Government & Politics
Clancy DuBos on the New Orleans City Council’s ‘prudence investigation’ of Entergy New Orleans | Gambit – The City Council retains regulatory power over Entergy New Orleans. Launching a “prudence investigation” of the local utility was tantamount to a declaration of war, according to opinion writer DuBos.
Wall Street Journal editorial says delay in flood insurance hikes will aid wealthiest 1 percent | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Sen. Mary Landrieu, Rep. John Cassidy and New Orleans business incubator Michael Hecht react to a Wall Street Journal editorial which implies that current federal flood insurance premiums for maximum coverage of $250,000 are a boon to the wealthy.
Jindal and Rainwater, preoccupied with OGB privatization, missed or chose to ignore obvious CNSI contract red flags | Louisiana Voice – Journalist and blogger Tom Aswell says the Jindal administration, distracted by its effort to privatize the Office of Government Benefits, made a huge mistake when it didn’t properly vet CNSI before the company received a contract of close to $200 million to process Medicaid claims. Now that the contract has been canceled and lawsuits are piling up, scrutiny of the deal will raise numerous questions. One example: CNSI, Aswell writes, “had zero experience in developing Medicaid claims systems.”
The details of the awarding of the contract to [former health secretary Bruce] Greenstein’s former employer now reads like some kind of Tom Clancy espionage novel—complete with secret communications, bid-rigging, lavish entertainment of state officials, death threats, creative accounting principles, money laundering, ghost employees, payments of non-existent loans, posh homes of questionable ownership, possible tax evasion, and claims of an ancestral link between Gov. Jindal’s Indian heritage and CNSI’s Indian ownership.
Environment
State leaders say company has promised to negotiate buyouts over sinkhole | WWL-TV
Texas Brine says the sinkhole is now nine acres in size. The last time they say any sloughing occurred happened about two weeks ago. And now Jindal says Assumption Parish is also keeping a close eye on another cavern that may have been mined too close to the edge of the underground salt dome. … Texas Brine is still mining other salt caverns on the dome. Right now officials are focused on trying to keep residents safe and let them move on.
In other sinkhole news cracks have formed on the containment berm around the Assumption Parish sinkhole.
State may sue Army Corps of Engineers over Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet wetlands restoration | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The article notes that suing the Corps for MR-GO could lead to further legal action on coastal erosion.
Criminal Justice
Federal NOPD monitor releases first report, chides NOPD for moving too fast on policy rewrites | The New Orleans Advocate – “The team of outside experts supervising progress on a sweeping, court-ordered reform plan for the New Orleans Police Department said Monday that city officials ignored that plan by charging ahead on important policy revisions without first consulting the monitoring team or the U.S. Department of Justice.”
Stephanie Grace: Amid new trial, old realities remain vivid | The New Orleans Advocate – The retrial of New Orleans police Officer David Warren for shooting Henry Glover may be significantly different than the original. However, Grace points out, the serious police misconduct that was exposed is a bell that can’t be unrung.
Land Use
Competing visions for ArtWorks building: culinary institute, ‘creative worker’ space | The Lens – A private nonprofit board is looking for a buyer. The state and the city are looking for their loans to be repaid.
A nonprofit agency designed to promote neighborhood revitalization, blight removal and the construction of affordable housing in New Orleans failed to record more than $300,000 worth of properties donated to it and mistakenly listed more than $104,000 in properties it did not own in 2012, according to a report released by the Legislative Auditor’s Office.
Schools
Former schools chief Anthony Amato died Monday morning | The Lens – Amato served as the head of International High School of New Orleans, but didn’t plan on returning next year.
Urban Schools Aim for Environmental Revolution | New York Times – Pilot programs in six big cities are testing sustainable lunchroom supplies.