THE SOUTH’S GOT NOW | DECIDIMOS CAMPAIGN SPOTLIGHTS POWER OF EVERY VOTE
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Black voters in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, were outraged when a state judge ruled last Decemberthat their favored candidate for sheriff, Henry Whitehorn, had to submit to a third election after he won a runoff by one vote and a recount confirmed his one-vote margin of victory.
Throwing out the election results particularly stung because Whitehorn would not only be the first Black sheriff in Caddo Parish, but one of only a handful of Black sheriffs in Louisiana history.
Whitehorn is a Black man with decades of Louisiana law enforcement experience, including 10 years as a U.S. marshal after President Barack Obama nominated him for the position. His challenger was a lawyer without law enforcement credentials.
“We were aghast that they wouldn’t uphold the recount,” said Billy Anderson, the North Louisiana organizer for the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “Sometimes an election can come down to race.”
...Additional relocation meetings for displaced Shreveport residents
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SHREVEPORT, La. – It’s a story KTBS 3 has been covering for weeks, water is to be shut off at the end of the month at the Pines, Villa Norte, and The Jolie apartments due to unpaid water bills, leaving hundreds of residents in search of a new home.
Recently the city scheduled additional meetings for relocation assistance.
Many residents came for relocation help with 9 days left to move out, leaving many still desperate for help.
“I recommend nobody will have to ever, ever live like this. You know, do the things that we’re going through. We are trying to do better. We just in a situation to what we cannot do better right now. We all have a cry right now for help,” said Tracey Collins, resident of The Jolie Apartments.
Around 60 people showed up to Friday’s relocation meetings, 30 of them have found new homes.
...City, Power Coalition and Providence House offer support to displaced residents of 3 apartment complexes
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — Displaced residents of three Shreveport apartment complexes met with city officials during emergency relocation assistance meetings Tuesday (May 21) evening.
In just 10 days, water service will be discontinued at The Jolie, Villa Norte and Pines apartments. That has hundreds of residents searching for a place to live.
“We’re asking for help. We’re needing help tremendously right now. We’re needing help bad,” said Tracey Collins, a resident of The Jolie Apartments.
Dozens of Shreveport families are searching for a new place to call home after receiving notice that their utilities would be disconnected at the end of the month.
“So now I have no air in my apartment unit; I have no running water in my apartment unit,” Collins said.
But for some residents at The Jolie, they were given no notice and already are experiencing utility shutoffs.
“I have four kids in my apartment that are in heat. My thermostat is on 81º,” Collins said. “I have no running water. I have to get out and Doordash every day to make sure I can get enough water to flush.”
...Residents look forward to more comfortable living conditions after forced moves
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.
On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.
Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.
The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.
Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.
...Supreme Court Reinstates Congressional Map With Two Majority-Minority Districts
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Supreme Court, for Now, Allows Louisiana Voting Map to Move Forward
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily reinstated a congressional map in Louisiana that includes a second majority-Black district, increasing the likelihood that Democrats could gain a House seat from the state in the November election.
The move could be particularly significant in an election cycle in which the balance of power in the House is likely to be determined by a handful of races.
The order was unsigned, as is the Supreme Court’s custom in ruling on emergency applications. It came in response to a challenge to a lower-court decision that had blocked the map drawn by Louisiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature, deeming it a racial gerrymander.
...Supreme Court allows Louisiana to use congressional map with second majority-Black district
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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year’s election that includes two majority-Black districts.
The court granted emergency requests filed by an unlikely alliance of Republican state officials and civil rights groups, who were united in asking the high court to block a lower court ruling that invalidated the most recently drawn map. State officials had said they needed to have the map finalized by Wednesday to meet bureaucratic deadlines and avoid “disarray.”
The court’s three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the state still had time to draw a map that would address the various legal questions that have been raised. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
...Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program announced for Jolie, Villa Norte apartments
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – An emergency program has been announced to assist residents who will be displaced when utilities are cut off at two apartment complexes in Shreveport.
On May 15, the City of Shreveport announced an Emergency Apartment Relocation Assistance Program for the residents of two apartments, Jolie and Villa Norte. The program has been introduced following the announcement that utilities will be cut off at both apartment complexes on May 31 due to unpaid bills.
Multiple apartment complexes will soon have their water turned off due to lack of payments.
The program aims to provide necessary aid and resources to support the residents.
Both meetings regarding the program will be held on May 17.
...Federal Judges Block Newly Drawn Louisiana Congressional Map
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A newly drawn congressional map in Louisiana was struck down on Tuesday by a panel of federal judges who found that the new boundaries, which form a second majority Black district in the state, amounted to an “impermissible racial gerrymander” that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The 2-to-1 ruling now leaves uncertain which boundaries will be used in the November elections, which are just six months away and could play a critical role in determining the balance of power in the House of Representatives.
Critics warned that the decision could have broader implications on voting rights. Eric H. Holder Jr., the former U.S. attorney general and current chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said the “ideological nature of the decision could not be more clear.”
...House Bill 800: Why Senators Should Not Sell Louisiana (Or Any Other State) To Big Business
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The State Constitution of Louisiana is not perfect; no state constitution is. But that doesn’t mean state constitutions should be tossed aside or arbitrarily opened with no clarity on the rationale for doing so. It takes time to craft a governing document, and it takes time to protect the individual liberties and basic rights of all. But in seeking to host a constitutional convention, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is undermining democracy and putting Louisianians at risk.
Under House Bill 800, legislators would convene on May 20, write a new state constitution by June 15 and put it on the ballot during the 2024 presidential election. This narrow window would make it hard for Louisianians to understand the process, offer input, or ensure that their rights are protected. The convention itself, and the short timeline for it, would also compromise local governments and institutions.
...Ida B. Wells Was a Pathbreaking Data Storyteller
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Power Coalition rep discusses Shreveport’s 3 bond proposals
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Louisiana Congressional map debate continues in federal court
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—The recently passed Louisiana Congressional district map is being debated in federal court after opponents filed a lawsuit calling it unconstitutional.
Plaintiffs said they brought the lawsuit because they believe the map was drawn unconstitutionally, with race being a prominent factor.
The newly drawn map passed in the 2024 Special Legislative Session, created a second Black majority out of Louisiana’s six districts to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Because 1/3 of voters in Louisiana are Black, the Act requires that the district be drawn to reflect that representation.
Jared Evans, Senior Policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, argues that the goal of the plaintiffs is to “have a district with one majority Black district and five majority White that elect White republicans.”
...Hearing underway on attempt to overthrow La.’s congressional map
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SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — The trial over a lawsuit attempting to overthrow Louisiana’s new congressional map will continue Wednesday (April 10).
The hearing before a three-judge panel is being held in Shreveport. It began Monday and could last at least one more day.
Earlier this year, Louisiana lawmakers were tasked with making the map after a judge said a previous one violated the Voting Rights Act. The judge said Louisiana must have two majority-minority districts since one-third of its population is African-American. The previous map had one such district.
Under the latest map, the new 6th Congressional District extends from southern Caddo Parish through Natchitoches and Alexandria to Baton Rouge. The new boundaries jeopardize Republican Congressman Garret Graves’ place in Congress.
...Jeff Landry targeted Garret Graves in redrawing district map, LA lawmaker testifies
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The trial to decide the fate of Louisiana’s congressional representation continued in Shreveport on Tuesday, as the court heard further testimony from elected officials and demographics experts.
The trial is the result of a federal lawsuit filed by a group of Louisiana residents that argued that the congressional map supported by Gov. Jeff Landry and approved by the state Legislature in January amounted to an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” The map, introduced in Senate Bill 8, created a new majority Black congressional district stretching diagonally across the state to encompass the large Black communities in and around Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.
...Environmental Protection Agency Gives $20 Billion in ‘Green Bank’ Grants
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Winning Women
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Shining a Light On: Ashley Shelton
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Beauty, Barbers, and Ballots event stresses voting, civic engagement
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Louisiana legislation targets mail-in absentee voting as it gains in popularity
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Early voting begins in Shreveport
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Baton Rouge Bike N Vote gets community involved with early voting
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Mardi Gras is Revolutionary
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Civil Rights Groups Secure Victory in Landmark Case Challenging Racial Discrimination in Louisiana’s State Legislative Maps
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Black Louisianans Enter a New Political Era
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Deep investments in energy savings approved today!
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Entergy Louisiana receives approval for additional renewable power facilities
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Louisiana makes history with new Black congressional district that includes Shreveport
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Louisiana Lawmakers Approve Map That Empowers More Black Voters
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Advocates to Hold Mass Mobilization Event at Louisiana Capitol Before Redistricting Committee Meeting and Public Hearing
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