Mandeville mayor Says He Does Not Have A Drinking Problem

This idiot, who was stopped more than once driving drunk, does not believe he has a drinking problem. DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL OR JUST PLAIN STUPIDITY

Price said he does not plan to give up the keys to his city car and that the kind words he has received from his supporters outweigh the sometimes nasty invectives from citizens who say he should resign.

Since the Causeway incident, he has rarely had a drink outside of his own home, he said, and he vows not to get behind the wheel again after even a single drink.

Causeway Police Chief Resigns

He first wanted to just take action against the officers involved, now his integrity has been called into play:

Causeway Police Chief Felix Loicano resigned Tuesday after an independent investigation concluded that his "judgment will always be questioned" in the wake of Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price's April 22 collision with a tollbooth barricade.

Loicano was hired in March 2000 to reform the Police Department after a series of scandals, including one in which a former officer alleged he was fired because he gave a speeding ticket to the son of the Causeway commission chairman.

Get Those FEMA Trailers Out Of Jefferson Parish

If you don't have a place to say Jefferson Parish says tough nooky---your FEMA trailers are no longer welcome:

In a weekly drumbeat since mid-April, the parish has filed batches of trailer suits. The most recent group of 27 lawsuits was filed on Tuesday and brought the total to 200.

Administrator D.J. Mumphrey, who supervises the parish's trailer removal campaign, said the almost weekly rounds of fresh lawsuits are over. The parish is considering suing in 58 remaining cases, but those cases involve uncertainties about who legally owns properties and could take more time to resolve.

Sazerac Becomes New Orleans Drink Of Choice

Can you say New Orleans?

The Louisiana House of Representatives made a historic decision Monday: In a 62-33 vote, legislators proclaimed the Sazerac — the famed mix of rye whiskey, bitters and absinthe that originated in the bayou — New Orleans' official cocktail.

No Death Penalty For Child Rapist

How cruel to execute a child rapist who has caused permanent damage to his victims:


Executing child rapists is cruel and unusual punishment, a divided U.S. Supreme Court decided Wednesday in overturning a Jefferson Parish death sentence and declaring as unconstitutional Louisiana's 1995 aggravated rape statute that allows the death penalty when victims are under age 13.

The 5-4 decision also invalidates similar laws in five other states and prohibits the death penalty in crimes in which the victim does not die. The court left intact the death penalty for crimes against the state, such as espionage and terrorism.

When Will It End?

The families of the victims need closure:

Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Frank Marullo has granted more time for Rogers LaCaze and Juan Smith,two convicted killers awaiting death by lethal injection for separate triple murders that both occurred in eastern New Orleans 13 years ago.

LaCaze was convicted in the shooting deaths of police officer Ronald Williams and restaurant workers Cuong Vu and Ha Vu at the Kim Anh restaurant. Within a matter of months in 1995, LaCaze and Frank went from prime suspects to convicted death row inmates.

Smith was convicted in the shooting deaths of Andre White and Tangie Thompson at their home on Morrison Avenue. Thompson's 3 -- year-old son was also found shot to death, face down beneath his mother's body.

Mose Jefferson Tries To Pull A Fast One

Mose Jefferson, the corrupt brother of corrupt William Jefferson, appears to have been trying to influence his sister who pleaded guilty in her part to the corrupt family's schemes:

Mose Jefferson called his sister, Brenda Foster, in hopes of arranging a meeting after learning that she had agreed to possibly testify against him and other relatives accused of ripping off three charities they founded, prosecutors said during an arraignment hearing Friday.

Though Mose Jefferson's call to his sister earlier in the week clearly displeased prosecutors, he did nothing wrong in making the call, provided he did not try to intimidate Foster, said Dane Ciolino, a professor at Loyola Law School.

National Guard Duty In New Orleans

Lack of police manpower forces guards to stay:

National Guard troops will remain in New Orleans until the end of the year to help police officers patrol the less populated areas of the city, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Thursday.

Sometimes You Have To Read Carefully

When I first noticed the following story, I said--oh no gangster pamp and his thug crew are at it again. Upon further reading, I was able to determine that the convicted burglar, gangster pamp, was not involved:

The body of a 26-year-old Seattle man who was in New Orleans for a recording conference washed up near a wharf eight days after he jumped into the Mississippi River from a ferry.

John Gagliano, chief investigator for the New Orleans coroner's office, says the body of Mark Mercer IV was spotted by a longshoreman at 2:30 a.m. today. Gagliano ruled the cause of death was drowning.

Family and friends say Mercer was a musician and producer who was in New Orleans to attend the Pot Luck Audio Conference, a series of panels and workshops about the recording industry.

New Orleans' Hurricane Risk

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Despite a massive effort to repair and upgrade flood defenses since Hurricane Katrina, storm surge could pour over levees in New Orleans if a strong Category 2 or higher hurricane strikes the city, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.

While the forecast uses what officials say is the most accurate and complete picture yet of the region's levee heights, they said they weren't surprised by findings that reaffirm the area surrounding New Orleans is among the nation's most hurricane-vulnerable. The forecast released Monday represents the first time the yearly storm surge predictions have used levee heights based on global positioning system technology.

A team led by Roy Dokka, the director of the Center for Geoinformatics at Louisiana State University, traveled 1,000 miles of levees, flood walls and other coastal features since Katrina with GPS technology mounted on vehicles to obtain the new measurements.

"They are more correct than they have ever been before," Wilson Shaffer, a hurricane modeling expert with NOAA's National Weather Service, said of the levee-height measurements.

To predict how strong a storm would be to overpower a levee, researchers factor in variables including topography and a storm's wind speeds, size and intensity. The projections on storm surge are used by emergency planners, builders, residents and the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps of Engineers is determining how high to build levees under a congressional mandate to complete by 2011 a hurricane protection system capable of handling a storm likely to hit over the next century. A strong Category 2 likely would fall under that definition.

On Monday, the corps was unable to provide a breakdown on how much has been spent so far on work to repel storm surge. Since Katrina, Congress has given the corps about $7.1 billion to work with and it is considering giving the corps $5.7 billion more.

Betty & Mose Jefferson Indicted

Another Jefferson indicted come as no surprise. Eventually a federal correctional facility will have to be built in order to house the Jefferson clan.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten announced this afternoon that 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, an elder sister of U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, has been indicted on a host of fraud-related charges by a federal grand jury. Also indicted were Jefferson's daughter, Angela Coleman, and her brother, the previously indicted Mose Jefferson.

New Business Can Be Good Business For Ailing City

Panorama Public Relations plans to open a New Orleans office located in Kenner, between Metairie and Baton Rouge.

The Birmingham-based company said the location will allow Panorama to service the New Orleans metropolitan area and be more accessible to clients there.

Client service associate and New Orleans native Genevieve Douglass will partner with Vice President of Business Development Pam Thompson to serve clients out of the New Orleans branch.

Panorama has clients in the architecture, engineering, construction, health care, human resources, energy, real estate, legal, manufacturing, retail and leisure industries.

Indicted lawyer Makes Serious Allegations Against Adams & Reese

The detailed allegations that an indicted lawyer has made against the law firm Adams & Reese should not be ignored.

In a sensational legal filing, a former partner at Adams and Reese who is awaiting trial on charges that he stole $30 million from the firm claims that the firm has had a hand in scandals ranging from the WorldCom stock fraud to the abuse of Louisiana film tax credits.

The lawsuit also claims the New Orleans firm has made a practice of hiring former public officials, including former Jefferson Parish President Tim Coulon and former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, and improperly using them to land clients with whom they had dealt as public officials. Coulon and Morial deny the claim.

It would be criminal if a thorough investigation of these allegations were not undertaken. The people of New Orleans would lose faith in the justice system if every effort was not made to uncover the truth.

Shared Blame

Admit mistakes:

A series of mechanical breakdowns and a critical error by the bridge operator led to New Orleans police officer Tommie Felix's fatal plunge off an improperly opened Claiborne Avenue drawbridge, according to a preliminary investigation by the state transportation department.

But this is scary:

Two other bridges in Louisiana, both in the New Orleans area, also were found in the past week to have broken secondary barriers, state officials acknowledged at a Tuesday briefing detailing the state's findings. The state plans to repair those barricades at the Chef Pass bridge on U.S. 90 and the Judge Perez Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Belle Chasse.

Poor, Poor, Dollar Bill Jefferson

Another blow to Dollar Bill Jefferson defense stall tactics--what will he do next?

A federal judge has rejected arguments by attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson seeking dismissal of charges that the New Orleans Democrat solicited and received bribes to promote business projects in Western Africa.

Jefferson's lawyers had argued that the government did not allege that Jefferson had performed any "official acts" related to the alleged bribes -- making the accusations null and void.

But U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III said that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bribery charges can be brought even if the acts don't fit into the "responsibilities explicitly assigned by law."

It's time for him to take his punishment like a man and stop trying to weasel out of things.

Two Officers Suspended In Causeway Incident

Only two take the fall. I know it is hard to believe who had the nerve not to face responsibility. Read on:

One of the officers who stopped Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price last month on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway has been demoted and faces a three-day suspension for failing to test Price for alcohol after he crashed through a toll booth barrier and continued to drive with no headlights.

Sgt. Chris Dupont, a 10-year veteran with the Causeway Police Department, will drop one rank to corporal and his pay will be reduced accordingly, Loicano announced Friday afternoon. His suspension includes the temporay loss of his take-home vehicle and the ability to work overtime or paid details during that pay period.

Raymond Burkart, Dupont's attorney, said he does not feel the punishment fits the crime, calling Loicano's decision "an egregious abuse of disciplinary discretion." He said he plans to ask Loicano to reconsider his decision and would like another law enforcement agency to conduct a separate investigation into the matter.

"If, in fact, the powers that be choose to call in the State Police to assist in truly investigating independently the matter, we can only hope that any wrongdoing by any party is dealt with swiftly and appropriately," Burkart said.

Officer Chad Dorsett, who worked the stop with Dupont, will be suspended for one day and lose his take-home car privilege as well as the ability to work overtime or paid details during that pay period. Loicano also chose to extend Dorsett's probationary period by an additional six months, as Dorsett has been with the department for only a few months.

The suspensions begin June 1, Loicano said.

Loicano's decision in the matter comes one day after the men participated in an administrative hearing to determine whether the officers had neglected their duty as police officers when they stopped Price just after midnight in April 23.

The officers stopped Price at the first crossover, about three miles from Mandeville, and the mayor admitted he had been drinking. Price also said he couldn't remember hitting the toll booth barrier, but the officers declined to ticket him or administer a field sobriety test, as required by the department's policy manual. The officers then allowed Price to call someone to drive him home.

Two weeks later, the agency cited Price with careless driving, and Price said afterward that he would pay the ticket and for the damage to the gate.

Based upon the totality of the facts, Loicano said the officers should have subjected Price to a field sobriety test. By failing to do so, the officers violated departmental procedure with regard to investigating suspected intoxicated drivers.

Dupont, the supervisor on duty that night, neglected his duty by failing to supervise a thorough and complete investigation into the incident, while Dorsett did so by failing to conduct a complete and thorough investigation.

Loicano initiated an internal investigation into the matter after receiving a call May 1 from Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission. Goyeneche has said he called Loicano because he had heard about the accident and wondered whether the investigation had been as thorough as possible.

Destination: New Orleans

Good news for the Big Easy:

Bob Sharak, marketing and membership coordinator for the Cruise Lines International Association, said he's confident in New Orleans' future as cruise destination given the number of new ships scheduled to come online in the next four years and despite competition with other U.S. ports for Western Caribbean cruises and with European ports for the newly popular Mediterranean cruises.

Jindal Gets National Attention

Bobby Jindal is gaining national attention these days surrounding his upcoming meeting with a presidential candidate:

Gov. Bobby Jindal and his wife, Supriya, are scheduled to fly to Arizona Friday for a meeting with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, fueling speculation that Jindal is among a small group being considered as running mate for McCain.

Jindal, 36, has downplayed suggestions that he is getting serious consideration as McCain's running mate, and, while saying he loved his job as governor, has refused to say he would turn down the chance to run for the nation's No. 2 job.

New Orleans' Saints Defensive Indicted

AP:

New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant has been indicted on a charge of involuntary manslaughter stemming from a February altercation at a nightclub.

Grant, who was stabbed in the neck during the fracas, was charged by an Early County grand jury that also charged Laquient Macklin with felony murder and feticide in the shooting death of Korynda Reed, 23. Reed died after being taken to the Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan, after the fight early Feb. 3.

Some Type Of Headline

Does Gwendolyn thinks she will earn brownie points for that little disclosure?

Federal investigators asked a convicted bond broker to wear a surveillance wire last year as they built their case against state Sen. Derrick Shepherd, who knew he was a target of the probe as early as September, according to statements made during a preliminary court hearing Friday.

Gwendolyn Moyo, who is accused of money laundering and other federal charges, said while representing herself in the hearing that an FBI agent tried to get her to "wire up" in July. She disclosed the detail of the investigation while trying to persuade U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to reverse a detention order that has kept her locked up since October.

Are we suppose to be be shocked and disgusted because she was asked to wear a wire? I guess her answer was no. What does she think she gained by that disclosure?

Hiring Illegals

Illegals were able to get construction jobs in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, however, they have a problem with being targets for customs' enforcement:

Workers still cluster outside Home Depot and Lowe's hoping a contractor will hire them. But they say their gathering spots have become targets for undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who hold up the prospect of day's pay as bait.

ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez wouldn't confirm sting operations, but said "ICE conducts targeted enforcement actions based on intelligence and investigative leads in both criminal and administrative cases."

Did legal workers cost the major contractors too much? Legal workers go unemployed while illegal workers get the jobs. Nice going.

Any Activity In New Orleans Helps

Any type of activity in New Orleans can possibly help the economy:

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is reinstating the company's leadership conference with a gathering Oct. 26-30 in New Orleans. About 10,000 store managers and other field leaders from the U.S. and Canada will meet for career development and "to reinvigorate the passion within the company," Schultz wrote in an e-mail to employees Tuesday

Nagin Endorses Obama

Barack Obama has picked up another endorsement:

Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, and a new superdelegate, endorsed Barack Obama for president Tuesday, saying Mr. Obama had the best vision for rebuilding the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast.

Will The State Get The Airport?

Does this mean that airport contracts will have to be renegotiated?

A bid for the state to take over the New Orleans airport has taken its first step forward in the Louisiana Legislature.

House Bill 1272 by House Speaker Jim Tucker was approved today by the House Transportation Committee. The details of how much the state would pay and how the transaction would work still are sketchy.

Tucker said putting the state in charge of the airport would give the city millions of dollars for hurricane recovery initiatives and let the state improve the airport to a higher-quality facility with international flights, more in line with Charlotte or Orlando.

The bill heads next to the House for debate. Gov. Bobby Jindal hasn't taken a position on the measure.

Or does someone owe someone else a debt they want to see paid?

Bernazzani Leaves FBI

James Bernazzani has decided to retire from the FBI rather than being ousted to Washington after the fallout behind him flapping off at the mouth of possibly running for Mayor.

Interesting quotes from Bernazzani:

"I will not run for political office," he said in an interview Friday afternoon. "Absolutely not."

"That's because of the reputation I've built," he said. "I don't have that reputation in Houston."

The Fate Of Louis Armstrong International Airport

If the state owned the airport, I guess contracts would become state contracts.

Business leaders from across the metropolitan New Orleans area and Baton Rouge have crafted an audacious proposal that calls for City Hall to hand over ownership and governance of Louis Armstrong International Airport to the state, in return for heavy state financial support for city redevelopment projects.

Does that mean CA One would have to sign a new contract with the state? I guess that would be good for them since they would then be able to rid itself from their corrupt business partner.

Morial Clan Upset Over Convention Center Change

Important News Break---the Morial Clan is upset and after remaining mum concerning corruption probes and guilty pleas following his administration, Marc Morial speaks out:

In a stinging letter addressed to the president of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, former Mayor Marc Morial calls on the center's board to reverse its decision to change the facility's name in promotional and marketing materials.

The Convention Center is named for Morial's father, Ernest N. "Dutch" Morial, the city's first black mayor and an instrumental force behind the facility's launch.

Last month, Convention Center officials announced that they had changed the facility's name to the New Orleans Morial Convention Center on brochures, pamphlets and other marketing paraphernalia to ensure that potential clients would instantly recognize its location. The exhibit hall's legal name is unchanged.

The name MORIAL was not a nationally recognized name until the feds begin their investigations following Marc MORIAL's administration. Perhaps a google search can refresh Marc's memory. Some words come to mind: corruption, probe, cronies, plead guilty, contracts, etc.

Silence Can Be Golden

Last week the T-P reported that FBI chief, James Bernazzani would be reassigned due to remarks he made about possibly being the next Mayor of New Orleans. I wish he would have remained silent, on the issue, because he has helped New Orleans tremendously.

As for him one day running for Mayor---well, that sounds like a great idea.

CAOne Fails To Rid Itself From The Stench Of Stan "Pampy" Barre

Judge Kern Reese sided with convicted felon, Stan "Pampy" Barre when he refused to grant CAOne's request to have Barre ousted due to a "change in control" clause in the company's contract.

Barbara Barre, the convicted felon's partner of 42 years, is now in charge. As a result, the judge sees her as simply a "mantle of Caesar" and not a "change in control". Since the judge sees her as a "mantle of Caesar", he concluded that there was no "change in control" since Barbara will act on behalf of her convicted hubby.
Of course the judge wants to protect the convicted felon's interest.

Let's hope CAOne win their appeal. The citizens of New Orleans are counting on that.

Judge Sets Antoinette Frank's Execution Date

Although there is speculation that his ruling won't stand, let's hope it is just speculation.

Orleans Parish Judge Frank Marullo today signed a death warrant for convicted killer Antoinette Frank, the former police officer sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1995 triple murder at a local Vietnamese restaurant.

Marullo, acting on his own, ordered the state of Louisiana to execute Frank on July 15, after 6 p.m., on the lethal injection table located at the state penitentiary at Angola.

Where Are All The Protesters?

It seems as if not too many people were interested:

A group of around 20 protesters waving signs and chanting slogans against the North American Leaders' Summit pressed against NOPD barricades in front of the W Hotel on Poydras Street as President Bush's caravan rode by Monday morning.

The protesters repeatedly recited the Pledge of Allegiance to an American flag they were carrying, loudly repeating the pledge as Bush passed. Across Poydras Street, in front of the Loews Hotel, tourists stood in the street to see the president drive by at around 11:00 am.

T-P Sues NOPD

T-P:

The Times-Picayune filed a lawsuit Friday against the New Orleans Police Department, alleging that the department has failed to provide a long list of public records requested by the newspaper and routinely delays the release of initial incident reports intended to promptly inform the public about crime in the city.

Perhaps the NOPD don't realize how important this info is to the public or maybe they just don't care.

ACOE Responsibility To New Orleans

New Orleans still at risk:

Despite ongoing levee improvements, the New Orleans area still faces a life-threatening risk of flooding from hurricanes, and it's the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers to make that risk clear to the public, an American Society of Civil Engineers panel said.

The panel also recommended that the corps use its bully pulpit to ensure that local evacuation and emergency planning equals or exceeds similar planning elsewhere in the nation.

Planning in New Orleans should exceed planning elsewhere. We do not want a repeat of hurricane Katrina.

When Will Jefferson Face The Music?

T-P:

A Virginia appeals court has agreed to expedite its consideration of Rep. William Jefferson's appeal to dismiss 14 of the 16 criminal charges now pending against the New Orleans Democrat.

But how quickly the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals takes the case may be determined by whether it agrees to hold oral arguments this summer -- a time when the court usually isn't in session -- or when it reconvenes in September.

Until the appeals court acts, the criminal trial for the congressman, originally scheduled to begin in January, remains on hold.

Do The Feds Have Anything On Marc Morial?

Although it as been almost six years since former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial has been out of office, there seems to be speculation that the federal probe, into his administration, is not over.

This news has everyone in a wait and see mode as to whether or not the former Mayor will face charges. Whether he is ever prosecuted, there will always be that doubt as to his innocence doing and possibly after his reign as Mayor. What we are definitely sure of at this point is that his cohorts, who received lucrative contacts doing his administration, have caused the City of New Orleans great harm that has everlasting effects.

New Orleans' Visitors Increases

Via: T-P

About 7.1 million people visited New Orleans last year, up from 3.7 million in 2006, according to a survey conducted by the University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau and the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation.

Despite a whopping 92 percent increase, tourism still has yet to reach pre-Katrina levels when the city hosted about 8.5 million to 9 million visitors a year. Last year, visitors to New Orleans spent about $4.8 billion, or about $676 per visitor, compared with $2.8 million, or $756 per visitor in 2006.

Vitter Won't Be Called

Senator David Vitter won't be called to testify in the D.C. Madam case. I am sure Vitter is delighted by the news.

Betty Jefferson's Name Pops Up In Probe

Another member of the Jefferson Crime Family has been implicated in dirty dealings. Does this surprise anyone?
T-P

The indictment charging state Sen. Derrick Shepherd with fraud also details alleged money laundering by an unnamed "Public Official B," who sources close to the investigation said is 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson, sister of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson.

The sprawling indictment, released Thursday, accuses Shepherd and two alleged co-conspirators of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. "Public Official B" is accused of helping to launder "additional criminal proceeds."

Betty Jefferson matches the description in Thursday's indictment, which says "Public Official B" is a family member of "Public Official A."

With regard to Betty Jefferson, the indictment says that Moyo funneled $320,000 in four transactions to accounts belonging to "XYZ Services," a company controlled by "Public Official B" (Betty Jefferson, according to sources) and "associated" with "Public Official A" (William Jefferson, the sources say).

Bobby Guidry Gets Liquor Permits

Why not; if a convicted felon can still profit from airport contracts then why should anyone question this:

At its first meeting after amending an ordinance to allow pardoned criminals to apply for liquor licenses, the Jefferson Parish Council granted two permits Wednesday to Bobby Guidry, who was convicted of bribing former Gov. Edwin Edwards to secure a gambling permit.

The unanimous vote allows Guidry to serve alcoholic beverages at the Royal Palm and Alligator Pear, two restaurants in his upscale mixed-use development on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey.

Justices Back Insurers

New Orleans' homeowners receive another blow.

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected arguments that homeowner insurance policies should have covered damages caused by levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina, saying the disaster clearly involved a "flood" not covered by such policies.

Just when they thought things could not get any worse.

Mose Jefferson To Plea

Another corrupt Jefferson:

Mose Jefferson, the brother of embattled U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court today on corruption charges. The plea hearing, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alma Chasez, is set to begin at 2 p.m.


He probably will never provide any info on others he possibly bribed. The Jefferson's are just a despicable bunch of thieves.

New Orleans' Closures

First there were schools being demolished in New Orleans that would never be rebuilt, now there is the threat that approximately 17 Catholic churches may close.

This news makes those who are trying to come back home question whether they should just give up on the idea. It would be easier to return to New Orleans if people felt that progress was being made.

These closures also leave prospective business owners unwilling to invest in the city. After all, how can you think about starting a business if all other services will be cut?

Start Up New Orleans

This is such a fantastic idea:

A group of local entrepreneurs hopes that by creating a Website promoting New Orleans as a viable place for start-ups they can turn the Crescent City into a hub for such ventures.

The Website, startupneworleans.com, provides stories of successful entrepreneurial ventures, links to stories about New Orleans' revival and a contact and information form that is sent directly to local entrepreneurs. The site was created by several local business owners.

The Website features brief descriptions of businesses that were launched in New Orleans, including the advertising firm Trumpet and technology firm Turbo Squid. Links to those companies also are provided. There is also a link to news stories that laud New Orleans as a place for business innovation. A profile of Gov. Bobby Jindal is included. And entrepreneurs can submit a short questionnaire on the site and request to be contacted by one of the several entrepreneurs behind the site, Perkin said.


I hope it really takes off.

Grand Jury Subpoenas Recordings Of Shepherd

Could this be one of the developments that Letten alluded to when Mose Jefferson was indicted?

A grand jury seated in the U.S. District Court's Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans subpoenaed WWL on Wednesday for recordings of Shepherd, a Democrat, from last fall. Chris Slaughter, WWL's news director, said the document called for two months of footage, during the period when Shepherd's name surfaced in a detention hearing for unlicensed bond broker Gwen Moyo.

Let's hope they are not just grasping at straws.

New Orleans Bouncer Acquitted In Student's Death

A Louisiana jury has acquitted a New Orleans bouncer in the New Year's Eve 2004 death of a Georgia college student during a melee outside a Bourbon Street club.

Arthur Irons, 43, of Slidell, the first of four bouncers to go to trial, was found not guilty in the asphyxiation death of 26-year-old Levon Jones, a Georgia Southern University student who was in New Orleans for a flag football tournament. Two friends were barred from Razzoo Bar & Patio for not meeting the dress code.

Witnesses that Jones ended up pinned face down on the sidewalk, held by the four bouncers, and that he resisted being handcuffed by police. The coroner ruled Jones' death a homicide.

One bouncer testified that Jones started the melee by sucker punching Irons in the face. Irons took the stand this morning, and the Times-Picayune provided live coverage.

Is FEMA Better Prepared For Disasters?

According to a recent news report, the nation's disaster response agency has made good progress improving its planning, logistics and communications capabilities since its weak performance in Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general reported today.

The analysis gave FEMA solid grades in seven of nine measures of readiness while raising concerns about coordinating federal resources and the agency's ability to provide housing for displaced disaster victims.

The report pointed to ongoing problems with ensuring FEMA employees have adequate training. And FEMA is nine months late in developing a comprehensive housing strategy ordered by Congress as part of major post-Katrina legislation in 2006.

Toxic Trailers

Why does it take so long to do the right thing?

Accused of taking months to correct a misleading report about the possible health risks of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers, a government agency announced Tuesday a five-year study of Gulf Coast children to determine the long-term effects of exposure to the gas.

Where "New Orleans" Stands Today

This New York Times excerpt gives us a glance into the progress made in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina:

Many of the hardest-hit neighborhoods remain stuck where they have been for months, with a few houses on a block occupied and the rest in varying stages of abandonment or repair. In Broadmoor, one block might appear carefully restored by residents, while another will seem derelict. Vacant grassy lots newly pepper the city, ambiguous signs of progress: blighted houses recently sat on them, but construction has often not followed demolition.

And they wonder why people are so frustrated.

Move Back To New Orleans Or Else

To Displaced Residents Of New Orleans:

Make it back by April 1, 2010, if you want to be counted as a resident in the population numbers that determine congressional seats, federal allocations and other issues for the next decade. Those who arrive on April 2, 2010, or later will be counted as a resident of Atlanta, Houston or wherever they landed after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in Louisiana.

It's time to pack up and head home!!!

Another "Road Home" Disaster Story

These people have lost their minds. First, they get a raise as a reward for their incompetence. Now they want people who have suffered so much to return money.

The private contractor under investigation for the compensation it received to run the Road Home grant program for Katrina victims says that, in the rush to deliver aid to homeowners in need, some people got too much. Now it wants to hire a separate company to collect millions in grant overpayments.

Why don't they give back the raises they received for their incompetence?

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

Eddie J In Court

T-P:

Jordan, along with his live-in girlfriend Cherylynn Robinson, is due in court Monday for the armed robbery trial of Elton Phillips, who prosecutors say wound up at Jordan's Algiers home Oct. 11, 2007, moments after he robbed a man at gunpoint. Because Jordan was still DA at the time of the incident, the state attorney general's office has taken over prosecution duties.

Jordan and Robinson are on both the state's and the defense's witness list, because they admittedly crossed paths with Phillips the day he was booked with the robbery.

Phillips' trial is set to open in Section F of Criminal District Court, where Judge Dennis Waldron is known for running a tight docket. But trial dates are subject to change.

Will They Try And Sell The Levees Next?

Some things are just totally ridiculous:

At least three meetings have been held in recent months to discuss selling or leasing the Causeway to The Shaw Group, a Baton Rouge engineering, design and management firm that has had a high profile in Jefferson Parish since Hurricane Katrina.

The talks have included Broussard, St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis, Causeway General Manager Robert Lambert and Shaw representatives, but the Parish Council members said they were not privy to the discussions.

Aaron Broussard needs psychological counseling.

Much Needed Bill

Let's hope this bill passes.


The 144 Tulane University scholarships awarded by legislators each year would be history if a freshman lawmaker gets his way in the regular session that opens March 31.

Rep. Dee Richard, I-Thibodaux, said his House Bill 272 is a follow-up on legislation passed at the recently ended special session called by Gov. Bobby Jindal to revise the state ethics code.

Katrina Relief Network To Close

A network of private relief workers that helped thousands of battered families put their lives together after Hurricane Katrina has begun unraveling with thousands of families still on waiting lists, even as its managers cast about for new sources of money to keep it going at a reduced level.

As the network shrinks, about 4,600 families will have to wait longer for help, officials of the network said. Some might become entangled in more red tape -- and face longer waits -- as their files are shifted from laid-off workers into new hands.

Members of the network are sorting through their cases, trying to prioritize which families need immediate help before the program shuts down March 31 and their cases are transferred, said Tom Costanza, a local Catholic Charities relief executive who leads the board of the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership, a coalition of private relief groups.

New Orleans Homeless Rate

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin appealed to federal lawmakers this past week to provide funds and housing vouchers to help the city's homeless problem.

The percentage of New Orleans' homeless is one of the highest recorded since U.S. housing officials began tracking homelessness in the mid-1980s, said Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who has studied homeless trends for more than 20 years.

Many of the homeless are Katrina evacuees who returned to unaffordable rents or who slipped through the cracks of the federal system designed to provide temporary housing after the storm, said Mike Miller, UNITY's director of supportive housing placement.

There are also out-of-state workers who came for the post-Katrina rebuilding boom but lost their jobs, and mentally ill residents in need of services and medication, he said. Many of the city's outreach homeless centers and public mental health services have been closed since Katrina.

Nagin has suggested reinstating a city ordinance that would make it illegal to sleep in public places. Homeless advocates say the law would just crowd the jails.

New Orleans Jazz Fest

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is back in full swing with the first appearance of the Neville Brothers since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. New Orleans' first family of funk closes out the festival on May 4 at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course.

This year's jazz fest also returns to its pre-Katrina seven-day schedule.

The 39th annual festival's opening weekend is April 25-27. The traditional laid-back Thursday, May 1, kicks off the second weekend of performances, ending May 4. Besides the Nevilles, other May 4 acts include Santana, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, the Derek Trucks Band, Keb Mo and a Tribute to Mahalia Jackson featuring Irma Thomas (the subject of this year's beautiful jazz fest poster). Thomas headlines her own R&B revue on April 27.

Stevie Wonder makes his jazz fest debut May 2. Also on May 2, Michael Franti and Spearhead are sure to deliver a spiritually uplifting show and Chicago's John Prine will take the stage. Don't miss Aaron Neville's Gospel Soul on May 3, the same day Parrothead nation takes over the fairgrounds with the appearance of Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band.

Bill Clinton: On Green Building In New Orleans

Former President Bill Clinton said energy efficient, green building can be a key part of New Orleans' comeback from Hurricane Katrina.

Clinton, here for a gathering of college students as part of his Clinton Global Initiative University, said the city's history and culture, combined with a commitment to a sustainable economic future, would allow for "the complete ascendancy, its return, as the most unique city in the country."

Mayor Ray Nagin said Clinton — who in 2006 named the New Orleans metro area as part of his Clinton Climate Initiative focused on addressing global warming — has been providing advice on how best to move forward from the August 2005 storm. He called Clinton a friend and "wonderful man."

The city has pledged to follow what Nagin in January called a "greening road map," a 10-year plan that he said would, among other things, incorporate so-called green technology and building techniques into the repairs of city buildings damaged by Katrina. Nagin also has said he has committed to green living in his personal life, taking steps including having solar panels installed at his home.

New Orleans Going 'More Green'

The American Society of Interior Designers is meeting at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center this weekend. The group has just unveiled its ReGreen guidelines, a manual intended to reshape thinking about home renovations developed in partnership with the United States Green Building Council.

Linda Sorrento, manager of the ReGreen program, said the new guidelines are the first comprehensive national directives for green renovations, as opposed to new construction.

ICF Gets Big Payoff

Kathleen Blanco's fiasco:

ICF International of Fairfax, Va., has secured a potentially big raise recently from the state of Louisiana.

In the waning days of Gov. Kathleen Blanco's administration, state officials increased the management contract ceiling from $756 million to $912 million — this, after the Legislature wanted to fire ICF over its handling of the homeowner recovery program, called Road Home.

Road Home was created in June 2006 as a state-run, federally funded plan to compensate homeowners for the breach of New Orleans' government-run levees. Homeowners can apply for grants to repair their homes, or obtain buyouts if they don't want to fix things up.

Yet, 56,000 applicants — nearly 40 percent of the qualified total — had yet to receive a cent as of last month. Plagued by cost overruns and delays, Road Home is expected to cost the taxpayers $10 billion in federal money and has become another glaring symbol of frustration and red tape in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Thanks for nothing, Kathleen Blanco

What Some Won't Do For Friends

I found this article very disturbing.

The Jefferson Parish Council loosened its rules for alcoholic beverage permits Wednesday, allowing a key player in former Gov. Edwin Edwards' corruption trial to apply for liquor permits for two Harvey establishments.

The council voted unanimously to expand the regulations to include people who have been pardoned automatically upon completion of a criminal sentence or who have had any misdemeanor conviction dismissed. The revision also allows companies to apply if they have terminated ties to a person whose prior conviction would have otherwise scuttled their liquor-license application.

The new language has the caveat that none of the crimes in question may involve violence or narcotics.

Council members approved the expanded terms on the same day the council was scheduled to consider granting two liquor licenses to Bobby Guidry, the former owner of the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner who was convicted of bribing Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gaming license. He was sentenced in January 2001 to three years' probation, including five months in a halfway house.

Guidry applied to the parish for liquor licenses for the Royal Palm and Alligator Pear, two restaurants he is opening on Manhattan Boulevard in Harvey.

Does Louisiana really want to change its image?

Ellenese Brooks-Simms' Daughter Helped Mother Conceal Bribes

Ellenese Brooks-Simms parenting skills have created another criminal in her family. It seems that "Mama Simms" has taught her daughter to follow in her footsteps:

Stacy Simms, a City Hall appointee under two New Orleans mayors and the daughter of former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to helping her mother access a series of bribes that totaled $140,000 over several years.

Simms, 47, a city appointee from 1994 to 2004, was hired by former Mayor Marc Morial and continued to serve during the first two years of Mayor Ray Nagin's administration. She worked in the office of communications as director of community affairs and special events.

More recently, Simms has worked for the Fair Grounds as a consultant. She also has served on the boards of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and the Committee for a Better New Orleans.

The charge to which Simms pleaded guilty Tuesday, misprision of a felony, is itself a felony. It refers to knowing of a federal crime and helping to conceal it; it is a charge prosecutors often assign to defendants who have agreed to cooperate in public-corruption cases.

A summary of the government's case says that Simms allowed a bank account to be opened in her name and "used as a clearinghouse for bribe payments."

Simms faces a maximum penalty of 3 years in prison, though she is likely to receive far less because of her cooperation. She is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18 by U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, who accepted her guilty plea Tuesday.


Does "Mama Simms" have any grandchildren who may be seeking a plea deal?

Jeff Parish Gets Bamboozoled

T-P:


The Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans has acknowledged it overcharged Jefferson Parish by $566,645 for its share of the operating costs to keep Pump Station No. 6 churning water out of the 17th Street Canal and into Lake Pontchartrain during heavy rains and hurricanes.

N.O. Ambassadors On The Move

After what they described as a highly successful first year, the founders of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors Program said Friday that the initiative to tell the story of New Orleans' recovery to the rest of the nation will continue in 2008.

Tulane University President Scott Cowen and City Council President Arnie Fielkow, joined by Entergy New Orleans Chief Executive Officer Rod West and lawyer Kim Boyle, created the program in March 2007.

Their aim was to combat misperceptions, convey the importance of New Orleans' economic and cultural revitalization, and offer a positive view of the city's post-Katrina status to media, business, civic and political leaders in other major U.S. cities. |Read on|

Black Mayors To Meet In New Orleans

The National Conference of Black Mayors will bring its annual convention to New Orleans in June after deciding to relocate it from Detroit in the wake of a scandal involving that city's mayor, the group's president said last week.

St. Gabriel Mayor George Grace, who also serves as the mayors association president, said the convention will be held in New Orleans June 4-8. The event initially had been scheduled to take place in Detroit in April.

George said the group was concerned that the controversy surrounding Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick would distract from the event.

Since uncovering it in January, the Detroit Free Press has been reporting on an alleged affair between Kilpatrick and his now former chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

HUD Criticized Over Hurricane Katrina Response

A United Nations treaty committee ruled Friday that the United States' response to Hurricane Katrina has had a greater negative impact on displaced black residents and called on the federal government to do more to guarantee that they can return to affordable housing in their hometowns.

The U.N. committee also ruled Friday that the U.S. government must make sure displaced residents have a greater say in plans that affect their return.

Housing advocates in New Orleans proclaimed the decision as a victory in their protracted battle with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, saying the U.N. finding proved that HUD failed to consider alternatives to its plans to demolish four large public housing complexes and replace them with a mixed-income model with fewer total units.

Mandeville Mayor Reimburses Toy Fund

Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price has given $2,300 back to the police charity that bought him Wal-Mart gift cards and other presents with money donated by local residents to help needy people.

Price wrote the check to the Mandeville Police Citizen Service Fund on Wednesday after a Times-Picayune article disclosing the gifts prompted angry reactions from people who have given to the fund, which runs a well-publicized Christmas toy drive. |Read on|

Port of New Orleans to Undergo Expansion

The Port of New Orleans, battered by Hurricane Katrina 2½ years ago, will undergo a $1 billion expansion that port officials say will be key to the city's economic rebound.

The port's plans come as much of the rest of the city struggles to return to pre-Katrina conditions. The centerpiece of the plan is a $478 million expansion to the port's container cargo terminal that would increase its capacity, according to a copy of the plan released Tuesday.

The expansion to its container operations would help New Orleans capture some of the projected boom in international shipping in the coming decade and infuse the city with much-needed jobs and revenue, said Gary LaGrange, the port's president and CEO.

Grading Louisiana

Interesting report card on Louisiana:

Despite the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana retained its B grade in a public interest group's national report card of how well states manage public resources.The report's analysts, however, offered a stinging rebuke of the way Louisiana state
government decides how to spend money on public construction projects.

Louisiana scored just above the national average of B- in "Grading the States 2008," a 50-state assessment released Monday by the Pew Center on the States' Government Performance Project and "Governing" magazine. Pew's previous report was conducted in 2005. The reports examine each state based on a range of performances and conditions, from budget and finance to roads and bridges.

Louisiana was one of 18 states scoring above average. The highest grade was an A- scored by Utah, Virginia and Washington. Among Louisiana's neighbors, Texas had a B+, Arkansas got a C, and Mississippi and Alabama scored a C+.

Extremely Lengthy Federal Probe Nets Misdemeanor Charge

Lawyer Roy Rodney was charged with failing to file his 2002 income taxes. The feds have been investigating Mr. Rodney for several years.


That's it...their long, long, probe resulted in a misdemeanor charge.

Crime & Safety In N.O.

Some New Orleans residents have been ripped off by shady contractors during their rebuilding efforts.

What should those residents do when a former New Orleanian returns with the hope of continuing to rip them off?

Private Bill - "For the Relief of Michael Anthony Hurley"

Michael Hurley, a British citizen with a four-decade-old drug arrest on his record, couldn't persuade the U.S. immigration service to let him stay in the country, so he asked Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., to write a bill for him.

In 2006 and again in 2007, Landrieu introduced bills titled "For the Relief of Michael Anthony Hurley" designed to grant him legal status so he could remain with his new bride in Louisiana.

Thousands of people are barred from the United States every year because of drug convictions, but only a handful get personalized legislation. Unlike many immigrants, Hurley had political connections. His brother-in-law, Lafayette attorney James "Kirk" Piccione, is a Landrieu supporter, having given $4,250 to her campaigns over the years including a $1,000 contribution six weeks after the first bill was filed, according to a review of the data by the Center for Responsible Politics.

N.O. Mayor "Homeless Plan" Hits A Snag

The mayor's plan to empty the Claiborne-Canal tent city by the end of February has been delayed by about a week, according to mayoral spokesman Ceeon Quiett, who said that mental health services and the space at the New Orleans Mission needed last-minute adjustments.

Thursday, inside the 140-person tent behind the mission, staff loaded mattresses onto bunkbeds to prepare for new occupants. But hopes of housing the city's homeless there by Friday were dashed by the state fire marshal, who asked the shelter to correct a few additional "electrical and mechanical" problems, spokeswoman Kim Thompson said.

New Orleans Public Housing Demolition Criticized By Experts

United Nations experts weighed in Thursday on the debate over public housing in New Orleans, accusing the U.S. federal government and local authorities of forcing predominantly black residents into homelessness.

The experts said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and local governments will violate the human rights of thousands of New Orleans residents by demolishing public housing units.

Mayor Nagin Wants Homeless To Move To Barrack

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin vowed to use health and safety codes to move the men and women living underneath the stretch of Interstate 10 known as the Claiborne Avenue bridge to the tarp-covered facility that was awaiting fire inspections. Aware of the camp's proximity to the French Quarter and other tourist destinations, the mayor wants the move done by the end of the week.

The barrack, 120 feet long and 30 feet wide, is air-conditioned, filled with double-decker bunk beds, and stands on the grounds of a mission in the city's Central Business District that has worked with the homeless for 20 years.

But even its administrator said he is unsure the facility that offers only meals and overnight stays to about 120 people can really help a homeless population that has doubled to 12,000 since Katrina struck in August 2005.

Philanthropist Helps New Orleans' Residents

Leonard Riggio, the chairman of Barnes & Noble, plans to spend $20 million from his family's charitable foundation on the effort to help New Orleans' residents. Residents who participate in the program will receive a new home at no cost, provided they surrender their flooded, uninhabitable house -- or the vacant lot where it once stood -- to Project Home Again, the nonprofit that Riggio spun out of his foundation.

The charity will give each family a mortgage equal to the difference between their new and old homes and then steadily forgive the mortgage over a period of five years, after which the family will own the house outright.

Compromised Reached In Louisiana's Governor Ethics Reform

Yesterday a compromise was reached concerning Governor Bobby Jindal's ethics reform proposal. According to the compromise:

1. Lawmakers would be allowed to accept free tickets or admission to civic, nonprofit, educational or political events when they are honorees or speakers at the events.

2. The officials would not be able to accept freebies to professional, semi-professional or collegiate sporting events nor take free hunting trips, fishing trips or golf outings from a lobbyist.

3. The exception to the ban on golf, fishing and hunting trips would be lawmakers who get invited to political fundraisers or a fundraiser for an organization -- if the "event is open to the general public."

Two Louisiana Insurance Lawsuits To Be Heard

The state's high court will hear its first Hurricane Katrina insurance payment case Tuesday, and later in the day, will hear its first Hurricane Rita insurance case. And if the Supreme Court rules in favor of policyholders in either case, it would trump federal court rulings in similar cases that have gone in favor of insurance companies.

The most significant case for New Orleans area residents is Joseph Sher's lawsuit against Lafayette Insurance Co. The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor claims Lafayette's homeowner's insurance policy -- along with most others used by the industry -- should have covered the water that flowed into his Uptown fourplex because of the failure of man-made flood-control structures.

The other case originated with southwest Louisiana residents Mark and Barbara Landry, who claim the 108-year-old "valued policy" law forces Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which covered them for wind but not flood, to pay the full value of their totaled home, even though storm surge was responsible for some of the damage.

New Delegate System Being Considered

BATON ROUGE -- The way the state Republican Party awards delegates to the GOP's national nominating convention might be overhauled by the national party but not before the fall elections, the state party's newly re-elected chairman said Saturday.

Roger Villere, a Metairie businessman, said he is aware that some factions in the party are unhappy that even though White House hopeful Mike Huckabee beat national front-runner John McCain 43 percent to 42 percent in the Louisiana Republican primary two weeks ago, Huckabee came away with none of the state's committed delegates to the fall convention.

State party rules required the winner of the primary to get 50 percent of the vote to win at least 20 of the state's 47 delegates. Because Huckabee missed that target, he didn't win any delegates. Last week, party officials corralled at least 44 of the delegates for McCain, adding to the frustration of Huckabee supporters.

'America's Most Wanted' comes to New Orleans

Cops Helping Cops was established in 2006. The organization has helped to raise money, collect materials and recruit volunteers to build homes for New Orleans police officers.

On this week’s episode of America’s Most Wanted, AMW will team up with Cops Helping Cops. The show and the organization will offer one deserving New Orleans officer a chance to rebuild a life left in ruin after Hurricane Katrina.

Also, America’s Most Wanted will help to hunt down fugitives in the New Orleans area. The New Orleans Special Edition episode of America’s Most Wanted airs on Saturday, February 23 from 9 PM to 10 PM ET/PT on FOX.

New Orleans Chef to visit Jackson bookstore

Chef Susan Spicer has been called one of the brightest culinary stars in New Orleans. Her light shines on her restaurants Bayona and Herbsaint. Fans nationwide have anticipated her cookbook, Crescent City Cooking: Unforgettable Recipes from Susan Spicer's New Orleans (Knopf, $35). Co-written by Paula Disbrowe, the cookbook features recipes that have made Spicer and New Orleans famous. Now Mississippians will get a chance to meet Spicer at a book signing this weekend in Jackson.

Featuring more than 170 recipes from Let's Get the Party Started to Killer Cocktails from the Quarter, Crescent City Cooking boasts more than 80 photographs by New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer Chris Granger. The pictures alone will make you want to try the recipes but they also give you a sense of New Orleans. Each of the creative recipe's instructions are easy to follow.

N.O. Homeless Housing Plan Focuses On Shelters

The City of New Orleans was faced with two options for dealing with the homeless: One option focused on moving the homeless into permanent housing while the other option was to place them in shelters. One would think that the permanent housing option would be more feasible. Which plan do you think the City of New Orleans chose? According to the T-P, the City chose the shelters.

The city plans to partner with the New Orleans Mission, rather than UNITY for the Homeless.

While UNITY has focused on moving the homeless into permanent housing -- a relatively new tactic national experts say produces results -- the mission will employ a more traditional sheltering approach. The mission aims to provide communal housing until people can save for their own apartments.

UNITY's approach, often called "housing first," may be in vogue, but does not address the causes of homelessness, said the mission's director, Ron Gonzales.

According to the experts, what New Orleans most needs, they say, is a coordinated, long-term plan that uses field-tested methods -- like those used here by UNITY -- that have produced impressive declines in homelessness in dozens of cities, including New York, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Dallas and St. Louis.

Do you think New Orleans made a bad decision?

9/11 Victims' Children Help New Orleans

Nineteen young people who lost a parent during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, are in town this week to pitch in with volunteer work at Habitat for Humanity's Musicians Village residential development in the Upper 9th Ward.

The visit was organized by Tuesday's Children, a 9/11 family support organization, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the Hope for Stanley Foundation and City Council President Arnie Fielkow.

The Stanley Foundation is a rebuilding support group created in honor of Stanley Stewart, who played a lead role in helping evacuate Hurricane Katrina victims from the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center after the storm.

Study: More New Orleans' Felony Cases Go To Court

T-P:

The number of felony cases accepted for prosecution by the Orleans Parish district attorney grew by 63 percent from the first part of the year to the last quarter of 2007, perhaps evidence of an improved working relationship between prosecutors and the New Orleans Police Department, the Metropolitan Crime Commission concluded in a report to be released today.

The study is the third report issued by the Crime Commission looking at 2007 arrests made by police and cases prosecuted in court, tracking the performance of a criminal justice system still rebounding from Hurricane Katrina.

While the group saw improvement in the number of people who will be prosecuted for felonies at Criminal District Court and an increased conviction rate, it still identified areas that call out for policy changes by police and prosecutors, said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the commission.

Violent Crime May Be Rising In New Orleans

From the T-P:

The New Orleans Police Department released the latest crime statistics, along with an analysis that showed violent crime stayed relatively flat, on a per-capita basis, in the fourth quarter of 2007 compared to the fourth quarter of 2006. But a comparison of statistics from both full years, using the population estimates favored by NOPD, shows that violent crime has increased substantially.

Further, per-capita crime statistics for both of the past two years represent a substantial jump from per-capita crime rates before Katrina, the figures show.

State's Delegates move to McCain

Although Mike Huckabee led Louisiana's Republican presidential preference primary last week, state Republican Party officials Saturday rounded up at least 43 of the state's 47 GOP national convention delegates for rival John McCain. Huckabee may end up with no delegates at all from Louisiana.

Pro basketball stars & legends volunteered in New Orleans

With the NBA having set up shop in the Crescent City for this weekend's All-Star extravaganza, current stars, legends, WNBA standouts and other celebrities took to the streets, lending a helping hand to assist in building houses, painting schools and planting sod at 10 sites throughout the city as part of the NBA Cares All-Star Day of Service. More than 2,500 others joined the pro basketball players, undeterred by afternoon showers.

It was the largest single-day effort by the NBA, as well as the largest single volunteer effort since Katrina wrecked the region in 2005.

What's New In New Orleans?

The imposing presence of Robert A. Cerasoli as the city's first inspector general is the clearest sign that the changes Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans in 2005 were not limited to physical devastation. By declaring war on municipal corruption, Cerasoli has signaled that life in the Big Easy no longer will be so easy.

A sign of change that transcends federal dollars was the arrival last August of Cerasoli, the nation's foremost inspector general, who served 10 years as Massachusetts state IG. "I was amazed when I arrived to find that just about everybody I met had been the victim of a holdup," Cerasoli told me. He wondered why crime was much more rampant in New Orleans than in Atlanta, a larger city with a smaller police force.

Cerasoli is working closely with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten to crack down on corruption.

Study confirms Formaldehyde in FEMA Trailers

Hurricane victims have been complaining about FEMA trailers making them sick for a very long time. Now a recent study has confirmed that the FEMA trailers contain formaldehyde.

The study found:

--Average levels of formaldehyde in all units was about 77 parts per billion -- a level higher than U.S. background levels. And that exposure "over time at this level" can affect health. Levels measured ranged from 3 ppb to 590 ppb.

--The levels -- measured in the winter and long after residents moved in -- likely underrepresent long-term exposures since formaldehyde levels tend to be higher in newer travel trailers and during warmer weather.

--Indoor temperature was a significant factor for formaldehyde levels in this study independent of trailer make or model.

--Formaldehyde levels varied by model -- "mobile homes, park homes and travel trailers" -- but all types of trailers tested had some high levels.

--At the levels seen in many trailers, health could be affected.

New Orleans Airport Traffic Increases

Annual passenger traffic at Louisiana's largest airport jumped nearly 21% in 2007 and reached about three-quarters of the number handled before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005, the airport reported Tuesday. Just over 7.5 million passengers either embarked or disembarked at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in 2007, an increase from about 6.1 million in 2006.

In 2004, the last full year before Katrina totally disrupted the airport, a record 9.7 million passengers passed through the airport. After the storm shut down most traffic for the last four months, the tally dropped to 7.8 million. A major challenge for the airport has been rebuilding the number of flights coming through New Orleans. By May, the airport, which had 132 daily flights in December, will have seven more flights.

That total will represent 86% of the pre-Katrina level, along with 80% of pre-storm number of seats, said airport spokeswoman Michelle Wilcut.

______
This news probably has the contract thief, Stan "Pampy" Barre, counting his ill-gotten dollars.

Nick Baroni and Son Gets Light Sentence

Who write these recommended guidelines?

Nick Baroni and his son receive a year and a day for defrauding the Navy.


Saying he found the outpouring of sentiment about the case "strange," Williams said that as a judge from the "free state of Maryland," he was free to ignore "all the stuff going on in Louisiana" and make his own judgment based on evidence and sentencing guidelines.

Although free to ignore those guidelines, Williams decided on a sentence for Nick Baroni, 63, and his son, Keith, 39, within the recommended guidelines: 10 to 16 months.

Former New Orleans City Council President, Oliver Thomas, would have done better with this deal. Though true, he failed to cooperate with the feds, but his sentencing guidelines were more harsher.

Road Home Program

This editorial excerpt, about the Road Home Program, says it best:

A program that lacks follow-up, is slow in processing appeals and can't resolve thousands of cases that are more than a year old has systemic problems. When legislators say they keep getting phone calls from frustrated applicants with the same complaints about the program, that reflects a systemic problem.

Unfortunately, one of those systemic problems has been the Office of Community Development, and it's surprising that Gov. Bobby Jindal has not yet made changes in leadership at OCD.

Ms. Elkins' office negotiated a weak contract with ICF that lacked benchmarks and penalties and then had to be browbeaten to add even mild penalties. Even now, the office has yet to negotiate ICF's benchmarks for the first quarter of the year or to determine whether the contractor met all of last year's requirements.

Ms. Elkins also has been a constant apologist for ICF's mishaps and has resisted some efforts to improve the program's performance and transparency. Legislative auditors began citing systemic problems last year -- from data and policy discrepancies to grants that were too low or too high. Ms. Elkins was always quick to dismiss problems or claim that they had been corrected -- even as applicants and sometimes auditors kept exposing more examples of the same issues.

Obama defeats Clinton In La. primary

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama launched another surge in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Saturday, defeating New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the Louisiana primary after caucus victories in Nebraska and Washington state earlier in the day. |Read on|

Cronyism In New Orleans

You can loot from public contracts, in New Orleans, and still collect millions, from other public contracts, while serving time in prison.

All you have to do is appoint your wife as President of your ill gotten business ventures and collect the millions, from the public contracts, when you are released from prison. You gotta love New Orleans' way of punishing crooks.

Barack Obama Speaks To New Orleans' Crowd

Barack Obama, fresh off a strong Super Tuesday showing that left him in a dead heat with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the party's nomination, started his speech at Tulane University by highlighting signs of New Orleans' resiliency: the Endymion parade's return to Mid-City, the streetcar back on its traditional Uptown route, even the Super Bowl success of New Orleans native Eli Manning.

Obama, the only major presidential candidate scheduled to appear in Louisiana before Saturday, also told a crowd of about 3,500 supporters that it will take change in Washington for New Orleans to recover. He pledged that if elected, he would restructure FEMA and make sure there is enough money to protect the area from future storms.

Judge won't drop charges against Rep. William Jefferson

It seems that William "Dollar Bill" Jefferson will have to face the music after all since the judge won't drop the charges:

Facing 16 bribery-related charges stemming from business deals in West Africa, Jefferson sought to unravel the government's case by claiming that some of the testimony provided to the grand jury by six current or former staffers violated the U.S. Constitution.

Come on Jefferson: It is time you pay the piper.

Mardi Gras revelers party in New Orleans

Colorful parades rolled through New Orleans on Tuesday as thousands of revelers turned out to celebrate Mardi Gras in the city still scarred by Hurricane Katrina.

Drinking and dancing partiers jostled for sidewalk space to watch elaborately decorated floats as they passed near neighborhoods not fully recovered from the August 29, 2005, storm that flooded 80 percent of the city and killed more than 1,300 people.

The celebrants, many in costume, begged for beads -- or "throws" in New Orleans slang -- tossed from French Quarter balconies or by masked "krewe" members on floats.

Mardi Gras In The Big Easy

Today is Mardi Gras, in the Big Easy, so come on out and celebrate. You will experience nothing like this before:

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the often raucous end to the pre-Lenten Carnival season. Characterized by family-friendly parades uptown and in the suburbs — and by heavy drinking and lots of near-nudity in the French Quarter — the celebration is highlighted by 12 days of parades and parties.

New Orleans' Fat Tuesday events include Pete Fountain's Half-Fast Walking Club, which starts the day, followed by the Zulu and Rex parades and the meeting of the courts of Rex and Comus Tuesday night.

Party with the revelers and spend lots of money here.

Corruption In The Big Easy

It is very quiet on the home front. There are no new allegations being made about bribery, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, etc. It seems that those who have been caught up in the recent corruption scandals are quietly sitting back and making their deals, with the feds, in the hopes of obtaining lighter sentences.

We haven't heard anything new about former school board member Ellenese Brooks-Simms. Former New Orleans Mayor, Marc Morial's aunt, Lillian Smith Haydel, is still awaiting sentencing. We really don't expect too much to come out of her mouth concerning any other wrongdoing, but it makes you wonder: Why is it taking so long for her to be sentenced? I am also curious as to what other information Ellenese Brooks-Simms will provide. I hope she fully cooperates with the feds in order for the City of New Orleans to really clean house. We are tired of the reputation we now have and we all hope that one day things change.

New Orleans' Mayor Phases Out Program

The blight-fighting Good Neighbor initiative in New Orleans, launched a year after Hurricane Katrina flooding laid waste to many neighborhoods, showed promise in prompting cleanup work at thousands of moldering properties.

But Mayor Ray Nagin's administration in September quietly phased out the program -- without acting on 17,000 complaints submitted by residents at City Hall's urging, according to an official who oversees code enforcement.

The decision effectively halted enforcement of city laws that cover the condition of building exteriors. And it confirmed the suspicions of neighborhood activists struggling to get something done about nuisance properties.

Jindal's Agenda

Will Governor Jindal's Agenda stomp out corruption in Louisiana?

Besides disclosure, Jindal's agenda spreads across five other topics: conflicts of interest, transparency for lobbyists, ethics education and enforcement, public access to information, combating fraud and abuse and improving the campaign finance laws.

The governor called special attention to the fact that Louisiana lags in many comparisons of state ethics laws. "When we adopt these bills, Louisiana will move from the bottom to, at the very least, the top five of those rankings," he said. "The nation is watching Louisiana."

Jindal said the agenda includes all 31 points in his campaign platform on ethics, plus ideas from his transition team, government watchdog groups and civic and business organizations pushing an ethics overhaul.

Let's hope so because Louisiana needs an overhaul.

Politicians May Have To Reveal Income Under Proposed Bill

The panel proposed that lawmakers, statewide elected and appointed officials and locally elected officials -- perhaps with an exemption for those serving jurisdictions with fewer than 5,000 people -- be required to disclose the same information that the governor and candidates for that office must make public under existing law.

That document details employment, property holdings, investments, debts and business associations and directorships of a filer and spouse. The information is reported in six financial ranges.

Current law requires legislators to disclose only income they receive from government entities and from gambling interests regulated by the state. There is no disclosure required of the six statewide officeholders other than the governor, from statewide appointed officials or from any local authorities. Jindal has signed an executive order extending the disclosure requirements to his Cabinet, though that group will not have to file its first forms until Jan. 15, 2009.

Law Shields Corp From Hurricane Katrina Damages

Although the Army Corps of Engineers knew that the levee was faulty, they will not be held responsible legally for the physical, emotional and property damages resulting from the levee failures.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers is immune under federal law from responsibility for damages resulting from the failure of drainage canal walls in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

The action apparently shields the agency from a portion of nearly 500,000 claims filed by New Orleans area homeowners, businesses and city agencies, many of whom navigated traffic jams around the corps' Uptown headquarters or waited in long lines to beat a deadline for filing the claims, totaling more than $3 quadrillion.

They may not have been held legally responsible, but they are definitely morally responsible. I guess since they are a federal agency, moral responsibility will not concern them.

Edwards To Visit New Orleans

John Edwards returns to New Orleans today where he will deliver what the campaign bills as a "major address on poverty."

The return to the city where Edwards launched his campaign in late December 2006 is an attempt to inject his voice back into the national scene following disappointing third place finishes in New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina.

While Louisiana is not a Super Tuesday state, Edwards said that today's speech will prove his devotion to New Orleans' recovery following Hurricane Katrina and to the issue of poverty at large.

Following the speech, Edwards will volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to construct homes at the Musicians' Village, an area of the city most devastated by the hurricane in 2005.

Health Risks Of FEMA Trailers Ignored

You've heard the TV reports, you've read the new stories: Hurricane Katrina victims were complaining that they were getting sick from the smells emitting from the FEMA trailers. Their complaints were ignored and the Bush Administration knew all about it:

A congressional committee accused the Bush administration Monday of manipulating a study of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers to downplay health risks for the hurricane victims who reside in them.

The House Committee on Science and Technology said that FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services skirted normal review processes to avoid warnings from a federal scientist who raised red flags about the chemical causing cancer.

Hurricane victims were ignored after the hurricane ravaged the gulf coast so this piece of information would not come as a shock to anyone. After all, we are talking about the Bush administration.

Marc Morial's Questionable Homestead Exemption

Former New Orleans Mayor, Marc Morial, does not live in New Orleans. That is what makes the following a questionable activity by the former mayor:

Though he has been hard to find in the Crescent City, Morial continued to file for, and receive, a local homestead exemption every year. In doing so, he certified that the Bienville Street home was his primary residence -- even though in 2005, he and his wife, television reporter Michelle Miller, bought a $1.1 million home in Maplewood, N.J. New Jersey has no homestead exemption law.

Is this illegal? What if others tried to pull the same stunt. This is a perfect example of the "content of his character". Stay tune...there may be more to come.

Working Class May Be Forced Out Of 'The Big Easy'

Thousands of blue-collar workers who never lived in publicly subsidized housing increasingly have no place to live in New Orleans. The planned demolition of 4,500 publicly subsidized apartments is less significant to the future, policy experts say, than Katrina's destruction of nearly 41,000 inexpensive rentals that once housed the city's self-sufficient working class.

With no concrete plan to replace those apartments, some say the city's economic base erodes with every blue-collar worker pushed out by higher living costs. Many local officials bank on rebuilding the city's health and biotech sectors, which were emerging before Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans.

Robert Tannen, a New Orleans urban planner, fears the housing crisis for blue-collar workers is undermining eclectic qualities that attract the upwardly mobile.

Are You Thinking About Taking A Trip To The Big Easy?

If you have never been to New Orleans, you do not know what you are missing. One of the highlights of visiting the 'Big Easy' is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. You will be able to sample some of the best food in the world. Along with the food, there will be great musical entertainment lined up for this year's festival:

Stevie Wonder will perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival after an absence of 35 years. On May 2 Mr. Wonder is scheduled to headline the second weekend of this year’s event, along with Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow and Tim McGraw. The festival will be held from April 25 to April 27, and from May 1 to May 4.

Headlining the festival’s opening day are Ms. Crow, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Also scheduled to perform are Dr. John, Al Green, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. Performers on the second weekend include Randy Newman, Widespread Panic, Aaron Neville and Santana. The event, with more than 1,000 musicians, is held at a racetrack where 11 stages and tents are set up.

This year features a particularly strong lineup of female jazz singers, including Patti Austin, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall and Ruby Wilson.

So come on down and enjoy that great New Orleans' hospitality.

Sen. Mary Landrieu Lands Herself In Hot Water

What is Senator Mary Landrieu up to?

Of all the companies that claim to sell terrific products, of all the groups that claim to do good works, how do certain ones get access to members of Congress? How do they convince those members of Congress to give them special tax dollars in the form of "earmarks"? The answer often lies in lobbyists and political connections. And, as it turns out, the company or group seeking favor often ends up making campaign contributions to the members of Congress who "help" them by giving them your tax dollars.

Critics say it's nothing more than members of Congress using your tax dollars to attract and reward campaign donors. If a direct quid pro quo can be proven, it can be a violation of federal law. But often, that direct connection is difficult to make. It's just the circumstances that are so suggestive and can look so ... bad.

Some think that's the case with Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and the founder of a company that sells a reading program called "Voyager," Randy Best. There are hundreds of reading programs out there, but Sen. Landrieu favored Best's program, giving it a $2 million earmark of tax dollars to put it in Washington, D.C. public schools (which had not asked for the program in its budget). Best had gotten access to Landrieu while lobbying for Voyager on Capitol Hill. Landrieu doesn't claim to have done any comparative research to see how Randy Best's product stood up against others. She simply said she met him, he impressed her and his program impressed her. She made sure they got the money.

Wouldn't many people or companies like the chance to present their idea one-on-one to a member of Congress, without having it measured against the competition, and walk away with millions of tax dollars just because they impressed that one member?

Back to the case of Landrieu and the Voyager earmark. As the earmark was working its way through the Congressional process, Randy Best arranged a lucrative fundraiser for Landrieu. And his employees, friends and family suddenly became new donors to the Landrieu re-election campaign. They quickly raised more than $30,000 for the Landrieu campaign chest. In the campaign world where individual donations are subject to federal limits, that's a huge chunk of change. And to many people, it looks like there was a deal: Landrieu gave Best the money he wanted, and he gave her lots of campaign donations in return. However, both Landrieu and Best strongly insist the earmark and campaign donations are not connected whatsoever.

That was in 2001. Landrieu and Best have continued their mutually beneficial relationship. And it's now hounding Landrieu on the campaign trail as she faces re-election this year. Sen. Landrieu wouldn't agree to an interview with the Washington Post's investigative reporter James Grimaldi when he delved into the story.

When we picked up on the issue, Landrieu agreed to talk to us to try to clear things up. She spent much of the time talking about her commitment to public education, and her strong desire to help children read better.

Basically there are two views:
1. Landrieu used the lure of your tax dollars to get herself campaign donations.
2. Landrieu helped Best and his Voyager program because she thought it was a terrific way to help kids read. She would've earmarked to Voyager even if Best hadn't given her a dime.

Even under the second scenario, there's a question of the fairness of the earmarking process. There are many reading programs out there ... but one company's executive and his lobbyists found the ear of Landrieu back in 2001. And only that company got the earmark money. It seems to come down to this: If you can get direct access to a member of Congress with control over the taxpayer purse through earmarks – if you are important enough or know the right people or have powerful lobbyists or have enough money – you can arrange a personal meeting with a member of Congress, and you might just get an earmark of tax dollars for your project or company … just for the asking! Even if your company isn't the best or the most cost-efficient. Even if your company has been turned down in the regular competitive budget process that chooses projects based on the need for them and their ability to perform well. Even if your company doesn't have much of a track record.

That's how earmarks work. It just takes one member of Congress and the willingness of the others not to rock the boat. Since most members of Congress likewise earmark, they tend to leave each other's earmarks alone.

With earmarks, to get a slice of the taxpayer pie, sometimes all you need is to get your foot in the door. But that kind of access usually takes lobbyists and money – and that's something most Americans can't afford.
R

Oh what a tangle web we weave when we practice to deceive.