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In tough rental market, the clock runs out for one Section 8 tenant
NEW ORLEANS – On Valentine’s Day, Arnetta Harris walked into the lobby of the Housing Authority of New Orleans, where mostly empty rows of chairs faced a television airing local news segments on long-married couples and Carnival festivities. Harris wasn’t in the mood for celebration. She was busy thinking about other things, namely money. She […]
Tenant advocates decry Jefferson Parish plan to tear down public housing
Much of Acre Road, the public housing project in Marrero, looked like a ghost town by late January. Its playgrounds were bereft of children and empty brick duplexes bearing boarded-up windows and doors lined the streets. Then there was Elaine Savage, who had lit up the facade of her house with tinsel and fleur-de-lis accents and […]
Federal government takes over Slidell Housing Authority
NEW ORLEANS – Federal authorities have taken over the city of Slidell’s beleaguered housing authority, accusing local officials of blocking access to finances and records, skirting a subpoena and violating other parts of its federal contract. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took possession of the Slidell Housing Authority — which administers federally […]
For one Section 8 tenant, a struggle to be heard
NEW ORLEANS – Cans of Glade air freshener were clustered on a table by Valerie Jeanmarie’s front door in early January, her usually neat living room crowded with cardboard boxes as she prepared for a move. Jeanmarie has been living in this blue duplex in Gentilly for less than a year, but after a dispute […]
Regulating Louisiana utilities: Q&A with new PSC member Davante Lewis
On Dec. 10, political newcomer Davante Lewis was elected to represent District 3 on the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the body that regulates public utilities for most of the state. Lewis defeated longtime incumbent and fellow Democrat Lambert Boissiere III — a member of a prominent New Orleans political family who had heavy institutional support […]
Racist, misogynistic slurs, discrimination noted in lawsuit against Sun Belt Conference
Editor’s note: This article contains links to uncensored deposition testimony that includes racist and misogynistic language. NEW ORLEANS – Officials at the top levels of a college sports conference headquartered in New Orleans used or tolerated racist and misogynistic slurs that created a hostile work environment, according to recent filings in a 2021 lawsuit by […]
Mastercard gave New Orleans $100K for ‘truly needy.’ City couldn’t get people to take cash.
NEW ORLEANS – In November of last year, Mayor LaToya Cantrell gathered finance executives and community leaders on a basketball court inside a city recreation center to announce a new initiative that, she said, was aimed at addressing the city’s racial wealth gap. The mayor’s vision centered on the Crescent City Card, a quasi-municipal ID […]
Despite campus pressures, Tulane keeps segregationist’s name on building
NEW ORLEANS – In late September, the historian Justin Wolfe opened an email that had landed in the inboxes of Tulane University students and faculty, its subject line unassuming: “A Message from President Fitts.” The email outlined the many steps the university, a predominantly white institution located in the mostly Black city of New Orleans, […]
With shutdown of Cantrell’s nonprofit, what will happen to private funds?
NEW ORLEANS – A lawyer for Forward Together New Orleans, the nonprofit holding the purse strings for several of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s city-sponsored social welfare programs, has said the organization will shut down following a government subpoena and a legal dispute between its governing board and its sole staffer. Attorney Allen Miller told […]
Board of New Orleans ‘mayor’s fund’ nonprofit sues former director
NEW ORLEANS – The board of a nonprofit organization founded by New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell to carry out city-sponsored social programs is suing its former executive director after he accused the group’s governing board of financial abuse and mismanagement. Those accusations prompted a subpoena last month from the city’s Office of Inspector General seeking […]