Lt. Gen. Russell Honore speaks in February at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
Jun 272014
May 152014
State Rep. Neil Abramson at a town hall in Carrollton in 2013. (UptownMessenger.com file photo)
May 152014
Join civic-minded New Orleanians in a panel discussion this evening (Thursday, May 15) surrounding recent legal fights with the oil and gas industry, political influence in Louisiana policy making, and coastal restoration projects in the region. Continue reading »
Mar 262014
Former Louisiana Govs. Buddy Roemer, Kathleen Blanco and Edwin Edwards share a laugh during one of the lighter moments during Wednesday night’s panel discussion at Loyola University. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Although former Louisiana governors Buddy Roemer, Kathleen Blanco and Edwin Edwards have a number of political differences, all three agreed Wednesday night that no state officials — neither the legislature nor the current governor — should interfere with the local levee board’s lawsuit against oil companies. Continue reading »
Mar 232014
A sign reading “Eat Local” in the edible garden at Samuel J. Green Charter School.
(Sabree Hill, UptownMessenger.com)
Wine, burgers, desserts, tacos and more will be provided during the outdoor garden party at the Samuel J. Green Charter School in the Freret neighborhood from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday (March 27). For those party goers arriving or staying late, for the first time in five years the party will go until 10 p.m., a “Late Wave” party with Company Burger and Cure. Continue reading »
Mar 142014
(By Jean-Paul Villere)
Jean-Paul Villere
Digesting a maladjusted observation by new New Orleanian Tara Elders in a recent New York Times piece regarding her new city’s supposed lack of cosmopolitan sensibility and its apparent lack of kale requires equal parts restraint and forgiveness. Questions surface. Who is she? Who cares. Why the kerfuffle? In short, New Orleanians take pride in themselves and this comment plays as a slight, however one frames it. Adding this misfire into the whole of its missive stirs up other unsettlingly obtuse observations the article makes, but for brevity’s sake permit me to sum it up in a quote of one ex pat’s (though presently a New Yorker) Facebook update “I defy you to read this article and not want to set something on fire.”
Indeed. Continue reading »
Mar 102014
(photo via The Audubon Nature Institute)
On Saturday (March 15), Orleans Parish voters will decide on more than just runoff races for City Council seats. A property tax worth up to $11.9 million a year is up for vote for the Audubon Nature Institute, the organization that supports the Uptown-located Audubon Zoo, as well as the Aquarium downtown and other sites around the city.
Supporters of the millage say it is a renewal of an already-existing tax. But dissenters say that it’s a new tax, because it could mark an increase in funds for the Institute for a period of 50 years. Continue reading »
Feb 242014
Lt. Gen. Russell Honore addresses the Louisiana Landmarks Society on Monday evening at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in New Orleans. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, best known for his no-nonsense leadership in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina, returned to the city Monday night in his new role: condemning entire generations of Louisiana lawmakers for an acquiescence to major chemical companies that is now compromising the future of the state.
Speaking before the Louisiana Landmarks Society at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in the center of Uptown New Orleans, Honore may have been preaching to the choir, or, as he calls them, his “Green Army.” What they really wanted to know — like so many audiences the general has spoken to around the state — is whether Honore plans to run for governor. Continue reading »
Feb 242014
Lt. Gen. Russell Honore, who was widely hailed for his leadership in New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina and is now considering a run for governor, will speak about the threats to Louisiana’s environment at 7 p.m. tonight (Monday, Feb. 24) at First Unitarian-Universalist Church, 5212 South Claiborne Avenue. Continue reading »
Feb 202014
19th Annual Tulane Summit on Environmental Law & Policy panelist topics (via the Tulane Environmental and Energy Legal Society)
The public is invited to listen to thought-provoking expert panelists discuss environmental hot topics such as the Orleans Parish Levee Board lawsuits, the Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” and the state’s “cancer alley” at the 19th Annual Tulane Summit on Environmental Law & Policy on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 21-22), in Tulane Law School’s Weinmann Hall. Continue reading »
Feb 192014
Supporters of a greener Mardi Gras with throws that benefit the New Orleans economy are holding the “Throw Me Something Local: A Green Mardi Gras Ball” fundraiser on Thursday at NOLA Brewery. Continue reading »
Dec 112013
(map via DOTD)
Nov 132013
“That one time I saw them in the snow,” writes Jeffrey Bostick. (via http://librarychronicles.blogspot.com, used with permission)
Nov 082013
Orleans Parish residents can get free native trees, hear a lecture on caring for trees in the yard and buy other plants in a sale Saturday morning at Parkway Partners in Central City. Continue reading »
Nov 052013
In order to treat unsafe levels of lead and other toxic heavy metals, three feet of soil must be removed and replaced in areas of the Booker T. Washington High School site at 1201 South Roman Street that will not be covered by asphalt or buildings, according to state recommendations reported on by Mark Schleifstein of The Times-Picayune. Monique Harden, an attorney for the Walter L. Cohen Alumni Association, is asking the state to treat the entire site as a hazardous-waste site, Schleifstein reports.
Oct 102013
The undivided two-way traffic pattern that dominates Jefferson Avenue on the river side of St. Charles Avenue will soon extend to South Claiborne as the drainage-canal installation proceeds. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for overseeing the construction of four major drainage canals around Uptown New Orleans, the federal-government shutdown caused the agency to miss a planned public meeting Thursday about the beginning of the latest phase on Jefferson Avenue. Continue reading »
Oct 022013
A three-foot alligator captured from near the 123 Walnut condos. (submitted photo by Claiborne Davis)
A 3-foot-long alligator was captured by workers from Audubon Zoo early Tuesday afternoon after a few days hanging around the condos at 123 Walnut Street. Continue reading »
Sep 302013
The Prytania Theatre will host a free screening at 8 p.m. tonight (Monday, Sept. 30) of “Gasland II,” a documentary about “the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil,” followed by a question-and-answer session with the director. Continue reading »
Aug 272013
A spray-painted welcome to President Bush on St. Claude Avenue on Aug. 29, 2006. (photo by jewel bush)
jewel bush
When President George W. Bush’s motorcade drove down St. Claude Avenue on August 29, 2006 — the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina — there were many signs, like sentries, stationed along his route to Fats Domino’s house in the Ninth Ward, one stop on his itinerary of ceremonial rounds.
The messages, posted on signs lined along the neutral ground and on the actual storm-clobbered buildings, weren’t flattering greetings from the city’s welcome committee. The collective reverberation to the commander in chief’s obligatory pilgrimage to the place he neglected a year earlier was that of a shimmering rage, pithy and piercing in delivery.
One of the strongest indicators of this sentiment was a lop-sided, green Port-a-Potty positioned on the very edge of the neutral ground somewhere along St. Claude, a strategic locale sure to catch the eye of, if not, the president himself, someone in his party. Among protest notes scribbled in gold spray paint on all four sides of this freestanding structure, the standout read: “Reserved for Bush.”
Mr. President, welcome to New Orleans. Continue reading »
Aug 262013
The remaining trees along Jefferson Avenue between South Claiborne and Danneel will be removed starting this week. (UptownMessenger.com file photo from April 2013)