Posted on 10/11/2005 4:16:30 PM PDT by Libloather
Blanco gives cold shoulder to Nagin's hotel casino proposal
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco listens during hearings conducted by the US Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Blanco called on the US government to help pay local cops and other 'critical public safety' workers dealing with widespread hurricane-wrought ruin.(AFP/Luke Frazza)
BATON ROUGE, La. Governor Kathleen Blanco delivered a decisive blow today to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's proposal to revitalize his devastated city by placing casinos in large hotels, saying gambling shouldn't be the basis for economic development in New Orleans.
Nagin said he hoped the governor would include the gambling proposal in a special session scheduled for November. Blanco's office is drawing up the formal outline of legislation that can be considered during the session, and her spokeswoman says the governor will NOT include Nagin's gambling proposal.
A call to Nagin's office for comment was not immediately returned.
Blanco's statement said she never believed that gambling should be the base on which to build the economy. Instead, she says people and businesses need federal tax credits and a stronger public education system to stimulate growth and reconstruction in New Orleans.
Nagin's proposal -- unveiled Friday -- already had received cool reception by many politicians. The plan calls for a large-scale gambling area in the city's central business district. Hotels that have more than 500 rooms would be able to add gambling.
But the proposal would require legislative approval and Harrah's Entertainment Incorporated, which runs a land-based casino in New Orleans, to give up its exclusive gambling rights.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, left, applauds as James Williams, from River Ridges, La., hugs his mother, New Orleans resident Audrey Coestly in Jefferson Parish, La., Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005. Jackson and Williams arrived with about 200 job seekers and New Orleans residents evacuated during Hurricane Katrina.(AP Photo/Don Ryan)
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — About 200 people including New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina rolled into this suburb on buses Tuesday, seeking to share in government jobs to rebuild the city.
The journey, organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, started Monday in Chicago and wound through St. Louis and other cities that gave shelter to evacuees. Potential employers greeted the arrivals at a Metairie restaurant with applications for construction and restaurant jobs.
Jackson has pressed for displaced New Orleans residents and others to receive help from the federal cleanup contracts and housing that have gone to out-of-state contractors.
Many in the crowd said they had come from hometowns such as Mobile, Ala., and Memphis, Tenn., looking for work.
"If I get the work I'll stay a year," said Harold Adams, 65, of Memphis.
Local officials said they welcomed people from across the South.
"I think it's wonderful because there are a lot of jobs available," said New Orleans Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt.
Mayor Ray Nagin also welcomed people back. Late last week, Nagin had forecast that new arrivals would face "a mess," citing a lack of housing. On Tuesday, he said housing would be found.
"We're going to make sure everyone is taken care of from the housing standpoint, short-term and long-term," he said.
Nagin sat with James Williams, a New Orleans resident who spent the past six weeks in Chicago and was reunited with his mother, Audrey Coestly, of nearby Kenner.
Williams said he plans to find work and then re-establish his home in New Orleans before retrieving his wife and three children, who remain in Chicago.
Blanco would rather steal money from citizens of every other state and force us to rebuild that cess pool.
Brit Hume said that only 3 people boarded Jackson's bus and 2 of them spoke only Spanish.
The second article on Jess might as well should read--"he offers to repopulate NO all on his own". That is as long as the taxpayers pay the mistresses again.
Jesse Jackson and Jobs just doesn't seem to go together! Preach hard work, Rev, and do your people some good.
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