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Criminal Justice

Execution scrutiny rages after botched execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett | Tulsa World – “Oklahoma’s botched execution Tuesday became the subject of intense international scrutiny as questions emerged on whether the use of an unproven drug protocol led to an inhumane death for inmate Clayton Lockett.”

State fighting compensation for freed inmate | The New Orleans Advocate – Damon Thibodeaux spent over a decade on Death Row before being exonerated by DNA testing that failed to link him to the 1996 killing of a 14-year old. The state Attorney General maintains Thibodeaux was never proved “factually innocent” and doesn’t deserve state compensation for his imprisonment.

Court seeks ‘special master’ to cool down death row | The Advocate – “Two New Orleans law professors and a civil lawyer from Lafayette told a federal judge Wednesday they feel qualified to oversee implementation of the state’s proposed plan to cool down death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.”

DA to review burglary case that locked up man for life | WWL-TV – Jurors regret their guilty verdict in simple burglary case after the defendant receives a life sentence.

Schools

Cowen report: Sharp academic growth defies New Orleans’ widespread poverty | The Lens – The report also notes that, despite academic growth, low-income students are not evenly distributed among city’s varying types of school administration.

Decision near at Ben Franklin on whether to accept petition for faculty union | The Lens –  The board will decide on May 8 to accept or reject a petition by faculty and staff members to unionize.

Louisiana continues to underinvest in human capital | Louisiana Budget Project – “A new report provides a fresh layer of evidence that Louisiana’s colleges and universities have been uniquely hard hit by budget cuts in the wake of the Great Recession.”

Documents detail wrongdoing, coverups at EBR Schools | WBRZ News 2  – “The documents show allegations to cover up possible wrongdoing stemmed from the highest levels of the [East Baton Rouge] School System. The investigation sheds light on things like: cheating, a lack of accountability, an employee forced to delete emails and sloppy record keeping.”

Environment

Deal would derail coastal lawsuit | The New Orleans Advocate – “Legislators plan to modify the wording of a bill Thursday morning to sidetrack a controversial lawsuit filed by a New Orleans-area levee board against 97 oil and gas companies, without disrupting similar litigation filed by parish governments.”

Advisory panel gets preview of complex problems facing Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The planned diversion of Mississippi River water into Mid-Barataria Bay, is the first of 10 ten such projects aimed at rebuilding the coast.

Is Big Oil Secretly Negotiating A Settlement To Pay For Coastal Damages? | CenLamar – Author and coastal advocate John Barry says “there are ongoing conversations about a statewide settlement” between the state and oil companies who have harmed the coast.

Natural Gas-Gobbling Bacteria May Help Combat Oil Leaks | RIGZONE – Microbes could help mitigate some oil spill damage.

Government & Politics

Zurik: Questions abound in Alario’s campaign spending reports – FOX 8 WVUE – Senate Pres. John Alario has been in office over four decades and is described as the “most powerful individual in state government.” So why does he have  so many mistakes on his campaign finance filings?

James Gill: Jindal could use campaign miracle | The New Orleans Advocate –  Gill opines: “[Gov. Bobby] Jindal may be a bloviating four-flusher who puts his own interests first, but the latest employment numbers do seem to give him a legitimate opportunity to crow.”

A New Orleans tax hike advances; another fails | The New Orleans Advocate – Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s attempt to raise city hotel taxes moved forward, while his idea to raise cigarette taxes stalled.

Land Use

City ends World Trade Center talks as mayor seeks special riverfront tax district | The Lens – The city claimed it should receive a fair price for the riverfront building while a source with Gatehouse, the selected developer, said it offered more money than an appraisal declared the parcel to be worth. Stephen Perry a member of the Tricentennial development group which lost the original bid, said “he didn’t see a ‘great likelihood’ that Tricentennial would be back as a bidder but ‘at the same time we have not had a chance to talk.'”

Business group tables St. Roch Market proposal, blames silence from city | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – According to the developers who hoped to renovate the market, the city never responded to their proposal.

Sterling Farms grocery, co-owned by Wendell Pierce, closes after just one year | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune

A year after opening with a media spotlight on actor and co-owner Wendell Pierce, followed four months later by a personal appearance by Michelle Obama, the Sterling Farms grocery store in Marrero is closing with far less fanfare and celebrity.

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...