b.rox

The Mid-City poster contest is now officially over, and you can check out the winners.

Following up on yesterday’s post: Big thanks to Ashley Morris for putting together this swell interactive map of the City’s “imminent threat” demolition list. I’m not sure if it works on every browser, and it may take a while to load, but if you can view it you’ll be able to zoom in and move [...]

Remember what I said about Bienville being just the tip of the iceberg? There are 1700+ properties on the “imminent threat” list. I just discovered my next door neighbor’s house is one of them! I called him (he’s in Texas) and he was shocked and alarmed. He has not been notified that his house is [...]

I finally submitted our application to the Road Home program — and not a moment too soon. The deadline is July 31, and I’ve been procrastinating since I resolved to apply in March. This program is supposed to help Louisiana homeowners get back in their homes after the devastation caused by Katrina and Rita and [...]

I’m all in a tizzy because of the recent news reported by Squandered Heritage. It seems there’s a ton of houses on Bienville that are on the city’s “imminent threat” list for demolition. These are supposed to be houses that pose an immediate threat to health and safety. And some of them are. Some are [...]

It’s that time of year again. I’m taking the day off work to help Xy get her classroom in order. Mostly this involves putting educational posters up on the wall, which is easier for me because I’m taller. The kids don’t read the posters, but every competent teacher has to buy them (out of their [...]

Remember that retired teacher who got beat up on Bourbon Street shortly after Katrina? Sure you do, it was on television all over the world, a blatant example of police brutality and a huge embarrassment to the city of New Orleans. Well, the latest news is that the accused officer was acquitted. Some will say [...]

This arrived in the mail yesterday with no return address. View the large version for easier reading. Note: I cut the writer’s name off to preserve his/her privacy. This letter is in response to the most recent article about us in the Times-Picayune. The writer means well, but the discerning reader will not have to [...]

As I’ve mentioned before, a white Honda Prelude has been sitting on our block for over three months. It’s had debris piled on it. It’s been jacked up and cannibalized for parts. It’s had the rear window smashed out. The police came and looked at it on several occasions. But still it remained. I was [...]

As I was walking to the Post Office Saturday morning, some jackass asked me for directions. I stepped up to his car, and when we were finished talking, I realized I was standing on an ant hill. Actually the guy wasn’t a jackass at all. He was very polite. But my foot is now covered [...]

Friday night I was hangin’ with the neighbs across the street. Everybody was joking and laughing and having a good time. I remember thinking it was odd when Debra took off on her bicycle. Where was she going so late at night? This morning (Saturday) I was awakened early by a knock at the door. [...]

I’ve been preoccupied, so a lot of very important stuff has slipped past in the last week and I haven’t had a chance to write about it. Herewith, a grab-bag of updates. Xy’s had a moderate amount of morning sickness, but she’s coping pretty well. She canceled a conference she’d been planning to attend in [...]

“This is an attack on the black leadership.” So said Malcolm Suber yesterday at the New Orleans City Council, defending District Attorney Eddie Jordan. Personally I think Mr. Suber is confusing leadership with authority. When I think of black leadership in New Orleans, elected officials are not foremost in my mind. Instead, I think of [...]

Today Shelley Midura bravely repeated her call for Eddie Jordan to resign. Only this time Mr. Jordan was right there and he answered back. Jordan said she was trying to make him a scapegoat. I understand where Jordan is coming from. After all, there’s plenty of other people screwing up in our government. Why is [...]

3319-21 Iberville Street [map] This building was been proposed for demolition by FEMA. Since it’s in a historic district (Mid-City, my neighborhood) FEMA “requested the aid of the public in identifying alternatives to demolition.” So I wrote to FEMA back in November and helped them identify some “alternatives.” And, wonder of wonders, FEMA removed it [...]

What motivates people to get up at 5:00 in the morning and go out to hold a sign in the rain? Love, rage and hope. Love for the city we call home. Rage at elected officials who are unable to perform their jobs. Hope that, despite everything, we might see a better day, where government [...]

This just in via Karen Gadbois… FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEW ORLEANS CITIZENS TAKE TO THE STREETS TO DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY EDDIE JORDAN New Orleans citizens, fed up with the resurgence of violent crime in their city, will stage a protest in front of the Cabildo on Jackson Square on Monday, July 16 [...]

The 22nd story about our renovation appears in today’s Times-Picayune:

These lyrics keep going through my head. I’m on the creep, with no sleep I ain’t trynna rest till the enemy six feet It’s game time, and I’m ready to play Gimme my remote and my remote is my K I spray with it, I’m from uptown I gotta stay wit it When we murder, [...]

Shelley Midura of the New Orleans City Council has asked our Distict Attorney Eddie Jordan to step down. I’m going to reproduce it here in full because her staff sent it to me directly (along with many others I’m sure) so I can claim as direct a line as the mainstream media: July 12, 2007 [...]