For anyone who wants to track Hurricane Ike or any other storm, I found this really cool interactive weather tracking site: www.stormpulse.com

As the City of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, State of Mississippi, and the rest of the Gulf Coast - still already ravaged by Hurricane Katrina three years ago - prepares to defy yet another tempest of the sea called Gustav, FEMA has issued no public media statements regarding the impending threat.

Is this just a repeat performance or a deliberate, calculated step in introducing the Gulf Coast to the new “FEMA of 2008?”

I checked out the old Craiglist Katrina board, and I am pissed off. It seems some peeps still think ALL of us Katrina people got these big checks for $5000 or 2000 or whatever. Not true! And that’s jus ONE of the stupid things people think about us. Seems like we are outkasts in some places. Not ALL Katrina survivers are moochers and thugs!

I am a Katrina survivor and I have been diplaced here in Cleveland,Oh.I here very little about the efforts about the road home program to get back to New Orleans and I feel as though I am being left out of all that is intitled to me. I have been here in Cleveland, Ohio for 2 and a half years now and the job situation absolutley sucks to the core. The best that I can do here as far as a job here is to work through a temp service and more times than usual I do good to get sent out 2 days a week if that often. At least in the Big Easy there is plenty of work even if I have stay in a boarding house until I could find a place there, but I would still have to maintain what I have here at the same time here. Im at my breaking point and we all got ripped off big time by our government in more ways than one. Something has to give becuse something sure aint right

any sellers selling their home under Option 2 or Option 3. Houses in Louisiana only please.

If you want to get a little more at closing by selling to me under Option 1 assigned..please contact me at cmb7...@yahoo.com. This is no risk to you any information can be verified by the Road Home.

This is a way to maximize your Road Home benefits and recoup more of your losses

We are a retired couple from Violet. LA who had to relocate to Brandon MS and we wondered how many more of us are out there. One of our sons went back home to live in our house because his was demolished. One son relocated to Madison MS, and one is still in school. We are middle income retired and have purchased a home close to the Dogwood Mall. If anyone from our parish is in the same situation and would like to communicate, please respond

Common Ground Relief, the volunteer group which brings post-hurricane relief, mutual aid and assistance to impoverished communities in the New Orleans area, and also our gave us our first festival “for those who just can’t afford a Jazz Fest ticket”, along with The Village/Algiers are hosting a “Free Family Movie Night” tonight, Friday June 13 at 8:00PM.

The event will feature the film “Norbit” starring Eddie Murphy along with Tyler Perry’s “Diary Of A Mad Black Woman”, and take place at The Village at Algiers Point, 200 Patterson Street (next to the Algiers ferry landing). Dinners & refreshments will be available.

For more info call 504-364-9393, 504-583-0750, or 504-390-1602

“The New Orleans Police Department suspended daytime foot patrols Monday because it felt too hot outside.” from the New Orleans Times-Picayune

Just WHERE are these “foot patrols” and how can we get one in our neighborhood? The only place I’ve seen this is in the French Quarter or writing tickets. But I’m sure this is what New Orleans needs in every neighborhood.

By the way, if the mailman can do it, so can the cops.

Since Sean Penn Dirty Hands Caravan landed in New Orleans on the last weekend of Jazz Fest, folks around the world had been trying to find out where they were and how and what they were doing. I figured the Hands had been too busy to write.

Determined not to let this mystery stump me, I did an exhaustive search online, and even by phone, calling campgrounds (assuming the group was still going from camp to camp). I even drove around as Jazz Fest was ending, winding my way through heavy post-Jazz Fest traffic in a futile search for bio-diesel buses with hippie-era paint jobs, and hundreds of young activists.

With no word from the Caravan, was there a possibility they got stopped on the highway by some overzealous anti-activist cops, who had refused them entry into this war zone, and the Dirty Hands mission may have been aborted?

Ironically and miraculously, I found them a week later - by going to church - because that’s where the Dirty Hands were arriving as I was on my wild drive through the wild after-Jazz Fest traffic the Sunday before.

Just as I thought, these Hands have been busy. They’ve been doing good works on a church-owned duplex on Washington Avenue in New Orleans’ Central City, and another building nearby on S. Saratoga St. - plastering, painting, cementing, laying tiles, and installing cabinets.

And, these “unofficial” Dirty Hands - renegades from Sean Penn’s army - really do seem to be a truly exceptional group that has a united, genuine, passionate comittment to their objectives. Steve said, “We don’t hear anything about (New Orleans rebuilding) on the news in California. We didn’t know there was so much that had to be done.”

Individually, the goals are as diverse and unique as the personalities will allow. For example, Sarah would like to stay and eventually open a montessori school for pre-schoolers in New Orleans. She got tired of “teaching celebrity kids” in California and wants to teach in a more down-to-earth setting here.

Then there is Adrienne, a 20 year-old who’d like to open some type of recycling operation to help clean the city’s environment of aluminum, plastics, and other trash, and there is Zach, also 20, who wants to start a sports program for local kids and young adults. So does Dean.

Texas Tony and the twelve were slated to leave last weekend, to be replaced by a second relief group from the Caravan, but those plans began to change last week. And those I talked to were in no hurry to end their two week stay, even a little disappointed that they may have to leave. Several are considering making permanent homes in this still-charming ravaged city.

Much of what they envision and what they want to accomplish is relying on the goodwill of actor Sean Penn or others, such as agencies and organizations willing to help reach goals of getting homes, offices, and the bureacracy of Louisiana.

Yet, the small army has made strides, putting their limited funds together to get a rental near the church.

The latest updates can be found on the group’s blog at www.dirtyhandscaravan.blogspot.com/

The NBA and the New Orleans Hornets helped make me realize how much I love this city! Congratulations to Coach Byron Scott, CP, Dave West and the whole Hornets club on a great season!

The Allstate foundation has paired up with One Economy to launch an initative to place emergency preparedness information directly into the hands of New Orleans residents.  They announced their community outreach plan this past Tuesday, May 14 during a block party at the Hope Community Credit Union in Central City.  The launch party was a huge success with food, music, sno-balls and cotton candy.  Even the children at Clear Head Learning Center joined in the fun with a dance to the hokey pokey.  They were absolutely adorable.

This is going to be an important program to protect the lives of our family and friends in the case of an emergency.  Allstate and One Economy plan to achieve their goal of giving each resident the necessary resources to form a personal emergency plan by offering their personal services.  They are offering to speak to organizations and church groups, train businesses how to protect their clients in the case of an emergency and hold public events educating people about emergencies.  The best part of the plan is that Allstate and Economy One are sending fellow organizations out into the communities to help people personally create their own emergency response.   Ultimately, they plan to be involved with 20 local non-profits and assist 100,000 people.  They have also created an online resource www.thebeehive.org/beprepared that helps families plan for all kinds of emergencies from natural disasters to diseases. 

 To take advantage of this awesome program, e-mail communityfellowsinfo@one-economy.com and someone will respond to help you create a personal emergency plan.  I just wanted to share this valuable resource.  I know I’ll be e-mailing them.

From the NEW ORLEANS SURVIVOR COUNCIL:

The New Orleans Survivor Council is a non-profit organization started by residents who are working to bring their people home. We will be having a workshop where residents who are going through the Road Home process will be able to learn about their rights, the appeals process, and the new elevation program from an attorney with the Loyola Katrina Law Clinic.

This workshop will be held twice, first on Saturday, May 17th at 2 pm and on the following Tuesday, May 20th from 6 pm - 8pm at the Lower 9th Ward Village at 1001 Charbonnet, on the corner of Charbonnet and N. Rampart. Transportation and childcare can be provided. For more information call 504-655-2715.

Just wanted to share this with all the other KC folks out there: To check for your stimulus check and how much it is and all that, go to the link on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=181665,00.html. cool

FOUND! In New Orleans, a group of volunteers from actor-turned-activist Sean Pitt’s personal crusade to save the Earth - the “Dirty Hands Caravan” - descended on the city during the last weekend of Jazz Fest. Several members who had traveled all the way from a California desert alternative music festival to K-Ville stayed in K-Ville.

KatrinaConnection.com has received thousands of visits, page views, and many thousands of hits from folks all over the world looking for updates (thanks). And (whew!) I tried hard to find out where the Caravan had landed.

With no major local media focused on them this group of twelve quietly decided to stay and help rebuild in the Central City area of New Orleans, a particularly damaged, neglected, high-crime section of this flood-ravaged town.

Through some miracle of divine intervention, the group appears to be based at my church where I had not been inside since LAST Sunday (the day the group was originally scheduled to get to New Orleans). And I have the pleasure of personally meeting the Dirty Hands I’ve been trying to find since last week!

So, anyone loooking for “in yo’ face” Dirty Hands this week can get an update right here on the KC blog, and I know they’re doing some good things here in K-Ville! Can’t wait to tell you about ‘em. Check back soon!

WOW! God is SO cool!