Tag: Louisiana

NOLA Ready offers free online training June 4 for hurricane evacuation volunteers

(Photo: The evacuspot located at 801 N. Rampart St. Todd Van Hoosear | CC Flickr.)

Online training for evacuation volunteers will be offered by NOLA Ready as New Orleans approaches the 2020 hurricane season, which starts on June 1.

The free online classes is for volunteers who want to help residents get out of the city and reach safety after officials issue a mandatory evacuation order.

The training will be held on June 4 from 6 to 7 p.m. Registration is found on Eventbrite.

An “above normal” hurricane season is predicted this year, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasting 13 to 19 named storms with winds 39 miles per hour or more, including between three and six storms with sustained winds of at least 111 MPH.

The city estimates 35,000 New Orleans residents will be unable to evacuate ahead of a dangerous storm. In 2019, Tropical Storm Barry brought more than six inches of rain on July 10, flooding parts of the French Quarter and temporarily disrupted transportation systems before reaching Category 1 hurricane status on July 13.

Volunteers who complete the introductory training will join the Medical Reserve Corps and be assigned to help people board buses at one of 17 “evacuspot[s]”—including five for seniors—or bus stops designated as evacuation locations where volunteers will assist with boarding and registration.

Evacuees are then taken and triaged at the Smoothie King Center, where they will be taken to state or emergency shelters out of the city.

Evacuspots are designated by a stick figure statue raising its arm. The closest one to the French Quarter is located at 801 N. Rampart St. in front the entrance to Louis Armstrong Park.

All staff, volunteers and evacuees will be provided with personal protective equipment and will be required to socially/physically distance due to COVID-19.

For more information on the hurricane and tropical storm preparedness, visit NOLA Ready’s website.

The Yard opens near lower French Quarter; replaces NOLA Cantina

(Photo: the courtyard of NOLA Cantina, now The Yard. Michelle Q | Yelp)
The Yard, a restaurant and full-service bar located at 405 Frenchmen St. at the corner of Esplanade Avenue, opened on Wednesday.

According to its Facebook page, The Yard is a concept by the owners of the French Quarter’s Backspace Bar and Kitchen, Robert Watters—who founded RCI Hospitality Holdings, which owns Rick’s Cabaret.

The Yard replaced NOLA Cantina, which was also owned by Watters, according to state business filings, and was reported closed sometime in January.

The new Frenchmen/Esplanade location comes with indoor and courtyard dining and a menu that includes items such as Cuban sandwiches, burgers, wings, wraps and Cajun poutine.

The Yard, 405 Frenchmen St., 504-266-2848. Open 12 to 10 p.m. Mask required for entry.

A Vieux From Toulouse

What happens to a city that depends on a sole industry? Look at Detroit in the 1980s when the market turned to Japanese autos.

Tourism, a recreation historically reserved for the decadent bourgeoisie with too much money and too much time. The ancient Greeks and Romans would travel to the Seven Wonders of the World to view the legends for themselves. Medieval Christians, Buddhists and Muslims would go on religious pilgrimages to find connections with their God. Eighteenth century robber barons could spend months on transoceanic luxury liners or in private train cars to explore the known world.

French Quarter tourists come here to binge eat, binge drink, gamble and cheat on their spouses. We have nothing else to offer to the world. 

Perhaps it would be best for western culture if we stop viewing tourism as an entitlement and a see it for what it is: a narcissistic self-indulgence. Just something to boast about on social media, glad you took lots of pictures because you don’t remember a damn thing that happened.

Some complain about millionaires, but then go into debt trying to emulate their lifestyles.  They hate the rich because they are jealous of them. Traveling is nothing more than an unneeded luxury that has been pushed on us by corporate manipulation. Airlines, hotels, cruise lines, resorts, local tourism committees and multinational theme parks entice us with commercials of good looking couples strolling hand in hand on beaches at sunset.  The CEO of a credit card company can afford to go on exotic vacations. He can do so by the money made from those who cannot afford it but think they are entitled to it.

“My car may not be paid off, but I’ll drop $5,000 on a week visiting a carnival of vice.”

Spare me the bullshit . “I love to travel and experience new cultures”; a ghost tour, buggy ride and perhaps a quick walk through a museum all with a ridiculous drink in your hand. I never hear people talking about wanting to visit Saudi Arabia or Egypt; there’s no booze there. Las Vegas or Amsterdam are usually at the top of the list. That’s fine, that’s how we make our living. Let’s not be pretentious about being culturally important. We are not needed, our industry is completely disposable.

Any city that depends on a sole industry is a stage set for economic disaster. New Orleans recovered quickly after hurricane Katrina, it may take many years after this disaster.  Anyone who squanders thousands of dollars on a vacation of hedonistic exploits are financially foolish. “I can’t afford to be unemployed!” No, but you could afford to take a week off to go to the Bahamas six months ago.

“I work oh so hard, I am entitled to a vacation!”

It’s only been the past few generation who have had this kind of access to tourism. Even now, it’s only just for a sliver of the population. Let’s visit this exotic third world nation and toss coins to the kids and film them scrambling to pick them up. We’ll feel like Hollywood stars as the service industries cater and kiss our asses for the pittance tossed to them. (But to those people, it’s a large sum of money.)

With so much conversation about changing to a Green Economy or a Socialist economy, we in tourist-dependent areas should be talking about a varied economy. It’s like a mill or mining town, all aspects of the local economy revolves around just one industry. The mill closes, the mine becomes barren and everyone is out of work. That’s what happened here.

BREAKING: All three Bourbon Street Johnny White’s locations close permanently

(Photo: Mark Gsthol | CC Flickr)
Three Johnny White’s locations—including the Hole in the Wall, Corner Pub and Pub and Grill—in 718 to 720 Bourbon Street are reportedly shutting the fuck down for good, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune | Advocate.

The White family is scheduled to close on the sale of the three-story building located on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans streets, a deal in the making since last year, the newspaper reported Friday.

Johnny White’s had a reputation for not closing its doors, even during Hurricane Katrina.

The fourth Johnny White’s bar, located at 733 St. Peter Street, is still open but currently shuttered due to coronavirus restrictions.

This is a developing story.