Oliver Bush Park's Two Million Dollar Makeover Breaks Ground

Today, at Oliver Bush Park in the Lower 9th Ward, the city finally broke ground on a project that was announced one month after Mayor Mitch Landrieu was elected as one of his one hundred recovery projects. We applaud Mayor Landrieu and other partners who made it possible for this wonderful park to return.

Several speakers spoke of Oliver Bush himself. He was someone who challenged segregation. He was a business owner. He was a father and a lover of all children. His mural and his spirit were watching the events today that will signal the return of a new covered basketball court, new play structures, four tennis courts and a baseball diamond for a cost of $2,100,000.

This is great news for the children of Lower 9 and for development efforts occuring "back a' town," espescially so near the Bayou Bienvenue Wetland Triangle and Platform. In attendance were among others, Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Charles Allen III Director of Enivronmental Affairs for the Mayor's office and former Holy Cross Neighborhood Association President, Councilman Jon Johnson,Vanessa Guerringer of A Community Voice, Patricia Jones Director of NENA, Steve Martin on behalf of the Lower 9th Ward Homeowner's Association, Robert Green of the Make It Right Homeowner's Association, Thom Pepper of Common Ground Relief, and last but not least The CSED!!

Stayed tuned for updates on the progress!

Diabetes Awareness Activist "World Guy" Walks Through Lower 9

Driving across the St. Claude Ave. Bridge this morning I saw something that I don't usually see every morning. I have seen some weird stuff on the bridge too, but nothing like this! Not everyday you see a man rolling a globe with a dog down the road.

It turns out this man isn't a crazy person though. His name is Erik Bendl, aka World Guy, and he has walked for over two thousand miles for the cause of diabetes awareness. In recent years he and his dog named Nice have walked in over twenty states and Washington, D.C. to help diabetes organizations and to encourage people to get healthy with excercise to control and prevent diabetes. If you see him on the road be sure to say hello!

Silicon Valley in the bayou? New Orleans hopes so

Great piece that ran recently on the Reuters News Service - covering the challenges, and promise, of bringing a green grocery to the Lower 9th Ward:

By Mark Guarino

(Reuters) - Developers and business owners are flocking to New Orleans, thanks to factors that can be traced back to Hurricane Katrina, an event that shook the old ways of doing business in the city and created opportunities for experimentation.

"It's a fascinating time to be in this city," said Ralph Maurer, who teaches at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business.

"If you talked to people in Silicon Valley in the 1970s and 80s, they would have said the same thing: There's something afoot."

Tracy Nelson hopes so. She isn't able to buy a loaf of bread or a quart of milk without driving across the parish line to a bordering suburb. The area where she lives -- the Lower Ninth Ward, ravaged by the floodwaters of Katrina six years ago -- hasn't seen a grocery store in more than two decades.

That may be changing. Next year, a multi-purpose complex featuring rental units, retail shops and a full-service supermarket is expected to break ground on the shuttered campus of a former Catholic boys high school.

To Nelson, and the nearly 5,500 people who returned in her neighborhood and rebuilt their homes, the prospect of finally shopping local is a long time coming.

"The whole community is ready for it, excited about it and wants it to happen today," said Nelson, a community organizer.

Although the recession certainly took hold in New Orleans, it did not cripple the economic forces there as national philanthropies and federal and state dollars delivered direct assistance to revitalize neighborhoods, improve schools, rebuild libraries and streets and create new models for charter school education and neighborhood health care clinics. READ MORE >>

via www.reuters.com

 

Sewage latest weapon in Louisiana's coastal fight (VIDEO)

Great piece on Bayou Bienvenue restoration recently on New Orleans' WVUE!

John Taylor, a lifelong ninth ward resident, recalls trapping for nutria in the 1960's in the area of swamp known as the "central wetlands."

The cypress swamp of Taylor's childhood looked like something out of a different world, a 30,000 acre area of lush forests and coastal marsh.

Taylor, now 64, watched in dismay over the years as salt water intruding from the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet killed the trees.

Katrina wiped out what was left.

"You couldn't see to the other side," Taylor said, as he looked out over an open bay where forest once stood.

Thursday, Taylor was among those wielding a shovel as politicians broke ground on a project designed to bring the first little patch of that swamp back to life.

The $10 million wetlands assimilation project will let loose treated sewage to act as fertilizer.

"It really sends a message to the rest of America that it's critically important that we rebuild all of New Orleans, all of St. Bernard," Mayor Mitch Landrieu told a crowd of onlookers.

To demonstrate the concept, New Orleans will build a man-made swamp over 20 acres, including cypress trees planted up to 1,200 feet from the sewage plant."You couldn't see to the other side," Taylor said, as he looked out over an open bay where forest once stood.

Thursday, Taylor was among those wielding a shovel as politicians broke ground on a project designed to bring the first little patch of that swamp back to life.

The $10 million wetlands assimilation project will let loose treated sewage to act as fertilizer.

"It really sends a message to the rest of America that it's critically important that we rebuild all of New Orleans, all of St. Bernard," Mayor Mitch Landrieu told a crowd of onlookers.

To demonstrate the concept, New Orleans will build a man-made swamp over 20 acres, including cypress trees planted up to 1,200 feet from the sewage plant. READ MORE >>

via www.fox8live.com

Mayor Landrieu and FEMA announce $45 Million in New Funding for Lower Ninth Ward Streets

As the sixth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, Mayor Mitch Landrieu and FEMA officials today detailed significant progress on New Orleans' recovery efforts since the Mayor took office in May 2010. Since Landrieu took office, a joint task force made up of officials from the City, Sewerage and Water Board, FEMA, and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) meet regularly to coordinate and share information and to resolve issues as projects move from planning to construction. The City has met with FEMA officials in 215 meetings and site visits resulting in nearly 250 action items, and the funding for City projects has substantially increased over previous years.

Since August 29, 2005, the City and Sewerage and Water Board have received nearly $1.1 billion in total obligated FEMA funding. The City received about $706.6 million and Sewerage and Water Board received $376.5 million. This funding is reflected in 4,709 total project worksheets (PWs) which describe eligible work, the scope, and cost estimates for repair. Since Mayor Landrieu took office in May 2010, funding for City repairs has significantly surged over the past years-649 PWs have been produced resulting in $170.6 million. This equals more than $11 million per month. Further, 27 percent of funding for the City's permanent repairs has been obligated in this sixth year.

"When I came into office, the priority was clear. We wanted to get out of the recovery phase and get into the let's get it done phase," said Mayor Landrieu. "We wanted to make sure that the City receives everything we're entitled to but also begin to move beyond haggling and into construction. Our partnership with FEMA has netted significant results for our citizens. We will continue to work together so that our people are made whole and so that we're creating a smarter, safer, and more prosperous New Orleans."

In 2010, Mayor Landrieu identified over 100 committed projects that cover a range of facilities and projects from recreation to health clinics to libraries to streets to criminal justice facilities. This year, the projects are moving through the lifecycle more quickly, largely based on the closer collaboration and coordination with FEMA.

"We've learned that the key to restoring and rebuilding cities is to work with leaders to identify the projects that are essential to recovery and working out any issues that could derail the progress we want to maintain," said Tony Russell, Regional Administrator for FEMA. "We don't always agree on every point, but it is important for us to have an open dialogue and that's what we've achieved with Mayor Landrieu and his team."

Cedric Grant, the City's Deputy Mayor for Facilities, Infrastructure and Community Development said, "We realized early on that we needed to have a productive relationship with FEMA and work with them to make sure all eligible damages were identified. After all, the project worksheet is an evolving document and that has been the key in making sure the City has received the maximum amount in obligated funds."

Interim GOHSEP Director Pat Santos said, "As the 6th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, the New Orleans area has so much to look forward to as construction and growth continues. And as we've done in the past, the state, federal and local officials will work together to make this community more resilient and better than before."

One key achievement has been a second assessment of neighborhood streets. The first neighborhood to have new funds obligated in this program is the Lower Ninth Ward. As a result of this partnership, Mayor Landrieu and FEMA announced today an increase of nearly $45 million for Lower Ninth Ward street repairs, a major infrastructure improvement targeted for one of the hardest hit neighborhoods in Hurricane Katrina.

During Katrina, roadways throughout New Orleans were inundated with flood waters, resulting in widespread street damages. Additionally, excessive weight from emergency vehicles and construction trucks on the already vulnerable roadways caused further damages. As such, additional eligible damages have been realized.

via www.helpholycross.org

BBC News: Census shows New Orleans shrank by a third after Katrina

New Orleans lost nearly a third of its population after the 2005 impact of Hurricane Katrina, census data shows.

Its population dropped to 343,829, after residents evacuated the city. READ MORE >>

via www.bbc.co.uk

EPA Chief Lisa Jackson Returns to Holy Cross, Focus on Gulf Restoration

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, a Global Green friend, paid a return visit yesterday to the Holy Cross Neighborhood to meet with community and environmental leaders to discuss setting up the new Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. Ms. Jackson’s organizing meeting, held at the Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church only a few blocks from the Holy Cross Project, was reported by the Times-Picayune’s Mark Schleifstein in “Gulf restoration plan should be home-grown, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson says”:

“The president has made clear that he believes these restoration plans, in order to be successful, have to come from the Gulf to Washington and not be imposed from Washington onto the Gulf community,” Jackson said Tuesday during a morning meeting at Greater Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church in the Lower 9th Ward.

“We’re counting on the people who know these areas best, the people who work these areas, who work these issues, who know what it takes to build a coalition of support around something the Gulf Coast has never had.”

 

via globalgreen.org