A legacy of vacancy: More than 3,000 lots flooded by Hurricane Katrina and bought with federal money in an emergency bailout sit idle across New Orleans—a multimillion-dollar drain on federal, state and city coffers that lends itself to no easy solution. An Associated Press examination of the properties sold to the government by homeowners abandoning New Orleans after the catastrophic 2005 flood has found that about $86 million has been spent on handling a total of 5,100 abandoned parcels. And there’s no end in sight to maintenance costs for perhaps most of the 3,100 properties that remain unsold. Read the full feature here.
Break with tradition: The Louisiana Department of Education today began accepting requests for applications from those interested in becoming certified course providers under a new provision of the state’s education law that will allow students in poorly performing public schools to take courses outside of the traditional school setting. Get full details on the Louisiana Course Choice program and access applications here.
Saline solution: With the Mississippi River running at low levels, salt water is moving up from the Gulf of Mexico. When the river’s flow drops below normal, denser and heavier salt water flows upriver beneath the freshwater flowing downstream. The Army Corps of Engineers says salt water is not yet considered a threat to water supplies in the New Orleans area. If forecasts show the salt water is four weeks away from fouling freshwater intakes in that area, the corps will attempt to block the salt water by building an underwater sill of dredged sediment.
