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.