| Saturday's winners and losers: Voters in New Orleans sent Mayor LaToya Cantrell to a second term on Saturday. Cantrell faced 13 challengers, but none were serious contenders and she cruised to victory. "Our future is bright in our city . . ." she said Saturday night. Returns in all the races in the city were still trickling in as Saturday night became Sunday morning. (It's always a slooooowww process.) Check with NOLA.com for all the elections, including tight races for Orleans Parish sheriff and one of the City Council's at-large posts. Statewide, meanwhile, voters shot down three of the four constitutional amendments on the ballot. And in St. Tammany Parish officials went to voters again for a sales tax for the jail and courthouse. And again, voters said no. Rather loudly.
SAVE OUR LAKE: In a major boost for the 10,000-square-mile Lake Pontchartain basin, Congress has authorized spending $53 million over the next five years to improve water quality and restore wetlands. That's as much as 10 times the amount that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency usually channels into the basin.
KNEED HELP: The New Orleans Saints' success in 2022 might well depend on the performance of Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Who dat, you say? He's the Los Angeles surgeon who operated Friday on the left knee of starting quarterback Jameis Winston, who's finished for 2021 since being injured during the Oct. 31 game against Tampa Bay.
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