events

Local director’s first feature film ‘Thunder Road’ headed to Pyrtania Theater

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Join the New Orleans Film Society as they present the homecoming of New Orleans native director Jim Cummings’s first feature film “Thunder Road,” which won the Grand Prize in SXSW 2018 and heading to Cannes Film Festival for its international premiere in May. “Thunder Road” tells the story of a flawed police officer, Jim Arnaud (Jim
Cummings), who’s life is made worse by his mother’s passing. Unable to change his life for the better, his only stability comes in the shape of his daughter (Kendal Farr). New Orleans’ premiere of “Thunder Road” will be on Tuesday, April 24, 8 p.m. at the Prytania Theater. The screening is free for New Orleans Film Society members, with public tickets available at the Prytania box office and online.

crime

NOPD: Woman carjacked while dropping friend off on Dante Street

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A 47-year-old woman’s car was stolen while she was dropping a friend off in the 1800 block of Dante Street late Thursday. The victim parked her tan 2006 Subaru Forester to drop off a friend around 8:10 p.m. Thursday (April 17). Both women exited the vehicle and walked about 20 feet away, leaving the car running with the keys in the ignition. The victim looked back at her car five minutes later and saw an unknown man in a dark colored hoodie, with the hood up, sitting in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. The victim walked to her vehicle and grabbed the door handle when the suspect pointed a “dark colored object at her” and told her to “get away,” police said.

crime

One man killed, woman injured in early Wednesday double shooting

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One man is dead and another person injured after a double shooting on South Roman Street early Wednesday. New Orleans Police Second District officers responded to shots fired in the 3600 block of South Roman Street around 4:53 a.m. Wednesday, April 18. When officers arrived they found an adult woman who told police she heard two gunshots discovered she had been shot in her finger. Officers then found an adult man lying face down next to a bicycle in the middle of the street. That victim, a 33-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Housing advocacy group developing new short term rental ordinance after years of data study

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One year after the New Orleans City Council instituted regulations for short-term rental properties, one affordable housing advocacy group has developed policy changes (and eventually a new ordinance) meant to tackle the city’s affordable housing crisis. The Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative works to reduce the number of short term rentals around the city as part of a broader effort to increase the number of affordable housing units for New Orleanian. After compiling three years of data into one comprehensive report – title “Short Term Rentals, Long Term Impacts” – the group has established several policy change proposals for the city, as well as calls to action for its residents. JPNSI’s leadership held a town hall Wednesday to present their findings and proposed policy changes. Jane Place staff have been tracking short term rentals for three years using three data sources: data scrapes from Inside Airbnb; the city’s own public permit database; and open records requests from the city’s attorneys office.

blight and demolition

Four people injured after Washington Avenue house collapses

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A Washington Avenue home collapsed Monday afternoon injuring at least one man and stalling traffic in the area for several hours. The home, in the 2300 block of Washington Avenue near Lasalle St., collapsed a little after 4 p.m. Monday. New Orleans Police blocked traffic to the area for several hours while EMS and Entergy crews were on scene. The home was surrounded by a metal fence and port-o-lets, and neighbors said crews had been working on the home (and a neighboring home) earlier. A next door neighbor named Willy was sitting in front of the collapsed house around 5 p.m. He said was was watching TV when he heard a loud noise, and peeked out his front door.

crime

Man, woman shot to death in Palmetto Street apartment building

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A man and a woman were found dead of gunshot wounds in a second-story apartment Monday morning in the 8200 block of Palmetto Street. New Orleans Police are investigating the apparent gunshot deaths of two people in the Cypress Trace Apartments across from Costco in Gert Town. Police first reported both victims as female but later clarified that one victim was male. Officers were called to the apartments for a wellness check at 8:11 a.m. Monday. When police arrived they found both victims on the floor with fatal gunshot wounds.

business

Controversial Irish Channel ice cream shop rezoning rejected by City Council, sent back to City Planning

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A rezoning request to create an ice-cream shop on Louisiana Avenue in the Irish Channel was rejected by the City Council on Thurday after neighbors expressed worry the spot-zoning would permit a year-round AirBnB hub. Reginald Commodore, a 41-year-old engineer, is seeking to rezone the building at 940 Louisiana Avenue (the corner of Constance Street) from residential to neighborhood business in order to open an ice-cream parlor called “Love Kreme.” That could be accomplished by a conditional use within the current zoning, officials have said, but Commodore also wants to use the two apartments inside the building as short-term rentals, which requires the full rezoning. He has always rented out one of the apartments to help him pay off the mortgage, he said, but it is not always easy to keep occupied. More recently, he has listed it as a short-term rental, and has had more than 100 happy guests, he said. The City Planning Commission denied a full rezoning request in November, encouraging Commodore to reapply for the conditional use to open just the ice-cream shop.

business

“Vintage” 1998 Tulane National Championship shirts boom in popularity with social-media yarn

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David Cariello, owner of Campus Connection, wanted to come up with a silly way to market a new T-shirt celebrating the 20-year anniversary of Tulane’s undefeated 1998 football season. So, in one Tweet, Cariello concocted an improbable backstory for the shirt. https://twitter.com/TulaneShop/status/948702307532857344

While the story about the missing shipment is fictitious, the shirt’s popularity is no joke. Cariello said he underestimated how many people would be interested in a t-shirt celebrating the 20-year-old National Championship. “I arrived at Tulane one year after the 1998 season so I guess I didn’t fully understand how exciting that season was for fans,” he said.

business

Chipotle agrees to ‘fast food’ moniker to appease Garden District neighbors

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Developers of the proposed Magazine Street Chipotle restaurant have come to a good neighbor agreement with residents of the Garden District and Irish Channel, which still allows for the chain eatery but hopefully stems a “proliferation of fast food” in the historic district. The City Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for Chipotle as a fast food restaurant, rather than a standard restaurant, after opposition from the Garden District and Irish Channel neighborhood associations. Nothing else about the proposal was changed, according to Chipotle’s local land-use attorney Mike Sherman. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the neighbors,” Sherman said in front of the commission Tuesday. The proposal moves to the City Council for final approval.

crime

Carjacking reported in 1000 block of South Rendon Street

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A 24-year-old man was pulled out of his vehicle Wednesday night by a man with a gun, according to police. The victim told police he was sitting inside his vehicle in the 1000 block of South Rendon Street when a silver vehicle pulled up and an armed man got out of the car. The suspect pointed a gun at the victim around 11 p.m. as he pulled the victim out of his car and demanded his wallet. The victim did not have a wallet, so the suspect grabbed the victim’s cell phone out of his hand and fled with victim’s vehicle, according to police.