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WRKF's News Team

Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman
Host and Reporter
Elizabeth Eads
Elizabeth Eads
Host and Operations Director
Kelly Connelly
Kelly Connelly
Government & Politics Reporter
Amy Jeffries
Amy Jeffries
News Director

Culture

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LGBT Life
6:00 am
Thu January 10, 2013

In Baton Rouge, the Closet is Crowded

Credit Amy Jeffries / WRKF
FILE: A group from Baton Rouge's L Bar holds up a pride banner at the capitol, June 23, 2012.
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By Lisa Lovello

In its municipal survey released in November, the Human Rights Campaign scored Baton Rouge a two out of 100 based on the policies and services the city has in place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.   

Only Montgomery, Al., Frankfort, Ky. and Jefferson City, Mo. scored lower.

So we wondered if Baton Rouge’s dismal score is indicative of life for LGBT people here.


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Music Interviews
1:03 am
Sat January 5, 2013

Preserving The Home, And History, Of New Orleans' Piano Professor

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Credit David Redfern / Redferns
Professor Longhair performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, circa 1970.
Credit Jason Saul / WWNO
Professor Longhair's daughter Pat Walton Byrd poses outside Tipitina's, a New Orleans venue named after one of her father's compositions.
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Originally published on Sat January 5, 2013 1:10 pm

On the tough side of Terpsichore Street in New Orleans stands a duplex — a two-story, wood-framed building with wood floors, high ceilings and a nice fireplace. But this old house is empty: no furniture, no walls, no electricity, no toilet. Iron bars hide the windows; there's a lockbox on the door. The facade is three different shades of blecch, blurgh and blah.

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Music
4:16 pm
Sun December 23, 2012

Ernie K-Doe: A One-Hit Weirdo's Rise, Fall And Redemption

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Credit Michael P. Smith / The Historic New Orleans Collection
Ernie K-Doe and his fans at the Warehouse in New Orleans in 1974.
Credit Syndey Byrd
Ernie and Antoinette K-Doe in a Treme neighborhood parade in 2000.
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By editor

Originally published on Mon December 24, 2012 12:33 pm

Even in a city known for its eccentrics, Ernie K-Doe was in another dimension. The New Orleans musician always knew — and said, loudly — that he was special. And for one week in a life of wild ups and downs, he managed to pierce the national consciousness with a chart-topping hit: 1961's "Mother in Law."

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Music
2:50 am
Wed December 19, 2012

Country Singer Sammy Kershaw's Cajun Christmas

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Sammy Kershaw's new album of Cajun holiday songs is called A Sammy Klaus Christmas.
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By editor

Originally published on Thu December 20, 2012 4:44 am

If the sheer variety of holiday music that pops up each winter is any indication, there's no genre that can't handle a little Christmas spirit. This year, Louisiana country singer Sammy Kershaw decided to test that theory with the sounds of the bayou. His new album of Cajun-infused holiday songs is called A Sammy Klaus Christmas.

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What We're Reading
4:40 pm
Tue December 11, 2012

'Pushed Times, Chewing Pepper': Where Louisiana and California Collide

Credit Myra Jolivet
Myra Jolivet, author of 'Pushed Times, Chewing Pepper'
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Author Myra Jolivet is a lot of things. She’s a former TV personality, a communications strategist, a brain tumor survivor, and above all a California native with Louisiana Creole roots.

In Jolivet's new murder-mystery novel, a family therapist from California survives her fiancé’s plot to kill her, embraces her gift of psychic visions and learns her Creole heritage is the foundation of her survival.


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