blight and demolition

Carrollton coffeeshop rejected; alcohol sales at Walgreens on Claiborne approved by City Council

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The rejection of a controversial Carrollton coffeeshop, the approval of alcohol sales at a new Walgreens on Claiborne, and other land-use matters on Oak Street, in Milan and in the Garden District were given final decisions this week by the New Orleans City Council. Closing Konbini | A coffee shop/corner store on at 2101 South Carrollton that briefly opened for business without the proper license or zoning was sent back to the drawing board by a sympathetic but ultimately unyielding Councilwoman Susan Guidry during Thursday’s meeting. The building is zoned for residential use but had been an office for years, until it sat vacant long enough to lose its temporary commercial use. Its proprietors said they gathered 500 signatures from the neighborhood in support of their idea, but the more intense commercial use and spot zoning that the project represented were overwhelmingly opposed by neighborhood organizations in the area. “It’s very painful to say no to a business ready to open,” Guidry said, saying she regretted the financial impact to the owner of rejecting his application.

crime

NOPD: Suspect in Freret slaying may have been in second shootout afterward

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Investigators released the name of a suspect Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old on Freret Street, and said the same man may have been ambushed by others shortly after the shooting on Freret. William Baham, 25, is wanted on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Errol Meeks, who was gunned down late Monday in front of Friar Tucks bar on Freret. Moments before the shooting, Baham and Meeks spoke “as if they knew each other,” said Sgt. Shaun Ferguson of the NOPD Second District persons-crime division. Meeks was a resident of the Freret neighborhood, and police have two addresses for Baham, one on nearby General Taylor Street in the nearby Milan neighborhood and one on Parc Brittany in New Orleans East.

Peniston

NOPD searching for Uptown resident

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The New Orleans Police Department is searching for an Uptown resident missing since late last week. Yusef Aziz Ahmed, 25, went to get something out of his car in the driveway of his apartment in the 1100 block of Peniston Street about 7:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 20, but then drove away, his roommate told police. The roommate was unable to reach him by phone, and Ahmed has not been seen since, police said. Ahmed (also known as Yusef Aziz White) is described as an African-American male, approximately 170-180 pounds and 5’10” tall, with black hair and brown eyes.