Archive for the ‘General’ Category
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The 2010 citywide elections brought a major paradigm shift in local politics as voters ignored racial appeals and voted for experience and competence — most of the time. Some political newbies (like mayoral candidate James Perry) fell short, while others (like Susan Guidry and Kristin Palmer) won big. My usual list of “winnas” and “loozas” thus is supplemented by several “splits.” Here goes:
DA WINNAS
1. New Orleanians — The Feb. 6 primary saw major crossover vote — both ways — in the victories of Mitch Landrieu (the first New Orleans mayor to win a majority among blacks as well as whites); council candidates Arnie Fielkow, Stacy Head and Kristin Palmer; judicial candidates Tracey Flemings Davillier and Paula Brown; Sheriff Marlin Gusman; Criminal Court Clerk Arthur Morrell; and Assessor Erroll Williams — all of whom had opponents of another race.
2. Democrats and the ALF-CIO — Every office on the ballot this year was captured by a Democrat, and the AFL-CIO, long a source of Democratic support, backed individual winners in many races.
3. BOLD — The Central City black political organization saw Karen Carter Peterson win a Senate seat once held by the group’s archenemy Bill Jefferson. Carter Peterson went on to play a big role in helping Susan Guidry beat Jay Batt in the hotly contested District A race for City Council. BOLD also crossed racial lines to back Stacey Head in the council District B race.
DA LOOZAS
1. Ray Nagin — He went on black radio asking African-Americans to vote along racial lines, which is how he won re-election in 2006. Not only did black voters overwhelmingly reject his race-based appeal, the results of Feb. 6 also repudiated Nagin himself. Maybe that’s why he so determined to leave the city bankrupt now: After years of taking petty shots at other politicians, he now wants to take revenge on all New Orleanians.
Read the rest of this entry »
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KEEP-N-IT REAL SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUB 6TH ANNUAL PARADE
SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2010 – 1-5PM
Start: 2901 Conti. Out N. Dupre to Bienville. Left on Bienville to N. Broad. Left on N. Broad to Lapeyrous. Back to N. Broad.
Stop: 1551 N. Broad, Avenue Barber Shop. U-Turn on N. Broad to St. Bernard Ave. Right on St. Bernard to N. Galvez. Left on N. Galvez to Aubrey St.
Stop: Seal’s Class Act (Dumaine Gang S&P). Down St. Bernard to Marais St.
Stop: Justina’s Next Stop. Down St. Bernard to N. Rampart. Right on N. Rampart to Esplanade Ave. Right on Esplanade to N. Claiborne. Left on N. Claiborne to Dumaine St.
Stop: (Revolution S&P). Proceed down N. Claiborne to Bienville. Right on Bienville to N. Dupre. Right on N. Dupre to Conti.
Disband: 2901 Conti Street – Home of Keep-N-It-Real S&P
Queen: Rose Madison Franklin
President: Perry “Icebird” Franklin
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With the help of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Google Maps now offers biking directions on its maps. The mapping and directions functions follow the same process one would enter for walking or driving — but now users can choose biking from the drop-down menu and get the best or suggested routes.
The directions feature provides step-by-step, bike-specific routing suggestions — similar to the directions provided by our driving, walking, or public transit modes. Simply enter a start point and destination and select “Bicycling” from the drop-down menu. You will receive a route that is optimized for cycling, taking advantage of bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly streets and avoiding hilly terrain whenever possible. Just like Google pioneered with driving directions, you can click-and-drag your route to customize it as you’d like. You can also access the other features in Google Maps, such as Street View, so you can tell exactly where you might need to turn on your route or preview how wide a bike lane is, and Local Search, so you know where you can take a water break or where the bike shops are along your route. Biking directions provides time estimates for routes based on an algorithm that takes into account the length of the route, the number of hills, fatigue over time, and other variables.
The new bicycling layer for Google Maps, accessible via the “More…” drop down menu at the top of the map, will display an overlay of the various bike-friendly roads and trails around town. The layer is color-coded to show three different types of paths:
- Dark green indicates a trail;
- Light green indicates a dedicated bike lane along a road;
- Dotted green indicates roads without bike lanes but are more appropriate for biking, based on factors such as terrain, traffic, and intersections.
The RTC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit working to transform abandoned rail lines into community-accessible biking and walking trails, has offered Google use of its 1,600 rail-trails, with information for more than 12,000 miles of trails. The group visited New Orleans last month to workshop the Lafitte Greenway, a three-mile linear greenspace linking Treme to Lakeview.
The only color-coded layers available to the New Orleans maps are the established trails in Audubon Park and along the River Road levee. You can, however, still get a pretty decent suggested route. For example, here’s the suggested route from Gambit to the French Quarter.
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Americans loathe Congress, but they still like President Barack Obama according to a recent Associated Press poll. A mere 22 percent support Congress while public approval for Obama’s job performance checks in at 53 percent even though Karl Rove casts the president as “undisciplined.”
The poll also reveals that party affiliation doesn’t inspire confidence — 50 percent of those surveyed would give a pink slip to their congressperson. As the midterm elections approach, public perception obviously matters and pols, but not polls (there’ll be plenty more), will struggle to prove their worth.
And it raises the question, what do you think of your own representative? Will you vote for them, choose someone else, or does it matter what you think, change is going to come?
*photo by Cheryl Gerber
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Screenshot taken from this Craigslist Ad
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In this economy, the desperate search for jobs can lead people pretty much to do anything. More and more, recent college graduates are seeing the job market get smaller and smaller and are more likely than not working in the service industry or some other field that’s not related to their major and making far less money than they would have say, ten years ago.
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The problems are many and diverse, so much so that, in such a troubled economy, people have found a way to make money off of all those unemployed kids sitting on their parents’ couch. The whole idea of spending six figures on a tuition when you’d be incurring that debt for years to come has to weigh on the minds of many a college student (even the wealthy ones), and fill them with (at worst) crippling anxiety and (at best) the desperate urge to succeed where so many others have failed.
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Or as a student at Tulane or Loyola, you could circumvent your education and just put an ad on Craigslist offering $200 for a 30 page accounting term paper (not including sources) and completely lose the sympathy of any and all people (including fellow students) working hard to pay off debts or string enough freelance part-time jobs together to pay the rent. (Context: One could make more writing a 1,000-word feature story than doing this).
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VIP LADIES & KIDS SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUB 7TH ANNUAL PARADE SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2010 – 12:00 P.M.
Start: Dorothy’s Lounge, 1528 S. Liberty. Proceed out S. Liberty to Felicity St. Turn left on Felicity St. Out Felicity St. to Simon Bolivar Blvd. Turn right on Simon Bolivar Blvd. Out Simon Bolivar to Jackson Ave. Turn left on Jackson. Proceed out Jackson Ave. to Baronne St. Turn right on Baronne St. Continue out Baronne to Second St. Right turn on Second St. Out Second St. to Dryades St.
Stop: Sportsman Corner, 2433 Dryades St. Out Dryades St. to Danneel St. Turn left on Danneel St. Out Danneel St. to Washington Ave. Turn right on Washington Ave. Out Washington Ave. to S. Saratoga.
Stop: Purple Rain. Continue out Washington Ave. to Loyola. Turn left on Loyola to Foucher St. Left turn on Foucher St. Out Foucher St. to S. Saratoga.
Stop: The Other Place. Turn left on S. Saratoga. Out S. Saratoga to Louisiana Ave. Turn left on Louisiana Ave. Continue out Louisiana Ave. to Feret St. Make a left turn on Feret St. Continue out Feret St. to General Taylor St. Turn right on Gen. Taylor. Continue out Gen Taylor to Magnolia St.
Stop: Silky’s Lounge. Continue out Gen. Taylor to S. Claiborne Ave. Turn right on S. Claiborne Ave. Continue out S. Claiborne Ave. to Washington Ave. Make a left turn onto Washington Ave. Continue out Washington Ave. to S. Rocheblave.
Stop: Tapps II/Foxx Lounge. Continue out Washington Ave.
Disband: Stanley U, 4300 Washington Ave.
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We knew it was coming.
As part of the New Orleans 2010 budget, the city is extending the days for parking meter use as well as increasing the hourly rate for meters. According to a press release from the Mayor’s Office, signs outlining the changes will be posted beginning on March 6, parking enforcement will start issuing warning citations on March 18 and the additional hours and rates will go into effect on March 27.
In case you can’t wait, or you don’t plan on running out to read a sign on March 6, here are the new rules:
*Parking meters will be enforced on Mondays - Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (up from the previous Monday-Friday requirement)
*For the two-hour-maximum meters, the rate is $1.50/hour (up from $1.25/hour)
*For long-term meters, the rate is $1.00/hour (up from $0.75/hour)
Maybe this belongs in Questionland, but will these extended hours and increased rates deter you from traveling in the city on the weekends? Metering minds want to know.
Photo credit below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65172294@N00/3402406458/
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