An eye in the sky, the Bravo 300 is made in New Orleans but has yet to find a buyer in local government. Photo courtesy of Crescent Unmanned Systems City Hall has reversed plans to use drone surveillance over New Orleans during the Super Bowl in February. That’s surprising, because Deputy Mayor Jerry Sneed had […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
Ounce of prevention vs. $300,000 in campaign contributions
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil drilling disaster, Louisiana’s two U.S. Senators, Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, and David Vitter, a Republican, did not call for more research. Like most rational people, they called for safety measures to mitigate the potentially devastating impact of future disasters. You might think it was a […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Should controversial art exhibit cost Slidell teacher his job?
No, this is not the cartoon that stirred controversy in a Slidell school. credit: Donkeyhotey Hurricane Isaac interrupted an appeals hearing over the firing of a man named Robert Duncan, a teacher at Boyet Junior High in Slidell. Duncan was fired for his decision to hang controversial student artwork in a school hallway. One piece […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Hurricane alert: Keeping your cool likely to get harder and harder
How was your Labor Day weekend? Mine was hot, dark and wet. A confounded, slow-moving tempest knocked out my electricity and exposed leaks around my windows. After a couple days of sweating and mopping up, my wife and I decided to consume all the beer in the fridge, before it got warm. Emergency measures, you […]
Posted inOpinion
Are traffic stops for expired plates the best use of NOPD after storm?
After driving up South Carrollton Avenue through the major intersections of Claiborne Avenue, Earhart Boulevard and Canal Street, I watched drivers struggle at each four-way stop without traffic signals. Certainly, the New Orleans Police Department had better things to do in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaac than direct traffic. Then I found out what they […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Opinion
Let’s hear it for the city’s new champions: our acro-gymnasts
The fast-rising sport combines athleticism with the grace and musicality of dance. photo: Wikipedia Before I push the corporal punishment issue further with a follow-up to last week’s post, I wanted to update a sports story I’ve been following. This spring I learned that New Orleans is becoming a leader in acrobatic gymnastics, a rapidly […]
Posted inOpinion
A former New Orleanian glances back across the pond from London
Outside the bubble, the perception of New Orleans continues to improve. Returning to South London in April after 18 months as a criminal justice reporter at The Lens, I was reluctant to pass snap judgment on New Orleans. Apart from the good friends I made, I loved Mardi Gras as much as any sane human […]
Posted inOpinion, Schools
Spare the rod and spoil the school? OK, then I need spanking lessons
Better paddles have holes that whistle. photo: Wesley Fryer, Flickr creative commons “Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions.” — Michel Foucault I need some fatherly advice on how to spank my children. See, the other day my […]
Posted inOpinion
The Lens retracts opinion piece regarding St. Claude Ave. parkettes
The Lens is retracting and apologizing to Candy Chang for an opinion piece about “parkettes” on St. Claude Avenue that appeared in this space Thursday. The article contended that Chang, the co-founder of the design company Civic Center, is pushing an effort to build “parkettes” along St. Claude Avenue. This is not true. Civic Center […]
Posted inLand Use, Opinion
Does anybody really want ‘parkettes’ along the St. Claude corridor?
A San Francisco parkette (a.k.a. “parklet”) appears to have devolved to largely commercial use by adjacent shopkeepers. photo: Mark Hogan/creative commons Editor’s note, Aug. 10: The Lens has retracted and apologized for the story that appears below. A key component of this opinion piece is that Civic Center co-founder Candy Chang is driving a process […]