HumidCity

Violence. It surrounds us these days more than ever. From the vicious slayings of the city streets to the consistent array of rapes and hazings at Tulane University we are suffering a deluge of it. Both the city and the University desperately need enforcement. This is an issue with pre storm roots.

Along with the violence comes the pungent aroma of fear. I know I am subject to it.

City streets seem darker and more threatening than ever and small movements caught in the eye’s corner make you jump almost out of your skin. Everyone has those moments whether they admit it out loud or not. Its part of life in the city, especially these days.

So how far do we allow fear to propel us? Where do we find the line between making ourselves safe from extraordinary circumstances and sacrificing our liberty for perceived safety? Ben Franklin once said that those who abandon liberty for safety deserve neither. But how to stay firm in that resolve when you have a family?

Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans and the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association want us to sign their petition to keep the National Guard in NOLA. With my office located in the Bywater and a lovely wife at home Uptown I find myself supporting that aim. At the same time I cringe at the thought of endorsing the concept of armed troops on American soil, especially ours.

In the French Quarter a new initiative has begun - cameras in every window. QuarterSafe is something I only just discovered when they sent me an email about an hour ago. Its a movement to have people hook up cameras to their computers watching the streets of the Vieux Carre. “Orwellian,” was my first thought. “Could it work?” was my second. After reading in the Times-Picayune that violent crime is up 20% and rape is up 85% I find I am not not as secure in my ideals as I would like to be. Perhaps the 20+ funerals I have been party to since the levee failure has something to do with it as well.

I am merely ruminating here. I have no magic solution, no wave of a Harry Potter wand to dispel the complexity of what faces us. I just know this:

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

We must face our fears and determine our proper course. In the final analysis it is a dialectic between each individual and their own conscience.

So, how do YOU feel about the New Orleans Brand ™?

Loki, HumidCity Founder

[EDIT: And then Karen G. points me at this as a coda.]

Lets start with a recap:

A former janitor for the city of New Orleans was first arrested Oct. 9, 2006, just three days after a small fortune in cocaine, cash and ammunition — all evidence collected for criminal cases pending trial — was found missing from Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

The burglary victim was the Orleans Parish district attorney’s office, which houses its juvenile division at the Loyola Avenue courthouse.

Craig Alton “Poncho” Thompson, 43, confessed to everything: the burglary, the rifling through evidence packets and the theft of cash, weapons, drugs and critical documents related to pending cases.

Of course this was during the reign of that racist incompetent Eddie Jordan. That never bodes well in a story about crime. So here we are, 18 months later, and Jordan’s successor is finally doing something. A handoff.

Eighteen months after Thompson owned up to the burglary and led police to his FEMA trailer Uptown — where evidence, including drugs, was recovered — the DA’s office moved on the case by punting it to the attorney general on April 8. Within 16 days, assistant attorney general’s office secured an indictment from a grand jury and ensured that an arrest warrant was issued, once again, for Thompson, who had been at large since October 2006.

Oh goody! So he has been out wandering the streets along with all the 701 releases. At least he’s not a killer (I hope).

There are two major concerns that are tearing away at the fabric of our society right now: lack of enforcement and lack of justice. When the police are doing their jobs (instead of breaking up Second Lines) the DA’s office drops the ball. Who the hell are these people, The Saints? All too often the arrests and “enforcement” seem to be limited. Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, Second Line Funerals, and Mardi Gras Indians on Super Sunday getting harassed while the janitor helps himself to some complimentary cocaine?

-Loki, Founder HumidCity

So I get home after a week on assignment in Vegas and about an hour after I walk in the door I hear these bursts of gunfire, automatic or semi automatic not sure which. Despite living in New Orleans I then second guessed myself, “could it have been several strings of firecrackers?” Even as I thought that I was pulling out the cell phone and calling the neighborhood patrol.

WWL TV settled the gunshots or firecrackers question, sadly my initial impulse was correct:

A man shot to death in a hail of bullets near the Irish Channel Thursday had recently testified in the trial of a man accused of killing Hot 8 Brass Band member Dinerral Shavers and was in the car when Shavers was killed, according to sources.

Sources said Thursday’s victim, 20-year-old Guy McEwan, was a friend of Shavers’ stepson. He testified in last week’s trial of David Bonds, who was accused of killing Shavers. Bonds was acquitted by a jury. The victim did not identify Bonds in testimony.

The shooting occurred near the corner of Peniston and Laurel around 5 p.m.

At least 22 shell casing markers littered the street, while witnesses said they heard at least 40 shots. Spent shell casings sat on the porch of a house nearby.

Ken Foster has been following the trial and offers sobering commentary as he reports the details that would be shocking if living in the Nagin/Blanco/Bush years had not left us cynical and jaded.

Guy was in the car when Dinerral Shavers was killed. He was a friend of Dinerral’s step son. He testified at the trial, but couldn’t identify the shooter, because the shots came from behind his head. But he did testify to the location and other details that built the case. When he was called as a witness, William Boggs, the Public Defender, made a big noisy announcement that Guy had recently been picked up on a drug charge. He also announced that if Guy testified, the Public Defender’s Office would not represent him on his drug charge. It was one of many bizarre moments in the trial. The idea, on one level, was that if the PD was representing a witness in the trial, it might be a conflict of interest. But the way in which Boggs voiced this, it sounded more like an offer or a threat, ie. “If you don’t testify, we WILL defend you.”

Charming. Another example of the justice system in New Orleans operating at peak efficiency. Not to mention the sheer joy of actually hearing a gangland hit from the middle of my living room. Despite the efforts of the citizen uprising called Silence Is Violence, the mass of people converging upon city hall that (just like our mayor) accomplished nothing in the long run.

Murder in my neighborhood. Murderers walking out of court scott free. Just another day in New Orleans, don’t get lead poisoning.

Bang.

Once again Ernie The Attorney has brought us a real gem, especially if you follow the never ending sexual hijinx of the political class.

[…] a letter of support that David Vitter wrote along with 13 other Republican senators. The letter stressed the importance of a $50 million dollar grant for ‘abstinence education’ for adolescents. Vitter was the first person to sign the letter. Nineteen days later he admitted that he had hired hookers while he was a senator. What a guy!

Go take a look at the pompous, sanctimonious hypocrisy on display! One click away from a scan of the letter, go grab one and share it with your friends! At least Spitzer had the sense to resign. I will always be sorry his wife did not follow through on her Lorena Bobbit threat of a few months back, I think more politicians in this town should get up close and personal with New Orleans health care.

In the midst of all of the murders (what was it, seven last Sunday?) and generally surreal goings on we now have another oddity to add to the list. No, not the Canal Street Madam, she’s overexposed in the Vitter/Spitzer era. I’m talking about an old subject for New Orleans: falling bullets. This via NOLA.com:

Noted New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme was setting up his cooking tent on the practice range at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament Tuesday about 9:30 a.m. when he felt a sting in his right arm, right above his elbow.

Looks like the first American born Chef to ever grace my former employers over a Commander’s Palace had a real New Orleans moment. What I want to know is what genetically deficient mouthbreather was shooting in the air at 9:30 A.M.?

Loki, shaking his head in wonder

(Syndicated from the original posting on Flickr by “Rex” Dingler of NOLARising)

What’s all this hubbub there, mac? You say some graffiti non-artist has a beef with ReX, creator of NoLa Rising? Why would some guy have a problem with messages of hope. Let’s see what the verbiage is here…

Highlights from recent articles in New Orleans City Business:

“Fred Radtke is the Gray Ghost, the self-appointed scourge of the New Orleans graffiti scene.” -City Business {self-appointed scourge…ouch}

And he applies this theory to graffiti with a missionary zeal. To Radtke, graffiti is not just an eyesore, it is a personal offense to himself and the community. He accuses taggers of being anarchists, agitators and members of the church of Satan. {a zealot…wow, much like the people we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan who don’t know when to surrender…and WAIT, anarchists, agitators and members of the church of satan??? Are you kidding me? Just because I left the Republican party after fourteen years doesn’t mean I’m an anarchist. And I reckon that Christian fraternity I’m a part of it part of me being a phony (see below). Laughable and sad}

Radtke didn’t deny his war against Dingler is personal and said he will use all of his energy and resources to financially cripple him. He accuses Dingler of being in league with the graffiti artists, saying Dingler intentionally provoked him by hanging signs calling him the “Gray Gangster”. {Admitted to using the police in a personal vendetta…Wants to financially cripple an artist that is already broke (HA!)…Accuses me of violating my right to free association though he doesn’t know who I hang out with because he’s never met me}

“When I asked Officer Joia if he was going to file the same charges against Fred under the graffiti statutes, he said he was unaware of what I was talking about,” Dingler said. “Hereâ��s a guy who is destroying city property, who has become what he said he is fighting against. And yet I’m the one facing all these charges? It’s selective enforcement of the law.” {ABOVE THE LAW? Ask why?}

Radtke dismissed Dingler’s accusations, called him a “loser,” a “phony” and the “biggest pain in the ass I ever met.” {I’ll take loser, phony, and the biggest pain in the ass from this man(?)…but he’s never met me so how would he know}

He said Dingler’s so-called “messages of hope” are “vertical trash” that promote other forms of vandalism. {So very different than the business signs he paints over and leaves hanging}

“I had no idea who he was,” Dingler said. “I thought it was crazy. Who would paint over messages of hope?” {Ask yourself what type of person would do such a thing}

“You have to have a pretty cold heart to do something like that,” Dingler said. {I stand by that statement}

Dingler said he was charged with violations of the law after Radtke became obsessed with him and embarked on a personal vendetta. {Which has been admitted to}

And it doesn’t matter if the signs happen to be hand-painted, “pretty pictures” of rainbows with inspirational slogans. {MORE GREY is better?}

To Radtke it is all vandalism and he is going to “gray” it all out, whether anyone asks him to or not. {ABOVE THE LAW?}

Radtke said taggers he associates with Dingler have thrown acid at him, threatened him with knives and smashed his truck windows. {I associate with no such people}

Dingler points to an online photograph of a bloodied young graffiti artist he claims Radtke attacked. {They are all over the internet along with the story}

“He may think what he’s doing is a corrective measure but it’s unauthorized in many cases and doesn’t correct the graffiti but just camouflages it with another color of paint. That’s the same thing,” said Lary Hesdorffer, Vieux Carre Commission director. “It may be with better intent, but that doesnâ��t make it right.” {So very plain and accurate}

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some people who, if they knew of an easy path to do so, might take the steps to prosecute Mr. Radtke,” Hesdorffer said. {Start by calling the police and reporting the grey paint as a criminal act of property damage, by the City of New Orleans definitions, what he does is considered graffiti}

Robert Mendoza, New Orleans Public Works Department director, said street signs require a specific reflective surface for night viewing and by painting them gray Radtke is putting the public at risk. Mendoza said Radtke is making the graffiti problem worse by smearing gray paint over an entire sign to cover up a thin, spray-painted signature. But Radtke is unapologetic. He said if the city replaced the vandalized stop signs or coated them with a protective cover, he wouldnâ��t paint over them. {So, it’s okay to put the public at risk if your a zealot? Or, perhaps you’d like to sell the city a very special paint coating? One that may not have worked in New Orleans East some time ago at a failed press conference that never aired?}

“But what’s the difference between someone who paints their name on a building and Radtke painting big gray boxes over the graffiti? Just because he ‘afford to get rid of it the right way that’s no excuse to do it the wrong way.” {I still stand by that statement}

Radtke said if property owners donâ��t like what he is doing, they can pay to remove the graffiti themselves or be fined by as much as $500 under a 1998 law that punishes property owners for failure to remove graffiti 30 days after receiving a notice from the city. {His way of helping the business owners eradicate graffiti was to lobby City Hall to increase the penalties for owners who didn’t remove the graffiti…does that include grey graffiti?}

“If people did their jobs, I wouldn’t be involved,” he said. “Right now the only thing we can do to deter graffiti on signs is to cover it up with water-based gray paint.” {Nope, wrong again. Not a deterrent…more of an invitation of a fresh canvas}

But some property owners question what separates Radtke from the vandals he is fighting. {Indeed}

—

So, feeling harassed by a Loser and a Phony…and yet still all up in arms about someone you think so lowly of…enough to call out the police in a city where the police are already under-staffed and over-tasked? Enough to clog up the court system that has a ten percent conviction rate of murderers? Enough to drive around and collect my artwork as though you are indeed my number one fan?

I think this city has more important problems to be dealing with than the likes of what this one man has decided he can personally use in his vendetta against me because I was willing to put my name on the line to call him out from the shadows and help those in the press question his true motives.

Sure, I’m taking some hits on this one, but the greater hits come at your civil liberties. The battle is bigger than me. New Orleans is a town that has long since used posting flyers as a means of letting people know what is going on. If Fred RAdTke succeeds, every business that posts flyers will then also be opened up to the same kind of harassment that I am suffering from this one man vigilante.

So, keep the peace, fight the good fight and keep on helping NoLA RISE, for we’re in this rebuilding of the city together.

FOR MORE INFO ON THE ARTICLE WRITTEN BY RICH WEBSTER OF CITY BUSINESS:

www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewFeature.cfm?recID=967

&

www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/viewStory.cfm?recID=25644

-”Rex” Dingler (via Flickr)

The latest in the ongoing letters of Matt McBride, syndicated from the email.

Dear New Orleanians,

How many ways can a city violate its own laws? A small committee inside New Orleans’ city government appears to be trying to answer that question.

First some fundamentals. The Housing Conservation District Review Committee (HCDRC) is the body charged with reviewing demolition applications in historic neighborhoods outside the city’s local historic districts. That geographic area - called the Housing Conservation District - is roughly south of I-610 on the east bank and also includes a small area near Algiers Point on the west bank.

The agenda for the HCDRC’s bi-weekly meetings is compiled by the city’s Safety & Permits department, which accepts demolition permit applications. Safety & Permits also chairs the committee, which is made up of mostly mid-level city bureaucrats and has no staff. The Committee meets in the offices of Safety & Permits. In effect, the committee is a wing of Safety & Permits, and has historically done that agency’s will, which is tilted toward approval of demolition permits.

One can find the laws governing HCDRC’s operation online at municode.com (http://www.municode.com/Resources/gateway.asp?pid=10040&sid=18). They are in sections 26-3 through 26-10. Those laws are not particularly long or complicated; they take up less than four pages. Yet the committee and Safety & Permits have somehow managed to display a stunning degree of ignorance of those rules (twice in the last two months it has been citizens informing city employees of the applicable laws), except where it was more advantageous to exploit them. In fact, it is difficult to find a law relating to HCDRC not ignored or exploited by Safety & Permits or the Committee over the past two years.

1) Review “all” properties

Let’s start with the most basic rule: all properties within the Conservation District are to be reviewed by the Committee. There are a few notable exceptions (more about them later), but generally “all” means “all.” Instead, as I have written before, over 900 HCDRC-eligible properties were just not included on HCDRC agendas since the storm. In the vast majority of cases, they were simply excluded for no other reason than to avoid review.

This pattern started with the third demolition application after Katrina and it continues to this day. Since I and other citizens first put the Committee and Safety & Permits on notice that we were aware of this avoidance in late November, 2007, over a dozen more properties have avoided review and have gotten demolition permits through this method.

2) The 70% loophole

One of the exceptions to review of all HCDRC-eligible properties was passed in April of 2006. It exempted properties with flood damage estimates greater than 70% from HCDRC consideration for demolition. Safety & Permits, the gatekeeper for both demolition applications and damage estimates, appears to have driven a truckload of demolitions through this loophole. Over 350 properties had their estimates revised above 70%, and then received demolition permits without HCDRC review.

But for a few scattered exceptions, nearly every property that had its estimate raised in this fashion was HCDRC-eligible. That is, this was not a citywide phenomenon of hundreds of property owners with derelict houses coming into City Hall independently of each other, looking to demolish. Instead, the pattern was confined almost entirely to the Housing Conservation District. I believe this was Safety & Permits operating under pressure from the Federal government to make maximum use of available demolition funds within tight time constraints, and finding any excuse to spend those funds, lest they appear foolish in front of Washington.

This problem, like the non-review of eligible properties, also continues. Since late November, over two dozen properties have avoided review by virtue of damage assessments getting increased above 70%.

3) But, some 70% properties should still get reviewed…

There was a codicil to that 70% exception passed in May of 2006. It stated that properties to be demolished within National Register Districts (which overlap the Housing Conservation District) were to be reviewed by the staff of the city’s Historic District Landmarks Commission (HDLC) if their estimate was greater than 70%. This particular provision is called “section 26-10″ in the city code.

As I wrote earlier, the staff at Safety & Permits admitted - in print - that they never read that provision of the law. On December 13, 2007, Ed Horan, a Safety & Permits staffer responsible for review of demolition permit applications, wrote in an email to one of my colleagues, Meg Lousteau:

“Meg,

“Yesterday was the first time I have ever read Section 26-10 of the City Code…I have already alerted both Mr Centineo [head of Safety & Permits] and Mr Perkins [head of the HDLC] of my ignorance of 26-10 and can assure you and them that all future demolition applications will follow the procedure outlined therein.

“This morning I will inform the permit analysts of the misunderstanding and of new process as required by law.“

At least 130 demolitions were affected by this admitted ignorance (they were never passed along to HDLC for review) - a blatant due process violation which remains unaddressed.

4) Inadequate notice

The notice provisions of the HCDRC laws call for publication of the Committee’s agenda in the newspaper. There are no provisions for adding properties to the agenda after publication. Yet there have been many instances of properties getting added on the day of the meeting.

At the November 26, 2007 HCDRC meeting, members of the City Attorney’s staff insisted on adding 19 properties to the agenda at the end of the meeting (after most members of the public had left), with no notice whatsoever. The Committee, instead of viewing this as against procedure and regulation, proceeded to vote on acceptance of the demolition applications, allowing 14 to proceed. In fact, they approved demolition of a property they had denied just two months earlier. That was also illegal. The city code says that properties cannot be demolished for one year after denial by the HCDRC (pending a City Council appeal, which did not happen in this case).

This was not the first time un-noticed properties had been added to the HCDRC agenda and then voted upon. It happened on July 9, 2007, when 23 properties came before the committee without public notice. All were brought by the city, not individuals. All but three were either approved or withdrawn because they had already been demolished. Those other three were deferred for future consideration, but were never considered again. Yet all three still received active demolition permits later in the summer (oddly on August 28 and 29, right before FEMA was due to stop paying for the Corps of Engineers to demolish houses).

I have found at least four other meetings just in 2007 where this happened.

5) No redevelopment plans submitted

One would think the city would have a vested interest in avoiding the jack-o-lantern effect of empty lots pockmarking historic neighborhoods. Instead, they actively encourage it.

One of the criteria for the HCDRC to evaluate demolitions is “the proposed plan for redevelopment.” Another is the “proposed length of time the subject site is anticipated to remain undeveloped.” Yet property demolitions are routinely approved without either of these pieces of information.

The November 12, 2007 meeting is a typical example. 13 properties were on the agenda that day. A 14th was added at the meeting, without prior notice. 9 of those structures had no redevelopment plans. All but one of those nine had their demolitions approved, and the ninth wasn’t approved because the wrong address had been placed on the agenda (also a common occurrence).

Nearly the same thing happened at the October 8, 2007 meeting: 6 properties were on the agenda, none with redevelopment plans. All but one were approved, with the sixth application withdrawn by the applicant.

Here’s one more example: on July 23, 2007, there were 32 properties on the HCDRC agenda. Not one had a redevelopment plan. Many (including over a dozen in the neighborhood of Xavier University) were planned to become vacant lots. Not a single property was denied a demolition permit that day.

The default position for the HCDRC is to approve demolitions, no matter whether they meet the criteria for evaluation or not.

6) Violation of the “30 day” rule

Another rule in the city code stipulates that the HCDRC must accept or deny a demolition application within 30 days of its submittal to Safety & Permits. If a decision is not reached within 30 days, the application is denied. The applicant may then appeal the decision to the City Council for a final ruling. This rule has been in existence since 2000.

Over the years, however, the HCDRC has seen fit to grant deferrals for properties. Sometimes, properties are deferred for months at a time. In some cases, this is done to allow neighborhoods and developers time to meet and discuss plans for a site. In other cases, owners don’t show up, or the committee sent notice to the wrong address, or some other reason. No matter the reason, deferrals to a time greater than 30 days after permit acceptance are not legal under the current law.

Some properties have been deferred for over 100 days, spanning half a dozen HCDRC meetings. Such delays are not unusual. Since Katrina, the HCDRC has reached decisions on over 190 properties after 30 days had passed after their applications were submitted. Over 170 of those were approvals. Under the 30 day rule, all should have been denied, with appeals going to the City Council.

Until January 28, 2008, the 30 day rule had never been enforced. At the HCDRC meeting that day, it was pointed out to the Committee (by citizens in the audience) that continual deferrals of properties, sometimes for months at a time, are illegal.

At first, members of the Committee - even when confronted with the actual printed verbiage from the city code - denied its applicability. It took assent from a representative of the City Attorney’s office (the City Attorney has been attending HCDRC meetings recently, as the circus nature of the proceedings has been publicized in the newspaper) to persuade the bureaucrats on the Committee that they were indeed violating the law.

When they finally saw the light, the Committee members immediately denied permits for all properties which violated the 30 day rule, some of which did so because the committee had granted deferrals. Or at least, they tried to do so. There were at least two properties which violated the 30 day rule, but which still got their demolitions approved.

Conclusion: Total reform is needed.

At its most fundamental level, the HCDRC should be following the criteria laid out in city law for demolitions. It should also be following the laws on proper notice, expediency of decision, and review of all properties. Instead, none of these things are happening.

The city has shown itself as a repeat offender in violation of its own laws. The best solution at this point is complete reform of HCDRC. Fortunately, there is pending legislation before the New Orleans city council to do just that. In addition, a recently signed consent decree provides punishment if the city does not shape up. Things are moving forward to bring accountability and sanity to a process that so far has been opaque and insane.

Matt

If you’re not from here Google “Officer Cotton New Orleans murder”

If you’re from New Orleans or live in New Orleans then this says it all.

Hand seems to be getting stiffer, doctor Thursday. I’ll know how long I have to go easy on it then. I now return you to the other members of the team

-Loki

I’m sure that most, if not all of you, know the horror of Fred Radtke, the Grey Ghost. Many have tried to stop his vigilante tactics to no avail.

Now the NOPD has actually backed him in a vendetta against a local artist, who has been hanging removable messages of hope throughout the city, in hopes of inspiring those who choose to stay and rebuild. They flatly refuse to prosecute Radtke, even when he defaces private property.

Please read Richard A. Webster’s article on this.

CLICK HERE

These two short paragraphs are particularly disturbing;

“Robert Mendoza, director of the New Orleans Public Works Department, said Radtke is breaking the law every time he paints over graffiti on public street signs. But Mendoza will do nothing to prosecute the violations, he said, because his office lacks the resources and time to conduct an investigation.The New Orleans Police Department, however, condones Radtkeâ��s actions. NOPD often calls him directly to cover graffiti and spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said they have no intention of charging Radtke with any crimes. “

Please repost this article, make a note of the names of Robert Mendoza at New Orleans Public Works, and Sgt. Joe Narcisse of the NOPD. Call these people repeatedly.

Call your congresman, your City Counsel Representative, and ask why a man City Hall says is a criminal is being supported by the NOPD. Ask why an artist, whose work is totally removable and loved by the locals is facing $50,000 worth of fines, and a man who defaces private property, sometimes violently, is above the law.

It’s a new year and a new broom. Pull together and stop this selective enforcement of rights and laws. We are not serfs on some distant Noble’s land. We are the citizens of the City of New Orleans, and these people are elected and paid by US.

If one man is above the law, the rest are beneath boot heels. Stand up for your rights, New Orleans. Haven’t we had enough?

Lord David

Skull Club

New Orleans

There is a Dirge on my doorstep. Last night it was Press Monkeys, darting about and chattering in the cold, shining The Big Light around and aligning, so I knew the Dirge was coming. In fact, I welcome it.

Tomorrow night is the anniversary of the murder of my neighbor, Helen Hill. While there is great sadness in this, too immense for any but her family to understand, especially knowing that their holidays will end each year with this commemoration, there is also something else.

In between the failed expectations of New Elected Officials and the Blunders of City Hall, between the Sloppy Demolition of Homes and Run Away Crime, there is definitely something else.

There is the Dirge; a small group of maybe fifty people, holding candles in the dark, shivering together in the cold, slowly pushing the sound of breaking hearts out of old brass instruments…to remember their friend.

There is no press. The cameras and lights are gone, as far as I can tell, since last nights report or update or whatever it was.

Tonight there is the Dirge, the soundtrack to an amazing act of love. To know such caring and fond rememberence brings a tear to my eyes, as indeed, how could it not. But there’s no speeches being made, no placards, no ribbons worn. There’s something else, so beautiful & rare. Hope.

Tomorrow night, light a candle for Helen Hill, for her husband, her son, our city. Then light one for yourself.

You are the reason, the action, the love, and the hope.

Oh, yes. You are.

 

Lord David

Skull Club

The above flyer has been posted all around downtown, from the encampments of homeless across the street from City Hall to trashcans on Poydras Street.

Dangerblond thinks those responsible should be sent to Gitmo.

Laureen at NOLA Metroblogging fills us in with a well researched post giving tons of background on the situation. She also is the first I’ve found that has picked up on the fact that crime stats have not been significantly impacted by the closure of the projects.

Michael Homan’s position mirros my own. As he eloquently puts it:

I have no doubts that the powers that be are using Katrina to do away with the large public housing projects. Many of these units never flooded and they could have reopened in October of 2005. But how do I feel about large concentrations of poverty in the projects versus mixed-income neighborhoods with subsidized rents spread throughout? I don’t really know. I do know that poor people need a place to live in New Orleans, and the increased rents have kept many from returning.

Ray In New Orleans has posted his open letter to the powers that be.

Two pictures of the flyer on Flickr have developed extensive discussions in their comments here and here. (And at least one of the photos have been filtered so that you have to agree to view objectionable content before actually seeing it.)

But the real venom comes out when you read the comments on the NOLA.com article. This is where you can see the soul sickness that has gripped our city. This is where under the veil of anonymity, the racists and the classists on both sides of the ideological divide come out in force hurling epithets thick and fast.

Last comes one from the national arena. You see, while I will not commit to support of any candidate for the Oval Office as yet, I will give John Edwards some points. He is to be congratulated for being savvy enough to actually try to use the internet effectively as outreach. The upside of this has been steady communication with his blogmaster. She was kind enough to forward this my way just as I began typing this up. So here you have it, John Edwards take on the demolition situation, straight from Chapel Hill, NC:

EDWARDS STATEMENT ON HUD PLAN TO BEGIN DEMOLISHING PUBLIC HOUSING IN NEW ORLEANS THIS WEEK

Chapel Hill, North Carolina — Senator John Edwards today called on HUD to reverse its plan to begin demolishing public housing in New Orleans this week and urged the New Orleans City Council to stand strong in defending housing for city residents. Edwards said in a statement:”There is a housing crisis in New Orleans today — the result of government policies that have failed the people of the Gulf since Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Rents have doubled, families are being evicted from FEMA trailers and now the current administration is now trying to make a bad situation worse.

“I am calling on HUD to postpone its plans to destroy affordable public housing until replacement housing is ready. Knocking down historic and livable housing today that withstood the winds of Katrina with the bulldozers of Bush is counterproductive to the goal of giving residents a home to which to return.

Decentralizing poverty by encouraging new mixed-income income makes a lot of sense — I’ve proposed creating 1 million new housing vouchers to do exactly that. But eliminating housing where people could live in a city where a desperate shortage of shelter exists makes no sense at all.

“I urge the City Council to reject the demolition permits HUD needs for its plan to destroy hope for current and displaced New Orleans residents.”

Please take a moment and leave us a comment. Please let us know what your thoughts on this…..

Loki
Founder, HumidCity

A veteran New Orleans Police captain was arrested late Tuesday night in Slidell and booked in a hit-and-run accident, police said.

Capt. Gary Gremillion, a member of the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau, was involved in the car collision around 7p.m. on Highway 11 at Edens Isle in St. Tammany Parish, said State Police Trooper Louis Calato.

Gremillion, driving a 1939 Ford four-door vehicle, rammed into the back of a 2002 Ford pickup truck driven by a 37-year-old man, police said. Gremillion had fled the scene before troopers arrived, police said.

(Emphasis mine) Way to go Capt. Gremillion! Nice to see that we are still holding those high standards! Full article here.

image courtesy of Skeleton Krewe

And There Was Much Rejoicing! (Yayy!!!) More to come once people get home from work and start typing. I will try to add some updates later but no promises.

Citizen Crime Watch * Pistolette * City Business

Dangerblonde * People Get Ready

Gentilly Girl * Ken Foster

Its a long fall from the lionized victor over Edwin Edwards to the most worthless DA in New Orleans history. Many of us hope he breaks something (or several somethings) at the end of it.

Now that we, the taxpayers, get to pay off the fiduciary penalties of this racist ass I have one question for our FORMER DA.

While you were depriving your department not only of its caucasians, but also of computers, voicemail, and the simple necessities of the job, how many of our children and neighbors die horribly?

Ask Pontius Pilate, blood on your hands never washes clean.

Good riddance to bad rubbish. (of course maybe it is all to get his lawsuit paid for…)

Whether it’s the side of your business , your business advertisement on the street, your neighborhood street signs or your local New Orleans artists, the “GRAY GHOST” will do his signature “TAG”…making him the least talented graffiti artist in the city. He TAGS with a “look-out,” is known to carry a gun and has allegedly assaulted a young man who tried to photograph his crime.

Originally designed to be a graffiti abatement / anti-gang activity program, it’s our assertion that Fred Radtke has over-stepped his boundary and his mission and ultimately become part of what he had disdained before. Ordained a vigilante graffiti czar by the corruption-riddled Morial Administration, he now no longer has any respect for private or city property and paints at his own whim.

If you see him,, report him to city officials and/or the police. What he is doing is as much graffiti as those he says he is “erasing.” If you see your neighborhood signs painted GRAY, call the street signs people at 504-658-2299 and asked that it be replaced.

Call your city council person and complain about this New Orleans nuisance!

Haven’t we had enough GRAY in the last two years? Do something about it!

STOP FRED RADTKE FROM PAINTING GRAY!!

Go Here to Access a printable copy of this flyer, help spread the word!

This message brought to you by Dingler , Loki, and the Bad Fred! Community on Flickr.

The second annual Rising Tide conference will be held August 24-26, 2007, at the New Orleans Yacht Club. This is a NOLA blogger-organized and supported conference featuring speakers, panels, breakout sessions, and other dialogs on the future of the city of New Orleans.

This year’s emphasis is on ground-level, grass-roots efforts. It has become clear to those of us in south Louisiana that we will have to watch the watchmen, as well as take the upper hand is setting the city back on track. To that end, there will be presentations on local politics and how to influence them, making civics sexy, sustainability, levee engineering, and media outreach.

The keynote speaker is Dave Zirin, author of Welcome to the Terrordome, published by Haymarket Press, a columnist for SLAM Magazine, a regular contributor to the Nation Magazine, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. Timothy Ruppert, president of the Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers, will give a comprehensive report on the status of our levee protection two years after the failure of the federal levees brought catastrophe to New Orleans. Matt McBride of Fix the Pumps will present via video conference. Panelists will include community activists Karen Gadbois of Squandered Heritage, Bart Everson of b.rox, and Peter Athas of Adrastos, muckraking blogger Mark Moseley of Your Right Hand Thief, New Orleans political sage Michael Duplantier and author Joshua Clark Heart Like Water

On Friday, August 24, there will be a party at Buffa’s Lounge featuring the work of New Orleans videographers, and Sunday is reserved for a hands-on service project in aid of the NOLA school system. At the Buffa’s party, we are serving cocktail party-type food, but there will be a cash bar.The weekend’s events costs $20 per person. This includes admission to the Friday night party at Buffa’s, Saturday’s events at the New Orleans Yacht Club (including morning coffee and croissants and lunch from Dunbar’s), and participation in the Sunday service project. Please register to attend using the PayPal link on the website. If you don’t use PayPal, feel free to call or e-mail me to reserve your space at the conference and, more importantly, your lunch from Dunbar’s. We have no problem with people paying at the door, we just need to know that you are coming.

There will, f  course, be liveblogging of the event, and materials available online. If you can’t come, there is also a paypal link if you'd care to donate (this is a non-profit endeavor). Feel free to contact us through the website, or ask questions by replying to this e-mail. Rising Tide’s toll-free phone number is: 866-910-2055.

Although I am sending this e-mail to over 200 people, I’m sure I’m missing some. Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested. Unless they have a blog or have expressed interest in the past, they are probably not on my e-mail list. Also, bloggers, please spread the word on your blogs!

Mayor Nagin on the murder rate:

�Do I worry about it? Somewhat, it�s not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back. So, it is kind of a two-edged sword�

Branding??? Two-edged sword??? THESE ARE PEOPLE’S FUCKING LIVES YOU IDIOT!

Ambrose Bierce is constantly proven right by the modern world. God, please make it stop!

I got this from mominem, not sure of the sourcing as yet, but it made me stand up and cheer!

Dear Mr. Jordan:

I am writing to you today to respectfully request that you resign from the office of Orleans Parish District Attorney.

I have no doubts about your intentions or your dedication or your character.  By all accounts you are a fine man.  But the job of District Attorney is an admittedly difficult one with heavy responsibility and requires more than most fine men are capable of.  After the events of the last 48 hours, which have eroded the public�s confidence in your ability to carry out the responsibilities of the District Attorney, I am asking that you resign from office.  An elected official�s legitimacy and moral authority to govern is derived from the consent of the governed.  I no longer believe you have the consent and support from the public required to perform your duties adequately.

I do not know that there is any excuse for dropping charges against a quintuple murderer without a thorough exhaustion of all possibilities to prevent such a thing from happening.  Months ago you and Superintendent Riley pledged to the City Council several reforms and improvements in your lines of communication to ensure that lack of coordination between your offices would no longer lead to dropped cases against those who pose serious threats to our public safety.  It has become all too clear that you have been unable to hold up your end of this bargain.  Mr. Jordan, you must know as well as any of your fellow New Orleanians the great urgency our city feels in combating the violent crime problem.  We have lost the room for these kinds of error.  I thank you for your service and your efforts as District Attorney, yet I maintain my request on behalf of my constituents that you resign your office as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Shelley Midura

cc:        Mayor C. Ray Nagin

New Orleans City Council

This is a statement from the Hot 8 Brass Band, for whom Dinerral played snare.

We were disappointed and shocked to hear this morning that the murder case against David Bonds, accused of shooting our snare drummer Dinerral Shavers, has been dismissed. We are currently on the road, trying to spread the music and culture of New Orleans and to broadcast a positive message about the city across the nation. Dinerral’s death, and now the dismissal of his case, only prove to us how important this work is. We will continue to fight for New Orleans, at home and away. We will continue to honor the generous spirit of Dinerral, who gave so much to our music and to our city. The Hot 8 Brass Band

Disappointed? That hardly covers it. This is a shame and a disgrace.

I am crossposting this for a fellow cyclist. I think it speaks well to the state of affairs here:

i figure the least i can do is ask around…i know it’s pretty useless, but here goes.

i borrowed my roommate’s bike to attend a social work conference and it was stolen in front of the Holiday Inn downtown. yup, right in front of the National Guard Post.  Oh, and directly across the street from City Hall. There were police parked along the street throughout the morning too.  Safe, i thought.  It had to be dismantled to be stolen (i.e. seat taken off and tire removed).  Actually, i’m not really sure how the heck they got it off the pole, but the kryptonite U-lock is all that was left.  I’m assuming someone noticed the person doing this…or maybe not. Today’s been fabulous, to say the least.

It was a gold-ish colored Trek with an NOPD tag below the seat. It was a smaller framed bike with gear shifts on the handles that twist. I don’t even recall much more about it.  But if you happen to be the person who took it or you see it/know who took it, i’ll give you 50 bucks to return it.  I don’t even wish physical harm to the rider, not much anyway. I just want the bike back.  Please! It’s my only transportation since my car flooded plus i’m going to have one really pissed off roommate.

I think more than any other emotion, I’m feeling a little annoyed that it happened in such an obvious location with many uniformed people hanging around. anyway, thanks for reading. happy biking.

If you have any info please leave a comment on the original post here.

Welcome to the hothouse. New Orleans is slipping into summertime and the heat is rocketing. The past several days have been oppressive and sweat saturated as the Hammer of Ra pounds down upon us. It s the type of weather that makes one want to hde in the AC and pretend the outside world does not exist.

Of course it could also be that the violence is what makes many people want to hide. Every New Orleanian knows that once the heat really begins the murder rate rises with the tempreature. Look at the statistics, May almost always denotes an upswing of violent crime and loss of life. Hell, we are already the murder capital of the US with only 50% of our people back, the summer spike should put us in a position where no one can take that title away!
Dan,over at NOLA Metroblogging is of the same mind. Beaten by the heat and baffled by the violence he notes a disturbing report:

It doesn’t help any when the Metro Crime Commission releases a report stating what has been obvious to us who live here now. The NOPD is focusing too much on trivial traffic and “misdemeanor” offenses. What that means is the NOPD is more focused on stopping you and I for driving a vehicle without a brake tag. Instead of focusing on the killers killing each other. Or the killers killing innocent business owners. I’ve known and written about the city’s efforts on raising cash. Why focus on stopping murders when there are dollar bill’s driving around the city, waiting to be pulled over and taken to jail. It’s a money making scheme and just validates my belief that the city government sees EVERYONE who is back as a walking/talking/driving dollar bill.

No reliable flood control (See Fix The Pumps for doumentation and details), no progress on crime, the fear of hurricane season, no mental health infrastructure….

The climate of fear has become a standard one for local residents. “Will I get washed away or blown away before summer ends?” is a question I have heard in varying permutations throughout the city. The heat, fear, and mental unease cook down like a roux, ready to thicken the gumbo of tragedies we already sup.
Robin Malta is simply the latest victim of this assinine crime rate. A community activist, small business owner, former Grand Marshall of Southern Decadence, and truly good natured human being who was bludgeoned to death Monday night. He was also someone I knew. The third person I know to be murdered (not just die, but get murdered) over the last six months. Another local character reduced to a statistic. He was only 3 years my senior, not even 45 yet.

I have lost my focus, the accumulation of bad news has me nearly numb so rather than try to come to coherent conclusion I will leave you hanging.  Like the crime there is no resolution forthcoming….

I have just found out that someone I know was murdered Monday night.

Goodby Robin, you will be missed. I will write more on this when my fury abates.

“The president cannot eliminate constitutional protections with the stroke of a pen by proclaiming a civilian, even a criminal civilian, an enemy combatant subject to indefinite military detention.” JUDGE DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, writing for the majority in a ruling by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va.

Now that is a refreshing breath of air. Now the question is whether it will get struck down or not.

Well, immediately after receiving the last bit of ill news a bit of clarification has appeared. Evidently it was a fight between two waiters, one smashed a wine bottle over the other’s head and somebody reported it as a gunshot.

I feel marginally better. The sad fact is that the initial report was so believable.