Behind The Lens episode 174: Defendant Williams

The DA goes on trial. St. James rejects solar ban. And another new Orleans school fails to graduate students on time as a result of administrative problems.

On this week’s episode, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams is on trial in federal court on charges of tax fraud. 

The St. James Parish Council has rejected a proposal to place a moratorium on solar farm development.

And three years after the John F. Kennedy High School graduation fiasco, extremely similar record-keeping problems were recently identified at another New Orleans school — Sarah T. Reed High School — resulting in more than half the class being temporarily ineligible to graduate. Despite having adopted a series of policy changes designed to prevent what happened at Kennedy from repeating, the NOLA Public Schools district didn’t find out about the Reed situation until three days after the school’s graduation ceremony.

Our guests this week are Lens reporters Nick Chrastil, Joshua Rosenberg and Marta Jewson.

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Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman has been in media for 35 years, most recently as Executive Director at an NPR member station in Colorado where she was responsible for new multi-platform content initiatives, strategic planning, research, branding, and non-traditional revenue generation. During her tenure she also created and launched four weekly news, public affairs and cultural affairs programs and monthly live Town Hall broadcasts. Heldman moved to New Orleans last summer with her husband and canine companion and they live happily in The Marigny.