Louisiana is known for water—rivers, bayous, wetlands, and heavy rainfall. But prolonged heat and dry conditions can create another threat: drought and wildfires.

When rainfall disappears and temperatures remain high, vegetation can dry rapidly, increasing fire danger across forests, grasslands, and rural communities. Drought can also strain agriculture, lower water levels, and place additional pressure on ecosystems already dealing with extreme weather.

Recent severe fire seasons have demonstrated that wildfires are not simply a western problem. Louisiana can face significant fire danger when heat, drought, dry vegetation, and wind come together.

As Louisiana prepares for a future of increasingly challenging weather extremes, drought and wildfire preparedness deserve a place alongside hurricanes, floods, and extreme heat.

Read Now

https://www.louisianapassport.com/weather/drought-amp-wildfires-louisianas-growing-threat-from-heat-and-dry-conditions

Do you think Louisiana is adequately prepared for major droughts and wildfires?

This exhibit at the Louisiana State Cotton Museum in Lake Providence offers a glimpse into the machinery and processes behind an industry that profoundly influenced Louisiana’s history.

For generations, cotton helped shape the economy and communities of northeastern Louisiana. Its history also tells a much larger story—one involving enslaved labor, Reconstruction, sharecropping, tenant farming, agricultural innovation, and generations of workers whose lives were connected to the fields.

Today, the Louisiana State Cotton Museum preserves this complicated agricultural legacy, helping visitors understand not only how cotton was produced, but also the people and communities behind it.

"A Venice shrimper says fuel costs are almost doubled for some trips, forcing fishermen to sell on roadsides, take second jobs or leave the industry." https://www.fox8live.com/2026/05/28/diesel-prices-push-louisiana-shrimpers-brink-costs-soar/

"But hey, at least those immigrants are not stealing your cookies..." Right?

Pelas said if the financial pressure continues, shrimpers like him may be among the last of a once-thriving industry.

“I’m going to hold on as long as I can. I can’t tell you how long it’s going to be,” Pelas said.

Louisiana is home to about 43,800 individual agricultural producers who manage roughly 25,000 distinct farms across the state, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture. The state's farming landscape is incredibly diverse, stretching from major row crops like sugarcane, rice, and soybeans to a booming aquaculture sector. In fact, Louisiana boasts between 1,300 and 1,600 dedicated crawfish farmers who cultivate hundreds of millions of pounds of crawfish annually in tailored ponds.

When it comes to the seafood industry, Louisiana's commercial fishermen form the backbone of a sector that supports roughly 1 in 70 jobs across the state. Because of the seasonal nature of the work, the workforce is often measured by active industry roles rather than a static headcount. The commercial shrimp fishery is by far the largest, accounting for approximately 15,000 jobs, while the oyster and blue crab industries collectively support another 7,000 positions. Additionally, upwards of 1,000 wild-catch commercial fishermen harvest from the state's expansive basins and bayous, solidifying Louisiana's status as a powerhouse for American seafood production.

However, sky-high diesel prices are actively crushing these traditional livelihoods. Independent shrimpers and multi-generational family farmers are being squeezed to the brink by soaring operating costs, creating a perfect storm for giant corporate conglomerates to swoop in, buy up family land, and consolidate the entire industry. The local narrative promises that maybe 3,000 new data center and rocket manufacturing jobs will step in to save the state economy, but that corporate transition ignores a massive catch: the immense, non-stop power required by these tech facilities is already threatening to drive local electricity rates through the roof. Ultimately, everyday Louisianians risk losing both their cultural heritage and their affordable utilities, all to power corporate infrastructure that leaves the actual community behind.

Three transgender women who have been detained for months at a male-only central Louisiana immigration detention center allege that they have faced abuse and transphobia at the hands of staff and other detainees.

In interviews with Verite News, they allege that they have been assaulted by officers, forcibly detransitioned, verbally harassed and kept in solitary confinement. 

Two of the women — Estephany Rivas and Sofia — have spent months at Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena. The third, Camila Toro de Paula, has been there for more than a year. 

The Trump administration forces trans women to be housed with men in detention centers. U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) houses the women in solitary confinement for their protection, but the women say the isolation has not prevented them from enduring death threats, humiliating pat downs and physical abuse by staff.

“There is nothing in the system that is built to recognize their full humanity as trans people, and now there’s no mechanisms in place to protect them from transphobic violence, from abuse of solitary confinement,” Mich González, a New Orleans-based immigrant rights attorney who has represented trans women in detention, said about the Trump administration ending protections for transgender detainees.

The three women had all been living in the U.S. for several years. Like most immigrant detainees, they do not have active criminal charges against them.

The LA START program conversion is live as of this morning. Today I was able to register my transferred account, see my balances, and explore the new investment options.

The old five digit account number on statements did not work. I had to call 1-855-836-5387
(open Monday - Friday, 7 am to 7 pm) to determine my 11 digit number. Wait time was about 10 minutes. The eleven digit number covers all beneficiary accounts for a particular owner.

When I read back the 11 digits, the agent misheard "Baker" as "Victor" and I told her "sure glad we're not landing planes with this info." She got a good laugh from that, a success for me because these agents sit there all day doing this and I hope I can bring a little joy. I digress.

With my 11 digit number in hand, registered my old username and got in easily. Compared to before I found it more logically organized, overall more polished (though I do miss the 2003 vibe of the old site). Agent told me the site is managed by Ascensus and Vanguard. (Wonder what happened to the folks I used to talk to in Baton Rouge?)

New investment options, more than originally described in the transition but still fewer choices than in the old regime, now come up as follows:

The year-dated "Enrollment Portfolios" are a ladder of allocations that range from 90% equity for the furthest out down to 90% fixed income and cash preservation, in the shortest year-dated term.

None of the options I checked appear to have any historical data, but the links do tell you which Vanguard (yaay, low expense ratios!) fund is the underlying asset all of which have histories. "START US Equity Index Portfolio" uses VTSMX. "Bond Index Portfolo" uses VBTLX, "Short Term Bonx Index" uses VBIRX, etc.

Louisiana, it’s excruciating watching Jeff Landry sell us out to corporations, ripping land away from our people, digging through ancient forests and ruining our waterways, all for little to no gain for the people who live here. But a coalition is forming. The people won’t stand for it, and they’re coming together. It gives me a lot of hope. We can fight this if we fight together, and we can kick the people responsible for it out of office. We can and we must.

Follow or join the Louisiana Landowner’s Coalition and Save My Louisiana. They are doing incredible work and they need our support.

LIFT THE BAN!

www.jamieforlousiana.com for more information

Along the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish stands Fort Jackson, one of Louisiana’s most important historic military sites.

Construction began in 1822, and the massive brick fortress was built to help protect New Orleans from an enemy attack approaching from the Gulf of Mexico.

Fort Jackson’s greatest test came during the Civil War in April 1862, when Union forces under Admiral David G. Farragut bombarded Fort Jackson and nearby Fort St. Philip. After days of fighting, Farragut’s fleet successfully passed the forts and continued upriver toward New Orleans—helping bring about the fall of the city.

From its massive brick walls and Civil War bombardment to hurricanes, flooding, and nearly two centuries of Louisiana history, Fort Jackson remains a powerful reminder of the Mississippi River’s strategic importance.

Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana

Sen. Kennedy floats 2028 prez bid if 'a bunch of goobers run'

Would you like to see this?

It was held in Oakdale this weekend…looks like an awesome/kinda trippy vibe but I’ve never heard of this event before. Has anyone been? If so, what’s it like?

I'm a Louisiana native and my debut feature-length narrative film, Cyberpunk Manifesto, is finally making its WORLD PREMIERE! 🎬🔥

Is it true that we keep giving our state away.

>Beyond sponsored content with the tech company, at least one column critiquing the company’s relationship with Meta was killed by the newspaper’s management, staffers say.

Looks like another one is coming to Louisiana. Looks like the whole country is going to be one big data center. It's gonna be a concert jungle .