business

Krystal plans burger restaurant for former KFC on South Claiborne

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The South Claiborne fast-food corridor seems poised to get yet another entry, as Krystal is planning to open a burger restaurant in the old Kentucky Fried Chicken store near Washington Avenue. The project technically requires City Council approval to reopen as a fast-food restaurant on South Claiborne, but that request sailed through the City Planning Commission at a meeting on Tuesday. Krystal can use the structure of the old KFC building (which has been closed for several years), but they will renovate it with Krystal decor, said Bert Turner of Mouton Long Turner Architects. Once all the city approvals are in hand, the project will likely take about two months to prepare and another 70 days of renovations, he said. “They would like to have it open in the fall,” Turner said.

city government

Coliseum Square to combine annual crawfish boil with “The Goonies” outdoor movie night

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Two of the Crescent City’s best springtime offerings — the Coliseum Square Association’s annual crawfish boil fundraiser and a showing of “The Goonies” in the New Orleans Film Society’s Moonlight Movies series — will converge on the same evening in an unexpected but possibly perfect pairing next month. At the last Coliseum Square crawfish boil in 2012, attendance dramatically exceed expectations. About 200 people attended — drawing a number of “new faces” from around the neighborhood — eating 500 pounds of crawfish and drinking several kegs of beer donated by neighborhood bars. The net proceeds after expenses were around $3,000, enough money to pay for all the repairs needed at the time for the park’s fountain, which the association maintains without any assistance from the city. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Film Society has this spring relaunched its series of outdoor movies projected onto a 25-foot screen — formerly known as “Movies to Geaux,” the result of a 2012 fundraising campaign — as “Moonlight Movies” at locations around the city, including the City Park sculpture garden, site in the Marigny, and Coliseum Square.

crime

Man charged with invading acquaintance’s Broadmoor home, attacking her, police say

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A 35-year-old man is charged with forcing his way into the home of a former friend on Milan Street in Broadmoor and attacking her Monday morning, New Orleans police said. The victim, a woman in her late 20s, answered a knock at the door of her home in the 3700 block of Milan Street (between South Rocheblave and South Tonti) around 9 a.m. Monday, and a former friend, 35-year-old Joseph Pitts, forced his way inside, according to the initial police report. “An altercation ensued and the victim sustained a cut to the chin,” the report states. Pitts is charged with aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated burglary, simple burglary of the infirm and two counts of trespassing, according to jail records. He remained in jail with no bond set as of 9 a.m. Tuesday.

court

Murder-for-hire plot alleged in slaying of husband on Willow Street

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A husband shot to death on Willow Street in west-Carrollton last summer was the victim of his estranged wife’s plot to have him killed, New Orleans police allege in court documents and recent testimony, but defense attorneys are already questioning whether investigators identified the correct triggerman in the case. Clardie Ellis III was standing outside his grandmother’s house in the 8500 block of Willow Street around 10 p.m. June 7, 2013, when he was gunned down by a man with medium-length dreadlocks, an eyewitness would later tell police. “He sees the individual raise his arm, and sees gunfire,” Detective Jeffrey Vappie said of the eyewitness, who then saw Ellis fall to the ground near his car, a white Dodge Charger. The shooter wrapped the gun in a spare T-shirt and left, and the eyewitness did not see his face, Vappie said. Investigators found shell casings and bullet fragments at the scene afterward, Vappie said.

city government

Film production to close O.C. Haley for simulated gunfire, car crash this week

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A film production will simulate a car crash and gunfire on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, closing the road to traffic nightly at the Martin Luther King Boulevard intersection, city officials said. For details, see the news release below from the mayor’s office:

Today, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy issued filming notices to New Orleans residents in Central City. On Wednesday, April 23, 2014 through Friday, April 25, 2014, a production company will be filming scenes in New Orleans’ Central City Neighborhood at the intersection of Oretha Castle Haley Blvd and the Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The filming activity will include a simulated car crash and simulated gunfire. As a result, the intersection will be closed to vehicular traffic nightly between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. Filming will take place between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. and will be conducted under the supervision of the New Orleans Fire Department, New Orleans Emergency Medical Services and local law enforcement.

business

Pizza Domenica and Square Root open this week; Seed vegan food and Humble Bagel open now

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Two highly anticipated restaurants — Pizza Domenica from John Besh and Square Root from Phillip Lopez — will open this week, and two new entrants into the Uptown dining scene — Humble Bagel on Freret and Seed vegan food in the Lower Garden District — have already opened their doors, according to recent reports. Pizza Domenica — which spins off the wildly popular pizza happy hours at downtown’s Domenica restaurant into a more casual Uptown setting — will open to the public Thursday at 4933 Magazine Street, according to a report by Brett Anderson of The Times-Picayune. Square Root will also open at 1800 Magazine on Thursday, and has already begun taking reservations. “For $150 per person, guests can plan to dine on 12-15 different, seasonal small plates from chef Phillip Lopez, like petrified wild greens, pickled cilantro stems, roasted sunflower and hazelnut granola, strawberry umeboshi, and egg yolk caramel ice cream,” writes Sarah Baird of our partners at Gambit. Humble Bagel quietly opened its doors for breakfast just before the Freret Street Festival, and has now slightly expanded its hours to 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday through Sunday.

crime

Carjacking at gunpoint reported in Irish Channel

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A woman was carjacked at gunpoint early Monday morning in the Irish Channel, New Orleans police said, and a man was cut with a knife by two robbers in Central City late last week. In the carjacking, a woman in her 40s was sitting with a friend in her SUV on Sixth Street near Annunciation shortly after 12 a.m. Monday when two men walked by, according to the initial police report. The victim and her friend got out of the SUV, and the two men pointed a handgun at them and said, “Give us the f’n keys; shoot the mf’s,” according to the police report. The victim threw the keys on the ground, and their attackers drove off in it, the report states. The SUV is described as a blue 2002 Toyota Highlander with license plate TJA159.

business

Owen Courreges: Mayor Landrieu’s completely predictable, completely unsustainable tax hikes

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Did you hear the news? Mayor Landrieu is proposing… (drum roll please)… tax increases! This shocking development stems in large part from the consent decrees with the U.S. Justice Department over the widely-acknowledged and widespread constitutional violations routinely committed by the New Orleans Police Department and the Sheriff’s Office vis-à-vis Orleans Parish Prison.  Those settlements have hefty price tags attached. Who could have predicted this?  Not to toot my own horn, but I certainly did.

Advertiser specials

Advertiser Bulletin: Open Your Heart. Open Your Home. Become a Raintree Foster Parent.

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Since 1926, Raintree has been enriching the lives of children and families in the Greater New Orleans Area. Raintree is a nationally accredited organization; our mission is to provide an array of services to vulnerable persons in our community, encouraging hope and creating opportunities for independent lives. Raintree Family Foster Care offers therapeutic and private foster care for children between the ages of birth to 17, who have been severely abused, abandoned or determined to be in need of supervisor. Therapeutic foster care requirements:

High school diploma or equivalent
2 years of college/formal education or 4 years of experience in specialized field/parenting
Live in Orleans, St. Bernard, St.