INTERIM LSU COACH WILSON HAS TEAM ‘ALL IN’
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S at u r d ay, N ov e m b e r 8, 2025
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IV Waste keeps sanitation contract
Firm will continue cleaning up Quarter, downtown BY BEN MYERS
controversy over who will manage sanitation in the popular area. A committee of city officials IV Waste will keep its job ranked IV Waste first among three cleaning the French Quarter and vendors on Friday after considerDowntown Development District ing a variety of factors, including through at least the middle of next readiness to take on a sanitation year, a panel agreed on Friday, contract that — unlike other parts settling — for now — a yearlong of the city — requires the contrac-
Staff writer
tor to pressure-wash sidewalks, sweep streets and remove litter. IV Waste had been doing that work on an emergency basis, and the committee on Friday granted the firm the rights to a six-month, $3.1 million contract starting Dec. 23, when its current contract expires.
“They’ve been providing exceptional service since December of last year,” said Sanitation Director Matt Torri, summarizing IV Waste’s proposal during the meeting. “They’ve clearly made an investment in equipment above the contract minimums to ensure service reliability.” The choice of who will perform in the city’s busiest areas has provoked intense debate over the
N.O. airport mostly unaffected amid FAA-ordered flight cuts
last year, since the City Council stymied Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s seven-year, $73 million contract with Henry Consulting for that job. That contract is tied up in court, and IV Waste has been working on a one-year emergency contract while the litigation plays out. The unusual six-month solicitation was issued to ensure service
ä See CONTRACT, page 5A
Housing advocate removed from panel Critics call decision by N.O. City Council ‘political retribution’
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Travelers go down the escalators to TSA security at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner on Friday.
Travelers still brace for delays, arriving early BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer
The Federal Aviation Administration began reducing air traffic at 40 top airports across the country on Friday, leading to some canceled flights and nervous travelers across the U.S., even as Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport seemed mostly unscathed. Armstrong was not included in the list of airports to face the cuts, and travelers arriving Friday morning faced short wait times at TSA checkpoints and few delays showing up on the flight informa-
“(The reductions) scared the hell out of us yesterday. Who knows what to believe from the government these days.”
traffic Friday morning as business as usual. “(The reductions) scared the hell out of us yesterday,” said traveler Chuck Sakmann, 71, of Baltimore, who said he got to the airport “too early” for his flight. “Who CHUCK SAKMANN, 71, knows what to believe from the governtraveler from Baltimore ment these days.” Like those arriving for flights out of tion display boards. Across the country, New Orleans on Friday, anxious travel1,686 flights were delayed midday Friday ers at airports across the U.S. were bracand another 850 canceled, according to ing for the worst. Airlines mostly stayed FlightAware. on schedule, though, as they worked to Even during the morning rush hour, ä See AIRPORT, page 4A Armstrong employees described the foot
Sparking accusations of revenge politics, the New Orleans City Council has removed a prominent housing advocate from an advisory panel weeks after her organization blasted some council members and she criticized a bond proposition the council placed on the November ballot. The council on Thursday voted 6-0 to remove Greater New Or- Morris leans Housing Alliance Director Andreanecia Morris from the committee charged with overseeing spending of the city’s Housing Trust Fund, which was created last year to dedicate millions of dollars a year for housing programs. The measure, authored by council President JP Morrell and District C council member Freddie King, replaces an appointee of the alliance, an affordable housing advocacy group, with an appointee of the council president who is an “employee or representative of a community land trust organization.” But Morris and other critics have accused the council of seeking “political retribution” after Morris’ alliance gave poor marks to four council members who were running in contested elections and as Morris has opposed a council effort to direct bond money toward affordable housing. In an email on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the alliance wrote that the ordinance, which Morrell
ä See HOUSING, page 5A
Meta partners for solar farms in La. BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has signed a deal with a developer for two large-scale solar farms in rural Louisiana, projects tied to the tech giant’s construction of its largest data center yet in the state’s northeast.
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The 385-megawatt projects, with developer Treaty Oaks, will generate enough power for around 80,000 homes. Meta will purchase the solar energy generated at the two sites in Morehouse and Sabine Parishes. The clean energy will flow directly to the region’s grid, helping Meta offset a small portion of the emissions from the three gas-fired
electricity plants being built for its $27 billion AI data center in Richland Parish. The data center needs at least 2,600 megawatts. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder, said in July that he planned to expand the massive data center — originally planned to sit on land the size of 70 football fields — to
Construction continues on the Meta AI data center near Holly Ridge. STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
ä See META, page 4A
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13TH yEAR, NO. 88