New Orleans news stories on Newser

New Orleans Times-Picayune Cutting Back to 3 Days

Rob Quinn — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:48:01 CDT

Sad news from one of America's great newspapers: The New Orleans Times-Picayune has announced that it will cease daily publication this fall. The paper, founded as the Picayune in 1837, will now offer print editions just three days a week, on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, while continuing to offer daily...

New Orleans Cops Get Decades in Jail for Shootings

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:57:05 CDT

Five former New Orleans police officers were sentenced today to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for their roles in deadly shootings of unarmed residents on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina. Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Anthony Villavaso, and Robert Faulcon were convicted of firearms charges. Retired Sgt. Arthur...

New Orleans Cop Suspended After Trayvon Rants

John Johnson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:20:05 CDT

A white New Orleans police officer has been suspended without pay after posting comments on an online news story about Trayvon Martin , reports the Times-Picayune . "Act like a Thug Die like one!" wrote Jason Giroir. And later, in response to a critic who called the comments racist: "Come on down...

Man Jumps Off Bridge to Escape DUI Test

Kevin Spak — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:20:05 CDT

We're going to go ahead and call this the worst way to get out of a ticket. A New Orleans-area man jumped off the Causeway Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain Sunday after being pulled over by police and asked to take a sobriety test, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. Police stopped...

New Orleans' Problem: How to Stop All the Murders

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:26:06 CST

Choose nearly any line from a New York Times article on murders in New Orleans, and it will depress you: By late last month, the city had seen 175 homicides in 2011—the same as the total number for all of the previous year—and there have been eight more...

Mercedes Buys Naming Rights to Superdome

Dustin Lushing — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:36:03 CDT

The New Orleans Superdome, home stadium to the NFL's Saints, will soon be sponsored and rebranded by Mercedes-Benz USA, reports Adweek . The luxury car manufacturer signed a 10-year agreement to link its name to the Saints' turf—despite the Superdome's lingering association as a makeshift refugee camp for victims of...

Fake Robbery in Music Video Brings Real Charges

John Johnson — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:18:58 CDT

After an alert passerby in New Orleans spotted an armed robbery in progress at a convenience store, police stormed onto the scene and ... discovered it was all part of a music video. Given that some of the fake robbers were carrying unloaded guns, police were not amused. They charged eight...

Tropical Storm Lee Plows Into La.

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 09:36:31 CDT

As Katia regained hurricane status, the center of Tropical Storm Lee stretched across the central Gulf Coast early today, dumping torrential rains that threatened flooding in low-lying communities in a foreshadowing of what cities further inland could face in coming days. Lee's center crawled ashore in Louisiana before dawn after...

32K Lose Power in Tropical Storm Lee

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:35:17 CDT

Bands of heavy rain and strong wind gusts from Tropical Storm Lee knocked out power to thousands in south Louisiana and Mississippi today and prompted evacuations in bayou towns like Jean Lafitte, where water lapped at several front doors. The sluggish storm stalled just before making landfall, and threatened to...