I love, love, love Chicago Public Radio’s show This American Life. How pleased I was to hear this week’s show about the tale of Bobby Dunbar, a little boy from Opelousas who in was lost and found and lost again. Download it while you have the chance, only a few days left. If you are bored at work and have an hour to kill at your desk, download it, it is quite worth it. Then come back and tell me what you thought.
The Ghost of Bobby Dunbar
Chicago Public Radio

I was enjoying the time change by getting an afternoon bike ride yesterday and noticed the river had crept right up to the levee. I was wondering if it was unusually high right now and found this great site where you can check river levels by district and basin…
River Gauges
US Army Corps of Engineers

I just found out there is an observatory in Gretna where supposedly there are viewings on Mondays and Wednesdays if you are into that sort of thing…
Observatory in Google maps

Sharon Jasper has been Snopified
Welfare Queen decries Public Housing
Snopes

Preservation Hall’s John Brunious obituary from the New York Times
John Brunious, 67, Louisiana Trumpeter, Is Dead
NY Times

I wonder why this and Sunday’s Decatur street shooting aren’t mentioned among the many claims of the NBA All Star game being such a lovely weekend?
Tank Arrested Amid Claims of Police Brutality
contactmusic

Times-Picayune series on coastal erosion won and evironmental reporting award. I remember this series and it was quite deserving of the honer. Conragtulations to Times-Pic staffers Bob Marshall, Mark Schleifstein, and Matt Brown. Exalt to Dan Swenson who programmed and designed this awesome flash interactive map.
‘L.A. Times,’ ‘Times-Picayune’ Win Environmental Reporting Award
Editor and Publisher

“The LIGO facility is 5-miles long and is located in Livingston, Louisiana”
LIGO Livingston Observatory
LIGO

“In order that there will be no misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of a candidate, the recipient of the award must be a bona fide student of an accredited university. The recipient must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student.”
Tarnished Heisman: Did Reggie Bush Turn His Final College Season into a Six-Figure Job? (Hardcover)
Amazon.com

“And make no mistake about it. Despite the reassuring words of some City Council members to build a new and better city for everybody, the true purpose of demolishing what is left of those low-income housing projects was to rid the city of low-income Blacks.”
Class war being waged against New Orleans Blacks
The Louisiana-Weekly

“The deal also lets the franchise opt out of the contract next year if certain attendance figures aren’t reached.”
Hornets Could Pay Penalty To Leave New Orleans After Next Year
All Headline News

Couldn’t help but input the search phrase “New Orleans” into the CourtTV crime library and found the following gems:

MURDER ON THE RUE DAUPHINE

ZACH BOWEN CHOPS UP GIRLFRIEND, KILLS SELF

MARK ESSEX

MURDER IN OLD METAIRE

SEE MURDER: RAPPER LIVES UP TO HIS LYRICS

THE KAREN GRAMMER STORY

CARLOS MARCELLO: BIG DADDY IN THE BIG EASY

BLUE ON BLUE: MURDER, MADNESS AND BETRAYAL IN THE NOPD

THE DESIRE TERRORIST

THE AXEMAN OF NEW ORLEANS

A story on business in New Orleans relocating out of state. the final paragraphs of the article state that in most cities, big business calls the shots while the city government has a more diminished role. Tulane’s Peter Ricchiuti, is quoted a saying it is odd that big business doesn’t run New Orleans like it does every other major city.
Businesses find it easy to leave New Orleans
Houston Chronicle

Along the same lines is this AP report that states South Louisiana Parishes compete for economic development rather than approaching it from a regional perspective. not surprising considering your average upper-middle class family from Mandeville probably doesn’t want to share the wealth with a single mom on welfare in the 7th Ward.
New Orleans Study Has Familiar Ring
AP

There are lots of scream-inducing parts of this story but none more than the part where 25 percent of those polled think New Orleans is still partly underwater…
Poll suggests mixed feelings in US about New Orleans post-Katrina
Herald-Tribune

It’s J-Ville vs. K-Ville this weekend y’all! It’s a big game too. We are playing for .500 and our opponent, the Jaguars are 1-game out of second place in their division (behind Tennessee). Hey, wait (looks at the standings) WE are one game out of being tied for first in our division! And also it seems (looks at schedule) the Titans are the leader of our division, Carolina. It’s also the start of a two-game run at the Dome. Big game y’all.
NFL Preview – Jacksonville (5-2) at New Orleans (3-4)
Kansas City Star

This nicely-illustrated-for-the-Web piece in USA Today is akin to a book I’ve been reading recently (The World Without Us). It documents how vegetation is reclaiming much of the still standing homes in the Lower 9. The article made me think that despite our best efforts, and even in perfect scenarios, we will all end up going to seed. Us, the terrorists, the Parisians, The wingnuts, the Buddhist monks, the skaters kids – we will all go to seed. It IS funny though that I have houses in my own neighborhood that are going to seed and it has nothing to do with Katrina. Just as these folks can attest to.
New Orleans caught in a stranglehold of vegetation

USA Today

Oh, and Nagin says this will be a (ahem) watershed year for the city…
Nagin: 2008 to be a ‘tipping point’ in New Orleans
KATC

‘Sheriff Harry Lee, a wide-girthed lawman in the suburbs of New Orlean…’
Harry Lee, Outspoken Louisiana Sheriff, Dies at 75
NY Times

‘If you set the bar high, the higher you set it, the higher the schools are going to perform.’
New Orleans School Chief Tackles Rebuilding Shattered System
PBS

Yes sir, that’s my insurance company…
Audit: Possible Katrina insurance fraud
United Press International

Whoa! Hey! San Fran’s putting up some Nawlins’ numbers!
Bay Area Rocked By Night Of Deadly Violence
Bayinsider.com

‘God bless CC and its vanilla suburbs’
New Orleans Keeps Narrow Black Majority
AP

Blanchard’s requiem for New Orleans
Mending the Levees
Village Voice

This is why I have ventured further left from my cup of coffee with moderacy a while back.
Candidates Call Anew for Rebuilding of New Orleans
NY Times

By Douglas Brinkley’
If we want New Orleans to die, we should say so
Washington Post

On the state of the art
The day the music died?
BBC

A day in the life
A day in New Orleans
LA Times

(Botched) recovery article
Two Years Later, New Orleans Inches Back
ABC News

With Lolis Eric Elie
10 Questions: Life After Katrina
CBS News

Report: New Orleans Still Lacks Jobs
Forbes

A Billion Dollars Later, New Orleans Still at Risk
The Old Gray Lady

Crime wave intensifies in New Orleans
“The Merc”

New Orleans DA Loses Race-Firing Appeal
Forbes

New Orleans luminary admits bribes
L.A. Times