A measure that would add a conviction for fentanyl distribution to the short list of crimes punishable by a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole is being backed by Louisiana prosecutors as a response to the opioid epidemic in the state, while advocates warn that the harsh sentence will throw people away for […]
Posted inSchools
NOLA Public Schools considers third tier of charter school warnings
The administration presented draft recommendations of the Charter School Accountability Framework on Tuesday.
Posted inNews
Award-winning reporter Katy Reckdahl joins the staff of The Lens
Award-winning reporter Katy Reckdahl is a new staff writer with The Lens. Reckdahl was a staff reporter for The Times-Picayune and the alt-weekly Gambit before spending a decade as a freelancer, writing frequently for the New Orleans Advocate | Times-Picayune, The New York Times and the Washington Post. She’s received more than two-dozen first-place New […]
Posted inEnvironment
Oil sprayed on neighborhood from S&WB plant for second time
Residents living across Spruce Street from the Sewerage and Water Board’s Carrollton Power Plant found their homes and property coated in oily residue over the weekend of April 8-9 — for the second time in just over a year. The pattern and distribution mimic a 2022 venting of lubrication oil from the exhaust stack of […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 200
Reporter Joshua Rosenberg talks about a lawsuit in St. John the Baptist Parish seeking to force the company proposing a new grain elevator in the area to pay $200 million in taxes on the project. Reporter Nick Chrastil speaks about the controversy over what records the Orleans Parish Sheriff is and isn’t turning over related to use of force at the jail
Posted inEnvironment
Mississippi River basin should be getting more USDA conservation funding, report says
A new report from the Environmental Working Group, an environmental and health nonprofit, argues that the Mississippi River basin is not receiving enough conservation funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is one of the department’s largest conservation programs and helps farmers integrate conservation practices, such as cover cropping […]
Posted inEnvironment
Nonprofit: Greenfield owes $200 million in property taxes for grain elevator project
A nonprofit opposed to the construction of a grain elevator in St. John the Baptist Parish sued the company behind the project, Greenfield Louisiana, along with the parish’s tax assessor, arguing Greenfield is being shielded from $209 million in property taxes. The Descendants Project, founded by twin sister Jo and Joy Banner, said in a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff turns over information related to questionable uses of force
After weeks of delay, civil rights attorneys representing people locked up in the New Orleans jail are now satisfied that the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office has turned over all the records they have related to several questionable uses of force at the facility earlier this year. But they say many investigative records they requested that […]
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind the Lens episode 199
Reporter Nick Chrastil on the trial of Linda Frickey’s death being delayed for about a year, Joshua Rosenberg discusses the latest on Gordon Plaza and Marta Jewson on charter school renewals in New Orleans.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
SWB outages leave pumping system, city vulnerable
Over half of the machines which provide antiquated 25 cycle power to drainage, water, and sewer pumps across the city’s east bank are currently out of service, the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board said, sinking the utility’s ability to quickly move water off streets during severe spring storms below its own stated needs. The […]