Levees.org fighting for flood protection and to hold industry accountable for erosion: Sandy Rosenthal

Suit filed to block fracking as drillers seek permit in St. Tammany ~Faimon A Roberts III

Jindal Kochsucker on East bank levee authority pushes to consider dismissing its environmental lawsuit against energy companies ~Mark Schleifstein

What Will Come Of New Orleans' Empty, Damaged School Buildings? ~Eve Troeh, WWNO

Bayou Boogaloo goes on the road to spread N.O. culture ~WWLTV 

Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe talks about the musical traditions of New Orleans ~Angelle Barbazon, The Elkhart Truth

Helis seeks approval today for north shore fracking site ~WVUE

Attorney General Buddy Caldwell should intervene in coastal damages lawsuit ~Oliver Houck

Judge Sets May 2015 Date for BP Investors’ Suit Over Oil Spill ~Nate Raymond, Insurance Journal ~Hat Tweet @stuartsmithlaw

Arbitrator to decide Jimmy Graham’s grievance with Saints ~Ramon Antonio Vargas, New Orleans Advocate 

Report ranks La. second to last in compensating crime victims ~WWLTV

The sign painters of New Orleans ~Alex Woodward, Gambit 

NOLA History: Voodoo and St. John’s Eve ~Edward Branley, GONOLA

Good Eggs Summer Solstice Celebration!

Analysis: 'Big oil' lawsuit issues linger ~Kevin McGill, AP via SFGate

Despite low coal use, La. must reduce CO2 by 40% ~Amy Wold, The Advocate

Felon alleges legal retribution after gold business shakedown with St. Tammany DA ends ~WWLTV

Placenta…it’s what’s for dinner ~New Orleans Moms Blog!

Tango dancers take hold of New Orleans with return of festival ~Jaclyn Kelly

Analysis: In minicamp, Saints were clicking on offense and defense ~Ramon Antonio Vargas, New Orleans Advocate

I began to broach the issue with my father of my last wishes etc.
It took a second, since Pop was still under the impression that "this can't be happening in America".. that people wearing a uniform meant something and I just needed to go find them and get out of there.. that our country, his country.. well whateva...
About that moment a NOPD car drove by full of BlackWater Mercenaries, all the windows gone with their little rifles sticking out, ball caps on jar heads... I really remember the tiny sunglasses when they looked Directly At Me.
"No, Pop. America doesn't DO uniforms any longer," I said.

BEATnik Streams Into NOLA's Consciousness ~Anna Caca, NOLA DEFENDER

Mayor Landrieu passes buck: Up to Jindal to hold energy companies accountable for wetlands damage ~Jeff Adelson, The Advocate

How Bobby Jindal’s Con-Profit and David Vitter’s Super PAC Undermine Democracy ~CenLamar

Jindal budget relies on nearly $1B in piecemeal funding

WWNO Announces New Coastal Reporting Team

Feds renew tariff on frozen Chinese crawfish ~WDSU

New Orleans Convention Center proposes ambitious 47-acre development ~WWLTV 

New Orleans Bounce Battle Heats Up On Social Media ~Darian Trotter, WGNO

What's next for the Charity Hospital building? ~WVUE

March from Grand Ilse to Baton Rouge June 21st, rally at Governor's Mansion June 28th

Cityscapes: Richard Campanella on New Orleans' Second-Largest Flood

Business And Political Leaders Gather For Flood Insurance Meeting ~WWNO

Canal Street ferry to operate for longer hours ~Jeff Adelson, New Orleans Advocate

Business leaders, railroad industry hope to reroute train traffic on west bank ~WDSU

LA- US bishops hear controversial speaker in New Orleans ~SNAP

New GSI Executive Director Margaret Henderson, An Influential Voice For The Gulf ~Ed Lallo

Video of guide feeding gators sparks crackdown ~WWLTV 

Six Sultry Burlesque Beauties of New Orleans ~GoNOLA

Check Out Deep South Studios' $63.5M Plan For Algiers Site ~Curbed

America’s Fracking Boom Spreads ~Tom Ashbrook, On Point NPR 

 Fracking to be topic of North Shore forum Friday

Braithwaite levee sits unfinished with hurricane season underway ~Mike Perlstein, WWLTV

Legislative resolution tells Corps to find mitigation land elsewhere ~Jacob Batte, Houma Courier~State legislators unanimously passed a NIMPY (Not In My Parish Y'all) resolution last month that urges the Corps of Engineers to find property outside of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes to compensate for hurricane protection in Orleans Parish. 

Man making good time in historic Lake Pontchartrain swim ~WVUE

Check Out Deep South Studios' $63.5M Plan For Algiers Site ~Curbed

For Buckwheat Zydeco, it’s all about respecting the roots ~John Wirt, New Orleans Advocate

NO WAY!!! Louisiana ranks # 2 among states with history of political corruption; South dominates ~Forbes~Hat Tweet @TheLensNOLA

Cadet's waiting game may be coming to end with New Orleans Saints ~Glenn Guilbeau, The Town Talk

Gulf state, not Louisiana, blocking approval of $627 million in BP oil spill restoration work ~Mark Schleifstein

Inaction feeds crisis over Mississippi River, environmentalists say ~Greg Gordon

Obama signs $12.3 billion water projects bill ~Gregory Roberts, The Advocate

University of New Orleans gets grant to enhance turtle excluder devices ~AP, via Daily Journal

New Orleans area banks move to more automation ~Don Ames, WWL

Bruno: Charter School Critics Get Part of Their Wish in New Orleans ~Scholastic

Culture as a Form of Control: All Hail New Orleans’ Go-Cup ~Lisa Wade, Pacific Standard

Shamarr Allen and the Underdawgs, "Typical Rock Star" ~WWOZ

Mississippi reporter fired for remarks about Lafayette ~Megan Wyatt via WWLTV

Defensive line colleagues praise Brodrick Bunkley for unselfishly taking pay cut this offseason ~Ramon Antonio Vargas

Board hits reset button on N.O. airport contract ~Jeff Adelson, New Orleans Advocate

Supreme Court: BP must pay claims during appeal~Janet McConnauhey, AP via Fresno Bee

Chevron goes big in deepwater Gulf of Mexico ~Brian O'Keefe, Forbes

This week in New Orleans music: Free beer and a zydeco weekend ~Leah D. Nelson, AXS

The Single Question That Could Destroy Bobby Jindal’s Political Future ~CenLamar
~With the stroke of the pen, Governor Bobby Jindal likely saved the oil and gas industry billions of dollars in damages for which they otherwise would have been legally responsible, damages that are legitimately owed to hundreds, if not thousands, of hardworking families, businesses, and coastal communities who were devastated by and continue to suffer from the lingering effects of the worst environmental disaster in American history. Governor Jindal may claim this was about ending “frivolous lawsuits” and creating a “more fair and predictable legal environment,” but unfortunately for him, the geniuses on his communications team allowed Don Briggs, the President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, to tell it like it is, “a huge victory for the oil and gas industry.” To be sure, that may actually be an understatement.
This wasn’t about ending frivolous lawsuits or better ensuring a fair and predictable legal environment; it was about rigging the law in favor of the biggest, wealthiest, and most powerful industry in Louisiana (and arguably, the world).

Who will lead the New Orleans Saints in receptions this season?~H/T Black and Gold

New airport terminal discussion continues after protest ~Casey Ferrand, WDSU

Design, Construction of $615M PCCP Canal Closures Project Moves Forward ~Brenda Roggiero, Construction Engineering Guide

Rush Masonry Delivers High-Performance Exterior for Loyola University New Orleans Renovation of Monroe Hall ~Digital Journal

New Orleans librarian wins $3,000 prize ~AP via WVUE

New Orleans restaurant boom creates lack of skilled staffers ~Don Ames, WWL

Tab Benoit, "Medicine" ~WWOZ

Saints' Vaccaro doesn't plan to tone down his style of play ~Bret Martel, WWLTV

James Gill: Time has come for settlement on coast damage ~New Orleans Advocate

Quin Hillyer: On new terminal, questions must be aired

Lawyers: BP claims at risk if Jindal signs levee lawsuit bill ~Richard Thompson

St. Tammany leaders approve court fight against fracking ~Ashley Rodrigue, WWLTV

Sheriff Gusman eyes plan to move mentally ill inmates to St. Gabriel, nearly 50 miles away ~Jim Mustian, New Orleans Advocate

2014 hurricane season message: Despite upgraded levees, don't let your guard down ~Mark Schleifstein

DEQ sends hurricane resource manual to parishes ~AP

AG recommends veto for levee board lawsuits bill ~New Orleans Advocate
~ Caldwell wrote Jindal that the bill’s wording carries “the potential for an unintended effect on the state’s, or a local governmental entity’s, claims against BP related to the Deepwater Horizon incident.” But Jindal’s top legal adviser disagreed, saying the views expressed during a Wednesday morning meeting were “the same as those offered by the opponents of the bill.” Thomas L. Enright Jr., the governor’s executive counsel, wrote Caldwell on Wednesday, “I must respectfully disagree that the proper course of action is to veto the bill.”

~Letter contradicting Thomas Enright, Governorcist Jindal’s executive counsel, from Robert R.M. Verchick Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law, Loyola College of Law

Dear Mr. Enright,

I have obtained a copy of your letter of June 4, 2014, addressed to Attorney General James D. Caldwell, which you furnished to the media. While I understand your position, I find your reasoning unpersuasive and, in some cases, based on inaccurate facts.

First, you write that the reasons set forth by the Attorney General for vetoing SB469 lack “specificity” as to the bill’s “unintended consequences.” To that end, I direct your attention to the legal analysis provided by my colleagues and me and encourage you to review our memorandum. That document —seven pages long and signed by more than 20 legal professors and scholars from the most prestigious law schools across the country, including our very own Loyola, Tulane and LSU law schools—reports in stark and detailed language the many ways that SB469 threatens billions of dollars worth of claims related to the BP oil spill. I’m frankly baffled at how such consequences could go ignored in the Governor’s rush to sign this bill into law. For that reason, I include a copy of our full analysis for you to review. In addition to the reasons outlined in that document, we are now also concerned, as you no doubt know, that NOAA has expressed serious questions about SB469, which could result in the loss of federal funding to protect our coast. Federal approval of the bill was never obtained as is required by federal law or even sought as of yesterday, June 3, 2014. In addition, the weakening of parish authority to protect their coastlines could lead NOAA to rescind the state’s coastal management program, depriving the state of needed federal revenue.

Second, you say, “this piece of legislation was fully debated, was the subject of intense mediacoverage throughout the session and now represents the Louisiana Legislature’s intent.” But SB469 was not fully debated. As you know, in the legislative process, discussion by the public can only take place in committee hearings. The bill was first assigned to Senate Committee Judiciary A, where it was clear the bill would have failed. When the author of the bill learned of its obvious fate, the bill was hastily moved, rewritten, and then heard in Senate Natural Resources Committee less than 18 hours later. There was next to no public notice, and debate on the bill was thus cut short. Furthermore, when the bill moved to the House of Representatives, it was assigned to the House Natural Resources Committee, instead of the Civil Law Committee where legislators skilled and experienced in the issues presented by SB469 could have addressed same. Worse, Representative Gordon Dove, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee cut off debate.

Regardless, and contrary to the suggestion, neither legislative debate – nor media coverage – can substitute for thorough legal analysis by experts in the field. SB469 has been subject to just such an analysis, and under that analysis SB469 fails. As our analysis shows, SB469 fails to protect the local governments whose concerns your letter concedes are at issue and puts at risk billions of dollars of local government claims against BP. And, here, it should be noted that BP heavily lobbied for the passage of SB469 – a fact strongly suggesting that the now known consequences of SB469 were not unintended at all. The bill may even fail to achieve its original goal— termination of the SLFPAE’s lawsuit. The bill says it applies only to "local government entities," a term with a specific legal meaning that does not include regional flood protection authorities or the levee districts that make up SLFPAE. And, in the one place SB469 does mention regional flood protection authorities, the bill fails to include levee districts. The
SLFPAE lawsuit is filed on behalf of the East Jefferson Levee District, the Orleans Levee District, and the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District as entities distinct from SLFPAE itself. So those levee districts' claims in the SLFPAE lawsuit could well remain untouched. In sum, SB469 fails in every regard.

Sincerely,

Robert R.M. Verchick
Gauthier-St. Martin Eminent Scholar Chair in Environmental Law
Loyola College of Law 
 
New Orleans City Council asks Gov. Jindal to veto levee board lawsuit bill ~Richard Rainey

Right and left partnered in fight to reduce incarceration, but sheriffs killed most bills ~Tyler Bridges, The Lens

Lower 9th Ward revitalization plan to go before voters ~Marsha Schuler, New Orleans Advocate

Third District police officers encouraged to make more bicycle stops ~Della Hassell, Midtown Messenger

Update: Lafourche Parish declares state of emergency after levee breach ~WDSU

More details on Jindal’s “Duck Dynasty” appearance ~The Advocate

Murky outlook on oyster beds this year means high prices ~Meg Farris, WWLTV 

French Market’s Annual Creole Tomato Festival, 2014 ~WWOZ

Gov. Jindal delays signing law against levee lawsuit ~New Orleans Advocate

Plan to create special taxing district in New Orleans dies on last day in Legislature ~Tyler Bridges, The Lens

Jindal department rampant with fraud and corruption ~C.B. Forgotston

New Orleans USCG prepares for hurricane season ~WVUE

Ascension Parish residents upset at response to ‘perfect storm’ floods ~The Advocate

Portable generators demand safety during the hurricane season ~WWL

Impact of signing retroactive anti-levee authority lawsuit bill questioned ~ WWLTV

Louisiana's regulation and inspection of oil and gas wells, including 'orphaned' wells, is inadequate, Legislative Auditor finds ~Mark Schleifstein

Anti-fracking fight in Texas draws St. Tammany interest ~Faimon A. Roberts III

St. Bernard gets oyster reef to help protect shoreline ~Amy Wold, The Advocate

What To Do With Bayou Bienvenue?: Amanda Moore ~WWNO

LSU researchers study storm surge data with hopes of minimizing hurricane damage ~David Lippman

The View from Inside the Eye ~National Hurricane Center Blog

New Orleans nearing a ‘privatized’ public school system ~Kari Dequine Harden, Louisiana Weekly

Businesses grow as Hollywood embraces Louisiana ~Stacie Plaisance, AP via WVUE

Hurricane season begins; eight years without a major storm ~Amy Wold, The Advocate

Anti-Levee Board bill SB 469 could have disastrous impact on local governments with pending BP spill claims ~Louisiana Voice

Court monitor says Gusman is behind schedule on jail reforms ~Charles Maldonado, The Lens

Acme World Oyster Eating Championship