Army Corps creates a “free speech zone”?

This week, the Army Corps of Engineers created a “free speech zone” for native Americans and their supporters in N. Dakota. They were protesting constructions crews from digging an oil pipeline through sacred burial grounds.

The corps cited “safety concerns” as the reason.

But, this is a pattern with the corps. After the corps’ levees broke in New Orleans, investigative experts requested access to the major levee breach sites but the corps refused.

The corps cited “safety concerns” but was in fact, trying to destroy and/or hide data from the public.

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Historic plaque now back where it belongs

Thirteen months after its unveiling ceremony, the commemorative plaque at the Industrial Canal breach site in the Lower Ninth Ward was involved in a hit-and-run.

The beautiful plaque was the product of a multi-years long partnership between Levees.org and 23 stakeholder leaders from the historic neighborhood.

Fortunately, the $2,000 plaque could be repaired. Levees.org re-installed it last Thursday, one week before Thanksgiving. But this time, the plaque is more sturdy in several ways.

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New Orleans City Council unanimously approves Relic Flooded House

The proposed Relic Flooded House with debris on the roof, viewed from the London Avenue Canal. Photo/Stephen Nelson

The proposed Relic Flooded House with debris on the roof, viewed from the London Avenue Canal. Photo/Stephen Nelson

This week, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously in favor of Levees.org’s zoning change request.

This was the final hurdle for Levees.org’s quest to convert a flooded house – one that’s just a stone’s throw from a levee breach – into a historic monument.

The home at 4918 Warrington Drive in the Mirabeau Gardens neighborhood of Gentilly flooded to its roof when the London Avenue Canal floodwall, built by the Army Corps of Engineers, failed far below design specs.

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