Saturday, May 3, 2008
New Cops, New Thugs
Posted by Scuttlebutt on Sat, May 3, 2008 at 8:43 PM
By: Allen Johnson
Addressing the first New Orleans Police Academy class to graduate since the murder of Officer Nicola Cotton three months ago, NOPD Deputy Chief Anthony Cannatella told 30 new officers they would face a “new type of criminal” on the city’s streets. Cannatella, a 41-year veteran of the NOPD, said the freshly minted cops would encounter offenders who were “more violent and more dangerous” than those ever encountered by most of NOPD’s senior commanders during their own patrols. Police Chief Warren Riley later said Recruit Class No. 160 received “much more” training in self-defense than previous classes as well as “take-down tactics” and instruction in the use of Mace, Tasers and police batons. “They have always fought in the academy, it’s just more intense, and they fight on a more regular basis,” Riley says. New Officer Stephanie Horak, 24, a native of Nebraska, joined NOPD after four post-Katrina trips here as a Christian relief organizer. “I learned a lot from the defensive tactics,” says Horak, the top academic graduate who also holds a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Missouri State University. Horak’s first assignment is the tough Sixth Police District — where Cotton worked when she was shot to death with her own gun by a mental patient on Jan. 28.
Group: Keep Guard in N.O.
Posted by Scuttlebutt on Sat, May 3, 2008 at 8:42 PM
By: Allen Johnson
Crime-weary New Orleans residents and business owners who want Gov. Bobby Jindal to delay withdrawing 300 Louisiana National Guard troops — scheduled to begin in June — are circulating an online petition (www.thepetitionsite.com/petition/680554178), according to petition organizer Ariane Wiltse, a member of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association (www.helpholycross.org) and an occasional contributor to Gambit Weekly. “We also have copies that I have been giving to residents and churches,” says Wiltse. The group wants Jindal to keep Guard troops in the city until violent crime rates fall, NOPD restaffs and rebuilds police substations in storm-affected areas, and NOPD’s strength returns to pre-storm levels. NOPD had a high of 1,741 cops in 2005, compared to 1,472 last week. Police Chief Warren Riley, who in 2006 asked then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco to deploy the Guard (and 55 State Police) to help NOPD, said recently that the “phase-out” of Guard troops would begin with the departure of a “small contingent” at the end of June. “At this point, by the end of September, the Guard will probably be gone,” Riley told an April 18 news conference. State Police withdrew earlier this year. Local crime usually increases during the hot summer months.
Can Nagin Just Say Yes?
Posted by Clancy DuBos on Sat, May 3, 2008 at 2:57 PM
The year-long effort of business and civic leaders across southeast Louisiana to assemble a regional economic engine centered on Armstrong International Airport presents Mayor Ray Nagin with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that few mayors ever get to see.
The effort has been dubbed “Global New Orleans,” although it could more aptly be described as a “global triangle” anchored by Baton Rouge, the Northshore and New Orleans. It harnesses all the key economic drivers for southeast Louisiana: interstate highways, an international airport ripe for expansion, rail lines, the Mississippi River, one of the world’s largest port systems (just in time for the Panama Canal expansion), and one of the world’s most beloved and culturally enriched cities.
In short, it would provide the “jump start” or “tipping point” to post-Katrina recovery efforts that Nagin has long promised.
Jannero Pargo Knows Not of This Internet You Speak
Posted by Alejandro de los Rios on Sat, May 3, 2008 at 12:12 AM
By Alejandro de los Rios
UPDATE: ticktock6 pointed out that I never clarified on Jannero's name. For the record, he has never changed the spelling of his name. Anytime it's been spelled differently has been a typo on the part of whoever wrote it that way, be it media guides, programs, box scores or Wikipedia entries. Apologies for not making that clear earlier.
This is a subject that has been nagging me for a while now. While some are looking at Jannero Pargo's emergence as one of the league's premiere sixth man, I've been fixated on this passage from his Wikipedia entry:
When Pargo first entered the NBA as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers, his first name was spelled with a single N —"Janero". He was released by the Lakers during the 2003-2004 season and, when he was signed by the Toronto Raptors, his name had gained the extra N that is now reflected in his name.
I finally approached Pargo about it yesterday and it led to this exchange.
Me: You ever look at your Wikipedia page?
JP: Who?
Me: Your Wikipedia.
JP: Uh-uhn. What's that?
