I Think I See the Problem

posted by m.d.


From the T-P:

Six bank accounts belonging to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office were frozen Thursday by a court order seeking payment for the $3.4 million judgment brought on by former DA Eddie Jordan's firing of scores of white employees in 2003.

The new D.A.:

In fact, just yesterday I met with the Mayor, City Council, business community, and other community leaders to provide a detailed analysis along with potential plans for finding a win-win solution.

The Mayor:

I have met with the new DA, members of City Council, business and community leaders to fully analyze the financial impact of the Federal judgment against the District Attorney's Office and to evaluate the steps needed to avoid a disruption in our criminal justice system.

Is any one talking to the plaintiffs’ attorneys?

Comparing Disasters

posted by m.d.


It looks like Katrina in Mexico, except for one thing:

Images of filthy water engulfing Mexico's southern city as residents clung to the rooftops were reminiscent of the flooding that devastated New Orleans in 2005. But in the desolation of Villahermosa, there has been no widespread breakdown in law and order or four-figure death tolls. On the contrary, observers here say that Mexico's rapid response to its worst flooding in recent history was a factor in averting a catastrophe on the level of Katrina.

***

"You never felt that the government had totally disappeared even though our homes and city had been destroyed. You saw that officials were here and some help was coming in," said Javier Mendoza, 43, who fled his house with his family of eight on a navy boat.

The cynic in me wants to say, "Just wait two years."

NOLA's 40+ Under 21

posted by m.d.


Not to take anything away from Gambit's 40under40 issue, but there is another 40 list I'd like to point out.

As of today, (at least) 41 people under the age of 21 have been murdered in the city of New Orleans in 2007.


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Just think about it. Instead of going to high school or college, they are dead. Nine in Central City alone.

And going by Greg Rigamer's new population estimates, New Orleans' murder rate for 2007 is 74 murders per 100,000 residents. 182 reported murders to date.

Like Katrina in Mexico

posted by m.d.


Less lives lost, but it sounds pretty bad:

Rescue workers rushed to pick up victims of a catastrophic flood in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco over the weekend, where as many as a million people were reported to be homeless and the state Governor compared his capital, Villahermosa, to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Navy helicopters picked women and children up from the roofs of waterlogged buildings, while rescue workers on the surface helped elderly people into boats. Most able-bodied adults swam or waded through the filthy flood waters, which rose to four feet or more in the streets of the capital.

City of Souls

posted by m.d.


October was a deadly month. 31 days. 26 murders.

Nothing is changing.

One day into November, one murder.

As of November 1, 2007, 305 days into the year, 179 human beings have died a violent death on the streets of New Orleans. All but eight were shot. All but 13 were men. The average age of the murdered was 28. Almost two thirds were under 30.

If nothing changes – and nothing has – 2007 will end with 214 murders. That’s a murder every 1.4 days – almost a murder every day and a half. In a city of 300,000 people, this comes to a murder rate of 71 murders per 100,000 residents.

October:

Dwayne Landry, 25
Don Smith, 45
Demetrius Gooden, 33
Townsend Bennett, 23
unidentified man, 37
Gregory Hayes, 18
Charles Miller, 19
Eddie Bernard, 23
unidentified man
Carmen Leona Reese, 18
Cedrick Brooks, 32
Waldon Howard, 19
unidentified man
Antwon McGee, 22
Jason Anderson, 27
Archie Solet, 32
Shana Thomas, 23
Brian Lee, 16
David Bryan Alford Jr., 21
Brett Jason Jacobs, 25
Howard Pickens, 51
Darryl Daggons, 40
Matthew Qualls, 27
unidentified man
unidentified man
Toran Landry, 25
Anthony Walker, 28