Hurricane Katrina

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New Flood Gates Protect the Few, Not the Many

Charges surface of preferential treatment for rich neighborhoods

(Newser) - New Orleans is still at severe risk from a serious flood, even though the Army Corps of Engineers has spent 2 years and $1 billion on the city's hurricane protection system. What's more, much of what's been done will benefit only wealthier neighborhoods. “We’re still with this damned...

Edwards Linked to Katrina Foreclosures

Populist candidate has $16M invested in subprime lender

(Newser) - John Edwards, who has railed against "shameful" subprime lenders on the campaign trail, has $16 million invested in a fund that has foreclosed on Katrina victims. A Wall Street Journal investigation has identified 34 New Orleans homeowners facing foreclosure suits from an arm of Fortress Investment Group, which Edwards...

Katrina Tax Breaks Pay for Luxury Condos

Incentives for rebuilding are buying $1M units in Tuscaloosa, 200 miles from coast

(Newser) - Investors are using federal tax breaks designed to stimulate rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina to buy luxury condos being built near the University of Alabama’s football stadium, 200 miles from the coast, the AP reports. The Tuscaloosa developments, where units go for up to $1 million, are flourishing while much...

New Orleans Hits 60% of Pre-Katrina Population

Residents trickling back at 1% a month

(Newser) - The population of New Orleans has rebounded to 60% of its pre-Katrina level nearly two years after the storm, the AP reports, based on the lastest survey. The city had 273,600 residents last month, up 50,200 from a year ago; 455,000 called the Big Easy home in...

Hillary &amp; Barack 'Barely Speak'
Hillary & Barack 'Barely Speak'
Aug 7, 2007 5:12 AM CDT

Hillary & Barack 'Barely Speak'

Tensions tell on the campaign trail

(Newser) - White House hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are no longer on speaking terms after months of increasingly glacial rivalry on the campaign trail, the Times reports. With another half a year until the first primary, the public tension—the pair carefully avoid contact whenever possible—may bode ill for...

Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape
Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape
Aug 2, 2007 3:40 PM CDT

Nagin to Feds: Cut Red Tape

New Orleans mayor tells Congress of dire need for docs, mental health workers

(Newser) - Ray Nagin delivered an unscripted plea to Congress yesterday, asking for a more urgent response to the health-care crisis that has plagued New Orleans since Katrina hit in 2005. Both Republicans and Democrats echoed the mayor's frustrations at the federal government's inaction on the city's pronounced shortage of physicians and...

Look for Stormy Weather
Look for Stormy Weather
Jul 25, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

Look for Stormy Weather

Despite slow start, hurricane season expected to be busy

(Newser) - Heavy storms are on the way, weather forecasters warn, despite a typically quiet beginning to the hurricane season. In fact, the government's top forecasting agency predicts an above-average number of storms this year—13 to 17, with 3 to 5 becoming intense hurricanes, Reuters reports.

Doc Won't Face Katrina Murder Charge

New Orleans grand jury declines to indict accused physician

(Newser) - A grand jury yesterday refused to indict a doctor accused in the deaths of nine patients who died while trapped in a hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Prosecutors alleged Anna Pou injected patients with lethal amounts of painkillers and sedatives; her lawyer says the Louisiana AG was attempting...

Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger
Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger
Jul 20, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger

Refused to conduct tests even after a death

(Newser) - Some 120,000 Hurricane Katrina victims lived in emergency trailers for months, even though FEMA knew they were toxic, with formaldehyde levels 75 times the safety threshold, the Washington Post reports. Officials suppressed the the information and failed to order tests, emails show, because they didn't want to do anything...

The Big Easy Wants Jews
The Big Easy Wants Jews
Jul 19, 2007 8:50 AM CDT

The Big Easy Wants Jews

Cash incentives offered to Jews who come to New Orleans

(Newser) - Jewish leaders are recruiting members of the faith to pull up stakes and move to hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. They've hired an Israeli ad agency to get the message out, and they're appealing to Jews' sense of social responsibility to help heal the shattered city. And there are aliyah-inspired cash incentives...

Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear
Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear
Jul 18, 2007 9:22 AM CDT

Bush's Failures Are Kristol Clear

Corn fires back at neocon columnist's revisionist view of the last seven years

(Newser) - Nation editor David Corn does a double take in today's WaPo at neocon infantryman Bill Kristol's Sunday column there, which predicted the Bush presidency would go down as a success. In a blazing review of the scandals, misadventures and outright failures that have plagued the White House for the last...

Nurses, Prosecutors Joust Over Post-Katrina Testimony

Caregivers accused in deaths of elderly patients

(Newser) - The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues to unfold in the courts, where prosecutors have offered to drop second-degree murder charges against two nurses in exchange for their testimony about the deaths of four patients. The motions may be a sign that the case against the nurses is weak, the Times-Picayune ...

Cop in Katrina Brutality Case Kills Himself

Trial for beating of unarmed man was set for next month

(Newser) - Former New Orleans police officer Lance Schilling, set to be tried next month for the caught-on-camera beating of an unarmed man just after Hurricane Katrina, died yesterday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the face. He and his partner were charged with beating a 64-year-old retired schoolteacher who had...

Feds Beef Up Presence in New Orleans

Surge in violent crime endangers post-Katrina rebound

(Newser) - Violent crime is such a pressing problem in New Orleans that the federal government is shoring up the local criminal justice system, USA Today reports. Crime was up 107% in the first quarter of 2007 over the previous year, a jump the NOPD attributes to population growth—but the increased...

NRA Targets Post-Katrina Gun Seizures

13 states pass laws barring cops from confiscating firearms in emergencies

(Newser) - After New Orleans cops confiscated guns in the wake of Katrina, 13 states have barred officials from seizing firearms in emergencies. NRA types were livid over the post-hurricane gun grab, which they vowed would not be repeated. “You don't go and abuse good citizens because of a concern for...

New Fad in New Orleans: Guns
New Fad in New Orleans: Guns
Apr 5, 2007 9:09 AM CDT

New Fad in New Orleans: Guns

Citizens arm themselves against crime wave

(Newser) - Violent crime is storming post-Katrina New Orleans with almost the force of the 2005 hurricane, Time reports. The city has America's highest murder rate, and weapons sales are skyrocketing as citizens take to arming themselves.  "They're not gun aficionados," a gun shop owner says of the recent...

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