Nick Chrastil and La’Shance Perry on the NOPD’s plans to use drones which concerns privacy advocates. Some of the city’s iconic crescent and star water meter covers are being replaced by generic looking lids to make way for “smart meters” which could, if they work properly, help resolve the agency’s notorious inflated bills.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
St. John Parish sued for shutting down critic, told not to rezone controversial site
In the same week, a judge again barred the parish from making the Greenfield Property industrial. And parish-council critic Joy Banner filed a First Amendment lawsuit.
Posted inNew OrLEaNS
Judging a block by its covers
THIS WEEK, a Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans contractor in a neon-green vest quietly made his way through a block of Mid-City, lifting the round metal disks out of front sidewalks and yards to install new “smart” water meters. But as he left, one thing was missing: the water-meter covers embossed with a […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 222: ‘A safe space’
The OPSB voted to close the Living School at an emotional December board meeting and the Buttermilk Drop scrambled to pay bills after its Uber Eats account was hacked.
Posted inSchools
Living School mom asks school board: ‘What’s more important, test scores or actual students?’
At the Living School, 16-year-old Jameson Phillips finally brought himself up to grade level. “It’s the first time in his life that he’s not behind in school,” said his grandmother, Shawn Bazile, who took in Jameson a few years ago. The key, she believes, has been the school’s small size and dedication to one-on-one attention […]
Posted inNew OrLEaNS
Bakery Scraped By With Crumbs Because of Uber Eats Hacker
The Buttermilk Drop does more morning business than nearly anyone else on the city’s Uber Eats, its owners say. People hit the order button nonstop every morning, buying boxes of the bakery’s signature pastry, the Buttermilk Drop, and bigger breakfasts: shrimp and grits, omelets, breakfast rice with sausage and eggs, breakfast sandwiches, fried chicken, pancakes, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
NOPD: Drones just ‘body-worn cameras in the sky’
At a meeting, community members raise questions about the police department’s newest surveillance technology.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Joy Banner told to curtail remarks or risk arrest
Banner planned to ask the council why they were retaining a lawyer to defend its president from personal ethical concerns. But she was interrupted by the council chairman, who cited an invalidated statute and warned her that, if she spoke, she could face criminal prosecution.
Posted inEnvironment
Climate report indicates dire future for Mississippi River basin, which is already feeling impacts
Though there is still room for mitigation, the cycle of flooding and drought will become more extreme.
Posted inEnvironment
Louisiana’s rare growing coast, anchored by black willows and bald cypress trees
Fifty years after the historic 1973 flood, land is still forming in the Wax Lake and Atchafalaya River deltas. It’s held in place by the roots of coastal trees, which protect from flooding and hurricane winds and store carbon dioxide.