Ben Myers

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers |James Finn

Louisiana's legislative session ended last week in a complex brew of wins and losses for New Orleans' local interests, many of whom found themselves at odds with each other throughout the three-month assembly. New Orleans state lawmakers headed off attempts to enact controversial changes to their city and secured millions of dollars for local projects.

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

Some Entergy New Orleans customers are expected to lose power for up to seven hours Tuesday in a planned outage to make equipment upgrades, according to fliers that have been distributed to affected residences. An Entergy spokesperson, Beau Tidwell, declined to say where the outages will occur or how many customers will be affected, citing unspecified safety reasons. Tidwell said affected customers have been notified through mail drop and their preferred method of contact.

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

A pedestrian was killed in a hit-and-run in New Orleans East on Saturday night. New Orleans Police say a white, 2011 Infinity struck a woman around 9 p.m. near the intersection of North 1-10 Service Road and Bundy Road. The vehicle fled without stopping, and the victim was declared dead at the scene, police say. Police did not say which road the Infinity was traveling on nor the direction it fled. No further information is currently available.

2 weeks ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

City and state lawmakers on Thursday passed measures to ensure the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots remains what it has been for nearly two centuries: a horseracing facility. The future of the historic, 145-acre property that also hosts the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has come into doubt recently as the owner, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs, Inc., has said its horseracing and casino operations are no longer viable following a state Supreme Court ruling.

2 weeks ago | nola.com | Ben Myers |Tony McAuley

With the future of horse racing at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in doubt, New Orleans City Council members and state lawmakers are taking steps to preserve the tradition and stop any attempt by the fairgrounds owner to redevelop the property or shut it down.