TIGER III dollars would link and extend streetcar service. By Stephen Crim, The Lens contributing opinion writer | With applications due at the end of the month for TIGER III grants for transportation infrastructure, the federal government will soon be playing Santa Claus to transit agencies around the nation. As in the past, the New […]
Author Archives: The Editors
Posted inOpinion
Occupy Wall Street? Here? Pondering common denominators
The Occupy Wall Street protest marches through New Orleans on Thursday. Photo by Matt Davis. By Kira Akerman, The Lens contributing opinion writer | “The system was never broken it was built this way,” read the hand-painted sign held by a woman in New York City’s Occupy Wall Street protest. The woman was not on […]
Posted inOpinion
Street legal: Let’s make law fit our culture, not the other way around
A vendor grills vittles for sale at recent second-line parade organized by the Valley of Silent Men Social Aid & Pleasure Club. Photo courtesy of Derek Bridges. By Alan Williams, The Lens contributing opinion writer | The Landrieu Administration is making a valiant effort to give some meaning to the letter of the law in […]
Posted inOpinion
Balance gentrification with equity along the St. Claude Avenue corridor
Bywater residents celebrate recent debut of multi-service Health Center on St. Claude Avenue. Photo by Alexei Kazantsev, used by permission. By Michael T. Martin, The Lens contributing opinion writer | With the opening of the Healing Center and the possibility of extending streetcar service all the way to Poland Avenue, it’s time to accord the […]
Posted inOpinion
As social media grow, so does appreciation of the First Amendment
By Eric Newton, The Lens contributing opinion writer | Each year, on Constitution Day, students and teachers celebrate the most fundamental laws of our republic. This year, they should celebrate Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and all other social media children of the digital age. Why? Because, it turns out, social media are good for the Constitution. […]
Posted inOpinion
Refusing to let the 9/11 anniversary be owned solely by horror
By Billy Sothern, The Lens contributing opinion writer | On September 10, 2009, my wife Nikki was at her midwife’s office hoping to get some indication that our baby – four days past due – would come soon, ending her mounting pain and discomfort. It wasn’t until Nikki got back from her appointment that I saw […]
Posted inCharter Schools, Schools
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Posted inOpinion
Initiative aims to bring 'Creole Canal Street' back to full vigor
By Samuel Cook III, The Lens contributing opinion writer Saint Bernard Avenue runs through the 7th Ward, a central vein of this historic community. And the iconic Circle Food Store once served as its pulsing heart, a locus of cultural, social and economic activity. In a single outing , shoppers could make groceries, catch a […]
Posted inOpinion
Yet another anniversary — and still no substitute for Charity Hospital
By Sandra Stokes, The Lens contributing opinion writer | The sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina reminds us, as a community, how resilient we are, how we can work together to find solutions to the challenges we face. It coincides with another anniversary. Three years ago the Foundation for Historical Louisiana released its study on the […]
Posted inOpinion
Problems at Blair Grocery's farm/school follow a familiar pattern
By Evan Casper-Futterman, The Lens contributing opinion writer | I was saddened by Ariella Cohen’s feature on problems at Blair Grocery’s urban farm and school because, without ever setting foot on the property or meeting its leader, Nat Turner, I felt an intimate familiarity with the situation Cohen identified. As a volunteer with another post-Katrina non-profit […]