All Things New Orleans

It’s a holiday weekend, with a lot of opportunities to party — hopefully this three- (or four-, or five-) day vacation won’t go from being a long weekend to a lost weekend… So here are some things to keep you on your feet:

FRIDAY, 5/24

A year ago today, news leaked that The Times-Picayune would cease daily publication, cut staff and focus on its website, NOLA.com. The paper and ink edition now hits doorsteps and newsstands just three days a week: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

History and tradition play an outsized role in New Orleans. So perhaps it is no surprise that The Times-Picayune’s move has led to a modern-day version of a relic of media history: the newspaper war.

For many kids in St. Tammany Parish, summer is a time for long days spent playing outdoors, easy weekends at the baseball park, and — especially for kids with parents who both work — it means summer camp.

But the expense of camp leaves many families who are struggling financially with no option but to leave their kids unattended. Chassidy Groover of Covington knows what waited for her without an affordable summer camp option.

What happens when a classically trained pianist meets a closed-up church in the Marigny? Why he turns it into an opera house. This week on Notes from New Orleans, Sharon Litwin talks with Dave Hurlbert, the man behind that mission.

A new study from Stanford University shows a program being used during recess at six New Orleans elementary schools is enhancing the children’s education. About 2,200 students are now in the local Playworks project.

From crime and jobs to education and local history, a new program is analyzing how factors in our neighborhoods and closest to home impact life in New Orleans, and it's giving residents the data they need to petition for positive change.