Government & Politics
Lawmakers reviewing campaign spending rules have spent large sums on tickets, meals, more | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Members of the state legislative committee in charge of reviewing campaign spending rules have spent over $630,000 on event tickets, restaurant meals and other questionable expenditures.
Jury in Jefferson Parish’s Katrina flood trial clears Aaron Broussard and parish government | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The former President of Jefferson Parish is not liable for the flooding that occurred after he decided to evacuate pump operators.
How Senator Vitter Lost His Food Fight | Huffington Post
As lawmakers negotiated the farm bill, finally approved this week, the Vitter amendment was quietly neutralized. This happened not because high-powered lobbyists demanded it, but because leaders of both parties recognized the Vitter amendment for what it was: terrible policy.
Environment
Texas Considers ‘Tax’ on Coastal Restoration Projects | StateImpact Texas — Environmental nonprofits are incensed over proposals to place fees on coastal restoration projects in Texas funded by the RESTORE Act. In the past the state had waived fees on submerged lands used for ecological restoration projects.
Attorneys general in 21 states are backing an attempt to derail the Obama administration’s Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, fearing that the government will use that authority to regulate wastewater in other watersheds, including the Mississippi River Basin.
Feds grossly mismanaging red snapper stocks, Jindal tells CCA convention | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Gov. Bobby Jindal urges the federal government to transfer red-snapper management to the states.
Land Use
Culinary institute’s $6.2 million bid wins failed ArtWorks complex off Lee Circle | The Lens – The five-building complex will get new life as a culinary institute. The ability to close quickly on the deal and finance a longer-term makeover was the key to winning the bid, according to William Hines, who chaired the nonprofit selection committee.
Zurik: $1.3 million for a Park and Ride lot that no one uses | FOX 8 WVUE – No one’s using a ride-share parking lot in the middle of St. Tammany, designed for those who want to carpool to reduce traffic congestion. Do residents even know it’s there?
Schools
Department of Education shrugs off Friends of King’s open-meetings violation | The Lens – The school didn’t notify the public before a retreat that included seven of its nine board members.
Jindal looking at tweaks to teacher tenure law | Associated Press – A spokesman for Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office said it might be open to changes to a 2012 law that made it tougher for teachers to receive tenure. No details were offered on what specifically the governor might be willing to change.
So just who is Tiffany Hardrick? And why did she leave New Orleans? | Bob Braun’s Ledger – Blogger Braun tracks the departure from New Orleans of Hardrick, a co-founder of Miller-McCoy Academy. According to Braun, Hardrick moved to New Jersey and filed a criminal complaint against the leader of a parent-teacher organization.
Criminal Justice
Inmate dies in work release facility, not discovered for hours | WWL-TV – A death at a Northshore work release facility is raising questions about oversight, safety and security.
Agent: Ray Nagin lied to FBI and grand jury | The New Orleans Advocate – “More than a year before he left office, Mayor Ray Nagin lied to FBI agents during a 2009 interview at the bureau’s Lakefront headquarters, and he lied again when he gave sworn testimony before a federal grand jury in 2012, Special Agent Dan Evans testified Wednesday.”