By Bob Warren
Singing the blues over jazz: Not only was the cancellation of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival a blow to our psyche, it’ll also pack quite the economic punch. Many in the region’s hospitality industry, dining writer Ian McNulty reports, were looking at an October Jazz Fest as light at the end of a long tunnel. No more. And the hits kept coming Monday. The Red Dress Run was canceled. Then the Gretna Heritage Festival. Ugh. On a related note, schools are reopening after summer vacation and, already, students and faculty are quarantining, our friends at The Lens report. (And here's a little background on schools wanting to remain open.)
Really, leave the guns at home: Following the second multiple shooting on Bourbon Street in as many weekends, a frustrated New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson issued a plea Monday: Come visit, but leave the guns at home. (Apparently some people have to be told this...) The Bourbon Street shooting, in which five people were wounded, was part of another violent weekend.
Tough job: The Saints haven’t had the best of luck lately. Retirement and free agency hit the team hard. So has the injury bug. And some players have potential legal hurdles to clear. Add it all up and coach Sean Payton has perhaps his most challenging job yet, columnist Rod Walker says. All that and a lot more in today's Front Page. Thanks for starting your day with us.
| 
