More FEMA News

The last thing someone who needs FEMA assistance wants to hear is "may", "might", and "unclear". The latest FEMA news, however, does not help clear up how those in need will be assisted:

The federal government Friday announced an infusion of more than $1 million that will keep private case-management workers on the job at least two more months, helping more than 4,000 Louisiana families still trying to recover from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Beyond that, FEMA announced it will provide an undetermined amount of money to finance more case-management work until the spring of 2009. One FEMA official said that second-phase money might target families still in temporary housing, although much about that initiative remained unclear.

Financing case management is one thing; but what exactly will those case managers be doing?

Insurance Adjusters To Appeal Dismissal

According to the Times Picayune, a group of former insurance adjusters who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit alleging that insurers have been systematically shifting the cost of hurricane damage onto the National Flood Insurance Program have asked the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out a lower court ruling dismissing their case.

The appeal by the group of unidentified insurance adjusters known as Branch Consultants LLC was filed less than two weeks after Mississippi lawyer Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, who had a competing whistle-blower suit over hurricane insurance issues, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to bribe a judge.

Allan Kanner, an attorney representing Branch Consultants, said an appeal was forthcoming anyway, but the stunning downfall of Scruggs, a famed tobacco attorney, underscores why taxpayers shouldn't have to pin their hopes on one suit to pursue claims of fraud against the federal government.

New Orleans' Population

Some may disagree that New Orleans was abandoned by residents after Hurricane Katrina. Many residents were forced out.

New Orleans, abandoned by thousands of residents after destructive floods and hurricanes in 2005, was one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States last year, according to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau Thursday.

The Louisiana city's population climbed by 4 percent, with an increase of 39,885 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, making it the eighth-fastest growing metro area in the country, the bureau said.

Although there has been a surge in New Orleans' population, we should not forget the fact that many have not return because they cannot afford to come back.

Legal Aid Bill For "Road Home" Applicants Goes Kaput!!!

Thanks to Kathleen Blanco:

Three days before then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco agreed to pay the Road Home contractor an additional $156 million, her administration said it couldn't come up with less than $500,000 to continue legal services to help low-income Louisiana homeowners get their grants.

The program helps needy homeowners whose applications are complicated, such as those who have homes that have been in families for generations even though the resident at the time of Hurricane Katrina often had not established clear title through succession.

Who will be conducting the investigation?

Vince Getting Too Much Press

Attorneys for Vince Marinello wants his trial moved out of New Orleans as a result of media coverage and what they perceive as public opinion.

Defense attorneys submitted more than 20 pieces of evidence for Regan to review, including about five hours of video news reports from four local television outlets, newspaper articles and opinion columns and reader commentary about Marinello posted at www.nola.com, the Internet site affiliated with The Times-Picayune.

It is the media's job to report the news.

No, they didn't

T-P, I am shocked.

Mayoral bar gets even lower