By Julie O’Donoghue | Senior Reporter
On this day in 1870, Italian troops took over Rome, leading to the city becoming part of the country of Italy and limiting the Catholic pope’s governing authority.
Congresswoman Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, signed an nondisclosure agreement about the Meta data center project in Richland Parish in 2024. (Photo by Piper Hutchinson/Louisiana Illuminator)
By Julie O’Donoghue
Dozens of local and state elected officials have signed NDAs related to economic development projects. The issue could come up in the congressional campaigns, where a handful of those who signed NDAs are running for higher office.
Gov. Jeff Landry addresses the Louisiana Legislature at the start of a November 2024 special session. (Photo by Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate)
By Piper Hutchinson
Though fans and sports commentators draw a comparison between Jeff Landry and Huey Long, it is usually a glossed-over, glamorized version that romanticizes the long-running politicization of the university and its athletics program.
By Piper Hutchinson
Republican state senators competing for a Baton Rouge-based congressional seat lobbed hefty allegations at one another about where they live and one candidate’s unpaid taxes.
MORE LOUISIANA NEWS
A scuba diver takes a core sample of coral from a reef in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located roughly 100 miles off the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas. (Photo courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
An isolated reef off the coast of Louisiana and Texas holds within its corals a record of Earth’s history, and scientists are reading it to understand how nutrients from the Mississippi River are affecting the reef’s health amid threats to corals around the globe.
LSU New Orleans has reported another decline in its enrollment in its first semester back in the LSU System and fell short of the 6,000 projected students LSU System President Wade Rousse said the campus budget was built around.
All five of the major candidates vying to replace U.S. Rep. Julie Letlow in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District said they would focus on shoring up rural healthcare providers if elected.
IN NATIONAL NEWS
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks at a campaign event for U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Aug. 17, 2026. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
The U.S. House is on a seven-week campaign break after spending less than two weeks in session during August and September. The extended “district work period” is intended to give incumbents from both political parties time to meet with constituents and fundraise back home.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week for the first time in three years as inflation continues to dog the economy, largely driven by soaring gas and fuel oil prices while the war in Iran drags on.
As the November midterms approach, vulnerable U.S. House Republicans voted to require congressional approval for President Donald Trump to continue his war in Iran.
COMMENTARY
A year without pain is a reminder of health struggles we can’t see | Andrew DeMillo
For Alabama Democrats, political gravity is tough | Brian Lyman
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