Free Republic

Forty-five people accused of street-level drug dealing were arrested in Plaquemines Parish as result of a yearlong undercover narcotics investigation, authorities said Tuesday (Oct. 13). Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Lonnie Greco said during a press conference at the sheriff's office in Belle Chasse that an additional nine suspects were still at large. The investigation, called "Operation Who's Next," targeted 50 suspected dealers who Greco said were selling drugs across the parish, "from Belle Chasse to Boothville." Deputies began arresting suspects Sept. 8. The effort was likely the agency's largest-ever undercover operation, Greco said. Three high school students, including a 16-year-old, were...

The world's largest drainage pump station will be open to the public Thursday (Oct. 15) and Saturday (Oct. 17) for the first time in its four-year history. Tours of the $1.1 billion West Closure Complex in Plaquemines Parish will be conducted by the West Bank levee authority to educate residents about the area's hurricane protection system in advance of a tax election in November.On Nov. 21, West Jefferson residents will be asked to consider a 5.5-mill tax increase that would raise an additional $5 million a year. Algiers voters will be asked to renew a 6.35-mill tax for 30 years...

The world's largest drainage pump station, in Plaquemines Parish, could be opened for a public tour this fall during a campaign to educate West Bank residents about their $4 billion flood protection system. Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-West officials are considering an open house as they ask West Jefferson voters for a $5.5 million property tax increase and Algiers voters for a 30-year tax renewal for flood protection.Officials say the money is needed to cover $34 million in expenses associated with operation and maintenance of 100 miles of levees, floodwalls and floodgates built after Hurricane Katrina. Last year, the authority...

The 1991 spill into the Persian Gulf, which began on January 21, was purposely caused by the Iraqis in order to delay or prevent a threatened US-led invasion of Kuwait, including possible landings by US Marines. On February 23, American forces, including the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, the 1st Light Armored Infantry, overran Iraqi defenses quickly, but expressed shock at the extent of the environmental disaster surrounding them. The US lost 148 service members in combat, 458 were wounded in the First Gulf War which lasted from August 2, 1990, to February 28, 1991, when America and its...

Katrina & Rita - 1 year later - Appeal for help from a resident near Ground Zero... Let's see what the power of Freep can do to motivate the United States Government and it's legislators and beauracrats for 2 small Parishes (counties) in the United States of America compared what it can do for a hostile country roughly twice the size of Idaho (Iraq)

Empire and 10 other towns spread over 57 miles are now under 10 feet of water. "They're gone. They don't exist anymore," Deputy Sheriff Arceneaux said Wednesday as he guided a Reno skiff over oil-fouled waters — the only way into Empire and points south. His journey took him by his former trailer, which he couldn't see because it was submerged in churning floodwaters. This string of fishing and oil towns was the first inhabited area on the Gulf Coast to be hit by Hurricane Katrina. The parish took the full brunt of the storm, with thousands of homes and...

BELLE CHASSE -- The only building left standing in Empire is St. Ann Catholic Church. Looking north on La. 23, the houses are shattered, covering the area with debris and shredded wood. The civic center is destroyed, the post office is reduced to cinder block rubble, and all that's left of the houses are partial floors, roofs or frames. Half of a mobile home trailer landed in the middle of a nearby bridge, and a burst line down the street continues to forcibly emit natural gas. South and north of this little high ground at the Doullut Canal Bridge,...

Several people have requested a thread JUST for images of the storm. Post them here, please.

It could take months for maritime commerce in south Louisiana along the Mississippi River to return to pre-Hurricane Katrina levels, said the director of the Port of New Orleans. “In Plaquemines Parish, they can’t even tell where the ship channel was,” said Gary LaGrange, head of the New Orleans port. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is so busy trying to repair the levees around New Orleans that they can’t release the personnel to go out to Southwest Pass and map the channel.” LaGrange, who was temporarily working out of the Port of West St. Mary Wednesday, said he...