WHERE DID EVERYTHING GO WRONG FOR LSU QB GARRETT NUSSMEIER? 1C
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S at u r d ay, N ov e m b e r 15, 2025
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Council seats, court clerk on N.O. ballot Bond issues, charter amendments also up for vote BY BLAKE PATERSON
In the suburban parishes, voters will also decide whether to renew property taxes that fund levee It’s election day in Louisiana, and and pump maintenance across voters in New Orleans will elect Jefferson’s West Bank and other two new City Council members ballot measures in St. Bernard, St. and decide the outcome of a con- Tammany and St. John the Baptist tentious race for clerk of Criminal parishes. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to District Court, along with several citywide bond propositions and 8 p.m. To find your polling location, go to geauxvote.com. charter amendments. Staff writer
N.O. crime victim services in danger
With the high-profile race for New Orleans’ mayor already decided, far fewer voters are expected to head to the polls for the Saturday election than for last month’s primary, when Helena Moreno clinched an outright victory for the top spot at City Hall. Ed Chervenak, a political-science professor at the University of New Orleans, said he thinks
just 15% of registered voters will turn out for Saturday’s election — a steep drop-off from the Oct. 11 primary, when more than 40% of voters showed up. “We’ve already selected the mayor, so lots of people are asking, ‘Why am I voting again?’” Chervenak said, adding that “chronic voters” — or those that show up for almost every election, regardless of what’s on the ballot — will decide the outcome. That lack of enthusiasm from the
ELECTION 2025 ä What’s on the ballot. PAGE 4A broader public is already showing up in early voting totals. Around 21,200 voters cast their ballots in-person and through the mail during the weeklong early
ä See ELECTION, page 4A
Gayle Benson backs Saints GM Loomis
As a ‘sanctuary city,’ federal dollars could be terminated BY BEN MYERS Staff writer
New Orleans-area organizations that help crime victims, already struggling with federal funding cuts, are facing a new barrier to the federal dollars they rely on: the Trump administration’s “sanctuary jurisdictions” list, which has become an effective blacklist for certain grant programs. New Orleans is among 18 cities on the sanctuary list, which the Department of Justice published after President Donald Trump’s April 28 executive order calling for terminating grants to cities, counties and states deemed to be obstructing immigration enforcement. Trump’s order was framed as a public safety measure, but it could result in the loss of more than $1 million to help New Orleans crime victims, according to state officials. That money is slated next year for local nonprofits and government agencies through the 1984 Victims of Crime Act, but the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement, which administers the grants, notified city officials in August that the money is frozen so long as New Orleans remains on the sanctuary list. “As long as the City of New Orleans, Louisiana, is on the Attorney General’s list of designated Sanctuary Jurisdictions, LCLE will not issue any future federal subawards
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
New Orleans Saints coach Kellen Moore, from left, poses with owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis on Feb. 13 at the Saints practice facility in Metairie. Benson issued her strongest public endorsement yet of Loomis on Thursday in an interview.
Owner urges fans to be patient as team rebuilds
BY JEFF DUNCAN Staff writer
New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson issued her strongest public endorsement yet of general manager Mickey Loomis, calling demands for her to fire the football team’s longtime executive “ridiculous.” During an exclusive interview with The Times-Picayune on Thursday, Benson strongly backed the Saints’ embat-
ä COMING SUNDAY: Gayle Benson addresses the struggling Pelicans, Saints.
Loomis has become a lightning rod of fan criticism in the wake of the team’s slow start to the 2025 season. The team’s 1-8 start was the franchise’s worst since 1980. At 2-8, the Saints are tied with the tled general manager, saying she holds New York Giants for the worst record him in “high esteem” and is “pleased” in the NFC. The Saints, meanwhile, have lost 21 of with his work. “It may not be what the fans want to their last 26 games, dating to last season, hear, but as far as firing Mickey Loomis, and are on track to miss the playoffs for that’s ridiculous,” Benson said. “(He) ä See SAINTS, page 4A does a great job.”
ä See DOLLARS, page 3A
Delay in Corps permit stalls Violet terminal at Port NOLA Official still hopeful project can get started
scored the growing urgency of advancing the port’s multibilliondollar container terminal and road project — a development they say is central to the region’s industrial future. Speaking at the port’s annual BY ANTHONY McAULEY “State of the Port” gathering at the Staff writer Sheraton Hotel, Port Commission The leaders of the Port of New Chair Michael Thomas, Port NOLA Orleans and one of its largest com- CEO Beth Ann Branch and Ports mercial partners on Friday under- America CEO Matthew Leech each
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stressed that the Louisiana International Terminal, planned for Violet in St. Bernard Parish, cannot move forward until a long-overdue federal permit is issued. Branch said she remains hopeful the project can still break ground this year, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has given no timeline for releasing its findings. “We’re working very closely with the Corps, and we have regular
check-ins,” she said, noting that the port has already spent three and a half years and funded more than 40 studies on the terminal’s environmental, economic, traffic and community impacts. “But we can’t do anything until we have a permit.” The project is still undergoing the federal environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The Corps is
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reviewing public comments from a recent hearing to determine next steps, which will include deciding whether to issue an Environmental Impact Statement or a Finding of No Significant Impact. If it is the former, then it would cause further delays; if the latter, then construction could begin. The Corps declined to comment
ä See PORT, page 3A
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