Posted on 10/18/2005 12:08:09 AM PDT by happinesswithoutpeace
BOURNE – Hurricane Katrina evacuees hastily handed $2,000 in federal relief money last month have been living it up on Cape Cod, blowing cash on booze and strippers, a Herald investigation has found.
Herald reporters witnessed blatant public drinking at a Falmouth strip mall by Katrina victims living at taxpayer expense at Camp Edwards on Otis Air Force Base. And strippers at Zachary's nightclub in Mashpee, a few miles from the Bourne base, report giving lap dances to several evacuees.
``They were tipping me $5 a pop,'' said a Zachary's dancer named Angel. ``I told them I felt bad taking their money. But I still took it.''
Another dancer said a large group from the military base was in Zachary's recently and she gave lap dances to several of the victims.
``Some spend good money, but others don't,'' she said.
An assistant club manager, who gave his name only as Michael, acknowledged yesterday that the strip joint is popular with people from Camp Edwards.
``It's no different for someone who lives at Camp Edwards or is stationed at Camp Edwards. As long as they have the proper ID they can go in,'' he said.
On Oct. 5, the Herald observed a virtual parade of evacuees from a bus stop in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Falmouth to nearby liquor stores. Some emerged and openly swilled from brown-bagged containers, while others poured booze into jugs or plastic cups and casually sipped drinks at the Wal-Mart bus stop.
The refugees have access to daily trolley service from Camp Edwards to the Falmouth Mall.
One elderly man poured a bottle of Ruble vodka into a water bottle and spent the afternoon sipping the liquor outside the Wal-Mart. Two other men were seen buying 32-ounce Coors Light cans at George's Liquors and drinking at the bus stop.
Last Tuesday, one 52-year-old evacuee, who told a reporter he was originally from Cuba, stood in the rain outside Wal-Mart for several hours drinking gin and orange juice from a thermos. The same day, a female evacuee bought ice at a supermarket and roughly $30 worth of hard liquor before being driven in a car back to Camp Edwards. Evacuees are banned from bringing booze onto the base.
One Camp Edwards source said evacuees swiped liquor off shelves at the U.S. Coast Guard store on the base and drank it in the aisles.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued more than $1.5 billion to 607,000 Katrina victims in the form of individual cash handouts of $2,000. There are no restrictions on how the money can be spent, FEMA officials said.
Gov. Mitt Romney and the Legislature approved a $25 million emergency aid package to feed and house 235 of the evacuees at Camp Edwards. As of mid-September, the Red Cross had doled out another $25,000 in debit cards for victims sent to the Bay State.
The Camp Edwards residents have been treated to Red Sox and New Orleans Saints games, Boston Duck Tours, a chowder fest, concerts, and free cell phone and Internet service, as well as cookouts sponsored by Romney and U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
Since the Sept. 8 arrival of the original 235 evacuees, a handful of unruly drunks have been taken into protective custody, according to law enforcement officials.
More than half the evacuees have left Camp Edwards for other housing, and 114 refugees remain at the encampment, which is slated for shutdown Thursday.
Falmouth police Chief David Cusolita said police cracked down on public drinking at the Wal-Mart after complaints last month but he reported no recent incidents.
Barnstable Sheriff Jim Cummings said some of the intoxicated refugees were taken into custody by state police, while others were escorted to their dorms.
"The Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued more than $1.5 billion to 607,000 Katrina victims in the form of individual cash handouts of $2,000. There are no restrictions on how the money can be spent, FEMA officials said."
Double Dang.
(Denny Crane: "I like nature. Don't talk to me about the environment".)
If that ain't an aristocratic spree, what is?
"If that ain't an aristocratic spree, what is?"
Hmmmmm..I think that would be drinking Mad Dog 20/20 out of an empty Mcdonalds french fry box.
It's a little difficult to give the money back when it's already been stuffed in your cleavage, I guess.
Yep, if you took all the money from the rich, gave it to the poor, the rich would have it back in six months. There's a reason why most people are poor.
These evacuees are a bunch of idiots. If they were smart, they'd skip the alcohol, stay sober and upgrade from strippers to some really hot escorts. Are these people nuts?
Looking more each day like Mayor Nagin had his own Mariel Boat Lift. Massachusetts ought to buy them each a lot with a trailer in Louisiana. It will be cheaper for everyone.
Your money goes further w/cheap booze and cheap strippers. Hot escorts expect the South American Nasal Whitening Powder.
Errr, thats what I've read on the internets.....
Give a man a free house and he'll bust out the windows
Put his family on food stamps, now he's a big spender
no food on the table and the bills ain't paid
'Cause he spent it on cigarettes and P.G.A.
They'll turn us all into beggars 'cause they're easier
to please
They're feeding our people that Government Cheese
Give a man a free lunch and he'll figure out a way
To steal more than he can eat 'cause he doesn't have to
pay
Give a woman free kids and you'll find them in the dirt
Learning how to carry on the family line of work
It's the man in the White House, the man under the
steeple
Passing out drugs to the American people
I don't believe in anything, nothing is free
They're feeding our people the Government Cheese
Decline and fall, fall down baby
Decline and fall, said fall way down now
Decline and fall, fall down little mama
Decline and fall, decline and fall
Give a man a free ticket on a dead end ride
And he'll climb in the back even though nobody's driving
Too GD lazy to crawl out of the wreck
And he'll rot there while he waits for the welfare check
Going to hell in a handbag, can't you see
I ain't gonna eat no Government Cheese
bump
Maybe they need to be in detox? A good smack upside the head would work too.
"Gov. Mitt Romney and the Legislature approved a $25 million emergency aid package to feed and house 235 of the evacuees at Camp Edwards."
Ah-scuse me? $25M divided by 235 evacuess = $106,382.97 PER EVACUEE! That's a whole lotta feedin' and housin' goin' on! All kidding aside: Who's getting greased here? Bed linen suppliers? Provisioners? Administrative companies? I'm hoping these NO natives experience the coldest damned winter New England has seen in some time. Heck, even a normal winter ought to make them wish for back home, where you can drink third-rate booze out of a first-rate paper bag year round.
There's a thread at Cape Ann Online which suggests that 7 of the evacuees sent to Otis AFB were sex offenders.
http://p219.ezboard.com/fcapeannonlinefrm1.showMessage?topicID=7590.topic
Got to take the edge off that Jones as Nagin satd.
Movin' on up: Will poor black evacuees ever want to leave Frank Stronach's Palm Beach paradise?
Thank you for those links. I am going to read them.
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