PRESEASON: SAINTS BACKUP QBS FALL SHORT IN LOSS TO RAMS 1C
N O L A.C O M
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S u n d ay, au g u S t 23, 2026
$2.50X
NOPD homicide clearance rate rises Department sees big turnaround in key metric
BY MISSY WILKINSON Staff writer
temporarily house all of them for what might only be a short-term gold rush as the data center gets built. Gov. Jeff Landry announced in July that Meta is expanding its investment at Hyperion to $50 billion, from $10 billion. The data center, whose massive computational capacity is designed to power Meta during the AI revolution,
When New Orleans homicide Detective Andrew Waldron’s phone rings, he answers, no matter the time of day or night. One year, the NOPD lieutenant left his family’s Christmas celebration to go to a murder victim’s house after the survivors invited him over. Part of it is a drive to be there for people who are suffering. But empathy has a practical side, too. A tipster may Waldron not always ring twice. And in a city as small as New Orleans, he said, the family he comforts after one killing may someday include a suspect of another. Building community trust and collaboration is just one factor that the New Orleans Police Department now credits for a stark turnaround in a key measure of its success: its ability to solve murders. As of Aug. 12, the homicide unit’s clearance rate this year stood at 98%, according to NOPD data. In 2022, when New Orleans became the nation’s murder capital, NOPD cleared just 43% of its homicide cases. As of Aug. 12, 52 people have been killed in New Orleans, and police classified 49 as murders. About two-thirds of the murder cases this year have resulted in arrests. But this year’s clearance rate was boosted because several older murders were also cleared in 2026 that are included in the total number of cleared cases. They include seven killings dating as far back as 2021. One was the 2024 mass shooting outside Republic night club that wounded 11 people and killed Jezreel Poleate, 24. Melanie Talia, CEO of the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation, the nonprofit that supports some NOPD initiatives, cheered the work of the force that resulted in the improved numbers. “The strategies that (NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick) and her team have put into place are working,” Talia said. “They’re working with local, state and federal partners, with the Department of Health and the community.”
ä See META, page 6A
ä See NOPD, page 4A
BURSTING
AT THE SEAMS Meta data center packing hotels, new RV parks BY TYLER BRIDGES
Staff writer
Jerry House needed a job. House had worked as a pipefitter for 10 years in Texas, but after the plant shut down last year, he called a buddy who said the giant Meta data center being built in northeast Louisiana needed all kinds of skilled laborers. House went to a union hall, took a test to determine his ability and by Easter this year had a job working on one of biggest construc“I hope to the tion projects in the be here United States. another House, 58, now works 50 hours a week and three or four years.” lives at the Cotton Patch RV Park, a couple JERRy HOUSE, of miles from the data center, known as HyMeta data perion. center It’s not a glamorous construction life. The RVs are staworker tioned on a gravel lot that used to be a cotton field in an unincorporated community called Holly Ridge. The closest bars, restaurants and nighttime entertainment are at least 30 minutes away. But the money is very good. Workers said they are making 11/ 2 to 2 times as much as on their previous jobs but
STAFF PHOTOS By MICHAEL JOHNSON
Dunn Village, a recreation center where Meta data center workers spend their free time, features multiple recliners, sofas and televisions. TOP: A crane lifts material onto a building where crews are working on the Meta data center grounds in Holly Ridge in Richland Parish on Aug. 4. didn’t want to provide specifics. “I hope to be here another three or four years,” House said, sitting at a picnic table where workers who live at the RV park gather after quitting time to drink beer, socialize and order meals from a food truck. House joined thousands of fortuneseeking workers who are transforming rural Richland Parish, posing an extraordinary challenge of where to
Developers left wondering where to build in St. Tammany lakefront were unanimously voted down by After veto, latest new the City Council after residents voiced concerns. Developers and the city have been housing effort unsuccessful tied up in legal challenges since.
BY GRACE MAYER Staff writer
When plans for two subdivisions in Goodbee just west of Covington were scuttled earlier this month, it was just the latest of several unsuccessful efforts in recent years to build new housing in St. Tammany Parish. In 2024, developers behind a 100-unit apartment complex in Covington faced political backlash from Parish Council members, residents and lawsuits. The council eventually softened its opposition, but by then, the developers had abandoned their plans. And, in 2023, plans for the Sucette Harbor apartments and a hotel on the Mandeville
WEATHER HIGH 99 LOW 79 PAGE 8B
“It’s the same old, same old,” said Saun Sullivan, CEO of DSLD Homes, which was supposed to be the builder for some of the Goodbee homes. “They don’t want anything approved here.” For decades now, leaders and residents of St. Tammany Parish, a one-time bedroom community that has grown to become the fourth-most populous region in the state, have grappled with how to manage growth and balance quality of life concerns with the demand for housing and services. Amid the string of recent defeats, developers say they’re as frustrated as ever.
New homes are being built in the Tantela Lakes subdivision in north Covington on Thursday. STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
ä See DEVELOPERS, page 5A
Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 2F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C
14TH yEAR, NO. 11