nola411.com - New Orleans news and information.: July 2012

IG criticizes spending habits of New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board | WVUE-TV

> 7/31/2012 12:41:00 PM

The city's inspector general wrote a scathing letter on spending habits at the Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. The letter lists a number of problems, some of which were outlined in a series of FOX 8 Lee Zurik investigations. The report, released Tuesday afternoon, appears to be one of the most critical yet of a city agency that badly needs more money...

Read more via WVUE

Dredge returning to clear Lake Providence Port channel‎ | Monroe News Star

> 7/31/2012 12:38:00 PM

U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, said he received a commitment this morning from the Corps of Engineers to bring a dredge back to the Lake Providence Port this week so it can be navigable for the summer harvest...

Read more via thenewsstar.com

New Prospect Street Bridge opening delayed again by DOTD ‎| Daily Comet

> 7/31/2012 12:35:00 PM

The opening date of the new Prospect Street Bridge has been pushed back a fourth time.

The newest expected project completion date is Sept. 30, roughly 2 1/2 years after the start of the bridge’s replacement. Officials said the recent heavy rains have contributed to the delay.

Read more via Daily Comet

Louisiana State Troopers to target obscured license plates | WAFB

> 7/30/2012 05:50:00 AM

According to a release from Louisiana State Police, if your plate is obstructed in any way, you will receive a ticket. Obstructions include plate covers that are tinted, blurred or mirrored. Clear plate covers that are scratched, yellowed or cloudy could be grounds for a ticket as well...

Read more via WAFB

Riverwalk to be transformed into "upscale" outlet mall | WVUE-TV

> 7/29/2012 07:03:00 AM

The owner of the New Orleans Riverwalk plans a multi-million renovation, giving the underused real estate a new look and dramatically different retail approach

The Howard Hughes Corporation plans to invest $70 million in the project, which will transform the property into an "upscale" outlet mall...

Read more via WVUE

Audubon Charter to begin exploring possible high school ‎| Uptown Messenger

> 7/29/2012 06:56:00 AM

Audubon Charter School plans to begin taking concrete steps this fall toward the possibility of creating a new high school, officials said Saturday morning. Meanwhile, Orleans Parish school officials are hoping to find a way to start renovations on the school’s Broadway campus even as negotiations continue with neighbors over a pending lawsuit...

Read more via UptownMessenger.com

How to survive White Linen Night | Blog of New Orleans

> 7/28/2012 10:44:00 AM

White Linen Night is one of two things, depending on how you see it: it's either a convivial celebration of New Orleans' art scene and among the highlights of the summer, or it's the night when Julia Street turns into a nightmare land crowded with sweaty people pretending to care about art.

The Warehouse District block party is a little bit of both those things — mostly because the weather this time of the year is almost always 1,000 degrees, and the crowds can be massive...

Read more via Gambit

UNO, New Orleans public radio station to launch news initiative |‎ The Daily Advertiser

> 7/28/2012 10:38:00 AM

The University of New Orleans is teaming up with National Public Radio station WWNO to launch a nonprofit multimedia news initiative. The reports will be featured on a website, neworleansreporter.org, and on WWNO radio...

Read more via The Daily Advertiser

Costco financial incentives approved by New Orleans City Council | NOLAcom

> 7/27/2012 08:27:00 AM

The New Orleans City Council signed off Thursday on a package of financial incentives for the planned Costco big-box warehouse store in the Carrollton area. The incentives, which could total nearly $6 million, include both infrastructure improvements and tax breaks. The measures, which were strongly backed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu's administration, were approved 6-0. The membership-only facility will occupy the vacant 14.7-acre site of the former Carrollton Shopping Center, across South Carrollton Avenue from Xavier University. Like other Costco outlets nationwide, it will sell both general merchandise and food and will feature a pharmacy, tire center and gas station.

Read more via NOLA.com

Hubig's Pies factory destroyed by massive fire | WWL

> 7/27/2012 08:19:00 AM

Photo by Mindy Hussey

The Hubig's Pies factory in New Orleans suffered a major fire this morning. The New Orleans Fire Department says the fire broke out in the rear of the building on Dauphine Street around 5:00 a.m. WWL-TV reports that at least 32 trucks and nearly 100 firefighters were on the scene of the blaze in the historic Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, as the fire intensified from a two-alarm to a five-alarm.

Read more via WWL

The History of Hubig's Pies
Simon Hubig began his baking career at the tender age of six, learning from his mother. Fast forward 100 years and two New Orleans families have also made baking pies a family affair.

The Simon Hubig Pie Company was founded in Ft. Worth, TX at the start of World War I by master baker Hubig. One of several plants in his southeastern chain, the New Orleans bakery opened in 1922 in its current Bywater location. Hubig's chain faltered during the Depression and in the end, only the New Orleans location survived. And survive they do today.

Tales of the Cocktail Celebrates Tenth Anniversary | OffBeat Magazine

> 7/26/2012 08:57:00 AM

Try Michael Glassberg’s
Bell Gal cocktail Saturday,
July 28 at Tales of the Cocktail

Tales of the Cocktail 2012 is officially underway! For the next four days the lauded summer cocktail festival will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in the heart of the city that never sleeps stops drinking. Year-in and year-out TotC has proven itself to be an experience like no other – a fitting marriage or choice spirits and exquisite cuisine. This year OffBeat and Sazerac brought music into the mix with the first-ever Melodic Mixology Cocktail Competition, a challenge to create a custom cocktail featuring Legendre Herbsaint and inspired by a classic New Orleans ditty...

Read more via Offbeat Magazine

New Orleans hospital sees increase in whooping cough cases | WVUE-TV

> 7/26/2012 08:53:00 AM

Federal health officials report the number of whooping cough cases could hit a record high this year. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory illness that affects babies, too young to be vaccinated, the hardest. Division head of pediatric infectious diseases at Ochsner for Children says there's been an increase of whooping cases all along the Gulf Coast in both children and adults...

Read more via WVUE-TV

Obama in New Orleans: More gun control needed | WWL

> 7/26/2012 08:49:00 AM

The politics of guns leapt to the top of the presidential race Wednesday, as President Barack Obama embraced some degree of control of weapons sales and Republican Mitt Romney seemed to suggest an alleged mass killer in Colorado had obtained his weapons illegally even though he hadn't.

Speaking to a mostly black audience in New Orleans, Obama said he would seek a consensus on combating violence...

Read more via WWL

‘Swamp People’ auditions to be held Saturday, July 28, in Houma | NOLA.com

> 7/24/2012 09:43:00 AM

The History Channel TV show “Swamp People” is looking for new alligator hunters. They can be individuals, groups or families, but must have a license and at least 50 tags for the September alligator season in Louisiana. Auditions will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 28 in Houma...

Joan Rivers to host New Orleans comedy show | MSN TV News

> 7/24/2012 09:36:00 AM

Comedian Joan Rivers is hosting two stand-up shows in New Orleans to benefit an organization that has been aimed at rebuilding the city in the years since Hurricane Katrina.

The New Orleans Healing Center is run by a voodoo priestess, Sallie Ann Glassman, who is friends with Rivers. About 15 years ago, they met when Rivers thought her New York apartment was haunted. Rivers asked Glassman to perform a spiritual cleansing.

Read more via MSN TV News

Attorney General Holder to announce New Orleans police reforms | AP

> 7/24/2012 09:33:00 AM

Attorney General Eric Holder will announce a sweeping federal consent decree Tuesday to reform New Orleans's long-troubled police department.

A person with direct knowledge of the plan said the agreement between the Justice Department and the city will be signed and filed in federal court and Holder will speak in New Orleans. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been made public. Mayor Mitch Landrieu asked the Justice Department for the review in 2010. The mayor will join Holder for the announcement.

Read more via Yahoo News

Sen. David Vitter wants drilling permits issued faster | NOLA.com

> 7/22/2012 08:44:00 AM

Continuing the lengthy battle with the Obama administration over complaints it is still taking too long to approve new drilling permits, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., joined an Indiana Republican last week to propose legislation switching permitting decisions from the Interior Department to the Department of Energy.

Read more via NOLA.com

Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans site comes alive for 'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters' shoot | NOLA.com

> 7/22/2012 08:38:00 AM

(Alan Markfield / Twentieth Century Fox)

Before it could begin production at the former Six Flags New Orleans site this month, the crew for the Twentieth Century Fox film 'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters' first had to clear the park of its own monsters, namely dozens of alligators and snakes.

Read more via nola.com

Grand Palace Hotel comes down swiftly | WWLTV (video)

> 7/22/2012 08:32:00 AM

The Grand Palace Hotel was brought down by a battery of explosive charges after weeks of preparation.

Images of Disappearing Coastal Wetlands | Best of New Orleans

> 7/21/2012 07:15:00 AM

One of the side benefits of the St. Claude Arts District's latest export, the hot new indie movie Beasts of the Southern Wild, is that it immerses viewers in the precariousness of life along Louisiana's steadily sinking coastal wetlands. Further investigations into this lacy, tattered patch of land also can be found in two noteworthy museum shows. At the New Orleans Museum of Art, multimedia artist Katie Holten created a series of very large drawings of the rapidly eroding edges of marshes where grasses are consumed by the sea at an alarming rate...

Read more via Gambit

2013 Louisiana Teacher of The Year | KATC

> 7/21/2012 07:00:00 AM

Empowering educators and parents to make the best choices for children is at the core of Louisiana Believes, the state's comprehensive plan for continued improvement in education. And, during the Sixth Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Symposium and Celebration in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Department of Education honored nearly 300 educators making choices in our schools and classrooms leading to increased student achievement.

Read more via KATC

Tipitina's looks to keep dream of Fess alive by restoring historic home | WWLTV

> 7/21/2012 06:54:00 AM

His songs, like “Go to the Mardi Gras” and “Big Chief,” are a Mardi Gras staple and the music he may best be remembered for, but Professor Longhair, or Fess as he was called, was a virtuoso, a music pioneer and now a New Orleans icon.

Now more than three decades later, the Tipitina's Foundation, the United Way and Project Homecoming are working to restore this house for Professor Longhair’s family, and as a tribute to his legacy.

Uncle Lionel Batiste's 2nd line & burial changed to Monday | WWOZ

> 7/20/2012 01:16:00 PM

WWOZ 90.7FM is reporting via Twitter that due to the weather, Uncle Lionel Batiste's Second Line and Burial will be on Monday, July 23rd, 2012.

Read more via @wwoz_neworleans

The Summer Snoball Series, Where Y'Eat | WWNO

> 7/20/2012 11:01:00 AM

It’s no surprise that New Orleanians form intense loyalties to their preferred snoballs. After all, some locals were pratically weaned on them. For those who branch out to new turf, however, the diversity of stands and their flavors is enormous and grows from year to year.

A lot of stands have developed their own unique flavor combinations, and that’s certainly the case at the Metairie Road landmark Sal’s Snowballs. Here, regulars know that the “pink squirrel” is cream of nectar with almond and that the “sock it to me” is, naturally, a mix of bubble gum and ice cream flavors.

Read more via WWNO

Felix's Restaurant in New Orleans Files for Bankruptcy ‎| Bloomberg

> 7/20/2012 10:48:00 AM

Felix’s Inc., owner of the namesake restaurant and oyster bar in New Orleans’s French Quarter, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors. The company listed assets of $1.62 million and debt of $1.57 million in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Orleans. Felix’s didn’t disclose a reason for the filing in court documents.

Felix’s has been a New Orleans landmark since the early 1900s and has been owned by the same family for more than 60 years, according to its website.

Read more via Bloomberg

New Orleans Cold Storage opens new warehouse‎ | Cattle Network

> 7/20/2012 10:46:00 AM

The oldest cold storage company in North America is opening a massive, new 142,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse at the Port of New Orleans on Thursday, July 19. This expansion for the 126-year-old New Orleans Cold Storage (NOCS), one of the largest suppliers to the poultry, beef, pork and other exporters in the country, will add 125 direct new jobs and generate $126 million in annual spending...

Read more via Cattle Network

Louisiana casinos take in $203 million in June‎ | CBS News

> 7/20/2012 10:41:00 AM

Louisiana's state-licensed casinos took in nearly $203 million from gamblers in June, a 3 percent growth in winnings from June 2011 but a slight dip from the previous month. The figures, compiled by the state police, were presented Thursday to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. Across the state, the mix of riverboat, land-based and race track casinos brought in nearly $6 million more than the $197 million they collected in June 2011 and $1.4 million less than May's total...

Read more via CBS News

Visitation for legendary jazz musician Lionel Batiste on Thursday ‎| WW

> 7/19/2012 09:34:00 AM

Family and friends will begin saying their final goodbyes to famed musician Lionel Batiste today.
Visitation begins at 10 a.m. at the Charbonnet Funeral Home, at St. Phillip and Claiborne Avenue, in Treme. It ends at 5 p.m.

Read more via WWL TV

Will New Orleans ever shake image as hot spot for corruption? | WVUE-TV

> 7/19/2012 09:28:00 AM

Some wonder if New Orleans will ever shake its image as a hot spot for corruption, following a federal corruption probe of Jon Johnson and his resignation from the City Council Wednesday.
New Orleans Local News, Weather, Sports, Investigations

Read more via fox8live.com

Jazz funeral procession route and other tribute info for Uncle Lionel Batiste | Blog of New Orleans

> 7/18/2012 12:50:00 PM

photo by Robert Hunter

On Thursday, July 19, 2012, Uncle Lionel Batiste, the much-beloved bass drummer and assistant leader of the Treme Brass Band will lay in state from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Charbonnet-Labat Funeral Home on St. Philip Street and North Claiborne Avenue. Funeral services and a program celebrating Batiste will take place on Friday, July 20 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts located in Armstrong Park. Viewing begins at 9 a.m., the service starts at 11 a.m. followed by a jazz funeral procession. Internment is at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Read more about the route for the Jazz Funeral Procession and info about this evening’s (Wednesday’s) musician’s tribute via Gambit Magazine

New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board to decide on rate hikes | NBCNews.com

> 7/18/2012 06:24:00 AM

The Orleans Parish Sewerage and Water Board will decide this week if it will move forward with a plan to increase rates during the next four years to pay for infrastructure repairs. The rate for sewer services could climb as much as 14 percent per year.

Read more via NBCNews

New Orleans Tourism Awards Account | Adweek

> 7/18/2012 06:12:00 AM

Dentsu America is the new agency for the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., winning a piece of business that has been with local agency Peter Mayer Advertising since early 2001.

Dentsu America’s contract with NOTMC is for 2012-2013 and will be reviewed at the end of the first year. Spending in support of New Orleans’ efforts to woo visitors is nearly $10 million this year...

Read more via Adweek

'American Idol' auditions return to New Orleans | WWL

> 7/18/2012 06:09:00 AM

They began lining up early in the morning. People in the middle of the line said they showed up around 5:00 a.m. Personnel with the Fox program went up and down the line on the Superdome plaza whipping the crowd up for their TV cameras. Most were happy to preview what they had planned for their auditions...

Read more via WWL

Coalition offers vision for Gulf restoration ‎| Houston Chronicle

> 7/18/2012 06:05:00 AM

More than two years after the catastrophic BP oil spill, environmental groups say billions of dollars the British oil giant is expected to spend on restoration should go toward buying tens of thousands of acres of coastal land for conservation, rebuilding Louisiana's eroding wetlands and creating nearly 200 miles of oyster reefs.

Under the Oil Pollution Act, companies must pay to restore areas fouled by a spill. The amount BP will have to pay is subject to ongoing litigation...

Read more via chron.com

Spirit Airlines To Offer Direct Flights From New Orleans To Dallas | WWNO

> 7/17/2012 06:31:00 AM

Spirit Airlines will be offering direct flights from New Orleans to Dallas. The additional service kicks in just in time for the Super Bowl.

Spirit now operates more than 200 daily flights to over 50 destinations in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean. Flights to Dallas will begin January 24th, with a second daily flight starting in June next year...

Read more via WWNO

New Orleans Celebrates the Life of Lionel Batiste | New York Times

> 7/17/2012 06:25:00 AM

The drums could be heard first and then the brass,

William Widmer for The New York Times

and then, far down the street in the twilight, people could be seen dancing and swaying, the bells of sousaphones above them like halos. Shuffling back and forth at the front of the parade was a paint horse named Sunshine that somebody taught how to dance.

The man being laid to rest is Lionel Batiste, known to everyone for decades as Uncle Lionel, to many simply as “Unc.” Mr. Batiste, who was 80 when he died of cancer on July 8, was the singer, bass drummer and assistant grand marshal for the Treme Brass Band. He was also one of the great New Orleans personalities, the face of Treme and a consummate man about town...

Read More via NYTimes

New Orleans resurgent but troubled seven years after the storm ‎| Fort Worth Star Telegram

> 7/17/2012 06:20:00 AM

This wasn't long after Hurricane Katrina. The levees had failed and the city was in tatters. Carmen Mills and her husband decided to head out for New York City, like so many others leaving behind their beloved but wrecked City that Care Forgot.

Six months ago, they moved back and found a city transformed. Neighborhoods that were bleak and crime-ridden even before the 2005 flood now have coffee shops, art galleries, bookstores and restaurants with local, seasonal ingredients.

Read more via Star Telegram

New Orleans tops Michelle Obama's vacation wish list | USA Today

> 7/16/2012 05:48:00 AM

Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP

First lady Michelle Obama says she's got a couple of places she'd like to visit, when they get some free time. At the top of the first lady's list is New Orleans.

"I've been there several times, but I've never been to the French Quarter," Michelle Obama said. "When we're there, we're usually working. We go in some back way, some freight elevator."

Read more via usatoday.com

Drew Brees officially signs $100M deal with New Orleans Saints | Deseret News

> 7/16/2012 05:43:00 AM

Drew Brees poses as he signs his new contract with the Saints on Sunday. , July 15, 2012, in Metairie, La. The new agreement is a historic $100 million, five-year deal that gives him the highest average annual pay in NFL history. (AP Photo/New Orleans Saints, Alex Restrepo)

Read More via deseretnews.com

Louisiana: 200 Years of Statehood | LPB

> 7/16/2012 05:37:00 AM

On April 30, 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state in the Union. In conjunction with the statewide celebration of the 200th anniversary of Louisiana’s statehood, Louisiana Public Broadcasting worked with the Louisiana State Bicentennial Commission to produce a new one-hour documentary which looks back at the first 200 years of the state’s history.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting will premiere its Bicentennial documentary Louisiana: 200 Years of Statehood on Monday, August 13th on LPBHD. It will air on our sister station WLAE-TV32 in New Orleans on Tuesday, August 14th...

Read more via LPB.org

Mourners to wear white in tribute to Uncle Lionel Batiste‎ | WVUE-TV

> 7/13/2012 09:21:00 AM

Organizers of Friday's tribute to Treme Brass Band drummer Lionel Batiste urge those who attend to wear white.

"Uncle" Lionel Batiste (in derby hat) and "Papa" Don Vappie
(with banjo), playing at Cafe Brasil on Frenchmen Street
November 27, 2005. Photo by Infrogmation

Many of New Orleans best known musicians plan to gather for the musical tribute Friday at Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club at 7 p.m.

Gralen Banks says before his death, Uncle Lionel expressed the wish that mourners wear white for the occasion...

Read more via FOX 8 News

Man v. Food's Adam Richman visits New Orleans | bestofneworleans

> 7/13/2012 09:10:00 AM

Adam Richman visits
Gambit with his
Jim Beam Red Stag
food truck items.

On his new show, Best Sandwich in America, Adam Richman picked Domilise’s shrimp po-boy as the best sandwich from the Gulf Coast. Richman is in town today, promoting his own menu for Jim Beam’s Red Stag food truck, which will make two stops in town this weekend (without Richman). Richman sat down with Gambit to talk about po-boys, his TV shows and his upcoming book.

Read more via Gambit

Essence Fest draws 413000 to New Orleans‎ | Ventura County Star

> 7/13/2012 09:00:00 AM

The 2012 Essence Music Festival drew 413,000 people to New Orleans for the four-day event held over the Fourth of July weekend. That's less than the 422,000 who gathered for the 2011 festival. Last year the festival ran for three days...

Read more via Ventura County Star

Former New Orleans pastor sentenced to 10 years for stealing | Jackson Clarion Ledger

> 7/13/2012 08:56:00 AM

A former New Orleans pastor was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in federal prison for stealing nearly $1 million in disaster loan payments meant to rebuild his church after Hurricane Katrina.

Toris Young, 41, apologized for his "mistakes" and "bad choices" before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier handed down a sentence that was roughly twice that recommended under federal sentencing guidelines.

Read more via Jackson Clarion Ledger

When Drew Brees comes rolling in to the Saints, is he worth highest NFL contract ever? | Bayou Buzz

> 7/10/2012 09:04:00 AM

Bleacher Report asks whether Brees deserves a record contract citing the good Brees has done for the team and for post-Katrina city, yet says that he might have known about the bountygate a claim Brees denies. Bleacher report also asks whether the Saints will really get its money’s worth out of the quarterback once the season, without Payton, begins...

Read more via Bayou Buzz

Treme Season 3 Premiere Date Set | TV Blend

> 7/10/2012 09:00:00 AM

Treme is set for its third season. Treme’s executive producer David Simon has already spoken out to say Season 4 of the hit show will be the show’s last...

Read more via Cinema Blend