A federal judge in New Orleans has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding from Katrina. Yesterday’s ruling should give more than 100,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities a better shot at claiming damages. The plaintiffs argued the Army Corps’ shoddy oversight of the channel led to the flooding of New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish.

Many in New Orleans have argued that the 2005 flooding was a manmade disaster caused by government failure to maintain the city’s levee system.

According to information released Thursday by Chesapeake Energy Corporation, critically injured in the accident was 30 year-old Jimmy Siler also of Bullard. He is listed in stable condition at LSU Hospital in Shreveport. The company told The Times of Shreveport that both men worked for Dynasty Transportation LLC, of Broussard, a contractor for Chesapeake, which owns the well that blew out during a routine maintenance procedure early Wednesday.

At least two other contract workers received minor injuries, and five DeSoto Fire District Number Eight firefighters were treated after experiencing respiratory problems while rescuing the two men from the accident scene.

District Attorney Scott Perrilloux said William J. Chaucer Junior was arrested Thursday on 20 counts each of felony theft,
unregistered dealer in the sale of securities, sales of unregistered securities and making material misrepresentations in the sale of a security. Chaucer is the principal of Chaucer Holding Company and several other companies in Hammond, Covington and Ponchatoula.

Perrilloux said Chaucer allegedly told individual investors that their money would be invested to fund one of his loan companies, but the vast majority of their money was used to finance the extravagant lifestyle of William and Cheryl Chaucer.

Bullock, who recently bought a home in New Orleans, is hosting the event with film studio Warner Bros. to raise money for Warren Easton High School, which was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bullock already has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school for scholarships, new band uniforms, auditorium renovations and a new health clinic.

The movie, which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, is based on a true story of a poor teenager taken in by a family and recruited by a major college to play football. It also stars country singer Tim McGraw, a Delhi, Louisiana, native.
   

The Starbase Academy took place at Camp Beauregard for the fifth grade students of Nachman Elementary.  Starbase is a free program for schools within the area, and provides lots of hands-on learning activities such as math, science, and aerodynamics. “The kids really enjoy it here,” Instructor Michelle Cling says. “and the teachers enjoy it, too. We’re federally funded, so a lot of the things that the kids get to do here, they don’t necessarily get to do in a classroom.” 

The 25-hour, week-long course includes flight simulators, and building and detonating rockets, which Darshak Gondalia and D’Angelo Washington of Nachman really enjoyed. ” I want to be a pilot, and we got to learn some good stuff ” Darshak says. ” It’s really fun here, and a lot to learn, ” D’Angelo says.   

The class is available on a first-come, first serve basis.  There is a waiting list, in case a school reschedules or cancels. If you would like to get your school involved, contact Director Cheryl Arbour or Michelle Cling at 318-290-5252.

    Slidell Police spokesman Capt. Kevin Foltz said 24-year-old
Ashley Jackson had been involved in the scheme, which was
discovered by a loss prevention officer at the store, since March.

    Foltz tells The Times Picayune that Jackson acquired the drugs
by manipulating legitimate prescriptions for customers.

    Jackson was booked with 39 counts of possession of drugs with
intent to distribute, 39 counts of obtaining prescription
medication by fraud and possession of drugs within 1,000 feet of a
school.

    She is being held in leiu of a $2.925 million bond.

    It wasn’t immediately clear if Jackson has an attorney.

William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans, was sentenced Friday to the longest prison term ever imposed on a congressman for corruption charges. A judge will decide on Wednesday when Jefferson must begin serving his time. Prosecutors want Jefferson imprisoned immediately. Defense lawyers say the conviction raises unique legal questions and that he should remain free during the appeal.

Jefferson was the target of an FBI investigation during which he was videotaped accepting a briefcase filled with $100,000 cash. Most of that money was found a few days later in his freezer.

Melancon also wants to stop insurers from changing rates based on problems stemming from Chinese drywall. He filed the bill Tuesday. About 1,900 homeowners, 318 in Louisiana, have filed Chinese drywall complaints with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Homeowners claim imported Chinese drywall emits sulfur, methane and other chemical compounds that have ruined homes and appliances and harm residents’ health.

According to data compiled by the administration and released on Tuesday, an overwhelming number of Nicholls graduates remain in Louisiana. Of the 9,260 students who graduated between 1998 and 2008, a total of 8,294—or 89.6 percent—have made their home in the Pelican State.

School president Stephen T. Hulbert says Nicholls primary mission is to educate people for the work force. He says he is gratified that such a large portion of the alumni have chosen to remain, especially during these difficult economic times, when Louisiana needs them most.
   

Besides artwork from popular tales such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty,” the exhibit also includes pieces from the upcoming movie, “The Princess and the Frog.” Set in New Orleans, “The Princess and the Frog” is a musical comedy about a free-spirited, jazz-loving prince whose encounter with a witch doctor goes bad, and the prince is turned into a frog.

The movie, from the creators of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” debuts in New York and Los Angeles on Nov. 25 and opens nationwide Dec. 11.