Don’t take our rich culture for granted; instead, take a stand on Wednesday.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Ruling for The Lens, judge orders city to release its full purchasing database
City was resisting because it said sloppy record keeping meant private information could be exposed.
Posted inInvestigations, Schools
ReNEW leaders, including current CEO, sat on special-ed complaints
ReNEW Schools’ top administrators and current CEO knew about unethical and possibly illegal special-education practices at one of their charter schools months before alerting the state Department of Education, newly released documents show. Current CEO Colleen Mackay received a four-page laundry list of misdeeds and questionable actions on Jan. 31, 2015, when she served as […]
Posted inLand Use, Opinion
Eyes on The Fly: How structural racism subtly undercuts plans for a ‘public good’
A deeper look at plans to remove another section of a public park from general use.
Posted inSchools
Like BESE, Orleans School Board sidesteps a decision on student funding
Board members say such decisions are in the hands of the superintendent, not them.
Posted inEnvironment
A water expert’s vision was sign from God that nuns were looking for
A religious order was holding on to a 25-acre piece of prime real estate in Gentilly, waiting for divine indications. Then along came an architect associated with the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan. Instead of being sold to developers for tens of millions, the land is now leased to the city for $1 a year.
Posted inOpinion
What’s really going on in our legislature: Special interests addicted to greed
Making working families pay more in taxes as oil and gas companies receive hundreds of millions in subsidies is a crime against justice.
Posted inInvestigations, Schools
After cheating report, ReNEW board begins work of reform; whistleblower policy set
Governance committee meeting starts with the basics; new policy encourages anonymous tips
Posted inCriminal Justice, Investigations
Sheriff giving OK to pay law-enforcement bonus to support, clerical staffers
New documents submitted by Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman provide job descriptions for his entire staff. The Lens checked that against a list of employees he said were entitled to special pay reserved for law-enforcement personnel and found 48 questionable instances. The sheriff said we just don’t understand the law.
Posted inOpinion
Crossing ‘faith lines’ to heal a world—and a city—scarred by violence and terror
“Our political rhetoric around faith grows increasingly ugly … “