Where to find first aid and toilets and how not to be a jerk on parade days

Well before the first marching band strikes up in the Oshun parade on Friday evening, city officials have been working to make this year’s Uptown parade season safe and enjoyable.

Trees have been trimmed, response plans tested, first-aid and lost-child stations have been set up, porta-potties are in place and information lines and apps established. The city is also asking parade-goers and neighborhood residents to do their part by showing consideration for all.

Danae Columbus: Will Cantrell tax the wealthy to fund infrastructure needs?

Mayor LaToya Cantrell was smart to ask Governor John Bel Edwards to form a working group to identify funding solutions for New Orleans sewerage and drainage problems. Edwards is up for re-election in the fall and will need the support of the popular Cantrell and New Orleans voters. Unfortunately, there is only so much the governor will be able to do without identifying a new taxing source. So far the tourism industry has successfully fought back against Cantrell co-opting any of their existing tax dollars but has pledged to work with her on creating a small new tax.

Air quality alert issued after fire destroys Garden District mansion

You can see the smoke and enormous flames from the Garden District fire all the way in the 400 block of Poydras. pic.twitter.com/Eu9qoDbBAA
— Mid-City Messenger (@MidCityMessengr) February 20, 2019

Smoke from the seven-alarm fire in the Garden District on Wednesday damaged air quality throughout the city, the city’s emergency preparedness office reports.

Anyone who is elderly or has respiratory disease, such as asthma, is advised to stay inside, keep their doors and windows closed, set their air-conditioning systems to re-circulate the air inside the building and avoid using exhaust fans if possible. Anyone who is having difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

The heavy smoke may impact the air in the Central Business District, French Quarter, Treme, Mid-City, Fairgrounds, 7th Ward, St. Roch and Gentilly neighborhoods, as well as Uptown.

Sewerage & Water Board ordered to pay 10 more homeowners in Uptown drainage case

In a ruling issued Friday, Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott awarded nearly three-quarters of a million dollars ($770,435) to 10 homeowners for damages resulting from the Southeast Louisiana Urban Drainage Project construction. The Sewerage & Water Board is responsible for the damage, the judge ruled.

The trial is the third for Uptown homeowners suing S&WB for construction and vibration damage.

BAR NONE hosts ‘conversation for justice’ for McKinley “MAC” Phipps

McKinley “MAC” Phipps is currently serving a 30-year sentence for manslaughter, a crime for which he maintains his innocence. February 21, 2019 (this Thursday) marks 19 years he has been incarcerated behind the walls of the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center.

BAR NONE, a multidisciplinary arts initiative that focuses on “transcending incarceration through the arts,” will host a community conversation about MAC, his impact, and justice for him on Thursday.