May 2006 John Kerry weighs in. He noticed there hasn't been much progress and wants to raise the roof in Congress.  The capitol dome seems pretty high to me. After his initial comments I've heard nothing more. The capitol dome is still standing at its original as-built height.

There is still debris scattered around the city. The Corps is no longer picking up debris in front of apartment buildings and that is causing more of a mess. From my experience they aren't picking up much debris elsewhere as every neighborhood is swamped in piles of trash. My neighborhood is looking pretty clean except for a few appliances we can't seem to get rid of.

City garbage pickup is still once per week. It was twice a week before the storm. They took vegetation and there was curbside recycling. Waste Management still won't pickup things they used to pick up. They say vegetation, construction debris and whiteware (anything that looks like an appliance) are still verboten.

You can call a hotline to get a crew sent out to collect the problem items. They'll get there in a few days to a few weeks. A vegetation crew was working in the neighborhood last week. They arrive as a crew of six. They seal off the block and two of them serve as flagmen at the barriers. The other four operate the truck, a bobcat and whatever else to remove the debris. It looks like massive overkill and seems to take forever to get the job done.

Residents of a New Orleans East Vietnamese community are fighting a new landfill close to their homes. The city is just running out of places to put the trash.

Magazines are back and the mail seems normal again.

Utilities seem normal. Cox is still having problems delivering digital services but that's not unusual.

Restaurants are totally normal and quite good. They seem a little more expensive but that's normal too.

Real estate is not moving. At least in my neighborhood. There are people looking but I just dont see any Sold signs.

People are beginning to express disappointment with the lack of progress in rebuilding the city, the return of crime. The Chief of Police says crime is down but his numbers are wrong. The general malaise is spreading just as the summer heat is building.

The hurricane center reported that with no La Nina activity this year most hurricanes can be expected to head to the Atlantic seaboard rather than the Gulf.

The Corps announced that the levees won't be ready by June 1st, but never fear there is a Plan B. Temporary sheet piling structures much like those used during Rita will be put in place should a storm threaten. (Remember that the populace was not allowed to return during the Rita threat because of the danger.) What ever they defined as their scope of work (and absolutely no more) will now be accomplished by sometime in July.

Word is emerging that we better be ready to evacuate. FEMA trailers won't be expected to withstand a Category 1. The westbank is likely to flood if there's a category two west of the city. The eastbank will flood in the event of a Cat 3.

People have been allowed to move back in to parts of the Lower Ninth Ward south of Claiborne Avenue. FEMA is sending crews around to remind those living in trailers that they have to move out after 18 months.

The Mayor and Council  races are heating up and will end abruptly on May 20th.  Will there be a change or not?

The school year is ending. Lets see how many people move out over the summer vs. how many move in. Would you bring your family to New Orleans with no jobs, a bad school reputation, questionable safety and an uncertain future? Would you move your major (non construction) corporation here?

Chief Criminal Judge Calvin Johnson has ordered release of all suspects being held awaiting trial for non-violent misdemeanors. There is just no space for these suspects in jail and he no longer has time to release them himself one at a time. Violent offenders and felony suspects as well as convicted criminals will not be released under this order. He said he has found people in jail awaiting trial for offenses a minor as spitting on the sidewalk.