Louisiana experts are disputing newly published findings that high concentrations of lead in the poorest and oldest parts of New Orleans posed significant risks to residents, even before hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Legislation supporting high-speed passenger rail lines along the Gulf Coast and between New Orleans and Baton Rouge could soon reach Gov. Bobby Jindal’s desk. Louisiana House Bill 1410, would create a board of directors responsible for finding alternative sources of revenue to fund portions of the project rather than relying heavily on federal funding.
Since Katrina closed their local Winn-Dixie, Thomas and thousands of other residents of the Lower Ninth Ward have not had a single grocery store or supermarket in walking distance. This lack of access to fresh produce and foods has turned the neighborhood into what socio-economists call a “food desert. Today, efforts on several fronts are under way to bring healthy food to the Lower Ninth.
Blessed not to have been affected by the Gulf oil spill yet, the Barataria swamp and wetlands remain open to the Louisiana Swamp Tour.
Three years later, the Smith family can find before and after photographs of their home along the Williams Gallery walls as part of the Historic New Orleans Collection’s recently opened exhibition, “Katrina +5: Documenting Disaster.”
As it prepares to wrap up its first 10-episode season on June 20, “Treme,” the HBO drama series directed by David Simon (“The Wire”) about musicians rebuilding their lives in post-Katrina New Orleans, has garnered acclaim as one of the most accurate TV representations of the storm’s aftermath.
SUNO adopted the new, more stringent admissions standards as a result of a 2005 Board of Regents mandate to raise statewide standards by fall of 2012.
22 years later, three episodes of “Frank’s Place” were re-aired for one night only to a sold-out crowd of loyal fans.
The city that played a major role in rock ’n’and roll, jazz and blues — think Armstrong, Bechet, Domino — never quite developed music into an industry. There’s little infrastructure and no large record labels or publishing houses. And, for many musicians, leaving New Orleans is essential to finding success.
The Obama administration’s oil spill specialist on Monday rejected the notion of taking over the crisis, despite BP’s many failed attempts to stop the leak, according to The Associated Press.
“To push BP out of the way would raise a question, to replace them with what?” said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, who is heading the federal response to the spill.
