elections

“Meet the candidates” Thursday in the Irish Channel

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With state and local elections a little over two months away, the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association is hosting a “Meet the Candidates” social on Thursday. State Sen. Karen Carter-Peterson, state Rep. Walt Leger III and judicial candidates Regina Bartholomew, Ellen Hazeur and Kris Kiefer have all confirmed their attendance, association leaders said this week. The election will be Oct. 22. The association is also seeking new officers, and will hold its own elections Sept.

crime

NOPD: Man attacks couple at their Irish Channel home

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A couple was attacked Wednesday morning by a stranger who stole a wallet from them at their home in the 2300 block of Chippewa, police said. One of the homeowners was outside watering her plants about 10 a.m. when a stranger came into her yard and told her that he needed her signature so she could get the house fixed, police said. The woman refused to sign anything, and the man then went into her house, police said. Inside, he grabbed the woman’s husband and took his wallet, then grabbed the woman’s phone while she was dialing police and threw it away, police said. He then left in some sort of tan-colored minivan or SUV, police said.

crime

Alleged Irish Channel robbers linked to Bywater robbery

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The trio of teens accused in two recent Irish Channel robberies have now been linked a robbery in the Bywater, as police credit “information sharing” across district lines with the mounting list of charges against the group, according to reporter Monica Hernandez of our partners at WWL:

events

Party Saturday at Lyons Center to support Irish Channel recreation

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The city’s shuttered Lyons Center in the Irish Channel will host a major party Saturday with live music, food and drink, cabbage ball and swimming in a fundraiser to support the youth sports leagues in the neighborhood. The “Lyons Center Family Reunion” from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. will raise money for the Lyons-Burke Booster Club to buy equipment and uniforms for teams based at the Lyons Center or Burke Park, organizers said. From their Facebook page:

Purpose:
* Raise funds for the Lyons-Burke Booster (LBB) Club which purchases uniforms and equipment for NORD athletic teams based out of Lyons Center or Burke Park. The LBB also serves as a community advocate representing Lyons Center and Burke Park to the city and NORD. * Raise awareness of NORD programs at both Lyons Center and Burke Park.

crime

Trio of teens arrested in Irish Channel robbery, suspected in more cases

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(Updated 2:36 p.m. Thursday)

Three teenagers arrested immediately after an armed-robbery attempt in the French Quarter on Tuesday night have also been charged in a mugging in the Irish Channel from about an hour earlier, and investigators are looking into the possibility of their involvement in more of Uptown’s armed robberies, police said. A woman walking in the 900 block of Seventh Street was robbed at gunpoint by three teens around 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, said Sgt. Sandra Contreras of the NOPD Sixth District persons-crime unit on Thursday afternoon. They made the woman lay down and put the gun in her mouth, but all they could find to steal from her was an iPod and her cell phone, Contreras said. An hour later another armed robbery was attempted in the 1000 block of Chartres Street, according to an email alert from the NOPD Sixth District.

city government

Irish Channel residents to hear about recent robberies tonight

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NOPD Sixth District Commander Bob Bardy will be among the speakers at tonight’s meeting of the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association. The Irish Channel has fared relatively better than some Uptown neighborhoods amid the last month’s wave of armed robberies: about three muggings have been reported in the channel, and other than those incidents, a half dozen home break-ins have been the most serious crimes reported since the beginning of May. Suspects from a shooting in the nearby St. Thomas development, however, fled into the channel before police found them. Tonight’s speakers, based on an email from Irish Channel Neighborhood Association president Kara Morgan:

Honorable Ellen Hazeur, Clerk of First City Court: She will discuss the responsibilities of her office and answer any questions you may have.

city government

36 hours Uptown: Neighborhood meetings

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Two Uptown neighborhood associations and a charter school board are all scheduled to have their monthly meetings on Thursday. The ReNEW Charter Management Organization board – which oversees Batiste Cultural Arts Academy at Live Oak and SciTech Academy at Laurel, both in the Irish Channel – will meet Thursday afternoon. That evening, the Irish Channel and Carrollton-Riverbend neighborhood associations are scheduled to have their May monthly meetings. For further details and links to these and other events, see our full calendar listings below. Wednesday

Weekly book sale at Latter Library.

business

Irish Channel corner store, Ecole Bilingue childcare center receive planning commission approval

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With relatively minor opposition, both a corner store’s request to reopen on Jackson Avenue in the Irish Channel and the conversion of a residentially-zoned building on General Pershing into the childcare center for Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans received the approval of the City Planning Commission on Tuesday afternoon. Ecole Bilingue plans to put six classrooms and a cafeteria inside the old two-story house at 812 General Pershing, remodel the garage at into a playroom and install outdoor playground equipment, but it needs city council approval before it can use the house as a child-care center under its current zoning, according to the preliminary report filed with the City Planning Commission. No one from the school spoke on behalf of the project, but Travis Guilbault, a neighbor on Constance Street, asked the commission to deny the request on the grounds that the school will increase noise and traffic in the neighborhood and consume on-street parking – despite a planned 27-space parking lot for the school. “That parking lot does not seem sufficient,” Guilbault said. The commission voted 7-0 to send Ecole Bilingue’s request to the city council with its approval, subject to a number of conditions.

arts, books and music

36 hours Uptown: Public meetings and events

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A city planning hearing on an Irish Channel corner store, the final meeting of the year for the Lusher Charter School board and an arts forum sponsored by a Congressman are among the meetings and events of interest on deck in Uptown New Orleans. On Monday, U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond is hosting a reception for the Congressional arts competition and a forum on the arts at the George and Leah McKenna Museum of African-American Art. Also on Monday, the Lusher Charter School governing board will hold its final scheduled meeting for the academic year. The planning commission meeting Tuesday includes a request to reopen a corner store at 548 Jackson Avenue as a sandwich shop, which received the support of the Irish Channel Neighborhood Association earlier this year despite neighbors’ misgivings about loitering and crime around the store in the past. Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the St.

arts, books and music

72 hours Uptown: Friday fights and Saturday strolls

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Friday evening brings the return of Freret Street’s celebrated monthly outdoor boxing matches and tailgating party, and Saturday morning several Uptown New Orleans neighborhoods invite you to join them for a walk. At Friday Night Fights, boxing is only part of the attraction, as the Freret Street Gym recruits all sorts of entertainment and for each month’s event. A recent video by Dillard University students explains:

On Saturday morning, explore a more introspective side of Freret Street — or the Irish Channel, or Oak Street — by taking part in one of three “Jane’s Walks” around Uptown New Orleans. Activist and author Jane Jacobs championed a pedestrian-oriented approach to city planning, and the neighborhood walks are intended to bring her ideas about community identity to life through group exploration on foot. Other events this weekend include a premiere of Lusher students’ short films, a black-tie fundraiser for Audubon Zoo, free comic books and a mother’s day concert.