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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.
by Carolyne Heldman

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.

You can also listen to Behind The Lens on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other services.

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Carolyne Heldman

Carolyne Heldman Rovira has been in media for 35 years, and is currently the podcast host and producer for Behind The Lens. Heldman served as executive director at Aspen Public Radio, an NPR affiliate, where she launched four weekly news, public affairs, and cultural affairs programs. She has been a guest lecturer at Tulane University, is a frequent guest and moderator for the Aspen Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute.

View all posts by Carolyne Heldman