New Orleanians are truly blessed in many ways. Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina almost killed our city, we can still see evidence every day that people from all over the country have not forgotten us and support our recovery efforts in the most personal of ways — by giving their time and opening their hearts. Out-of-town groups frequently come into town to work for Habitat for Humanity, the Make It Right Foundation, or on individual homes. The generous spirit, however, goes beyond bricks, mortar, wood and drywall. Some people still are harboring some of our most vulnerable and helpless expatriates — and have given many permanent homes. I’m talking about the pets saved after the levees broke in the largest animal rescue effort in this country’s history. Read the rest of this entry »

Coming to a grocery store checkout lane near you…

Am I the only one who thinks this OK! magazine is really not all that OK?

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Despite facing 16 federal criminal counts in the Northern District of Virginia, Congressman Bill Jefferson has to like his re-election chances after Day 2 of qualifying for Congress in Louisiana’s Second District.

Jefferson faces six opponents in the Sept. 6 Democratic Primary, but as far as Dollar Bill is concerned, the more the merrier. (I discount the rumor that he will pull out of the Democratic primary at the last minute and run as an independent on Nov. 4. With no Republican in the race, he’d surely lose on Nov. 4 to the Democratic nominee, who almost certainly will be a well-known African-American. He fares much better running as a Democrat against a crowded field, which is what we’re seeing already.)

Why?

Simple mathematics.

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Two and a half years after Katrina knocked out Michele Lewis‘ bookstore, she’s reopened The Afro-American Book Stop in New Orleans East, in a 1500-sq.ft. space on Read Boulevard just off the I-10.

“We have about 5000 titles currently,” Lewis says. “Novels, Christian literature, children’s, everything. We’re back.”

Lewis, who had two locations in New Orleans before the storm, lost her house, her car, and much of her inventory in the aftermath of Katrina: “It’s been a long haul,” she says. She reopened the Book Stop on July 1 and had several signings over the Fourth of July weekend in hopes of capturing Essence Festival visitors, “and they came out!” she says. Next up: a signing by the bestselling and wildly popular E. Lynn Harris (July 30, 12:30 p.m.).

“We weren’t sure how it was gonna turn out in the East,” Lewis says, “but it turns out the community is much more excited than they ever were before. We don’t have a lot in the East, and I think people feel like one of their own is back.”

The Afro-American Book Stop
7056 Read Blvd.
New Orleans, La. 70127
(504) 243-2436

It’s hard to match the cast of the 1951 Paramount classic A Place in the Sun, with Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Shelly Winters and Raymond Burr, but this comes close. Running With Scissors updates the memorable film version of Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.

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State Sen. Derrick Shepherd couldn’t get it done on a statewide level. The town of Delcambre, La., did get it done on a city level. And now the town of Flint, Mich. is going after it in a big way. The crime? Sagging pants:

Flint residents now have to watch their butts because Police Chief David Dicks is on the lookout.

Dicks, who took over the department last month on an interim basis, announced that his officers would start arresting people wearing saggy pants that expose skivvies, boxer shorts or bare bottoms.

“Some people call it a fad,” Dicks told the Free Press this week while patrolling the streets of Flint. “But I believe it’s a national nuisance. It is indecent and thus it is indecent exposure, which has been on the books for years.”

On June 27, the chief issued a departmental memorandum telling officers: “This immoral self expression goes beyond freedom of expression.”

The crime, he says, is disorderly conduct or indecent exposure, both misdemeanors punishable by 93 days to a year in jail and/or fines up to $500.

As the Columbia Journalism Review points out, Chief Dicks’ edict inspired one of the greatest newspaper graphics in history, by the Detroit Free Press‘ Moses Harris: