After numerous Freedom of Information Act requests and even a sit-down with Hizzoner himself, The Times-Picayune and WWL-TV have been unable to get to the bottom of the most pressing political question of 2008: what, exactly, is Mayor C. Ray Nagin doing during “downtime?”
While our rival media outlets may wilt in the heat of the corridors of power, The Creole-Tomato Investigative Reporting Bureau never quits. When the public asks a question, we demand an answer.
The Staff of the Creole-Tomato, in somber recognition of this grim 2-year anniversary of the storm has beat the streets in an effort to find out what New Orleanians are doing to mark the occasion.
Greta Falconi of the 7th Ward has organized seven of her neighbors to relocate their refrigerators curbside for three weeks as a nod to all the lost appliances and sordid odors of two years past.
Michelle Breaux has repainted the orange X on the façade of her Garden District home. Full Story » »
If one good thing has come out of Hurricane Katrina, it’s that you don’t have to do no driving up to Cocodrie for some top-notch fishing spots.
There’s been great fishing right in our own backyard.The Carrollton Underpass at I-10 is shaping up to be a fantastic fishing hole. Last week I caught great perch, sac-a-lait, and lawn ornaments.
And the best part about it, there’s no limit on redfish.
The fish are easy to find. All you’ve got to do look for bubbles on the water’s surface. It’s either a fish or toxic gases escaping up from the sewer.
You’ve got to get out early, though. The National Guard humvees and garbage trucks usually start rolling through around nine, scaring all the fish.
Much has been written about what to do with looters now that the City of New Orleans is returning back to normal. Some argue for stiff penalties, while others advocate leniency as long as the merchandise can be returned.
But to truly understand this question we must put ourselves in the mindset of the looter.
Imagine if you were caught in the middle of the flood. What would you have been thinking?
My home and livelihood have been destroyed.
My city is in chaos.
My life is in danger.
But I could use a new flat-screen TV and DVD entertainment center. Full Story » »
Since Hurricane Katrina, architectural preservationists and urban planners have expressed concern about the future some of New Orleans’ most famous places.
This article is the first in a series updating the status of these landmark locations and sharing the stories of the people whose lives have been profoundly affected.
Like many in the New Orleans area, Kyle Bonner and Jimmy Castalignetti have been uprooted. Both high school sophomores, the two are concerned about when, if ever, they will be able to return to a place they have spent a great deal of their youth: Puglia’s Sporting Goods.
Castalignetti and Bonner, like many of their peers, consider the sporting goods store a home away from home during the Mardi Gras season in Metairie. However, the recent events of hurricane Katrina have disrupted a time-honored tradition of gathering to drink Daiquiris in the store’s parking lot. And with damage to the store closing it for several months, the students are uncertain about when they will be able to return.
“We don’t know what’s gonna happen now,” Bonner shared as he stood in the Puglia’s parking lot in a soft rain. “Where we gonna watch the parades, bra?”
As many private schools in the New Orleans area struggle to reopen and retain students, the Orleans Parish Public School Board announced today that its schools never closed.
“Katrina hit, the city flooded, there’s been looting, mass evacuations, no power, and no potable water,” said School Board President Torin Sanders.
“But we decided to keep the schools open.”
“The New Orleans Public School Board is famous for its good decision making skills, and this is yet another example of that.”
President Sanders pointed to a key statistic to back the Board’s decision: student attendance did not drop during the storm.
Eatin' Good in the Neighborhood. Red Stick's finest.
Move over, Tom Fitzmorris. A new generation of New Orleans food critics is now exploring the delicacies found in their home state’s capital.
Though accustomed to the specialties found in the famous New Orleans’ restaurants like Trout Almandine, turtle soup, and beignets, the displaced gourmands are seeking to sate their epicurean tastes in the safe harbor of Baton Rouge.
Just off I-10 near College Drive, gastronomes can delve into a veritable flood of top-notch corporate eateries.
An old Grunch Bunch album cover now rings eerily prophetic.
In a cruel twist of fate, Benny Grunch and the Bunch ain’t there no more.
In a posting on its official website, the local novelty band announced that it will disband, effectively ending its recording career.
The group first achieved notoriety with the song “The 12 Yats of Christmas.” They then went on to record “Santa and His Reindeer (Used to Live Right Here)” and their now-prophetic runaway hit “Ain’t There No More.”
Most recently, the group had entered a new experimental phase, breaking new ground with the song “Ain’t No Place to Pee (On Mardi Gras Day).”
The news came as a shock to The Bunch’s modest fan base.
This article is the first in a series of profiles about how local businesses are cleaning up, rebuilding, and moving forward.
As Katrina approached, Attorney Morris Bart didn’t evacuate.
As the floodwaters rose, Mr. Bart and his key lieutenants bunkered down in a special emergency phone bank in his office high above Poydras Street.
The phone bank was stocked with enough food, generators, and diesel fuel to last a month. So when all of Southeast Louisiana lost power, the phones at Mr. Bart’s firm kept ringing.
Lake Pontchartrain, the imposing threat from the north.
Weeks after Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans in a state of chaos and ruin, the Pave Our Lake movement is adding its voice to the growing criticism of the city, state, and federal officials.
“We told you so,” said spokesman Wayne Boudreaux at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“For years we’ve been printing thousands of bumper stickers warning the citizens of New Orleans about the risks posed by Lake Pontchartrain,” Mr. Boudreaux continued.
“Unfortunately, our warnings went unheeded. And we’ve all witnessed the tragic results.”
For decades Jesuit High School students have tried to locate the elusive roof pool which sits atop the building’s fourth floor.
“Seniors have been telling me about it since the first day of classes, but I guess it’s just for the priests who live here ‘cause I don’t know of anybody who’s gotten up there,” said 8th grader Jordan Lewis.
But times have changed and improvements have been made.
President Anthony McGinn, S.J. recently announced the installation of a new swimming facility downstairs on the school’s first floor, or basement level.
Hurricane Katrina evacuees face a different world. Gone are the jobs; the houses; even the certainty of three hot meals a day; and as thousands poured into the Houston Astrodome, Red Cross volunteers became overwhelmed with the onslaught of evacuees demanding to know where they “got they shoes.”
“It’s true that many evacuees had their shoes ruined as they trampled through waist deep water,” said one volunteer.
“But we here at the Red Cross simply did not anticipate this level of desperation in regards to foot attire.”
Hurricane Katrina has resurrected the dying career of Aaron Neville, one of the city’s slightly famous musical artists.
Mr. Neville, whose career reached it’s zenith in the early 80s with albums by his family band The Neville Brothers and duets with ingénue Linda Rondstadt, has of late been playing late night gigs at casino boats in Biloxi, Mississippi and Kenner, Louisiana.
His last gig before Hurricane Katrina made landfall was a double-bill with local act The Radiators at the Boomtown Belle Casino in Gretna, Louisiana. The concert featured a free all-you-can-eat rib bar and a voucher worth $20 of slot machine credit.
Even more surprising than the lack of government preparedness in the face of Hurricane Katrina stands a startling fact: not one of the city’s voodoo priests nor even the famed Jackson Square fortune tellers saw the devastating storm coming.
New Orleans has long prided itself on its clairvoyants whom so many tourists and local politicians put their trust into on a daily basis, but now that trust has come into question. Today, the city council is considering the creation of a special commission to investigate what went wrong.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson M. Robicheaux of Gentilly announce the evacuation of their daughter Maurice Robicheaux with Mr. Henry Washington on Monday, August 29th 2005.
The Evacuette was graduated from Mount Carmel High School and the University of New Orleans, where she majored in Hospitality Management. She was a Reservation Specialist at the Hyatt Hotel in New Orleans. She is currently unemployed.
The Evacucuee was graduated from Brother Martin High School and Louisiana State University, where he majored in accounting and was a member of the Pi Alpha Ro Fraternity. He was an Analyst at Hibernia Bank. He is currently unemployed.
After an evacuation to a Red Cross shelter to Houma and four months in temporary housing in Dallas, the couple will reside in Lakeview.
