Louisiana was the loser last year as it competed to lure a steel company. Alabama beat out Louisiana for the $3.1 billion ThyssenKrupp mill.
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was governor then. Now, Gov. Bobby Jindal is in pursuit of luring a steel company to the same site in St. James Parish that ThyssenKrupp was interested in.
Jindal took a trip Wednesday to South Carolina to lure Charlotte. N.C.-based steelmaker Nucor Corp. to Louisiana to build a $2 billion plant.
Here’s an except from an Associated Press story:
Jindal said he met with Nucor Corp.’s chief executive Dan DiMicco and others, and took a tour of the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s South Carolina plant. Jindal called the meeting “very productive” and involved negotiations over financial incentives, as he tries to persuade the firm to build the plant in St. James Parish instead of a location overseas.
“We’re very competitive with these other locations,” Jindal said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before his return flight to Baton Rouge.
The company has said it will announce its plans by the end of the year. Jindal said he was told a decision could be made within months.•
The Esplanade mall could have a 14-screen, 2,400-seat theater sometime next year, if all goes according to plan and the project wins approval from the city of Kenner.
Kenner Mayor Ed Muniz’s office announced Wednesday that the mall’s owners had submitted an application to allow construction of the 49,000-square-foot stadium-style complex along the west side of the mall. The theater would be called The Grand and would be built next to the Goodyear Car Center.
Southern Theatres of New Orleans is the developer.
But what happens to the little theater that is now operating next to the mall?
The city’s public information office said it did not know. Calls were left with The Esplanade to find out.
Here’s the full, unedited text of the city’s press release:
PLANS FILED FOR ‘THE GRAND’ THEATERS AT ESPLANADE MALL
Kenner Planning Director Jay Hebert announced Wednesday that the Esplanade Mall owners submitted an application for approval by the city of a Planned Unit Development (PUD) that would allow the construction of a 49,000-square-foot stadium style motion picture theater complex along the west side of Esplanade Mall.
The development would be called “The Grand” theaters and be located north of the existing Goodyear Car Center on the Esplanade Mall campus.
Before approval can be given for the project, Hebert said, the proposal must go through a public hearing process, with final approval by the City Council to amending the mall’s PUD layout to include the theater complex.
Developer of the project is Southern Theatres of New Orleans, a business of the Solomon Family, longtime movie theater owners and developers in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
Southern Theatres spokesman George Solomon said the complex will have 14 theaters with stadium seating arrangements and a total seating capacity of 2,400 persons.
He said the project will cost about $10 million and the targeted completion date is Memorial Day, 2009. Principal funding is coming from a Go Zone federal loan program that was created for the purpose of reinvesting in communities damaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Mayor Ed Muniz said he is pleased that business developers are continuing to invest in the economic strength of Kenner. “We came back strong after Katrina. Our businesses have faith in our economy. And our citizens and officials have worked hard to justify the good faith business developers have shown us,” he added.
“We are very much open for business and something like this shows that the community knows it. We have much to be proud of here.”•
We’ve all heard someone at some point complain about “jobs going overseas.”
A new study claims to have tallied the job loss for Louisiana.
According to the study by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Louisiana has lost nearly 16,000 jobs since China’s 2001 entrance into the World Trade Organization.
The alliance also says more than 1,600 Louisiana workers lost jobs in 2007 alone.
What does the alliance blame the job loss on? The U.S. trade deficit with China.•
Working for the state of Louisiana means getting a taxpayer-funded pension. Public school teachers, for example, get paid their full salary after retirement until they go to that classroom in the sky.
Today, I came across an interesting factoid in an Associated Press story about Louisiana’s retirement system.
The story was about how, despite the stock market’s recent woes, officials say the state’s retirement system is not in peril.
Anyway, here’s the factoid: Brendan Brosnan, Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System chief investment officer, said if the financial markets were to make the retirement systems no longer financially sound, Louisiana taxpayers would make up the difference.
It’s seems almost a daily occurrence to hear negative news about state Sen. Derrick Shepherd.
As if the federal charges, his recent arrest and home detention and police claims that he was getting a lap dance in his home aren’t enough, Shepherd is now being accused of violating state ethics laws.
The Ethics Board said Shepherd may have run afoul of a law banning elected officials from receiving anything of economic value for assisting a person in a transaction with a governmental entity without it being timely disclosed.
The board said Shepherd may have violated the ethics code “by rendering compensated services to Gwendolyn Joseph Moyo involving the Louisiana Department of Insurance.”
The federal charges allege Shepherd conspired to launder money for Moyo, a convicted felon accused of operating an illegal insurance business.
Shepherd is clearly busy dealing with all these accusations. So, can he still be an effective lawmaker? Can he focus on serving the people of Louisiana? Should he resign? What do you think?•
Last week, some members of Congress took a trip to measure progress along the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina.
At least one of the group members, Rep. Steve Israel of Long Island, N.Y., made a nearly 6 minute video blog, “The Gulf Coast, Three Years Later,” about his trip. He criticizes insurance companies in the video and draws comparisons to Long Island and New Orleans.
I heard the voice of New Orleans City Councilwoman Cynthia Willard-Lewis. Rep. William Jefferson is also in the video. You may recognize other voices and people. Perhaps some are your neighbors.•
State Sen. Derrick Shepherd, who is facing federal fraud and money-laundering charges, continues to find his way into unflattering headlines.
Today, a federal magistrate was scheduled to decide whether Shepherd violated the terms of his bond in the federal case after he allegedly punched his ex-girlfriend in the stomach this weekend.
Shepherd, D-Marrero, was ordered to spend Monday night in a halfway house until today’s hearing, during which prosecutors were expected to ask to have Shepherd’s bond revoked. Shepherd spent Saturday night at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Facility after his ex-girlfriend told police Shepherd barged into her house and started a fight with her. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand said that when police went to find Shepherd at his home, officers peering inside Shepherd’s home noticed a woman giving him a lap dance.
Shepherd was booked with unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling, simple battery and theft of more than $500.
But Shepherd attorney John Reed accused the media of spinning the news.
Shepherd has pleaded not guilty to the federal fraud and money-laundering charges.
What do you think? Should Shepherd have his bond revoked?•
Pretty soon, it seems, some New Orleans residents will be able to buy the properties immediately next to them, thanks to a program that aims to redevelop unused lots.
The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, through the Lot Next Door program, is trying to find takers for abandoned properties and those sold to The Road Home program. The City Council created the program in April 2007 to speed up the recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
Today, NORA said in a news release that more than 2,000 residents should receive letters this week notifying them of their eligibility to buy Lot Next Door properties.
Those interested in the program will be expected to pay fair-market value for the lots, plus legal fees and costs.
So, these properties apparently won’t be discounted. But for those who can afford it, their backyards will be a lot bigger.•
I think it’s fair to say driving while intoxicated is an issue of concern in New Orleans. Beer and liquor companies are staunch supporters of designated driving. Maybe they need to pass that message on to their customers — the bars.
On a recent trip to a Bourbon Street bar, I asked for a cup of ice water only to be told the only available water (short of drinking from the sink) was bottled water for $2. Yet, when I cross the dance floor and go to another bartender and buy a beer, a free cup of ice water is no problem. The same thing happened during another trip with a friend bar a few weeks ago, except this time she was charged $8 for a plain, alcohol-free Diet Coke. A fountain drink cost as much as my beer? I shouldn’t be surprised, as I’ve been to other bars along Bourbon, some that charge $4 for a bottle of water.
So why are bars so concerned with making a buck, or in this case $2, on someone who’s trying to be responsible?
Yes, there are bars that will provide you with a free cup of ice water upon request, and I commend them. I understand the tourism industry is still hurting, but it’s a real shame bars are more concerned with making a few dollars than the safety of their customers. Even with the oil spill, there is no shortage of water in New Orleans and the plastic cup — I don’t even need a straw — can’t cost more than a couple of cents.
I respect the theory that the more you drink, the more you spend, and the more customers spend, the more successful the business is. But it’s time for bars to take responsibility and stop contributing to the DWI rate.•
Here’s an example of how the recovery is plodding along in some parts of the New Orleans area.
St. Bernard Parish today was scheduled to break ground on its first new fire station to be built since Hurricane Katrina, which happened nearly three years ago.
Also, on July 15, the parish council held its first meeting in rebuilt chambers.
Sure, some areas have bounced back since the storm, such as Jefferson Parish. But there’s no question the recovery can be accelerated in places such as St. Bernard.
Perhaps officials will take note and move things along.•
On Thursday, New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley fired two officers for misconduct.
One, Ashley Terry, is accused of brandishing her gun and screaming profanities while at the Treme Community Center last week.
The other, Donyell Sanchell, is accused of fleeing in his vehicle from Crescent City Connection police on a chase this month and slapping a bridge officer.
NOPD said Sanchell had driven recklessly and committed a hit-and run and simple battery, among other findings. Meanwhile, Terry, according to NOPD, violated NOPD standards.
Is firing enough of a consequence for these officers? Some members of the public have suggested that the officers should be arrested, because that likely would have been the outcome for an ordinary resident who would have behaved the same way.
But the officers might face charges after all, according to City Councilman James Carter, speaking on 870 AM this morning.
As a massive fuel oil spill on the Mississippi River is being cleaned up this week – a barge carrying 419,000 gallons of oil was split open after it collided with a tanker Wednesday – The Associated Press issued a list of some of the nation’s worst maritime oil spills.
Here’s AP’s list:
Nov. 8, 2007 — A cargo ship, the Cosco Busan, strikes the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay and pollutes a majestic stretch of the California coastline, resulting in charges against the pilot and the Hong Kong-based operator of the ship.
Dec. 7, 2004 — A Malaysia-flagged freighter, the Selendang Ayu, loses power in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and splits in two after grounding off Unalaska Island. About 335,000 gallons of oil spill from the ship.
Nov. 29, 2000 — A tanker, the Westchester, loses power and runs aground near Port Sulphur, spilling more than half a million gallons of crude oil on the Mississippi River, closing about 26 miles of the river.
Aug. 10, 1993 — A freighter and two barges collide in a Tampa Bay shipping channel, spilling about 336,000 gallons of No. 6 fuel oil.
June 8, 1990 — The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg caught on fire about 58 miles offshore from Galveston, Texas, dumping more than 3.9 million gallons of oil. A month later, about 700,000 gallons of oil spilled into a Galveston bay when the Greek tanker Shinoussa and two barges collided.•
The federal coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding on Wednesday stressed the need for officials “on all levels of government” to work together to root out post-Katrina fraud in New Orleans.
“Fighting public corruption, fraud and waste requires a continuum of effort by officials and law enforcement on all levels of government,” said Gen. Doug O’Dell. “Each of us here – federal, state, and local leaders – have an important role to play in the overall fight to ensure all taxpayer funds are spent as they originally were intended and appropriated.”
O’Dell hosted a roundtable discussion with more than 40 federal, state and local inspectors general and law enforcement officials on efforts to combat fraud and crime in post-Katrina New Orleans. The officials pledged continued cooperation in the fight, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
If you’ve been wondering how much the federal government has given to post-Katrina recovery, it’s more than $120 billion, according to Homeland Security.
Do you think the government has done a good job preventing misuse of hurricane-recovery funds?•
Remember when City Hall was supposed to move into Dominion Tower, that pinkish office building next to the Superdome?
The plan collapsed in 2006 when a proposal to create a jazz park went up in smoke.
But now, there’s once again talk about City Hall possibly relocating to the tower, as the state agency that runs the Dome considers buying the building, according to a CityBusiness story this week.
From the CityBusiness story:
But while state officials are only in the very earliest stages of exploring possibilities to remake the Central Business District properties, the proposal presents a chance for Mayor C. Ray Nagin to reopen discussions on moving City Hall and the city’s civil courts to the 26-story office building, something downtown planners say he should take.
Nagin’s spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said that while the mayor hasn’t been briefed recently on the state’s plan for the site, he has spoken about the move to Dominion and would be “eager to look at it again.”
“I am very confident that he would entertain possibilities of making that move a reality,” said Quiett, adding that it was too early in the process to say if talks would go further than they did in 2006.•
The Mississippi River has become a massive, mucky oil slick after Wednesday’s accident involving a tanker and a barge.
According to news reports, the operator of the tugboat pulling the barge had only an apprentice mate’s license, and no one else on the tug apparently had a license to run the boat on the river.
This incident provides a good opportunity to point this out: Just because there’s a properly licensed person on a boat, that doesn’t mean that person is always behind the wheel.
While I was a college student from 1996-2000, I worked offshore in the Gulf of Mexico in the summers. It was not uncommon for the captain or mate to give the wheel to a deckhand or some other unlicensed person while they took a nap, got a bite to eat or used the bathroom.
The captain or mate would usually tell the deckhand to just hold the wheel steady and keep the boat pointed in a certain direction, such as toward a distant platform. Some of these deckhands had never so much as paddled a canoe before, much less a multi-ton vessel. If there was an emergency, the deckhand knew to go get the captain or mate. Usually nothing went wrong.
So while Wednesday’s accident involved a boat operator without the proper license, it is by no means rare for unskilled people to be behind the wheel of massive vessels. It just so happens that someone got caught this time.•
For years, people have fled New Orleans for the North Shore. They work on the South Shore and make the long drive back across the lake at the end of the day.
But could high gas prices reverse that trend?
According to a story in this week’s CityBusiness by reporter Emilie Bahr, some North Shore residents are considering pulling up their roots and replanting them on the South Shore, closer to where they work. This could be good news for New Orleans’ population, which has been on the decline for years.
How high would gas prices have to rise to make you want to move closer to where you work?
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has become something of a punching bag since Hurricane Katrina.
The latest criticism of FEMA comes after it released a draft of a strategy to house victims of future disasters. The draft is a year overdue. But that’s not the only complaint.
A story by The Associated Press says FEMA “leaves it largely up to the next administration to figure out a way to avoid Hurricane Katrina, like problems that sent victims to toxic trailers.”
FEMA’s strategy calls for the government to use travel trailers as a last resort. After Katrina, there were widespread complaints about trailer dwellers becoming sick from high levels of formaldehyde in them.
There are new rules, though, regarding travel trailers. Only the head of FEMA can OK the use of trailers, which have to meet FEMA’s standard for low formaldehyde levels, AP reported. Further, people can stay in the trailers for no more than six months.
FEMA also is calling for the establishment of a National Disaster Housing Task Force, which could be organized in the next two months. The task force will deal with issues such as what to use to house storm victims rather than FEMA trailers.
AP also says the draft includes seven blank areas that are supposed to address issues such as housing for special-needs and low-income groups, rehabilitating rental units and possible legislation to implement the strategy.
Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, took FEMA to task for the draft.
“FEMA offers no solutions and instead recommends the creation of a new entity to do the job FEMA was directed to do,” Landrieu said.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, who took office this year, gave his veto pen a workout this month when he scratched 258 items totaling more than $16 million from the state’s budget.
Jindal’s office proudly pointed out in a July 14 press release that his 258 vetoes “are more than double the vetoes for all the state’s previous 12 budgets combined.”
“For too long, state government has spent and spent, with little regard for taxpayer’s money,” Jindal said in the press release. “Today, we are taking another step toward that New Louisiana by vetoing unnecessary non-governmental and governmental spending to reduce our state budget and send a signal that we will not settle for business as usual.”
But some lawmakers and members of the public aren’t happy that Jindal cut funding to pet projects and charities in their districts. They can’t understand why the governor thought their programs did not deserve state funding.
For example, according to KSLA-TV in Shreveport, Cleo Fields, a former congressman and state senator, is upset that Jindal slashed all funding for his organization, the Louisiana Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that serves about 1,200 children.
Then there’s state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, D-Marrero, who is angry that Jindal vetoed a bill that would have created a third minority judgeship in Gretna’s 24th Judicial District Court.
Those are just two examples of people mad about the vetoes. There are many more.
To be fair, though, some people have long criticized state lawmakers for the pork they insert into the budget, such as funding for a hot air balloon festival. Those people might support Jindal’s cuts.
Regardless of whether Jindal was right or wrong to veto the spending, it’s clear he has damaged his relationship with some members of the Legislature. Even before Jindal cut the 258 items from the budget, he vetoed a pay raise for lawmakers after promising them he wouldn’t. But Jindal, yielding to mounting public opposition, surprised everyone when he announced he would veto the raises.
Lawmakers are now feeling betrayed by Jindal. They backed his legislation, such as a controversial plan to pay private school tuition for New Orleans children, only to have him veto their pay raise and then cut funding for projects and charities in their districts.
Lawmakers aren’t holding their anger back. Following Jindal’s veto of the 258 items, lawmakers are considering what would be the first veto-override season in the state’s history.
So Jindal, who’s only been in office about half a year, finds himself in a precarious situation with the Legislature, which he relies on to get his bills passed. Can he rebuild the trust he’s lost with lawmakers, or will Louisiana’s legislative branch make life hard for the executive branch as long as Jindal remains in office?
It’s been nearly three years since Katrina hit. And people are still saying the city shouldn’t be rebuilt.
Just two months ago, a writer asked this question:
“Why in the world should Uncle Sam spend billions rebuilding New Orleans?”
The piece was headlined “Don’t rebuild New Orleans.”
What’s interesting is that the writer, Jim Gallagher, covers Illinois, which, like New Orleans, was flooded recently. According to The Associated Press, the federal government has approved $3.6 million in aid to Illinois following flooding there this year.
So, Mr. Gallagher: Why in the world should Uncle Sam spend millions rebuilding Illinois?
Louisiana is accused of ranking highly in all the wrong areas. Here’s another.
Today we learned from the State Bond Commission that the state’s per capita debt earns it 10th place in the nation, meaning it is higher than that of the 40 other states.
Fiscal 2007 shows the state’s per capita debt at $1,369, compared with the national median average of $700, said Whit Cling, the commission’s director, according to a story by The Associated Press.
While the debt load is within the state’s legal limits, it could restrict how much the state can borrow for new construction. That’s not good news for those in the construction business.
Scientists are urging people not to swim with manatees in Lake Pontchartrain, because they can lose their fear of people and become more likely to get injured or killed by boats.
This got me thinking. There are tours galore in the New Orleans area, such as haunted tours, cemetery tours and swamp tours. But I have never heard of manatee tours, which are common in other states, such as Florida.
So why aren’t there manatee tours here?
Perhaps, at least for the manatees, it’s a good thing, though. Those tours might make them more likely to get hurt by a boat. But for an entrepreneur in this region, it seems like a product that not many are offering.
The federal Gulf Opportunity Zone Act was meant to help the Gulf Coast recover from the 2005 hurricanes. The act provides incentives to businesses and investors to build in the region.
But maybe something was wrong in the way the program was administered.
According to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, investors who were outside the destruction areas were first to get in line for the incentives. That’s because businesses in the heart of the devastation were still punch drunk from the storm and did not apply before investors in other areas did, GAO said.
“State officials we interviewed acknowledged that the first-come, first-served approach led to awarding bond allocation to projects in less damaged areas in the GO Zone,” said GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
Here’s a story by The Associated Press on the report.
Going to fill up your gas tank these days is like going to the dentist. It hurts.
But, if analysts are right, the good old days of $2-per-gallon gas could come back.
Four analysts testifying before a congressional committee in June said gasoline could return to $2 a gallon if lawmakers can get speculators out of the oil market, according to a ConsumerAffairs.com story.
One analyst even said $2 gas could return in as soon as 30 days.
The story says the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is considering legislation to remove speculation from the energy markets.
There’s a gas station near the end of my street. This week, the price of regular self-serve unleaded at that station rose to $4.06 a gallon from $4.05.
I didn’t have a say in it, and no other member of the public did, either.
Gas prices go up whether we like it or not. They could be $4 a gallon today then $10 tomorrow.
In Louisiana, the Public Service Commission regulates utility rates. But no one regulates the price of gasoline, not on a state level or a national level.
With gas prices at record highs nationwide this summer, some are calling for gas prices to be regulated. Others say it is a bad idea.
A PalmBeachPost.com story from April 10 reports that small businesses are urging lawmakers to regulate gas prices. As gas prices go up, small businesses are downsizing or cutting employees benefits, the story says.
The call to regulate gas prices is not new, though.
“Ever-rising gasoline prices have politicians thinking and talking about whether gas prices should be regulated,” says an Aug. 29, 2005, ConsumerAffairs.com story.
In that same story, though, the American Petroleum Institute said regulating prices would be a disaster. The story says former President Nixon ordered the regulation of gas prices after the 1972 Arab Oil Embargo. The regulations were blamed for volatile prices, shortages and long lines at the pumps, the story says.
In New Orleans, the mayor’s administration can award “professional services” contracts of $150,000 or more apiece, but the contract-awarding process is coming under fire.
City Council Vice President Arnie Fielkow wants the process to be more open to the public, and he is looking into an ordinance to accomplish that. Fielkow wants every aspect of the professional services contract-selection process to be subject to Louisiana’s public-meetings law, according to a story in this week’s CityBusiness by reporter Jaime Guillet. That means everything, from bid-request notices and selection review panel meetings to the grading of proposals by companies, would be “open, in the light of day and in total transparency,” Fielkow said.
He may have a fight on his hands, though, as City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields seems poised to challenge the ordinance.
Last week, at a meeting of the council’s Governmental Affairs Committee, Moses-Fields and former city attorneys spoke against the call for more transparency, saying it would slow down the contracting process and infringe on the executive branch’s power.
“Our main reason for being here today is to make sure you’re well aware you’re encroaching on powers,” Moses-Fields told council members at the committee meeting.
If Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s administration doesn’t allow more transparency into the professional services contract-awarding process, it apparently will be going against the recommendations of the mayor’s own Bring New Orleans Back commission, according to the CityBusiness story.
After Katrina, the BNOB commission was formed to help the city recover from the 2005 hurricane. On Jan. 19, 2006, the BNOB’s Governmental Effectiveness Committee recommended the city “create a transparent, standard, competitive professional services selection process,” the CityBusiness story says.
BNOB was not the only voice crying for more transparency. In its Forward New Orleans initiative in May 2006, the New Orleans Business Council also called for more transparency, according to the story.
Further, New Orleans would not be the first place to open its contract-selection process to the public. Robert Abbott, East Baton Rouge assistant parish attorney, said his parish’s competitive-selection process involves contracts worth $50,000 or more, all the meetings of two selection boards are open to the public and meetings are recorded.
In New Orleans, by contrast, the Nagin administration keeps the meetings private and no minutes are kept. But New Orleans’ contract-selection process does include some community representatives.
Are the contenders for the 2008 presidential election talking enough about the Gulf Coast’s recovery from the 2005 hurricanes? Are you happy with their recovery ideas? Which candidate do you think has what it takes to speed up the recovery?
Here is Democrat Barack Obama’s plan to rebuild the Gulf Coast, taken right off his Web site.
I could not find one for Republican John McCain. If anyone knows where it is, if there is one, please post a link.
East Jefferson General Hospital employees this weekend brought a taste of New Orleans to Iowa while in the state to help flood victims this weekend, according to an Iowa City Press Citizen story.
The EJGH employees came armed with Hubig’s pies, Zydeco music, Mardi Gras beads and Zapp’s potato chips.
The employees drove 18 hours to Iowa to help the flood victims. Having gone through Hurricane Katrina, the EJGH workers are all too familiar with the aftermath of a disaster.
“We know what they’re going through,” said Beverly Marino an EJGH nurse who made the trip. “I’m glad we could be here.”
Retail giant Wal-Mart apparently is hurting from high fuel prices, just like the rest of us.
Faced with the higher transportation costs, the company is turning more to local farmers to keep its produce prices down.
A CityBusiness story this week explains Wal-Mart’s national initiative, which the company announced on July 1.
Selling produce and other goods from locals is not new to Wal-Mart. But the company is trying to increase its stock of local produce.
Tangipahoa Parish farmer Anthony Liuzza, who has sold produce to Wal-Mart for years, likes the idea.
“It’s good for everyone to be able to have more places to sell their product,” he said.
But is there a downside to this? Will farmers abandon locally owned grocery stores, such as Rouses?
Rouses President Donald Rouse doesn’t sound concerned that Wal-Mart’s plan will cut into his supply of locally grown produce. He is counting on the loyalty of local farmers, from whom his company has been buying produce for more than 50 years.
When the University of New Orleans released a quality of life study this week focusing on Jefferson and Orleans parishes, residents said crime is the biggest problem.
Residents count on police to stamp out crime, especially murders and other violent crime.
But is the NOPD spending its time and resources wisely these days?
A CityBusiness investigation by reporter Richard Webster found that NOPD is planting Kool cigarettes, Budweiser and Boston Baked Beans candy in unlocked cars with the windows rolled down in order to catch someone snatching the items.
The police seem to be after a certain group: the homeless. Why else would they park a car just one block from a homeless encampment under the Claiborne Overpass?
NOPD made its first arrests June 10. For stealing less than $6 in items, police charged two homeless men with simple burglary, a felony that can carry up to 12 years in prison. Neither suspect had any prior arrests in Orleans Parish.
It’s been more than a month since their arrests and the men are still sitting in Orleans Parish Prison, waiting on court dates, according to the story.
NOPD’s technique is garnering criticism.
“I don’t know what the policing justification is for such an action,” said Pamela Metzger, associate professor of law at Tulane University Law School. “But on a fundamental human level, it smacks of a meanness, a pettiness, a spitefulness that has no place in a city as broken as this one. It’s a way of manufacturing offenses that may not have otherwise existed.”
The NOPD did not respond to our reporter’s requests for comment. But, according to the story, Police Superintendent Warren Riley has previously defended the practice of arresting people for minor crimes as a useful way of catching habitual offenders.
Is this a good use of police resources, or do you think the police should be paying more attention to violent crime?
New Orleans was the fastest-growing large city in the U.S. from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, the Census Bureau said today.
Census estimates show New Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent to 239,124 during the one-year period, putting it ahead of population growth in all cities with populations of 100,000.
No doubt, New Orleans’ population growth, and ranking, is because of the return of residents who were displaced following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
City leaders will no doubt celebrate the city’s latest ranking. But there’s another Census that ranking city leaders probably are less thrilled about.
According to the Census, from 2000 to 2007 New Orleans had the largest rate of loss and largest numerical decline as its population fell 50.7 percent from 484,674 to 239,124. Of course, much of that is because of Katrina.
During the same period, Cleveland had the second greatest rate of loss – 8.3 percent, from 477,472 to 438,042 – with Philadelphia ranking second in numerical decrease, from 1,517,550 to 1,449,634.
The U.S. economy has seen better days. Prices seem to be going up for everything, from gas to groceries.
In New Orleans, the weak economy has residents shopping more at resale and consignment stores, according to a story in this week’s CityBusiness. So, as many businesses suffer during this time, these stores carrying secondhand items are doing well. Cash-strapped people are not only shopping at these stores, they are selling clothing to them, too.
“With this downturn, which is pretty serious, people are talking a lot more about (resale) and they’re coming to visit the stores,” said Stephanie Hirsh, owner of Prima Donna’s Closet consignment stores on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans and 17th Street in Metairie.
The National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops describes the resale industry as “one of the few recession-proof segments of retailing,” one that “grows and thrives” during economic downturns, according to the CityBusiness story. The association said its member stores across the country have seen significant surges in sales and inventory in recent months.
People everywhere are trying to stretch their dollars. My wife and I, who live on the West Bank, used to visit the East Bank every weekend, on Saturdays and Sundays. Now, if we go at all, it’s either on a Saturday or a Sunday, because of the price of gas.
My wife pointed out recently that there seems to be fewer cars on the road. The roads do seem to be less congested on the weekends. And, one afternoon last weekend, there were no cars in the drive-in lane at the Starbucks on Veterans Boulevard near the 17th Street Canal, which is saying something, because there’s always a line at Starbucks’ drive-in lanes.
People have less discretionary income, and businesses that offer fancy nonessentials, such as lattes, surely are not doing well these days.
On Wednesday, I talked to the owners of two pawn stores in the New Orleans area. I was surprised to hear that they have not seen an increase in business. Apparently the economy has not become so bad that people are selling their belongings to fill up their gas tank, buy groceries or otherwise make ends meet.
Earlier this week, National Public Radio did a story on how people are using coupons more lately. There are apparently Web sites and online networks dedicated to finding the best deals. According to the story, people are careful about what they buy at grocery stores; they are planning meals before they shop and buying only the items they need to make those meals.
How are you coping with rising costs? Are you cutting back on 401(k) contributions? Are you driving less? We’d like to hear your tips for stretching a dollar.
Some people have long suspected that police give preferential treatment to certain people, such as elected officials. Some have also suspected that police think they are above the law, that it’s OK for them to speed and break other rules while ordinary citizens must abide by the law.
Recent incidents in the New Orleans area are likely to only fuel those suspicions.
There’s the infamous incident involving Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price, who was not given a sobriety test after he drove his vehicle through a tollbooth in April. Price admitted he had been drinking, and it’s obvious that his title was a factor in the leniency the Causeway police showed him. Officers have been fired over the incident.
After a media frenzy over that story, Mandeville Police Chief Tom Buell came forward with a 2006 incident in which Price apparently was given preferential treatment by police who thought he had been drinking and driving.
Then there’s the case involving New Orleans police officer Donyell Sanchell. He is accused of leading Crescent City Connection police on a pursuit and then grazing an officer with his vehicle and slapping him.
Police issued Sanchell a municipal summons for traffic citations and battery.
New Orleans drivers might want to drive more carefully, as the city will activate more red-light cameras downtown on Monday.
The city, taking the lead from neighboring Jefferson Parish, kicked off its camera program in April. Jefferson Parish launched its camera system in September. A noteworthy difference is the cameras in Jefferson Parish don’t monitor speed.
On Monday, the city will activate cameras already installed eastbound on Poydras Street at St. Charles Avenue, westbound on Poydras Street at Magazine Street and westbound on Poydras Street at Carondelet Street.
New Orleans Public Works Director Robert Mendoza says the city’s goal is to make the streets safer.
“To date, we have recorded a reduction from 205 daily violations to 90 daily violations,” he said.
Who’s at fault for the high formaldehyde levels that FEMA trailer tenants claim made them sick?
If you listen to Democrats, the manufacturers of the trailers are the culprits. But Republicans said the makers are not at fault, that the government should have had standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in the trailers.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing today on the issue, and House Republicans and Democrats came armed with reports to support their arguments.
The Democrats’ report says trailer makers were aware of the high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers used by Hurricane Katrina victims, but the manufacturers sold them to the federal government anyway.
“Blaming trailer manufacturers for doing what was expected of them would be misplaced and ineffective,” the Republicans’ report says.
What do you think? Are trailer manufacturers or the government at fault for the toxic trailers?
On Tuesday, the University of New Orleans released the results of a survey that doesn’t bode well for Mayor C. Ray Nagin.
According to the survey, Nagin’s approval rating has plummeted since the 2006 version of the study. This year’s study shows 31 percent of those surveyed approve or strongly approve of Nagin, compared with 40 percent in October 2006.
Meanwhile, the City Council’s approval rating is much higher than Nagin’s. A total of 70 percent of those surveyed approve or strongly approve of the council.
The telephone survey was based on 300 registered voters in the two parishes from June 25-28. The margin of error is plus or minus 5.7 percent.
Why do you think Nagin’s approval rating has fallen? Why is the council’s rating so much higher?
A controversial pay raise for state lawmakers captured the public’s attention during the legislative session that ended last month.
But little attention was paid to the legislature’s rejection of a request by the New Orleans tourism industry for $10 million in marketing funding.
Rep. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, blamed Gov. Bobby Jindal for the “no” vote, according to a story in New Orleans CityBusiness this week. She said the funding would have been a one-time expense, not an ongoing one.
“We made the pitch to the administration, it wasn’t received well and they established they were not going to be funding this,” she said.
The governor’s office did not respond to our reporter’s calls for comment.
Carter Peterson said the denial of the marketing dollars was even more offensive considering that the state has an $800 million surplus.
But the Legislature did not totally ignore New Orleans’ tourism industry, the city’s largest. The Legislature gave $3.5 million to help fill operating shortfalls at the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Still, tourism officials say they could use more marketing dollars as the city’s tourism industry tries to recover from the damage Hurricane Katrina caused to the city’s national image.
“Unfortunately, it’s a continuing challenge to have the Legislature recognize our need for aggressive marketing,” said Mary Beth Romig, director of communications for the CVB.
As prices at the gas pumps show no signs of letting up, four-day workweeks reportedly are becoming more popular across the United States.
On Aug. 4, Utah is making it mandatory that most state government employees work only four days a week, a move Gov. Jon Huntsman said will reduce the state’s energy use, improve customer service and provide workers more flexibility, USA Today reported.
“The reaction (from the public) has been very much a willingness to give this a go,” Huntsman, a Republican, said in the story.
Utah is reportedly the first state make it mandatory that state employees work no more than four days a week. So that residents aren’t inconvenienced by the shorter workweek, government offices will be open longer.
The practice can be found in other states, too.
Coconut Creek, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., and Avondale, Ariz., are cities offering workers condensed workweeks, USA Today reported, citing information from the National League of Cities.
All of this has me thinking of the controversy that was generated when the Louisiana Legislature tried to give itself a raise this year. Do you think Louisiana residents would allow state employees to have a mandatory four-day workweek? What do you think of the idea? Should the private sector start being more flexible with work schedules, with gas being nightmarishly expensive?
Tyler Perry, a New Orleans native and actor who has played the matronly character Madea, received the key to New Orleans during the Essence Music Festival, which ran this past weekend.
“You are a native son,” Mayor C. Ray Nagin said, according to news reports. “This is your city. We are proud of you. We love you, and we wish you the best.”
Today, CityBusiness posted a poll question to its Web site asking whether high gas prices will be a factor in residents’ evacuation plans.
We posted this question on the same day the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season formed and the average gas price in New Orleans reached a new high at $3.991 a gallon. Ouch.
As of 4:27 p.m. today, the majority of voters to the poll said gas prices will not affect their evacuation plans.
“My life is worth more than a few gallons of gas at any price,” wrote johnk57ag@bellsouth.net.
But some people apparently are taking gas prices into consideration when deciding whether to evacuate. According to the poll, 17 percent said they will not evacuate unless the hurricane is a Category 3, nearly 6 percent said they will not evacuate unless it is a Category 5, nearly 4 percent said they will not evacuate unless it is a Category 2 and nearly 2 percent said they are staying put unless it is a Category 4.
What about you? Will gas prices play a role in your evacuation plans?
Skeptical people would think the public doesn’t have any control over their elected officials. “Once they get in office, they just do whatever they want,” the skeptic might say.
But if Gov. Bobby Jindal’s veto of the legislative pay raise taught us anything, it’s that when enough people speak, the government has no choice but to listen.
When Sen. Ann Duplessis, a New Orleans Democrat, introduced her bill to boost lawmakers’ salaries, there was little to no reaction from the public. Perhaps people thought the bill would not be passed, so there was no need to worry.
Then the bill gained momentum in the Legislature, and the public started paying more attention. Even though residents grew more vocal as the bill seemed more likely to get passed, lawmakers ignored them and passed the bill anyway. As if that wasn’t enough to anger the public, Jindal said he would not veto the bill, even though he said he was opposed to it, too.
That’s when the public went full throttle: Local talk radio shows were flooded with calls from residents demanding Jindal veto the bill before it was too late, and bloggers and writers to Op-Ed pages railed against Jindal and the Legislature.
In the end, Jindal had no choice but to bow to public pressure and break his promise to the Legislature, even though he ran the risk of angering lawmakers who might later make fight legislation Jindal may introduce.
The experience should serve as a reminder to the public of the power they have over their elected officials. But it should serve as a lesson to public officials, too. Maybe next time they won’t be as willing to ignore the voices of the people who elected them into office.
Here’s something else to add to Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price’s misery. Since his infamous tollbooth incident, videos about him have popped up on YouTube.
One is a spoof of a Calvin Klein commercial. The name of the fragrance: Sanction, a fragrance for mayors.
Another is a commercial for “The Fast Eddie Price Card.” “There are some things money can’t buy. For special treatment, get The Price Card,” the commercial says.
What is your favorite Eddie Price satirical video? Share them with our readers by posting the links to this blog.
Rep. Steve Scalise is supposed to have a plan to lower gas prices.
In a news release from his office, Scalise says he will provide the details of his plan at a press conference at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Chevron station at 3605 Causeway Blvd. in Metairie.
Do you think the Metairie Republican can reverse the ballooning price of gas?
The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office has clarified how many signatures would be required to force a recall of elected officials.
Ever since state lawmakers voted to give themselves a pay raise, some of those lawmakers and Gov. Bobby Jindal have become the objects of recall efforts.
Less signatures would be needed than initially thought.
Jacques Berry, spokesman for the secretary of state, said that one-third of the signatures of “active” voters is needed, not one-third of the signatures of registered voters.
In Louisiana, there are about 2.87 million total voters, Berry told me today. Of those, 247,000 are inactive.
So, based on 2.62 million active voters, signatures would be needed from about 874,333 voters for a Jindal recall.
For state Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, a major backer of the pay raise, signatures would be needed from one-third of a 36,416 active voters in her district. That’s the lowest number of active voters in any Louisiana Senate district, because of Hurricane Katrina, Berry said.
