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Criminal Justice

The New Orleans Mother’s Day shootings of 2013 — one year later | Gambit – Journalist Deb “Big Red” Cotton was one of 19 shot people during a second-line parade last year. After 12 surgeries, Cotton is finally “able to attend and document some of the second lines she has loved and championed.”

After Mothers Day shooting, a push for progress amid relentless violence | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The threat of retaliation looms over those who speak out against criminals and gangs. But last year’s Mother’s Day shooting “proved to be the impetus for community members to form their first association, the South 7th Ward Neighbors, giving them a united voice for the first time.” Still, eight shootings marred Mother’s Day weekend this year.

Execution problems spring up in Louisiana | The Advocate – Even before a recent lethal injection debacle in Oklahoma, Louisiana Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc suggested the state explore the use of inert gas such as nitrogen or carbon monoxide for executions. Legislators say there’s not enough time left in the session to rework the state’s laws on capital punishment.

The Lens has covered this issue extensively, reporting that a child-killer’s execution has been delayed again and revealing that the state didn’t turn over key public records about its lethal-injection drugs.

Government & Politics

Political Horizons: Budget leaves some elderly struggling | The Advocate – Senior citizens protested at the Capitol, claiming that Gov. Bobby Jindal aims to patch gaps in the state budget with funds for elderly affairs programs.

Jindal critical of Washington in speeches while the 44% of state budget in federal funds ranks second highest in nation | Louisiana Voice – Journalist and blogger Tom Aswell writes that:

Wall Street Cheat Sheet, an online news service with 11 million monthly readers, notes that despite the ratcheted-up rhetoric between red and blue states, it is the red states (Republican) that are more likely to receive help from the federal government—a fact that helps them keep local tax bills lower and unimaginative politicians like Jindal in power.

Environment

Fed Govt Failed To Inspect Higher Risk Oil Wells | Associated Press

The government has failed to inspect thousands of oil and gas wells it considers potentially high risks for water contamination and other environmental damage, congressional investigators say.

Deepwater Horizon’s Oil-Eating Microbes May Have Eaten Less Oil Than We Expected | International Science Times – The research raises questions about “the microbes’ effectiveness in completely and consistently removing oil.” The original paper was published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

James Gill: Oil and gas owe Louisiana big time | The Advocate – The columnist is still waiting for the oil lobby to offer a substantive counterargument to a lawsuit that blames some wetlands damage on oil and gas companies. Gill suggests that Big Oil fears it will lose in court, and that’s why it is using legislative muscle to retroactively scuttle the lawsuit.

Fracking effort in St. Tammany small part of exploration in large shale formation | The New Orleans Advocate – Some industry observers are puzzled about why a company wants to drill a gas well at the far edge of the Tuscaloosa Shale formation. Opponents of the project are concerned it will be the first of hundreds.

Schools

Teachers And Schools Tested By LEAP Rules | WWNO – An audio report by Lens education reporter Jessica Williams profiles Success Preparatory Academy’s efforts to ensure LEAP tests are properly administered. The work seems to have paid off: Success Prep has had no tests voided for administrative error in the past four years.

Charters, Public Schools and a Chasm Between | The New York Times – This article suggests that political battles inhibit collaboration and idea-sharing between charters and traditional schools in New York City. 

Land Use

City Council drops ordinance that would have made Newcomb Boulevard one-way | The Lens 

After years of litigation and negotiation, it appears that the battle over traffic on Newcomb Boulevard has been put to rest.

The final chapter came Thursday with the withdrawal of an ordinance that would have designated the street one-way.

Four-story condo project on Oak Street to seek clearance from city after latest redesign | Uptown Messenger – Developers envision a four-story condominium near Leonidas Street.

Tracing Greek geography from Bayou Road to the banks of Bayou St. John | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Geographer Richard Campanella’s traces Greek heritage in New Orleans: “The maritime-driven prosperity of the antebellum age planted seeds for a larger permanent community based around Greek shipping tycoons, who held a special interest in New Orleans for its command of the cotton trade.”

Mark Moseley

Mark Moseley blogs at Your Right Hand Thief. Until mid 2014, Mark Moseley was The Lens' opinion writer, engagement specialist and coordinator for the Charter Schools Reporting Corps. After Katrina and...