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The New Orleans Advocate reports: "NBC News anchor Brian Williams, who apologized on the air Wednesday night for lying about an experience covering the Iraq War, is now facing scrutiny over his gripping accounts of Hurricane Katrina, the disaster that burnished his nightly news bona fides almost a decade ago. Williams’ account of seeing a body float by in the French Quarter — which remained largely dry — and even a claim of catching dysentery from drinking Katrina floodwaters have raised eyebrows among bloggers and elsewhere since he took it on the chin this week over a claim that he...

Sunday morning, during the part of my church service where members of the congregation ask for prayers for others, a member stood and asked that we pray for two members of the Unitarian Universalist Association who'd been badly hurt in the French Quarter the night before. You may have seen the surveillance video of the two men - Tim Byrne and James Curran - walking on Bienville Street and being attacked from behind by four suspects and then robbed. Byrne was knocked unconscious with a blow to the head and was reported as having a critically serious brain injury.The UUA,...

NEW ORLEANS — All suspects have been arrested in connection to the robbery and beating of two tourists from Boston in the French Quarter. Nicholas Polgowski and Rashaad Piper were booked Wednesday morning into the Orleans Parish jail. This comes as the two other suspects, Dejuan Paul and Joshua Simmons, are currently being held without bail. The four men are being charged with second degree robbery in connection to the beating of two Boston tourists Saturday night on Bienville Street. One of the victims is still listed in critical condition. Police said the attack was reported before 9 p.m. in...

About seven minutes lapsed from when an eyewitness saw Jean Jacques Michell in the French Quarter ransacking a New Orleans Police Department car and the time three officers had Michell on the ground in handcuffs, his arrest warrant said. Michell, 35, was booked early Wednesday (July 20) on charges of simple burglary of a vehicle and simple criminal damage to property after he smashed the windshield of a marked cop car parked and apparently removed its computer system, his warrant said. The warrant, sworn by NOPD Det. Justin Almeida, said Almeida and Det. Mark Schmidt were on patrol when a...

A French Quarter cigar bar's battle over state and city liquor permits has struck a major chord among New Orleans policy makers and civic leaders. Councilwoman Nadine Ramsey wants to create a new category in the zoning code -- called a "tobacco retail business" -- to keep La Habana Hemingway Cigar Bar on Toulouse Street in operation. But critics say that doing so could undermine the impending citywide smoking ban by exempting more drinking establishments from it and also impact the Quarter's long-standing prohibition on new cocktail lounges in commercial zones.

The former general manager of the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, where embattled "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams reportedly roomed during Hurricane Katrina, said Sunday (Feb. 8) that neither mass flooding nor floating human remains were near the hotel after the levees broke. Her statement raises questions about Williams' stated Katrina experiences and could add to a pool of public skepticism regarding his tale. Williams recounted his time reporting on Katrina in a 2006 interview with Disney CEO Michael Eisner. "When you look out of your hotel room window in the French Quarter and watch a man float by face down,...

A man, 32, was sexually assaulted Friday in the French Quarter, New Orleans police said Saturday.

Reeshawn Arnold has been arrested in connection with the Tuesday beating of French Quarter musician Doug Potter, according to a Thursday morning update from the New Orleans Police Department. A warrant has been issued for Terrell Belvin for his involvement in the beating, NOPD said. NOPD said Arnold, 20, and Belvin, 30, were identified through tips from Crimestoppers, plus another anonymous source. Arnold already was in custody on an unrelated charge and was rebooked for second-degree battery, NOPD said. Jail records show he was booked at 11:36 p.m. Tuesday and charged with misrepresenting his name, age and address. The second...

New Orleans police on Tuesday night (Jan. 21) released a sketch of a suspect they say helped beat a man unconscious after an altercation outside a French Quarter bar. The man is wanted on a charge of second-degree battery in a beating that occurred on Tuesday a little after midnight in front of Last Call Bar and Grill at 800 Conti St., NOPD spokesman Officer Frank B. Robertson III said. Police say the man helped another man pummel the victim, before fleeing. The victim suffered severe injuries and was taken to a local hospital, Robertson said.

NEW ORLEANS -- A well-known New Orleans musician is hospitalized and unconscious after being jumped in the French Quarter. Doug Potter's family and friends believe he may have been a target of the "knock out" game. "Always here when we needed him. Really nice man," said Chef Rick Tyler of Cafe Beignet.

Michelle Obama loves the trappings of her position as First Lady. She has power, privilege, and tremendous perks, without any real responsibilities. She also has a taxpayer funded ticket to travel the world. In 2011, Mrs. Obama’s travel expenses exceeded $10 million as she enjoyed 42 days of vacation bliss, according to the Mail Online. For vacation junkie Michelle Obama, there are plenty more exotic locales to visit. While some of her favorite destinations include Vail, Spain, Hawaii and Martha’s Vineyard, she has been “scouting out some more places.” In an interview with Charlie Rose of CBS News, the First...

A shooting on Bourbon, at St. Louis Street, in the French Quarter about 12:30 a.m. injured seven people and killed a 25-year-old man. All of the victims were caught in the crossfire when two people began to shoot at each other in a crowd of costumed revelers celebrating Halloween, police said.

Melvin Clay, 37, and Helaina Amrine, 21, were arrested Thursday night in connection to the stabbing death of 23-year-old Marine Ryan Lekosky in October.New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman officer Shereese Harper reported that the two were arrested by police shortly after 9 p.m. at the intersection of Dauphine Street and Bienville street, just one block from where the fatal stabbing occurred.According to Harper, Clay was charged with second degree murder, while Amrine, his girlfriend, was charged with accessory after the fact.After leaving the Marine Ball with his wife around 3:30 a.m. on October 31, Lekosky was stabbed several times when...

UPDATE, 10:35 p.m.: It’s possible we may have found out who “D-Bloc” is. If you’ll recall, “D-Bloc” is the lead blogger on the Iron Rail Book Collective’s web site. He’s the guy who has bragged about vandalizing banks in the French Quarter and he was the guy who boasted on Gambit Weekly’s Blog Of New Orleans that on April 9 the protest went well because: Tons of direct confrontation. New Orleans bared its teeth and snarled, and the rich plutocrats shat themselves in fear. Also in the same comment section, D-Bloc posted a few days later, when the blogosphere began...

Over at Pajama's Media, Scott McKay, whose Hayride blog has been tirelessly cataloging the story of a brutal assault on a young Republican operative and her boyfriend outside a New Orleans fund-raising dinner earlier this month, summarizes his findings. Though initially reported as a straight fight, there is increasing evidence that the attack was political, perpetrated by a group of (get this) anarcho-communist agitators who had broken away from a larger protest at the nearby SRLC. The victim, Allee Bautsch, tentatively identified a member of a group called thee Iron Rail Book Collective, as the chief perpetrator of an attack...

UPDATE, 10:55 p.m.: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Allee Bautsch’s boss, gave WWL-TV in New Orleans a no-comment comment this evening… Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday he isn’t going to comment further on the investigation into the recent French Quarter attack that left his chief fundraiser and her boyfriend injured. Allee Bautsch, 25, suffered a broken leg, and her boyfriend suffered a broken jaw, nose and concussion. When asked about the incident on Monday, Jindal said the couple is now recovering at home after receiving “serious” injuries. “We’re going to refrain from commenting on it. We certainly keep her in our...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Gov. Bobby Jindal said Monday he isn't going to comment further on the investigation into the recent French Quarter attack that left his chief fundraiser and her boyfriend injured. Allee Bautsch, 25, suffered a broken leg, and her boyfriend suffered a broken jaw, nose and concussion. When asked about the incident on Monday, Jindal said the couple is now recovering at home after receiving "serious" injuries. “We're going to refrain from commenting on it. We certainly keep her in our thoughts and prayers,” Jindal said. “I know she appreciates many people asked about her. She is...

Friday, Allee Bautsch’s mother Della Berning appeared by phone on Fox News to speak about the events of last weekend on behalf of Allee and her boyfriend. Video of that interview follows: Earlier today, Yahoo! News posted a story with another interview with Ms. Berning in which her confirmation of a political cause for the attack on her daughter and her boyfriend is more explicit: Contrary to our initial report, the NOPD is now saying that it does not know whether or not the attacks were politically motivated and the police report lists the motive as unknown. However, Allee Bautsch’s...

…you have to more or less suspend disbelief not to recognize that. But based on various agendas, it seems like that’s what’s going on. Beyond the reactions of left-wing journals, when those sources have reacted to this story at all, we notice that Allahpundit at HotAir.com and Michelle Malkin have both gone out of their way to disparage the idea that the attack had to do with politics. The attack was political. But, and I think I’ve been clear on this and hopefully in this post I’ll be even clearer, while it was political it doesn’t appear that it was...

UPDATE, 11:05 p.m.: A frequent reader and usually reliable source to the Hayride passes along a possible explanation of how the attack happened (and this substantially fits with what we’ve been told by a couple of other people we’ve talked to on background): You might be interested in a comment that showed up under the Times-Picayune’s last article which contained that photo of the crime scene. A commenter who calls himself lernedlesson and who is usually in the know posted that he heard from a co-worker who knows Joe Brown and has talked to him since the incident. Brown confirmed...