The Hill: Melancon hits at Vitter's rape amendment vote

It didn't take long for Sen. David Vitter to start feeling the heat after he voted against a bill that would withhold defense contracts to companies preventing victims from filing sexual assault and harassment lawsuits. And that's not surprising, as Vitter is a common target of the Democratic party as it eyes his Senate seat during the 2010 election.

What is surprising is how long it took Rep. Charlie Melancon, who is trailing in the polls, to attack Vitter on the issue. He finally did so Monday, as The Hill notes.

"I'm glad the Senate passed this amendment overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support. But I am shocked that David Vitter voted against it," said Melancon in a release. "David Vitter has refused to explain why he voted to allow taxpayer-funded companies to sweep rape charges under the rug. We can only guess what his reasons were."

Melancon released a campaign video that hits Vitter hard on the issue. The entire video is told through the voice of Jamie Leigh Jones, whose alleged gang rape prompted the amendment. "I cannot even understand the reasoning as to why anyone would vote against it," she says in the video.

A National Republican Senatorial Committee spokeswoman responded to the release by saying President Barack Obama and the Department of Defense were also against the amendment, something you can read more about here. Though Vitter has yet to explain his vote, leading Republicans such as Sen. Richard Burr have said their opposition stems from a desire to keep Congress out of the selection of defense contracts. Burr has also said arbitration, which he feels would have the danger of being eliminated, is an effective and economical way to handle disputes.

The amendment passed the Senate 68-30, with 10 Republican senators voting in favor.

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All About Jazz: The Pioneer of New Orleans' Frenchman Street Music Scene

If you're a jazz enthusiast in New Orleans -- no, a jazz enthusiast, period -- you've heard of Snug Harbor. Chances are you've been inside the club, enjoying the cool atmosphere and consistently electric jazz from legends such as Ellis Marsalis, who plays there weekly.

But who you probably haven't heard of, unless you're truly tuned in to the local scene, is George Brumat, the late owner and creator of Snug Harbor. And as All About Jazz reports, it was through his vision that the best place to listen to music in New Orleans, Frenchman Street, came to be.

"Indeed, Frenchman St. is the best hang to get a sense of the local jazz scene ..." writes Craig Cortello for All About Jazz. "And it all started decades ago with one iconic club and one visionary supporter of both music and musicians -- the late George Brumat."

Cortello writes of Brumat's generosity and willingness to come back after Hurricane Katrina, as well as the one big-ticket name that first put the club on the map.

"I asked Brumat to give his assessment of the significance of having a legendary musician such as [Ellis] Marsalis on the regular schedule at his club," Cortello writes. "'He's the man who put this place on the map. He's the franchise,' said Brumat emphatically. Their mutual admiration was wonderfully evident."

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WSJ: Katrina Orphan: Jazz, funk singer, writer finds home and new life in N.C.

New Orleans native Leigh Harris, a jazz and funk singer who left the city for good after Hurricane Katrina, is coming out of her shell and playing again, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Harris -- you probably know her as Little Queenie -- had been so jaded by the storm and its effects that for months she mainly stayed in her new home in North Carolina. That is, until the music bug bit her again.

"Then this year, she visited an energy healer. During one session, she said she felt the spirits of her grandmother and Odetta, the folk singer who died in late 2008," Michael Hewlett writes for the Journal. "And it finally clicked that she had been holding all her pain inside, not putting it into her music."

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Corps' commander: N.O. can't be completely protected from flooding

And for those who missed our 6 p.m. news last night, Paul Murphy has an extended piece on two items from the Guardian and the Huffington Post about the corps' commander, who said the corps can't completely protect the city from flooding.

HuffPo: US Army Corps can't stop floods in New Orleans
Storm threat to New Orleans out of our control, says general