Heightened security restrictions will be in effect for the busiest section of the French Quarter starting next Wednesday through at least the day after Super Bowl LIX is played, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Wednesday.
The additional safety measures follow a Jan. 1 terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured 57 others. They apply to the first seven blocks of Bourbon Street and the parallel streets one block on each side. All blocks between Royal and Dauphine streets will become an “enhanced security zone,” where certain items will be prohibited and personal accessories could be searched or seized.
Ice chests and backpack coolers will not be allowed inside the zone. People are also discouraged from bringing standard backpacks, large purses, suitcases, fanny packs, large shopping bags and camera bags into the area. Any bags larger than 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches – roughly the size of a clutch purse – will be subject to search, Landry said.
Anyone who refuses a police search will be denied entry to the security zone. Police also have the authority to search bags within the area, and they will remove anyone who doesn’t comply.
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“We want cooperation with the public and balancing freedoms to enjoy the Quarter, with the need for these heightened security measures based upon the threat level that we saw on January 1,” the governor said during a news conference at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
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Ice chests have been singled out for exclusion after Shamsud-Din Jabbar placed homemade explosive devices in two coolers and left them at separate locations in the midst of Bourbon Street revelers in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The FBI said a third bomb and a detonating device were found inside Jabbar’s rented pickup that he drove down three crowded blocks of Bourbon before crashing into a mobile lift platform.
Police killed Jabbar, a 42-year-old IT worker and U.S. Army veteran from Houston, in a shootout. He flew an Islamic State flag from the truck and had posted videos online ahead of the attack professing his extremist beliefs.
Landry created the security zone and provided police with enhanced powers inside of it through an executive order. It renewed the state of emergency he declared Jan. 1 for New Orleans, and its language indicates it could potentially be extended into Carnival season.
Read the governor’s order below
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“We are going to focus on the Super Bowl right now,” the governor said. “We then will pivot once we get through the Super Bowl to Mardi Gras,” implying there will be heightened safety measures in place again for the French Quarter and potentially along parade routes. Gov. Jeff Landry addresses reporters Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, on extra security precautions in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert Hodges, left, took part in the new conference with the governor at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Baton Rouge. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)
The governor’s order does not apply to the Superdome, where the NFL and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are handling security precautions for the Super Bowl. Landry said state and city law enforcement officers will be working within their perimeters, however.
“As you move closer to the Superdome, the security restrictions are enhanced,” Landry said.
Several streets in the vicinity of the stadium and Smoothie King Center are already closed to traffic. More will be blocked when pre-Super Bowl events take place at other downtown locations, including the Morial New Orleans Convention Center and the Saenger Theater.
The NFL championship game takes place Sunday, Feb. 9.
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In addition to local, state and federal law enforcement, there will be 350 members of the Louisiana National Guard dispatched to New Orleans to assist with traffic control and security checkpoints, according to the governor.
In addition to heightened security, the temporary homeless Landry established near the Gentilly neighborhood will be used through Mardi Gras, he said. There are currently 176 people staying at a contractor-staffed Port of New Orleans storage facility on France Road, the governor said.
Landry clashed with some city officials when directed Louisiana State Police to remove unhoused people from encampments in close proximity to the Superdome. He used his emergency powers to award a contract to operate the temporary shelter, where he said residents are receiving services that “are exponentially better than the ones they were receiving on the street.”
RICHLAND — Tech companies could receive significant tax breaks in Louisiana as data centers break ground in the state.
According to a report by The Advocate, Meta officials told state officials in 2024 that they would need significant tax breaks while negotiating the $27 billion data center project currently being built in North Louisiana.
Based on projections of Louisiana’s tax exemptions and the expected expenditures of the companies, state and local governments could potentially give billions in tax breaks to the tech giants.
Several states, including Louisiana, have seen backlash to data centers as residents worry about potential rising electric costs and strain on water systems.
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Virginia is currently debating whether or not to repeal tax exemptions for the tech companies, as it has cost state and local governments in Virginia $1.9 billion in 2024 alone.
The tax break exempts data centers from state and local taxes for multiple things data centers require, including servers, chillers, electric infrastructure and construction costs.
The scale of the data center projects, which include tens of billions in spending, coupled with Louisiana’s sales tax of 10%, means tax breaks could be worth huge amounts.
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks at an event Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, La., held to announce that Amazon plans to build data centers in Caddo and Bossier Parishes. He is joined by Roger Wehner, left, vice president of Economic Development for Amazon, and Matt Vanderzanden, CEO of STACK Infrastructure.
Hopefully Ryan Coogler has a U-Haul on standby. The 39-year-old movie director may need a moving van March 15 to bring the Oscars home for his horror film, “Sinners.”
The movie, which grossed $369 million in worldwide box office receipts, is up for a record 16 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Song.
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This image released by CBS Broadcasting shows Ryan Coogler, center, accepting the award for cinematic and box office achievement for “Sinners” during the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Kevork Djansezian | CBS Broadcasting via AP
“Sinners” is already a winner for putting the spotlight on the blues and at least three Louisiana musicians who shaped the sound. Much of the vampire thriller is set in Southern juke joints of the 1930s, makeshift dancehalls that shook with sounds that poured the foundation for rock ‘n’ roll, soul, R&B, rap, country and more.
Coogler illustrates that past and future in a scene with the original song, “I Lied to You.” The 1930s scene drifts to visions of the coming decades of rock, rap, break dancing and funk.
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Buddy Guy uses a drum stick to play a Jimi Hendrix tune at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4, 2023.
STAFF FILE PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
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Buddy Guy, an 89-year-old native of Pointe Coupee Parish, appears briefly in the movie as an aging version of the character Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore. Born in 1936 in Lettsworth, Guy was a product of this “Sinners” era with skills that heavily influenced Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and others considered guitar gods.
A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Kennedy Center honoree, Guy is still going strong with a tour of Australia set for April.
Fellow blues senior and Homer native Bobby Rush has also enjoyed “Sinners” notoriety, along with the late harmonica legend Little Walter of Marksville. Rush, 92, wasn’t seen in the movie, but his harmonica was used for the character “Delta Slim.”
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Bluesman Bobby Rush, 92, right, performs with Kenny Wayne Shepherd in the Blues Tent during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (Staff photo by Scott Threlkeld, The Times-Picayune)
STAFF PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD
Guy and actor Miles Caton performed the Little Walter original, “Juke.” The song has more than 2.2 million streams on Spotify and nearly 750,000 plays on YouTube.
Like Guy, Rush is not resting in his senior years. Between now and end of May, Rush has gigs stretching from the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans to the Ribs & Blues Festival in the Netherlands.
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Similar to Guy, Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs in 1930, left Louisiana for Chicago, where he recorded “Juke,” “My Babe” and more groundbreaking harmonica blues. Renowned as an alcoholic with a short fuse and numerous fight injuries, Walter only lived to the age of 37.
Art director Tim Davis helped create the church in “Sinners,” and fans have analyzed its design. Miles Caton plays preacher boy Sammie in the film.
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Photo courtesy Tim Davis
Yet the blues of Walter, Rush and Guy live on, thanks to “Sinners,” introducing a new generation to the foundation of American music.
Herman Fuselier is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. A longtime journalist covering Louisiana music and culture, he lives in Opelousas. His “Zydeco Stomp” show airs at noon Saturdays on KRVS Public Media.
