 BY DOUG GRAHAM | Staff writer After the IDEA charter school network said it was pulling out of its last two sites in Louisiana, East Baton Rouge Parish Schools officials were faced with finding two new operators to take over the schools for the 2025-26 school year, the final year of IDEA’s three-year charter. During a special meeting Thursday night, the School Board approved Superintendent LaMont Cole's recommendation that Colorado-based Third Futures Schools take over IDEA Bridge, home to 1,100 students, and New Orleans-based Audubon Schools assume control of IDEA Innovation, home to 750 students. The two groups will have just five months to get the schools ready for the start of the school year in August, much shorter than the typical charter school startup timetable. Read more about how the operators were chosen.
President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration agenda — including a pledge to deport 20 million people — is sowing fear and uncertainty in Louisiana’s migrant enclaves. The state's top political leaders, who are solidly Republican and who frequently criticize illegal immigration as a source of crime and other burdens on the state, have pledged their support for Trump’s vision. Read about the fear building in migrant communities.
When the state received a heavy snowfall earlier this month, Louisiana borrowed snowplows from Arkansas to clear major highways. But, when plowing, workers scraped off a number of road reflectors that now need to be replaced. Read what's next for the state. | 
