Bringing it all back home: More than 100 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina have been brought back to New Orleans through Project Home Again, a nonprofit housing development organization established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to support rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. The organization today commemorated the 101st and final home built for displaced New Orleans families. Project Home Again was founded and privately funded by Leonard and Louise Riggio, who in 2005 pledged to build homes to bring displaced low- and middle-income families back to New Orleans. The 101 energy-efficient, single-family homes were built throughout the Gentilly section of the city. The effort is one of the largest privately funded residential rebuilding programs in New Orleans post-Katrina.
Bad timing: France is reacting with outrage after the Standard & Poor’s ratings agency accidentally sent out a message Thursday saying it was downgrading France’s prized “AAA” credit rating during a tumultuous week in Europe’s protracted debt crisis. Germany and the European union issued their own warnings today, underscoring European unease over the power the agencies wield over governments. The error stood for an hour and a half Thursday before it was corrected by the agency—spooking markets by foreshadowing the event that could sound the death knell for the 17-nation eurozone. French Finance Minister François Baroin did his best to quell fears, calling the error a “rather shocking rumor of information that has no foundation.” The French market regulator immediately opened an investigation into the mistake at Baroin’s behest, and the minister also called for a European probe. Read the full story from The Associated Press here.
