Tristan Baurick

Get the Lead Out: How New Orleans can reduce toxic heavy metal exposure - Verite News New Orleans Case studies of two cities and a state that faced lead contamination problems may give New Orleans a roadmap to cleaning its pollution.

Verite News spoke with experts in Michigan, Indiana, and Rhode Island to learn how their communities implemented successful lead reduction efforts in recent years, with the aim of finding options that could be applied in New Orleans.
veritenews.org/2026/02/25/h...

New Orleans might trash recycling expansion, despite $5M grant New Orleans has more than $5 million available to pay for tens of thousands of new recycling carts. But the City Council isn’t moving forward with a hearing to approve the contract.

BREAKING: The city of New Orleans is considering trashing a fully-funded recycling initiative that has more than $5 million in financial backing and would provide recycling bins to all single-family and small multi-family residential in the city. More @veritenews.org. veritenews.org/2026/02/25/n...

📅 Join us Friday at noon for a Reddit AMA with immigration reporter Bobbi-Jeanne Misick. https://ow.ly/M8gl50YmaWb

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Get the Lead Out: How New Orleans can reduce toxic heavy metal exposure Case studies of two cities and a state that faced lead contamination problems may give New Orleans a roadmap to cleaning its pollution.

Get the Lead Out: How New Orleans can reduce toxic heavy metal exposure

Case studies of two cities and a state that faced lead contamination problems may give New Orleans a roadmap to cleaning its pollution.

Toxic tap: Lead detected in 6 of 10 New Orleans homes' water Because of contract disputes, cost and legislative hurdles, it will likely take years before the remainder of the city’s tens of thousands of lead pipes are replaced. In the meantime, experts say resi...

Because of contract disputes, cost and legislative hurdles, it will likely take years before the remainder of the city’s tens of thousands of lead pipes are replaced. from @veritenews.org @halleparker.bsky.social veritenews.org/2026/02/19/e...

Toxic tap: Lead detected in 6 of 10 New Orleans homes' water Because of contract disputes, cost and legislative hurdles, it will likely take years before the remainder of the city’s tens of thousands of lead pipes are replaced. In the meantime, experts say resi...

New Orleans has one of the oldest water systems on the Gulf Coast, with pipes dating back more than a century, and lead experts point to the city’s corroding lead water lines as a significant public health hazard. veritenews.org/2026/02/19/e...

Toxic tap: Lead detected in 6 of 10 New Orleans homes' water Because of contract disputes, cost and legislative hurdles, it will likely take years before the remainder of the city’s tens of thousands of lead pipes are replaced. In the meantime, experts say resi...

Let's just say I only drink my tap water if it's filtered now...

See what the city's lead tests and pipe inventory have found in your neighborhood.

veritenews.org/2026/02/19/e...

Gambit gives a thumbs down to New Orleans parks after @veritenews.org revealed more than half the city's playgrounds have unsafe levels of lead.

Verite story: veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

@gambitweekly.bsky.social

Tributes to Norman C. Francis pour in from public officials, educators The impact of the life of Francis, the longest-tenured president at Xavier University, was felt through many different sectors of New Orleans life.

Tributes to Norman C. Francis pour in from public officials, educators

The impact of the life of Francis, the longest-tenured president at Xavier University, was felt through many different sectors of New Orleans life.

The vanishing newspaper cartoonist - Editor and Publisher When Rob Tornoe sat down with two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Walt Handelsman, the conversation was less about one retirement and more about an extinction. Handelsman’s decision to put down his pen mar...

Ronald Reagan:“Your humor helps give America’s political dialogue its characteristic humanity. And in doing that, you keep us here in Washington from taking ourselves too seriously, and I can’t think of any greater service to our national sanity than that.”
www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/the-...

Hundreds of Louisiana restaurants cited, fined for not disclosing imported seafood • Louisiana Illuminator Louisiana law requires restaurants to clearly indicate when they serve imported seafood, but hundreds have failed to do so, according to a review of state enforcement data from 2025.

IMPORTED SEAFOOD FINES: Louisiana law requires restaurants to clearly indicate when they serve imported seafood, but hundreds have failed to do so, according to a review of state enforcement data from 2025. @wesmuller.bsky.social reports:

Actually, the Washington Post Layoffs Were a Bigger Bloodbath Than You Thought - Washingtonian The layoffs announced last week at the Washington Post were disfiguring to the esteemed news organization, with whole sections and departments—sports, books, staff photography—wiped away, and devastat...

"In a dreadful era for journalism jobs, the Post’s bloodbath stands out: last week may have been the biggest one-day wipeout of journalists in a generation."

washingtonian.com/2026/02/09/a...

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

Poison at Play: Unsafe Lead Levels Found In Half Of New Orleans Playgrounds

@tristanbaurick.bsky.social and @halleparker.bsky.social
report for @veritenews.org

#news #environment

EJ Today Headlines: sej.org/headlines/list

@sejorg.bsky.social

veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

@veritenews.org published part 1 of an investigative series looking at lead levels in the soil of playgrounds and water of homes in New Orleans. Reporters @tristanbaurick.bsky.social and @halleparker.bsky.social actually ran tests on the soil and water for the series. veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

Europe gets ‘green energy’. These Southern towns get dirty air. In Louisiana and Mississippi, people living near wood-pellet mills say they’re getting sick.

Europe gets ‘green energy’. These Southern towns get dirty air.

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

A big thank you to the National Press Foundation for supporting our lead contamination investigation. Their Kozik Environmental Justice Reporting Grant enabled us to collect more than 500 soil samples across 84 New Orleans playgrounds.

veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

@nationalpress.bsky.social

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

Reporting by @tristanbaurick.bsky.social & @halleparker.bsky.social at @veritenews.org reveals dangerously high levels of lead in New Orleans public playgrounds. They took more than 500 soil samples & made an interactive map that shows the results.

veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

Britain quit coal. It’s burning Louisiana forests instead. The UK’s push to meet climate goals turned a former coal plant into a giant woodstove — powered by forests an ocean away.

What do Brits think about powering their grid with Louisiana trees? I headed over to North Yorkshire to find out: veritenews.org/2026/02/06/d...

Medgar Evers’ killer was a Klansman, but Trump administration says stop calling him a racist - Verite News New Orleans The National Park Service has removed visitor brochures from the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. Among the anticipated changes? No longer calling his murderer a “racist.”

The National Park Service has removed visitor brochures from the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. Among the anticipated changes? No longer calling his murderer a “racist.” veritenews.org/2026/02/05/m...

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

The long legacy of soil lead continues to burden children-particularly horrifying that this occurs in children’s playgrounds!

veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

Cool, the playground behind my house ranked #4 in highest lead levels in New Orleans

https://veritenews.org/2026/02/05/poison-at-play-playgrounds-lead-levels/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Unsafe lead levels found in half of New Orleans playgrounds Verite News tested lead levels at more than 80 parks. Even trace amounts of the toxic metal can cause learning problems and behavioral issues in children.

We tested lead levels in every public playground in New Orleans. Here's what we found: veritenews.org/2026/02/05/p...

Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team Clean energy dies in darkness. Courtesy of Jeff Bezos.

I had a feeling we'd hear this today...

Breaking: Washington Post gutting its climate team -- @sammyroth.bsky.social www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/washington...

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

A ‘green’ energy giant promised these Southern towns prosperity, so why are they still dying? The production of this "green" energy is creating air pollution in two Black communities in the Deep South.

A ‘green’ energy giant promised these Southern towns prosperity, so why are they still dying? veritenews.org/2026/01/30/d...

A ‘green’ energy giant promised these Southern towns prosperity, so why are they still dying? The production of this "green" energy is creating air pollution in two Black communities in the Deep South.

The opening of wood pellet mills in small towns in Louisiana and Mississippi came with promises of jobs and economic growth. More than a decade later, prosperity has yet to arrive. veritenews.org/2026/01/30/d...

A Gloster resident sent me this video of a fire at Drax's wood pellet mill yesterday. No injuries reported. Most of the smoke was from burning wood products (chips, etc.) but the fire likely damaged the mill's dryer. www.mississippifreepress.org/drax-biomass...

St. James industrial development lawsuit in judges hands U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier said he plans to rule on the St. James Parish's motion dismiss the lawsuit as soon as possible.

All but four of St. James Parish’s 32 petrochemical plants are located in the 4th and 5th Districts, both of them majority Black. veritenews.org/2026/01/28/s...

The biomass industry promised these Southern towns prosperity. So why are they still dying? States gave Drax millions in tax breaks in the hopes of boosting jobs.

The biomass industry promised these Southern towns prosperity. So why are they still dying?

The biomass industry promised these Southern towns prosperity. So why are they still dying? Louisiana and Mississippi made bets that wood-pellet plants would revive towns that had fallen on hard times.

The biomass industry promised these Southern towns prosperity. So why are they still dying? #Climate