A year and a half after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dismissed the federal stimulus as a debt-generating waste, the Pelican State has accepted about $5 billion from the program. The Congress-approved cash went to programs ranging from education grants to coastal restoration projects to software modeling of civil works programs' economic impact.
In the race to secure these federal stimulus dollars, Baton Rouge received millions more than New Orleans, while Louisiana as a whole lagged behind other states.
The state's haul amounts to $1,130 per resident, ranking the state 32 out of 50 according to per-capita takeaway. While Louisiana lagged…
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Though top city officials have convened a group to advise on a controversial proposed expansion of the Orleans Parish Prison, the group's meetings are not open to the public because it is not a “formal working group,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu's director of intergovernmental affairs told The Lens.
The Landrieu administration has “convened different stakeholders” to gather and share information, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Sherman said in an interview. He said the group will present findings to the mayor's top staff and Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin will “study the issue.”
It is unclear how, beyond its freedom to ignore public meetings law,…
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At this moment in American history, about a third of veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and military suicides are on the rise. Knowing all that, I was hoping this election year would include a frank discussion of military mental health care. Though that, apparently, was asking too much, PTSD has become something of an unexpected background factor in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race.
In June, ABC News ran a story revealing Senator Vitter's aide Brent Furer's checkered history of DUI’s and cocaine possession, as well as an incident in which the aide stabbed…
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Older or abandoned land-based oil and gas wells across Louisiana have given rise to a new wave of litigation. Photo by Paul Heinrich
As the federal government works to hold BP accountable for cleaning up the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana regulators and residents are engaged in another battle to address decades-old pollution at oil and gas fields across the state.
Landowners from Plaquemines Parish to Shreveport who lease their property for energy development have filed hundreds of lawsuits during recent years against oil and gas companies, saying their land was damaged – many years ago,…
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Mayor Mitch Landrieu's plan to balance this year's budget relies on the cooperation of the City Council, which has already voiced serious opposition to one of his moves: furloughing city employees.
In seeking approval of this year's budget, former Ray Nagin asked the council to approve a plan requiring city employees to take 12 unpaid days off this year. The council balked, forcing Nagin to make other cuts. Now Landrieu wants employees to take 11 days off in the next five months.
The council will not have a say in Landrieu's furlough decision, though the Civil Service Commission needs to…
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Editor’s note: With more than three dozen charter schools in New Orleans, each run by its own board, a news organization would have to cover more than three dozen school board meetings to get a full understanding of how all schools are operating. We’ve not seen any media outlets willing or able to do that, so The Lens is stepping into the breach. This coverage is from the first meeting after we decided on our new initiative. In the future, we hope to post as many board meeting notices as possible, as well as the agendas.
After four years as…
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With more than three dozen charter schools in New Orleans, each run by its own board, a news organzation would have to cover more than three dozen school board meetings to get a full understanding of how all schools are operating. We’ve not seen any media outlets willing or able to do that, so The Lens is stepping into the breach.
We’ve also requested that each board notify us of each meeting, at least 24 hours in advance, and include the board agenda, both requirements of the state law. We plan to post a schedule of board meetings and make…
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Despite howls from South Louisiana, President Obama hasn't budged on his deepwater oil drilling moratorium, which will cost thousands of jobs. Many people can't understand why he is so steadfast on this particular policy response to the BP oil disaster, while being somewhat flexible on other issues, such as sand berms and skimmers.
Many conservative pundits imply that Obama's slow response to the oil disaster and his drilling moratorium policy are payback to Louisiana, which voted for John McCain over Obama in 2008. It's a pretty hideous thought, to which I reply: If the President has such a vendetta against Louisiana,…
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A mayoral advisory group examining the controversial planned expansion of the Orleans Parish Prison apparently held its first meeting recently, but Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration said the group is meeting privately and is not open to public input.
“The public process will take place at City Council when they hear the recommendations,” of the group, said Devona Dolliole, Landrieu's communications director. (Note: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly quoted Dolliole referring to a “working group.”)
However, the state open-meetings law applies to advisory boards.
Public officials are often under the “mistaken impression if they just meet to talk about an…
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An overwhelming number of federal contracts related to the BP oil disaster have gone to companies outside of the area most affected by the environmental and economic catastrophe, according to data from government agencies.
About $6.5 million in federal contracting money has gone to Louisiana since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the state's coast three months ago, according to the federal procurement database. The number represents about 12 percent of the $53.3 million that's been reported by federal agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, Coast Guard and Minerals Management…
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