Eric Strachan
Jul 172012
Jul 162012
The Carrollton Area Network of neighborhood associations will host a community meeting tonight to discuss the ongoing SELA drainage project and other improvements to the sewerage system, power plant and purification plant. Continue reading »
Jul 162012
The Carrollton Hollygrove Senior Center, built in 1949 as a hospital but converted to a senior in 1980, was demolished early Monday morning to make way for a new facility that will open in two years, reports Bill Capo of our partners at WWL-TV.
Jul 162012
Owen Courreges
You know, if I ever have kids, I think I’ll send them to Company Burger for school. It’s probably cheaper than paying for a traditional private school, and I hear the cafeteria is awesome.
What? You say that Company Burger isn’t a school? It’s a burger joint?
Oh my. Somebody might want to alert Mayor Landrieu before he starts subsidizing it as a charter school. Continue reading »
Jul 132012
At a “Fight the Blight” event in March 2011, Mayor Mitch Landrieu paints a gate around the pool at Taylor Park with Laquinn Huey, who was 8 at the time. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
City officials hope to bring a critical mass of volunteers back to Taylor Park in the Hoffman Triangle on Saturday, updating last year’s “Fight the Blight” efforts with this year’s “NOLA for Life” murder-reduction strategy. Continue reading »
Jul 122012
A rendering of the proposed football stadium on Tulane’s Uptown campus. (via TulaneStadium.com)
As expected, the New Orleans City Council formally withdrew a proposed zoning district Thursday morning that would have required Tulane University to seek their permission prior to starting construction on a new football stadium. Continue reading »
Jul 122012
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
Although Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Police Chief Ronal Serpas aren’t very happy with him, Tulane Professor Peter Scharf has done the city a tremendous favor with his current study of New Orleans police attitudes.
For those familiar with the situation at the NOPD, it is no surprise that 97 percent of the cops surveyed said that department has insufficient numbers of personnel. The fact is that most days, Chief Serpas has 1,000 cops or fewer to police the city. While the official count is just over 1,300 cops, when you take out those on vacation, those on sick leave, those on suspension, etc. the fact is that most days there are fewer than 1,000 functioning cops on the streets of New Orleans which is why in many districts, including Uptown New Orleans, there may only be two or three cop cars on the street during the late shift. Continue reading »
Jul 112012
Tulane University President Scott Cowen answers a question about the stadium proposal at the Audubon Tea Room on Wednesday night. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Tulane University officials pledged Wednesday night to reach an enforceable legal agreement with the city of New Orleans governing the activities and operations at its new football stadium — with hopes of resolving most of the issues in it by the end of August. Continue reading »
Jul 112012
Diana Bajoie
Jul 112012
Jean-Paul Villere
It’s no secret that politics in New Orleans can get dodgy fast. As voters, we can blame ourselves only so much for a politician’s decisions or behavior. “Don’t Blame Me I Voted For the Other Guy” a bumper sticker reads. Or more locally famous “Vote For The Crook – It’s Important” when Edwards went up against Duke some years ago; Edwards won, and both have since spent time in prison.
Between crime stats, budget concerns, and yes even and of course scandals, as citizens our vote does matter, but if you don’t register to vote, your voice silences completely; you effectively vote not to participate. Unless you just never registered? Which if you just moved here or are moving here, it’s a strong possibility, wouldn’t you agree? Continue reading »
Jul 102012
Tulane President Scott Cowen speaks about the proposed stadium before the City Planning Commission in June. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
Councilwoman Susan Guidry will ask the New Orleans City Council to withdraw plans Thursday for a new zoning district that would have governed the construction of a football stadium on Tulane’s uptown campus, a day after university President Scott Cowen is scheduled to speak to neighbors about the plans. Continue reading »
Jul 092012
The modified floor plan being sought by the Domino’s Pizza on Freret Street. (via City Planning Commission)
The Domino’s Pizza location on Freret Street plans to expand its kitchen space and add two tables for outdoor dining, based on a request the City Planning Commission will hear Tuesday afternoon. Continue reading »
Jul 092012
Owen Courreges
This past week I had occasion to imagine police Chief Ronal Serpas as some latter day Victor Frankenstein. Serpas, presumably clasping his hands in a maniacal manner, announced his intention to reanimate something best left dead in the proverbial ground.
What is this metaphorical corpse of which I speak? Why, the New Orleans crime camera program. Serpas has seen fit to spit in the face of God and nature (well, at least the face of good government) and propose that the crime cameras, those icons of corruption and graft, be brought back on-line. The electricity, I’m told, will be provided via a lightening rod mounted on police headquarters, a.k.a. “Castle Serpas.” Continue reading »
Jul 092012
Dana Kaplan
Jul 042012
A map of the proposed Uptown-University cultural district, marked in red. Previously existing cultural districts are shown in yellow. (map courtesy of the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.)
A major section of Uptown from Carrollton to Napoleon Avenue could soon become exempt from sales taxes on sales of original art, and most property owners in the area could become eligible for state tax credits for nearly any kind of renovations they do to their homes under a program on track for approval this summer. Continue reading »
Jul 042012
Because of the Fourth of July holiday, the NOPD Sixth District has moved its weekly meeting of ranking officers to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, and the NOPD Second District has canceled its meeting. Continue reading »
Jul 042012
Diana Bajoie
Jun 282012
The New Orleans Police Department will ask the city to fund 50 crime cameras at hotspots around the city, reviving a program abandoned nearly two years ago. Continue reading »
Jun 282012
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
Today’s announcement that young people are moving to New Orleans in greater numbers than other Southern cities is just another notch in our city’s new success story. While there is an overall trend toward Southern migration, we are the most desirable city on the nation’s must-move-to list. Where else can you dine at a different fabulous restaurant or food truck every night and hear a wide range of live music in dozens of clubs? Or spend hours taking in the sights from a streetcar, pedicab or paddlewheeler? Continue reading »
Jun 282012
After a presentation by Costco officials on Thursday morning, the New Orleans City Council enthusiastically and unexpectedly took a vote to approve the Carrollton Avenue project and grant the wholesale retailer’s design requests.
“I knew we were doing OK when at one of the neighborhood meetings somebody stood up and said, ‘Enough outreach already. Let’s build it,’” Costco vice president Jackie Frank said during his presentation to the city council. Continue reading »