By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | Rock ‘n’ Bowl owner John Blancher won city approval this week to tear down two apartment duplexes adjacent to the New Orleans bowling alley and night club, with plans to use the space for parking. Six New Orleans City Council members voted unanimously to overrule the Neighborhood […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Iberville developer eyes Lafitte Greenway linear park for obligatory off-site housing
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | The Landrieu administration is considering a request to build affordable housing on a parcel of fallow city-owned land long expected to be part of the Lafitte Greenway in Mid-City. The land in question is the largest contiguous piece of land within the footprint of the linear park, […]
Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Berm blather distracts us from the real issue: slapdash drilling
The Gulf Coast Leadership Summit was convened last week at the Hilton to remember and discuss the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and the oil gusher that followed. The first day of the Summit included a forum with former Oil Spill Commission members as well as forums with political leaders from affected coastal regions. Much of […]
Posted inOpinion
Don't let state swipe unspent funds for energy efficiency
By Devin Lowell, The Lens contributing opinion writer | President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package breathed new life into a Louisiana energy-efficiency program. But now low enrollment threatens the funding for that program, and state Department of Natural Resources wants to shift the money into programs they view as a better investment. If that happens, the […]
Posted inOpinion
When demolition becomes an act of cultural vandalism
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff opinion writer | There’s a familiar ring to it: yet another house being knocked down as preservationists scramble in vain to defend it. But don’t be deceived. This time it’s not about the house. No one pretends that the blighted Central City double at 2040 Felicity Street was an […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Could ‘Trumped’-up birther campaign be a secret deal with Dems?
A billboard on I-10 near Roanoke, Louisiana, asks drivers, ”Where’s the Birth Certificate?” The reference here is to President Obama, part of a long campaign to spread doubts about his citizenship. Many on the political right buy into the idea that Obama wasn’t born in Hawaii. They insinuate that he’s something strange, something scary, a […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Another Orleans Parish deputy arrested in a domestic-dispute case; sheriff remains mum
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | A jailhouse sergeant at the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office was booked in Jefferson Parish with domestic abuse battery and aggravated assault 10 days ago, records show, and a co-worker at the Orleans Parish Prison said the sergeant hasn’t been to work since. Sgt. William Holmes was arrested […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Anti-creationism crusade gains support; Capitol rally slated
I’ve neglected to update an issue raised in a previous post, so let’s seize the opportunity. Skeptics might say this alleged “update” is a poorly-disguised excuse for self-promotion, to which I’d firmly reply, “Hey, I think I hear an ice cream truck coming!” Anyway, let’s get going, because there’s no time to waste like the […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Prior owner of 1 demolished "Treme" house says city seized double he was trying to fix
By Ariella Cohen, The Lens staff writer | Standing in front of a row of abandoned, soon-to-be-razed double shotguns, , gesturing sympathetically to the neighborhood leaders gathered with him, Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Thursday implored New Orleans property owners to end the pattern of neglect that has left tens of thousands blighted buildings across the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Sheriff's deputy arrested while on duty at jail after ex-girlfriend complains of beating
By Matt Davis, The Lens staff writer | An Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested while working at the jail last month after allegedly punching his ex-girlfriend in the face for refusing to discuss rumors that he had been having sex with male inmates at the jail, police records show. Stephen Thomas, who goes […]