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Author: Michael Isaac Stein

About Michael Isaac Stein
Michael Isaac Stein covers New Orleans' cultural economy and local government for The Lens. Before joining the staff, he freelanced for The Lens as well as The Intercept, CityLab, The New Republic, and Pacific Standard. He was recently awarded a fellowship from the Heinrich Boll Foundation, which he used to report on water scarcity, division, and colonialism in Cyprus.

City releases dozens of pages of emails on police use of facial recognition

December 14, 2020 Updated December 14, 2020
The emails show that the NOPD and Louisiana State Police have had a formal relationship since at least 2018 that provides the NOPD access facial recognition software.

City Council saves $1.2 million by expanding in-house Entergy regulation, cutting consultants

December 10, 2020 Updated December 10, 2020
The council has long relied on pricey — often politically connected — private firms to do its regulatory work.

Voters shoot down all three Cantrell-backed tax proposals

December 5, 2020 Updated December 5, 2020
The French Quarter sales tax renewal, which was used to pay for Louisiana State Police patrols, was also rejected.

Library director says there is no written plan to adjust to 40% cut backed by Cantrell

December 2, 2020 Updated December 18, 2020
Officials on Wednesday repeated several of the false and misleading statements that the Cantrell administration has used to sell the proposal to the public.

City accused of misleading the public in campaign for property tax proposal

November 23, 2020 Updated November 24, 2020
The Cantrell administration and library officials have come out strong in favor of a package of ballot initiatives that would cut the library budget by 40 percent in favor of housing and economic development. And they have repeatedly made false and misleading statements about the proposal.

New Orleans City Council approves ‘somber budget’ for 2021

November 19, 2020 Updated November 19, 2020
City Council makes few changes to Cantrell’s lean budget proposal.

Report: Bureau of Governmental Research opposes Cantrell-backed tax proposals on Dec. 5 ballot

November 16, 2020 Updated November 16, 2020
"Voters are asked to approve a nearly 40% revenue cut for public libraries without a strategic plan or a clear roadmap," the report said.

New Orleans Police Department using facial recognition despite years of denial

November 12, 2020 Updated November 12, 2020
Explaining its previous denials, the department said that it doesn’t employ its own facial recognition software. Instead, it accesses the technology through state and federal partners. An ACLU lawyer said that was a ‘distinction without a difference.’

‘I hope the voters kill it:’ Library board member comes out against Cantrell-backed tax proposal on December ballot

November 11, 2020 Updated November 11, 2020
Board member Andrea Neighbours also criticized a proposed policy from the Cantrell administration to change employee discipline and grievance policies.

‘An entirely different ball game’: City Council begins 2021 budget hearings under fog of uncertainty

November 9, 2020 Updated November 9, 2020
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a new president and Mayor Cantrell’s property tax proposal make it tough to predict how much money the city will have to work with next year.

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