| By KASEY BUBNASH | Staff writer |
Good morning and thanks for starting your week with us. Here are some of the day's top headlines. Retail revitalization: With money flowing into several major public and private development projects in New Orleans East, city officials are searching for ways to curb concentrations of certain kinds of businesses in the area — namely beauty supply stores, nail salons, tire shops and dollar stores. Joni Hess has the details. School choice: Legislation backed by Gov. Jeff Landry could make life a lot easier for parents hoping to send their kids to private school. A pair of Republican-sponsored bills would create “education savings accounts" that give parents public money to pay for schools of their choice. The catch? The new program would be open to all, including wealthy families, replacing existing vouchers that strictly help low-income parents. Patrick Wall has more on the controversial effort to open ESAs to the wealthy. Louisiana limpkins: The limpkin may not be a colorful or elegant bird, but its first appearance in Louisiana a few years ago was cause for celebration. That’s because this gangly, shrieking bird from Florida is the mortal enemy of a foreign snail that’s been wreaking havoc in Louisiana’s farms and wetlands. Tristan Baurick has more on how the birds are helping the state. Talk to us! Know someone with a story that started with a broken road, streetlight or other broken bit of infrastructure? We're looking for examples of the consequences of the city's notorious road hazards, and we want to hear from you. Email [email protected] Thanks for reading, and check out all the latest news, sports and entertainment coverage from The Times-Picayune. Kasey | 