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A new New Orleanian

I'm not sure when I became a New Orleanian. It didn’t automatically happen after I moved here last year. New Orleans was just another stop in a broadcast career that’s taken me across the country for the last 17 years. This was a one year assignment for NBC. It was a great assignment and one I personally requested. But nonetheless, this was a stint. And now my time here in the NBC News New Orleans bureau is coming to a close.

At some point, New Orleans became something more than a job to me and my family. I can’t say there was one particular moment when it occurred to us. Instead, it was a collection of moments:

--Like the day last summer my 2-year-old daughter announced: "Claudia like New Orleans";
--That Sunday in October when the Saints turned me (a total non-sports geek) into a die-hard fan;
--The Thursday in January when 5,000 people marched against crime and I felt like I belonged beside them instead of with our camera crews;
--Three weeks ago when our new neighbors came by to make sure we were OK after the tornadoes;
--And last week as I watched my 1-year-old scream with glee during Mardi Gras.

Photo caption: Steve's daughters, Shoshana and Claudia, at Mardi Gras.

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Faces from the Gulf: Ricardo Pustanio

"It's a glint in somebody's eye. It's a feeling. It's an emotion. And If I can put that happiness back into somebody else's life, then it puts happiness into mine." -- Ricardo Pustanio, Mardi Gras artist

We met up with Pustanio this week as he placed the finishing touches on Mardi Gras floats for the Krewe of Mid City. He believes Mardi Gras is a welcome distraction for residents who continue to struggle with rebuilding their homes and lives. This year's carnival season is expected to be larger than last year's, when the city was forced to scaled back the festivities following Katrina. Prior to the storm, Mardi Gras generated approximately $1 billion for the city's tourist economy.

Photo by NBC's Bruce Bernstein.

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City under siege?

It's been a difficult weekend for my family and for many other families in New Orleans. The so-called crime wave that hit the city during the start of this new year has been unsettling. As of Monday, there have been at least nine people killed in the last eight days. Correspondent Martin Savidge wrote a compelling story on the issue for Nightly News on Friday. But the problem has become personal for me, as it has for others who live here.

This weekend, Mayor Ray Nagin put it best when he said in a hastily called news conference that even one murder is too many. For a good number in this city, the one murder too many was the brutal slaying last week of Helen Hill. Hill was a talented, award-winning filmmaker. Her husband, Paul Gailiunas, is a doctor who dedicated his time to serving the poor. Together they moved back to this city after Katrina destroyed their home to raise their 2-year old son, and be a part of the city's recovery. Many people become a part of the city's rebuilding effort just by deciding to live here. According to the Times-Picayune, Helen and her husband were different. They collected food for homeless people, served indigent patients and in ways big and small served as an example to their community of what it means to help rebuild. 

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THE BIG EASY'S BLUNT BUMPERS

I spend quite a bit of time driving the streets of New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. It gives me a chance to look for signs and symbols of everyone's state of mind. While I typically note the looks on their faces, how many Saints jerseys I see, and even whether they're keeping their lawns up (whether in front of their gutted home or FEMA trailer), lately I've been paying closer attention to the bumper stickers on their cars. People may intend to use them as reflections of their individuality, but in fact those stickers tell you more about their common beliefs. A lot of them are predictably sports-related: "GO LSU TIGERS," "GO HORNETS," "GEAUX SAINTS."

But others are different. Let's start with "FAITH." What started out as a message years ago to fans to have faith in the once-beleagured Saints, now seems to have a new life as a message about people's belief in their now-beleagured city. There are other stickers that existed before the storm but have been embraced anew. When I first arrived here, I began to notice these: "NEW ORLEANS, PROUD TO CALL IT HOME." I'm told by folks that the slogan was created a few years back by some group looking to boost New Orleans' self-image. But a lot of those stickers seem to lack the nicks, dents and tears that a few years of driving and a major hurricane would inflict on them. Residents are buying them again, eager to renew their commitment to the city, in writing.

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Faces from the Gulf: Clarence Glover

"To me, the streetcars are the heart of New Orleans and without the streetcars... there is no New Orleans."
-- Clarence Glover
25-year streetcar operator

We met up with Clarence, affectionately known as "Glover" to his co-workers, along the Canal Street line last week. Before the storm, Glover worked exclusively on the picturesque St. Charles Avenue line. But Katrina left that area's intricate web of power lines tangled and torn. There's been concern about the amount of money and effort it would take to restore it. Already, the city's transit agency has laid off hundreds of workers and cut dozens of bus lines, but now the federal government has agreed to kick in millions in loans and subsidies to keep mass transit rolling and get the historic St. Charles line back on track by the end of 2007. That's good news for Glover, who has been spending his time training other operators. He's looking forward to greeting you somewhere down the line in New Orleans.

Photo of Clarence Glover by NBC's Bruce Bernstein.

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Telling the stories of Katrina

5130 Cameron Boulevard in New Orleans, the 1000th home gutted by volunteers working for Catholic Charities. Photo by Steve Majors.

It's just another sad house on a street of sad houses in a sad post-Katrina neighborhood. But this house was supposed to be remarkable. After all, it was the 1000th flood-damaged home to be gutted by volunteers from a local agency. I'd been to many "milestones" like this before -- all indeed important, but also manufactured by well-meaning groups who wanted the news media to notice their efforts.

After almost six months in New Orleans, I understand the danger of Katrina fatigue. I mean, I've stood in so many mud-caked homes, partially gutted buildings, cramped FEMA trailers and newly-framed homes, that I can't count them all. So you can see why this one seemed like all the rest.

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Faces from the Gulf: Jerry Gandolfo

"New Orleans is a gumbo of Voodoo and Halloween."
-- Jerry Gandolfo, aka "Mr. Voodoo"

Spiritualists, Voodoo practitioners and the owners of "little shops of horror" are all welcoming New Orleans' second favorite holiday (behind Mardi Gras, of course). Among them is Jerry Gandolfo, who runs the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. We stopped in this week to see what kind of business he's been scaring up. Tourism has been sluggish this fall and Jerry hopes Halloween raises his business from the dead. But don't be mistaken, his museum is more than just a tourist trap. A good number of voodoo believers and practitioners stop in to call upon the spirits to intercede on their behalf. They pick up Voodoo dolls, Gris-Gris bags, pray at the Voodoo altar and of course pay homage to the 19th Century Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.

Jerry hopes you'll fall under New Orleans' spell and help bring tourism back. But if you can't make it, you can still be here in spirit. You may spot Jerry tonight on Nightly as Mike Taibbi reports on the business of Halloween. Or... click here to get a first look at an episode of "Sci-Fi Investigates," which visited New Orleans this summer to report on the city's mysterious Voodoo culture.

Photo: Voodoo dolls on display at the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Photo by Steve Majors.

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Faces from the gulf: Joe Yurt

"Rats are survivors. Rats are people animals. They follow us. We support rats."
-- Joe Yurt, Director of Rodent Control for New Orleans, aka "The Pied Piper"

I spoke with Yurt recently while researching a potential story about the rodent problem emerging in the city in the year since Katrina. Rats are only one part of the problem. Snakes, squirrels, raccoons and armadillos are among a number of wild animals that moved into parts of the city when people moved out following the storm. However, Yurt explained to me that as people returned to their homes, they encountered new neighbors who have been waiting for a steady food supply. The only good news in all of this? Business is booming at private pest and rodent control companies.

Photo caption: One of the rats captured by Rodent Control. Yes, it was as big as a rabbit. Photo by Steve Majors.

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Back in the Big Easy

A quick thank you to those of who have been looking (but not finding) my posts the last few weeks. I've just returned from a brief assignment in Atlanta. And I thought I'd share with you some of the stories from New Orleans that you might have missed.

DIVISION AMONG DEMOCRATS
Understandably, most of the attention on the upcoming midterm elections has been on closely contested races where the winners may ultimately determine which party controls the House of Representatives. Here in Louisiana, that's not the case. The majority of the candidates in the 2nd congressional district are Democrats. However, there is a belief that a "balance of power" may turn on this race's outcome. Incumbent William Jefferson has been the focus of an FBI probe into an alleged bribery scheme. His supporters worry that if a first-term Democrat replaces Jefferson, they won't wield the same influence needed to push through important legislation for Louisiana's recovery. His critics worry that Jefferson's problems have already made him less powerful and influential in Congress. And so, on Saturday, the Louisiana Democratic Party made an unprecedented move by backing State Representative Karen Carter in the race instead of incumbent Jefferson. (This despite the fact that Jefferson has raised almost twice as much in this race as Carter.) But the state endorsement was probably less surprising than one a few days earlier when New Orleans most prominent Democrat, Mayor Ray Nagin, announced he will campaign for Jefferson. Why? Perhaps it comes back to the balance of power and who wields it. New Orleans CityBusiness has a fascinating commentary examining whether we could all be writing next spring about Congressman Nagin instead of Mayor Nagin.

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When the Saints go marching in

Ushers take a tour of the the Louisiana Superdome on Saturday, hoping to learn the changes before tonight's game. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images.

Tonight, the New Orleans Saints return home to the Superdome for the first time since Katrina. And it's not just a source of pride for the team, it;s also become a source of inspiration for the city.

First, there is the dome itself. A year ago, it seemed irreparably damaged. Part of the roof had peeled away leaving the inside water-logged and moldy. Evacuees left behind 4,000 tons of debris and refuse as well as badly damaged seats, concession stands and suites. As for the dome’s image? Well, to this day, no one expects, or wants, the world to forget those pictures of human suffering. But tonight, a "new" Superdome debuts to a nationwide audience with an image everyone hopes will be just as memorable.

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