Houston's Homeless

Houston, Texas is known for attributing their problems to former New Orleans' residents. After Hurricane Katrina, they tried to attribute their crime to Katrina evacuees. Now since they are receiving aid to deal with the homeless crises, once again Katrina evacuees are thrown in the midst.

The Houston-Harris County area will receive $19.7 million in homeless assistance funds — about a 20 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, said HUD spokesman Scott Hudman.

"The (homeless) population is changing some," Longino said. "I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who were not traditionally out there, who are out there now because of financial circumstances or because of (Hurricane) Katrina."


Wake up Houston: Katrina evacuees are not responsible for your woes.

Illegal Immigrants Stealing Documentation

Most of us from New Orleans know that if you are now living in Houston, make sure you have a good paper shredder. They are on the prowl to steal your identity.

As many as 20 janitorial and maintenance workers at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, who are believed to be illegal immigrants, are being sought on charges they used forged documents and stolen identities to obtain jobs in the Texas Medical Center.

A six-month investigation by UT-Houston police uncovered widespread use of stolen Social Security numbers, forged Social Security cards and forged State of Texas identification cards by contract employees of Marcis and Associates, a janitorial service company that staffs the cleaning crews for UT’s Health Sciences Center.

Investigators believe all of those charged are illegal immigrants. Police began arresting the contract workers as they reported for their shifts Thursday morning.

Investigators said too, that it appears that neither Marcis nor UT Health Science Center had any knowledge the workers were using forged documents.

I doubt it very seriously that no one knew about this. After all if you are Hispanic and your id says you are "John Smith", that should raise a red flag. Another thing I notice too: Make sure you watch your mail. You can't trust the mailman. (Speaking from personal experience).

Should New Orleans' Public Housing Be Demolished?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A raucous debate over the shortage of cheap housing and the demolition of 4,500 public units is sweeping the city and likely to become more intense.

Protesters planned to disrupt a meeting Thursday of the City Council, where members were expected to approve demolishing dozens of buildings — a move that would open racial and class divisions.

The City Council vote is a critical moment in a protracted fight between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and residents, activists and preservationists.

HUD wants to demolish the buildings, most of them damaged by Hurricane Katrina, so developers can take advantage of tax credits and build new mixed-income neighborhoods.

HUD says the redevelopment, in the works before Katrina hit, will mark an end to the city's failed public housing experiment that lumped the poor into crime-ridden complexes and marooned them outside the life of the rest of the city.

But critics say the plan will shrink the stock of cheap housing at a time when housing is scarce and drive poor blacks out of the city. They also say the buildings are, contrary to popular opinion, mostly handsome brick structures that will outlast anything HUD builds in their place.

By Wednesday, opponents of demolition appeared resigned to a council vote that would go against their wishes, and were accusing council members of discriminating against blacks.

A news release from the Coalition to Stop the Demolition, one of several groups organizing protesters, characterized the pending action as a "rubber stamp" at a "sham meeting."

"It is beyond callous, and can only be seen as malicious discrimination. It is an unabashed attempt to eliminate the black population of New Orleans," said Kali Akuno, an organizer with the group.

A recent shake-up on the seven-member City Council turned it into a majority white chamber for the first time since the 1980s, a shift that will certainly make the vote even more racially charged.

Three of the council's white members were quick to say they supported the tear-down plan, while the council's three black members were hesitant about expressing their intentions.

One black member, Cynthia Hedge Morrell, issued a statement late Wednesday in favor of demolitions. The fourth white member, Council President Arnie Fielkow, has been careful to tread the middle ground, but reportedly supports demolition.

"It's not racist and it's truly not a done deal behind the scenes," said Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, a newly elected councilmember-at-large, about the council's pending vote.

Besides opening fissures between whites and blacks, the clash has divided along political party lines.

Many Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John Edwards, have said they would like the Bush administration to stop the demolitions. Louisiana's Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, has also supported overhauling the redevelopment plan.

By contrast, Republicans have come out in favor of demolition. On Wednesday, Sen. David Vitter and three Republican congressman wrote a letter to a Senate committee considering the redevelopment plan, saying it needs to be left alone because overhauling it would delay and even derail redevelopment.

"Public housing in New Orleans has for many decades served almost no other purpose than to warehouse the city's poor and disenfranchised," the letter said. "That generations of our fellow citizens were allowed to live in government-operated and sanctioned slums is offensive and intolerable."

Mary Landrieu Gets It Right

From: T-P

U.S. Sen. David Vitter and U.S. Reps. Richard Baker, Jim McCrery and Rodney Alexander, all Republicans, today said that New Orleans does not need as many public housing units as it had before Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana's Senators are at odds over the future of public housing, with proposed legislation by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. calling for "one-for-one replacement" of the government-subsidized apartments with new mixed-income developments.

Landrieu said the need was unmet before the storm when about 6,000 low-income people were on a waiting list for the city's 7,000 public housing units -- of which only 5,100 were occupied while many were in a state of disrepair.

With rents up 45 percent since the storm, an estimated 12,000 homeless people in the city and low-wage service-industry workers struggling to find housing, Landrieu said the demand is as great as it has ever been.

Landrieu's Louisiana colleague, Vitter, has taken the lead in opposing the bill, saying that with just two-thirds of New Orleans' population back after Hurricane Katrina, the need for public housing has fallen off.

Listen to Mary.

Predator targets teen online

Keeping kids safe is our number 1 priority. It is imperative that you keep track of your kids online activity. There are perverts lurking. For example, a Houston man has been accused of trying to hook up with a child from the Internet.

According to court documents, Asif Khokhar chatted with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but it was really an undercover investigator.

Khokhar is charged with solicitation of a minor.

One less pervert out there. We have to watch out for the others.

Awards Won By Local Firms

It is always nice to report good news about New Orleans.

Eight metro area construction and design firms received Best of 2007 recognition from South Central Construction magazine during an awards luncheon this month in Baton Rouge.

Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans, Barriere Construction Co. LLC of Metairie, Gibbs Construction LLC of New Orleans, DonahueFavret Contractors Inc. of Mandeville, Landis Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans, Ryan Gootee General Contractors LLC of Metairie, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple of New Orleans, and Ledbetter Fullerton Architects of New Orleans.

South Central Construction is a construction trade magazine owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. and covers Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Can they lend their talents to the rebuilding efforts? Just thought I would ask.

Running Into the police Can Be a Scary Thing

No one wants to run into a law enforcement officer here in Houston but this has to be one of the weirdest encounters yet:


A motorist claims a motorcycle officer took her car keys after pulling her over and left her stranded on the side of the freeway.

Valencia Lee and Latesta Onyenike were Northbound at Crosstimbers on Highway 59 when a motorcycle officer, who was supposedly escorting a funeral procession, waved them over.

Lee says he told her, “‘You on the cell phone and I'm directing traffic,’ that's all he said,” Lee, added the officer ordered her to keep her car where it was. The women said the man, who was wearing a black jacket with the word “Sheriff” on the back, then asked for the car keys.

I expect anything from these officials. They have a proven track record for the bizarre.

Noteworthy praises of DA's office

"It looks like some of the dysfunction in the district attorney's office has changed," said FBI special agent in charge Jim Bernazzani, who also testified before the legislative panel Monday. "The community is beginning to cooperate because tips are up. We have to build that confidence."

Darlene Cusanza of Crimestoppers Inc. said the anonymous tip line has helped clear 40 murder cases in 2007 and given out $101,000 in cash awards this year, up from about $60,000 last year.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley, whose officers have been struggling with a seemingly never-ending cycle of revenge killings and a code of silence among witnesses, said the new lead prosecutor has helped ease a strained relationship.

Child abuse on the rise in Houston

I was wondering whether or not the number of child abuse cases here in Houston were part of the norm or was it something unusual. Ever since I moved here to Harris County, there has been one abuse case after another. According to 11 news:

CPS officials said the higher numbers can be attributed to a rise in the population and better reporting. They said the majority of abused children are under the age of 2, and the parents are setting inappropriate expectations. The abuse ranges from shaken baby syndrome to fatal beatings, such as the Baby Grace case.

Let's hope this trend decreases because all children need to be safe from abuse.