Environment
Live blog: Flood Protection Authority nominating committee to meet Thursday | The Lens – Environmental reporter Bob Marshall will live blog the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East nominating committee meeting that begins at noon. Scheduled for discussion: whether the committee will assert its political independence or follow instructions from the Jindal administration to send the governor new nominees.
Fla. sues BP over oil spill environmental damage | FOX 8 WVUE – The suit is separate from another one the State of Florida filed over economic damages related to the 2010 BP oil spill.
Government & Politics
State’s Political Hires Making More Money | LaPolitics – “The top 50 highest paid political hires, known as unclassified employees, have seen their collective pay increase by nearly $3 million over the past seven years.”
Louisiana Spotlight: Jindal uses trust funds to patch budget | The Advocate
The Republican governor has steered tobacco settlement dollars away from health and education trust funds and into the annual operating budget; zeroed out a list of funds that had dedicated fees and other balances planned for specific projects or purposes; and drained an elderly trust fund that once contained more than $830 million.
LGBT-related bills head for the state legislature | Gambit
The upcoming session of the Louisiana Legislature could very well bring the strongest LGBT agenda the state has ever seen. Bills have already been filed or will soon be introduced to usher in new anti-discrimination laws protecting gays and lesbians from discrimination, reversing the state’s bans against sodomy, adding new protections for bullying in schools and erasing perceived biases in housing.
New Orleans IG Ed Quatrevaux praises his team in 2013 annual report | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – New Orleans’ inspector general says eliminating the waste his office uncovers makes for a great return on the city’s investment.
Schools
Will new teaching standards lift achievement levels for minorities? | The Louisiana Weekly – Southern University professor Lisa Delpit, who has written books exploring cultural differences in classrooms, believes the new Common Core standards can help minority students.
Criminal Justice
NOPD Uptown-based Second District’s “common sense, decency” during Mardi Gras spotlighted | Uptown Messenger – The police department aims to apply the lessons of its (often praised) performance during Carnival, and apply them year-round.
Land Use
City poised to transform old rail corridor into public park | The New Orleans Advocate – The linear park connecting the French Quarter to City Park will include ballfields, pathways and trees.
Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification | The New York Times
Cities that have worked for years to attract young professionals who might have once moved to the suburbs are now experimenting with ways to protect a group long deemed expendable — working- and lower-middle-class homeowners threatened by gentrification.