Criminal Justice
Air-conditioning system proposed for Death Row | The Advocate
State corrections officials on Monday proposed an air-conditioning system, once-daily cold showers and chests filled with ice to cool sweltering death row inmates at the state penitentiary at Angola.
The “heat remediation plan” filed in federal court in Baton Rouge is a direct response to Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson’s Dec. 19 order that the state draft a plan to lower searing hot heat indices inside death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
Oklahoma Pharmacy Agrees Not To Sell Execution Drug To Missouri | St. Louis Public Radio – Louisiana prison officials had looked into obtaining pentobarbital from the same Oklahoma pharmacy even though it wasn’t licensed in the state. Then Louisiana switched to a two-drug mixture for lethal injections, the same method used in a controversial execution in Ohio.
Star criminologist David M. Kennedy hopes to make difference in return to Baltimore | Baltimore Sun – The inventor of the “Ceasefire” crime reduction tactic — which is used in New Orleans and involves a face-to-face meeting between criminal suspects and police, prosecutors and civic leaders — returns to Baltimore, where Kennedy’s anti-violence work suffered a “premature demise” 20 years ago.
Land Use
The Algiers Ferry: Great Public Service, Bad Business | The Church of Chicory – In a passionate and well-written post, blogger Lance Vargas claims the current state of the Algiers ferry is “a symbol not of the vibrancy of public transportation but of its abandonment.”
Along Saint Claude | WWNO – A seven-part audio documentary interviews residents about the changes taking place along St. Claude Avenue.
Environment
Sinking levee shows difficulty of protecting New Orleans from flooding | The Lens – Parts of a 1.1-mile stretch of levee along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway have sunk six inches since it was built. Fixing it will cost $1 million. Officials say subsidence is inevitable, and it’s impossible to predict where it will happen.
Louisiana oil industry launches latest campaign in ongoing ‘legacy lawsuit’ battle | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – According to industry leaders, Louisiana’s litigiousness is preventing additional drilling investment in South Louisiana.
Heal the Marsh –Fix the Flow, Fix the Canals | Gulf Restoration Network – Mega-projects to restore the coast are clearly important, but so too are smaller efforts. Environmental activist Scott Eustis points out that oil and gas companies are not doing enough to fill in unused canals that contribute to erosion.
Government & Politics
Civil Service vote to reinstate McCabe may have violated Open Meetings Law | The Lens – The commission went into an impromptu executive session and emerged after coming to an agreement.
Owen Courreges: ‘Dizneylandrieu’ is more than just a clever float | Uptown Messenger – Opinion writer Courreges writes:
Mayor Landrieu’s Disneyfied policies include his proposal for “closing hours” for Jackson Square, signing a law banning certain speech on Bourbon Street, his support (later retracted) for the recently-proposed noise ordinance, his well-publicized enforcement crackdowns on alcoholic beverage outlets and live music venues – the list goes on.
MAGINNIS: GOP Right Wing Not Sold on Cassidy | LaPolitics – John Maginnis says that Republicans running for office must be “ultra-conservative” in order to appease their base and avoid charges of being closet liberals.
Schools
Louisiana’s cost to fund TOPS increases steadily | The Advocate – Legislators say the skyrocketing cost of the college scholarship program must be reined in.
Orleans Parish School Board, Recovery School District in talks to transfer citywide services, president says | NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune – The Orleans Parish School Board is “in talks with the Recovery School District to run some services for all the city’s schools,” including OneApp, a centralized enrollment program. After the radical decentralization during charter expansion, perhaps the pendulum is swinging toward consolidating some services.