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Lower 9th Ward survivors remember Hurricane Katrina 19 years later [Video]
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Small Business Lifestyle

Lower 9th Ward survivors remember Hurricane Katrina 19 years later [Video]

On this day nearly two decades ago, people in our area were bracing for one of the biggest hurricanes in the history of our state.Thursday marks 19 years since Hurricane Katrina. Robert Green said, “If you look around, we have Dollar Tree. We have a new grocery store up the street. But the most important thing to me is in the morning I see kids getting on school buses.”Green is a lifelong Lower 9th Ward survivor. He has seen firsthand how his community looked before and after Hurricane Katrina. Nineteen years later, he said he is seeing new homes being built and more people living here. On Aug. 28, 2005, Green, his mom Joyce, and other family attempted to evacuate to Nashville Tennessee. But it was not easy. “We tried to leave. We tried to get out. We tried to get into the Superdome when we couldn’t continue forward because my mother was sick. When we got to the Superdome the lines were long. They weren’t prepared to take a sick person like she was.”Hours later, on Aug. 29, the family was here when there was a 25-foot surge of water. The levees broke.The water uprooted their home from up the street to this tree. Green’s mother Joyce and his granddaughter 3-year-old Shanai Green lost their lives. “Anyone who survived the storm, surviving their rooftops,” said Green.Years later, Green said he is still grieving.His home is currently seen with a picture of him and Brad Pitt. Directly in front, with the words “Make it Right Brad Pitt Fix My House.” Green’s home was one of several rebuilt through the “Make It Right” Foundation organized by the actor. But the home started to show issues shortly after. “We didn’t know we’d be victims of engineering shortcomings. We didn’t know we would be victims of product failure.”The foundation agreed to pay upward of $20 million to people impacted. To this day, residents like Green never got that money.Still Green is hopeful for himself and the residents of the Lower 9. “What is the important thing is that we can determine what our future is. We have the ability to be able to do that,” said Green. Thursday there will be several events across New Orleans to commemorate Hurricane Katrina.A press conference will be held at 10 a.m. at 1239 Baronne St. in recognition of Hurricane Katrina’s anniversary as a state and local holiday.Saturday at noon, there will be a healing ceremony at North Galvez and Jourdan Avenue followed by a rally at Hunter’s Field.

Missouri new laws includes Blair’s Law Aug. 28, 2024 [Video]
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Small Business Lifestyle

Missouri new laws includes Blair’s Law Aug. 28, 2024 [Video]

A host of new laws take effect in Missouri on Wednesday, including one that comes from years of effort by one Kansas City-area family.SB 754, better known as Blair’s Law, outlaws “celebratory” gunfire statewide. Prior to its passage, it was up to a city ordinance. Now, that crime will be escalated to a state offense, which means harsher penalties for those involved. It’s been just over 13 years since Blair Shanahan Lane was dancing with friends and family members celebrating the Fourth of July. Then, someone celebrating the holiday fired gunshots into the air.What goes up must come down. Blair was struck and killed by one of those bullets. Blair’s mother, Michele Shanahan DeMoss, worked for more than a decade to push for stiffer laws against celebratory gunfire. “A bullet travels a long way, whatever way you fire it recklessly,” she said. “Firing a gun is not acceptable. And, you know, like I said, I just remind people, if you see it or hear it, do something about it.”HB 2062 takes on property rights in Missouri.Under the law, HOAs can no longer restrict the ownership of chickens in a neighborhood (however, cities can ban them) up to six chickens (no roosters) and a single coop. Another change in this law will create consistency in eviction laws across the state, banning cities, counties, and other municipalities from enforcing eviction unless the eviction qualified under state law. Home inspections will no longer be required as a condition of sale for certain older homes. And similar to the one Kansas City operates, all municipalities over 1,500 residents will be permitted to create land banks to revitalize vacant properties. HB 2634 bans Planned Parenthood from receiving any taxpayer money, along with any of its affiliates. This means abortion providers can’t receive public funds, including Medicaid reimbursements. Public funds were already banned from going towards abortions. This takes that ban further. SB 894 creates the Office of Entrepreneurship within the Missouri Department of Economic Development. The office is meant to “policies and initiatives to support the growth of entrepreneurship of Missouri-bases businesses” with less than 10 employees. This includes entrepreneurship within racial minority groups, women, and veterans. The bill also creates the “Regulatory Sandbox Act” which creates an office that will work to identify state regulations that could potentially be waived or suspended during a two-year period for participating businesses that demonstrate an “innovative product offering.”HB 2057 adds “streaming content” to the state’s definition of video services and makes sure streaming providers like Netflix or Hulu aren’t subjected to local taxes and franchise fees. The state argues that this will reduce costs for both municipalities and taxpayers.