Powell Quits Gulf Recovery Job

The Bush administration's federal coordinator of long-term hurricane recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast resigned unexpectedly yesterday, acknowledging frustration at the slow pace of rebuilding but expressing confidence that the foundation for progress is in place.

"It was just a good time" to go, said Donald E. Powell, 66, a major Texas backer of President Bush who took the Katrina post in November 2005, after serving as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Powell's announcement came nine months before the executive order establishing his position expires -- and 30 months after Hurricane Katrina's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.

Is Roger Clemens Out?

Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane said he may reconsider Roger Clemens's 10-year personal-services contract with the Major League Baseball team in light of the pitcher's legal issues.

A congressional committee asked the U.S. Justice Department yesterday to investigate whether Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, committed perjury when he said under oath that he never used steroids or human growth hormone.

Katrina Activist Gets Probation

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An activist who has been a leader in efforts to rebuild a New Orleans neighborhood destroyed by Hurricane Katrina was sentenced Wednesday to five years of probation for his role in a loan fraud scheme.

Robert Green had pleaded guilty in April to federal felony charges stemming from a scheme in which he prepared false tax returns attached to fraudulent home loan applications from as early as 2001.

Before word of his guilty plea surfaced in December, Green had been championed by actor Brad Pitt to be among the first to receive a home through Pitt's Make It Right program.

He could have been sentenced to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines, but U.S. District Judge A.J. McNamara said he was impressed because Green had turned his life around since Katrina.

Radio Stations, In Houston, Will Give Away Clinton Tickets

At least half a dozen radio stations will distribute 750 free tickets to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech Thursday at an energy summit sponsored by the Greater Houston Partnership.

The Tickets cost $450 to $750 a person. As a result of the high price, a lot of voters would be unable to attend. The event will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The stations agreeing to participate as of late Tuesday were KTRH-AM (740); KLAT-AM (1010); KPFT-FM (90.1); KTRU-FM (91.7) (KPTY-FM (93.3); and KMJQ-FM (102.1).

Linkin Park To Help Rebuild Homes In New Orleans

After Tuesday's show in Nashville, TN, alt-rock band Linkin Park will head to New Orleans to help families that were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The band, along with Coheed and Cambria, will be helping out Music for Relief, and Habitat homeowner families from New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, building homes in an undisclosed hurricane-affected area.

Music for Relief was formed by Linkin Park as a nonprofit organization that provides aid to victims of natural disasters. Since the organization was formed in 2005, over $2.5 million dollars was raised for the victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

Young Texans Are Eager To Vote

Armed with campaign posters, voter-registration cards and enough board games and buttered popcorn to make it through the night, dozens of Texas students spent the 10 hours before early voting began outside their campus precinct, educating every bleary-eyed studier and after-hours straggler about the Texas primary.

The state's college campuses are seeing unprecedented interest in Texas' March 4 primary – and unequaled confusion. The UT College Democrats have registered close to 23,000 people to vote in the past five weeks – the large majority of them students.

Hillary Defends Super Delegates'System

While Hillary Clinton was in New Orleans Saturday, she gave the following view concerning super delegates:

Clinton said this is the first time she remembers the system, in place for decades, becoming an election issue. She said super delegates play an important role in the selection process. They are like "party elders" who have relationships with the candidates that regular voters cannot match, she said when asked whether the system is fair.

Do you think the system is fair?