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Posted inEnvironment, Government & Politics

Gulf Coast states lag behind other states in getting contracts for oil disaster work

An overwhelming number of federal contracts related to the BP oil disaster have gone to companies outside of the area most affected by the environmental and economic catastrophe, according to data from government agencies. About $6.5 million in federal contracting money has gone to Louisiana since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the state’s […]

Posted inGovernment & Politics

Council president seeks oversight for economic development loans

City Council President Arnie Fielkow plans to introduce an ordinance this week that would require council approval for all loans from the Urban Development Action Grant fund, increasing public oversight of a development subsidy most recently awarded to Zulu organization and the Inspire entertainment complex in the Seventh Ward. The UDAG program is a loan […]

Posted inGovernment & Politics

The Public Cost of Eviction

The tenant skipped out before the end of the month. New Orleans landlord Donald Vallee wasn’t too surprised. He’d seen it before — and in post-Katrina, recession-era New Orleans, he’d seen it quite frequently. This time around, the tenant left behind a $643 per-month three-bedroom, 1,400-square-foot townhouse in eastern New Orleans. “It was a reasonable […]