By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor
YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE: New Orleans has become one of the very few U.S. cities to require proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test to enter restaurants, bars and other indoor venues, including the Caesars Superdome for Saints games. In announcing the rule, which takes effect Monday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said, "The situation is dire, and we are simply out of time." Across Lake Pontchartrain, parents of some St. Tammany Parish public school students struck a different pandemic note Thursday. For the second consecutive week, some turned up at School Board meeting to demand an end to the mask mandate for students. If you need proof of vaccine, you can show a digital version via the LA Wallet app on your smartphone. Here's how.
'ARROGANT BASTARD': Chad Scott, the former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent whose own attorney said could be an "arrogant bastard," was sent away to prison Thursday for more than 13 years. It marked the coup de grâce for the decorated law officer whose team busted drug dealers and seized narcotics and cash but who ultimately was convicted of perjury, obstruction of justice, falsifying government records and other charges.
SOUTH RISES AGAIN: New census data released Thursday shows north Louisiana parishes generally lost population while ones in the south, including Orleans, St. Bernard and St. Tammany, gained new residents. Read more about the statewide trends and the New Orleans area shifts.
You'll find these stories and much more in today’s Front Page and on NOLA.com. Thanks for starting your day with us. D.B.
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