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The Phunny Phorty Phellows and the Funky Uptown Krewe will herald the start of the Carnival season tonight (Jan. 6) with their traditional St. Charles streetcar rides. The costumed and masked krewe of the Phunny Phorty Phellows will gather to toast Twelfth Night, along with the Krewe of Oak, in the Willow Street Car Barn. The Funky Uptown Krewe will kick off Carnival with a pre-party at Bouree.
Two men died and three people were injured Thursday night (Jan. 5) in gunfire that erupted in Central City, the New Orleans Police Department reported. The shooting occurred shortly after 8 p.m. at St. Andrew Street and Rev. John Raphael Jr. Way. Sixth District officers responding to reports of a shooting found five victims suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
Curbside trash has been piling up on Mid-City streets, along with complaints on City Hall’s 311 service, as Richard’s Disposal has fallen behind its Service Area 1 pickup schedule. Ben Myers reports on NOLA.com that Richard’s owner blames the lapse on a loss of workers to IV Waste and Waste Pro, which took over Metro’s Service Area 2 in November. Both the Richard’s and the Metro Disposal owners have said the city failed to meet its requirement to pay for excessive waste volumes during the Covid-19 shutdown in 2020 and after Hurricane Ida in 2021. The Cantrell administration told Myers it is preparing to take action over missed pickups but did not specify what that action will be.
2023 will be a busy election year in Louisiana. A new governor, other statewide officials, and multiple judges will be selected. Yet the first race of the new year will fill a vacancy in Orleans Parish’s legislative delegation. Qualifying begins Wednesday (Jan. 11) for a candidate to represent the Louisiana House District 93 seat previously held by Royce Duplessis.
A man was bludgeoned to death outside of an abandoned business in the Gert Town area, the New Orleans Police Department reported. At 8:52 a.m., Second District officers responded to a call of a male down in the 8000 block of Olive Street, near South Carrollton Avenue. Upon arrival, they discovered an adult male suffering from apparent blunt force trauma. Medical responders pronounced him dead at the scene. The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office will determine the official cause of death and release the victim’s name upon completion of an autopsy and notification of his family.
King Cake Hub is back this year at Zony Mash Beer Project and will kick off the Carnival season season with a party and pageant. The seasonal pop-up is a one-stop shop for king cakes. Local bakeries send a daily supply, so that lovers of the Carnival confection, or anyone buying a king cake for their workplace, have myriad fresh choices in one place. King Cake Hub was founded in 2019 by Will and Jennifer Samuels. The couple got their first taste of the king cake business with their own king cake at their gelato shop La Dolce NOLA on Metairie Road in 2011.
When Will died of esophageal cancer in September 2021, Jennifer knew she would continue King Cake Hub, as it was such an important part of the couple’s life together.
A man was shot to death in the early hours of 2023 on Clio Street near St. Charles Avenue, the New Orleans Police Department reported. On Sunday (Jan. 1) at about 4:03 a.m., NOPD Sixth District officers responded to a call of a shooting in the 1600 block of Clio. They found a man with multiple gunshot wounds.
Three major crimes were reported in Uptown neighborhoods on Thursday (Dec. 29): a home invasion, a shooting and an armed robbery. At about 11 p.m., a home invasion was reported in the Lower Garden District. Police investigating the report in the 800 block of St. Andrew Street found evidence of a home invasion but did not find the victim, a 33-year-old woman. A teenager was injured Thursday night in Central City.
The citizens of New Orleans are shell-shocked, no pun intended, by the highest homicide rate in more than 25 years. Armed robberies have also skyrocketed. Numbed by the ongoing crime wave, residents are no longer surprised when they hear gunshots. After multiple shots rang out last Friday afternoon (Dec. 23) at Rouses on Baronne Street, people across the city were astounded by the brazen act of violence that took the life of comedian and social media sensation Brandon “Boogie B” Montrell.
On Christmas morning, a 16-year old was injured in a Central City shooting.
A new Chinese restaurant on Magazine Street has a familiar family at its helm. Miss Shirley’s opened on Dec. 1 in the space that was occupied by Jung’s Golden Dragon II. Jung’s Golden Dragon, which opened in Metairie in 1977 before relocating Uptown in 2010, closed in May when the owner, Jung Tan, retired. Miss Shirley’s is named for co-owner and hostess Shirley Lee.
