By Brentin Mock – staff writer – A federal program to weatherize homes of low-income families had been a fairly low-budget, low-profile affair in Louisiana. Then the stimulus program came along.
stimulus
State and city not making weatherization goals
The national shortcomings of the federal stimulus act’s weatherization program were detailed in a Sunday Associated Press story, and a fresh look at local numbers show an equally dismal level of success. The long-running federal weatherization assistance program, financed by the U.S. Department of Energy, pays for low-income households to get home improvements to keep their utility bills low.
The streetcar is nice, but we've missed the train
After the announcement earlier this week that New Orleans won a $45 million federal stimulus program grant to build a new streetcar line on Loyola Avenue, I reminisced about the role of citizen watchdogs in ensuring that the Regional Transit Authority didn’t capitulate to tourism industry interests that wanted only to apply for a route to service tourists at the Convention Center. It makes sense that the Loyola Avenue line was appealing to federal administrators.