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S at u r d ay, d e c e m b e r 27, 2025
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La. still waits on House map ruling
RTA’s paratransit reforms marginal, data shows
Time may be running out for it to affect 2026 elections BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
In October, Gov. Jeff Landry and Republicans in the Louisiana Legislature pushed back next year’s spring elections, saying a looming U.S. Supreme Court decision could require the state to redraw its voting maps for Congress. Postponing the Republican and Democratic primaries by a month, they said, would give the state more time to react to a potential ruling by year’s end. But, as 2025 draws to a close with no sign of a decision by the high court, the clock is ticking down — and state leaders are starting to think through what happens next. The maneuvering around the potentially landmark voting rights case, Louisiana v. Callais, is part of a national redistricting battle started by President Donald Trump, which is now being waged across the country by Republicans in states like Texas and Democrats in places like California. Louisiana could go from sending four Republicans and two Democrats to the U.S. House to a 5-1 or even 6-0 delegation of Republicans. But the justices haven’t ruled in the Callais case, and there are just days left before the new year. The question is: What is the latest date that state lawmakers can draw a new congressional map in time to use for the 2026 midterms? The answer isn’t clear-cut. If the Supreme Court decides the case before year-end, Gov. Jeff Landry is likely to call law-
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
A New Orleans Regional Transit Authority paratransit bus passes the Milne Rec Center in December 2024 in New Orleans. A year after the public transit system promised major reforms to operations amid reports of missed pickups and excessively long trips, the agency has only marginally improved the service, according to data.
Agency’s promised changes haven’t happened, officials say BY BLAKE PATERSON
Staff writer
A year after New Orleans’ public transit system promised major reforms to paratransit operations amid reports of missed pickups and excessively long trips, the Regional Transit Authority has only marginally improved the service. The RTA’s federally mandated paratransit shuttles, largely used by elderly and disabled residents, arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled pickup time for just 57% of their October trips, according to the latest RTA data.
In October 2024, they arrived within 15 minutes exactly half of the time. The agency’s goal is to arrive within the window 85% of the time. The numbers indicate modest progress but suggest the transit authority has fallen short of its promises to properly serve the city’s neediest riders, who are often en route to doctors’ appointments, work or school. “It’s the anguish that you get that you’re not going to be on time. … It’s very stressful,” said Evelynda Grogan, who is 84 and legally blind. Earlier this month, she scheduled an 8 a.m. pickup for a
10 a.m. doctor’s appointment. She was dropped off in the nick of time, she said. “We might be blind. We might be deaf. But still we’re a person and we have feelings,” Grogan added. Though the agency promised several specific improvements last year — like buying better scheduling software and hiring a vendor who can more efficiently decide whether riders can use the service — many of those steps haven’t happened, RTA officials acknowledged this week.
ä See PARATRANSIT, page 4A
ä See RULING, page 5A
Trump and Zelenskyy to discuss security guarantees Ukraine’s president says 20-point plan ‘about 90% ready’
BY ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend. Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.” An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to
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confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.” The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas. Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be
involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice. “We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said. The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year RussiaUkraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANDRII MARIENKO
Police officers inspect a damaged vehicle hit by a Russian airstrike on ä See UKRAINE, page 5A Friday in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
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