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!

A BonaResponds response to the Olean Times Herald

A prior engagement kept me from participating in a recent BonaResponds meeting, but Jerry et al did a wonderful job responding to a local sports writer in the Olean Times Herald. Here it their letter (I wish I could add my name to it!!)..


26 January 2007
Editor, Olean Times Herald
693 Norton Drive
Olean NY 14760

To the editor:
In regards to Tom Roof's article of 23 January, 2007 in which he stated “We won’t have to hear for the next two weeks about how needed this is for New Orleans. If you weren’t sick of the Saints and Katrina by now, you surely would have been by Feb 4.” The cruelty and insensitivity of this comment is unconscionable.

Yes, had the New Orleans Saints won the NFC championship we would have been subjected tocountless Katrina stories between now and the February 4th. I can understand why he might be glad that the Chicago Bears relieved him of the burden of hearing about this tragedy for a few weeks. Imagine then, how much happier the people of the Gulf Coast would be if they didn't have to LIVE with this tragedy day after day for the next decade. Mr. Roof could simply change the channel. They can not.

Mr. Roof could have used his position as a journalist to help the thousands who are living as "Prisoners of Katrina," but actively chose not to. Instead he his elevated discomfort, or even worse, his boredom, with the images of this tragedy above the suffering of those experiencing it."

Many in this community were sicked by the stories and images of Katrina. Unlike Mr. Roof, they treated the victims of this disaster as human beings, not as an inconvenience. They went to the Gulf Coast, listened to their stories, and helped them clean up and rebuild. They went back again and again.

I invite Mr. Roof to St. John's Church on Sunday February 11th where some of us that have recently returned from Mississippi will be sharing stories. If he can't wait that long, he can visit bonaresponds.org or ask any of us at St. Bonaventure.

Jerry T. Godbout
Department of Chemistry
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure, NY 14778
The following St. Bonaventure students also signed this letter
Ryan Hasper
James Kane
Margaret Kubiak
Joshua Koszuta

Mississippi rebuilding expected to jump following agreement on Hurricane Katrina insurance claims - International Herald Tribune

WHAT GOOD NEWS FOR MISSISSIPPI! Not however for New Orleans residents.

Mississippi rebuilding expected to jump following agreement on Hurricane Katrina insurance claims - International Herald Tribune:

"In a move that is expected to jump- start rebuilding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, State Farm Insurance says it has reached an agreement with state officials to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to owners of homes along the coast that were wrecked by Hurricane Katrina.

The agreement settles lawsuits filed by 640 homeowners and allows thousands of others to reopen damage claims that State Farm previously closed. Insurance executives said they expected the outlines of the deal to be adopted by other carriers.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, does not apply to New Orleans, where the failure of the levees left much of the city underwater for days. Lawyers and insurers say no similar settlement talks are in progress there"