News from Central Gulf Focus: La./Miss (Ala contributors)

[Audrey2Katrina]

Choctaws deny donating to Alabama governor race

6/30/06 -
SUN HERALD.com

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians responded Thursday to a story in Wednesday's Sun Herald. The story concerned a U.S. Senate committee report, which quoted a Louisiana tribal leader as saying embattled Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told him the Mississippi Choctaws spent $13 million to have Alabama Gov. Bob Riley elected.

William Worfel, the Louisiana tribal leader, said Abramoff told him Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin spent the money on the Riley campaign in a move to keep gambling out of Alabama.

The Mississippi Choctaw response:

"The latest report released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on June 22, 2006, details matters regarding the Jack Abramoff investigation. In this report, quotes from various testimonies and interviews were made public. Unfortunately, the quote from William Worfel, former Vice Chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, when read in the context of a footnote in the committee's report, is used to make the point that Jack Abramoff used the good name and reputation of the Choctaws to fraudulently advance his agenda with other tribal clients. In this case, erroneous information was being provided in an effort to persuade the Louisiana Coushatta tribe for various purposes.

"In addition, claims involving Mississippi Choctaw contributions to the 2002 Alabama Governor's race are outlandish and patently false. The Mississippi Choctaws did not contribute to either candidate of this race.

"The tribe will have no further comments."

[Audrey2Katrina]

Georgia man wins $12M at Isle

By EMILY RANAGER - 6/30/06
SUN HERALD

BILOXI - A man from Columbus, Ga., hit a $12.3 million jackpot playing Wheel of Fortune progressive dollar slots Thursday at the Isle of Capri.

Marketing director Justin Hill said the man, who declined to sign a press release, was very laid-1back when the first machine from the north end of the slots began flashing at about 4:45 p.m. He had spent about $40 at the machine.

Hill said this may be the largest Wheel of Fortune jackpot in history, but was waiting for confirmation from the Las Vegas company that makes the slots.

This follows the $8.2 million a Metairie woman won in March at the Isle playing Wheel of Fortune.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Pass Christian: Mayoral Update:

Current Status Report from Chipper McDermott
McDonald's last day is 7/1/2006.
The Board of Aldermen will meet 7/3/2006 to declare the office vacant.
The election will be held on Tues 8/8/2006.
Qualifying deadline will be 7/19/2006.


The Chamber of Commerce will host a Candidate's Forum on July 21 at the Espy Community Center.
The incumbent Mayoral candidate is Chipper McDermott who is in his Third Term as ALDERMAN-AT-LARGE and Second Term as MAYOR PRO TEMP.

[Audrey2Katrina]

ALERT: Naked Man, standing between lanes of I-10 and Chef... In New Orleans East:

What in God's name he's doing/trying to prove, well He only knows.. but just heard this on the radio... Sheee.... more on this if it comes up in tomorrow's news!

[Audrey2Katrina]

Six Flags wants out, offers the city a deal


Six Flags does not want to reopen, and has sent a proposal to the city to walk away from its lease.

Park would give up 66 acres, $10 million to get out of lease

Saturday, July 01, 2006 - Times Picayune/NOLA.com
By Rebecca Mowbray
Business writer

The company that owns Six Flags New Orleans does not want to reopen the flood-ravaged eastern New Orleans theme park, and has sent a proposal to the city that would allow the amusement company to walk away from its 75-year lease, according to documents.

Six Flags Inc. has offered to pay the city $10 million to cover rent to the city and to give the city 66 acres of land the company owns adjacent to the park as well as city 20 percent of its insurance proceeds above $75 million. It is unclear how much insurance money the park will receive. The amusement park has been closed since Hurricane Katrina.

News of the proposal marks a change from Six Flags' public stance so far. Until this disclosure, the company said the park would be closed for the 2006 season but it hoped to reopen the property and was working with its insurers. The company now says it wouldn't make sense to open the park, which was not successful even when the city had nearly a half-million residents.

"It's clear that the people of New Orleans weren't embracing the park" even before the storm, Six Flags spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg said. "We think it presents a mutually beneficial solution to both of us. We thought it was a win-win. The city would get land it could use for other purposes, as well as liquidity."

But Mayor Ray Nagin says that the city plans to hold the New York company to its agreement to operate the park.

"They're not excited about coming back into the market right now. If any company is trying to figure out an exit strategy, they are," Nagin said this week in an interview at The Times-Picayune. "We have a pretty solid agreement with them (requiring them to operate the park for 75 years). They're claiming they can exercise out of it, but they're going to have to pay us."


Katrina was the last straw

The storm, and any efforts by Six Flags to leave the area, are likely a death knell for the park, which opened in May 2000 as an economic development project for eastern New Orleans. Jazzland Theme Park, as it was originally named, went bankrupt after just two seasons.

Six Flags bought the $135 million park at the discount price of $22 million out of bankruptcy, but even after the company installed five new rides backed by a major advertising push, the park failed to deliver financial results.

While Six Flags refuses to detail the damage at the park, its rides and buildings sat for weeks in an estimated 12 feet of brackish water and the park is on the side of the city that suffered the greatest wind damage. The park now sits idle, overgrown with brush, while a security guard watches the gate.

"We haven't gone into detail about the damage, just that we are working on it with our insurers," Goldberg said. "It's a very complicated situation."

The prospects of resurrecting the park are further dimmed by a shakeup at Six Flags' corporate offices, where Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder instituted a shareholder takeover of the company late last year and installed a new management team, whose marching orders are to pare down assets to deliver better returns to stockholders.

"They'd be absolutely out of their minds to try to reopen that park," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services, a consultant who has followed the Jazzland saga and the corporate troubles at Six Flags. "That has been a marginally performing park since day one."


Financial woes

If the park closes, it will be a headache for the city, which is on the hook for the $20.4 million that remains on a $25.3 million loan used to build the park through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 108 loan program.

The payments on the loan are $2.4 million a year until 2017. Under the terms of the deal struck with the city out of Jazzland's bankruptcy, the city pays $1 million a year toward the debt and Six Flags pays $1.4 million. HUD said the city is current on its payments. Six Flags said it has continued to pay rent since the storm.

The rent arrangement is actually that Six Flags pays 4.77 percent of gross revenue or a minimum of $1.4 million, and if the percentage formula delivers a number that is less than $1.4 million, Six Flags gets a credit of the difference on rent in the years after 2017.

In its proposal, Six Flags said the city would be unlikely to earn any rent on the project even after 2017, when the HUD debt is paid.

In each of the three years that Six Flags operated the park before it closed, revenue was less than $29.4 million -- the amount necessary for the percentage formula to exceed the $1.4 million base payment.

The park generated $24.5 million in revenue in 2003, the year that Six Flags installed $25 million in new rides and heavily advertised their arrival. It generated $18.1 million in 2004 and $15 million last year, when the season ended in late August instead of at Halloween.

With the prospect of revenue even worse for the park now that it's located in a flooded and gutted area in a city with half its prestorm population, it's unlikely the Six Flags would ever pay rent on the park.

"Put simply, the marketplace has never embraced the park. There are a number of factors contributing to this situation, all of which have been exacerbated by the displacement and damage of the storm, which impacted not just the park, but the entire market area of the park," the proposal reads. "Given this performance, there would almost certainly never be any rent paid for many years after 2017."

In offering the city $10 million in rent immediately to break the lease, Six Flags said that it assumes that the city would be able to get HUD to forgive the loan and the city would be able to keep the money.

But HUD said its hands are tied. Because the money was actually loaned by investors and guaranteed by the city through the Section 108 program, HUD has no authority to forgive the loan. If the park never reopens, the city will be required to repay the remaining $20.4 million debt.


Insurance money battle

Six Flags notes that it has an obligation to rebuild the park, but only to the extent of the insurance proceeds received, and it's unclear how much money the park will get.

The company hasn't yet received any insurance proceeds and said that its claim may ultimately require litigation. It's fighting the same flood-versus-wind battle that many local homeowners are fighting: The park has $180 million of "named storm coverage" with a full replacement-cost value, but only $27.5 million in flood coverage.

"We are doing everything that we can to maximize the insurance recovery, but it is a complex and time-consuming process," the proposal reads. "There is substantial uncertainty regarding the level of insurance proceeds which can be expected, and it is likely to be sometime before that will be resolved."

Six Flags proposes giving the city 20 percent of its insurance proceeds for property damage beyond $75 million. Goldberg said the $75 million figure represents Six Flags' total investment in the property to date.

The letter notes that it does not think it would be "a prudent use of resources" to rebuild and repair the park. "It had been a disappointment in terms of its performance even before the storm, and the factors impeding its performance have only worsened," the letter reads. "As a public company with responsibility to our shareholders, we could not therefore justify investing anything more than our minimum legal obligations."

Six Flags' lease with the city says that the company is required to maintain insurance that would cover 66.66 percent of the replacement cost of all park property or a percentage of replacement cost typically maintained at Six Flags parks, whichever is greater.


Turnaround team

Katrina's havoc on the park comes as Six Flags was taken over by a renegade group of shareholders led by Redskins owner Snyder in an effort to turn the company around.

Snyder became chairman of the company in December, and he brought in a new management team over the winter to reduce the company's debt and improve its operations. Over the past few months, the new team has announced a steady stream of plans to sell parks or land or explore options to do so. In an earnings call last week, Six Flags announced that it was looking for buyers for six parks in New York, Texas, Colorado, California and Washington.

It has been mum about plans for New Orleans, but the announcement notes that "a key strategic initiative" for the company is "to evaluate the disposition of noncore assets in order to reduce leverage and focus management resources on the company's parks that have the highest strategic value."

In other words, Six Flags wants to get rid of anything that does not show good potential for profit, and that doesn't bode well for resurrecting the New Orleans park.

Speigel, the Cincinnati theme park consultant who has followed the saga at the New Orleans park and the slow decline of Six Flags as a company in recent years, said that New Orleans won't make the cut to survive.

Speigel has heard that there was "incredible deterioration on the equipment and the buildings and the facilities" because the park sat in water for so long. "I do not think it is possible to salvage it. Too much damage," Speigel said.

Plus, Speigel notes that the park is now located in an area with no population to go to the park or work at the park, and there are no nearby services for park patrons. With people relocating along the Interstate 10 corridor to Baton Rouge or on the I-12 corridor between the Northshore and Baton Rouge, Blue Bayou Waterpark and Dixie Landin' Family Theme Park in Baton Rouge are better situated to pick up the business.

"If we were talking about a park that had a history of profitability and growth, sure, they'd take a look at it. But they'd be crazy to come back down there. The market's just not there. It wasn't there in good times. To think that now, with conditions as they are, there's no way anyone would consider it," Speigel said. "In my opinion, the best thing that could happen is to just let the park die rather than to resurrect it."

[Audrey2Katrina]

Corps report ignores call for specifics

Details of Category 5 protections left out

Saturday, July 01, 2006 - Times Picayune/NOLA.com
By Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer

The Army Corps of Engineers, which was directed by Congress to prepare a report on how to protect Louisiana from a Category 5 hurricane, is poised to issue a vaguely-worded document that will not list the specific projects that would be needed to secure the state's fragile coastline.

The report was to be issued Friday, but the corps postponed action until July 10 after several heated exchanges with representatives of Gov. Kathleen Blanco who say the Bush administration has inappropriately removed a list of specific projects that corps engineers had included in the document's initial draft.

Instead of listing the projects, a draft of the report shown to state officials merely outlined a "decision matrix" the administration would use to decide how to pick projects in the future to protect Louisiana.

In a letter to Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley Friday, Blanco coastal adviser Sidney Coffee was critical of a White House "policy review (that) resulted in the rewriting of the entire executive summary and much of the report, without consultation with the Corps/State Project Delivery Team."

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who authored the language requiring the report, said missing the deadline "would be cause for concern entirely on its own.

"But even more troubling is that this delay appears to be the result of highly unusual attempts" to strip from the report the recommendations of corps engineers.

"We are looking to the corps to present their best analysis of what steps need to be taken to protect the people, communities and national infrastructure along Louisiana 's coast -- not another policy paper from the administration," Landrieu said in a statement.

Corps officials would not comment on the delay. "There will not be a release of the report today," said New Orleans corps spokesman John Hall. "The document is under review by the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, and that's all I can say at this point."

The state and corps have been working on the initial report for about six months in response to a congressional requirement that the corps produce a fast-track study on how to protect the state from Category 5 hurricanes.

But three weeks ago, the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army sent the state and New Orleans corps office a rewritten version of the report, state officials said.

The rewrite stripped out recommendations jointly made by the corps and the state to ask Congress to authorize the beginning of design work on a barrier plan using larger levees and gates to block storm surge from entering Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, and other major projects, according to Coffee and Department of Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Randy Hanchey.

"The corps and the state at the highest levels had been in agreement on the direction of this report, and now it's all been pushed back," Coffee said.

Hanchey said the state had already reluctantly agreed to drop four other projects from the draft when the rewrite was sent down. Those projects are:

-- Closing the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and restoring adjacent wetlands, which had already been required by Congress in a separate supplemental appropriations bill.

-- Early authorization of work on the Morganza to Gulf levee system in parts of Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, after the administration argued that the chances of passage of the long-delayed Water Resources Development Act, which also contains the levee project, had improved this year.

-- Authorization of several projects to rebuild barrier shorelines in Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, which also is included in the water bill.

-- Authorization of several restoration projects that would protect wetlands in southwestern Louisiana, which must now await money from the Breaux Act trust fund, which pays for smaller restoration projects.

According to a draft version of the rewrite obtained by The Times-Picayune, it instead focuses almost exclusively on setting up a "set of matrices" to provide decision makers with information they'll need to determine how strong a protection system to build.

And it warns that even when the final report is completed in December 2007, Congress will not be presented with recommendations for projects to protect New Orleans and the rest of the state's coastline.

"It is emphasized that the purpose of the final report is not to recommend a plan to increase hurricane protection or risk reduction," the draft says. "This initial reconnaissance-level effort will inform decision-making as to whether or not, or what kinds of, structural risk reduction measures should be considered in formal reconnaissance and feasibility studies."

Coffee said that language is at variance with what she terms the clear direction of Congress in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to expedite the recommendation of a system of protection from larger storms that would be coordinated with restoration efforts and that would be exempt from the corps' traditional cost-benefit analyses in determining whether it was justified.

"It appears to be an informational report, as opposed to a recommendation for action, and any projects that might be pursued have to follow the normal process of reconnaissance and feasibility studies," Hanchey said. "If that's all we get out of this report, if we have to wait two years for that, we could frankly start that process right now with a simple resolution from one of the congressional committees."

The draft report says the traditional corps economic justification system would be unlikely to "justify risk reduction measures for storms having the surge characteristics contemplated" by Congress, in part because they "do not consider such non-economic assets as human life."

Hanchey said under the timelines envisioned in the report, it would take five to seven years following completion of that report before construction on such projects begin, meaning work would begin at the end of 2012 at the earliest.

According to the draft, the corps will use the characteristics of Category 5 Hurricanes Camille in 1969 and Betsy in 1965 in identifying the risk faced by New Orleans and the coast.

The draft defines the "Maximum Possible Hurricane," as a fast-moving, compact hurricane very similar to Camille, with maximum sustained winds at landfall of 180 mph, with those maximum winds extending five miles out from the eye, and moving forward at 18 mph.

A second Category 5 storm, similar to Betsy, would have maximum winds of 160 mph extending out 11 miles from the center, and move forward at 11 mph.

Also to be considered are the effects of a storm similar to Hurricane Katrina, which had wind speeds of 127 mph at landfall, a Category 3, but whose maximum winds extended outward 30 miles.

The extent of a hurricane's maximum winds and forward speed helps scientists predict the size of storm surge and waves.

The corps also would consider the effects of smaller storms.

Computer models will send those storms on various paths across the state's coastline to determine the risk for which the protection system should be designed. The corps expects to use between 200 and 300 model runs of various-strength storms to identify needs just in the New Orleans area, with more required for the rest of the state's coastline.

The report says that the corps already is authorized to bring the area's existing levee system to a level that would protect the area from a storm occurring once every 100 years. That's a smaller level of risk, however, than the 1-in-10,000-year risk protection provided by the levee and gate system protecting Holland, or the 935-year event that the Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee in central Florida is designed to withstand.

Until the decision matrix better identifies the risk facing south Louisiana, the report said, "it would be impossible to come to conclusions as to what kind and to what scale such risk reduction works should be recommend(ed) for design and construction."

Hanchey, a 37-year veteran of the corps and former director of its Institute for Water Resources, disagreed.

"To imply in this report that a series of matrices filled in with data will constitute a decision-making process is shortsighted," he said. "It's not something that can or needs to be resolved in a preliminary report."

Also included in the decision matrix would be the need to integrate the hurricane protection system with the federal-state effort to restore the state's coastal wetlands. The wetlands and barrier islands and coastlines, and projects proposed to restore those that have eroded away, can assist in reducing the effects of hurricanes, and thus the requirements for a hurricane protection system.

The plan says the decision matrix will assist in issuing requests for proposals for a design competition for hurricane protection and risk reduction measures.

State officials aren't the only ones concerned about the report. Mark Davis, director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which represents both environmental groups and industry, said the report should contain a clear statement of what the coast will be protected from.

"We understand we're not going to get a soup-to-nuts list of projects here, but if they're putting together a decision matrix, what's the decision we're trying to make?" he asked. "Are we striving for 10,000 years of protection like the Netherlands? Are we striving for a functional cost, with habitat and estuarine protection? Or are we looking for something different?" he said. "If you don't know where you're going, how on earth will you know when you get there?"

Davis said his organization is recommending "nothing less than 1,000 years of protection for our populated areas," combined with sustainable wetlands and barrier islands that will protect fishing and other coastal industries and assist in protecting the larger hurricane protection projects.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Corps releases tropical rainfall inundation maps

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released tropical rainfall inundation maps Friday that depict areas of Orleans East Bank and Jefferson Parish that may have short-term flooding if the area were to experience 3, 6 and 9-inch rainfall over a six-hour period with the interim outfall canal gates closed.

From USACE Update

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Releases Tropical Rainfall Inundation Maps for the Orleans East Bank Area
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released tropical rainfall inundation maps June 30 that depict areas of Orleans East Bank and Jefferson Parish that may have short-term accumulations of interior water if the area were to experience 3-, 6- and 9-inch rainfall over a six-hour period with the interim outfall canal gates closed.

“The good news is that our computer modeling shows that by next June the city of New Orleans will be back to pre-Katrina levels of rainfall inundation in the city after a hurricane or tropical storm,” said Dan Hitchings, director of the Corps’ Task Force Hope. “The city will have storm surge protection at the interim gate closures at the 17 th, Orleans and London canals with full pumping capacity.”

The maps, based on computer modeling, graphically display inundation areas under several scenarios:

pre-Katrina and July 2007;
current (July 2006) interim conditions with available pumps operating and the temporary closure structures (gates) at the mouths of the 17 th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue outfall canals closed;
predicted conditions in September 2006 with the three gates closed and additional pump capacity, and;
predicted conditions in July 2007 with the three gates closed and additional pump capacity.
The three outfall canal gates are designed to protect Orleans East Bank and the canals from Lake Pontchartrain storm surge. The gates will only be closed when lake stage is predicted to exceed five feet, a condition which has only occurred three times in the past 45 years.

The tropical rainfall inundation maps illustrate potential events using averages across a wide area that, in reality, may have considerable variances that impact actual flooding. The maps released today are based upon the most verifiable information currently available.

The Interagency Performance Evaluation Taskforce (IPET) model was used as the basis to generate these maps. The IPET team included more than 150 national and international experts representing 60 different government, university and industry organizations. Some of the nation’s leading engineers were on the IPET team.

“When the outfall canal gates are closed during significant rainfall events, there will be areas within the city with an increased risk of standing interior water for short durations,” said Hitchings. “This situation will continue to improve as additional pumping capacity is brought on line.

“We know that the Corps’ work impacts people’s decisions and peace of mind,” stated Hitchings. “These maps, and others that will follow, are designed to ensure residents have a clear picture about where rainfall inundation risks exist under different forecast conditions and have the chance to prepare accordingly.”

The maps are intended only as a flood control planning tool reflecting current interim conditions and do not contain detailed information about potential flood depths in specific neighborhoods. The maps are not intended for and should not be used for insurance or building construction planning. The Corps has provided similar maps in the past to local, state and federal agencies as an aid in making decisions such as determining the best possible evacuation routes.


To see the ACE flooding maps in TS events click on link below... in the right margin will be three links to PDF files (warning for dialup--they are BIG.. approx. 7mb ea.) with maps AND explanations of possible flooding, pre-Katrina---post-Katrina to July/06 -- and post Katrina end of 06 season.

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/tfg/inundation_maps.htm

[Audrey2Katrina]

FEMA threatens to pull out copters

Fire officials seek emergency funding

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
By Michael Perlstein

Three days ago, New Orleans Fire Department officials thought they had a handshake agreement to extend the loan of two FEMA helicopters that have proven vital in fighting large fires by dropping buckets of water from the sky.

But on Friday afternoon, the department received e-mail notification that the helicopters were pulling out at midnight unless the city covers 10 percent of the cost.

"It's very disappointing based on the way it came to us: on the last day, in the last hour," District Chief Norman Woodridge said at an impromptu news briefing Friday. "I can tell you right now that the New Orleans Fire Department does not have that (money)."


It would cost about $386,000 to extend the use of the helicopters -- Voodoo I and Voodoo II -- until Sept. 3, Woodridge said. With the Fire Department strapped for cash, it has asked the city's Emergency Operations department to lobby for an extension.

FEMA already extended the deadline for the helicopters' departure a couple of times. The most recent extension was granted two months ago, Woodridge said.

FEMA officials could not be reached for comment late Friday.

The airborne firefighting equipment has been used several times a month, with its most recent deployment coming last week. The choppers can drop up to 800 gallons of water in a single flyover, Woodridge said, about the same amount stored on a typical fire engine but dispersed much more slowly by hose.

Woodridge said the threat of removing the helicopters comes at a critical time, with the city battling summer heat, low water pressure and a front-line firefighting force weakened by attrition. And in some still-vacant neighborhoods, firefighters are battling bigger blazes because so few people are around to promptly report them.

"This move will severely hamper fire operations," he said. "It will compromise the safety of firefighters and citizens and also result in loss of property."

Woodridge said Fire Superintendent Charles Parent was given assurances from federal officials Wednesday that the department's latest request for an extension would be granted. The about-face by FEMA came without warning, Woodridge said.

The move was especially disappointing in light of the strong support the department has been receiving from FEMA, Woodridge said. The federal agency continues to provide the city 10 "water tenders," water-carrying tank trucks that can quickly be set up at fire scenes. That equipment will remain and, with the expected loss of the helicopters, could become even more critical, Woodridge said.

"Don't get me wrong, we're very thankful for what FEMA has given us," he said.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Blanco signs public smoking ban

Stand-alone bars, casinos to be exempt from law

Saturday, July 01, 2006 - TP/NOLA.com
By Ed Anderson

BATON ROUGE -- Gov. Kathleen Blanco signed into law Friday a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants and other public places, a measure one restaurant industry official said may be challenged in court.

Without fanfare, Blanco signed Senate Bill 742 by Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia, outlawing smoking in most public buildings -- but not gambling outlets and free-standing bars. The new law bans smoking in bars attached to restaurants, a major source of opposition to the bill during its journey through the Legislature. It takes effect Jan. 1.

In a prepared statement, Blanco said she signed the bill "as a progressive health care measure that will protect people, especially children, from second-hand smoke in public places. It is time that we focus on keeping our citizens and children healthy and encourage wellness."

Blanco had pledged to sign the bill as it made its way through the legislature. But then she held a conference call earlier this week with Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, New Orleans restaurant operators and officials of the Louisiana Restaurant Association to hear last-minute arguments against the measure.

"We kind of expected her to sign it," restaurant association spokesman Tom Weatherly said. "She listened to us but it sounded as though her mind was made up since she had made the public statement" about supporting Marionneaux's bill. Richmond said Thursday that he expected Blanco to sign it.

Weatherly said some restaurant owners have indicated they want to fight the ban in court but no decision has been made. The association's board meets Aug. 6 and the topic of a possible court fight may come up then, he said.

Marionneaux said the industry should drop its opposition because studies in other states have shown that business increased after smoking was banned in restaurants.

Besides banning smoking in restaurants, the bill also prohibits smoking in eating areas of gambling establishments but allows it in the gambling areas. It also allows smoking in prisons until Aug. 15, 2009, to give corrections officials a way to deal with inmates who are rewarded -- or punished -- based on smoking privileges.

Marionneaux's bill bans smoking in offices that employ more than one worker, all public buildings, malls, retail stores, indoor sports arenas, schools and a host of other public buildings.

It would allow smoking in bars and gambling outlets, privately chartered limos, private homes, so-called "cigar bars" and any retail tobacco business.

It also would allow up to 50 percent of hotel rooms to be set aside for smokers, and permits smoking in convention centers used for carnival balls and trade shows not open to the public that are staged by convenience stores and tobacco companies.

Employers would have to post no-smoking signs and remove all ashtrays from their work areas and buildings. Individuals caught smoking could get a $25 fine for a first offense, a $50 fine for a second violation and a $100 fine for subsequent offenses.

Employers who violate the provisions of the proposed law would be fined $100 for a first offense, $250 for a second offense and $500 for later violations.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Judge orders Blanco to come to court

He seeks answers as poor sit in limbo

Saturday, July 01, 2006 - TP/NOLA.com
By Gwen Filosa
Staff writer

The governor is wanted for questioning at Tulane and Broad.

An Orleans Parish judge Friday issued a subpoena for Gov. Kathleen Blanco to appear in his court in late July to discuss the struggling public defender system which, 10 months after levee failures drowned most of New Orleans, has yet to regain enough strength to adequately represent poor suspects.

Judge Arthur Hunter politely ordered Blanco to appear after holding a fact-finding hearing Friday morning over how the cash-strapped and understaffed public defender office in Orleans will manage to represent poor defendants in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Pre-Katrina, the Orleans Parish Indigent Defender program had 70 attorneys, but now has fewer than 30 on board, said Chief Public Defender Tilden Greenbaum. The public defender office in New Orleans runs on a $2.5 million annual budget, of which almost 80 percent came from court fees, a financing formula that Hunter and fellow Judge Calvin Johnson have both ruled is unconstitutional.

Hunter said the problem is so serious that he wants Blanco to appear at a hearing later this month.

Blanco's press office didn't return a call for comment on Friday.


Big gap faced

Blanco persuaded the Legislature to double the money allotted to the statewide Indigent Defender program, to $20 million, but it still must be shared among 41 districts. But officials Friday told Hunter that Orleans isn't likely to receive the $10 million that a federal study said it needs to represent the poor in criminal cases for one year.

"We couldn't give half of our budget to one parish," said Edward Greenlee, director of the Louisiana Indigent Defense Assistance Board.

The public defenders' office in Orleans recently won a $2.8 million federal grant, but the program is still hiring lawyers a few at a time.

A U.S. Department of Justice study recently concluded that the public defender's office in New Orleans needs at least $10 million to operate for a year, hiring 70 full-time attorneys, along with support staff, and getting a computer system to track cases. It also needs a more reliable source of money, the study found.

Hunter and Johnson have argued the way the indigent defender program is financed forces the poor to essentially pay for it.

Almost three-quarters of the Orleans Parish public defender program is paid for by traffic fines and fees, which before the storm amounted to an average of $110,000 a month. In September, the program received nothing, Greenbaum said. Between October and December, the traffic court fines yielded about $10,000 a month, while in January and February, the monthly take was about $50,000.


Trying to regroup

At Friday's hearing, attorney Phil Wittmann said the newly appointed Orleans Parish Indigent Defender Board, of which he is a member, is making strides to repair the public defense program in Orleans.

The board has just hired Ronald Sullivan, a Yale Law School professor and a former director of the Washington, D.C., public defender program, to help organize Orleans' indigent defender office, Wittmann said.

The criminal justice system also now has air conditioning on the first and second floors of the aging House of Detention so that the workspace "is no longer intolerable for public defenders and prosecutors," Wittmann said.

While Orleans Parish Prison remains flood-damaged from the Aug. 29 disaster, the House of Detention is housing most of the 1,600 inmates that Sheriff Marlin Gusman watches over in the 2700 block of Perdido Street.

The criminal courts at Tulane Avenue and South Broad Street reopened June 1 for the first time since Katrina, having worked out of borrowed courtrooms at U.S. District Court for months with no jury trials since August.

The city's first murder trial took place this week, with a jury finding Twdarryl Toney, 23, guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter for a 2004 gunfight at the Guste public housing complex.

Lost in the system

Public defenders on Friday also helped free a New Orleans man trapped in the system without a lawyer or a formal charge for eight months -- more than the maximum jail sentence for one of the misdemeanors he was booked with in October.

Chaka Davis was arrested in mid-October for misdemeanors of carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated assault, Greenbaum said. But his case was never given a number or a folder, and instead he remained locked up until his mother reached the public defender's office Thursday night.

Judge Terry Alarcon on Friday morning freed Davis, who has been at the St. Charles Parish Prison since the days after his October arrest. Davis was one of many detainees at the makeshift jail set up at the Greyhound station off Loyola Avenue in the days after Katrina.

"It's as if he didn't exist," Greenbaum said.

Louisiana law requires that suspects not formally charged within 30 days be released from custody. In felony cases, prosecutors have 60 days in which to charge while a suspect waits in jail.

Alarcon said that Davis is the fifth case he has handled this year of someone arrested post-Katrina and then lost in the system.

"I hope the numbers are dwindling," said Alarcon, who like other judges at Tulane and Broad have searched their dockets for such cases. Alarcon agreed to review Davis' case on Greenbaum's request.

Alarcon said he doesn't know who is to blame for Davis' plight, but wants the system to right itself.

"We have got to quit using Katrina as an excuse," he said.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Landfill is not toxic, say city and La.

But opponents say tests practically useless

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
By Gordon Russell
Staff writer

City and state officials and the operators of a controversial landfill in eastern New Orleans touted the results of new air and water tests Friday that Mayor Ray Nagin said "clearly indicate the landfill is not toxic."

But opponents of the hastily permitted Chef Menteur landfill quickly fired back that the tests were practically useless and proved no such thing.

The two sides have been squabbling for weeks about whether the landfill poses a hazard to the nearby Village de l'Est community, as well as the adjacent Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge.

While testing initially appeared to hold promise as a way of determining whether or not the landfill was benign, the promise wore off amid disagreements about what should be tested and how it should be done. The landfill's opponents, consisting mainly of environmentalists and community members, insisted that the only test worth its salt would be a test of the material in the landfill.

Supporters of the landfill, including regulators from the state Department of Environmental Quality and the operators, Waste Management of Louisiana, rejected that approach, suggesting that piles of debris slated to be taken to the landfill be tested instead.

No agreement was ever reached, and landfill opponents eventually disavowed the process.

The results announced Friday were of water and air samples taken by the city and analyzed by Severn Trent Laboratory in Kenner. Water was tested for nine parameters, and air was tested for 42 contaminants, officials said.

"I'm extremely comfortable that this facility is extremely safe," said Chuck Carr Brown, DEQ assistant secretary. "DEQ is fulfilling its mission."

All of the results, which are available at http://www.deq.louisiana.gov, were "below any health risk levels," DEQ officials said in a news release.

The opposition's response: So what?

"They refused testing of the actual contaminants being brewed in the landfill," said Joel Waltzer, attorney for the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN), a leader in the fight against the landfill. "The brewing takes time, and they know that. To announce to the public that we've proved that this is not toxic based on an air sample and a water sample is bunk science."

"All this proves is that the air and the discharge water are not currently toxic," said Paul Templet, who served as DEQ secretary under Gov. Buddy Roemer and is now a professor at Louisiana State University's School of the Coast and Environment, as well as a member of a panel of experts volunteering its time on the landfill issue on behalf of LEAN. "The landfill itself could easily be toxic. They tested the wrong things."

Referring to the critiques of the water and air testing, Brown shot back: "If they said they didn't need it, why did they ask for it?"

Waltzer responded that his group has been most concerned with testing of the actual material all along. He said city and state officials offered to do air and water testing, and his group suggested ways to do it more effectively. However, most of their ideas were ignored, he said.

For instance, the group suggested testing the liquid, or leachate, running off the face of the landfill, rather than water pooled in a collection pond on the site.

The water that was tested "is just rainwater or non-contact groundwater," said Waltzer's law partner, Robert Wiygul. "The problem is that they would not allow testing or sampling of the leachate. This is like testing your swimming pool and saying that the test shows it's OK to swim in the septic tank."


Closing rejected

Waltzer also expressed disappointment with a meeting Thursday that included DEQ officials, local politicians and community leaders as well as Jonathan Hook of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice and Piyachat Terrell of the White House Initiative on Asian American and Pacific Islanders Affairs. The latter two officials were brought in in part because the community around the landfill is heavily Vietnamese-American.

The two main ideas pitched by the community at the meeting -- closing the landfill until more definitive test results are available, and allowing the City Council to reconsider the landfill's zoning variance -- were rejected by DEQ, Waltzer said.

Brown said there was general agreement at the gathering, however, that the two sides would jointly select "an environmental entity" to study the social, economic and environmental impact of the landfill. Waltzer said community leaders were reluctant to jettison experts whose help they've already solicited.

"This is a very frustrating dance for the community," said Marylee Orr, LEAN director. "It's inconclusive by design. We're not getting answers to the community's questions."

Brown saw it more positively, however.

"I thought the meetings were productive," he said. "I think anytime you have dialogue, it's progress."


Little agreement

That said, it seems Brown and his opponents rarely agree on anything -- even facts that should be scientifically verifiable.

For instance, LEAN on Friday provided an analysis by geologist Paul Kemp of soil borings taken at the site in the early 1990s. Kemp's analysis undercuts previous statements by Brown that the site is lined on the bottom and sides with 15 feet of compacted clay.

Kemp said he found no evidence of such a liner, which, if it exists, would serve to keep liquid from getting into the water table. In fact, the 50-foot borings indicate that the soil at the site is silty and permeable, he said.

"It's not really well set up for containing liquid," Kemp said of his analysis of the site. "Anything you put in that's soluble or liquid will be able to migrate laterally or through the bed."

Waltzer and others have also questioned Brown's contention, saying that the bottom of the landfill, which is in a pit, is often full of water and must be pumped out, even when it hasn't rained in months. The water, they say, is coming up from below.

Brown disagrees, saying the water is rainfall, and its presence in the bottom of the pit is evidence of the impermeability of the clay liner.

"If there's any water in that pit, that's an example of how it's working," Brown said.

He calls Kemp's analysis of the soil "not accurate," and said that Kemp may not have realized that the top 3 to 4 feet of the landfill -- which were silty -- had been excavated since the borings were taken.

"He's just not accurate," Brown said. "The sandy soil he's referring to was excavated. I'd love to speak to him about that."

[Audrey2Katrina]

St. Bernard finances not in crisis

Federal, tax money enough for 2006

Saturday, July 01, 2006 - TP/NOLA.com
By Karen Turni Bazile

After months worrying about the state of the parish's finances, St. Bernard Parish Council members got good news this week: The parish expects enough money this year to pay for reduced services, thanks to additional federal funds and higher than expected tax collections.

Officials said that halfway through the year, their reduced $30 million budget remains on track even though they have nearly spent a $8.9 million federal loan received immediately after Hurricane Katrina. The budget is a 39 percent drop from last year's $49 million.

Still, council members had said in recent weeks that they were worried about how the parish would make ends meet once the federal loan money was gone. But administrators told officials at Thursday's Executive-Finance Committee meeting that the parish was OK financially because they are collecting higher than expected sales taxes and because there are reimbursements coming from FEMA to cover day to day expenses.


"This thing is not as bad as it looks like," Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez said.

Acting Parish Chief Administrative Officer Dave Peralta said the budget figures are askew because the council, in its zeal to adopt a tight streamlined budget to accommodate a diminished parish, allocated too little or too much money for certain departments, and the money now can be shifted in light of changing needs.

For instance, the parish budgeted about $93,000 to run a juvenile detention center, as mandated by state law, Peralta said. However, the facility is not expected to reopen this year. So that money can be used to make up for shortfalls in the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, which already has overspent its year's budget by about 10 percent, Peralta said.

Another department that has been under scrutiny is the Fire Department, which has spent hundreds of thousands in overtime. At the requests of the administration and the council, Fire Chief Thomas Stone recently reorganized personnel schedules to cut overtime expenses by about $60,000 a month, enough to keep in line with the department budget.

"We spent money out of our regular operating budget to cover costs that will be covered by FEMA reimbursements, but those reimbursements have not been received at this time so the budget is out whack," Peralta said.

Because there already is about $1.78 million in reimbursements approved in the pipeline, Peralta said the parish should be able to reconcile its budget shortly.

"We can make it with what we have right now and with what we have from FEMA through (expected) reimbursements. We are well within our budget," Peralta said.

Even though some departments have spent more than they should, the parish is operating with a monthly surplus of about $150,000 to $200,000, Peralta said. They are using the money to deal with some emergencies, such as an anticipated $80,000 expense to fix the air-conditioning system at the parish jail.

The higher than expected sales tax collections, which are coming in at about $250,000 extra per month, are attributed to parish residents buying cars and more retail businesses reopening.

Officials also said the parish could borrow another $8 million in federal money, which would not have to be repaid for five years.

"It could be a safety net if we have to go to it," Peralta said. "But I really don't think we will have to do that." The council has not received a detailed report of the parish expenses, as the administration did not deliver a spending report that was due at Thursday's meeting. In response, the council went into a closed door session to discuss personnel matters regarding employees who were supposed to prepare that documentation.

Peralta promised that the administration will give the council a more detailed financial report in about two weeks.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Teachers union left without contract

School Board lets pact expire, era end

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
By Steve Ritea
Staff writer

Thirty-two years after thousands of New Orleans public school teachers used strikes and walkouts to win the first collective bargaining agreement of its kind in the Deep South, the school board quietly let the union's contract expire Friday, marking the end of an era for what had long been one of the most powerful labor organizations in the city.


Nary a word about the contract, set to expire at midnight Friday , was mentioned during a special board meeting at McDonogh No. 35 High School, where the audience consisted only of a pair of security guards, a reporter and a lone man reading a magazine.

The board's only notable action at the meeting, attended by a bare quorum of members, was to approve a $150,000 annual contract with newly appointed acting Superintendent Darryl Kilbert.

In a prepared statement, United Teachers of New Orleans President Brenda Mitchell said: "For 32 years, we have used (collective bargaining) to improve some of the essential conditions that foster a good academic environment. . . . Collective bargaining is a time-tested, efficient process for employers and employees to discuss their mutual concerns and come to an agreement on how they can provide better services to . . . students and the public, without ignoring, exploiting, or taking advantage of employees."

Mitchell said she still holds out hope for a new contract, despite the board's decision to let it lapse with little or no negotiating.

"We have had an initial meeting to discuss mutual concerns, and further meetings are expected," she said in the statement. "We do not believe that any doors have been closed."

Asked for his reaction to the contract's termination, board member Jimmy Fahrenholtz simply replied: "Good."

The union's recent contracts have given them an advantage at the bargaining table at the expense of school quality, Fahrenholtz said, adding: "In the past it has neither been collective nor in any way bargaining. Now we can sit down and talk as equals."

Noting how last year's state takeover and a flurry of charter applications have left the local district to operate just four campuses compared to 128 before Katrina, board member Lourdes Moran questioned whether collective bargaining -- which gives a union exclusive rights to negotiate most school employees' contracts -- still has a place in the brave new world of public education.

"Why only hold four schools to that contract?" she asked.

In March, the school district fired about 7,500 district employees, saying it no longer had anywhere near that number of jobs or the money to pay them.

The state-run recovery district and the many charters, which together will operate 52 of 56 public schools in the city this coming academic year, are not subject to the union contract.

School board president Phyllis Landrieu said although the union "worked for years to assure teachers equitable pay and benefits," now "we only have four schools." Asked if she thought collective bargaining or union contracts could ever return to the district, Landrieu replied: "Who knows what the future will bring?"

Also Friday, the board approved a contract with Kilbert, a 27-year district veteran, in a 4-0 vote. Board members Cynthia Cade, Heidi Daniels and Torin Sanders did not attend the meeting.

The contract gives Kilbert an annual base salary of $150,000. It also gives the board the option of increasing Kilbert's salary to $160,000 in six months if he "has achieved more than 50 percent of his performance objectives and goals," including:

-- At least 40 percent of fourth-graders, 20 percent of eighth-graders and 30 percent of 10th- and 11th-graders scoring at basic levels or above in math and reading.

-- Increasing the number of graduates by 5 percent and increasing attendance by 1 percent.

-- That Kilbert attend 50 hours of professional development.

If Kilbert's salary is raised to $160,000, it would equal that of outgoing acting Superintendent Ora Watson, whose last day of work was scheduled to be Friday.

Kilbert, who became one of three area superintendents in 2004, when such positions existed, previously made $135,000 a year. The contract also gives him a district vehicle and a gas allowance of $250 a month.

[Audrey2Katrina]

New doctors follow their hearts to N.O.

They can help heal the medical system

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
By John Pope
Staff writer

The freshly minted doctors are bright, they're enthusiastic, and they probably could have gone anywhere for their postgraduate training.

But the 253 men and women who'll start their residencies today chose New Orleans, a city where the medical infrastructure is still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Scores of doctors and nurses have fled. Charity Hospital, the principal teaching institution for generations of Louisiana doctors, is closed and faces an uncertain future. The Charity-based specialties, where the area's poorest residents sought treatment, have been scattered across the state.

Conditions have grown so critical that the federal government has declared the city a medical-shortage area -- hardly a description designed to lure bright fledgling doctors.

Late last year, when local medical institutions should have been busy wooing the next crop of residents, "it dawned on me in the middle of the night: How are we going to recruit house staff? Who's going to want to come?" said Dr. William Pinsky, the Ochsner Health System's chief academic officer.

"It takes a certain amount of courage for people to come here," said Dr. Perry Rigby, director of health care systems at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

Yet they are coming. Representatives of Ochsner and the health sciences centers at Tulane and LSU said they were able to fill their available slots without lowering their standards. In fact, Ochsner has 68 residents, three more than last year, because it added positions.

"Everyone's pretty excited overall," said Dr. Joe Griffin, LSU's chief surgery resident. "They're ready to go to work."

To the new residents, starting a new phase of their careers in this city -- at this time in its history -- is more than just an opportunity to treat sore throats, set bones and deliver babies.

"It's an adventure," said Dr. Nicole Giambrone, an LSU resident in medicine and pediatrics. "How many people can say they were here when the city was rebuilt? How many people can say they helped rebuild the health-system infrastructure?

"You don't know what to expect, but you know whatever it is, it's going to be great."

One factor working in favor of the New Orleans area is that some of the residents here are locals who made a decision to stay home.

Although Giambrone likes the people she'll be working with, she grew up in Metairie and has strong family ties that she felt she couldn't break.

So does Dr. Jagan Gupta, who grew up in eastern New Orleans in a house that took on 8 feet of floodwater. He and his twin brother, Dr. Neel Gupta, grew up in a family of doctors. Both were Phi Beta Kappa graduates of Tulane University and plan to specialize in radiology.

"It's a challenging time," Gupta said. "I was always taught by my parents to stand up to challenges, stand up to adversity. It would be easy to walk away, but I felt a commitment, a responsibility to work in the hospitals and be part of the renaissance."


Not just locals

This enthusiasm wasn't limited to New Orleanians.

"We had kids who wanted to come here," said Joseph Delcarpio, associate dean for student affairs and records at LSU's medical school.

"A lot of them said they saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Dr. Ronald Amedee, associate dean for graduate medical education at Tulane's medical school.

According to conventional wisdom, many residents wind up settling where they do their residencies. If this holds during the next few years, the amount of medical talent should increase locally as the area rebuilds.

But even the most zealous doctor-in-training has to follow rules laid down by the organization that accredits medical programs. These guidelines require that each resident see a certain volume and variety of patients, and that they be supervised by competent teachers at worthy hospitals.

"Our requirements seek to ensure that there is appropriate education in a setting in which high-quality patient care is provided. I'm not sure you can have one without the other," said Ingrid Philibert, director of field activities for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Chicago organization that evaluates and accredits residency programs.

Accomplishing this is "a very delicate balancing act," she said, especially for residency programs in a city that has been struck by a natural disaster unprecedented in its scope.

To meet the council's criteria, residency program organizers had to make adjustments. To make up for the loss of Charity Hospital, they arranged for residents to work in other hospitals, some of which had never been involved with medical education. And because some doctors who once taught residents have left Louisiana, residency slots -- and, in some cases, entire programs -- were put on hold, reducing the number of residents who could be accepted.


Standards kept high

With a lower population and fewer medical facilities, it made sense that the city would have fewer medical residents in the short term.

LSU will have a total of 405 residents, compared with 518 last year. Of that number, 103 are first-year residents, compared with 118 last year.

At Tulane, there will be 365 residents, compared with 525 last year. Ninety are starting out, compared with 150 last year.

"We were very concerned that we were going to have all these residents and not have the facilities to provide them with first-class residencies," Amedee said. "We decided to downsize even before we knew what was going to happen."

Tulane's internal medicine residency program usually draws 500 applicants, said Dr. Jeff Wiese, its director.

But for the residency term starting Saturday, there were 150, with nearly 90 percent from out of state.

"We interviewed about 100 of those," Wiese said. "We stayed with the same admission requirements, which are pretty stringent because we thought it would take a special person. We filled 26 positions with the top 50 on our list."

Among the new residents, medical school leaders said, were honor students from throughout the country, Rhodes scholars, people who have been on international missions, and Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

"They could have gone anywhere they wanted to," Griffin said. "They chose to come to us. It's not like we had to take the bottom of the barrel."

At this point, Amedee said, he feels like a player in a high-stakes poker game.

"I'm sitting with a winning hand," he said, "and I'm proud of the position we're in."

[Audrey2Katrina]

Worried fire officials plan to put damper on fireworks

By Bruce Hamilton 7/1/06 - TP/NOLA.com
St. Tammany bureau

Fire officials throughout the New Orleans area are hoping to defuse plans for personal pyrotechnics through Independence Day as severe drought conditions are inflaming fire concerns.

Firefighters tend to be wary of fireworks under normal circumstances, but conditions are anything but normal this year. The unseasonably dry conditions combined with lingering hurricane debris have turned some communities into virtual tinderboxes.

St. Bernard Parish’s widespread debris and myriad flood-damaged houses, many of which are uninhabited, have the attention of St. Bernard Fire Chief Thomas Stone this holiday weekend.

“We have an extremely heavy fire load,” he said. “We are going to have zero tolerance for fireworks use.”

St. Tammany Parish recently banned the use of all “projectile fireworks” in unincorporated areas, even though their sale is allowed. Violations carry a maximum punishment of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine, and officials are vowing strict enforcement.

“This ban applies to all residents,” Slidell Mayor Ben Morris said. “And we are taking it very seriously.”

It’s illegal to buy, sell or possess fireworks throughout most of the region, including unincorporated Jefferson Parish as well as Orleans, St. Bernard and St. Charles parishes. They are permitted in Gretna and in St. John the Baptist and Plaquemines parishes.

Fire officials encourage residents to attend public displays approved by authorities, which are exempt from blanket prohibitions. For those who light them off at home, caution is the watchword.

“There really are no safe fireworks,” said Chris Kaufmann, Slidell’s fire prevention chief.

George Rigamer, spokesman for the East Jefferson Consilidated Fire Department, said the extremely dry conditions this year mean an amateur display “has the potential for catastrophe.”

Acknowledging people will light fireworks even in places where it’s illegal, such as Kenner, the city’s fire chief, Mike Zito, advised residents to dampen their yards, roofs, boat covers and leftover hurricane debris piles with garden hoses to make them less flammable should an errant rocket land. He said it’s best to wait until after dark to wet things down so the sun won’t quickly dry them out again.

“That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a good way to slow down and stop any embers,” Zito said.

New Orleans Fire Department spokeswoman Pekitha West said outdoor fires are started more on the Fourth of July than on any other holiday.

In St. Tammany, the amount of rainfall recorded at Slidell’s airport last month was .22 inches, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Dana Griffin. That compares with a June average of slightly less than 10 inches in the past six years. By comparison, the June rainfall at Louis Armstrong International Airport was 2.78 inches.

Parish President Kevin Davis imposed the 30-day fireworks ban June 15, prohibiting “the use, discharge or ignition of any and all projectile fireworks” in unincorporated St. Tammany.

A spokeswoman said Davis would revisit the issue if enough rain fell, but the forecast makes lifting the ban unlikely.

St. Tammany’s ban doesn’t forbid the sale of fireworks, but some local dealers had said they feared it would devastate their sales. At the Big Top stand outside Covington along U.S. 190, co-manager Daniel Carter said sales had been slower than in years past.

“It’s not as busy as what it should be,” he said.

But co-manager Peggy Carter said business was brisk nonetheless. She has tallied recent sales of $1,000 per day, but very few locals were buying. “It’s all these out-of-staters,” she said. Contractors and work crews were stocking up for holiday weekends home in other states such as Florida, she said.

“One guy bought $200 worth to take back to Texas,” she said.

On Friday morning, Carter was busy setting up a newly arrived shipment that she had ordered after a rush of customers on the previous night. Boxes with colorful names such as Shotgun Wedding, Happiness Fountain and Star-Spangled Cannon — $28 per box — neatly lined tables under the red-and-white striped tent.

“People are so depressed by Katrina,” she said. “They’re just looking to blow something up to get the release.”

On the other side of the highway, co-owner Stormy Blair said sales were very slow at Loco Joe’s. “I’m hoping for rain, but I think it’s probably going to be too little, too late,” she said. “You’re just going to have years like this. There’s always another year.”

One buyer, Alan Davis of Slidell, said he was unaware of the ban as he collected small items in his basket. “This is just something to hold off Junior until tomorrow,” he said, noting he planned to set off his fireworks at his boat launch, surrounded on all three sides by water.

Blair said buyers were being “very prudent” about the ban and asking “lots of questions about what’s OK and what’s not.” Most sales were non-projectiles, such as sparklers. “I think parents are still trying to let their kids have fun, but they’re being careful about it,” she said.

Children are a particular concern for officials. According to Children’s Hospital, more than 4,000 children 14 and younger are treated in emergency rooms yearly for fireworks-related injuries. “Don’t let your kids play with fireworks, period,” said Sarah Martin, Safe Kids Louisiana’s executive director.

In St. John the Baptist Parish, Civil Defense Director Paul Oncale said he considered banning fireworks because of the drought problems in the state, but ultimately decided against it after the parish received a few days of rain in the past weeks.

Neither Oncale, nor any of the parish’s volunteer fire departments, planned to enact any special protection procedures this year.

The number of fireworks stands in St. John more than doubled in 2006, going from four in 2005 to 10. St. John allows fireworks stands to operate for seven days before the Fourth of July, and requires all owners to maintain occupational licenses and sign permits, according to the parish’s planning and zoning department.

Rachael Matherne of Hammond said that sales at Fireworks City along U.S. 51 have been slow so far because most people wait until the last minute to purchase fireworks.

In St. Charles Parish, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Patrick Yoes said officials are extremely concerned about the use of illegal fireworks this year.

Although a St. Charles Parish ordinance bans the use of fireworks, tradition, and neighboring communities that allow the sale of pyrotechnics, ensure they are prevalent. Yoes said deputies are extremely concerned about fire hazards, and they will issue citations when they respond to calls about fireworks being used.

“It’s a difficult challenge for us, as always, because several of our neighboring parishes sell them,” he said.

Staff writers Allen Powell, Trymaine Lee and Mark Waller contributed to this report.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Corps report will not list specific projects to protect coast

Update on previous story... same date 7/1/06

By Mark Schleifstein TP/NOLA.com
Staff writer

The Army Corps of Engineers, which was directed by Congress to prepare a report on how to protect Louisiana from a Category 5 hurricane, is poised to issue a vaguely-worded document that will not list the specific projects that would be needed to secure the state’s fragile coastline.

The report was to be issued Friday, but the Corps postponed action until July 10 after several heated exchanges with representatives of Gov. Kathleen Blanco who say the Bush administration has inappropriately removed a list of specific projects that Corps engineers had included in the initial draft of the document .

Instead of listing the projects, a draft of the report shown to state officials merely outlined a “decision matrix” the administration would use to decide how to pick projects in the future to protect Louisiana.

In a letter to Major Gen. Don T. Riley Friday, Blanco coastal adviser Sidney Coffee was critical of a White House “policy review (that) resulted in the rewriting of the entire executive summary and much of the report, without consultation with the Corps/State Project Delivery Team.”

U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who authored the language requiring the report, said missing the deadline “would be cause for concern entirely on its own.

“But even more troubling is that this delay appears to be the result of highly unusual attempts” to strip from the report the recommendations of corps engineers.

“We are looking to the Corps to present their best analysis of what steps need to be taken to protect the people, communities and national infrastructure along Louisiana ’s coast – not another policy paper from the Administration,” Landrieu said in a statement.

Corps officials would not comment on the delay. “There will not be a release of the report today,” said New Orleans corps spokesman John Hall. “The document is under review by the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, and that’s all I can say at this point.”

The state and corps have been working on the initial report for about six months in response to a Congressional requirement that the corps produce a fast-track study on how to protect the state from Category 5 hurricanes.

But three weeks ago, the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army sent the state and New Orleans corps office a rewritten version of the report, state officials said.

The rewrite stripped out recommendations jointly made by the corps and the state to ask Congress to authorize the beginning of design work on a barrier plan using larger levees and gates to block storm surge from entering Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, and other major projects, according to Coffee and Department of Natural Resources Deputy Secretary Randy Hanchey.

“The corps and the state at the highest levels had been in agreement on the direction of this report, and now it’s all been pushed back,” Coffee said.

Hanchey said the state had already reluctantly agreed to drop four other projects from the draft when the rewrite was sent down:

*Closing the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet and restoring adjacent wetlands, which had already been required by Congress in a separate supplemental appropriations bill.

*Early authorization of work on the Morganza to Gulf levee system in parts of Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, after the administration argued that the chances of passage of the long-delayed Water Resources Development Act, which also contains the levee project, had improved this year.

*Authorization of several projects to rebuild barrier shorelines in Jefferson, Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes , which also is included in the water bill.

*Authorization of several restoration projects that would protect wetlands in southwestern Louisiana, which must now await money from the Breaux Act trust fund, which pays for smaller restoration projects.

According to a draft version of the rewrite obtained by The Times-Picayune, it instead focuses almost exclusively on setting up a “set of matrices” to provide decisionmakers with information they’ll need to determine how strong a protection system to build.

And it warns that even when the final report is completed in December 2007, Congress will not be presented with recommendations for projects to protect New Orleans and the rest of the state’s coastline.

“It is emphasized that the purpose of the final report is not to recommend a plan to increase hurricane protection or risk reduction,” the draft says. “This initial reconnaissance-level effort will inform decision-making as to whether or not, or what kinds of, structural risk reduction measures should be considered in formal reconnaissance and feasibility studies.”

Coffee said that language is at variance with what she terms the clear direction of Congress in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to expedite the recommendation of a system of protection from larger storms that would be coordinated with restoration efforts and that would be exempt from the corps’ traditional cost-benefit analyses in determining whether it was justified.

“It appears to be an informational report, as opposed to a recommendation for action, and any projects that might be pursued have to follow the normal process of reconnaissance and feasibility studies,” Hanchey said. “If that’s all we get out of this report, if we have to wait two years for that, we could frankly start that process right now with a simple resolution from one of the Congressional committees.”

The draft report says the traditional corps economic justification system would be unlikely to “justify risk reduction measures for storms having the surge characteristics contemplated” by Congress, in part because they “do not consider such non-economic assets as human life.”

Hanchey said under the timelines envisioned in the report, it would take 5 to 7 years following completion of that report before construction on such projects begin, meaning work would begin at the end of 2012 at the soonest.

According to the draft, the corps will use the characteristics of Category 5 Hurricanes Camille in 1969 and Betsy in 1965 in identifying the risk faced by New Orleans and the coast.

The draft defines the “Maximum Possible Hurricane,” as a fast-moving, compact hurricane very similar to Camille, with maximum sustained winds at landfall of 180 mph, with those maximum winds extending 5 miles out from the eye, and moving forward at 18 mph.

A second Category 5 storm, similar to Betsy, would have maximum winds of 160 mph extending out 11 miles from the center, and move forward at 11 mph.

Also to be considered are the effects of a storm similar to Hurricane Katrina, which had wind speeds of 127 mph at landfall, a Category 3, but whose maximum winds extended outward 30 miles.

The extent of maximum winds and forward speed help scientists predict the size of storm surge and waves that would be generated by the hurricanes.

The corps would also consider the effects of smaller storms.

Computer models will send those storms on various paths across the state’s coastline to determine the risk for which the protection system should be designed. The corps expects to use between 200 and 300 model runs of various strength storms to identify needs just in the New Orleans area, with more required for the rest of the state’s coastline.

The report says that the corps already is authorized to bring the area’s existing levee system to a level that would protect the area from a storm occurring once every 100 years. That’s a smaller level of risk, however, than the 1 in 10,000 year risk protection provided by the levee and gate system protecting Holland, or the 935-year event that the Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee in central Florida is designed to withstand.

Until the decision matrix better identifies the risk facing south Louisiana, the report said, “it would be impossible to come to conclusions as to what kind and to what scale such risk reduction works should be recommend(ed) for design and construction.”

Hanchey, himself a 37-year veteran of the corps and former director of its Institute for Water Resources, disagreed.

“To imply in this report that a series of matrices filled in with data will constitute a decision-making process is shortsighted,” he said. “It’s not something that can or needs to be resolved in a preliminary report.”

Also included in the decision matrix would be the need to integrate the hurricane protection system with the federal-state effort to restore the state’s coastal wetlands. The existing wetlands and barrier islands and coastlines, and projects proposed to restore those that have eroded away, can assist in reducing the effects of hurricanes, and thus the requirements for hurricane protection system.

The plan says the decision matrix will assist in issuing requests for proposals for a design competition for hurricane protection and risk reduction measures.

State officials aren’t the only ones concerned about the report. Mark Davis, director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, which represents both environmental groups and industry, said the report should contain a clear statement of what the coast will be protected from.

“We understand we’re not going to get a soup-to-nuts list of projects here, but if they’re putting together a decision matrix, what’s the decision we’re trying to make?” he asked. “Are we striving for 10,000 years of protection like the Netherlands? Are we striving for a functional cost, with habitat and estuarine protection? Or are we looking for something different?” he said. “If you don’t know where you’re going, how on earth will you know when you get there.”

Davis said his organization is recommending “nothing less than 1,000 years of protection for our populated areas,’ combined with sustainable wetlands and barrier islands that will protect fishing and other coastal industries and assist in protecting the larger hurricane protection projects.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Burglar pilfers police uniforms

By Michelle Hunter 7/1/06 TP-NOLA.com
East Jefferson bureau

Authorities are on the lookout for a thief with a penchant for police uniforms.

While a Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff was on duty patrolling on the West Bank, a burglar broke into his Metairie home sometime between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Col. John Fortunato said.

The thief stole several of the deputy’s uniforms, as well as a few of the older, light blue New Orleans Police Department uniforms that belonged to one of the deputy’s relatives. The thief also took badges and name tags. New Orleans police switched to midnight blue uniforms in February.

Also taken from the house in the 3900 block of Bissonet Drive were three firearms and other personal property, Fortunato said.

Investigators weren’t sure if the burglar intends to use the uniforms to impersonate an officer. But Fortunato said the department wanted to make the public aware of the thefts and urge anyone with information about the crime to contact authorities.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact Sgt. Martin Dunn of the Sheriff’s Office burglary division at (504) 364-5300. The public also can also call Crimestoppers at 822-1111 or toll free at 1 (877) 903-7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify and can earn up to $2,500 for tips that lead to an indictment.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Cops corral mental patients

Mystery of 1-10 "Streaker" solved: <personal note>

By Michael Perlstein - 7/1/06 TP/NOLA.com
Staff writer

The New Orleans Police Department had a busy Friday afternoon, subduing two mental patients in unrelated incidents on opposite sides of the city, one of which required SWAT officers to use a Taser stun gun to subdue a man who had a knife.

The first case unfolded about 2 p.m., when 43-year-old Percy Matthews entered a lounge in the 1200 block of Eagle Street in the Riverbend area and began harassing customers, Capt. John Bryson said. The manager was able to convince Matthews to leave, but once outside, Matthews began throwing bricks and threatening passers-by with a knife.

Second District officers were called to the scene and found that Matthews had retreated into a house on the same block. Thinking that Matthews could have a hostage, the SWAT unit responded and subdued the agitated suspect with a single high-voltage jolt from the stun gun, Bryson said. There was no hostage, he said.

Matthews fell instantly upon being Tased, and suffered a minor bump on the head. He was taken to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation, Bryson said, and will be booked with appropriate charges upon release.

“We’ve dealt with him in the past,” Bryson said. “He’s a known character and some of our encounters have been violent.”

As soon as the Eagle Street scene wrapped up, 7th District police responded to a mentally ill man who was walking naked on Interstate 10 in eastern New Orleans, police said.
About 3 p.m., officers responded to a call of a naked pedestrian near the Morrison Avenue exit and found the despondent man meandering on the busy thoroughfare. By the time they arrived, a pedestrian had already tried unsuccessfully to corral him to safety, NOPD spokesman Gary Flot said.

Police tried to approach the unidentified man, who had become increasingly aggressive.

The officers called for backup. Once a few more officers arrived, they were able to “scoop him up,” handcuff him and get him in a police cruiser bound for a local hospital, Flot said.

“He probably wasn’t taking his medicine,” Flot said. “It’s good that officers were able to intervene and stop him when they did. They were able to get to this individual before he injured himself or anyone else.”

There were no injuries, Flot said.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Demolished home debris catches fire

St. Bernard calls for faster trash pickup

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
Karen Turni Bazile
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

The debris of a demolished house caught fire in St. Bernard Parish this week, sparking calls by officials for speedy federal approval of a plan to let the groups demolishing the homes for free to get the trash cleared.

The free demolitions by the Christian Contractors Association were stopped about a week ago because environmental regulators were concerned about how volunteers were handling hazardous household wastes -- such as fluorescent light bulbs and Freon from air-conditioning systems -- during demolitions.

The group, which is demolishing homes at no cost to the parish or homeowners, has knocked down 310 homes so far, with more than 4,000 more on its list. A government contractor being paid by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Unified Recovery Group, is also demolishing houses and has knocked down 616 homes.

But because the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not agreed to pay Unified to remove the debris of the houses demolished by the volunteer group. FEMA says it first needs written approval of the Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Environmental Quality; the debris is piling up. On Wednesday night, one of the 250 piles of debris from homes knocked down by the volunteer group caught fire.

Authorities don't know if it was spontaneous combustion or intentionally set, but Fire Chief Thomas Stone said the fire at 2324 Esteban St. took nine firefighters more than four hours to extinguish.

"It's almost like a landfill fire," he said. "You have to be able to turn the debris to effectively get the water to extinguish it."

Stone said there was a propane tank and an oxygen cylinder at the site that didn't blow up, but the relief valves went off, releasing their contents and intensifying the fire.

No one was injured and the nearest trailer was far enough away to avoid damage.

Stone said the fires in debris piles and gutted homes can spread very easily.

"Now it's out in the open. We have drought conditions and we have all these open structures," Stone said. "We are having rapid burning fires that often spread to three houses."

Stone said the fire department in June fought 14 structure fires and 32 debris and trash fires.

"I'm hoping somebody moves quickly to give them approval" to remove the debris so it is not a fire hazard, Stone said.

The issue was thought to have been ironed out last week after a meeting between state and federal environmental officials and a representative of the Christin Contractors Association. During that meeting, Robert McKee of the Christian Contractors said the group would make an inventory of the wastes pulled from the homes it tears down.

"It was supposed to be resolved last Thursday," a frustrated Councilman Mark Madary said. "So once again, a federal regulatory agency is hindering the speedy recovery of St. Bernard. Aggravating the health hazard (of damaged homes) is a careless disregard by a government agency that is supposed to respond to the needs of a community it is supposed to serving."

Kevin Harbin, a FEMA representative handling debris collection in St. Bernard Parish, said Friday that FEMA had received a letter from DEQ verifying that the Christian Contractors' demolitions are environmentally sound. He said the agency is now awaiting a similar letter from the EPA before it would agree to pay for debris pickup from the group's demolitions.

"We're waiting for direction from our legal department," he said.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Millions added to St. Charles surplus

Tax revenue jumps as business booms

Saturday, July 01, 2006 TP/NOLA.com
By Matt Scallan
River Parishes bureau

St. Charles Parish's cash reserves grew by nearly $6 million in 2005, despite -- and because of -- Hurricane Katrina, according to the parish government's 2005 audit.

The audit said the parish's general fund surplus grew from $16.3 million on Jan. 1, 2005, to $22 million at year's end.

Although $2.2 million of the total was a private contribution for construction of the Bayou Trapagnier pump station in Norco, the parish's total sales tax revenue grew by $4 million and property tax revenue shot up $608,000.

The sales tax increase was boosted by a $1 million settlement with a business in the parish after an audit of purchases, but the rest of the increase was due to booming business in the parish as industries made repairs and customers jammed businesses after Katrina, which dealt St. Charles a glancing blow, while heavily damaging communities to the east.

The flood of construction workers and contractors made their presence felt in video poker revenue, which jumped from $304,000 in 2004 to $406,000 last year.

In all, the parish took in $67 million in revenue and spent $53.4 million during the year, compared to $50 million in revenue and $60 million in spending in 2004. The 2004 deficit was the result of construction projects, including the $8 million Bayou Trapagnier pump station and road improvements. The money was taken out of the surplus.


Mistakes detected

The audit for 2005, released Thursday, also shows that the parish spent $8 million on post-Katrina cleanup and operations, and was reimbursed $7.9 million by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Auditors criticized some aspects of the parish's requests for reimbursement, saying that workers had double-billed the agency for cleanup expenses covered by insurance and in other cases had improperly applied FEMA's reimbursement schedules for equipment.

Parish Finance Director Lorrie Toups said in some cases, parish officials made mistakes after the storm when filing the application for reimbursement for labor and equipment used in the cleanup. Those errors totaled $17,165, according to the auditors, Stagni & Co. of Thibodaux.

"There was a lot of confusion right after Katrina. It was a very stressful situation," Toups said, adding that the errors in the FEMA application total less than 1 percent of the money that the parish received.

In another instance, the auditors said, the parish billed FEMA for $74,324 in cleanup costs by Quality Janitorial Service in the days after Katrina. That cost was covered by the parish's insurance. Toups said FEMA officials told the parish that the agency wanted it to submit all bills, including those covered by insurance, so the agency could review the entire cost of cleanup.

"It's just a matter of us getting that in writing from FEMA," she said.

The Luling company cleaned up water damage in the parish courthouse after the building's roof was damaged in the storm, according to invoices submitted by the firm.

Elsewhere in the audit, revenue from property taxes rose only about 3 percent to $17.6 million, even though many homeowners saw significant increases in their 2004 bills because of a state-mandated reassessment.


Revisiting pay issue

The extra revenue is certain to cause parish employees to demand that merit raises, which were suspended for 2006 in Katrina's aftermath, be reinstated when the council takes up the 2007 budget in the fall.

"We're certainly going to ask for that," said Rochelle Johnson, an administrative aide in the Water Department who made a similar request to the Parish Council last year.

Parish employees got a 3.5-percent cost-of-living increase, and also are eligible for merit raises, which can total up to an additional 4 percent, depending on the employees' evaluation. Employees who reach the top of their civil service pay scale are no longer eligible for merit raises, but delaying that ascent through the pay scale can cost employees tens of thousands of dollars over the course of their careers with the parish, Johnson said.

"They give you the incentive to go the extra mile, and we did after Katrina," Johnson said. "We had already earned those raises when they were taken away."

Parish spokesman Steve Sirmon said the council suspended the raises because of financial uncertainty after Katrina.

Awarding them would have cost the parish $350,000, at a time when health insurance premiums were climbing by the same amount, according to Toups' figures. The parish expects to pay an additional $370,000 increase in health insurance this year as well, she said.

Parish President Albert Laque is looking at the parish finances to see if it will be possible to give the raises, Sirmon said. "We got extra sales tax money this year, but we don't know whether it was just a blip or not," he said.