Fund 17, Propeller and Thrive announce the Financial Wellness Collaborative for small business owners (sponsored)

                    
Fund 17, Propeller and Thrive New Orleans announce the creation of the Financial Wellness Collaborative, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. This free program is designed to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners bolster their overall financial health through a series of workshops and one-on-one individualized support in areas such as assembling loan packages and financial statements, Quickbooks accounting, business tax filings, and raising credit scores. This collaboration among the three entrepreneurial support organizations represents a holistic approach for preparing more BIPOC entrepreneurs to access capital. Together with JPMorgan Chase and our local Community Development Financial Institution lenders, the collaborative targets specific needs and opportunities to prepare small businesses to approach lenders and access capital. By leveraging each organization’s respective work in supporting small businesses across New Orleans, the collaborative is able to create a synergistic offering.

Convention center board signs on to massive River District development plans

From the Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority Board 

The Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Exhibition Hall Authority Board moved to adopt a master development agreement with its development partner, River District Neighborhood Investors. At its August meeting, the board voted to approve terms for a mixed-use development of 39-acres of land adjacent to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Advancing a partnership many months in the making, the board action grants the River District group the permission to proceed with developing plans that will fulfill the Authority’s vision to create new experiences for residents and visitors alike. Of key importance to the agreement moving forward: the developers have made a hard commitment to a total of 900 mixed-income housing units, of which 450 will be affordable and workplace housing units. According to experts, this agreement provides a model for diversity and equity that may serve as a national model for public-private partnerships of this nature.

Police blotter: Woman carjacked in Garden District; Freret Street business robbed

A woman was carjacked mid-day Wednesday (Aug. 24) in the Garden District, and a business was robbed that night on Freret Street. The carjacking victim was in the 1100 block of Jackson Avenue at about 1:15 p.m. when a teenage boy approached. He knocked on her passenger-side window and brandished a weapon, police said. The victim got out of her car and let the carjacker enter.

Viewpoint: How are victims of crime in New Orleans supported?

I am not a fan of ultra-conservative Fox television personality Tucker Carlson. Yet I could not ignore his 15-minute diatribe Tuesday evening (Aug. 23) on Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s recent ill-advised actions, a diatribe that was viewed in prime time by millions across the world.  

Carlson’s premise was carjackings are the “clearest possible sign” that a civilization is “falling apart.” He made a direct connection between carjackings and decaying societies where “armed predators” — rather than the police — are in charge and where “force, violence and clan loyalty” have taken the place of law and order. With almost 200 carjackings already reported in 2022 versus a figure he gave as 177 for all of 2021, Carlson claimed that New Orleans has become a city like Johannesburg, South Africa, where carjackings are now “a way of life.”  The hundreds of New Orleans carjacking victims and many other citizens who live in fear of being carjacked probably agree. 

Carlson was drawn to this topic after Mayor Cantrell suddenly appeared — without prior notice to the victims, district attorney or the court — at the sentencing hearing of a juvenile offender who was convicted in three carjackings committed in two days. Cantrell came to support the 14-year-old and his mother because he completed her little-known taxpayer-funded Pathways Youth Internship Program, which teaches life skills and work readiness to youths already involved in the criminal justice system.

Two shooting deaths reported hours apart in Hollygrove, Hoffman Triangle

Two homicides occurred just hours apart on Wednesday morning (Aug. 24) in Uptown neighborhoods. A man identified as George Caston, 34, was shot to death in Hollygrove at around 7:30 a.m., the New Orleans Police Department reported. A suspect was detained for questioning, police said. Police did not release information on circumstances of the shooting or the identity of the suspect.

Nix Library is back again after more repairs

Patrons of the star-crossed Nix Library can use the one-room branch on South Carrollton Avenue again. It reopened Monday (Aug. 22) after drain pipe repairs, after a brief reopening following 17 months of renovations to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act plus repairs to the roof and interior. The small library offers a wide collection of books, music and movies and has been an important part of the Carrollton neighborhood for almost a century. Nix Library
1401 S. Carrollton Ave.

Mid-Summer Mardi Gras parade set to ‘Let Love Slip Up On Ya’

Editor’s note: This report was updated Aug. 25 with a new times for the parade and pre-parade ceremony. The toast is now scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and the parade will start at 7:30 p.m., a half hour earlier than originally announced. 

The hottest parade of the year, Mid-Summer Mardi Gras, will light up Oak Street and Carrollton Avenue on Saturday (Aug. 27). The Krewe of Outrageous and Kinky (OAK) is reviving the parade and sweat-soaked bacchanal after a two-year hiatus, with a few changes.

Man found shot to death on Broadmoor street

A man was found shot to death mid-day on Monday on a Broadmoor street, the New Orleans Police Department reported. Police officers discovered Kevin August on the ground at 12:19 p.m. in the 3600 block of Gen. Taylor Street. August was unresponsive and had multiple gunshot wounds. Medical responders declared him dead at the scene. August was 29.