Friday’s round of City Council budget hearings continued much in the same vein as those of the first two days: Department heads estimated the impact of smaller allocations from Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s proposed $491 general fund budget. And council members continued to ask departments to tap into their reserves, generate as much outside revenue as […]
Category: Government & Politics
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Council looks to help Police Monitor, slash Juvenile Court
On the second day of New Orleans City Council budget hearings Thursday, department heads described to council members the impact of widespread cuts in the mayor’s proposed $491 million general fund budget for 2013, down from $497.5 million this year. Council members used the hearings to inquire about shortcomings in various departments and compliment a […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Safety and Permits takes brunt of council criticism on Wednesday
Wednesday marked the beginning of the City Council hearings on Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s $491 million proposed 2013 budget. The first agenda item of the afternoon was the longest, with two hours of questions, accusations and confusion regarding the Department of Safety and Permits. Council members expressed frustration with several aspects, including response time and constituent […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Four years is a split-second eternity—no matter who wins tonight
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson: Is the Libertarian a longshot for 2016? photo: Steve Terrell, Flickr I expected the 2012 race for national office to be a weird one. Instead, it’s been pretty stable. Sorry about that. I didn’t think Republicans would nominate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to lead their crusade against President […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
The Lens talks with candidates for School Board districts 1 & 2
To inform voters and provide a broad platform for debate, The Lens and our partners at WWNO-FM are presenting conversations with candidates in Orleans Parish School Board races. The interviews aired on WWNO-FM for the three Sunday nights before the election. The Lens is also publishing the unedited video for these forums. Here The Lens’ […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
When it comes to child sex abuse, we’re all ‘mandatory reporters’
While I do enjoy plumbing “gray area” hypotheticals and connecting different issues to one another, I’m afraid those predilections obscured a central point I wanted to make in my previous column on new laws about reporting child abuse. As noted, the new laws expand the definition of “mandatory reporters,” folks who work with kids and […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Those who suspect child abuse carry major new legal responsibilities
After the Penn State child sexual abuse scandal became national news, state Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, sponsored legislation requiring coaches to report suspected child abuse. State Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, also filed a bill, one that extended whistleblower protections to employees who report abuse of a minor by a co-worker or supervisor. The bills […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Investigations, Schools
School music programs, marching bands staging post-Katrina comeback
Sitting still doesn’t come naturally to a lot of kids. Getting students to sit still long enough to learn is often the teachers’ hardest job. But weeks before school officially began at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology, eager students sat for hours at a time, practicing their horns under […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
The Lens talks with candidates from School Board districts 4 & 7
To inform voters and provide a broad platform for candidate debate, The Lens and our partners at WWNO-FM are presenting conversations with candidates in the Orleans Parish School Board races. Lens reporter Jessica Williams is hosting the events, which are airing on WWNO for the three Sunday nights before the election, at 9 p.m. The […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Schools
Lycée parents complain to BESE about pricey fees for tutoring
Parents complained today before the state’s top education board that they had to pay a $250 application fee to enroll their children in Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orleans, the French-immersion charter school, and upwards of $150 a week to get them extra tutoring. They also complained to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that […]