By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been reviewing test results on air samples taken in the response area.
They looked at levels of exposure to oil, chemical dispersants and other hazardous material. OSHA Regional Administrator Cindy Coe met with clean-up workers this week in Venice.
She says some workers were worried about the smoke that billows off oil burned at the surface.

New Orleans, LA – Andre Perry discusses how local barber shops always provide more than just taking a little bit off the top.

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Hurricane Alex steered 500 miles away from the leaking oil well but still managed to knock out containment efforts along the Gulf Coast. Now weaker winds and storm systems are pushing oil into sensitive wetlands where skimmers are getting back in service.

Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says rough seas make it difficult to skim and contain oil away from marshes.

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Coast Guard says wind and currents are pushing the oil west and into sensitive wetland areas south of New Orleans. Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says estuaries connecting Lake Pontchartrain north of New Orleans could be contaminated.

"It's going to be a long weekend from an oil-spill response perspective. And we expect that there's going to continue to be intermittent periods of rain and thunderstorms due to a trough system across the Gulf of Mexico." :15

By Diane Mack

New Orleans, La. – The 4th of July weekend kicks off with a family musical as the NORD/Crescent City Lights Youth Theater opens its 18th season with Golly Gee Whiz! The production is based on the classic Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland films of the 1930's. Performances run thru July 11th at the NORD Ty Tracy Theater at Gallier Hall.

Rachel Martin remembers just about everything about her family's ordeal when Hurricane Katrina hit. She remembers packing up camping gear to ride out the storm at a friend's house that was out of harm's way. She remembers those plans changing dramatically after Katrina left. She and her husband and son, Zeke Martin, were off to Houston for several weeks.

By Ian McNulty

New Orleans, LA – If you looked at nothing but Census Bureau reports, you could conclude there's been just a small bump in the number of Latino people in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina. But it seems the Census Bureau hasn't gone grocery shopping around town lately.

By Eileen Fleming

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft says waves up to 10 feet high at the drilling site are making the sea too rough for skimmers to recover oil off the water and winds are too strong to burn oil off the surface. But he says things could be have been worse had the hurricane headed north.

"We've been held hostage by the oil but now the weather is holding us hostage. And, granted, this is not severe weather like what you would experience in a hurricane."

From Lolis Eric Elie's Smokestack Lightening

2 cups sugar
  1/4 cup seasoned salt
1/4 cup celery salt
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup onion salt
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup chili seasoning
6 tablespoons ground black pepper
4 tablespoons ground white pepper
4 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons ground cloves
 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram
 1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground coriander