Good morning, New Orleans.

Café Reconcile in New Orleans is now taking orders for its Thanksgiving catering menu and holiday gift packages that support youth workforce training (menu includes traditional dishes and a new spiced sweet potato pie), with orders accepted through Nov.

13 and pickups on Nov. 25.

Residents of Pecan Island met with SpaceX managers today to ask how 30 daily rocket launches at a new spaceport will limit access and affect fishing, wildlife, and flooding, and SpaceX admitted that access will be restricted during launches while promising to adjust zones as tech improves (concerns persist).

Entrepreneurs have until midnight Oct.

27 to apply for the R:3 River, Road, Rail Pitch Competition offering a $20K prize at The Shop Workspace (900 Camp St.) for the final pitch on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and drinks and light refreshments will be available.

Mignon Faget will move its 27-year Magazine Street gallery to a temporary storefront at 3806 Magazine St. on Oct.

30 following a lease dispute with its new owner who favored a national retailer, and it will operate in Magazine Court while searching for a permanent home.

Aldi opened its newest store in Metairie at 215 Veterans Memorial Blvd on Thursday, Oct.

15. The discount chain welcomed its first 200 customers with gift bags, totes and golden tickets (worth up to $100).

New Orleans native Jon Batiste and his wife, writer and artist Suleika Jaouad, teamed with Anthropologie to debut a 46-piece home collection featuring Louisiana + Tunisian influences through decor, tableware, musical ornaments, and a custom record player; the collection is available now online and in stores.

Nearly 2,000 economic development professionals will gather in New Orleans from Oct.

25 to Oct. 28 for the IEDC Annual Conference at the Hyatt Regency, where leaders will discuss investment, workforce growth and artificial intelligence — the event will mark IEDC’s 100th anniversary and include off-site tours.

A new labor forecast shows industrial construction labor demand in New Orleans will nearly double from 10,000 to 20,000 workers by late 2027 as billions in projects and a retiring workforce intensify competition — prompting enhanced training and recruitment.

Xavier University’s Ochsner College of Medicine in New Orleans earned preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, making it the Gulf South’s only HBCU medical school to address physician shortages + the college will interview applicants in November and send acceptance letters for a 50-student class starting next summer.

Louisiana finished last fiscal year with a $565 million budget surplus due to higher tax collections, and at least half the funds were added to the rainy-day fund & state employee retirement debt, with the balance set aside for coastal restoration, infrastructure and deferred maintenance.

Downtown Development District unveiled its new brand and 2027–2031 Strategic Plan, Leveraging Opportunity, at The Future of Downtown New Orleans event on Oct.

15. The plan outlines five priorities to improve public spaces, activate vacant properties and grow revenue as Downtown continues to evolve.

Louisiana Works will shift workforce funding oversight from 15 local boards to a centralized system starting early 2027—prompted by Gov. Jeff Landry’s executive order and state legislation.

The change aims to streamline job training and employment services amid growing industrial investment while sustaining local relationships via Regional Workforce Advisory Councils.

A boil water advisory for New Orleans East is lifted after water samples from Little Woods returned safe results, officials said.

Residents are advised to flush their systems before use + crews continue to repair the broken water main.