Environment
Mississippi River Is Ranked Third Most Endangered In The Country | St. Louis Public Radio – Levees and dams have “whittled it down to a series of pools.”
BP Oil Spill Cleanup Workers Reach Settlement Over Medical Problems Caused By Spill | Associated Press – Few cleanup workers objected to the massive settlement, which provides “set amounts of money — up to $60,700 in some cases — to cover costs of various ailments for those who can document that they worked the spill and developed related illnesses.”
One bill restricting oil and gas ‘legacy lawsuits’ forwarded to Senate floor, second fails in committee Wednesday | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – Fine, in-depth article on legislation that touches on one of the energy industry’s biggest gripes in Louisiana:
A Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill backed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, the oil and gas industry and several large landowner groups aimed at limiting how state courts handle oil and gas environmental damage “legacy lawsuits,” forwarding the legislation to the Senate floor.
MIAMI: Urban wetland offers glimpse at successful Everglades restoration | Miami Herald – Miniature wetlands restoration projects bring rapid improvements to localities in South Florida, and show promise for larger-scale projects to restore the Everglades.
Land Use
Underground surprises sent Loyola streetcar costs soaring | WWL-TV – Infrastructure troubles boosted the price for the Loyola streetcar line to over $60 million. The cost overruns will mean that the eastward spur down Rampart Street will be shortened considerably, and will extend to Elysian Fields instead of Press Street.
Blogger Jeffrey Bostick observes: “It’s interesting, though, that this worked out in such a way that the leg of the project that ended up being ditched was the most popular with residents and transit activists when proposed. The St. Claude line was the only one that would have served an actual neighborhood.”
Holy Cross residents claim developer’s petition has fake names | FOX 8 WVUE – Members of a community group opposing two mid-rise apartment buildings says a developer’s petition in support of the project is larded with fake addresses and forged names.
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: World Trade Center development needs new bids | Uptown Messenger – Lengthy negotiations and the absence of a deal raise questions: Are there financing problems with the deal?
Wtf parklet, St. Claude Main Street | Shtetl Chic – Blogger Arielle Schecter says that neighbors of a parklet on St. Claude have concerns about facility maintenance, trash collection, noise control, and “the curious aesthetic of the space.”
Government & Politics
Louisiana GOP asks McAllister to resign; No comment on why Vitter not asked the same | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – “State party officials did not return multiple requests for comment on why they are asking for [U.S. Rep. Vance] McAllister’s departure, when they did not do so for [Sen. David] Vitter in 2007 after he admitted his involvement in the DC Madame scandal.”
N.O. City Council overturns residency rule for NOPD, NOFD, EMS | WWL-TV – The domicile rule was seen as a deterrent to recruiting. “City officials say in January the NOPD started with 113 accepted applicants, but only 49 showed up and of those only 19 ultimately made the grade and were accepted into the academy.”
Lawmakers reject minimum wage hike | The New Orleans Advocate – “Four attempts made by Democratic lawmakers to raise wages for the working poor all failed.”
Post-Katrina: Will New Orleans still be New Orleans? | Equal Voice News – Some say the post-Katrina push to a “new New Orleans” has left the poor behind.
Schools
New charters — not new superintendent — considered by Orleans Parish School Board | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The article lists the six groups that have applied to open new charter schools. Two have previous experience running schools; four do not.
James Gill: Jindal against Common Core — well, sort of | The Advocate – Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is widely viewed as an unannounced 2016 presidential candidate, has suddenly taken issue with what he describes as Common Core’s “one size fits all” approach.
The opt-out outrage | Thomas B. Fordham Institute – Fordham Institute president Chester Finn believes that if you opt-in to public education, you shouldn’t be allowed to opt-out of standardized tests and accountability. He writes: “Test results advance the public interest much as vaccinations do.”
Criminal Justice
Public satisfaction with New Orleans Police Department improves slightly | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – A survey found that 60 percent of respondents were satisfied with the department’s performance, which was up two ticks from an August survey.