Viewpoint: Criminal justice reform movement the big winner in Saturday’s elections

Criminal justice reform is an idea whose time has come. 

City Council President Jason Roger Williams won the election for Orleans Parish district attorney Saturday because the 71,889 voters — especially millennials — yearned for the kind of reform that Williams was offering. New Orleans now has the unique opportunity to become America’s foremost leader in developing a new model for criminal justice. Williams was an excellent candidate who was able to bring his institutional knowledge to the race. His message was right on point. Surrounded by a solid campaign team, Williams meticulously executed a well-thought-out plan that branded former Judge Keva Landrum as a flawed prosecutor unable to enact additional reforms. Despite her well-funded efforts, Landrum was never able to shake that yoke. 

Williams’ candidacy also drew enthusiastic support from criminal justice reform advocates around the country who hoped that if Williams’ proposed operational style was successful, it could be replicated in other cities. 

Williams understood the minds of the voters.

Viewpoint: Cedric Richmond’s path to the White House began on the UTNO picket line

Louisiana Second Congressional District Rep. Cedric Levan Richmond, who recently became the highest ranking Black staff member to join President-elect Joseph Biden’s administration, was introduced to politics at a very early age.

Richmond was just 5 years old in 1978 when his mother, Maple Richmond Gaines — a dedicated New Orleans public school teacher — would wake him and his brother Sidney Jr. before dawn to accompany her to the picket line, where the United Teachers of New Orleans were striking for higher wages and better working conditions. Richmond would hold up a sign while his mother, the strike leader, made sure no cafeteria workers or other early arrivers entered the school building.

New Links reimagines the region’s public transit. Here’s what’s in the works for Uptown.

For the past two years, a group of planners has been working to turn around public transportation in New Orleans and the rest of the region. It is now seeking feedback on its New Links report, a plan for our buses and streetcars, reimagined with the idea that the system needs to serve more people more efficiently.

New Links is a project of the Regional Planning Commission, building on long-range strategic plans by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and Jefferson Transit. Planners gathered public feedback and crunched numbers to come up with a transit design that takes existing resources and organizes them in a more effective way.

Police blotter: Seven armed robberies among crimes reported over Thanksgiving weekend in Uptown neighborhoods

This past holiday weekend saw a rash of armed robberies in Uptown neighborhoods. In addition to seven armed robberies, a carjacking and an aggravated burglary were  reported by the New Orleans Police Department. Aggravated burglary: In an incident police classify as an aggravated burglary, a man was stabbed and another was shot in Central City. At about 8:20 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 29), the two men got into a verbal altercation in the 1800 block of Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.

Patios, a porch and the PPP offered lifeline to Delachaise bistros

When The Delachaise first opened at 3442 St. Charles Ave. 17 years ago, it had a patch of grass out front where owner Evan Hayes hoped to build an outdoor space. Then 10 years ago, Entergy tore up that section of the avenue to install a new gas line, and Hayes used the opportunity to pave the area and create a patio. “That doubled our business,” he said.

Viewpoint: Has Keva Landrum delivered the knock-out punch to Jason Williams in the DA’s race?

 

By most accounts former Judge Keva Landrum should be running away with the district attorney’s race. Landrum has raised and spent bucket loads of money and is the politically correct gender and ethnicity. She knows how to do the job because she has done it before, albeit in an interim capacity. 

When “tough on crime” was all the rage, Landrum was praised as a no-nonsense prosecutor. Now she is being attacked for her then-appropriate performance as the office holder and also is being burdened by other people’s political baggage. These factors among others are keeping the window open for City Councilman at-large Jason Williams to become New Orleans next district attorney.  

Williams is darn lucky that he was indicted for tax fraud last June, not last week.

Silver Lining: Maple Small Animal Clinic is busier than ever during the pandemic

This is the first Silver Lining, an Uptown Messenger series on locally owned small businesses that are thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic. Maple Small Animal Clinic has a different pandemic story to tell from many of our local businesses. For one thing, it does not depend on the tourist trade. And veterinary clinics are considered an essential business, so it never had to shut down. The clinic changed its protocol to curbside drop-off and pickup, but it stayed fully staffed and did not need to limit its services.