Anchors aweigh: New Orleans’ oldest Navy base is formally closing, ending a 110-year presence in the city. Today’s ceremony is at the new national headquarters for Marine Forces Reserve, next to the public-private partnership called Federal City—formerly Naval Support Activity New Orleans. About 1,100 Marines and 275 civilians are at work there, and contracts are being negotiated for stores in a public area to open Sept. 15. The base was among about 150 smaller installations listed for closure in 2005, when the Pentagon also put 33 major bases on its shutdown list. The base was established in 1901 as a Navy dry dock, and its original buildings were completed in 1903. Some of those buildings still stand.
Will make it easier to send mass messages: State police have begun to implement a new alert system that will make it easier and quicker for the public to receive emergency information. The agency says it is using Nixle, a computer-based, information-sharing program that will allow State Police to send mass text messages or emails to the public. Troopers will use the system to send Amber Alerts, emergency notices or interstate closures. State Police Troop A in Baton Rouge and State Police Troop L in Mandeville will be the first to utilize the system before it is implemented statewide.
