Lesli Harris adds to her list of endorsements as election day nears (sponsored)

While the current Councilperson of District B is insistent that he cannot make an impact on our community’s greatest challenges, Lesli Harris has outlined a new way forward. From her plans to repair our roads, increase community policing to reduce crime, and make District B more amenable to small businesses, Lesli Harris has demonstrated her commitment to improving our neighborhoods. For these reasons, Congressman Troy Carter released a video message this week urging residents of the district —which includes Uptown, Central City, parts of Mid City, and the CBD — to vote for Lesli Harris. The congressman, who won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year, is joined by District Attorney Jason Williams, the Democratic Party of New Orleans, the International Womens Organization, Forum for Equality, and others who are formally supporting Lesli Harris’ candidacy. “District B deserves a champion.

Joe Giarrusso: Your trust and confidence (sponsored)

Dear Friend,
Your trust and confidence has been so important to my service on the City Council. I want to continue the work we’ve started––and ask for your vote this Saturday. As your representative on the Council, I took the lead–– working with state, federal and local officials––to clean up the mess after Hurricane Ida, restore public services and keep our streets safe. I stood up for our district and put pressure on city waste haulers, Entergy, the Sewerage & Water Board and Cox Cable to do their jobs––and I’ll continue this fight until every problem is resolved. Effective and fair law enforcement is essential to public safety.

Nation’s oldest World War II veteran just wants to stay in his Central City home

 

Central City resident Lawrence Brooks, the nation’s oldest living World War II veteran at 112, is back at his home after a recent stay at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a few nights in the intensive care unit. When his daughter and caregiver, Vanessa Brooks, was notified of his impending release last Thursday (Nov. 4), she was asked whether she planned to ride home with him in the ambulance. She shook her head and laughed. “He’ll have six people with him,” she said.

Viewpoint: Will incumbents rule the day in Saturday’s election?

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s re-election became even more of a certainty after her announcement Tuesday (Nov. 9) that she is abandoning the idea of relocating City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium in Armstrong Park. Even with the anti-Cantrell vote and the personal support her 13 opponents have garnered, Cantrell is still expected to take it in the first round. Four years ago she won with 60% of the vote. Opponents who could win at least a small portion of the votes include small business owner Vina Nguyen, fitness expert Leilani Heno and activist Belden Batiste. 

Many of the other incumbents on the ballot might not coast to victory as easily as Cantrell.

Viewpoint: Charter school is perpetuating Robert Mills Lusher’s racist legacy

By Corinne A. Williams, guest columnist

The pandemic along with the racial reckoning in our country and, most recently, Hurricane Ida have all put New Orleans’ kids in a position to experience a collective trauma — much like people my age experienced after Hurricane Katrina. In addition to traumas already thrust upon them, children attending Lusher Charter School are attuned to many internal school-related traumas. Their school leaders have put their best interests last for one of the simplest things that they have control over: the name of their school. Lusher Charter School is named for Robert Mills Lusher, a Confederate tax collector, segregationist and unabashed member of the Crescent City White League. By today’s standards and any anti-racist standard, Mr. Lusher would be someone who should be unequivocally rejected as a person to name anything after.

Police seeking second suspect in double homicide at church parking lot

The New Orleans Police Department is seeking assistance in locating a second suspect wanted in a double homicide on Oct. 6 outside a church in the Touro Bouligny neighborhood. NOPD Homicide Unit detectives have determined the unidentified male pictured below to be a suspect in a shooting that killed two men and injured two others. The four victims were working on a drainage project in the parking lot of the New Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church on Annunciation and Gen. Taylor streets when four men opened fire on the group. Victims Zernell Lee, 19, and Derrick Copelin, 25, died at the hospital.

Ursuline Academy announces Fall Festival with lawn concert on Nov. 14 (sponsored)

The concert on the lawn at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans will feature three performances: The Hundreds Brass Band — The Original Pinettes — Charmaine Neville. Here in New Orleans, festivals play an essential role in celebrating our unique culture. After a year of virtual concerts and drive-by events, fall 2021 is finally gearing up for the return of live gatherings. 

Ursuline Academy is joining in the revelry with a Fall Festival on State Street featuring music, food and fun. Ursuline will kick off its inaugural Fall Festival on Sunday, Nov. 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. with a musical celebration featuring live performances from three of New Orleans’ most beloved bands.

Tulane University to study water quality in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida

From Tulane University

The National Science Foundation has awarded a Tulane University researcher a RAPID grant to study how pollutants from flooding caused by Hurricane Ida may have affected groundwater and water systems in south Louisiana. Louisiana and other coastal states face hazards like superstorms and hurricanes that can expose groundwater and water systems to chemical or microbial contaminants that may have serious implications for human health. Samendra Sherchan, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, will lead a team collecting water samples at more than 150 sites in Houma, LaPlace, Slidell and other areas at different time intervals during the next six months to gain a better understanding of the impacts of extreme flooding on water quality and the mobilization of contaminants in coastal groundwater systems. Ida made landfall as a Category 4 storm near Port Fourchon on Aug. 29, bringing coastal storm surges, heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding to many rural areas in southern Louisiana. “Such large-scale flooding has the potential to transport chemical agents and microbial pathogens and contaminate groundwater,” Sherchan said.