In case you were distracted by Saints Super Bowl Day and Charles Dickens Bicentennial Day, here's a reminder that today is National Black HIV/Aids Awareness Day. Here in New Orleans, HIV/AIDS affects the black community disproportionately, according to local activist James Perry. As proof, the former mayoral candidate throws out some stats on a community resource website launched today at HIVNOLA.com: In metro New Orleans, 61 percent of the 6,384 people living with HIV were black. Fully 72 percent of new HIV diagnoses were black in 2010.

Earlier this week, Arnie Fielkow threw a wrench in New Orleans politics when he left early for the NBA. The at-large Councilman's departure leaves the seat open for a successor, who will be appointed instead of elected. Yesterday, Councilwoman Stacy Head told "anyone interested in this public service to provide the Council with a letter of interest and a resume." But, like the Iowa Straw Poll before us, NoDef believes in asking the public what they think before we officially ask the public what they think.

Well, the poll results are in and, with a whopping 8.8% turnout, New Orleans 93rd State House of Representative district elected Helena Moreno as their next representative.  

There was lots of mud slung first! See it all & read more!

Over the last week, the District 93 race has continued its slide from substantial policy debate toward petty mudslinging.  James Perry has continued filling mailboxes with fliers portraying Helena Moreno as irresponsible, slamming her for supporting John Georges, and questioning everything from her sobriety to her ethics.  

The District 93 race is getting downright nasty. As readers may recall, Moreno launched some mud at Perry attacking his over 90 parking tickets. Perry fired back (Story scooped here!) with flyers of his own. Now, Moreno has elevated the battle to the courtroom filing a suit against Perry for violating election code by making false claims about her.

by Geoffrey Leonard

James Perry sent out a mailer today slamming Helena Moreno for alleged hypocrisy.  The charge? That, while calling him unfit to serve because of his driving record, she was out getting sued for failing to pay her rent and missing a bankruptcy hearing for a $10,000 loan she defaulted on. 

See the dirt!

This week in New Orleans, the race to replace Karen Carter-Peterson as the state rep for District 93 took an unexpected turn. On Monday, the Times-Picayune reported a claim passed on by Helena Moreno that James Perry, her rival in the run-off, had over a hundred tickets for traffic violations.

NoDef's favorite District 93 runoff candidate, James Perry, is also a favorite of Lovely Rita. The T-P reports that Perry has over 90 parking tickets. Perry, was typical Perry bluntly responding, "What can I say? I have a bad driving record." And you know what, with half of our city in ruins, and the slick approaching, who really cares?

As the District 93 election heads into three more weeks of campaigning before the May 29 runoff, the Louisiana House and Senate keep on keepin’ on. With the halfway mark of the legislative session in a couple of days, here's a status report on some of the issues facing the new District 93 Rep. (For a little background, you can read last weeks Better Late Than Never.)

State election often get eclipsed down... Heck, with Karnival and the Saints, even the mayoral election got eclipsed down here. But NoDef, being civic minded and huge fans of James Perry, have been paying lots of attention to the District 93 race. Perry with 38% of the vote and Helena Moreno with 27% will advance to the runoff aka the Lightning Round .