and parishwide posts, includELECTION 2025 ing sheriff, assessor and clerk of criminal court. And in St. Tammany, the Oct. 11 ä What’s on the ballot. PAGE 6A Early voting begins Saturday in an election dominated by the ballot is small, but it does contain choice of who will be the next the hotly contested special election mayor of New Orleans, but it also for mayor in Slidell. Similarly, in choose a new mayor. Polls will be open daily from includes a slate of City Council Jefferson Parish, Jean Lafitte will
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 89 LOW 72 PAGE 8A
8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 4, except for Sunday. To find your polling location, go to geauxvote. com. In New Orleans, a dozen candidates have qualified to run for mayor, but three candidates have polled better than most. They are
Business ......................5B Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Classified .....................5D Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C Comics-Puzzles .....1D-4D Nation-World................2A
City Council Vice President Helena Moreno, City Council member Oliver Thomas and state Sen. Royce Duplessis, though Moreno has consistently led Thomas and Duplessis by 30 points or more.
ä See VOTING, page 6A
13TH yEAR, NO. 46