District B City Council candidate Dana Kaplan will hold a meet-and-greet and fundraiser at Tracey’s (at Third and Magazine) on Friday afternoon, her campaign announced. Continue reading »
Mia Borders, The Stooges Brass Band, Red Baraat and Honey Island Swamp Band will take the stage at Tipitina’s Uptown on Friday evening, raising money and food donations for victims of Hurricane Isaac flooding across southeast Louisiana.
Starting at 7 p.m., admission is free with the donation of a non-perishable food item until 9 p.m. Afterward, admission will be reduced with a donation. The concert will be broadcast live from 8 to 10 p.m. on My 54, and a phone bank will also be taking donations, organizers said:
A document governing Tulane University’s use of its new on-campus stadium — including what types of events will be held there and other issues such as parking, lighting and noise — “will likely be finalized by mid to late September,” according to an article by Jessica Appelbaum posted Thursday on the Tulane Hullabaloo student newspaper website.

A major underground drainage project will reduce traffic to two lanes for the next two years on a three-quarter mile stretch of South Claiborne Avenue through the Carrollton area, authorities said this week. Continue reading »

Starting with a gala screening of “probably the most popular Irish film in history” Friday night, and continuing Saturday and Sunday with acclaimed dramas and even an Oscar-nominated animated feature, the Prytania Theatre will host the inaugural New Orleans Irish Film Festival all weekend. Continue reading »
Several Uptown neighborhood groups, including the Irish Channel and Upper Hurstville associations, are holding meetings tonight (Thursday, Sept. 13) to plan their coming year, their leaders announced this week. Continue reading »

Firefighters look for hot spots after bring a fire in the 2200 block of South Robertson under control Thursday morning. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
The tragedy of the American ambassador to Libya having been murdered and three other Americans having also been killed there is sad indeed.
Of course, the politics of the murders is that eight weeks before the Presidential election, both sides are spinning the tragedy either for the benefit of President Barack Obama or his opponent, Mitt Romney as fast as they can. Continue reading »
Petit Pet Care is a professional pet sitting and dog walking business based in Uptown New Orleans. We are “petit” because we care for small animals: dogs under 40 pounds, cats, birds, fish, and other small, furry critters. Cats are our “specialty” but we love and care for all sorts of pets.
We understand how stressful it can be to leave your furry friends when you work long hours or go out of town. Continue reading »

(computer sketch via NOPD)

LaToya Cantrell, right, answers a question while Eric Strachan and Dana Kaplan listen at Freret Neighbors United meeting on Tuesday evening. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
What was initially billed as political “speed dating” — a chance to meet with individual candidates for the District B race one-on-one — grew into a full-blown debate at a Freret community meeting Thursday night, with three City Council hopefuls trading their ideas on blight, crime, education and other issues in the first such event of the race. Continue reading »
In what police are describing as a possible over-reaction to recent robberies at the McDonald’s on South Claiborne, an employee there is wanted on an assault charge after he chased a would-be customer away from the store with a gun, authorities said.
“I understand that people at McDonald’s may be a little on-guard,” said Lt. Frank Young of the NOPD Sixth District investigative unit. “We tried very hard to see things through the eyes of the employee, but the facts just didn’t add up.” Continue reading »

2505 Napoleon, in March and again in June.

Jean-Paul Villere
The Knowledge Garden at 1700 Josephine Street had its license revoked by the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services for “chronic failure to provide officials with criminal background checks on its employees,” according to a report by Jessica Williams of The Lens, but federal auditors have said that the nonprofit that owns it, Operation REACH, “can’t account for nearly $900,000 in grant funds,” Williams reported.
Vizard’s restaurant on Magazine Street has relaunched itself as a casual eatery called “Hevin,” while Upperline restaurant hopes to reopen Thursday after Hurricane Isaac tore off part of its roof. Continue reading »
Three of the four candidates for the District B race for City Council have confirmed that they will attend tonight’s Freret Neighbors United meeting to answer residents’ questions, the group said. Continue reading »

The new Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans sign at the Patton Street campus.
“It’s been two weeks of school,” said board chair Jean Montes about running the new campus. “We’re very new at the process, but we’re happy with it.” Continue reading »
The one-story single-family home at the corner of Hollygrove Street and Earhart Boulevard caught fire shortly before 4 a.m., and was brought under control by 43 firefighters less than an hour later, according to our partners at WWL-TV. One firefighter injured his back but remained on duty.

A piece of plywood covers a hole in the cement at the corner of Freret and Jefferson. City officials are debating whether this “bumpout” installed during the streetscape project impedes traffic and should be removed, said leaders of The New Freret business association. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
City officials remain unsatisfied with the quality of the work done to the sidewalks at corners along the Freret corridor, but they have yet to decide what exactly they will fix or how long the repairs will take. Continue reading »

Owen Courreges
What follows is one big “I told you so.”
Last month, at the August 20th meeting of the Neighborhood Conservation District Committee, a proposal to demolish the mansion located at 4706 St. Charles Avenue was denied. The mansion, built in 1887, appears to be in sound condition and could easily be returned to commerce.
Typically, when a well-funded party wants to bulldoze a historic mansion on New Orleans’ signature avenue, they succeed. As I noted in my previous column, “How to Tear Down Anything in Three Simple Steps,” the key to destroying the fabric of this city’s history is getting the neighborhood association on your side. For those with money and influence, this should be a relatively simple task. Continue reading »
