Flood insurance info available on hotline - The Independent Media ...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The National Flood Insurance Program has set up a hotline to provide information to Louisiana residents.

Information on the flood program or requests for loss histories on properties can be obtained by calling 800-427-4661.

Policyholders with questions about their claims can speak with flood insurance program specialists at the same number.

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• DuBos: parallels between shooting and Katrina

  MAY 21 Gambit columnist Clancy DuBos writes about the Mother's Day shooting, and how the stages of shock and blame and healing mirror those traveled by the same city following Hurricane Katrina. The city will recover, just as it did following the storm, by reaching out to help the people injured most seriously by the event, DuBos writes. It's how we heal, he says.

• Sentell finally figures out Lefkowith lives in LA

  MAY 21 Here's a post on the Advocate (but buried on a subpage, not on the front) that reports something Louisiana Voice reported some time ago: a top DOE official lives in Los Angeles and "commutes" to Baton Rouge. The positioning of the story caused a stir on Facebook Monday, with several posters asking if the Advocate was covering someone's hiney. Sentell's stories on DOE are notoriously soft, and this one is no different: don't expect any hard questions in here.

• More from Aswell on the online courses

  MAY 21 Here's another post from blogger Tom Aswell about the "course choice" program. He's already reported on kids being signed up without their consent or knowledge, and has more here: For example, he tells of a six-year-old who was signed up for high school Latin. He also digs a little deeper into the sister companies of the main one operating in Louisiana; all of them seem to have complaints against them. Stinky.

• Sherman on Jindal's higher ed cuts

  MAY 21 Given the 80 percent cut in higher ed funding since he's been in office, it's clear Gov. Jindal would rather give tax cuts to out of state companies than have a functioning system, blogger Dayne Sherman argues in this post. The cuts have been such a disaster, Sherman says, that it will take 30 years to fix what's been broken. He says he believes the aim is to shut down most of the schools before Jindal leaves in 2016.

• Too many elections, CB says

  MAY 21 Blogger CB Forgotston says there are too many elections in Louisiana, and they're costing us too much money. The proof is in the pudding: turnout for most of these nonsensical pollings gets worse and worse, CB opines, even as millions of dollars that could be spent on health care or higher ed go down the tubes. The legislature must take action to stem the tide of pointless elections, he says.

• Jeff Parish officials getting sweet retirement deal

  MAY 21 Here's an interesting investigative piece by WVUE on the retirement benefits of some Jefferson Parish public employees. According to the story, the taxpayers are paying 100 percent of the retirement contributions of employees who started work prior to a certain date in April 1986 -- and have done for more than 30 years. It costs the parish millions annually, and might not be legal, the story reports.

• Q&A with Pinsonat on this year's session

  MAY 21 This post on Bayou Buzz provides insight from Louisiana's intrepid pollster, Bernie Pinsonat, on the winners and losers from this year's legislative session. But to hear Bernie tell it, there's almost nuttin but losers: Jindal, the Republican party, the Fiscal Hawks all get big goose eggs in his win column.

• RSD leaves charter out to dry on food funds

  MAY 20 This post on The Lens takes a look at a huge (either $500K or $250K) bill that one NOLA charter now has for school lunches. The RSD says the charter group didn't fill out the proper paperwork for federal reimbursement, but the story details how the RSD didn't ensure the people running the charter had the proper training, despite requests from hapless charter employees trying to fill out forms. Either way, somebody's asleep at the wheel.

Most Read

• David Calhoun, ?EB? Brooks join Lafayette Central Park
  

  David Calhoun and Elizabeth ?EB? Brooks are the first two employees of Lafayette Central Park Inc., the nonprofit charged with turning Lafayette Consolidated Government?s 100-acre Johnston Street Horse Farm property into a passive public park. Calhoun was named executive director, and Brooks is director of planning and design.

• Update: PXP creating 600 jobs averaging 100k
  

  At Thursday's State of the Economy luncheon, LEDA President and CEO Gregg Gothreaux said PXP has already quietly hired 180 people for its Broussard expansion.

• Remembering Ricky Rees
  

  The veteran police officer remembered by friends for his large and small acts of kindness will be laid to rest Wednesday.

• Zachary Barker takes helm of the Opportunity Machine
  

  Zachary Barker continues making waves in Lafayette?s business scene, mostly recently being named director of the Opportunity Machine.

• Shakin' at the Shack
  

  There will soon be a whole lot of shakin? going on at Benny?s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and caf?, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.

in case you missed it

• COOL TOWN 2013

  This year?s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.

• A curious compact

  A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.

• Pooyie 2012

  It's good, it's bad and it's just plain crazy.

• Saving Saturday Night

  An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.

• Posthaste vs. HART FORTENBERY

  Lafayette?s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.

Source: http://www.theind.com/news/indreporter/13940-flood-insurance-info-available-on-hotline

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