Shoppers head back to malls for Black Friday, sewage spills plague low-income Baton Rouge neighborhoods, nursing homes stay a step ahead of regulators

The Advocate's Top Headlines

with Jennifer Wadsworth | Assistant metro editor

Good morning and welcome back.

Bargain hunters

The pandemic disrupted the Black Friday retail bonanza in 2020, with many businesses taking their sales online or curbside. This year, shoppers returned to brick-and-mortar retailers — but, as evidenced by the relatively short lines at Mall of Louisiana, at nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. Caroline Savoie has the story.

Sewage spills

In September, heavy rains caused 8.4 million gallons of sewage to spill from the South Wastewater Treatment Plant and into 30 apartments in the Gardere neighborhood. But the overflow was hardly an isolated event, as reporter Paul Cobler learned from state records. Turns out, the two plants that process human waste for all of East Baton Rouge have since last year recorded at least 22 spills and overflows — some of which inundated surrounding neighborhoods like Gardere.

A step ahead of regulators

Not once in the past decade-and-a-half have state regulators managed to permanently shutter a troubled nursing home. Despite three tries in that timespan, the Louisiana Department of Health was overruled by courts or reached some kind of compromise. As Andrea Gallo reports, it's another example of how the state's nursing homes have stayed a step ahead of watchdogs despite ranking among the worst in the nation.

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Enjoy the rest of your weekend!