Plumbing contractors were digging up Edgar P. Harney elementary school’s lush front lawn on Willow Street Tuesday afternoon while a portable toilet trailer sat on the school’s blacktop playground along busy Claiborne Avenue. “The bathrooms aren’t working,” one of the workers told The Lens. A clogged sewer line was initially to blame. But when contractors […]
Posted inEnvironment
Seven years and $9 million later, wastewater assimilation a slow starter in New Orleans
S&WB and the City of New Orleans announced in 2011 that they were partnering with St. Bernard Parish to help rebuild the Central Wetlands around Bayou Bienvenue. More than seven years later, the project has yet to discharge a single gallon of treated wastewater.
Posted inSchools
New Beginnings CEO placed on paid leave during investigation into grade inflation, falsifying records
Law firm will investigate grade changes at Kennedy High School and allegations that CEO falsified board records related to a lucrative bus contract.
Posted inSchools
School district delays lead water filter installation at French Quarter school
Orleans district promised Monday installation at Plessy after a test performed by a student found possible contaminants. But the filters won’t work properly without booster pumps. The district says about 16 schools need the pumps.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Opinion
Racist police violence: two very different cities with something in common
Shameful record of torture and killings by cops here and in Chicago
Posted inInside the News Room
Week in Review: How have the City Council’s utility consultants kept their contracts for so long?
In 1985, New Orleans residents decided that New Orleans Public Service Inc. — now called Entergy New Orleans — should be regulated by the City Council rather than the state’s Public Service Commission, which had overseen the utility for the three previous years. Ever since, the council has relied almost entirely on a group of […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 25: Little red marks
Reporter Marta Jewson tells us how she uncovered allegations of grade inflation at Kennedy High School. Michael Isaac Stein talks about political patronage in lucrative City Council utility contracts. And Tom Wright follows up on his recent story on wastewater assimilation.
Posted inSchools
New Orleans 7th grader’s lead test results prompt district to speed up filter installation at French Quarter school
The district’s pledge to install filters in all schools has been delayed several times.
Posted inSchools
Parent says Bricolage Academy’s new aftercare policies exclude special education students
The charter school’s board gave Bricolage’s CEO an April 15 deadline for a report on special education services. A lawyer says schools must include children with disabilities in after-school programs.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Political connections, contributions helped utility consultants keep lucrative contracts for decades, former council members say
New Orleans City Council members have come and gone over the past three decades. But a group of consultants who help them regulate Entergy, and charge millions per year, have remained remarkably consistent.