| By DREW BROACH | Deputy metro editor |
HISTORY LESSON: Sunday’s New Orleans Po-Boy Festival will bring thousands of people to Carrollton, to enjoy food, music and friends amid Oak Street’s charming small-town Main Street feel. Yet Oak Street was not initially designed as a commercial artery, nor did it ever have a municipal market. Here, beginning in 1831, is how Oak Street became what it is today. FALLEN GIANT: Speaking of oaks, the guardians of St. Charles Avenue’s magnificent oak canopy were stunned this week to find someone has shorn a century-old tree at Adams Street of its mighty limbs. No way it would survive, so the trunk was then sawed to the ground. Turns out it was a mistake, and the responsible party has been identified. HELP WANTED: Attacks on medics, pandemic burnout and competition from the private sector contributed to 40% turnover at New Orleans Emergency Medical Services last year. With more than one fifth of the jobs vacant, the agency is well below an industry standard for responding to the most urgent 911 calls. EMS leaders said they’re doing their best to juggle an onslaught of calls, but they’re swimming upstream against industry-wide staffing issues. Welcome to the weekend. Catch the latest news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 