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Stolen silver statue turns up in pieces
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Trump takes Fed firing to Supreme Court President wants emergency order to remove member of board of governors
BY MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
PHOTOS PROVIDED By KEVIN KELLy
The sculpture of Abraham Lincoln was cut to pieces by thieves hoping to sell it for the price of the silver.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court for an emergency order to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. The Republican administration turned to the high court after an appeals court refused to go along with ousting Cook, part of President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the Fed’s seven-member governing board and strike a blow at its independence. The White House campaign to unseat Cook marks an unprecedented bid to reshape the Fed board, which Cook was designed to be largely independent from day-to-day politics. No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history. Cook, who was appointed to the Fed’s board by President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has said she won’t leave her post and won’t be “bullied” by Trump. One of her lawyers, Abbe Lowell, has said she “will continue to
ä See FIRING, page 4A
Parts of sculpture taken from Houmas House found in pawnshops BY DOUG MacCASH
Staff writer
It was Sunday, Sept. 7, when Kevin Kelly, owner of the Houmas House plantation in Ascension Parish, learned that his antique, solid silver statue of Abraham Lincoln had been stolen. The foot-tall Lincoln sat pensively on a bench, stovepipe hat by his side, the weight of history on his shoulders, when suddenly, a nearby window shattered. As Kelly explained, a thief had simply walked onto the plantation property, found a small stone statue of a dog outside the 19th-century building, used it to bash in a window, grabbed Lincoln through the broken glass and fled. If the thief was a crazed art lover who had kidnapped the 16th president for his or her own secret collection, Kelly said, he knew he would never see the statue again. But if the burglar intended to fence the glinting Lincoln on the black market, or sell it for its value as 64 pounds of precious metal — an estimated 46 grand — the miscreant might get caught, and the rare, precious statue could possibly be re-
A moody sculpture of Abraham Lincoln by John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was stolen from Houmas House plantation earlier this month. turned. Kelly was right. Last week Lincoln came back home, but not in the condition he had hoped. Heartbreakingly, the stunning little statue had been brutally carved up into chunks, a decapitated torso and other odd shapes. It was far beyond repair.
The artwork that was stolen in Ascension Parish was disposed of in Metairie. According to Sgt. Brandon Veal, spokesperson for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, the department was told to be on the lookout for the stolen Lincoln by investigators in Ascension Parish soon after the theft. Sure enough, pieces of the lost Lincoln statue turned up in a handful of suburban New Orleans locations. Jefferson Parish investigators identified a 28-year-old named Steve Coronado, of Raceland, as the person who allegedly brought pieces of the statue to pawnshops and a precious metal exchange to sell. At one shop, Coronado sold shavings of silver, according to Veal. At another he received cash for selling a sizable chunk of the statue. Deputies served a search warrant at a residence on Garden Road in Avondale on Sept. 10, recovering yet another piece of the ruined artwork. Beth Higgins, manager of the venerable Southern Coin and Precious Metal shop in Metairie, said that someone
ä See STATUE, page 4A
Gonzales mayor limits council contact with workers BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
A new Gonzales policy restricts the communication of city employees with City Council members, requiring any and all questions to be directed through the Mayor’s Office. Wade Petite, the disputed chief of staff for the city, said the policy was instituted a few weeks ago. He said the new rules require any questions council members have for employees to be submitted to Mayor Tim Riley’s administration. “If you’re here to ask them how their day is, that’s fine. If you want to ask them about
ä See GONZALES, page 4A
Fall enrollment at UNO down again yearslong slump fuels financial crisis
BY MARIE FAZIO
Staff writer
The University of New Orleans is down about 800 students this fall, a significant decrease for the small institution where a yearslong enrollment slump has fueled an ongoing financial crisis.
WEATHER HIGH 93 LOW 68 PAGE 8B
About 5,700 students are enrolled at UNO this school year, according to a fall head count shared with faculty and staff this week that includes undergraduate and graduate students, as well as high schoolers who take courses at UNO. The total is down from about 6,500 students last fall and a far cry from the university’s peak of 17,000 students. UNO President Kathy Johnson said in an email to faculty and staff this week that the university’s revenue
will be $1.1 million less than anticipated due to the enrollment decline. The reduced revenue comes as the university’s financial crisis has led to layoffs and furloughs, building closures and other cost-cutting measures over the past year. “Enrollment was lower than we’d hoped,” she wrote, “yet understandable given the challenges we’ve experienced over the course of the past year.”
STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE
About 5,700 students are enrolled at UNO this school year, according to a fall head count shared with faculty and staff ä See UNO, page 5A this week.
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