crime

Two weekend shootings under investigation, police say

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One man was shot in a home invasion in Central City, and another man was shot in on Delachaise Street, New Orleans police said. Shortly before 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, a man in his 50s was inside a home in the 2000 block of Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way when he heard a knock at the door, according to the initial NOPD report. “When the victim answered the door he observed an unknown male armed with a gun,” the report states. “The victim grabbed the weapon and yelled, ‘Gun!’

city government

Councilmen Joe Giarrusso, Jason Williams to discuss city budget with Carrollton residents

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Two members of the New Orleans City Council — Joe Giarrusso III, who represents District A, and Jason Williams, elected by the city at large — will meet with Carrollton neighborhood activists and residents next week for a discussion of the upcoming city budget process and priorities. The meeting hosted by the Carrollton Area Network will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25, at St. Mary’s Dominican High School at 7701 Walmsley Avenue. Attendees will be invited to play the Big Easy Budget Game, a simulator designed by the Committee for a Better New Orleans that demonstrates how the city must spend most of its money, and allows residents to allocate what remains among their priorities.

crime

Suspect identified in machete attack on party-goers, police say

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A machete-wielding man who allegedly attacked a group of people bound for a pool party earlier this summer has been identified, and investigators are hoping the public can help locate him, New Orleans police said. Kevin Eugene Parker, 23, is wanted on warrants seeking his arrest on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated second-degree battery, following the July 20 incident at a home near St. Andrew and Danneel streets, according to NOPD reports:

The victims were inside of a residence preparing to head to a pool when, while obtaining items for the pool, Parker allegedly was outside of the residence brandishing a long machete. When one of the victims opened the front door and attempted to get Parker to leave, Parker allegedly raised the machete in a threatening manner to the victims. The victim who opened the door said he struck Parker with a metal pole he had obtained. During the altercation, the victim said, Parker cut the victim on the arm with the machete and caused a large flesh wound.

business

Union Ramen receives final approval for Lower Garden District restaurant

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Union Ramen has received the final approval it needed in order to open inside the large Magazine Street building that formerly housed Jim Russell Rare Records. In order to operate a restaurant in the building at 1837 Magazine Street, Union Ramen needed a conditional-use permit from the New Orleans City Council. The request received a favorable report from the city planning staff and a unanimous recommendation for approval from the City Planning Commission in August, and appeared before the City Council earlier this month. “In this portion of Magazine Street, while there is a large number of restaurants, there is a variety of other uses, so there is not perhaps the over-concentration that is the source of concern in the overlay district,” said city planner Stephen Kroll during the Council’s Sept. 9 meeting.

crime

Girl, 16, dies from injuries in Conrad Park shooting; two teens arrested, police say

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A 16-year-old girl died Tuesday from gunshot wounds she suffered during a shooting earlier this month at Conrad Park in Hollygrove, and investigators have arrested two juveniles suspects on murder charges, New Orleans police said. Selicia Nabor, 16, was pronounced dead Tuesday, Sept. 18, of gunshot wounds, following the Sept. 9 shooting at the park at Hamilton and Edinburgh streets, said a spokesman for Orleans Parish Coroner Dwight McKenna. Nabor had been shot in the head after gunfire broke out around 8 p.m., and an adult male victim was shot in the leg and arm, police said at the time.

city government

Danae Columbus: Mayor Cantrell needs Gov. Edwards’ help to keep more tourism taxes in New Orleans

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When Mayor LaToya Cantrell addressed the Bureau of Governmental Research on Tuesday, she was quick to talk about her desire to add currently exempt property to the tax rolls while also re-distributing other tax dollars that are generated in New Orleans, especially those collected by the tourism industry. Even though the City Council recently proposed new millage to support senior citizens, Cantrell told the packed house that New Orleans could not tax our way into prosperity and has been clear that a budget shortfall of at least $24 million is anticipated for 2019. President’s Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors has declared the war on poverty largely over, according to the New York Times. Yet the nation’s recovery has bypassed an estimated 40 million Americans who live below the federal poverty level. As a progressive and former community organizer, Cantrell knows all too well that many New Orleanians – especially people of color – still lack decent jobs, affordable housing, and safe neighborhoods.

colleges

Prosecutors refuse charges in student’s rape allegations against Marines

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The charges accusing three Marines and a ROTC cadet of raping a Tulane student and her friend at her university-area apartment will not be prosecuted, according to our partners at WWL-TV. Jared Anderson, 18, Alexander H. Davenport, 20, and Matthew Farrell, 22, had all be charged with first-degree rape, and Antonio Landrum, 18, with third-degree rape, in connection with a sexual assault reported by a Tulane student after an encounter April 14. Those charges have all been refused by prosecutors, Orleans Parish District Attorney’s spokesman told WWL on Wednesday.

blight and demolition

After extensive renovation of cottage near St. Charles, owners ask for light commercial zoning

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After an extensive renovation to restore a Terpsichore Street home just off St. Charles Avenue, the owners are now hoping to attain a light commercial zoning so that it could be used for an office or studio, they told neighbors this week. The house at 1517 Terpsichore had for years been neglected to the point that demolition seemed imminent, but Robert Knapp and Otis Shipman bought it last year on condition that they try to save it. Now, after extensive renovations, the house is back to its original glamour, they said, but updated with modern amenities. “It’s been falling apart for decades, and people have been trying to file demolition permits,” Knapp said at Monday night’s meeting of the Lower Garden District Association.

business

Controversial “Fallen Saint” music venue to be deferred by City Council until October meeting

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The controversial proposal to convert a vacant warehouse at the edge of the Lower Garden District into a venue for an immersive-theater experience called “The Fallen Saint” will be deferred by the City Council again until their October meeting, officials said. Owners Seth and Rosa Dunlap are seeking a conditional-use permit from the City Council to allow a bar and live entertainment in the building at 1152 Magazine Street, but have run into adamant opposition from neighbors. Opponents say the project will likely overburden the neighborhood with noisy, drunken patrons and traffic, and that it could become a full-fledged nightclub or something much more objectionable if The Fallen Saint leaves. While one group of longtime Lower Garden District activists have been publicly organizing opposition to the project, the Lower Garden District Association had been poised to support it earlier this summer. In return, the association had asked that the Dunlaps sign a restrictive covenant agreeing to relinquish the conditional-use permits that allow the venue if they sell the building or lose the Fallen Saint lease.

business

Police searching for man in chef’s pants who threatened to rob Magazine Street business, but didn’t

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A man wearing the distinctive pants of a restaurant chef threatened to rob a Magazine Street business last week, but instead simply walked around inside and then left, and investigators are now hoping the public can help locate him, New Orleans police said. The man walked up the driveway of a business in the 4800 block of Magazine (near Bordeaux Street) around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and told employees there that he was about to “do what he do,” then told them he was going to rob the safe, said NOPD Sgt. Perrin Gaines. Those employees fled, and the man entered the business, where another worker inside saw him walk around and enter the bathroom, then leave without taking anything or trying to rob anyone, Gaines said. He was described as a 6-foot tall black man in his mid-20s wearing the striped pants of a restaurant chef, Gaines said.