New Orleans leaders pushed back legally and verbally yesterday against Gov. Jeff Landry's efforts to redraw the state's congressional map and eliminate an elected office in the city.

Why it matters: The fights could reshape Black political representation in the state and local control in New Orleans.

The big picture: U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, Mayor Helena Moreno and others urged a standing-room-only crowd last night at Dillard to make their voices heard as lawmakers redraw congressional lines.

• The new map would likely remove at least one of the state's two majority Black districts.
• The state Senate committee is expected to vote today, a day earlier than originally scheduled, state Sen. Sidney Barthelemy II told the crowd. It will likely go to the full Senate on Thursday.
• At that pace, lawmakers could approve a new map in early June, said Jared Evans with the Power Coalition and NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

What they're saying: It's a "colossal mess," ACLU of Louisiana executive director Alanah Odoms told us at the event.

• In the lobby, residents signed the petition to recall Landry.

Zoom in: The Dillard event came hours after Council members voted 5-2 to appoint retired Judge Calvin Johnson as the interim clerk of court until a special election is held in November.

• He replaces Chelsey Richard Napoleon, who state Attorney General Liz Murrill says became the Orleans Parish clerk of court after lawmakers eliminated the criminal court clerk position, which was held by Calvin Duncan.
• The appointment takes effect immediately, unless there is a legal injunction, which Murrill is expected to request.

Behind the scenes: Moreno and district attorney Jason Williams urged the council to appoint an interim clerk while the courts decide the lawsuits, according to letters shared with us.

• Williams argued that the uncertainty creates "substantial and immediate legal risk." Criminal convictions could be jeopardized without the council's action, he warned.
• Williams' analysis is "plainly wrong," Murrill said in a letter also shared with us. "The chaos he describes does not exist, yet he invites it into existence."

The intrigue: Council President JP Morrell said he expects a lawsuit over the special election.

How they voted

New Orleans is partnering with other cities and states in a new trade organization focused on strengthening local music scenes.

Why it matters: Louisiana's music industry is worth $1.4 billion and employs more than 35,000 people.

The big picture: The Association of Music Offices formally launched Monday at the Music Biz 2026 conference in Atlanta.

• The group plans to develop a data framework to quantify impact, build community engagement models and create a resource library for music offices.
• Nationwide, the music industry adds $212 billion to America's GDP, supporting 2.5 million jobs, according to 50 States of Music.

Zoom in: Music offices support local music economies by working with artists, venues, businesses and government to help shape policy, programs and investment.

• There are enough civic music offices across the country that it made sense to form an association instead of just running into each other at events, Huntsville music officer Matt Mandrella told Axios.
• New Orleans' Office of Nighttime Economy and Louisiana's Office of Cultural Development are among the 14 founding members.

Zoom out: "A lot of times it becomes our job to make decision-makers understand that so much of our industry is invisible," Reid Wick, the Recording Academy's director of regional advocacy and member engagement, told Axios. He's based in New Orleans.

• The average person attends a show and sees a handful of people on stage, he said, but there may be 800 people working behind the scenes.

The bottom line: "It's time that we treat the music industry like any other industry," Wick said, noting that the film industry has had similar organizations for decades.

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🌀 Cameron Hamilton, who was fired as FEMA's leader last year, was nominated to lead the agency less than a month before the start of hurricane season. (AP)

• Hamilton was fired after he argued that abolishing FEMA was not in the country's best interests.
• Meanwhile, a Trump-appointed council recommended sweeping changes to the agency. (AP)

💍 Jack Sutton Fine Jewelry is closing its store at Canal Place at the end of the month. The company's two other stores will remain open. (The Times-Picayune 🔒)

• Flashback: Saks Fifth Avenue closed its Canal Place store earlier this year amid bankruptcy restructuring efforts.

🏨 The nation's first gluten-free hotel is now open in Monroe. (Instagram)

📚 Tulane's faculty union ratified a collective bargaining agreement with the school last week that includes pay raises and promotions. (Tulane Hullabaloo)

The Supreme Court extended a freeze yesterday on new restrictions for dispensing the widely used abortion pill mifepristone, allowing the continued mail-order prescribing of the drug.

Why it matters: The extension, which runs through 5pm Thursday, provides a reprieve for pharmacies, telehealth companies and clinicians caught up in the latest legal tussle over accessing the pill.

Driving the news: Justice Samuel Alito extended a stay he granted a week ago in response to requests from drugmakers to restore access to mifepristone via teleprescribing and the mails.

• Anti-abortion advocates have been calling for a rollback of a Biden administration policy that expanded access to mifepristone and removed a requirement that patients see a provider in person before getting the medication.
• Louisiana argued the federal rules undermined its laws protecting unborn human life and caused it to spend Medicaid funds on emergency care for women harmed by mifepristone.

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