With Daiquiri Place on St. Charles Avenue closed, city turns enforcement eye to Santa Fe Tapas
Late last year, the Daiquiri Place Cafe on St. Charles Avenue lost its liquor license amid allegations that it had done too little to control the noise, litter and large crowds that congregated around it on weekends. At the time, the Daiquiri Place owners argued unsuccessfully that Santa Fe Tapas next door was a major [...]
Lead concerns at McDonogh 7 delay yet another move for Audubon Charter
Audubon Charter School families are facing a cruel déjà vu — suddenly having the promise of a new facility snatched away from them because of concerns about lead contamination, but it is a situation that has implications across the city of New Orleans.
Mystery surrounds fatal Lower Garden District shooting
After a man widely described as helpful and good-natured was found bound and fatally shot to the head in the living room of a Prytania Street home early Friday, neighbors are wondering what could have gone so wrong to bring him to such a shocking fate. “He was cool,” said Liz Murillo, a cashier at [...]
Man fatally shot, home ransacked in Lower Garden District
A man was shot to death in a home that had been ransacked early Friday morning on Prytania Street in the Lower Garden District, authorities said.
Slain AmeriCorps volunteer’s father preaches hope in defiance of loss
The people of New Orleans offered their condolences for the death of an 18-year-old volunteer from Chicago, but his father returned their apologies with a thundering message of resilience and defiance.
While neighbors of the former New Orleans Free School on Camp Street say they look forward to its redevelopment, they are concerned that 25 apartments there will be too many, they told city officials on Tuesday.
Krewe of Freret considering ‘ban’ on plastic beads for 2014 parade
When the Krewe of Freret rolls in 2014, New Orleanians will see the return of a parading group that has been absent from the Uptown route since the 1990s. What they may not see, however, is strands of ubiquitous plastic Mardi Gras beads.
Bricolage Academy prepares $1.4 million budget for first 75 kindergarten students
Bricolage Academy expects to spend about $1.4 million — with roughly half from state per-pupil funding, and half from a major startup grant it was awarded — to educate its first 75 kindergarten students in the coming school year, according to a draft budget examined by the new charter school’s governing board Monday afternoon.
The pair of masked, gun-wielding men who robbed Cooter Brown’s at closing time last week are still at large, and police officials are urging employees who have to close businesses late at night to take extra precautions until they’re found.
“The Cooter Brown’s case, if we don’t solve that, they’re going to keep hitting,” NOPD Commander Paul Noel said Wednesday during the Second District’s weekly meeting of ranking officers. Continue reading »
(map via NOPD)
(image via NOPD)
(image via NOPD)
Walt Leger
Jean-Paul Villere
“I want a safe neighborhood.” On any given day I must hear this a good dozen times from newbies (and parents of newbies) moving to New Orleans, less so from those that are returning or looking for a change of scenery already calling the city home. And the why is simple I think: if you’ve chosen to reside in the city proper then you likely engage on a level of “This ain’t Mayberry.” Yes, it is a Southern space that affords the stereotypes therein where neighbors and strangers alike trade routine pleasantries, comments on the weather, and the not so stray parallel park assist, but that doesn’t translate to lowering your guard or not following your gut.
Everyone wants a safe neighborhood, but arguably crime happens all over; there isn’t a corner in the Crescent City any one can point to and say ‘Here! It’s totally safe here in the Cemetery District. Unlock your doors, and leave your bike unchained and smart phone unattended.” Continue reading »
Three men were injured in a shooting Tuesday night on Hollygrove Street in the Dixon neighborhood, authorities said. Continue reading »
Santa Fe Tapas on St. Charles Avenue (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
At the time, the Daiquiri Place owners argued unsuccessfully that Santa Fe Tapas next door was a major contributor to the problem. Now, attorneys for the city are making a similar complaint, bringing nuisance charges against Santa Fe Tapas before the city’s alcohol board. Continue reading »
Four Uptown neighborhood groups — the Broadmoor Improvement Association, the Garden District Association, Maple Area Residents Inc. and St. Charles Avenue Association — are among 13 petitioning city officials to strengthen the city’s noise ordinance, arguing for measures such as designating a specific individual with enforcing it and measuring sound levels from venues’ property lines. Continue reading »
Jeremy Wilcox, a New Orleans police officer who served most recently in the Uptown-based Second District, was removed from the force Tuesday based on a 2004 bad check for $2,505 discovered after a traffic stop last summer in which he was driving a truck without a license plate, authorities said. Continue reading »
With more Mardi Gras krewes moving to the St. Charles Avenue route, a series of proposals would return the celebration to its neighborhood routes by “bolstering an alternative major parade route in Mid-City, working with Jefferson and the other parishes to coordinate regional parade schedules, adjusting regulations to allow neighborhoods to hold much smaller Mardi Gras Krewe processions, and encouraging those neighborhoods to form ‘Krewes of their own’, something between marching clubs and small float processions,” according to a recent article by Christoper Tidmore for the Louisiana Weekly.
Jefferson Parish officials would be enthusiastic about having a night or two more focused on their parades, Tidmore writes, suggesting that they might help with some Orleans Parish parade-route enforcement on other nights in exchange, a potentially attractive option as the multi-million dollar bill for the federal NOPD consent decree looms.
The proposals may be timely, as City Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell spends the year brainstorming potential changes to the city’s Mardi Gras ordinances.
(map via NOPD)
jewel bush
“When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.” African proverb
Growing up, I loved summers and not just for the stereotypical reasons like no school or staying up late. The bookworm in me cherished the summertime because it meant enrolling in the summer reading program at the library.
I would go to the library once or twice a week to checkout new reading material. I don’t remember my top number of books read during the dog days or what I even read, though I vaguely recall one middle school summer checking out a hardback on voodoo that was later banned from the library system. Aside from having an affinity for literature, the incentives – bookmarks, gift certificates for personal pan-sized pies from Pizza Hut and coupons for Skate Country and Putt Putt Golf – didn’t hurt either.
Continue reading »
The Coliseum Square Association held a brief meeting Monday evening that included a number of short updates on ongoing business developments and other issues. Continue reading »
Marshall Hevron (UptownMessenger.com file photo)
(image via projectnola.com)
After an initial budget proposal that showed a $700,000 shortfall, the International School of Louisiana held a public hearing on a balanced $16 million budget that increases fundraising expectations but reduces spending on counseling services and recalculates employee benefits, according to a report by Emmanuel Felton of The Lens.
(image via NOPD)
Slightly more than two-thirds of students (68 percent) who attended the now-closed James Weldon Johnson Elementary School will transfer to nearby Benjamin Banneker next year, though Banneker’s School Performance Score of 74.7 is considered ‘failing’ just as Johnson’s 70.9 was, according to a report by Jessica Williams of The Lens. Most of the Johnson students who are headed to Banneker (more than 80 percent) were assigned there automatically because their families did not apply to send them elsewhere, the report also states.
Banneker’s score was slightly better in the 2011-2012 school year than Johnson’s, rising 7 points and only missing the 75 needed to earn a ‘D’ by 0.3 points, compared to Johnson’s 3.8 points of growth that year. Only 21 percent of Johnson students will be going to schools rated C or D, according to figures compiled by The Lens.
Dorothy “Miss Dot” Domilise, matriarch for decades of the revered Uptown institution Domilise’s Po-Boy shop, died Friday at age 90, according to a report by Dominic Massa our partners at WWL-TV.
Owen Courreges
Presently, if I want to drive to the Marigny and points further East, I usually take the Claiborne Expressway or South Rampart. I could certainly go through the Quarter, but that’s generally a nightmare. I could also go further north, but reaching a road north of the expressway would be a major detour. The options are pretty well limited. Continue reading »