CHICAGO — Paul Vallas took control of Chicago Public Schools when the district was among the country’s most troubled. He went to Philadelphia to head up a teetering education system that the state had taken over. And after Hurricane Katrina washed away much of the New Orleans school district, he helped rebuild it. Mr. Vallas […]
Read More
With his new career as a bandleader thriving, Mr. Smith married Doretha Ford in 1957. They had five children before they divorced in the mid-1960s. Mr. Smith and the Clowns reached the pop Top 10 in 1958 with the wry “Don’t You Just Know It.” The title was a phrase often used by the band’s […]
Read More
Mardi Gras is on Feb. 21, and as some New Orleanians are fond of saying, “Everywhere else, it’s just Tuesday.” But that doesn’t have to be the case. Do you air drum in the driver’s seat? Do you wear sequins and glitter on weekdays? Have you been accused of being “extra” on more than one […]
Read More
NEW ORLEANS — The first dish served at Dakar NOLA is called Last Meal. It’s a soup of black-eyed peas, crispy rice and Louisiana blue crab, with robust spicing that recalls this city’s famous gumbos. Chances are you’ll still be thinking about it days later. Last Meal is that delicious — and even more unsettling. […]
Read More
A Chinese balloon seen hovering over Montana this week has been described as an “intelligence-gathering” airship by the Pentagon and a stray civilian research airship by China. Whatever its intended use, the balloon offers a reminder of how for more than a century, governments have used balloons for surveillance and observation, most often during times […]
Read More