Sunday, January 3, 2010

Are our levees really that bad? Regional panel wants FEMA to show evidence of flaws
~Mike Fitzgerald

~ More than two years after the Federal Emergency Management Agency started pushing the idea of new flood insurance maps for the region, the agency still has not revealed any evidence to show which metro-east levees are deficient, and if so, to what degree.
FEMA's failure to show its cards on what it knows about local levees is fueling legal efforts of metro-east towns and levee districts to prevent or delay the flood maps' implementation planned for August. "Again, I want to see the record and we will be stepping up the legal pressure on FEMA to respond to our request," said Les Sterman, chief engineer for the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention Council, in Collinsville. "Let's take a look at that record and see if they were justified in coming to that decision."

USACE Levee Flood Plan....
Part Two~Jackson Now


Bear deaths complicate management ~Amy Wold
~A fifth Louisiana black bear was found shot dead,
a development that wildlife and fisheries staff view as potential backsliding in the state’s attempt to get the bear off the Endangered Species List.
“It is a bit unusual. We’ve had more this year than we normally have,” said Lt. Col. Keith LaCaze, assistant chief of law enforcement with the Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries. Click pic to enlarge.

Bayou Terrebonne dredging under way ~Loyd J. Nelson III

Explore business with Army Corps

— The Army Corps of Engineers will host an upcoming seminar about potential projects for New Orleans businesses.
The corps' Louisiana Industry Day is set for Jan. 13 at New Orleans Marriott at Lakeway, 3838 N. Causeway Blvd, Metairie.
Two sessions detail storm-protection projects expected to begin within the next two years. Sessions will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m., with an hour-long networking session to follow each. Registration starts at 7 a.m.
To sign up, e-mail pao@usace.army.mil. Please include your company's name, address, contact info, names of those who would like to attend and the size of the business.
For information, call Michael Bloom at 504-862-2627.

La. homeowners insurance is nation's third-most-expensive, study says~Rebecca Mowbray

Prepare yourself: Insurance bills on the rise~Jeremy Alford

The new 'Katrina' flood:
Hospital liability~ProPublica

~Three years before Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans, a senior executive at Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital assessed its vulnerability to the sort of flooding that had been long feared there.
~Editilla Rotellas~ Once again ProPublic employs their astounding gift for gabbing up the wrong tree in reporting on New Orleans, in this case the Federal Flood. With unmitigated gall and journalistic hubris they could not rest with trying to frame our Flood Violence as a Cop Race War on da'Black Peoples, and hence we move on to MisFraming the Flood Writ Large as a Natural Disaster in regards our Medical Industry Recovery.
It could be an otherwise informative article, but for the burning bag of gorilla'doo poo'rah they have left at the front door.

Righteous referrals~Ian McNulty

"Olde Tired Shoe", Dinner with the Outlaw ~PWALLY
Acrylic/canvas 16 x 9" Editilla loves this Heart and Sole!

BET travels to Africa to audition contestants for Season 3 of “Sunday Best” ~Affrodite