Photo Caption: Leaders from The National WWII Museum and the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation come together as the Foundation makes a substantial real estate donation that will expand the Museum’s education corridor on Magazine Street Download Photo 2025) — The National WWII Museum announced a recent Warehouse District property donation from the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation that will enable the continued growth of the institution’s mission the new addition to the Museum’s seven-acre campus will extend its education corridor on Magazine Street the new Museum Archives and Research Center and the forthcoming Floyd Education and Collections Pavilion “We are immensely grateful to the Meraux Foundation for their generosity and belief in our educational mission,” said Stephen J President & CEO of The National WWII Museum “This meaningful donation comes at an ideal time as the Museum prepares to grow its educational impact We look forward to making this versatile location an important part of our campus in the coming years.” Located contiguous to the Kushner Restoration Pavilion the property will provide much-needed space that the Museum anticipates using for staff offices and future needs as the institution prepares to dramatically expand its educational programs to support students scholars and lifelong learners both in Louisiana and throughout the country The Meraux Foundation’s donation to The National WWII Museum aligns with its longstanding commitment to education A private family foundation with a primary mission to improve the quality of life in St the Foundation supports the local community by growing the economy we believe that education is a powerful force for change,” said Meraux Foundation President Rita Gue “We’re honored to support The National WWII Museum in its efforts to preserve history and inspire future generations we hope to help expand access to world-class educational opportunities — not just for the people of St but for learners from around the country who visit this incredible institution.” Download Photo The Meraux Foundation is named for its founder and WWII veteran Joseph Meraux (1922 – 1992) Joseph Meraux initially worked as an electric welder at Delta Shipbuilding Company in New Orleans before enlisting in the US Coast Guard in October 1942 as a Seaman Second Class before attending Seamanship School in Manhattan Beach and then serving as yeoman to the captain of the port in Charleston Meraux was discharged from the Coast Guard Reserve in October 1945 View Campus Map The National WWII Museum's new buildings in the 900 block of Magazine Street which will be used to help develop its "education corridor" along that strip of the Warehouse District The buildings were donated by the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation A person walks past the newly constructed Liberation Pavilion at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans on Thursday The National WWII Museum said Thursday that it plans to further expand its "education corridor" on Magazine Street after the donation of property from the Arlene and Joseph Meraux Charitable Foundation The three adjoining properties in the 900 block of Magazine Street are adjacent to the museum's John E which is located across the street from the museum-owned Higgins Hotel The Kushner building houses several significant World War II artifacts The additional space will be used for staff offices and "future needs as the institution prepares to dramatically expand its educational programs to support students both in Louisiana and throughout the country," the museum said in a statement The museum's leaders said in November 2023 when celebrating the completion of the $47 million Liberty Pavilion — the seventh and final exhibition element in its main 6-acre campus — that future expansion would focus on education Earlier this month, the museum broke ground on a new educational facility that will be located in the 1000 block of Magazine Street at the intersection of Magazine and Poeyfarre 34,000-square-foot expansion was made possible largely because of a $7.5 million gift from Texas rancher Timber Floyd and his wife Peggy “This meaningful donation comes at an ideal time as the Museum prepares to grow its educational impact," said Stephen Watson The museum didn't disclose the valuation of the Meraux properties which cover about 18,000 square feet and have a combined assessed value by the Orleans Parish Assessor of just under $2.6 million The National WWII Museum was the brainchild of educationalists: University of New Orleans historian Stephen Ambrose and his friend and colleague Gordon "Nick" Mueller. As it grew from a modest idea to house a D-Day exhibition into the colossal $420 million "Road to Victory" project the museum incorporated several educational elements along the way house a library and are devoted to scholarly research about the war and its impact as is the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy The museum also has an agreement with Arizona State University for an online master's degree in World War II studies with about 200 students currently enrolled It hosts regular educational conferences at the Higgins Hotel we believe that education is a powerful force for change,” Meraux Foundation president Rita Gue said in the statement announcing the property gift The properties acquired earlier in April at 1042-1060 Magazine St will serve as a space where exhibits are created and stored as well as for programs to educate about that process Called the Floyd Education and Collections Pavilion it will also contain the Sanderson Leadership Center which will host education courses for CEOs military officers and others looking to acquire leadership skills the Museum's Board of Trustees approved a 10-year strategic plan through 2035 that includes a $260 million fundraising initiative The plan aims to enhance campus facilities Email Anthony McAuley tmcauley@theadvocate.com Email notifications are only sent once a day News Tips:nolanewstips@theadvocate.com Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Assistant Principal Maggie Roussell; front row To access content, please login or purchase a subscription Arlene Meraux Elementary School front row: Students Kole Brasley To access content, please login or purchase a subscription held it's grand opening ceremony on May 9 To access content, please login or purchase a subscription. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. highly curated editorial content brings attention to hidden gems Share LinkThere’s Nothing Quite As Magical As The Tunnel Of Trees You’ll Find At St is a picturesque and historic natural attraction worth visiting This particular tunnel of trees is located along the scenic LA-46, which also is known as St. Bernard Highway. Bernard Tunnel of Trees is part of a former plantation Docville’s operations also are known as Pecan Grove Sandy Auriene Sullivan/FlickrThe St. Bernard Parish is located just a short distance from New Orleans. Unlike its urban neighbor, many areas of the St. Bernard Parish are sparsely populated with abundant nature and open areas. Bernard Highway Tunnel of Trees is located within the town of Meraux A number of other scenic spots are located in or very close to Meraux Don Pirolo/FlickrThe St Bernard Tunnel of Trees stands out to tourists and locals alike because it's not a very common sight to see examples elsewhere of tree-lined areas that offer the continuous canopy feeling of a tunnel One such spot is this tree tunnel in Coral Gables Marc Averette/WikipediaThere are tree tunnels outside the U.S. One such notable spot is the Börnste Hamlet in Germany you don't have to leave Louisiana to see a beautiful tree tunnel like this one Choose your stateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasNorthern CaliforniaSouthern CaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingSubscribe... Enjoy your own private fishing pond and then head to one of Missouri's underrated fishing spots with a stay at this cozy cabin. Thanks for subscribing. We’ll see you in your inbox! refinery experienced an explosion early this morning (April 10) Bernard Parish were with Valero’s refinery fire department and confirmed there was a fire around 1 a.m The injured worker has been transported off-site to a local hospital Valero’s emergency response team is on the scene and working closely with the St and the fire is contained to the immediate area and no off-site impact is expected Valero has contacted local authorities and is cooperating with appropriate agencies “Our primary concern is for the safety of our workers and the community,” the company said is a complex refinery with a total throughput capacity of 135,000 barrels per day and significant hydro-processing capacity Meraux’s dock is located on the Mississippi River Charles Refinery,” according to the company’s website Police temporarily shut down the roads as first responders worked to get the fire under control chief of detectives; Sheriff James Pohlmann To access content, please login or purchase a subscription a small dredger capsized in the Mississippi River near Meraux briefly forcing the waterway's closure to marine traffic Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received word that the dredger W.B Wood had capsized near shore at mile marker 85 on the Mississippi Two crewmembers were rescued by a nearby towboat The waterway was briefly closed from mile marker 81-86 for incident management and it reopened to traffic (with restrictions) later in the morning.  Sector New Orleans is coordinating with operator Wood Resources on the pollution response and the salvage plans Three contracted spill response boats are on scene conducting skimming and more than 3,000 gallons of oily water have been recovered so far.  The contractor has deployed about 1,000 feet of boom to contain any spilled petroleum while cleanup continues A Coast Guard aircrew tracked the extent of the sheening and found that it extends as far as mile marker 64 and any potentially related pollution reports will be investigated.  The W.B. Wood is a small 1,200 horsepower cutter suction dredger built by Dredging Supply, according to operator Wood Resources It is rated to 60 feet of cutter head depth and 120 feet of sand pumping depth.  United Steelworkers and industry negotiators reached a late-night agreement on local issues Saturday that is keeping union workers at a Valero refinery in Meraux on the job Union spokesman John Link said the USW contract would have expired Saturday night but that Local 8363 reached a "tentative agreement," renewable daily pending resolution of the national contract talks Talks between the industry and the Meraux workers opened Feb "We can confirm that Shell and USW have agreed to speak Wednesday as both parties continue efforts to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement," said Ray Fisher Union employees at three other Louisiana plants — two Motiva plants owned jointly by Shell and Saudi Aramco and a Shell chemical plant in Norco — began their strikes on the weekend of Feb Those strikes involve 800 employees and refinery capacity of 465,000 barrels per day Steelworkers also walked off the job at a Motiva plant in Port Arthur the strikes have involved work stoppages at 15 plants involving 6,500 workers Link said the talks in Meraux involved about 160 union members said last week that the talks nationally involve long hours members are working because refineries are not replacing workers employees who are sick She also said the companies have not been hiring union maintenance workers at the plant She said company maintenance workers lack the intensive training that union members receive say the companies needs more flexibility in hiring maintenance workers Link said several plants have made agreements similar to the one at Meraux "You have to be at the table to do that," he said capsized January 16 off the east bank of the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Mile 85 near Meraux Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received word at 12:50 a.m and a pair of crew members had been aided by the crew aboard the mv was working in the company’s Meraux Fleet on the west bank of the river when the call for help came from the W.B Woods crew member from the water and took a second crew member aboard “It was very heroic work by the captain and the deckhand,” said Brad Chauvin vice president of boat operations for Turn Services a sheen could be seen originating from the capsized dredge and stretching downriver some 20 miles Environmental Safety & Health Consulting Services (ES&H) deployed three vessels to the river to conduct skimming operations ES&H also deployed both hard and soft boom around the dredge to contain the discharge The Coast Guard closed the river to navigation between Mile  81 and Mile 86 for about eight hours No salvage plans had been reported at press time the cause of the incident remains under investigation Caption for photo: An aerial shot of the W.B Wood after it capsized on the Mississippi River with 940 feet of boom around it near Meraux The Coast Guard Sector New Orleans Incident Management Division is overseeing the pollution response and coordinating with Wood Resources LLC on plans to salvage the capsized vessel Valero Energy Corp.'s Meraux refinery is shown in 2008 Plant to continue burning off raw materials Fire erupted Saturday at the Valero Energy Corp sending two workers to a hospital and closing nearby St The condition of the two injured workers was not given They were taken to University Medical Center in New Orleans St. Bernard Parish firefighters and Valero's own firefighters were on the scene, WDSU television reported Some residents said they heard an explosion at the plant then saw black smoke there, WWL television reported A photo and video from residents showed what appeared to be a mix of black and white smoke East St. Bernard Highway was closed between Leblanc Road and Myrtle Grove, and traffic was being diverted to Despaux Drive, WVUE television said McInnis told WWL the road would remain closed as raw materials in the refining process are burned off Fire at Valero refinery in Meraux, Parish President confirms https://t.co/VxCPvTR6Kw Email Drew Broach at dbroach@theadvocate.com Bernard Sheriff's Office has arrested two men Monday in connection to a home armed robbery in Meraux earlier that day were both booked with four counts of armed robbery An arrest warrant has also been issued for Cory Kelly law enforcement responded to an armed robbery in the 2800 block of Munster Boulevard Four victims at the scene said two masked gunmen with AR-15s approached them in their driveway and demanded money The victims said the gunmen made one of the victims open a safe and took pain medication and $100 in cash before fleeing the scene Detectives apprehended Catanese and Miller after executing a search warrant on Catanese’s home Kelly was identified through the use of video surveillance The gun believed to be used in the crime was recovered Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Cory Kelly is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at (504) 271-2501 or Crimestoppers GNO at (504) 822-1111 Tipsters who call Crimestoppers can remain anonymous do not have to testify and could be eligible for a cash reward News Tips:newstips@theadvocate.com Meraux, LA (May 5, 2025) – A deadly multi-vehicle crash occurred late Saturday morning in Meraux, claiming the life of a 91-year-old driver, according to Louisiana State Police. The incident took place around 11:30 a.m. on E Judge Perez Hwy near Bartolo St in St. Bernard Parish. Authorities say Rita Owens, 91, of St. Bernard, was driving a 2016 Nissan Versa southbound when her vehicle struck a 2019 Nissan Versa traveling in the same direction. The impact caused Owens’ car to veer into the left lane—an area that was closed for construction—where it collided with a stationary Ford F350. Owens was not wearing a seatbelt and suffered serious injuries. She was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died. The driver of the 2019 Nissan Versa was reportedly wearing a seatbelt and was unharmed. The occupant of the Ford pickup was also uninjured. Investigators are continuing to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash. No citations have been issued, and officials have not reported any contributing factors beyond the lane closure and vehicle movements. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Rita Owens during this difficult time. Crashes involving construction zones and senior drivers present critical safety concerns on Louisiana roadways. In cases like the incident on E Judge Perez Hwy, where an older driver unintentionally entered a closed lane, the outcome can be tragic. With limited reaction time and changing traffic patterns, construction areas demand heightened attention from all motorists. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has reported that construction zones along major highways like E Judge Perez pose an increased risk of serious accidents. Narrowing lanes, unclear markings, and reduced shoulder space can confuse even experienced drivers—especially during daylight hours when visibility may give a false sense of safety. Older drivers face added challenges on today’s roads, including diminished vision, slower response times, and medical conditions that may affect driving ability. While many senior drivers remain safe and capable, even a brief lapse in attention or navigation can lead to severe outcomes—particularly when safety equipment like seatbelts is not used. For families impacted by fatal crashes, the emotional and legal aftermath can be overwhelming. In addition to grieving, they often face difficult decisions related to insurance, medical costs, and accident investigations. Accessing the right support early can make a meaningful difference. If your family has been affected by a serious vehicle crash in Louisiana, contact Local Accident Reports to get connected with the guidance and support services you may need. you understandably feel an urgent need to find as much information as possible about what happened that online reporting is third-party information and may sometimes contain inaccurate details The only report that can actually help you as you attempt to move forward is the official incident report taken by responding police officers at the scene If you were involved in a serious accident or are the surviving family member of someone who was you are entitled to obtain a copy of the police report Follow the link below to request a copy now we want you to know there are resources available in your local area Our organization helps connect people with the support they need in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy Fill out our form below to be contacted by someone who can help If you or a loved one were injured in a serious accident you should speak with an attorney as soon as possible Having your case evaluated by a lawyer will ensure your right to compensation is protected If you would like to speak with a qualified attorney for a free case evaluation Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by this accident If you or a loved one were injured in this incident Having your case evaluated by a lawyer immediately will ensure your rights are protected The first step is to request a police report 888-657-1460 Local Accident Reports is here to provide you with valuable resources after you have been injured in an accident you can also schedule a free consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys right now to find out more about pursuing compensation If you any have questions at all about your legal rights following an accident Note: These posts are created solely for the use of Local Accident Reports We have not verified the information in these posts as the information is gathered from secondary sources If you have personal knowledge that the information contained in these posts is inaccurate please contact Local Accident Reports immediately so we can make the necessary corrections or remove the story Disclaimer: We are providing this information to the general public as a resource to use in the event you or a family member are injured in a similar incident Every effort is put forth to honor the victims of accidents and hope the information presented helps others avoid the same type of accidents in the future The photos depicted in these posts are not representative of the actual accident scene Please contact Local Accident Reports at (888) 657-1460 to be connected with an attorney in your area who will answer any legal questions you may have 2025) – Emergency responders were dispatched to an injury.. 2025) – Emergency responders were quick to the scene 2025) – A two-vehicle crash on LA 75 near Milly Plantation.. 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