Louisiana to lose a seat in Congress

Louisiana will lose a seat in Congress and therefore one of its nine electoral votes because of the results of the 2010 U.S. Census, it was announced today in Washington.It is among 10 states to lose representation because of population shifts. Besides the number of House seats, the state population totals also determine how hundreds of billions of dollars a year in federal spending on education, housing, law enforcement and other programs are divided among the states. So Louisiana stands to get a slightly smaller share of those programs. Read more here

Orleans Parish Prison holds almost as many state inmates as local prisoners

In the mid-1970s, when singer Johnny Cash pleaded with Orleans Parish Prison in song to release his green-eyed son, the jailhouse held about 800 prisoners. Three decades later, the prison, known to locals as OPP, consistently ranked as one of the 10 biggest jails in the country, far out of proportion to the city's size. Read more here

Landrieu privately negotiated for new property tax increase

If the City Council ratifies a tax increase Saturday that members privately negotiated with Mayor Mitch Landrieu, it will take one of the final actions needed to produce a balanced 2011 budget. Despite the back-channel politicking that will result in a higher bill for most city property owners, Landrieu on Friday proclaimed the protracted budget effort “the most open process – end of story.” Read more here

House Passes the DREAM Act!

The DREAM Act would provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth with a clean criminal record who commit two years to the military or to college. Read more here