Sheriff: Landrieu’s gloom-and-doom consent decree figures are inflated
Gusman disputes $22 million-a-year for five years, cited by mayor.
Pro-business organizations sponsor expense-paid seminars for federal judges
U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier, who is presiding over the BP civil trial, attended a seminar sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. Critics say these privately funded conferences serve judges a steady dose of free-market, anti-regulation lectures that could influence their rulings.
Fiscal Hawk goes Jindal one better on tax exemptions: Cancel all of them
State Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard is filing a bill to repeal all tax exemptions not embedded in the state constitution.
‘Emergency’ meeting on jail reform raises questions about notification
Mayor Landrieu will paint a grim picture of financial impacts if city is forced to cover costs of the federal consent decree.
Billboard house collapses while city debates its demolition
Neighbors say squatters have pulled planks from the collapsing house and built themselves a shack in the rear. City officials are negotiating a hold-harmless agreement to allow demolition of the house.
Lake Forest plans to purchase laptops for its youngest students
The school will purchase 151 new laptops with a grant for use in its pre-K through second-grade classes.
Lycée appears to skirt open meetings laws while picking board candidates
Attorneys familiar with Louisiana law said the process may have subverted a law that requires public bodies to deliberate in public.
Natural river diversion at ‘Mardi Gras Pass’ gains support from political, commercial interests
Alternatives to plugging the crevasse include conduits beneath the levee or a bridge over the gap. These moves would buy time while scientists determine the pros and cons of this "free" diversion project and its potential impact on other projects planned as part of the struggle to rebuild a vanishing coast.
Priest deplores ‘shameful’ Ryan budget, lauds Landrieu for her opposition
Father Michael notes that financial inequality is at its worst level since the 1920s and prays that Congress will find the courage to attack the federal debt in a way that includes tax increases on the wealthy, not just cuts that hit middle-class and poor Americans hardest.
CBS seeks tax credit for broadcasting ‘The Talk’ live from French Quarter during Super Bowl
CBS irked some locals by defiling Andrew Jackson's statue with the logo of its show "The Talk" during Super Bowl week. Now it has stirred controversy by seeking a film industry tax break for those broadcasts from the French Quarter. Bottom line: the broadcaster is probably entitled to the tax break.
