Ten addictive Louisiana true crime books to binge read
Nothing passes hours at the beach quite like pages and pages of axemen, murderesses and cannibalism—amirite? National interest in true crime seems to be at an all-time high, and there are plenty of tragic tales of true crime in our own backyard. We rounded up 10 of them this year.
2017 People to Watch in the Capital Region
We start off every new year at 225 by highlighting local impact players in our January cover story. This year, we celebrated 19 locals—some spend their days making astronomical discoveries about our universe or advocating for civil and social change in our city, while others are reinvigorating a football team or opening trendy new food concepts. Stay tuned to our website—in just a few days we’ll be unveiling our 2018 People to Watch cover story.
Five under-the-radar live music venues
Baton Rouge houses some great larger music venues, but sometimes you just need something a little more low-key. That’s when it’s time to dig up some of the city’s hidden musical gems. No matter what genre you’re into, you can find it in Baton Rouge—if you know where to look. We shared five ideas in this story.
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Local artist Alexis Moon is making Baton Rouge her home, her way
Alexis Moon is the personification of a bohemian rhapsody. She’s known locally for her music and earthy, abstract art. That made Bee Nice Music’s outdoor music venue/vintage playground the perfect setting to photograph Moon for our profile and style shoot on her.
When, where and how to catch the Aug. 21 solar eclipse in Baton Rouge
The 2017 solar eclipse is long over, but this will be a fun day to revisit in our memories for a while. It was so cool to see local museums get involved and to walk down the street exchanging smiles with others sporting their eclipse glasses.
John Schneider reopens his studios with a concert of flood-inspired tunes
One year after historic flooding engulfed Baton Rouge, we saw so much resilience in our community. John Schneider Studios in Livingston Parish was one of many places that flooded. In early August, Schneider reopened his film and music facilities with a concert featuring him and his band, the Cajun Navy, performing flood-inspired music. “The flood washed my guitar back into my hands,” Schneider told 225. “That’s why I can say that, in many regards, I’m better off because of the flood. Music is one of the things it brought back in my life.”
2017 Best of 225 Awards: Shopping & Services
Going through old Best of 225 issues—which date back to 2006—has made us realize that the awards are like a time capsule of Baton Rouge each year. The winners and runners up paint a portrait of the most beloved businesses, bustling restaurants and active community members in the Capital City. Readers kept coming back to our site to view the shopping and service category winners, which include awards for the best grocery stores, boutiques and more.
Meet Kelsey Wingert and Desiree Guidry, two Baton Rouge ladies making names for themselves
Stories about people in Baton Rouge are the real foundation of 225, and these two profiles resonated online. Wingert is a reporter and host for Fox Sports South & Fox Sports Southeast in Atlanta, and she shared with us how she’s made a name for herself in the national sports scene. Guidry is the designer behind the Hey, Penelope clothing line and a force in the “shop local” scene. Her T-shirts feature fun Louisiana-inspired designs, and her boutique is stocked with locally made goods.
27 public pools to cool off in
We published this roundup of local pools in our May issue, but it’s no surprise that’s it’s been popular year-round. It’s rainy and cold today, but it undoubtedly won’t be long before our next muggy hot day in Baton Rouge. Meet you at the pool?
225’s top food stories
It’s been an incredible year for the Baton Rouge food scene, with the addition of more than 20 new restaurants and plenty of menu innovations. It’s been even more fun behind-the-scenes for our team to cover those openings. These are a few of the year’s top food stories, according to 225 readers.
EDITORS’ PICKS
While the stories listed above represent the articles our readers clicked on and shared the most throughout 2017, our staff has a few “greatest hits” to share, too. These articles showcase some of our best storytelling—and represent some of our personal favorite experiences working at the magazine this year.
The Restaurant Hustle: How Baton Rouge’s growing food scene is adapting to the increasing challenges of running a restaurant
“Covering food might seem like all fun and games, but I think this piece written by Benjamin Leger is one of our strongest pieces of journalism of the year. To document the challenges of opening a restaurant in Baton Rouge, Leger shadowed the BRQ team for several months as they prepared to open their new restaurant. He talked to industry veterans about their experiences and polled around 100 restaurant owners about obstacles they’ve faced. The result is a behind-the-kitchen-door look at what running a restaurant locally is truly like.”
—Jennifer Tormo, editor
What you might see if you brave The 13th Gate’s flashlight-only tour
“As the team’s resident crystal-loving mystic and true crime aficionado, I love to be scared, so getting the full, immersive 13th Gate experience was such a treat. Getting to see the makeup applied backstage doesn’t make the scares any less potent, even during a photo shoot. These actors don’t turn it off. I had a blast working on this shoot and gained even more admiration for the actors.”
—Kaci Yoder, staff writer
Baton Rouge Early Vocal Ensemble exposes audiences to a forgotten sound in an abandoned church and beyond
“My favorite stories are the ones that introduce me to something I never knew existed here. For this one, I got to drive up to St. Francisville and witness an intimate concert by the Baton Rouge Early Vocal Ensemble (after discovering them by accident online) in an abandoned church in the woods. That misadventure had the added bonus of an encounter myself and photographer Allie Appel had with a herd of cows while we tried to park the car in a field. But getting to attend and write about that breathtaking concert was the true highlight—one of those singular performances that you realize in the moment will never happen again in the same way.”
—Benjamin Leger, managing editor
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Diverse voices standing up to solve racial issues in Baton Rouge
“I’ve lived in Baton Rouge for all 27 years of my life, and watching the racial and cultural unfoldings over those years—especially the past year or so—has been in turns fascinating, heartbreaking and inspiring. Speaking to the sources I interviewed to contribute to this piece was humbling and taught me things I never even knew about my own city, and I couldn’t be prouder of how the final product came together.”
—Kaci Yoder, staff writer
Hot fashion and cold drinks on display at Baton Rouge’s chic new restaurants and bars
“My goal with our style shoots this year has been to make them interesting to people who have no interest in fashion. What better way to do that than by incorporating the subject everyone is obsessed with? (Food, of course.) We showcased some of the past year’s biggest openings by styling an outfit at each restaurant. To pull off the perfect shoot, everything has to align just right—the locations, the outfits, the models’ poses, the photo lighting and composition. This shoot is our style crew at its absolute best: Our stylist Elle Marie pulled stunning outfits to complement both the models and the restaurants’ interiors, and our photographer Jordan Hefler, was well, Jordan Hefler. Scroll through the pics to see what I mean.”
—Jennifer Tormo, editor