Mardi Gras ebullience intersects with crime worry, politics

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — It’s Mardi Gras — or Fat Tuesday (Feb. 23, 2023) in New Orleans — and the annual, ebullient climax of the city’s Carnival season comes this year with some political intrigue. Mild weather is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals to city streets, many of them in costume, to mark the raucous end of Carnival season. Among the revelers will be opponents of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who are gathering last-minute signatures ahead of a Wednesday deadline to force a recall election. There’s also an undercurrent of worry about recurring violent crime. One person was killed and four wounded when gunfire broke out during a Sunday night parade.