A corruption case out of New Orleans has turned into a fight over an issue that might be of interest to certain users of this here website: Do commenters on a news website have an absolute right to anonymity? And it all traces back to a federal prosecutor with an out-of-control, borderline-rehab-requiring online commenting habit. Federal prosecutors: They're Just Like Us.

Is it just Mardi Gras or are all New Orleans cops this cool?

A weird relic rested on the bookcase in my family's last home in New Orleans: a wooden pipe that had belonged to Jim Garrison, the Orleans Parish district attorney who tried and failed to convict a local businessman named Clay Shaw for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The pipe still smelled of the tobacco its owner had packed and lit before setting it down at a cocktail party. Garrison—that's him on the right—had left the party and forgotten his pipe. And because he was still a hero to some, and especially to my mom, she took Garrison's pipe home as a souvenir.

Akein Scott, a 19-year-old New Orleans man, was arrested last night as a suspect in the Mother's Day shooting of 19 people. Scott's apprehension seems to be receiving somewhat less attention than that of other purveyors of terror.

Police are looking for three suspects who were seen to be fleeing the scene of a shooting that left 19 injured, including two children, yesterday afternoon.

A humble pedestrian was strolling down Burgundy St. in New Orleans last Saturday around 5 AM, when he was suddenly approached by a shotgun-wielding robber who demanded he hand over his money.

On August 31, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA public affairs officer Marty Bahamonde emailed his boss, then-FEMA chief Michael Brown, to make sure he understood how dire the situation had become in the Superdome, the New Orleans football stadium that was housing thousands of evacuees. "[T]he situation is past critical," he wrote in one of several emails he'd sent colleagues outlining the emergency. "We are out of food and running out of water." The stadium was overcrowded and undersupplied; there had already been three deaths, and Bahamonde expected more to die "within hours."

Jessica Sanchez, a field reporter for Orlando's Local 6 News, was in no mood to have her Bourbon Street live shot crashed by a drunk loudmouth looking to steal some airtime, so she did what every reporter should do when confronted with a similar situation: She asked the videobomber about her STDs.

A middle-aged man from New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward was shot and killed by his wife Monday morning after she mistook him for a burglar trying to break into their North Claiborne Avenue home.

New Orleans is preparing to be hit by another massive storm, which, if projections hold, will make landfall exactly seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina. Projections for Tropical Strom Issac, which is expected to grow into at least a Category 2 hurricane, show the storm making direct landfall in the gulf coast early Wednesday morning. Earlier today, both Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu declared states of emergencies.

The city of New Orleans is looking to redesign their tourism website very, very cheaply.

23-year-old Roderick Clanton was arrested last week for allegedly having consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl inside the men's room of the New Orleans criminal courthouse at Tulane and Broad.

Fried catfish is not exactly rare in New Orleans, but during Lent it's inescapable. On Lenten Fridays when good Christians abstain from meat, they settle for fish fries. ("Settle," as though any sane person would choose meat over fried catfish.)

As scrutiny of intra-protester violence and sexual assault at various Occupy Wall Street protests around the country increases, a man was found dead at Occupy New Orleans' protest site. He was apparently dead for two days.

According to Guinness World Records, the largest natural afro in the world has a circumference of 4 feet and 4 inches, and belongs to a 36-year-old social worker from New Orleans. Seated in a room full of disco balls, atop a giant mirrored platform, Aevin Dugas describes the drawbacks of having the world's biggest afro:

Technological advancements have made police sketches more realistic than ever, but judging from this sample portrait there's still some room for improvement. Unless the real-life version of this simulated murder suspect wears a spaceship made of yarn on his head?

When I clicked on Travel + Leisure's list of the America's Dirtiest Cities, I was hoping it would be ranked by which one had the most porn theaters. Instead, the magazine was referring to the places that are physically the dirtiest. The answer to that, well, it's not that surprising.

Actor Nicolas Cage was arrested for domestic battery in New Orleans on Friday night—just a month after being escorted out of a restaurant by police. Apparently an intoxicated Cage was arguing loudly with his wife as the couple got in a taxi when the cabbie called police and said he'd seen Cage grab his wife, Alice. Police showed up and told them to "just go home," and then Cage, as is his wont, asked the police "Why don't you just arrest me?" They promptly did. The actor's been released on $11,000 bail after being charged with "domestic abuse and disturbing the peace." His wife isn't pressing charges and says there was no physical contact. [TMZ; Times-Picayune]

Anderson Cooper was one of the grand masters of the Endymion parade yesterday, one of the largest in New Orleans annual Mardi Gras celebration. But he couldn't do it alone. No, he brought his "companion" along for the ride.

New Orleans pastor Grant Storms was arrested for indecency after being caught punching the Pope in a park. Storms harassed partiers at gay festival Southern Decadence for decades. Now he's calling himself a "hypocrite." He beat us to it!