R. Reese Fuller

NOLA group to fly protest banner during Jazz Fest

by R. Reese Fuller

In a video for the Gulf Restoration Network, Dr. John sits in the yard of his New Orleans home. "I like sitting here," he says, "and I hate having to evacuate to some place I don't feel like being." The good doctor says he has the cure and explains how the group wants to remind the oil companies in south Louisiana that the wetlands are vital to life down here. The group intends to fly a plane over this year's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where Shell Oil is a major sponsor, with a banner that reads "Shell - hear the music. Fix the coast U broke." At  $1,000 an hour to keep the plane in the air, the group is looking for contributions and hopes to get its message out to the 375,000 Jazz Fest attendees and, more importantly, to Shell.