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2025 was a year Louisiana won't soon forget.

It brought moments of pride and moments of profound pain from tragedy on Bourbon Street, where celebration turned into sorrow.

Two new projects rising across the state.

We'll take a look back at the highs and lows on this week's Louisiana.

The state we're in.

Hi everyone.

I'm Christina Jensen.

For many across Louisiana, the year started with heartbreak.

In the early hours of New Year's Day, a terror attack on Bourbon Street marked a devastating end to the night.

14 people were killed along with the attacker after driver plowed into crowds and opened fire.

Johnny Atkinson has a look back at the tragedy and how the victims continue to be remembered.

When the clock struck midnight on New Year's Day one year ago, Bourbon Street was filled with music, laughter and celebration.

But just hours later, that joy turned to heartbreak when a pickup truck plowed into the crowd.

At least 15 people were killed, including the driver.

Dozens more were wounded, and the Big Easy was changed forever.

Then President Joe Biden spoke about the tragedy.

Moreland defines strength and resilience in defining whether it's in the form of this attack.

From this attack or hurricanes or superstorms this city is people get back up.

That's the spirit of America as well.

Investigators say the driver was a U.S.

Army veteran from Texas and drove through weak borders on Bourbon Street.

New Orleans City councilman Oliver Thomas had a message for the victims and their families.

But our hearts and our prayers go out to the victims and the families who lost loved ones.

We will forever be in prayer, for them, it is a memory that's indelible in our hearts and our spirit right now, just the way other tragedies and unfortunately that have happened.

And because of that, we need to do better.

Evidence gathered by the FBI indicated the driver had posted videos and support of the Islamic State prior to the attack, but there was no evidence that the driver had direct communications with the terror group with a suicide bomber, as we used to train our troops going to Iraq and Afghanistan, they will go to no end to accomplish their mission, which is to kill people.

Another day, the jihadis handbook, dead to kill until they're killed.

The victims ranged in age from 18 to 65.

Many were from New Orleans, some from Baton Rouge, and others were visiting for the New Year celebration and other events.

What was your brother doing a year ago when this happened?

Yeah.

So he was a freshman in college.

He came home for winter break.

And so him and his high school friends decided to come out to celebrate, New Year's.

Local, state and federal officials say a series of security failures and lapses in emergency preparedness contributed to the attack.

Police and and Barry is now allowed just to control the traffic.

It's to prevent a terrorist attack.

And that is a big burden.

Not only the city of New Orleans, but every city in America.

Stronger barricades and traffic changes were created one month later as large crowds returned for the Sugar Bowl.

Earlier this month, Bourbon Street took on a new look with glowing prayer flags and globe lights hanging over the blocks where lives were lost, called Second Line in the Sky.

Governor Jeff Landry was at the event.

I think today is a bittersweet day for many of the people that are here for relatives, for those victims, those that were injured enough to come down and really that I spoke to one lady.

This is the first time that she will been back on Bourbon Street, but our hope was that those people feel safe again, that people recognize that this city can bounce back and be secure and be a place where people can enjoy life.

Babette Boyer is the artistic director and worked on helping to design and hang more than 850 flags on those same three blocks of Bourbon Street.

So I spoke with the families and asked them if there was any prayers they would like to send to their loved ones.

And I took their words and put it on top of their damages.

I think it's very fitting that, the victims will light up.

Especially knowing that my brother was alive.

It is really important.

Especially when, you know, people don't always get that from you and not always give back for to see I'm being remembered by others.

One of the owners of Arnault's restaurant remembers what the city went through one year ago and was touched by the second line in the Sky event.

I think it's a wonderful way to to remember those of you lost, including those that were injured during the attack.

And it's also a wonderful thing, you know, to bring people back down to the French Quarter, that otherwise might be a little hesitant to come down here.

The New Orleans officials say the entire French Quarter and the city of New Orleans will be significantly safer for this year's New Year celebrations, with unprecedented security measures.

2025 was also a pivotal year in Louisiana politics.

Lawmakers returned to the Capitol multiple times, with congressional redistricting taking center stage at the heart of this debate whether the state should be required to create a second majority minority congressional district.

We spoke with the Attorney general, Liz Merl, about what comes next.

We've written a brief at this stage to address the question that the court raised about whether, it violates the 14th or 15th amendment to draw a racially gerrymandered map.

And, you know, the answer to that question has typically been yes.

And and so we had said, like, we think it is a it violates the Constitution and it is offensive to have to sort voters by race.

That is exactly what we were directed to do.

Supporters say Louisiana's changing demographics show the need for a second majority black district.

I spoke to one of the lead plaintiffs in the initial case, press Robinson, back in November.

I think we have a right to be able to elect representatives of our choice.

But if you keep packing us into district or cracking us by putting a few of us in the other district, well, we certainly can elect in the basement that one.

And if you practice, we don't have enough people in the other districts to even be effective.

The new map pushed Republican Congressman Garret Graves out of office, and Democrat Cleo Fields won the seat.

But the fight isn't over.

A group of voters challenged the new district, and now the case is before the Supreme Court.

Depending on the ruling, the case would have wide ranging implications nationwide and even undo parts of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Joining me now is Barry Irvin, chief policy officer with leaders for a Better Louisiana.

Thank you for joining us.

Oh, thanks for having me.

So I want to talk about this pivotal moment in our history.

Depending on how the Supreme Court rules, what does this mean for voters not only in Louisiana but nationwide?

Well, a lot I mean, it does, of course, depend on how the court rules.

But I think a lot of the experts that heard the arguments before the Supreme Court feel like that there is going to be a fairly substantial change to the Voting Rights Act coming, and that would create a lot of change for Louisiana.

Of course, we just created a new minority district for our congressional seats.

And so we have two now instead of one.

That obviously puts that into question is whether we would keep that.

But really this has implications across the country, not just here because everybody has to redraw maps.

And if the laws are changed, particularly in the deep red South, you could see very big changes and redrawing the maps.

Do you think that could dilute the minority vote?

Well, I think that's the big concern obviously, that a lot of the opponents have.

We just saw something come out very recently that showed, at least in Congress, you could see a change of like 19 seats in the House of Representatives, which is, you know, how close it is right now.

That would be huge.

But you'd see the same thing in a lot of states around the around the country.

And there also be a change to perhaps Democrats.

Yeah, I think especially when we talk about in the South, you know, the Democratic Party and African American voters are very much aligned.

So in Louisiana, for instance, when you talk about most state elected officials that are Democrats or African-American.

So if you try and get rid of some Democrats, which is kind of what the theory is, we're trying not to get rid on a racial basis, but on a party basis.

You're getting rid of African-American representation.

So that's what makes it a real sticky issue.

In particular, in the South.

Anything else you want to add on this topic?

Just that it's far reaching beyond just Congress.

It gets to the legislature, it gets to our school boards.

It goes all the way down the map, depending, of course, on what the court does.

All right.

Thank you so much, Barry.

Well, state lawmakers also met at the Capitol to look at ways to deal with Louisiana's rising homeowners and auto insurance rates.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple says we're already seeing signs of relief because of bills passed earlier this year, and we're starting to see the positive impacts of that.

The rate increases that insurance companies take unless the number of increases that they're asking for or fewer.

In addition to that, we've had several insurance companies take rate decrease.

We've got reinsurance costs coming down.

Very.

This is a huge issue for all of us here in the state.

What steps have they taken to lower down the rates?

Well, a couple of legislative sessions.

The first one was really in 2024 that dealt with mostly the homeowners part of it.

And, you know, the big take away from there is it gave the insurance companies honestly more flexibility in terms of setting rates cut some of the red tape.

The notion being, as the commissioner has said, is to try and give the insurance markets more stability, more of a reason for insurance companies and the homeowner side to come and want to do business in Louisiana.

This last year, we had something on the auto side that mostly dealt with, you know, legal reforms, but in a limited kind of way.

Jury's still out, you know, on that, because it just happened a few months ago.

But, you know, a lot of eyes are on this issue for sure.

Is there any data to show that rates are going down?

It's sort of like what the commissioner said.

I think when you look at the homeowners piece, what you see is not that rates are going down per se, but they're not rising nearly as fast as they were, and they were rising in double digits like 12, 15, 18%.

Now they're more like 6%.

Doesn't sound that great.

Yeah, but it is an improvement.

Auto.

Still a kind of wait and see on that one.

Why do you think we rank so high for, insurance rates in the country?

Well, it's a couple of things.

One, you know, where we live is tough on the homeowner side, but there are other states that, you know, have big issues, too.

So we're in the top five there.

You know, a lot of it that, you know, the commissioner would say has to do with the regulatory environment for insurance companies on the auto side.

You know, a lot of us are bad drivers.

A lot of us have bad roads.

There's the legal issues, too.

So it's a combination of things.

But we are kind of bad in both of those categories.

Do you think lawmakers are going to look to address this problem in 2026?

I think they're going to go further on the auto side, or at least try to.

I think they feel like they did quite a few things on the homeowners the first time around.

Want to let those see if they work on the auto side?

They had a lot of bills that really either not got heard or they didn't pass, or some other things that they would like to try again.

So I think on the auto side, you will see some more action in 2026.

Any other topics you think the legislature is going to touch on in 2026?

Well, I think this is a big one.

I think from our organization's point of view, there is a lot of momentum around workforce issues and people, connecting people to jobs in Louisiana with these huge projects that we've all been talking about.

So a lot of focus, I think, on workforce and how do we connect our people to jobs, you know, with good wages.

All right.

We'll have to see what happens.

Thank you so much, Mary.

Thanks.

2025 has been a record setting year for industry across Louisiana.

From metas new data center in Richland Parish to a new steel mill in Ascension Parish.

The state says it anticipates a surge of new jobs.

We spoke to Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois back in June.

The first one we announced was matter and the fact that Neta is going to build their largest AI data center in the world in North Louisiana.

So just the elements of what that represents, meta, the global presence, credibility, knowledge and impact of a company like meta selecting Louisiana for their largest investment.

And then our second really big one from a new industry perspective, is what Hyundai is bringing here to south Louisiana along the river in Ascension Parish.

Making steel but making steel in a way that it's not done anywhere else in this country.

It is a very clean technology.

One of our other big ones, and it was really two of our other big ones, were both in the liquefied natural gas space.

Right.

It was Venture Global doing an $18 billion expansion at their existing facility in Plaquemines Parish.

And then just on the heels of that, about six weeks later, Woodside Energy, an Australian based company, announced an almost $18 billion investment in Lake Charles.

Well, joining me now again is Barry Erwin.

Thank you for joining me.

So those six mega projects huge for the state of Louisiana, what kind of impacts are we talking to?

The economy where really they're going to be huge and, you know, kind of in different periods of time.

I think the first one that people are really going to feel and understand, first of all, is the construction boom.

I mean, these are big projects a lot of people required to work on them.

These are industrial sized construction.

So these are huge numbers of jobs.

We did a report just a couple of months ago before some of these other projects were announced, saying that we're going to be talking about 20,000 new industrial construction jobs over a period of probably about five years, on top of what we've, you know, been used to doing.

That is a lot.

And then we're talking about maybe 20,000, permanent jobs over a period of time, either, you know, with these companies directly or they're spinning off in the community.

Yeah, that was my question.

If there's short or long term jobs, yeah, it's going to be a combination in the immediate period.

It's really going to be the short term construction jobs.

And quite honestly, we don't have the workforce to to deal with those.

But we've been through this before.

What ends up happening is, companies will import, you know, construction workers, you know, some of these are kind of migratory jobs, in a sense, or on the Gulf Coast, bring them in for a period of time.

And, and that's going to be a huge boon for about a five year period.

After that, you'll see the actual permanent jobs kind of taking hold in those communities.

And Louisiana, I think, should start now for workforce training.

Oh, yeah.

Look, that is job number one.

With meetings that we've had, going on, I mean, and even going to see things during the legislative session, I think, to address this.

So it's going to be a combination of really trying to get the workforce, skills, amped up as well as bringing other folks in.

Now, are certain regions expected to benefit more than others?

You know, North Louisiana is getting the huge amount of data center, right?

We you know, I think this is some of the good news out of this compared to when we've had some of these industrial booms in the past, pretty much statewide, I think largely, you know, a lot of times north Louisiana is left out of the mix, but you've got some stuff definitely going on stuff, the Metta Project in Richland Parish.

But then you've got LNG in southwest Louisiana, you've got some industrial chemical, construction along the river Baton Rouge to New Orleans, big shipbuilding in the home of Franklin area, and some solar stuff in Lafayette.

So it's kind of spread around and that's good.

So that's good news for the state because it's wide ranging.

Yes.

And more so than what we typically see in the past sometimes.

And, you know, communities may face challenges like housing.

I know the Monroe mayor's working on getting housing every day because he's anticipating that surge of workforce.

Yeah.

And, you know, again, this is something that we have experienced before.

I mean, sadly, we've experienced some sometimes after Katrina and after hurricanes where you have a lot of temporary housing.

But yeah, for sure, in Monroe is a big example of it.

But in some of the other areas, to a lot of insurgent people, means a lot of insurgence of housing.

You don't want it to be permanent because that you know, may not be able to fill up that stock forever.

So it's a lot of temporary housing that's coming in.

I mean, communities are working 24 seven on this.

They're working about things about health care is a concern.

Things about schools, traffic congestion, infrastructure capacity, all of those things, you know, or things that are definitely on the radar screen for so many of these communities.

So let's talk about your top stories from 2025.

What are they?

Well, you know, there was a lot going on.

Obviously.

I think the one that kind of stands out a little bit in 2025 or it comes into 2026, actually, both of them, we got a big Senate race coming up, and we're going to be going to the polls in a different way than we have before.

And that is a big, big change.

So, we're going to have party primaries, which we had them a long time ago.

We actually had them a long time ago.

We brought them back for a short time, and then we got rid of them again.

Now we brought them back again and are they getting pushed forward or back?

They're getting pushed back a little bit because we're waiting on that Supreme Court decision, perhaps on the redistricting.

But either way, in the spring and April and May, we're going or May in June, actually, I think we're going to be having, party primary elections for this big U.S.

Senate race, which is the one, you know, that's getting all the attention.

So that's a big change.

Yeah.

You talked about the big Senate race and also change in higher education.

A lot of changes happening.

Yeah.

This has been a big year for change.

And it's really been over the last couple of years.

But really a big year.

People look at LSU and they look at the coaching thing and they say that's all that's a big deal.

But really it's been a lot broader than that.

We've seen new leadership at a number of our institutions.

You know, some of them have already been filled.

Others, you know, we're still waiting to see, southern, you know, just an announcement in December, of the, president leaving there, still waiting to see what's going to happen in Lafayette.

So those are really big changes in leadership over a broad swath of higher education.

There are also some issues that we'll see going forward in 26 that we've been working on in 2025 about accreditation of these universities, and that's a big change, too, because that some the tournaments, you know, are the schools doing their job or they're meeting expectations.

Are they doing what they're supposed to be doing.

All right.

What's happening?

Thank you so much.

Very glad to be here.

Well, the past year has been volatile, to say the least, when it comes to sports.

Victor Hall has a look at the highs and lows from teams across the state.

Hey everybody, look at us.

Our sports friend Michael Carver, who was nice enough to join us a few times for game notes this season.

Back to join me now to talk kind of year in review.

So we're good to see you.

Good to see you guys.

20 2025 brought us a lot.

We have a lot going on.

There's been a lot going on, especially as of late.

We'll get to look.

There are so many things we could talk about including things like on the high school level, Carr down in New Orleans, back to back undefeated seasons on the high school right, 26 zero, nationally ranked in the top ten southeastern cheer squad for the third straight time.

What are you, a UDA national title?

How about the eighth of the year?

He's sure that's my candidate for 80 of the year in the state.

You ready for this?

And one year he got a $5 million donation.

Naming rights for the football stadium.

$4.5 million naming rights for the basketball arena.

Hired Alexander from southeastern, who won the South End Conference.

Got her to go to Lake Charles.

Kept Bill Armstrong, who was on Will wait staff who left there to go to NC state.

And by the way, they're eight and two.

It's a pretty good year over there in southwest Louisiana.

I thought we might see him here in Baton Rouge for a minute.

You know, with, everything that was going on.

But, a fantastic job.

And when you speak of that, the naming rights deal that they have on their arena, I mean, it's an incredible facility that they were able to to push through the finish line and really a great staff, as you already alluded to, what they're doing over in Lake Charles certainly cannot be overlooked.

Yeah.

I mean, the $5 million donation largest in not on school history but South and conference history.

Then he follows it up with the with the basketball arena.

But let's let's talk about some of the so the other things going on in the state.

Let's go down in New Orleans.

Saints get rid of Dennis Allen.

They hire Kellen more after last season's all said and done.

Still kind of stuck in the mud spinning their wheels.

And now a lot of the names that people like Michael in that, in that black and gold uniform and they're going up there and age about to say goodbye what's, what's going on with the program.

I feel like it's in need of that reset.

And that's the interesting part to me.

To me, I feel like there's almost a tug of war dynamic that we're going to see between general manager Mickey Loomis and Kelly Moore and his young and up and coming staff.

I think Kellen Moore has been enough places he understands what's needed with this remake, this really, if you will, overhaul.

And I feel like that is where this team is pushing towards because as you alluded to, guys like Alvin Kamara, Demario Davis, Cam Jordan, all those guys, those favorites, those jerseys you see on the fans right.

Those are the guys that are going to be out the door in the next 1 or 2 years.

And telling Moore's a pretty savvy public speaker.

He's not tipping his hand one way or the other, but I think this draft will really tell the tale.

Staying in New Orleans, one of the biggest stories in the state, and it just became official just what the last two weeks say what you want about the system.

This is not a conversation about the system, because I know we could go a million different directions, but the way the system is set up right now, congratulations to the Tulane Greenway.

They're the first one in the state, Louisiana, to make the playoffs.

They're going to get a rematch, you know, coming up.

Or they'll have to be a match against Ole Miss.

But you got to tip the cap.

They won the American.

They made it to the playoffs.

They're probably the most consistent college football team in Louisiana over the last 4 to 5 years as well.

You know and that's through a coaching change.

So when you think about what the wave have been able to do in the portal, losing pieces in the portal, finding pieces in the portal, you know, to be able to have that success in, in their league, to be able to do what was required of them to to be the team, to make it to the playoffs, that's it for them for sure.

You know?

No, obviously it will be interesting to see, you know, how this changes with new Coach Hall coming on board and Summerall moving over to Florida.

But but again, I don't have a problem with the system.

Quite honestly.

I would like to see the system be played for 3 to 4 years.

It feels like every time we get a new update into the college football playoffs, they want to change it immediately.

Let's see what we have, right?

I mean, like, do we have anything that actually functionally works?

I get it, people don't like the automatic qualifiers, but hey, every conference is fighting for their share.

No one is fighting more than the SEC this year.

They're well-represented.

Last year they won.

And the only team in the state.

That's right.

And congratulations to them for getting there.

I dropped some notes down.

You and I were kind of arguing over what would be an order, if you will, at the top.

But let's go.

Let's go.

Mentioned Jay Johnson, second national championship in three years of the LSU baseball team.

He's loading up again.

I mean, he has gotten that program in his short time where you and I saw Skip Herman have it for years where he's just he's not rebuilding.

He's just reloading.

And that talent coming in.

And what's funny is you and I probably both said it number a number of times throughout our career.

That's never going to happen again with Skip and what he was able to do, that kind of sustain success isn't feasible in this college athletic climate right now.

But here Jay Johnson is just grinding away, right?

Like and so, I love to see it as a guy that went to LSU.

Obviously I'm excited about it, but I just like seeing hard work rewarded.

And I don't know that anybody works harder than Jay and his staff, especially on the recruiting trail.

Well, the way they look, the fans keep showing it's a brand they travel well.

But second national title in three years and he's loading up once again for the 2026 season.

You said you would have had this is your number one.

Of course it happened most recently, but what a 48 hour window we had between the city of New Orleans and the city of Baton Rouge right there on I-10.

John Summerall announces he's going to Florida, and they name his replacement, but he still gets to coach Tulane as far as their season can go.

You bring in Marshall Faulk out on the bluff, and three hours after he's introduced, Lane Kiffin is finally officially introduced at LSU.

So certainly the coaching change is a big, massive story.

Southern has this huge hire, right.

And of course the press conferences have to be on the same day.

They just can't get them their own day in their own sun.

Right?

I mean, like I felt so bad for them.

But now, I mean, when you think about the unprecedented change of here, just here in Baton Rouge, both colleges replacing their head football coaches any year, that would be a big deal about 45 seconds left.

Let's give you my number one.

My number one for the state.

You got to go to Shreveport, LSU, Shreveport.

They go 59.

And oh, in baseball, they win the Naia national championship.

Never been done at any level of baseball.

And it is.

You know, I was talking before we started this officially not a single thing went wrong to go 59.

And oh is an unbelievable story.

Absolutely 59 and oh is is incredible.

Again.

You wish they had their shine.

They were at the white House with the LSU Tigers.

You know.

And probably everybody gets in enamored with Jay Johnson in that World Series.

But I really am admiring what they were able to accomplish.

Obviously not a fluke.

An incredible season, an incredible year in the state for sports and if this is the way 25 is going to end, who knows what's coming in 26.

Here's Michael Campbell with WBZ and Baton Rouge.

Good friend of ours.

Good to see you.

Have a happy holidays.

Merry Christmas and let's talk again in 26.

Same to you and all your viewers.

Sticking with sports, Louisiana also hosted Super Bowl 59 back in February at the Superdome, marking the 11th time New Orleans has hosted the big game.

And it was also a huge year for Louisiana music.

John Foster became a household name, coming in as runner up on American Idol.

The honest native is almost everywhere now, hosting concerts, of course, in Louisiana and around the country.

He's also going to take part in the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year's Day.

New Orleans street performer Jordan Blue got big accolades on America's Got Talent with his soulful covers and bask in native Lainey Wilson cleaned up at the 2025 Country Music Awards winning entertainer of the year along with several other awards.

Some big talent putting the spotlight where it belongs right here in Louisiana.

Well, that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

You can catch LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Christina Jensen.

Until next time.

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