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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?

Source

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.

To see more about the project,

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.

Source

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?

Source

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,

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?

Source

Katrina Survivors Required to Repay Rebuilding Money

CitizenSugar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:00:04 -0700

In another blow to Hurricane Katrina survivors who've struggled to rebuild their lives, some are receiving crushing phone calls — they may have to refund thousands of dollars of grant money they received to rebuild. Apparently in the rush to get aid to homeowners in need, over-payments were rampant.

The contractor who was hired to distribute payments from the Road Home grant program has just uncovered 1,000 to 5,000 cases that it says will require collection effort. How much? The average amount to be collected is estimated to be about $35,000, and in some cases it may be as high as $100,000 to $150,000.

As that's the biggest grant amount allowed by the Road Home program it's clear that some applicants received the maximum when they didn't qualify for a penny. But the trouble isn't limited to over-payments. To find out,

To Bill or Not to Bill: Are Hillary's Surrogates Helping?

CitizenSugar — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:50:00 -0700

Bill Clinton was in New Orleans over the weekend where he met up for a ground breaking with fellow Katrina activist Brad Pitt, and delivered a speech about the Clinton Global Initiative. Bill grabbed the opportunity to reinforce Hillary's campaign policy on rebuilding New Orleans. Bill called for the need for a full-time Katrina coordinator and said, ""All of this would be better done if there were a federal coordinator. . . and a sustained effort to make sure that government agencies are operating functionally." Bill's appearance made for at least one Hillary surrogate who was on message this weekend.

The pesky reality is that presidential candidates aren't humanly capable of being everywhere at once. Campaigning for years (or so it seems. . .) in a country this big, a candidate will have to outsource a little of the pomp and circumstance once in a while. Ah, the surrogate. Someone who can step in and deliver a message on behalf of the candidate, rally the supporters, and represent the brand. Chelsea's done it, Michelle Obama, even the recent controversial statements by Geraldine Ferraro, all took turns at carrying messages to varying degrees of success.

Bill Clinton might be the most sweet-and-sour bearer of this task. To see what he's been up to, and who he told to "chill out,"