Scuzzbuckets of the Week

I don't know whether I want to cry or throw up regarding this story.

Metairie parents arrested for cruelty to juveniles and desertion.

In one of their headlines, nola dot com described the two children as "feral" due to
the fact that they can't speak.



Nicolette Brady, 35, and Chad Lee, 34, were jailed on charges of cruelty to juveniles and child desertion. Brady also was booked with resisting arrest. The children were placed in the custody of their grandmother.

The Sheriff's Office received an anonymous telephone complaint about children in the apartment Sunday afternoon. Neighbors, who would not identify themselves, confirmed that the children often were left unattended in diapers and had no language skills.


The agency's incident report said Deputy Shenandoah Jones found the boy and girl "hanging" out of an open window about 1 foot off the ground. He tried to talk to the children but noted "neither would speak" and "they apparently didn't understand" what he was saying. Jones also watched as the boy began rocking a dresser that almost fell on him.

the one-bedroom apartment's floor soaked with water. Jones described a swarm of gnats and flies in the kitchen and cockroaches throughout the apartment, the report said. A layer of black mold covered most surfaces, including the water in the toilet. Jones noticed no food in the refrigerator and several exposed outlets with electrified wires in the kitchen.
The children were covered in small scabs and cuts that paramedics later identified as bites from mosquito and mites, the report said.

Hurricane preps tax holiday

Hurricane preps tax holiday scheduled this weekend.

In 2007 House Bill 225 was passed that designated the last weekend in May as a sales tax free holiday for the first $1,500.00 of the sales price for the purchase of the following hurricane preparedness items:


Any portable self-powered light source.

Any portable self-powered radio, two-way radio, or weatherband radio.

Any tarpaulin or other flexible waterproof sheeting.

Any ground anchor system or tie-down kit.

Any gas or diesel fuel tank.

Any package of AAA-cell, AA-cell, C-cell, D-cell, 6-volt, or 9-volt
batteries, excluding automobile and boat batteries.

Any cell phone battery and any cell phone charger.

Any nonelectric food storage cooler.

Any portable generator used to provide light or communications or
preserve food in the event of a power outage.

Any "storm shutter device". The term "storm shutter device" shall
include materials and products manufactured, rated, and marketed specifically for
the purposes of preventing window damage from storms.

Any carbon monoxide detector.

Any blue ice product.

So go save yourself 4% this weekend and get ready for storm season.

Memorial Day

Mark Folse over at Toulouse Street has written a must read post about the citizens of New Orleans.

An excerpt

These are a people who have seen death and devastation, known loss and disappointment that is painful to catalog and still they get up on certain days and march down to the appointed place and eat and drink and dance and are happy. They are at once not that different from my parents sitting out on Memorial Day and at some deep level they are profoundly transformed. As we approach the fourth anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood they are people who have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and made the case for why we should be here. Few people since the days of the pioneers have a stronger claim to a place.

A True Champion

Former boxer Gregory Davis, who lives in Eastover in New Orleans East has done what the City of New Orleans under the "leadership" of Nagin could not do:
He has opened a medical center in the East.

From the T.P.
he built a 1,600-square-foot primary health care clinic from scratch at 9890 Lake Forest Blvd. It opens Tuesday.


The Champion Medical Center, which stands literally in the shadow of the shuttered Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital, has an internal medicine specialist, a family practice doctor, a nurse practitioner and a medical assistant on staff to handle routine check-ups and a host of basic medical ailments.

It boasts three examination rooms, a doctor's office, a waiting room lobby and a small triage area for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, coughs, colds, the common flu, stomach aches and minor cuts, said Cynthia Kudji, the staff nurse practitioner. The clinic also will perform Pap smears, breast exams, childhood immunizations and school and employee physicals, she said.

The clinic will handle up to 40 patients a day, Kudji said. It is open on Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Champion Medical Center addresses the shortage of medical care that has plagued the neighborhood since Hurricane Katrina, said Davis, a boxer who was born in Chicago and moved to Eastover when he was 9.

Meanwhile, Mayor Ray Nagin's administration has been working to buy Methodist Hospital since 2007, but the city and the hospital owners haven't agreed on a price. (sounds like 6 Flags debacle, doesn't it?) Both Nagin and outgoing recovery czar Ed Blakely have said a deal between the city and the hospital's handlers is close, though no one has predicted an exact date.

Pointing at Methodist's building from outside his clinic on Saturday, Davis said: "There wasn't time to wait for all that. We needed something now."

Bless Mr. Davis.

Preserving Charity

From the National Trust for Historic Preservation:


On Wednesday, May 27th, the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee will consider House Bill780. Sponsored by the committee’s Vice Chair, Representative Rick Nowlin, this measure would require LSU to have a financial plan for the proposed New Orleans medical center approved by the state legislature before being allowed to acquire any property.

Fiscal responsibility during a difficult economy means making sure that LSU has a sound business plan to operate its proposed $1.2 billion hospital before being allowed to buy or seize land in the New Orleans Mid-City neighborhood.

Fiscal responsibility also requires evaluating less expensive options. For instance, a state-of-the-art hospital could be built inside the gutted shell of Charity Hospital -- saving $283 million over new construction and opening years earlier, while avoiding the expropriation of private property.


Contact the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee members and ask them to support HB780 when they consider it on Wednesday, May 27th. I have provided each member's phone, fax and email address below.


Abramson, Neil C. 365 Canal Street Suite 2740 New Orleans, LA 70130 (504) 275-8051
fax (504) 568-3342 abramson@legis.state.la.us

Barrow, Regina 3552 Monterrey Drive Baton Rouge, LA 70814 (225)362-5837
fax(225)362-5839 larep029@legis.state.la.us

Burford, Richard T. 671 Hwy. 171 Suite E Stonewall, LA 71078 (318)925-9588
fax (318)925-9590 burfordr@legis.state.la.us

Doerge, Jean M. 732 Main Street Minden, LA 71055 (318)371-3092
fax (318)371-3093 larep010@legis.state.la.us

Hill, Dorothy Sue 529 Tramel Road Dry Creek, LA 70637 (800)259-2118
fax (337)639-4045 hilld@legis.state.la.us

Hines, Walker 5500 Prytania Street #626 New Orleans, LA 70115 (504)756-4675
fax (504)553-5324 hinesw@legis.state.la.us

Jackson, Michael 660 N. Foster, Ste. A-214 Baton Rouge, LA 70806 (225)342-0774
fax (225)922-1060 larep061@legis.state.la.us

Johnson, Robert A. P.O. Box 467 Marksville, LA 71351 (318)253-8891
fax (318)253-6377 johnsoro@legis.state.la.us

Katz, Kay 207 C Louisville Avenue Monroe, LA 71201-5823 (318)340-0800
fax (318)340-0911 larep016@legis.state.la.us

LaBruzzo, John 3331 Severn Ave., Ste. 204 Metairie, LA 70002 (504)833-7788
fax (504)212-7644 larep081@legis.state.la.us

LeBas, H. Bernard 115 Southwest Railroad Ave. Ville Platte, LA 70586 (337)363-0152
fax (337)363-0179 lebasb@legis.state.la.us

Mills, Fred H. Jr. 1010 Martin Street Parks, LA 70582 (337)845-4240
fax (337)845-4095 larep046@legis.state.la.us

Nowlin, Rickey L. 816 University Parkway Suite C Natchitoches, LA 71457 (318)357-7048 fax (318)357-7044 nowlinr@legis.state.la.us

Pope, J. Rogers P.O. Box 555 Denham Springs, LA 70727 (225)667-3588
fax (225)667-3590 poper@legis.state.la.us

Simon, Scott M. P.O. Box 1297 Abita Springs, LA 70420 (985)893-6246
fax (985)893-6247 simons@legis.state.la.us

Williams, Patrick 609 Texas Street 1st Floor Shreveport, LA 71101 (318)676-5990
fax (318)676-5992 larep004@legis.state.la.us

Willmott, Thomas P. 2002 20th Street Suite 204-A Kenner, LA 70062 (504)465-3479
fax (504)465-3481 willmott@legis.state.la.us



Here's an example of an email to send to the members, provided by the National Trust for Historic Preservation:


A homeowner shouldn't expect a home renovation to go well without an architectural plan. A small business owner wouldn't expect his new business venture to succeed without a business plan. Common sense dictates that the same should be true of LSU's proposed $1.2 billion medical center in New Orleans.

Therefore, we urge you to approve HB780 when it comes up before the Health and Welfare Committee on Wednesday, May 27. HB780 precludes LSU from proceeding with land acquisition for its proposed $1.2 billion Health Care Center without a plan.

In these difficult financial times, it is fiscally responsible to ensure that a sound business plan exists before LSU is allowed to move forward on property acquisition for its $1.2 billion Medical Center project. It is also fiscally responsible to look at alternatives incorporating the reuse of Charity Hospital, which could be faster and cheaper while requiring significantly less expropriation of private property.

New information is emerging about LSU and its plans on a regular basis. Recently it was revealed that LSU plans to take twice as much land as needed for the $1.2 billion proposal. We need to get all the facts on the table before you make a decision and before you allow LSU to take people's property for proposed future commercial development.

Please approve HB 780.

Mistruths abound

Lawsuit Aims to Prevent Razing of New Orleans Historic District
From Architectural Record, a story about a lawsuit that is attempting to stop the deconstruction of the Mid City Historical District to make way for a politically motivated project to build a new VA Hospital and an LSU Teaching Hospital.

Within the article is this statement
"The LSU facility would replace the university’s former teaching hospital, Charity Hospital (1939), designed by Weiss, Dreyfous and Seiferth. The Art Deco-style building suffered severe flood damage during Hurricane Katrina and never reopened. "


However, a visit to savecharityhospital dot com
tells us that the hospital was cleaned up by September 21, 2005 but then boarded up, probably by the crew who want the shiny new hospitals.


While Charity sustained serious damages due to Hurricane Katrina and the federal levee failure, only the basement took on flood waters. Within weeks of the storm, teams of doctors and guardsmen had pumped the building dry, decontaminated the first three floors, and readied the hospital to provide care to returning residents.

In a sworn statement by Dr. James Moises, an ER doctor at Charity Hospital and clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine for LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans at the time of the storm

"It took ten days to pump all the water out of the basement, while most of the workers, including me, were cleaning and decontaminating the first three floors, removing biodegradables from the first 14 floors, boarding windows and weatherproofing the building in a preliminary way. Specifically I recollect that the Navy Seabees boarded up every broken window in the building.

The cleanup was essentially complete by September 21. I observed at that time that the first three floors were spotless. Electric power had been restored, and the air conditioning was functioning..."

Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré ordered some of his troops from the 82nd Airborne division to assist in those cleanup efforts. Honoré has been outspoken about this and has written previously that the storm was "used as an opportunity to close the doors of Charity Hospital," a pretext or justification not based on the actual condition of the building. Just last week, Honoré went on the record again, excoriating LSU for continuing to base it's FEMA appeal on the false claim that Charity was beyond repair, "LSU needs to pay for its own damn hospital."

Staff Seargent James A. Johnson is a 20-year veteran of the United States Army in the 205th Engineering Battalion. A specialist in electric power systems and the restoration of electricity in disaster situations, Johnson served three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan before being called in to restore order to New Orleans in 2005. Johnson has received military awards for his service here.

He has also given a sworn affidavit about his work to reopen Charity Hospital.

"Between September 7 and September 19, 2005, I personally witnessed and participated in the complete restoration of the first and second and parts of the third floor of Charity Hospital."


And recently, Congressman Joseph Cao sent a letter to President Obama stating

"Charity Hospital was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina..."

I'm not sure why a Congressman would make such an inaccurate statement unless he's in cahoots with the "let's build shiny new hospital" krewe. Shame on him if he is.

Go here to read why saving Charity Hospital and Mid City matters .


-

Scuzzbucket of the Week

from metroblogs:


State representative Jonathan Perry (R-Abbeville), is sponsoring a bill that insists children’s birth certificates can only include the names of married parents or single individuals. It is targeted directly at GLBT couples, who obviously can’t marry in the great state of Louisiana.

Not only is the legislation mean-spirited and homophobic, but it’s also an endangerment to kids. For example: if a kid and one of his GLBT moms were in an accident, the other GLBT mom would have to go through a fair chunk of legal maneuvering to ensure visitation and other rights to care for the child. And that’s just one of many unpleasant scenarios.

Here's a list of all those who voted FOR this bill

The vote now goes to the Senate.

Evacuee Quote

From the Good Children blog, a quote from a California evacuee that - if said by a New Orleanian - would be front page news.

Hmmm

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Redneck cajun judge Timothy Ellender.

You'd think that this person would've learned something from the diversity and sensitivity training he was probably ordered to attend during his suspension as a result of this incident: click on photo for larger version




Apparently judge Ellender was never taught to shut up when he has nothing nice to say. He seems to have a history going too far bad mouthing people.

In his most recent loss of civility was directed at a battered woman
looking for a restraining order against her spouse



Judge Timothy Ellender refused to keep in place an emergency restraining order obtained by Eula Smith Warren, telling her she could get a divorce but not a restraining order. He also congratulated her husband, Charles Warren, for threatening to make his 2-year-old daughter’s “booty bleed” if she didn’t behave herself....

This scuzzbucket has been brought before the Louisiana Supreme Court to answer allegations. Let's hope - based on his history - he gets more than a slap on the wrist.

Thanks, Syracuse

A big southern thanks goes out to Syracuse New York.
Operation Southern Comfort hosted its second annual Crawfish Festival to help build a house in the 9th Ward.



There was twice as much crawfish at this year's festival, totaling 3,000 pounds.

Their mission statement:

to restore hope to the people of the Gulf Coast by rebuilding homes one at a time.


Thank you all for not forgetting and for continuing to think of the victims of Katrina. It does my heart good to know there are caring people out there.

News Notes

Katrina trial: New Orleans' truth commission

These two items made their way into the news the same day (April 22, 2009).

The MRGO is finally closed to navigation traffic after years of dedicated people fighting for this.


Six people are going to court to testify about their experiences during and after the storm. These people lost everything due to the MRGO.
From the csmonitor dot com:

This "first real Katrina trial" could pave the way for a class-action lawsuit against the Corps, as well as set the tone for future US coastal policy.


It's the only one of a series of lawsuits that Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr., has allowed to go to trial. US tort laws protect the Corps from damages directly related to flood control and levees. But the topic at the center of the case is a US navigation channel, not a flood-control project, so Judge Duval permitted the case.

"Someone has to take responsibility, if only to make sure processes and policy are improved and grievances are addressed," says Dr. Silas Lee, a sociologist at Xavier University in New Orleans, who adds that uncertainty over the city's flood control has stymied the return of a third of the city's residents. "People want closure to this."

To all those out there who will criticize and dislike Katrina survivors, ask yourself if you could experience this:

In the Lower Ninth Ward, Jimmy Braxton's sister climbed with her two small kids into the attic. Holding the kids, she craned for air as the water rose. Another relative swam to the house and busted through the roof. She had to let go of one of the kids to reach through the hole. Only one child survived.

The MRGO was created in 1960s,when the motto was "build anything". The waterway provided an alternate and shorter route for cargo ships from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico.

Coastal geologists have testified that the MRGO has also increased salinity in the storm-slowing swamps, marshes, and tupelo stands that protected New Orleans' east side, killing much of the vegetation.
From Save Our Lake dot org, is a publication that helped close the cover on MRGO's coffin.



The MRGO created "great pipe" to move storm surges straight into the city. In the late 90's - after 30 years of warnings - the Corps began moving to close MRGO, but "dragged its heels," according to expert witnessDr. Sherwood Gagliano, CEO of the Baton Rouge-based Coastal Environments, Inc.. A veteran advocate for the Louisiana coast and Louisiana's oldest coastal engineer, Gagliano states the dangers posed by MRGO amounted to "Coastal Geology 101." "One of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the US" was both predictable and preventable.

Gagliano has testified that a series of studies had warned of MRGO's impacts as far back as 1958, the year construction began. The threats included salination overload of sensitive freshwater swamps and erosion that would widen the channel over time. A 1984 Corps report acknowledged that large portions of St. Bernard and Orleans Parishes could be "exposed to a direct hurricane attack" because of a looming breach in the channel connecting it to Lake Borgne to the east.

I'm hoping that this one time victory is for the victims.

Katrina Recycling Project

After Hurricane Katrina gutted at least ten feet of the three story home, leaving only a skeleton of the original structure, a Waveland family is rebuilding using something else the storm destroyed: pine trees.

"They were all destroyed from the salt water from the hurricane as were the pine trees at Buccaneer State Park," Dr.Elliott Black said.

After getting the okay, Dr. Black moved hundreds of the park's dead pine trees to his Waveland property. Some of the trees were more than a century old. Now he's using the timber to rebuild his Hancock County home.

"Doing it this way is a slower process than doing it the other way," Dr. Black said.

"It goes through a drying process, a cooking process a curing process and then it gets cut on a sawmill," said James Ferrill a foreman overseeing the project.

"This is by far one of the biggest challenges I have ever taken," Ferrill said.



The home will maintain most of its original features, plus a few new ones like an elevator, an expanded porch and bigger bedrooms. And while the project is lengthy, both men are optimistic they will be pleased with the results.

The Blacks say it will take about a year to finish the home. However, they hope to move back in within the next six months.

Kill the Culture

In the last two weeks, there have been two high profile murder cases that involved the death of four innocent people.

Just yesterday the bodies of Calysse Perkins and Fitzgerald Phillips were found in an empty house. Perkins was killed because she was with Phillips when his dealing with illegal drugs caught up with him.

Calysse was a literacy tutor, someone who wanted to help those who could not read or write. She's gone because young men who obviously know no other life other than the thug-gangsta or whatever it's called lifestyle killed her in cold blood.

Last week there was an execution-style triple murder in Terrytown. Two of the three murdered were 6 years old and 23 months old; also shot was an 11-year-old girl.

It's beyond madness now, this "war" that's going on.

Cliff talks about the fact that the culture that breeds the thugs must be stopped. I couldn't agree more.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Pauline R. Malone, a 30 year employee at Regions Bank, transferred thousands of dollars out of an 80 year old victim's account several times a month for about a year, totaling to about $65K.

from the T.P:

When she was brought in for questioning, Malone told investigators she began making the transfers after convincing the victim to loan her $7,000 last April, Foltz said. She told investigators she planned to repay the money and detectives discovered at least four credits of $100 each in the victim's account, he said.

Malone told investigators she gambled with the money she took and used some of it to pay her bills, Foltz said.

It is the policy of Regions to reimburse the victim fully in these kinds of cases, said Evelyn Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the bank.

There is evidence that Malone may have taken up to $10,000 from another victim over the last six weeks, and investigators are trying to locate that victim's family, Foltz said.

Malone was booked into Slidell's city jail on Friday with two counts each of theft, identity theft and bank fraud. She is being held on a $30,000 bond.

Good ole Pauline looks like she'll be quite comfy in womens' prison.
May she rot there.

French Quarter Fest '09

Lord David has quite nicely covered the music experience of French Quarter Fest here .

We ventured down to FQ Fest on Friday ready for a gourmandtastic walking tour from the Aquarium to the U.S. Mint and back. We were a little disappointed with some of the food, but all in all it was a good time.

We rolled into town at about 11:15 A.M. and found our usual parking lot full. So, we headed toward one Canal Place's parking lot and ended up on level 10, which I think is the highest level of this parking structure.

click on pictures for larger versions



The view from this height was quite nice.



But if you don't like heights, don't look straight down!

We headed for Jackson Square, hoping to catch Pete Foutain, but he wasn't there. We did happen to catch our "neighbor" Ronnie Kole, being briefed for his performance.



Jackson Square had some of the better food offerings, from Mrs. Wheats Meat and Crawfish Pies



To Jacques-Imo's slow-roasted duck poboy and Crepes a la Cart's hazelnut and strawberry crepes.





The crowd in the square was pretty mellow, which made for an enjoyable moveable feast.

Deciding to walk off the calories we just ingested, we headed for the U.S. Mint, which supposedly had a lot of good food to offer. Of course, our route took us thru the newly-renovated-and-still-in-renovation French Market, where we spotted this beautiful frieze or bas relief just on the outside of the Market



The Market looks much better than it had been looking and hopefully it will be completely renovated come Creole Tomato-New Orleans Seafoood-Zydeco Fest in June.





The crowd at the U.S. Mint wasn't so bad and the weather that day made it bearable. We looked around, trying to decide what to eat first when we located "Eat New Orleans" booth, serving Black Eye Pea Salsa and Coconut Buttermilk Pie and we ordered both.




The Salsa was pleasant, with just the right amount of cilantro. The pie was ho-hum.

Around to the back of the Mint we found Bravo Cucina Italiano's Crawfish Ravioli



Served tepid, it was pretty good; I would love to have tasted it at the proper temperature.

We headed over to Jack Dempsey's booth to experience their mac and cheese while hubby made a beeline for The Original New Orleans Po-Boys for a French Fry Po-Boy with Roast Beef Gravy......I hate to say we wasted $10 on these two dishes.





The mac and cheese was starchy with no cheese flavor whatsoever and the poboy's "roast beef gravy" was nothing but watered down gravy from an envelope. We threw both dishes away after a few bites. Bleck.

Disappointed, we headed back to Woldenberg park, where we knew the food had to be better and we were right.

Emeril's Delmonico had Confit (cooked in fat) pork cheeks (the best part of the pig) with creole dirty rice. Good stuff



After some people watching along the river, enjoying the fantastic breezes and cloud cover, we decided on each of the three tacos offered by Serranos Salsa Company




Yummy

Our last stop was Four Power Bakery's booth for a strawberry creole cream cheese bavarian. It was so good, we couldn't get a clear picture of it.

All in all it was another enjoyable FQ Fest and hopefully we walked off all we consumed.

Texas Scuzzbuckette

Betty Brown of the great big state of Texass.


From thinkprogress dot org


On Tuesday, State Rep. Betty Brown (R) caused a firestorm during House testimony on voter identification legislation when she said that Asian-Americans should change their names because they’re too hard to pronounce:

“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said.

Brown later told [Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramey] Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”

Yesterday, Brown continued to resist calls to apologize. Her spokesman said that Democrats “want this to just be about race.”


It's hard to fathom that there is so much ignorance out there. The audacity of this elected official makes me wonder about the people who put her in office. What a closed minded old broad.

HT to Oyster.

LSU Chancellor Petition-Ivor van Heerden

Here's an excerpt from the editorial in today's TP about the canning of Hurricane Expert Ivor van Heerden


photo from nola dot com


In the days immediately after Katrina, the world thought New Orleans had been ravaged by a huge storm simply too large for the high-tech flood protection system built at great cost by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And according to some members of Congress and many media commentators, that's just what we deserved for living here, below sea level.


photo from wikipedia

In fact, that was the official story being put out by the corps.

But about a week after the storm, as van Heerden and engineers on his staff began inspecting the deadly breaches in that system, the story began to change. They were expecting to see evidence of over-topping, signs Katrina was just too big for the system, the very scenario the center had predicted the day before the storm came ashore.

What they found was something else: Signs of catastrophic engineering failures.

In other words, the floodwalls and levees failed not because they were too small, but because they had been either poorly designed, poorly built -- or both.

But van Heerden's real danger to LSU was his threat to funding.

The federal government is the largest source of research funding for universities, and LSU was lining up tens of millions of dollars for coastal and wetlands work -- much of which might be partnered with the corps. Having one of its professors lobbing bombs at the feds made some at the university fear for the LSU pocketbook.

That's why members of Team Louisiana, as well as researchers from other universities, were warned to shut up or risk their careers. Fortunately for all of us they decided their ethics -- as professors, engineers and citizens -- compelled them to continue to work for the public good.

The decision has been brewing ever since van Heerden agreed to head the forensic investigation team in the days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in August 2005. Within days of the team's formation, van Heerden was frequently quoted in national newspaper and television reports, and most of his comments were highly critical of the Army Corps of Engineers' levee and floodwall construction policies and designs.

In November 2005, he was called to a meeting with two LSU assistant chancellors who van Heerden said told him to stop talking to the press, because it threatened the university's ability to get research dollars from the federal government.

Levees dot org has a petition to LSU Chancellor Martin urging him to reconsider his decision.

C MURDER and AntiCrime

Do what?
C-Murder, a rapper under house arrest while awaiting trial on a murder charge, is hosting an anti-crime news conference at 11 a.m. today (April 14, 2009).



This is the alternate universe aka the New Orleans area.



The Rev. Toris Young, who heads the Louisiana Ministerial Alliance Of Churches For All People, says rapper Corey Miller is among a new group joining forces to fight violent crime in the New Orleans area. Tuesday's news conference will take place at the Kenner home of Miller's grandmother, where he is being detained.



Young, whose group is also leading an effort to recall U.S. Rep. Joseph Cao, has also had run-ins with the law. In 2006, Young pleaded guilty to 11 counts of fraud and identity theft. He was released from federal prison last year and is currently on probation.

Miller, who performed under the name "C-Murder" is accused of killing a teenager in 2002 at a now-closed nightclub in Jefferson Parish. He has denied involvement in the killing. He is charged with second-degree murder. If convicted, he would face life in prison.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Dayshawn Young, murderer. Not only is this mook a murderer, but he's been booked for the of execution-style triple murder in Terrytown. Two of the three murdered were 6 years old and 23 months old. He and his still-at-large accomplice also shot an 11-year-old girl several times before shooting the two babies in the head, execution-style, in another bedroom.

It's beyond sick. As a commenter suggested, anyone who would do this is without a soul.

Sigh

Good News for Lakeview

Nearly four years post Katrina, Lakeview is getting its postoffice back.


View Larger Map

The Lakeview neighborhood, devastated by Katrina flooding, has made steady progress in rebuilding its housing stock and residential population; based on house-to-house surveys it's estimated that more than 16,000 people now live in the area. There were about 22,000 Lakeview residents before the 2005 storm.

Happy Easter

Looking for something to do?

Knowing Stuff

Lord David over at HumidCity dot com pens a great post about the absent mindedness of the Nagin Administration and the hopeful outcome.


You’ve almost completely destroyed our city, hopes and rebuilding efforts to further your own greed. You’ve made backroom deals with all your friends and given away the farm for your own profit. You’ve blamed the Times-picayune, WWL-TV, Lee Zurik and Stacey Head. You’ve hurled the name ‘RACIST’ at anyone who stood up to your criminal bullying.


read it in its entirety here.

Shot of the Week

While attending the Picayune Street Fair this morning, hubby and I spotted this lady who is probably my age (54).



A truely "What Not to Wear" Moment

Let's compare disasters, shall we?

First Draft takes the opportunity to answer those pathetic hateful souls who
take every advantage to beat down the the people of New Orleans with their closed- minded comments.

Here's a snippet


Is 80% of Fargo under water at present? Is it flooded to the rooftops? That was the case for much of NOLA and well you can't do much BUT go to the rooftop and hope help comes.

Did 90% of Fargo evacuate? Because 90% of So LA did so. It was the largest and most successful evacuation in US history. Over 1 million people evacuated...most in just 24-48 hours. My God the whole population of the state of North Dakota (640,000) would have to evacuate TWICE to make that argument meaningful.



Thanks, Scout!

Are you listening, Governor?

How is Bobby Jindal going to convince people in Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, and all those other struggling states to vote for the man that chose not to accept money design to help struggling working people in his state even though their tax dollars were paying for it regardless? I don’t think many people want that guy in a time of crisis like this.


Read the rest at Cliff's blog here

Sad Anniversary

It was a year ago today that NOLA Blogger Ashley Morris passed away, leaving a huge hole in the hearts of many.

He left behind a beautiful young wife and three small children.

I never met him personally, but Ashley touched everyone who read his blog or emailed him in a big way. He had a love for life and New Orleans and he'll never be forgotten.


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It's Still There

Tim, over at the Nameless Blog, reflects on the post Katrina condition that sometimes grabs us by the heart when we discuss our experiences:

I can feel tears in my eyes and a crack beginning to develop in my own voice that tells me something I did not know. I did not know I am still sad about this. I am still sad that the life we once knew is gone. Dead and gone and buried in the dirt and silt of a flooded house, and a mud-caked neighborhood.

Read the full post, "A Crack in My Voice" here .

Scuzzbucket

Neel Borsch



from it's website:


We've all be watching the drama from Fargo, North Dakota. Floods are bad enough, but when you have to deal with those floods in -11 degree temperatures I would imagine it is almost unbearable.

OK .. now for the insensitive thought. Let's keep some score. Let's see how well the residents of Fargo handle this disaster vs. the residents of New Orleans. The parasite quotient in New Orleans gives a huge lead to the denizens of the frozen north. I'm guessing that three and one-half years from now you will not see many Fargo residents living in motels as guests of the taxpayers.

Just go on and stir that pot, Neel. And your commenters, my what a bunch of frozen tundra boors. Maybe that's why they relate to Borsch.

some excerpts


We were flooded much worse than New Orleans and we helped one another out and life went on. It is funny how that works.

~

Now, I'm no defender of NO, no way. I was a responder and they sickened me and I got to the point that I wished they'd all just drown already and be rid of them BUT there is a world of difference in their ability to prepare in these places.

~

Has anyone taken a head count of volunteers from New Orleans going up to help out with the sandbagging operation?
I haven't heard of any busloads of Katrina "victims" going north to return the favor.



From First Draft, a great comment

Boortz is a Cat5 hurricane on the Homer-Simpson scale of storm stupidity.

What it was like

Hurricane coverage took over local TV completely. I watched the aerial footage of jammed Interstate Highways, lines of vehicles barely moving, the procession extending as far as the cameras could see. The affluent and upscale people were finding their exodus out of harms way a trek and ordeal. One family, very yuppie, a couple with two children, two small yappy dogs and a late model SUV were bemoaning their personal misery as it took them over 9 hours to reach Baton Rouge, only to find every motel and hotel locked solid or commandeered by emergency personnel. In retrospect I am more inclined to laugh at their plight and feel little sympathy for them. Considering all that followed, they didn’t know what suffering was.

In my third floor ‘ye olde urban slum’ apartment at the rundown ‘Rebel Arms’, at 1005 Decatur, I did what I could to prepare myself and my neighbors. We could not buy those ‘emergency supplies’ newspeople urge people to get in such situations. The local Wallgreens and small grocery stores that are in the French Quarter all considerately ‘closed for the duration’ 24 hours before the storm arrived.........

for the whole story, go here

Bayou Liberty Spring

During our "running around" yesterday, hubby and I decided to take Bayou Liberty Road home. I rarely take this way because of the construction on the new bridge. It's a little annoying to sit for five minutes or more, waiting for the light to turn so that you can go on your way.

All of the rains that we experienced last week has caused some localized flooding as evidenced by these pictures.
click on pictures for larger versions










You can see the old and new bridges in this photo. The newer bridge - the cause of all of the traffic jams - is s l o w l y progressing.


I know I'm not alone in saying that I will sorely miss this image.



You can see the water has creeped onto the road at the foot of the old bridge.

Back at home, my decapitated baby cypress is blooming into a beautiful umbrella tree

Save this date

Saturday, May 16th


Photography done by Ellis Anderson, Dawn Stoltz and Joe Tomasovsky of Bay St. Louis.

Ellis has a well-written, riveting account of her Katrina experiences at this website .

Only in Louisiana

Finally, nearly four years post Katrina, we have the closure of the MRGO. It will celebrated with the "Close MRGO Rock Throwing Ceremony".

From the TP

The closing of the controversial Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet in St. Bernard Parish will be marked in a unique way Saturday: with the casting of stones.

Government officials, conservationists and residents will pile into boats and head out to Bayou La Loutre, where everyone will get the chance to chuck rocks into the waterway at the spot where it is being plugged.

click on photos for larger versions


Image courtesy of Times Picayune graphics.

The ceremony is sponsored by St. Bernard Parish government, the St. Bernard Parish Sportsmen's League, the St. Bernard Coastal Advisory Committee and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

"It'll be a different way to express a little relief, " Carlton Dufrechou, executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation said with a chuckle. "Old-timers have been talking for years of just blocking it with rocks. So this is for them."

The shipping channel, also known as MR-GO, was built in the 1960s as a shortcut from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans. It has taken the brunt of criticism in St. Bernard Parish, the Lower 9th Ward and some parts of eastern New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina's deadly flooding in 2005. Although the Army Corps of Engineers has said the channel had minimal impact on flooding, the MR-GO became increasingly unpopular in St. Bernard Parish after the hurricane.

In January, Pine Bluff Sand and Gravel Co. of Pine Bluff, Ark., began erecting a rock structure across the channel. The structure's base will be 450 feet wide, tapering to 12 feet at the top. It will be 950 feet long and will jut 7 feet from the water's surface. The structure will consist of 430,000 tons of rock and cover 10 acres of the channel bottom.

Some of the rock used for the structure will come from the jetties that extend from the MR-GO into Breton Sound.

In late February, the work was almost 15 percent complete. Full closure is scheduled by July.




As humorous as this celebration sounds, it represents another step further away from the damages caused by Katrina.

from Wikipedia: Levees along MR-GO were breached in approximately 20 places along its length, directly flooding most of Saint Bernard Parish and New Orleans East. Storm surge from MR-GO is also a leading suspect in the three breaches of the Industrial Canal

Click here for a great intereactive graphic created by the TP showing how Katrina flooded southeast Louisiana.

Water, Water, Everywhere

Fargo, North Dakota - March 2009

found at this website

It's the season of the Spring floods.


In Woolwich, Maine. Breaking up ice on the 149-mile-long Kennebec River to minimize flooding is a rite of spring. The goal is to break up ice to prevent jams that can cause floods.

Earlier this week, residents in northwestern Ohio saw creeks and rivers flood after heavy storms.



About 50 families had to evacuate their homes in Defiance, and Maumee floodwaters washed into the town hall, restaurants and a few antique stores in Grand Rapids.



My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected as the record snowfall from winter 08-09 melts and wreaks havoc. Believe me, people down here know what you're going thru.

2009 JazzFest Cubes

Go here and use the pulldown menu under Music Schedule to view the music by stage/time

Laissez les bontemps roullez