Author: Janet Mcconnaughey
-
Man whose arrest led to ‘separate but equal’ is pardoned
—
by
NEW ORLEANS • Louisiana’s governor on Wednesday posthumously pardoned Homer Plessy, the Black man whose arrest for refusing to leave a whites-only railroad car in 1892 led to the Supreme Court ruling that cemented “separate but equal” into U.S. law for half a century. The state Board of Pardons last year recommended the pardon for…
-
Companies bid $192M in Gulf oil sale under Biden
—
by
NEW ORLEANS • Energy companies including Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil offered a combined $192 million for drilling rights on federal oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, as the first government lease auction under President Joe Biden laid bare the hurdles he faces to reach climate goals dependent on deep…
-
Baby bongo born, more likely soon at Species Survival Center
NEW ORLEANS — A bouncing baby bongo has been born in New Orleans. The 46-pound female is from a highly endangered antelope subspecies. It’s the first calf conceived at the Species Survival Center created by the Audubon Nature Institute and San Diego Zoo Global. Curator Michelle Hatwood says more baby antelope are on their way,…
-
US Gulf Coast braces for fast-approaching Hurricane Nate
—
by
NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Nate raced swiftly over the central Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, gaining added strength as forecasters said it would smash into the U.S. Gulf Coast in coming nighttime hours. Louisiana’s governor urged his state’s residents to take Nate seriously even before New Orleans and much of his state’s fragile coast was…
-
Funeral home denies refusing gay man’s cremation
—
by
NEW ORLEANS — A south Mississippi funeral home went back on an agreement to cremate an 86-year-old man after he died and paperwork showed he was gay, according to a lawsuit in state court. Picayune Funeral Home had told a nephew in Colorado that Robert Huskey’s body would be picked up and cremated for $1,795,…
-
Suspect arrested in death of Saints defensive end Will Smith
NEW ORLEANS — Former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith was shot and killed in what appeared to be a road rage incident, city police said Sunday. The death shocked fans of the much-loved athlete. Investigators don’t have any evidence so far that the shooting was “anything other than this accident … that turned violent,”…
-
Ancient clay seals may shed light on biblical era
Impressions from ancient clay seals found at a small site in Israel east of Gaza are signs of government in an area thought to be entirely rural during the 10th century B.C., says Mississippi State University archaeologist James W. Hardin. This could indicate that Biblical accounts of David and his son Solomon described real kings…
-
A crusade to save backyard edible gourd
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Prison inmates, a researcher in Nepal and a Cajun chef are among those contributing to a historian’s understanding of chayote and his project to restore the edible gourd to backyards across the Gulf Coast. A hard freeze in the 1990s and Hurricane Katrina’s floods in 2005 killed the variety known locally…
-
Lt Gov: Duck Dynasty important to Louisiana tourism
NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s lieutenant governor says the “Duck Dynasty” reality TV show is important to state tourism — and he could help connect the Robertson family with new producers if they cannot reach agreement with the A&E network. The network suspended patriarch Phil Robertson last week for telling GQ magazine that gays are sinners…