Thousands of food-stamp recipients may face stricter work requirements
In Louisiana, one of the nation’s most impoverished states, recipients could easily lose food stamps through the work-requirement red tape, advocates say. The sponsoring legislator says that “work provides lasting value we can give back to our families, our community, and God.”
Recent Posts
Greenfield wins in St. John, for the moment
On Tuesday, St. John the Baptist Parish Council voted to rezone nearly 1,300 acres of land on the rural West Bank of the Mississippi River from residential to heavy industrial use. The land is currently leased to Greenfield Louisiana, LLC, which plans to build a massive grain-export facility in the historically Black community of Wallace. …
Join us April 18 for a new event: Breaking Bread, Breaking News
New Orleans and South Louisiana have a rich tradition of gathering, and food plays a major part in bringing people together. When people gather and eat, they inevitably talk about the issues of the day. For many people that means what is happening in their own backyards. Local news as it were.
St. John the Baptist Council could sanction ‘dangerous formula’
While a judge ruled it was too early to block rezoning for the Greenfield Grain Terminal, neighbors fear that the parish council could sanction what one advocate called a “dangerous formula” used in the rezoning plan. That formula, she said, could expose Wallace, and the entire parish, to encroachment by industrial developers.
Let the bargaining begin
In a Tuesday letter to Tulane University president Michael A. Fitts, a group of non-tenured faculty asked him to recognize their new union, Tulane Workers United. An election is likely in early May.
Flood of suggestions
Recommendations for fixes to the city’s chronically troubled Sewerage & Water Board are now flowing from Gov. Jeff Landry’s task force and from the Water Justice Fund, which issued a report earlier this year. Advocates warn that, without a new revenue structure that includes tax-exempt properties, customers could shoulder the financial burden for citywide problems.
St. John Parish vote opens door to controversial grain terminal
Commissioners approve rezoning of Greenfield property for heavy industrial use, despite a prolonged community push to keep the land’s residential zoning in this largely rural part of St. John.
opinion
There’s healing to be done in New Orleans, say descendants of Homer Plessy and John H. Ferguson
At the top edge of the Bywater, where Royal Street crosses the railroad tracks, a plaque marks a moment that changed our nation’s history. A shoemaker named Homer Plessy was arrested here in 1892 for sitting in a passenger railcar designated for “whites.” The arrest was planned; Plessy’s friends, the Citizens Committee, called ahead to…
Paintbrush, iPad, or Glock?
Recently, I attended a showcase at the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center, where this city’s arrested youth are held pre-trial. I was invited by artist Journey Allen, who directs youth education for the Young Artists Movement (YAM), the citywide mural initiative that I helped to found eight years ago. To present the showcase, JJIC set up…
Let’s make plans together about the future of our beloved City Park
We both started working at Grow Dat Youth Farm because we needed jobs. We knew very little about gardening and didn’t know how we’d fit in. We found a crew of people who supported us and helped us to appreciate the natural setting within Grow Dat’s corner of City Park. Now, that magical place is…
Entergy’s quiet power moves
Lately, public scrutiny has shined a bright spotlight on Entergy New Orleans’ $1 billion Operation Gridiron. The New Orleans City Council has been rightfully cautious, given the fees that would hit residents and the recent evidence of company deceit in pitching their plans to the council. Operation Gridiron is highly visible, taking center stage. But…
PODCAST
Behind The Lens episode 234: ‘Rabble-rousing at the Big Green’
La’Shance Perry on St. John Parish’s vote on rezoning for Greenfield. Delaney Dryfoos on Gov. Landry’s Task Force for Sewerage and Water Board. And Katy Reckdahl on union organizing at Tulane University.
About the Lens
The Lens aims to engage and empower the residents of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We provide the information and analysis necessary to advocate for more accountable and just governance.