By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
It’s best to stay put this morning if you’re in the path of the tropical weather system that’s unleashing high winds and torrential rain on southeast Louisiana.
Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch
By Julie O’Donoghue
Gov. Jeff Landry and legislative leaders are pushing back on claims from public school leaders that the governor’s plan to pay for teacher stipends with school operations funds would hurt public education across Louisiana. The governor announced a tweak Monday to his original proposal that would allow school districts already giving pay increases to teachers this year to sidestep his state stipend requirement.
Tracy Bryce, 59, of District Heights, Maryland, unloads produce from a moving truck at a special food distribution for furloughed federal workers sponsored by the Capital Area Food Bank and No Limits Outreach Ministries on Oct. 28, 2025. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
By Nicole Santa Cruz, ProPublica
Nearly a year after President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law, the number of children receiving food assistance has plummeted by at least 776,000, according to a ProPublica analysis. At least 12 states break down program participation by age, and of the 1.67 million people who are no longer receiving benefits in those states, 776,134, or 46%, were children.
A map of eligible parishes for the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program. (Louisiana Department of Insurance)
By Wes Muller
South Louisiana homeowners have the end of the week to register for the state Department of Insurance’s lottery that will distribute grants of up to $10,000 each to pay for hurricane-resistant roofs. An estimated 3,000 grants will be awarded to homeowners who live in covered areas. The list of coastal parishes eligible to participate has recently expanded.
By Jennifer Shutt
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency testified before a U.S. Senate committee that if confirmed he would ensure natural disaster recovery efforts are “objective” and “fair.” Cameron Hamilton, who worked as acting head of the agency before being fired and ultimately nominated for Senate confirmation by the president, faced criticism from members of both political parties about the agency’s response time.
By Tristan Baurick, Verite
There’s an increasingly narrow strip of New Orleans marshland that hardly anyone lives on, but without it, hundreds of thousands of people will face far greater risks from storms and floods. The area, commonly called the New Orleans Land Bridge, stretches from New Orleans East to St. Tammany Parish and separates Lake Pontchartrain from the Gulf of Mexico. Like much of Louisiana’s coast, it’s disappearing at a rapid rate.
D.C. DIGEST
Trump changes pregnancy-prevention program to promote childbearing | States Newsroom
Lawmakers demand info on Trump use of nat’l park fees for DC repairs | States Newsroom
Feds, 4 states sue trans healthcare nonprofit over gender-affirming care | States Newsroom
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Gov. Mike DeWine calls on lawmakers to end death penalty | Ohio Capital Journal
Republican lawmakers drop redistricting, citing pending legal cases | Georgia Recorder
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