Axios New Orleans

September 21, 2026
Morning! It's Monday. We hope you're recovering after a wild weekend of football.
- To our readers observing Yom Kippur, we wish you a day of reflection and peace.
Today's weather: Mostly sunny with afternoon storms possible. High of 92.
🎧 Sounds like: "On the Low" by Burna Boy, who was announced last week as the halftime performer for the Saints' game in Paris.
Today's newsletter is 988 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: 💪 Crushing it, literally
Franziska Trautmann is the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full. Photo: Courtesy of Franziska Trautmann
Glass Half Full started with two Tulane students, a pile of bottles and an idea. Six years later, it's a 25-person company serving three states.
Why it matters: The homegrown business has found success solving a problem New Orleans has long struggled with — what to do with all those empty glass bottles.
The big picture: Franziska Trautmann and co-founder Max Steitz came up with the idea for an urban glass recycling program in 2020 when they were college seniors.
- They started with small crushers and have since scaled up with high-tech equipment.
- Steitz oversees the daily operations as COO and CFO, while Trautmann is the CEO and the face of the business with more than 375,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram.
- The pink-haired Carencro native also has given a TED talk, been honored by TikTok and won a pitch contest with MrBeast and Shopify.

The latest: Glass Half Full recently announced it is moving all operations to its 3-acre facility in Chalmette, which opened last year.
- "It's like the glass recycling facility of our dreams," Trautmann tells us.
- The larger facility has allowed Glass Half Full to "significantly" expand commercial recycling.
- The goal is to add more drop-off points across town to make it easier for residents after the Louisa Street location closes at the end of the month.
How it works: Glass Half Full is a for-profit business with commercial and residential services.
- It also has a contract with Jefferson Parish to run the parish's recycling drop-off after the council ended curbside recycling.
- The business collects glass bottles and processes them into either sand or cullet, which is crushed glass that manufacturers turn into new bottles.
Zoom in: Glass Half Full and its partners use the sand for coastal restoration.
- They were part of a multiyear experiment to see if plants could grow in the sand from glass. They can. Other experiments are ongoing.
- The recycled sand has been used to build four islands in Louisiana, with two more in the works.
- The sand was also used to build the living shoreline at Bucktown Harbor.
What's next: Glass Half Full's "Glass Gala" is Friday night at Latrobe's. The "Alice in Wonderland"-themed costume party is a fundraiser for its nonprofit partner, Glassroots.
2. 🏈 Trash talk, trolls and a record crowd
We are a house divided after Ole Miss' victory over LSU.
Why it matters: Chelsea is an LSU grad, while Carlie is an Ole Miss grad.
The big picture: Our group chats and social feeds have looked very different the past few days.
- These are some of the things that got our attention.
😆 The hijinks: An LSU pilot wrote "Geaux Tigers" with his flight path. He was responding to an Oxford-based pilot who wrote "Come to the Sip."
- So many jokes about corn dogs and Lane Kiffin's loyalty.
- Planes were flying "Daddy's back" and "Coach Lame Sucks" banners over the stadium before the game.
🎉 The atmosphere: Ole Miss set a new attendance record at the stadium — 70,033.
- Oxford expected about 300,000 people for the weekend, about double a typical home game.
- The Grove was groving with chandeliers and a hanging tiger. We loved seeing the strategy for removing the trash cans.
- Ole Miss fans did their own take on the NSFW "Neck" chant after the win.
🚔 The security: Ole Miss had the largest police presence "in our history," according to Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, who shot down rumors he was sending in the National Guard.
👀 The fallout: Ole Miss jumped to No. 4, while LSU dropped to No. 10.
- Kiffin says he's glad the game's over, but he didn't miss the opportunity to troll Ole Miss over the game attendance — "You're welcome."
🏈 The bottom line: Something we can both agree on at Axios New Orleans — the Saints! How about that win, baby?!
3. Fully Dressed: 🚁 Military exercises start
🚁 The U.S. military will be doing training exercises in New Orleans this week, NOPD says. The exercises will include helicopters flying at low altitudes and loud noises resembling explosions. (WWL)
- Expect an increased military presence through Saturday.
🏈 Colin Kaepernick talked about his new book Friday at a Baldwin & Co. event at Studio Be. (Instagram)
🎉 New businesses:
- House of Herbs opened Saturday in New Orleans East. The apothecary sells teas, sea moss and other natural products. (Instagram)
- Sports Drink is expanding and opening a comedy venue called The Orange Violet on Tchoupitoulas Street. It'll have a pool and restaurant. (Instagram)
- We Might Be On Fire, which makes rugs and other home decor, is opening a storefront in the Marigny. (Instagram)
- See a new business in your neighborhood? Reply and tell us.
4. 🧈 You butter believe it

👋 Chelsea here, and I'm still recovering from the James Beard Foundation's Taste America event last week.
Zoom in: The tasting featured bites from chefs across the country, plus New Orleans' own chef Sophina Uong of Mister Mao and Lagniappe Bakehouse's Kaitlin Guerin.
Sadly, I stopped by Guerin's station too late to score a slice of cake.
- 😋 What I didn't miss, though, was the urn filled with 35 pounds of whipped butter, which got slathered on lovely pieces of sourdough. Heaven!
💙 ❤️ Carlie is wearing her Ole Miss gear on every Zoom call today. HOTTY TODDY!
🕯️ Chelsea is lighting candles so it can smell like fall, even if it doesn't feel like it.
Tell someone who recycles to subscribe.
Thanks to our editor Jen Burkett.
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