Rouses and Breaux Mart respond to social media frenzy and calls for boycotts

Two local supermarket chains, Rouses Supermarkets and Breaux Mart, issued statements Thursday afternoon in response to a social media furor over their owners’ political activities. On Wednesday night, Lamar White Jr., the editor of Bayou Brief, posted a photo on Twitter of Rouses co-owner Donald Rouse Sr. and a former Rouses executive, Steve Galtier, from Galtier’s now-deleted Facebook page. It was taken at Wednesday’s pro-Trump demonstration in Washington, D.C. and originally posted to show that not everyone at the rally was maskless. The photo went viral — setting off a frenzy of tweets and calls to boycott the store. Then writer Michael Tisserand replied to a tweet that “Breaux Mart is better anyway” with examples of pro-Trump Facebook posts from Barry Breaux, the owner of Breaux Mart.

Viewpoint: It will take more than a vaccine to restore America’s spirit

Amid an Epiphany Day marred by an unanticipated insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the state’s highest COVID rates, 87-year-old Isiah Steele received his long-awaited COVID-19 vaccination at New Orleans East Hospital. “I am so blessed to have gotten this vaccine,” said Steele, before lighting a candle at the Shrine of St. Jude. “I will sleep a little easier tonight.”

Steele has been locked down in his family home since mid-March, where he has fretted about his grandson, a senior soon to graduate from LSU, and his caregiver daughter, who goes to work almost every day despite the pandemic.  “While I worry about their health and safety, I am mourning the loss of a year of my life at a time when I don’t have too many years left,” he said. 

A chronic voter, Steele is also troubled by how ugly and divisive politics have become. “I pray that our elected leaders will seek consensus, get the virus under control and everybody back working again.

Phunny Phorty Phellows herald Carnival with creativity and caution

 

With masks creatively incorporated into costumes, 25 members of the Phunny Phorty Phellows boarded a streetcar Wednesday at the Willow Street Car Barn for their traditional Twelfth Night trip down St. Charles Avenue. Since 1981, the krewe has heralded the beginning of the New Orleans Carnival season. Following COVID-19 restrictions, the 25 participants represented about 25 percent of the group’s usual size, the public was not allowed inside the streetcar barn to send them off, and crowds along the route were asked to wear masks and keep to small socially distanced groups.

Person-of-interest sought in Hollygrove homicide

The NOPD is seeking to locate and interview Ronald Burton, 41, as a person-of-interest in the investigation of a homicide on Oct. 10 in Hollygrove. In the 8800 block of Colapissa Street, near Eagle Street and Earhart Boulevard, Michael Allen, 45, was found with gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead by medical responders at about 3:30 p.m.
Burton is not currently wanted in connection with this incident. However, detectives believe he has knowledge of information vital to the investigation and wish to question him.

Audubon Zoo is recycling strands of holiday lights to aid wildlife

New Orleanians will be dragging their Christmas trees to the curb for coastal restoration after Jan. 6. but what all those strands of lights? Most holiday lights are not bio-degradable — and they are dangerous to animals that can get tangled in the strands. You can make a positive impact on the natural world by recycling your lights and keeping them out of the landfill.

Police Blotter: Shooting, two robberies in Fontainebleau, Garden District

A shooting and two robberies were reported Uptown over New Year’s weekend. A 68-year-old man was injured when he got caught in the crossfire Sunday (Jan. 3) during a shooting in Fontainebleau, the New Orleans Police Department reported. The victim was walking in the 3100 block of Broadway at about 4:40 p.m. when he saw gunfire coming from two separate vehicles, where the occupants were shooting at each other, police said. One of the bullets struck the 68-year-old in the arm, and he was taken to the hospital via private conveyance.

Viewpoint: At CR Coffee Shop, it’s about the coffee

Local roaster and coffee aficionado Kevin Pedeaux didn’t intend to open his Uptown coffee house, CR Coffee Shop, a few months before a pandemic hit. However, that’s exactly what happened after his grand opening in October 2019.

A year later, it was a success story, bucking a lamentable trend that has seen established local coffee houses — like Café Luna and Hey! Café & Coffee Roastery — shutter along the Magazine Street corridor.