Environment
Live blog Wednesday: Flood Protection Authority appears before legislators | The Lens – Lens environmental reporter Bob Marshall gives a play-by-play of the hearing in the state capitol, as the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East explains the reasons behind its coastal erosion lawsuit against oil and gas companies.
Major green groups keeping mum on flood authority lawsuit opposed by Jindal | The Lens – Environmental groups have long blamed oil and gas interests for coastal devastation. So what explains their silence over the recent lawsuit against Big Oil?
Coal exporter, state detail pact on river diversion | The Advocate –
A proposed coal export terminal on the lower Mississippi River has environmental and community groups questioning the state’s commitment to coastal restoration, while state officials say they’ve found a way for the facility’s permit to continue while moving forward with a river diversion on the same property.
For more, read this 2012 Lens reporting on the planned coal facility.
Land Use
Compliance! Grass grows on a once paved yard | The Lens – A homeowner was denied permission to install fake grass over a front yard illegally paved to make a parking pad. Instead, the cement has been pared back, as required by law, and real grass planted.
The redevelopment of Freret Street | Gambit – The commercial revival on Freret Street has largely avoided the gentrification controversy taking place in other neighborhoods.
We just confirmed… | Twitter / TheLensNOLA – Ferry news broke on our twitter feed last night:
We just confirmed that RTA plans to restore 18 hr/day ferry service once it takes over ferries.
— The Lens (@TheLensNOLA) August 14, 2013
Schools
Read the Common Core standards for kindergarteners | The Washington Post – Common Core standards have aroused national controversy in recent months. This article helpfully reprints the (lengthy) Common Core standards for kindergarten, so readers can decide for themselves.
Blacks attend underfunded ‘racially separate’ colleges | The Louisiana Weekly
The report titled “Separate and Unequal,” by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, found that “white students are increasingly concentrated today, relative to population share, in the nation’s 468 most well-funded, selective four-year colleges and universities, while African-American and Hispanic students are more and more concentrated in the 3,250 least well-funded, open-access, two- and four-year colleges.”
National charter school group challenges Louisiana education department | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – A third-party evaluator that worked for the state between 2005 and 2012 said it received significant pushback from the state when it did not approve certain proposals for new charters.
Government & Politics
Report highlights economic growth in New Orleans area, but challenges remain | The Advocate – The article summarizes findings from a new study by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center showing that New Orleans is “beginning to diversify beyond the long-dominant tourism sector.” However: “The report notes, for instance, that nearly half the black men in the New Orleans area do not have jobs, and it provides other data suggesting that African-Americans are benefiting little from local economic gains.”
Candidates want to be ‘one of us:’ John Maginnis | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, aspires to replace U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., but does he have the political skill to connect with Louisiana voters who aren’t familiar with him?
How controversial Biggert-Waters flood insurance bill became law | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Excellent analysis of how and why the Louisiana congressional delegation supported, and now wants to amend, a law that will dramatically raise flood insurance premiums for some Louisianans.
Criminal Justice
As Critics United, Stalled Battle Against Frisking Tactic Took Off | New York Times – The article describes how critics of “stop-and-frisk” police searches were able to redefine the issue, setting the stage for “a stunning repudiation of what has become the [New York Police] department’s signature street-level tactic.” (The New Orleans Police Department currently uses stop-and-frisk techniques.)