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Tweet Nothings: Ellen DeGeneres Loves New Orleans!

TresSugar — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Stay tuned for more Tweet Nothings, where we highlight the wit, wisdom, and ridiculousness of Twitter. Speaking of wit and wisdom (ahem!), if you'd like to follow TrèsSugar on Twitter, click here!

Brad Pitt Has a Date With Nancy Pelosi

CitizenSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:26:23 -0800

Barack Obama isn't the only person with a housing plan. Brad Pitt is set to meet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to talk about his Make It Right Project. Brad will have Nancy's ear tomorrow afternoon, to share details of the project he launched in 2007 with the intention of building affordable and environmentally safe homes for residents of New Orleans' Ninth Ward who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina.

Brad's bringing the flashing camera's along; the headline making duo (Brad and Nancy, that is) will meet after and pose for some pictures in the Capitol Building. Are you happy politicians want to hear more about Brad's idea for New Orleans?

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National Guard to Leave New Orleans 3.5 Years Later

CitizenSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 00:00:45 -0800

Last week we heard a lot about President Obama's plan to bring US troops out of Iraq. But yesterday, the National Guard ended its patrol of an American city - New Orleans.

Since Katrina US troops have helped with security in the city. The Guard patrolled high crime areas and neighborhoods that had been left empty. That ended last night around midnight.

Last year, New Orleans topped the most dangerous cities in America list, with a murder rate of one every 40 hours. The police hope the Guard's efforts will have a lasting impact, but they're expecting a tough adjustment after coming to rely on the troops.

Hopefully, the exit signals a positive step toward full recovery from hurricane Katrina.

View 5 Photos ›

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Let It Snow in N.O.! Winter Comes Early For the South

LibertySugar — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:40:00 -0800

The last time New Orleans saw snow was a white Christmas day in 2004, and the Southern city has only been painted white 17 times since 1850. But this morning residents woke up to as much as six inches of snowflakes.

Today marks the earliest date for snowfall in the city, and the rare weather found some unprepared. The snow halted bus services and flights out of Armstrong International Airport, and students at a few universities and schools are enjoying the freedom of a snow day.

Meanwhile in Houston, TX, snow fell last night, tying a 65-year record for earliest snow date. Check out these pictures from a very wintry New Orleans! Should residents worry about climate change, or just enjoy the Winter wonderland?

To see more pictures, read more.

View 10 Photos ›

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Top 5 Most Dangerous Cities List Puts New Orleans at No. 1

CitizenSugar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:30:45 -0800

With a murder every 40 hours, New Orleans crime rate is hard to beat. The latest City Crime Rankings looked at reported incidents of six major crimes to determine the most dangerous dwellings in the US. With a population of only 250,000 that changed drastically after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans came out on top.

Rounding out the list, the top-five cities with the highest crime rate include:

New Orleans, LA
Camden, NJ
Detroit, MI
St. Louis, MO
Oakland, CA

The FBI warns that ranking cities head-to-head fails to paint a realistic picture. In addition, local mayors and law enforcement officials maintain that such a superficial ranking irresponsibly misuses crime data by ignoring complex factors. Do you think rankings of the most dangerous cities help hold law enforcement accountable or are they counterproductive?

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First of Brad Pitt's Make It Right Houses Done in New Orleans

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:00:33 -0700

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, the first homes built in by Brad Pitt's Make It Right rebuilding project are complete. Touring the building site in the Lower 9th Ward with Angelina and kids in tow this week, one ecstatic grandmother gave Brad a huge hug. She said of her new electric yellow house, "Honey, this is like heaven on earth." She'll be moving into the house with five of her 22 grandkids later this month.

In all, 150 homes will be built on the site destroyed by the broken levees. Six of the homes are near completed and the happy grandma says, "I thank God for Brad Pitt. I gave him a big hug, and I told him how much I appreciate all that he's done for me and my family." The houses cost about $150,000, are built on property still owned by residents, and their monthly payments are based on income and subsidized by Make It Right.

View 5 Photos ›

To see more about the project, read more.

Brad's Make It Right project was sparked by his dismay that there was no clear plan to address the situation in the Katrina devastated Lower 9th Ward. Consumed by doubt that the area would ever be rebuilt, the residents of the Lower 9th met with Brad and discussed while the terrible crisis had exposed their vulnerability, it created an opportunity: to build something better than what had existed before. The Make It Right Project seeks to do just that.

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Front Page: Day Four of the Convention - Obama Speaks Tonight, New Orleans May Evacuate, EU Considers Sanctions

CitizenSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:01:31 -0700

Obama Speaks Tonight:
After his surprise appearance on stage with VP nominee Joe Biden last night, Obama is set to deliver his nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field in front of 75,000 people tonight. On the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, it's scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EST. John McCain may announce his VP pick shortly after.

New Orleans May Evacuate:
City officials have begun preliminary measures to evacuate the city of New Orleans as Hurricane Gustav threatens the coast on the eve of Hurricane Katrina's third anniversary. Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and has put 3,000 National Guard troops on standby.

EU Considers Sanctions:
The EU is considering sanctions and more against Russia over the crisis in Georgia. France has called an emergency summit on Monday to reassess relations with Russia after Moscow refused to pull out all of their troops. Meanwhile, Georgia's foreign minister says that ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia is nearly complete.

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Congress Won't Pay For New Orleans' Levees Until State Pays

LibertySugar — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:00:21 -0700

Congress will withhold $5.8 billion in New Orleans flood-defense funding because Louisiana has not offered the $1.8 billion match necessary to trigger federal funds. The Army Corps of Engineers will not go through with levee and other construction projects necessary to prevent another Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana, one of the poorest states in the nation, wants the feds to give the state 30 years to pay their share. Right now Congress wants the money by 2010. Louisiana officials want President Bush to extend the spending limits putting pressure on Congress. The state's US Senator Mary Landrieu says the restrictions "flies in the face" of Bush's promise to rebuild New Orleans. Others say that the state's $600 million budget surplus means Louisiana could pay its way if it needed to.

Should a squabble over money delay crucial projects like the planned $695 million storm surge barrier? Up until now, all Americans have been helping pay for New Orleans' flood preparation. Is it time for the local government to chip in?

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New Orleans Locals Still Homeless After Katrina

LibertySugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:00:00 -0700

A unique homelessness situation confronts post-Katrina New Orleans. A recent survey conducted by advocacy groups shows that a majority of the homeless were residents of New Orleans before the hurricane, and lost their jobs and homes as a result.

Figures cited in today's New York Times include:

86 percent of homeless are from the New Orleans area.
60 percent cite Hurricane Katrina as the cause of their homelessness, while 30 percent said they received assistance from FEMA at one time.
80 percent have at least one physical disability, 58 percent have had some kind of addiction, 40 percent are mentally ill, and 19 percent deal with all three issues.
The number of homeless has doubled since Katrina, according to rough estimates.

For an more in depth look at the problem, read more.

One HIV-positive New Orleans native told the paper that he wasn't homeless until Hurricane Katrina. He receives $637 per month in disability income, not enough to pay rent. Despite a rise in need, there has been a decline in resources. Before Katrina, the city had 2,800 shelter beds, now it has 2,000. In addition, FEMA federal trailer parks that house many Hurricane Katrina victims are scheduled to close May 31.

In his new book, President Bush's former press secretary called Katrina "one of the worst disasters in our nation's history" and "one of the biggest disasters in Bush's presidency." Now more than three years later, the local community still faces the difficulty brought by lack of resources.

Do you consider New Orleans' homeless predicament a national or local problem? How can we get those more vulnerable in a crisis - such as the mentally ill, disabled, and drug addicted - back on their feet? Should Congress adopt legislation that would provide $76 million in rent subsidies and services to disabled homeless people in the city, as passed by the Senate last week?

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China to Rebuild Devastated City Somewhere Else

LibertySugar — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Following the recent earthquake, China plans to rebuild one of its worst-hit cities, Beichuan, in a completely different location. Of the city's 161,000 residents, at least 7,227 died in the quake. The region's Communist Party Chief said:

Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction. We plan to build a monument and a memorial to commemorate the quake victims on the previous location.

The questions of when and where to rebuild devastated areas often comes up after a natural disaster. Following the wildfires in Southern California last Fall, actress Jamie Lee Curtis summed up one line of thought:

We live in a drought, we build houses too close, and then we're shocked when this happens? This is not an act of God. This is an act of man.

After Hurricane Katrina hit low-lying New Orleans, some critics spoke out against the idea of rebuilding the city, which could eventually be hit by a similar hurricane. They argued that New Orleans, built like a bowl and located bellow sea level, is geographically susceptible to similar flooding in the future.

Are humans foolish to build cities in places that are prone to natural disasters? Would China's plan to choose a new location work for a place like New Orleans? How should we mitigate risks of destruction and death, when every place is susceptible to some form of random devastation? How risky is too risky?

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