Is your group planning a party or another event for Night Out Against Crime on Oct. 11? Then Crimestoppers wants to promote YOUR good work in the Party and Stop Crime Contest!
Enter to win our Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans Night Out Against Crime Contest!
Neighborhood groups, civic associations and other organizations in our eight-parish service area are eligible to enter their Night Out event to hold the title of “Crimestoppers #1 Party to Stop Crime.”
Your group will win refreshments, (up to $200 or $400 depending on event size), for your Night Out Party, a visit at your event from the Crimestoppers Party Van, “Party and Stop Crime,” T-shirts, plus other Crimestoppers prizes, including VIP local and federal law enforcement, Crimestoppers and media attendees!
Crimestoppers is looking for a few standout parties to support to help combat crime in our communities and make our neighborhoods safer, so enter the contest today!
*The deadline to enter is Sept. 5.
*Download the contest flyer at the website: www.crimestoppersgno.org.
*Complete contest details can be found on the main Crimestoppers Facebook Page and “Like” it at www.facebook.com/CrimestoppersGNO.
*To stay up-to-date on the contest and other Crimestoppers news and tips, you can also follow on Twitter @CrimestopperGNO.
If you have questions or would like more information, please contact the Crimestoppers Office at 504-837-8477. Crimestoppers of GNO works in partnership with law enforcement, the media and the community.
Crimestoppers GNO supports National Night Out Against Crime.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Six Years After Katrina, The Battle for New Orleans Continues
Political power has shifted to whites, but blacks have not given up their struggle for a voice -- and justice.
By Jordan Flaherty
Published today on The Root: http://www.theroot.com/views/
As this weekend’s storm has reminded us, hurricanes can be a threat to U.S. cities on the East Coast as well the Gulf. But the vast changes that have taken place in New Orleans since Katrina have had little to do with weather, and everything to do with political struggles. Six years after the federal levees failed and 80 percent of the city was flooded, New Orleans has lost 80,000 jobs and 110,000 residents. It is a whiter and wealthier city, with tourist areas well maintained while communities like the Lower Ninth Ward remain devastated. Beyond the statistics, it is still a much contested city.
Politics continues to shape how the changes to New Orleans are viewed. For some, the city is a crime scene of corporate profiteering and the mass displacement of African Americans and working poor; but for others it’s an example of bold public sector reforms, taken in the aftermath of a natural disaster, that have led the way for other cities.
In the wake of Katrina, New Orleans saw the rise of a new class of citizens. They self-identify as YURPs – Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals – and they work in architecture, urban planning, education, and related fields. While the city was still mostly empty, they spoke of a freedom to experiment, unfettered by the barriers of bureaucratic red tape and public comment. Working with local and national political and business leaders, they made rapid changes in the city’s education system, public housing, health care, and nonprofit sector.
Along the way, the face of elected government changed in the city and state. Among the offices that switched from black to white were mayor, police chief, district attorney, and representatives on the school board and city council, which both switched to white majorities for the first time in a generation. Louisiana also transformed from a state with several statewide elected Democrats, to having only one -- Senator Mary Landrieu.
While black community leaders have said that the displacement after the storm has robbed African Americans of their civic representation, another narrative has also taken shape. Many in the media and business elite have said that a new political class – which happens to be mostly white – is reshaping the politics of the city into a post-racial era. “Our efforts are changing old ways of thinking,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu, shortly after he was elected in 2010. After accusing his critics of being stuck in the past, Landrieu -- who was the first mayor in modern memory elected with the support of a majority of both black and white voters -- added that "We're going to rediscipline ourselves in this city."
The changes in the public sector have been widespread. Shortly after the storm, the entire staff of the public school system was fired. Their union, which had been the largest union in the city, ceased to be recognized. With many parents, students and teachers driven out of the city by Katrina and unable to have a say in the decision, the state took over the city’s schools and began shifting them over to charters. “The reorganization of the public schools has created a separate but unequal tiered system of schools that steers a minority of students, including virtually all of the city’s white students, into a set of selective, higher-performing schools and most of the city’s students of color into a set of lower-performing schools,” writes lawyer and activist Bill Quigley, in a report prepared with fellow Loyola law professor Davida Finger.
In many ways, the changes in New Orleans school system, initiated almost six years ago, foreshadowed a battle that has played out more conspicuously this year in Wisconsin, Indiana, New Jersey and other states where teachers and their unions were assailed by both Republican governors and liberal reformers such as the filmmakers behind Waiting for Superman. Similarly, the battle of New Orleans public housing -- which was torn down and replaced by new units built in public-private partnerships that house a small percentage of the former residents -- prefigured national battles over government’s role in solving problems related to poverty.
The anger at the changes in New Orleans’ black community is palpable. It comes out at city council meetings, on local black talk radio station WBOK, and in protests. “Since New Orleans was declared a blank slate, we are the social experimental lab of the world,” says Endesha Juakali, a housing rights activist. However, despite the changes, grassroots resistance continues. “For those of us that lived and are still living the disaster, moving on is not an option,” adds Juakali.
Resistance to the dominant agenda has also led to reform of the city’s criminal justice system. But this reform is very different from the others, with leadership coming from African-American residents at the grassroots, including those most affected by both crime and policing.
In the aftermath of Katrina, media images famously depicted poor New Orleanians as criminal and dangerous. In fact, at one point it was announced that rescue efforts were put on hold because of the violence. In response, the second-in-charge of the New Orleans Police Department reportedly told officers to shoot looters, and the governor announced that she had given the National Guard orders to shoot to kill.
Over the following days, police shot and killed several civilians. A police sniper wounded a young African American named Henry Glover, and other officers took and burned his body behind a levee. A 45-year-old grandfather named Danny Brumfield, Sr. was shot in the back in front of his family outside the New Orleans convention center. Two black families – the Madisons and Bartholomews - walking across New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge fell under a hail of gunfire from a group of officers. “We had more incidents of police misconduct than civilian misconduct,” says former District Attorney Eddie Jordan, who pursued charges against officers but had the charges thrown out by a judge. “All these stories of looting, it pales next to what the police did.”
District Attorney Jordan, who angered many in the political establishment when he brought charges against officers and was forced to resign soon after, was not the only one who failed to bring accountability for the post-Katrina violence. In fact, every check and balance in the city’s criminal justice system failed. For years, family members of the victims pressured the media, the U.S. Attorney’s office, and Eddie Jordan’s replacement in the DA’s office, Leon Cannizzaro. “The media didn’t want to give me the time of day,” says William Tanner, who saw officers take away Glover’s body. “They called me a raving idiot.”
Finally after more than three years of protests, press conferences, and lobbying, the Justice Department launched aggressive investigations of the Glover, Brumfield, and Danziger cases in early 2009. In recent months, three officers were convicted in the Glover killing (although one conviction was overturned), two were convicted in beating a man to death just before the storm, and ten officers either plead guilty or were convicted in the Danziger killing and cover-up. In the Danziger case, the jury found that officers had not only killed two civilians and wounded four, but also engaged in a wide-ranging conspiracy that involved planted evidence, invented witnesses, and secret meetings.
The Justice Department has at least seven more open investigations on New Orleans police killings, and has indicated their plans for more formal oversight of the NOPD, as well as the city jail. In this area, New Orleans is also leading the way – in a remarkable change from Justice Department policy during the Bush Administration, the DOJ is also looking at oversight of police departments in Newark, Denver, and Seattle.
In the national struggle against law enforcement violence, there is much to be learned from the victims of New Orleans police violence who led a remarkable struggle against a wall of official silence, and now have begun to win justice. “This is an opening,” explains New Orleans police accountability activist Malcolm Suber. “We have to push for a much more democratic system of policing in the city.”
In the closing arguments of the Danziger trial, DOJ prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein fought back against the defense claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those killed deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said, “The real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.” The jury apparently agreed with her, convicting the officers on all 25 counts.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Mayor Listens, Responds at Algiers Budget Meeting
By Valerie Robinson
Mayor Mitch Landrieu fielded questions from Algiers and other District C residents for about an hour on Aug. 17, then fired back answers to those gathered to provide input into the 2012 City of New Orleans budget.
Landrieu touted the accomplishments of the past year: 28,000 potholes filled, seven miles of roads paved in District C, 735 blighted properties demolished, 3,600 inspections completed, 17 teen summer camps and 12 swimming pools open. He said he knows these numbers because everything is tracked in order to provide a more efficient manner of accomplishing goals.
"I am proud of our accomplishments, but we have a long way to go," he said, as he explained that he wants to improve both customer service and the delivery of service to the consumer.
District C Councilmember Kristin Palmer and Councilmember-at-Large Jackie Clarkson, both from Algiers, attended the meeting along with Mayor's Office staff and representatives from assorted city agencies, who offered one-on-one counsel prior to the meeting.
Constituent comments ran the gamut from street lights that need repair, catch basins that need to be cleaned and potholes waiting to be filled to questions about ethics and transparency in government.
By far, the largest number of complaints came from homeowners in areas where the streets are in what was described as "deplorable" condition...places such as Behrman Heights, Somerset Drive, Old Behrman Highway and Gen. Meyer Avenue. But one resident said she just wants a street of some kind in the Elmwood subdivision off the Old Behrman Highway. This area was developed without paved streets or drainage several years ago.
Transportation was also a common theme, whether it was bike paths, better access roads or ferry service, which is subsidized by the tolls on the Crescent City Connection and set to expire in 2012. The mayor explained that he is in favor of the keeping the tolls because it is a dedicated source of funding to maintain the bridge and keep the Canal Street and the Algiers ferry operating. Landrieu and many attendees in the room agreed that pedestrian tolls could offset the deficit on the ferry.
"The impact of the global economy is that within 5, 10 to 15 years, our economy will get smaller. Government will be forced to get smaller too. As the federal and state governments contract, at the local level we will have to be smaller, leaner, faster and more efficient," he said. "If we want to keep moving forward, we will need to find other ways to pay for it."
Connie Burks, representing Friends of the Ferry, suggested integrating the ferry service into the Regional Transit Authority system so that it connects to other modes of transportation. Although neither the ferry nor the RTA is operated by the City of New Orleans, having such discussions brings the city closer to a solution, Landrieu said.
And solutions are what he hopes are the outcome of the meetings he is holding in each councilmanic district prior to the presentation of the budget to the city council in October.
"We need your help finding solutions to the problems the city faces," Landrieu said. "We want your input into how we spend your money, because at the end of the day, you are going to hold us accountable.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu fielded questions from Algiers and other District C residents for about an hour on Aug. 17, then fired back answers to those gathered to provide input into the 2012 City of New Orleans budget.
Landrieu touted the accomplishments of the past year: 28,000 potholes filled, seven miles of roads paved in District C, 735 blighted properties demolished, 3,600 inspections completed, 17 teen summer camps and 12 swimming pools open. He said he knows these numbers because everything is tracked in order to provide a more efficient manner of accomplishing goals.
"I am proud of our accomplishments, but we have a long way to go," he said, as he explained that he wants to improve both customer service and the delivery of service to the consumer.
District C Councilmember Kristin Palmer and Councilmember-at-Large Jackie Clarkson, both from Algiers, attended the meeting along with Mayor's Office staff and representatives from assorted city agencies, who offered one-on-one counsel prior to the meeting.
Constituent comments ran the gamut from street lights that need repair, catch basins that need to be cleaned and potholes waiting to be filled to questions about ethics and transparency in government.
By far, the largest number of complaints came from homeowners in areas where the streets are in what was described as "deplorable" condition...places such as Behrman Heights, Somerset Drive, Old Behrman Highway and Gen. Meyer Avenue. But one resident said she just wants a street of some kind in the Elmwood subdivision off the Old Behrman Highway. This area was developed without paved streets or drainage several years ago.
Transportation was also a common theme, whether it was bike paths, better access roads or ferry service, which is subsidized by the tolls on the Crescent City Connection and set to expire in 2012. The mayor explained that he is in favor of the keeping the tolls because it is a dedicated source of funding to maintain the bridge and keep the Canal Street and the Algiers ferry operating. Landrieu and many attendees in the room agreed that pedestrian tolls could offset the deficit on the ferry.
"The impact of the global economy is that within 5, 10 to 15 years, our economy will get smaller. Government will be forced to get smaller too. As the federal and state governments contract, at the local level we will have to be smaller, leaner, faster and more efficient," he said. "If we want to keep moving forward, we will need to find other ways to pay for it."
Connie Burks, representing Friends of the Ferry, suggested integrating the ferry service into the Regional Transit Authority system so that it connects to other modes of transportation. Although neither the ferry nor the RTA is operated by the City of New Orleans, having such discussions brings the city closer to a solution, Landrieu said.
And solutions are what he hopes are the outcome of the meetings he is holding in each councilmanic district prior to the presentation of the budget to the city council in October.
"We need your help finding solutions to the problems the city faces," Landrieu said. "We want your input into how we spend your money, because at the end of the day, you are going to hold us accountable.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Old Algiers Richly Grounded in Economic Development & Culture
By Valerie Robinson
Robinson Marketing & Public Relations
The area known as Old Algiers, nestled in the curve of the Mississippi River’s west bank (which incidentally is not west of the rest of the City of New Orleans), was established in 1719, making it the second oldest part of the city. Originally granted to Jean Baptiste LeMoyne Sieur de Bienville, it was originally part of the “King’s Plantation” that stretched from Plaquemines to Donaldsonville and then to Natchez, Mississippi. Native Americans lived along the river banks before it was settled by the French. For nearly a century and a half, the area served as the place where African slaves were held before they were sold into a lifetime of slavery. Some scholars argue that this place is actually sacred ground, the site of the origins of jazz. The slaves -- frightened, sick, isolated from the families -- quite likely used their tradition of “call and response” and single-line melodies to communicate and comfort themselves and their families. These sounds form the basis of jazz today.
During the years of building New Orleans, Algiers became the site of the city’s powder magazine, for which Powder Street was name. The city’s slaughterhouse was also located in Algiers, called Slaughterhouse Point in its early history. In 1769, the Spanish took control of Louisiana, and they sold the Algiers land to homesteaders who established large farms and plantations. Two of the most famous of these early landowners were Barthelemy Duverje, who owned most of the property that is now called Algiers Point, and John McDonogh, who lived between Newton and Homer Streets. Several communities developed over the years, including Duverjeville, Belleville, Brooklynville, McDonoghville, LeBeoufville, and Hendeeville. Around 1819, shipbuilding and ship repair operations set up along the riverfront. Later, related industries such as saw mills, lumber yards, dry docks and an iron foundry added to the commercial vitality. By mid-century, most residents depended on the shipbuilding industry for their livelihoods.
The United States Naval Station was sited in Old Algiers in 1848, and large tracts of land were purchased. By 1894, the facility was in operation and continued to expand until after World War II. For many years, it was the largest employer in Algiers. Old Algiers further prospered with the development of the railroads in the 1850s. At one point, there were 4,000 men working in railroad-related jobs. The railroad yard stretched 22 blocks across Old Algiers in the area that now houses the Riverpointe development, Port Cargo and other industrial uses. During the Civil War, Algiers warehouses were burned and Union troops set up camp in the area. Freed slaves established their own communities in Old Algiers, primarily in the McDonoghville area and Freetown, which will established by John McDonogh for his own slaves, whom he emancipated, and other free people of color.
McDonogh left his considerable wealth to develop a public school system in New Orleans, including McDonogh 32 in Old Algiers. The Great Fire of Algiers in 1895 destroyed approximately 200 homes in the Algiers Point area and the Duverje Plantation house, which was being used as the courthouse. However, new structures took their place, and soon after the turn of the 20th century, Old Algiers was thriving. For entertainment, Algerines went to theatres, such as Philip FOTO’s Market Theatre and the Folly Theatre, where they could enjoy vaudeville, silent movies and music. There was a lively jazz and burgeoning R&B scene along Newton Street and Teche Street, as well as in the locations such as the Masonic lodges and Knights of Columbus dance halls. Many musicians famous in their day, such as George Lewis, “Kid” Thomas, Peter Bocage, the Matthews Brothers, Freddie Kolhman, Clarence “Frogman” Henry and others, plied their trade in these establishments.
Old Algiers remained fairly self-sufficient through the first half of the century, with corner stores, schools, churches, bars, restaurants and theatres, but when the railroad yard closed in the 1970a and the oil industry started to shrink, the area suffered from neglect. It would be 20 years before parts of the area began to come back, with renovators scooping up the real estate. Parts of Old Algiers remain neglected, but with the help of a variety of programs, including the Old Algiers Main Street Corporation, new focus is being placed on recreating a thriving Old Algiers community.
Read more history and current events on Algiers in the upcoming issue of The Trumpet in the September/October issue. Sign up for our e-newsletter for Trumpet publication dates and release parties at newsletter@npnnola.com!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Whole Foods Wants to Break Agreement with Uptown Residents
By Betsy Stout
Whole Foods has applied to change the ordinance that regulates their operation. Uptown residents believe that this ordinance and it’s provisos were carefully crafted by land use and transportation professionals, including the staff of the city planning commission and national land use expert Dan Mandelker out of St. Louis, and more than happily agreed to by Whole Foods and by property owners Hixon and Sarpy.
The purpose of the provisos was to mitigate the impact of a large grocery store operation that extends into a residential neighborhood with no buffer between it and the residences. The provisos also helped level the playing field as much as possible between this large commercial operation and the small local businesses it joined on Magazine St.Whole Food’s explanation that their customer base has grown such that they have to ask for this expansion of their operation is answered by asking them to please open another Whole Foods location – thus reducing congestion at this location and better serving the community. We would like to suggest that they consider the vacant Lower District location on Annunciation St. where a Schwegmann, then Roberts used to operate.
This would serve the lower Magazine St. neighborhoods, the Warehouse District (which has no grocery store at all), and is very close to the bridge to the West Bank, convenient for people who work downtown but live on the West Bank.They are requesting increased eighteen wheelers, when even the trucks that come now cannot make the turn from Magazine St. on to narrow, residential Arabella. There have been at least 4 different sink holes this summer alone in this block of Arabella. We have offered a solution to their delivery problems that would reduce the impact of their trucks and delivery hours – that is to revisit an original design that recognized that the street cars and buses in the old barn used Magazine St. Although they would not want to reconfigure the entire store at this late date, they could place a loading dock on the Magazine St. apron and unload trucks there all night long (when Magazine St. is empty of traffic) without any increased impact on our streets or residents.
They are asking to have permission for live music, both inside and outside the building, which together with their ABO, makes them an entertainment venue. Changes to the ordinance or title run with the property forever and cannot be written to restrict the use to one tenant such as Whole Foods. Text changes that attempt to restrict the live music to the tenant of Whole Foods are unenforceable according to the staff of the planning commission and the opinion of land use attorneys we have consulted.Whole Foods has managed nicely to have music whenever they wish to date, by applying for a permit for the band. We have no objection to this as it does not create a permanent change in the permitted use of the building as a music hall.
Changes to the ordinance that allows Whole Foods to have displays of flowers, etc, on the apron of the building give Whole Foods an advantage over other small flower shops along Magazine – one in the very next block even – that are prohibited from having sidewalk displays.The mystique of Whole Foods exercises a zombie like influence on some of the young people who live close by – mostly all newcomers to New Orleans, who will agree to anything that will increase their Whole Foods lifestyle experience. These mostly young folks make up the board of ARNA, which is now actually in the process of changing their by-laws to reflect their aim to give bigger businesses free reign on Magazine St. and within the neighborhood. (I must explain this very unusual situation, because to see ARNA in action is to render those of us who understand the ramifications of these actions speechless.)
They voted to allow live music and restrict it to Whole Foods despite the warning from Council member Guidry’s representative Kelly Butler, that such wording was not enforceable. Fortunately another neighborhood organization, Burtheville Association of Neighbors is fastly becoming the neighborhood association of record and will oppose these changes.
The CPC will consider this on AUGUST 23, at 1:30 pm.Short URL: http://katrinafilm.com/public/wordpress/?p=2254
Whole Foods has applied to change the ordinance that regulates their operation. Uptown residents believe that this ordinance and it’s provisos were carefully crafted by land use and transportation professionals, including the staff of the city planning commission and national land use expert Dan Mandelker out of St. Louis, and more than happily agreed to by Whole Foods and by property owners Hixon and Sarpy.
The purpose of the provisos was to mitigate the impact of a large grocery store operation that extends into a residential neighborhood with no buffer between it and the residences. The provisos also helped level the playing field as much as possible between this large commercial operation and the small local businesses it joined on Magazine St.Whole Food’s explanation that their customer base has grown such that they have to ask for this expansion of their operation is answered by asking them to please open another Whole Foods location – thus reducing congestion at this location and better serving the community. We would like to suggest that they consider the vacant Lower District location on Annunciation St. where a Schwegmann, then Roberts used to operate.
This would serve the lower Magazine St. neighborhoods, the Warehouse District (which has no grocery store at all), and is very close to the bridge to the West Bank, convenient for people who work downtown but live on the West Bank.They are requesting increased eighteen wheelers, when even the trucks that come now cannot make the turn from Magazine St. on to narrow, residential Arabella. There have been at least 4 different sink holes this summer alone in this block of Arabella. We have offered a solution to their delivery problems that would reduce the impact of their trucks and delivery hours – that is to revisit an original design that recognized that the street cars and buses in the old barn used Magazine St. Although they would not want to reconfigure the entire store at this late date, they could place a loading dock on the Magazine St. apron and unload trucks there all night long (when Magazine St. is empty of traffic) without any increased impact on our streets or residents.
They are asking to have permission for live music, both inside and outside the building, which together with their ABO, makes them an entertainment venue. Changes to the ordinance or title run with the property forever and cannot be written to restrict the use to one tenant such as Whole Foods. Text changes that attempt to restrict the live music to the tenant of Whole Foods are unenforceable according to the staff of the planning commission and the opinion of land use attorneys we have consulted.Whole Foods has managed nicely to have music whenever they wish to date, by applying for a permit for the band. We have no objection to this as it does not create a permanent change in the permitted use of the building as a music hall.
Changes to the ordinance that allows Whole Foods to have displays of flowers, etc, on the apron of the building give Whole Foods an advantage over other small flower shops along Magazine – one in the very next block even – that are prohibited from having sidewalk displays.The mystique of Whole Foods exercises a zombie like influence on some of the young people who live close by – mostly all newcomers to New Orleans, who will agree to anything that will increase their Whole Foods lifestyle experience. These mostly young folks make up the board of ARNA, which is now actually in the process of changing their by-laws to reflect their aim to give bigger businesses free reign on Magazine St. and within the neighborhood. (I must explain this very unusual situation, because to see ARNA in action is to render those of us who understand the ramifications of these actions speechless.)
They voted to allow live music and restrict it to Whole Foods despite the warning from Council member Guidry’s representative Kelly Butler, that such wording was not enforceable. Fortunately another neighborhood organization, Burtheville Association of Neighbors is fastly becoming the neighborhood association of record and will oppose these changes.
The CPC will consider this on AUGUST 23, at 1:30 pm.Short URL: http://katrinafilm.com/public/wordpress/?p=2254
Rethinkers take on ‘Candy Bars, Prison Bars’ and how schools can reverse the major youth epidemics of our time
By Kelly Parker
Contributing Writer
Contributing Writer
Two of the nation’s most pressing issues involving young people — childhood obesity and violence — are indeed connected. How so? Just ask the Rethinkers.
The correlation between unhealthy food choices and crime and violence was at the focal point of this year’s Rethink press conference. Candy Bars, Prison Bars-How Schools Can Reverse the Major Youth Epidemics of Our Time took place last Thursday at the New Orleans Charter Science & Math high school, in uptown New Orleans.
RSD Superintendent John White address member of The Rethinkers - Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools - who range in age from 8 -18, at their most recent press conference.
“Here in Louisiana, we have the fourth highest obesity rate in the nation; 20 percent of our children in this state are obese,” Rethinker Vernard Carter stated. “The school-to-prison pipeline is when children are pushed out of school because a many policies and pushed into the juvenile justice system.”
Carter added that this year, there are over 4,000 youth under the supervision of the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice. “Why?” he asked. “What’s wrong here?”
The (Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools) Rethink summer news conferences have become a post-Katrina tradition; packed with school officials and community members who listen closely to these advocates for New Orleans school reform; many of them middle schoolers. Thursday’s event was no different; on hand was Karen DeSalvo, City of New Orleans Commissioner of Health, Troi Bechet, Executive Director, Center for Restorative Approaches, Marsha Broussard, and Benjamin Marcovitz, founder and principal of New Orleans Charter Science and Math Academy (Sci Academy) and RSD Superintendent John White.
This was the second Rethinkers press conference for White. “This is an extraordinary program and I’m so happy to be back here for the second time in a couple of months to speak with these extraordinary youngsters,” he said.
Rethinkers — school reformers, aged eight to 18 – has set out to cease what they call “the two biggest youth epidemics of our time,” childhood obesity and the school-to-prison pipeline. Last month, the Rethinkers received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing to conduct a youth-driven campaign to stem childhood obesity in area schools. The July 21 news conference marked the official campaign launch.
“Over the summer, we learned that childhood obesity and the school-to-prison pipeline are connected,” Vernard Carter told those in attendance. “First, they both affect a disproportionate amount of low-income, Black youth. Second, when students eat unhealthy, sugary foods, have no exercise and have a lot of stress, they tend to act out in school, which often leads to suspension and expulsion — which basically puts them in the juvenile justice system.
“We as young people, most affected by these epidemics, should be at the forefront of this fight for change,” Carter told those in attendance.
The Rethinkers delivered twelve recommendations to their superintendents, principals, charter school operators, and fellow students.
The recommendations detail concrete changes schools can adopt to make kids healthy and keep them out of the criminal justice system; for example: at school events, replace snacks like nachos, candy bars and hot dogs with healthier choices, teach cooking and gardening at every school and keep school gardens open after school so healthy habits carry on after school ends; by students as well as other members of the community.
The group also asks that teachers reward students with healthier treats, in place of candy bars. “That’s really not helping us to be healthy and fit,” says Rethinker Arieanna McKnight.
Another goal of the Rethinkers is to provide healthier options in school vending machines.
This parallel addressed by the group is nothing new. In 2009, research led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University (in the U.K.) showed that “kids with the worst problems tend to be impulsive risk takers and that these kids had terrible diets — breakfast was Coke and a bag of chips” for example.
“We are thrilled at the kind of thinking and work that the Rethinkers are doing,” City Commissioner of Health, Karen DeSalvo said. “You guys are a wonderful voice, not just of youth, but I think for everybody who cares about us being healthy. I hope we can become a model for other cities.”
The rethinkers are asking that schools provide all students (grades K-8) 30 minutes of physical exercise a day (which is a Louisiana state law). They also recommend the inclusion of the innovative Instant Recess Activity a concept introduced by Dr. Toni Yancey, a UCLA professor, which is regular 10-minute exercise breaks that can be incorporated at work, in the community and in the classroom) twice a day, and to give more exercise options to all students. Rethinker Jada Cooper stated that many her of female classmates often opted out of P.E. because the activities were often geared to male students. “A lot of times, they snuck in candy, chips and sunflower seeds.” she added.
Ron Triggs, a 4th-grade (PreThinker) says “All students need to exercise, so they can burn off energy and focus in class. If some don’t exercise, they will act out and get in trouble. We have P.E. in my school, but not every week.”
The group highly stressed the need for community-building activities in every homeroom, along with support groups including teachers, counselors and students. To the rethinkers, the issue of conflict resolution is a key component in this campaign.
“After someone has participated in a restorative justice circle, they are 60 percent less likely to get in trouble again,” says Vernard Carter. “We strongly suggest that restorative justice be placed in all schools, in place of suspensions and expulsions.”
RSD Superintendent White invited the Rethinkers to meet with his staff to take the next step in helping change many of the policies the group has addressed.
“I’d like to invite (a committee) of the Rethinkers to come in and meet with me and experts who have advised us on the issues.”
Kelly Parker is a freelance reporter for The Louisiana Weekly. This article was originally published in the July 25, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
Deliberations Begin Today in Danziger Trial
Jury to weigh two very different perspectives of police and Katrina
by Jordan Flaherty
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A version of this article was originally published on the New Orleans Tribune/TribuneTalk website
With closing statements completed on Tuesday, focus in the Danziger incident now turns to the jury, which began deliberating today on the 25 charges faced by the officers, after receiving final jury instructions from U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt. The 12-person jury is evenly split between men and women, but has only one African-American member. The jury is drawn from thirteen parishes in the greater New Orleans area.
Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Robert Faulcon, the officers involved in the September 4, 2005 shooting, could receive life sentences if convicted. Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, is charged only in the conspiracy and could receive a maximum of 120 years. Justice Department investigations of other incidents are continuing, and it is likely that some form of federal oversight of the department will be announced in the coming months.
During closing statements of a trial that has brought international attention to this city’s violence-plagued police department, lawyers for defense and prosecution directed what often sounded like personal attacks against each other as well as key witnesses while laying out very different versions of what happened on that fateful day.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Carter said that officers deliberately did not follow procedure, and that if they had done what they were supposed to, no one would have died that day. “It was unreasonable for these officers to fire even one shot,” said Carter, who referred to video footage from that day which he said showed at least “fifty four seconds of gunfire.”
In a spirited defense that seemed to echo Tea Party themes, police attorney Frank Desalvo told the jury, “We know that the United States is the greatest country on earth, and the only thing wrong with it is the people running it.” Depicting Justice Department attorneys as furthering an anti-cop agenda, he told the jury that the prosecutors in this case do not represent the United States and that they are the true Americans.
Desalvo also accused the prosecution of speaking “meaningless, emotional drivel,” and giving ammunition to “a segment of the community that believes police are always brutal.”
The trial, which began five weeks ago, focuses on an incident that occurred days after Hurricane Katrina, as two families were fleeing the storm's flood waters, crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge to get to dry land.
In what prosecutors have described as a “hail of gunfire,” two people were killed and four were wounded. Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man described by family members as gentle and loving, was shot several times in the back and died at the scene. James Brisette, a high school student who friends called nerdy and studious, also died on the bridge. The wounded included Lesha Bartholomew, who was 17 at the time of the incident, as well as her father, cousin and mother, who lost her right arm in the incident.
The case has presented two radically different narratives of not just the shootings, but the overall period after Hurricane Katrina. Defense attorneys have said that their clients were facing a violent and lawless city, while the prosecution has painted a picture of civilians facing a violent and lawless police force.
Defense attorneys filled the nearly five hours allotted for their closing remarks with what they said were questions the prosecution had left unanswered.
Both prosecution and defense spoke often about the testimony of Robert Faulcon, the only defendant to testify. Prosecution attorneys noted that Faulcon had admitted that Lance and Ronald Madison were unarmed, and that police officers had continued shooting dozens of shots after any threat had been “neutralized.” Most damning for the defense, Faulcon admitted under cross-examination that there had been a cover-up.
Paul Fleming, one of Faulcon’s attorneys, said that he had been “tricked” by Bernstein in her cross-examination.
“He’s not as smart as Bernstein. Neither am I,” said Fleming, who also called FBI agent William Bezak, the lead investigator on the case, “smug.”
Lindsey Larson, another attorney for Faulcon, said that his client was tired and hadn’t known what he was saying when he admitted to the cover-up, saying it was “like when you’re arguing with your spouse” and you just say yes to whatever they say. “He wasn’t even listening,” to Bernstein’s questions, added Larson.
Tim Meche, attorney for Officer Anthony Villavaso, implied that Lance Madison, a key prosecution witness, had colluded with government to change his story. “After he got with the government and all lawyered-up and all that he changed his mind,” said Meche.
Desalvo also levied accusations at Madison, saying that he had a gun, and that the Bartholomew family was also armed. Suggesting that Madison may have thrown his gun in the industrial canal, Desalvo added, “Did he really care about his brother, or was he just trying to get away?” The Madison family, including Lance, filled nearly two rows at the closing, and many seemed visibly upset during defense arguments.
In a breathless 40-minute rebuttal to the defense, Bobbi Bernstein, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that attorneys for the officers had engaged in outright lying on behalf of their clients, saying that the accused had “delivered their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” and called at least one of the cops, officer Bowen, “a cold blooded murderer.”
She also mocked the defense for complaining about the “big bad government.” Saying that the DOJ had to intervene because the victims were denied justice from every local source, Bernstein declared “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”
Pacing back and forth, speaking quickly, and gesturing pointedly to illustrate her arguments as she attempted to respond to as many defense arguments as possible, Bernstein also refuted the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those shot that day deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said “the real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author ofFLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org.
Jury to weigh two very different perspectives of police and Katrina
by Jordan Flaherty
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A version of this article was originally published on the New Orleans Tribune/TribuneTalk website
With closing statements completed on Tuesday, focus in the Danziger incident now turns to the jury, which began deliberating today on the 25 charges faced by the officers, after receiving final jury instructions from U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt. The 12-person jury is evenly split between men and women, but has only one African-American member. The jury is drawn from thirteen parishes in the greater New Orleans area.
Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Robert Faulcon, the officers involved in the September 4, 2005 shooting, could receive life sentences if convicted. Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, is charged only in the conspiracy and could receive a maximum of 120 years. Justice Department investigations of other incidents are continuing, and it is likely that some form of federal oversight of the department will be announced in the coming months.
During closing statements of a trial that has brought international attention to this city’s violence-plagued police department, lawyers for defense and prosecution directed what often sounded like personal attacks against each other as well as key witnesses while laying out very different versions of what happened on that fateful day.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Carter said that officers deliberately did not follow procedure, and that if they had done what they were supposed to, no one would have died that day. “It was unreasonable for these officers to fire even one shot,” said Carter, who referred to video footage from that day which he said showed at least “fifty four seconds of gunfire.”
In a spirited defense that seemed to echo Tea Party themes, police attorney Frank Desalvo told the jury, “We know that the United States is the greatest country on earth, and the only thing wrong with it is the people running it.” Depicting Justice Department attorneys as furthering an anti-cop agenda, he told the jury that the prosecutors in this case do not represent the United States and that they are the true Americans.
Desalvo also accused the prosecution of speaking “meaningless, emotional drivel,” and giving ammunition to “a segment of the community that believes police are always brutal.”
The trial, which began five weeks ago, focuses on an incident that occurred days after Hurricane Katrina, as two families were fleeing the storm's flood waters, crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge to get to dry land.
In what prosecutors have described as a “hail of gunfire,” two people were killed and four were wounded. Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man described by family members as gentle and loving, was shot several times in the back and died at the scene. James Brisette, a high school student who friends called nerdy and studious, also died on the bridge. The wounded included Lesha Bartholomew, who was 17 at the time of the incident, as well as her father, cousin and mother, who lost her right arm in the incident.
The case has presented two radically different narratives of not just the shootings, but the overall period after Hurricane Katrina. Defense attorneys have said that their clients were facing a violent and lawless city, while the prosecution has painted a picture of civilians facing a violent and lawless police force.
Defense attorneys filled the nearly five hours allotted for their closing remarks with what they said were questions the prosecution had left unanswered.
Both prosecution and defense spoke often about the testimony of Robert Faulcon, the only defendant to testify. Prosecution attorneys noted that Faulcon had admitted that Lance and Ronald Madison were unarmed, and that police officers had continued shooting dozens of shots after any threat had been “neutralized.” Most damning for the defense, Faulcon admitted under cross-examination that there had been a cover-up.
Paul Fleming, one of Faulcon’s attorneys, said that he had been “tricked” by Bernstein in her cross-examination.
“He’s not as smart as Bernstein. Neither am I,” said Fleming, who also called FBI agent William Bezak, the lead investigator on the case, “smug.”
Lindsey Larson, another attorney for Faulcon, said that his client was tired and hadn’t known what he was saying when he admitted to the cover-up, saying it was “like when you’re arguing with your spouse” and you just say yes to whatever they say. “He wasn’t even listening,” to Bernstein’s questions, added Larson.
Tim Meche, attorney for Officer Anthony Villavaso, implied that Lance Madison, a key prosecution witness, had colluded with government to change his story. “After he got with the government and all lawyered-up and all that he changed his mind,” said Meche.
Desalvo also levied accusations at Madison, saying that he had a gun, and that the Bartholomew family was also armed. Suggesting that Madison may have thrown his gun in the industrial canal, Desalvo added, “Did he really care about his brother, or was he just trying to get away?” The Madison family, including Lance, filled nearly two rows at the closing, and many seemed visibly upset during defense arguments.
In a breathless 40-minute rebuttal to the defense, Bobbi Bernstein, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that attorneys for the officers had engaged in outright lying on behalf of their clients, saying that the accused had “delivered their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” and called at least one of the cops, officer Bowen, “a cold blooded murderer.”
She also mocked the defense for complaining about the “big bad government.” Saying that the DOJ had to intervene because the victims were denied justice from every local source, Bernstein declared “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”
Pacing back and forth, speaking quickly, and gesturing pointedly to illustrate her arguments as she attempted to respond to as many defense arguments as possible, Bernstein also refuted the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those shot that day deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said “the real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author ofFLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org.
by Jordan Flaherty
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A version of this article was originally published on the New Orleans Tribune/TribuneTalk website
With closing statements completed on Tuesday, focus in the Danziger incident now turns to the jury, which began deliberating today on the 25 charges faced by the officers, after receiving final jury instructions from U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt. The 12-person jury is evenly split between men and women, but has only one African-American member. The jury is drawn from thirteen parishes in the greater New Orleans area.
Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Robert Faulcon, the officers involved in the September 4, 2005 shooting, could receive life sentences if convicted. Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, is charged only in the conspiracy and could receive a maximum of 120 years. Justice Department investigations of other incidents are continuing, and it is likely that some form of federal oversight of the department will be announced in the coming months.
During closing statements of a trial that has brought international attention to this city’s violence-plagued police department, lawyers for defense and prosecution directed what often sounded like personal attacks against each other as well as key witnesses while laying out very different versions of what happened on that fateful day.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Carter said that officers deliberately did not follow procedure, and that if they had done what they were supposed to, no one would have died that day. “It was unreasonable for these officers to fire even one shot,” said Carter, who referred to video footage from that day which he said showed at least “fifty four seconds of gunfire.”
In a spirited defense that seemed to echo Tea Party themes, police attorney Frank Desalvo told the jury, “We know that the United States is the greatest country on earth, and the only thing wrong with it is the people running it.” Depicting Justice Department attorneys as furthering an anti-cop agenda, he told the jury that the prosecutors in this case do not represent the United States and that they are the true Americans.
Desalvo also accused the prosecution of speaking “meaningless, emotional drivel,” and giving ammunition to “a segment of the community that believes police are always brutal.”
The trial, which began five weeks ago, focuses on an incident that occurred days after Hurricane Katrina, as two families were fleeing the storm's flood waters, crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge to get to dry land.
In what prosecutors have described as a “hail of gunfire,” two people were killed and four were wounded. Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man described by family members as gentle and loving, was shot several times in the back and died at the scene. James Brisette, a high school student who friends called nerdy and studious, also died on the bridge. The wounded included Lesha Bartholomew, who was 17 at the time of the incident, as well as her father, cousin and mother, who lost her right arm in the incident.
The case has presented two radically different narratives of not just the shootings, but the overall period after Hurricane Katrina. Defense attorneys have said that their clients were facing a violent and lawless city, while the prosecution has painted a picture of civilians facing a violent and lawless police force.
Defense attorneys filled the nearly five hours allotted for their closing remarks with what they said were questions the prosecution had left unanswered.
Both prosecution and defense spoke often about the testimony of Robert Faulcon, the only defendant to testify. Prosecution attorneys noted that Faulcon had admitted that Lance and Ronald Madison were unarmed, and that police officers had continued shooting dozens of shots after any threat had been “neutralized.” Most damning for the defense, Faulcon admitted under cross-examination that there had been a cover-up.
Paul Fleming, one of Faulcon’s attorneys, said that he had been “tricked” by Bernstein in her cross-examination.
“He’s not as smart as Bernstein. Neither am I,” said Fleming, who also called FBI agent William Bezak, the lead investigator on the case, “smug.”
Lindsey Larson, another attorney for Faulcon, said that his client was tired and hadn’t known what he was saying when he admitted to the cover-up, saying it was “like when you’re arguing with your spouse” and you just say yes to whatever they say. “He wasn’t even listening,” to Bernstein’s questions, added Larson.
Tim Meche, attorney for Officer Anthony Villavaso, implied that Lance Madison, a key prosecution witness, had colluded with government to change his story. “After he got with the government and all lawyered-up and all that he changed his mind,” said Meche.
Desalvo also levied accusations at Madison, saying that he had a gun, and that the Bartholomew family was also armed. Suggesting that Madison may have thrown his gun in the industrial canal, Desalvo added, “Did he really care about his brother, or was he just trying to get away?” The Madison family, including Lance, filled nearly two rows at the closing, and many seemed visibly upset during defense arguments.
In a breathless 40-minute rebuttal to the defense, Bobbi Bernstein, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that attorneys for the officers had engaged in outright lying on behalf of their clients, saying that the accused had “delivered their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” and called at least one of the cops, officer Bowen, “a cold blooded murderer.”
She also mocked the defense for complaining about the “big bad government.” Saying that the DOJ had to intervene because the victims were denied justice from every local source, Bernstein declared “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”
Pacing back and forth, speaking quickly, and gesturing pointedly to illustrate her arguments as she attempted to respond to as many defense arguments as possible, Bernstein also refuted the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those shot that day deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said “the real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author ofFLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org.
Jury to weigh two very different perspectives of police and Katrina
by Jordan Flaherty
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A version of this article was originally published on the New Orleans Tribune/TribuneTalk website
With closing statements completed on Tuesday, focus in the Danziger incident now turns to the jury, which began deliberating today on the 25 charges faced by the officers, after receiving final jury instructions from U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt. The 12-person jury is evenly split between men and women, but has only one African-American member. The jury is drawn from thirteen parishes in the greater New Orleans area.
Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Robert Faulcon, the officers involved in the September 4, 2005 shooting, could receive life sentences if convicted. Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, is charged only in the conspiracy and could receive a maximum of 120 years. Justice Department investigations of other incidents are continuing, and it is likely that some form of federal oversight of the department will be announced in the coming months.
During closing statements of a trial that has brought international attention to this city’s violence-plagued police department, lawyers for defense and prosecution directed what often sounded like personal attacks against each other as well as key witnesses while laying out very different versions of what happened on that fateful day.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Carter said that officers deliberately did not follow procedure, and that if they had done what they were supposed to, no one would have died that day. “It was unreasonable for these officers to fire even one shot,” said Carter, who referred to video footage from that day which he said showed at least “fifty four seconds of gunfire.”
In a spirited defense that seemed to echo Tea Party themes, police attorney Frank Desalvo told the jury, “We know that the United States is the greatest country on earth, and the only thing wrong with it is the people running it.” Depicting Justice Department attorneys as furthering an anti-cop agenda, he told the jury that the prosecutors in this case do not represent the United States and that they are the true Americans.
Desalvo also accused the prosecution of speaking “meaningless, emotional drivel,” and giving ammunition to “a segment of the community that believes police are always brutal.”
The trial, which began five weeks ago, focuses on an incident that occurred days after Hurricane Katrina, as two families were fleeing the storm's flood waters, crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge to get to dry land.
In what prosecutors have described as a “hail of gunfire,” two people were killed and four were wounded. Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally challenged man described by family members as gentle and loving, was shot several times in the back and died at the scene. James Brisette, a high school student who friends called nerdy and studious, also died on the bridge. The wounded included Lesha Bartholomew, who was 17 at the time of the incident, as well as her father, cousin and mother, who lost her right arm in the incident.
The case has presented two radically different narratives of not just the shootings, but the overall period after Hurricane Katrina. Defense attorneys have said that their clients were facing a violent and lawless city, while the prosecution has painted a picture of civilians facing a violent and lawless police force.
Defense attorneys filled the nearly five hours allotted for their closing remarks with what they said were questions the prosecution had left unanswered.
Both prosecution and defense spoke often about the testimony of Robert Faulcon, the only defendant to testify. Prosecution attorneys noted that Faulcon had admitted that Lance and Ronald Madison were unarmed, and that police officers had continued shooting dozens of shots after any threat had been “neutralized.” Most damning for the defense, Faulcon admitted under cross-examination that there had been a cover-up.
Paul Fleming, one of Faulcon’s attorneys, said that he had been “tricked” by Bernstein in her cross-examination.
“He’s not as smart as Bernstein. Neither am I,” said Fleming, who also called FBI agent William Bezak, the lead investigator on the case, “smug.”
Lindsey Larson, another attorney for Faulcon, said that his client was tired and hadn’t known what he was saying when he admitted to the cover-up, saying it was “like when you’re arguing with your spouse” and you just say yes to whatever they say. “He wasn’t even listening,” to Bernstein’s questions, added Larson.
Tim Meche, attorney for Officer Anthony Villavaso, implied that Lance Madison, a key prosecution witness, had colluded with government to change his story. “After he got with the government and all lawyered-up and all that he changed his mind,” said Meche.
Desalvo also levied accusations at Madison, saying that he had a gun, and that the Bartholomew family was also armed. Suggesting that Madison may have thrown his gun in the industrial canal, Desalvo added, “Did he really care about his brother, or was he just trying to get away?” The Madison family, including Lance, filled nearly two rows at the closing, and many seemed visibly upset during defense arguments.
In a breathless 40-minute rebuttal to the defense, Bobbi Bernstein, Deputy Chief of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that attorneys for the officers had engaged in outright lying on behalf of their clients, saying that the accused had “delivered their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” and called at least one of the cops, officer Bowen, “a cold blooded murderer.”
She also mocked the defense for complaining about the “big bad government.” Saying that the DOJ had to intervene because the victims were denied justice from every local source, Bernstein declared “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”
Pacing back and forth, speaking quickly, and gesturing pointedly to illustrate her arguments as she attempted to respond to as many defense arguments as possible, Bernstein also refuted the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those shot that day deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said “the real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author ofFLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org.
From Heroes to Villains NOPD Verdict Reveals Post-Katrina History
By Jordan Flaherty
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/from_heroes_to_villains_nopd_convictions_set_katrina_history_straight.html
In an historic verdict with national implications, five New Orleans police officers were convicted on August 5 of civil rights violations for killing unarmed African Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and could face life in prison when sentenced later this year. The case, involving a grisly encounter on the Danziger Bridge, was the most high-profile of a number of prosecutions that seek to hold police accountable for violence in the storm’s wake.
The officers’ conviction on all 25 counts (on two counts, the jury found the men guilty but with partial disagreements on the nature of the crime, which could slightly affect sentencing) comes nearly six years after the city was devastated by floodwaters and government inaction. The verdict helps rewrite the history of what happened in the chaotic days after the levees broke. And the story of how these convictions happened is important for anyone around the U.S. seeking to combat law enforcement violence.The results of this trial also have national implications for those seeking federal support in challenges to police abuses in other cities.
New Orleans is one of four major cities in which the Department of Justice has stepped in to look at police departments. Any success here has far reaching implications for federal investigations in Denver, Seattle, Newark, and other cities.The Danziger Bridge case begins with Hurricane Katrina. As images of desperate survivors played on television, people around the world felt sympathy for people waiting for rescue after the storm. But then images of families trapped on rooftops were replaced by stories of armed gangs and criminals roaming the streets. News reports famously described white people as “finding” food while depicting black people as “looting.” Then-Chief of Police Eddie Compass told Oprah Winfrey that “little babies (are) getting raped” in the Superdome. Then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced she had sent in troops with orders to shoot to kill, and the second in charge of the police department reportedly told officers to fire at will on looters.Evidence suggests that the NOPD acted on these instructions. On Sept. 2, just days after the storm, a black man named Henry Glover was shot by a police sniper as he walked through a parking lot. When a good Samaritan tried to help Glover get medical help, he was beaten by officers, who burnt Glover’s body and left it behind a levee.
The next day, a 45-year-old named Danny Brumfield, Sr., was killed by officers in front of scores of witnesses outside the New Orleans convention center when he ran after a police car to demand that they stop and provide aid.The following morning, two families were crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge, which connects Gentilly and New Orleans East, two mostly middle-to-upper-class African American neighborhoods. Without warning, a Budget Rental truck carrying police officers arrived and cops jumped out. The officers did not identify themselves, and began firing before their vehicle had even stopped.Officers had heard a radio call about shootings in the area, and according to prosecutors, they were seeking revenge. James Brisette, a 17-year-old called studious and nerdy by his friends, was shot nearly a dozen times and died at the scene. Many of the bullets hit him as he lay on the ground bleeding. Four other people were wounded, including Susan Bartholomew, a 38-year-old mother who had her arm shot off of her body, and her 17-year old daughter Lesha, who was shot while crawling on top of her mother’s body, trying to shield her from bullets. Lesha’s cousin Jose was shot point-blank in the stomach and nearly died.
He needed a colostomy bag for years afterwards.Further up the bridge, officers chased down Ronald Madison, a mentally challenged man, who was traveling with his brother Lance. Ronald was shot in the back by one officer and then stomped and kicked to death by another. Lance was arrested and charged with firing at officers, and spent weeks behind bars.At the time, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that officers “sent up a cheer” when word came over police radios that suspects had been shot and killed.A cursory investigation by the NOPD justified the shooting, and it appeared that the matter was closed. In fact, for years every check and balance in the city’s criminal justice system failed to find any fault in this or other officer-involved shootings from the days after the storm.Eddie Jordan, the city’s first black district attorney, pursued charges against the officers in late 2006. When the cops went to turn themselves in, they were greeted by a crowd of hundreds of officers who cheered for them and called them heroes. Before the case could make it to trial, it was dismissed by a judge with close ties to the defense lawyers, and soon after that Jordan was forced to resign.After the dismissal of Jordan’s charges, the story of police violence after Katrina remained untold.
Jordan believes an indifferent local media bears partial responsibility for the years of cover-up. “They were looking for heroes,” he says. “They had a cozy relationship with the police. They got tips from the police; they were in bed with the police. It was an atmosphere of tolerance for atrocities from the police. They abdicated their responsibility to be critical in their reporting. If a few people got killed that was a small price to pay.”Other elected officials, like the city coroner, went along with the police version of events. For example, the coroner’s office never flagged Henry Glover’s body, found burned in a car, as a potential homicide.But the Madisons, the Bartholomews, and the Glovers, along with family members of other police violence victims, refused to be silent. They continued to speak out at press conferences, rallies, and directly to reporters. They worked with organizations like Safe Streets Strong Communities, which was founded by criminal justice activists in the days after Katrina, and Community United for Change, which was formed in response to police abuses. Monique Harden, a community activist and co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, helped to bring testimony about these issues to the United Nations.
Another post-Katrina organization, Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund, presented the charges to an international tribunal.Activists worked to not only raise awareness of specific issues of police violence, but to say that these problems are structural and that any solution must get at the root causes.“This is about an entire system that was completely broken and in crisis,” says former Safe Streets co-director Rosana Cruz. “Everyone’s job in the criminal justice system depends on there being a lot of crime in the city. The district attorney’s office doesn’t work on getting the city safer, they work on getting convictions at any cost. As long as that’s the case, we’re not going to have safety.”Former District Attorney Jordan feels that investigators should pursue charges up to the very top of the department, including Warren Riley, who was promoted to police chief shortly after Hurricane Katrina and served in that role until 2010. “Riley, by his own admission, never even read the report on Danziger,” Jordan points out. “It’s so outrageous, it’s unspeakable. It’s one of the worst things that anyone can do. It’s hard to understand why he’s not on trial as well.”“Fish starts rotting at the head,” adds Jordan. “This was all done in the backdrop of police opposition at the very top. It’s not surprising that there was a cover-up. You just have to wonder how far that cover-up went.”In 2008, journalist A.C. Thompson did what New Orleans media had failed to do, and seriously investigated the accusations of police violence. His reporting, published on ProPublica and in The Nation, spelled out the shocking details of Glover’s killing and pointed toward police coordination with white vigilantes in widespread violence.
It brought national attention to the stories that had been ignored. Activists took advantage of the exposure and lobbied the Congressional Black Caucus and the Justice Department for an investigation.In early 2009, a newly empowered civil rights division of the Justice Department decided to look into the cases. Federal agents interviewed witnesses who had never been talked to, reconstructed crime scenes, and even confiscated NOPD computers. They found evidence that the Danziger officers had radically rewritten their version of what happened on the bridge that day. When FBI agents confronted officers involved in the Danziger case, five officers pleaded guilty and agreed to testify about the conspiracy to cover-up what happened. They revealed that officers had planted evidence, invented witnesses, arrested innocent people, and held secret meetings where they worked to line up their stories.Before last week’s verdict, the Justice Department had already won four previous police violence convictions, including of the officers who shot Glover and burned his body, as well as of two officers who killed Raymond Robair, a pre-Katrina case in which officers beat a man to death and claimed (with the support of the city coroner) he had sustained his injuries from falling down. About half a dozen other investigations are ongoing.
The Justice Department is also looking at federal oversight of the NOPD, a process by which they can dictate vast changes from hiring and firing to training and policy writing.The Danziger trial has been the most high-profile aspect of the federal intervention in New Orleans, and this verdict will have far-reaching implications for how the effectiveness of federal intervention is perceived. The convictions and guilty pleas in the case reveal a wide-ranging conspiracy that reaches up to sergeants and lieutenants. Marlon Defillo, the second-in-charge of the NOPD, was recently forced to retire because of his role in helping cover-up the Glover killing.Most importantly, the verdict has helped shift the narrative of what happened in those days after Katrina.The defense team for the Danziger officers was steadfast in describing their clients as heroes. Attorney Paul Fleming described the cops as “proactive,” saying, “They go out and get things done. They go out and get the bad guys.” Police attorneys in the Glover and Danziger trials also sought to use the so-called “Katrina defense,” arguing that the exceptional circumstances following the storm justified extra-legal actions on the part of officers.
With these convictions, the juries have definitively refuted this excuse.In her closing arguments, Bobbi Bernstein, deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, fought back against the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those killed deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said, “The real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”Officers went out with a mission to deliver “their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” she added. “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”In comments immediately after the verdict, family members of those killed on the bridge expressed gratitude for those who had helped them reach this point, but stressed that their pain continued.Speaking outside the courthouse after the verdict, Sherrel Johnson, the mother of James Brisette, said that the officers, “took the twinkle out of my eye, the song out of my voice, and blew out my candle,” when they killed her son.Jacqueline Madison Brown, the sister of Ronald Madison, told assembled press, “Ronald Madison brought great love to our family. Shooting him down was like shooting an innocent child.” Commenting on officers who had testified for the prosecution in exchange for lesser charges, she added, “We regret that they did not have the courage and strength to come forward sooner.”Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Faulcon, the officers involved in the shooting, could receive life sentences.
Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, but was convicted of leading the conspiracy, could receive a maximum of 120 years. Sentencing is scheduled for December, but will likely be delayed.
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author of FLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org. For speaking engagements, see communityandresistance.wordpress.com.
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/from_heroes_to_villains_nopd_convictions_set_katrina_history_straight.html
In an historic verdict with national implications, five New Orleans police officers were convicted on August 5 of civil rights violations for killing unarmed African Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and could face life in prison when sentenced later this year. The case, involving a grisly encounter on the Danziger Bridge, was the most high-profile of a number of prosecutions that seek to hold police accountable for violence in the storm’s wake.
The officers’ conviction on all 25 counts (on two counts, the jury found the men guilty but with partial disagreements on the nature of the crime, which could slightly affect sentencing) comes nearly six years after the city was devastated by floodwaters and government inaction. The verdict helps rewrite the history of what happened in the chaotic days after the levees broke. And the story of how these convictions happened is important for anyone around the U.S. seeking to combat law enforcement violence.The results of this trial also have national implications for those seeking federal support in challenges to police abuses in other cities.
New Orleans is one of four major cities in which the Department of Justice has stepped in to look at police departments. Any success here has far reaching implications for federal investigations in Denver, Seattle, Newark, and other cities.The Danziger Bridge case begins with Hurricane Katrina. As images of desperate survivors played on television, people around the world felt sympathy for people waiting for rescue after the storm. But then images of families trapped on rooftops were replaced by stories of armed gangs and criminals roaming the streets. News reports famously described white people as “finding” food while depicting black people as “looting.” Then-Chief of Police Eddie Compass told Oprah Winfrey that “little babies (are) getting raped” in the Superdome. Then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced she had sent in troops with orders to shoot to kill, and the second in charge of the police department reportedly told officers to fire at will on looters.Evidence suggests that the NOPD acted on these instructions. On Sept. 2, just days after the storm, a black man named Henry Glover was shot by a police sniper as he walked through a parking lot. When a good Samaritan tried to help Glover get medical help, he was beaten by officers, who burnt Glover’s body and left it behind a levee.
The next day, a 45-year-old named Danny Brumfield, Sr., was killed by officers in front of scores of witnesses outside the New Orleans convention center when he ran after a police car to demand that they stop and provide aid.The following morning, two families were crossing New Orleans’ Danziger Bridge, which connects Gentilly and New Orleans East, two mostly middle-to-upper-class African American neighborhoods. Without warning, a Budget Rental truck carrying police officers arrived and cops jumped out. The officers did not identify themselves, and began firing before their vehicle had even stopped.Officers had heard a radio call about shootings in the area, and according to prosecutors, they were seeking revenge. James Brisette, a 17-year-old called studious and nerdy by his friends, was shot nearly a dozen times and died at the scene. Many of the bullets hit him as he lay on the ground bleeding. Four other people were wounded, including Susan Bartholomew, a 38-year-old mother who had her arm shot off of her body, and her 17-year old daughter Lesha, who was shot while crawling on top of her mother’s body, trying to shield her from bullets. Lesha’s cousin Jose was shot point-blank in the stomach and nearly died.
He needed a colostomy bag for years afterwards.Further up the bridge, officers chased down Ronald Madison, a mentally challenged man, who was traveling with his brother Lance. Ronald was shot in the back by one officer and then stomped and kicked to death by another. Lance was arrested and charged with firing at officers, and spent weeks behind bars.At the time, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that officers “sent up a cheer” when word came over police radios that suspects had been shot and killed.A cursory investigation by the NOPD justified the shooting, and it appeared that the matter was closed. In fact, for years every check and balance in the city’s criminal justice system failed to find any fault in this or other officer-involved shootings from the days after the storm.Eddie Jordan, the city’s first black district attorney, pursued charges against the officers in late 2006. When the cops went to turn themselves in, they were greeted by a crowd of hundreds of officers who cheered for them and called them heroes. Before the case could make it to trial, it was dismissed by a judge with close ties to the defense lawyers, and soon after that Jordan was forced to resign.After the dismissal of Jordan’s charges, the story of police violence after Katrina remained untold.
Jordan believes an indifferent local media bears partial responsibility for the years of cover-up. “They were looking for heroes,” he says. “They had a cozy relationship with the police. They got tips from the police; they were in bed with the police. It was an atmosphere of tolerance for atrocities from the police. They abdicated their responsibility to be critical in their reporting. If a few people got killed that was a small price to pay.”Other elected officials, like the city coroner, went along with the police version of events. For example, the coroner’s office never flagged Henry Glover’s body, found burned in a car, as a potential homicide.But the Madisons, the Bartholomews, and the Glovers, along with family members of other police violence victims, refused to be silent. They continued to speak out at press conferences, rallies, and directly to reporters. They worked with organizations like Safe Streets Strong Communities, which was founded by criminal justice activists in the days after Katrina, and Community United for Change, which was formed in response to police abuses. Monique Harden, a community activist and co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, helped to bring testimony about these issues to the United Nations.
Another post-Katrina organization, Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund, presented the charges to an international tribunal.Activists worked to not only raise awareness of specific issues of police violence, but to say that these problems are structural and that any solution must get at the root causes.“This is about an entire system that was completely broken and in crisis,” says former Safe Streets co-director Rosana Cruz. “Everyone’s job in the criminal justice system depends on there being a lot of crime in the city. The district attorney’s office doesn’t work on getting the city safer, they work on getting convictions at any cost. As long as that’s the case, we’re not going to have safety.”Former District Attorney Jordan feels that investigators should pursue charges up to the very top of the department, including Warren Riley, who was promoted to police chief shortly after Hurricane Katrina and served in that role until 2010. “Riley, by his own admission, never even read the report on Danziger,” Jordan points out. “It’s so outrageous, it’s unspeakable. It’s one of the worst things that anyone can do. It’s hard to understand why he’s not on trial as well.”“Fish starts rotting at the head,” adds Jordan. “This was all done in the backdrop of police opposition at the very top. It’s not surprising that there was a cover-up. You just have to wonder how far that cover-up went.”In 2008, journalist A.C. Thompson did what New Orleans media had failed to do, and seriously investigated the accusations of police violence. His reporting, published on ProPublica and in The Nation, spelled out the shocking details of Glover’s killing and pointed toward police coordination with white vigilantes in widespread violence.
It brought national attention to the stories that had been ignored. Activists took advantage of the exposure and lobbied the Congressional Black Caucus and the Justice Department for an investigation.In early 2009, a newly empowered civil rights division of the Justice Department decided to look into the cases. Federal agents interviewed witnesses who had never been talked to, reconstructed crime scenes, and even confiscated NOPD computers. They found evidence that the Danziger officers had radically rewritten their version of what happened on the bridge that day. When FBI agents confronted officers involved in the Danziger case, five officers pleaded guilty and agreed to testify about the conspiracy to cover-up what happened. They revealed that officers had planted evidence, invented witnesses, arrested innocent people, and held secret meetings where they worked to line up their stories.Before last week’s verdict, the Justice Department had already won four previous police violence convictions, including of the officers who shot Glover and burned his body, as well as of two officers who killed Raymond Robair, a pre-Katrina case in which officers beat a man to death and claimed (with the support of the city coroner) he had sustained his injuries from falling down. About half a dozen other investigations are ongoing.
The Justice Department is also looking at federal oversight of the NOPD, a process by which they can dictate vast changes from hiring and firing to training and policy writing.The Danziger trial has been the most high-profile aspect of the federal intervention in New Orleans, and this verdict will have far-reaching implications for how the effectiveness of federal intervention is perceived. The convictions and guilty pleas in the case reveal a wide-ranging conspiracy that reaches up to sergeants and lieutenants. Marlon Defillo, the second-in-charge of the NOPD, was recently forced to retire because of his role in helping cover-up the Glover killing.Most importantly, the verdict has helped shift the narrative of what happened in those days after Katrina.The defense team for the Danziger officers was steadfast in describing their clients as heroes. Attorney Paul Fleming described the cops as “proactive,” saying, “They go out and get things done. They go out and get the bad guys.” Police attorneys in the Glover and Danziger trials also sought to use the so-called “Katrina defense,” arguing that the exceptional circumstances following the storm justified extra-legal actions on the part of officers.
With these convictions, the juries have definitively refuted this excuse.In her closing arguments, Bobbi Bernstein, deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, fought back against the claim that the officers were heroes, saying the family members of those killed deserved the title more. Noting that the official cover-up had “perverted” the system, she said, “The real heroes are the victims who stayed with an imperfect justice system that initially betrayed them.”Officers went out with a mission to deliver “their own kind of post-apocalyptic justice,” she added. “The law is what it is because this is not a police state.”In comments immediately after the verdict, family members of those killed on the bridge expressed gratitude for those who had helped them reach this point, but stressed that their pain continued.Speaking outside the courthouse after the verdict, Sherrel Johnson, the mother of James Brisette, said that the officers, “took the twinkle out of my eye, the song out of my voice, and blew out my candle,” when they killed her son.Jacqueline Madison Brown, the sister of Ronald Madison, told assembled press, “Ronald Madison brought great love to our family. Shooting him down was like shooting an innocent child.” Commenting on officers who had testified for the prosecution in exchange for lesser charges, she added, “We regret that they did not have the courage and strength to come forward sooner.”Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Faulcon, the officers involved in the shooting, could receive life sentences.
Sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was not on the bridge, but was convicted of leading the conspiracy, could receive a maximum of 120 years. Sentencing is scheduled for December, but will likely be delayed.
Jordan Flaherty is a journalist and staffer with the Louisiana Justice Institute. His award-winning reporting from the Gulf Coast has been featured in a range of outlets including the New York Times, Al Jazeera, and Argentina's Clarin newspaper. He is the author of FLOODLINES: Community and Resistance from Katrina to the Jena Six. He can be reached at neworleans@leftturn.org, and more information about Floodlines can be found at floodlines.org. For speaking engagements, see communityandresistance.wordpress.com.
Save the Thomas Day Bridge in City Park
From Faubourg St. John Neighborhood News:
http://business.fsjna.org/2011/08/century-old-bridge-has-pressing-need/
http://katrinafilm.com/public/wordpress/?p=2229
We may want to consider an effort to save the Thomas Day bridge in City Park.
It is 100 years old this year, and was built to stand the test of time.
Unfortunately, it was not built to stand the pressure of an old cypress tree growing into it.
Please visit the links below for photos and more on this pressing need.
Unfortunately, it was not built to stand the pressure of an old cypress tree growing into it.
Please visit the links below for photos and more on this pressing need.
http://business.fsjna.org/2011/08/century-old-bridge-has-pressing-need/
http://katrinafilm.com/public/wordpress/?p=2229
PARKWAY PARTNERS SEMI-FINALIST WITH TOM’S OF MAINE
With funds, trees will be planted
Parkway Partners is one of 20 finalists for a $50,000 grant in the Tom’s of Maine 50 States for Good program. The Orleans Parish-based non-profit would use the proceeds for its tree-planting program if Parkway Partners receives the most votes atwww.50statesforgood.com.
Anyone can vote once a day, and the poll is open through Sept. 13.
“We feel honored to be selected as one of the best community-benefit programs in theUnited States,” said Jean Fahr, executive director of Parkway Partners. “Tom’s of Mainelearned about our ReLeaf New Orleans initiative, which is helping to replace the urban canopy we enjoyed prior to Hurricane Katrina. Since the program started, we have planted more than 9,000 trees in the city. If we are chosen for the $50,000 grant, we will focus on the eastern portion of New Orleans where a significan number of trees were destroyed.”
Tom’s of Maine is known for supporting sustainable efforts in communities nationwide.
About Parkway Partners
A partnership between the community and the city for 29 years, Parkway Partners works to improve and expand green spaces in New Orleans. With no government funding, the organization and active members have helped support the Department of Parks and Parkways in restoration of the urban canopy while educating and empowering citizen action Ongoing campaigns include ReLeaf New Orleans, Adopt-A-Neutral Ground, Save Our Trees, Community and Schoolyard Gardens, and Second Saturday Program. Parkway Partners achieved certification in 2008 from the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations, the first “green” organization to receive this distinction. For more information, visit http://www.
HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR PROPERTY ASSESSMENT?
The Orleans Parish tax assessor has sent out letters informing
property owners of new assessments for 2012. If you did not receive a
letter, you may be one of the four in five homeowners whose assessment
is NOT being changed. If you did receive an increase and feel it is
unfair, find out how to appeal an assessment by going to the website,
www.nolaassessor.com. Keep in mind that assessments may only be
changed in the first two weeks of August, through August 18!
The tax assessor's office is open weekdays but no appointments are
available, it is on a first-come, first served basis.
Tax Assessor Office, City Hall, fourth floor, 1300 Perdido Street,
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 504.658.1300,
www.nolaassessor.com.
property owners of new assessments for 2012. If you did not receive a
letter, you may be one of the four in five homeowners whose assessment
is NOT being changed. If you did receive an increase and feel it is
unfair, find out how to appeal an assessment by going to the website,
www.nolaassessor.com. Keep in mind that assessments may only be
changed in the first two weeks of August, through August 18!
The tax assessor's office is open weekdays but no appointments are
available, it is on a first-come, first served basis.
Tax Assessor Office, City Hall, fourth floor, 1300 Perdido Street,
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., 504.658.1300,
www.nolaassessor.com.
CLOUET GARDENS POCKET PARK ON THE BRINK
Our visionary friends and neighbors on Clouet Street are very close to
making their dream of a pocket park a reality in the 700 block of
Clouet.
They have been maintaining the unused grassy lot for a while
now and have been negotiating with the Housing Authority of New
Orleans, the lot's owner, to assume ownership. The group has formed a
nonprofit group and planning for future.
You can help by taking a simple, quick online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/HJQVK89.
To find out more by going to their website, www.clouetgardens.org
or email Erica Amrine at clouetgardens@gmail.com.
making their dream of a pocket park a reality in the 700 block of
Clouet.
They have been maintaining the unused grassy lot for a while
now and have been negotiating with the Housing Authority of New
Orleans, the lot's owner, to assume ownership. The group has formed a
nonprofit group and planning for future.
You can help by taking a simple, quick online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/HJQVK89
To find out more by going to their website, www.clouetgardens.org
or email Erica Amrine at clouetgardens@gmail.com.
Sankofa Farmers Market moving to Holy Angels
Rashida Ferdinand, director of the Sankofa Farmers Market, will formally announce at the Bywater Neighborhood Association meeting tonight that the market is moving from its Lower Ninth Ward site to Holy Angels, beginning August 27. The meeting will be held at the Holy Angels Convent, 3500 St. Claude Avenue, 7 p.m.
"Getting Down To Business": A Educational and Savings Program For Small Business Owners
Opportunity: Capital One and the partners listed have developed a free business training program with a multi-facted approach: an in-class eductional program ,a savings account with matched percentagesof funds and a mentorship component. Classes have a limited amount of space. Educational Program: Free training session's that will ehance the owners' operational efficiency and capacity to grow their business through increased knowledge of best practices in the business world.IDA Savings Account: Provides financial encouragement, each partcipant will be required to open an Individual Developement Account (IDA) with Capitaln One Bank, to be matched upon the business owner's successful completion of the program. |
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Mayor's Office of Cultural Economy and L.C.E.F Give Free Health Screening for Cultural Workers
The Mayor's Office of Cultural Economy with the Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation Healthcare Initiative, Tulane University Community Health Center at Covenant House and the Greater New Orleans Mobile Health Unit Consortium present:
Free Health Screenings for Cultural Workers
Musicians, Artists, Designers, Performers, Theatrical, Film, Culinary, Literary, Historic Preservation and Traditional Culture Bearers
Saturday, August 13
11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tulane University Community Health Clinic (TUCHC) at Covenant House
611 Rampart Street, New Orleans, LA 70112
..............................
COME CHECK ON YOUR: Blood Sugar for Diabetes Blood Pressure for Stroke Cholesterol for Heart Disease
COME GET INFORMATION ON: No and low pay coverage for uninsured Tulane Community Health Center New Orleans Musician's Clinic ARTDOCS
COME SIGN-UP FOR: GNOCHC Medicaid Waiver, ARTDOCS & Musician's Clinic
TO SIGN-UP BRING: Proof of income (Copy of most recent W2, Filed tax forms, Most recent pay stubs, Unemployment award letter, Social Security/Disability award letter, Food stamp award letter) Government issued photo ID - if current address is not on ID, a utility bill must be provided. Birth certificate or US permanent residency card Indication of craft (ARTDOCS: Postcard from gallery showing, write-up in a newspaper/magazine); (Musician's Clinic: Notarized letter from your bandleader, club owner or manager/agent or employer)
Your income is PRIVATE - just as your medical record is PRIVATE! However, we need details about your household income to determine eligibility for discounted fees. The information you provide is kept HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL and is never disclosed in grant applications or other documents.
For more information contact:
Asante Salaam
Outreach Manager for Cultural Economy
(504) 658-4289 | asalaam@nola.gov
Help lowernine.org win free gas!
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