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Katrina rebuilding program prioritized the wealthy over the poorest residents, ProPublica reports

A woman walks by a growing pile of debris dumped at the approved Katrina dump site on the neutral ground between West End Boulevard and Pontchartrain Boulevard, on Oct. 10, 2005.
Jennifer Zdon
/
The Times-Picayune
A woman walks by a growing pile of debris dumped at the approved Katrina dump site on the neutral ground between West End Boulevard and Pontchartrain Boulevard, on Oct. 10, 2005.

This episode of Louisiana Considered aired on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Here's what it featured:

For years, low-income residents of New Orleans have said the Road Home program – a federal rebuilding effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – paid them less to rebuild their homes compared to wealthier residents. Now, there’s new data to back that up.

Investigative reporter David Hammer of WWL-TV and Jeff Adelson from The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate join us to dig into their investigation into the program’s shortcomings for ProPublica. The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate’s editorial director and columnist Stephanie Grace also joins in on this conversation.

The story of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till and the activism of his mother, Mamie Till Mobley, have gained renewed interest thanks to a recent TV miniseries and a Hollywood film. Now, a new traveling exhibit — currently on display in Birmingham— is going deeper. The Gulf States Newsroom’s Taylor Washington reports how the exhibit is aiming to inspire local change.

Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Patrick Madden. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our digital editor is Katelyn Umholtz. Our engineers are Garrett Pittman and Aubry Procell.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12:00 and 7:30 pm. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play, and wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Patrick was the Regional News Director for the news collaboration between WRKF Baton Rouge and WWNO New Orleans, from 2019 through 2023.
Alana Schreiber is the managing producer for the live daily news program, Louisiana Considered. She comes to WRKF from KUNC in Northern Colorado, where she worked as a radio producer for the daily news magazine, Colorado Edition. She has previously interned for Minnesota Public Radio in St. Paul and The Documentary Group in New York City.