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Hear the latest from the WRKF/WWNO Newsroom.

La.’s special session on crime wraps; NOLA will no longer have all charter schools

Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during the start of the special session in the House Chamber on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 in Baton Rouge, La.
Michael Johnson/AP
/
Pool The Advocate
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during the start of the special session in the House Chamber on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 in Baton Rouge, La.

Louisiana’s historic special session on crime has concluded after a brisk two weeks. Many of Gov. Jeff Landry’s high-priority bills passed, including a proposal to expand death penalty execution methods. Molly Ryan, WWNO and WRKF’s state politics reporter joins us to talk more about the session’s conclusion.

And we have a major education story out of New Orleans. The Orleans Parish School Board says it will directly run a school next year. It’s a big deal for the country’s only all-charter public school system. The board hasn’t operated a school since 2019 and the district has had mostly charters for much longer. Aubri Juhasz, WWNO and WRKF’s education reporter, has been covering the story and joins us.

Plus, oysters are sly helpers in the fight to protect coasts from erosion and flooding that is caused by climate change. But oyster reefs on Alabama’s coast, like many others in the Gulf South, have taken a beating.

In Louisiana, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana has been recycling oyster shells in an effort to rebuild the coastline for nearly a decade. Danny McArthur, reporter with the Gulf States Newsroom, takes us to a similar effort in Alabama to help rebuild the coastline there.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Ryan Vasquez. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Matt Bloom produced today’s episode. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

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

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Ryan Vasquez is the news director for WWNO and WRKF. He has a 17-year career in public broadcasting with stops at Alabama Public Radio and WUFT in Gainesville, Fla.