JAZZ FEST PREVIEW: MUSIC, FOOD AND THE CUBES ES IN TODAY’S LAGNIAPPE WEEK 1 WEATHER FORECAST THURSDAy 82 l 69
FRIDAy 84 l 70
SATURDAy 83 l 71
THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
SUNDAy 87 l 73
April 23, 2026
THE
STIISSAGE SET N O L A.C O M
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T h u r s d ay, a p r i l 23, 2026
‘SO MUCH MORE LEFT TO DO’
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yOUR GUIDE TO WEEK 1
JA JAZZZZ FE FES STT
THE FOOD 8 THE ACTS 10 THE CUBES 16 AND AFTER-DARK OFFERINGS
GI M M E, GI M M E.
Landfill expansion hearing draws crowd River Birch says project aimed at growing renewable energy operations
BY DAVID J. MITCHELL Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE
A proposal to expand the New Orleans area’s River Birch landfill and make it the state’s largest was examined at a packed hearing, where management pledged operational limits and technological improvements to skeptical neighbors. One controversial part of the proposal would grant the landfill a nationwide service area, but River Birch President Billy Gibbens said the company would guarantee limits on that plan. He said the company would reach an agreement with the state not to accept municipal and other “disposal” trash from more than 200 miles away, reserving the new designation for waste that could be used for its growing renewable energy operations. More than 100 residents from Waggaman, Avondale, River Ridge and other parts of Jefferson Parish opposed the expansion and aired skepticism of that commitment at the state Department of Environmental Quality hearing Tuesday night
Mayor Helena Moreno speaks during an event marking her first 100 days in office at Gallier Hall on Wednesday.
Moreno touts her administration’s progress in first 100 days, but has plans for more ä Budget outlook for city improves thanks to $37 million in found revenue. PAGE 7A
BY JONI HESS, SOPHIE KASAKOVE and BEN MYERS Staff writers
Since Mayor Helena Moreno took office 100 days ago, city crews have filled 10,000 potholes in neighborhoods across New Orleans. As she stood before a crowd of supporters at Gallier Hall on St. Charles Avenue on Wednesday, Moreno touted that work as proof of her team’s focus on improving basic city services. “I can tell you that in the first 100 days, I’m proud of the progress, but there is so much more left to do,” said Moreno. The Moreno administration’s honeymoon phase has largely been spent stabilizing city finances, making quick infrastructure repairs, and creating a functional city government, the mayor said in a speech
The crowd applauds during Mayor Helena Moreno’s speech on Wednesday. at Gallier and in a 100-day report released Wednesday. Over the next four years, she will home in on finalizing a plan for the Municipal Auditorium and Armstrong Park, seizing more control of the beleaguered Sewerage & Water Board, and boosting economic development in New Orleans East, among
other moves. At the Gallier Hall event put on by her administration’s transition team, Moreno, who took office Jan. 12, said her designs on city government have been shaped by input from residents and by systemic dysfunction at City Hall. Many of the transition team members, residents and City Hall employees who flocked to Gallier to hear about her progress lauded her efforts. Former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a political mentor of Moreno’s, said she’s worked hard to secure funding for the city’s needs
ä See MORENO, page 7A
ä See LANDFILL, page 8A
Tennis complex proposed for Johnny Bright Playground BY LARA NICHOLSON Staff writer
For the better part of the last six decades, Johnny Bright Playground on Cleary Avenue was the site of neighborhood jungle gyms and youth baseball games, with longtime volunteer coaches, like “Crawfish King” Al Scramuzza, guiding legions of kids in recreational sports leagues. But in recent years, fewer kids have been coming out for baseball and other sports. Tennis has grown in popularity. And across Jefferson Parish,
ä See TENNIS, page 5A
Democratic candidates running for Senate blast Trump policies BY TYLER BRIDGES
pay more taxes. The three also opposed Republican efforts to impose greater restrictions on voting, a Three little-known Democrats took turns move that the Democrats called “voter supslashing at President pression,” and sharply Donald Trump and Recriticized the Trump ELECTION 2026 administration’s use of publicans at Southern U.S. SENATE U.S. Immigration and University on Tuesday Customs Enforcement night in a campaign foagents to snatch suspected undocumented rum in this year’s Senate election. Policy adviser Nick Albares, farmer Ja- residents off the streets. Albares, Davis and Crockett met three mie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett called for reversing upcoming cuts in weeks before the May 16 primary, in Medicaid spending by Trump and the Re- which Democrats and no-party voters can publican Congress, questioned Trump’s war ä See SENATE, page 8A against Iran and demanded that billionaires Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 82 LOW 69 PAGE 8B
PHOTO By APRIL BUFFINGTON
Democratic candidates for the United States Senate Jaime Davis, from left, Gary Crockett and Nick Albares participate in a debate at Southern University on Tuesday.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
13TH yEAR, NO. 254