The hottest race for Congress this primary season turned out to be the Republican primary in the 3rd Congressional District, which stretches across Louisiana’s oil-soaked coastline from St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes on its eastern edge to St. Martin and Iberia parishes on its western side. The district also includes the coastal areas of Jefferson Parish. The main controversy involved the military records of the two front-runners, former House Speaker Hunt Downer of Houma, and Jeff Landry, an upstart (and well financed) challenger from New Iberia.

In the GOP primary, Landry called Downer, a retired major general in the Louisiana National Guard, “a disgrace to the uniform.” Downer responded that Landry has identified himself as “a veteran of Desert Storm” — even though he never set foot in Kuwait or Iraq during that war. Landry, who has support from elements of the Tea Party branch of the GOP, also blasted Downer, a former Democrat, for voting for taxes during his tenure in the state House.

The basis of Landry’s attack on Downer’s military record was Downer’s acceptance of the Kuwait Liberation Medal for his service during the first Gulf War in 1992. Downer spent 17 days in Kuwait during the conflict; Landry was stationed in the U.S. during that same period and left the service with the rank of sergeant.

“I have never claimed to have served in Iraq,” Landry explained to a reporter when questioned about his claim to be a Desert Storm veteran. “The only reason I didn’t go is because the war ended so quickly. I certainly never tried not to go.”

That’s still not quite the same as actually being there, even if it was only for 17 days. Landry further accused Downer of “using political connections and rank to get promotions while the rest of us sweated it out in Fort Hood.”

Sweating it out at Fort Hood? Gee, that must have been awful … while so many others had it so easy in Kuwait and Iraq.

The Louisiana Legislative Hurricane Recovery Committee will hold two meetings in New Orleans this week to discuss the status of the Road Home Program, the Small Rental Program, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (both the elevation grants and storm shutter grants).

Committee chair Neil Abramson, a state rep from Uptown, says staff from the Office of Community Development will be on hand to answer questions from the committee and to help the public with any problems regarding their applications. The meetings are open to the public and the committee welcomes public comment.

The first meeting will be on Tuesday, August 17; the second will be Wednesday, August 18. Both meetings begin at 5 p.m. and will be held in the New Orleans City Council Chamber.

Think you know New Orleans? Think again. No matter how long you’ve live here, no matter how many generations back your family might go, if you haven’t sat and listened to the young trainees at Café Reconcile tell their stories, you don’t really know this city.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, several of his top aides, Criminal Court Judge Keva Landrum-Johnson, NOPD 6th District Capt. Bob Bardy, and a handful of NOPD cops got an earful Thursday night at a round table discussion with about a dozen Reconcile students — “a listening opportunity,” Landrieu called it.

The students were asked to tell their guests what it’s really like growing up in the city’s rougher neighborhoods, and they didn’t hold back. They spoke of attending pre-Katrina schools where it was easier to get drugs and guns than take-home textbooks, of feeling so unsafe in their neighborhoods that they dared not even sit on their porches, and of not having NORD programs and playgrounds to keep their younger siblings and cousins out of trouble. Two young men said they had been shot — one of them three times — just trying to walk home.

They weren’t complaining; they were just being honest. In fact, these same young people were filled with hope, thanks to Reconcile.

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ACT NOW (Artists Coming Together, Nurturing Our World) will present “ACT NOW for the Gulf,” a fundraising art auction to benefit the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program coordinated by the Audubon Nature Institute.

The event will take place at The Foundry, 333 St. Joseph St., on Friday, July 30, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. More than 30 regionally and nationally recognized artists have come together to donate works of art in an effort to do their part to help the wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill.

The nonprofit organization Artists ACT NOW was formed in response to artists wanting to help in the wake of the BP Gulf oil catastrophe. ACT NOW teamed up with Audubon Nature Institute and the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program and began preparations for the first benefit art show, “ACT NOW for the Gulf.”

The rescue program has been designated as the primary responder for the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of all marine mammals (dolphins, whales and manatees) and sea turtles along the Louisiana coast.

“We’re eager to partner with Artists ACT NOW for this fundraiser,” says Ron Forman, President and CEO of Audubon Nature Institute. “Audubon is thankful for the generous support received from many organizations across the country to help the Gulf coast region.”

The mission of Artists ACT NOW is to draw from the talents and compassion of artists across the globe to provide aid and relief to anyone and anything in need as a result of man-made or natural catastrophes.

The event will feature donated works by artists with both regional and national recognition including: Aubrey Edwards, Charles Merrell, Doug Keese, Jason DuMouchel, Sean Friloux, Karen Ocker, Kristin Littwin Gile, Tim Trapolin, Chris Kirsch, Christopher Morrison Slave, Brian Bush, Anne Cicero and many more…

Food and drink vendors include The Bombay Club and Couchon Butcher and PJ’s Coffee. Live music will be provided by The New Orleans Moonshiners.

Tickets are $30.00 per person and can be purchased online at www.artistsactnow.org (click on ACT NOW for The Gulf) or at PJ’s Coffee at 5432 Magazine St.

Today marks the unveiling of a bold initiative by Women of the Storm on behalf of the Gulf Coast. It’s called “Be The One.” It aims to collect 100 million signatures on a petition to save our coast — America’s coast.

It features more than a dozen very high-profile celebs with deep connections to Louisiana. Check it out. Sign it. Pass it on.

Women of the Storm will have a press conference later today, and we’ll have more on it later.