By Julie O’Donoghue | Senior Reporter
On this day in 1945, Ebony, a magazine focused on the lives of Black Americans, published for the first time. John H. Johnson and his wife, Eunice Walker Johnson, started the monthly lifestyle publication together.
Political experts say Democrat Jamie Davis, left, drawing closer to U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race, but they still expect Letlow to prevail in the Nov. 3 election. (Louisiana Illuminator photos)
By Julie O’Donoghue
Political experts from both parties said U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, is still the strong favorite to win the election Nov. 3. But Democratic candidate Jamie Davis, a farmer and one-time Tensas Parish police juror, could finish closely behind her.
One of SpaceX’s boosters that launched NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Aug. 30, 2026, returns to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
By Piper Hutchinson
The University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors has approved a lease agreement that would allow Space X to access UL Lafayette-owned property at minimal cost ahead of an anticipated purchase.
By Greg LaRose
A coalition of environmental groups is asking Gov. Jeff Landry to address the risks of orphan wells, citing a new report detailing thousands of abandoned drilling sites throughout the state.
MORE LOUISIANA NEWS
State lawmakers are urging the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services to reach terms with the Tulane Institute of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health to resume its services for the state's foster care program. (Photo by Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
Mental healthcare for Louisiana’s foster children in crisis faces an uncertain future after the state’s child welfare agency could not reach terms to renew a contract that’s been in place for more than 30 years.
Four out of five candidates at a 5th Congressional District election forum said they were opposed to abortion rights, while only one said he would oppose a national abortion ban if elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Louisiana has agreed to a lump-sum payment for the remainder of what BP owes from the Deepwater Horizon disaster settlement. It will also bring to an end the remaining lawsuits that parishes have brought against the company for related coastal damages.
IN NATIONAL NEWS
Voters mark their ballots during the first day of early voting at the Bismarck Event Center in Bismarck, North Dakota, on Oct. 22, 2026. (Photo by Jack Dura/North Dakota Monitor)
Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box during early voting for a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats.
Rising costs of healthcare, gas and groceries during President Donald Trump’s second term have put Republicans on defense, not only in Washington, but in statehouse and gubernatorial races across the country.
Across the 46 states with legislative seats on the ballot, a total of 3,824 women are running — up from 2022’s previous record of 3,621 women candidates, according to the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
COMMENTARY
The sorry scene of today’s political debates | Linda Blackford
Arkansas’ candidates ignore warning from botched execution | Andrew DeMillo
What do we need after Nov. 3? Political imagination. | Brian Lyman
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