There is wonderful news in the paper this morning.  The New Orleans Lakefront Airport, one of the true architectural gems of the 1930s, is going to be restored to its original appearance.  Architect Alton Ochsner Davis will oversee the project.

Completed in 1934 and originally named Shushan Airport Terminal Complex, the airport is one of a very few Art Deco/WPA-era terminals left in existence.  Most of the air terminals of the era were demolished to make larger facilities to accommodate jet traffic.  Shushan was spared this fate when Moisant Field (now Louis Armstrong International) opened in Kenner in 1946.

Back in 1988 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground, I can recall at least a few weeks of steady coverage by both the three major networks and cable news (just CNN at the time) of the disaster, its environmental impact, and efforts to clean it up.

But the fuel oil spill that happened in Louisiana earlier this week proves to be a much larger disaster with farther-reaching consequences--yet for some news briefs I've seen on NBC Nightly News and a couple of cable channels, there hasn't been the major coverage it should be getting. Why aren't the MSM taking it seriously?

And scorpiorising says,

it is somewhat shocking to me, given the size of the spill and its potential impact on fragile wetlands, that there isn't more help coming to help wildlife, and to help with cleanup.

The fuel spill in the Mississippi River now stretches 100 miles, almost to the Gulf of Mexico, and a sickly oil smell hangs over the city. According to a WWL TV news report, an SPCA group from Houston has set up a wildlife recovery effort. I don't want to pass judgement yet, but it is somewhat shocking to me, given the size of the spill and its potential impact on fragile wetlands, that there isn't more help coming to help wildlife, and to help with cleanup.

With everyone paying due attention to the oil spill (now 80 miles and growing) on the river, a key story from yesterday's Times-Picayune got lost in the noise.

For years, writers, geologists, climate scientists and pols have discussed the value of coastal wetlands in flood protection.  I recently reiterated that a smart presidential candidate could even reverse my state's reddening trend with a commitment to restoring Louisiana's coast.

But, throughout all the discussions, no one has ever specified just how much flood protection bang wetlands offer for the preservation/restoration buck.  Now someone has.

The third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is coming up next month.

Today Dolly has been upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane.  And again there are worries about levees:

Coastal officials worried Tuesday that Tropical Storm Dolly may bring so much rain that flooding could break through the levees holding back the Rio Grande.

Some stories don’t ever seem to change.

In an attempt to get media attention directed away from Barack Obama and toward his pro-business, pro-oil drilling policies, John McCain announced that he planned to deliver an address from an oil rig in Louisiana.

According to a report from Politico.com's Jonathan Martin, McCain wanted to get a photo op to counter Obama's European trip.

Meanwhile, today (after McCain's plans were leaked to the media), we find out that a massive oil spill has shut down the Mississippi River.

UPDATED: McCain canceled his trip.  Will be in Ohio instead.

Sorry for the short blast, but the Picayune just posted a piece updating their efforts to find out just what exactly John McCain is doing in New Orleans today.

Setting aside rumors (mine, mostly) that Old Grand Dad will actually be announcing Gov. Bobby Jindal as his running mate, the McCain campaign has been running in circles trying to figure out some meaningful appearance to counteract the images of Barack Obama ruling the world stage.

Since I've been such a jerk in the last 24 hours, and since there a few hours left in my vacation from civility, I've decided to face head-on the question that's arisen since the close of the wildly successful Netroots Nation-Austin:

Pittsburgh?  WTF???

Not much to expand on here, so you will have to accept it for what it is.

CNN reports this morning on the value of supplies actually given to Katrina storm victims. The Bush Administration, GSA and FEMA proudly claimed they had given away $85 million in relief supplies, but apparently this total was accomplished by assigning the value of a crate of toilet paper to a roll of tp, etc. The real value was a paltry $18 million and not all of that was distributed. Imagine that! A whopping $18 million to an entire city destroyed with hundreds of thousands of people displaced, and much of it never distributed. How generous!

The General Services Administration, which manages federal property, over-counted cases of toilet paper, plastic sporks and other cutlery, by mistakenly counting a single item as being worth as much as multiple items contained in a package of goods.

It has been nearly three years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the gulf coast region, leaving behind a wake of suffering and human misery unmatched in recent American history.  Sadly, the victims of this crisis are still suffering and residents of the Gulf Coast region are still waiting for the government to do the right thing by investing in the region, cleaning up and rebuilding New Orleans and surrounding communities.  The scale of this crisis is unimaginable for a modern, developed nation with the industrial strength and collective will we have to remedy the situation.  As a country, it is time for us to come together and call for justice for the victims of Katrina and Rita with a comprehensive, public works program designed to address the real needs of people who are still suffering from this natural disaster.

For anybody who thought Louisiana would get a far better deal from BushCo under GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal than she did under Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, they'd better think again. For Bush's pattern of abuse against Louisiana seems to transcend her politics. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate,

Bobby Jindal,  angered over the increased costs that storm-wounded Louisiana must shoulder for construction of hurricane protection levees, asked Washington for more time — and a little fairness.

Under the latest war spending bill, Louisiana must kick in $1.8 billion by 2011 in order to activate $5.8 billion in federal funding needed to strengthen the New Orleans-area levee system.

Jindal said Louisiana’s share for repairs to the 360-mile, federally maintained levee system, is higher post-Katrina, than before the storm. "It seems ridiculous," Jindal said, tersely.

I'm not going to pretend this is comprehensive !

The panelists include John M. Barry who wrote a book about the 1927 Mississippi flood, among other things. More at http://www.JohnMBarry.com

Karen Gadbois is a blogger who started with all this after Katrina, and didn't know what a blog was before that.

Her site is http://www.squanderedheritage.com/ and documents how The Powers are trying to tear down homes and other buildings that are just fine, thank you very much, in order to clear space for highrise developments and such.

Given Times Picayune Reporter Katy Reckdahl's propensity to usually fair and balanced writing, something sorely lacking in post-Katrina Times Picayune, I was suprised at the slightly disingenuous tone of her recent article on the closure of the homeless encampment at the intersection of Canal St. and Claiborne. Perhaps though, Katy didn't see the recent City Business article that documented how the NOPD is staging entrapments of homeless folks in the downtown area. This was obviously used as a tactic to intimidate and frighten the  homeless from the area.

The AC in the fancy bus was broken but Howard Dean's fervor was still on target this morning on Canal Street.  When he shook my hand, he thanked me for running a great campaign and complimented my website.  To remember the winning candidates in 50 states is difficult enough.  To remember the losing ones is nothing short of amazing.

Howard Dean's "Register for Change" bus tour hit New Orleans at noon today (sadly for the chairman, sans air conditioning on the bus) and You Are There!

GF and I showed up about 11:45 and waited with the growing crowd at the Victory '08 HQ for the bus to arrive.

First, before I start giving advice to discussing why I think I have a good idea, I want to be up front.  I am NOT a fan of any "Faith Based Initiative."  I believe them all to be unconstitutional and offensive. That said, Barack Obama disagrees, and he is the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.  So, if he is going with the idea, is there a way to make it work, both for the election and for good deeds that would follow?  I believe so.  In particular, I believe that if used properly, it can help him win Florida in November. They key? Danny Wuerffel.

This diary goes out to those of you who haven't donated or done any volunteer work to support Obama's campaign.  It's for those of you who are disappointed in his FISA vote or other things.  It's for people who feel they're back to choosing between the lesser of two evils.

Last month, California gave its stamp of approval to same-sex marriage, becoming only the second state after Massachusetts to do so.  Fear of gay marriage has long been exploited by right-wingers as the ultimate homophobic weapon to scare up bigotry and votes. Predictably, a parade of anti-gay idiots came out of the woodwork, howling in protest.

But they're on the wrong side of history. And to fully understand recent events, it's important to remember a tragedy that happened thirty-five years ago, and how much things have changed for gay Americans since then.

On the last Sunday in June, 1973, a gay bar in New Orleans called the UpStairs Lounge was firebombed. The resulting blaze killed 32 people. The death toll was the worst in New Orleans history up to that time. It was almost assuredly the largest mass murder of gays and lesbians to ever occur in the United States.

More below the fold.