TERRY’S OYSTERS PLAQUEMINES LOUISIANA 12 OZ
$9
METAIRIE 504-885-5565 | RIVER RIDGE 504-737-8146 GARDEN DISTRICT 504-262-6017 | CHALMETTE 504-262-0750 BELLE CHASSE 504-393-1012
NABISCO SALTINE CRACKERS
3 COUNT OR 16 OZ
$3
EA
49
13.6-16 OZ
$249
EA
EA
STARKIST CHUNK LIGHT TUNA
OCEAN MIST ROMAINE HEARTS
NATURESWEET SEEDLESS CUCUMBERS
89¢
$349
99¢
5 OZ
PRICES VALID 3/18/26 - 3/24/26
99
BRIDGFORD DOUGH
3 COUNT
EA
EA
EA
CON NFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL KILLS TWO TOP IRANIAN OFFICIALS 2A
N O L A.C O M
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W e d n e s d ay, M a r c h 18, 2026
$2.00X
Funding options mulled for S&WB repair plan
2 legacy high schools to merge next year Douglass, Kennedy both relatively small BY MARIE FAZIO Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Workers repair the water main break on Willow Street near the Tulane campus on Tuesday.
Water main breaks fast-track search for solutions
BY BEN MYERS Staff writer
After demands from New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and City Council members, the Sewerage & Water Board on Monday released a plan for overhauling the city’s water mains. The question is how to come up with billions of dollars to pay for it. Old water pipes have been a known problem for decades, but other priorities like drainage and roads have garnered more resources in recent years. After water main breaks caused four floods in six weeks, the
water transmission system now tops a long list of infrastructure needs. Moreno and S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman have already said they would seek state and federal funds, which could help chip away at immediate needs. But the overall cost of reviving a water transmission system on its deathbed is likely to far exceed the contributions of other government agencies. The utility for now is focused on urgent repairs and 34 miles of large water mains that are more than 100 years old, which it says could exceed $700 million alone. That represents just 2% of the system.
2025 shutdown costly for La. crawfish plants plans — and his business — Visa issues create into disarray. It’s now March, and Benoit, shortage of workers who owns D & T Crawfish in
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
Last fall, Don Benoit had been making plans to hire 80 seasonal migrant laborers to work at his crawfish processing plant during the upcoming spring season, and he was applying for guest-worker visas just like he had for the past eight years. But the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history would soon throw his
WEATHER HIGH 64 LOW 47 PAGE 8B
Abbeville, doesn’t have any migrant workers at his plant to peel and boil crawfish and prepare tail meat to sell at grocery stores. He just has his small, year-round crew of about 30 local employees, which can’t process near the volume the business typically does. “You lose a whole season,” and the ability to process about 2 million pounds of crawfish, Benoit said.
ä See SHUTDOWN, page 12A
On Tuesday, Moreno and Hayman offered a range of ideas but stopped short of calling for increases in water rates, which have been stagnant since 2020 but could be a difficult sell to the public while Moreno is already attempting to increase the $24 monthly sanitation fee. “The funding piece, that’s the first thing that I looked at last night,” Moreno said. “How do we start to get this funding?” Debt financing through bond sales is the typical way to pay for massive capital upgrades, but the S&WB says it has
ä See S&WB, page 8A
Two historic New Orleans high schools, John F. Kennedy High School and Frederick Douglass High School, will merge operations next school year at Kennedy’s Gentilly campus, according to KIPP New Orleans officials. KIPP New Orleans’ board of directors voted last week to combine the schools, which they attributed to rising costs, major repairs needed to Douglass’ building on St. Claude Avenue and the pressure of declining citywide enrollment, which will likely lead to school closures across the district. The combined school will operate under the Kennedy name, Douglass principal Towana PierreFloyd wrote in a letter to families Tuesday. Pierre-Floyd will lead the combined school, she said, and Douglass teachers will move over to Kennedy. “Looking forward, I am confident that this combination with JFK will allow us to draw on the strengths of each school to strengthen what I know to be the strongest school in the city,” Pierre-Floyd wrote. The plan to effectively fold Douglass, an A-rated school with deep roots in New Orleans, into Kennedy High School is sure to provoke strong reactions from community members and families. School closures and consolidations can be contentious, especially at schools
ä See MERGE, page 7A
ELECTION 2026 U.S. SENATE
Cassidy
Letlow ducking TV debate Cassidy, Fleming ready to face off BY TYLER BRIDGES Staff writer
Letlow
Fleming
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow has continued to duck calls for TV debates with her main Republican opponents, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and state Treasurer John Fleming, as she campaigns to be Louisiana’s next senator. On March 6, Cassidy challenged Letlow to debate him
three times in advance of the May 16 Republican primary. Letlow has countered by offering to participate in a debate only on the program of conservative radio talk host Moon Griffon, who regularly calls Cassidy “Psycho Bill.” Cassidy has sought to up the ante on Letlow by taunting her daily. Tuesday, his campaign noted, marked the 11th day since Cassidy called for the three TV debates. It then referred to news accounts that Letlow failed to follow con-
Business ...................10A Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................8D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-7D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
gressional rules when she was more than a year late in reporting 210 individual stock trades. Letlow blamed her financial advisers for the late disclosures. “Senator Cassidy is ready for a televised debate anytime — the only question is whether Letlow will finally show up for the pot of gold,” Cassidy’s campaign said in the statement. “Based on her stock trading violations, we do know she has an eye for
ä See DEBATE, page 11A
13TH yEAR, NO. 218