St. Tammany Grants 2,200 Trailer Extensions - Yahoo! News

St. Tammany Grants 2,200 Trailer Extensions - Yahoo! News:

"The parish wants unused trailers moved out starting Thursday, but more than 2,200 families will get an extension until June 15."

Bush to visit Miss. Coast and New Orleans

Bush to visit Miss. Coast and New Orleans:

"President Bush is scheduled to visit the Mississippi Coast and New Orleans this week, according to a report in The Sun Herald newspaper.
The newspaper quotes a news advisory issued by the White House. It says the President is set to arrive on Thursday."

New look on U.S. 90

New look on U.S. 90:

"Yet, almost two years after Hurricane Katrina, many commercial buildings along U.S. 90 are still in a ramshackle state. Their owners are either unwilling or unable to remove hurricane debris or repair damage dealt to the buildings by the catastrophic storm.

For the better part of 18 months, local, state and federal agencies have offered assistance in removing hurricane debris and for repairing buildings damaged by Katrina. The owners of those properties, such as the car wash on U.S. 90 in Gautier, should have been able to at least remove the bricks and beams that Katrina toppled on Aug. 29, 2005.

And the onus of this task is not just on property owners. City and county officials also share the responsibility of ensuring that such properties are cleaned up. Local governments have several tools at their disposal to cite the owners of such nuisance properties and, if needed, to clean them up."

Hurricane suits may be settled soon - USATODAY.com

Hurricane suits may be settled soon - USATODAY.com:

"The first major insurance settlement involving a group of hurricane-damaged homes in Louisiana is in its final stages and could be announced as soon as in a week or two, according to the attorney for the homeowners who sued.

The likely multimillion-dollar deal would cover about 165 homeowners insured by Louisiana Citizens — the state-created insurer of last resort — in Cameron Parish, where the 2005 hurricanes reduced homes to slabs, says Jennifer Jones, the homeowners' lawyer.

Jones cautioned that the settlement could still be scuttled. But if it succeeds, it could provide a model for resolving hundreds other such cases in the state. The deal would not affect thousands of homes damaged by the New Orleans levee breach after Hurricane Katrina.

Separately, State Farm, the largest insurer in Louisiana, has made two offers to settle 135 Cameron Parish cases involving homes reduced to rubble, "

State Farm to leave MS

Chippewa.com:

"Mississippi’s largest homeowner insurer said Wednesday it has had enough of the “untenable’’ legal and political climate and is suspending writing new homeowners and commercial policies in a state still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

A spokesman for State Farm Insurance Cos. said the decision was due in part to the wave of litigation the company has encountered since the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. Mississippi is the latest state along the hurricane-vulnerable Gulf Coast to at least temporarily lose an insurer.

"

NY Times on Lack of hope

From the NY Times:

"A year ago, Ms. Larsen, 36, and Mr. Langlois, 37, were hopeful New Orleanians eager to rebuild and improve the city they adored. But now they have joined hundreds of the city’s best and brightest who, as if finally acknowledging a lover’s destructive impulses, have made the wrenching decision to leave at a time when the population is supposed to be rebounding.

Their reasons include high crime, high rents, soaring insurance premiums and what many call a lack of leadership, competence, money and progress. In other words: yes, it is still bad down here. But more damning is what many of them describe as a dissipating sense of possibility, a dwindling chance at redemption for a great city that, even before the storm, cried out for great improvement."

COLOURlovers Coup.0 :: Color Trends & Palettes

COLOURlovers Coup.0 :: Color Trends & Palettes:

"Find information about updates to COLOURlovers, what the CL chief Darius Monsef is up to and more."

Yes that Darius!