All of the proceeds from the “19 Fund” benefit at Tipitina’s on Thursday night will benefit the 19 people wounded in a spree shooting at a Seventh Ward second line on Mother’s Day, and the fund will also benefit future victims of violence as well, reports Monica Hernandez of our partners at WWL-TV.
(From left) Christopher Davis, Joseph Davis and Sheldon Jefferson (via opcso.org)
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
There was a time when New Orleans was considered a great place to shop. Dozens of stores, most of them located on Canal Street or nearby, filled specific niches in the marketplace and shoppers from across the city, the region and the state came downtown, especially women in white gloves and high heels like Allan’s mother Miriam Pailet Katz, to shop, eat and enjoy the ambiance of New Orleans.
Then came the suburban flight, the rise of Lakewood Shopping Center and the development of Jefferson Parish as the retail center for the metro area, the region and the state. Most of Canal Street went into the dumps and there were only a few first-class stores in all of Downtown.
Now, eight years after Hurricane Katrina, corporate retailers, for the first time in 50 years, are looking at Downtown New Orleans as a “hot” place to invest their money. Continue reading »
The “Carnation” Grill. (Illustration by Jean-Paul Villere for UptownMessenger.com)
Jean-Paul Villere
So the iconic Camellia Grill may be getting a facelift, if you’ve kept up with recent current events? Apparently its new owners are in breach of contract with the previous owner to the degree that the pink-and-green flower paired with the title of the namesake diner may become a memory. While Camellia Grill has a longstanding line (pun intended) of devotees and tourists alike, I must say I am in that number. And if legal motions require a makeover then so be it. I mean what’s fair is fair, but there’s no use in crying over spilt chocolate freeze, is there? The essence of the grill would remain unchanged (I’d hope!), so call it whatever. Besides, who cares? I can think of two recent local brouhahas regarding rebranding. Starting with the Pelicans! Continue reading »
A street gang known as the 110′ers — an umbrella organization of smaller neighborhood groups in the 10th and 11th wards — is responsible for 10 murders, authorities say, and 15 members of it have been charged in a 51-count indictment hailed Thursday as the “most sweeping street gang indictment” in the city’s history. Continue reading »
Damont Burton (via opcso.org)
Burton also pleaded guilty to a charge of armed robbery on Lowerline Street from a few dates after the Skeeter carjacking, Galofaro reports. Carjacking carries a sentence of between two and 20 years; armed robbery carries a sentence of between 10 and 99 years. The robbery charge can also be enhanced by an additional five years when the crime is committed with a firearm.
Devante Billy (via opcso.org)
Byron J. Johnson (via opcso.org)
Dennis Brown
Dean Kelly (via opcso.org)
Update, 4:47 p.m. Tuesday: Kelly has been ordered back to jail with a new bond of $2.5 million, Perlstein reports.
(cartoon by Owen Courreges)
Owen Courreges
The ongoing clash over the cost of the consent decree governing Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) continues to bubble over. This week we were greeted by the latest bombardment against Sheriff Marlin Gusman in the form of the release of a 2009 video featuring inmates openly mainlining heroin, smoking crack, popping pills, gambling, flashing cash, and even displaying loaded guns. It looks like footage of a party at Marion Berry’s house.
Here’s a link to the video. I’ve run it through a website that replaces the audio with “Yakety Sax” so it’s a smidge less depressing. Continue reading »
(Graphic via Louisiana Secretary of State’s office.)
Doug Hammel was held to a runoff by Yolanda King in Saturday’s four-way election for Juvenile Court judge amid turnout that barely crested 5 percent, results show. Continue reading »
Four candidates, all Democrats — George “Gino” Gates IV, Doug Hammel, Yolanda King and Cynthia Samuel — are vying to become a juvenile-court judge in Orleans Parish in an election today (Saturday, April 6).
Polls are open until 8 p.m. Please vote!
Chef Greg Sonnier is abandoning his attempted resurrection of Gabrielle restaurant at The Uptowner reception hall on Henry Clay Avenue to return to a French Quarter kitchen, and the Funky Butt nightclub project has also halted, according to recent reports. Continue reading »
Gary Magee (via NOPD)
A shooting that was originally reported to be on Magazine Street on Friday afternoon actually turns out to have been self-inflicted, inside an apartment in the area of the River Garden development, authorities said. Continue reading »
The city official who approved the fence closing Newcomb Boulevard at Freret Street lacked authority to do so, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday, according to a post by Karen Gadbois of The Lens. If the state Supreme Court chooses not to hear the case, then the Newcomb Boulevard Association will likely need the City Council’s approval to keep the fence up, Gadbois writes.
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
Back in the early days of his mayoral tenure, before things began to fall apart, Clarence Ray Nagin was a rock star. He didn’t know much about city government but he was cool, glib and very optimistic.
Did the city need an infusion of money? He’d sell the airport. Continue reading »
Richard D. Barnes (via opcso.org)
Joseph Davis (via opcso.org)
Sheldon Jefferson (via opcso.org)
A probable-cause hearing that could lead to two teenage suspects in last week’s rape and kidnapping of a woman in the Garden District being tried as adults has been delayed until Wednesday, reports Brendan McCarthy of our partners at WWL-TV. Continue reading »