N O L A.C O M
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M o n d ay, n ov e M b e r 17, 2025
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No word on possible Guard deployment in Louisiana
Movement expected but shutdown may have slowed things, sources say BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
the river and redeveloping the two adjacent wharves into a park with a multiuse path and space for entertainment and cultural attractions. When completed, it will provide a crucial missing link between the
A month and a half after Gov. Jeff Landry asked the federal government to send 1,000 National Guard troops to Louisiana, there has been no word from the state or President Donald Trump’s administration about when or whether that request will be approved. People familiar with negotiations around the deployment say it is still likely to occur, but it may have stalled due to the federal Landry government shutdown. Last month, Landry said he hoped troops would arrive in New Orleans ahead of Thanksgiving. New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said she expected the guard to arrive for the Bayou Classic football Kirkpatrick game and remain in the city through Mardi Gras. But on Friday, a Pentagon spokesperson said there were no updates on the possible deployment, referring questions to the Louisiana National Guard. “We have not received word that anything’s been approved yet,” said Lt. Col. Noel Collins, a spokesperson for the agency. Landry could activate the Guard himself, but he needs the Trump administration’s approval to secure federal funding for the deployment. In the past, the Guard has been used in Louisiana to respond to emergencies like hurricanes and the Jan. 1 terrorist attack in New Orleans, and it has helped bulk up security at large events like the Super Bowl. Trump has made a controversial push to deploy the guard and other federal agents to cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C., to crack down on crime and immigration. It is unclear what exactly the National Guard’s role would be if Landry’s request
ä See PROJECT, page 5A
ä See GUARD, page 4A
STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD
The Esplanade Avenue Wharf along with the adjacent Gov. Nicholls Street Wharf is part of the Riverfront for All project led by the Audubon Nature Institute.
Next phase of riverfront project ‘up in the air’ Audubon officials rethinking design, cost of park plans
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer
Nearly nine months after the Audubon Nature Institute began converting two historic French Quarter wharves into a downtown riverfront park, the $30 million first phase of the project is on track to be completed in early 2026. But Audubon President and CEO Michael Sawaya said plans for the second phase of the project, which will tackle the Esplanade Avenue Wharf, are now in flux, as Audubon officials rethink what it should look like, how much it will cost and how they can “program” it to generate enough money to pay for itself. “Everything is up in the air,” said Sawaya after last week’s Audubon Commission meeting. “This has got to be the next great destination for our city, and we have to do it right.” Sawaya’s comments come nearly a year after he took the reins at Audubon
The original plan would have given Audubon control of the riverfront from Woldenberg Park to the Bywater, with the exception of the Moon Walk. from a retiring Ron Forman and underscore how he is putting his own stamp on the project, which was conceived by his predecessor more than a decade ago during Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration. The project calls for creating streetlevel access at Esplanade Avenue to
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrives in the Caribbean Trump says the U.S. ‘may be having some discussions’ with Maduro
Jim Bernhard, executive who changed Louisiana’s business landscape, dies at 71 Businessman known for philanthropy across state
BY BEN FINLEY and CHRIS MEGERIAN
BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL and TYLER BRIDGES
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — President Donald Trump said Sunday that the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier. Trump didn’t offer details about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said “Ven-
Jim Bernhard, a Baton Rougebased business executive and civic leader who created and grew some of the most successful companies to come out of Louisiana, died Sunday after a brief illness, his family confirmed. He was 71. During a career that spanned more than four decades, Bernhard was perhaps best known for founding and growing The Shaw Group from a pipe fabrication company into a publicly traded, industrial services powerhouse
Associated Press
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Staff writers
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By JOHN CLARK
The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships in the Caribbean marks a major moment in what the Trump administration insists is a counterdrug operation. ezuela would like to talk.” The development comes as the Trump administration has carried out a series of military strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment
ä See CARIBBEAN, page 5A
Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Opinion ........................4B Commentary ................5B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
with a global footprint and a spot on the Fortune 500 list. After selling the company in 2013, he founded Bernhard Capital PartBernhard ners, a private equity firm that is now one of the largest in the Gulf South with more than $5.5 billion in assets under management and 21 companies across the country in the energy services, industrial and utilities sector. Along the way, Bernhard played a prominent role in state Democratic Party politics, engaged in south Louisiana civic and charitable causes, and was involved in the lives of his five children and
ä See BERNHARD, page 4A
13TH yEAR, NO. 97