Louisiana First Standard

LA First Standard straw POLL: Vote down below for your preferred candidate in Louisiana's 2026 Republican Primary for the US Senate! Comment below why you support your candidate #Louisiana

Audit alerts: Plaquemines Parish government financials exclude legally separate component units, leading to an adverse opinion on those entities despite clean opinions on primary government finances. Transparency requires full entity-wide reporting. App.LLA.state.La.US/PublicReports.…

⛪️A local jury convicted New Orleans-area Pastor Dale Sanders of wire fraud for stealing over $300k from two local churches Sanders faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250k fine for his crimes Follow @LAFirstStandard #Louisiana

Zuckerberg’s Meta secured blanket tax breaks, subsidized infrastructure and favorable utility terms through secret negotiations with Louisiana officials for its gargantuan $50 billion AI data center. Operating under the code name “Project Sucre” through a Delaware shell company, Meta obtained a 20-year equipment-tax exemption worth more than $3.3 billion before local officials or the public knew the firm was behind the project. The data center will span 4 million square feet, boasting 70 football fields of enclosed space. Follow: @AFpost

LSU has nine players on the Preseason Media All @SEC Team

🚨Special prosecutor Laurie White drops the criminal charges against LA Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) The LA State Police is expected to investigate the grand jury proceedings surrounding the politically-charged indictment Follow @LAFirstStandard #NewOrleans

The Pelicans went 26-56 last season and somehow followed it up with an offseason featuring no trades, no free-agent signings, and 14 of the same 15 players returning 😅 (h/t @RTNBA )

UL-Lafayette athletic director Bryan Maggard has departed to become the deputy AD and COO of the University of Missouri Follow @LAFirstStandard #Louisiana

Louisiana native Doug Thornton steps down as the stadium manager of the New Orleans Superdome Thornton managed the iconic stadium for 29 years Follow @LAFirstStandard #NewOrleans

🗳️Congressman Cleo Fields announces that he will NOT seek reelection to the US Congress. Instead, Fields will run for District 14 of the LA State Senate following the passing of state sen. Larry Selders Follow @LAFirstStandard #lalege

The GOP = Big Business shills

When Zion arrived, the Pelicans-only media who lived in New Orleans: - NOLA.com: Christian Clark and I - ESPN: Andrew Lopez - The Athletic: Will Guillory There's just not enough audience to justify dedicating people to the beat full time anymore.

The Pelicans no longer have a dedicated reporter from the Athletic, ESPN, or the local paper. Just makes me sad to reflect on. The combination of an uninteresting team and how print media is dying across the country makes it tough for anyone to pursue this full time.

🇺🇸 New Orleans police have arrested 4 suspects in connection with a March 2026 shooting that left a 17-year-old dead. On March 23, 2026, at approximately 2:16 a.m., Fourth District officers responded to a shooting near the intersection of Socrates Street and Brooklyn Avenue. A group of males was approached by another group of unknown males. After a verbal altercation, the first group got into their vehicle to leave when the second group opened fire, striking two victims. One victim later died at the hospital. The deceased victim was identified as 17-year-old Noe Padilla. After an extensive multi-agency investigation, NOPD announced the following arrests: ♦️ Angel Balderon (Hispanic male, DOB: 07-15-2006) — charged with second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder. ♦️ Bryan Armando Estrada-Hernandez (Hispanic male, DOB: 10-04-2006) — charged with second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder. ♦️ Jeffrey Mulul (Hispanic male, DOB: 10-24-2008) — charged with second-degree murder and four counts of attempted second-degree murder. ♦️ Andrea Orozco (Hispanic female, DOB: 02-16-2009) — charged with principal to second-degree murder and four counts of principal to attempted second-degree murder. Orozco was arrested on July 15, 2026, after a brief standoff with U.S. Marshals and NOPD’s Violent Offenders Warrant Squad. The other three suspects were previously arrested and booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center. The investigation revealed that the arrested individuals and others connected to them have ties to additional violent crimes in the New Orleans area. Multiple agencies assisted in the investigation, including the FBI, HSI, U.S. Marshals, Louisiana State Police, and several local departments. Sources: New Orleans Police Department official statement (July 15, 2026).

Growing rift continues to between the political leadership of the state government under Governor Jeff Landry and the City of New Orleans under Mayor Helena Moreno Follow @LAFirstStandard #lagov #NewOrleans