After summer heat and storms, cool clear skies expected for Saturday’s return of Freret Market

After a long summer break and a rebuff by Tropical Storm Lee last month, the weather looks like it’s finally going to cooperate with the Freret Market on Saturday. Under clear skies and highs in the 70s, the October market will feature 80 vendors with the Big Easy Rollergirls in attendance and free live music. The performance schedule, according to the market website, is:

Noon – Alex McMurray
1:45 – Lagniappe Brass Band
3:30 – The Moonshiners

The market runs from noon to 5 p.m. at the corner of Freret and Napoleon.

Serial purse snatcher in stolen Cadillac sought by police

A man in a stolen champagne-colored Cadillac may have been responsible for three or four recent purse snatchings and attempts around Uptown New Orleans, police said this week. In the first instance, a 31-year-old woman was walking home on St. Charles Avenue about 7:15 p.m. Sept. 21, when a man walked up to her and grabbed her purse, police said. She started to yell and the man hit her in the head and knocked her down, but she held on to her purse and continued to yell until he left, police said.

“New Orleans on a Plate:” daylong food conference at Loyola topped by city’s best-known chefs

The “NolaLoyola 2011: Live to Eat” conference runs all day today with panels on the city’s food culture, culminating in a roundtable discussion with chefs from Commander’s Palace, Dooky Chase and Upperline. From Loyola’s news site:
New Orleans is unlike any other city in the world, and for lovers of great food, it’s a little slice of heaven. This is why Loyola University New Orleans is proud to celebrate the Crescent City’s flair for food by presenting NolaLoyola 2011: Live to Eat, Sept. 30. The day’s events begin at 9 a.m. on Loyola’s main campus with panel papers and discussions revolving around the city’s food culture.

Suspect sought in rape near St. Charles and Washington

Police are seeking the public’s help identifying a man accused of a recent rape at one of Uptown’s most prominent intersections, Washington Avenue near St. Charles. The suspect is described as a thin, medium-height black man with a thin beard and goatee, diamond stud earrings, a cut in his left eyebrow and tattoos on his forearms, last seen wearing a white T-shirt, black pants and older-style black Reebok shoes. The rape was reported at 9 p.m Sept. 18 in the 1600 block of Washington Avenue.

Signs mocking Obama on Calhoun draw protests

The signs — which depict President Obama as a crying baby demanding “change,” a dunce and a puppet — drew protesters across Calhoun Street, as well as a visit from former Mayor Ray Nagin, according to our reporting partners at WWL-TV. Homeowner Timothy Reily declined to speak about the signs, but Councilwoman Susan Guidry said she was investigating whether they constituted a violation of city zoning ordinances.

Walgreens opts for a traditional look on Magazine

With some encouragement from City Hall, the developers of the Walgreens store planned for Magazine Street have settled on a historic-style design intended to blend with the existing streetscape, abandoning a more modern look they had previously considered. When Stirling Properties last met with the neighborhoods surrounding the old American Legion hall in the 5500 block of Magazine, they offered three options, each of which blended a contemporary look similar to Whole Foods with varying historic features. Feedback from the neighbors led to no clear consensus in favor of any of the designs, said Stirling vice president Peter Aamodt, so the developers and Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office went back to the drawing board with a new architect, John Williams.

The end result, Aamodt told a group of neighbors Wednesday evening, is an Italianate, turn-of-the-century style building that “fits more contextually with Magazine Street.” “It’s a drastic change from the way we were going, and we hope it’s widely accepted,” Aamodt said. The natural brick facade will still have large windows to give the interior a transparent feeling, and much of the interior structure will be exposed, Williams said.

Police capture suspect in four Carrollton-area robberies at knifepoint

The suspect in four recent robberies at knifepoint in the Carrollton area was arrested early Wednesday morning after a CrimeStoppers tip led police to his hideout in New Orleans East, authorities said. Trebor Blanton, 23, is accused of three robberies along Dublin Street between Aug. 25 and Sept. 2 and a Sept. 12 carjacking at Benjamin and Pine streets, all in broad daylight, police said.

Police to lead anti-crime march through Gert Town

The NOPD Second District’s monthly anti-crime march will be held in Gert Town tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 28) and start near the site of a deadly shooting early this month. Three people were found shot, one fatally, inside a vehicle in the Earhart Boulevard neutral ground at Lowerline on Sept. 7. Tonight’s march will begin at 6 p.m. at Lowerline on the lake side of Earhart, proceed to Olive and then down to South Genois and return via Thalia and Forshey to the starting point.

Neighborhoods to see new design for Walgreens on Magazine

The developers of the Walgreens pharmacy proposed for the old American Legion building on Magazine Street will share a new design for the store with neighbors tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 28). Previous renovation plans called for a modern-style glass façade to the building that some neighbors complained did not fit the streetscape on the Magazine. “Walgreen’s has changed architects since the last public meeting, and its new design reflects a more ‘traditional’ approach,” according to the nearby Hurstville Security and Neighborhood Improvement District. The meeting, deemed a “briefing” on the latest design by City Councilwoman Susan Guidry, will be from 5:30 to 6 p.m. at the American Legion hall at 5518 Magazine Street.