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T u e s d ay, M a r c h 17, 2026
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Moreno forced to focus on S&WB City plagued by repeated water line breaks BY BLAKE PATERSON
Staff writer
Mayor Helena Moreno didn’t plan to spend so much time on the Sewerage & Water Board so early in her tenure. When she chaired her first S&WB meeting in January, she remained mostly tight-lipped about her vision for the agency. And in an interview a week later at Washington Mardi Gras, Moreno said that
the campus’ popular Book Festival was underway. The recent spate of breaks has forced Moreno, who took office Jan. 12, to confront head-on the issues at the S&WB, including its aging, decrepit water Moreno mains, which have seen less attention in recent years than have its drainage pumps and power. So far, Moreno has sought to use
ä S&WB releases action plan for water system, says funding is needed. PAGE 5A
to get all the lights on.’ ” But Moreno’s plans were scrambled at 2:54 a.m. March 9, when she woke up to a text message from the S&WB’s interim general superpeople demanding changes at the intendent, alerting her to a major S&WB and other agencies needed water main break Uptown. to manage their expectations. It was the third such break in “People are like ‘What’s the big re- less than two months, flooding form for Sewerage & Water Board?’ cars and homes and shuttering and ‘What about the Regional Tran- businesses. On Thursday, another sit Authority?’” Moreno said. “I’m water main burst open, flooding like, ‘OK, let me just figure out how the area near Tulane University as
Area officials working to redevelop West End Park
her position as mayor to put pressure on S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman to move more quickly. She publicly criticized his leadership last week after he failed to provide her with specifics on a plan to prevent future breaks. And she sent in Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Steve Nelson — the former S&WB general superintendent — to help Hayman’s team figure out next steps. Hayman in a video posted on social media Thursday detailed
ä See MORENO, page 5A
Judge halts changes to vaccine program Ruling says Kennedy likely violated federal procedures BY MIKE STOBBE Associated Press
West End Park sits on Lake Pontchartrain at the border of Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
Plans for land taking root after decade of false starts
Staff writer
under Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration, despite longstanding criticisms from some residents. New Orleans officials have renewed their interest in working with Jefferson Parish to bring the site back into commerce after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the busiAIMEE McCARRON, New Orleans nesses there and revitalization efforts stalled. As parish City Council member leaders prepare a cooperative endeavor agreement for across the property. their respective councils to But after nearly a decade approve, state Rep. Stephaof false starts, New Orleans nie Hilferty, R-Metairie, has and Jefferson Parish officials a bill in the Legislature to say plans to redevelop the ä See PARK, page 4A plot are finally taking root
Proposed West End Economic Development District
Breakwater Drive
West End Park
Lake Pont.
dway St. W. Roa
On the westernmost side of West End Park, overlooking the harbor’s flotilla, sprawling greenery and boathouses, a plot of land has sat abandoned and fenced off for two decades. Jagged wooden structures jut from Lake Pontchartrain where Fitzgerald’s seafood restaurant once served up fried shrimp and fish, and weeds have overtaken the concrete that was once the parking lot. Within the fence, boats, trailers and construction materials are scattered
“The West End once housed a multitude of commercial activities. Allowing this resource to sit, unused and underdeveloped, is a disservice to our city and its residents.”
Pump station
17th Street Canal BUCKTOWN
Jefferson Parish Orleans Parish
BY LARA NICHOLSON
WEST END
Hammond Hwy.
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked federal health officials from cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every child, and said U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. likely violated federal procedures in revamping a key vaccine advisory committee. The decision halted an order by Kennedy — announced in January — to end broad recommenda- Kennedy tions for all children to be vaccinated against flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV. It also stopped a meeting of a Kennedyappointed vaccine advisory committee, which was set to convene this week in Atlanta. The judge’s order, however, is not the final word. The blocks are temporary, pending either a trial or a decision for summary judgment. Federal health officials indicated they planned to appeal. “HHS looks forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,” said Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon. The order issued Monday is the latest development in a lawsuit filed last July by the American Academy of Pediatrics and some other medical groups. The lawsuit in federal court in Boston originally focused on Kennedy’s decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women. The lawsuit was updated as Kennedy took more steps that alarmed medical societies, causing the plaintiffs to ask
Staff map
ä See JUDGE, page 5A
Lawmakers suggest budget cuts needed for higher education BY HALEY MILLER
Staff writer
Louisiana higher education leaders asked legislators on Monday to consider giving them more money as many regional universities struggle financially — but some lawmakers argued it’s time for those schools to take a hard look at
WEATHER HIGH 57 LOW 42 PAGE 6B
whether budget cuts are necessary instead. “We have hundreds of programs that we’ve closed,” Commissioner of Higher Education Kim Hunter Reed said during a Senate Finance Committee meeting. “But if you say to us, ‘We’re not going to be able to provide additional dollars, and you have to flourish within
your means — not just survive within your means’ — then we have to do a couple of things.” “It will be extremely tight,” she said. Officials with the Board of Regents say the current budget is $869 million short of what it considers full funding for higher education in Louisiana. The board
is requesting $119 million in additional state general fund money for fiscal year 2026-27. Reed said enrollment fluctuations, growing athletics department budgets and inflation have contributed to strained resources at some institutions, but did not specify which schools are faring the worst.
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She called the circumstances a “perfect storm” for many schools. “Regional institutions are generally seeing enrollment shifts, population declines and challenges of that sort,” Reed said. “Not going to sugarcoat it, we definitely have some institutions that are struggling.”
ä See CUTS, page 5A
13TH yEAR, NO. 217