Axios New Orleans

April 28, 2026
🏢 Morning! It's Tuesday and National Cubical Day. Time to thrive in a three-walled ecosystem.
Today's weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 86.
🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios New Orleans member Peter Ricchiuti!
🎧 Sounds like: "Hotel California" by the Eagles, who headline Jazz Fest on Saturday.
📈 If you're a CEO or on a CEO's team: Request to join Axios CEO Jim VandeHei's free new Axios C-Suite weekly newsletter.
Today's newsletter is 858 words — a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: 🕊️ Riverfront memorial planned
A permanent memorial is in the works at Goldring Woldenberg Riverfront Park to honor the victims of the Bourbon Street terrorist attack.
Why it matters: Survivors and victims' families are helping shape the public tribute.
The big picture: The state-led commission picked a $3.9 million sculptural design from the team that created the temporary flags memorial over Bourbon Street earlier this year.
- Artists Babette Beaullieu and Jan Gilbert partnered with architect Jennie Cannon West of Studio West and landscape architect Emily Bullock for an "intimate yet large scale" installation called Embrace, according to the proposal.
- The tentative site is on the Moonwalk at the end of Iberville Street, near the Holocaust memorial.
- The Audubon Commission must sign off on the project.
Zoom in: The granite memorial will have 14 glass inlays hold relics from each of the victims, the proposal says.
- It will have seating and wind chimes in nearby trees. The proposal also calls for commissioning a song from a New Orleans musician and making it accessible via QR code.
- The Fourteens Foundation — the nonprofit led by survivor Brittany Francois and loved ones of victims — is fundraising to install the memorial.
- The memorial could open in three to five years, Francois says, though the timeline is fluid.

What they're saying: "Healing doesn't happen all at once, and having a place to return to really matters," Francois said earlier this month.
- The permanent memorial ensures the victims are "remembered with care and intention," she says.
- Victims' family members told reporters they hope the memorial "invokes a fraction of the emotion that we feel every single day, grieving through it."
What's next: The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is handling the donations.
2. 🐦 Lights off tonight
Millions of birds are migrating through Louisiana this week as they head north, according to the BirdCast forecast.
Why it matters: Turn off exterior lights to help them get to their destinations safely.
The big picture: At least 20 million birds are expected to migrate through Louisiana the next few nights, BirdCast.org says.
- Spring migration is reaching its peak in New Orleans, with more than 100,000 birds in flight nightly, the site says.
- They usually start migrating 30 minutes after sunset and peak two to three hours later.
Zoom in: Louisiana sits within the Mississippi Flyway, which is used by 325 bird species, according to the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.
- Common nocturnal migrating birds in New Orleans right now include the veery, yellow-throated vireo and several varieties of warblers, BirdCast.org says.
- Elsewhere in the state, you'll see the eastern kingbird, the yellow-billed cuckoo and the great crested flycatcher.
Zoom out: Many birds rely on the Moon and stars to navigate, and artificial light can disorient them, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation says.
- To help, turn off exterior lights and close blinds from 11pm to 6am. (Kinda like our termite season protocols.)
- Other options: Aim security lights downward, reduce floodlights and switch to warm-white LEDs. More tips here.
Meanwhile, it's nesting season for beach birds. Our colleagues at Axios Tampa Bay have an identification guide.
What's next: Check the daily forecast map and migration alerts.
3. Fully Dressed: ⛳️ LIV Golf tournament canceled

⛳️ LIV Golf has reportedly canceled its June tournament in New Orleans, a source tells reporter Stephanie Riegel at The Times-Picayune.
- The official announcement is expected today, WDSU says.
- The league is facing financial pressure, with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund considering pulling funding. (Wall Street Journal gift link)
- Louisiana was spending at least $7 million to bring the golf organization here. LIV has agreed to repay $1 million it already received, Riegel says.
🤑 Mayor Helena Moreno and other officials say they'll release a plan today to "begin stabilizing" the city's finances. We'll be covering the 11am event.
🏈 The Saints drafted eight players and signed 10 free agents. (Fox 8)
- Still no word about Cam Jordan's future. (NFL.com)
🤩 Several celebs were in town recently: Kevin Bacon, Nicole Richie, Rod Stewart, Amy Schumer and Maggie Rogers.
- Richie says she wore her new sparkly headdress on the plane.
- Anyone seen LeVar Burton at Jazz Fest yet?
4. 🎶 1 for the road
Jon Batiste headlined twice last weekend at Jazz Fest, opting for a swamp-themed set Sunday at the Blues Tent.
- He dressed in a gray wig and dirty overalls to present a "dystopian-swamp-scifi-drama-musical" concept he's been working on, Gambit says.
- See his set list from Friday's show at the Festival Stage.
- He posted a happy video yesterday on a boat before performing at Snug Harbor.
🙏 Carlie is grateful for Crystal and her other colleagues who filled in while she was out last week.
🐣 Chelsea is on parental leave.
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Thanks to our editor Crystal Hill, who is reading about her colleagues who were at the White House Correspondents' dinner.
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