| By Drew Broach | Deputy metro editor
HIGH NOTE: In another sign of recovery from the lingering coronavirus pandemic, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival says it attracted 475,000 visitors this year, matching attendance at the 2019 fest, the last before COVID-19 laid siege to the world. Even more promising is that this year’s festival drew that many over only seven days, compared to eight days for the 2019 event, so average daily attendance was higher.
TECH TIES: Through weeks of statements, an interview and a public hearing, two New Orleans government employees involved in City Hall's failed “smart cities” project downplayed their relationship with the companies that won the right to negotiate the 15-year broadband and infrastructure contract. But Verge Internet, a private firm founded by those employees, was once pitched to officials in Los Angeles as part of a “team of industry leaders” with Qualcomm and JLC Infrastructure on a similar plan to “bridge the digital divide” in that city, according to a newly obtained document.
LAWYERING UP: The funding fight between St. Tammany Parish government and the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office is about to get expensive. Both sides are hiring outside lawyers to litigate DA Warren Montgomery’s lawsuit demanding $8.8 million from the parish.
Thanks for starting your Wednesday with us. Check NOLA.com for more news throughout the day. D.B. | 
