POISONED PAST: That Tangipahoa Parish warehouse where seven of Bob Dean's nursing homes sent 843 residents to ride out Hurricane Ida? It was once part of a pesticide plant that closed in 2011 but is still under a decades-long cleanup order because of hazardous chemicals in the ground. Dean, meanwhile, plans to fight back against the Louisiana Department of Health’s decision to revoke all of his nursing home licenses and terminate his Medicaid provider agreements.
TRASH TEAMS: Small squads of dump trucks, front-end loaders, pickup trucks and police vehicles began moving through New Orleans neighborhoods on Friday to put a dent in three or more weeks of uncollected garbage bags piled up on the curbs. Over at City Hall, residents and City Council members decried the "abject failure" of one of New Orleans' three garbage contractors, Metro Service Group.
HEALTH HAZARDS: Top officials at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans skirted university hiring policies when they moved an in-house lawyer to the job of chief of staff, and they padded the salary of another administrator while creating a publicly funded position for his son, according to an internal audit. Those are just a few of the allegations of influence-peddling, retaliation and nepotism detailed in the 67-page report on the state-run medical school from the LSU Office of Internal Audit.
You'll find these stories and more in the Front Page and on NOLA.com. Welcome to the weekend.
As New Orleans city workers hit the streets Friday morning in the latest attempt to stem the spiraling sanitation crisis, City Council members and deputies of Mayor LaToya Cantrell opened a special meeting by arguing over what aspect of the city’s trash problems they should discuss first. Read more
Top officials at the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans skirted university hiring policies when they moved an in-house lawyer to the job of chief of staff, and they padded the salary of another administrator while creating a publicly funded position for his son, according to an internal audit. Read more
