Welcome to the Very Local New Orleans NEWSletter. Each week, we’ll throw you some headlines that had us all talking and are worth knowing about. Here’s what everyone was paying attention to last week.
Remembering Nancy Parker
Nancy Parker, a longtime fixture for local television news, was remembered last week by nearly 1,000 New Orleanians. A memorial service was held Friday for Parker at Xavier University’s Convocation Center. Former WDSU anchor Norman Robinson hosted the service. Parker died in a plane crash Aug. 16 in New Orleans East covering African-American pilot and stuntman Franklin Augustus, who also died in the crash. Augustus was the chairman of the Louisiana chapter of Tuskegee Airmen Inc., an organization honoring the accomplishments the African-American pilots and crew during World War II at Tuskegee Army Air Field. A memorial for Augustus is planned for Aug. 31 at the Lakefront Airport. Parker, originally from Opelika, Alabama, adopted New Orleans as her home and anchored nearly every newscast at WVUE over the course of 23 years, earning her five Emmys and several Edward R. Murrow awards. Parker was 53. The cause of the crash is under investigation. Read more.
Cars found in underground canal
Finding Mardi Gras beads or other treasures from days gone by is nothing new when cleaning out a catch basin in New Orleans, but city officials discovered a major blockage in one of its underground canals — entire cars. The Sewerage and Water Board was inspecting a canal near the intersection of Lafitte Greenway and Jefferson Davis Parkway and found debris and what appeared to be cars that were partially blocking the water flow. Crews recovered a vehicle Thursday. The cars were clogging a drainage culvert used by the city’s pumping station that serves Mid-City. The cars were discovered as part of an initiative by the Sewerage and Water Board to inspect underground canals. Read more.
‘THE’ chicken sandwich
While it’s been enjoying some time on the menu, Popeyes’ chicken sandwich sent the nation into lunchtime lunacy last week when national media outlets sang its praises. Social media got involved, along with fast-food restaurants targeting the Louisiana chicken chain in defense of their own chicken sandwiches, and the item became a top trending topic across the country. Social media memes lamenting that the fast-food restaurant was sold out of sandwiches had scores of people searching for them all over town. Long lines of cars were seen weaving into the streets from various Popeyes restaurant parking lots. Employees put signs up, limiting the amount of sandwich glory people could attain. Some of us here went on a hunt for some of the sandwiches as well.
Other Things To Know About:
Little League champs welcomed home with high praise (WDSU)
Heat advisory issued for most of southeast Louisiana (NOLA.com)
Two cruise ships diverted to New Orleans because of Hurricane Dorian (NOLA.com)
Who Said What Now?
