MORE SCuTTlEBuTT
CA RO U S E L GA R D E N S · A M U S E M E N T PA R K A N D S T O RY L A N D ·
page 9
AMUSEMENT PARK: SAT. & SUN., 11AM - 6PM STORYLAND: 7 DAYS A WEEK, 10AM - 5PM BOATING: THU. - SUN., 10AM - 5PM EXTENDED SUMMER HOURS BEGIN JUNE 1
OFFERING A MAY SPECIAL FREE ADMISSION WITH AN UNLIMITED RIDE BAND PURCHASE! GRAB THE COUPON OFF WWW.NEWORLEANSCITYPARK.COM SEASON PASSES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE
SPECIAL OPENING FOR MEMORIAL DAY AND JULY 4TH! 10AM-6PM
SHARE YOUR MEMORIES ON
Gambit > bestofneworleans.com > may 22 > 2012
W W W. N E W O R L E A N S C I T Y PA R K . C O M
10
·
504.483.9402
ment to the now-vacant District B seat. Neither Hedge-Morrell nor Johnson attended. They were again absent from a May 17 regular Council meeting. Hedge-Morrell also met with Head May 15 to try to resolve the matter, her calendar shows. Head confirmed the meeting in a statement to Gambit: “After nearly two weeks of reaching out to Councilmember Hedge-Morrell through intermediaries as well as electronically, I met with her in person the day before the May 15 special meeting to allay any concerns that would keep her from attending the meeting. We had a productive conversation and I believed it likely that she would return to the Council so that we could take care of pressing city business. ... Unfortunately, it was all in vain.” City Council has until June 1 — 30 days after Head was sworn in as an at-large councilmember — to fill Head’s former seat. After that, Landrieu can make the appointment. The next full council meeting isn’t scheduled until June 7, six days after the cutoff. — CHARLES MALDONADO
Pre-Trial Services to Continue OPP RISK ASSESSMENT PROGRAM A GO New Orleans Criminal Justice Commissioner James Carter said he believes the city is committed to funding the Vera Institute of Justice’s new pretrial services program beyond the 2012 fiscal year. “We’re confident it will go forward,” Carter said during a May 15 panel discussion at Tulane University on pre-trial detention. The program has been operating inside Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) since April 30, and the city has committed $200,000 to the project for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Vera’s pretrial program is designed to determine the risk of a criminal defendant fleeing prosecution or committing a crime while awaiting trial. The goal of the program is to properly assess who should be in jail and who should be released prior to trial, says Vera director Jon Wool. The result, according to Wool, will likely be an increase in the number of non-financial bond releases for low-risk defendants — typically people charged with non-violent crimes and without extensive criminal histories — resulting in a reduced population at OPP. Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who also spoke at the panel, said the recent closure of OPP’s House of Detention facility has brought OPP’s capacity down to about 2,691 beds, from 3,500 at the beginning of 2011 and more than 7,500 in 2005. The average daily population of OPP, Gusman said, is about 2,600. “Anyone who knows anything about jails knows we’re right at that tipping point,” Gusman said.
The sheriff’s office has seen a recent spike in prisoner escapes, including two last week — one from the jail and one inmate who ran from a work detail in City Park, triggering a midday manhunt for an escapee in his underwear. Both inmates were quickly captured. — CHARLES MALDONADO
“Bourbon Street Teabagger” Indicted NO ARRAIGNMENT DATE SET An Orleans Parish grand jury last week indicted University of Alabama football fan Brian H. Downing — accused of putting his testicles on an unconscious LSU fan in a Krystal hamburger restaurant on Bourbon Street following the BCS Championship game Jan. 9 — on one count of sexual battery and one count of obscenity. A judge set Downing’s bail at $50,000, but an arraignment date has not been set. A cellphone video of the incident hit YouTube immediately, and Downing was identified as the suspect. He surrendered to New Orleans police Jan. 19, and his bail was set at $10,000. If convicted, Downing could face a maximum of 10 years in prison on the sexual battery charge and a fine of no less than $1,000 and no more than $2,500 and six months to three years in prison on the obscenity charge. — KANDACE POWER GRAVES
Tub Man: Jindal for VP NORQUIST PICKS BOBBY Grover Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and the man famous for the line “I’m not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub,” has chosen the vice presidential candidate whom he believes would be the best bathtubdrowner — and it’s Gov. Bobby Jindal. In an essay for Politico.com, Norquist praised Jindal’s overhaul of the Louisiana education system (charter schools, vouchers), as well as his energy policy and fiscal stewardship. “If Romney wanted to provide voters with a clear choice on tax policy, he would be hardpressed to do better than add Jindal, one of 13 governors committed to not raising taxes, to his ticket,” Norquist and co-author Patrick Gleason wrote. “While the president’s budget entails historically high levels of spending and taxation, it’s also noteworthy because it never balances during any time window. Jindal has balanced a budget every year as governor and never resorted to higher taxes.” For his part, Jindal continues to insist he has no designs on the veep’s office, even as he continues to tour the country speaking and raising money. An Associated Press story last week reported Louisiana’s deficit is now $220 million, or about $48 for every resident of the state. — KEVIN ALLMAN