Ben Myers

3 days ago | nola.com | Lara Nicholson |Ben Myers

Water was rising on many streets in the New Orleans metro area Monday after several hours of heavy rain overtook local drainage systems, particularly on the West Bank.

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

Mayor LaToya Cantrell is moving to terminate IV Waste’s one-year emergency sanitation contract in the French Quarter and the Downtown Development District, setting up a showdown with French Quarter interests and City Council members who want the contract to remain in place. The termination will be effective July 30, allowing for the 90-day termination notice that the contract requires, according to a letter from Cantrell to IV Waste’s owner, Sidney Torres.

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

New Orleans icon Percy "Master P" Miller has blasted the New Orleans City Council for refusing to approve funding for the NOLA Walk of Fame project, days after the council said it had questions about the project's budget and nominees. Miller spoke to WVUE television on Wednesday, after a City Council committee was asked to approve $500,000 in Wisner Trust funding for the project. Committee members said there has been a lack of oversight and input, according to the station.

1 week ago | nola.com | Ben Myers |Sophie Kasakove

A new drainage fee, a ban on homeless encampments, and more gubernatorial say over flood protection are among the most contentious proposals affecting New Orleans in the spring legislative session that began Monday. Other bills impacting the city are a proposed hike on short-term rental taxes, an increase to the homestead exemption and a proposal to criminalize unsafe gun storage. Some measures are being pushed quietly by Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration, while Gov.

2 weeks ago | nola.com | Ben Myers

The ongoing controversy over New Orleans public school funding took new turns on Thursday, as the City Council sought to force Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration to pay an additional $10 million to the schools and imposed restrictions on the city’s practice of taking a cut of school taxes as a collection fee. The measures come as the Orleans Parish School Board’s six-year-old lawsuit against the Cantrell administration over collection fees grows increasingly bitter and nears trial.