Health impacts of AI data center; why Calvin Duncan’s elected office may be eliminated; season of events at Music Box Village

Residents in Holly Ridge, Louisiana, are complaining about the health impacts of the construction of the Meta data center — the largest data center in the country.

The Gulf States Newsroom’s Drew Hawkins is conducting a community monitoring project to test the air, dust and water. Today, he visits Holly Ridge to talk with residents about how it works and how the data will be analyzed.

Last November, Calvin Duncan, a formerly incarcerated man, was elected Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court. He won with 68% of the vote on a campaign that promised to reform the justice system that kept him locked up for nearly thirty years from a wrongful conviction. But now, the legislature is trying to eliminate his job as he prepares to be sworn in.Jack Brook has been covering this story for the Associated Press. He joins us with the latest.

In the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, there’s a venue where the buildings themselves make music. At Music Box Village, artists have created a collection of small, whimsical structures that double as instruments — creating a sound-rich and quirky environment.

After a quieter period in recent years as the organization faced funding challenges, the venue is back with new leadership and a lineup of spring and summer performances.

Operations manager Jenelle Malbrough joins us with this season’s lineup, and what makes the space so unique.

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Today’s episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Sara Henegan. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber, and our assistant producer is Aubry Procell. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.

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