Jane's Walk 2009

Tour spotlights bright spots, blight
Ten neighborhoods in N.O. are exploredSunday, May 03, 2009 By Ramon Antonio VargasStaff writer
Ronnie Seaton, a master chef who has cooked for three U.S. presidents, lives in a neatly groomed shotgun house in New Orleans' northwest Carrollton neighborhood, less than 100 feet from a blighted corner known to residents as a hot spot for drug peddling.

Despite the contrast, Seaton's home and the crime-ridden corner both were designated stops on a walking tour Saturday that commemorated a renowned urban activist who advocated the sort of walkable neighborhoods common to New Orleans.

Named for Jane Jacobs, who touted cities where people can get along without cars and make strong connections with their neighbors, more than 100 so-called "Jane's Walk" neighborhood tours took place Saturday across the United States and Canada. Volunteers led 10 tours in New Orleans enclaves including Broadmoor, Central City, Faubourg St. John and eastern New Orleans.

Northwest Carrollton Civic Association members Jenel Hazlett, Karen Gadbois and Kim Carver added a creative twist, celebrating their area's assets and calling out its liabilities. Though not well attended, perhaps because of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and other events around town, the tour was packed with landmarks that neighbors say have helped the area's Hurricane Katrina recovery, hurt it -- or both.

Hazlett, the group's president, pointed out Seaton and his Apple Street home as one of the neighborhood's indisputable assets. Greeting the tour in boxers and sandals, Seaton announced plans to conduct free cooking classes at a nearby church "to get kids off the street."

Another prime asset was the Landis Construction Co. headquarters in the 8300 block of Earhart Boulevard, former bubble-gum factory. Guides said the once-decrepit building now is the home base of rebuilding projects worth billions of dollars.

Other stops were less uplifting.

More than a dozen blighted homes and buildings that languish throughout the area are owned by the same few landlords, the guides said.

Gadbois, Carver, Hazlett knew the property owners names but said that neighbors have had little luck prodding them to clean up or sell their parcels.

One landmark simultaneously has blessed and hurt the neighborhood, Hazlett said.

John Blancher's decision to move his iconic Mid City Lanes Rock 'n Bowl music hall and bowling alley to the corner of Carrollton and Earhart had made NorthWest Carrollton "the next coolest neighborhood" in New Orleans, she said.

Unfortunately Hazlett said, Blanch didn't drop the "Mid-City" moniker from his business signs. The name is no doubt a powerful brand, she said, but it does nothing to polish the tarnished image of Northwest Carrollton that drug dealers and slumlords have created. "We are so excited to have them here. It's just that we're not Mid-City. She said, "They are no longer there."

Photo Captions:
Master Chef Ronnie Seaton talks outside his Apple Street home to Jenel Hazlett, Jason Tudor and Kim Carver during a walking tour Saturday of NorthWest Carrollton.

Karen Gadbois, left, Jason Tudor, Jenel Hazlett and Kim Carver take part in Jane's Walk, a walking tour Saturday that commemorated and urban activist who advocated the sort of walkable neighborhoods that are common in New Orleans.

Assets & Liabilities Jane's Walk

Take a look at the Times Picayune article on NorthWest Carrollton Assets & Liabilities Jane's Walk.

While we made sure that we brought the hot spot in the 8300 Block of Apple Street to light, our neighborhood is not defined by drug dealers. We are defined by our historic register neighborhood, the opportunities waiting for anyone who wants to see and our fabulous diversity of people, housing and businesses.

Rebuilding Green Events

The Rebuilding Information Station (RIS) is partnering with several community organizations to offer FREE workshops at several locations in the Greater New Orleans area. Please plan to join us for one or more of these popular events and bring a friend!


Tuesday, May 5
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Community Center of St. Bernard
1107 LeBeau St
Arabi, LA

Keep the Water Out: Flashing for Windows
Presenter: Bill Robinson, LSU AgCenter Associate
Contractors as well as do-it-yourself homeowners are invited to this hands-on demonstration of the proper installation of house wrap, flashing, sealants and water barriers that control moisture, increase comfort and reduce water damage in Louisiana homes. Learn the “tricks of the trade” of keeping houses dry with
modern flashing materials by watching construction demonstrations using a real windows in this homeowner-friendly seminar.
Event website: http://ccstb.org/commevents/index.html


Thursday, May 14
6:00 PM
BuildSmart Learning Center
1001 S. Broad St (under the Broad St overpass).

Weatherization Workshop: Keeping Energy Costs Down
Presenter: Bill Robinson, LSU AgCenter Associate

Did you know that 30-40% of heating and cooling is lost through air leakage in your home? This air leakage occurs mainly in your floors, walls and ceilings. Want to know how to keep air conditioned air where you want it? LSU AgCenter Associate Bill Robinson will help you to understand some of the choices you can make to insulate, air seal, and keep the heat out of your home in the summer. This workshop will cover how insulation, air sealing and radiant barriers will help you lower your energy costs and increase your comfort while maintaining a durable home.
Event website: http://www.all4energy.org/events


Sunday, May 17
Noon - 7:00 PM
Green Crawl

Are you looking to have your building/rebuilding project be greener? Join us on Sunday, May 17, when the Alliance for Affordable Energy, the Green Project, UNO's Rebuilding Information Station, Global Green and the Tulane City Center will open up their doors for tours of green building resources in New Orleans.

Feel free to check out these locations at you leisure from 12 - 5 pm and join us for a party from 5 - 7 pm at the Buildsmart Learning Center! There will be music from Bye & Bye, beer, snacks and if you visit all 6 locations, you qualify for green raffle prizes, including a solar water heater gift certificate, a dual flush toilet, tankless water heater, BOSCH Cordless Impact Drill, Green Project grab bags and much more.

Pick up your map today from sponsoring locations! You can have your passport stamped at any of the locations prior to May 17th.

Further information on the Green Crawl is available at:
http://www.all4energy.org/events/green-crawl


Green Crawl locations are: BuildSmart Learning Center (Alliance for Affordable Energy)
1001 S. Broad St.
tel. 504.208.9761
Website: www.buildsmartnola.org

The Green Project
2831 Marais St., NOLA
504.945.0240
Website: www.thegreenproject.org

Rebuilding Information Station (a collaboration of UNO, LSU AgCenter, Tulane City Center and The Road Home Program)
2045 Lakeshore Dr., Ste 103, UNO Lakefront campus
tel. 504.280.5577
Website: www.lsuagcenter.com/rebuilding/informationstation

Eco Pavilion at Botanical Gardens (Tulane City Center)
City Park - no tel.
Website: www.tulanecitycenter.com

Global Green house (Global Green)
409 Andry St.
504.525.2121
Website: www.globalgreen.org/neworleans

Hollygrove Growers Market and Farm (Tulane City Center)
8301 Olive St.
tel 504.483.7037
Website: www.hollygrovemarket.com

Rebuilding Information Station
UNO/CHART
103 CERM Bldg
2045 Lakeshore Dr
New Orleans, LA 70148
chartoutreach@uno.edu
tel: 504.280.5577
fax: 504.280.5587

Next Tree Planting Event

The next Hike for KaTREEna planting event in NorthWest Carrollton

is Saturday November 14th, 2009.

We will meet @ the Lions @ the corner of Pritchard Place & Carrollton

for 9AM.


Volunteers Welcome.... Show up with your shovel and help us plant a Tree or 2 or many!

If live in NorthWest Carrollton (bounded by Earhart-Carrollton-Claiborne-Leonidas) and you want a form to request free trees, leave a comment and we’ll get back to you!

James Gill takes on Toris Young - Again

Take a look at James Gill's column today.

This time Mr. Gill did some foot work inside NorthWest Carrollton on the properties owned by Toris Young and Greater Bibleway. Anyone who reads this blog knows about Mr. Young and the Church of the Holy Sand Lot.

It's nice to have this issue brought into the light for a wider audience.

Thank you James Gill!

School Zone Ticket $1200

I can't find confirmation of this anywhere but this is the 3rd time I've seen this so either it is a wide spread urban myth or it's true.

Starting tomorrow
a speeding ticket in a school zone, even if it's one mile over the limit is going to be $1,200.00.
If you are going eleven or more miles over the limit you get the $1,200.00 ticket plus a citation and possible jail time. It will be considered a misdemeanor. Then you have to appear in court and pay court costs.

Also, starting tomorrow if you see a tooper on the interstate with someone pulled over you have to switch to the left lane before you pass him or you will get a $150.00 ticket.

2nd District Auto Burglaries

We are having a higher than average number of auto burglaries. The
targets of these thefts are GPS units and laptop computers left in the
vehicle. In most of these cases they smash a window and reach into
the vehicle and take the GPS and are gone in less than a minute.
Please take the time to take the GPS out of the vehicle when you exit
your vehicle even for a brief time period.

Remember to report any suspicious persons or activities you see in
your neighborhood by calling 821-2222. In an emergency, call 911
immediately.

Major Bruce Little
Second District

Fig Street Follies

From: NorthWest Carrollton
To: Shelley Midura-SMidura@cityofno.com, Joe Becker-jbecker@swbno.org, Robert Mendoza-rmendoza@cityofno.com, Andrew Holbein-AHolbein@cityofno.com
Cc: action reporter , TP FIX THIS ,
Subject: Re: 8100 Block of Fig Street
Date: Apr 24, 2009

All,

S&W Board has been busy on Fig Street. The large hole is now paved over. Unfortunately the leak is still there. This is NOT rainwater. This is a leak.

The section of the block closer to Carrollton and across the street from Ye Olde College Inn also has some lovely work.

Please note that sand and gravel have been spread over what was a lovely algae covered hole.

Please note the leak is still here too.

Please note how the sand is piled up so that when it rains it is going to wash into the drain and totally block it up so that one day when the leaks are repaired what we will have instead is a backed up drain and a still flooded street!!!!!

Please see the photo of Ms. Robinson who lives in the 8100 Block of Fig.

Her home was destroyed by fire, rebuilt and now she is living in a block where S&W Board has torn up the street and not repaired serious leaks and where a SHIPPING CONTAINER, is masquerading, apparently with the current permission of the city, as a "garage" and being used for COMMERCIAL STORAGE in a residentially zoned neighborhood on the Historic Register.

Please ask yourself if you would want your family members to have to put up with this kind of "progress"?

And if it's not, PLEASE send an eMail with the link below to smidura@cityofno.com
http://nwcarrollton.blogspot.com/2009/04/fig-street-follies.html


Sincerely,
Jenel Hazlett for NorthWest Carrollton

Safety tips from NOPD 2nd District

PERSONAL SAFETY
Stay alert and tuned in to your surroundings, wherever you are.
Don’t be taken by surprise. Be aware and be prepared.
Stand tall and walk confidently. Don’t show fear. Don’t look like a victim.
Trust your instincts. If you feel uncomfortable in a place orsituation, leave right away and get help if necessary.

SAFE AT HOME
Make sure that all doors to the outside are metal or solid, 1 ¾"hardwood. Make sure all doors to the outside have good, sturdy locks. Use the locks you have. Always lock up your home when you go out, even if it’s only for a few minutes. Secure sliding glass doors with commercially available bars or locks, or put a wooden dowel or broomstick in the door track. Make sure your windows, especially at ground level, have good locks and use them. Make sure all porches and other possible entrances are well-lit. Trim any bushes or trees that hide doors or windows. Keep ladders, tools, toys, and recreational equipment inside when you’re not using them. Don’t hide your house keys under the doormat or in a flowerpot. It’s much wiser to give an extra key to a trusted neighbor. Don't leave your car keys in plain view, on a desk, or in a purse. If someone breaks in they might also take your vehicle if the keys are found. Think carefully before buying a firearm for protection. Guns can be stolen and sold to anyone, or captured and used on you or the police. If you do own a gun, keep it locked up, with the ammunition secured separately, and learn how to use it safely.

IN YOUR CAR
Always lock your car and take the keys, even if you’ll be gone only a short time. Lock doors while driving. If you’re coming or going after dark, park in a well-lit area that will still be well-lit when you return. Leave only your ignition key with a parking attendant. Don’t leave your house key, garage door opener, or other important items in your car. Control your keys. Never leave an identification tag on your key ring. If your keys are lost or stolen, it could help a thief locate your car and burglarize your home. If carrying packages or valuable items, store them in your trunk. If you do leave packages, clothing or other articles in the car; make sure they are out of sight.

Levees.Org Rally for Van Heerden, Too True by Bob Marshall

In response to public outrage over Louisiana State University's decision to fire hurricane expert Ivor van Heerden, Levees.org is announcing:

a rally at LSU's Health Sciences Center in downtown New Orleans

10am Thursday April 16

In front of the Ische Library at LSU Health Science Center

433 Bolivar Street - one half block off Tulane Ave

Dr. van Heerden led a team of independent geotechnical engineers who investigated the levee failures in metro New Orleans after Katrina. Van Heerden was openly critical about the design and construction mistakes by the US Army Corps of Engineers. Observers believe that has caused LSU officials to worry that federal funding might be put in jeopardy. Since our phones are ringing off the hook and our email boxes are filled with messages from people who are angry, we have decided to respond by hosting a rally so people can be heard. People want to do something to protest LSU's action. This action means south Louisiana will lose its only independent expert voice on hurricane and flooding issues. Mark your calendars, and I hope you can attend this important event.

Want to do more? Please view, comment and rate on this YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phCYwi3XgQ4

Thank you,
Sandy Rosenthal
Founder, Levees.org
http://www.levees.org/

For a very good summary on why Dr. van Heerden got canned - and why that is a travesty - please see this excellent article in today's Times Picayune by staff writer Bob Marshal.

The article is also below.

Point of View
TOO TRUE
Ivor van Heerden pointed fingers at the feds after Katrina, and LSU decided its funding was at risk
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Bob Marshall

Ugly doesn't change, even when you see it coming. Neither does stupid.

I'm talking about the decision by LSU to fire Ivor van Heerden, the head of the LSU Hurricane Center who earned world-wide renown for his work before and after Hurricane Katrina. This move had been rumored and threatened almost since van Heerden began his post-storm work, but it was no less repulsive for its inevitability.

As someone who covered that story, I always thought the state should be rewarding van Heerden, not chasing him away, because metro area residents -- indeed, citizens of any U.S. community currently relying on federal levees to keep them safe -- owe Van Heerden a huge debt.

Here's why.
In the days immediately after Katrina, the world thought New Orleans had been ravaged by a huge storm simply too large for the high-tech flood protection system built at great cost by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And according to some members of Congress and many media commentators, that's just what we deserved for living here, below sea level.

In fact, that was the official story being put out by the corps.

But about a week after the storm, as van Heerden and engineers on his staff began inspecting the deadly breaches in that system, the story began to change. They were expecting to see evidence of over-topping, signs Katrina was just too big for the system, the very scenario the center had predicted the day before the storm came ashore.

What they found was something else: Signs of catastrophic engineering failures. In other words, the floodwalls and levees failed not because they were too small, but because they had been either poorly designed, poorly built -- or both.

The world's media immediately gravitated to van Heerden not just because this was shocking news, but also because it came from a hurricane expert with a staff of geotechnical engineers qualified in the science of flood protection.

And he was the only person from this area even talking about the issue.
Incredibly, the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans -- the two political entities most grievously damaged by the disaster -- showed no inclination to launch their own investigations. They were content to leave the examination of the tragedy to the same outfit that built the system in the first place: the Corps of Engineers.

Thankfully, van Heerden wouldn't let this happen. He put together a group of engineers and scientists from LSU and the private sector and convinced the state attorney general and the Department of Transportation and Development to give "Team Louisiana" official status.
You'd think the university would take pride in one of its own leading such important work. Just the opposite happened.

From the start, van Heerden was pressured by LSU administrators to go easy. At one point he was issued a gag order. It seemed the more problems Team Louisiana uncovered, the more intense the sniping from Baton Rouge.

Some of that was due to classic campus politics: jealousies, rivalries and professional disputes. Some of it was self-inflicted; even van Heerden's admirers admitted he could be difficult to work with, due to an often uncompromising style and a penchant for going public with results before final drafts were approved.

But van Heerden's real danger to LSU was his threat to funding.

The federal government is the largest source of research funding for universities, and LSU was lining up tens of millions of dollars for coastal and wetlands work -- much of which might be partnered with the corps. Having one of its professors lobbing bombs at the feds made some at the university fear for the LSU pocketbook.

That's why members of Team Louisiana, as well as researchers from other universities, were warned to shut up or risk their careers. Fortunately for all of us they decided their ethics -- as professors, engineers and citizens -- compelled them to continue to work for the public good.

Anyone who thinks I'm overstating the case need only look at the Interagency Performance Review Task Force Report, the corps' official explanation of what happened during Katrina. After spending $20 million over eight months, the first page of the report states it found "no evidence of government or contractor negligence or malfeasance."

Please.

How about ignoring information that the structures they were building were as much as two feet lower than claimed? Or skipping over alerts that its storm modeling was outdated? Or failing to inspect projects as required by law? Or a mandatory review process that was so sloppy, it missed obvious mistakes by subcontractors?

And how about this verdict: If the project has been built properly, some of the flooding would not have occurred, and much of the rest would have been reduced to the point of nuisance instead of disaster.

That's just the start of a very long list.

Team Louisiana pointed the way to early exposure of these mistakes and many more. Van Heerden was the only Louisiana official to speak on the record, and loudly. If he hadn't persisted, who knows what the corps would have failed to find out, or how much more dangerous our lives would be today.

Now, rather than build on that very significant accomplishment, LSU has decided to clean out those who made it happens.
That's ugly and stupid.

. . . . . . .
Bob Marshall is a Times Picayune staff writer.
He can be reached at rmarshall@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3539.

Thank you Bob for saying what needed to be said and thank the Times Picayune for publishing it.

Blancher on neighborhood groups & Rock 'N Bowl

Take a look at a recent March 30th WWL interview

Apparently the Blanchers are upset because the City Planning Commission told them that they have to be in compliance with existing Inner City Corridor Ordinance for Carrollton Ave.

So instead of having a flat, bleak, hot parking lot with no trees (which was what was in the original plans) they are being required to plant trees and shrubs in the parking area. And this is blamed on the neighborhood group. The fact that the ordinance requiring landscaping existed BEFORE the Blanchers bought the property or started work on the Rock 'N Bowl or before the neighborhood organization existed doesn't come up in the discussion.

It seems that Mr. Blancher thinks that he should be allowed to do whatever he wants however he wants to do it. Rules aren't necessary for the good guys like John.

Lighten up John. What you don't seem to appreciate is how great it is to have NorthWest Carrollton watching your back and to be a part of the next coolest neighborhood in New Orleans. Whether you realize it or not we are VERY HAPPY to have the Rock 'N Bowl in the 'hood. We just wish you would have called it the Rock 'N Bowl and not MidCity Lanes. You're not in MidCity any more! Check out the PRC's map, you're in Carrollton now.

Borah on Charity Hospital Plans

Friends & Colleagues,

I want to let you know about a new website that has been launched to address the controversial plan to build a LSU/VA medical complex and close Charity Hospital.The creators of this website have reached out to me, and I have found it be very informative and comprehensive. It definitely has a point of view, but it includes videos and documents and summaries of the issues that are useful tools regardless of whether you are concerned about the proposed medical complex, or just believe that the controversial development should be included in the master plan planning process.

Please visit the website by clicking here: http://www.savecharityhospital.com/

Please take a moment to forward this e-mail to others. This is an issue that demands our attention.

William E. Borah
President, Smart Growth for Louisiana
533 Esplanade Avenue, Suite B
New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 944-4010 (504) 942-3176 Fax

Talk to the Governor

We encourage you to use this link to send the letter below to Governor Jindal.

The proposed medical centers in downtown New Orleans represent the single largest facilities project that will be undertaken in the city in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They will involve massive federal spending, a major appropriation of state funding and should be a critical component to the rebirth of downtown New Orleans.

There are competing claims about the best way to bring a state of the art medical center to the city, with one plan espousing the benefits of rehabbing the historic Charity Hospital and another proposing the abandonment of Charity in favor of new construction.

Please bring an end to the back-and-forth speculation about which plan represents the best path to bringing quality health care back to New Orleans by commissioning an independent financial review of the two plans. Only by making an "apples to apples" analysis of the competing plans can the true costs and benefits of both options be brought to light, allowing officials to make the wisest use of taxpayers' dollars to construct a world-class medical center--a goal which everyone shares.

Thank you for your consideration.

Strategies for Rainwater Harvesting & Stormwater Management at Your Home

April Showers
Strategies for Rainwater Harvesting & Stormwater Management at Your Home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April is known for ushering in the rainy season.

The old saying "April showers bring May flowers" is especially true for New Orleanians. As we enjoy a beautiful spring in our city, with occasionally abundant rain and a mind toward sustainability, it is important to think about our watersheds and finding ways to utilize what we normally consider as waste water.

Join us this month as our panelists discuss local issues with water catchment and management, as well as highly informative presentations on alternatives such as rain barrels, water cisterns,
bioswales and creative rain gardening.
Panelists include engineer Joe Evans, of sustainable design firm FutureProof,
Demetria Christo, co-founder of EcoUrban Sustainable Landscaping,
and Global Green's Raymond Breaux, program manager, Build It Back Green.
Please join us for refreshments and a topical, informative discussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Global Green's New Orleans Green Building Resource Center
841 Carondelet Street
New Orleans, LA.

Wednesday, April 15th 5:30pm to 7:30pm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free and open to the public. Continuing Education Credits Apply.
For more information please contact Global Green:
504-525-2121, or hjensen@globalgreen.org

General Meeting April 8th

Come meet your neighbors and discover what's going on in

NorthWest Carrollton

When: Wednesday, April 8th 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Where: Incarnate Word - 8316 Apricot Street

After 3 years of being meeting location vagabonds

we now have a permanent home @ Incarnate Word.

Many thanks to Catholic Charities.

AGENDA

GUEST SPEAKERS
· Robert Mendoza - City of New Orleans Public Works - Street Repairs
· Louisiana State Representative Walker Hines - S&W Board issues

Topics
· Sewerage & Water Board repairs on Apple, Apricot & Cambronne
· PRC's SELLebration (May)
· The Orchard on Fig
· Monthly magazine exchange
· CitiWalk & RainGardens - planned for future meetings
· Discussion of any other neighborhood issues important to you!

A trip to New York

The Peabodys will be awarded during a May ceremony in New York City.

NOAH Housing Program Investigation (WWL-TV)WWL-TV, New Orleans
Dogged inquiry by anchor/reporter Lee Zurik embarrassed the New Orleans Authority Housing Program, a non-profit agency intended to help poor and elderly victims of Hurricane Katrina, and prompted a federal investigation of its misuse of funds.

Congrats, Lee AND KAREN. I see that WWL cries poor at the end of the article below. Poor or not it seems that they have acknowledged the contributions of Karen Gadbois and are making sure that she is in New York when Lee accepts the Peabody. New Orleans has recovered due to the endless energy and commitment of regular working folks. It is too easy to forget that this is a citizen lead recovery. The citizens who are working so hard for the NEW New Orleans deserve every bit of recognition they can get. Thanks again Lee & Karen.

ANOTHER MEDAL FOR ZURIK
Investigative stories earn WWL a Peabody
Friday, April 03, 2009
Dave Walker

WWL-Channel 4 is one of 36 recipients of a George Foster Peabody Award, announced Wednesday by the University of Georgia's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The honor came for reporter Lee Zurik's investigative stories about the now-defunct New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp. (NOAH), which on Tuesday won the top prize -- the IRE Medal -- in a story competition sponsored by Investigative Reporters and Editors.

The Peabody is considered broadcast journalism's highest honor. The awards, begun in 1940, recognize "distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by TV and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals and the World Wide Web," according to the Peabody Web site, and are decided by a panel of TV critics, broadcast professionals and academics.

WWL last won one for its Hurricane Katrina coverage; this is the seventh time the station has been recognized by the Peabody judges.

The Hearst-Argyle TV-station group, which owns New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU-Channel 6, also won a Peabody, for its "Commitment 2008" coverage of local and regional political contests. In March, the station group's political coverage won a USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism.

Also honored with a Peabody was National Public Radio's "36 Years of Solitary: Murder, Death and Justice on Angola," a story about two inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola who have been kept in solitary confinement for more than three decades.

"Black Magic," the ESPN documentary about the integration of college basketball, for which several men with Louisiana ties (including Ben Jobe, Bob Love and Harold Hunter) were interviewed, and for which Chris Paul and Wynton Marsalis served as narrators, also won.
Other Peabody winners include ABC's "Lost," AMC's "Breaking Bad," public radio's "This American Life," YouTube and "Saturday Night Live."

The Peabodys will be awarded during a May ceremony in New York City.

WWL-Channel 4 is laying off five employees -- all technical or clerical, none in news -- as part of a cost-reduction effort by its Texas corporate parent, Belo Corp. Bud Brown, the station's general manager, said the staff reduction was prompted by the nation's depressed advertising climate.
"These are all good people," he said. In mid-March, Belo, which owns 20 TV stations, announced a company-wide suspension of 401(k) matching contributions for all employees, a 5 percent salary reduction for managers, and layoffs totaling 150.

Free Recycling

Lab Recycling LLC, a locally owned business since 2004, is currently offering home pickup service of the following recyclables:

PAPER: Newspaper, Cardboard, Magazines, Telephone Directories, and Mixed Office Paper

PLASTICS: Water, Soft Drink/Sport Drink Bottles, Milk Jugs, Grocery/Retail Bags, Plastic Food Containers/Tupperware, Clothes Hangers, CDs and DVDs

ELECTRONICS: Desktop PC’s, Monitors, Printers/Scanners, Laptops, Cell Phones, and Ink Jet Cartridges

Lab Recycling, LLC provides recycling containers to its participants for a one time $20 fee.
For any questions, contact Owner Ron Labrano at 710 4833.
To sign up send eMail to

A one-time $20 fee covers bin delivery. Pickup is once every two weeks.

To sign up, email rlabrano@cox.net
with your name, address, and phone number.

Congratulations (again!) Karen (and Lee)

Karen Gadbois has worked tirelessly for the city of New Orleans and NorthWest Carrollton. Nobody, but NOBODY has her energy or nose for what's really going on. It is wonderful to see Lee honor Karen for her commitment and work. Thanks to Lee for being able to listen when no one else would. Here's hoping this kind of recognition (again folks, again!) gets Karen the funding she needs to continue her work. Lest we forget Karen does this kind of work for FREE. She is currently working for a non-Profit and funding will run out any day.

Full Story below

WWL-TV's Lee Zurik honored by investigative reporters and editors group for NOAH stories

Posted by Dave Walker, TV columnist, The Times-Picayune
March 31, 2009 10:05AM

A story that originated with watchdog legwork by local blogger Karen Gadbois has won WWL-Channel 4's Lee Zurik one of journalism's most coveted prizes, the Investigative Reporters and Editors' IRE Medal.
Zurik's 2008 investigation of the now-defunct New Orleans Affordable Homeownership Corp. (NOAH) also won the ire of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who called the initial story in the series "biased and inaccurate," and charged Zurik and WWL with retarding the city's recovery.
"How is that report helping this recovery?" Nagin said at a July news conference. "It is not, and it's hurting this city, and you need to stop it."
The award was announced Tuesday (March 31). Coincidentally, the New Orleans City Council was slated to receive an update the same day on efforts to recoup payments by NOAH to contractors whose post-Katrina home-remediation work could not be verified.
"Getting the highest honor from this organization and being recognized alone, I was shocked," said Zurik while en route to City Hall to report the update story for WWL. "I sent an e mail to some of the people who helped us. Obviously, Karen is the main person. I told her, 'Take a big bite out of this award. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you.'"
A New Orleans native who worked as an intern in WWL's sports department as a 15-year-old student at Isidore Newman School, Zurik is a graduate of the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University. He worked at TV stations in Greenville, Miss., Montgomery, Ala., and Baton Rouge before returning to WWL as a sports anchor and reporter in 2001. He moved from sports to news post-Katrina, and currently anchors WWL's weekend newscasts.
Zurik's NOAH stories "uncovered corruption in a city agency charged with helping rebuild homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," wrote the IRE contest judges. "Zurik and his team ... found that money was paid to contractors to repair homes that never received any improvements--or didn't exist at all. WWL's investigation found close ties between agency managers, Mayor Ray Nagin, and the contractors doing the alleged improvements. The journalist stuck to the story in the face of public intimidation and strong initial denials by Nagin. In court, WWL forced the city to disclose agency records. The results were impressive: The program was suspended, the employees were fired and a federal grand jury launched an investigation."
Other media outlets honored by the IRE include the Detroit Free Press, the Seattle Times, "60 Minutes" and National Public Radio for a report about Herman Wallace and Albert Woodfox, two Louisiana Sate Penitentiary at Angola inmates who were held in solitary confinement for 36 years after being convicted for the murder of guard Brent Miller.
The IRE is a nonprofit formed in 1975 "to create a forum in which journalists throughout the world could help each other by sharing story ideas, newsgathering techniques and news sources," says the group's website.

Donate a Mammogram - no cost to you

Some of you know that our friend and neighbor and New Orleanian of the year Karen Gadbois fought off breast cancer as part of her PostKatrina Workout. Some of you don't.

Karen is an advocate for getting women getting mammograms. A mammogram and her innate strength and resilience is why we have her fighting for the neighborhood today.

So WE have a favor to ask, it only takes a minute....

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle).
This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising..

Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/


PLEASE TELL 10 FRIENDS TO TELL 10 FRIENDS!

Demolition of Sav-A-Lot on Carrollton

Apparently there is a permit in place to demolish the Sav-A-Lot.

Volunteers needed to help build Playground

COMMUNITY ADVISORY
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CARROLLTON/PENSIONTOWN COMMUNITY

TO BUILD "LITTLE HANDS" NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYGROUND

Harrell Park to be site of the newest community playground for kids

WHAT: Pensiontown and Carrollton neighborhood volunteers will join sponsors from the Allstate Foundation, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids and Operation Kids to build a state-of-the-art safe recreational space for children.

WHEN: Saturday, April 18, 2009 - 8:00 a.m.

WHERE: Harrell Park 2300 Leonidas @ S. Claiborne Ave.

Residents have partnered with the Allstate Foundation, the Injury Free Coalition for Kids and Operation Kids in their campaign to build a safe recreational space for kids in our neighborhood.
Harrell Park successfully bid for the playground as part of the "Little Hands Neighborhood Playground Partnership"

CONTACT: Tilman Hardy 504.237.9556; tilmanhardy@kw.com
Stanford Williams 504.329-0623; swilliamsii@msn.com

Unsafe Pool @ 2933-35 Dante

To: "Wesley P. Taylor" wptaylor@cityofno.com

Cc: Shelly Midura smidura@cityofno.com, NWCCA Board
Subject: Unsafe Pool @ 2933 - 35 Dante
Date: Mar 28, 2009 9:25 AM

Dear Mr. Taylor,

The pool at the corner of Dante and Fig has, for the most part, been untended for the last 3+years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenapricot/3348575533/
The owner has made some symbolic gestures at replacing the broken fence but the fixes fail after a day or two.We would appreciate your assistance with this issue.

Thanks,
Karen Gadbois

Apple Street - INSULTING!

The City of New Orleans and the Sewerage & Water Board has effectively told the New Orleans citizens who live in the 8100 & 8200 Blocks of Apple street that the repair work is complete and the repairs are as good as it is going to get.

Let's review:

The levee failures after Katrina resulted in about 3 feet of water in NorthWest Carrollton. Because we are a historic neighborhood with raised bungalows and classic shotguns buit on piers most of the houses in the neighborhood were able to be quickly repaired, funds allowing.

The postKatrina cleanup process resulted in significant debris on the streets and significant truck and bobcat traffic on the streets and sidewalks as the debris was removed.

The sidewalks and streets were damaged by the by the flooding AND by the clean up. There are FEMA funds for "submerged street" repairs.


The City of New Orleans can repair less than 2 miles of Streets in the Irish Channel and call it recovery from Hurricane Katrina and Rita. But it can't see its way to do a proper job on Apple street, which was definitely submerged by PostKatrina floodwaters. But we aren't supposed to believe that the folks on the Isle of Denial are getting better city services than other areas of the city.

In case you are wondering, the Isle of Denial or the Sliver on the River is that stretch of New Orleans that did not flood PostKatrina due to the failure of the Corps of Engineers Levees & Floodwalls and the mismanagement of coastal wetlands that is or thankfully will be the MRGO.

NorthWest Carrollton in the MasterPlan

NorthWest Carrollton has photos in the Carrollton section of the Master Plan.
The photos were taken when NWCCA member met with Goody-Clancy staff to tour the neighbohood and review our hopes and concerns.
Slide 1: lovely (for sale) sidehall single on Apricot & Cambronne,
Slide 2: Jesus Miracle Power non-profit on Apple,
Slide 3 : shotgun doubles on Apricot & Cambronne
Slide 4: horrible lot behind AutoZone that collects abandoned cars and tires, that we have worked and continue to work with our Quality of Life Officer, City Sanitation, and Safety & Permits to have cleaned up. We are actually hoping that this lot will be sold to Landis Construction and be made into a lovely landscaped parking lot with dark skies lighting.
Slide 5t: new modular on Fig where we since planted a tree with Hike for Katrina. This block almost completely destroyed by fire postKatrina while the flood waters were still in the neighborhood.
Slide 6: Ashton Theatre. We'd love to see this renovated into a performance space.
Slide 7: former corner store on Apple
Slide 8: another shot of the Ashton Theatre.

We highly recommend that you take a look at the Master Plan for our area.
We are in Planning District 3.

Most of what we talked to Goody-Clancy, Camiros about and what NorthWest Carrollton got into the Lambert Plan looks like it made it into the Master Plan. The proof ,will of course, be in the pudding. One of the things we think are lacking is Green Space especially along Earhart and we'll be contacting Goody-Clancy about our ideas.

If you have ideas or questions or concerns about the Master Plan's impact to NorthWest Carrollton, leave a comment or contact us at nwcarrollton@mindspring.com.

Important Coalition forming Health Care & the Master Plan

There is much talk about the Master Plan and the importance of "Citizen Participation".

There is a HUGE, long term change in Land Use in the City of New Orleans that has seen VERY LITTLE citizen participation: the proposed LSU Medical Complex (& the VA Hospital)and the abandonment of the Charity Hospital facility.

It is my opinion that IF the Master Planning Process and the Master Plan itself will mean anything long term that there must be review and citizen participation of the plans for any new Land Use and development that is proposed to essentially rezone 70 acres.

A Coalition is forming requesting some very simple things:

1. Governor Jindal to order an independent, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of the two hospital plans.

2. The City Planning Commission and the City Council to hold public hearings on these critical planning issues.

3. The City Planning Commission and the City Council to include the hospitals in the current master-planning process.

Take a look at the Coalition's Website. And step back and think about the proposed changes and more importantly how these changes are being made.

To quote the coalition website:
"There is no reason not to rally around this effort. Whether you're pro-Charity, pro-LSU, or agnostic, everybody can agree that the time has come to honestly compare the plans side-by-side."

For more than a year, a debate has raged over the sites for new hospitals for Louisiana State University (LSU) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Currently, two different plans are being discussed and as recently as last week, Louisiana Secretary of Health and Hospitals Alan Levine -- the state’s point person on the hospital issue -- said that no decisions have been made and both plans were still on the table.

The proposed medical centers represent the single largest facilities project that will be undertaken in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. They will involve massive federal spending, a major appropriation of state funding and should be a critical component to the rebirth of New Orleans. With so many different entities involved and so much at stake, it falls to the Governor to step in and bring impartial evaluation and clarity to the process.

You can ADD YOUR VOICE by TAKING ACTION TODAY!

Urge Governor Jindal to step in and order an independent cost-benefit analysis of the competing plans by filling out and sending a message to the Governor today. Just go to the link below:
https://secure2.convio.net/nthp/site/Advocacy?id=459&pagename=homepage

Apple Street Update - watch it on Fox News

As anyone who lives in NorthWest Carrollton knows Apple Street has been "under repair" since the fall of last year. There was a problem with a water main. It was serious. In the process of repairing this water main, in Novement 2008, a gas line was cut and parts of the neighborhood had to be evacuated. It didn't make the news.


Early January we asked politely about the repairs and when we could expect to see the roadway stop being a dirt road and when the manhole cover in the middle of Apple & Dante would stop looking like Devil's Tower. We really didn't get an answer.


We kept asking, and asking and finally one of the residents on Apple Street was able to get a rise out of Joe Becker at S&W. It was an answer. But it wasn't the whole story. It was essentially platitudes. When you are living with construction equipment and a dirt road in front of your house and you can't trust if there will be a gas leak or sewerage leak or water flowing into the street platitudes don't get you very far. (make sure you check out the comment on the link above.)


The residents on Apple Street have had to put up with construction equipment on their lawns, a torn up and essentially dirt road for most of Novemeber, Decemeber and January. We *think* the Sewerage and Water Board repairs are complete. But the roadway repair work has stopped and started over and over and over again. Take a look at the current state of the repairs. It ain't pretty.


If it weren't for the heroic efforts of Mr. Taylor of Apple Street this kind of "service" to the taxpaying citizens of NorthWest Carrollton New Orleans would go unnoticed. Here's hoping Fox News does justice to our outrage at the length of time the repair work has taken and the quaility of work being done and the lack of straight answers we are getting. We are still waiting to be told WHEN the repair work will be complete.


And folks we are talking about a total of 2 city blocks.
Count 'em. 2 blocks. 5 Months of misery.
No matter how you slice this it isn't progress.
We have a feeling the story here is bigger than NorthWest Carrollton.
This same "progress" could be coming to a neighborhood near you!

NOPD-Quality of Life-Abandoned Vehicle Report

March 24th Report
Major Little/ Officer Eddington
It is time for our quarterly report on abandoned vehicles in NorthWest Carrollton.
Having abandoned cars marked and towed shows the Bad Guys that the neighborhood is watching and that the NOPD is watching and working the area. It is an excellent way for us Good Guys to mark our territory and make the Bad Guys think twice about hanging and working in the area. The Vehicles are listed by street. Items in italics below are April 20th NWCCA notes. So far none of the vehicles have been tagged or towed.

FIG STREET
**********************************
Corner of Fig and Dublin Streets
Black/Brown GMC SUV
La#PMY001
Small White Trailer
La#L009301

8216 Fig Street
Silver Mercury
No Plate

Lot Behind Helm Paint Store on Fig Street
Maroon Infinite
La#RHB674

Empty Lot Behind Auto Zone
Red Buick LeSabre
No Plate

Black Infinite
La#PLU460

White Grand Prix
No Plate

APRICOT STREET
**********************************
8235 Apricot Street (April 20th NWCCA noted tagged by NOPD)
Brown Ford Truck
La#X184178

Corner of Apricot and Leonidas Streets
Black SUV
No Plate

BELFAST STREET
**********************************
Empty Lot 8200 Block of Belfast
Black GMC Truck
La#W614932

8504 Belfast
Red Corolla
TX#Y35XF13

April 20th NWCCA noted van on the corner of Belfast and Cambrone with writing on it from NOPD.

CARROLLTON AVENUE
**********************************
2600 Block
Green/Blue Mitsubishi
La#SAW855

APPLE STREET
8225 Apple Street
**********************************

Smashed Greyish Van in Driveway of Abandoned House-Lawn is being cut by neighbor next door

NELSON STREET
**********************************
8224 Nelson Street
Silver Escort
No Plate

CLAIBORNE AVENUE
**********************************
Corner of Claiborne and Dante Street
Silver Saturn
La#ROA706

CAMBRONNE STREET
**********************************
2536 Cambronne Street
Red Plymouth Van
No Plate

2527 Cambronne Street
Bronze LEsabre
Tx#Y70LFH

JOLIET STREET
**********************************
2722 Joliet Street
Navy Blue Pontiac Grand Am
No Plate

NOPD Little & DA Canizarro

On March 19th Central Carrollton Association (CCA) held the Winter 2009 Community Forum with the theme of Community Safety. The two forum participants were:
Major Bruce Little, Commander NOPD Second District and
Leon Cannizarro, Orleans Parish District Attorney.

Below is a basic summary of their statements as noted by CCA Secretary Ted Argote:

Major Bruce Little, NOPD Second District Commander:
-Noted that cooperation and energy of residents of Second District a catalyst for improving conditions and relations between police and residents.
-His goal is to increase cooperation between Second District police and district Attorney’s staff.
-A representative of the DA's office is now assigned to the Second District as well as each district in city.
-The Second District had greatest crime reduction in last quarter of all city districts due in part to citizen cooperation.
-Arrests have increased by 40% with 100% of homicides cleared. This increase in activity instills confidence in officers.
-His mission is to have officers engaged in investigation if incidents whenever suspicion exists and not wait until a crime have been committed.
-Importance of public cooperation in reporting incidents and concerns. Better to go out on a false alarm than to take a crime report later.
-By building a relationship between police, public and DA's office crime can be brought under control.
-Parents must be held accountable for what their children do. If parents are made to perform community service along with their children they may pay more attention to children’s activities.
-Addressed need for volunteers to mentor and work with kids to keep them from getting into trouble.
-Maps of NOPD COMSTAT passed out showing what crime had been reported and the locations, one for last 4 weeks one for last 90 days. Indicated that Second District had far fewer incidents than other districts.

Leon Cannizaro, Orleans Parish District Attorney
-Mr. Cannizaro noted that far too long the district attorney’s office and police have not worked together for the improvement of conditions in the city. Previously 50% of the cases turned over to DA's office were rejected due to lack of information or procedural breakdown. This will now change under his watch.
-Dialogue will now begin between arresting officers and DA's office and an improved public advocacy.
-Now a representative of the DA's office will be on the scene of every homicide while police investigate. This will allow for better information compiled and reliable witnesses questioned.
-Witness protection will be improved so that the public will feel safe when reporting a crime or testifying, no longer will a witness have to wait for years before a case comes to court. Public confidence in the system will improve and witnesses will be more willing to come forward.
-DA's office will work with police officers to improve reporting skills and court room demeanor. Most police have had little training in writing reports and none in how to be an effective witness in court.

NorthWest Carrollton's Debi Theobald

Check out this week's cover story in the Gambit.... look for Debi Theobald.

Debi is a member of the NorthWest Carrollton Board.

GNOF should be ashamed for not funding this group.

The Gambit article is below:

AN ECO-MINDED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM INTRODUCES INNER-CITY NEW ORLEANS KIDS TO THE NATURAL WORLD.
BY ALEX WOODWARD

Armed with their Earthkeepers Training Manuals, students line up on the Jean Lafitte boardwalk before entering TREE's outdoor classroom.Photo courtesy of Tree
Andrew H. Wilson Elementary fourh-graders fidget in their seats in a log cabin auditorium with floor-to-ceiling bay windows that face a stretch of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve — woods and more woods. They're in the first few minutes of a three-day field trip.
  The program coordinator introduces herself as Redwood. She huddles the adults into a corner and issues a disclaimer: "It's going to be a little goofy," she says. "And it's going to be a little chaotic." Another rule: "We don't allow anyone to wear watches," she says. "If the kids ask what time it is, just say, 'It's time to have fun,' or 'It's time to go on an adventure.'"
  The program teachers, the "guardians," introduce themselves — Slider, Paulownia and Loon.
  Welcome to Earthkeepers, a part of Teaching Responsible Earth Education's (TREE) network of programs that turns science class into a camping trip.
  The fourth-graders line up for their wooden medallion nametags and their backpacks, which hold their Earthkeepers Training Manual, a magnifying glass and a pencil. A parent-chaperone and five teachers from the Broadmoor school lead color-coordinated groups outside. Slider and Paulownia lead one group down the park's boardwalk until the auditorium, school buses and lunch bags are a bit farther away than some would like. The group hops off the boardwalk and sits in a wide circle.
  "This is our outdoor classroom," Paulownia says. "Pretty cool, right?"
  The students look up, down, left, right. They're in the middle of the woods, far from Broadmoor, but they agree that sitting in the dirt is way better than sitting in class.
Since 1995, TREE has taught more than 12,000 public and private school students, parents and teachers in the New Orleans area. The curriculum is based on program models provided by the Institute for Earth Education, a Greenville, W. Va.-based network of environmental educators, with international hubs in Italy, Germany, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The institute was founded in 1974 as an alternative provider of environmental education, using program methods with names like Earthkeepers, Sunship Earth and Sunship III.
  A former fifth-grade teacher at John Dibert Elementary, TREE director Sue Brown visited a Sunship Earth program in Pennsylvania and immediately brought it back to her classroom.
  "It just captured my imagination," she says. "I guess I had these little kid feelings from being outdoors. My mother had allowed and fostered those things, and I felt like my fifth-grade kids weren't getting those kinds of attachments to the world."
  Brown developed the New Orleans Sunship Earth program in 1985 and continued teaching until 1995, when she left Dibert to create TREE. With TREE, Brown wanted to open Sunship Earth to fifth-graders in other public schools and expand programming to include spinoffs for fourth- and seventh-graders (Earthkeepers and Sunship III, respectively). TREE teaches its programs at Jean Lafitte in Barataria and at the TREE Outdoor Classroom near Covington.
  "We wanted kids to have amazing experiences," she says. "In the city, vacant lots are not enticing places for any of our kids, so being out in nature and having natural woods —one kid said, 'I got two trees in my yard, I thought that was the woods!'"
  "A lot of these kids, when they first come out, are like, 'I've never been in the woods. Are we in the woods right now?'" says Alyssa Denny ("Paulownia").
Students learn how living things get energy from the sun.Photo by Alex Woodward
  The first schooling in the outdoor classroom begins with a song: "All living things on the Earth are connected." Paulownia and Slider explain, using a few props and balls of clay, how sun, soil, water and air compose the natural world.
  Later the students break into groups to join a "speck trail." Armed with magnifying glasses, they follow the life of a "speck" named Howard Humus, a bit of soil that moves from a plant to an animal and starts over in its droppings. After lunch, the guardians explain food chains ("munch lines") with lunch trays and stuffed animals.
  Paulownia concludes the day's lesson with a story about mosquitoes in her backyard. Birds got sick and eventually stopped visiting her yard when the mosquitoes were sprayed with pesticides. To keep the birds in her backyard, she stopped spraying pesticides and removed standing water where mosquitoes bred. All the lessons of the day — munch lines, speck trails, "all living things on the Earth are connected" — boiled down into an environmental message so effective one could almost see the lightbulbs blinking above the fourth-graders' heads.
  "All of this stuff could be taught in the classroom, but outdoors, it sticks with them," says Patrick Norman ("Slider"). "I mean, I learned about the water cycle in school, but it wasn't as fun — I wasn't doing the 'Water Cycle Boogie.'"
In an executive report on TREE programming, the University of Arizona determined Earthkeepers "meshes well with state standards and helped students accomplish many curriculum objectives."
  The university evaluated Earthkeepers from September 2004 to May 2005. That year, TREE offered the program 13 times with 474 students from seven schools as well as an after-school program from two other schools. All but one were public schools from Orleans or St. Charles parishes, and most students lived in high-poverty areas (the rates of students qualifying for free or reduced-cost lunch among the schools ranged from 24 percent to 99 percent).
  Brown says TREE programs are capable of teaching nearly a third of a student's curriculum. "Schools do that. Textbooks do that. But we wanted to do it in an imaginative, role-playing way that kids get concepts they can hold on to and grow themselves," she says. "They're kernel ideas they can have for larger-scale concepts. Some people are going, 'You can't possibly (teach a third of the curriculum) in three or four days.' We've had teachers come back and go, 'I didn't believe you when you started, but you do it.'"
  TREE says it meets 100 percent of state content standards for science; 71 percent in English and language arts; 50 percent in social studies; and 33 percent in math. The program also accounts for 37 percent of state benchmarks met with relevant grade-level expectations in science and English and language arts; 8 percent in social studies; and 13 percent in math.
  The university tested students with the Ecological Concept Questionnaire, and students' understanding of ecological concepts increased 43 percent from a pre-test assessment. When asked about their personal environmental actions before and after the program, 92 percent of the students reported making significant changes in their daily lives. All teachers said students have lessened their environmental impact in the classroom, and 68 percent of the parents saw changes in their children's behavior with saving energy and materials as well as their awareness of environmental issues and the natural world. The evaluation found similar results for that year's Sunship Earth program.
  With such good numbers, why aren't more schools lining up for the program? In the weeks leading up to federally mandated standardized testing, Brown shows TREE's calendar is empty. She says school administrators would rather keep their students in the classroom.
  "But why not give the kids a break, have them learn something and feel good about it?" she says. "I'm all for testing, but the way we do it needs to be looked at. (Teachers) are under pressure. I understand their plight in all of this — they're under the gun. It's counterintuitive to take their kids out of the classroom. But most of them have come to one of our programs and now see the advantage. It's a little unnerving (for them) to do the opposite of 'do what you think you got to do, just drill it into them.' As a teacher that wants this city to bloom and blossom, it's a little scary for me."
  New Orleans public schools hit another speed bump in getting their classes to the programs: money. As a nonprofit, TREE operates largely on grants and donations. The organization's board members, using grants, will fund half a student's tuition, but the schools must make up the difference. The tuition per student in Earthkeepers, for example, is $250. Andrew Wilson Elementary's trip is partially funded by a recent grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, but the Broadmoor Improvement Association picked up the remaining costs.
  "Most kids that live in the city of New Orleans, specifically — the parents and schools don't have $125 per student," says Earthkeepers coordinator Debi Theobald ("Redwood"). "When you multiply that by 50, it's quite a bit of money."
  Program costs include site fees, instructional materials, pre- and post-trip packets, insurance, meals and snacks (for overnight trips) and, most important, the teachers. Each program has five or six students per adult in a total group of 25 to 35 students.
Students from Metairie Academy participate in an exercise called 'Nature's Munch Box.'Photo courtesy of Tree
  With no commercial pull — TREE doesn't advertise and uses schoolteachers and word-of-mouth recommendations as its publicity — TREE continuously searches for outside funding to fill the gaps. Brown says she hopes to one day institutionalize the program into state schools, or at least within the Recovery School District.
  "We do have people that support this in New Orleans," she says. "It's just that they're supporting a lot of things in this city and there are lots of needs here."
TREE programs incorporate three components: head, heart and hands, or "knowledge, experience and doing," Brown says.
  "What we tie it to is that 'doing' part: Now that you know about the planet and you care about the planet, what will you do about the planet?" she asks. "It may be as simple as turning off a light switch. But now they understand where that fits in a bigger piece of the world, so they're not just doing it because someone told them to. I don't think we want the 'greening' to be just, 'OK, we've done the light bulbs, we've recycled.' Kids come out of (the program) with their own feelings of power. They come out feeling like, 'I can do something.'"
  The programs are designed with a focus on experiential education, but the students are required to hook someone else into the lessons they learned once they come home, including changing their energy-use habits. "They're seeing that what they do will make a difference," Brown says. "They're bugging their parents. They're spreading this information."
  Students are asked what they hope to accomplish after the program. "One kid last session said, 'Learn to live with less,'" Denny says.
  TREE also requires students to spend more time outside once they return from the program.
  "When we take them on a Diary Walk, we take the kids through a walk in the woods, and the kids are always like, 'Are we going to go trail hiking again?'" says Chelsea Keenan ("Loon"). "They're like, 'Oh, there's a place like this by my house, I'm going to go there.'"
In the outdoor classroom, Paulownia leads the group to another patch of woods off the main boardwalk. She lowers an imaginary "veil of silence," and the group slowly gets quiet. The fourth-graders are given a blue mat and a place to sit by themselves — their "magic spot" — with their classmates just out of earshot.
  "When you sit still and think, magical things happen for you," Brown says. "You process information; you get a chance to write beautiful poetry, where amazing kinds of thoughts come. We set aside a time of day to have that solitude — a place to be alone but not lonely."
  The students poke around at the dirt and giggle at first, then get frustrated. "I ain't never been out in no woods before," one girl says. Then they reach for their journals and pencils inside their Earthkeepers satchels and begin to write.
  "That's a lot of city kids, not saying anything, sitting in the woods by themselves for the first time," Theobald says. "Some of them are petrified, but it gives them a chance to understand, 'I can do this. I have control of this thing right here and I'm doing it, and I'm doing it well.'"
  Redwood signals the end of their magic space with a few notes on an ocarina. The group gathers into another circle, where Paulownia asks if anyone wants to share his or her journal. A few hands shoot up — one student recites T.I. lyrics, then his own nature-inspired rap. Another offers a poem.
  "My magic space is very beautiful," he reads.
  Some of the fourth-graders snicker, but another student chimes in with his journal entry. So does another.
  "That's the self-esteem component that goes with (the program)," Theobald says. "They're mixed and matched all the time and forced to work with kids they may never have talked to.
  "The playing field here is leveled. Nobody's smarter, nobody's prettier. They're all just out in the woods together."

Church of the Holy Sand Lot

Perhaps you saw James Gill's March 7th article in the TP.

Perhaps you saw James Gill's February 25 article in the TP.

Perhaps you didn't. But you should take a look at these articles because the Reverend Toris Young's handiwork is right here in NorthWest Carrollton. We have referred to one of the Reverend Young's works as "The Church of the Holy Sand Lot". This property is on the corner of Joliet & Fig. It is filled with sand to an illegal height of more than 3 feet. The sand has been there so long that it has completely covered the drains. The state of this property has been reported to the city on numerous occasions. Apparently the Reverend Young has been too busy buying stuff illegally with other people's money and going to jail for it, and now trying to figure out how to get rid of the newly elected Cao and trash talking the constitution to worry about the impact of his "mission" on our neighborhood.

But wait there's more. Greater Bibleway Baptist Church, Reverend Toris Young Pastor, also owns 2 other properties in NorthWest Carrollton: 8515 Pritchard Place AND the corner lot at Apple & Cambronne.

The following individuals at City Hall,Winston H. Reid -whreid@cityofno.com, Jeffrey J. Thomas-jjthomas@cityofno.com, Seung Hong-shong@cityofno.com, Shelley Midura-smidura@cityofno.com, Sanitation-vwhite@cityofno.com, QOL-weddington@cityofno.com, EJSterling-EJSterling@cityofno.com, Ed Blakely-ejblakely@cityofno.com
received the following report and request for action on all 3 of these properties (and others) in July 2008:8515 Pritchard Place
Property was purchased after Katrina and remained unsecured for quite some time. Property is not maintained by owner. Neighborhood lost significant housing stock to the February 2007 Tornado and is opposed to further demolition of historic housing stock. Neighborhood would like to see the property restored and historic housing returned to use.
Corner of Joliet & FigLot is filled with sand beyond the allowable level. Drains are covered by sand that has run off from lot. Container is blocking sidewalk. Container was dumped here after Katrina and has not moved in 3 years. Same owner as 8515 Pritchard Place. This site has been reported to Safety & Permits. Jared Munster followed up with a report to Public Works. The container has been reported to Ms. Midura's office - Enrico Sterling.
Corner of Apple & CambronneThis site is also used as a strip site and dump site for vehicles. Same owner as 8515 Pritchard Place.

This folks is not what I believe Jesus would do if he owned properties in our neighborhood.
NorthWest Carrollton argued 8515 off of the demolition list. We have indicated repeatedly that we believe the only way that owners who do not properly secure and maintain their properties will learn is if they are fined..... REPEATEDLY. There have been no fines or hearings on this property. We were lucky to prevent this cute little house that we hope one day a family will love and be happy in from being demolished. I believe the only thing that saved this house was the fact that NorthWest Carrollton has already lost houses to illegal and immoral demolitions. And because the February 2007 tornado also resulted in the loss of a number of historic properties that were unable to be repaired. Today the grass is uncut and the property empty but at least it is secure from the elements.
The corner of Apple & Cambronne is a bit brighter these days because the Jesus Miracle Power group, in the same block of Apple, are now using this area as a basketball court. So far this seems to be a positive outlet for neighborhood youth. BUT the lot still collects abandoned or illegally parked cars that are in the process of being repaired or stripped. This is reported repeatedly to our Quality of Life Officer, who repeatedly tags and has towed the illegal cars. We thank him. But we wish that the property owner would be more responsible or the city would more aggressively fine these kinds of offenses.
And the Church of the Holy Sand Lot is still the same eyesore it has been for years.
Want to add insult to injury? These properties, owned by a "church", are probably tax exempt. So we have to harangue the city to: prevent demolitions, fine the owners, clean up the drains and remove the abandoned cars. And the Reverend Toris Young again gets a free ride on somebody else's money - our tax dollars.
This is a person who has said: "It doesn't matter what the (U.S.) Constitution says,". This not a person to listen to or respect. This is a person who should be ashamed of himself. We are ashamed to have to say he is a part of our neighborhood.
Now if anyone at City Hall is listening could we please have this criminal fined.... REPEATEDLY until he cleans up his properties or sells them? We'd like to have the properties owned by someone who will care about them like so many of the good people in NorthWest Carrollton who have fought to return postKatrina. What we are certain of - because ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!, is that the Reverend Toris Young and Greater Bibleway Baptist Church are NOT people who care, unless you are talking about the self serving, self interest kind of caring.

Phoenix Recycling - curbside service

Since Katrina the City of New Orleans hasn't offered curbside recycling.
BUT Phoenix Recycling DOES.

For $14 a month they will come to your house every 2 weeks.
Neighborhood Organizations get a discount.
NorthWest Carrollton is ROUTE 5,
which means they pick up every other Monday.
Perfect for getting rid of weekend party debris.

I've been using the service for a year now and love it.
We are reusing our old City of New Orleans recycling bins.
Our old ones didn't float away and some new ones floated in with Katrina.
You can also use cheap garbage cans.
You can NOT use the City of New Orleans garbage cans for recycling.

Earth Day is in April, so sign up NOW.
That way if someone asks what you are doing for Earth Day
you can tell them you've started recycling with Phoenix.

Home of the Rock 'n Bowl - NOT MID-CITY

In case you were not aware the Rock 'n Bowl is coming to NorthWest Carrollton.
We are THRILLED.

Unfortunately the Carrollton side of the Rock 'n Bowl is painted with a logo that says "Mid-City Lanes". This section of New Orleans is NOT Mid-City. It's at the very edge of Carrrollton and solidly INSIDE the boundaries of NorthWest Carrollton.

I loved the painted logo on the original and actual Mid-City Lanes. I love a painted logo on the Rock 'n Bowl's new location. I just wish that the ROCK 'N BOWL part was larger and that instead of Mid-City Lanes we could have gotten the bowling pin or pins.

We've worked too hard to have the historic character of our CARROLLTON neighborhood recognized and valued to have the Rock 'N Bowl confuse people. It's a shame our newest neighbors don't realize just how strong their influence in the neighborhood and to the neighborhood could be.

City Park Master Plan - NOT JUST FOR GOLF!

On Tuesday March 10, 2009, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters in the Botanical Garden in City Park, the City Park Improvement Association will consider further amendments to the City Park Master Plan and will hear comments on the new proposed $46 million Master Plan for golf.


In preparation for this meeting, www.CityParkNOLA.org was created as a 'bulletin board' and blog to aid in keeping the non-golfing users of City Park informed about revisions to City Park's 2005 Master Plan, particularly the proposals for the golf courses and the impact these developments may have on the rest of the park. The website brings together all media articles about the master plan and the golf course developments published since 2005, the original 2005 Master Plan, the version of the Master Plan revised in 2007, renderings from both plans showing the changes, and renderings showing details of the new $46 million proposal to rebuild and expand the City Park golf courses.

ZONING DOCKET 5-09 - 2620 CAMBRONNE STREET

From: NorthWest Carrollton <nwcarrollton@mindspring.com>

To: Shelley Midura <smidura@cityofno.com>, "Katherine V. Shepherd" <kvshepherd@cityofno.com>

 

Subject: ZONING DOCKET 5-09 - NORTHWEST CARROLLTON OPPOSITION

Date: Mar 3, 2009 10:01 PM

Council Member Midura NorthWest Carrollton Civic Association is OPPOSED to granting this significant zoning change in the RD-2 zoning in the neighborhood. ZONING DOCKET 5-09 - Request by JOHN A. SMITH for a Zoning Change from an RD-2 Two-Family Residential District to a B-1 Neighborhood Business District, on Square 377, Lot M, in the Seventh Municipal District, bounded by Cambronne, Apple, Belfast and Joliet Streets. The municipal address is 2620 CAMBRONNE STREET. (ZBM B-13 http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenapricot/2643019574/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/karenapricot/3327479586/ The property at this single municipal address is near the center the RD-2 neighborhood, only 31 feet by 110 feet, far too small for 3 metered addresses. Additionally, as the pictures above show, there is no capacity for anything other than on street parking. We do not understand nor do we support converting a single house in this block to B-1 Zoning.  While we understand that commercial zoning is a part of the perimeter of our neighborhood, we have worked with the Master Planning Process and Goody-Clancy and Camiros and have repeatedly outlined our desire to retain the RD-2 character of the neighborhood which is a part of Historic Carrollton on the National Historic Register. We are pleased that Mr. Smith's family is living in the neighborhood.  We look forward to the day when every historic house is occupied with friends and family. This is appropriate residential use and consistent with the existing zoning.  But we are strongly opposed to this kind of unnecessary spot zoning change. Sincerely, Jenel Hazlett - President NorthWest Carrollton Karen Gadbois - Vice President Scott Andrews - Secretary Margaret Reinhard - Treasurer Debi Theobald - Crime Liasion

Crime fighting via Text Message

There is a new Carrollton Area Network Crime Collaborative.

One of the tools being recommended by the Collaborative is NOLA SMS Crime Alert Network

This history of the development of this tool and more can be found on the website above.
"One night soon after the tragic murder of Wendy Byrnes in the French Quarter, a friend of Wendy's was mugged in the Marigny. Concerned friends sent out text messages to others warning them of the specific area to avoid and to be careful in general - and urging everyone to pass the message along. Ten copies of the same text message and three phone calls later, the idea to set up an SMS Crime Alert Network was born, with the intention of warning as many people as possible of recent and/or in-progress crimes without inundating anyone with multiple copies of the same message."

Anyone who is interested has the ability to send or receive text messages associated with crime in the Carrollton Area. These reports are from regular folks like you. This is the stuff that can slip through the 911 cracks.

S&W Apple Street Update

From: BECKER, Joe <jbecker@swbno.org>
Date: Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Subject: Apple Street Restoration
To: et61274@yahoo.com, jackie clarkson <jbclarkson@cityofno.com>, arnie fielkow <afielkow@cityofno.com>, Karen Gadbois <karen.gadbois@gmail.com>, shelly head <shead@cityofno.com>, cynthia lewis <cwlewis@cityofno.com>, shelly midura <smidura@cityofno.com>, ch morrell <CHMorrell@cityofno.com>, times picayune <fixthis@timespicayune.com>Cc: "JACKSON, Robert" <RJACKSON@swbno.org>, "BAHAM, Gloria" <GBAHAM@swbno.org>, "AUGUST, Rudy" <RAUGUST@swbno.org>

My name is Joseph Becker and I am the General Superintendent for the Sewerage and Water Board. First, let me apologize for the inconvenience associated with the sewer main replacement that is currently going on in your neighborhood. The sewer main is about 8 feet deep and runs down the middle of the street. The construction associated with this much excavation is very intrusive and time consuming. Rest assured we do everything within our control to minimize the delay and inconvenience to residents whenever we have to make such intrusive repairs.

The Sewerage and Water Board is continually researching our database of repair records and we identified a significant increase in the number of sewer problems in this area. In an effort to be proactive, a more detailed inspection was undertaken in order to identify the nature of the problem causing the increase in defects. In this instance, we found that the sewer main was very old and was in imminent danger of collapse. Rather than continue to respond to defects on an emergency basis and further inconveniencing our residents, a decision was made to replace these defective line segments, utilizing a contractor available to the Sewerage and Water Board.

The sewer work has been completed and the cuts have been backfilled. Currently, the contractor is in the 8100 block of Apple and is working on street restoration. Once he completes this work, the paving crew will move to the 8200 block and they will continue to repave, from block to block until the job is completed. The inspector assigned to this job indicated that the contractor is anticipating to move into the 8200 block of Apple in the next few weeks. It is the goal of the Sewerage and Water Board to have this resurfacing work completed as quickly as possible and to satisfy the requirements of the Department of Public Works for street restoration.

Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience that the repair work is causing you. The SWB is replacing these old, broken pipes in an effort to minimize future inconvenience to you on a returning emergency basis. We appreciate your patience and we will do everything we can to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible as we complete the surface restoration.


Joseph R. Becker, P.E.
General Superintendent
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans
phone: (504) 585-2365
fax: (504) 585-2461

NorthWest Carrollton - Walkable Neighborhood

Taken from City-Works Newsletter:

Walk Score is a fun tool to measure how walkable our communities are. This website was featured on nola.com recently. Just plug in your address and see how it stacks up to some of the most walkable communities in the country. The center of New Orleans measures up quite nicely when compared to anywhere else in the country - a "Walker's Paradise". New Orleans has a lifestyle that other places are still trying to emulate.


Click here to see the walkability score for 8316 Apricot Street New Orleans, LA 70118 (aka Incarnate Word). This address is close to the center of NorthWest Carrollton

Spraying for Buck Moth Caterpillars

Please see the attached link for information on spraying for buck moth caterpillars from Parkway Partners.

http://www.parkwaypartnersnola.org/SaveOurTrees.html

DEADLINE is March 31, 2009

Parkway Partners 2nd Saturday Sale

Parkway Partners
1137 Baronne St (corner of Baronne & Clio)
9 AM - NOON

Second Saturday Program - 02/14/09 - Valentine's Day

Roses and Trees

Citrus, Live Oak, Flowering Crabapple, Cypress, Silver Bell, Taiwan Cherry, Bay and Japanese Magnolias, Fringe, Redbud, Fig, Old Garden and Knock Out Roses

At 10:00 am Peggy Martin of the New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society will speak.