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OK, here's an update from Alexandria/Pineville, LA, with a link to local newspaper coverage at:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Remember the cute little car I said I was glad to have rescued from certain submersion in Houma? Well, it hasn't fared too well here in Pineville. Although I was up for most of the night trying to follow these Katrina threads on FR, I didn't hear someone breaking into the car to steal my car stereo and speakers. When I came down to drive my daughter to school, I found the trunk popped and the window smashed in, and called the police.

It turns out that there were several similar robberies committed during the night. The police officer who responded speculated that the thief was counting on the city's resources being directed toward hurricane efforts and used last night for an opportunity to go on a spree. However, to present a balanced picture, when the Chief of Police heard about that officer's comment, he was very quick to dispute it, saying that Pineville had added extra staff in order to prepare for Katrina.

At any rate, I wasn't on the threads all day because I had to run around taking care of repairs, etc. after the breakin at considerable out-of-pocket expense. I hope they catch the bastard responsible, because even though it's just a car audio system, it's the principle of the thing, that someone would exploit a natural disaster for an excuse to commit multiple crimes. To me, this is every bit as lowdown and dirty as the looting in New Orleans.

OK, off the soapbox about that, and onto the evacuee update. The hotel scene in Alexandria is starting to get ugly. Every place is still sold out, and all the restaurants are packed with evacuees. People who aren't staying in shelters are camping in the parking lots at the local K-Mart and Wal-Mart SuperCenters. They interviewed the manager of the Super 8 on KALB tonight, and she showed these warning stickers she puts on the hotel registration cards indicating that you can't stay past the date of your original reservation because there are too many people on the waiting list for your room. No wonder there was a police car there last night; people have no home to go back to right now, the Governor is on TV telling them to stay put wherever they are, yet they're probably being forcibly evicted from their motel rooms. I'll bet the Town Talk classifieds will be full of help wanted ads for front desk clerks any day now.

As for people asking about Slidell, KALB did show some footage from Slidell on the 10 pm news. It was brief but just enough to show you that things are really bad there.

I was really sad to hear how bad things are in Kenner. They recently did a complete renovation of the old Airport Plaza hotel near MSY and turned it into a really super-nice Radisson. Everything was brand new and the hotel staff was delightful. I really hate to think that all that renovation work was for nothing and all that new furniture might have been destroyed. What a waste!

What I will be watching for on these threads now is the fate of northwest Mississippi. My daughter and I spent some wonderful vacation time listening to blues in Clarksdale, MS, and I would be heartbroken to learn of serious damage there. There are elderly musicians living in that area and wonderful old musical instruments that are truly irreplaceable.

Those casinos in Tunica County, MS could be hard-hit as well, and I would hate to think of the ancient artifacts at the Horseshoe Casino Blues Museum being damaged. Horseshoe is next door to the Hollywood Casino which contains a similar tribute to movie memorabilia, all super-rare collectors stuff you wouldn't see anywhere else.

Prayers to everyone in that region -- stay safe and dry!