Ray Nagin

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ED GORDON, host:

From NPR News, this is NEWS AND NOTES. I'm Ed Gordon.

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ED GORDON, host:

Nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans is slowly returning to its old self, at least in one regard.

Crime is on the rise in the Big Easy, and commentator Jimi Izrael, for one, is relieved that things are getting back to normal. He says the return of the cities criminal element is evidence that the underlying problems in New Orleans haven't been addressed; and crime is a reminder that Mayor Ray Nagin and the city's leaders will have to work a lot harder to ensure a better future for low-income residents.

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STEVE INSKEEP, host:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin won reelection over the weekend. Now he's planning to meet with key advisors to develop a 100-day plan. That 100 days will include the start of another hurricane season.

New Orleans residents have their own hopes for the coming months and years, as NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.

CHERYL CORLEY reporting:

Farai Chideya talks with NPR political editor Ken Rudin for his political analysis of the upcoming mayoral runoff election in New Orleans. The race pits current Mayor Ray Nagin against Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu.

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MELISSA BLOCK, host:

From NPR News this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

And I'm Michele Norris.

This weekend New Orleans voters will go to the poles to elect the man responsible for rebuilding the battered city. Incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin faces off against Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, the son of Moon Landrieu, the larger than life mayor who ran New Orleans through much of the 1970s.

It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if we political types focus on the wrong thing.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, in a tight runoff race with the state's current lieutenant governor to keep his post, vowed the city will be ready for the coming hurricane season and rebuffed claims in a recently published book that he was an ineffective leader as the storm ravaged the city last August.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and other officials lay out new evacuation plans for the city, nearly nine months after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. With the revamped strategy focused on helping those without transportation leave, Nagin reassured residents that looting would be prevented.

Nagin, who faces a runoff election for his post on May 20, says the detailed plan for a total evacuation in the event of a huge storm was worked out over several months, with the help of the federal government. The plan would use buses and trains to get people out of the city.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

A new campaign for mayor is underway in New Orleans after Saturday's first round made an election runoff necessary.

While race has long been a polarizing factor in the city's past mayoral elections, the two remaining candidates say there's much more to consider as New Orleans struggles to recover from last season's hurricanes.

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DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host:

The New Orleans mayor's race is heading to a run-off next month between incumbent Ray Nagin and Louisiana's Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. Voters went to the polls there yesterday in the city's first municipal election since Hurricane Katrina. John Mercurio is in New Orleans covering the politics there. He's senior editor of the National Journal's Hotline. Hello. Welcome to the program.

Mr. JOHN MERCURIO (Senior Editor, National Journal's Hotline): Hello, Debbie. Good to be with you.