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Environment

First Gulf oil spill natural resource study reveals extensive damage in shoreline, deepwater habitats | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – We already knew the oil spill caused damage, but this part about withheld records caught my eye:

The report provides only a summary of most contamination concerns. And while both federal officials and BP have made so-called “metadata” — individual sample collection records — available during the past few months, more comprehensive reports explaining how the spill may have affected — and may still be affecting — wildlife are believed being kept under wraps by federal and state officials who are concerned that BP could walk away from their obligations.

GRN Statement on Official Release of Deepwater Horizon NRDA Early Restoration Phase III Projects | Gulf Restoration Network – The environmental group says that it will fight to ensure that restoration monies are used for ecosystem restoration rather than, say, a new hotels and convention center on the Gulf Coast.

‘Hero of New Orleans’ Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré sets his sights on the environment | The Advertiser – Honore claims that salt-dome storage facilities, such as the one that caused the Lake Peignieur catastrophe in 1980, “can be weapons of mass destruction.”

Environmentalists, unions seek to fix gas leaks | Associated Press

Unions and environmentalists have found one point of agreement in the bitter debate over the natural gas drilling boom: fixing leaky old pipelines that threaten public health and the environment. It’s a huge national effort that could cost $82 billion.

Schools

Money runs low for Louisiana universities | The Advertiser – This article asks important questions about whether cash from one-time sources will adequately fund higher education.

What if Common Core Had Followed the Democratic Process? | deutsch29 – Education blogger Mercedes Schneider believes the Common Core standards were developed and implemented too quickly, in a top-down process.

A set of common standards should be developed and piloted systematically such that the problems associated with the standards for one grade level are sufficiently addressed before attempting to build by adding standards for the next grade level.

In order to do this well, the standards developmental process takes time.

Jindal teacher reviews frozen | The New Orleans Advocate – “Gov. Bobby Jindal’s hard-fought bid to link teacher job reviews to the growth of student achievement — a key plank in his push to improve Louisiana’s public schools — has been sidelined until after he leaves office.”

Criminal Justice

OPP re-entry program gives new hope to inmates ready to face life outside prison | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – A re-entry program has shown encouraging results in reducing recidivism, according to Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman.

In Angola Death Row heat trial, the cool of fall brings no decision | Associated Press — Four months after a trial over unsafe conditions at Louisiana State Penitentiary, U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson has yet to issue a ruling.

Government & Politics

What does it really mean to follow the slogan and be a New Orleanian? | The Lens – Tulane geographer Richard Campanella meditates on the question of identity as a New Orleanian. There’s a lot more to it than can be encapsulated in a bumper sticker slogan.

Clarkson will run for City Council District C | Gambit – Mayor Landrieu encouraged at-large Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson to run to replace District C Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer, who announced last week that she would not seek a second term.

Suit challenges Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District | The Advocate — Christopher L. Whittington, former chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party, wants a judge to declare that the district is gerrymandered. “In District 2, there is a huge stretch along the Mississippi River where there are no voters at all. It’s a levee,” he said.

Land Use

Police remind Frenchmen St. businesses of rules | The New Orleans Advocate – Police conducted a sweep to notify many nightclubs on Frenchman Street to follow often-overlooked ordinances involving the size and amplification of bands, among other restrictions.

225 Baronne office building to become hotel, apartments and garage | New Orleans | The Advocate

After sitting empty for nearly a decade, the first major building constructed in the Central Business District after World War II and one of New Orleans’ first high-rise structures is undergoing a renovation into a boutique hotel and apartments.

City council considers new measures to clear old boats from Bayou St. John | FOX 8 WVUE – Councilwoman Susan Guidry wants boats to be impounded. But no city agency wants to be tasked with removing the boats.

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...