| By DREW BROACH | Deputy metro editor |
CLASH IN THE COURTROOM: In opening statements Tuesday in the federal tax fraud trial of Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and law associate Nicole Burdett, attorneys painted diametrically opposed pictures of the defendants: one of money-hungry, highly intelligent lawyers bent on defrauding the government at any cost, and another as victims of an incompetent, lying tax cheat who habitually swindled the Internal Revenue Service. INSECURITY: Now that 26 juvenile offenders have escaped the Bridge City youth prison in one year, Louisiana is moving some of the inmates to its maximum-security adult penitentiary at Angola, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday. One of the latest inmates to flee Bridge City, a 17-year-old accused of carjacking and shooting an Uptown man while on the lam Sunday, is a two-time escapee, according to law enforcement records. PUSHBACK: Thousands of people from New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and beyond spoke in support of New Orleans television meteorologist David Bernard after he publicized an email he received from a viewer calling him a gay slur. Thanks for starting your Wednesday with us. Remember, you can keep up with the news all day on NOLA.com. D.B. | 