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Missed New Orleans elections in March and May, too Monday, November 26, 2007 After the October 20th primary election for which only 27.5% of the city's registered voters turned out, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said he was "disgusted." In a television interview, Nagin said "it was kind of offensive to me, because here I am bustin' my butt every day and all I'm asking citizens to do is to plug into the democratic process." It's now reported that Nagin himself was a no-show at the polls in October. According to the Times-Picayune, Nagin didn't cast a vote in the...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Mayor Ray Nagin says the state could take over the New Orleans district attorney's office as early as Monday as the agency faces a multimillion-dollar civil judgment. A federal judge ruled this past week that district attorney office assets could be seized to pay off a $3.65 million judgment pending from a 2005 case in which dozens of white office workers successfully sued District Attorney Eddie Jordan for replacing them with black workers. Jordan is not personally responsible for the payment. And in an opinion released Friday, City Attorney Penya Moses-Fields concluded after reviewing state and...

Grand Jury Indicts Woman Linked To ShepherdUPDATED: 12:27 pm CDT October 25, 2007 NEW ORLEANS -- A federal grand jury handed down a 15-count indictment Thursday against a New Orleans woman who has been linked in court testimony to a state senator from Marrero. Gwendolyn Joseph Moyo is the only person named in the indictment. All 15 counts accuse her of selling insurance after being convicted of a felony. On Monday, an FBI agent testified that state Sen. Derrick Shepherd helped Moyo launder nearly $141,000 in bogus construction bond fees, and kept almost half the money. Shepherd, a Democrat, was...

The national media completely obsessed over Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, conducting an amazing propaganda campaign which suggested a la Kanye West that George Bush hated black people, demonstrated it by the government's "neglect." They paid little attention to the incompetence of state and local officials, like Gov. Kathleen Blanco. She was so tarred by her response that she didn't even run for re-election. Yesterday, Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal, who lost to Blanco by four points in 2003, easily won the governor's race. Bobby who? That's right, the national media that obsessed over this area (and we mean...

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) has decided against running for governor of Louisiana. Notorious for his inaction during the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of his city, Nagin was advised that his slogan “not everyone who could’ve died did” was not the confidence inspiring catchphrase he thought it was.

With roads still in disrepair, sections of the police department operating out of trailers, and a Lakeview library being run out of a bus, some people could not help but raise their eyebrows when Mayor Ray Nagin said that the hopes of building a Hurricane Katrina memorial, the City Council handed him a check. Video: Watch the Story $1 million in tax payer money to build a mausoleum to honor and house the unidentified bodies found after Katrina. “You got people that don’t have no shelter—nothing—still in New Orleans, and you want to do something for people that already passed,...

Baton Rouge, La. (AP) -- Keeping speculation alive until the very end, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin opted not to join the Louisiana governor's race Thursday — a decision that became clear only when the qualifying deadline passed. Many in Nagin's city were surprised he was even considering a run, with more than 2 1/2 years left in his second term, a painfully slow hurricane recovery effort in the city and a gubernatorial candidate — U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal — who has held a commanding lead in polls. Thirteen candidates qualified for the Oct. 20 ballot, most notably the Republican...

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin could be days away from announcing he will run for governor of Louisiana — a move many in this stricken city regard as preposterous. If Nagin runs, he will do so on his stewardship of New Orleans.

Two years after Katrina, everywhere you turn, there are people carping, whining, and kvetching. Just why hasn't the pity party for the citizens of New Orleans run out of booze and chips yet? It's not as if hurricanes are a once a millennium event in the United States. In fact, residents of Florida have so many of them that they don't even cancel a barbecue for anything under a Category 3. Moreover, people lose their homes in this country every day of the year. If it isn't a hurricane, it's an earthquake. If it isn't an earthquake, it's a tornado....

President Bush commemorated Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow Wednesday with a somber moment of silence. Across town, in a symbol of a federal-city divide that persists two years after the killer storm, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin marked the levee-breach moment with bell-ringing.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - President Bush commemorated Hurricane Katrina's devastating blow Wednesday with a somber moment of silence. Across town, in a symbol of a federal-city divide that persists two years after the killer storm, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin marked the levee-breach moment with bell- ringing. "We're still paying attention. We understand," Bush said in remarks afterward. The president and his wife, Laura, were spending Wednesday's anniversary in New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, Miss., determined to celebrate those he said have "dedicated their lives to the renewal" of the region. But with New Orleans and the Gulf...

Aide to New Orleans mayor describes chaos after storm in new book — NEW ORLEANS — After Hurricane Katrina inundated his city with floodwaters, leaving in its wake a wave of human suffering and lawlessness, Mayor C. Ray Nagin surveyed what already was being called the nation’s worst natural disaster from the window of a sweltering hotel suite he’d commandeered. “Are you OK?” his press secretary, Sally Forman, asked. “This was God’s plan for me, Sally,” Nagin said. “What was?” she asked. “To rebuild New Orleans.” That exchange is one of the many insights into the man and the chaos...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — New statistics show a crime wave is intensifying in a city already beset by the uncertainties of a flagging recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Despite an infusion of money and manpower into the justice system, the murder rate is growing and armed robbers are preying on Hispanic day laborers flush with cash from rebuilding jobs, the Police Department says. The city, which led the nation in murders per capita in 2006, is on track to retain its title, according to data presented Thursday for April through June. The report shows a 14 percent increase in murders and...

A new statewide poll in the Louisiana governor's race shows Republican candidate Bobby Jindal with a strong lead over his competitors, including one question that listed New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in the lineup of candidates. In a telephone poll conducted Aug. 3-6, Southern Media & Opinion Research Inc. of Baton Rouge asked 600 likely voters who among the major candidates they would vote for if the election "were held today." Jindal, a congressman representing the 1st District, led with 63 percent, followed by state Sen. Walter Boasso, D-Arabi, with 14.3 percent, Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell with 4.4...

A new statewide poll in the Louisiana governor's race shows Republican candidate Bobby Jindal with a strong lead over his competitors, including one question that listed New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in the lineup of candidates. In a telephone poll conducted Aug. 3-6, Southern Media & Opinion Research Inc. of Baton Rouge asked 600 likely voters who among the major candidates they would vote for if the election "were held today." Jindal, a congressman representing the 1st District, led with 63 percent, followed by state Sen. Walter Boasso, D-Arabi, with 14.3 percent, Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell with 4.4...

As he has for months, Mayor Ray Nagin on Thursday continued to dance around questions about whether he is considering a run for higher office and said the fact that he went to Kansas City for a fundraiser the previous day does not indicate a waning commitment to New Orleans. "I'm telling everybody everyday that I'm focused on running for mayor," Nagin said at a press conference, before quickly correcting himself: "I mean, being mayor." Despite his stated devotion to New Orleans, Nagin told an audience at a Garden District forum last weekend that as the city inches toward recovery,...

"Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., listens to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin speak to residents during a town hall meeting on housing in New Orleans, Saturday, July 7, 2007. ""Julie Andrews, a former public housing resident from New Orleans, speaking to a housing panel including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., during a town hall meeting in New Orleans."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin might be making a run for the governor's mansion. Nagin was on the Tom Joyner radio show on the New 99.5 FM on Friday morning. "There's a wide open governor's race, and we'll take a look at it," Nagin said, when asked to clear up rumors about a possible bid. The radio station reported that Nagin could announce his candidacy in the next seven to 10 days. In the past, the mayor has said that he had no interest in running for governor.

What are Jefferson buildings really worth?Documents say one thing, lawsuits say another Sunday, July 08, 2007 By Gordon Russell Staff writer It suited Mose Jefferson just fine when the taxpayer-financed nonprofit he controlled sold a Central City office complex and political stronghold to a friend for a mere $10,000. That's all he paid for the building when he bought it a couple of years later. It was a fair price, Jefferson said, even though it brought in more than twice that annually in rent for just one of the complex's eight units -- the one leased with taxpayer money by...

New Orleans (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin, in his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that New Orleans is a city on the mend, despite broken promises from the state and federal governments. "New Orleans is coming back, whether you like it or not," Nagin said to applause from the crowd of city workers and community members gathered at the National World War II Museum. "And you might as well deal with it." Nagin called on President Bush and Gov. Kathleen Blanco to do more to help speed the city's recovery from the August 2005...

Nagin To Give First Post-Katrina State Of City SpeechWed May 30, 12:04 PM ET New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will deliver his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday night. Nagin will speak at the World War II Museum starting at about 7 p.m. You can watch the speech live on WDSU-TV and WDSU.com. Our coverage starts at 6:30 p.m., right after NewsChannel 6 at 6.

Nagin Sang Different Tune During Recent Visit To City PHILADELPHIA -- New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin criticized the cleanliness of Philadelphia after a visit to the city last week. "Let me tell you something. You ought to go to Philly and you will appreciate how clean New Orleans is," Nagin said Saturday to a crowd of New Orleans residents concerned about the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. "Just go and walk around Philly a little bit and you will appreciate," Nagin said. " ... We still have some work to do but we definitely beat them by a long shot."...

NEW ORLEANS—Members of the U.S. House of Representatives convened a congressional panel at Dillard University last Tuesday to investigate the state of the New Orleans criminal justice system. Local officials requested millions in federal assistance to help rebuild damaged infrastructure and install programs to reduce violent crime. The subcommittee could help back those requests. Its purpose was to pinpoint problem areas in the New Orleans criminal justice system and gather evidence to take back to Washington, D.C., in hopes of securing federal dollars. Mayor C. Ray Nagin asked for $17 million for police vehicles, equipment and recruiting efforts, $4 million...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Four new murders on Monday, added to four over the weekend pushed the city's murder count this year to 55 people — so far. "This is the worst we've had in a while," said police spokesman Sgt. Joseph Narcisse. Included in the eight deaths is a victim who was shot over the weekend, but died on Monday. Many of the shootings appeared linked to drugs, Narcisse said. On Sunday, he said, a 20-year-old New Orleans man was fatally shot in a FEMA-issued trailer after what appeared to be a drug deal gone bad. Drugs and cash...

BATON ROUGE -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Monday he wants the governor to place more emphasis in the state budget on the city's recovery and would like to sell the Louis Armstrong International Airport to the state. In a wide-ranging address to the Baton Rouge Press Club, Nagin also said he would like to see the state's much-criticized Road Home rebuilding program reduce the role of its chief administrator, ICF Consulting Group Inc., to one of a data processor. The program should use banks to disburse the program's federal money for compensating homeowners with storm-damaged houses, he said....

A new study by a Tulane University professor says New Orleans? murder rate as the highest in the country. The report estimates the city?s 2006 murder rate at 96 per every 100,000 people. A key factor in New Orleans vault to the top of the ratings was the large decline in the city?s population following Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called the study results ?bittersweet.? ?Everybody wants to be number one at something,? Nagin said. ?We?re not in the running for the high prestige titles like ?cleanest? or ?best educated.? In fact, we?re on the bottom of those...

The slow pace of New Orleans' post-Katrina recovery is part of a plan to change the city's racial makeup, Mayor Ray Nagin told a national newspaper publishers' group last week. According to The Washington Post, Nagin made those remarks at a dinner meeting Thursday of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group for newspapers that target black readers. He told editors and publishers that the slow recovery is part of a plan to change the racial makeup, and hence the political leadership, of the city.

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin believes that that the slow recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is part of a plan to disperse black voters geographically to make it more difficult for blacks to be elected to political office."Ladies and gentlemen, what happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere. They are studying this model of natural disasters, dispersing the community and changing the electoral process in that community," Nagin said in a speech to the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group for newspapers serving the black community.The Washington Post reports that Nagin, who won reelection...

New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has suggested that the slow recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- which has prevented many black former residents from returning -- is part of a plan to change the racial makeup and political leadership of his and other cities. "Ladies and gentlemen, what happened in New Orleans could happen anywhere," Nagin said at a dinner sponsored by the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group for newspapers that target black readers. "They are studying this model of natural disasters, dispersing the community and changing the electoral process in that community."...

America’s most inept mayor is at it again. Seems like it’s taking him too long to turn NOLA into the Chocolate City of his dreams but he knows why. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has suggested that the slow recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina — which has prevented many black former residents from returning — is part of a plan to change the racial makeup and political leadership of his and other cities. “They are studying this model of natural disasters, dispersing the community and changing the electoral process in that community.” That’s right, boys...

NEW ORLEANS - Only $1 billion of the $77 billion the city is seeking from the Army Corps of Engineers is for infrastructure damages it says it suffered because of levee breaches during Hurricane Katrina. The rest is for such things as the city's tarnished image and tourist industry losses. ADVERTISEMENT The city "looked at everything and just kind of piled it on," Mayor Ray Nagin said. "We got some advice from some attorneys to be aggressive with the number, and we'll see what happens," he said. New Orleans has joined big business and thousands of homeowners in filing claims...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - New Orleans, the "Big Easy" city famous for its good times and relaxed attitude, has become the Big Uneasy in recent weeks as its murder count has soared and anger grown at local leaders unable to stop the violence. Annual Mardi Gras celebrations unfolded without incident this weekend, but fear of the rampant blood-spilling and its threat to the city's recovery from Hurricane Katrina are constant topics of conversation. The homicide total for a still-young 2007 climbed to 27 on Saturday with the dead of a man shot at a nightclub on Friday. He was one...

NEW ORLEANS -- Two shootings within seven hours killed two people and injured seven more, two of them critically, New Orleans police said. Three were shot in a car parked near the Industrial Canal in the Ninth Ward about 6:45 p.m. Thursday. About 1:30 a.m. Friday, a shooting in a Mid-City nightclub wounded six people, one critically. The survivor of the first shooting _ the car's driver _ told police that he knew and had given a ride to the man who shot them, Sgt. Joe Narcisse, a police spokesman, said Friday. "That let us know this was not just...

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee said his controversial methods of cutting crime are working so far this year with three murders recorded in 2007. Using a high-powered gun as a prop, Harry Lee defended his methods of combatting crime in predominately black neighborhoods. Lee said that would extrapolate to an average year in Jefferson Parish following an unusually high number of murders in 2006. He credits his use of more officers and armored vehicles in high-crime areas and he believes his plan to target, videotape and even stop people in those areas has paid off. “I’m not targeting blacks. I’m...

...There were 161 homicides in this city last year, and there have been 18 so far this year, making New Orleans by most measures the nation’s per capita murder capital, given its sharply reduced population. Many of the victims and the suspects are teenagers. About two-thirds of the deaths have gone unsolved: the killers, in many cases, continue to walk the streets and are likely to kill again, the police say. Other cities have plenty of murders. But only in New Orleans has there been the uniquely poisoned set of circumstances that has led to this city’s position at the...

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Mayor Ray Nagin told a Senate committee Monday he doesn't see the will to fix his hurricane-battered city when compared with the billions spent on the war in Iraq. "I think it's more class than anything, but there's racial issues associated with it also," Nagin said. Nagin also asked for Congress to change the laws and regulations to speed up the flow of federal aid. "From my perspective, not having the resources at the local level is the absolute killer of this recovery," Nagin told the Senate's Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is...

Updated: Jan. 25, 2007, 1:11 PM ET Athlete who fled Katrina jailed for making bomb threat Associated Press DENTON, Texas -- A high school basketball star is accused of calling in a bomb threat to the school the night of a game he was missing because of a suspension for fighting. Howard Stirgus, an 18-year-old who came to Denton in 2005 after fleeing New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, was jailed on suspicion of making a false alarm and abusing the 911 system. Authorities said he called Denton High School on Tuesday night, claiming there was a bomb in the building...

Michael Brown, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is shooting off his mouth again. Last week in New York City, he claimed that Mississippi and Louisiana were treated differently after Hurricane Katrina because of their politics. Unfortunately, Louisiana's Democratic governor, Kathleen Blanco, jumped on the suggestion, claiming that Brown had "broken the code of silence about the political conspiracy to hurt the people of Louisiana." Fortunately, Mississippi's Republican governor, Haley Barbour, took the time to consider the source of this conspiracy theory and said Brown's "credibility has been worn pretty thin over the last couple of years...

(AP) New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin often complains about how slowly his city gets federal hurricane recovery money, but figures released Thursday show that nearly $600 million is available — if only Nagin would request it. New Orleans and the city's agencies have received nearly $300 million of the recovery money promised by FEMA — 96 percent of the $311 million that the city has formally requested since Hurricane Katrina struck 16 months ago, according to data released by the state homeland security office, which distributes the money. That leaves over $595 million in federal money that is available to...

New Orleans officials traded a zoning waiver needed by Waste Management to operate the Chef Menteur Highway landfill for the promise of a portion of the landfill's revenue, according to a federal audit that deems the deal inappropriate and concludes the city should pay the money back. Because the federal government was paying 100 percent of the cost of debris removal, the report says, the city was in essence helping itself to an unauthorized federal grant. To cover the cost of paying the city, the landfill's operators inflated their prices, which were paid by the federal government. Under the city's...

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, set to deliver the Democrats' rebuttal to Tuesday's State of the Union address, said rebuilding New Orleans is "a point of national priority," and he suggested money already spent in Iraq might have been better spent bringing the city back from Hurricane Katrina. Webb recently questioned continued spending of federal money in Iraq while New Orleans has languished in the nearly 17 months since the storm. He said Monday that his "gut instinct" tells him not to support more funding for reconstruction in Iraq until there's a full accounting of what's been spent there so far....

SAF, NRA File Motion To Find New Orleans Mayor And Police Superintendent In Contempt Of Court Bellevue, Washington - Frustrated by repeated failures to meet court-appointed deadlines, and a pattern of disregard by the City of New Orleans, the Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion to hold Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley in contempt of federal court. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Jan. 31 in federal district court in New Orleans. The Second Amendment Foundation is suing Nagin and Riley over the confiscation of firearms from law-abiding citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane...

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin is in New York this week, courting investors and looking for money to help fund the rebuilding of key infrastructure batted by Hurricane Katrina. Nagin is traveling with the city's newly appointed recovery czar and finance director to meetings with Wall Street firms and foundations that might provide loans or grants for a new criminal justice system and the reconstruction of city buildings, other storm-damaged infrastructure and unspecified "critical needs," his office said Wednesday. The trip is set to run through Friday. "It is essential that we do everything within our control to move...

NEWS RELEASE Second Amendment Foundation 12500 NE Tenth Place • Bellevue, WA 98005 (425) 454-7012 • FAX (425) 451-3959 • www.saf.org SAF FILES MOTION TO HOLD NAGIN, RILEY IN CONTEMPT For Immediate Release: 1/17/2007 BELLEVUE, WA – Frustrated by repeated failures to meet court-appointed deadlines, and a pattern of disregard by the City of New Orleans, the Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion to hold Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley in contempt of federal court. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Jan. 31 in federal district court in New Orleans. The Second Amendment Foundation...

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin vowed to throw ‘everything we have’ toward solving murders and other violent crimes during an impassioned address Tuesday afternoon. Nagin said several initiatives would be put into place including ‘very aggressive’ drug and alcohol check points between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. While stopping short of calling for a curfew, Nagin strongly advised residents to limit their activities during that time. Nagin also promised to: -expedite murder cases as quickly as possible -put criminal sheriff’s deputies on the streets to patrol with NOPD officers -to increase the number of crime cameras on the street by...

City's murder rate is 30 percent higher than any other U.S. city NEW ORLEANS - In the last week more Americans have died in New Orleans than in Iraq. Since Dec. 29, there have been eight military deaths. In the Big Easy, there have been 14 murders. Among the latest victims: Helen Hill, a 36-year-old mother shot in her home in front of her husband and 2-year-old. "She was just such a wonderful person," says friend Sheri Branch, "the brightest spot of New Orleans to me." The killers are growing more brazen, striking in broad daylight and using assault rifles,...

NEW ORLEANS — For months, Mayor Ray Nagin has been saying displaced New Orleanians would return to the city. Today he faced the harsh reality. According to the U-S Census Bureau, Louisiana's population has dropped by two hundred thousand people or five percent over the last year. That's the largest one year migration from an American state since World War Two. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, broken levees and flooding have pushed people into neighboring states. Nagin says, "to be quite frank with you, I think our repopulation,or recovery is somewhat in a holding pattern right now." Nagin says the delay...

Shifting the nation’s perception of New Orleans as a drowned city of Third World proportions remains in the forefront of new Gulf South marketing, advertising experts said Dec. 7 at a chapter meeting of the American Marketing Association. “(Marketing to tourists) is going to take a grassroots effort to combat the negative publicity,” said Mark Mayer, president of Peter A. Mayer Advertising of New Orleans. Although Mayer is optimistic about the city’s future, combating the damaged brand of New Orleans is key in the short term, he said. “Tourism is alive and well (in New Orleans),” said Zehnder Communications President...

A little more than a year after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is seeing a boom in its Latino population, with many coming to help reconstruct the city. Health officials had not anticipated the surge in the city's Latino population, The New York Times reported. In a demographic twist, hundreds of Latino babies are being born in New Orleans to immigrant Latino workers, both legal and illegal. In a city largely abandoned by its doctors after the storm, this new population adds a financial strain to the already struggling city. Many expectant mothers, lacking in financial assistance, cannot afford prenatal care...