Newell Normand

Newell Normand is civic talk built on access to the officials who make local decisions in and around New Orleans. Its real subject is how those decisions get made: who pays, which law applies, which board voted. Tim Temple, the Louisiana Insurance Commissioner, is introduced as a guest who joins a couple of times a month. With hurricane season approaching, his advice is practical: take inventory of what has been bought since last year, document it with photos and video, keep up preventive maintenance, and call the Department of Insurance about a home or auto policy. He also mentions videos his department has created, a project he says he has worked on for two years in office. Temple also turns up in an hour titled 'Hour 2: Hurricane season is right around the corner; what should you expect when it comes to insurance coverage?' Jefferson Parish brings a budget problem. Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng and Councilperson Arita Bohannon of District 4 come on over entry-level firefighter pay, which is complicated by a Louisiana law that requires commensurate raises for every rank up to the top of the department. The host calls it a tug-of-war and says the parish does not have the money the union's proposal would take. Bohannon says the council led the effort to publish a flyer breaking down pay, overtime, pension contributions and pay-plan structure, because the whole picture was confusing. The host reports reading it the night before and again that morning. The verdict: revealing. One segment title raises a possible property tax increase in the East Bank fire district as a route to higher firefighter pay. Drones in the French Quarter are another thread. The French Quarter Management District, which the host notes receives a quarter percent of the sales tax in the Quarter, moved to fund the program, and the host says the City Council approved it on a split vote. City Council President JP Morrell calls facial recognition a false flag in that debate, points to the manufacturer's certification that the drones cannot do it, and says privacy was the through line of the hearing. In the hour titled 'Hour 1: Chief Kirkpatrick says New Orleans is turning around and it begins with public safety', a guest calls drones smart policing, credits the district with paying for the first round because the city lacks the money, and wants people to weigh whether a drone is surveillance or security. The rundowns also point to what is coming: State Representative Kimberly Landry Coates is announced for a check-in on legislation, open lines are slotted into an hour, and a conversation with Michael Heck about the Port of New Orleans is teased. Some titles are blunt, as in 'Hour 1: We should've saw the signs that former Mayor Cantrell thought the rules didn't apply to her'. The local texture stays close: French Quarter Fest weather, WWL's Jazz Fest ticket promos, the Zurich Classic, and a guest's warning about a fire on I-10 toward Baton Rouge. The feed mixes full hours with standalone interview segments, so a single guest can be heard on their own. A listener gets the official, the rule and the cost in one conversation.