FEMA: Blog of New Orleans, Gambit

St. Roch Park set to open summer 2013

Alex Woodward — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 17:51:00 -0600

The $1.8 million park project anchoring St. Roch Avenue should wrap before summer, according to city officials who announced the plans from outside the park gates this afternoon. Construction on the park's pool, however, will wait as the city and park planners gather more funding — the city already has $400,000 from FEMA dedicated to restoring the existing pool.…

Jon Johnson to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud U.S. gov't

Alex Woodward — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:13:00 -0500

District E City Councilman Jon Johnson is in federal court this morning and will plead guilty on charges of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government in connection with his nonprofit the Ninth Ward Housing Development Corporation.

The bill of information says from 2006 to 2008, Johnson misused federal FEMA dollars earmarked for the nonprofit to fund his 2007 state senate campaign.…

Public Transit Tuesdays: Galvez

Megan Braden-Perry — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:43:00 -0500

Like the Broad bus route, the Galvez bus route is pretty long and goes from the edge of Uptown to the 9th Ward, passing through the 6th, 7th and 8th Wards. Another commonality is that when riding along these routes, you'll see that we are still nowhere near being finished with rebuilding after almost seven years.…

"Does your child 'sissy bounce'?"

Kevin Allman — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:56:57 -0500

Hide your college-age children: "sissy bounce" is here to corrupt them — at least according to Christwire, the satirical website that's sort of what The Onion would be if written by Rick Santorum. (Other stories on the site include "4 Satanic and Blood Sex Driven Things Your Daughter Will Do at Coachella" and "Is My Teen Weird?…

The Waffle House Index: FEMA's "How screwed are you?" gauge

Alex Woodward — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:12:00 -0500

As we prepare for National Waffle Week, let's pass the mic to FEMA director Craig Fugate, ladies and gentleman: "If you get there and the Waffle House is closed? That's really bad.…

Photographer recreates Hurricane Katrina with toddlers

Alex Woodward — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 15:48:38 -0500

In Canadian photographer Jonathan Hobin's series In the Playroom, the artist assembles richly detailed scenes dramatizing, on a small scale, terrible disasters and grotesque tragedies — all recreated with children. Like, small, toddler-y children.…

Coming up in this week's Gambit: The state of NORD -- an investigation

Kevin Allman — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 05:55:07 -0500

In Mayor Mitch Landrieu's State of the City speech, delivered July 8 at Xavier University, he addressed the current state of the New Orleans Recreation Department with these words:

"When I was a kid, NORD had great playgrounds and sports teams and even theater, dance and music programs. But when I came into office 67 days ago, I found a recreation department that would make you weep, one that is under-funded and under-prioritized.…

Developer Stewart Juneau requests "temporary suspension" of Municipal Auditorium deal

Kevin Allman — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:46:17 -0500

Stewart Juneau, owner of the Baton Rouge-based development company LeTriomphe Property Group, was selected last November by Mayor Ray Nagin's administration to redevelop the Morris F.X. Jeff Sr. Municipal Auditorium in Armstrong Park. At the time, the proposed professional services agreement drew controversy, due to Juneau's relationship with Nagin (he had hosted the mayor's much-mocked "Excellence in Recovery Award" gala back in August 2008), as well as for the fact that LeTriomphe was the sole bidder on the project.…

City Cancels FEMA Request for City Hall Move

David Winkler-Schmit — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:54:46 -0600

The City of New Orleans has withdrawn its request to FEMA for funds to move City Hall to the Chevron Building, according to a source in the New Orleans City Council. FEMA officials were scheduled to hold a meeting this Monday to begin reviewing the city’s plan, but it has been cancelled.…

Unadulterated Eggers

David Winkler-Schmit — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:24:02 -0600

My first impression of Dave Eggers during our recent interview was how much he cared about the Abdulraham and Kathy Zeitoun and their children, the New Orleans family and subject of Egger's book, Zeitoun. He had spent a lot of time talking on the phone with Zeitouns, and made numerous trips to New Orleans to learn more about their experience following the levee failures.…

New Orleans family loses FEMA trailer suit

Kandace Power Graves — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 01:42:01 -0500

By Matt Robinson

After a two-week trial in federal court in New Orleans, the first manufacturer sued over formaldehyde in FEMA trailers was absolved of responsibility Thursday. An eight-member jury found Gulf Stream Coach, an Indiana company that made 50,000 trailers for FEMA’s emergency housing program after Hurricane Katrina, did not construct an unreasonably dangerous product, and Fluor, the FEMA contractor responsible for hauling and installing the unit, was not negligent in setting up the trailer that housed New Orleanians Alana Alexander and her two children.

After the verdict was read, Alexander and her son Christopher Cooper declined to comment on the proceedings and quietly left the courtroom alone.

Alexander and Cooper claimed the temporary housing unit FEMA provided them in 2006 was contaminated with formaldehyde that worsened Cooper’s asthma.…

Charity Baby!

Red Cotton — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:23:21 -0500

Over 1,000 people paraded Monday for the resurrection of their beloved Charity Hospital. Although someone did lean over at one point and say to me, “those second liners will follow the brass bands off the plank of a ship!” HA!…

You're invited to Veronica White's booksigning tomorrow

Kevin Allman — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:15:24 -0500

It's $35, but Amazon has a used copy for $26.99.

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Vitter drops objection to FEMA director nominee

Kevin Allman — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:10:26 -0500

After a week of bipartisan criticism from the White House, some fellow GOP senators, and withering editorials in several national newspapers, Sen. David Vitter has formally dropped his hold on the nomination of Craig Fugate as the new director of FEMA. As The Washington Post reports:

"Louisianans have gotten way too many easy spoken assurances from FEMA over the last four years that didn't mean anything," Vitter said in a statement this morning.…
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