Summertime is here

The cool fronts are over, the heat is on. The temperatures hardly dip below 80 during the night. Summertime has arrived.

Here are a few pix taken about a month ago when we took a day trip to Gulport for a little "beach" time.

click on pictures for larger versions


We used the parking lot connected with the Ken Combs pier. As you can see, there's still a lot of Post K construction going on.


The pier's located at Highway 90 and Courthouse Road in Gulfport. This beachfront property used to be full of hotels, stores and restaurants.


We were the only ones on the beach that morning. It was great!


Well, we did share the beach with the birds. But they were quiet.


Taken in Bay St. Louis, these flowers signify the feeling of summer to me.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

HT to Swampwoman for the heads up on an article written by James Gill in the TP this week regarding Mr. John Lombardi, president of Louisiana State University.




.....The sparkling intellects of LSU offer New Orleans a lifeline, but the populace is too stupid and backward to be roused from its torpor. Time is running out to get the rabble in line. So says LSU President John Lombardi, who nevertheless remains determined to save New Orleans from itself.

Lombardi is just the man for the job, being, as he is fond of pointing out, from the efficient north. Lombardi got on his hind legs in New Orleans last week to rally the LSU troops in support of the “major academic medical center” proposed for a vast tract in Mid-City. Lombardi’s plans to win over the doubters evidently do not include a charm offensive. He has “never met a place like this, ” where people speak in a “code” he neither understands nor wishes to understand. He doesn’t know from “krewe.” The city does not contain “as many sensible people” as he had hoped — sensible people, of course, being those who agree with him. New Orleans is “on the edge” and Lombardi is offering it one “last opportunity to be a competitive, high-powered American city.” But he is up against idiots who want to “preserve old New Orleans in amber, ” and force LSU to revamp and reopen the old Charity Hospital. It is imperative that the issue be “settled this year, ” and the “Legislature needs to get out of our way.”

What a pompous old fool.

Hurricane Season 2009

The 2009 Hurricane Season began on June 1st. We've got a good 6 - 8 weeks to go before we enter the heart of the season, probably more than that.

Here's a look around the NOLA blogosphere, recognizing the start of another season

Celcus provides a tongue in cheek look at the opening .

Cliff discusses his idea of hurricane preparedness , which I find amusing.

Varg presents a list of storm tracking websites at the Chicory.

The New Orleans News Ladder offers links to several June 1st activities regarding wetlands and coastal erosion.

Nolacleophatra discusses her preparations and recalls her evacuation during Gustav last year.

Louis Maistros wrote an oped about being prepared but not panicking.

More as they become available.

Four years later still not okay

I know the rest of the country's been suffering "Katrina Fatigue" for some time now: tired of hearing about how things are difficult down here, tired of hearing about people who want handouts, blah blah blah.

NPR has run a story about REAL Katrina Fatigue in its piece covering Gulf Coast Mayors.




Moss Point, Mississippi Mayor Xavier Bishop works from a white trailer next to the damaged City Hall, which will soon be torn down. But his office is surprisingly barren. There are none of the customary photos of the mayor posing with the local Little League team or accepting an award from the Rotary Club, just piles of paperwork and empty display cases.

Bishop says it took two years and navigating a litany of red tape to get federal and state funds to help the city regroup. And citizens have grown frustrated with the slow progress. It's come with a price for Bishop.

"Fatigue. I am worn out. I'm battle worn, I'm battle scarred," he says.

Bishop is one of five Mississippi Gulf Coast mayors who are not seeking re-election. One of them is embroiled in a Katrina fraud scandal, but the rest say they can't muster another four years of dealing with the storm's aftermath. That means a new crop of leaders will have to come up to speed fast.

Of those calling it quits, perhaps the biggest surprise came in Bay St. Louis where Mayor Edward Favre is retiring after 20 years.



"It was a tough decision but I thought about it and thought about and I just couldn't find the spark," he says. "I've always said if I didn't have all to give, I didn't belong. And this last four years has just really taken its toll."

Favre, 55, was raised in this bayside town of 8,000 near the Louisiana border. He's a soft-spoken, animated character with a stout build and a quick laugh.

"It's still home and it always will be," he says. "When we get far enough away where we can't smell the salt air and hear the mullet jumping, it's too far from home. Too far from home."

The mayor is driving along the once washed-out beach road, where workers are trying to rebuild the city's infrastructure.

"This is the area completely replacing all the utility lines, also including the new sidewalks and roadwork," he explains. "Hopefully putting everything back the way it was pre-Katrina."

Favre admits the city wasn't prepared for the devastation that Hurricane Katrina brought. It had not set up shelters and didn't think many parts of town were threatened because they had survived the deadly Hurricane Camille in 1969. They were wrong. Katrina's 30-foot storm surge practically wiped the town out. And for Favre, there was a personal toll as well.

"I came out of it with a pair of shorts, flip-flops and a T-shirt. That's all I had left to my name," he says.

Those shorts have come to have some significance here.

"Shortly after the storm we had a meeting and the president came down, so I go to it in flip-flops, shorts and T-shirt. And everybody said, 'What are you doing?" Well guys, no offense, that's all I have. I don't own a pair of long pants, this is it period. And so it came to signify that until the city was put back together, until it was made whole again that I'd wear the shorts. When you start dressing up it kind of signifies that everything is OK, and everything's not OK."

The next mayor of Bay St. Louis will have some short pants to fill.

One step forward

House Bill 780 was passed by the committee yesterday.


This is one small step forward for those who want to preserve Charity Hospital and save Lower Mid City from being decimated to make way for an unnecessary hospital complex desired LSU and requires them to to show that they could finance the construction of the new hospital complex before seizing land from residents and business owners of Lower Mid-City.

The bill will now pass out of the committee to be debated before the entire House of Representatives.

Thanks to those who emailed, called or faxed their reps. Be ready to do it again.

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 .


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