Francine is churning in the Gulf Coast and expected to make landfall in Louisiana late Wednesday. Across the state, residents are preparing for the storm and deciding whether or not to evacuate. The Coastal Desk’s Halle Parker joins us to discuss the latest forecasts and advice. 

The New Orleans City Council may be putting an end to its special exceptions process for  short-term rental properties, like Airbnbs and Vrbo. Council members have cited “unforeseen challenges” with their current process that began earlier this summer. 

The Gambit’s Kaylee Poche tells us more about the scale of this issue and why the city council is cracking down now.

Hispanic Heritage month kicks off mid-September and award-winning New Orleans inter-disciplinary artist José Torres-Tama is honoring Latin American immigrants with his latest work. He joins us for more on his open studio event, exhibiting a new series of paintings from his latest visual history project called “NO PAPERS! NO FEAR!” 

Alabama is set to receive millions from lawsuits with opioid manufacturers to fight an epidemic that has many hidden victims. Like the children of people with opioid use disorder — and the family members who step up to raise them. As the Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins reports, the state plans to give some of this money directly to grandparents, which is a first in the country.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It’s available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. 

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