Mardi Gras Week Two: 2013

Page 7

newS + ViewS

BOuqueTS + brickbats ™

S C U T T L E B U T T    13 C O M M E N TA R y   14  C L A N Cy   D U B O S  15 G U S   K AT T E N G E L L   17

knowledge is power

All in a Super Bowl week

$25 sandwiches, -eaux suffix abuse, Homeland Security, Steve Gleason’s balls, Beyonce’s toothbrush and a party befitting a Kingfish Caligula.

held its annual “shakedown” the week  before its Jan. 19 parade. Members asked  businesses on the krewe’s  parade route to donate money,  and held a Shakedown Jam  concert two days before the  parade. The krewe raised  $25,000 in cash and pledges,  which will go to the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic.

were chosen as fellows in the 2013 New  Science Teacher Academy held by the  National Science Teachers  Association (NSTA). The  group chose 244 teachers  for its fellowship program.  Banks teaches at John Ehret  High School and St. Julien  at Truman Middle School; both part of the  Jefferson Parish Public School district.

O

Chase

Behind all the telewizardry and  the temporary stages, TV magiBeyonce sang the cians had dramatically spotlit St.  National Anthem for Louis Cathedral and the Louisiana  the media. Her Jan. State Museums, making them look  31 press conference something like Cinderella’s castle.  drew hundreds of At ground level, police in new  curious reporters. neon-yellow vests milled about.  PHOTO By  The square’s usual component of  ALEX WOODWARD artists was dramatically reduced,  and there were only a few fortune  tellers and buskers in evidence,  patiently waiting for attention and tips from random Super Bowl  tourists, most of whom seemed more concerned with iPhones,  go-cups and fat cigars.     Across the street at Washington Artillery Park, where an  icy wind was coming off the Mississippi River, snapping flags  and shaking a fake plastic “gaslamp,” WWL-TV personalities  Sheba Turk and Tamica Lee Smith shivered in scanty dresses,  preparing for their live show New Orleans Tonight. Nearby, a  page 8

c’est

announced a $350,000 grant to the Team  Gleason House for Innovative Living, a  facility being built in the new St. Margaret’s  Skilled Nursing Residence in Mid-City.  Team Gleason House will provide care for people living with  neuromuscular disorders and  will allow patients with ALS  and MS to control their environment using eye-sensitive  technology. Team Gleason was founded by  former New Orleans Saint Steve Gleason,  who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010.

The Brees Dream Foundation

awarded $1 million to New Orleans charities Jan. 30 for their work leading up to  Super Bowl XLVII. Five winning charities  received $25,000 apiece, while more  than 150 others received  grants ranging from $2,000 to  $20,000. Saints quarterback  Drew Brees and his wife Brittany partnered with Companies With a Mission (CWAM)  for the challenge. For a list of winning  charities, visit www.superservicechallenge.com.

?

What do you think of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s idea of eliminating state income and corporate taxes and hiking the Louisiana sales tax instead?

Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com

59%

Disastrous and regressive

22%

Not enough details yet

19%

Smart and competitive

THiS weeK’S question:

Getting around town  during the run up to the  Super Bowl ...

Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > february 5 > 2013

The Talk, which had caused French Quarter fury on Monday,  regrouped on Tuesday with an appearance by WWL-TV anchor  Angela Hill, who brought the hosts gifts that probably puzzled  a national audience (a Muses shoe, a Zulu coconut, king cake  earrings).     It was only one of many shows during the week filmed at  “CBS Super Bowl Park at Jackson Square,” which had been  transformed into a giant outdoor broadcast studio with shows  ranging from CBS sports broadcasts to The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and Face the Nation With Bob Schieffer. The network’s nightly news was scheduled to be broadcast from  the square Friday and Saturday as well.     Promises that Jackson Square would remain open to the public proved technically true; the quadrant at Chartres and St. Ann  streets was the one place people didn’t need to pass through  CBS’ Checkpoint Charlies. It was one of the few concessions  to the French Quarter’s anti-Super Bowl takeover forces, which  had scored a victory Monday when U.S. District Court Judge  Kurt D. Engelhardt put his signature to a consent judgment  settling a First Amendment dispute between the city and the  American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana, ending a  strict ban on non-NFL-sanctioned signs, banners and flags in  the so-called Super Bowl “Clean Zone.”

Krewe du Vieux

Shelia Banks and Leslie St. Julien

By Kevin Allman, Charles Maldonado  and Alex Woodward n Monday, Mayor Mitch Landrieu took the first ceremonial  ride on the new Loyola Avenue streetcar before rushing  down to the not-new-but-newly refurbished Ernest N.  Morial Convention Center. Landrieu was set to address members of  the national and international press about Super Bowl XLVII, which  was already beginning to make itself known in terms of traffic in the  CBD and French Quarter.     “This is bigger than Super Bowl. This is about the resurrection  of a city,” Landrieu told the press.     While Landrieu was speaking, the Wild West-style social  media site Reddit was hosting an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything)  online chat with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — Public  Enemy No. 1 for many in the Black and Gold Nation. The chat  was quickly crashed by disgruntled New Orleans Saints fans  expressing salty opinions about the commish. (Also in on the  bashing: outspoken Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe.)     And while all this was happening, a photo was inciting outrage  in New Orleans’ social media rounds — a picture of the Andrew  Jackson statue in Jackson Square hung with a giant logo for the  CBS daytime yap show The Talk. (After calls to Landrieu’s office  and to CBS, the sign was removed and not replaced.)     Meanwhile, the Super Bowl was still six days away …

heroes + zeroes

B L A K E  P O N TC H A R T R A I N   16

7


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.