New Orleans

From the Times Picayune: Obama’s regular mention of Katrina signals a welcome change in policy and priority from the top.

From the Advocate: Race against the clock to use remaining $1 billion in Katrina investment funds.

From the Advocate: Hopes for New Orleans to host the 2013 Super Bowl could hinge on deal.

From the Bayou Buzz: Lt. Governor leads large pack of potential candidates.

From Bayou Buzz: With no big elections on the horizon focus turns to the 2010 Senate, Congressional and New Orleans Mayoral races.

From the Times-Picayune: The good, bad and twisted reasons why this is a fun place to be a political columnist.

From the Times-Picayune:

From the New York Daily News: Altered convention may feature a satellite address from Jindal on the state of recovery.

As part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier today ordered the Louisiana Senate to hand over copies of under fire State Sen. Derrick Shepherd’s calendar to prosecutors.

Yesterday was a busy day for Louisiana on Capitol Hill. First up was a new economic stimulus and disaster assistance package, which would give Louisiana an extra $3 billion in recovery aid.

The legislation would give Louisiana 30 years, instead of three, to repay more than $1.7 billion as its share of levee upgrades in metro New Orleans; $350 million to help hospitals in Louisiana and Mississippi deal with cash-flow issues and other post-hurricane problems; and $75 million to help fight increased violent crime and rebuild police fire and criminal justice facilities.

Secondly, Sen. Landrieu spent a second day castigating FEMA for their poor management and failure to even bother asking the Louisiana Recovery Authority, non-profits or housing agencies if they needed supplies donated to hurricane victims.

Paul Rainwater, executive director of the LRA, said:

Had I known about these supplies, I would have moved to quickly put them to good use.

You can listen to the full hearing here.