“As a researcher who has closely observed, personally experienced local struggles,” says the writer, Bethany Garfield, “it’s with a heavy heart that I say that investigations into the state of our city’s protective plans and systems will likely garner the following conclusion: New Orleans isn’t ready for much of anything..”
Category: Government & Politics
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Behind the scenes of Super Bowl shelter planning
Emails show that state officials considered creating a shelter in a barge moored in Industrial Canal — and that prominent local developers knew about the shelter long before some city officials.
Posted inEmbracing our narratives
Super Bowl planners: ‘Anticipate any features of the [Lower 9] neighborhood which could be used by media to substantiate Katrina narrative’
This is the introduction to a five-story project, The Lens’ Embracing Katrina Narratives project. Last summer, in July, a group of influential New Orleanians gathered, with hopes of preparing the city for a national spotlight ahead of Super Bowl LIX. Michael Hecht, the CEO Of Greater New Orleans Inc., who was tapped by Governor Jeff Landry […]
Posted inEmbracing our narratives
Embracing Katrina narratives
After an insinuation made by a Super Bowl planning committee, reporters from The Lens asked Lower 9 residents what Super Bowl visitors should see, plotted the points on a map, and documented the Katrina narratives that go with each landmark.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
St. John the Baptist Parish cleared in First Amendment lawsuit
A jury found that the defendants didn’t violate Joy Banner’s right to free speech or the Louisiana Open Meetings Law. But testimony revealed a hatred the Parish President harbors against the co-founders of The Descendants Project.
Posted inGovernment & Politics
Trial begins in First Amendment suit against St. John the Baptist Parish
Joy Banner of The Descendants Project brought the lawsuit after the Parish Council chairman threatened her with prosecution and imprisonment for speaking during the public comment period of a 2023 meeting.
Posted inEnvironment
Latest federal Water Resources Development Act addresses climate extremes and flooding along the Mississippi River
Louisiana secured the bill’s largest project authorization, for St. Tammany Flood Risk Management. New Orleans scored authorization for a study about salt water in the river.
Posted inOpinion
Ensuring we all feel safe and are stably employed
“We have much work to do,” Hunter writes, “to ensure that an anti-terrorist component is part of the planning process for every special event that attracts thousands – Mardi Gras, festivals and holiday celebrations, even our Sunday second-line parades.”
Posted inGovernment & Politics
The shelter that the Super Bowl made
The leader of the governor’s temporary shelter says they are fully staffed and genuinely ready to move people into permanent housing. But it is several miles from the Superdome and is seen by critics as a way to warehouse homeless people away from Super Bowl crowds.
Posted inHealth
Fighting Act 246 in court
As advocates and lawyers file suit against the state, asking a judge to bar the reclassification of drugs used for medication abortion, women seeking IUDs and needing prenatal care say that they are also feeling the effects of the new law.