New Orleans may be left with no defense

While early reports out of the Saint's scrimmage have the defense ahead of the offense, in the more important discussion of hurricane defense, New Orleans may be losing its most important player.

From CNN/Money:

"Since the Carter administration, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, a landmass about half the size of Rhode Island has vanished. Katrina and Rita alone transformed 225 square miles of marsh into open water, much of it in Plaquemines Parish.

The potential consequences are cataclysmic. The barrier islands and wetlands south of New Orleans provide a vital bulwark against hurricanes; without them, the city would be completely exposed to the ocean. By some calculations, Plaquemines Parish and its surroundings - even in their diminished state - may have cut Katrina's surge by as much as six feet."

Why? Levees and oil"

"Today artificial levees protect the city from floods, but they also prevent the river from depositing sediment. Funneled south by its levees, the Mississippi now dumps most of its silt over the edge of the continental shelf. Nothing builds up the land.

Exacerbating the problem is Louisiana's huge oil and gas infrastructure: Thousands of miles of pipelines and navigation channels slice through the coastal wetlands, bringing saltwater inland and killing the plants that prevent the wetlands from washing away.

Bringing back coastal Louisiana will be an ecological-restoration project of unprecedented scale, complexity, and cost - an estimated $14 billion - but it's doable. The real question is political will."

Success!

I was out of town this weekend, so I missed this update from Saturday. This is one of the groups Handson and Persevere Volunteers are working with

Sun Herald:

"Students at Kreole Elementary School will have a new playground, complete with up-to-date safety features in a design created by the students.

Myya Robinson, communications director for the Moss Point School District, said about 300 volunteers signed up to help build the playground sponsored by KaBOOM!"

The wheels turn slowly

Not only do the wheels on my bike turn too slowly, so to do the wheels of justice, but maybe we will be at least there are more investigations in what was one of the worst cases of inhumane treatment from the days following Katrina.

Now from the Biloxi Sun Herald:

"NEW ORLEANS - Federal authorities will review last year's blockade of a Mississippi River bridge by armed police officers who turned back Hurricane Katrina evacuees trying to flee New Orleans.

The investigation will be carried out by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans, along with the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann said Friday.

Several hundred evacuees claimed that police from suburban Gretna blocked them as they tried to flee New Orleans for safety on Sept. 1."

I remember watching TV coverage of this incident and was totally revolted. I hope the investigations get to the bottom of it!!

Salvation Army

From the NY Times:

"Many forget that the Salvation Army is a church, knowing it instead for the bells its volunteers ring to raise money during the holidays or for its thrift shops.

But the army’s real “business,” effectively putting into practice what it preaches, is operating a network of housing for the elderly, transitional housing for struggling families, summer camps and what are called “corps centers,” where services range from after-school programs to drug rehabilitation.

The organization also does disaster relief work. After Hurricane Katrina, victims, public officials and emergency workers spoke glowingly of the help the army had given them, often contrasting it with services from the American Red Cross.

Army officials cringe at the competition that such comparisons might suggest, but welcome the donations the attention is attracting. The army raised more than $360 million for hurricane victims, a fraction of the billions raised by the Red Cross but more than four times what it has raised for any other disaster and more than three times what its biggest annual fund-raising effort, the Christmas kettle drive, brought in last year.

Personally, I have to say that the Salvation Army has done a GREAT job following Katrina. and I will gladly put money into the Kettle! Indeed, they were one of a VERY few national charities that I will still give to after seeing the responses.

Parking around the Coast

This is the story I mentioned a few weeks ago. Handson, HD, Kaboom, Persevere Volunteers, and others are redoing 10 parks in the area. Including the park where Compassion Central was located in teh weeks after Katrina.

From City of Biloxi's website:

"On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, The Home Depot, KaBOOM!, Playworld Systems and Hands On Network will mobilize thousands of volunteers to come together in Gulf Coast communities from New Orleans to Pascagoula to build 10 new playspaces in just four days, including two in Biloxi.

Nearly a thousand volunteers are expected to participate in the Biloxi projects, John Henry Beck Park and Miramar Park. Each playground was designed by the children who will use it and is being planned with local residents."

Later:

"Besides the Biloxi sites, others are Nelson UNO Charter School (New Orleans); Second Street Elementary School (Bay St. Louis); Carolyn Park Middle School (Slidell); Pass Christian High School (Pass Christian); Owen T. Palmer Park (Gulfport); Carol Vegas Park (Bay St. Louis); Central Elementary School (Pascagoula); and Hancock Medical Center (Bay St. Louis).

"We want this 'week of play' to show the Gulf Coast children and communities that we have not forgotten,” said Darell Hammond, CEO and co-founder of KaBOOM! “At the same time, we need to remind the rest of the country that there is still a lot of work to do in the areas that were affected by the storms."

Great job!!!

Biloxi in WSJ

There was an interesting article on the casino industry (and the long range plans for East Biloxi) in today's WSJ. The article is listed on the City of Biloxi's web site.

A few "look-ins":

* "Gamblers already have flocked back to Biloxi, wagering $375 million at the three casinos open in the first half of the year. That's nearly 70% of what was wagered a year earlier in the nine casinos operating before Katrina struck, state officials say.

*Mississippi's 1990 law legalizing the casino business had required all gambling to take place offshore, which restricted operations to riverboats on the Mississippi or barges docked along the Gulf Coast. The law made it difficult for casino owners to integrate their gambling sites with other parts of their properties. "

*"The gambling industry found new leverage in the storm's wake. In the 15 years since it was legalized, casinos had become the region's key economic driver....A compromise was forged to allow gambling facilities to move on land within an 800-foot-wide strip along the shoreline."

*The casino operators have been spurred by a post-Katrina federal tax credit designed to encourage rebuilding after the storm. The credit applies to construction of nongambling facilities, including hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, that open for business along the Gulf Coast before the end of 2008.

*"A year after Katrina passed through, Biloxi's Mayor Holloway continues to grapple with a critical housing shortage, skyrocketing construction costs and squabbles with state agencies over badly needed road repairs. But he has worked hardest at reviving the casinos. The 67-year-old mayor began his fourth term last July -- a month before Katrina. The city's future, he says, depends on companies like MGM Mirage and Harrah's putting Biloxi in the same sentence as Las Vegas and Atlantic City."

*"On Mr. Holloway's city hall desk is a massive three-ring binder containing details of a master plan proposed for the eastern part of the city. In the plan, a new four-lane boulevard would wrap around the city's eastern edge, with casinos dotting the waterfront. The design is packed with high-rise condominiums and parks."

The winner is...

Superstition by Stevie Wonder!!!

Handson GulfCoast had been having a music tournement (modeled after the NCAA basketball Tourney) where each night the volunteers listened to two songs and voted on the best. From the HandsonGulfcoast blog:

"Recap of the end of the last one: Superstition defeats Bohemian Rhapsody in the Final Four. Don't Stop Believing defeats Piano Man in the Final Four. In the Hands On Music Tournament Final, Don't Stop Believing loses to Stevie Wonder's Superstition. Well played."

They are now planning a new contest with only "new" music.