NOPD looking for suspects in car burglaries, porch piracy

The New Orleans Police Department has released photos of suspects in vehicle burglaries and package thefts in Uptown neighborhoods.  
The NOPD is requesting the public’s assistance in finding Zachariah Woodruff, a suspect in two vehicle burglaries in the Broadmoor area on April 6 and April 28. Woodruff has identified himself as homeless; however, he is believed to be residing near Louisiana Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue. Police have referred to him as a habitual shoplifter, and he is accused of recently stealing items from the Rouses stores on Tchoupitoulas Street and on North Carrollton Avenue. Anyone with information regarding Woodruff’s location is asked to contact Second District detectives at 504-658-6020 or Crimestoppers at at 504-822-1111.

Central City church hosts two days of COVID-19 walk-up and drive-thru testing

Council members Helena Moreno, Jason Williams and Jay H. Banks are proud to announce mobile COVID-19 testing in Central City. The testing initiative is hosted by 12 Baptist churches throughout the city and held this week at New Hope on Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way. In partnership with the city of New Orleans, NOLA Ready and the New Orleans Health Department and Ochsner Health System, community drive-thru or walk-up testing will take place on Tuesday (May 5) and Wednesday (May 6) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way (formerly LaSalle Street). “Having testing easily accessible to those that are most likely to be impacted and who are less likely to be able to get to the other testing sites, just makes sense,” said District B’s Councilman Banks. “Throughout every crisis New Orleans has experienced, churches have been an anchor, and served as a beacon of hope.

For the city’s small restaurants, federal aid falls flat

 

Mason Hereford shut down the dining rooms of his two restaurants by a vote. Days before Mayor LaToya Cantrell ordered restaurant dining rooms closed, Hereford gathered the staff of Molly’s Rise and Shine and Turkey and the Wolf, and, united and socially distanced, they elected to shift operations to take-out only. Hereford thought his establishments would operate this way for a week or two. They lasted only three days, before, with safety in mind, he shut them down completely. In 2017, full-service restaurant jobs constituted 7% of New Orleans’s workforce according to a report by The Data Center.

Police seeking Coco, a miniature poodle who was stolen from her yard

The New Orleans Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in located a dog stolen on April 20. At around 10:30 a.m., Coco, the pictured 9-year-old miniature poodle, was secured by her owner on a leash in the front yard of their home located in the 2200 block of Brainard Street, near Jackson Avenue. Moments later, the owner’s neighbor informed her that a woman had taken the dog and ran off. The owner spent several days looking for Coco before informing police of the theft. Coco is described as black with gray patches, weighs 6 pounds, and is missing her right canine tooth.

Viewpoint: New Orleans schools need visionary leaders for post-COVID future

 

The coronavirus pandemic has necessitated a dramatic shift in public education that could finally force New Orleans leaders to address the myriad inequities that have robbed our most vulnerable children of reaching their full potential. It will take outside-the-box forward thinkers to build a post-COVID educational system that focuses on what will become the new normal — personalized learning beyond the traditional school classroom. Our elected and charter officials as well as parents and civic and business leaders must come together with a clear vision to meet these expanded education goals. School systems without fund reserves could be armed with fewer financial resources as budgets take a hit from projected virus-related reductions in sales and ad valorem taxes, which currently make up a large portion of education funding. During this pandemic one group of New Orleans learners have faced the greatest challenges — the 35,000-plus students from disadvantaged households who make up 83% of charter school students in Orleans Parish.

Digital town hall to outline plans to revamp region’s transit system

A initiative to overhaul the region’s public transit system, called New Links, was at a crucial phase in February. It had released three comprehensive transportation concepts and was asking the public to weigh in. That public input would drive the final proposal, Regional Planning Commission officials said. When the COVID-19 emergency hit, the New Links team was in the middle of intense outreach at busy transit stops and community meetings. Social distancing put a stop to that outreach.

Tulane institute to study effect of pandemic on nation’s schools

From Tulane University

The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences has awarded the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice, or REACH, at Tulane University a $100,000 contract to collect data from approximately 150,000 school websites across the country to see how the nation’s education system is responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The project, which will track traditional public schools, charter schools and private schools, aims to quickly answer questions that are critical for understanding how students are learning when school buildings are closed. Key questions include: how many schools are providing any kind of instructional support; which are delivering online instruction; what resources are they offering to students and how do students stay in contact with teachers? “This data will also help answer important questions about equity in the school system, showing how responses differ according to characteristics like spending levels, student demographics, internet access, and if there are differences based on whether it is a private, charter or traditional public school,” said REACH National Director Douglas N. Harris, Schlieder Foundation Chair in Public Education and chair of economics at Tulane University School of Liberal Arts. REACH will work in cooperation with Nicholas Mattei, assistant professor of computer science at Tulane University School of Science and Engineering, to create a computer program that will collect data from every school and district website in the country.