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Councilmembers, public grill power officials on Memorial Day weekend blackouts

2 days ago | veritenews.org | Katie Jane Fernelius

Longstanding deficiencies in the region’s transmission system caused a forced blackout that left more than 100,000 southeast Louisiana households and businesses without lights or air conditioning during a sweltering Memorial Day weekend, officials told members of the New Orleans City Council during a Tuesday (June 3) council committee meeting.
Proposed law would require Sheriff’s Office to use city accounting software

1 week ago | veritenews.org | Katie Jane Fernelius

The New Orleans City Council introduced an ordinance Wednesday (May 28) that would require local criminal justice agencies — from the Municipal and Traffic Court to the Coroner’s Office — to use the city’s accounting and contracting software when spending city funds. But the ordinance is aimed, in particular, at Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson. More than 70% of the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s $91 million budget comes from direct city appropriations.
Lawsuit alleges Louisiana law undermines community air monitoring

2 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Halle Parker

Six Louisiana environmental and community groups are asking a federal court to bar the state from enforcing a law that makes it harder for residents in industrial areas to share data collected from their own air monitoring of petrochemical facilities. The state law went into effect just under a year ago with the support of the petrochemical industry, whose facilities are excluded from the law.
New Orleans activists trek to Jena to protest Mahmoud Khalil's detention

2 weeks ago | veritenews.org | John Gray

A group of protesters headed from New Orleans to the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Jena, La. on Thursday (May 22) to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia University student and pro-Palestine activist who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in March and has since been held in detention. Khalil was in immigration court Thursday for a hearing on a motion from his attorneys to terminate his deportation proceedings and release him.
Club Desire brought Ray Charles, Count Basie to the 9th Ward

3 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Michelle Liu

The bright lights shone over a 9th Ward nightclub in the late 1940s and 1950s. Finely dressed people came to hear great music, see great entertainers and dine on great food. Everyone agreed that Club Desire was the place to be.
Recently demolished Clabon Theatre once separated Black and white patrons with picket fences

3 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Michelle Liu

A theater on the corner of North Claiborne and Ursulines avenues went through a number of transformations and owners before meeting its demise in 2024. Harlequin, an “airdome” (open-air) theater, opened in 1913. Owned by brothers Rene and Paul Brunet, it was the first theater to have an electrical seating system. Black and white patrons were separated by picket fences. In 1918-19, the theater was enclosed and a balcony was added for Black patrons.
Pope with Creole ties could usher in era of transparency for Catholics

3 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Michelle Liu

On May 8, the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, as the first pontiff from the USA was a shock to the faithful. Contemporary wisdom was that an American could not be elected, because of the military, economic, and political power of the U.S. The theory was that since so much power is concentrated in the U.S., it would destabilize the world order by putting such a powerful global office in the hands of an American.
Facing rising flood risk, New Orleans considers new fees to tackle drainage woes

3 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Tristan Baurick

New Orleans residents may be ready for a new utility fee if it means they won’t have to sandbag their doors or race their cars to higher ground quite so often. A new survey commissioned by a New Orleans nonprofit group found that 53% of residents would support a stormwater fee aimed at improving the city’s often overwhelmed flood protection and drainage systems.
Council passes law to protect sex workers from local arrests

4 weeks ago | veritenews.org | Safura Syed

The New Orleans City Council approved an ordinance on Thursday (May 8) that will protect sex workers from arrest and prosecution for prostitution when they have reported crimes committed against them while working. All six members present at the council meeting voted in favor of the proposed ordinance. District C Representative Freddie King wasn’t present, but voted to recommend passage during a council committee hearing last week.
The Gem Theatre: where Black New Orleans went for entertainment

1 month ago | veritenews.org | Michelle Liu

When going to a movie in New Orleans before the early 1950s, Black families had to enter through the back door and sit in balconies, separated from white patrons. Then theaters, such as the Gem, opened for Black audiences. In 1951, “movies, music, singing, comedy and other performances (at the Gem) were attended by mostly African-American audiences,” the Preservation Resource Center states.