Environment
Suing oil and gas interests to save the coast: author John Barry weighs in | The Lens – Says Barry: “We have been criticized for trying to collect from an industry which was complying with the law at the time it conducted its operations. We believe that they were never in compliance with the law.”
CPRA Chairman Garret Graves said after the meeting that his authority would not immediately go to court to enforce the demand on the East Bank levee authority. But Graves said actions by other state officials are likely soon to bring a halt to the lawsuit, which the state says is hurting its efforts to restore wetlands under the state’s coastal Master Plan.
In this tweet by reporter NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune environmental reporter Mark Schleifstein quotes Graves saying: “I don’t see any scenario where this levee district doesn’t get gutted, or say reformed, in the next legislative session.”
In oil-producing regions, even minor hurricanes cause major environmental damage | Facing South – Environmentalists claim that oil and chemical companies use storms as an excuse to dump pollutants.
A total of 130 accidents resulting from the storm were reported to the National Response Center, the federal office that collects information on oil and chemical spills in U.S. waters. Those accidents dumped at least 12.9 million gallons of pollutants and contaminated water and 192 tons of gases into the environment, according to the facilities’ own self-reported data. Among the chemicals released were known neurotoxins and carcinogens including crude oil and benzene.
Despite the fact that forecasts warned of the storm’s arrival days in advance, some of the polluting facilities still used the weather as an excuse for releases …
Oil from BP spill pushed onto shelf off Tampa Bay by underwater currents, study finds | Tampa Bay Times – “Oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill, floating beneath the surface after being sprayed with dispersant, settled on a shelf 80 miles from the Tampa Bay region within a year of the spill’s end, according to a scientific study published this week.”
Criminal Justice
How could city of New Orleans raise money to pay for police, jail consent decrees? | The Lens – The city of New Orleans faces an annual tab of $18 million to $33.5 million for both consent decrees. City officials say they would have to cut spending and lay off employees to pay for them. Little, however, has been said about how the city could raise money. Here are some options.
[Mayor Mitch] Landrieu will ask the City Council to change a 2011 city ordinance to allow construction to continue on Gusman’s $145 million inmate housing facility even though it will not be able to accommodate all inmates.
[Sheriff Marlin] Gusman was supposed to have designed that building to comply with a 2011 City Council ordinance that stipulated it could not exceed 1,438 beds and must be able to accommodate “any type of prisoner,” including special populations such as women and the sick.
Inside the most dangerous jail in America | Al Jazeera America – In the video report, which I recommend over the written story, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman complains that groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center “twist the truth for their own purposes” in attempt to mislead the public.
2 Unpublished Studies Say Stop-and-Frisk Doesn’t Work | The Atlantic Cities – “The question of whether stop-and-frisk is constitutional has (for now) been settled. Whether the policy works to reduce violent crime is another question entirely.”
Government & Politics
Live blog: Landrieu continues budget meetings tonight in eastern New Orleans | The Lens – Starting at 6 p.m., the mayor will take questions about the city’s budget priorities.
Bobby Jindal withdraws request for Obamacare funds | POLITICO – “Gov. Bobby Jindal, a fierce Obamacare critic, pursued funds from an under-the-radar program in the health law until this week, when his administration reversed course, citing cumbersome federal rules.”
The Biomed Takeover of LSU Hospitals | Forward Now! – Demographer Elliott Stonecipher is skeptical of the touted benefits of privatizing state-run hospitals.
Louisiana’s lost generations | Greater Baton Rouge Business Report – Negative net migration and “brain drain,” has plagued the state for decades for decades. Can we reverse this troubling trend?
Land Use
jewel bush: #ProjectBe and the lessons of disaster tourism | Uptown Messenger – Artist Brandan Odums has transformed interiors in the blighted Florida housing project with painted images that have gone viral. He says the work is about a particular moment, since the housing development is scheduled to be razed at the end of the year.
Jean-Paul Villere: Freret’s white whale | Uptown Messenger – What will become of the 70 year old Barrecca building on Freret Street?
Schools
John McDonogh High expecting poor performance score | The Lens – The high school’s 9.3 out of 150 makes it one of four in New Orleans with single-digit preliminary performance scores.
International Baccalaureate primary school a first for the state | The Advocate – “[Principal Patricia] Perkins said the goal is to produce students who are internationally-minded, considerate, reflective, inquisitive and open-minded risk-takers.”