^ J J o r tla n b (©bscrucr Page A2 September 14, 2005 Louisiana Death Toll Passes 400 Slow recovery of bodies upsets governor (AP) - Hurricane K atrina’s death toll in Louisiana climbed to 423 Tuesday, up from 279 a day before, the state Health Depart ment said. The jum p came as recovery workers turned more and more of their attention to gathering up and counting the corpses in a city all but emptied out of the living. How high the death toll might go is unclear. Mayor Ray Nagin said earlier this month that New Orleans could have 10,000 dead. But a street- by-street sweep of the city last week yielded far fewer bodies than feared. Up until the past few days, authorities were slow to release numbers, saying they were con centrating on rescuing the living first. As of Monday at least 236 people were reported dead else where along the Gulf Coast, most of them in Mississippi. Neighborhoods are flooded with oil and water two weeks after Hurricane Katrina went though New Orleans. (AP photo) The updated Louisiana num bers were released as the Gov. Kathleen Blanco lashed out at the federal government, accus ing it of moving too slowly in recovering the bodies. The dead “deserve more respect than they have received,” she said. However, Federal Emergency M anagem ent Agency spokes man D avid P assey said the state asked to take over body recovery last week. Passey said he d id not u n d e rs ta n d th e governor’s rem arks. “The collection o f bodies is not norm ally a FEMA responsi- b ility ,” he said. B la n c o s a id FEM A h a s ' slowed down the process by failing to sign a contract with the com pany hired to handle the rem o v al o f the b o d ie s ,' Houston-based Kenyon Inter national Em ergency Services. “No one, even those at the highest level, seems to be able to' break through the bureaucracy to get this important mission done,” Blanco said. “The failure to execute a contract for the re covery of our citizens has hurt’ the speed of recovery efforts. 1 am angry and outraged.” New Seasons Donates to Hurricane Relief In an effort to help those af fected by Hurricane Katrina, New S easons M arket is donating $10,000 to Portland-based relief agency Mercy Corps. In addition, customers are able to help Mercy Corps’ relief effort by making a donation at any New Seasons Market location through Oct. 7. The store will match customer and staff contributions up to $10,000. Cashiers will process the do nations and no store purchase is required. Register receipts will show the donation and can be used as tax receipts. Benefit Cuts Move Ahead (AP) - Republicans are going ahead with long-standing plans to trim Medicaid, food stamps and other benefits, even though party moderates are balking at cutting programs that aid the poor while hundreds of thou sands are homeless from Hurri cane Katrina. The amount of savings - no more than $35 billion spread over five years - is modest at best, but it is the first time in eight years that Congress has shown any seriousness about reining in the automatic growth of such benefit programs. Republican leaders have de cided to delay the budget-cut ting effort for at least a few weeks following widespread complaints that the government reacted too slowly in coming to the aid of Katrina’s victims. Cuts are planned for the Med icaid program for the poor and disabled, student loan subsidies for banks, farm subsidies and food stamps, among others. Democratic leaders say it is folly to cut the very programs that help hurricane and flood victims. I Soldiers o f the Louisiana National Guard arrive home Friday from a tour o f duty in Iraq. (AP photo) and sidewalks, repainting, up graded lighting and ramp improve ment. A celebration will begin with a street fair in downtown St. Johns from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a rib bon cutting at the Our Daily Bread parking lot and a bridge stroll from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The bridge will be closed to vehicle traffic from 1 to 4 p.m. (AP) - The deployment of thou 155th Infantry B rigade and sands of National Guard troops from Louisiana’s 256th Infantry Brigade, Mississippi and Louisiana in Iraq each with thousands of troops in when Hurricane Katrina struck hin Iraq. Blum said that to replace those dered those states’ initial storm response, military and civilian offi units’ command and control equip ment, he dispatched personnel from cials said. Lt.Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the Guard division headquarters from National Guard Bureau, said that Kansas and Minnesota shortly af “arguably” a day or so of response ter the storm struck. The bridge, built in 1931, re time was lost due to the absence of Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., placed the last ferry linking the the Mississippi National Guard’s whose waterfront home here was communities of Linnton and St. Johns. Designed by internation ally renowned engineer David B. Steinman, the St. Johns Bridge is the only major highway suspen sion bridge in the Willamette S u p rem e C o u rt Valley and one of only three ma Chief Justice Nominee jor highway suspension Bridges John Roberts has de in Oregon. nied an invitation to m eet the C o n g res sional Black Caucus. M em bers o f the c a u cu s had h o p ed that by speaking with Roberts, they could see where he stands on important issues of the African American community, including John Roberts civil rights, justice, equality and from him firsthand about the affirmative action. stance he has taken on aftirma- “We especially wanted to hear tive action and about his efforts washed away in the storm, told reporters that the absence of the deployed Mississippi Guard units made it harder for local officials to coordinate their initial re sponse. Blum said that overall, the Iraq mission for Guard units across the nation is not limiting the military’s ability to expand and continue the rescue and recovery operations in storm-battered states. Black Caucus Meeting Rejected b u t t h i s - p a r t y i s ouvc r v i g h t o rv L y I Join Norman’s Birthday Celebration Friday, September 16, 2005 10721 NE Sandy Blvd. V > A Deployment Hurt Hurricane Response TOMORROW NEVER WES... tK j J : St. John’s Bridge Celebrates Renovations Instead of cars, the historic St. John’s Bridge will be filled with people gracing its pavement on Sunday, Sept. 18. The Oregon Department of Transportation and the community ofSt. Johns will be commemorating the completion of a 2 l/ i year, $42 million project to rehabilitate the bridge, which included the replace ment of the concrete bridge deck i to limit the effective-' ness o f the V oting Rights Act when the' act was last renewed, said U.S. Rep. Melvin L. Watt, chairman of theCBC. W att n o ted th at w h ile the cau cu s wants to assess Rob-- erts’ nomination fairly, “we will certainly have- to consider his refusal to meet with represen tatives of our important constitu ency a substantial mark against him in our evaluation.” ■ 9:00pm to 1:00am (503)788-5155 DISCOVERY PCC classes start qq September ¿ u . Have you signed up? ■ W ant to take classes for college credit? ■ Get training in a new career? ■ Explore a new interest? It’s so easy. Pick up a fall class schedule at your local library or any PCC campus, or browse our online schedule at www.pcc.edu/schedule to select your classes. Then enroll online at www.pcc.edu/enroll or call our registration office at 503-977-4933. (TTY 503-977-4939) We’re all about y o u r fu tu re ! Music B y Tic L t o y d S t r u g g l e Cover Charge: $b.oo www.pcc.edu 503-977-4933 Portland Community College