Criminal Justice
NOPD says it has revised 200 policies; court monitor review is delaying implementation | The Lens – Despite deadlines, a court-appointed oversight firm has yet to weigh in on key revisions.
Police union warns NOPD about camera-carrying activists | FOX 8 WVUE – A new police-accountability group that is “known for confronting police officers across the country with video cameras has arrived in New Orleans, according to the New Orleans Police Department.” With everyone carrying cell-phone cameras, it seems that counter-surveillance has increased around the country.
Advisory panel shoots down proposal to reduce marijuana sentences | The New Orleans Advocate
After a heated debate, the Louisiana Sentencing Commission voted 9-5 against recommending to Gov. Bobby Jindal that state law be revised to make first, second and third offenses misdemeanor crimes, usually punishable with a fine.
Environment
Barry musters support for wetlands lawsuit, but not with the right audience | The Lens – A warm reception at a morning Lens event yields to an afternoon thrashing at a Flood Protection Authority meeting. The Lens’ Bob Marshall reports on a roller-coaster day for author John Barry, a former vice-chairman of the local levee authority.
State could be preparing to sue Corps of Engineers, Jindal aide hints | The New Orleans Advocate
Even as the battle over a lawsuit against oil and gas companies raged throughout the day at a local levee authority’s meeting, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s top coastal official hinted Thursday that the state might be readying its own coastal-erosion suit against a much different target — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Gulf wetlands loss more than doubled, according to new 5-year federal study | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Wetlands loss rose dramatically from 2004 to 2009, more than doubling the amount between 1998 and 2004. “The study also pointed to the adverse affects of oil and gas development, ‘which has increased the vulnerability of these wetlands to climate related changes,’ including stronger hurricanes and other coastal storms.”
Land Use
VCC Committee Will Hear Habana Outpost in Dec. | NOLA DEFENDER – The seemingly endless saga of a controversial plan to build a Cuban restaurant in a blighted corner of the French Quarter continues.
NYC DOT Shares Its Five Principles for Designing Safer Streets | Streetsblog New York City – Perhaps some of these guidelines could be applied locally. Here’s one of them: “Create safety in numbers, which makes vulnerable street users such as pedestrians and cyclists more visible. The same design principle, applied to arterial streets when traffic is light, reduces the opportunity for excessive speeds.”
Schools
Two New Orleans high schools said they were ‘full’ — then enrolled more students | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – After temporarily dropping out of the OneApp application system, Eleanor McMain Secondary and McDonogh 35 Senior High admitted dozens more students to their freshman classes. The moves raise “troubling questions about whether these two schools are truly ‘open admission’ campuses or are secretly cherry-picking students.”
Homer Plessy Community School Defies the Dominant Model of Charter Schools | WWNO – Officials at Homer Plessy tout what they say is a flexible, innovative and inclusive charter model.
Government & Politics
Mr. McAllister Goes to Washington, and He Is Wowed | The New York Times – Vance McAllister, the newly elected congressman from Louisiana’s 5th congressional district, had never been to the nation’s capitol.
City to give sheriff $2 million to pay for jail consent decree next year | The Lens – In a marathon session, the City Council approved a spending plan for 2014. For all of 2014, the city will provide just a bit more for consent decree costs than it committed for the last three months of 2013.
City Imposes Tougher Consequences For Unpaid Sanitation Bills | WWNO – The Lens’ Charles Maldonado explains the new law passed by the City Council yesterday.
City Council congratulates Entergy, then votes to investigate recent business moves | The New Orleans Advocate – The Council wished Entergy a happy 100th birthday and promptly decided to probe a recent boardroom decision “to cut by three years the length of a multi-state system agreement that has kept the cost of producing power comparable throughout the company’s four-state service area.”