• A bed and breakfast must be a one-family dwelling.
• The exterior of the building shall maintain a residential appearance.
• The facility shall be the residence of the operator, who is the owner or leaseholder of the building.
• Rooms may not be rented for more than seven consecutive days, and no more than 15 days per person in any 30-day period.
• A morning meal must be served on premises and included within the room charge for guest of the facility and shall be the only meal provided.
• The facility must meet applicable parish and state health, safety not limited to the Uniform Building Code requirements concerning maximum occupancy and liability requirements.
• One off-street parking space will be required for each rented bedroom in addition to the number of spaces required for each dwelling unit.
• Maximum of four rooms.

A report on how the Mandeville Police Department handles suspected drunken drivers blames an outdated standards manual and inadequate training for giving patrol officers too much discretion in deciding whom to arrest.

The report, by attorney Howard Daigle Jr., was commissioned by the City Council in July after revelations that Mayor Eddie Price was let go by Mandeville police officers in 2006 despite signs that he was driving his city-owned vehicle while intoxicated. . . .

The New Orleans City Council will hold a special meeting and executive session Monday with the hope of reaching a consensus on how to move forward following Mayor C. Ray Nagin’s vow to discontinue funding the full contract of sanitation services in the French Quarter.

"The Home Rule Charter clearly provides that the (budget) ordinance is a law which the mayor is required to follow, like all other ordinances, " the opinion said. Further, it said, the council can seek a court order to "compel the mayor to distribute and spend funds as required" under the ordinance.

Since the very first hearing, marking the start of the Jefferson Parish School Board's tumultuous journey toward systemwide desegregation, the district has repeatedly clashed with one very powerful antagonist.

U.S. Judge Kurt Engelhardt, who is overseeing the process in federal court, has emerged as a major player, much to the bewilderment of the involved parties. Over the past 10 months, the meticulous judge has thrown down a series of challenges, stalling the district's desegregation process, frustrating board members and baffling attorneys with his contrary rulings.

But even while Engelhardt continues to inject drama into the school system's legal battles, he remains an enigma, with motivations that are difficult to read. . . .

A Louisiana school board has agreed to suspend a rule that teachers must submit to drug and alcohol tests if they are injured on the job.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana joined the East Baton Rouge Parish Federation of Teachers in challenging the legality of the parish school board's drug testing policy.

An agreement filed Thursday in federal court calls for the school board to refrain from such testing unless it has a reasonable suspicion that a teacher was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while injured on the job.

That agreement will remain in effect pending the outcome of a civil rights lawsuit filed by the teachers union.

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's refusal to halt the demolition of four public housing complexes in New Orleans that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

A group of displaced public housing residents had asked U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle in June 2006 to block plans to demolish and redevelop the B.W. Cooper, C.J. Peete, St. Bernard and Lafitte developments.

Monday's ruling by a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Lemelle didn't abuse his discretion in denying the residents' request.

A state appeals court opinion issued Jan. 7 says that it was legal for New Orleans homeowner Brenda Pitts to have filed a lawsuit against Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. months after the deadline for initiating litigation because a class action lawsuit had stopped the clock from running out.

If the unanimous decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal stands, Citizens, the state sponsored insurer of last resort, believes that the ruling will open the door for new people to file lawsuits against the company over their 2005 hurricane claims.

The ACLU of Louisiana enrolled in a lawsuit filed by Johnny Duncan, aka "Johnny UnBlackWorthy," a veteran and resident of Amite who was detained by police because they objected to a sign on his car reading "You Might be a Nigger!." Mr. Duncan, himself an African-American, is the author of a book of political and social commentary entitled "You Might be a Nigger!," and the sign on his car was to advertise the book.

Mr. Duncan was detained outside of an Amite restaurant, where the police told him that the sign on his car was "obscene." When he refused to remove the sign from his car, the officers followed him, detained him by the side of the road for an hour, and issued a ticket under Louisiana's obscenity law. Ultimately the charges under the ticket were rightly dismissed, because nothing on the sign qualifies under the definition of "obscene." . . .

ACLU Legal Director Katie Schwartzmann and cooperating attorney Ron Wilson have entered this case to represent Mr. Duncan. The suit, entitled "Johnny Duncan v. City of Amite, et al," is pending at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

The city of New Orleans acted legally in the 1990s when it created a registry for same-sex couples and used it as a basis to provide health insurance for the partners of its gay and lesbian employees, a state appellate court ruled last week.

Louisiana is among 15 states to have made progress in enacting key highway safety laws, a report issued on Monday says.

The 55-page study was done by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, based in Washington, D.C.

The group bills itself as one that represents consumer, health, safety and insurance interests to make roads safer.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten confirmed today that he received an email asking him to remain in his job until further contacted.

]]> 2009-01-22T13:03:12-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001417.html
Houma Today reports:

This year, 66-year-old Stanwood Richardson Duval, who moved to New Orleans in 1994 when his judicial service began, will retire from the court.

Well, almost.

He will continue to oversee litigation related to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. . . .

]]> 2009-01-22T13:00:19-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001416.html House Judiciary Committee will continue its investigation into Judge Thomas G. Porteous, reports WWL-TV. (Background here.)

According to the Congressional Quarterly, the task force will be chaired by Representative Adam Schiff.]]> 2009-01-22T12:57:36-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001415.html Houma Today reports:

Lafourche Council members supporting mandatory drug testing of parish employees failed to override a veto of the measure by Parish President Charlotte Randolph last Wednesday night.

Background here.

And, to my amusement,

“Lead by example,” said Councilman Louis Richard. “I’ll be the first person to go get drug tested and pay for my own. I’ll go tomorrow.”

Council members Lindel Toups and Phillip Gouaux said they would do the same within a month. Gouaux pledged to give a copy of his results to the Daily Comet.

The best part?

Some confusion arose during the meeting about the proposal’s implications, if it were to pass.

Randolph said it would affect no one within Lafourche Parish government except the nine council members, because nearly all parish employees, excluding some low-level staff, are already eligible for random drug testing.

Many of her administration’s department heads were tested while employed and all parish workers are tested upon their hiring, Randolph said.

Randolph added that the drug-test results are not released from the screening company, meaning even if council members passed the measure, the public would not know whether a representative was using an illegal substance.

Toups and other council members said this was the first they’d heard of such drug testing being conducted within parish government, and noted that they could have put the drug-test issue to rest last year had they been aware earlier.

Awesome.]]> 2009-01-16T14:37:26-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001414.html Houma Today reports:

A handful of south Lafourche companies say they deserve refunds of sales taxes because of a special state program they were involved with.

But Louisiana’s attorney general, in an opinion released last week, took the position that such a rebate is not required by law and that Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre is not required to give one.

The Attorney General’s Office had previously concluded that Lafourche Law Enforcement District No. 1, which includes the Sheriff’s Office, would be required to provide the rebate under the Louisiana Enterprise Zone Act if the Parish Council endorsed the rebate.

That opinion has since been recalled.

The new opinion states the Sheriff’s Office would have to first show its approval of the resolution before rebates were possible.

As a result of the ruling, the Sheriff’s Office currently does not have to provide rebate money to Cut Off-based automobile dealer Golden Motors and three Edison Chouest Offshore companies, C-Port, C-Port2 and Galliano Marine Services because the tax money is dedicated for employee salaries.

]]> 2009-01-16T14:26:31-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001413.html WWL-TV reports:

For more than three years, the City of New Orleans and FEMA have battled over whether New Orleans needs to rebuild or replace both the Fifth District Station and the Seventh District Station in New Orleans East.

“We feel the Seventh District is about 85 percent damaged, and the Fifth District is 75 percent damaged,” said New Orleans Capitol Projects Director Bill Chrisman.

According to FEMA, New Orleans could repair the Fifth District Station for $1 million, but the city argues that it needs to be replaced for $6.5 million, a discrepancy of $5.5 million.

As for the Seventh District, FEMA estimates repair costs at just $750,000, while New Orleans argues it also needs replaced at a cost of $5.5 million.

So the city is appealing.

That appeals process could take months, and could ultimately end with New Orleans taking FEMA to court. . . .

In all, the city argues FEMA should pay more than $1 billion for all 280 damaged buildings, while they say FEMA only wants to fund $350 million worth of repairs or replacements.

]]> 2009-01-16T14:08:37-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001412.html The Times-Picayune reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union agreed Thursday to settle a lawsuit it filed against the state of Louisiana over unrestricted government payments to churches.

The ACLU's Louisiana chapter said the settlement agreement bars the state from funneling taxpayer money without conditions to selected churches that offer non-religious social services. . . .

The ACLU issued a press release on the case in October 2007 (when Judge Vance blocked the payment to a Bossier City church). The complaint is here, and the favorable ruling from Judge Vance is here.]]> 2009-01-13T13:46:30-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001411.html reports:

State police say they’ve seized more than 2,000 video poker and slot machines — including 35 to 40 in Southwest Louisiana — from private homes over a two-year period. . . .

]]> 2009-01-13T13:19:37-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001410.html
WDSU reports:

The Lake Borgne District will pay $2.3 million, the East Jefferson District will pay $5.9 million and the Orleans District will pay $12.5 million, totalling nearly $21 million.

But it's not quite final - a "fairness hearing" is set for April 2, 2009. More info here.

]]> 2009-01-13T13:15:49-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001409.html
Kitty Kimball has been sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

]]> 2009-01-13T13:11:40-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001408.html Raymond Ward, of the (new) legal writer, has the scoop.]]> 2009-01-13T13:09:50-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001407.html So reads the first line of this story from nwlanews.com.

The truancy section of the 26th JDC District Attorney's Office is citing to La. R.S. 14:92.2(A)(2)(b), which provides:

Improper supervision of a minor by a parent or legal custodian, who has care and control of the minor, includes: through criminal negligence, the permitting of the minor to habitually be a truant from school without valid excuse.

]]> 2009-01-11T14:11:22-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001406.html
The St. Tammany News reports:

As the new year rings in, court officials at the 22nd Judicial Court serving Washington and St. Tammany parishes have a late holiday gift: court hearings and trial times that may be three percent faster and more efficient than before.

Although long considered, but just recently implemented, court officials on Monday said a “major reshuffling” of judges, prosecutors and clerks is underway. . . .

]]> 2009-01-11T13:32:36-06:00 http://www.nakedownership.com/archives/001405.html The Daily Iberian reports:

Iberia Parish will file an appeal to FEMA for opting not to pay for workers to go onto private properties and remove large, fallen trees that were caused by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

At Wednesday’s Iberia Parish Council meeting, Councilman Naray Hulin said the director of debris pickup for FEMA initially said the agency would pay for the service for residents like the elderly who are not able to remove it themselves. FEMA has since denied that specific service.

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