New Orleans: A Bowl of Distinction

http://www.zonbu.com/learn/demo.htm

“The founders said that the PC had received the highest certification possible from the Green Electronics Council, a nonprofit group that has created a product classification standard known as Epeat (for Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool).” (07/15/07) Read more  

“…amazingly as simple to use as a Mac… this machine syncs, swaps, and backs up your data automatically, over the wire. I love it.” (05/23/07) Read more  

“A $99 PC with up to 100GB of storage, a small footprint, and the ability to play your multimedia files? That’s pretty hard to believe, but the Zonbu PC pulls it off.” (05/24/07) Read more  

“I’ve been using it for weeks as my primary customer service machine, and it delivers as promised. It uses little power, and has a complete set of applications for $99, period.” (07/16/07) Read more  

“I really think this may be the perfect solution for setting up a pretty indestructible computer for my kids. [...] I may pick up one of these for the kids, and then one as a kitchen internet station.” (05/25/07) Read more  

“Zonbu is basically telling consumers that it’ll take any hardware repairs, software installations, updates and upgrades, configurations, data backups, disk defragmentation, virus and spyware checks, data migration and system corruption recovery off their hands, proposition that’s got to appeal to the average Joe considering it’s also cheap.” (07/23/07) Read more  

“So what do you think? For grandma, a school kid, or someone that needs just the basics, I think this is the best idea anyone could have had.” (05/29/07) Read more  

“Given how fast people go through PCs, this is a great idea - much more affordable, and upgradeable, and with far less environmental consequence.” (07/17/07) Read more  

“And for you greenies, remember, this baby uses just 10 watts while a standard PC uses 200 watts, and it has EPEAT Gold status for being made entirely out of earth-friendly materials. Put that in Al Gore’s pipe and smoke it.” (07/17/07) Read more  

“Depending on your current set-up, using a Zonbu could save you more in utilities than you’ll be paying for the subscription. An excellent enticement.” (05/08/07) Read more  

“I think that the use of Amazons S3 servers is a fantastic idea.” (05/23/07) Read more  

“The ideal buyer is going to be an undemanding user who is tired of dealing with spyware and viruses and simply wants to surf the Internet without problems. Considering the low starting price, it could be great for a number of different applications - if you are a beginner or not.” (07/16/07)

http://www.zonbu.com/learn/demo.htm

Louisiana provides a tax credit for the purchase and installation of solar and wind energy systems purchased and installed on or after January 1, 2008. The credit can be applied to either personal, corporate or franchise taxes, depending on the entity which owns the property, but the system must be installed at either a residence or a residential rental apartment complex to be eligible. The tax credit can be applied to both solar electric systems (PV) and solar thermal systems where the energy is used for space heating, space cooling, or water heating.  
 
The amount of the credit is equal to 50% of the first $25,000 of the cost of the system, including installation costs. The credit must be fully claimed in the taxable year in which the system is installed and placed in service. Any excess credit which exceeds the taxpayer’s liabilities for that year shall be treated as an overpayment, and the Department of Revenue will issue a refund for the remaining amount within one year of receiving the claim.  
 
This tax credit may be combined with any federal tax incentive, but can not be combined with any other state tax incentive.  

NEW ORLEANS, July 30 (UPI) — New Orleans has received a $200,000 grant to make solar energy and other renewable technologies more affordable.

The Crescent City received the grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The New Orleans Office of Recovery Management is incorporating solar energy into its planning after the city was named one of 13 Solar America Cities for 2007, New Orleans CityBusiness reported.

The Energy Department’s Solar America Initiative is providing $2.5 million and planning advice for chosen cities.

The New Orleans grant is based on a 50 percent match from the Office of Recovery Management for a total $400,000 to include solar energy in rebuilding plans, said ORM Director Ed Blakely.

“We have a requirement to do this because it’s a part of (the Unified New Orleans Plan) to look at smarter and greener technology,” said Blakely. “We will look at possible new (solar) projects in all 17 recovery target areas. There’s so many different avenues in solar power, which is why we have the grant to study it.”

Officials say first city planners will have to determine how city building, permitting and zoning codes address use of solar panels.

“The real thrust of this grant is market penetration, both of consumers and commercial,” said Forest Bradley-Wright, sustainable rebuild coordinator for the non-profit Alliance for Affordable Energy. “It’s establishing a toehold for the solar industry to take shape.”

NOPL is stepping into the future of library services with downloadable audiobooks and eBooks from OverDrive, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, funded by the New Orleans Public Library Foundation. Patrons of NOPL can access the digital site from a link on the library’s website, http://nutrias.org.

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July 29, 2007

The Arena Bowl Lands in New Orleans

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

July is not the kindest month for New Orleans.

With temperatures in the 90s and humidity at the saturation point, the tourist crop, which means so much to the city, thins out.

That is why there is excitement in the city about today’s ArenaBowl that goes far beyond sports fans.

“It’s a great piece of business for New Orleans at a very slow time for our hospitality business,” Jay Cicero of the New Orleans Sports Foundation said.

For a city that has raked in big paydays with the Super Bowl (about $290 million) and the N.C.A.A. Final Four (about $100 million), the estimated $15 million in spending the ArenaBowl is expected to yield seems small.

But Cicero said cash was only part of the payoff, and that the exposure that came from playing host to a league championship was very important.

“There will be national and international broadcasts associated with it,” he said. “And that keeps New Orleans in the spotlight when we need it.”

The Arena Football League asked to get out of the third year of its three-year contract with Las Vegas so it could move the championship game to New Orleans, showing solidarity with the local Arena League team, the VooDoo, and helping the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

The VooDoo suspended operations for the 2006 season because of damage to the city and the New Orleans Arena, where it plays, from the Aug. 29, 2005, storm. It was then that the Arena Football League’s board of directors met and unanimously agreed that it would hold its championship game in the Crescent City when it was “economically and logistically feasible.”

The VooDoo returned this season and set a league record by becoming the first team in the league’s 21-year history to sell out its season tickets.

In today’s ArenaBowl, the Columbus Destroyers and the San Jose SaberCats will square off on the VooDoo’s home field in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd.

It is the first sellout of a neutral site for the Arena Football League’s championship game, with the tickets snapped up almost nine weeks ago.

The 2005 game drew 10,822 fans, and the 2006 ArenaBowl had a crowd of 13,476. The New Orleans Arena has a capacity of 16,021 but will need some reconfiguring for the game.

Because of the small allotment of tickets to the teams playing the game, most of the fans will be local, said Mary Beth Romig, a spokeswoman for the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau. But she said the impact would be greater than expected.

“It puts a few heads in beds,” Romig said. “But it also brings the city corporate exposure, and the league is really doing some fantastic things around town.”

Mitsubishi Motors was to sponsor a concert last night with the Rebirth Brass Band and Styx.

Additionally, players built a playground at an elementary school and staged a mascot exhibition.

“I don’t know what the bottom line is,” Bill Curl, a spokesman for the New Orleans Arena, said. “I can’t tell if it’s lucrative, but it sure is important.

“This game re-establishes New Orleans’s reputation as a championship city. This is the first major team championship in New Orleans since Katrina.”

NEW ORLEANS — Groundbreaking is expected October First on a cancer center that could become an important part of New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina economy. Officials said they envisioned the center as a place to treat cancer, as well as research and teach about it. The partners in the center are the health sciences centers of Louisiana State and Tulane universities, plus Xavier University. Steven Moye, president of the organization behind the Louisiana Cancer Research Center, said the planned 10-story center is expected to open in 2010, with about 300 employees. Moye said it is expected to cost about $94 million to build the center, and the state Legislature recently approved money for the work.The LSU Board of Supervisors said it would be asked to approve leasing land for the center.

From wdsu.com

The meeting place will be Orleans Ave

and The Bayou  - please arrive no later

than 7PM THIS THURSDAY August 2nd.

We will walk down Orleans, across Dupre

to Grand Route St. John,

and finish at Stallings. (from Sandy Cohen)

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Click here for more using Adobe PDF.

Nestled among the stately homes of Esplanade Avenue, a secret garden awaits.   Waiting for people who need a respite from the accelerated pace of modern life.   This garden is actually a triangular park.   Mystery Street runs along one side.   Visit Fortier Park where Mystery Street runs but people relax.   Shh, it’s a secret.  http://tinyurl.com/2xfkxy

Air traffic control service to resume at smaller New Orleans airport

The Associated Press

Published: July 25, 2007

NEW ORLEANS: For the first time since Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, permanent air traffic control service is set to resume at New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport, officials said Wednesday.

Service at the airport, which is nearer downtown than the region’s main Louis Armstrong New Orleans International airport, is set to be limited. Workers will initially be on radios and cell phones rather than the radar equipment in place before the August 2005 storm, said C.W. Baker, president of the local National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Federal aviation officials hope to have the tower operations back to pre-Katrina levels, with radar coverage and landline telephones, by the beginning of next year, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, Roland Herwig, said.

Lakefront Airport has long been favored by business executives, celebrities and politicians.

It has been operating without a functioning air traffic control tower since Katrina, except for a brief period during the Sugar Bowl football game, when a temporary tower was brought in.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/25/america/NA-GEN-US-Katrina-Air-Tower.php

In post-Katrina New Orleans, a project with northwest roots is making its mark on the rebuilding effort.

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Tulane is the only major research university in the country that has public service as an integrated component of the undergraduate experience.

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STOLEN FROM DRIVEWAY IN MID-CITY ON JULY 21

Recovered by NOPD on July 24th on Dixon Street off Airline Highway.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

Posted: 7/18/07

Rebuilding hearts, homes in New Orleans

Abby Nadeau
On August 29, 2005 one of the deadliest hurricanes hit the United States. Approximately 1836 people lost their lives and millions lost their homes. Over the last two years volunteers have been traveling to New Orleans to help with the clean-up of over $81.2 billion dollars worth of damage.  

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From the Toronto Star 

New Orleans conference hopes that cocktails ape the recent renaissance of wine, beer and coffee

Jul 22, 2007 04:30 AM

Christine Sismondo
Special to the Star
New Orleans–”Having a cocktail just to get drunk is just like having sex just to get pregnant.”

So says Robert Hess, a self-described cocktail evangelist from Seattle, who’s spending most of this week in New Orleans trying to advance this point of view at Tales of the Cocktail, a five-day conference and festival held annually in New Orleans, and ending today.

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Calling Jews to New Orleans

Hoping to repopulate a dwindling Jewish community, leaders appeal across the country to help heal the city. They also offer cash incentives.

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A New Order of Business ‘Geography of the economy’ changing in New Orleans area

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Burke blows the roof off post-Katrina New Orleans

By BRUCE DESILVA
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dave Robicheaux, the hero of the brilliant crime novels by James Lee Burke, has always been an angry lawman, but rarely have we seen him in such a murderous rage.The city he loves has been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, and for this he blames both “the homegrown parasites that have sucked the life out of Louisiana for generations” and the callous indifference of every president of the United States since Ronald Reagan.

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Most New Orleans assessments likely to increase

By Gordon Russell
Staff writer

New Orleans’ seven assessors are putting the final touches on a new property tax roll that could bring homeowners a bit of sticker shock.

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Area men aid businesses in New Orleans

by TIM HARE

Ledger Staff Writer

New Orleans may be renowned for its unique ambience, courtesy of its flavorful food, jubilant music, colorful social scene, and other distinctive attributes of the town known as “The Big Easy.” But like any community, it depends upon more mundane elements such as efficient delivery of goods and services, to properly function as a city.

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From the New Yorker Magazine  

June 1, 2007

What It Means

The final New Orleans experience I will record in this journal is, fittingly, one of exile. I’m on the outskirts of Houston, stuck in a sterile motel room and pining for the rich, convoluted streets of the Crescent City. The soaring expanses of freeway disorient me; my eyes haven’t focussed on anything farther away than a few blocks in a long time. And, instead of looking at peeling multicolored shotgun houses with oddly dressed people sitting on their porches and others walking dogs in the street, my eye falls on the featureless beige wall of a Best Buy and the acres of parking around Sam’s Club.       

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New Orleans begins to make a comeback
By Deroy Murdock
Saturday, July 21, 2007NEW ORLEANS - Riding through this hurricane-hammered city a little shy of two years since Katrina lashed it, things are looking up. My friend Randy Boudreaux, whose family arrived here about 1760, takes me on a magical misery tour of neighborhoods that were wind-blown and waterlogged in “The Storm,” as locals call it.

July 19, 2007

Absolut raises glass for New Orleans

By Theresa Howard, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Absolut Vodka is creating a special-edition flavored vodka
to honor New Orleans, and the proceeds will go to Gulf Coast
charities, the company announced Wednesday.
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Local author and artist, Patricia Grace,
wrote a child’s book called The Wise Sophia.

You can see a film about the book here:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/katrinafilm/videos/11/

It may take a couple of minutes to load but I think you’ll

find it is worth the wait!

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20070702k

Like we just don’t care? Pt. I
By Edmund W. Lewis, Editor
July 2, 2007

There’s a commonly used hip-hop song hook that gets crowds hyped by
imploring them to:

“Throw your hands in the air, and wave ‘em like you just don’t care.”
You hear it at concerts, house parties, picnics and wedding
receptions. Anywhere that a crowd might gather to party and
socialize.    To read the rest of this article in MS Word format click here.                          

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Maps of the period show that the Magnolia Garden bridge was the
bayou’s only span until completion of the Esplanade Avenue bridge
about 1856.

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June 24, 2007

A short film of yesterday’s
ceremony on the bayou is here:

http://www.viddler.com/explore/katrinafilm/videos/5

June 1st, 2007

Fair Grinds Coffeehouse is located at 3133 Ponce de Leon in New
Orleans. Just off Esplanade and a few blocks from the New Orleans
Museum of Art, Fair Grinds Coffeehouse offers the premier coffeehouse
experience. Worth the ride from anywhere.

http://www.katrinafilm.com/fairgrinds.wmv

or you can see it on “you tube” at:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7FzPzWPww

May 29, 2007

From the City Business website:

City Park to receive $8.6M for Katrina repairs

NEW ORLEANS - Nearly $9 million from the federal government will be
announced at a City Park rebirth press conference 10 a.m. Wednesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has obligated $8.6 million
to repair damages to the park caused by Hurricane Katrina. Officials
said the funding announcement is another milestone in the park’s
recovery.

Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu; Bob Becker, CEO of City Park; Jim Stark,
FEMA director of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office; and
Angele Davis, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Culture,
Recreation and Tourism, are expected to attend and discuss the
park’s comeback.

Since Katrina, local and national businesses and organizations have
joined thousands of volunteers and the park’s staff to help in
restoration projects.

Landrieu has asked the Louisiana Bond Commission to approve $6.2
million for the park’s golf complex and worked with Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco and the Legislature to appropriate general and
capital outlay funds to speed the park’s recovery.

Since Katrina, legislation has been passed to place City Park in the
Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. The park has also
raised $9 million in private donations, which helped early recovery
projects.

The announcement will be made at the park’s carousel.•

Jared Zeller of the Mothership Foundation
and his group of approximately 25 dedicated
volunteers orchestrated the second annual
Bayou Boogaloo.

Conservative estimates put the attendance
over 10,000. Even the staunchest curmudgeon
would use the term “wildly successful” when
referring to this year’s Bayou Boogaloo.

The film below is formatted so both users
of MACs and PCs can view it. Check it out:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5OgpQEojK7k

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out
to attend this year’s Bayou Boogaloo. The
proceeds go to help rebuild Comiskey Park.

Slot Machines

Obscure committee monitors slots’ impact
Monday, April 30, 2007
By Bruce Eggler (Times Picayune)

It’s difficult to predict what issues will generate squabbles
among New Orleans City Council members.

At the council’s most recent meeting, one such issue turned
out to be the composition of an obscure committee with very
little power.

The spat pitted Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell against
Councilwoman Shelley Midura. It was not the first time the
two have clashed, but in this case there was a third, unseen
party to the dispute: former Councilman Jay Batt, whom Midura
defeated last year.

When the council voted in 2005 to authorize the Fair Grounds’
owners, Churchill Downs, to install hundreds of slot machines
at the race track, it also voted to create a citizens advisory
committee to work with the Fair Grounds management.

The committee was supposed to monitor whether the track is
complying with all the restrictions the council imposed to
try to limit the slots operation’s impact on surrounding
neighborhoods.

After months of heated debate in the community and a final
seven-hour discussion in the council chamber, the council voted
unanimously in June 2005 to authorize installation of the slot
machines.

The final compromise — crafted by Batt, whose district included
the track, and other council members — included creation of the
advisory committee, but who was to appoint the committee’s members
was not spelled out in the zoning petitions the council approved
in June 2005.

Two months later, and 11 days before Hurricane Katrina hit the
city, the council unanimously passed ordinances giving the earlier
actions the force of law.

Those ordinances said the advisory committee would have nine
members, including three neighborhood representatives appointed
by the District A council member, who at the time was Batt; a
staff representative from the District A member’s office; one
member each representing the mayor and each of the two at-large
council members; and one member each from the Fair Grounds and
the Police Department.

The committee was to meet quarterly to consider any alleged
violations of provisos covering issues such as hours of operation
of the slots, police patrols of surrounding neighborhoods, and
landscaping, fencing, lighting and signage at the track.

This month the Fair Grounds was back before the council for
approval of some amendments to the 2005 ordinances. But what was
expected to be routine approval of the proposals was interrupted
when Hedge-Morrell offered an amendment changing the committee’s
composition.

Instead of three neighborhood representatives from District A,
she proposed having one each from Districts A, C and D.

Hedge-Morrell, who represents D, said parts of Districts C and D
are near the track and are strongly affected by what occurs there.
She said that during discussions leading to the 2005 compromise,
she was assured that all three districts would be represented on
the committee.

Although Hedge-Morrell voted for the 2005 ordinances, introduced
by Batt, that allotted all the neighborhood representatives to
District A, she intimated this month that Midura was trying to
renege on the 2005 agreement ensuring all three districts would
have representation.

Midura protested that Hedge-Morrell had not consulted her in
advance about the issue. Saying the Fair Grounds is entirely
inside her district, Midura said it was “very inappropriate”
to introduce such an amendment without prior discussion with
the district member and that Hedge-Morrell’s action
showed “tremendous disrespect to District A.”

Councilman Arnie Fielkow then proposed a compromise: Expand
the committee by two members, keeping the three representatives
from District A and adding one each from C and D.

After another brief flare-up between Midura and Hedge-Morrell
over whether that amendment had to be put in writing, everyone
agreed to the compromise, and it was approved 6-0.

If the dispute had involved two other council members, it might
well have been worked out beforehand, with no public arguing.
But Midura and Hedge-Morrell have clashed before, most recently
in March, when Hedge-Morrell objected to some provisions of a
Midura-sponsored ordinance requiring that swimming pools at
uninhabited homes be fenced or filled in to protect children.

When council President Oliver Thomas suggested briefly deferring
a vote, Midura declared she would not be responsible for children
who drowned in the meantime. Hedge-Morrell apparently took the
comment as an attack on her.

The dispute at this month’s meeting almost obscured the impact
of the basic amendments to the 2005 ordinances.

The amendments approve Churchill Downs’ plans to build a 130-bed
dormitory for backside track workers and to temporarily install
250 slot machines in the track’s off-track betting facility. Upon
completion of a permanent building to house the slots, expected in
2008 and to be located at the southeast corner of the grandstand,
the off-track building will be turned into administrative offices.

When the council in 2005 approved Churchill’s plans to install 700
slot machines at the Fair Grounds and to construct a 33,000-square-
foot building to house them, it also required the company to invest
at least $4 million in capital improvements to the track’s backside
area.

The two-story dormitory will replace temporary trailers where stable
workers now live. Track President Randy Soth said the dorm will be
used only during the racing season and will not result in an
increase in the number of workers living at the track. Soth said
Churchill needs to improve living conditions in the stable area to
make the Fair Grounds more attractive to horse owners nationally.

Would it not make sense to have turbines
in the river as a backup to Entergy?  It
also might make negotiations with Entergy
more interesting if the City owned the
electricity producing turbines in the river.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18567/

Monday, April 23, 2007
Tidal Turbines Help Light Up Manhattan
Turbines are being submerged in the East River to generate electricity from rapid tidal currents.
By Peter Fairley
Working from barges and tugboats off New York City’s Roosevelt Island, engineers are battling northeasters and this month’s heavy spring tides to install the first major tidal-power project in the United States. The project involves a set of six submerged turbines that are designed to capture energy from the East River’s tidal currents. The three-bladed turbines, which are five meters in diameter and resemble wind turbines, are made by Verdant Power of Arlington, VA.

Thanks to lessons learned by wind turbine designers, tidal power is already economically competitive, producing electricity at prices similar to wind power, according to feasibility studies by the Electric Power Research Institute, an industry R&D consortium. And it offers a big advantage over wind and other renewables: a precisely predictable source of energy. As a result, developers in the United States have laid claim to the best sites up and down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. In the past four years the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington, DC, has issued preliminary permits for tidal installations at 25 sites, and it is considering another 31 applications.

Current-harvesting turbines represent a sharp break from the first wave of tidal power, so-called “barrages” in which impoundments installed across estuaries or bays created hydroelectric reservoirs refilled twice daily by rising tides. The La Rance barrage in Normandy has produced up to 240 megawatts of power–as much as many natural-gas-fired power plants–since 1966. Halifax utility Nova Scotia Power has been generating up to 20 megawatts of power since 1984 at a tidal barrage in the Bay of Fundy, whose funnel-shaped inlet produces the world’s largest tides–16 meters at its head.

But these constructions have fallen out of favor because of their outsize impact on ocean ecosystems. James Taylor, general manager of environmental planning and monitoring for Nova Scotia Power, notes that commercial-scale installations planned for the Bay of Fundy in the 1980s would have altered tides as far away as Boston. “It would be a pretty hard thing to get permitted today,” says Taylor.

Hence the attraction of in-flow turbines such as Verdant’s. “The whole point of doing kinetic hydro is to have a very small environmental footprint,” says Dean Corren, Verdant’s director of technology development, who designed the tidal turbines in the early 1980s while conducting energy research at New York University.

Corren’s team installed its first two turbines in the East River in December. One has been delivering a maximum of 35 kilowatts of power to New York City, swiveling to generate power as the river swells with the high tides and empties with the low. The other turbine delivers performance data that Corren says will be crucial to refining the blades and gearbox, generator, and control system to optimize power generation.

This month Verdant added four more 35-kilowatt turbines. Corren says Verdant is now working on a next-generation design that will be cheaper to mass-produce, in anticipation of installing a farm of at least 100 turbines at the East River site.

Before the company proceeds, however, it must monitor the first six turbines for 18 months to assuage concerns of federal and state regulators that the turbines, whose tips cut through the water at up to nine meters per second, won’t chew up the river’s fish. Such qualms have already delayed the first-of-its-kind project by several years. Corren says monitoring to date has shown that few fish venture into the strong currents flowing past the turbines, but he says the extensive studies will provide a critical foundation for future developments.

Meanwhile, Canadian and European tidal-turbine producers are already scaling up their designs. Marine Current Turbines of Bristol, England, has operated an 11-meter, 300-kilowatt turbine off Devon for four years and plans to install a one-megawatt turbine in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough this year. Marine Current’s design resembles Verdant’s but uses two rotors, each with two blades. Other competitors are scaling up so-called ducted turbines, which are surrounded by a power-boosting shroud to guide water flow. Nova Scotia Power recently signed up Dublin’s OpenHydro to install a one-megawatt ducted turbine in the Bay of Fundy, while Vancouver-based Clean Current Power Systems is working on a two-megawatt version of the 65-kilowatt ducted turbine it installed off the coast of British Columbia in December.

Although scale will reduce costs, Clean Current president Glen Darou says the nascent industry will also have plenty of work ahead proving the reliability of its mechanical and electrical systems underwater. “Salt water is insidious,” says Darou; try as you might to seal it out, corrosive seawater “will get in there eventually.”

Copyright Technology Review 2007.

April 12, 2007

Wow, what a great turnout for the tree planting

at Desmare Park  yesterday.   Monique Pilie of

www.hikeforkatreena.com donated 12 trees to

Desmare Park  and about 25 people showed up

to plant them!   Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon.

In just over an hour 12 trees were planted.   A real

tribute to the hard working people who came out to

help.

Bobby Wozniak directed the operation.  Monique Pilie

gave a short class on proper planting techniques and

then everyone grabbed a shovel!

You can see a short film of the event at:

http://www.katrinafilm.com/katreena.wmv

or if you prefer you can view some still shots

by clicking on the “photos” section on the

fsjna yahoo website.

Regardless of what the site looks like now or any other part
of Mid City looks like, the area in question should have
thoughtful and useful design that is walkable, and in scale
with the surrounding area.Those that want the easy, quick
fix are the first to holler about getting out of the way
of progress. That is why New Orleans East is what it was
before the storm.
Insisting on thoughtful design that benefits the community
only enhances the value of any enterprise located there.
Quick fixes result in ugly architecture that is endured
for generations and reduces the value of the surrounding area.

March, 2007

St. Alphonsus Church 

Many of you are likely very familiar with St. Alphonsus .
I’ve lived here over 30 years and have never seen the
place open.  I drove by it yesterday and was surprised to
see not only the doors open but the lights on inside.

A man from the church was in a chair way up front.  I asked
if it would be ok to take pictures and was very interested to
hear his katrina and other stories for about twenty minutes
then had the entire place to myself. A real opportunity.

I understand the church has not had services since 1979 but
is opened by appointment.

The film does not do the place justice.  It lasts about four minutes.
I had to make the film small enough so most people could
watch it on their computer so the pictures are not the quality I would like.

Is Stallings Playground really Stalag 13?    Unusable by the majority of citizens, Stallings Playground continues to be a place where deals are made and games are played but not by children.   See a short clip of Stallings Playground here:

http://katrinafilm.com/stallings.wmv

March 14, 2007

Churchill is a step closer to slots in Louisiana

By Gregory A. Hall
ghall@…
The Courier-Journal

Churchill Downs Inc.’s New Orleans thoroughbred racetrack received initial approval yesterday to build a temporary slot-machine facility.

“Our team is anxious and ready to go,” Churchill Downs Executive Vice President Steve Sexton said after a city zoning board gave its approval.

Final approval for the structure at Fair Grounds Race Course would have to come from the New Orleans City Council. Sexton said that could happen in early May.

The slots at Fair Grounds would be the first for Churchill, the Louisville-based racetrack operator that has pursued expanded gambling for more than a decade. Video-poker machines at Fair Grounds and its off-track parlors currently represent Churchill’s only nonracing gambling operations.

Construction of a 30,000-square-foot permanent facility with up to 700 machines was to start in September 2005, but Hurricane Katrina hit.

Churchill officials held off on slots for more than a year in part because of concerns about the storm- and flood-damaged New Orleans market.

Last month, Churchill announced it was seeking approval to build the temporary facility as a step toward the permanent facility, which was approved earlier.

The temporary facility would be on the first floor of its simulcast-wagering parlor, next to the track’s grandstand, with about 200 machines.

Acting Chief Financial Officer Mike Anderson told investors and analysts yesterday that the new and temporary slot-machine facilities would cost about $30 million.

If approved, the renovations to the simulcast-wagering facility would begin in late spring. The target for its opening would be October.

Construction of the permanent facility has been scheduled for this summer, with completion in late fall 2008.

Reporter Gregory A. Hall can be reached at (502) 582-4087.

Fortier Park is sometimes referred to the Mystery Street Park.

Just off Esplanade Avenue and a couple of blocks from the New Orleans

Museum of Art, Fortier Park is a European style park with a plethora

of foliage, wonderful people, and benches to sit and take it all in.

In March of 2007, there was a second annual fundraiser for this

park which turned out to be a great party.    See it here:

http://katrinafilm.com/allisgood.wmv

Article from http://www.urbanplanet.org/

THE BRAIN GAIN
Young professionals moving in to help rebuild
Saturday, March 03, 2007
By Molly Reid
They’re here, and they’re helping to rebuild New Orleans.Some are fresh out of college; others are further into their professional lives. Some hail from Louisiana, but many are from out of state. Some arrived with shiny new jobs and apartments already secured. Others came to volunteer for a couple of weeks and never left.

http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/….xml&coll=1

Mardi Gras Tractor in City Park 

I am sure someone reading this will instantly know

who made this sculpture of found objects in City  Park

on the Orleans Avenue side across from Delgado College.

It is on the site where Sheriff Foti had the Halloween Haunted

House every year.    Click on this link  to see a short film.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2007

Contact:

Ebony K. Shears
347-417-4398
eshears@…

NEW ORLEANS PARTNERS WITH PREMIER EDUCATION PROGRAM

New Leaders for New Schools will Recruit & Train Principals Over
Four Years to Lead the Majority of New Orleans Schools and Serve
over 16,000 Students

(NEW ORLEANS, La.)- New Leaders for New Schools has selected the
city of New Orleans as the next partner for its award-winning
initiative to drive academic achievement for every child, it was
announced today by a broad coalition of city- and state-wide leaders
and New Leaders CEO, Jon Schnur. New Leaders for New Schools is a
nationally recognized non-profit organization, which serves as a new
pathway for passionate and effective educators to become successful
principals in high-need communities.

Today’s announcement marks the launch of recruitment efforts for the
first cohort of New Leaders principals in New Orleans. New Leaders
for New Schools seeks talented and passionate individuals with an
unyielding belief in the capacity of all children to achieve at high
levels, outstanding instructional and leadership skills and a
relentless drive to lead the city’s schools. Coalition members
gathered at the Samuel J. Green Charter School for today’s
announcement that over the next four years, New Leaders will
recruit, select, train, and support as many as 40 highly talented
and motivated new principals to lead the majority of public and
public charter schools in New Orleans.

New Leaders for New Schools will immediately begin accepting
applications for its New Orleans fellowships online. Individuals
interested in applying for this prestigious full fellowship or in
nominating strong candidates should apply or go online now at
www.nlns.org, email neworleansinfo@…, or call 504-210-9017.
The application deadline for the New Orleans program is March 20,
2007. The first New Orleans cohort will begin its training in June
2007.

New Leaders is targeting for recruitment both educators in New
Orleans, and those who have left New Orleans and are seeking to
return. Applications will also be accepted from candidates across
the country who seek to serve New Orleans’ children. New Leaders
recruited through this program are expected to make a long-term
commitment to serve New Orleans schools. All New Leaders must commit
to achieving ambitious goals for students, including 90%-100%
student proficiency in reading and math in schools led by New
Leaders principals.

The New Orleans coalition includes the support of Governor Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco, Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Xavier University President
and Louisiana Recovery Authority Chair Dr. Norman C. Francis,
Recovery School District Superintendent Robin Jarvis, Orleans Parish
School System Superintendent Darryl Kilbert, New Schools for New
Orleans President/Founder Sarah Usdin, and New Orleans City Council
and Education Chair Cynthia Hedge-Morell. Over the past eight
months, the coalition has worked with New Leaders for New Schools to
build a student-focused partnership that is tailored to the needs of
New Orleans schools.

“There is a tremendous opportunity in New Orleans to ensure quality
schools and high achievement for every child.” said New Leaders CEO,
Mr. Schnur. “While there will be inevitable challenges over the near
term, we know it’s possible for every child in New Orleans to
achieve at high levels over the next several years with well-
supported effective principals and teachers in every school.”

All New Leaders must have K-12 classroom teaching experience; half
the program’s participants typically come directly from school
systems, with the other half coming from backgrounds in schools,
universities, businesses, the military, non-profit organizations, or
foundations.

Candidates will be evaluated on criteria in ten competency-based
categories and admitted through a merit-based process. Successful
applicants will participate in a fellowship beginning with intensive
summer training and a yearlong, full-time, paid Residency in a
leadership position with a Mentor Principal. New Leaders receive the
benefit of coaching and ongoing school-level support, as well as a
life-long network of like-minded colleagues across the country.

“One of the greatest gifts we can provide to our children is a
quality education,” said Governor Blanco, who met with New Leaders’
Board of Directors this past fall. “Strong schools will bring
thousands back home and will prepare our children for success in the
modern economy. As we all know, strong schools start with
outstanding leaders. That is why I’m pleased with the establishment
of a New Leaders for New Schools partnership with New Orleans.
Louisiana’s education system must provide a ticket to future
educational and career opportunities. If we continue to set our
sights high, our children will more than live up to our
expectations. Let’s give them every opportunity to succeed.”

“It is my belief that education is the foundation for everything and
I am pleased that New Leaders for New Schools has decided to partner
with New Orleans to enhance the quality of education for our
children,” said Mayor Nagin. “The children are truly the future of
New Orleans and it is now more than ever that we need good public
schools with sound educational practices to develop a new generation
of leadership with the will and spirit to assist in rebuilding One
New Orleans - stronger, better.”

The significant need and opportunity in New Orleans, along with
strength of the coalition and its local funders, played a critical
role in attracting New Leaders for New Schools and national
philanthropic support. More than ten local businesses and
philanthropies raised approximately $1 million which triggered $3
million in contributions from national funders including the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, the Doris & Donald Fisher Fund, NewSchools
Venture Fund and John and Ann Doerr. Local philanthropists
supporting the New Leaders partnership include the Greater New
Orleans Foundation, the Edward G. Schlieder Educational Foundation
(in partnership with the Scott Cowen Institute for Public Education
Initiatives through Tulane University), Leslie Jacobs, J. P. Morgan
Chase Foundation, the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation, The
Zemurray Katrina Fund, and Shell Oil; additional funding will be
provided by The Historic New Orleans Collection in par! tnership
with New Schools for New Orleans.

Dr. Norman Francis, Chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and
President of Xavier University, said, “Katrina has made New Orleans
not just a symbol of devastation, but a symbol of heroism,
compassion, human decency and generosity of spirit. We are
rebuilding our communities and schools so that they are safer,
stronger, and smarter, and with opportunity for all; a partnership
with New Leaders for New Schools is essential to this work.”

Mr. Schnur also announced that Tyra Newell will serve as Managing
Director of the New Orleans program. Ms. Newell was born and raised
in New Orleans, and comes to New Leaders with over ten years of
experience in education and management, including serving as the
Director of Principal Preparation and Development for Chicago Public
Schools. She will be supported by a team including Barbara MacPhee,
retiring principal of New Orleans Center for Science and
Mathematics, and Stephanie Slates, who taught in New Orleans Public
Schools. Dr. Rosa Smith, former Superintendent of Columbus (OH)
Public Schools and current President/CEO of the Schott Foundation
will serve as a Senior Advisor to the New Orleans program starting
in May.

Results of this partnership will be evaluated by the RAND
Corporation as part of New Leaders for New Schools’ ongoing efforts
to track the program’s success.

ABOUT NEW LEADERS FOR NEW SCHOOLS
New Leaders for New Schools has partnerships in New York City,
Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Memphis, Milwaukee, New Orleans,
and the Bay Area of California. Since its inception in 2000, New
Leaders has selected and trained 330 outstanding leaders. Over the
next eight years, New Leaders aims to create a 2,000-person
principal corps across the U.S. to serve 1 million children. New
Leaders for New Schools was recognized in 2005 as the highest rated
social enterprise and nonprofit in the nation by Fast Company
magazine, and was the only national group chosen by the U.S.
Department of Education in its best practices guide to school
leadership. New Leaders receives support from the nation’s leading
education philanthropists including the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, The Broad
Foundation, The NewSchools Venture Fund, New Profit, Inc., The
Walton Family Foundation, ! The Boeing Company, and FedEx. New
Leaders for New Schools also receives support from the U.S.
Department of Education. Additional information about New Leaders
for New Schools can be found at www.nlns.org.

###

Contact:
Ebony K. Shears
eshears@…
347-417-4398

February 3, 2007 

You may have noticed recently a stencil campaign that started a month or so ago with the stencil placed on the “blue” bridge and on the sidewalk by 1300 Moss.   After those were removed, both of the no parking signs by 1300 Moss were painted with the same stencil.    When those were removed the “artist” moved on to the new trash receptacles in Fortier Park.

While I appreciate alternative art as much as the next person our neighborhood should not be their canvas.     You can see more information about it here:

http://www.katrinafilm.com/obey.doc as well as the “artist’s” recent work which has since been removed:

http://www.katrinafilm.com/obeygarbage.jpg

http://katrinafilm.com/popps.wmv

Starwood Helps Restore Famed New Orleans Fountain
1/26/2007 9:54:12 AM

Through its philanthropic initiative, Operation CPR: City Park Restoration, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, the parent company of The Sheraton New Orleans Hotel and W Hotels of New Orleans, continues to contribute to the city’s revitalization.   To read the rest of this article in MS Word format click here.

Three cleanup events were organized by our neighbor Michael Nuwer.   

Here are films of the events:

January, 2007      http://katrinafilm.com/fsjna.wmv

March, 2007         http://katrinafilm.com/2ndcleanup.wmv

April, 2007            http://katrinafilm.com/broad.wmv

http://katrinafilm.com/newsletter.doc

New Orleans of Future May Stay Half Its Old Size

By ADAM NOSSITER

NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 20 — The empty streets, deserted avenues and abandoned houses prompt a gnawing question, nearly 17 months after Hurricane Katrina: Is this what New Orleans has come to — a city half its old size?

Over and over, the city’s leaders reassure citizens that better days and, above all, more people are in the future. Their destiny will not merely be to reside in a smaller city with a few good restaurants and curious local customs, the citizens are told.

But some economists and demographers are beginning to wonder whether New Orleans will top out at about half its prestorm population of about 444,000, already in a steep decline from its peak of 627,525 in the 1960 Census. At the moment, the population is well below half, and future gains are likely to be small.

“It will be a trickle based on what we know now,” said Elliott Stonecipher, a consultant and demographer based in Shreveport, La. “Low tens of thousands, over three or four or five years, something in that range. I would say we could start losing people, especially if the crime problem doesn’t get high visibility.”

The new doubts, surprisingly, are largely not based on the widespread damage caused by the flood. Rather, crippling problems that existed long before Hurricane Katrina are mostly being blamed for the city’s failure to thrive.

In this view, the storm was merely a grim exclamation point to conditions decades in the making. Before the storm, some economists say, New Orleans may have had more people than its economy could support, and the stalled repopulation is merely reflecting that.

Hurricane Katrina may have brutally recalibrated the city’s demographics, setting New Orleans firmly on the path its underlying characteristics had already been leading it down: a city losing people at the rate of perhaps 1.5 percent a year before Hurricane Katrina, with a stagnant economy, more than a quarter of the population living in poverty, and a staggeringly high rate of unemployment, in which as many as one in five were jobless or not seeking work.

Political leaders, worried about the loss of clout and a Congressional seat, press for people to return, but a smaller New Orleans may not be bad, some economists say. Most of those who have not returned — 175,000, by Mr. Stonecipher’s count — are very poor, and can be more easily absorbed in places with vibrant job markets, they say.

Large-scale concentrations of deep poverty — as was the case in New Orleans before the storm — are inherently harmful to cities. The smaller New Orleans is almost certain to wind up with a far higher percentage of its population working than before Hurricane Katrina.

“Where there are high concentrations of poverty, people can’t see a way out,” said William Oakland, a retired economist from Tulane University who has studied the city’s economy for decades. “Maybe the diaspora is a blessing.”

Others, however, worry that permanently losing so many people threatens the city’s culture — its unique way of talking, parading and eating.

“Culture is people,” said Richard Campanella, a Tulane geographer who has written extensively about the city’s neighborhoods. “If half the local people are dispersed and no longer living cohesively in those social networks, then half of local culture is gone.”

The new doubts also take into account the current barriers to repopulation, including the well-documented failure of the state’s Road Home aid program for homeowners, the loss of tens of thousands of jobs since the storm, the crime problem and delays in rebuilding moderately priced housing. Official efforts — local, state and federal — to rebuild the network of hospitals, schools and public housing projects that once served the city’s huge poor population have been faltering. But they also look at what New Orleans was before the storm.

The low population figure, 191,000, which was reported by the Louisiana Recovery Authority in November last year in the most credible survey to date, was about half the 444,000 count in a Census estimate before Hurricane Katrina. The number was surprising, dashing expectations of a “big return,” as one economist put it, and was hotly disputed by local officials. Still, upticks, if there are any, are imperceptible: the percentage of prehurricane gas and electric users who were getting service, for instance, remained the same between April and November 2006, the Brookings Institution reported last month.

“Our expectations were just wrong,” said James A. Richardson, an economist who directs the Public Administration Institute at Louisiana State University. “I don’t believe it will ever be 450,000 again. I think New Orleans did not need 450,000 people to support the economy you had at that time.”

With no real place for the poorest of the evacuees in the economy before the storm, New Orleans may have permanently lost that part of its population. Supporting that notion is an unpublished analysis by Mr. Oakland, the former Tulane economist, which shows unusually low rates of participation in the labor force before Hurricane Katrina.

Thus, a frequent impression of prehurricane travelers to New Orleans — that there were “a lot of people hanging around, going nowhere,” as the Nobel-winning Columbia University economist Edmund S. Phelps, a sometime-visitor, puts it — turns out to have a statistical basis.

The statistics, which compare the number of people actually working with the total working-age population, suggest “there are a lot of people out there not working,” said Mr. Oakland, referring to the period before Hurricane Katrina. Or, he said, they were working in an underground economy, not measured by statistics. If not actually illegal, he said, it was not very profitable.

In New Orleans, before the storm, about 4 out of 10 men in the working-age population were out of a job or not looking for one, compared with less than 3 in 10 nationally.

Employment had dropped sharply in the city from 1969 to 1999, Mr. Oakland writes. More than half of young black men ages 16 to 24 were not in the labor force. Unemployment rates among young blacks were above 25 percent. “The data is showing New Orleans is really a basket case,” Mr. Oakland said.

In the city’s poorest areas, the numbers were even more discouraging. In places like the Lower Ninth Ward or Central City, half of all working-age people were not looking for work, Mr. Oakland wrote. The real unemployment rate in these impoverished, high-crime areas, which would include those not looking for work, would have been a “whopping” 32 percent, he wrote.

Compounding the city’s difficulties, and, in effect, helping to stem the population loss, was a secondary factor: the direness of the city’s poverty, and its concentration. Those conditions helped make the city’s poor population exceptionally immobile. New Orleans was also poor not only in absolute terms, but also in relative terms. The poorest 30 percent of households had a lower share of the city’s total income than the comparable slice in any other similar Southern city, Mr. Oakland found.

“The job mobility was very low among the poor, so they just stay where they are, and the social welfare system shored them up,” Mr. Oakland said.

The city’s population was thus “out of equilibrium, if you would say that,” Mr. Oakland added. “It’s not normal to have that level of nonparticipation in the labor force.”

Haunting the city’s effort to repopulate, too, is the incalculable toll inflicted by ghosts from its past — a political legacy of corruption and patronage, and a deep racial division with a far more distressing passage toward integration than was experienced, say, in Atlanta.

Looking to the future, another 50,000 people might eventually be added to the city’s population, Mr. Oakland suggested, but there are no guarantees.

There has been little to no construction of cheap housing that would enable the return of the largest category of those still displaced, Mr. Stonecipher noted.

A second category of people, 50,000 or more who have established themselves elsewhere but who could return, may be even harder to recapture, given the combination of past weaknesses and continuing present-day hurdles.

“The longer it lasts, the more likely it is that our population is plateauing, the longer the uncertainty continues,” said Janet Speyrer, an economist at the University of New Orleans.

January 11, 2007 is a day we’d all like