By Jessica Williams, The Lens staff writer | The charter school community – and, no doubt, its critics as well – will benefit from an online compilation of laws regarding the operation of these schools. The Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools has posted the law library on its website above all for the use […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
IG's report on arrests for petty crime slams city's arrangement with Sheriff's Office
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Even after reforms initiated in 2008 that were meant to reduce arrests, the city jail has been clogged with petty offenders housed at high cost, according to a report issued Thursday by Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux. Lending support to efforts to substitute citations for arrest of petty […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Serpas cancels order for 2,000 'reward coins' to be bought with state forfeiture funds
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The New Orleans Police Department cancelled the use of seized state drug money to purchase reward coins for police officers two hours after our partners at FOX 8 News questioned Superintendent Ronal Serpas about the legality of the transaction. “It was a snafu,” Serpas said. “It would […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
City neighborhoods: a matter of evolving perception
There’s no escaping the need for neighborhood designations, but they often have more to do with bureaucratic arrogance than with on-the-ground realities and our sense of who we are.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Maybe GOP should return St. Pierre’s tainted donations
Don’t you wish you could have joined in one of the poker games Mark St. Pierre held regularly on his party yacht, the Silicon Bayou? Assuming St. Pierre’s card-playing wiles are like his defense strategy against U.S. attorney Jim Letten, a patient gambler could win all kinds of moolah off of him. Just let St. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Temporary jail buildings beginning to take shape in Orleans Parish Prison complex
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman is making good progress on temporary jail space, which is designed to ease pressure on his existing facilities before a new permanent jail is constructed. Still, it remains unclear whether the sheriff will close down 400 existing beds or simply add to […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
"Devastation" from moratorium was as real as the Rapture, but it got far less buzz
At the Gulf Coast Leadership Summit held in New Orleans on April 19, local businesswoman Leslie Bertucci stood at an audience microphone and passionately explained her story to former Oil Spill Commission Co-Chairman Bob Graham, who listened from the conference room stage. She told him that she was the owner of R&D Enterprises, and that […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Lens' Gert Town investigation draws IG attention; city review met with resistance
By Jessica Williams, The Lens staff writer | As a result of an investigation by The Lens, the secretive director of the Gert Town Revival Initiative not only had to provide answers to the city about her finances – but the organization may well have to face the inspector general’s probing eye, too. During a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Sheriff draws attention to unspent money for city building projects in fund he controls
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Sheriff Marlin Gusman used a 10-minute meeting of his little-scrutinized but extremely powerful law enforcement district this morning to draw attention to the city’s failure to take advantage of millions of dollars for capital projects that have sat dormant in the district’s fund for more than a […]
Posted inOpinion
BGR housing study was complemented, not contradicted, by UNO
Janet R. Howard, The Lens contributing opinion writer | On May 24, The Lens posted an article from Sara Meadows Tolleson on a bill proposed by House Speaker Jim Tucker to consolidate three housing agencies into a new entity. After discussing the need for amendments, Ms. Tolleson attacked the accuracy of a study by the […]