| By Bob Warren Hitchcockian: Some 10,000 Entergy New Orleans customers were without power this morning power after an outage reportedly caused by a bird. This isn’t a first. Animals were also blamed for outages in 2021 and 2016. Last year, in fact, Entergy even talked about using lasers to scare off the birds. Really.
Traffic jams: Surging gasoline prices are all the talk these days – the state average now tops $4. But we still spend an awful lot of time in our cars. Especially if you’re driving through one particular stretch of western St. Tammany Parish, where the openings of the bridge in Madisonville have been a source of congestion nightmares. The bridge even has its own Facebook page, "Madisonville's Stupid Bridge." Hardly a fan site. Also, here are some "cheap" places to get gas today. Good luck.
Saints talk: Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson, perhaps No. 1 and 1A on many Saints fans’ quarterback wish list, are both off the market now. And with that, columnist Rod Walker writes, the Saints should look inside their own building for 2022’s starting QB.
Mardi Gras prank: The “only in New Orleans” phrase can be a little overused. But this one really fits. Weeks ago the Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave added its crest to the mini statues circling the Mardi Gras Fountain on the Lakefront, plunking a 400-pound concrete block between Choctaw and the Caliphs of Cairo. It was a bit of a prank, of course, but our Doug MacCash reports that not everyone was amused.
Hoped you enjoyed today’s Lunch Line newsletter. Lots more news, features and sports at NOLA.com. Thanks for taking a break with us. BW | 
