Sewerage and Water Board to suspend service shutoffs during coronavirus emergency
The news follows demands from New Orleans City Council members that utilities suspend shutoffs. Entergy New Orleans agreed to suspend some shutoffs.
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.
‘The time is now’: City Council puts pause on additional public cameras to work on comprehensive surveillance regulations
Councilman Jason Williams said he was prompted to the delay the vote and create new regulations after meeting with the local community group Eye on Surveillance
Convention Center proposes settlement over disputed public transit dollars
The proposal would reduce the Regional Transit Authority's payments to the tourism industry to $3 to $4 million a year, down from roughly $7 million.
State law gets in the way of Convention Center living wage requirement, but board is thinking 'outside the box'
The governing board of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center was told by its legal counsel at a Wednesday meeting that state law prevented them from requiring contractors to pay their employees higher wages than the federal minimum of $7.25.
City’s 'Smart City Pilot' proposal would add 90 new public cameras using Entergy funds
The cameras may be used for law enforcement purposes, raising concerns from privacy advocates.
Council advances $58 million funding plan for energy efficiency program
The plan will ad $4 to the average residential customer's monthly bills, but the City Council, Entergy and advocates all agree that savings will outweigh costs.
Following Hard Rock collapse, council and Mayor begin work on “responsible bidders ordinance”
All four council members at the meeting said they were in favor of the idea, and a spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell said she was working with the council to create a draft ordinance.
Public tourism body changes its mission under plan from Mayor Cantrell
If the City Council ratifies the changes, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation will change from a marketing agency for the city’s tourism industry to a fund that supports New Orleans’ “cultural economy and culture-bearers.”
City Council approves two Industrial Tax Exemptions for the first time under new local approval rules
The council decided the new factory was worth it, despite aspects of both applications that violate local rules.
Port to move newly installed mural after non-white employees take issue
Port employees told The Lens that the debate over the mural evolved into a wider conversation over how the Port leadership handles issues of race, the treatment of non-white employees and the lack of people of color in senior staff positions.
