Gathering Wednesday in Baton Rouge, each of Louisiana’s four former governors fell into a familiar role. Kathleen Blanco was the earnest public servant, describing how she grappled with recovery in Katrina’s aftermath while facing a hostile Republican administration in Washington. Mike Foster played the ordinary Joe. What he most misses from his time in office, […]
Author Archives: Tyler Bridges
Tyler Bridges covers Louisiana politics and public policy for The Lens. He returned to New Orleans in 2012 after spending the previous year as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, where he studied digital journalism. Prior to that, he spent 13 years as a reporter for the Miami Herald, where he was twice a member of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams while covering state government, the city of Miami and national politics. He also was a foreign correspondent based in South America. Before the Herald, he covered politics for seven years at The Times-Picayune. He is the author of The Rise of David Duke (1994) and Bad Bet on the Bayou: The Rise of Gambling in Louisiana and the Fall of Governor Edwin Edwards (2001). He can be reached at (504) 810-6222.
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Live blog recap: Jindal speaks on education policy at Brookings
Gov. Bobby Jindal is in Washington, D.C., today to deliver a keynote address at a Brookings Institution event on education. According to Brookings, Jindal will offer “his reflections on education reform in his state and the nation in the context of school choice and competition.” He will speak at 12:50 p.m. CST. Jindal will undoubtedly […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Live blog recap: City Council approves water rate increase
The New Orleans City Council voted 5-2 to double water and sewer rates over the next eight years. The proposed rate increase has roiled city politics in recent days after Council President Stacy Head called on her six colleagues to postpone the vote in order to obtain more information. The city’s Sewerage & Water Board […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Water board details spending plan as rate hike vote looms
With a vote scheduled Thursday that could double water rates in New Orleans by 2020, Sewerage & Water Board officials on Wednesday bowed to public pressure and spelled out how they plan to spend $582.7 million in extra money. The New Orleans City Council appears likely to approve the rate increase, backed aggressively by Mayor […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
No clear answers on what city water rate increase would pay for
Less than two days before the New Orleans City Council decides whether to double water and sewer rates over eight years, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and city officials haven’t explained exactly how the $583 million in extra money would be spent. The Lens has asked the Sewerage & Water Board for concrete answers since Thursday but […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council president seeks delay of vote on huge water-rate increase
New Orleans City Council President Stacy Head accused Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Monday of trying to ram a doubling of sewage and water rates through the council on Thursday, without, she said, the issue having been fully vetted. Head is asking her colleagues to postpone the vote because she said the Sewerage & Water Board […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Investigations
Jindal administration invoking 2009 law to shield public records
Gov. Bobby Jindal took office in 2008 promising the most transparent administration in Louisiana history, and he quickly began to deliver. He got the state Legislature to approve one measure that requires elected and appointed officials to disclose their personal finances and another that provides greater public disclosure of government contracts. But over the past […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Bridge toll renewal issue was excluded from provisional ballots
Bridge tolls might well have been removed if 1,450 provisional ballots included the issue. Photo by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Opponents of extending tolls on the Crescent City Connection have been asking “What if”? after learning they lost by a scant 16 votes in last week’s election. What if they had registered more people […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Government & Politics
Squabble over pre-trial program erupts as hearings plow forward
Hum-dee-dum. Discussion over Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s proposed 2013 budget proceeded in routine fashion for much of Tuesday, with New Orleans City Council members questioning the mayor’s senior aides on ways to squeeze small savings from various programs. Things heated up in the afternoon, however, when the mayor’s office presented its plan to spend $184,000 on […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Lawmakers cool on session to reverse Jindal's hospital cuts
A legislative bid to reverse Gov. Bobby Jindal’s cuts in health care services for the poor and uninsured seems likely to fail. In a survey by The Lens state legislators from Orleans, Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes expressed doubt that the political will exists to call the Legislature into special session next month to restore […]