The forecast for the next few days calls for mild temperatures and no rain, with highs today in the mid-80s and lows in the mid-60s, according to the National Weather Service.
That’s expected to be the pattern through the weekend and into next week, the weather service said.
Highs Thursday will be in the low 80s and lows from 62 to 67.
The remainder of the week should see highs in the mid-80s and lows in the mid- to- upper 60s.
LOW AND BEHOLD AT 7:30 PM
Directed by Zack Godshall, Cinematography by Daryn DeLuco
“New Orleans, too, could become a bold vision — a laboratory for how to rebuild America’s faltering cities. It could evolve into a model for the future as compelling and optimistic as the one America offered to the world a generation ago. Or it could remain an emblem of how far we’ve fallen.”
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“When the government has been involved, it has often shown a callous indifference to the city’s architectural history.”
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For Americans watching events unfold on television late last month, the arduous evacuation of New Orleans and the grandeur of the Olympic Games couldn’t have made for a starker contrast.
However one feels about its other policies, the Chinese government is clearly not afraid to invest in the future of its cities. The array of architecture it created for the Beijing Olympics was only part of a mosaic of roads, bridges, tunnels, canals, subway lines and other projects that have transformed a medieval city of wood and brick into a modern metropolis overnight.
Meanwhile, three full years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, much of the city remains a wasteland. As Hurricane Gustav raced toward the Gulf Coast, it became clear that the city’s patchwork levee system could not guarantee the safety of its citizens. The evacuation of tens of thousands of residents was cheered as some sort of victory.
But for those with a sense of urban history, the tragedy of New Orleans is not just about governmental disregard for the welfare of the city’s inhabitants. It is about a lost opportunity. All of the great challenges that confront the 21st-century city — from class, race and environmental issues to the continuing duel between history and modernity — are crystallized in New Orleans.
Yet the kind of visionary urban plan that could address these issues in a bold and thoughtful way has yet to materialize. Instead, some of the country’s greatest architectural minds are inventing the future in cities like Beijing, Shenzhen and Dubai, where their talents are more appreciated.
The signs pointing to this tragic turn of events were there for anyone who cared to read them. The great urban planning experiments that transformed America in the early 20th century were both triumphs of engineering and dazzling monuments to a free, mobile society. Anyone who has watched the film “Chinatown” knows the story of William Mulholland’s aqueduct, which transformed Los Angeles from a desert wasteland into a sunny paradise of trim lawns and orange groves. Less known is the story of modern New Orleans, which exists because of the system of canals, levees and pumps — the largest in the world — that were used to drain acres of marshland.
This kind of bold government planning died long ago, of course, a victim of both the public’s disillusionment with the large-scale Modernist planning strategies of the postwar era and the antigovernment campaigns of the Reagan years. The consequences were obvious as soon as Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. And they have been reaffirmed many times since, with the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis and myriad accounts of our country’s crumbling infrastructure.
Still, many Americans stubbornly regard any kind of large-scale public works project with suspicion. Three years ago, for example, the nonprofit Urban Land Institute unveiled a master plan for New Orleans that would have transformed large parts of the city into wetland areas. But the proposal, which was released as thousands of people were struggling to make their way back to the city, caused a public outcry and was immediately dropped. The institute compounded the problem by not including a workable proposal for how to house those dislocated by the plan.
Since then, the most concrete proposal has been a plan by the official in charge of the city’s recovery, Edward J. Blakely, to identify 17 projects, from schools to community centers, that could be used to spur further development. But with a mere $400 million of public funds committed to the project, the plan is not likely to go far. (The city has hired the Boston firm Goody Clancy to prepare a citywide plan, but it is not scheduled for completion for another year.)
Saints List 7 Players Out for Sunday
by Doug MIller, NewOrleansSaints.com
Friday, September 12, 2008 – 2:31 PM
The New Orleans Saints today placed linebacker Mark Simoneau on injured reserve with a lingering back injury that Head Coach Sean Payton said would require surgery. Payton likened to the procedure Simoneau will undergo as similar to the surgery that TE Mark Campbell had last season.
In other news related to injuries, three starters for Sunday’s game at Washington – linebacker Scott Fujita (knee), safety Roman Harper (hamstring) and cornerback Randall Gay (hamstring/illness) have been listed as out.
Tailback Aaron Stecker (hamstring) has also been ruled out of the game, along with receiver Marques Colston (thumb) and defensive tackle Antwan Lake (groin).
To replace Simoneau on the roster, the Saints will activate defensive end Josh Savage from the practice squad.
The Saints also listed four players as having fully participated in practice today and are listed as probable: LB Troy Evans (ankle), DT Brian Young (knee), RB Deuce McAllister (knee) and CB Mike McKenzie (knee).
The Redskins listed LB Khary Campbell (thigh) and S Kareem Moore (hamstring) as doubtful. LB Marcus Washington (hamstring) and WR Malcolm Kelly (knee) as questionable, and CB Fred Smoot (hip), TE Chris Cooley (quad), CB Shawn Springs (calf) and DE Jason Taylor (knee) as probable.
ANYWAY… WHATEVER… WE’RE STILL GONNA WATCH THE GAME AT THE SAINT TODAY
Ruthie the Duck Girl, a French Quarter eccentric who zoomed from bar to bar on roller skates, often wearing a ratty fur coat and long skirt and trailed by a duck or two, died Sept. 6 at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. She was 74.
Ruthie, whose real name was Ruth Grace Moulon, had been suffering from cancer of the mouth and lungs when the residents of her Uptown New Orleans nursing home were evacuated to Baton Rouge as Hurricane Gustav approached, said Carol Cunningham, a close friend who watched over her for nearly 40 years.
“I’ve always looked at Ruthie like a little bird with a broken wing, ” Cunningham said. “She was always so dear to me.”
Miss Moulon, a lifelong New Orleanian, became a French Quarter fixture, achieving legendary status in a city that treasures people who live outside the mainstream. Along the way, she acquired a coterie of people like Cunningham who found places for her to live, paid her bills and made sure she got home at night.
A tiny woman with a constant grin, she frequently sported a bridal gown and veil on her forays because, people said, she considered herself engaged to Gary Moody, whom she met in New Orleans in 1963 when he was a sailor.
Moody showed up at a 2001 birthday party for Miss Moulon at Mid-City Lanes Rock ‘N Bowl, but the two never got to the altar. According to a Times-Picayune interview that year, Miss Moulon had a stock reply whenever anyone asked if there might be a wedding in her future: “I got engaged; that’s enough!”
In 1999, Rick Delaup made her the subject of a documentary, “Ruthie the Duck Girl.”
Miss Moulon’s daily routine consisted of roaming from one watering hole to another, mooching drinks and cigarettes. She could be sweet one minute and unleash a torrent of profanity the next.
Although people deemed Miss Moulon’s behavior unconventional even by French Quarter standards, no one ever diagnosed her mental condition because she refused to see a doctor, David Cuthbert wrote in The Times-Picayune in 2001.
“She’s not out of touch with reality; she’s just not interested, ” photographer David Richmond told The Times-Picayune.
CONTINUE READING VIA THE TP > > >
Some say Ruth Moulon is being held hostage in a nursing home. Others believe she’s finally getting the care she deserves. Who are Ruthie’s real friends?
READ THE 2002 GAMBIT ARTICLE ON RUTHIE > > >
Ruthie the Duck Girl is the most famous eccentric the French Quarter has ever known. Born and raised in New Orleans’s Vieux Carre, Miss Ruthie has been known to millions of tourists and locals as “The Duck Girl,” or “The Duck Lady.”
READ ABOUT RUTHIE ON ECCENTRIC NEW ORLEANS > > >
Las Vegas and New Orleans took the top spots as best city for a wild weekend, and Washington, D.C., was voted tops for historical sites/monuments. But Los Angeles residents may have a problem with being ranked last in the friendliest people and most intelligent people categories.
If you want friendly, you can’t do any better than Charleston, South Carolina, and if you’re looking for the smartest locals, head to Seattle, Washington, according to the survey.
New York received the most No.1 ratings, getting top marks for shopping, arts, diverse residents and skyline. But the Big Apple limped in last for peace and quiet and affordability.
The poll showed San Antonio, Texas, takes the smallest bite out of your budget and is the most affordable city, while peace and quiet is easiest found in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which also came in last in all nightlife categories.
Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Austin, Texas, took the gold, silver and bronze in the cleanest city competition, while New Orleans had the most work to do in keeping things tidy.
Good Children Gallery is pleased to announce a preview presentation of Prospect.1,
given by curator Dan Cameron.
During the talk, Dan Cameron will preview plans for the event,
present images of some of the artwork, and answer questions from the audience.
Time and place:
Thursday Sept. 11th 6 p.m.
Good Children Gallery 4037 St. Claude Ave
