Body Found in N.O. East May Be Young Carjacking Victim

Body found in eastern New Orleans may be missing carjacking victim, police say
By C.J. Lin
September 20, 2009, 3:33PM

The body of a shirtless male who police suspect is a missing carjacking victim was found at 17432 Chef Menteur Highway shortly after 2 p.m., according to New Orleans police. KEEP READING

New Orleans SAINTS Pull Off Win

New Orleans Saints put on offensive show in 45-27 rout of Detroit in opener
by Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune
Sunday September 13, 2009, 3:45 PM

Drew Brees threw for 358 yards and six touchdowns and running back Mike Bell had 143 yards on 28 carries and the New Orleans Saints have 515 total offensive yards and crushed the Detroit Lions 45-27 Sunday afternoon at the Superdome. KEEP READING

Business As Usual - In New Orleans, Louisiana

WWL-TV: HANO's voucher programs director on administrative leave amid allegations he's receiving Section 8 assistance
by The Times-Picayune
Thursday August 27, 2009, 7:28 AM

Dwayne Muhammad, the head of the Housing Authority of New Orleans' voucher programs, has been placed on administrative leave while the agency investigates whether he is using Section 8 vouchers to help pay rent on his Gentilly residence, according to an ">investigative report by WWL-TV reporter Lee Zurik. KEEP READING

What A Waste . . .

Below is an excerpt from The Blog of New Orleans and I must say, it is one of the most eloquent and accurate descriptions of Bill Jefferson.

FROM THE BLOG OF NEW ORLEANS: Bill Jefferson uttered his own epitaph as FBI agents raided his homes in New Orleans and Washington on Aug. 3, 2005. He slumped into a sofa after agents handed him a warrant that turned up the infamous $90,000 in marked bills in his freezer and sighed, “What a waste.”

Indeed. What a waste of talent and opportunity. Keep Reading

New Orleans - Night Out Against Crime

Residents across the metro New Orleans area will gather at block parties tonight to mark the 26th annual National Night Out Against Crime. Keep Reading

11 Jurors Seated In Miller Trial

by Paul Purpura, The Times-Picayune
Monday August 03, 2009, 10:50 PM

Jury selection resumes Tuesday in Corey "C-Murder" Miller's retrial, after attorneys tentatively selected 11 jurors during more than nine hours of questioning Monday that focused on whether pretrial publicity has left them unable to fairly assess the facts of the case.

Miller is charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 12, 2002, shooting death of Steve Thomas, 16, a fan of the rapper's who was shot in the heart during a fight in the now-closed Platinum Club in Harvey. If convicted of the charge, Miller, 38, will spend the rest of his life in prison. Keep Reading

A Question of Justice - Juvenile Justice Gone Awry

Our daughter forwarded us an editorial in The New York Times on juvenile justice in the United States "12 and in Prison" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/opinion/28tue1.html?scp=1&sq=12%20and%20in%20prison&st=cse) that notes that trying juveniles as adults is "terrible public policy." Children sentenced as adults are more likely to become repeat violent offenders and The New York Times calls for Congress to cause the States "to simply end these inhumane practices to be eligible for federal juvenile justice funds." The editorial could more simply advocate putting "justice" back into the nation's juvenile justice system.

This summer our daughter, a law student at New York University, interned in New Orleans helping represent children caught in the city's juvenile justice system. Some of the stories she tells are horrendous. Keep Reading

Bill Clinton Inducted Into Phi Beta Sigma

Black Fraternity Inducts Bill Clinton
By VOA News
11 July 2009


A historically African-American fraternity has inducted former U.S. president Bill Clinton as an honorary member.

Phi Beta Sigma, an organization of college students and professional men, welcomed the former president into its ranks at their 95th anniversary conclave in New Orleans, in the southern state of Louisiana. Keep Reading

7th Ward Robbery Captured By 'Crime Camera'

9:53 PM CDT on Monday, August 3, 2009
Hasan Aquil /WWL-TV Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS – Police hope video from a crime camera can identify the men who robbed two construction workers, and shot one of them.

It happened around noon Monday near Allen Street and North Rocheblave in the Seventh Ward. Keep Reading

Body Found Saturday In Abandoned Tavern In Algiers

Despite suspicions, no signs of violence

Monday, August 03, 2009
By Ramon Antonio Vargas
Staff writer

City officials now know a body found inside an abandoned tavern Saturday belonged to Travis Price, an Algiers man who disappeared July 28.

New Orleans Police Department investigators suspect foul play in the 26-year-old's death. However, a preliminary autopsy showed he wasn't a victim of violence, Orleans Parish coroner's Chief Investigator John Gagliano said Sunday, seemingly complicating an already puzzling set of circumstances. Keep Reading

Lifestyle of the Weird & Macabre - New Orleans Edition

Man gets life sentence for killing woman whose body he kept in a trunk
by Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Times-Picayune
Monday August 03, 2009, 9:35 AM

A man convicted of killing his girlfriend, whose body he kept in a trunk for three years, today was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison. Keep Reading

The News Never Stops Here . . .

N.Y. Times assigns full-time reporter to New Orleans

by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune
Monday August 03, 2009, 6:04 AM

Making good on a promise to keep a national focus on New Orleans' halting recovery, the New York Times has named a full-time correspondent who will be stationed in the city, staffing a post that had been vacant since April. Keep Reading

Just What New Orleanians Need . . .

With home values across the New Orleans area falling, one class of properties arguably has the worst prospects of all: flooded, gutted and unrepaired properties sitting on the market.

Damaged homes are losing value faster than repaired homes in many areas, with little prospect of turning around. And across Orleans Parish in particular, damaged homes are languishing on the market.

(Read the remainder of the story on the Times-Picayune HERE.)