Last July, I took issue with a dubious airline analogy promoted by foes of the offshore drilling moratorium during BP’s Macondo deepwater oil gusher of 2011. Big Oil apologists repeated the analogy ad nauseam: “We don’t ground all airplanes after one crash, do we?” They hoped to portray the Obama administration’s response to the blowout […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Despite record income, Traffic Court judges pushing bill to give themselves more money
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | A bill scheduled for debate Wednesday on the floor of the state House would let New Orleans Traffic Court charge higher fees even though its budget is booming. Further, the legislator who sponsored the bill and one of the court’s judges gave different reasons why the bill […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Land Use, Schools
Tulane erases scandal-plagued frat house; cop station to rise on cleared Broadway lot
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Tulane on Tuesday dumped a frat house into the dustbin of Greek history to make way for a new campus police station. A wrecking crew made quick work of the former Pi Kappa Alpha house at 1036 Broadway, catty corner to The Boot, a popular campus watering […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Jim Brown makes interesting points; some are even his own
Former Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown hosts a radio talk show on a nationwide network of affiliates. He’s also one of the most widely reprinted political commentators in the Louisiana blogosphere. From the Daily Kingfish to the Louisiana Conservative, from Bayou Buzz to various other outlets around the state, Jim Brown’s columns have received significant […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Asleep at the switch: Police dispatchers disciplined for napping on the job
The New Orleans Police Department disciplined five police dispatchers in March for sleeping on the job at various times last year, records show.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
If at first you don't succeed … Developer vows to re-bid Auditorium makeover plan
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | The political ally of former Mayor Ray Nagin whose plan to turn the Municipal Auditorium into a media production facility was slammed as a boondoggle, hasn’t given up on the project. On Saturday night developer Stewart Juneau will host a fundraiser to benefit restoration of the Armstrong […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City contracts proving hard to monitor as electronic routing system is overhauled
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | The long road city contracts travel before being signed is, at least temporarily, even twistier and more dimly lit than it was when Ray Nagin was mayor. For the two years before Mayor Mitch Landrieu took office, city officials and the Inspector General could monitor the progress […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Traffic camera bill could shoot a $12 million hole in New Orleans budget
Last year Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, said, “It is no longer if we get rid of these cameras, it is a matter of when.” He was talking about traffic cameras, and he was right. While his proposal to unplug the cameras stalled in the Legislature in 2010, this year the passage of his bill looks downright […]
Posted inOpinion
Refinery accident pollution estimates badly need refining
By Benjamin Leger, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Talk to anyone who lives near an oil refinery or chemical plant in Louisiana, and they’ll tell you they worry every night about what might happen. “We go to sleep always ready to roll,” says Sonyja Thomas, a resident of north Baton Rouge near ExxonMobil, the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
A year after Nagin, frustration mounts over continuing delays in post-Katrina projects
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | As Mayor Landrieu marks a first year in office, his capital projects team is still troubleshooting design problems on more than half of the 113 federally funded recovery projects it selected from the much longer list passed on by his predecessor at City Hall. This leaves many […]