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Louisiana's 2024 law reclassifying misoprostol as a controlled substance forced hospitals to store it securely, delaying access during emergencies. The drug is critical for treating pregnancy-related hemorrhages but is now harder to retrieve, increasing patient risk. The law also reclassified mifepristone, further complicating reproductive healthcare access.

The Trump administration secured a court stay allowing continued detention of three Texas immigrants without bond, as the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted lower court rulings that had freed them. The decision impacts Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, where immigrants are detained under a policy aiming for 1 million annual removals. Critics argue the ruling lacks precedent, while the administration claims it reinforces immigration enforcement authority.

New Orleans is opening the Rosenwald Recreation Center as a shelter for unhoused individuals ahead of Tropical Storm Bertha, with city and nonprofit partners coordinating transportation and resources. The storm is expected to bring strong winds and rain, prompting shelters like Ozanam Inn to expand capacity and prepare for increased demand.

Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to make landfall in eastern Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, with 50 mph winds and slow westward movement. Schools in New Orleans, including Southern University and Xavier University, have shifted to remote classes or closed. A tropical storm warning is active along the Gulf Coast, with potential for flash flooding and tidal surges.

Stella Cziment was reappointed as New Orleans' Independent Police Monitor for four more years by the Ethics Review Board, following a contentious process that included a national search and criticism over transparency. Two candidates from the New Orleans Office of Inspector General challenged her for the role, but the board voted unanimously for her reappointment.

Louis Gibson was sentenced to life imprisonment at 17, spent 25 years incarcerated including 11 at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, and was released in 2018 due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision. He now works as a reentry specialist and youth advocate, helping incarcerated individuals and recently released prisoners, and authored a book about his experience.

The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office has denied public records requests from Innocence & Justice Louisiana, a law firm working on wrongful conviction cases. The firm claims the withheld records are critical for exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals, and a lawsuit against the DA’s office was dismissed by a court in April, prompting an appeal.

Tropical Storm Bertha is moving toward Southeast Louisiana, expected to bring rain and wind starting late Tuesday with landfall projected in Plaquemines Parish on Wednesday evening. The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning from Florida to Louisiana, while a heat advisory with high temperatures is also in effect. A coastal flood advisory replaces a canceled storm surge watch.

Louisiana socialists organized rallies to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) killings in Texas and Maine, with participants chanting demands for ICE's removal and honoring victims like Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. The protests also targeted a new ICE holding center in Alexandria, Louisiana, amid rising concerns over immigration enforcement under President Trump's second term.

Louisiana officials have put residents on alert for potential flooding and wind damage as a tropical depression, likely to become Tropical Storm Bertha, moves northwest toward the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center has issued storm surge and tropical storm watches along parts of the Gulf Coast, with the storm expected to reach southeastern Louisiana by Wednesday.

Louisiana residents near industrial facilities face toxic air pollution with limited public monitoring. A 2023 industry-backed law restricted community-collected air data, and state monitors often lack proximity to major polluters or fail to test for key carcinogens like ethylene oxide, chloroprene, and formaldehyde.

A white police officer in Mississippi, involved in the fatal shooting of a Black toddler, was accused of directing a racially offensive remark toward a Black coworker two days prior. The incident occurred during a Walmart shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Wiley and injured a Black woman, with the officer placed on leave and an internal investigation ongoing.

A Mississippi police officer, Hunter Foster, involved in the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley at a Walmart was previously accused of exaggerating threats during a 2019 parking lot confrontation. Surveillance footage from that incident showed no evidence of the vehicle posing the danger Foster claimed, leading to a federal lawsuit settled in 2022.

Nearly 50 businesses in New Orleans' French Quarter applied for $5,000 each from the Business Stabilization Fund to offset losses from a Decatur Street construction project, but owners reported the aid would not cover operational costs. A lawsuit was filed against the Sewerage & Water Board over the construction's impact, and city officials plan to update the fund's status soon.

New Orleans Ethics Review Board may replace police monitor Stella Cziment after five years, amid a dispute over the office's role as a civilian watchdog. Consultant Michael Cowan, a Loyola University Emeritus Professor, criticized Cziment's approach as 'activism,' while she faces competition from two finalists in the Office of Inspector General. The board will decide her reappointment on July 21.

Advocates and elected officials in Louisiana are calling for a statewide emergency siren system following 14 tornadoes near New Orleans, citing gaps in tornado safety awareness and limitations of phone alerts. The coalition Louisiana Grassroots United emphasizes the need for sirens to address emergencies like tornadoes and flash flooding, as research indicates Tornado Alley has shifted eastward to include Louisiana.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals initially ruled the Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants without bond unconstitutional but later voted to rehear the case en banc, canceling the prior decision. The case involves three immigrants in Texas who challenged their detention, and the rehearing could affect thousands in detention in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry stated New Orleans is no longer as crucial to the state's economic success as previously believed, amid tensions between state Republicans and New Orleans Democrats. Landry criticized New Orleans for its political stance and blocked a city loan, while New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno defended the city as Louisiana's largest economic engine.

Immigration arrests have increased in Louisiana, with advocates and lawyers reporting more detentions in recent weeks. Cases include detentions during immigration check-ins and while driving in areas like New Orleans and Metairie, with similar reports from Tennessee. Increased ICE activity nationwide, including 10,000 detentions in late June, is noted.

Louisiana updated its HIV exposure law to align with modern science, narrowing liability to cases with a 'substantial likelihood of transmission' and exempting those on antiviral medications. The law, which passed unanimously and was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry, aims to reduce stigma and encourage HIV testing.