health

Guest column: Battling incurable cancer, one Mardi Gras at a time

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By Kara Morgan

It has been exactly a year since I was diagnosed with stage IV melanoma, having fairly large tumors in my lung and my abdomen. The good news is that I feel great and I have less cancer in me today than I did a year ago. The bad news is that I still have one large tumor and, as of today, there is no cure. I already knew what was ahead for me as I sat in the doctor’s office on Feb. 7, 2013, listening to him confirm that the lung tumor biopsy results showed my melanoma had returned, three years after I had it removed from my face.

city government

City celebrates reopening of Lyons Center

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Mayor Mitch Landrieu and the crowds of city and neighborhood officials with him had a nearly perfect soundtrack of every step of their way through the newly reopened Lyons Center in the Irish Channel on Monday morning. In the lobby, it was the tinkling of an electric piano as ballet dancers rehearsed in a studio behind the news conference podium. In the gym, it was a group of musicians performing the Harlem Globetrotters theme “Sweet Georgia Brown” as Landrieu shot a few baskets. They kept up the music out by the pool, but were hard to hear over the squeals and splashing as the mayor gently dunked some of his youngest constituents. Even the background chatter was on message, as the kindergarten-aged “Bears” group of day campers lined up in a hallway and gawked at the TV cameras passing by.

city government

Lyons Center’s long-awaited reopening will be in spring 2013, city promises

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Desperate to provide recreational opportunities for the children of their neighborhood over the last several years, Irish Channel residents have organized their own basketball leagues, running extension cords down the street to operate a scoreboard. Those days may soon be over, as the city has finally begun work this week renovating the Lyons Center into a state of the art community space for sports, dance and computer education — with a promised completion date of this coming spring. The center first opened in 1954 and was named for slain World War II soldier John P. Lyons, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said on Monday morning during a groundbreaking ceremony for the project. Landrieu noted that many New Orleans children have passed through its doors over the years, and that he was one of them. Now, as one of the last Uptown projects that Landrieu promised to dedicate FEMA money to after he took office, Landrieu said the Lyons Center will be another example of rebuilding not just what the city was, but what its residents always wanted it to be.

neighborhood groups

Irish Channel neighbors seek more information on possible private security patrols

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Article by Craig Giesecke, for UptownMessenger.com

The Irish Channel Neighborhood Association wants a lot more information before deciding whether to recommend establishment of private security patrols throughout the neighborhood. Thursday night’s meeting at the Irish Channel Christian Fellowship building resulted in agreement to establish a committee to seek information and create a list of pros and cons before doing an informal poll of residents. At issue is whether enough Irish Channel residents are willing to bear the cost of patrols on their property tax bills to set up regular, around-the-clock private patrol services similar to those in the adjacent Garden District. The exact cost remains unclear, as does the exact area to be patrolled and what services would be provided. It’s the committee’s job to set up proposed parameters, or at least get a sense of what final details might be.

neighborhood groups

Irish Channel neighbors to discuss creating private security patrol

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Based on the requests of several residents, the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association will begin a discussion tonight (Thursday, Aug. 9) about the process of setting a private security patrol in the area. Representatives from a private security company and from the Garden District Association have been invited to explain how a security district is created, said association president Kara Morgan. The Irish Channel held similar deliberations several years ago, but the idea never got off the ground, she said. The meeting will be from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Irish Channel Christian Fellowship, located at 819 First Street.

crime

Anti-crime marches scheduled for Hollygrove, Irish Channel

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Two anti-crime marches will be held this week, one in Hollygrove at 6 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, April 25) and one in the Irish Channel on Thursday. The NOPD Second District will resume its monthly anti-crime marches tonight at 6 p.m., with about a mile-long route through Hollygrove that will start and finish at the Big Time Tips bar at Eagle and Edinburgh that was shut down earlier this year following a raid by state agents. On Thursday at 6:30 p.m., the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association will hold its own-anti crime march starting and ending at Burke Park on Second Street and Chippewa, near the site where a school bus was fired upon last week. For details, see the following email from association president Kara Morgan:

Please join us this Thursday, April 26th at 6:30 for a short walk through the Channel to show your support for our neighborhood. I know we were all shocked and dismayed at last week’s news reports about a shooting that involved a school bus.

crime

Suspect in attack on Audubon Park jogger to undergo psychiatric evaluation

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The suspect in last week’s attack on a woman jogging in Audubon Park is now scheduled for a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, but it remains unclear whether the criminal justice system has any remedy to what authorities and neighbors describe as an escalating pattern of troubling behavior. Tyrone Williams, 19, remained jailed Wednesday evening in lieu of two $20,000 bonds for separate charges of simple battery, court records show. His most recent charge stems from an alleged attack last week on a woman jogging in Audubon Park. Around 8:30 p.m. Thursday (April 12), Williams ran up next to the woman, spoke to her briefly and then jumped on her, saying “I should kill you” and then ran off as her screams began to attract attention, police told Uptown residents at a community meeting Tuesday. Williams had previously been arrested in a very similar incident on Burdette Street in February, in which he jumped on a jogger and then was scared off by her screams, police said.

events

Irish Channel looks forward to Saturday fish fry, upcoming movie night

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A fish fry is planned Saturday to benefit an Irish Channel community group and a family movie night is scheduled for next weekend in nearby Annunciation Square, neighborhood leaders said. The Old Gentlemen’s fish fry fundraiser will offer a plate of fish and vegetables for $7 from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Rock Bottom Lounge, 3801 Tchoupitoulas. “The OGs are a club raising money to help kids in our neighborhood. They are a group of men who have been through some hard times themselves and are eager to keep young men and women in the Irish Channel out of trouble,” the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association wrote in an email. “The OGs have already pledged money to support the (Lyons-Burke Boosters) along with several other causes.”

court

Kicking off election season, Irish Channel invites candidates to the bar

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With state and local elections two months away, the Irish Channel got an early start on political season Thursday night with a well-attended social event for candidates at a popular neighborhood bar. At least eight candidates made appearances at Tracey’s on Magazine Street, all of whom other than state Rep. Walt Leger were running for various judicial seats: Regina Bartholomew, Herbert Cade, Nakisha Ervin-Knott, Ellen Hazeur, Clare Jupiter, Kris Kiefer and Franz Zibilich. The social had a decidedly low-key atmosphere, without formal speeches or introductions. Instead, the candidates and their supporters casually passed from group to group of the 30 or so association members and dozens more patrons in the bar. Most of the candidates said their campaigning had already included introductory visits to the meetings of various neighborhood and civic groups, but the Irish Channel event was among the first in the city held for the express purpose of introducing candidates — drawing praise for the group from Bartholomew for their “civic-minded” spirit.