As the Clean Water Act turns 51 today, environmental advocates scramble to understand a new judicial interpretation that leaves more than half of the country’s 118 million acres of wetlands unprotected, including the swamps of Acadiana and key waterfowl habitat.
Posted inCriminal Justice
‘No Phase III’ still a battlecry
Even as construction begins, the fight continues. Within the jail, monitors find, conditions are worse, due to the same old chronic issues: short staffing, violence, and shoddy mental-healthcare.
Posted inEnvironment
Federal review finds grain terminal would harm historic sites in climate-vulnerable St. John Parish
Several historic sites would suffer “adverse effects” from construction of gigantic Greenfield Grain Terminal, says review of rural St. John the Baptist Parish – which was recently placed at the top spot of a nationwide list of places vulnerable to climate risks.
Posted inOpinion
School-facilities millage up for a vote on Saturday
“This is about honoring our commitment to educating our children in safe and modern spaces,” Dr. Williams writes. “Learning spaces matter, and they can help scholars excel academically.”
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 216: ‘It’s torturous’
This week on Behind The Lens, Calvin Cains died in police custody in June and his mother sought body camera footage from on-scene officers through a lawsuit. Those recordings, she hopes, can show her sons final moments, before he was killed by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Posted inOpinion
Wise grid expansion could provide reliable power and give consumers cost savings — if allowed by regulators.
An updated, well-connected power grid is critical to shielding New Orleans — and the rest of the state — from the worst financial and life-threatening impacts of record-high temperatures and flooding.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff Hutson moves several pre-trial detainees from New Orleans jail to Angola
While the move was largely made to bring down the jail’s population, placing pre-trial defendants in a state prison is “really problematic on a human-being level,” said public defender Alexis Chernow. The move also worries victims, who fear cases could stall if defendants not prepped for court and transported.
Posted inSchools
One in four Orleans charter schools face high-stakes renewals
District will hold one more meeting, on Thursday. Next month, state-issued grades typically are released.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Calvin Cains’ mother withdraws one lawsuit, but will keep fighting for body-cam
She now plans to file a “civil-rights and wrongful death lawsuit” against JPSO; body-camera footage would likely be turned over in the course of those proceedings.
Posted inOpinion
We cannot reduce crime and be safe without remaking Tulane and Broad
As the jail population climbs toward its maximum capacity – 1,250 – as set by the City Council, it’s clear that we must take a close look at what happens inside the Criminal District Courthouse.