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 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Orleans Parish Sheriff Hutson withholding investigative records related several ‘serious’ uses of force on mental health tier
In late January, a sergeant working in the New Orleans jail called for backup because a detainee, who was housed on a tier reserved for people with mental health needs, had a broomstick in his cell. When three deputies arrived, they found the cell window covered in feces and “a large amount of unknown liquid […]
Posted inUncategorized
These global banks made emission pledges. They’re still investing billions in expanding US gas exports
America’s massive gas export boom is about to get bigger. By the end of the decade, the Gulf Coast could see as many as 12 new liquefied natural gas terminals (LNG) built along its shores. This expansion would triple the amount of gas the US currently exports to be burned around the world, adding more […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Drug-related deaths at Angola prompted strip searches, but who is bringing in contraband?
Abdullah Muhammad entered the gates of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola as a 25-year-old with a freshly issued life sentence. At intake, before he was issued a prison jumpsuit, guards searched him and told him to disrobe. “Anytime anyone forces you to take your clothes off, it’s traumatizing,” Muhammad said. He remembers feeling tense […]
Posted inEnvironment
Gordon Plaza residents warn their attorney: Hands off of $35 million allocated by the City Council
Residents of Gordon Plaza, which sits atop a toxic landfill, want to keep their lawyers away from $35 million the New Orleans City Council set aside for people who lived there.