Tagged: hurricane katrina

A newly-elected New Orleans city councilman, whose district includes the Lower 9th Ward, has withdrawn a package of ordinances that would have required tour buses to pay special fees to access the neighborhood.

Councilman James Gray, who took office last month, says he needs more time to research the issue introduced by his predecessor.

Currently, the city has an ordinance in place that bans tour buses from the Lower 9th Ward. It was passed after Hurricane Katrina to keep tour buses from impeding cleanup and recovery efforts when levees failed during the 2005 storm.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office is touting its latest court victory in its efforts to improve blighted property in a neighborhood hard hit by flooding after Hurricane Katrina.

The mayor's office said Tuesday that a judge has upheld a city code enforcement action against the Lake Terrace Shopping Center in the Gentilly neighborhood. The shopping center has been empty since the 2005 storm.

Work including an amphitheater and improved walking and bike paths is planned at a 200-acre park in eastern New Orleans.

New Orleans CityBusiness reports that recently-opened bids showed Corseault Commercial Inc. of New Orleans as apparent low bidder for work on the west side of Joe Brown Park.

The bid was just over $3 million.

Money is coming from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a Community Development Block Grant.

The city says FEMA already has contributed $3.3 million toward improvements.

A federal appeals court has ordered a new trial for a former New Orleans police officer who was convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting a man whose burned body turned up after Hurricane Katrina.

A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out David Warren's convictions Monday, saying a judge should have separated his trial from other officers charged in the death of 31-year-old Henry Glover.