Day 390: Do The Tree Shuffle

The Picornaviridae have been conquered and fast internet access is (miraculously) once again mine.  Let the backlog of VatulBlog posts flow.  *insert mental image of me in a one-person second line down Magazine St. and attendant trumpet blares and drum beating here*

But first, let me address two items from today’s T-P, which when put together puzzle me:

$500,000 Of State Money To Replant Private Westbank Golf Course

The additional aid to the privately operated Tournament Players Club Louisiana is tucked into the state budget passed by legislators this spring and signed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco. The budget lists the $500,000 expenditure as a “forestry program for the planting of trees and other native plants due to losses sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” without mentioning the golf course.

London Canal Trees On The Chopping Block

“It’s unfortunate that we must remove these trees after New Orleans has suffered so much loss of its tree canopy,” [landscape architect Michael] Stout said. “But we have no choice.”

Is the state replanting trees on public New Orleans land “due to losses sustained from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?”  What’s growing in place of the many magnificent oaks and magnolias we lost to the flood?  Educate me.

Also, thanks to Ryan who noted that several New Orleanians and I featured in a recent San Antonio Express News article on hyperlocal blogging.