By Kevin McGill, The Associated Press New Orleans kicked off its annual Carnival season Jan. 6, a weekslong celebration of joyous street parties, lavish balls and colorful parades — complicated this year by concerns over crime and a depleted police force that last year forced a shortening of Mardi Gras parade routes. City officials marked […]
Author Archives: Kevin McGill
Associated Press
Posted inCoronavirus
Opponents of federal vaccine mandate seek rehearing
By Kevin McGILL, The Associated Press News A federal appeals court is being asked to reconsider its decision allowing the Biden administration to require that federal employees get vaccinated against COVID-19. A panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month vacated a lower court ruling blocking the mandate and ordered the dismissal […]
Posted inNEWS
New Orleans marks anniversary of 4 girls integrating schools
By Kevin McGill The Associated Press They were only 6 years old, aware of the tumult going on about them but not completely understanding the importance of what they were doing. “I was just afraid. I didn’t know what was going on and what they were thinking,” Gail Etienne said of the angry crowds on […]
Posted inNational News
LaToya Cantrell Becomes New Orleans’ 1st Woman Mayor
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — LaToya Cantrell, a City Council member who first gained a political following as she worked to help her hard-hit neighborhood recover from Hurricane Katrina, won a historic election Saturday that made her the first woman mayor of New Orleans. As her husband Jason Cantrell, left, cheers, LaToya Cantrell hugs her daughter […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
New Mental Exam Ordered for Suspect in Post-Katrina Shooting of 3 Black Men
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A mental health examination was ordered Tuesday for a White man charged with shooting at three Black men in what federal prosecutors said was a racially motivated attack following Hurricane Katrina. Roland Bourgeois Jr. was indicted in 2010 and pleaded not guilty to federal charges including civil rights and firearms violations. […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Manslaughter Conviction in Death of Ex-NFL Star Will Smith
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who fatally shot retired New Orleans Saints defensive leader Will Smith was convicted of manslaughter on Sunday night, ending a week-long trial in which the defendant insisted he only fired because the popular football star was drunk, violent and had grabbed a gun following a traffic crash on the […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
‘Stand Your Ground’ Defense Tested in Trial over Death of NFL’s Will Smith
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who shot former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith is a raging killer who first shot Smith’s wife in the legs, then fired eight bullets into the side and back of the unarmed NFL star, a prosecutor declared Tuesday. (Left) Photo provided by the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office shows […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
4th Husband: Wife Innocent in So-Called ‘Black Widow’ Cases
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — She stands convicted in the death of her second husband, and prosecutors have suggested in open court she had something to do with the demise of husbands one and three. Now, husband No. 4 is bitterly denouncing the Louisiana legal system, saying he’s nearly bankrupted himself paying for her legal defense. […]
Posted inNational News
Exonerated Former Death Row Man Calls Feds to Probe Wrongful Convictions in New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man exonerated after 14 years on Louisiana’s death row for a murder he didn’t commit is leading a call for the U.S. Justice Department to investigate practices at the New Orleans district attorney’s office and look for other wrongful convictions and civil rights violations. John Thompson, who was exonerated in […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Jury Convicts New Orleans Gang Leader in Case Involving Vast Number of Murders
Telly Hankton (Booking photo) NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A gang leader once described as one of the city’s most dangerous criminals was convicted of three murders and drug and gun charges Tuesday in a vast federal racketeering case stretching back to the mid-1990s. A jury found Telly Hankton, who is already serving a life sentence […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Nagin Gets
10-Year Sentence
Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin leaves federal court after being sentenced in New Orleans, Wednesday, July 9, 2014. Nagin was sentenced to 10 years in prison for bribery, money laundering and other corruption that spanned his two terms as mayor, including the chaotic years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. NEW ORLEANS (AP) — […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
New Orleans Ex-Mayor: From Reformer to Convict
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Twelve years after he burst on the New Orleans political scene as a charming, reform-minded businessman vowing to clean up city government, former Mayor Ray Nagin walked out of a federal courthouse as the glum embodiment of how far a politician can fall. Nagin was convicted Wednesday on 20 criminal counts […]