Red Cross Sifting Internal Charges Over Katrina Aid

NEW YORK TIMES
By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: March 24, 2006

The American Red Cross, the largest recipient of donations after Hurricane Katrina, is investigating wide ranging accusations of impropriety among volunteers after the disaster.

John F. McGuire, the interim president and chief executive of the Red Cross, and Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said some of the actions might have been criminal.

The accusations include improper diversion of relief supplies, failure to follow required Red Cross procedures in tracking and distributing supplies, and use of felons as volunteers in the disaster area in violation of Red Cross rules.

Pascagoula uses the “M” word

Planners propose riverfront moratorium

Tuesday, March 21, 2006
By BRAD CROCKER
The Mississippi Press

PASCAGOULA —The planning board Monday recommended a six-month moratorium on new building permits along a certain section of property along the east bank of the Pascagoula River.

The proposal—which will have to be adopted by the City Council—was made to give Pascagoula officials a chance to study proposed zoning changes and ordinances, SmartCode adoption, the city’s comprehensive plan and other land use issues discussed in recent months related to waterfront development.

The proposed moratorium would affect riverfront property from U.S. 90 south to the end of the old Ingalls shipyard on the east bank. Currently the area is mostly zoned industrial, but city officials want to incorporate mixed-use zoning to attract retail, restaurants and other development.

March 19, 2006

When I arrived in Slidell yesterday I discovered that my laptop was broken. Somehow the hinge of the screen was damaged and it wouldn't open wider than about 20 degrees. I'm not sure when the damage happened, but I may have banged it into something while travelling.

Keisha and Carla picked me up in Slidell around 4pm on their way from the New Orleans airport to the Lofty Oaks Inn (north of D'Iberville).

When we arrived, I learned that I was going to present the development scenarios and preservation policies at tomorrow's town hall meeting. I should have assumed that I would present something, but I didn't volunteer because I was pretty burned out from the all-nighters designing the plans. I had hoped other people would step up and volunteer, but I was delusional. I realize that I am probably the best person to speak about those things among the three of us, but we should have established our roles much sooner. I would have prefered having a day or two to prepare.

Later in the evening we had a run-through of the town-hall meeting. I was completely unprepared. It quickly became apparent, and Pat Bonck commented, that I had the hardest job of the meeting. We debated with Pat about whether and when to discuss casino development. There is a real fear that bringing up casinos could change the course of the meeting, diverting attention away from our main agenda - implementation of the plan. I liked our decision to have Jennifer mention the casino issue before I speak, explaining in general terms that there are some things that the plan cannot control.

I'm still concerned that people will want to talk more about potential casinos and that could set a very tense atmosphere even before I begin my challenging presentation.

In the midst of our meeting, Ms Alice comes in and interupts us, grabbing all of our attention. She said:

Honeys, I need a huge favor. I'll give you whatever you want, except my body, if someone would give me a little bit of pot. It's for medicinal purposes.

We all look at each other like WHAT? apparently it didn't occur to her that most of us had been through an airport just hours earlier. She then asked if anyone planned on getting some soon, as if we know dealers on the coast. lol. Maybe she figured the Saucier team had access to some of the meth labs in the woods now that they've been working in the area for a while. I mean, would any of us have actually declared that they had pot (if they did) during a meeting with our professor and county representatives? I mean, really. She then said:

If you haven't smoked pot by the time you have graduated college, then the
Pope isn't Catholic.

A few minutes just after we resumed our meeting, we were interrupted again by a thin blonde middle-aged woman. She had tanned leathery skin and overbleached hair. She introduced herself as an assistant to Ms Alice (I don't think anyone remembers her name) and rambled on about some nonsense. It was pretty random - like apparently she has 200 pairs of shoes and 100 pairs of jeans.

I worked on my presentation notes using Carla's laptop until about 1am.

Photos from DeLisle, Mississippi, March 18, 2006

I spent some time in DeLisle today on my way to Slidell from the Gulfport airport. Our meeting is advertised on the DeLisle Elementary School sign. "DeLisle Town Meeting, West Harrison Civic Center, March 20, 6:00." Apparently the corner of the school's property is now a used car lot. How's that for mixed use in the center of DeLisle?

Nicky D's Open Soon. This is off of Kiln-DeLisle Road adjacent to the old gas station/convenience store. That building has been demolished.

This image is looking west along Kiln-DeLisle Road. It shows the old gas station/convenience store has been demolished.

Immediately behind the former gas station site is a new self-storage building.

Speaking of storage units, none have been constructed yet on Vidalia across from Martha Murphy's property. However there has been some sand/soil put down to fill in the low lying areas at that general site.


Drove down Wittmann to check out the area we thought that people used for access to the river. While there is some access here and it looks like this pull-off gets some use, I'm skeptical. Could many people really use this as a launching point for boats in this condition?


I drove over the bridge and took the first right. Hmmm, what is this?


This sign lead me to a real boat launch with a wide paved area that could accomodate dozens of vehicles.


Speaking of boat launches, I found this access to Bayou DeLisle near where the Bayou crosses under Cuevas-DeLisle Road. Obviously this is no longer used, and it looks like it may have been private. Didn't we get a phone call to the 800 number mentioning recreational opportunities at the bayou?


Stopped by the old DeLisle Cemetery to take some pictures of headstones for the plan. I couldn't find any that were older than mid 1800s. I was hoping to find Father Sorrin's grave, but couldn't. This cemetery is in bad shape, it's pretty sad. It is not abandoned though, as there had just been a burial a few weeks ago.

This stone reads "A.R. Jarret Died August 29, 1901 , aged 103 years." Hurricane Katrina happened on the anniversary of this person's death.


Stones of the Thompson family. Dates 1854, 1867, 1871.


One line of many Dedeauxs. The dates here are 1862, 1863. The stone obviously isn't that old.


Found a couple of Sauciers too.


The azaleas are looking good this year.

A picture for the plan.


This sign says everything you need to know about DeLisle's regional connections. It points to Pass Christian, Memphis, New Orleans, Gulfport, Horn Lake, and Walmart.


Looks like they going to rebuild the fire station.


Photo of First Baptist of DeLisle for Plan.


I drove up Lobouy to photograph the wastewater treatment plan.


Across the street from the treatment plant on Lobouy is Mt Zion Methodist Church, Rosemary William's church.

Next to Mt Zion Church was this abandoned building. The two structures are probably fewer than fifty feet apart. Note the same white gravel parking surface. I believe that symbol is used by the Freemasons.


Billy's Auto Body Repair, 7011 Vidalia Road.

Swanier's Quick Stop is located at the northeast corner of Lobouy and Cuevas-DeLisle Road across from the fire station and distribution center.

I went further north on Vidalia and explored since we didn't get to do that in January. The following are within the planning area (south of I-10). Here are some pictures of homes from that area. This one is on Eddie Road (spelled Eddie on the street sign, but Eddy on some mailboxes and in some of our GIS data).


Also on Eddie, this shows a mobile home on concrete supports behind a site-built home.


Cute house with a metal roof.

There were cows off of Eddie Road too.

This house was further north. I think it was off of Elm, west of Vidalia.


This house was nearby the one above.


This house was across the street from the one above. If it weren't for the setback and strange fence, this could have been in The Oaks.


This shows a large pond behind a house east of Vidalia.


The railroad crossing at Vidalia Road looking north towards I-10.

March 5-11, 2006

I have gained a ton of knowledge and experience through this project that I will be able to carry with me into practice.

I've learned and applied cutting edge planning concepts like the smartcode, sectors, and transects. It is quite a unique opportunity to get to apply these new tools to a real planning problem.

I also gained less specialized and widely applicable experience in communication. By the time this project is complete I will have helped conduct four public meetings and facilitated small group discussions. Both experiences increased my confidence with those sorts of situations.

Probably the most valuable aspect of the project I think was the process of working in a team environment on a multi-faceted project over an extended period of time. This project pushed my organizational and communication skills (including sensitivity and tact), as well as my patience, beyond any challenge I've encountered.

Knowlton to help rebuild Gulf Coast

Innovative new program taps into expertise of KSA faculty and students

3/8/2006
http://knowlton.osu.edu/newscenter/show.asp?ID=591

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development announced seven universities will receive over $2 million through an innovative new program that draws on the expertise of these centers for higher learning to help rebuild communities throughout the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The funding is provided through HUD's new Universities Rebuilding America Partnership (URAP) initiative. The Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture will receive a grant in the amount of $266,741.

The grant will fund the continuation of OSU’s efforts over the next two years. Beginning in December 2005, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning Jennifer Evans-Cowley has worked with a group of 12 students and three planning professionals to provide community planning assistance to Harrison County, Mississippi. “This grant is a wonderful learning opportunity for the students, while benefiting Harrison County in the rebuilding process,” Evans-Cowley said.

Future projects will include the creation of additional community plans, revising the County’s zoning ordinance, and assisting communities with implementing strategies for rebuilding.

HUD's URAP initiative was created through an existing design program that benefited schools of architecture and planning. Seven grants will assist other schools for community design and planning. Working with local, state and national organizations, URAP will provide an opportunity for groups of college and university students, faculty and staff to develop creative solutions to respond to the disaster.

HUD Secretary Alphanso Jackson said the funding is designed to tap into young, bright minds to help devastated Gulf Coast communities to rebuild.

More information about OSU’s efforts in Harrison County can be found at http://www.co.harrison.ms.us/departments/zoning/downloads.asp

Pat Bonck and Supervisor Ladners' visit

I was both pleased and a little frustrated with Pat Bonck and Marlin Ladner's feedback.

First I must say that I was unprepared to present. I had decided to leave the powerpoint production up to Carla since Ellen and I got scolded for working on it before when it had been assigned to her. I decided that I had done enough, and if no one else wanted to improve it, then we would use it as is.

I think it showed. The powerpoint should have been changed more for this presentation, it was very unorganized and that made our presentation take forever.

I was pleased with the praise that Marlin had for us. He said we were exactly right on several topics. I was surprised by some of Pat's comments. Why did he wait to tell us at this meeting that 800 housing units are going to be developed just north of I-10? and why didn't he tell us about the casino/condo developer who is interested in developing his land south of the Wolf River? I think that some of this should have been communicated to us way before this point. Now we are trying to refine and finish the plans, but with new surprises happening daily, I don't feel that we are making much progress.