LSU FIRES OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR, SHUFFLES STAFF 1C
N O L A.C O M
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T u e s d ay, O c T O b e r 28, 2025
‘A fighting chance’
While more innovation is on the horizon, doctors say AI is already enhancing patient care
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Lawsuit filed over La.’s new pre-K law Private schools claim regulations add burdens
BY PATRICK WALL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Dr. Michael Bernard, section head of electrophysiology at Ochsner Health, monitors computers to help with surgery on Friday. Artificial intelligence is helping with this procedure. BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
On a black screen facing an operating room, Dr. Michael Bernard watched a storm of squiggly lines flashing across the monitor: the electric chaos of a patient’s irregular heartbeat. The patient had atrial fibrillation, a disordered heart rhythm that can cause fatigue, shortness of breath and more serious problems over time. Years ago, treating it required openchest surgery. Now, through a vein in the leg, a thin catheter about the size of a spaghetti noodle snakes toward the heart, its tip burning tiny scars at a doctor’s command into tissue to block misfiring electrical signals and restore a steady beat. This time, Bernard wasn’t relying on instinct alone. He was using an artificial intelligence-powered mapping system designed to read the heart’s electrical patterns and highlight the precise areas driving the arrhythmia — a process that once depended largely on educated guesswork. “Before, I’d have to look at that and say ‘maybe’ and ‘I think,’ ” said Bernard, an electrophysiologist at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, gestur-
Two Christian schools have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s new law that imposes sweeping regulations on private pre-kindergarten programs, arguing that the law unconstitutionally disadvantages religious schools. Act 409 sets new minimum safety standards for all preschools and requires pre-K programs at private schools to obtain a day care center license, subjecting the schools to dozens of additional regulations, site inspections and staff background checks. While the safety standards apply to all schools with pre-K programs, public schools and Montessori schools are exempt from the licensing requirement. Proponents of the law, which took effect in August, have celebrated it as a win for child safety and school accountability. But critics call the regulations excessive, warning that some private schools might raise tuition or discontinue their pre-K programs due to the costs of compliance, such as hiring extra staffers, conducting background checks and making facility upgrades. Act 409 “unlawfully discriminates against religious schools and the families they serve by subjecting them to unfunded mandates in the form of burdensome licensure and regulatory
ä See LAWSUIT, page 7A
Blight reduction could be on chopping block
N.O. officials looking for ways to address budget shortfall Dr. Sammy Khatib, left, listens to Dr. Michael Bernard as he uses artificial intelligence to help with surgery on Friday at Ochsner Health. ing toward a map of the heart. “Now this gives me my best chance to say, ‘All right, this has been proven to help affect long-term outcomes.’” The system, called Volta, uses AI trained on nearly half a million electrical tracings from heart patients
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
across the country to spot the specific zones most likely causing rhythm disturbances. The difference, Bernard said, is like “a smart bomb vs. a carpet bomb.” In
ä See CHANCE, page 5A
New Orleans’ director of code enforcement raised alarms on Monday about the city’s ability to tackle its blight problem as officials stare down a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, saying funding cuts would lead to a “significant reduction” in services. In a presentation before the New Orleans City Council, city Code Enforcement Director
ä See BLIGHT, page 5A
Emerson to challenge Cassidy for Senate seat
which oversees legis- Gov. Jeff Landry that gives par- more ineffective legislative outCarencro Republican Committee, lation concerning taxes and major ents money to help pay for private rage.” construction projects. school. “Voters want a strong conservajoins crowded field state “It’s clear that Louisiana RepubShe also sponsored the legisla- tive senator who can get things
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT and MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
Staff writers
State Rep. Julie Emerson, RCarencro, announced Monday that she is running for the U.S. Senate, giving Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, another prominent challenger. Emerson, 37, is chair of the influential House Ways and Means
WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 59 PAGE 6B
licans have grown frustrated with our incumbent senator, and they’re looking for a fresh new voice, and we want to make sure that we have someone in there who can get the job done,” Emerson said Monday. Emerson sponsored several prominent bills in recent sessions, including flattening the corporate income tax rate, ending the corporate franchise tax and creating LA GATOR, a program backed by
tion that moved Louisiana to a closed party primary system, in which the Republican and Democratic candidates compete for their party’s nomination before the general election. Previously, all candidates, regardless of party, competed in an open primary election. Emerson emphasized her legislative record in her announcement, saying “our country doesn’t need
done — someone focused on results, not rhetoric,” she said in a news release. “I’m running to bring home real outcomes for Louisiana: infrastructure investment, new jobs, and a seat at the table where decisions get made.” Emerson joins a crowded field of Republicans in the race. Many political observers believe Cassidy
STAFF FILE PHOTO
State Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, is chair of the House ä See EMERSON, page 7A Ways and Means Committee.
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