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Today in New Orleans History |
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November 13
William Jennings "Bill" Jefferson, born March on 14, 1947 is a former American politician from the U.S.
state of Louisiana. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member
of the Democratic Party. He represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans
area. He was Louisiana's first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction. On November 13, 2009,
Jefferson was sentenced to thirteen years in federal prison for bribery after a corruption investigation, the longest sentence
ever handed down to a congressman for bribery or any other crime. He began serving that sentence in May 2012 at a Federal
Bureau of Prisons facility in Beaumont, Texas.
Photo of Melpomene Avenue (now Martin Luther King) dedication of widening section, St. Charles Avenue to Dryades Street. November 13, 1958 Photo of completed work of two WPA artists on the tropical bird house at Audubon Park. The scene depicts Noah leading the animals into the ark, two by two. The procession stretches across the wall and the carving was done directly in the brick. November 13, 1940. Photos of Audubon Park, November 13, 1940. Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (Francesca Saveria Cabrini), also called Mother Cabrini, founder of the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, was beatified by the Catholic Church on November 13, 1938. She was
the first (naturalized) citizen of the United States to be canonized -- on July 7, 1946 by Pope Pius XII . Cabrini
High School, which she founded, is named for her. Photos of the Southern Yacht Club on November 13, 1936. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for links. Photo of North Claiborne Avenue at Press and St. Ferdinand Streets before paving by the WPA. November 13, 1936.
Jazz and Blues singert Louise "Blue Lu" Dupont Barker, famous for "Don't You
Feel My Leg" and "Look What Baby's Got For You" was born in New Orleans on November 13, 1913.
She often sang and performed with her husband Danny Barker. Her recording of "A Little Bird Told Me" was released
by Capitol Records and reached the Billboard chart on December 18, 1948 and remained on the chart for 14, peaking at #4. Blue
Lu was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 1997, one year before she died in her home town on May 7, 1998 at
the age of 84.
WRNO
was also home to a popular shortwave radio service in the 1980s and 1990s called WRNO Worldwide,
now owned by a Christian broadcaster. On November 13, 2006, at 4:00 AM, after signing off with The Doors'
"The End," WRNO flipped to an interactive Talk radio format as "The New 99.5FM.com." As explained in
the official mission statement posted at its website, "The station is committed to providing listeners with everything
they need to know on the radio at 99.5 FM and on demand at thenew995fm.com." On the same day Sister station KHEV
would pick up "the Rock of New Orleans" slogan and use it as their new slogan for their flip from gospel to Active Rock. On April 1, 2008, the station switched to "Rush Radio,"
all day repeats of The Rush Limbaugh Show and a tape loop of Rush's theme song, the instrumental from My City
Was Gone by The Pretenders, during times when the show was not playing. The stunt was to celebrate the acquisition of
the show from longtime affiliate WWL. The station resumed its regular schedule on April 7. The Limbaugh
program had previously aired on WRNO Worldwide, which Limbaugh called "The EIB World Service" on the air (in joking
reference to the BBC World Service). The stations are no longer co-owned. Notable station
alumni include Bill Burkett, E.Alvin Davis, Joe Clark, Bobby Reno (now on WTIX FM owned by Michael Costello, Joe's brother),
Captain Humble, Doug Christian, and Russ Boney. WRNO alumni also include former PD Michael Costello
"Michael In The Morning"/"M&M" (brother of late WRNO founder/owner Joseph Mark Costello III); Jim
White; DJ-turned-actor John Larroquette ; Soxless Scott Seagraves; Jeff "JD The DJ" Douglas, famous for his
"Rock 'n' Roll Flight To Midnight"; Tom Owens; Jimbo Roberts :Johnny Tyler; "Weerd" Wayne Watkins;
Mary London; Lyn Taylor (Now a Program Manager at CBS Radio Detroit); and writer-producer Vance DeGeneres. (Douglas and Costello
are currently jocks at WTIX-FM, which Costello is owner.) Steve Suter (Now on Magic 101.9) did the Morning show with sidekick
Kevin Carlile. They became the "Morning Dudes" are were hired away to Baton Rouge after 2 years.' (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRNO-FM) |
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WRNO radio first hit the airwaves on the air October 17, 1967. Although its previous slogan was "We're
the Rock of New Orleans," the station's call letters stand for "Westbank Radio New Orleans." The station
operated a popular business selling rock t-shirts, records and other music related items called the WRNO "Rock Shop"
on the ground level of the studio. Since its inception in 1967, WRNO endured many incarnations with different rock music
formats, finally adopting the Classic rock format in 1997. On the right is a 1974 print advertisement. 
Notable programming includes Jim Bohannon's America in the Morning, Denny Schaffer on The Denny Schaffer Show,
Glenn Beck Program, The Rush Limbaugh Show, The Sean Hannity Show, John Osterlind, Mark Levin, and George Noory. Osterlind
was known as "Ozone" during stints at WAAF Worcester MA and WRKO Boston MA.
