News

Did you know New Orleans now has a brand new, world-class car and motorcycle race track?

Wes Ratcliff, NOLA Motorsports Park Director of Business Development & Technology, along with Max Materne, GM of The Transportation Revolution New Orleans, are Peter’s guests on this week’s Out to Lunch.

After interviewing nearly 20 people involved in the coastal restoration process and program — from scientists and engineers, to public officials leading agencies — one of the surprising findings was the consensus among them that people living inside these levees — who live in the most threatened spot in North America due to sea level rise, subsidence and coastal land loss — don’t seem to be fully engaged or aware of just how precarious their situation is.

So, is this common?

The New Orleans criminal justice system will be center stage at federal court proceedings set to begin this week. The city argues it can’t pay for fixing the police department and jail at the same time.

People who say that nothing lasts forever are dead wrong when it comes to Styrofoam.

Styrofoam (or polystyrene, as the men in white coats call it) is a petroleum based product that will likely outlast us all — and that’s not a good thing. Environmentally it's non-recyclable, and refuses to break down, even when exposed to light. Combine that with the fact that Styrofoam is lightweight and floats, and you’ve got massive quantities accumulating along coasts and waterways around the world, which makes it a health hazard for marine life.

It’s summertime, the kids are out of school, and Hollywood is, once again, following the money.

“Right now you can literally go see Fast and Furious 6 at practically any theater in the city, said John Desplas, artistic director for the New Orleans Film Society, “and it’s starting in 20 minutes on one of the 20 screens.”

Who:  Valerie West, 44, a New Orleans native who returned home after years of traveling the world as a military wife because her kids wanted to graduate from high school in the city in which they were born. A housekeeper at Ochsner who lets loose every Sunday as an active member of the New Orleans second-line culture (her club is the Original New Orleans Lady Buckjumpers). A teen mother who saw all three of her kids go to college. A woman whose life was forever changed by violence.

On Friday NOCCA, the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, celebrates with music, guest speakers, a second line and more. The occasion? Plessy Day.

That name should bring to mind history class, and the landmark 1890s Supreme Court case Plessy versus Ferguson, in which the court upheld racial segregation and "separate but equal" as a legal standard.

What in the world am I doing here?

Why do I stay?

In light of the drama surrounding the recent Mother’s Day second-line parade tragedy, I bet I’m not the only one asking these questions today. Friends from upstate New York to the West Coast heard about this one, and they are all asking me these same questions.

Harmony, thy name is Pfister!

This week, the Pfister Sisters sing out and occasionally act out during a rollicking hour spent on jazz vocal harmonies.