The city of New Orleans is seeking to suspend the programming, design and construction of a new Phase III of the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office (OPSO) jail facility, with city officials announcing today that it has requested a modification of prior court orders in order halt jail expansion plans indefinitely....
Jason Williams Says He Will Not Back Down from DAs Race
Timing of indictment questioned In a direct message via e-mail to his supporters, New Orleans at-Large City Councilman Jason Williams doubled down on his plans to challenge incumbent DA Leon Cannizzaro for the seat. "We must not be intimidated nor deterred," Williams said in his statement. "I am even more...
COVID Cases Continue Climb
With the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans both paused at Phase 2 of reopening, Louisiana is reporting 845 new cases of COVID from the previous day's case count and more than 12,260 new cases than reported exactly one week ago, when Gov. John Bel Edwards announced...
President Trump Tweets Out White Power Message, Black Republican Senator Tim Scott Is Dismayed
By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor In yet another social media moment invoking race in America, President Donald Trump retweeted a video of a supporter heard yelling, “White power!” The tweet displayed a video of a parade of supporters of the President riding golf carts through a retirement community...
Former Miami Cop Who Placed Knee on Black Woman’s Neck Booked for Misconduct
By N. Ali EarlyNNPA Newswire Another incident of police brutality against an African American has surfaced. According to the Miami Herald, Safiya Satchell was sitting in her Mercedes SUV when she was approached by an off duty police officer who was working as security for a strip club in the immediate proximity of the incident,...
Gayle Benson is Just Whistlin’ Dixie
Last week, Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson announced that she would be changing the name of Dixie Brewing Company because the word “dixie” refers to any number of things that harken back to our nation’s racist history. That is true. Dixieland refers to the southern states of the US,...
City Council Supports New Public Database on Police Misconduct
The New Orleans City Council adopted a resolution in support of the creation of a public-facing database by the Independent Police Monitor (IPM) to increase community engagement, ensure timely data collection and provide heightened transparency of local law enforcement encounters to create additional accountability. Currently, after five years, officer disciplinary...
City Council Creates Committee to Examine Street Renaming
At its June 18 meeting, the New Orleans City Council passed a motion establishing the City Council Street Renaming Commission, an advisory committee that will take the lead in a public engagement process to consider renaming certain streets, parks and public places in New Orleans that honor white supremacists. The Commission...
New Orleans Health Department Investigates Apparent Clusters of COVID-19 Cases
The New Orleans Health Department and the Louisiana Department of Health announced today that the agencies are investigating apparent clusters of cases of COVID-19 in Orleans Parish. The two separate clusters are related to a New Orleans high school graduation party and a large, non-physically distant gathering at a bar...
Congress Moves George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Forward
“We call it the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and I call it historic because this is the first time in many years that Congress has taken up a bill dealing with policing and I’m sure it is the first time that Congress has introduced such a bold transformative...