The St. Tammany Parish Council has agreed to sue BP and any other parties responsible for damages related to last April's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The council voted unanimously, with Chris Canulette and Ken Burkhalter absent, to file the lawsuit late Thursday night following an executive session with Kelly Rabalais, legal counsel to President Kevin Davis, council administrator Mike Sevante said.
Rabalais told the council that the parish primarily wants to preserve its right to sue for damages related to the spill that it could incur in the future, Sevante said. Should the parish fail to file suit before the one-year anniversary of the spill -- April 20 -- it could forfeit its right to do so later, Sevante said.
Rabalais deferred comment Friday afternoon to Suzanne Parsons Stymiest, the parish's spokeswoman. Stymiest said the parish has directed its outside counsel -- Walter Leger Jr. and Tom Thornhill -- to litigate the matter as necessary to protect St. Tammany Parish and its people.
She noted that the suit likely would be consolidated with hundreds of other lawsuits filed in the wake of the spill as part of the multidistrict litigation to be heard in U.S. District Court in New Orleans.
The suit will attempt to assess the economic issues related to the spill, such as the cleanup costs and the damage to the parish, as well as any health issues, particularly those involving mental health, Stymiest said.
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Sunday, April 10, 2011
Jindal, congressmen call for delay of remap
With just days remaining in the Legislature's post-census redistricting session, five Republican members of Louisiana's congressional delegation and Gov. Bobby Jindal are calling for state lawmakers to postpone drawing new U.S. House districts until 2012.
The request for postponement first became public Saturday in a letter from the congressmen to the governor. Jindal's chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, said the governor also supports waiting until next year.
The development increases the likelihood that the Legislature will conclude the session, which by law must end by Wednesday, without reaching a resolution on how to realign the state's current seven congressional districts into six.
The letter also ratchets up the tensions in a process already fraught with competing regional, party, racial and incumbent interests, and featuring rare public spats among the state's GOP congressmen, who often walk lockstep on questions of policy.
The five congressmen -- Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman; Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge; John Fleming, R-Minden; Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia; and Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson -- did not mention in their letter the increasingly acrimonious debate over how to redraw the district boundaries.
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The request for postponement first became public Saturday in a letter from the congressmen to the governor. Jindal's chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, said the governor also supports waiting until next year.
The development increases the likelihood that the Legislature will conclude the session, which by law must end by Wednesday, without reaching a resolution on how to realign the state's current seven congressional districts into six.
The letter also ratchets up the tensions in a process already fraught with competing regional, party, racial and incumbent interests, and featuring rare public spats among the state's GOP congressmen, who often walk lockstep on questions of policy.
The five congressmen -- Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman; Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge; John Fleming, R-Minden; Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia; and Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson -- did not mention in their letter the increasingly acrimonious debate over how to redraw the district boundaries.
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Will redistricting be postponed?
BATON ROUGE — With less than 72 hours remaining in the Legislature’s special redistricting session, five of the state’s seven congressmen have asked the governor and state lawmakers to give up on attempts to redraw Louisiana’s congressional boundaries for at least a year.
Now is not the time to rush through a congressional plan with so many fiscal issues waiting to be addressed,” the congressmen wrote in the letter dated Friday and obtained by The Courier and Daily Comet. “We also feel that the people of Louisiana should have more time to think about their future and their needs and how those needs could be affected by congressional redistricting.”
Terrebonne and Lafourche’s congressman, U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, signed the letter, along with U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, and John Fleming, R-Minden. State lawmakers will weigh the request when they reconvene Monday, the Associated Press reported.
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Now is not the time to rush through a congressional plan with so many fiscal issues waiting to be addressed,” the congressmen wrote in the letter dated Friday and obtained by The Courier and Daily Comet. “We also feel that the people of Louisiana should have more time to think about their future and their needs and how those needs could be affected by congressional redistricting.”
Terrebonne and Lafourche’s congressman, U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, signed the letter, along with U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, and John Fleming, R-Minden. State lawmakers will weigh the request when they reconvene Monday, the Associated Press reported.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
NPN hosts School Governance Forum with OPEN
NPN co-hosted its second monthly community forum in 2011 with the Orleans Public Education Network (OPEN) on Wednesday, February 23rd from 6-8 pm at Wilson Elementary School in the Broadmoor Neighborhood. Through NPN and OPEN community outreach and organizing, community members involved with four schools in the midst of transition were asked to present their stories to the public. The four schools were Colton Middle School on St. Claude Ave., Frantz Elementary in the Bunny Friend neighborhood, Priestley High School in the Carrollton area, and Sarah T. Reed High School in New Orleans East.
For more information read "2011 School Governance Forum Notes"
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
New Orleans' officials to update blight-fighting efforts Thursday morning
To track their progress toward Mayor Mitch Landrieu's goal of ridding New Orleans of 10,000 nuisance properties by 2014, top city officials on Thursday will hold another biweekly BlightStat session.
Officials will gather at 8 a.m. in the 9th floor conference room at 1340 Poydras St. The public is welcome to attend.
Like ComStat sessions held by the Police Department, BlightStat meetings are internal working meetings. City officials generally take turns reviewing reams of blight statistics, from complaints logged to properties set for sheriff's sale.
They also field residents' comments and questions, though they try not to veer too from the prepared agenda.
Officials will gather at 8 a.m. in the 9th floor conference room at 1340 Poydras St. The public is welcome to attend.
Like ComStat sessions held by the Police Department, BlightStat meetings are internal working meetings. City officials generally take turns reviewing reams of blight statistics, from complaints logged to properties set for sheriff's sale.
They also field residents' comments and questions, though they try not to veer too from the prepared agenda.
State law hampers reach of Jefferson Parish inspector general, attorney general concludes
Despite public pleas for greater oversight of government agencies, an opinion by Attorney General Buddy Caldwell concludes that the powers of Jefferson Parish's new inspector general should not extend beyond oversight of the parish government itself.
To do so would violate the state Constitution, according to the opinion.
That argument, sent Wednesday to Parish President John Young, means that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, School Board, coroner, district attorney, clerk of court and the parish's six incorporated municipalities are excluded from the inspector general's reach.
"That's pretty much what we expected," Parish Attorney Deborah Foshee said. "The rationale is these are independent bodies."
Still, it contradicts the recommendations of a review committee formed last year to establish guidelines for creating an inspector general's office.
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To do so would violate the state Constitution, according to the opinion.
That argument, sent Wednesday to Parish President John Young, means that the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, School Board, coroner, district attorney, clerk of court and the parish's six incorporated municipalities are excluded from the inspector general's reach.
"That's pretty much what we expected," Parish Attorney Deborah Foshee said. "The rationale is these are independent bodies."
Still, it contradicts the recommendations of a review committee formed last year to establish guidelines for creating an inspector general's office.
Read more
Monday, February 28, 2011
U.S. approves first deepwater permit since oil spill
The U.S. has approved the first deep-water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since last year's massive oil spill.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement says the permit is to continue work on a well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La.
Noble Energy Inc. is the operator of the well. The company started drilling on the well four days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded. Drilling activity was suspended on June 12 when the U.S. placed a moratorium on deep-water exploration.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement says the permit is to continue work on a well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La.
Noble Energy Inc. is the operator of the well. The company started drilling on the well four days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded. Drilling activity was suspended on June 12 when the U.S. placed a moratorium on deep-water exploration.
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