Thursday, December 08, 2005
In case anybody thought Cat 5 protection isn't important to business:
Entergy reconsidering New Orleans presence
“With extreme tropical weather conditions on the rise, and very little movement on either permanent repair of the levee system or concrete plans for the construction of Category 5 hurricane protection for the city of New Orleans, we cannot in good conscience and, with respect to our fiduciary obligations to our owners, put our employees and our company in the position of a full-scale corporate redeployment again,” stated Leonard in the letter.
Read more here
“With extreme tropical weather conditions on the rise, and very little movement on either permanent repair of the levee system or concrete plans for the construction of Category 5 hurricane protection for the city of New Orleans, we cannot in good conscience and, with respect to our fiduciary obligations to our owners, put our employees and our company in the position of a full-scale corporate redeployment again,” stated Leonard in the letter.
Read more here
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Quick Hits from the past few days
Katrina's Emotional Damage Lingers
Mental Health Experts Say Impact Is Far Beyond What They've Ever Faced
related: Holiday blues hitting Katrina victims hard
Bodies of 2 more Katrina victims found
Engineer: Levee repairs will bite into private property
FEMA's shortcomings shown in released Katrina documents
Guidance on How Katrina Victims Can Access Retirement Plans
Black Witnesses Testify Racism Influenced Katrina Response
Memphian Accused in Bribery Case Involving Katrina Debris Removal
Mental Health Experts Say Impact Is Far Beyond What They've Ever Faced
related: Holiday blues hitting Katrina victims hard
Bodies of 2 more Katrina victims found
Engineer: Levee repairs will bite into private property
FEMA's shortcomings shown in released Katrina documents
Guidance on How Katrina Victims Can Access Retirement Plans
Black Witnesses Testify Racism Influenced Katrina Response
Memphian Accused in Bribery Case Involving Katrina Debris Removal
Now this is a good idea
BATON ROUGE (AP) —Louisiana's $3.7 billion debt to the federal government for hurricane recovery could be greatly trimmed if federal officials agree to a proposal by Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot. Theriot says the state's tab would be reduced if the state were allowed to apply assistance from the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and other groups to its federal obligation as in-kind contributions. Theriot say the plan could reduce the biggest part of what the state owes for assistance, some $2.8 billion in checks given to individuals through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
More here
More here
Inspirational Quote of the Day
"I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."
Martha Washington
Martha Washington
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Entergy looking to add surcharge
We either pay now, or pay later folks. This is important, and probably needs to happen.
Last week, Entergy asked the PSC to add a surcharge to monthly bills — about $2.45 cents for the typical residential consumer in the Baton Rouge area who uses 1,500 kilowatt hours of electricity. Entergy wants to recoup the $496 million to $608 million spent to restore power in Louisiana after the two hurricanes. The company estimated having to spend up to $1.4 billion dollars for expenses, such as repairing facilities and replacing power lost over three states.
more here
Last week, Entergy asked the PSC to add a surcharge to monthly bills — about $2.45 cents for the typical residential consumer in the Baton Rouge area who uses 1,500 kilowatt hours of electricity. Entergy wants to recoup the $496 million to $608 million spent to restore power in Louisiana after the two hurricanes. The company estimated having to spend up to $1.4 billion dollars for expenses, such as repairing facilities and replacing power lost over three states.
more here
Huge new community being built
This is a good sign that others are willing to invest here
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — The first major investment in the New Orleans region since Hurricane Katrina will come from a California home builder planning a community with as many as 20-thousand homes.
more here
AVONDALE, La. (AP) — The first major investment in the New Orleans region since Hurricane Katrina will come from a California home builder planning a community with as many as 20-thousand homes.
more here
Habitat, Connick Jr, and Marsailis working together to build Musician's Village
I wonder where they will put this?
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Singer Harry Connick Jr. and saxophone player Branford Marsalis are working with Habitat for Humanity to create a "village'' for New Orleans musicians who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina and its floods. Jim Pate, executive director of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, says more than $2 million has been raised for the project dreamed up by Connick and Marsalis. The neighborhood would be built around a music center where musicians can teach and perform.
more here
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Singer Harry Connick Jr. and saxophone player Branford Marsalis are working with Habitat for Humanity to create a "village'' for New Orleans musicians who lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina and its floods. Jim Pate, executive director of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, says more than $2 million has been raised for the project dreamed up by Connick and Marsalis. The neighborhood would be built around a music center where musicians can teach and perform.
more here
Another positive Katrina side-effect
These are now cheaper than copper, and can provide hundreds of times more data.
With much of its local telephone network damaged or destroyed, BellSouth Corp. is taking a technological leap in New Orleans by ripping out flood-soaked copper wires and replacing them with fiber-optic lines.
More here
With much of its local telephone network damaged or destroyed, BellSouth Corp. is taking a technological leap in New Orleans by ripping out flood-soaked copper wires and replacing them with fiber-optic lines.
More here
Welcome to the town formerly known as Pilottown
The Associated Branch Pilots, or bar pilots as they are called, will relocate the housing station they operated in Pilottown to Venice in February.
--point of clarification, ship captains have to turn over their ships at this point, to Mississippi River Pilots to make their journeys up the river, hence the name
more here
--point of clarification, ship captains have to turn over their ships at this point, to Mississippi River Pilots to make their journeys up the river, hence the name
more here
Welcome to the town formerly known as Pilottown
The Associated Branch Pilots, or bar pilots as they are called, will relocate the housing station they operated in Pilottown to Venice in February.
--point of clarification, ship captains have to turn over their ships at this point, to Mississippi River Pilots to make their journeys up the river, hence the name
more here
--point of clarification, ship captains have to turn over their ships at this point, to Mississippi River Pilots to make their journeys up the river, hence the name
more here
Encouraging Quote of the Day
"It's key to note that this is the New Orleans Saints. They might be playing somewhere else but they still have a home here in the city of New Orleans." - NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
Read more here
Read more here
Encouraging Quote of the Day
"It's key to note that this is the New Orleans Saints. They might be playing somewhere else but they still have a home here in the city of New Orleans." - NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
Read more here
Read more here
Monday, December 05, 2005
FEMA workers being threatened
FEMA spokesman James McIntyre says there have been several threats and a total of six arrests for verbal, physical or e-mail threats to workers over the past several weeks.
more here
more here
BellSouth P.O.'ed by city WiFi deal
I'm not too surprised by this:
Hours after New Orleans officials announced Tuesday that they would deploy a city-owned, wireless Internet network in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, regional phone giant BellSouth Corp. withdrew an offer to donate one of its damaged buildings that would have housed new police headquarters, city officials said yesterday.
I'm liking Greg Meffert more and more:
"It's a once-in-a-century opportunity to truly show the entire world what can be, instead of just what is, and help write future history in the process," Meffert said. "It's a damn shame they don't see that."
Full story here
Hours after New Orleans officials announced Tuesday that they would deploy a city-owned, wireless Internet network in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, regional phone giant BellSouth Corp. withdrew an offer to donate one of its damaged buildings that would have housed new police headquarters, city officials said yesterday.
I'm liking Greg Meffert more and more:
"It's a once-in-a-century opportunity to truly show the entire world what can be, instead of just what is, and help write future history in the process," Meffert said. "It's a damn shame they don't see that."
Full story here
Quote of the week
"There just didn't seem to me to be any collaboration up front, any communication," he said. "You don't have to be a meteorologist to see a big red ball going to New Orleans to say, 'Oh, my God, this is going to be big.' Shouldn't you be over-prepared, rather than under-prepared?"
Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, regarding FEMA's actions
read more here
Tom Ridge, former head of Homeland Security, regarding FEMA's actions
read more here
Note to other states: Use FedEx
This is utterly ridiculous:
Five days after one request from the governor for federal help, a presidential aide told Blanco in a memo that Bush never got her letter.
The aide told Blanco, "We found it on the governor's Web site, but we need 'an original' for our staff secretary to formally process the requests."
Sunday evening, Blanco's aides told CNN that the governor personally handed the same letter to the president when he visited New Orleans on September 2.
Read more here
Five days after one request from the governor for federal help, a presidential aide told Blanco in a memo that Bush never got her letter.
The aide told Blanco, "We found it on the governor's Web site, but we need 'an original' for our staff secretary to formally process the requests."
Sunday evening, Blanco's aides told CNN that the governor personally handed the same letter to the president when he visited New Orleans on September 2.
Read more here
Inspiring Quote of the Day
