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The 270 victims who died in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 more than two decades ago included 189 Americans, among them dozens of college students and military personnel heading home for the holidays. Former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was convicted of the terrorist act in 2001 and sentenced to 27 years in a Scottish prison. That's where this monster should have ended his days.

It might've been St Bernard's feast, but as he took the reins in New Orleans, Archbishop Greg Aymond opted instead to underscore the figure (and use the Votive Mass) of the Good Shepherd. Given the lay of the land, that alone spoke volumes... but there was more. At another historic turn for the 216 year-old Crescent City church, the first-ever native son turned NOLA Archbishop served up an impressive Homecoming Gumbo on Thursday. Yet even as Aymond's talent as a sharp, conciliatory operator got him over the Day One hurdle with room to spare, it was the crowd who...

NEW ORLEANS — Rev. Gregory Aymond, a 59-year-old New Orleans native, was formally installed Thursday as the 14th archbishop overseeing the city's Roman Catholic community, which is still struggling to recover from damage done by Hurricane Katrina.Aymond is the first New Orleans native to hold the post."This day is overwhelming," Aymond said after the 2 1/2 hour ceremony.In an interview the day before the lavish ceremonies in the French Quarter's historic St. Louis Cathedral, Aymond said he expected to be emotional. "I was ordained a deacon, priest and bishop in that cathedral and now an archbishop."Cardinals from Chicago, Philadelphia...

In a public forum defined as much by passionate declarations on abortion as by statements about health care policy intricacies, U.S. Rep. Ahn "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, said Thursday that he "leans" toward supporting the House Democrats' vision of a medical system overhaul provided it won't pay for procedures to end pregnancy. "The word is 'leaning,' " he repeated to about 150 people gathered at an Irish Channel Neighborhood Association meeting, the first of four planned public forums for Cao during the August recess. Besides the abortion caveat, Cao further tempered his statement with his concerns about how major policy...

Any real candidate for mayor would kill for the kind of publicity the city's most famous non-candidate is getting. Michael DeMocker / The Times-Picayune Brad Pitt may be New Orleans' favorite son, but he can't be mayor ... at least, not yet. Brad Pitt -- he of cinematic, philanthropic and Angelina Jolie lore -- will face questions Thursday morning about a possible run for mayor of New Orleans on NBC's "Today" show. The segment will mark the first time New Orleans' most famous adopted son has publicly addressed the question that has lit up the Internet and brightened parlor conversations...

The nation's largest umbrella group for Roman Catholic sisters opened its annual meeting Tuesday in New Orleans, marking the first formal gathering of members since the Vatican launched two unprecedented inquiries into their communities. Officers of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, whose 1,500 members represent about 95 percent of 67,000 sisters in the U.S., said that in addition to public events they will convene behind closed doors this week to gauge response to the ongoing "doctrinal assessment" of their group launched early this year by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. That office, once known as the...

July 31, 2009 …This week, a source within the New Orleans Police Department confided to me that Police Chief Warren Riley will resign his post within the next few weeks and begin a campaign for Mayor of the city. Qualifying for candidates is in early December and the election is in early February 2010, only six months away. Riley has served as Police Chief for the past four years. He replaced Eddie Compass who resigned in the midst of the post-Katrina chaos. While Riley looks more professional and is certainly a better communicator than Eddie Compass, he is not a...

Catholics Teach the Children of New Orleans Since the Katrina disaster, the schools of the Archdiocese of New Orleans have swelled to double the enrollment of the local public schools -- 40,000 to 20,000. Rev. Neal McDermott, O.P., superintendent of the Catholic schools, told me yesterday that the archdiocese is facing a financial crunch when the $10 million in Catholic Charities money, allocated in 2006 to help the schools following the hurricane, runs out. "Beginning in June 2010, we will have to find $700,000 a year to replace those funds," he said. (Gov. Bobby Jindal eased some of the financial...

Superstar [New Orleans] Saints running back Reggie Bush and longtime romantic interest Kim Kardashian have split up, according to reports on Usmagazine.com and People.com. Usmagazine.com quoted a source close to the couple as saying, "Nobody cheated. This is just a case of conflicting schedules and their lives going in different directions. ... It was a totally mutual decision." People.com's report quoted a source as saying, "They never get to see each other, ever. It's been a long time coming. They still love each other and are part of their lives, but Reggie spends six months out of the year in...

WESTWEGO, La. – Blood loss due to an attack by a rat or rats was determined to be the cause of death of the three-month-old girl who died last week in a Westwego home, according to a statement by Jefferson Parish Forensic Pathologist Susan M. Garcia. Also Online Photos of home The official cause of death of Natalie Hill on the statement was "exsanguination due to destruction of soft tissue secondary to murine activity." Authorities had been trying to determine whether bites occurred while the child was alive or dead. Hill was found in her crib, covered in blood and...

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is calling on former residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to claim their old city addresses in next year's census, drawing criticism for trying to circumvent rules for winning federal funds. The mayor -- encouraged that New Orleans has thrown off its post-Katrina malaise to become the U.S.'s fastest-growing big city by percentage -- wants the U.S. Census Bureau to grant an exception for its former residents, currently living elsewhere, who want to rebuild homes in New Orleans. There's one problem: The mayor's plan is illegal, according to the Census Bureau. Federal law requires...

Aiming to maximize federal grant money and offer proof of his city's recovery, Mayor Ray Nagin is urging Hurricane Katrina victims still living elsewhere -- and longing to return -- to record New Orleans as their home when the U.S. Census Bureau conducts its decennial head count next spring. Problem is, that strategy doesn't mesh with census rules, federal officials say. In an e-mail response to questions about the much-anticipated count, Nagin spokesman James Ross said this week: "An area of major concern relates to New Orleanians working to return here. Many are repairing their homes, and others are trying...

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- The lead FBI agent in the investigation of former Rep. William Jefferson denied Wednesday that he had instructed cooperating witness Lori Mody to play on Jefferson's emotions, get him drunk, and lure him into taking a bigger share of her company. "That's not on her, that's on him, " special agent Timothy Thibault said, explaining that Jefferson continued to escalate his demands for a piece of Mody's business even when he wasn't under the influence of her wiles and wine. In its redirect, the prosecution played a videotape from the four-hour, $1,023 dinner Mody and Jefferson shared...

Maybe we’re looking in the wrong direction on this whole NSA issue. I can’t help but think that for the Dems to go to such lengths, there has to be some campaign money in it for them. Just like they pander to the far left whackos I.E. Moveon.org, maybe they also have to protect themselves as well as pander to some of their big money supporters who may not want their overseas calls monitored by the Bush administration. This is just a first attempt to connect some dots, but it is interesting. Let’s start with Judge Robertson and the Clintons....

DETROIT (AP) - A former aide to U.S. Rep. John Conyers has been arrested in Africa after skipping his sentencing on a federal fraud conviction, federal authorities said. DeWayne Boyd, 49, formerly of Detroit, was arrested Friday in Accra, Ghana, said Daniel D. Roberts, special agent in charge of the FBI's Detroit Field Office. Boyd is a former aide to Willie Brown when he was the speaker of the California Assembly. Boyd was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear at the April sentencing hearing on convictions of mail fraud, making false declarations under oath, making false statements to...

FBI agents have been in New Orleans City Hall since Friday collecting data from computer-network servers and backup tapes, according to a city official familiar with the investigation. Five federal agents have tied up the work of management information systems employees as they comb through the data stored on the servers. The agents are expected to be in City Hall all week, said the source, who wished to remain anonymous because the investigation has not been made public. The agents came bearing federal subpoenas seeking information and met with Chief Administrative Officer Brenda Hatfield, the source said. City spokeswoman Ceeon...

It started as a rumor told by insiders to media. Insiders believed that all the revelations were making the ACORN brand so toxic that they may have to change it. Then, ACORN Intl. changed its name and they thought that was an indication they were. Of course ACORN Intl. is NOT ACORN. Yet, for whatever reason, that's how it was reported by Washington Examiner columnist Kevin Mooney. Moonedy has been on television speaking about ACORN.

They use forklift in getaway from city lotThieves of the especially brazen variety busted into a New Orleans repair lot for city-owned vehicles Thursday night or early Friday, and made off with two unmarked police cars. The car-lot burglars apparently hopped the fence at the maintenance facility on Alvar Street in the Desire neighborhood, said Bob Young, a spokesman for the New Orleans Police Department. They managed to break into a building and snatch keys to two cars that belong to the Police Department.Then, to get the cars out, the thieves used a forklift inside the compound to knock down...

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin described his experience being quarantined in China amid fears of swine flu exposure as "very surreal" in an interview with WDSU on Wednesday night.

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin, who traveled on Friday to Shanghai, China, on an economic development trip, was informed early Sunday that a passenger on the airplane in which he was traveling was confirmed to have signs and symptoms of an influenza-like illness, suspected to be of the H1N1 -- or swine flu -- subtype. As a precaution, Nagin, his wife and one member of the mayor's executive protection unit have been placed in a designated quarantine location in Shanghai. The mayor's agenda is on indefinite hold, though he and the others are symptom-free. "Right now,...

New Orleans, LA (AHN) - Reports are stemming from local New Orleans media that Mayor C. Ray Nagin is being quarantined in Shanghai after possibly being exposed to the H1N1 virus on his business trip in China. Nagin administration spokeswoman Ceeon D. Quiett said Nagin is being treated with the "utmost courtesy by Chinese officials." According to the Mayor's website, the purpose of the trip was to "meet with four prospects interested in the possibility of locating their businesses in New Orleans."The website also notes that Nagin is expected to travel to Sydney, Australia, "where he will be the keynote...

Mayor Ray Nagin, who traveled to China on an economic development trip, flew on a plane that carried a passenger being treated for symptoms suspected to be from the virus, commonly known as the swine flu virus, the mayor's office said in a statement. Nagin, his wife and a member of his security detail have been quarantined in Shanghai, China, though all three are symptom free, the statement said. "The mayor is being treated with utmost courtesy by Chinese officials," the statement said. Ceeon Quiett, the mayor's director of communications, told CNN that Nagin had been sitting beside a passenger...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and his wife have been placed in quarantine after a passenger on their flight to China exhibited flu-like symptoms. Nagin's press office said a passenger had "signs and symptoms of an influence-like illness suspected to be of the H1N1 subtype." This comes amid continued global concerns about swine flu. The office said Sunday the couple and a security guard were placed under quarantine in Shanghai as a precaution and were exhibiting no symptoms.

New Orleans is once again the nation's murder capital after briefly losing the title. Fresh FBI statistics show that with 64 killings per 100,000 people in 2008, New Orleans had the highest per capita murder rate in the nation, well ahead of second-place St. Louis, which had 47 murders per 100,000 people.

Reporting from New Orleans -- Nearly four years after Hurricane Katrina, it is the worry that will not fade, complicating the rebuilding of New Orleans and defining and reflecting this fragile city's racial divisions. Call it the fear of a shrunken city. Immediately after the storm, many residents, often African Americans, worried that low-lying flood-ravaged neighborhoods would be left unbuilt and turned into wetlands. Though that possibility has diminished, one fear won't dissipate: that those same areas may wither as a result of restrictive zoning changes or a waning commitment to rebuilding in certain parts of town. It's the issue...

New Orleans Black Leaders Accuse Letten of Racism in Indictmentsby Christopher Tidmore With the indictment of former New Orleans City Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt's on racketeering and money laundering charges, murmurs of discontent with U.S. Attorney Jim Letten have begun to emerge from several quarters in the local black community. The accusation that the region’s senior prosecutor has disproportionately pursued corruption allegations in the African-American community continues to be levied. When Senator Mary Landrieu recommended the reappointment of Letten, a career prosecutor but also a GOP appointee of President George W. Bush, Danatus King, president of the New Orleans Branch...

Elder Olander Cassimere Sr. would have preached the Mother's Day service at noon at the Lower 9th Ward church where he was pastor. His wife, Alphathada, the church's first lady, would have been in the sanctuary, too, singing to the congregation before her husband's sermon. And the Cassimeres would have celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary on Friday. But on Mother's Day, New Orleans police said, relatives discovered the couple fatally shot in the Pontchartrain Park home where the Cassimeres raised nine children.One daughter -- who family members say is autistic and lived with her parents -- was unharmed, police said....

Okay, boys and girls, it's time to play on America's favorite political game show.....NAME THAT PARTY!!! Today's show features a highly unpopular mayor of New Orleans written up in the New York Times. The first person who thinks he knows the political party affiliation of the mayor, please hit the buzzer. The hidden clues might be hard to find in this article but they could lead the more carefully discerning among you to the correct answer: NEW ORLEANS — As Mayor C. Ray Nagin approaches his final year in office, he faces scandal, an acrimonious stalemate with the City Council...

A student at Audubon Charter School in Uptown New Orleans has been confirmed as a case of the swine flu, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Sunday. There are six other confirmed cases in Louisiana of the swine flu, which has spread to 18 countries around the world. Five of them are from the same school in Lafayette; the sixth case is in Ascension Parish.

As Mayor C. Ray Nagin approaches his final year in office, he faces scandal, an acrimonious stalemate with the City Council and the worst popularity ratings ever recorded for a mayor here. Term limits will keep him from running again, so Mr. Nagin’s eight tumultuous years of leading what he called a “chocolate city” will come to an end next May. He has not been popular among middle-class white voters since the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but now, with the city still in a halting recovery more than three and a half years later, residents citywide seem...

It is difficult sometimes to decide which disaster was more unmitigated: Hurricane Katrina or the federal response. In the more than three years since Katrina ravaged the Central Gulf Coast, U.S. taxpayers have spent $107 billion rebuilding the region so inhabitants can return to harm's way. And the fool's errand continues apace. Katrina breached the 350-mile network of levees around New Orleans in at least 50 spots. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in midst of a $14 billion project to rebuild the levees to withstand the force of water and winds of a storm that statistically strikes every...

Archbishop Alfred Hughes has told Xavier University he will not attend its graduation ceremonies next month because he objects to the university's decision to award an honorary degree to a veteran Democratic political strategist who supports abortion rights. Hughes told Xavier President Norman Francis of his decision by letter, expressing disappointment with the university, even as he acknowledged its legacy of education among African-Americans. Hughes also praised Francis "for your remarkable record of public service." Donna Brazile, a Catholic and a native of Kenner, is a familiar advocate on behalf of Democratic issues, working at the national level in support...

Lil Wayne never would have made it had it not been for big Robert Hoobler.The celebrated New Orleans rapper would have bled to death on the floor of his mother's Hollygrove apartment the afternoon of Nov. 11, 1994, at just 12 years old, after accidentally shooting himself in the chest while playing with a 9 mm handgun. If not for Hoobler, the New Orleans police officer who cradled the bleeding boy in the back of a squad car that day on the way to the hospital, the Grammy-winning superstar would never have made the cover of the current issue of...

Mayor Ray Nagin is disturbingly vague about a Hawaiian vacation for his family that was bankrolled by a company owned by a city contractor. When the trip came to light at the end of March, he said he didn't know who paid for it. Then he said the tropical getaway was a Christmas gift from his friend and then-technology chief Greg Meffert. Although, he said, it could have been paid for by a private company, but definitely not one that had a contract with the city. Now New Orleanians know otherwise. In a sworn deposition made public this week by...

Throughout the week, police detectives and on-edge residents were looking for a man impersonating a police officer who burglarized and threatened residents in three home invasions, forcing some of them to strip. On Friday morning, New Orleans police announced they had found their man, and it turns out he wasn't an impostor. Rather, he is a rogue rookie cop who used his badge while off-duty to victimize Hispanic men and women in the Mid-City area, authorities said.Darrius Clipps, 36, a patrolman of almost one year, appeared for work as scheduled Thursday evening, showing up at roll call for his night...

The New Orleans Police Department is advising the public to be on the look out for a man impersonating a law enforcement officer who forced his way into two homes over the past two days, forcing his victims disrobe and then demanding drugs before fleeing, according to NOPD spokeswoman Sabrina Richardson. In one case, he fondled the victim, Richardson said. On both occasions the suspect was dressed in a dark blue uniform style shirt with an unknown type of patch, she said. Police did not indicate where the incidents occurred, but said the first incident happened Sunday. The suspect told...

N.O. Demo aiming to reduce violenceBATON ROUGE -- Carrying or using firearms at public events such as block parties, New Year's Eve celebrations and Carnival parades could send the violator to jail for at least five years if the Legislature enacts a bill filed by a New Orleans lawmaker. Democratic Rep. Juan LaFonta said he has filed the bill for the session starting April 27 as a way to reduce violence at events popular to New Orleans including second-line processions at funerals and Carnival Indian parades. "We are about to kill a part of our culture," LaFonta said, referring to...

A brazen car chase and shooting Sunday afternoon on Earhart Boulevard left one New Orleans man dead and another in the hospital with a gunshot wound. According to the New Orleans Police Department, a white Lexus sport utility vehicle was pursued and shot at by someone in another vehicle near Earhart and South Claiborne Avenue about 2:40 p.m. The Lexus, traveling in the lakebound lanes of Earhart, crashed into a chainlink fence along Earhart at South Roman Street, overturned and came to rest on the driver's side, NOPD spokesman Janssen Valencia said. An 18-year-old passenger fled the Lexus after the...

One person is dead in a brazen shooting, according to witnesses, on Earhart Boulevard Sunday afternoon. New Orleans police have confirmed a person is dead inside of an overturned vehicle on Earhart Boulevard near South Claiborne Avenue.Witnesses said two occupants of the overturned Lexus were being pursued by gunmen in two other vehicles. The witnesses said a gunman emerged from the sunroof of one car and shot at the Lexus. A gunman in the second pursuing vehicle also shot at the Lexus. After the Lexus overturned, one occupant climbed out and fled and is being sought by police, authorities said....

Fed up with petty crime? Join the crowd. You can just sit around and belly ache about it, or you can do the double chicken wing. Meet Garett Majoue. "I don't call 911," he says. "Some people say I'm a hero. Others say I'm a dummy." You decide for yourself. (Spoiler alert: Both answers are correct. Don't try this at home.)Majoue was captain of the wrestling team at Brother Martin in the early '90s. That sets up the rest of the story. It begins in 1999 with a simple errand to Delchamps in Metairie for some ice cream. For most...

Suspect busted with stolen car, Shih TzuA tip to criminals: If you're driving a stolen car, with a stolen pooch sitting on your right and a marijuana cigarette in the center console, you might want to obey the speed limit. Ralph Bias, 18, of New Orleans was arrested in Kenner on Tuesday after a police officer stopped him traveling 53 mph in the 2000 block of Vintage Drive, a zone marked for 35 mph, according to Bias' arrest report. Bias wasn't wearing a seat belt and was driving on a suspended license, the report said. A handrolled marijuana cigarette was...

Mr. Pitt is going Washington. Nancy Pelosi's office says Brad Pitt is set to meet with the Speaker of the House on Thursday to discuss the 45-year-old actor's charity efforts in New Orleans. Pitt founded "Make It Right" in 2007 to help build environmentally sustainable housing for low-income residents in New Orleans who lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina. He was nominated for a best-actor Oscar for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

New Orleans ministers say Louisiana Attorney General has ruled that state law does not allow recall of federal officials Wednesday, March 4, 2009 The New Orleans ministers who launched a recall effort against 2nd District Congressman Joseph Cao last month say they've now been told by Louisiana's Attorney General that state law does not allow the recall of federal officials. The advisory opinion had been sought by Secretary of State Jay Dardenne who presides over elections. The campaign was launched after the newly elected Congressman who succeeded Bill Jefferson, voted twice with his fellow Republicans in the House against an...

VIDEO PROOF the Left Is Lying About Bobby Jindal During Katrina, I visited Sheriff Harry Lee, a Democrat and a good friend of mine. When I walked into his makeshift office I'd never seen him so angry. He was yelling into the phone: 'Well, I'm the Sheriff and if you don't like it you can come and arrest me!' I asked him: 'Sheriff, what's got you so mad?' He told me that he had put out a call for volunteers to come with their boats to rescue people who were trapped on their rooftops by the floodwaters. The boats were...

In discussing Hurricane Katrina, people never tire of maintaining there was “enough blame to go around.” Every sensitive American knows to cite “the failure of local, state, and federal governments to respond more effectively.” Which means, in real terms, that New Orleans’ mayor, Ray Nagin, should have gotten citizens out of the city and kept police in; Louisiana’s governor, Kathleen Blanco should have immediately asked for National Guard troops; and President Bush should have . . . not been photographed looking out of an airplane window? There’s a story today highlighting that the federal government not only saved the day...

A man reported to have been kidnapped in Jefferson Parish last night and was being held in a house nearby on Majestic Place in Algiers. He struggled with one of his two kidnappers and shot the man, who ran and later died at the house on Pacifiic.

WASHINGTON (AP) — FEMA is investigating allegations of cronyism and other misconduct at its hurricane recovery office in New Orleans.

NEW ORLEANS – A Mardi Gras parade erupted into chaos on Fat Tuesday when a series of gunshots struck seven people, including a toddler. The child was not seriously injured and two suspects were in custody, police said. The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. A stream of truck floats that follow the parade were passing by when gunfire broke out. "It sounded like a string of fireworks, so I knew it was more than one shooter," said Toni Labat, 29, a limousine company manager. She...

NEW ORLEANS – A Mardi Gras parade erupted into chaos on Fat Tuesday when a series of gunshots struck six people, including an infant. The infant was not seriously injured and two suspects were in custody, police said. The shootings happened near the Garden District about 1:40 p.m. after the last major parade of the celebration, Rex, had ended. Hundreds of truck floats that follow the parade were passing when gunfire broke out.

NEW ORLEANS – Six people, including a one-year-old boy, were injured on the parade route in a shooting on Fat Tuesday, according to spokesman EMS spokesman Jeb Tate.