By Benjamin Leger, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Testifying in front of the Senate Energy Committee in May 2010 while the Deepwater Horizon was still gushing oil into the Gulf, Louisiana’s U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu voiced her opposition to the moratorium on deepwater exploratory drilling: Since 1971, not a single spill in the Gulf, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Oversights or plagiarism? Jim Brown’s mea culpas don’t add up
My piece about the lifted texts in Jim Brown’s online opinion columns grew new legs on Sunday when Gambit published a 3,000-word story on the matter, and a 3,000-word sidebar so readers could compare excerpts from Brown’s columns with their original sources. Hearty applause to writers Kevin Allman and Alex Woodward for pursuing this issue […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The Lens wins press club awards for investigative reporting, social media
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | The Lens won considerable recognition at the Press Club of New Orleans Awards on Saturday night. Co-founder and staff writer Ariella Cohen won first place in the print investigative category and the Alex Waller Memorial Award for her entry “Following the money: the use and abuse of Katrina […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Star turn for Central City bar – but can it still operate legally as the joint it's long been?
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | And this week the award for most creative argument in support of a zoning decision goes to attorney Ed Washington. Washington’s mission was not a simple one, but he had chosen to accept it. The goal: to get the Board of Zoning Adjustment to bless plans that […]
Posted inOpinion
Let culture buffs fund the arts – not govt. bureaucrats
By Kevin Kane, The Lens contributing opinion writer | In an opinion piece posted recently at The Lens, New Orleans’ online investigative news site, arts writer and editor Nathan C. Martin recently criticized the Louisiana legislature for cutting statewide funding for the arts. While Martin rightly celebrates Louisiana’s culture, his argument for increased government subsidies falls […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
LSEA an engine for business development? Sure, if you don’t mind driving it out of state
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.