On April 30, 2010, In Quote, By dno
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
The music from a carousel outside of Congo Square momentarily distracted me from the stages at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
Brightly colored wooden horses, cars, buses and even a chicken filled the merry-go-round’s platform. They looked more like handmade children’s toys than elaborate carved carousel animals. In the center, sat a full band. And instead of a motor, two men ran around the musicians pushing the contraptions.
It was called a chouval bwa. They were first made in the French Caribbean at the end of the 18th century. By the time Claude and Joselita Germany of Martinique decided to build this replica in 1980s, none remained on the island.
Every seat on the chouval bwa was claimed by an adult. They smiled and moved to the beat of the traditional Martinique music. As the song’s tempo increased and the men ran faster, the passengers cheered on their pushers. It spun so fast everyone stopped dancing and held on tight, but they kept smiling.
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
VENICE, La. — About 1,000 angry and frustrated fishermen packed an elementary school gymnasium here Friday afternoon. In a cruel occupational twist, they were seeking employment with the company they blame for an oil spill that may wipe out their industry this year and beyond.
Life in this coastal community centers on seafood — mullet, shark, shrimp and oysters. From May to December, dozens of boats haul shrimp here from the Gulf of Mexico. But aside from two days of fishing allowed this week ahead of the approaching oil slick, the shrimp season has been suspended.
So the fishermen came to receive training in how to clean up the oil spill that was creeping up on the nearby coastline. They were hoping to be hired by BP, the company blamed for the spill and responsible for cleanup efforts.
“Either the seafood industry or the oil industry — that’s the only jobs down here, so I guess I’m trying to move from seafood to oil today,” said Bernel Prout, 55, a fisherman and Venice native.
Friday’s training session was led by local firefighters and law enforcement officials and attended by representatives from BP, the parish government and the local fishermen’s association.
BP has said it will hire as many local residents as possible to clean the beaches and distribute booms through the surrounding marshes and waterways.
But the fishermen said they were reeling from the loss of revenue. They were not told how many would be hired, at what wages, or when. But they were asked to fill out forms listing their names, contact information and available equipment and skills.
“This is not our fault,” Mr. Prout said. “It’s the fault of the oil company.”
The mood inside the crowded, hot gymnasium was one of confusion and growing anxiety.
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
On April 30, 2010, In Photo, By dno
july 7th 1929 new orleans street car strike / riots…….armed deputy marshalls and local police escort a street car
Eighteen hundred trolleymen struck in New Orleans as a result of a union contract dispute. New Orleans Public Service, Inc., imported strikebreakers from Buffalo, N. Y., attempted to run its cars. The first car out of the Canal Street barns was pelted with bricks and paving stones. The “scab” motorman quit in five minutes.
Four cars left the barn under police guard. Two, passengerless, crawled around the beltline. A third was driven back by angry strikers. A fourth was burned on Canal Street before a jeering multitude. Some policemen fired into the mob. Other policemen resigned rather than defend the strikebreakers.
Holders of New Orleans traction bonds went into Federal Court, asked for an injunction against the trolley union to save their property from further destruction.
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
The normally urbane Elvis Costello presented himself in a far more down-home – though no less nattily attired – setting for his closing set Thursday at the New Orleans Jazz Fest’sGentilly Stage. The half-dozen members of his latest ensemble, the Sugarcanes, deployed acoustic instruments – mandolin, accordion, upright bass, fiddle, acoustic guitars. One musician wore overalls.
They served up a similarly backporch set, relative to Costello’s mostly electric catalog. The show was in keeping with the tone of his 2009 release “Secret, Profane & Sugarcane,” which was recorded in Nashville and produced by T Bone Burnett. “I brought my electric guitar with me,” Costello said after 30 minutes with an acoustic. “Don’t get too excited. It’s only got four strings on it.”
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
NEW ORLEANS — The response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico intensified abruptly on Thursday, with the federal government intervening more aggressively as the rapidly growing slick drifted ever closer to the fragile coastline of Louisiana.
Resources from the United States Navywere marshaled to supplement an operation that already consisted of more than 1,000 people and scores of vessels and aircraft.
Calling it “a spill of national significance” which could threaten coastline in several states, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitanoannounced the creation of a second command post in Mobile, Ala., in addition to the one in Louisiana, to manage potential coastal impact in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Interior Secretary Ken Salazarordered an immediate review of the 30 offshore drilling rigs and 47 production platforms operating in the deepwater Gulf, and is sending teams to conduct on-site inspections.
The oil slick was only three miles offshore on Thursday afternoon and was expected to hit coastal Louisiana as early as Thursday night, prompting Gov. Bobby Jindal to declare a state of emergency and to request the participation of the National Guard in response efforts. About 40,000 feet of boom had been placed around Pass-a-Loutre, the area of the Mississippi River Delta where the oil was expected to touch first, a spokesman for Mr. Jindal said.
The Navy provided 50 contractors, 7 skimming systems and 66,000 feet of inflatable containment boom, a spokesman said. About 210,000 feet of boom had been laid down to protect the shoreline in several places along the Gulf Coast, though experts said that marshlands presented a far more daunting cleaning challenge than sandy beaches.
Eight days after the first explosion on the rig, which left 11 workers missing and presumed dead, the tenor of the response team’s briefings changed abruptly Wednesday night with a hastily called news conference to announce that the rate of the spill was estimated to be 5,000 barrels a day, or more than 200,000 gallons — five times the previous estimate. By Thursday, it was apparent that the cleanup operation desperately needed help, with no indication that the well would be sealed any time soon and oil drifting closer to shore.
On April 30, 2010, In /, By dno
* Lawsuit is first for economic losses from blowout
* Suit filed on behalf of all coastal Louisiana interests
HOUSTON, April 29 (Reuters) – Louisiana shrimpers have filed a class-action lawsuit against oil giant BP Plc (BP.L) and owners of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, marking the first claim for economic losses stemming from the disaster.
The lawsuit was filed late on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans as London-based BP and the U.S. Coast Guard fought to contain a massive oil slick expected to hit the Gulf Coast on Friday. [ID:nN29104665]
The suit was filed on behalf of two commercial shrimp fishermen named in the suit, and all other coastal Louisiana residents whose livelihoods are threatened by the spill.