Best Of New Orleans Blog

I wasn’t getting along with Keith Moore in the months before he was shot Uptown, so it’s strange that I would be dubbed his official biographer in the afterlife. But I had helped him put on his Noizefest the year before, had written many articles about his strange but important endeavors, and in the process Keith made sure that I knew enough (more than enough) to talk about him when he was gone — he did this to me on purpose. So when this dude Charles Anderson, who founded United for Peace in New Orleans came to me wanting to know who Keith was and why he was important, I told him everything Keith would have wanted me to (along with some opinions Keith would have fought me on, but I made sure to let Charles know Keith wouldn’t have agreed, and why). (more…)

Four leading “good government” groups have come out, almost simultaneously, urging lawmakers to put the brakes on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s proposal to strip the Louisiana Ethics Commission of its adjudicatory authority.

House Bill 41, as initially proposed by the Jindal Administration, would take away the Ethics Board’s authority to hear and decide cases brought by its staff. Instead, if Jindal has his way, the board would merely become an investigative body, and administrative law judges — who are appointed by the executive branch — would hear the cases, decide if any violations occurred, and determine what penalties, if any, to impose. This is a major change in policy and law. (more…)