Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: New Orleans becoming a hot spot for retailers

 Posted by at 11:44 am  business, court, elections, opinion, politics
May 162013
 

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 »

Jean-Paul Villere: What’s in a name?

 Posted by at 9:59 am  business, court, opinion
May 152013
 

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 »

15 alleged Uptown gang members charged in ‘sweeping’ indictment that includes 10 murders (live video)

 Posted by at 11:56 am  court, crime, public safety
May 092013
 

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 »

Teen accepts 10-year sentence in plea bargain for Carrollton carjacking, dognapping

 Posted by at 2:01 pm  court, crime, public safety
May 022013
 

Damont Burton (via opcso.org)

Damont Burton, 17, pleaded guilty this week to carjacking in the Oct. 30 robbery of a woman for her SUV, which still had an elderly Chihuahua named Skeeter inside, according to a report by Claire Galofaro of The Times-Picayune. Skeeter was found and returned to his owner a few weeks later.

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.

Indictments link suspects in October shooting of Uptown attorney to New Orleans East killing, other robberies

 Posted by at 6:01 pm  court, crime, public safety
Apr 262013
 

Devante Billy (via opcso.org)

Byron J. Johnson (via opcso.org)

A 12-count indictment against the suspects in an October shooting and carjacking that left an Uptown attorney critically wounded links them to a number of other acts of violence, including several robberies and the death of a UNO student in New Orleans East. Continue reading »

Facing new accusations, ex-model accused of rape sues over jail conditions

 Posted by at 1:27 pm  court, crime, public safety
Apr 092013
 

Dean Kelly (via opcso.org)

Dean Kelly — the former Aerosmith video star facing several rape charges based on allegations that he lured college girls to his home, gave them alcohol and then sexually assaulted them — was accused by prosecutors two weeks ago of “hosting college-age girls at a Mardi Gras party in which he allegedly plied them with booze, obtained their cell phone numbers, then later sent suggestive and harassing text messages,” reports Mike Perlstein of WWL-TV. In response to that attempt to have Kelly’s $1 million bond revoked, defense attorney Frank DeSalvo has filed suit saying that the unconstitutional conditions in the prison would make a return there would jeopardize Kelly’s safety, Perlstein reports.

Update, 4:47 p.m. Tuesday: Kelly has been ordered back to jail with a new bond of $2.5 million, Perlstein reports.

Owen Courreges: I’m not down with O.P.P.

 Posted by at 10:11 am  city government, court, crime, opinion, politics, public safety
Apr 082013
 

(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 »

“Person of interest” in 2012 death of 5-year-old on Simon Bolivar wanted for questioning

 Posted by at 11:27 am  court, crime, public safety
Mar 152013
 

Gary Magee (via NOPD)

The sprawling investigation into a May 2012 gun battle near a birthday party on Simon Bolivar that killed a 5-year-old girl now includes another name: Gary Magee, a 22-year-old man deemed a “person of interest” who is also wanted on gun and drug charges, police say. Continue reading »

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Newcomb Boulevard fence loses latest round in court

 Posted by at 10:45 am  city government, court, transportation
Feb 282013
 

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: A cool Nagin seems to calmly await his fate

 Posted by at 12:06 pm  city government, court, crime, opinion, politics
Feb 232013
 

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 »

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Gun arrests along Mardi Gras parade routes show slight increase in first weekend

 Posted by at 2:52 pm  court, crime, events, public safety
Feb 042013
 

Carlos C. Williams (via opcso.org)

New Orleans police made 17 gun arrests along the parade route the first weekend of Mardi Gras (including three cases the first Friday and four more the following Saturday and Sunday), a slight increase in the number during the first weekend of 2010 and 2011, according to a report by Maya Rodriguez of our partners at WWL-TV. One of the men arrested Saturday night on the Uptown stretch of St. Charles Avenue, 22-year-old Carlos C. Williams, has already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge and received a six-month jail sentence, WWL reports:

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