NeWs + vieWs
C O M M E N TA R Y 12 J E R E M Y A L F O R D 13 B L A K E P O N TC H A R T R A I N 14 V I E W P O I N T 17
BOuqueTs + brickbats ™
heroes + zeroes
Clancy DuBos is on vacation.
knowledge is power
The Big Wanda Book Giveaway
will donate 500 copies of Happy Johnson’s book The Adventures of Happy and Big Wanda to New Orleans schoolchildren this summer. Gentilly Trace Elementary School received 100 copies last week. Johnson’s book prepares children for hurricane season. The Team Happy Foundation, Big Easy Kiwanis Club, Royal Engineers and Lindy Boggs National Center for Community Literacy sponsor the giveaway.
The City of New Orleans
received the Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community Award from the League of American Bicyclists May 20. The award recognizes the city’s bike infrastructure improvements, including 58 miles of bikeways and plans to build another 10 over the next year. The League of American Bicyclists uses advocacy and education programs to promote bicycle fitness and transit.
Chevron
Paula and the Pontiacs perform at a benefit to help reopen Jimmy’s Music Club on April 4, 2013.
The legendary Jimmy’s Music Club may be on its way back to presenting live music, but first it needs to satisfy the Alcohol Control Board, City Council and its Uptown neighbors.
PHOTO BY ROBERT MORRIS | UPTOWN MESSENGER
By Robert Morris | Uptown Messenger
W
hen the New Orleans Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABO) rejected a request by Jimmy’s Music Club May 21, it may have seemed like the hand of The Man slapping down the former punk rock haven once again. The reality, however, is that attorneys, city officials and even the club’s neighbors agree that Jimmy’s may be closer to reopening than it has been in the last year. Technically, club owner Jimmy Anselmo and his partners in Lucky Tab LLC were requesting last week to appeal the denial last year of their application for a liquor license. Their argument — an unusual one — was that when liquor license applications are denied, they must be appealed to the city’s independent Alcohol Control Board. And because the basis for that denial was a moratorium preventing any new businesses from selling alcohol in the Carrollton area without permission of the New Orleans City Council, Anselmo was essentially asking the board to declare the City Council’s moratorium illegal. The board — made of council appointees — was, unsurprisingly, having none of it. For months, commissioners have said for months that Jimmy’s had two options — appeal the moratorium to the council like other new Carrollton businesses have done, or file a lawsuit against the moratorium in Civil District Court.
“This board does not have the power to say that something the City Council did is illegal or unconstitutional,” said board member Jerry Speir, a Carrollton resident appointed by District A Councilwoman Susan Guidry. Keeping the Jimmy’s item before the alcohol board simply confuses the public, Speir said: “There is nothing to be gained in my opinion from keeping this on our docket.” With that, the board members voted Jimmy’s off the docket page 9
c’est
Connie M. Knight
was sentenced recently to 57 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Lance Africk for providing fraudulent waste safety training following the BP oil disaster. In January, Knight pleaded guilty to three felony criminal charges and one misdemeanor criminal charge for creating false identification documents and impersonating an Occupational Safety and Health Administration hazardous waste safety instructor. Knight collected cash primarily from fishermen trying to help cleanup efforts.
?
Will the mass shooting at the Mother’s Day second line affect your inclination to attend large street festivals in New Orleans?
Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com
62%
No
38%
Yes
THis WeeK’s question:
Do you expect that businessman John Georges’ purchase of The Advocate will be good for news reporting in New Orleans?
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > maY 28 > 2013
Rock on?
funded the renovation of Hollygrove’s Harrell Stadium, which features the turf from Super Bowl XLVII as well as a basketball court. The facility opened May 17. Five New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC) playgrounds received capital improvements from the NFL Foundation, with matching grants provided by the NORD Foundation through Chevron.
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