| BY CHAD CALDER | Staff writer |
Thanks for starting your day with Morning Headlines. Here are some of our top stories. Tackling education: The Louisiana Legislature convenes its first regular session since Gov. Jeff Landry took office and education is expected to be a major focus. There are already about 100 education-related bills filed, covering a range of conservative policy objectives, from forbidding lessons on gender and sexuality to prohibiting COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Patrick Wall has this report. Rural crime subsides: The late-pandemic spike in violent crime in urban areas across the country attracted a lot of attention, but crime in many rural areas rose right along with it. And now that crime has fallen in New Orleans and other cities, the statistics in many small towns have followed suit. Faimon Roberts has a look at what's been happening in Bogalusa following a bloody 2022. Parks plan: New Orleans now has a roughly 150-page master plan to upgrade and expand its public parks, a blueprint that outlines 300 projects totaling $235 million. Consultants say the city has some hidden gems that are underfunded and underutilized, and they also suggest an organizational restructuring. Joni Hess has the story. Check out all the latest news, sports and entertainment coverage from The Times-Picayune. Chad | 