Plus, a woman takes drastic steps to stop an allegedly illegal short-term rental in her neighborhood. A mysterious surveillance camera in Lakeview. And a new episode of Behind The Lens.
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 37: ‘Once fresh water gets in’
Marta Jewson on lead filters in New Orleans schools. Michael Isaac Stein on Entergy regulation. And host and producer Jessica Rosgaard interviews Waveland Mayor Mike Smith about the Bonnet Carre Spillway and its impact on the coast.
Posted inSchools
Review finds that nearly half of Kennedy High School’s 2019 seniors were not eligible for graduation
Most of the students had been allowed to walk at graduation. 24 will have to return to complete high school in the fall, board president says.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police found surveillance cameras with NOPD logos mounted to a Lakeview light pole. They weren’t the city’s. But they were near a house connected to a city crime-camera contractor.
Active Solutions COO Jeff Burkhardt denied that he purchased or owned the cameras, calling a reporter’s questions “fake news.” Less than 24 hours after The Lens called him, the cameras were gone.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
City curfew marginalizes kids it pretends to ‘protect’
There are better uses for the money a curfew costs to enforce
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City Council announces steps to reduce reliance on outside consultants for Entergy regulation
The plan will double in-house staff and restructure advisers’ contracts.
Posted inLand Use
Frustrated with city enforcement, this woman rented the Airbnb across the street just to prove it was operating illegally
The New Orleans City Council has worked toward more restrictive regulations on short-term rentals for the past year. Now council members want to tighten enforcement.
Posted inInside the News Room
Week in Review: City Council Entergy plant votes violated state sunshine law, judge rules
Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Piper D. Griffin on Friday ruled that the New Orleans City Council violated the state’s Open Meetings Law in 2018, when dozens of residents were barred from entering two public hearings on Entergy New Orleans’ proposed $210 million power plant in eastern New Orleans. Griffin also issued a ruling […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 36: ‘No, I don’t have my diploma yet’
We hear from a Kennedy High School senior who still doesn’t know if she graduated. Plus, a plan for ending cash bail. And a new budget crisis for public defenders in New Orleans.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Legal agreement in federal bail suit will require New Orleans judge to consider alternatives to detention, whether defendants can pay
The agreement comes after a two-year civil rights lawsuit against Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell over how he was setting bail.