10:22 AM CDT on Friday, September 9, 2005

Tom Planchet

THURSDAY - 10:44 P.M. - CNN reports that a Time magazine source says the online biography for FEMA Director Michael Brown contains false information.

9:58 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP): The official death toll in Louisiana from Hurricane Katrina was raised to 118 on Thursday, while state officials said a Houston-based disaster response company has been hired to deliver bodies to relatives of the dead.

Of the 118 confirmed dead, 67 are in a morgue in St. Gabriel, with the rest housed at local coroners' offices, the state Department of Health and Hospitals said Thursday. The toll was raised from 83 deaths reported Tuesday.

The number of dead is likely to rise, however, because of massive flooding that swept through the city after Katrina struck Aug. 29, trapping many in homes. New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has said the death toll in New Orleans alone could reach 10,000, and state officials were ordering 25,000 body bags.

9:57 P.M. - (AP): States with refugees from Hurricane Katrina, according to the Red Cross and state officials:

TEXAS: About 97,000 in shelters; more in hotels or other housing

ARKANSAS: About 70,000 in shelters, motels and private homes

LOUISIANA: 55,537 in 216 Red Cross shelters; 54,622 in 201 shelters

MISSISSIPPI: 18,343 in 117 shelters, more in motels, hotels and private homes

TENNESSEE: 15,500

ALABAMA: 2,494 in shelters; as many as 4,000 in hotels

MISSOURI: About 5,860 at hotels, churches and relatives' homes

OKLAHOMA: 2,352 in four shelters

VIRGINIA: 1,841

KENTUCKY: 1,650, several hundred sought assistance at a city center

GEORGIA: More than 1,500 in 17 Red Cross shelters.

ILLINOIS: About 1,200

NORTH CAROLINA: 1,167 in shelters, hotels and private homes

INDIANA: At least 1,150 evacuees

KANSAS: Fewer than 1,000 in churches, hotels and homes

SOUTH CAROLINA: At least 800 families in hotels, motels, private residences

OHIO: At least 873, plus 141 families

FLORIDA: 852 in nine emergency shelters

COLORADO: About 650 in shelters and with relatives and friends

MICHIGAN: 247 at Fort Custer Training Center; Red Cross are assisting 300 families

WISCONSIN: Nearly 400 at Milwaukee's State Fair Park; 210 with friends or family

UTAH: 443 at Camp Williams; up to 22 at hospitals.

MARYLAND: Between 300 and 550 people seeking Red Cross or local assistance

ARIZONA: About 335 in Phoenix shelter; about 80 in Tucson

WEST VIRGINIA: 315

MINNESOTA: More than 270, mostly with friends, families and in churches

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: About 215 at the D.C. Armory

PENNSYLVANIA: At least 200 in homes, shelters, other locations

MASSACHUSETTS: About 107 at Camp Edwards.

NEW MEXICO: 50 at the Albuquerque Convention Center

9:52 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP): Two schools closed for lack of enrollment in Houston last year are open again -- exclusively for students displaced by Hurricane Katrina .

One 7-year-old said she hoped to learn new things and maybe make a friend. Another cried uncontrollably. So did nearby rescue workers.

For some of the students, it was the first time they had left their parents since the hurricane.

Almost 19,000 children displaced by the hurricane are enrolled in Texas public schools. That number could swell to 50,000 according to the state Education Agency.

9:44 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Laura Bush described as "disgusting" comments by rapper Kanye West and Democratic chairman Howard Dean blaming her husband for the disproportionate number of black hurricane victims.

"I think all of those remarks are disgusting, to be perfectly frank, because of course President Bush cares about everyone in our country," the first lady said Thursday in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks.

"And I know that. I mean, I'm the person who lives with him," she said. "I know what he's like and I know what he thinks and I know how he cares about people."

The president has faced sharp criticism over federal relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina victims, who are disproportionally black and poor.

On a nationally televised telethon Friday, broadcast live on NBC, West departed from the script to declare "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

Earlier this week, Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told the National Baptist Convention of America, a black religious group, that race played a role in the hurricane casualty numbers.

Mrs. Bush said it was clear that poor people were more vulnerable when the hurricane hit.

"They lived in poorer neighborhoods. Their neighborhoods were the ones that were more likely to flood, as we saw in New Orleans. Their housing was more vulnerable," she said.

"And that's what we saw, and that's what we want to address in our country."

9:26 P.M. - BATON ROUGE, La. (AP): Families of teenagers in Louisiana's juvenile prisons who were moved to other facilities before and after Hurricane Katrina have several phone numbers to call to find out the status of those children.

Juvenile inmates from detention centers in Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Terrebonne parishes all were relocated to other facilities around the state. The state Office of Youth Development said it could only contact about 25 percent of family members after juvenile prisoners were moved, because of telephone problems and evacuations.

The youth development office has three phone numbers to reconnect families with those juvenile prisoners: 225-287-7988, 225-287-7955 and 225-287-7900.

8:04 P.M. - (AP): American Red Cross officials who wanted to deliver food, water and supplies to New Orleans residents stranded after Hurricane Katrina were turned down last week in the first days after the storm because of security concerns.

Katrina came ashore Monday, and Col. Jay Mayeaux, deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security, said he asked Red Cross officials not to enter the city when he received the request on Friday, requesting instead that they wait at least 24 hours until security was more stable in the area.

"It was a military operation. We were asked by the military not to go in, and we abided by that request," said Vic Howell, CEO of the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross did hand out supplies in many of New Orleans' neighboring, hurricane-ravaged parishes and on Saturday went into New Orleans, according to Howell.

8:03 P.M. - (AP): Nearly a week after they were requested and with emergency systems taxed, the radio equipment and portable generators that Gov. Kathleen Blanco asked federal officials to supply have yet to arrive.

Those items were among several that Blanco requested Friday in a letter to President Bush to help out with Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.

The governor asked for portable radios, equipment and tower crews to work on beefing up the communications grid that failed and kept rescue personnel, police and emergency workers from being able to talk to each other easily.

"The radio system that is currently operational in the greater New Orleans area was designed to support 800 users; there are currently 2,500 users. To address the radio communications requirements, we need additional frequencies," Blanco said in her letter.

She also requested 175 generators to help local parishes and emergency staff who are struggling without power or with flooded generators and the diesel fuel supplies to run them.

Federal officials haven't filled either request, according to state officials.

7:58 P.M. - (AP): New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was in Dallas on Thursday, visiting refugees seeking medical care at the Dallas Convention Center, said a spokesman for the city of Dallas.

"He took a tour of the medical area," said Dallas spokesman Celso Martinez. "Our understanding was he wanted to have some personal time to meet with (New Orleans) residents ... and reassure them that they were not forgotten."

He said that they stayed there about an hour during the private tour, talking with New Orleans residents.

Dallas Mayor Laura Miller accompanied Nagin on the medical tour, Martinez said.

Evacuee Cedric Henry was glad to see Nagin,

"Then I looked again and I was like -- that's the mayor," Henry told Dallas-Fort Worth television station KXAS. "This was no hype, no PR. He was worried about us."

"He came to see us."

7:54 P.M. - (AP): Aaron Neville, part of the Neville Brothers singing group from New Orleans, said he hasn't been back to his beloved city, but images of flood waters show it has turned into a "toxic gumbo."

"I haven't heard from a lot of my friends and don't know if they are alive or dead," Neville told The Associated Press. "When they drain the city there will be a lot of bodies."

The award-winning singer also said that more than two-dozen relatives have been evacuated from the city and are living in various states.

Neville, 64, believes much of his home is under water and prized valuables, including photos and his four Grammys are gone as well.

7:38 P.M. - (AP): A herd of carriage mules and horses that rode out Hurricane Katrina has been rescued after spending a week in New Orleans, surrounded by floodwaters.

The animals, normally used to pull carriages carrying tourists through the French Quarter, were stranded after their evacuation site in Mississippi was ordered to close as Katrina approached. Most of the mules and horses were taken to safety in Baton Rouge, but 22 were left behind.

Charbonnet said one animals died in the New Orleans stable and two others died despite the immediate emergency care given by LSU Vet school volunteers.

7:17 P.M. - (AP): More than a week after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region, military search and rescue teams like one from the Wisconsin Air National Guard continue to rescue more than 40 residents per day by air.

Dehydrated and tired, they come aboard carrying blue Wal-mart sacks with the few belongings they could gather -- sometimes just a family photo. One man was rescued wearing just his underwear.

On board, the emotions roll. From the sky, the mile after mile of destruction is overwhelming. Corpses float in dirty water that in some cases is at roof level, and family pets left behind bark from the tops of cars surrounded by water.

6:49 P.M. - The New Orleans City Council held its first meeting since Hurricane Katrina landed. Five of the Council’s seven members met at Armstrong International Airport Thursday afternoon to discuss the destruction in each of their respective districts. They asked residents not to return until they are called back home by city leaders.

6:43 P.M. - WWL-TV: Gretna Police hopes parish officials will allow residents to return—with ID—to their homes.

6:36 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Congress sends President Bush a $51.8 billion hurricane aid bill.

6:23 P.M. - John Wiscaver, State Farm spokesman: Customers could be eligible for a $2,500 check from State Farm to use for personal repairs, clothes, expenses, etc. Call 1-800-SFCLAIM or go online at www.StateFarm.com for more information.

6:16 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): Thousands of Katrina evacuees hoping to get debit cards loaded with $2,000 by the Federal Emergency M anagement Agency won't receive them because the relief agency only is passing out the cards to those sheltered at the Astrodome in Houston.

Elsewhere, people will have to wait for the $2,000 in "expedited assistance" from FEMA to arrive in paper checks or direct deposits into bank accounts, according to David Passey, spokesman for FEMA.

"We just believe that this is the fastest way to roll forward," Passey said Thursday, citing logistical problems when questioned repeatedly about the change, a day after FEMA made the announcement about the quick debit cards. Passey said the change didn't involve cash problems.

The cards, issued on a one-per-household basis, enable storm victims to buy necessities like clothing and food, but not all families that fled their homes will be eligible. Some insurance policies include payments for living expenses while people are displaced from their homes.

Those away from the Astrodome seeking the $2,000 assistance must register by calling 1-800-621-FEMA or going to the agency's web site at http://www.fema.gov. They must identify where they would like the check delivered or offer a bank account number where the money could be deposited.

"They just need to wait until assistance arrives," Passey said. He said that could take 10 days to two weeks.

FEMA's announcement Wednesday of the debit cards created confusion at the Astrodome. Word quickly spread through the Astrodome and refugees began to seek them out, but workers said the distribution of those cards would not place for a couple of days.

6:07 P.M. - (AP): Producers have lost at least 80% of the cattle in Plaquemines Parish. LSU AgCenter cattle specialist Doctor Jason Rowntre says one herd of 2,500 cows in the Venice area is unaccounted for. Venice is the last town on Louisiana Highway 23 at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Rowntree says another one-thousand head of cattle are stranded on a levee. But volunteers are taking hay to them by airboat until they can be rescued.

Elsewhere in the hurricane damaged area, losses are expected to be much lower.

Rowntree says that in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes hay fields and pastures are under as much as 12 feet of water, but observers believe cattle losses are less than 5%.

North of Lake Pontchartrain, wind damaged barns and structures but left the cattle relatively unharmed.

6:06 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): With New Orleans' tax base devastated and its taxpayers scattered across the country, Louisiana officials are struggling to estimate Hurricane Katrina's damage on the budget in a state where nearly one in every five residents lived in p overty before the storm -- and even more depended on the state for social and health care services.

Economists know Katrina left a crater in Louisiana's $18.7 billion budget, but they're struggling to figure out the size of the hole and state officials are not even close to determining how to handle it.

"The whole metro area down there is at least a quarter of the population, and I'm sure it's more than a quarter of the state's economy," said Greg Albrecht, economist for the Louisiana Legislative Fiscal Office.

The huge tourism and convention industry is in a shambles with the favorite destination point of New Orleans flooded, contaminated and nearly empty. Shipping was disrupted. Oil and gas production was down in some areas. Agriculture was battered by wind and flooding, and the seafood industry is threatened by a toxic muck pouring through and around southeast Louisiana.

Businesses are displaced, some salvageable and others' fate unknown. Taxpayers spread out of Louisiana, taking their much-needed dollars with them.

6:04 P.M. - BATON ROUGE (AP): The two buildings that make up New Orleans' charity hospital, temporarily closed because of damage from Hurricane Katrina, may not be repairable, the state's charity hospital system said Thursday.

The LSU Health Care Services Division, which runs the New Orleans charity hospital, committed to rebuilding if the damage was too severe for repairs.

"Charity Hospital has maintained a presence in New Orleans since 1736, and we plan to be there in the future to serve the residents of the Crescent City. We will be back," a statement said.

The charity hospital in New Orleans flooded and it took days to get all of its patients and staff evacuated after Katrina made landfall. Now, services and patients have been moved to other LSU charity hospitals.

6:03 P.M. - WWL-TV’s Ben Lemoine: Police Chief Eddie Compass said no crimes were reported last night in town. 10 did call police last night, but they were calling to be evacuated from their homes.

6:02 P.M. - DENVER (AP) -- The Neville Brothers will join the Dave Matthews Band at a benefit concert for hurricane relief at Red Rocks Amphitheater on Monday.

"To see my New Orleans in the state she is in is my worst nightmare," Aaron Neville said in a written statement. "By the grace of God, New Orleans and the entire Gulf Coast will pull through this massive devastation."

5:58 P.M. - NEW YORK (AP) -- To African-Americans, Hurricane Katrina has become a generation-defining catastrophe -- a disaster with a predominantly black toll, tinged with racism. They've rallied to the cause with an unprecedented outpouring of activism and generosity. The unlikely alliance touched by the disaster is not only donating money but gathering supplies, taking in friends and relatives, even heading south to help shoulder the burden of their people.

"You'd have to go back to slavery, or the burning of black towns, to find a comparable event that has affected black people this way," said Darnell M. Hunt, a sociologist and head of the African American studies department at UCLA.

5:55 P.M. - Senator Mary Landrieu blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for its "incompetent and insulting" response and chided President Bush for saying soon after the storm that no one anticipated the levies that protect New Orleans from flood waters would have broken. "Everybody anticipated the breach, including computer simulations in which this administration participated," she said.

4:47 P.M. - BATON ROUGE The Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans, which includes the Charity and University Hospitals, are temporarily closed due to extensive damage from Hurricane Katrina.

When the campus reopens there is the possibility that, because of this damage, the existing facilities may not be used.

For the time being, services are relocating to other LSU Hospitals.

4:35 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- The Red Cross has distributed more than five million dollars in benefits to hurricane refugees staying at the Houston Astrodome. The relief agency handed out more than 1,400 debit cards an hour to qualified Katrina survivors.

4:18 P.M. - (AP) -- In what may be their last peaceful pass before they get tough, rescuers scoured New Orleans' swamped houses and shattered high-rises Thursday, finding many stragglers finally ready to flee the filthy water and the stench of death.

"Some are finally saying, `I've had enough," said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Michael Keegan. "They're getting dehydrated. They are running out of food. There are human remains in different houses. The smells mess with your psyche."

4:10 P.M. - CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Two space shuttle facilities have been damaged by Hurricane Katrina and hundreds of workers are homeless.

NASA is reassessing the prospects of a possible March launch for shuttle Discovery.

NASA could repair fuel tanks at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as opposed to the hurricane-damaged Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where the tanks are made.

NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, where shuttle main engines are tested, also suffered storm damage. The space agency estimates Katrina caused at least one billion dollars in damage at those facilities. At Michoud, Lockheed Martin has been able to contact only half its two-thousand employees.

At Stennis, almost all 1,800 employees have been accounted for, and about 200 are without homes.

4:05 P.M. - LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The producer of a telethon to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims is expecting it to be free of political comments.

Joel Gallen is the executive producer of "Shelter From the Storm: A Concert For The Gulf Coast." It will run on the six major broadcast networks and several cable channels tomorrow night.

4:00 P.M. - (AP): With the waters receding, New Orleans faces a ghastly task of epic dimensions not seen by an American city in perhaps a century: collecting, identifying and then burying potentially thousands of corpses, many of them bloated, decayed or no doubt mangled beyond recognition.

Already, officials said they have 25,000 body bags on hand in Louisiana, and a temporary warehouse morgue is being readied to handle 5,000 dead.

The challenge, though, is more than a question of space and equipment. Among other things: How do you establish the victims' names, especially when many of them were so poor they probably did not even have dental records? And how do you return the dead to their relatives when no one knows where the family members are?

In the confusing tangle of federal, state and local workers here, a preliminary plan has emerged to deal with the bodies.

"The mayor is very strong on the fact that you handle the remains with dignity and respect, especially considering the celebration of life that we have in New Orleans," said Sally Forman, a spokeswoman for Mayor C. Ray Nagin.

At two collection sites -- one at the corner of Interstates 10 and 610 and one in neighboring St. Bernard Parish -- federal mortuary teams collect any information that may help identify a body, including the coordinates of where each corpse was found.

3:54 P.M. - BIRMINGHAM, AL (AP): More than 3,100 children displaced by Hurricane Katrina have registered in Alabama's public schools. Educators say more students are still coming from Louisiana and Mississippi.

For now, school leaders say they are concentrating on making kids comfortable and continuing their education. But the state, known for underfunded schools, must figure out how to pay for the new students.

A state schools spokesman said the federal government may help cover some of the cost of educating displaced students. In Montgomery County, where about 150 new students have arrived, a school spokesman said the biggest problem is classroom space.

All but a handful of public school systems have enrolled at least one child displaced by Katrina, and 34 systems have registered 20 or more students. Private schools also are getting new systems, and Roman Catholic schools in Mobile and Baldwin counties have received about 170 new students.

Large numbers of Katrina kids have shown up in schools in south Alabama and in large cities. The coastal counties of Baldwin and Mobile have added 480 new students.

Huntsville and surrounding Madison County have registered nearly 200 new students, and Birmingham-area systems in Jefferson and Shelby counties have added more than 630 students.

In Tuscaloosa County, which already had 16,200 students, gained 73 new ones from Katrina.

3:53 P.M. - AUSTIN, TX (AP): Country star Willie Nelson will headline a benefit concert in Austin to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. The concert is planned September 21 at the Frank Erwin Center on the campus of the University of Texas.

Nelson publicist Elaine Schock says the money raised will be given to the Red Cross.

Nelson is also donating funds from shows at Carl's Corner on September 26 and 27. Carl's Corner is located on I-35 between Waco and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Nelson, who lives in Austin, launched a radio ad campaign this week asking Americans to help family farmers in Gulf Coast states who suffered hurricane losses.

Nelson is founder and president of Farm Aid, which will hold its 20th anniversary concert on September 18 in the Chicago area.

3:52 P.M. - WACO, TX (AP): A Texas congressman has opened his home to a Louisiana family who fled Hurricane Katrina.

Congressman Chet Edwards says he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing he ad a vacant home in Waco, where there were children of evacuees. Edwards told The Dallas Morning News that his wife, Lea Ann, suggested loaning out their three-bedroom home. The couple and their two children spend the school year in Washington.

Johnnie Marchand of Algiers, Louisiana, and her family moved in Saturday. The 46-year-old widow, and a son, daughter and two grandkids originally ended up at a Baptist church in Waco. When Edwards showed up, Marchand said she had no idea that the man wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a baseball hat was a congressman.

Edwards says he'll stay with in-laws of friends when he returns to Waco on weekends.

3:50 P.M. - WWL-TV: Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez have arrived in New Orleans and meeting with city officials at the command post set up at the Harrah's Casino.

3:45 P.M. - SEATTLE (AP): Starbucks says it will give $5 million over five years to help Gulf Coast victims of Hurricane Katrina. The first $1 million goes to the Red Cross.

In addition, chairman Howard Schultz says his family foundation is giving $500,000 to the Red Cross and 500-thousand to Mercy Corps.

Among other efforts to aid hurricane victims, the Seattle Mariners will collect money for the Red Cross outside Safeco Field on Saturday before the game against Baltimore.

King County Councilman Steve Hammond has introduced a measure that would make the arrest and prosecution of looters the county's highest law enforcement priority during a disaster.

He says the measure is needed to protect the county from the kind of lawlessness that gripped New Orleans.

3:43 P.M. - (AP): Jill Jackson's parents brought her and her family out of the hurricane zone back to her home town. Jill's parents, Steve and Linda Fuegmann, traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss., last week to get Jill, her husband, Elbert, and their three children. The family arrived back in Minot on Monday. Click here.

3:40 P.M. - TALLAHASSEE, FL (AP): Florida plans to issue driver's licenses and identification cards to people from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who fled Hurricane Katrina.

A spokesman for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says the state has safeguards in place to make sure driver's licenses and ID cards only go to eligible people.

Some evacuees don't have any form of identification and that's making it tougher for them to get the help they need.

Officials say the newcomers can visit any driver's license office in Florida to get free identification cards. Driver's licenses cost $20.

3:39 P.M. - TALLAHASSEE, FL (AP): The Florida Department of Education is arranging to hire evacuated teachers from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to teach in Florida schools.

Florida Education Commissioner John Winn says school districts are acting quickly to hire teachers who can't go home because of damage from Hurricane Katrina. Winn estimates that hundreds of teachers from the Gulf Coast are in Florida now, living with friends or relatives.

He says Florida wants to make it as easy as possible for those teachers to find jobs. The state is waiving the cost of the teacher certification exam, but Winn says Florida is not relaxing its teaching standards for the evacuees.

He says teachers who fulfilled comparable certification requirements in other states are welcome to teach in Florida.

3:37 P.M. - (AP): New Orleans is facing the horrible task of collecting and identifying what may be thousands of corpses in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The bodies, mostly waterlogged, are placed in black bags. Two collection sites have been set up where federal mortuary teams try to collect any information that may help identify them.

They also collect any personal effects that were on the bodies. Even something as simple as a hairbrush might later be used to identify the victims.

If the victims are identified, the body can be turned over to a funeral home of the family's choice for burial. In cases where the bodies can't be identified, the state Office of Public Health is planning to provide for what it calls "proper interment."

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin has said the death toll from Katrina could reach 10,000.

It's the most massive undertaking of its kind in a century. Between 6,000 and 12,000 people were killed in Galveston, Texas, after a surprise hurricane struck in 1900.

3:36 P.M. - CAPITOL HILL (AP): The House has overwhelmingly approved a $52 billion emergency aid package for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The vote was 410-to-11, with all 11 'no' votes coming from Republicans.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says the money will give hurricane victims "a little hope" over the next few weeks as they piece their lives together.

Democrats supported the measure, though there was concern about funneling most of the money through FEMA.

The government is spending about $2 billion a day as it works to help people along the Gulf Coast recover.

The Senate is expected to quickly follow the House in approving the measure.

3:16 P.M. - (AP): The Army Corps of Engineers says the floodwaters in New Orleans are receding at a rate of four to six inches a day.

Walter Baumy, who is in charge of getting the water out of the city, says 60% of New Orleans remains submerged. That's down from 80 percent at the height of the flooding.

Meantime, Police Superintendent Eddie Compass says his officers along with National Guard troops will begin physically forcing residents to evacuate once the entire city has been surveyed for people who want to leave but need help.

He says that survey is about 80% complete.

Compass says his officers know that forcible evacuations will be traumatic. And he says: "We are not going to be rough. We are going to be sensitive. We are going to use the minimum amount of force."

3:13 P.M. - SALEM, OR (AP): The last Oregon National Guard soldiers have arrived in New Orleans, boosting the number of Oregon troops taking part in the relief effort to nearly 2,000.

Oregon National Guard spokesman Sergeant First Class Spencer Martin says the Guard will have multiple tasks.

He says right now, the focus is search and rescue. Martin says they then will probably start patrolling the city.

3:10 P.M. - LAREDO, TX (AP): The Mexican Army made history today when its convoy with hurricane relief entered Texas -- bound for San Antonio. It's the first Mexican military unit to operate on U.S. soil since 1846 and the first Mexican disaster aid mission to the United States.

About 45 vehicles are part of the entourage bound for San Antonio, where about 5,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees are being housed.

Members of the convoy were greeted in Laredo by dignitaries from both countries, and about five Laredo residents waving a Mexico flag.

The unarmed soldiers, physicians, nurses and dentists wore green uniforms with yellow armbands that said "Humanitarian Aid," in Spanish.

Laredo Mayor Betty Florez gave Mexican General Francisco Ortiz Valadez a thank-you gift bag that included a glass sculpture in the shape of Texas.

2:55 P.M. - (AP): The troops are becoming more insistent as they go house-to-house to get holdouts to leave New Orleans.

More people who thought they could ride out the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are agreeing to leave. But a handful of people living in the few areas of the city that didn't flood are still not persuaded.

Hank Staples lives in the Carrolton section, where he owns a famous music bar called the Maple Leaf.

Sweeping the sidewalk in front of a building he owns down the street, he says, "I'm sure it is extremely toxic for 50% or more of the city.

My little area," he says, "will be fine."

He's also promising to put on the first nightclub show in New Orleans after Katrina. Acoustic, if he can't get sound equipment or power.

2:50 P.M. - NEWARK, NJ (AP): The bathing water is dark brown and smelly. Meals are usually a few handfuls of dry cereal, or a half-cup of soup and crackers. Outside are National Guard troops toting automatic weapons. Inside are hundreds of weak, sick victims of Hurricane Katrina.

After a 12-hour night shift, there's no place to sleep except the floor, and not even a private bathroom.

But for two north Jersey nurses who volunteered to help a storm-damaged hospital along the banks of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, the disaster is bringing out the best in people who have experienced the worst. Click here.

2:40 P.M. - MONROE (AP): The arrest of a Red Cross volunteer for accosting three females at the Monroe Civic Center shelter has led to the discovery that he is actually on parole for manslaughter.

Kevin White was arrested Monday after he allegedly groped a 15 year-old female then looked down the shirt of a 13-year-old girl as he made sexually explicit comments to her.

White, 48, of Monroe, also is accused of touching the breast of an adult female. Monroe police officers arrested White at the Civic Center and booked him into the Ouachita Correctional Center. Bond is $4,000.

According to a motion to hold White without bail filed by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office, White was charged with second-degree murder in July 1983, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempted armed robbery.

He was sentenced to consecutive sentences of 21 years and 32 years and was paroled in January 1999. White remains on active parole until July 16, 2014. District Attorney Jerry Jones said his office filed the motion to either deny bail or increase bond as a public safety precaution.

2:30 P.M. - (AP) -- Bourbon Street has been replaced by Media Street. There's only one place left in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina where people walk the night street, ogle and drink beer: the three downtown blocks where the world's media has set up.

"Have you ever seen a circus before?" said Nick Thompson, the engineer in charge of the NBC Network News operation.

"We've got clowns, bears, lions -- oh, my. The only thing that's not here is a ring master," he said, puffing a cigar after a day's work.

Much of the media has set up on three city blocks on Canal Street, a once-grand boulevard that runs next to the French Quarter. TV crews, journalists and photographers are stuffed into cramped recreational vehicles that groan with generators, day and night.

The lights on Media Street are about the only ones illuminating the powerless city where law enforcement continue to evacuate the remaining residents.

TV anchors do live shots on street corners where musicians and tap-dancing children performed when life was normal.

Some of the homeless and stranded still in New Orleans have gravitated toward the hustle and bustle of the compound of million-dollar satellite trucks, rented sport utility vehicles and tents. Sometimes, reporters have stepped in to help the stranded.

Thompson said he bandaged one man's gnarled foot and gave a penniless police officer $100 so he could get out and be with his wife.

Other media camp residents have given food and water or allowed the stranded to charge their cellular phones at the camp.

2:15 P.M. - A National Guard spokesman said troops were ready to go into the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina as soon as the storm had passed.

2:13 P.M. - MONROE (AP): With parish law enforcement stretched thin in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a contingent of Michigan National Guardsmen began active duty at three northeastern Louisiana locations, including the Monroe Civic Center.

The guard has 60 MPs stationed at the Red Cross shelter at the Civic Center, 10 soldiers at the 4H Camp at Pollock Lake and the rest at the National Guard Armory in Monroe.

They arrived in Alexandria three days ago and were then sent to Monroe.

Currently, guardsmen have been paired up with local police officers for additional training, but Lieutenant Lynn Chapp says there is no plan in place for them to completely take over as the primary policing force.

He says there is also no timeline for how long they will be in the area.

She added that they could be sent to assist other guardsmen in New Orleans at any time.

2:03 P.M. - Sen. Mary Landrieu: We have got to be focused on rebuilding; not just New Orleans, but the entire region. I think it’s obvious to everyone that FEMA is a shell of what it once was. Rather than strengthen FEMA, I’d rather give money to local sheriffs, to parish leaders, etc. We need immediate mortgage relief for home owners, and we need relief for small business owners.

1:31 P.M. - President Bush: Government issued credit cards can be used for food, clothes or essential personal items. FEMA and the American Red Cross will be working with individual shelters to make sure people are registered for this assistance. By registering for the first $2,000, you’ll be eligible for future, long-term help down the road. FEMA has 3,000 people working around the clock to take phone calls from evacuees to get them registered for assistance.

Bush: I want to work with Congress to reimburse the states who have taken in thousands of evacuees. (Those states) should not be penalized for showing compassion.

Bush: I have declared Friday, September 16, as a national day of prayer for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

1:15 P.M. - MOBILE, AL (AP): The massive EADS' Airbus Beluga aircraft with 22 tons of hurricane relief supplies from the United Kingdom and France landed today at Mobile.

From Mobile, supplies will be delivered to hurricane victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a spokesman said.

The aircraft, called the Beluga because of it's whale-like shape, normally carries aircraft parts from Airbus factories across Europe to the assembly plants in Toulouse and Hamburg.

It was also used to deliver supplies to tsunami victims in east Asia.

EADS is the second largest aerospace and defense company in the world.

1:11 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu took to the Senate floor Thursday to accuse the federal government of failing in its "greatest responsibility" -- protecting the lives of Americans after Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans flooded.

"Let me be the first to take the blame," Landrieu said, before chiding President Bush for saying soon after the storm that no one anticipated the levies that protect New Orleans from flood waters would have broken. "Everybody anticipated a breach," she said.

Landrieu, who lost her family home in the storm, was surrounded by Senate Democrats as she spoke for 30 minutes in the hushed chamber about her experiences over the past two week. Only one Republican, Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, was on the floor.

"Thousands are dead and only God knows how many," Landrieu said. "I've seen more in the last two weeks than I've seen in my entire lifetime, and I hope to never witness it again."

Landrieu joined her Republican colleague, Sen. David Vitter, on Wednesday in calling for a bipartisan response to the disaster. But she led Senate Democrats on Thursday in proposing a broader aid package than the one Bush proposed. It that would largely bypass the Federal Emergency Management Agency and provide relief funds directly to disaster victims.

Vitter remained in Louisiana on Thursday.

1:10 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): As Congress hurried toward approval of a $51.8 billion emergency hurricane aid package, President Bush on Thursday mapped a plan to get a wide range of government benefits -- from Medicaid coverage to job training -- to storm victims who have scattered around the country.

Bush, under fire for the government's response to the devastation so far, was to announce initiatives aimed at helping people "get back on their feet" in a 1 p.m. address from the White House, spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The plan was to cover not only the immediate distribution of debit cards of $2,000 per household to families evacuated from homes in Louisiana and Mississippi, but other federal government benefits such as child care, food stamps, housing, and unemployment insurance, McClellan said.

The White House provided no immediate specifics about how the task of finding -- and verifying -- beneficiaries would be approached.

Separately, Democrats and Republicans agreed that much had gone wrong in the government response to Hurricane Katrina but squabbled about what to do about it.

1:09 P.M. - Major General Ron Mason, National Guard: I don’t believe you’ll see National Guardsmen forcing people out of their homes. We’ll be assisting local police in that regard. That should be a police effort, and we will drive the vehicles and escort them to the homes where people need to be removed. I don’t know when the Governor will make the decision to move ahead with that plan, though.

Mason: I estimate less than 10,000 people left in the city.

1:05 P.M. - WWL-TV: Alcohol ban has been lifted in St. Tammany Parish, although a parish wide curfew (9 p.m. to 7 a.m.) remains in effect.

1:00 P.M. - New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass: In New Orleans, only law enforcement personnel can have guns.

12:54 P.M. - Compass: Our first priority is still saving lives. We had 10 calls yesterday from people still needing to be rescued.

12:38 P.M. - (AP): Even as pumps begin pushing floodwaters out of New Orleans, water is still coming in through a break in a key levee.

A break in the floodwall on the London Avenue Canal remains open, pouring water from Lake Ponchartrain into the flooded city. Engineers patched the breach in the 17th Street Canal last weekend. The Industrial Canal is almost fully patched. Frank Vojkovich, a civil engineer at the Army Corps of Engineers, says the London Avenue break should be closed by tomorrow.

The Corps says workers are facing a new hazard at London Avenue: wild dogs at the work site.

12:36 P.M. - Col. Richard Wagenaar, Army Corps of Engineers: We're working on the London Avenue and the Industrial Canals. One of our objectives is to pump water from the Ninth Ward into the Mississippi River.

12:30 P.M. - St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis: Starting Friday morning at 8 a.m., residents will be allowed back into Parish. 30% of the parish now powered with electricity. Hospitals are all up and functioning. We have everything secured from a law enforcement stand point.

Davis: Debris cleared on major roadways and secondary roadways. We pushed everything to the sides; now lanes are open. Debris contractors will start by to pick up the trees.

Davis: Some people will be able to come back for good, depending on the status of their homes. Those without a home should stay with friends or go to an area shelter at night. Call 985-898-2323 to find out which ones are available or nearby.

Davis: FEMA not completely on the ground here just yet.

12:29 P.M. - WASHINGTON (AP): Democrats and Republicans agree storm victims need help, but Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says a relief bill has "serious flaws."

The Nevada Democrat says a nearly $52 billion bill would send nearly all the money to FEMA. He asks who would want to give the agency full control of the money after its showing in the days after Katrina.

Democrats also disagree with Republicans about how to investigate failures in efforts to help victims.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says a bipartisan congressional investigation "will get to the bottom of that." But Reid says such a panel led by Republicans would be about as unbiased as letting a baseball pitcher "call his own balls and strikes."

12:28 P.M. - BEAUMONT, TX (AP): The president of the Humane Society of Southeast Texas is blasting officials for not doing enough to take care of the pets of hurricane victims.

Cindy Meyers says the society is offering to temporarily take care of the pets while the evacuees find a new home.

She says it's important that animals are taken care of in evacuations and adds that it's "inexcusable" that pets are being separated from their owners.

She says "pets are family members and they need to be cared for just as the people do." She says the animals are one of the last things the people have and it breaks her heart when they have to hand them over.

12:16 P.M. - Vice President Dick Cheney: I've been impressed with the police, firefighters, first responders who've done the best possible job dealing with problems in their respective cities.

Cheney: Everybody I've talked to has been very positive and uplifting; they're saying we are going to get through this, we will rebuild.

12:15 P.M. - WHITE HOUSE (AP): GOP leaders are firing back after attacks on President Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says the attacks "go over the line."

And House Speaker Dennis Hastert says there's a huge recovery job ahead, and politicians can -- in his words -- "either join in" or "stand aside and criticize."

The two spoke after meeting with Bush at the White House.

They were reacting to Democratic calls for the president to fire his emergency chief, Michael Brown -- and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi's charge that Bush is "oblivious" and "in denial."

Hastert says Democrats are playing politics with the disaster, and distracting from the relief effort. Frist says the American people will dismiss criticism that's not "constructive."

12:14 P.M. - HOUSTON (AP): There's some confusion in Houston among Hurricane Katrina refugees concerning debit cards.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday announced that it would be issuing debit cards of up to two-thousand dollars per refugee household. That word spread through the Houston Astrodome, and refugees began seeking out the cards -- but workers say the distribution process isn't ready yet.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross is distributing debit cards of its own, and hundreds of refugees began lining up for them early this morning.

A Red Cross spokeswoman says the agency issued appointment times, but that shelter residents decided to begin lining up anyway, hours ahead of the time the cards were to become available.

12:02 P.M. - (AP): The National Guard officer in charge of a task force evacuating New Orleans says his troops are not physically forcing anyone to leave the city.

Major General Ron Mason of the Kansas National Guard says the governor of Louisiana has not ordered the Guard to force anyone out.

He says he thinks forced evacuations are more of a police effort. He adds that most people are willing to leave after they are told of the gravity of the situation and "particularly what's in the water."

He estimates there are fewer than ten-thousand people remaining in New Orleans.

11:58 A.M. - (ESPN.com): Len Pasquarelli reports the Saints have been assured by the NFL that they will not play any of their divisional home contests in the stadiums of their NFC South rivals. Click here.

11:42 A.M. - FRANKFURT, GERMANY (AP): The United States turned Thursday to its allies in NATO, which sent AWACs planes to patrol U.S. skies after the Sept. 11 attacks, to help bring in desperately needed food and supplies for the hundreds of thousands of Americans left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.

Military experts began drawing up plans for an expanded role, including the possible use of ships from the elite NATO Response Force to ferry the aid. The extraordinary request comes at a time when many nations offering aid are complaining that they have received no answer from U.S. authorities.

Kurt Volker, the U.S. principal deputy assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said the request was now being examined by the alliance's planners, but offered no timetable or details.

"NATO military authorities are now going to discuss this proposal," he said from North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

He confirmed the request for a stronger NATO role, adding that officials were looking at the possibility of having "elements of the NATO Response Force logistical capacity used to transport goods offered by allied countries from Europe to the Gulf of Mexico."

The last time NATO units were used in the U.S. was just after the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. Several AWACS crewed by NATO members helped patrol U.S. air space; duties included providing protection for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

11:39 A.M. - GRAND RAPIDS, MI (AP): Some Michiganians are part of a federal response team of morticians, forensic pathologists, medical examiners, anthropologists, fingerprint experts, dental technicians and other specialists from around the country who are examining the bodies left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Sue Atwood, forensic coordinator at Spectrum Health Blodgett Campus in East Grand Rapids, has seen the results of natural and manmade disasters, but nothing like the death and destruction awaiting her when she arrived in Gulfport, Miss.

"It's unbelievable," she told The Grand Rapids Press for a story published Thursday. "There are not a lot of buildings left. It looks like a tsunami came through. Everything is flattened so many miles in from the coastline. Everything is brown."

Atwood is part of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, which is dispatched to areas where mass deaths occur.

Another team member sent to the Gulf Coast is Dr. Joyce deJong, a forensic pathologist at Lansing-based Sparrow Health System and the chief medical examiner for Muskegon County. In 2001, she was part of a team that helped identify victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

When reached by the newspaper on her cell phone, Atwood was working at a makeshift morgue in Gulfport helping to identify bodies.

She and other morgue workers were mum about the precise nature of their work but at previous disaster scenes, she has entered information into computers to match physical characteristics of the missing with those of the bodies.

11:22 A.M. - CHARLOTTE, NC (AP): The Carolina Panthers are giving 350 tickets to Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints to Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

The tickets will be distributed to evacuees who are registered with the Red Cross at the Charlotte Coliseum. The Panthers are also giving out $10 food vouchers for each person to use at the game. The tickets came out of the players' allotments and the unused portion that the Saints returned.

About 800 evacuees are in Charlotte, with about 400 staying at the Coliseum.

In addition, the Panthers will have 24 stations set up around the stadium to receive donations to the Red Cross/Hurricane Relief Fund as part of their "Beads for the Bayou" campaign. Fans making a donation during the game will receive Mardi Gras beads.

11:19 A.M. - WYOMISSING, PA (AP): A Pennsylvania psychologist says he heard psychologists were needed at the Houston Astrodome, so he decided to board a plane and help.

Since arriving in Houston on Tuesday, the Berks County psychologist (Lewis Losoncy) estimates he has talked to more than 300 hurricane evacuees.

He says many of the people sheltered at the Astrodome have plenty to say, especially those who endured days in the New Orleans Superdome.

He says they've described 98-degree heat without air conditioning or water, rapes and gunshots. One veteran told him he'd rather go back to Vietnam than the Superdome.

11:18 A.M. - MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexican officials said today that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked them not to visit New Orleans because she couldn't guarantee their safety.

A spokesman for Mexico's President Vicente Fox says the request came in a phone call yesterday between Rice and Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez. Derbez says Mexico has agreed to Rice's request.

Armed gangs seen roaming New Orleans since the hurricane hit have occasionally opened fire on police and relief workers.

Mexico has sent an Army convoy and a Navy ship carrying aid to areas affected by Katrina. An estimated 140,000 Mexican citizens live in the area -- including 10,000 in New Orleans.

11:15 A.M. - GULFPORT, MS (AP): Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales toured stricken Gulf Coast areas today, beginning with coastal Mississippi before heading later to Louisiana.

Cheney's plane, Air Force Two, flew over heavily damaged houses as it landed at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff greeted Cheney and Gonzales and briefed them on relief operations.

The vice president then went into a series of private sessions with state and local officials. He is scheduled to tour parts of the town later and hold a news conference.

11:05 A.M. - ATLANTA (AP) -- A liver transplant patient and his wife have been reunited with the four pets they left behind when they were evacuated from a flooded New Orleans hospital. Lorne and Valerie Bennett had to leave their two dogs, cat and guinea pig at Lindy Boggs Medical Center last week. When they were evacuated, they were only allowed to take one item with them -- so they took a tub of medicines Lorne Bennett needed to survive.

The Bennetts went to Atlanta, and the animals eventually wound up at a veterinary clinic in Texas. They were reunited yesterday thanks to a Houston couple -- Jeff and Lydia Caldwell -- who read about the Bennetts and offered to drive their animals to Atlanta.

11:03 A.M. - PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers fans aren't the only ones with a lot riding Ben Roethlisberger's arm in Sunday's season opener against the Tennessee Titans. That's because Roethlisberger has pledged 50 dollars for each passing yard and 250 dollars for each touchdown pass to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

11:02 A.M. - ATLANTA (AP) -- A man who fled Louisiana with his family to escape Hurricane Katrina has been arrested in Atlanta for asking motorists for money. James Scott says he had slept in his car for days with his brother, sister and her two young children before they decided to ask for help last Thursday.

11:00 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Labor Department estimates ten-thousand workers who lost their jobs to Hurricane Katrina filed for unemployment benefits last week.

10:50 A.M. - U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., returns to Washington today to share the story of devastation she has witnessed in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina and to champion immediate hurricane relief for the people of the Gulf Coast Region.

She will join Democratic Leadership and Ranking Members at a press conference to unveil the Katrina Emergency Relief Plan which will help provide immediate assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Following the Press Conference, Sen. Landrieu will deliver her first floor speech following the unprecedented disaster where she will make clear the role of the Federal Government in the relief process.

10:44 A.M. - LOUISIANA FARMERS BUREAU - BATON ROUGE After being inundated with requests to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation has announced it would begin immediately accepting relief donations to its foundation. Those wishing to help Louisiana farmers affected by the storm can make contributions to the Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation, Disaster Relief. Checks can be mailed to P.O. Box 95004, Baton Rouge, La. 70895, in care of ³Louisiana Farm Bureau Foundation, Disaster Relief.² ³We¹re going to give this money directly to farmers,² said Ronnie Anderson, president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation. ³Right now we know a lot of farmers are hurting out there as a result of this storm and we¹re going to make every effort to get cash directly to them.²

10:36 A.M. - St. Tammany Parish Hospital: The STPH physicians network is open, with all 8 physicians practicing out of the Mandeville office, 201 St. Ann Dr. Outpatient Pavilion is open with lab, radiology and wound care services at 16300 Hwy 1085, Covington.

Pharmacies including Walmart, CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aide will provide a 7-day supply of your medications for free when you bring in your prescription bottle. If you have a payor source (such as insurance), they will provide a 30-day supply.

10:27 A.M. - LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- Preparations have been made for more than three-thousand evacuated students to begin classes in Lafayette Monday.

Despite the additional students, Superintendent James Easton says schools will not be overcrowded.

He says the district has located 10 portable buildings and 13 buses to help absorb an estimated 3,400 students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

10:22 A.M. - (AP): Federal officials prepare 25,000 body bags as the floodwaters continue to slowly recede in New Orleans. Officials say they want to be prepared for the worst.

10:11 A.M. - (AP): Health officials fear bacteria from floodwaters has migrated to crowded shelters outside Louisiana. Four deaths in Texas and Mississippi have been attributed to wound infections.

10:02 A.M. - LAS VEGAS (AP) -- MGM Mirage says it's beginning to rebuild the hurricane-damaged Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi. Senior executives who toured the hotel-casino say they want to rebuild and reopen quickly. No word yet exactly when that'll be.

9:55 A.M. - TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A lot of families who fled Hurricane Katrina and ended up in Florida say they are running low on cash and need help soon. Hundreds of people are lining up at a Red Cross facility in Tallahassee to file for assistance from the federal government. They are eligible for multiple benefits, including cash grants, clothing, medical and psychological help as well as lodging in a hotel. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying for hotel stays of up to two weeks for evacuees.

9:52 A.M. - JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Tropical Storm Ophelia continues to strengthen off Florida's Atlantic coast. But it doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. It's still stalled offshore about 70 miles east-northeast of Cape Canaveral. Forecasters say it's impossible to say what path the storm would take, and whether it would reach hurricane strength. Its top sustained winds are currently near 60 miles-per-hour.

9:39 A.M. - JACKSONVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- China says it's sending 100 tons of relief supplies to the U.S., part of an international outpouring of help for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Little Rock Air Force base in Arkansas has become an international hub for the aid. A Chinese transport carrying bedding, clothes, tents and generators is believed to be the first from China ever to land there.

Aircraft from countries including Britain, Italy and France have been arriving since Monday carrying supplies including food and water.

9:24 A.M. - HOUSTON (AP) -- Classes begin in Houston today for some of the school kids evacuated from New Orleans last week. One parents says she hopes the new challenges of school will get their minds off the trauma they've been through. One youngster says he's just hoping for a teacher who's nice.

Public school spokesman Terry Abbott says Houston is gearing up to absorb thousands of children.

The president of the Orleans Parish School Board says it's possible some New Orleans schools that sustained relatively minor damage will be able to reopen in January. But he says others will be closed for at least a year.

9:11 A.M. - WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers could be facing higher home heating costs this winter. The Energy Department says natural gas prices could increase as much as 71 percent in the Midwest. Heating oil prices in the Northeast could jump 31 percent. Southerners might have to shell out an additional 17 percent for electricity.

The price hikes depend upon how quickly oil rigs and Gulf coast refineries damaged by Hurricane Katrina can be repaired.

9:07 A.M. - JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- The head of the United Way says the poverty that has become so evident in New Orleans is present in other major cities as well. United Way head Brian Gallagher calls the attention given to poverty in New Orleans "a wake-up call for America."

8:53 A.M. - OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) -- It used to a be a K-mart and now it's a major relief site. FEMA has opened its first relief center in Mississippi in the town of Ocean Springs. Hundreds of people at a time piled into the old vacant store yesterday to talk with officials from FEMA and other federal and state agencies.

8:42 A.M. - (AP) -- Most of the animals at New Orleans' Audubon Zoo survived Hurricane Katrina and the director says the zoo crew is working hard to keep them alive. The zoo suffered quite a bit of damage although director Dan Maloney is relieved it wasn't even worse. Two sea otters died from the stress in the days after the storm. Zoos elsewhere are taking in some of the New Orleans zoo's 1,400 animals.

8:20 A.M. - CAPITOL HILL (AP) -- Congressional Republicans are promising quick action on the president's request for nearly $52 billion more to help hurricane victims. They've also announced plans for a bipartisan House-Senate panel to investigate the government's readiness for Katrina as well as its response.

8:11 A.M. - SANTA ROSA, Texas (AP) -- Hurricane damage to Louisiana's sugar cane crop and its refineries may affect the sugar cane industry in Texas. Katrina reportedly damaged 5 percent to 30 percent of Louisiana's sugar cane crop. The storm also damaged two Louisiana refineries, one of which contracts with Texas farmers.

THURSDAY 8:07 A.M. - Using the unmistakable threat of force, police and soldiers went house to house Wednesday to try to coax the last 10,000 or so stubborn holdouts to leave storm-shattered New Orleans because of the risk of disease from the putrid, sewage-laden floodwaters.

"A large group of young armed men armed with M-16s just arrived at my door and told me that I have to leave," said Patrick McCarty, who owns several buildings and lives in one of them in the city's Lower Garden District. "While not saying they would arrest you, the inference is clear."

A frail-looking 86-year-old Anthony Charbonnet grumbled as he locked his front door and walked slowly backward down the steps of the house where he had lived since 1955.

"I haven't left my house in my life," he said as soldiers took him to a helicopter. "I don't want to leave."

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