NOLA News

1 day ago | nola.com | Rachel Mipro

Elizabeth Tran was standing in the snack aisle of the New Orleans Costco when she learned that her novel — something she'd worked on for five years in several states — had been sold to a publisher. “It was very much a full circle moment where it felt like I was writing about New Orleans and I had finally come home, and I got to sell this book,” Tran said.

2 days ago | nola.com | John Simerman

Attorney General Liz Murrill is taking the reins from local district attorneys in a growing number of death penalty appeals as she aims to speed up the pace of executions since the state resumed the practice in March after 15 years. In doing so, Murrill has riled capital defense advocates who argue that she’s trying to short-circuit the rights of many of the 55 prisoners who remain on Louisiana’s death row, their post-conviction legal claims still unheard years later.

2 days ago | nola.com | Quin Hillyer

The homestead exemption may be politically sacrosanct in Louisiana, but that is no good reason to make it even bigger. The state House Ways and Means Committee has advanced legislation to allow parishes to raise the exemption to cover the first $125,000 of a home’s value, up from the current $75,000. House Bill 271 by Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans, is well-intentioned but woefully wrongheaded.

2 days ago | nola.com | Koki Riley

COLUMBIA, S.C. — LSU has not listed a probable starting pitcher for its game on Thursday against South Carolina. The Tigers' usual Game 1 starter, sophomore left-hander Kade Anderson, is projected to start Friday's game instead. Junior right-hander Anthony Eyanson would then start on Saturday. LSU coach Jay Johnson had mentioned after Sunday's loss to Arkansas the possibility of having to mix things up with the pitching staff given the lost day of rest.

2 days ago | nola.com | Tony McAuley

The Sugar Mill, an historic building in the Warehouse District, will have a short reprieve to continue life as an event space before it is torn down to make way for a 1,000 room Omni Hotel next year, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center said this week.