Katrina Hurricane

NEW ORLEANS -- Monday night, inside the giant eggshell known as the Superdome, a fun time was had by all. OK, a bit more fun by Louisiana State fans, whose team won the national championship by beating Ohio State, 38-24. This was college football's showcase, the BCS title game. It was No. 1 Ohio State versus No. 2 LSU, one of the ultimate big deals in sports. There were flags and bands, exuberant fans dressed in reds and grays and purples and golds. Lots of attractive sights and sounds.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday that it would accelerate efforts to get victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita out of government-supplied trailers after tests showed that the temporary residences contain unhealthy levels of toxic formaldehyde. Tests in a statistically sampled selection of 519 trailers showed that formaldehyde levels averaged five times higher than levels in new housing, and in some cases much higher than that.

. -- Some people in this tiny Katrina-ravaged town talk of Harry Hull's modest, vinyl-clad home as if a spaceship had landed on the bayou. It stands out not because it is built on land only 5 feet above sea level -- scores of people have rebuilt on low land -- but because it looms 18 feet above ground. It is raised so high on wooden pilings that Hull, 70, must climb 26 steps to get to his front door.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to act for at least a year on warnings that trailers housing refugees from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita contained dangerous levels of formaldehyde, according to a House subcommittee report released Monday. Instead, the CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry demoted the scientist who questioned its initial assessment that the trailers were safe as long as residents opened a window or another vent, the report said.

Three years ago, Hurricane Katrina and its chaotic aftermath produced a collage of indelible images. Among them was a photo of President Bush, viewing the devastation from the comfort of Air Force One as he jetted to Washington. Now, some of Bush's closest advisors say his administration's response to the disaster marked a turning point in what has become the most unpopular presidency in modern history.

Lawyers representing seven New Orleans police officers charged in a deadly shooting on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina filed motions Wednesday aimed at overturning the indictments or at least getting them out of jail. "The evidence against the defendants is paltry at best," said Franz Zibilich, a lawyer for former officer Robert Faulcon, who was indicted on first-degree murder charges and was denied bail.

Six police officers and one former officer charged in a shooting on a city bridge after Hurricane Katrina were permitted to post bail Friday, and the six still on the force may return to limited duty. The former officer, now a truck driver in Texas, may also return to work under the ruling of New Orleans Criminal District Court Judge Raymond Bigelow. "This is exactly what we had hoped for," said Michael Glasser, president of the Police Assn. of New Orleans.

A Biloxi, Miss., couple who sued State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their home were awarded $2.7 million in damages in a Mississippi federal court Thursday. The award could have major implications for other insurers that are being sued for damages in connection with the storm, which caused more than $38 billion of insured damage in August 2005. A jury in the U.S. District Court in Gulfport, Miss.

State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. agreed Tuesday to settle hundreds of lawsuits by policyholders and to reopen and pay thousands of other disputed claims, a deal potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Mississippi homeowners devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The settlement calls for State Farm to pay about $80 million to more than 600 policyholders who sued the company for refusing to cover damage from the Aug. 29, 2005, storm.

A federal judge in Mississippi refused to endorse part of a proposed settlement that calls for insurance payments to thousands of his state's policyholders whose homes were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. would not sign off on a deal between Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. and Mississippi Atty. Gen. Jim Hood for at least $50 million in payments to policyholders whose claims were denied but didn't sue the company.