Behind The Lens episode 178: ‘It was like they were trying to keep it a secret’

New Orleans jail detainees report serious injuries from raid last month. St. James Parish rejects zoning change for site of stalled methanol plant. And the New Orleans City Council takes action on short-term rentals and disputed water bills.

On this week’s episode, several detainees in the New Orleans jail say they suffered serious injuries at the hands of corrections officers during a raid to end a multi-day protest last month, contradicting public statements from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office.

A methanol company is on the hook for its stalled $2.2 billion project after the St. James Parish Council rejected a zoning ordinance that would have marked a majority-Black residential community for industrial development. 

And the New Orleans City Council is flexing its regulatory muscles with some recent moves on short-term rentals and a proposal to limit how the Sewerage and Water Board can bill certain customers. 

Our guests this week are Lens reporters Nick Chrastil, Joshua Rosenberg, Michael Isaac Stein and editor Charles Maldonado.

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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.