Viewpoint: New survey reveals broad voter dissatisfaction

Regardless of race, gender, age, political affiliation or neighborhood, the residents of New Orleans are clearly at a crossroads. Voters in every City Council district voiced displeasure about the direction the city is moving in a survey released Wednesday (Sept. 7). Conducted by Edgewater Research in cooperation with My People Vote, the poll indicated that nearly two-thirds (64.5%) of respondents believe that New Orleans is headed in the wrong direction. The survey also tested the strength of the current campaign aimed at recalling Mayor LaToya Cantrell.

Carjacker steals vehicle in front of Monkey Hill bar, then crashes it

A couple getting into a car outside the Monkey Hill Bar found themselves blocked by two other vehicles while a gunman approached from behind, the New Orleans Police Department reported. Just before 10 p.m., the 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman entered their car, which was parked in the 6100 block of Magazine Street. A man approached from the rear, pulled a gun and demanded they turn over the vehicle and other property. At the same time, two cars pulled up and blocked them in. The victims complied, and the gunman drove off in the car.

Former Mayor Moon Landrieu, a Carrollton native, dies at 92

Former Mayor Maurice “Moon” Landrieu died in his home Monday (Sept. 5) at 92. A life-long public servant at the city, state and federal levels, Landrieu was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 1960 before joining the City Council. After two terms as mayor, he served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Carter administration and as a judge on the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Landrieu, who grew up in the Carrollton area, is best known for integrating City Hall while leading the city from 1970 to 1978.

Police blotter: Woman carjacked; 68-year-old stabbed, struck and robbed

A carjacking, a purse snatching and a robbery were reported in Uptown neighborhoods over the holiday weekend. The armed carjacking occurred Sunday (Sept. 4) morning at Earhart and South Claiborne Avenue, near the freeway interchange. A woman, 32, was getting in her car just before 10:30 a.m. when a gunman approached and demanded her car. She turned over her keys and the carjacker fled in her silver 2017 Infiniti Q50 with Louisiana license plate 319 FNO.

Willow (née Lusher) School events to honor name changes

The former Lusher Charter School, now the Willow School, is holding four events to mark the name changes for its program and individual campuses. The Willow School charter board, the Advocates for Arts Education, operates elementary, middle and high schools on three Uptown campuses. The name of Robert Mills Lusher, a Reconstruction-era state school superintendent who promoted and instituted racial segregation in public schools, was removed from  the charter school program after years of protest. The school buildings, including one named for Lusher, also received new names. NOLA Public Schools, the parish’s school board and administration, changed the campus names in 2021.

‘Cure’ book celebrates city’s cocktail culture — and divulges recipes

Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em, a book by mixologist and entrepreneur Neal Bodenheimer and writer Emily Timberlake, is set to be released on Oct. 25. 

More than just a typical cocktail book, Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em features in-depth information about New Orleans cocktail and drinking history. Bodenheimer is a New Orleans native who owns Cure the stand-alone cocktail bar that opened on Freret Street in 2009. Bodenheimer also owns other spots, Cane and Table and Peychaud’s in the French Quarter and Vals across Freret Street. 

Timberlake was a cocktail-book editor at 10 Speed Press for a decade before making the leap to full-time writer. A longtime fan of Cure, she teamed up with Bodenheimer to write a book that was not only a cocktail guide for locals but would serve as a guide to anyone who appreciates the city’s culture and stories.