TRUMP AND NETANYAHU REACH DEAL TO END WAR IN GAZA 6A
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T u e s d ay, s e p T e m b e r 30, 2025
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Landry seeks Guard troops for La. 1,000 soldiers requested to patrol in cities
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry has asked President Donald Trump’s administration for a federally funded deployment of 1,000 National Guard troops in Louisiana cities to sup-
Congress struggles to avoid shutdown
port law enforcement. In a letter to the Pentagon, he cited crime in cities like Baton Rouge, Shreveport and New Orleans. He did not lay out a precise plan for where Guard members would be deployed. ”Federal partnerships in our
toughest cities have worked, and now, with the support of President Trump and Secretary (Pete) Hegseth, we are taking the next step by bringing in the National Guard,” Landry said in a release Monday night. “This mission is about saving lives and protecting families.
To the criminals terrorizing our communities: your time is up. Law and order are back in Louisiana.” The move would mark another high-profile deployment of the National Guard since Trump began his second term, following his controversial decision to send thousands of members to Washington, D.C., as part of a crackdown on crime and immigration.
The Trump administration also recently announced plans to send the Guard to Memphis, Tennessee, and Portland, Oregon, although in much smaller numbers. In his letter to Hegseth, Landry says the troops would remain in Louisiana until the end of the 2026 fiscal year, though he does not
ä See TROOPS, page 6A
Governor pledges faster cleanup of Tangipahoa plant fire site
National Flood Insurance Program faces uncertainty
BY MARK BALLARD Staff writer
WASHINGTON — After a closed-door meeting with the president, congressional leaders of both parties took hard lines Monday, setting the stage for the federal government to shut down at midnight as Tuesday turns to Wednesday. The situation was fluid and could change. Just what federal agencies would be targeted for closure if a deal could not be reached had yet to be made public. Some services would continue. The military will still protect the nation. Social Security benefits will still be paid. Commercial airlines will still fly. Veterans Affairs medical facilities will remain operational. A letter from the Office of Management and Budget stated that agencies receiving money in the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act, such as efforts to deport immigrants, will be protected. But most government workers would be put on temporary leave — at least that’s what happened in the 10 previous shutdowns going back to 1980. This time, however, the Trump administration has ordered agencies to consider firing thousands of federal workers, instead of furloughing them, though nothing concrete had been released. Perhaps the most immediate effect for Louisiana would be an end, at least temporarily, to flood insurance. The National Flood Insurance Program will expire unless the
ä See SHUTDOWN, page 6A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
A boom helps stop oil runoff from the explosion at Smitty’s Supply from floating down the Tangipahoa River in Independence on Aug. 25.
commitment is to the citizens of “My commitment is to the citizens of Video on social media “Mythis this state and especially those in Tangipastate and especially those prompts action from state in Tangipahoa Parish to make sure hoa Parish to make sure that facility and BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry has promised changes to the cleanup of the Smitty’s Supply Inc. fire after he saw aerial video of oiled sections of the Tangipahoa River. The video from Saturday posted on social media shows an oiled pond next to Smitty’s and an oiled section of the river, which received potentially millions of gallons of runoff from the Smitty’s lubricants plant near Roseland. It caught fire and exploded Aug. 22 and was not fully extinguished until Sept. 8. After seeing the video, Landry said
the effects of the fire are cleaned up and that area is restored to the same way it was before the fire,” he said. Landry offered no details about what kind of changes were coming. His spokesperson, Kate Kelly, didn’t GOV. JEFF LANDRy return an email requesting comment. An EPA spokesperson for the cleanup said he was preparing a response but hadn’t Sunday that he spoke with the regional provided it by Monday evening. The video was shot and posted, the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the leaders of his state governor said, by Eric McVicker, a Manenvironmental and oil-and-gas agencies. deville resident and Republican political “Collectively, we had a call and tomor- consultant who owns a photography busirow morning, things are getting ready to ness focused on south Louisiana’s natural start changing on the cleaning up of that ä See CLEANUP, page 6A site,” Landry said in a video posted on X.
that facility and the effects of the fire are cleaned up and that area is restored to the same way it was before the fire.”
Moreno vows to turn tide of dysfunctional N.O. ‘I try to be very honest with people’
BY JAMES FINN Staff writer
The Rev. Tyrone Smith introduced Helena Moreno with raised arms and a sparkle in his eye. As a member of the clergy, Smith, who leads the New Generation of Original Morning Star First Baptist Church, is barred from en-
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dorsing politicians. Yet he made clear his enthusiasm for Moreno, New Orleans’ leading mayoral candidate, as he ushered her to the pulpit midway through his sermon on a recent Sunday. “I can’t tell you who to vote for,” said Smith, who has known Moreno for about a decade. “But I think that Helena Moreno will get it right.” Moreno stepped before the congregation. If elected, she pledged to set New Orleans on a new path
ELECTION 2025
ter part of two decades methodically laying the foundations of a N.O. MAyOR political brand that is now bearing fruit on the campaign trail for ä Coming Wednesday: Oliver Thomas mayor of New Orleans. Much of that work has played out — one of smoother streets and in places like the church in New more functional governance. Orleans East. Later, as parishio“It’s time to move on from what ners filed into the mid-September has been to what the city of New heat, Moreno, who normally worOrleans will be,” she said to rau- ships at Our Lady of Guadalupe on North Rampart Street, waited near cous applause. From church halls to the State ä See MORENO, page 5A Capitol, Moreno has spent the bet-
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STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Helena Moreno
13TH yEAR, NO. 49