Whole families are falling victim as African Americans are hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic
Last weekend, at two churches in New Orleans, two pastors read from separate passages of the Bible as they buried four members of the same family. Each had died within days of each other after contracting the novel coronavirus.
Related: 'A nightmare all over again': after surviving Katrina, New Orleans battles Covid-19
Continue reading...A man was hit and killed by a Mardi Gras float in New Orleans on Saturday evening, the second such death in a week.
The individual, who was not immediately named, was killed at around 7pm after he appeared to fall underneath a large tandem float during the Krewe of Endymion parade near the city centre.
Continue reading...Highest levels of PFAS in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, report by environmental watchdog finds
The contamination of US drinking water with manmade “forever chemicals” is far worse than previously estimated with some of the highest levels found in Miami, Philadelphia and New Orleans, said a report on Wednesday by an environmental watchdog group.
The chemicals, resistant to breaking down in the environment, are known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Some have been linked to cancers, liver damage, low birth weight and other health problems.
Continue reading...Hundreds of people dressed in costume will reconstruct an 1811 Louisiana slave uprising, the largest in US history
In the middle of a grassy traffic island, adjacent to a nondescript strip mall in southern Louisiana, stands the only physical memorial to an event that rocked the racist foundations of the United States.
A brown plaque, erected to commemorate a plantation home, has one short, embossed aside: “Major 1811 slave uprising organized here.”
Continue reading...‘If cities are invited to be at the table, I believe they will help accelerate the work that needs to be done’ said LA mayor Eric Garcetti
US mayors are seeking to go over President Trump’s head and negotiate directly at next month’s UN climate change conference in Santiago, they said as they met in Copenhagen for the C40 World Mayors Summit.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, who rallied US mayors to commit to the Paris climate agreement after Trump announced his intention to withdraw the country in 2017, said he would ask the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Thursday to give American cities a new role in UN climate talks.
“I’m going to bring it up with the UN secretary general,” Garcetti said. “If cities are invited to be at the table, I believe they will help accelerate the work that needs to be done. Hopefully, we can do it in concert with our national governments, but [we can do it] even where there is conflict.”
Garcetti, who was announced on Wednesday as the next chair of the C40 group of global cities, said he would use his position to seek “a more formal role in the deliberations” at the conference.
“The United Nations works directly with cities all the time ... so they shouldn’t feel feel scared about jumping down to that local level,” he said.
Tropical Storm Barry strengthened into a category one hurricane on Saturday as it neared the Louisiana coast, threatening millions with heavy rains and storm surge. The storm was expected to weaken after it moved inland but forecasters encouraged residents in New Orleans to be patient and stay vigilant.
More than 12 hours after city officials anticipating crippling and potentially historic flooding told residents to “shelter in place”, a few rays of sun peeked through the clouds on Saturday morning, adding a glint to the mostly dry city streets.
Continue reading...Forecasters say the biggest danger is not destructive winds but heavy rain as it was upgraded to tropical storm Barry on Thursday
Mandatory evacuations were ordered south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Thursday as the city and a surrounding stretch of the Gulf coast braced for a possible hurricane over the weekend that could unload heavy rain and send water spilling over levees, in the first big test for flood defenses since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The strength and speed of the wind increased on Thursday and by mid-morning was upgraded to become tropical storm Barry.
Continue reading...Mayor LaToya Cantrell will say sorry for 1891 killing of 11 Italian Americans after some were acquitted of murdering police chief
The mayor of New Orleans is to apologise to Italian Americans for the historical lynching of 11 Italian immigrants in what is considered the nation’s worst such incident.
“This has been a longstanding wound,” said Michael Santo of the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy. Santo said that when the city was asked earlier this year for an apology, Mayor LaToya Cantrell embraced the idea, appointing Human Relations Commission head Vincenzo Pasquantonio as liaison.
Continue reading...As rentals with companies such as Airbnb proliferate in the area, raising rent and property taxes, officials are enacting laws to protect local residents
New Orleans’ Treme is regarded as the nation’s oldest African American neighborhood, but some of its residents, like Darryl Durham, now say that legacy is fading quickly.
Related: Nowhere for people to go: who will survive the gentrification of Atlanta?
Continue reading...