By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Here’s a news item I couldn’t help but blog about.

A man who made a board game ridiculing the government for its response to Hurricane Katrina has been charged with using money orders stolen in New Orleans the year the storm hit, according to news reports.

Here’s an excerpt:

Curtis B. Lyons, also known as Curtis Bordenave, was arrested Tuesday.

A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday. Lyons’ attorney had no comment.

Lyons is the creator of “Hurricane Katrina — The Game the Government Played.” The game gives players a government stipend and is meant to show the difficulty in navigating bureaucracy in the wake of a natural disaster.

I wonder if he’ll show up at the hearing with a get-out-of-jail-free card.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

As Louisiana officials wonder when the state will get its hands on more doses of the highly coveted swine flu vaccine, some Wall Street firms already have begun receiving doses.

At a legislative hearing Tuesday at the Louisiana State Capital, officials discussed the need for more doses of the vaccine in Louisiana, according to a wwl.com story.

“We’re really at the mercy of the distribution process at the federal level,” said Al Levine, the state’s health secretary, according to the story. “All I can tell people is to be patient. There is not enough supply yet.”

There have been at least 30 swine flu-related deaths in Louisiana.

In the meantime, some large New York employers, including Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs, have gotten doses, according to a story today by The Associated Press. That has drawn criticism from people who say Wall Street firms should not have access to the vaccine before less wealthy Americans, the story says.

According to the AP story, union official John VanDeventer wrote on the Service Employees International Union Web site that “Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us. They’ve taken trillions of our tax dollars. They’ve taken away people’s homes who are struggling to pay the bills. But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being.”•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Here’s some alarming news to come out of the city’s ongoing budgeting process.

Mayor Nagin says the city has $5.2 million in its emergency fund, which is about $20 million short of what it needs to have on hand.

“If we do not have a $25 to $30 million fund balance set aside for emergencies, I don’t know what is going to happen,” Nagin said in a CityBusiness story.

Interestingly, in the meantime, Tropical Storm Ida is twirling off the coast of Nicaragua, and according to the National Hurricane Center it’s expected to be in the Gulf of Mexico at least by Tuesday, when it’s expected to still be a tropical storm.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Top Ten Real Estate Deals’ Web site is featuring two New Orleans homes owned by actor Nicolas Cage.

The homes are slated for a civil sheriff auction, according to www.toptenrealestatedeals.com.

According to news reports, Cage is in financial trouble and owes the Internal Revenue Service millions in unpaid taxes.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

On Tuesday, CityBusiness held its 11th Women of the Year event, which recognizes the professional and community achievements of local women. Just before a luncheon began at the Sheraton hotel, I interviewed three of the honorees. Enjoy!

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

New Orleans City Council President Arnie Fielkow says he is disappointed in the hiring of a firm from outside of Louisiana to be program manager for the construction of a planned LSU hospital in New Orleans.

Last week, Jacobs Engineering Group announced that it has been selected as project manager for the construction of the new $1.2 billion, 424-bed,  1.6 million-square-foot teaching hospital.

Fielkow expressed his disappointment in a letter to the director of the state’s Office of Facility Planning and Control.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

A jury has found that Southern Electronics and Active Solutions should get $16.3 million in a civil case involving a business deal for the city’s crime cameras.

The jury found that former New Orleans tech chief Greg Meffert, computer company Dell and firms owned by city vendor Mark St. Pierre conspired to undercut the contract of Southern Electronics and Active Solutions.

Dell is liable for $12.8 million in damages on unfair trade and conspiracy claims, the jury found.

Meffert issued this statement today, apparently referring to The Times-Picayune when he talks about “a politically-motivated newspaper”:

Though I am relieved that the jury saw through some of this witch hunt, I’m disappointed that a majority of the jury found that I may have been liable for a small portion of the accusations, and we have a strong appeal underway. I am not giving up: the truth will win out and our significant advancements will be reinstated as the record of my service to the city I love.

This verdict and trial attest to the injustice of a politically-motivated newspaper partnering with profit-driven plaintiff lawyers. This unholy alliance destroyed my reputation and my ability to make a living for my family; clearly, the justice system can be manipulated in the name of money and politics.

The paper’s actions went beyond bad journalism in its efforts to deprive me of my civil rights. The newspaper obviously feels it is an authority higher than our legal system, even betraying the public trust, and I am forced to pursue legal recourse against them for intentional damage.

My family has suffered relentless, intentionally erroneous and mean-spirited attacks by the newspaper attempting to prejudice a jury. This indecent alliance aborted journalistic objectivity and misled our justice system.

Together as a family we will attempt to rebuild lives that have been irreparably damaged. I remain grateful and humbled by the steadfast love and support of my wife, family and many others.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Mayor Ray Nagin, who leaves office next year, gave his final budget presentation to the City Council today, and it doesn’t look good.

As the city faces a nearly $70 million deficit in 2010, Nagin is suggesting not only ways to cut city spending, such as furloughs for city workers, but also extending parking meter hours, increasing enforcement of expired brake tags and reassessing fees, such as those from the police and recreation departments, that are not being collected, according to news reports.

It’s an interesting predicament for the city of New Orleans, which is not back to pre-Katrina population levels, to be in. Is it wise for the city to try to fill the budget gap by upping fees? Or will such a plan make it harder to attract and retain businesses and residents, especially during hard economic times?•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Louisiana’s oyster fishermen (and fisherwomen) are keeping an eye on a Food and Drug Administration proposal that would require oysters caught during warm months to be put through a process to kill potentially fatal bacteria.

The FDA says it wants to do more to protect the public from the oyster-borne Vibrio vulnificus. The treatments the oysters could undergo include mild heat, radiation, high pressure or quick freezing.

But in a state where people like to eat their oysters raw, there’s been backlash to the proposal.

Mike Voisin, vice president of Motivatit Seafood in Houma and a member of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, told CityBusiness that the FDA’s plan could result in a significant increase in the cost of consuming oysters produced along the Gulf Coast, the source of two-thirds of the nation’s oyster supply.

Sen. Mary Landrieu yesterday released a statement calling the FDA plan “not the appropriate response.” Last year, only 15 people who had pre-existing conditions died from eating raw oysters, according to Landrieu’s office.

“The FDA has bigger fish to fry and should let our seafood industry continue to educate consumers about the risks associated with eating raw products,” Landrieu said.

In an opinion piece today on washingtonexaminer.com, David Freddoso blasted the FDA proposal. Here are some excerpts:

Vibro Vulnificus is a deadly but extremely rare bacterial infection that affects oysters in warm waters. It kills about 15 Gulf oyster-eaters each year, nationwide. Each time you eat one serving of oysters from the Gulf of Mexico, your risk is a bit less than one-in-a-million of contracting V. Vulnificus, according to the Molluscan Shellfish Institute. Your chances of dying from it are half that.

For perspective, you are four times more likely to be struck by lightning. You are 100 times more likely to die in a car accident.

The government has yet to ban automobiles or cigarettes, two conveniences known to be mass-killers. But in 17 months, the FDA will nearly shut down a multi-million dollar industry, put thousands out of work, and bar millions from their passion for oysters — all because a handful of people died who should not have been eating raw food in the first place.•

By Deon Roberts, Online Editor

Former New Orleans recovery director Ed Blakely will forever been known in New Orleans for his “cranes in the sky” comment.

Today, some news about cranes came out of Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao’s office, although it had to do with the avian form of the word rather than the type of construction equipment used in the erection of buildings.

Cao said he has secured $500,000 in a fiscal 2010 bill for the Endangered Whooping Crane Propagation Facility at the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans. But the bill still needs approval from Congress and then the president’s signature.•