Junto Boys

NEWS OUT OF NEW ORLEANS

I have made it a point not to watch any news since last Sunday so I don't know whether the following is noteworthy or not, but I thought parts of it were very interesting. This was posted to my fraternity listserv today. I don't know who the original author was.

Folks: There are some bright spots!

1. The New Orleans Airport will open Concourses A and B to scheduled passenger jet service on Tuesday! Cargo service began Saturday. Talked to Roy Williams, aviation director. He said there would be police checkpoints to prevent your driving into Jefferson or Orleans until they are reopened. The remainder of the airport, Concourse C and D, will remain dedicated to the relief effort. Up to 20 percent of the 10 million passengers a year are from parishes other than Jefferson or Orleans.

2. The draining is going faster than they had anticipated. See the map I sent previously to check flood levels on your block.

3. The Picyaune (I smell a Pulitzer) quoted Entergy as saying power would be restored to the CBD by the end of this week and to the Quarter and Uptown within 2 weeks. This means your air conditioning will come back on and cut down on the mold and mildew. It also means I will probably be moving to my apartment on Julia Street to cover the story from now on.

4. NOPD announced that the city is now crime-free for the first time in its history. This is due to 2 things: they've shot many of the thugs(they will never say how any, but a firefighter told me they had "taken care of" 140. A state representative, after attended a briefing, said the police and guardsmen, going house to house, block to block, have arrested many. Kinda hard for them to explain all that loot sitting around their house. This representative thinks that a significant chunk of the criminal element has been captured and taken off the streets.

Later today, I will send you my account of an inspection of the historic part of the city, from Bywater to Carrollton, that I took with three New Orleanians: Patty Gay, the Preservation Resource Center director; Jimmy Blanchard, the archivists artists and designer, Peter Raarup, the landscape architect (www.landscape-excellence.com; he will need work to salvage his business!); and with LSU urban planned Mike Desmond of Baton Rouge. They have some very significant observations. I'm beginning to sense that it will be sooner rather than later that you are allowed back in. I also have a clue there will be staged re-entry.

Now, Peter Raarup checked his Coliseum at Napoleon house that I had previously eyeballed as being found. First, we found a hole in the living room ceiling that allowed sunshine to fall onto his rug. When he went up into the attack, there was lots of
sunshine. He described his roof as "Swiss cheese." He's going to buy tarp in Baton Rouge to cover the whole thing. You might consider brining some when you come. Just because there's no visible damage from the street doesn't mean there isn't any. Check for leaks.

There is a real push to get the French Quarter and CBD going as soon as possible to restart the economy.

THELMA PURRED! A note on traumatized Thelma. She is becoming a lady, presenting herself in a pleasant way to be petting. Last night, she purred for the first time. She has become very talkative. Thelma's"mom," Heidi Quenan, wants you all to know that she did not abandon her animal. Heidi had left Thelma in the hands of a house sitter while she visited a friend in Mexico City. The house sitter had left extra food and water out for Thelma when the evacuation order came. "I am not a bad Mom," Heidi said. But I know others who left their cats, who are difficult to corral, you know, with extra food and water. Most of them came through the hurricane.

Had the levee not broken, this would have been a regular hurricane.There will be great attention to why it did. The Orleans Levee Board's expenditures are now being
examined by the New York Times. Everything is going to be examined under a
microscope.

By the way, I highly recommend going to see "The Forty Year OldVirgin." After about 15 minutes, I forgot about the hurricane and laughed the rest of the time. You need the relief.

More later today.