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Y@ Speak: Jazz Fest weekend 2, plus Y@ Speak Awards

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:58:00 -0500

I've been here for 15 minutes and I've already eaten an entire box of Raising Caines. NOLA!
— ADAMDEVINE (@ADAMDEVINE) May 4, 2013

Lots of things happened this week: an uncharacteristically cool — but super muddy — Jazz Fest, free vibrators and gynecologist convention protests, and Drew Brees may have personally delivered you a sandwich.…

Y@ Speak: Jazz Fest weekend 1 — the Billy Joel report

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:05:00 -0500

Jazz Fest is a mud bowl, but filled with people passing a good time, getting some good eats. Li twitter.com/PMurphyWWL/sta…
— Paul Murphy (@PMurphyWWL) April 28, 2013

It was a rainy weekend but that didn't stop people from going to Jazz Fest, fleeing town for the comforts of Lafayette's Festival International de Louisiane or following Billy Joel around (this roundup is mostly about Billy Joel).…

Y@ Speak: Floody French Quarter Fest

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:59:00 -0500

Dicey forecast at #fqf today twitter.com/KeithSpera/sta…
— Keith Spera (@KeithSpera) April 11, 2013

The weather for this year's French Quarter Festival wasn't always that great, but that didn't stop a bunch of fools from going out to daydrink and stand in various lines. Also this week: The New Orleans Bingo!…

Entergy's report on Hurricane Isaac restoration

Charles Maldonado — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:04:03 -0600

The two Entergy subsidiaries that provide power to New Orleans — Entergy New Orleans on the east bank (ENO) and Entergy Louisiana (ELL) on the west bank — submitted to New Orleans City Council a report on their preparations for and restoration efforts following Hurricane Isaac, which left most of the city without power for days. Council requested the report in early September in response to complaints that full restoration took too long.…

Y@ Speak goes to the movies!

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:03:00 -0600

loving New Orleans
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) January 14, 2013

It was a very Hollywood South kind of week with Academy Awards nomination announcements — featuring nods for locally shot films Beasts of the Southern Wild and Django Unchained — locals livetweeting the Golden Globes, a thick, horror movie-esque fog that blanketed the city and a shout-out from famous tween Justin Bieber. Try not to let it get to your head, New Orleans.…

Look out, Jersey Shore: Ed Blakely's back on Hurricane Sandy advice patrol

Kevin Allman — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 11:07:00 -0600

Last month, former New Orleans "recovery czar" told the press he was being appointed to a special Hurricane Sandy commission by N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo — which turned out to be, like so many things Blakely promised, just invisible cranes in the sky. (The co-chair of the commission said Blakely wouldn't be involved.)

According to a report in today's New Jersey Star-Ledger, Blakely spent the morning at Monmouth University at a conference titled "Rebuilding A Resilient New Jersey Shore." Blakely's topic?…

Despite his earlier claim, former "recovery czar" Ed Blakely not on official Hurricane Sandy commission, says co-chair

Kevin Allman — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 14:08:00 -0600

Brad Penuel, the co-chair of the New York Hurricane Sandy commission to which Dr. Ed Blakely claimed he had been appointed last week, told Gambit by phone today he wasn't familiar with Blakely — and in a subsequent email, added, "Just received confirmation that Ed Blakely will not be serving on the Commission."

Blakely — the Hurricane Katrina "recovery czar" who had been appointed under former Mayor Ray Nagin — made big waves last week when his new employer, the University of Sydney in Australia, issued a press release saying Blakely had been appointed to the Respond Commission. Blakely gave an interview on the subject to an Australian radio station, confirming the appointment.…

Ed Blakely to the rescue! NY Gov Cuomo appoints "recovery czar" to Hurricane Sandy commission

Kevin Allman — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:44:34 -0600

Hurricane Katrina "recovery czar" Ed Blakely has been appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to a commission to "examine the state's emergency response capabilities" in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, according to an interview Blakely has done with an Australian radio station.

In recent years, Blakely has been living in Australia, where he is Honorary Professor of Urban Policy at the US Studies Centre of the University of Sydney.…

Louisiana supplies arrive in Hurricane Sandy area

Kevin Allman — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:43:19 -0600

Here's a nice story for Thanksgiving, courtesy of New York's WCBS-TV:

AMITYVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Hurricane survivors from hundreds of miles away have arrived on Long Island with a massive care package to help the Sandy relief effort.

Two truckloads of supplies and food arrived at Amityville High School from New Orleans, thanks to a couple of Katrina survivors who wanted to help out.…
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"NOLA: Pay It Forward" lineup set

Kevin Allman — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:41:00 -0600

The lineup for "NOLA: Pay It Forward" is just about finalized, and the city-organized concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy will be held at the Mahalia Jackson Theater Nov. 20. Tickets are $50.…

Ticketmaster charging fee of $12 per ticket for Hurricane Sandy benefit in New Orleans

Kevin Allman — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:02:00 -0600

Yesterday we told you about "NOLA: Pay It Forward," a city-sponsored concert to benefit those affected by Hurricane Sandy in the Northeast. The event, which is still being put together, will be held at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre Nov. 20, and tickets are available at the box office and through Ticketmaster.…

City of New Orleans planning all-star benefit for Hurricane Sandy relief

Kevin Allman — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:57:32 -0600

The City of New Orleans is planning a major benefit to help the Northeast as it recovers from Hurricane Sandy. No artists have been named yet, but the big show — known as the "NOLA Pay It Forward Concert" — will be held Nov. 20 at the Mahalia Jackson Theater in Armstrong Park, as announced by Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office this afternoon:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in devastated areas because we understand what it’s like to suffer through catastrophes,” said Mayor Landrieu.…
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Y@ Speak: Tricks and treats

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 11:55:00 -0600

FORWARD…UPWARD…SIDEWAYS … DIAGONAL… CIRCULAR…all of these would be better than REALITY for this President.
— Gov. Bobby Jindal (@BobbyJindal) November 3, 2012

This Halloween week, New Orleans Twitter was treated to a variety of treats: amusing dispatches from trick-or-treating and the Frenchmen Street experience, deep thoughts from Norman Robinson, and an apparently drunk or really, really excited person on Bobby Jindal's Twitter feed Friday night. But is someone playing a trick on us with this Sean Payton news?…

Michael "Brownie" Brown: "Hurricane Sandy should teach all of us to chill"

Kevin Allman — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:51:42 -0500

Canada's Globe & Mail newspaper decided to ask Michael "Brownie" Brown's opinion on Hurricane Sandy, and the paper got it:

Federal agencies such as FEMA have a role. FEMA’s is to be that “honest broker” between the states and various localities.…
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Michael Bloomberg wants New York to run a marathon on Sunday

Kevin Allman — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 20:50:00 -0500

Remember 48 hours after Katrina struck and the levees collapsed, when people were still trapped in buildings and the number of dead was still unknown? When the electricity was still out, hospitals were closed and essential services were stretched beyond the breaking point?

Now imagine if New Orleans had a marathon planned for the following weekend after Hurricane Katrina — and Ray Nagin insisted that, despite the state of emergency, tens of thousands of runners hit the streets.

Because that's what's happening in New York right now:

"I think some people said you shouldn't run the marathon," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news briefing Wednesday.…
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Michael "Brownie" Brown: Obama responded to Hurricane Sandy too quickly

Kevin Allman — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:34:43 -0500

Sam Levin of Denver's Westword caught up with former FEMA head Michael "Brownie" Brown, who currently infests the airwaves of that fine city, to see what Brownie thought of the federal response to Hurricane Sandy.

Brownie's criticism?…

Public Transit Tuesdays: Hayne

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 23:59:00 -0500

I was writing this on the night of August 28, but the power went out. Stupid Isaac.…

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Michael "Encyclopedia Brownie" Brown on Hurricane Isaac

Kevin Allman — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:18:00 -0500

Michael Brown, who bounced from a job as an incompetent FEMA chief to a job in Denver as Mainstream Media Radio Host Who is Well-Compensated for Railing Against Mainstream Media, used that mighty brainpan of his over the weekend and ferreted out Mainstream Media Bias when it came to Hurricane Isaac:

... which might have made a better point if CNN and Anderson Cooper weren't here, or if CNN hadn't done the story on power outages before Brownie raised the question, and followed it with another one today.

As for O'Brien, she had already been covering Isaac for more than a week.…
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Y@ Speak: The Hunker Games

Lauren LaBorde — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:24:00 -0500

just had a roach crawling on my foot for 5 min. Power is out and I thought it was my pup.…
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LA/SPCA #Isaac update: closed until power returns

Alex Woodward — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 17:00:00 -0500

In anticipation of Hurricane Isaac, the Louisiana SPCA (which serves as the city's animal shelter and animal control) moved 87 cats and 56 dogs to shelters in Texas, and 35 dogs (and one cat) were transported to St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey.

The SPCA of Texas posted a photo gallery of Isaac-affected animals arriving at its shelter, and the national SPCA has kept a blog with updates about Gulf Coast pets (the Texas shelters reported dozens of adoptions following the arrival of the LA/SPCA animals).…
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Tonight's Saints game broadcast on Bayou 95.7 FM

Kevin Allman — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:20:17 -0500

And a great hooting and hollering just went up from the streets of my little neighborhood in Mid-City, because THE POWER'S BACK UP, at least for now! (Thank you, Entergy!)

If you're not that fortunate, and you're looking to listen to tonight's New Orleans Saints game on the radio, the Saints just tweeted that it will be broadcast on Bayou 95.7 FM.…
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Messages on boarded-up windows

Alex Woodward — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 12:45:00 -0500

While Isaac was a lingering tropical storm this morning, all was relatively quiet Uptown. People were running along the streetcar route, walking their dogs, stopping into pharmacies and grocery stores, and eating breakfast at several still-open restaurants.…
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Verizon releases hurricane tips for consumers

Alejandro de los Rios — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 11:02:47 -0500

With just a few more hours before New Orleans starts to feel the effects of Isaac, you'll find no shortage of tips to make it through the storm safely. Really, hurricanes are one of the few times where information overload is a good thing.…
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Hurricane 2.0

Alejandro de los Rios — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:06:17 -0500

Every year, a hurricane hits the United States and every year, we all play a game trying to predict which states will get hit the hardest. Now, while there's no predicting the future, technology has allowed us to at least react a little faster when news confirmation of a storm hitting somewhere arrives.…
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Y@ Speak: AHHH HURRICANE

Lauren LaBorde — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:35:00 -0500

Bob Breck is the Kanye West of local meteorologists.
— MyNameIsJohnMichael (@mynameisjm) August 27, 2012

Storm's a comin'! Time to freak out on the Internet!!…
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