Obama visits Katrina-ravaged New Orleans

October 15th, 2009 Obama makes first trip to New Orleans as presidentNEW ORLEANS — President Barack Obama, who accused the Bush administration of standing by "while a major American city drowns," flew to New Orleans Thursday to hear directly about its 4-year-long struggle to recover from Hurricane Katrina. It was Obama's first visit since he assumed the presidency from George W.

October 15th, 2009 Obama: New Orleans will be better than everNEW ORLEANS — President Barack Obama defended himself Thursday against critics in New Orleans and across the Katrina-ravaged Gulf Coast who feel recovery help has not come soon enough from his administration. Making his first stop as president in the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina over four years ago, Obama appeared at a town hall gathering to hear residents' concerns in person.

October 15th, 2009 President Obama to make 1st trip to New OrleansWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, who accused former President George W. Bush of leading a government "that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns," is hearing directly from New Orleans residents who have struggled to rebuild their city since the 2005 hurricane season.

October 15th, 2009 Obama defends himself against New Orleans criticsNEW ORLEANS — Insisting he's "just getting started," President Barack Obama defended his administration Thursday against complaints from some residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast that federal help in recovering from the 2005 disasters hasn't improved much since he took office. "We've got a long way to go but we've made progress," Obama told a town hall at the University of New Orleans.

October 15th, 2009 President Obama makes first trip to New OrleansWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, who accused former President George W. Bush of leading a government "that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns," is hearing directly from New Orleans residents who have struggled to rebuild their city since the 2005 hurricane season.

October 15th, 2009 President meets with New Orleans residentsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is making his first presidential trip to the hurricane-battered city of New Orleans. His first stop Thursday is a charter school in the city, where he'll talk with students.

September 17th, 2009 La. court: Rehire cop fired after taped beatingNEW ORLEANS — A state appeals court has ordered the New Orleans police department to rehire an officer accused of using excessive force in an arrest caught on video several weeks after Hurricane Katrina. A former teacher says officer Robert Evangelist threw him against a wall and joined other officers in beating him while he was held on the ground.

September 8th, 2009 AP photographer gets subpoena in Katrina probeNEW ORLEANS — An Associated Press photographer has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury probing the death of a man whose burned body was found in a car near a police station several weeks after Hurricane Katrina. Federal prosecutors also are seeking photos that Alex Brandon took at an elementary school while he was working for The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and covering the aftermath of the Aug.

August 29th, 2009 OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — President Barack Obama promised Saturday that his administration would not forget what he called a tragic response to Hurricane Katrina.

August 29th, 2009 Obama: Katrina lessons not forgotten 4 years laterOAK BLUFFS, Mass. — President Barack Obama promised Saturday that his administration would not forget what he called a tragic response to Hurricane Katrina.

July 28th, 2009 Sale of New Orleans 'GO-Zone' bonds not going wellNEW ORLEANS — New Orleans got approval for more than $1 billion in tax-free bonds to help spur development after Hurricane Katrina, but it's finding few takers nearly four years later. Officials blame a tight credit market and lingering jitters about investing there.

July 14th, 2009 Honore: Ex-La. governor halted hospital reopeningNEW ORLEANS — Weeks after Hurricane Katrina slammed New Orleans and worsened the medical plight of the city's poor, then-Gov.

June 3rd, 2009 AP: FEMA may put storm victims in foreclosed homesMIAMI — The federal government is exploring how to put Florida hurricane evacuees in foreclosed homes if a Katrina-like storm devastates the region and shelters, hotels and other housing options are full, The Associated Press has learned. Officials told AP on Tuesday that it is an effort to find some benefit in the foreclosure crisis and keep people close to their homes and communities instead of scattering them around the country, which happened when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi almost four years ago.

June 2nd, 2009 New Orleans again nation's murder capitalNEW ORLEANS — A newspaper analysis of fresh FBI statistics finds that New Orleans is once again the nation's murder capital. The Times-Picayune determined that with 64 killings per 100,000 people in 2008, New Orleans had the highest per capita murder rate in the nation, well ahead of second-place St.

May 6th, 2009 'Class of Katrina' graduating, 4 years after stormNEW ORLEANS — In the months after Hurricane Katrina swamped the University of New Orleans campus in August 2005, the basketball team practiced at a school six hours away in Texas and played almost its entire season on the road, winning just three games. Some team members quit, but for those who stuck it out, "it made us closer," said Jada Frazier, who was a freshman from Albany, Ga.