By Naomi Martin, The Lens staff writer | All education majors at the University of New Orleans would take on teaching roles in the four Capital One-UNO charter schools, under a new plan presented to the charters’ governing board. The New Beginnings School Foundation oversees 1,640 students in four schools: P.A. Capdau Elementary, Gentilly Terrace […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Changes in NOPD's arrest policies save city nearly $2 million in jail fees so far this year
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The city has saved $1.9 million so far this year in payments to Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman thanks to policy changes that have led to housing 300 fewer prisoners a day. But City Council Budget Committee Chairman Arnie Fielkow said the city’s financial relationship with Gusman […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Student fees vary widely throughout Orleans public school system, Lens study shows
Public education is free, right? Wrong. From uniform costs to “enrichment fees,” New Orleans parents increasingly pay something toward their children’s education.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Cutting coastal cash is perfect complement to Big Oil’s free ride
Belated thanks to Gambit for reprinting a Bloomberg News article on the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s unwillingness to hand out big fines to the oil industry. I linked to a summary of the article in my Feb. 24 opinion column, and was pleased to see that Bob Marshall cited the Bloomberg piece in his […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Confusion swirls as BESE ponders proper size of neighborhood attendance zones
Correction: The description of the admission process at RSD open-enrollment charter schools has been amended to reflect that, if applications exceed capacity, students are chosen by lottery. By Jessica Williams, The Lens staff writer | The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education had a rare meeting in New Orleans Wednesday night to ponder rules […]
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics
Council ponders whether recycling carts are too big; French Quarter may get service
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Is the city’s new recycling program putting the cart before the trash man’s horse? With 50,000 carts for recycled trash already on order, City Council members on Thursday debated whether the 64-gallon size soon to be delivered is too big. Also still up in the air: whether […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Inmate's lawyer: Sheriff emptied women's jail after complaint to feds about conditions
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman moved his women prisoners from their separate facility at Orleans Parish Prison into a temporary tent next door after a complaint about conditions, the attorney who filed the complaint said Tuesday. Attorney Billy Sothern wrote to the U.S. Marshals Office on Feb. […]
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics
Recycling carts, service and costs top agenda for City Council committee meeting
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Anyone excited, frustrated or just plain interested in the city’s latest effort to reinstate curbside recycling by May will have plenty to listen to at tomorrow’s meeting of the City Council’s Sanitation Committee. Most of the agenda is dedicated to the matter, from next week’s expected bid […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Land Use, Schools
Animal House where pledges were scalded is targeted by Tulane for cop substation
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Tulane wants to build a police substation in place of a frat house that was closed after pledges were scalded with boiling water and crab boil in an ugly 2009 hazing incident. The case for demolishing the former Pi Kappa Alpha residence, at 1036 Broadway, will be […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
City Council zaps 'aggressive' panhandlers in New Orleans business district
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | It’s no longer legal to borrow a paraplegic’s wheelchair and fake infirmity yourself – not if your intent is to soften the hearts of people you’re panhandling in the Central Business District. Downtown ATM machines? Do your begging elsewhere, as long as it’s not a bus or […]