Along with grocery stores, functional roads, and less blight, the people of New Orleans’ hardest-hit neighborhoods want a full accounting of recovery spending. This was the clearest takeaway of Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s two public budget meetings this week, with spending priorities taking a back seat to more overarching concerns about transparency and the way budget decisions […]
Author Archives: Ariella Cohen
Posted inEnvironment
Have you filed a claim with BP? If the answer is yes, please help us illuminate the process.
The Lens wants to hear from people who have filed a claim for damages related to BP’s oil spill in Gulf of Mexico.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Baton Rouge wins big in race for federal stimulus cash
A year and a half after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dismissed the federal stimulus as a debt-generating waste, the Pelican State has accepted about $5 billion from the program. The Congress-approved cash went to programs ranging from education grants to coastal restoration projects to software modeling of civil works programs’ economic impact. In the race […]
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics
Gulf Coast states lag behind other states in getting contracts for oil disaster work
An overwhelming number of federal contracts related to the BP oil disaster have gone to companies outside of the area most affected by the environmental and economic catastrophe, according to data from government agencies. About $6.5 million in federal contracting money has gone to Louisiana since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the state’s […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Investigations
Officer connected to Serpas' daughter totaled NOPD cruiser while driving drunk
Criminal drunk driving charges were dropped for the New Orleans Police Department officer, but city officials did not respond for requests for an explanation.
Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics
Landrieu ditches Nagin plan
Call it the off-target plan. Mayor Mitch Landrieu is moving away from predecessor Ray Nagin’s recovery strategy of pushing projects in 17 “target zones” across the city. “Frankly, it was a previous administration’s plan,” mayoral spokesman Ryan Berni said. Berni acknowledged today that Landrieu has yet to finish his own recovery plan. His administration is […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Juveniles face sexual abuse in state prisons, report says
More than 16 percent of youth incarcerated in Louisiana’s largest juvenile jail told federal officials that they were sexually abused while imprisoned, according to a report issued Thursday by a New Orleans nonprofit. The rate of abuse reported at the Swanson Center for Youth in Monroe is higher than the national average of 12 percent, […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Missing money … still missing
Update: City Council President Arnie Fielkow has asked New Orleans Inspector General Ed Quatrevaux to investigate the missing $16.7 million from the city’s Urban Development Action Grant program, he said Thursday. After a month of investigation, City Hall officials have failed to find documentation of $16.7 million loaned by previous administrations to private businesses but […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
City is missing $17 million from business loan program
More than $16 million in loans given to private businesses from the city’s largest economic development loan fund is missing, according to internal city documents. A summary of the city’s Urban Development Action Grant program shows that only $2.35 million out of $26 million from one particular round of loans has been repaid. Another $7.3 […]
Posted inEnvironment
Despite commandeering boats, officials losing island oil battle in Barataria Bay
Signs of the siege were scattered across East Grand Terre Island at the mouth of Barataria Bay: a pile of rakes crusted with oily mud, drenched absorbent matted into the sand, baby pools filled with greasy mud-colored water, wooden scrub brushes that looked more appropriate for a bubble bath than the cleanup of the biggest […]