Should high school start later in the morning? Lupin targets Quarter’s human ‘trash’

Join our email list

By clicking submit, you agree to share your email address with The Lens and our email service, Mailchimp, to receive marketing, updates, and other emails from us. Use the unsubscribe link in those emails to opt out at any time.

I'm not interested

Schools

Charter school CEO submits new ethics disclosures regarding employment of three family members | The Lens – The exemption to state nepotism law that Doris Roché-Hicks cited doesn’t appear to apply to the employment of her sister and son-in-law.

Education Secretary says students would learn more if high schools started later | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune –  U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s suggestion that high school student performance would improve if school days started later in the morning is apparently controversial. What should be more controversial is Duncan claiming he is  unfamiliar with the Department Justice’s lawsuit against Louisiana’s school voucher program. Perhaps Duncan could use a later start to his day?

Economics, not Common Core, will create high-quality schools | The Clarion-Ledger – A longtime educator writes that “place, culture, socio-political factors, ethnicity and economics all have their place in educational progress of students” and that objective tests cannot fully account for, or fairly measure, these differences.

Land Use

VCC chairman says human ‘trash’ needs to be swept from Quarter | The New Orleans Advocate

Dr. Ralph Lupin is fed up with the “useless occupation” of the French Quarter by the shabbily attired and unsatisfactorily groomed “trash” that hang out near tarot-card tables in Jackson Square, the Vieux Carre Commission chairman said during the commission’s meeting Wednesday.

Sixty-bed inpatient physical rehab hospital slated for Mid-City | Mid-City Messenger – A national healthcare development company will begin construction on a new physical rehabilitation hospital, next to the long-vacant Lindy Boggs Medical Center in Mid-City.

Government & Politics

Prevalence of food insecurity | Louisiana Budget Project

The prevalence of food insecurity in Louisiana has grown significantly since the Great Recession, indicating that more individuals and families – especially those with children younger than 18 – are lacking enough money to purchase food at some point in the year. According to a release on food security from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly one in six households in Louisiana struggles against hunger.

More questions raised after developer with ties to Jindal accepts plea deal | WWL-TV – Did a developer and government contractor with ties to Gov. Bobby Jindal receive special treatment prior to pleading guilty to stealing public funds? If so, why?

Zurik: No more “Playing With Fire” for Richie Hampton | FOX 8 WVUE – Firefighters voted to replace all four incumbents running for re-election to the board governing the Firefighters Pension & Relief Fund, including embattled board chairman Hampton.

Environment

FEMA’s high-risk premium guidelines described as disheartening by Cedric Richmond | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune

Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., said the [FEMA] report confirms the worst fears of Louisiana residents and businesses. “Today, after several months of advocacy by our coalition, FEMA released rate structures for National Flood Insurance Program premiums to the public,” Hecht said. “While we are pleased that FEMA has provided this essential information, what we feared is confirmed by the release of these general rate tables — flood insurance will be unaffordable for home and business owners across coastal and riverine America.”

Read Hecht’s recent Lens opinion piece on the ramifications of the rate increases.  

Oil and gas association wants Caldwell to reverse lawsuit approval | The Advocate

A major energy industry association has demanded state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell withdraw his approval of an agreement between a New Orleans-area levee board and lawyers who have filed a lawsuit accusing about 100 oil and gas companies of destroying coastal wetlands.

In a Lens opinion piece, levee board vice-chairman John Barry made the case in defense of the coastal erosion lawsuit against oil and gas companies.

Criminal Justice

Police Chafe at Scrutiny | Wall Street Journal – “With the New York Police Department facing the prospect of a federal monitor and two new measures designed to rein in stop and frisk, a debate is growing: Will all the scrutiny cause officers to second-guess themselves on the beat?”

Getting adults on board for alternatives to locking up kids | Center for Public Integrity – “Minors accused of ‘status offenses,’ such as running away or underage drinking, can end up in exposed to the hardening impact of detention rather than getting help that’s more appropriate for their needs.”