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NEW TULANE COACH HALL SAYS HE IS RIGHT CHOICE 1C
N O L A.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, d e c e m b e r 10, 2025
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FAR FROM NORMAL French Quarter restaurants are in make-or-break mode after disruptive year
Louisiana yanks a Medicaid contract
330,000 people pushed to other plans BY ALYSE PFEIL
Staff writer
St. Peter at Chartres streets is closed, straining businesses in the area.
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
INSIDE
BY IAN McNULTY Staff writer
It wasn’t just the consecutive days of double shifts Juan Contreras had to pull at his Mexican restaurant, El Gato Negro, making up for staff who were staying home, fearful of being caught up in federal immigration sweeps. But that exhausting stretch was the last straw. This week, Contreras decided to temporarily close the French Market location of his popular eatery, likely until the new year. His restaurants in Gretna and Lakeview remain open. But in the French Quarter, business disruptions from the “Catahoula Crunch” crackdown by U.S. Immigration
and bars in the city’s historic core and tourism hub. ä N.O. Catholics receive Mass dispensation It is leading up to what could be a conamid immigration sweeps. Page 6A sequential finish for French Quarter hospitality businesses, depending on how the ä Border Patrol operations begin in Baton final weeks through Christmas and New Rouge region. Page 7A Year’s play out. ä Attendance drops in New Orleans-area Many hopes are pinned for a strong schools. Page 1B turnout of New Orleanians pursuing local traditions in the neighborhood, tourists turning up and an influx of business and Customs Enforcement and Border around the Allstate Sugar Bowl after a Patrol are hitting differently. vexing 2025. “After all this, we just needed to take a The year began with the terrorist attack little break and start the new year fresh,” on Bourbon Street early on Jan. 1, casting Contreras said. a pall over the French Quarter in what is “All this” is a year that has brought imä See NORMAL, page 6A mense challenges for many restaurants
Louisiana has halted a contract with United Healthcare to provide Medicaid coverage for roughly 333,000 people in Louisiana, less than a month before next year’s agreement was set to take effect. People on the United Healthcare plan will be redistributed to other plans, the Louisiana Department of Health said. “LDH will begin the transition process of moving your Medicaid members to other contracted Medicaid Managed “The Care Plans for a January 1, 2026 immediate effective date,” impact is the Medicaid Direcchaos and tor Seth Gold confusion. ” wrote to United in a letter dated Dec. SEN. GERALD 2. “We expect BOUDREAUX, United to continD-Lafayette ue to abide by all of the terms of its current contract with LDH through the expiration date. We also expect your full cooperation with transitioning your members to their new Medicaid Managed Care Plans.” Some state leaders said they were concerned the abrupt change could cause confusion or disruptions for the thousands of people who rely on that Medicaid health plan, like requiring them to find new doctors. “The immediate impact is the chaos and confusion,” said Sen. Gerald Boudreaux, D-Lafayette, a longtime member of the Senate health committee. He also sits on the budget oversight committee that approves the contracts. The letter from the Health Department did not provide a reason for the decision, but Attorney
ä See MEDICAID, page 9A
Demolition of DeGaulle Manor faces funding delays promises seemed close budget the City Council passed Algiers community toThose fulfillment when officials in Dec. 1. On top of that, officials said, the celebrated the building’s frustrated over stalled October pending demolition as heavy ma- city owes the contractor more than progress of work chinery droned in the background. $1 million for asbestos removal
But at a New Orleans City Council committee meeting MonStaff writer day, leaders with Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration said the For the past two years, city lead- city can no longer pay the vendor ers have made promises to tear to do the job given its financial down the decrepit abandoned problems. Funding for the demo apartments in Algiers known as was also not included in Mayorelect Helena Moreno’s $1.6 billion DeGaulle Manor.
BY JONI HESS
WEATHER HIGH 69 LOW 48 PAGE 14A
work the firm already completed — money that, according to Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Brandye DeLarge, was never included in the 2025 budget. “My office never received a request to route a budget ordinance
A bulldozer clears underbrush from around the abandoned DeGaulle Manor in October. STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
ä See DELAYS, page 9A
Business ...................12A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................9D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....5D-8D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
13TH yEAR, NO. 120