Clip from the Dallas Morning News --------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Other NYT contributing bylines from Hurricane Gustav |
NOTE: I received a contributing byline on the following story, published in the New York Times on Monday, Sept. 8, 2008.
The above picture was taken by local freelance photographer Lori Waselchuk and ran alongside the story...
BATON ROUGE, La. — The fearsome heat of a South Louisiana summer, unmediated by air-conditioning, reduces the strong to
a primal struggle and sends the weak to the hospital.
Thousands here are enduring it this way seven days after Hurricane Gustav. Nearly 40 percent of the city’s electrical power
remains out, and the principal utility, Entergy, says it will be the last week of September before everyone’s electricity here in the
state capital is restored.
Whole neighborhoods are sweating it out, discovering things about the natural setting, themselves and their neighbors they did
not know and in some cases did not particularly want to know. Front doors are open, generators are humming, downed tree limbs
are piled high, and the people are dripping.
Power blackouts have been widespread in South Louisiana in the last week. More than 200,000 of Entergy’s customers in
Louisiana were still without power Monday, down from nearly 829,000 immediately after the storm.
“It’s sort of paralyzed the economy of the state,” said Foster Campbell, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
...TO READ MORE, CLICK THE HEADLINE ABOVE...
The above picture was taken by local freelance photographer Lori Waselchuk and ran alongside the story...
BATON ROUGE, La. — The fearsome heat of a South Louisiana summer, unmediated by air-conditioning, reduces the strong to
a primal struggle and sends the weak to the hospital.
Thousands here are enduring it this way seven days after Hurricane Gustav. Nearly 40 percent of the city’s electrical power
remains out, and the principal utility, Entergy, says it will be the last week of September before everyone’s electricity here in the
state capital is restored.
Whole neighborhoods are sweating it out, discovering things about the natural setting, themselves and their neighbors they did
not know and in some cases did not particularly want to know. Front doors are open, generators are humming, downed tree limbs
are piled high, and the people are dripping.
Power blackouts have been widespread in South Louisiana in the last week. More than 200,000 of Entergy’s customers in
Louisiana were still without power Monday, down from nearly 829,000 immediately after the storm.
“It’s sort of paralyzed the economy of the state,” said Foster Campbell, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
...TO READ MORE, CLICK THE HEADLINE ABOVE...
| 2 Million Flee Storm; G.O.P. Cuts Back Published: August 31, 2008 New Orleans Residents Seek a Swift Trip Home Published: September 3, 2008 In Reversal, New Orleans Lets Residents Return Published: September 4, 2008 |
After Hard Lessons, a New Game Plan for
Hurricane Seasons
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: March 29, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., March 28 — Federal and
state emergency officials promised a
different approach on Tuesday to the coming
hurricane season, saying they would no
longer use "last resort" shelters like the
Superdome to house displaced residents.
Louisiana Lawmakers Begin Special Session
on Rebuilding
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 7, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 6 - Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco opened a special session
of the State Legislature on Sunday, telling
lawmakers that
their actions in the coming days would serve
as a catalyst for healing and as a guiding light
for the rebuilding of New Orleans and other
areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita
In Louisiana, Old Rivalries Resurfacing on
Storm Aid
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 11, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 10 - When she called
a special legislative session on rebuilding
southern Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco expressed hope that the state's
ancient political rivalries, which have set
lawmakers from the piney woods of north
Louisiana against those from the
swamps and bayous in the south, would
finally be cast aside.
Hurricane Seasons
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: March 29, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., March 28 — Federal and
state emergency officials promised a
different approach on Tuesday to the coming
hurricane season, saying they would no
longer use "last resort" shelters like the
Superdome to house displaced residents.
Louisiana Lawmakers Begin Special Session
on Rebuilding
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 7, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 6 - Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco opened a special session
of the State Legislature on Sunday, telling
lawmakers that
their actions in the coming days would serve
as a catalyst for healing and as a guiding light
for the rebuilding of New Orleans and other
areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita
In Louisiana, Old Rivalries Resurfacing on
Storm Aid
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 11, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 10 - When she called
a special legislative session on rebuilding
southern Louisiana, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco expressed hope that the state's
ancient political rivalries, which have set
lawmakers from the piney woods of north
Louisiana against those from the
swamps and bayous in the south, would
finally be cast aside.
NYT Bylines
Louisiana Governor Plans to
Sign Anti-Abortion Law
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: June 7, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., June 6 —
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco's office said Tuesday that
she would shortly sign into law a
strict ban on abortion that would
permit abortion only in the case
where a woman's life was
threatened by pregnancy.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
of Louisiana, shown at a
conference last month, says she
will sign an abortion ban as
quickly as possible.
The bill, approved by both
houses of the Legislature and
sent to the governor on Monday,
would go into effect only if the
United States Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade, the
1973 decision establishing a
constitutional right to abortion,
and allowed states to criminalize
abortion.
To read more, click here.
Sign Anti-Abortion Law
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: June 7, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., June 6 —
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux
Blanco's office said Tuesday that
she would shortly sign into law a
strict ban on abortion that would
permit abortion only in the case
where a woman's life was
threatened by pregnancy.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
of Louisiana, shown at a
conference last month, says she
will sign an abortion ban as
quickly as possible.
The bill, approved by both
houses of the Legislature and
sent to the governor on Monday,
would go into effect only if the
United States Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade, the
1973 decision establishing a
constitutional right to abortion,
and allowed states to criminalize
abortion.
To read more, click here.
Dead After Gunman
Opens Fire in a Church
in Louisiana
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: May 22, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., May
21 — A man opened fire
inside the Ministry of Jesus
Christ Church here during
a Sunday morning service,
killing four in-laws and
wounding another before
kidnapping his wife and
killing her, law enforcement
officials said.
The man, identified by the
police as Anthony Bell of
Baton Rouge, also
abducted three of his
children, including an
infant, as the service was
nearing its end, the police
said.
The children were later
found unharmed.
To read more, click here.
Opens Fire in a Church
in Louisiana
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: May 22, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., May
21 — A man opened fire
inside the Ministry of Jesus
Christ Church here during
a Sunday morning service,
killing four in-laws and
wounding another before
kidnapping his wife and
killing her, law enforcement
officials said.
The man, identified by the
police as Anthony Bell of
Baton Rouge, also
abducted three of his
children, including an
infant, as the service was
nearing its end, the police
said.
The children were later
found unharmed.
To read more, click here.
New Orleans Preps for the
Storm Next Time
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: May 24, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., May 23 —
Though it was fictitious, "Hurricane
Alicia" offered state and federal
officials gathered here on Tuesday
an opportunity to test new plans for
evacuating and sheltering
thousands of people fleeing a major
Gulf storm.
Tony Robinson, regional director of
response and recovery for the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency, said that several signs
suggested the new initiatives would
be an improvement. Armbands and
bar codes were used to track
"evacuees" in New Orleans during
the day's exercises, Mr. Robinson
said.
Plans to use rail lines, commercial
air travel and military buses to move
people out of harm's way — efforts
not employed last year — are in the
works.
To read more, click here.
Storm Next Time
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: May 24, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La., May 23 —
Though it was fictitious, "Hurricane
Alicia" offered state and federal
officials gathered here on Tuesday
an opportunity to test new plans for
evacuating and sheltering
thousands of people fleeing a major
Gulf storm.
Tony Robinson, regional director of
response and recovery for the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency, said that several signs
suggested the new initiatives would
be an improvement. Armbands and
bar codes were used to track
"evacuees" in New Orleans during
the day's exercises, Mr. Robinson
said.
Plans to use rail lines, commercial
air travel and military buses to move
people out of harm's way — efforts
not employed last year — are in the
works.
To read more, click here.
Austin field trip inspires Baton Rouge
Louisiana's capital city looking to duplicate entertainment district to lure young professionals
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 1, 2004
BATON ROUGE, La. -- City officials here have a vision for their downtown area that is both tragically hip and urban chic: jazz bars that swing until the
wee hours of the morning, sidewalk vendors that dish up Cajun fare and intoxicating spirits right in the streets, ultra-modern studio apartments to rest
your head and even tax breaks for the bohemian type looking to open up shop.
If it sounds remarkably similar to Austin's famed entertainment district, that's because Baton Rouge urbanites are banking on the same formula made
popular by the so-called "Live Music Capital of the World."
By implementing its own entertainment district, Baton Rouge is hoping to create a cultural Mecca that will beckon a demographic already being wooed
by a number of other second-tier cities around the nation: young professionals.
And to jumpstart this recruitment process, about 120 business, government and community leaders from Baton Rouge ventured into Austin last month
for a fact-finding mission to research the topic, among others. They hit the hot spots along fabled Sixth Street, participated in discussions with the
locals and took detailed notes on how to build a bayou version of the Lone Star entertainment district.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of Baton Rouge's Downtown Development District, contends it was once an easy task B decades ago, before the
high-tech boom forever changed its landscape B to compare Austin to Baton Rouge.
Today, however, only the obvious comparisons remain, such as being the capital city and home to a major university.
"We have no natural Sixth Street or Fourth Street here," Mr. Rhorer said. "There isn't a condensed spot where people gather here. But the private
sector is taking steps to make it happen. What we do have are the bones for a very workable entertainment district like we saw in Austin."
The 550-acre skeleton of downtown Baton Rouge already consists of two casinos, 42 restaurants, 13 entertainment venues, a planetarium, a large
format theater and live concerts on Friday nights. There's even a trolley system online and a tax incremental financing scheme for new developments.
But a quick visit to downtown Baton Rouge on an average evening will often reveal nothing but empty streets, a dark contrast to the normally hopping
Austin.
"If you know downtown like I do right now, even Saturday afternoons won't draw a lot of people," Mr. Rhorer said.
Pam Price, 33, a freelance consultant who attended the Austin workshop, argues this trend could change if Baton Rouge would appeal to the working
class chic of her generation the way Austin does.
"It's all about biology," Ms. Price said. "People want to hook up... When you get 18- to 20-year-olds together, it's about dating. Young people are
interested in a variety of options to find a partner."
Peter Couhig, 31, president of Forum 35, a Baton Rouge nonprofit group boasting a membership of more than 400 civic-minded young professionals,
said the Austin trip allowed community leaders to see how an abundance of bars and clubs, operating with late-night drinking hours and no open
container laws, can help their mission of drawing upon 20- and 30-somethings.
"Our bars close at 2 a.m.," Mr. Couhig said. "But if they keep these businesses open until 4 a.m., maybe more people would come downtown.
That's why Austin was important. It allowed the leadership to see that an entertainment district is critical to keeping young professionals at bay and
attracting more."
And while it is paramount to the city's success, Mr. Couhig adds that Baton Rouge will need more than just a thriving nightlife in it's entertainment
district to attract young professionals. He points directly to Austin's strong suits in this area: High-tech jobs, an independent film scene, expanded
sidewalk dining, trendy residential lofts and creative outlets such as community theater and literary publications.
One believer is Baton Rouge Mayor Bobby Simpson, a rural conservative dedicated to a hipper downtown scene. While it will admittedly be a
challenge to convince the city council to tread new ground and adopt loser drinking laws, as well as tax breaks for artists, Mayor Simpson vows he is
ready.
"As we heard presentations in Austin, we were all asking ourselves why we can't do that," Mayor Simpson said. "It won't happen overnight, but we
will have an entertainment district. We can make this happen with the caveat that we can get it through the council."
Mr. Rhorer expressed little concern over the mayor's apprehension.
"Baton Rouge has reached a tipping point and the ball will keep rolling now," he said. "This is a new urbanist philosophy with smart growth. It's all
starting to come to fruition... And now we have a new type of residential dwelling, a convergence of existing downtown buildings into lofts."
Mr. Rhorer uses words like "urban" and "funky" to describe the new lofts going up in Baton Rouge's proposed entertainment district. In all, there are
20 spaces in various stages of development, ranging from 600 to 1,200 square feet and up to $1,200 in rent. The goal over the next four years, Mr.
Rhorer said, is to have 500 additional units in the area.
Rick Brown, 32, an architect currently working on a set of downtown lofts with his wife, is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his own
unit.
"Hopefully, this will be the trick for downtown," Mr. Brown said. "We can't wait to move in. Actually, we've always wanted to live down here. It will
make my life easier. My office is a mile away down the road and all of our friends like to come here to go out."
Mr. Couhig hopes the lofts will also play another role.
"In Austin, they offer sales tax abatements to artists who live above their galleries," Mr. Couhig said. "We're pushing for something like that, too."
To usher in this new arts community, most hopes are pinned on a project simply referred to as "The Arts Block," expected to debut in 2005. The
centerpiece would overlook the Mississippi River and be home to a theater for visual and performing arts, a museum, art classes, a digital studio and
gallery space. There are also ongoing negotiations with a digital animation studio interested in hosting an annual animation festival, which could help
the city build on it's only other film festival, the Outhouse Festival at Louisiana State University.
"It's hard to believe this can happen in Baton Rouge, but we're going to have an arts incubator where we can help our artists build capacity," said Ms.
Genny Nadler Thomas, executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.
City officials are still working on a master plan for Baton Rouge's entertainment district B developing ways to recruit new businesses and
keep construction levels up B but high profile supporters such as Mr. Rhorer and Mayor Simpson contend it will all come to fruition in about two
years.
All of these efforts, the two argue, will hopefully dispel the myth that the only thing to do in Baton Rouge is to head down I-10 to New Orleans.
"I would just love for Baton Rouge to be described as hip," Mr. Rhorer said. "And I think we have the anchors to make that happen."
Jeremy Alford is a freelance writer in Baton Rouge.
Louisiana's capital city looking to duplicate entertainment district to lure young professionals
By JEREMY ALFORD
Published: November 1, 2004
BATON ROUGE, La. -- City officials here have a vision for their downtown area that is both tragically hip and urban chic: jazz bars that swing until the
wee hours of the morning, sidewalk vendors that dish up Cajun fare and intoxicating spirits right in the streets, ultra-modern studio apartments to rest
your head and even tax breaks for the bohemian type looking to open up shop.
If it sounds remarkably similar to Austin's famed entertainment district, that's because Baton Rouge urbanites are banking on the same formula made
popular by the so-called "Live Music Capital of the World."
By implementing its own entertainment district, Baton Rouge is hoping to create a cultural Mecca that will beckon a demographic already being wooed
by a number of other second-tier cities around the nation: young professionals.
And to jumpstart this recruitment process, about 120 business, government and community leaders from Baton Rouge ventured into Austin last month
for a fact-finding mission to research the topic, among others. They hit the hot spots along fabled Sixth Street, participated in discussions with the
locals and took detailed notes on how to build a bayou version of the Lone Star entertainment district.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of Baton Rouge's Downtown Development District, contends it was once an easy task B decades ago, before the
high-tech boom forever changed its landscape B to compare Austin to Baton Rouge.
Today, however, only the obvious comparisons remain, such as being the capital city and home to a major university.
"We have no natural Sixth Street or Fourth Street here," Mr. Rhorer said. "There isn't a condensed spot where people gather here. But the private
sector is taking steps to make it happen. What we do have are the bones for a very workable entertainment district like we saw in Austin."
The 550-acre skeleton of downtown Baton Rouge already consists of two casinos, 42 restaurants, 13 entertainment venues, a planetarium, a large
format theater and live concerts on Friday nights. There's even a trolley system online and a tax incremental financing scheme for new developments.
But a quick visit to downtown Baton Rouge on an average evening will often reveal nothing but empty streets, a dark contrast to the normally hopping
Austin.
"If you know downtown like I do right now, even Saturday afternoons won't draw a lot of people," Mr. Rhorer said.
Pam Price, 33, a freelance consultant who attended the Austin workshop, argues this trend could change if Baton Rouge would appeal to the working
class chic of her generation the way Austin does.
"It's all about biology," Ms. Price said. "People want to hook up... When you get 18- to 20-year-olds together, it's about dating. Young people are
interested in a variety of options to find a partner."
Peter Couhig, 31, president of Forum 35, a Baton Rouge nonprofit group boasting a membership of more than 400 civic-minded young professionals,
said the Austin trip allowed community leaders to see how an abundance of bars and clubs, operating with late-night drinking hours and no open
container laws, can help their mission of drawing upon 20- and 30-somethings.
"Our bars close at 2 a.m.," Mr. Couhig said. "But if they keep these businesses open until 4 a.m., maybe more people would come downtown.
That's why Austin was important. It allowed the leadership to see that an entertainment district is critical to keeping young professionals at bay and
attracting more."
And while it is paramount to the city's success, Mr. Couhig adds that Baton Rouge will need more than just a thriving nightlife in it's entertainment
district to attract young professionals. He points directly to Austin's strong suits in this area: High-tech jobs, an independent film scene, expanded
sidewalk dining, trendy residential lofts and creative outlets such as community theater and literary publications.
One believer is Baton Rouge Mayor Bobby Simpson, a rural conservative dedicated to a hipper downtown scene. While it will admittedly be a
challenge to convince the city council to tread new ground and adopt loser drinking laws, as well as tax breaks for artists, Mayor Simpson vows he is
ready.
"As we heard presentations in Austin, we were all asking ourselves why we can't do that," Mayor Simpson said. "It won't happen overnight, but we
will have an entertainment district. We can make this happen with the caveat that we can get it through the council."
Mr. Rhorer expressed little concern over the mayor's apprehension.
"Baton Rouge has reached a tipping point and the ball will keep rolling now," he said. "This is a new urbanist philosophy with smart growth. It's all
starting to come to fruition... And now we have a new type of residential dwelling, a convergence of existing downtown buildings into lofts."
Mr. Rhorer uses words like "urban" and "funky" to describe the new lofts going up in Baton Rouge's proposed entertainment district. In all, there are
20 spaces in various stages of development, ranging from 600 to 1,200 square feet and up to $1,200 in rent. The goal over the next four years, Mr.
Rhorer said, is to have 500 additional units in the area.
Rick Brown, 32, an architect currently working on a set of downtown lofts with his wife, is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his own
unit.
"Hopefully, this will be the trick for downtown," Mr. Brown said. "We can't wait to move in. Actually, we've always wanted to live down here. It will
make my life easier. My office is a mile away down the road and all of our friends like to come here to go out."
Mr. Couhig hopes the lofts will also play another role.
"In Austin, they offer sales tax abatements to artists who live above their galleries," Mr. Couhig said. "We're pushing for something like that, too."
To usher in this new arts community, most hopes are pinned on a project simply referred to as "The Arts Block," expected to debut in 2005. The
centerpiece would overlook the Mississippi River and be home to a theater for visual and performing arts, a museum, art classes, a digital studio and
gallery space. There are also ongoing negotiations with a digital animation studio interested in hosting an annual animation festival, which could help
the city build on it's only other film festival, the Outhouse Festival at Louisiana State University.
"It's hard to believe this can happen in Baton Rouge, but we're going to have an arts incubator where we can help our artists build capacity," said Ms.
Genny Nadler Thomas, executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.
City officials are still working on a master plan for Baton Rouge's entertainment district B developing ways to recruit new businesses and
keep construction levels up B but high profile supporters such as Mr. Rhorer and Mayor Simpson contend it will all come to fruition in about two
years.
All of these efforts, the two argue, will hopefully dispel the myth that the only thing to do in Baton Rouge is to head down I-10 to New Orleans.
"I would just love for Baton Rouge to be described as hip," Mr. Rhorer said. "And I think we have the anchors to make that happen."
Jeremy Alford is a freelance writer in Baton Rouge.
JEREMY ALFORD national clips
