Katrina Hurricane

FEMA exposed taxpayers to significant waste -- and possibly violated federal law -- by awarding $3.6 billion worth of Hurricane Katrina contracts to companies with poor credit histories and bad paperwork, investigators say. The new report by the Homeland Security Department's office of inspector general, expected to be released this week, examines the propriety of 36 trailer contracts designated for small and local businesses in the stricken Gulf Coast region following the 2005 storm.

The federal government will extend housing assistance payments to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for 18 more months, officials announced Thursday, but residents will be required to pay a portion of their rent for part of that period. Almost two years after the 2005 hurricanes, more than 100,000 Gulf Coast households remain dependent on government housing aid, according to figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

As the wind and water of Hurricane Katrina were receding, presidential confidante Karen Hughes sent a cable from her State Department office to U.S. ambassadors worldwide. Called "Echo-Chamber Message" -- a public relations term for talking points designed to be repeated again and again -- the Sept.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and Mayor C. Ray Nagin led hundreds of marchers Saturday to the crumbling houses that still dominate the Lower 9th Ward, drawing attention to the area's slow recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Jackson said the Bush administration and much of the nation had largely forgotten the hurricane victims in the Lower 9th, most of whom are working-class and black, whereas areas that draw tourists and more affluent sections were recovering more quickly.

"Doctor's Office Open," declares a blue and white banner hanging from trees in front of the white brick building where Robert Travis Kenny practices medicine. It's not a sign you would normally see in the decorous world of medicine, but in post-Katrina New Orleans, an open doctor's office actively seeking patients is noteworthy. In the Mid-City neighborhood, where Kenny's office is, only five doctors remain of the 120 he estimates were in practice before the August 2005 hurricane.

The Department of Homeland Security intends to subpoena Allstate Corp. as part of an investigation into Hurricane Katrina claims, the insurer said. The agency is investigating insurers that sell policies under the National Flood Insurance Program, the company said.

Financial hardship and health problems still plague survivors of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, with black residents struggling more than whites, the Kaiser Family Foundation said Thursday. More than half of the 1,504 people surveyed by the foundation after the disaster said they had money problems because of the hurricane and resulting floods, and 17% said they had lost a job or had to take a lower-paying job.

Fats Domino took the stage before a sold-out crowd in a New Orleans nightclub, marking the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's first public performance since Hurricane Katrina. The 79-year-old New Orleans icon was crisp and energetic as he sang and played the piano. The crowd jumped and screamed when he belted out "Blueberry Hill." Domino lost his home, his pianos, his gold and platinum records, and much of the city he loves during Katrina.

Hank, a strapping purebred golden retriever, is typical of the second wave of pet problems here in the 21 months since Hurricane Katrina hit. The first crisis was those lost, abandoned or killed in the storm and its immediate aftermath. Now there are pets like Hank, who stayed with his New Orleans East owners for the first 10 months after Katrina, which submerged their home in 7 feet of water.

Mayor C. Ray Nagin, in his first State of the City address since Hurricane Katrina, said Wednesday that New Orleans was a city on the mend, despite broken promises from the state and federal governments. "New Orleans is coming back, whether you like it or not," Nagin said to applause from a crowd of city workers and community members at the National World War II Museum. "And you might as well deal with it." Nagin called on President Bush and Gov.