The Latest, Gambit

PHOTOS: Families Belong Together immigration march in New Orleans

Kat Stromquist — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 19:10:00 -0500

'It's time for action': New Orleans joins nationwide call to abolish ICE and reunite families

Alex Woodward — Sat, 30 Jun 2018 19:00:00 -0500

Even as the heat index climbed into triple digits, a winding crowd of hundreds snaked through the French Quarter and blocked traffic to Decatur Street to call for the reunion of immigrant families and the dissolve of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

New Orleans joined a nationwide protest June 30 to reform U.S. immigration policy in the wake of reports that revealed thousands of immigrant children were separated from their families and warehoused in detention centers after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The New Orleans event — co-organized by immigrant workers advocacy group Congress of Day Laborers — was among the city’s largest marches and rallies organized by immigrants and undocumented people, leading more than 1,000 people from Armstrong Park to Decatur Street, blocking traffic in front of Jackson Square while issuing calls against President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies and the law enforcement bodies separating families — on the border and in communities throughout the U.S.

“We should stop saying the system is broken, because it’s not. It’s operating exactly as it was intended to do,” said Congreso organizer Fernando Lopez.…

The scooters are coming to New Orleans

Alex Woodward — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 16:30:00 -0500

Be on the lookout for electric scooters sharing the bike lane.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration is working to bring scooter rentals to New Orleans streets, pending approval from the New Orleans City Council and arrangements with third-party companies that will set up their fleets in neighborhoods around town.

Lime scooters — spawning across the U.S. and currently all over California and recently launched in Atlanta and Dallas, to varying degrees of ridicule and success — operates similarly to bike-rental companies like New Orleans' Blue Bikes: download an app, find a kiosk, unlock a 1990s Razor-esque electric scooter for $1 using a QR code, and scoot around for 15 cents a minute. The scooters then are picked up and recharged in a warehouse.

On June 28, the New Orleans City Council’s Transportation Committee heard Lime's pitch for a New Orleans outpost before city officials create a framework — an update to the city's regulation of "Motorized Novelty Vehicles" — for scooter companies and rentals to operate legally on the streets.
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Louisiana modernizing its website to track state spending

Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 14:56:00 -0500

Louisiana is upgrading its website to track government spending, giving it a new name and user-friendly, graphics-focused look that lawmakers hope will draw more people to review how the state use taxpayer dollars.

The improved transparency site, known as Louisiana Checkbook, goes online Monday at www.checkbook.la.gov.

The one-stop website, developed by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration, will allow searching by spending type, agency and financial year, with interactive charts and graphs, downloadable data and ability to compare across multiple categories. Over time, people will be able to view state employee salaries, contract data, information about boards and commissions, incentive spending on economic development projects and financial reports.

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Medical debt clinic returns to A.L. Davis Park July 7

Kat Stromquist — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 13:40:00 -0500

A clinic and health fair designed to help people deal with medical and other debt, particularly debt that has gone into collections, returns to A.L. Davis Park July 7.…

New report about youth homelessness in Louisiana is surprisingly positive

Kevin Allman — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 13:07:00 -0500

Finally Louisiana isn't at the bottom of a national survey.

In a report released this week, the True Colors Fund, a nonprofit whose mission statement is "to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth" rates Louisiana No. 8 in the nation in its efforts to prevent and end general youth homelessness.

According to the report, Louisiana is one of only 11 states to enact a Runaway Homeless Youth Act, a compilation of laws that allow for significant funding for runaway youth issues.…

What if Louisiana nixed its tipped minimum wage?

Kat Stromquist — Fri, 29 Jun 2018 08:42:00 -0500

In a surprise result earlier this month — and against the opposition of the restaurant industry and many elected officials — Washington, D.C. voters recently said yes to a ballot measure eliminating the tipped minimum wage, currently $3.33 in the capital. If the measure survives challenges, wages for restaurant, bar, nail salon, valet and other tipped workers will rise to match the area's regular minimum wage, reaching $15 an hour by 2025.…

'The next Sewerage & Water Board': New Orleans City Council grills Entergy over power outages, renewable energy goals

Alex Woodward — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 17:30:00 -0500

Members of the New Orleans City Council demanded answers from Entergy New Orleans’ top brass over the utility’s failure to meet self-imposed renewable energy goals and its handling of recurring power outages throughout its damaged distribution system.

Entergy faced the City Council’s Utilities, Cable, Telecommunications and Technology Committee on June 28, asking the utility for a full accounting of its priorities and whether it can meet its renewable energy goals two years after it opened its request for proposals (RFPs) to begin generating up to 100 megawatts of power.

After visibly frustrated committee members didn’t receive a satisfying answer after asking Entergy for its top five priorities and projects, council advisers said it’s “more than fair to say” renewables have not been among Entergy's priorities.

“It doesn’t sound like you even want to do this,” Council Vice President Helena Moreno told Entergy officials.
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Preservation Hall Jazz Band signs with Sub Pop

Alex Woodward — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 14:40:00 -0500

Sub Pop Records has signed New Orleans institution Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which plans to release an album through the label later this year.

The venerable indie rock label also digitally reissued Pres Hall's 2017 album So It Is and its 2013 album That's It!, which marked the band's first collection of new material. So It Is followed the band's trip to Cuba and its performance at the intersection of global influence and its renewed dedication to figuring out the next chapter of New Orleans jazz music.

Meanwhile the band heads on a summer tour September, and, of course, their namesake venue hosts performances at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Bloomberg: Trump's trade war and Louisiana businesses

Kevin Allman — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 17:47:00 -0500

An extensive report today in Bloomberg examines President Donald Trump's tariffs and how they might affect a wide variety of Louisiana businesses:

A trade war would weigh on Louisiana, slowing total economic output by a minimum of 7 percent over five years, the most of any state, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.…

Finally, a ‘special’ session of the Louisiana legislature that had results

Clancy DuBos — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:35:00 -0500

At the end of the day, it didn’t have to be so difficult. Truth is, the problem wasn’t nearly as intractable as some of those charged with solving it.…

Census 'undercount' in 2020 could impact children's health in poorly ranked Louisiana

Alex Woodward — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 12:20:00 -0500

With a 2020 U.S. Census looming, Louisiana officials must begin to prepare to reach thousands of children from low-income families to ensure they’re counted, or risk endangering funding for essential programs, according to a new report outlining the state of children in the U.S.

Louisiana ranks last overall in economic wellbeing in the 2018 Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which examines the state of children’s health care, education and family and community support.

Louisiana is one of only a handful of states where childhood poverty has increased since 2010, which counted 27 percent of children in the state living in poverty; in 2016, it was 29 percent.

“Living in a low-income family puts [children] at higher risk on these negative outcomes — less likely to be proficient readers by fourth grade, more likely to be in poor health,” says Teresa Falgoust, the Kids Count Program Coordinator with Louisiana nonprofit advocacy group Agenda for Children.

Eighty percent of New Orleans children under age 5 live in what’s considered a “hard-to-count” or "undercounted" population, which measures census mail return rates of 73 percent or less.

Whether those children are counted in the upcoming census will likely determine how much federal support the state receives — to support the children and families not accurately reflected in the census.…

Melt, Banks Street grilled cheese restaurant, closes

Helen Freund — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 10:57:00 -0500

Melt (2549 Banks St.), Mid-City’s gourmet grilled cheese restaurant, has closed.

On Tuesday, co-owner Miles Tully Jr. confirmed the restaurant's last day of business was June 22.…

Editorial: A Baton Rouge budget compromise — and some grandstanding

Editorial — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 09:00:00 -0500

The Louisiana Legislature wrapped its third special session of the year with a compromise tax and budget plan that avoided the “fiscal cliff” that lawmakers themselves created. The cliff would have kicked in July 1, the start of the state’s fiscal year, when a temporary 5th penny of state sales tax was set to expire.…

Five places to get an HIV test in New Orleans Wednesday

Kat Stromquist — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 08:00:00 -0500

June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, one of a few such occasions throughout the year which call attention to the need to know one's HIV status. Researchers estimate as many as 162,500 people didn't know they were living with HIV at the end of 2015.

It's especially important to keep up with your status in Louisiana, which has one of the nation's highest rates of HIV infections. Together, Southern states are responsible for half of new diagnoses each year.…

'De-Stress Day' at City Hall will include therapy dogs, yoga, massage and more

Kevin Allman — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 17:31:00 -0500

Stressed-out New Orleanians: Mayor LaToya Cantrell has your (aching) back: Friday is "De-Stress Day" at New Orleans City Hall.

The event is on the city's official calendar, and in a tweet Cantrell invited citizens to "Come one, come all, De-Stress at City Hall!" this Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Among the de-stressing agents on hand: therapy dogs to pet, yoga demonstrations in Duncan Plaza, free blood pressure screenings by Access Health, live music by the Braun Wood Duo and massages by Magnolia Physical Therapy. There also will be adoptable dogs and cats for your perusal (and, one hopes, adoption).

According to Cantrell spokesman Beau Tidwell, the idea came from deputy chief of staff Liana Elliott, who had the idea last year while working for Councilman Jason Williams.…

Cedric Richmond defends Maxine Waters, calls out critics for hypocrisy over outrage

Alex Woodward — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 16:18:00 -0500

In a statement as head of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, defended U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, who encouraged public resistance against members of President Donald Trump's administration in the wake of reports of thousands of immigrant children being separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Her comments followed reports of White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders being asked to leave a Virginia restaurant, and diners at a Mexican restaurant in Washington D.C. booting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielson.

"Let's make sure we show up wherever we have to show up," Waters told a crowd in California June 23, "and if you see anybody from that cabinet, in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. We've got to get the kids connected to their parents.…

Black Restaurant Week comes to New Orleans July 1-8

Helen Freund — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:45:00 -0500

It’s been two years since Black Restaurant Week was launched in Houston, Texas. The weeklong event was created to raise awareness of the black culinary industry and stimulate growth for black-owned businesses and farms across the country.…

Cantrell takes the wheel at 'soft launch' of revamped RTA app

Kat Stromquist — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 13:34:00 -0500

A joyful scrum of city officials, transportation professionals and reporters crowded aboard a New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bus June 26 for a short ride piloted by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to celebrate the "soft launch" of RTA's new app.…

Casa Borrega's fifth anniversary party to benefit Guatemalan volcano victims

Helen Freund — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 12:27:00 -0500

Central City Mexican restaurant Casa Borrega (1719 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 504-427-0654) is turning five next month. To celebrate, owners Linda Stone and Hugo Montero are throwing a birthday bash on July 6 featuring live music and drink and food specials.

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'What we want is real freedom': deportation threat lifted for New Orleans immigrants' rights leader

Alex Woodward — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 11:50:00 -0500

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement delivered Jose Torres an ultimatum in November 2017 — leave the country within a month or face deportation. Torres found a sanctuary inside First Grace United Methodist Church in Mid-City, where he’s lived for the last seven months.…

Westboro Baptist Church says it's coming to New Orleans this week

Kevin Allman — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:57:00 -0500

Oh, brother, what did we do now to draw the wrath of the Westboro Baptist Church? Is it the Naughty in N'awlins swingers' convention?…

Comedy in New Orleans this week (June 25, 2018)

Alex Woodward — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 15:45:00 -0500

This week's calendar has the return of Fake News and Stoned vs. Drunk vs. Sober, featuring comedians from Black Girl Giggles, and Tulane alum Anthony Jeselnik is at the Civic Theatre. That and more in your weekly roundup of open mics, improv and standup showcases.
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Guatemalan restaurant Catalino's will open on Maple Street

Helen Freund — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 14:29:00 -0500

A Guatemalan restaurant is slated to open this summer at 7724 Maple Street.
Catalino’s, from husband and wife team Addie and Hugo Vasquez, will open in an Uptown stretch with an increasingly diverse selection of eateries.…

Baby Cakes to host first LGBT Day at ballpark July 29

Kat Stromquist — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 13:23:00 -0500

The New Orleans Baby Cakes celebrate the LGBT community with the team's inaugural LGBT Day July 29.

The event, which takes place during a Sunday afternoon game against the Tacoma Rainiers, welcomes LGBT New Orleanians and their families to the park for baseball and kid's activities.…