Stressed out college students across town are going to have reconsider their options this fall. Starting Friday (8-1) a smoking ban will be enacted in public colleges and universities across Louisiana, as well as on the campus of Tulane University.

by Anna Gaca and Christopher Romaguera 

For now, Buffa’s Lounge will continue to host live music most days of the week, under a 60-day agreement the bar reached with former French Quarter trashanova Sidney D. Torres IV at a hearing in state Civil District Court this morning.

After a searing JazzFest weekend set at the Saenger, Dr. John is staying on Canal St. for his next New Orleans gig. On the heels of a new album devoted to Louis Armstrong, The Nite Tripper is set for a Sept. 20 date at the Joy Theater.

August is already known for its Coolinary prixe fixe offerings around Crescent City eateries. Not to be outdone, museums are taking out the prixe altogether, and offering free admission during the long, hot month.

An accused bank robber pleaded guilty Wednesday to four heists in the CBD and Gentilly, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite's office announced. Dwayne Hupp, 51, of Bay St. Louis, Miss., came to New Orleans to pull off the jobs in August and September of 2013.

Congressman Steve Scalise has been handed the House Majority Whip and Edwin Edwards is featured in New York magazine. But at least for a moment this week, Lenar Whitney is the Louisiana pol drawing the most national attention. The conservative state Rep. from Terrebonne Parish hasn't won a national seat yet, but she already has the Beltway buzzing after bolting from an interview with one of D.C.'s most respected rags.

July winds down this Thursday evening. Will you end the month peacefully with Ole Man River Band at the Botanical Garden, or go out with a bang when punk band Flesh Lights hit Saturn Bar? Christopher Shinn’s award-winning play Dying City wraps this weekend at the Shadowbox. And happy birthday to cellist Monica McIntyre, playing at Cafe Istanbul tonight. Read on for all the details tonight:

NOPD reported the apprehension of two suspects in an armed home invasion gone wrong last Friday, July 25th in Eastern New Orleans. Two others remain at large. In addition, state troopers arrested five people after a homeless man reported being shot with a pellet gun by an occupant of their car.

You may have missed the Twitter hysteria du jour focusing on a three-minute Audi commercial, punctuated with nipples and insinuated bondage. Fifty Shades of Grey released its red band trailer, which set off the standard faux-controversy phenomenon we use presently as a cultural opiate.  

The NOPD is giving New Orleanians a new alternative to Angola this fall. Organizers and members of the New Orleans Mounted Police gathered at the NOPD stables in City Park this morning to announce a new September event: Rodeo New Orleans.

Spirit Airlines is once again expanding operations in New Orleans. On Wednesday (7-30), the budget airline announced new nonstop flights to the midwestern destinations of Detroit and Chicago.

As summer winds into its August apex, Shakespeare gets a variety of treatments on NOLA stages, from burlesque to cabaret to a more traditional rendering at Tulane. Plus, bug, a vacation to Grand Isle and dance in the Marigny.

A 19-year-old man was killed in the 7th Ward early Wednesday morning, police said. The incident happened after 2 a.m. in the 2000 block of Pauger St.

A longtime NOPD officer was arrested Tuesday on child sex abuse charges, according to the department. Willie A. Gant, a 26-year veteran of the force, faces two counts of sexual battery on a juvenile, and two counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Just weeks before the start of the new school year, the Common Core battle between Bobby Jindal and the state's top education officials is headed for court. The state's top school board added its name Tuesday (7-29) to a list of Common Core proponents who sued the governor to prevent him from removing the national education standards from the state's curriculum. In response, Jindal filed a counter suit that argues the state's agreement to implement Common Core violates procurement code.

The fact that Director Jafar Panahi risks being executed by Iran dominates Closed Curtain. The filmmaker already faces a long stint in prison and has been banned for 20 years from filmmaking. However, the 54-year-old filmmaker defied what's an essentially lifetime prohibition with his 2011 documentary This Is Not A Film.