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Posted inEnvironment, Opinion
Where’s the outrage over the city’s lead-poisoning problem?
The arrows point to blood cells damaged by lead poisoning. After witnessing the collective outrage over a belated water advisory, I’ve changed my mind. I no longer believe lead-poisoned children should bleed from their eyeballs. Let me explain. On Monday the Sewerage and Water Board announced that a brief power outage had caused water pressure […]
Posted inGovernment & Politics, Land Use
Neighbors prevail as city strips permit from Treme mansion's oversized pool house
By Karen Gadbois, The Lens staff writer | The last thing Treme resident Stephen Kennedy expected was to be handcuffed by the police in his own back yard. But that’s exactly what happened as he built a fence along the property line separating his home from an oversized pool house that developer Tracy Williams was […]
Posted inOpinion
Kudos to city for new blight strategy in historic areas
By Brad Vogel, The Lens contributing opinion writer | I didn’t expect to, but I actually broke into applause last Thursday at the city’s BlightStat meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, Jeff Hebert, the city’s Director of Blight Policy and Neighborhood Revitalization, casually mentioned that the city would no longer be pushing blighted properties […]
Posted inOpinion
Interested in a program for energy efficiency? Tell city with this survey
By Beth Galante, The Lens contributing opinion writer | New Orleans is working to reduce the energy consumption of our city’s households, and city officials want your help to determine how interested homeowners are in a loan program to improve energy and water efficiency. The Office of Environmental Affairs has received a $220,000 Recovery Act […]
Posted inOpinion
We deserve better.
How New Orleans can generate revenue and support small businesses through a city-owned centralized payment-processing system
Posted inBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens episode 149: ‘I would say that if I was district attorney’
Budget hearings: Orleans Parish DA’s office, but not the Sheriff’s Office. A ‘smart cities’ proposal draws some privacy concerns. Renaming Lusher Charter School. And school agencies want out of a long-running consent decree.
Posted inKatrina20
New Orleans was not disposable after Katrina; its children are not disposable now
“We knew that our city was worth investment and protection,” writes Cierra Chenier. “The same must be true for our children.”
Posted inOpinion
Power out, profits gone: how Louisiana’s grid failures harm local businesses
Lost Coyote restaurant in Treme was on track for its first record-profit day during Memorial Day weekend, when a sudden blackout brought it all to a standstill.
Posted inEnvironment
Louisiana’s new bill would codify gas as “green energy”
A bill on its way to the Governor’s desk—with connections to gas industry allies—could enshrine hydrocarbons as Louisiana’s future.