Viewpoint: No stopping Mayor Cantrell now — she’s on the move

Last night’s report from WDSU-TV that Mayor LaToya Cantrell spent nearly $10,000 on airfare for herself on the recent trip to Switzerland probably surprised more than a few citizens. Cantrell made the trip to celebrate a recent sister-city agreement and attend a jazz festival. WDSU’s investigation further revealed that three staff members — a social media manager, the director of international relations and an individual providing security — also made the trip. Their airfare expenses were in addition to the $10,000.  The total costs for food, lodging and entertainment for this taxpayer-funded junket are not fully known. 

The trip to Switzerland was one bookend of her recent European travel, which also included a similar trip to the French Riveria for another sister-city agreement and more music. To Cantrell, both of these trips were all in a day’s work regardless of the costs.

Teenagers, including a Bridge City escapee, arrested in carjacking, shooting, armed robbery

The New Orleans Police Department announced recent arrests in a carjacking and shooting in the Milan neighborhood and an armed robbery in Touro-Bouligny. A juvenile suspect accused of shooting a 59-year-old man during a carjacking was an escapee from the Bridge City Center for Youth, according to media reports. Authorities say he was one of six teens who broke out of the juvenile jail on July 17. He remained at large for hours after the other five were apprehended. Police arrested the 17-year-old and a 16-year-old female after the vehicle they were driving crashed on St.

70-year-old man dies from gunshot wounds he sustained after a car accident

Clarence Henderson, 70, died on Sunday (July 24) from gunshot wounds. On Wednesday at 6:25 p.m., Henderson was in a car accident at Baronne and Philip streets. He got out of his car, and so did the other driver. The two got into an argument, and the other driver fired multiple shots at Henderson. The 70-year-old was struck in the abdomen and taken to the hospital, where he died four days later, according to the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office.

Zimpel Street cottage sets off battle between developers and neighbors

The City Council on Thursday (July 21) handed Carrollton area neighbors a victory by overturning the Historic District Landmarks Commission’s approval of plans to partially demolish a house near Tulane University. The approval would have allowed developers Preston Tedesco and Sidney “Sam” Torres V to add a second story to a 1,359-square-foot single-family home they purchased on Zimpel Street. The plans they filed with the city show two units with a “doubles-to-dorms” layout. On June 1, the HDLC voted 8-2 to allow the entire roof and 65% of the facade to be demolished so the second floor could be added. The HDLC staff found that the modest mid-century building, rated as “non-contributing,” had nothing to distinguish it.

Quadruple shooting reported after midnight in Central City

An overnight shooting in Central City left four men injured, the New Orleans Police Department reported. The shooting occurred at about 12:20 a.m. in the 2000 block of St. Andrew Street, near Danneel Street, where police found the men suffering from gunshot wounds. Emergency Medical Services brought them to a local hospital. The men were walking in the area when they heard shots, police said.

Hummus reigns supreme at the Green Olives Café on Maple Street

Green Olives Café began serving Middle Eastern food on Maple Street in the fall of 2020. Owner Hilmi Abdeljalil put any pandemic-related hesitancy aside for the chance to share his passion for the food he had been cooking his entire life. Growing up in Jerusalem, he learned to cook at home with his family and, with the help of his cousin, he developed a passion for cooking Middle Eastern food. Abdeljalil got his start in the restaurant business in his home country at a spot called Melech Ha Hummus, which translates to King of the Hummus, before moving to New Orleans in 1994. 

“I started working in the restaurant business and I learned as I went,” he said. “I love cooking and I love hummus — that’s my favorite.”

Upon moving to New Orleans, he worked at Mona’s Café on Banks Street for three years before returning to Jerusalem.

Police blotter: 70-year-old injured in shooting after car accident; armed robbery in Central City; business robbed on Carrollton

A 70-year-old man was injured in a shooting apparently stemming from a road-rage incident on Wednesday evening (July 20). The victim was in an auto accident at Baronne and Philip streets at about 6:25 p.m. After both drivers got out of their vehicles, the other driver pulled a gun on the 70-year-old and fired multiple shots. The Emergency Medical Service brought the victim to a local hospital. Police arrested a suspect, Nathaniel Anderson, 30, at the scene. Anderson is currently held on one count of possessing a weapon as a felon and a parole violation.