New Orleans transplant killed by lightning strike: ‘She just dove into the culture' of city 
 
 New Orleans transplant killed by lightning strike: ‘She just dove into the culture' of city 
 
 On Saturday, Jacqui Stavis, a New Orleans massage therapist, became the nation’s first lightning fatality of 2016, according to National Weather Service records. 
 
 Friends described Stavis, 28, as a joyful, petite sprite who loved music, art and New Orleans. She died at Lady of the Sea General Hospital in Cut Off one day after lightning struck her campsite at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose. 
 
 Longtime WWOZ Radio program director Dwayne Breashears knew Stavis through a tight-knit group of New Orleanians who travel each year to the Burning Man festival in Nevada. 
 
 “We are all just numbed by it,” Breashears said of Stavis’ death, adding that it seemed she’d been in New Orleans all of her life, though she grew up in New England, New York and Wisconsin. “She just dove into the culture of New Orleans, just became a part of it. She just wanted to do positive things here.” 
 
 Bethany Bultman, of the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, described Stavis as “a force for good” who had put down roots in a city she had long admired. 
 
 More On This Topic Woman killed, 2 injured after lightning strikes campsite Friday night at Larose music festival 
 
 Bultman, a friend of Stavis’ grandmother in Provincetown, Massachusetts, said that even as a teenager, Stavis would immediately listen to any New Orleans CD or read any New Orleans book that Bultman suggested. 
 
 “She loved the culture of New Orleans; she couldn’t get enough,” said Bultman, who wasn’t surprised when Stavis moved here with her boyfriend, musician Jake Gold, after the couple graduated together in 2009 from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. 
 
 A few years later, when Bultman reigned as queen of the Krewe du Vieux parade in 2013, she wasn’t surprised that Stavis was one of the first people she saw in the crowd. “Jacqui embraced everything and she participated and she was everywhere,” Bultman said. 
 
 Friday’s lightning strike injured two other women, ages 24 and 30, who had sought shelter from a severe storm in the same small tent with Stavis. One woman was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans, while the other remained in a hospital not far from the festival, according to a statement by Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre. 
 
 Others who spent the night in tents on festival grounds were shaken by how hard the storm hit and described winds, rain, thunder and lightning so ferocious that people on opposite ends of the same small tent couldn’t hear each other even if they shouted. 
 
 After receiving a call about the injuries shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies, volunteer firefighters and paramedics went to the scene and found Stavis unresponsive and the other two woman suffering from electric shock. All three were taken to a hospital. 
 
 A large Labrador dog also died during the incident, Webre reported. 
 
 No cause of death was available for Stavis. 
 
 However, National Weather Service alerts note that 10 percent of lightning strikes can result in death, often from cardiac arrest or irreversible brain damage. Though the chance of being hit by lightning in a given year is less than 1 in 1 million, it does happen regularly. Over the past 30 years, the United States has averaged 49 reported lightning fatalities each year. 
 
 The low-key, three-day T-Bois event calls itself a blues festival, though it also features other types of music. It offers home-cooked Cajun food, catfish, crawfish, beer and camping for all ticket-holders and is held on an alligator and crawfish farm owned for more than a century by the family of festival producer “Alligator Mike” Falgout, who modeled the festival after large crawfish boils hosted by his family. 
 
 Falgout did not return messages left about the incident. 
 
 New Orleanians who have attended T-Bois describe it as a relaxed event run largely by local volunteers. Two small stages mostly feature acts who play some variation on the blues; it is closed out each year by New Orleans guitarist Anders Osborne. 
 
 Children and families often mill through the grounds, and many people camp there overnight. The capacity is limited to 1,200, and motorized vehicles are prohibited. 
 
 An area of the site, the Burning Village, is reserved as an arts village modeled after Burning Man. Each year, participants like Stavis create special, often large-scale art, including a giant sculpture that is burned during the last night of the festival in a controlled fire watched by local firefighters. This year’s sculpture was of a 30-foot alligator wielding a guitar. 
 
 Stavis’ brother, Erick Yingling, recently visited her in New Orleans. He said his sister had created a broad, de facto family that went beyond actual kin to include “musicians and misfits, entrepreneurs and artists, community activists and attorneys.” 
 
 Now, he said, that entire community was devastated by its sudden loss. “Jacqui was our heart,” he said. 
 
 “Jacqui will be missed by many, many people, because she got along with everyone. I can’t tell you how much we’ll miss her,” said her grandmother, Barbara Rushmore, 91, of Provincetown, who said she sent love to the two women who were injured in the incident. She expressed hope that her granddaughter would be buried within visiting range of her, perhaps in the cemetery that edges the family home in Provincetown. ||||| A New Orleans woman was killed and two others injured when lightning struck on or near their tent at the T-Bois Blues Festival in Larose, authorities said Sunday (March 18). 
 
 Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre identified the dead woman as 28-year-old Jacqui Stavis, a massage therapist from New Orleans. Webre said Stavis was found unresponsive after the lightning strike occurred Friday around 10:05 p.m. Stavis was pronounced dead Saturday at a Lafourche Parish hospital, Webre said. 
 
 Two other unidentified New Orleans women who were in the same tent were injured and hospitalized. A 30-year-old woman remained hospitalized Sunday in Larose, while a 24-year-old woman more seriously injured was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans, officials said. Webre also said a large Labrador dog in the tent with the women was killed in the incident. 
 
 Investigators learned the three women had retreated into a small personal tent during a thunderstorm near the festival grounds, Webre said. After the lightning strike, the sheriff said, Stavis was unresponsive and her two friends had injuries associated with electric shock. 
 
 An attendee said festival organizers were not allowing new tents to be set up Saturday. The three-day festival, headlined by guitarist Anders Osborne, ran Thursday through Saturday. Staged at the site of an alligator farm, the festival has come to be known in recent years as the "Cajun Burning Man." 
 
 Balloon Chain at TBoiS Posted by Jacqui Stavis on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 
 
 It is beyond comprehension and utter sadness that one of the brightest lights in the universe is no longer shining on... Posted by Nola Bunarchy on Saturday, March 19, 2016 
 
 I opened Facebook this morning to find tons of messages to Jacqui Stavis. I started reading them and it hit me that she... Posted by Matthew L. Crowson on Sunday, March 20, 2016 ||||| One Dead, Two Injured Following Lightning Strike at Larose Music Festival 
 
 Sheriff Craig Webre reported one woman has died, and two others were hospitalized after a lightning strike Friday night at a Larose outdoor music festival. Jacqui Stavis (age 28) of New Orleans was pronounced dead at a local hospital on Saturday. Two other females (ages 30 and 24), also of New Orleans, were also injured in he incident. 
 
 Shortly after 10 p.m. on Friday, March 18, deputies received a call that three people were injured after a lightning strike at the T-Bois Blues Festival grounds. Deputies, volunteer firefighters, and EMTs responded to the scene to assist and found Stavis unresponsive, along with two other females who were injured. All three were transported to the hospital for treatment. Stavis was later pronounced dead on Saturday. The 24-year-old victim was transported to University Medical Center in New Orleans while the 30-year-old victim remained at a local hospital. A large Labrador, which was with the females, also died in the incident. 
 
 Investigators learned the three women had retreated into a small personal tent on the festival grounds during a period of severe weather. Following a lightning strike, Stavis was unresponsive, and the other two had injuries commonly associated with electric shock. ||||| Deputies got a call around 10:00 p.m. on Friday that three people had been hurt in a lightning strike. 
 
 When they arrived, they found Stavis was unresponsive. Her two companions, both women, were suffering from electric shock injuries. 
 
 The department didn’t identify the two other women, but said one was 30 and one was 24. 
 
 The Labrador was also killed in the strike, according to authorities. ||||| Pizza-hungry New Yorkers are fuming after shelling out $75 for tickets to a pizza festival where attendees claimed they only got slivers of cold slices at a "shady" parking lot -- and now state prosecutors are opening an inquiry into the event. Ray Villeda reports. (Published Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017) 
 
 What to Know Pizza-lovers who had traveled from as far as Washington, D.C., fumed on social media after the New York City Pizza Festival on Saturday. 
 
 Attendees complained that they got "cold and awful" and small pizza slices at the Bushwick, Brooklyn, food festival. 
 
 The New York Attorney General's Office said it opened an inquiry into the festival on Monday. 
 
 UPDATE: NYC Pizza Festival Agrees to Refund All Tickets 
 
 
 
 Pizza-hungry New Yorkers and other customers are fuming after shelling out as much as $75 for tickets to a pizza festival where attendees claimed they only got slivers of cold pizza slices at a "shady" Brooklyn parking lot -- and now state prosecutors are launching an investigation into the event. 
 
 The New York City Pizza Festival, which took place in a parking lot in Bushwick Saturday, was promoted as a "day long celebration of the dough, cheese, tasty sauces and delicious toppings," according to Gothamist, but people instead got "cold and awful" pizza that were "smaller than a sample size," as one person complained on Facebook. 
 
 "It was like the people from Fyre Festival decided to throw a pizza party," attendee Connell Burke told Gothamist, referring to the heavily promoted, disastrous music festival that landed its promoter in jail in New York earlier this summer. 
 
 Video from the event shows lines around the block of a near-empty parking lot. An attendee said on Facebook there were just three tents serving up slices of pizza "smaller than my palm." 
 
 "This is bull----!" The fact that my friend and I spent 55 dollars each for such a s----- event like this is unbelievable!" one woman complained on the event's Facebook page. "All we got was warm red wine that tasted like a--." 
 
 The Pizza Festival event page posted during the event: "Hi guys, we've been hit by an incredible amount of delays in pizza delivery. Fresh, diverse and delicious pizza was supposed to be delivered every 30 minutes. A make-up tasting will be announced shortly. Sincere apologies. Please do not come for the rest of the night's tastings." 
 
 The apology didn't appease attendees. 
 
 "Make-up tasting? Shut the ---- up. Give us our money back, how's that for a make up?" one woman retorted. 
 
 Furious customers quickly coalesced on Facebook, creating their own group, "Pizza Festival Scam Victims." 
 
 "This was a rotten scam, they promoted this as a pizza festival and a hamburger festival," one person said in a post. "People who arrived early said there were about 5 pies cut into micro slices of really bad pizza. There were no hamburgers! Clearly this is a scam and the organizers should be held accountable." 
 
 The complaints got the attention of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office, which opened an investigation into the even on Monday. 
 
 A spokesman for the office said they were "concerned about the online complaints" they saw following the event and are asking attendees to submit complaints on the Attorney General's Office's website. 
 
 The festival organizer, Ishmael Osekre, didn't respond to Gothamist's requests for comment. On the Facebook event page, however, he blamed event producer Hangry Garden for delaying the start of the event. 
 
 But Hangry Garden co-founder Jeremy Asgari told Gothamist his own company had been misled by Osekre. He said Hangry Garden had been hired to provide furniture and games at the pizza festival, but red flags started popping up in the weeks leading up to the event. On the day of the event, festival organizers still hadn't paid Hangry Garden -- and that's when the event producers had to pull out. 
 
 "We couldn't be part of it, of course, because we're not going to do an event for free. We started getting the feeling that this wasn't the type of event they promised," Asgari told Gothamist. "We showed up and they didn't have the food vendors, they didn't have anything. I asked them where the vendors were and he said, 'We had trouble finding them so we're ordering pizza to the venue.' I was like are you kidding me? They were supposed to have 30 plus vendors, this is a nightmare." 
 
 Osekre was also behind a food festival last year that was widely panned as a scam, according to Gothamist. 
 
 
 
 Some attendees who bought their tickets to the event through Eventbrite said on Facebook they were told by the ticket broker that the refund policy is entirely up to the festival organizer. Another ticket seller, Goldstar, told customers they were "fully investigating this for our members." ||||| FILE - In this May 6, 2017, file photo, Snoop Dogg performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Snoop Dogg says he wants to create a music festival in his father's hometown so... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 6, 2017, file photo, Snoop Dogg performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Snoop Dogg says he wants to create a music festival in his father's hometown so he can perform in Mississippi. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this May 6, 2017, file photo, Snoop Dogg performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Snoop Dogg says he wants to create a music festival in his father's hometown so he can perform in Mississippi. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press) FILE - In this May 6, 2017, file photo, Snoop Dogg performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans. Snoop Dogg says he wants to create a music festival in his father's hometown so... (Associated Press) 
 
 MAGNOLIA, Miss. (AP) — Rapper Snoop Dogg says he wants to create a music festival in his father's hometown so he can perform in Mississippi. 
 
 "We always stop in New Orleans but we never book a show here. We might as well do it ourselves because my booking agent just won't do it," he said during a weekend stop in Magnolia, a south Mississippi city of about 2,400 near the Louisiana state line. 
 
 The rapper born Calvin Broadus stopped in Magnolia on his way to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where he performed Saturday, to discuss his plans for "Snoop Fest" with the mayor, the McComb Enterprise-Journal reported Monday (http://bit.ly/2pe7x3T ). 
 
 "We want to try to get it done this year, but if not, we will definitely do it next year," Mayor Anthony Witherspoon said. 
 
 He said Magnolia is a great venue because it's 90 minutes from Jackson, Hattiesburg, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. 
 
 It's about 17 miles (27.4 kilometers) north of the Louisiana state line and just a few more from Britney Spears' hometown of Kentwood, Louisiana. 
 
 Snoop Dogg said the festival's first day would feature blues, gospel and country acts for the "aunts, grandmas and uncles," with hip-hop and rhythm and blues on the second day. He would close the festival. 
 
 "I think the first should have what the heritage of Mississippi is about and then the second day should be about the generation that took it to another level," he said. 
 
 Snoop said he wants to bring back Mississippi natives Brandy and Ray J Norwood of McComb, David Banner of Jackson, Souljia Boy of Batesville and newcomer La'Porsha Renae, also of McComb, and to give a shot to some performers who are still local. 
 
 "We can give the top five hottest artists a chance to open up," he said. 
 
 The rapper said he wants to do something that reaches out to everyone. He said he comes to Mississippi three or four times a year, but only his family sees him. 
 
 "I want to do something so that everyone will get to see me," he said. "If I wanted to do a show and leave, I could've done that. I wanted to do something to make a mark here. I just wanted to make an impact on the people here because I know how much I mean to them."
– When the weather got bad at Louisiana's T-Bois Blues Festival on Friday night, Jacqui Stavis, two other women, and a Labrador retriever sought shelter in a small tent. But tragedy struck when lightning hit the tent, killing the 28-year-old and the dog and injuring the other two women, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office says in a statement picked up by BuzzFeed. The other two women, ages 30 and 24 and also from New Orleans like Stavis, were hospitalized with "injuries commonly associated with electric shock." Stavis, who grew up in New England, New York, and Wisconsin, had always been fascinated by New Orleans, and moved there in 2009, friends tell the Advocate. "She just dove into the culture of New Orleans, just became a part of it," one friend says. "The Falgout Family is deeply saddened by the tragic event that occurred this weekend at T-Bois Blues Festival," festival organizers posted on Facebook Sunday. (The festival is held on an alligator and crawfish farm owned by the Falgout family, and "Alligator Mike" Falgout produces the festival.) "Every attendee of this small festival is part of the T-Bois family, and we feel as though we lost a family member this weekend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Stavis family and all those who love Jacqui." Another post on the page notes that Stavis changed her cover photo to a scene from the festival (it appears to be from a past year's festival) while she was in attendance this year. NOLA.com rounds up other Facebook tributes to Stavis, who worked as a massage therapist.