Nearly 18 years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans officials are celebrating a long-awaited milestone:

• All public school buildings in the city damaged or destroyed during the storm have been rebuilt or restored.

The big picture: The project, completed in March 2023 with the opening of the Dr. Alice Geoffray High School, was the largest school rebuilding program in the country’s history.

• Hurricane Katrina severely damaged or destroyed 110 of the 126 public school buildings.
• The project cost about $2.1 billion and was primarily funded by FEMA.

What they did: Katrina hit in 2005, and the school facilities master plan was adopted two years later as a long-term rebuilding strategy.

• It was a partnership between the Orleans Parish School Board and the Recovery School District.

By the numbers: Under the master plan, there are now:

• 32 new schools.
• 17 renovated schools.
• 31 refurbished schools.
• 9 preserved schools.
• The remaining 37 schools were demolished, sold or are being used as swing space to accommodate students while their schools are being renovated, according to Annie Clark with the Recovery School District.

Zoom out: NOLA Public Schools is governed by the Orleans Parish School Board and is the only all-charter public school system in the country.

• The district has about 43,000 students.
• NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 72 public schools.

What's next: The school district has come far, but there's still a ways to go in terms of building maintenance.

• District leaders are asking voters to renew a millage proposition in October to fund school maintenance for the next 20 years.
• Leaders told Axios they estimate $237 million in repairs will be needed over the next 10 years.

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The Jazz & Heritage Foundation board won't purchase a St. Charles Avenue building as a new home for radio station WWOZ.

Why it matters: The decision, made last week, means the beloved New Orleans radio station still needs a new headquarters as it faces a fall deadline to leave its French Market studio.

• The French Quarter building requires extensive renovations, due to begin later this year.

Catch up quick: The Jazz & Heritage Foundation, which owns WWOZ, is considering new permanent homes for the radio station. The favorite appeared to be a $2.375 million property in the CBD on St. Charles Avenue.

• At the foundation's April 27 gala, board member Irma Thomas mentioned the St. Charles property, calling it "our future home."
• "It's time that WWOZ have a permanent home so we have somewhere to go and brag about our culture," Thomas said.

What we're watching: It's not yet clear where WWOZ will land. Jazz & Heritage Foundation board president David Francis declined to provide details on a timeline for that decision.

• In a letter obtained by Axios and addressed to station show hosts, WWOZ general manager Beth Arroyo Utterback said included among the station's goals for its next location are space of more than 6,000 square feet, ample parking and visibility, easy access to public safety and fiber lines.

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📺 Local news personality and one-time Bravo star Tamica Lee has stepped down from her role at WGNO. She has not yet announced her next career move. (WGNO)

🥚 Get your whisks ready: The price of eggs is finally dropping, with the wholesale cost for a dozen dropping to 78 cents in the first week of May. (Axios)

Families and city officials are looking for answers after three mothers were killed in New Orleans in separate shootings over three weeks. So far in 2023, women make up 12% of the city's murder victims. (NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

• In the hours after that headline was published, another two women were shot dead in Treme. (Fox 8)

The National Hurricane Center starts issuing regular updates today for the Atlantic hurricane season, even though the season doesn’t officially start until June 1.

Why it matters: Storms have been forming earlier in recent years, and a committee at the National Hurricane Center is looking to extend the official dates for hurricane season.

Driving the news: The first storm of the season already formed in January.

• Hurricane forecasters confirmed this month that a subtropical storm formed off the east coast months ago.
• But they didn't give it the first name of the season, which will be Arlene.

The big picture: Climate researchers at Colorado State University predict the Atlantic hurricane season will churn out 13 named storms this year.

Our thought bubble: Axios senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman writes ...

• The subtropical storm was a remarkable outlier, and it formed over unusually warm Atlantic waters.
• The trend toward more tropical cyclones forming at the margins, away from where these storms typically prowl, is tied in part to climate change.
• Another factor is improved satellite observations, which allows meteorologists to spot each storm.

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1. Endocrinology Physician at Ochsner Health.
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Hail Hollandaise! Brennan's Krewe of Turtles took to the streets of the French Quarter over the weekend in what was billed as the slowest second line on Earth.

Driving the news: The sweet little wagon parade ended in a formal pardoning in Brennan's courtyard — no turtle soup in their future — before the animal friends returned to their home in the restaurant's fountain.

• The 10 turtles are named after the mother sauces and the other sauces — bechamel, tomate, hollandaise, ravigote, etc.

Carlie's thought bubble: These quirky parades are one of the many reasons I love living here.