First Fear, Then Loathing at Superdome
The stench inside the Louisiana Superdome was the worst of it.
It was the smell of refugees who hadn’t bathed in days in a facility where the bathrooms were filthy, bins were stuffed with trash and 20,000 people were cooped up with no place to go.
The roof had holes in it, and dozens of people spent the night on the concourse outside the stadium for the coolness – such as it was – and more important, a breath of fresh air. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the air conditioning had been off since Monday. Three displaced hospital patients died in the dome.
Still, the Superdome offered shelter from the water that rose even higher Tuesday because of breached levees and the inability to pump it out of the city, which is below sea level. The breach sent water lapping at the steps of the dome, raising at least the specter that conditions could worsen for those inside the landmark stadium.
Another Person Dies At Superdome, Possibly From Suicide
Conditions are far from ideal at the Louisiana Superdome, but for the new arrivals, it’s better than what they left behind.
Rescuers are continuing to bring survivors from Hurricane Katrina to the huge sports arena, where the air conditioning is out and the bathrooms are filthy. And there are two holes in the roof, caused by the storm.
There are more than 10,000 people in the arena.
Officials had earlier reported two deaths at the Superdome, and now, they report that someone died Tuesday after plunging from an upper level of the stadium. They say the person probably jumped.
Up to 23,000 Superdome refugees boarding buses for Astrodome
Up to 23,000 refugees from New Orleans’ Superdome will board buses and head to Houston’s Astrodome, leaving behind a city that’s deteriorating by the hour.
Hurricane refugees trapped in the Superdome will come to the 40-year-old Astrodome in over 500 buses under plans being put together by state and local officials.
“It will be a noble calling for the grand lady at this time in her career,’’ said Harris County Judge Robert Eckels. “We’ll have a group of people who are tired, who are frustrated, who are scared and who have been through a tremendous tragedy.’’
Eckels said officials are not expecting to keep refugees from Hurricane Katrina in the stadium very long.
“I’m thinking in terms of days, maybe weeks,’’ he said.
Mayor: Katrina May Have Killed Thousands
The mayor said Wednesday that Katrina probably killed thousands of people in New Orleans — an estimate that, if accurate, would make the storm by far the nation’s deadliest hurricane in more than a century.
“We know there is a significant number of dead bodies in the water,” and other people dead in attics, Mayor Ray Nagin said. Asked how many, he said: “Minimum, hundreds. Most likely, thousands.”
The frightening estimate came as Army engineers struggled to plug New Orleans’ breached levees with giant sandbags and concrete barriers, while authorities drew up plans to clear out the tens of thousands of people left in the Big Easy and all but abandon the flooded-out city.
A Grim New Orleans Is Being Abandoned for Now
NEW ORLEANS —Weary officials wrestled unsuccessfully with emergency repairs to the leaking levee system today as heat, storm-related floodwaters and the shortage of even the most basic supplies for human survival turned this grim city into a nightmare.
Conditions were so poor that officials have ordered everyone out, effectively abandoned New Orleans for the present. Refugees who fled Hurrican Katrina last week were told to stay away and those in city shelters were expected to be taken by bus convoy to the Houston Astrodome since there was no way to care for them here. . .
In 1718, French colonist Jean Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville ignored his engineers’ warnings about the hazards of flooding and mapped a settlement in a pinch of swampland between the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and a massive lake to the north.
Ever since, the water has sustained New Orleans and perpetually threatened it. Somehow, until this week, the mystique of the water had always washed away the foreboding of disaster, as if carrying the city’s worries downstream. That was true even early Tuesday morning, when Hurricane Katrina’s last-minute veer to the east convinced many residents they had once again eluded the Fates. . .
After nearly two months of investigation, prosecutors are expected to ask a federal grand jury in Los Angeles today to charge at least three men with conspiracy to commit terrorism in connection with an alleged plot to attack National Guard recruitment centers, synagogues and other sites in Southern California.
Prosecutors may also seek to bring charges against one or two inmates at a state prison in Folsom, said federal, state and local law enforcement sources. . .
“Minuteman” Jim Gilchrist Contests Ballot Black-Out
Candidate to seek Stay in the Printing of Ballots
Lawyers representing Independent Congressional Candidate Jim Gilchrist (CA-48) filed a Petition for Writ of Mandate in a Sacramento Superior Court seeking a stay of any action by the Orange County Registrar of Voters that would allow for the production of ballots prior to a court ruling regarding the permissible use of the term “minuteman” as a “ballot designation” by Mr. Gilchrist during the special election on October 4, 2005. These actions have prompted the Orange County Registrar of Voters to halt all production of the sample ballots until the matter is resolved.
The suit holds California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson and The Orange County Registrar of Voters Steve Rodermund responsible for rejecting two separate submissions by Mr. Gilchrist for the terms “Modern Minuteman” or the suggested alternative, “Director, Minuteman Project” which were filed by the campaign before the legal deadline of 5p.m. on Friday, August 26, 2005. Read more here(.pdf).
Tuesday, August 30th, 2005
HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORT
You can’t help but be moved by the tragic stories coming out of the Gulf Coast region and the communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. To help, go to KFI640.com and click on Storm Aid to make a donation to the American Red Cross Relief Effort. And for the latest news on the disaster…keep it tuned right here to KFI AM 640.
This Is Our Tsunami
Death and destruction ravaged the severely storm-battered Gulf Coast Tuesday, with as many as 80 dead in one Mississippi county alone as the frantic search for survivors of Hurricane Katrina continued.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour said there were unconfirmed reports of up to 80 deaths in Harrison County, which includes Gulfport and Biloxi, and the number was likely to rise. At least five other deaths across the Gulf Coast were blamed on Katrina.
“The devastation down there is just enormous,” Barbour said on NBC’s “Today” show, the morning after Katrina howled ashore with winds of 145 mph and engulfed thousands of homes in one of the most punishing storms on record in the United States.
The death toll does not include 11 deaths in South Florida when a much-weaker Katrina first hit land last week. The biggest known cluster of deaths was at the Quiet Water Beach apartments in Biloxi, where about 30 people died.
Pres. Bush Returning to Washington Early
President Bush will cut short his vacation to return to Washington on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned, to help monitor federal efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, the White House said Tuesday.
The president had been scheduled to return to the nation’s capital on Friday, after spending more than four weeks operating from his ranch in Central Texas. But after receiving a briefing early Tuesday on the devastation Katrina unleashed, the president decided that he needed to be in Washington to personally oversee the federal effort, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Bush had traveled here to deliver a speech commemorating the Allies’ World War II victory over Japan and promoting his war-on-terror agenda. Later Tuesday, he was flying back to Texas, but spending only one night at his ranch. Bush was expected to visit the region affected by Katrina, but details on that trip were in flux as the White House worked to make sure the president would not disrupt response efforts.
Rescuers in boats and helicopters struggled to reach hundreds of wet and bedraggled victims of Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday as the scope of the disaster became clearer with every tale of misery. Mississippi’s governor said the death toll in one county alone could be as high as 80.
“At first light, the devastation is greater than our worst fears. It’s just totally overwhelming,” Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said the morning after Katrina howled ashore with winds of 145 mph and engulfed thousands of homes in one of the most punishing storms on record in the United States.
The death toll in Biloxi, Miss. may be in the hundreds, according to city spokesman Vincent Creel, CBS News Correspondent Lee Frank reports.
“Many, many victims are thought to be buried under the rubble,” said Frank in Gulfport. People are being allowed to drive back into some neighborhoods, although flooding is still a major concern. So is trying to contact loved ones: Telephone service is out, cell phones are not working, there’s no electricity, and water service has been interrupted.
After Katrina, Looters Ravage New Orleans
With much of the city flooded by Hurricane Katrina, looters floated garbage cans filled with clothing and jewelry down the street in a dash to grab what they could.
In some cases, looting today took place in full view of police and National Guard troops.
At a Walgreen’s drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers.
When police finally showed up, a young boy stood in the door screaming, “86! 86!”—the radio code for police—and the crowd scattered.
Denise Bollinger, a tourist from Philadelphia, stood outside and snapped pictures in amazement.
“It’s downtown Baghdad,” the housewife said. “It’s insane. I’ve wanted to come here for 10 years. I thought this was a sophisticated city. I guess not.”
California Watches Hawaii’s Effort to Cap Gasoline Prices
With chronically high pump prices straining its laid-back ethos, Hawaii embarks this week on a radical experiment to cap gasoline prices, a move being keenly watched nationwide by legislators and consumer groups eager to rein in record fuel costs.
Interest will be especially high in California, a unique market that some experts liken to Hawaii’s because of the high prices charged by gas stations and big profits reaped by a few in-state refiners.
This week, state Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) will reintroduce legislation that would give the California Public Utilities Commission the power to regulate gasoline prices. . .
Monday, August 29th, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast today with heavy winds and sheets of rain, slamming Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
The gigantic storm, which by late morning had weakened from a Category 4 to a Category 3, with 145-mph winds, was centered east of New Orleans, sparing the city its full fury, barreling inland along the Louisiana-Mississippi state line. Shortly before 2 p.m. EDT, the storm was downgraded again to a Category 2 with 105-mph winds. At 1 p.m. EDT, Katrina was centered moving to the north at 17 mph.
But the Big Easy was still pummeled, with reports of levee breaks inside New Orleans, white-capped waves on city streets and houses flooded up to the ceiling. . .
Civil sequel to Robert Blake murder trial starts today
Bonny Lee Bakley’s children believe actor Robert Blake got away with their mother’s murder. Now, they want him to pay.
Barring any last-minute settlement, the civil court sequel to the “Baretta” star’s recent criminal trial—which ended with his acquittal in March—will begin today with the questioning of jury prospects. Testimony could start before the end of the week, lawyers said.
The basic allegations surrounding the May 4, 2001, shooting death of Bakley, Blake’s wife, in Studio City will largely remain the same in the new trial.
But what the Bakley family’s lawyer has to prove, what’s at stake for Blake and the trial’s focal point all will be different. . .
Bush Defends Border Security Policies
EL MIRAGE, Ariz.—With increasingly fierce debates over border security exposing divisions in the Republican Party and threatening to hurt GOP candidates next year, President Bush unfurled a strong defense today of his belief in strict border enforcement — an apparent response to emergency declarations signed this month by two Democratic governors in border states.
Bush made his remarks at the start of a two-day swing to Arizona and California, two states whose lawmakers have been struggling to balance the need to guard against waves of illegal immigration and the growing importance of Latino voters and business owners, who are sympathetic to looser enforcement.
“I understand the issue well as the [former] governor of a border state,” Bush told residents of a retirement RV park in El Mirage, Ariz. . .
Dreier takes his record to the streets
Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, wasn’t exactly entering enemy territory during an hourlong walk in one of the city’s neighborhoods on Saturday, though “crossing borders” was the hot topic of the day.
American flags and an occasional Bush-Cheney election sticker greeted the 53-year-old as he knocked on doors north of 14th Street and slightly west of Mountain Avenue.
Dreier, a powerful Republican who has served the 26th District since 1980, said he was prompted to put on his walking shoes to clear up misperceptions of his record – especially regarding illegal immigration.
“You have to go out and meet people,” he said, before heading out in the Upland neighborhood. “It’s very clear that the issue of illegal immigration and border security has been distorted, and I want to clarify my record.”
Dreier faced unusually strong opposition in his election last year after he was targeted by radio hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of KFI-AM’s “The John and Ken Show.” The duo led an aggressive campaign to oust Dreier, citing him as soft on illegal immigration.
The activities of a Garden Grove grocery store owner, who has been identified as the U.S. leader of a little-known radical Islamic group, are under scrutiny by the FBI, an agency spokeswoman said.
Iyad K. Hilal, an Islamic author and philosopher, has lived in Orange County for more than a decade with little attention to his writings or his role in the group.
LAPD May Relax Its Hiring Rules
Struggling to lure more officers, the Los Angeles Police Department is joining a growing number of law enforcement agencies across the nation in considering less stringent recruitment rules.
Police Chief William J. Bratton said he was drawing up the proposed changes, which would end the LAPD’s zero-tolerance rule toward past marijuana use and make it easier for the department to hire people with bad credit histories.
Bratton’s idea has ignited a debate within the department, with some fearing that lower standards would bring problem officers to the force and create the potential for more misconduct and corruption. Others question whether people who admit to breaking the law in the past can be trusted not to commit crimes in the future.
But outside law enforcement experts said it would not be a radical departure from what many other agencies already are doing. Some said the rules would end up making the LAPD look more like the population it serves.
Friday, August 19th, 2005
Support the California Border Police RIGHT NOW!
The California Border Police will be a state police force (like the CHP) established in the state constitution and under the authority of the Governor. John & Ken have kicked-off petition signings for the California Border Police Initiative, with more live broadcast petition signings coming soon. Sign up for the email list in the upper right of this page for notification of future events.
To have a petition mailed to you directly, go to www.calborderpolice.com. After you receive your six-signature petition, PLEASE RETURN IT IN A TIMELY MANNER! From past experience, we’ve seen a lot of petitions get sent out, and then people forget to send them back. Needless to say, that’s less than effective.
Thursday, August 18th, 2005
Probe Elicits Disbelief at Mosque
As the midday call to prayer was sung out, members of an Inglewood mosque said Wednesday that they were shocked to hear that three of their fellow worshipers were under investigation for a possible plot to shoot up National Guard recruitment centers and synagogues.
Members of the mostly South Asian mosque described the trio — two African American Muslims and a Pakistani national — as “friendly, devout” adherents and said that they had been unaware of any dangers the men might have posed. . .
SACRAMENTO - With New Mexico and Arizona declaring a state of emergency over illegal immigration, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that he’ll monitor the situation and could take similar action if the local problem worsens.
Govs. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Janet Napolitano of Arizona took action after a series of violent incidents along the U.S.-Mexico border. A state of emergency allows each to dedicate about $1.5 million more to stem illegal immigration.
Schwarzenegger said California would follow suit “if there is a need.” . . .
Border Troubles Divide U.S., States
WASHINGTON - The decision by the governors of Arizona and New Mexico to declare states of emergency along their troubled borders with Mexico has embarrassed the Department of Homeland Security, which scrambled Wednesday to defend itself from charges that it wasn’t doing enough to combat the crime and violence associated with drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
The unusual action by two Democratic governors and the Bush administration’s response reflected the political tensions that surround the nation’s conflicting attitudes toward border control. . .
Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
Terror Investigators Examine Ties to Prison
By Eric Leonard
KFI NEWS
(( LISTEN ))
Plans for a series of gun attacks around Los Angeles may have been hatched at a state prison near Sacramento. Law enforcement sources say inmates there may have been trying to recruit for a, “jihad,” against the United States. . .
Terror Probe Targets Prison in Folsom
Counterterrorism officials investigating an alleged plot to attack National Guard recruitment centers, synagogues and other sites in Southern California said Tuesday they are investigating the possibility that the plot was hatched by Islamic extremists and gang members at a state prison in Folsom.
Details remained closely guarded, but law enforcement sources said they were actively investigating the breadth of possible connections between three men now in custody in Los Angeles and inmates at California State Prison, Sacramento, one of two prisons in Folsom, about 25 miles east of the capital. . .
Pump prices up every day in California
Gas prices in San Francisco, California and the rest of the country are setting records daily, and service stations in the city now charge more than $3 per gallon for every grade of gasoline except regular.
A gallon of regular gas costs San Francisco drivers an average of $2.83, up 12 cents in the past week, according to the AAA of Northern California auto club. For mid-grade in the city, expect to pay $3.01 per gallon. Premium costs $3.06 on average. . .
With gas on Tuesday averaging $2.76 a gallon, motorists driving the family sedan paid nearly $5 for each round trip between the west San Fernando Valley and downtown L.A., a cost expected to soar as prices head toward the $3 mark – and beyond.
Planning a trip to Santa Monica Beach this weekend? That’ll cost $5. And driving a gas-guzzling SUV will cost even more.
“There are lots of things I don’t do,” said Ann Berry, a semiretired actor and receptionist who lives in North Hollywood. “I had a beautician in Woodland Hills that did my hair. I won’t go there anymore and it breaks my heart. I’m looking for someplace close.” . . .
