city government

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: A rising tide can only lift the people in the boat

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For many New Orleanians life has never been the same since Hurricane Katrina destroyed their homes, their neighborhoods, their schools, and their sense of community. Katrina was an experience they do not want to relive on this or any other anniversary. For them, the grief process is ongoing. African Americans especially feel the rules were stacked against them, making their recovery even harder. What do we remember most about Katrina?

opinion

Jean-Paul Villere: Now and then — one Katrina returnee’s retrospective

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The big exhale of 10 years has arrived as New Orleanians near and far reflect on the 2005 storm season that changed us all.  Personally, my experiences before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina pale in comparison to many others.  My journey to now may best be summed up from the wisdom of my stepfather who told me simply to “ride the horse in the direction it’s going.”  Not an easy thing to do when the unknown awaited, especially in the immediate aftermath of the devastatingly unexpected. Peculiar moments as I navigated what life had thrown in my general direction: wearing someone else’s clothes donated to me and my family, driving a spare car my stepfather happened to have, working my old job in the city I lived in years beforehand.  Effectively I was recast in someone else’s life, one that unsurprisingly didn’t quite fit. Those weeks after Katrina, once my wife and I elected to return to our sunken city we anticipated the challenging path that awaited, but who could have predicted the New Orleans we know now?  I submit to you: no one.  Below are 10 observations, mindful of this journey:

10) Waterlines remain.  You can always replace roofs and refrigerators, but it’s a world of difference when seeking to rekindle a neighborhood or revive one’s livelihood.  We are still recovering, and there are still ample reminders of crested water in embedded lines the city over. We should use an active voice when we discuss recovery and 10 years gone.  We must possess the present and convey the work is far from over. 9) Fatigue is real.  In short, one tires.  And that’s okay.  Or as my father-in-law is also known to espouse: all you can do is all you can do.

city government

Owen Courreges: Stop saying New Orleans is ‘better’ after the disasters of Hurricane Katrina

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We’re coming up on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, in case you’ve been locked in a closet for the past few weeks and have thus been spared the maudlin, self-indulgent navel-gazing of every commentator that comes down the pike. For some, Katrina was an opportunity seized. The guiding narrative is that of a city in decline that took advantage of adversity and emerged stronger. It’s a characterization of Katrina that’s equal parts appalling and inaccurate. We are not in a better position as entire swaths of neighborhoods lay in ruin and our population is greatly reduced.

arts, books and music

Mural exhibit in Central City will commemorate 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

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The Creative Alliance of New Orleans and Alembic Community Development will be opening a new exhibition titled “The People’s Murals,” at the Myrtle Banks Building in Central City Saturday, August 15 to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. “The People’s Murals,” is a massive exhibition of murals worked on by hundreds of community members, and the opening event will include featured artists and citizens who worked on the murals, as well as light refreshments and food. The show will open at 6 p.m. at the 3rd floor Creative Space at the Myrtle Banks Building in Central City, located on 1307 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard. “The People’s Murals,” will continue to be on view weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through August and September and for special events on weekends.

city government

After 10 years vacant, My House seeks to reopen large Peniston Street child-care facility

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A facility that served the children and families of the Milan neighborhood for decades on Peniston Street until Hurricane Katrina is now finally nearing its reopening, 10 years after the storm, officials said. The My House Center for Learning was originally known as the Sellers Home for Unwed Mothers, a Baptist ministry that traces its origins back to 1899, and that organization constructed the 18,000-square-foot Peniston Street building in 1955 with dormitories upstairs, a nursery and other residential features. Over the years, the organization focused more heavily on providing educational services for its residents’ children — such as after-school programs, especially those focused on science — and in 1992 became My House, ending its residential services altogether. “My House was actually born as a byproduct of the original intent of the building,” said board president Sarah Busch. Damage from the flooding that followed the levee breaks closed the facility after Hurricane Katrina, and only after eight years of negotiations with FEMA was MyHouse able to obtain a $2.3 million grant for renovations in 2013, Busch said.

arts, books and music

Broadmoor’s new Arts & Wellness Center in renovated St. Mathias School opens Monday

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The Broadmoor Improvement Association’s long-awaited renovation of the former St. Mathias School on General Taylor Street into a new Arts & Wellness Center will open to the public Monday, June 1., officials announced. Tenants began moving into the space this week. For details about the facility, see the news release from the organization below:

Health, wellness, culture and creativity are headed to the Broadmoor neighborhood. The Broadmoor Improvement Association (BIA) is opening the Arts & Wellness Center (AWC), an 11,500-square-foot facility located at 3900 General Taylor.

environment

WWNO to host discussion of Gulf seafood five years after BP spill

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WWNO, the local public-radio affiliate, and the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in Central City will host and moderate a discussion next week of the impact of the BP oil spill on Louisiana seafood that still remains five years later. 

It will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, at the museum at 1504 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. It is free and open to the public. Laine Kaplan-Levenson, WWNO coastal desk producer, and Eve Troeh, news director, will moderate the discussion about the state of Gulf seafood with people from different aspects of the industry. The panelists will include: Twyla Harrington Cheatwood, fisheries agent for the National Wildlife Federation; Tony Goutierrez, commercial fisherman; Sal Sunseri, co-owner of P+J Oyster Company and member of the Louisiana Seafood and Marketing Board; and Michael Ketchum, director for national retail sales at the New Orleans Fish House, a restaurant supplier.

business

Martin Wine Cellar to reopen for business on Baronne on Friday

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After years of waiting and months of construction, Martin Wine Cellar will reopen its new store at its original Baronne Street location on Friday morning, company officials announced. The store at 3827 Baronne will open at 9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 12, according to company officials. For more information, see the news release below:

Martin Wine Cellar Baronne Street OPENING DECEMBER 12th! Full-scale retail store and Bistro/Deli will open December 12th!

business

New Orleans should prohibit building schools on toxic soil, Honore and other activists say (live video)

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As New Orleans continues to recover from the devastation that followed Hurricane Katrina nine years ago, the city should pass a law preventing any schools or daycare centers from being built on top of toxic soil — including the proposed rebuilding of the Booker T. Washington High School over the old Silver City dump site in Central City, retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honore and local allies said Saturday morning. “We’re the oldest city in this part of the country, and we ought to be the first to make a stand,” Honore said. “We’re not going to put a school on a dump.” Honore’s famously barked orders of “weapons down!” after his assignment to New Orleans in the days after the levees broke symbolized a turning point for the city.

city government

Allan Katz and Danae Columbus: Katrina anniversary brings both sadness and joy

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It seems like just yesterday that we were packing up our TV cameras and computer hard drives to get out of Dodge before Katrina struck. Danae finally took Ray Nagin’s pleas seriously about 4 a.m. and began the long, slow journey to her parents in Arkansas with five dogs and our photographer. Allan, his sister Sandy Levy and their aged Mother, Miriam Katz, left several days earlier for Birmingham in an abundance of caution. Danae’s then home on Esplanade Avenue did not flood and was bypassed by the looters. Allan lost everything, except his cat Alexander who somehow survived four weeks after the storm on Allan’s second floor in Lakeview.