| By DREW BROACH | Deputy metro editor |
PARTY TIME: The party with a purpose is in-person once again. After COVID-19 forced the Essence Festival of Culture to go virtual the previous two summers, it returns to New Orleans this weekend in a big way. Here’s what to expect. ON THE RUN: BJ Brown, 32, and Cassandra Jones, 48, were partners both in love and in crime, before he allegedly executed her in the 1400 block of Iberville Street, according to arrest records and the restraining order that Jones sought May 4 in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. After she was shot dead Monday morning, Brown fled to Tennessee, where he is accused of shooting a small-town police officer 65 miles west of Nashville that night and disappearing into the woods. PRESSING PAUSE: The U.S. Supreme Court delayed a Baton Rouge federal judge's effort to reorganize Louisiana voters into districts that give racial minorities a better opportunity to elect two of their own to Congress, instead of only one. That means the congressional elections scheduled Nov. 8 will be held using the maps approved by the Republican-majority Louisiana Legislature, which also overrode Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' veto of those maps. Thanks for starting your Wednesday with us. Check the latest news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 