Rene Brunet Jr. has been running movie theaters for most of his life, and he built a mountain of debt doing it. Now, at 81, Brunet is down to just one, the Prytania, his last labor of love. And the landlords are coming after him. Again.

Violent rodeos where dogs attack wild hogs pit rural pastime against animal rights activists

For one more time, maybe the last time, Dan Rather just wanted to report from the center of the storm. But when he came to town last week chasing Hurricane Lili, the 70-year-old CBS broadcasting legend discovered that the reporter he once was could not occupy the same space as the star he had become.

He never had a prayer, of course. But that didn't stop actor-slash-grocery store clerk Manny 'Chevrolet' Bruno from his quixotic campaign to persuade New Orleans voters that 'A Troubled Man for Troubled Times' was exactly what the mayor's office needed.

Jack Hatty's dreams of spending his senior year playing under the lights for his beloved Rummel Raiders died one terrible night in a crush of twisted steel and glass. But his coach kept a promise, and Hatty spent this, his senior season, with his teammates, on the roster and on the field.

Corey Domingue couldn’t shake the family curse.

Perry Rickman, like many street performers who help give New Orleans its unique character, had his charms as Perri the Hobo, a street-corner clown and balloon artist. But Rickman was also haunted by demons that included drugs, alcohol and fits of rage. After a lifelong struggle, the demons won.

Prison is their inescapable reality. But by uniting their voices, the men of the Orleans Parish choir are able to achieve a measure of freedom.

Over the past decade, Jim and Missy Ward have done little else but preside over the slow, relentless decline of two of their three children, victims of a devastating and fatal genetic disorder. How, then, to fathom the depths of courage that allows them today to describe their lost children as miracles with lessons to teach us, and to keep striving for a life of joy?