| By Drew Broach| Deputy metro editor
EMPTY PROMISE: On the campaign trail in 2020, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams railed against delays that left criminal suspects sitting in jail with no decision on charges. He made an ambitious pledge to reduce average screening times to five days. But new data shows Williams' office missed deadlines to decide on formal charges at a clip eight times higher than his predecessor, Leon Cannizzaro, prompting release orders for dozens of violent crime suspects.
MAPMAKERS: Six White Republican state senators voted in lockstep Friday to advance legislation that redraws Louisiana’s state Senate and congressional maps without creating additional majority-Black districts, repeatedly overriding the wishes of three Black Democrats. At the opposite end of the State Capitol, House lawmakers voted to move congressional and state school board maps out of committee and onto the House floor, even though neither creates additional opportunities for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice.
SIGNED, SEALED, STOLEN: After investigating a number of mail thefts across the New Orleans area, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office on Friday took the extraordinary step of warning residents to temporarily stop using blue U.S. Postal Service collection boxes for outgoing mail. The locked boxes, which are usually found in front of post offices and in public spaces, have become a target of thieves who steal and alter mailed checks and money orders, authorities said.
Welcome to the weekend. Check the latest news all day at NOLA.com. D.B. | 
