Louisiana
One table, six chairs: Why I’m committing to monthly dinner parties
In early January, I read about a couple who vowed to host a dinner party every week throughout 2025. Somehow, they did it — all 52 of them. The dinners ran the gamut, from fancy to simple. They had all sorts of positive takeaways from the experience.
I admired them.
But I also knew that this wasn’t the year for me to host weekly dinner parties. I might love it, but even floating the idea might push my husband over the edge. For him, a dinner party every week sounds less like hospitality and more like a hostage situation.
Still, the idea stuck with me — not the frequency, but the intention. It’s a decision to make gathering people around a table part of the structure of a year, rather than something that happens only when conditions are perfect.
So I made a quieter vow. In 2026, I want to host at least one dinner party a month.
Thus far, I’m coming in strong — two in January, with another already on the calendar for mid-February. These dinner parties are nothing heroic (beyond the chile rellenos my husband made for the first one, which pushed his culinary skills to hero status). They are not ready for an influencer’s flashy and polished Instagram feed. They are simply people gathered round our big table, passing plates hand to hand.
Over time, I’ve learned a few things about myself as a host. One is that, for right now, eight people around a table — my former gold standard — is a bridge too far. Six is the sweet spot for now. Conversation is easier, and it’s enough without being exhausting.
Another is that the real pleasure, for me, is in the mix.
I love bringing together people who haven’t met but whom I suspect would have plenty to talk about if given the chance. It is the opposite of networking. It’s more like matchmaking (and truth be told, I really want to be a professional matchmaker in my next life).
Jan Risher’s dinner guests helped make and decorate a Croatian apple cake
Watching a conversation find its footing — and people connect — is one of my favorite parts of the evening. I work toward politeness giving way to curiosity around my table.
As I’m writing this, tonight we are hosting a Croatian-themed dinner party.
I’ve never been to Croatia. It’s on my list, but for now, it exists mostly as a place of coastlines I want to explore, a complicated history and food I’ve only encountered on the internet.
As it turns out, no one who will be sitting around the table tonight has been to Croatia either — a detail that felt like a feature, not a flaw.
In preparation, I shared two movies our guests could watch if they wanted — one light and not-so-light about the horrific war of the mid-1990s. I only watched the light one. I’m not up for super-heavy, dark stories right now, and I’ve learned to trust that instinct. Gathering doesn’t require emotional endurance tests.
I also shared a poem: “Star on High” by Tin Ujević, who was from Croatia and is considered one of the great lyric poets of the former Yugoslavia. Translated poetry, I’ve discovered, is a gentle way to gain insight into another culture — imperfect, filtered, but sincere.
Jan Risher’s dinner guests helped make and decorate a Croatian apple cake.
I thought one line of Ujević’s poem was particularly beautiful: He loves no less who does not waste his words. There’s plenty to discuss in that line alone.
Never fear, I don’t always assign homework for dinner parties. Sometimes people just show up, and that’s enough. But with our long-running “Year of Countries” monthly dinners with friends, we try to reach beyond the menu. We share a book, a poem, a song, a film, a dance, a television show — something that gives us more than talking points about what we’re eating.
It’s merely a shared reference point. An invitation to pay attention.
What I’ve learned is that hosting doesn’t have to be elaborate to be meaningful. It doesn’t require a theme every time or a perfectly timed menu. It does require intention — the decision to open the door, set the table and make room for conversation to wander where it will.
Tonight we’re not even going to have the whole meal complete when our guests arrive. I’m going to ask them to roll up their sleeves and help me make the gnocchi. I believe that conversation flows best when people are doing something with their hands — not to mention learning something new together. (In full disclosure, I’ve never made gnocchi either. However, I have watched a video. We’ll figure it out, no doubt.)
No, a monthly dinner party won’t change the world. But it might change a year. It creates a rhythm — something to look forward to. It’s a reason to keep saying yes to people when it would be easier to retreat into the glow of a screen and call it rest.
For now, that’s enough of a goal. One table. Six chairs. At least once a month.
I don’t know who will still be sitting at our table by the end of the year.
I do know that I want to keep setting it.
Louisiana
Meta orders 10 gas-fired power plants for its Hyperion AI campus in rural Louisiana—more than triple the initial plans | Fortune
Meta will pay for a total of 10 gas-fired power plants—enough to power more than 5 million homes—to electrify its rapidly expanding plans for its massive AI data center complex in northeastern Louisiana, dubbed Hyperion.
Meta’s agreement with New Orleans–based Entergy, announced March 27, is to build and finance seven new power plants in Louisiana. That comes on top of plans approved last year to build three gas power plants for the sprawling AI hub. The 10 power plants with 7.5 gigawatts of capacity would represent a more than 30% increase to Louisiana’s entire grid capacity, not even counting up to 2.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, including battery storage, that Meta also agreed to help fund.
Meta initially announced plans for a $10 billion investment in December 2024 for a 2,250-acre data center campus in northeastern Louisiana in rural Richland Parish. But Meta recently, and quietly, acquired an additional 1,400 acres, as Fortune reported in February. In October 2025, Meta entered a joint venture with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital to finance, build, and operate the Hyperion campus with up to $27 billion in total development costs, seemingly ensuring the mega-campus will serve as a long-term, multiphase AI hub.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Hyperion would cover a “significant part of the footprint of Manhattan.”
“Our Richland Parish data center serves as a symbol of the ambition and scale of next-generation AI infrastructure,” said Rachel Peterson, Meta vice president for data centers, in a statement. “We are building foundations for the future of AI innovation right here in the United States. We’ve been working closely with Entergy since early on-site planning to ensure our power needs are met and, importantly, so that Entergy’s other consumers aren’t paying our costs.”
The Louisiana Public Service Commission will still need to approve the projects. The previous three power plants received regulatory authorization last year.
Entergy’s stock jumped 7% on March 27, lifting its market cap to a new record high of about $50 billion. The stock has risen almost 125% in two years.
Entergy is emphasizing that Meta is paying for the projects, rather than shifting the costs to other ratepayers. Entergy argues that the deals will save Louisiana taxpayers billions of dollars over several years.
The 10 power plants are estimated to cost nearly $11 billion. Critics contend ratepayers could be stuck with the bill after 15 years, which is the length of the contractual terms, if Meta no longer requires so much power after that span.
“This agreement reflects what’s possible when strong partners align around long-term growth and value,” said Phillip May, president and CEO of Entergy Louisiana, in a statement. “Working with our customers, regulators, and state leaders, we are making targeted investments that strengthen reliability, support economic development, and deliver meaningful benefits to customers—all while keeping energy rates affordable.”
Louisiana’s recent tax reforms have improved the state’s competitiveness, but lasting economic growth will stall without a stronger workforce. That is why enacting policies to help businesses meet their workforce needs must start now.
Across industries, employers continue to report difficulty finding workers with the skills required for their jobs. At the same time, many Louisianans struggle to connect with opportunities that offer good-paying jobs and long-term career paths.
This disconnect is the reason Public Affairs Research Council and Leaders for a Better Louisiana are joining forces to call for the state’s renewed and sustained focus on workforce development, particularly in the ongoing legislative session.
This is not simply a labor shortage. It is a persistent mismatch between the needs of businesses and the preparation, awareness and mobility of our workforce.
If Louisiana wants to fully capitalize on its economic reforms, infrastructure investments and emerging industries, we must strengthen the systems that connect education and training to the needs of employers.
The challenge is visible in the data.
Steven Procopio, president of Public Affairs Research Council, has been with the organization for 10 years.
Louisiana’s labor force participation rate hovers around 58% — 43rd worst among states and several points below the national average. That gap represents over 100,000 working-age adults who are neither working nor actively seeking work. Even modest improvements would translate into significant gains for families, businesses and the state’s economy.
At the same time, the state reports roughly 124,000 jobs open statewide, compared with about 88,000 individuals actively seeking employment. This imbalance reflects issues involving workforce solutions for employers, skills relevance and alignment in education and the ability of individuals to navigate from education or training into the available jobs.
These pressures are unfolding at a pivotal moment for Louisiana’s economy.
The state has seen significant jobs announcements and capital investment in recent years across manufacturing, energy, technology and other sectors. While these projects create opportunity, these announcements alone do not guarantee broad-based prosperity.
Without a workforce prepared at the necessary scale with the right skills or employers able to address their talent shortages, Louisiana risks constraining growth and limiting the benefits of that investment.
This is not a failure of workers or employers: It is a systems challenge.
Louisiana’s workforce development, education and economic development efforts often don’t operate in alignment. Students struggle to understand how academic choices connect to careers. Employers struggle to find training partners responsive to rapidly changing skill needs. Workforce programs are difficult to navigate, fragmented across agencies and inconsistent in their coordination.
Barry Erwin
Improving outcomes requires strengthening these connections. Better career counseling can help students make informed decisions about education and training pathways. Clearer workforce signals can help institutions align programs with high-demand fields. Stronger partnerships among business, higher education and workforce agencies can accelerate the transition from classroom to career.
Louisiana already has examples of progress to build upon.
The M.J. Foster Promise Program is funding working-age adults to earn credentials in high-demand fields. Industry partnerships, apprenticeships and technical training programs are expanding in key sectors. Regional collaborations are demonstrating how employers and educators can work together to meet workforce needs. These efforts show that targeted investments and intentional alignment can produce real results.
But isolated successes are not enough. Louisiana must scale what works and remove barriers that limit participation.
That means simplifying how individuals access education and training, strengthening coordination across agencies and institutions, improving transparency around outcomes and ensuring accountability for results. Workforce development should function as an integrated strategy, not a collection of disconnected programs.
The stakes extend beyond economic development. Workforce policy is also economic mobility policy. When Louisianans can access training that leads to stable, well-paying careers, families benefit. Communities benefit. Employers benefit. The state benefits.
Conversely, when individuals remain disconnected from opportunity, the consequences are felt in lower incomes, reduced growth and widening inequality.
Louisiana has meaningful economic opportunity ahead. The question is whether the state can connect its people to that growth at the scale required. Workforce development is the bridge between economic development and shared prosperity for Louisiana families. We believe that workforce reform is one of the urgent issues Louisiana leaders must address during the 2026 legislative session.
Louisiana
ULM Pelican Cup 2026: Student entrepreneurs win $140,000 in Louisiana’s premier startup competition
MONROE, La. (KNOE) – Months of planning came down to 90 seconds. For one Louisiana State University Shreveport team, that pitch was worth $50,000.
RX Connect, a prescription navigation app developed by LSUS graduate students, took first place in the graduate division of the 2026 ULM Pelican Cup competition. The team also won the elevator pitch competition, earning an additional $2,000.
Team leader Kurtis Alton said the journey tested his commitment. He works full-time, attends school and has a family.
“Questioning myself whether it’s worth putting in all the effort,” Alton said. “This isn’t the first competition, but I learned from what I didn’t gain prior so I can implement it here to get better. I didn’t give up.”
RX Connect addresses a problem in the healthcare system: what happens when a prescription can’t be filled. The app helps patients navigate the system to find solutions.
Team member Wendy Alton said there were moments of doubt during development, but she believed in the vision.
“There were moments that I told myself, where are we going?” she said. “But I know that in my heart, he had the passion, he had the drive. And I just believed that this was going to be something.”
Graduate division winners
The Pelican Cup competition is open to students from any major at any Louisiana university. Faculty advisor Mike McDaniel said the winning proposal will change lives beyond the team.
“Where they have taken this idea and then turned it into this winning proposal that will change lives, not only theirs, but all of the patients in our healthcare system that need this help immensely,” McDaniel said.
First Place – $50,000
RX Connect (Louisiana State University Shreveport)Team Leader: Kurtis Alton Team Members: Jyotish Batra, Wendy Alton Advisor: Mike McDaniel Also won Elevator Pitch Winner – $2,000
Second Place – $25,000
Hustlr (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Dylan Hayden Team Members: Chase Gunn, Nokia Masengu Advisors: Joyce Zhou
Third Place – $10,000
Bio-Pod (University of Louisiana Lafayette)Team Leader: Natasha Syed Team Members: Matthew Hasling, Mansu Acharya Advisor: Jonathan Shirley
First, second and third place faculty advisors receive $3,000.
Undergraduate division winners
Social Bridge AI, a University of Louisiana Monroe team, won $25,000 in the undergraduate division. The platform uses artificial intelligence to help people with autism practice communication and social skills through roleplay.
Team leader Anjan Mandal said the company will stay rooted in Louisiana.
“I’m glad that we have started this company from Louisiana and we’re going to impact the millions and millions of lives in the whole United States, but we’ll start that from Louisiana,” Mandal said. “We win that money. We’re going to put that money in our company and that company will be only from Louisiana.”
First Place – $25,000
Social Bridge AI (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Anjan Mandal Team Members: Roshani Pathak, Pradeep PoudelAdvisors: Prasanthi Sreekumari
Second Place – $15,000
Xplify (University of Louisiana Monroe)Team Leader: Damir Filaretov Team Members: Viktor Motov, Connor Pauley, Katie McCullars Advisor: Veronika Humphries Also won Elevator Pitch Winner – $2,000
Third Place – $10,000
Sensory Sync (University of New Orleans)Team Leader: Pranish GhimireTeam Members: Simant Singh, Krish Neupane Advisor: Shafin Khan
First, second and third place faculty advisors receive $3,000.
Competition organizers said they have seen teams develop from classroom concepts into businesses with millions of dollars in investment.
Copyright 2026 KNOE. All rights reserved.
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