In 2008 Governor Bobby Jindal aptly demonstrated his scorn for classroom science, when he ignored advice from his own Ivy League genetics professor and signed the so-called Louisiana Science and Education Act. Apparently, Jindal worried that Louisiana students didn’t possess his level of discernment and that their belief systems would shatter if they heard biblical […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Justice panel squawks about 'rubber stamp' role on agency funding; Carter vows reform
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | James Carter, Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s criminal justice coordinator, got an earful Tuesday at his very first meeting with the city’s Criminal Justice Council. The panel, comprising judges, the sheriff, the police chief and the occasional City Council member meets annually to allot state and federal grants that […]
Posted inOpinion
TIGER III funds: How NOT to spend these federal transit dollars
By Stephen Crim, The Lens contributing opinion writer | The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened the application process for $527 million in grants for transportation projects under the name TIGER III. In an earlier round of similar funding, last year the Regional Transit Authority won $45 million for the Loyola Avenue line. As a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Jefferson drops charges against OPP deputy
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The District Attorney’s Office in Jefferson Parish has dropped all charges against a jailhouse sergeant at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office booked in April with domestic abuse battery and aggravated assault. Sgt. William Holmes was arrested at his home April 9 after his wife called 911 and later […]
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics, Investigations
Workplace deaths raise questions about OSHA experiment in self-regulation
A federal program rewards companies that profess a commitment to exemplary safety standards. The commitment, however, has not meant an end to workplace fatalities.
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Your money, who decides? New Orleanians invited to speak up on budget for next year
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance is holding a training session for citizens Wednesday to teach them how, when, and where best to speak up so that their voices are included in the city’s budget process, which is already underway. The coalition, of which The Lens […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Not self-evident: Our founding documents weren’t created equal
My family and I drove to central Florida to visit relatives and celebrate the Fourth of July. Unfortunately this coincided with the Casey Anthony trial, which culminated this week in a not guilty verdict on the major felony charges. Suffice it to say that my favorite holiday wasn’t favorably enhanced by heading into the main […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Council tells district attorney, criminal clerk to do a better job of measuring effectiveness
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Three City Councilwomen pushed the District Attorney’s Office and the Clerk of Criminal District Court to set better performance measures for how they spend taxpayer money this week. Their remarks came at the last of three joint meetings of the council’s Criminal Justice and Budget committees Thursday. […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Flap over Magazine Street Pilates center prompts city to shape up notification rules
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Once it opens, the new Romney Pilate Center on upper Magazine Street promises to help the workout crowd shape up. But because of neighborly unhappiness over the way the building itself bulked up after original designs were approved, the development has already begun reshaping the way the […]
Posted inLand Use
Interview: St. Roch art impresario holds forth from Tasmania on the wreckage left behind
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | In the years after Hurricane Katrina, Kirsha Kaechele made a name for herself as a kind of art world impresario. The city’s cultural elite flocked to soirees where they consumed fine food and edgy, disaster-inspired art — all this in St. Roch, a low-income, violence-plagued neighborhood where […]