Menard, Morgan among missing musicians

D.L. Menard, the "Cajun Hank Williams,"


and Oliver "Who Shot the La-La" Morgan are among those on WWOZ's list of musicians still unaccounted for:

Harold Brown
Fran Comiskey
Barry Cowsill
Tom Ebert
Wendell Eugene
Travlin' Dog Mike Frass
John Lutz
DL Menard - Erath, LA, missing since Rita hit
Oliver Morgan
Rene Netto - clarinet and sax (The Sounds of New Orleans)
Irvan Perez
Reed Vaughan - drums
Peter Vee (Peter V. Carter)
Mark Whitaker

If you know of these folks' whereabouts -- or, better yet, ARE one of these folks -- please contact WWOZ as soon as possible.

Igor's is open, so life must be normal

Go get a shot of Jaegermeister and wash your dirty socks, guys. From Reuters:

At Igor's, a pub and coin laundry in the city's Garden District, owner Halina Margan had returned after Katrina — and never left, despite Hurricane Rita's threat last week. She was ready to open for business on Thursday, and get ready for the influx of returning residents.

"Igor's has never closed until this nasty little ... hurricane," Margan said. "It's lonely here. We need people."

Hope the Buddha Belly on Magazine is open, too, and that all and sundry are well enough, considering -- especially Amy and all the assorted Hank Sinatras.

FEMA Love Boat Probe

In today's Miami Herald:

CARNIVAL


FEMA ship deal under scrutiny

Nearly a month after Carnival allowed FEMA to use three of its ships for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, two U.S. lawmakers are questioning whether the Miami-based company is being paid too much.

BY AMY MARTINEZ

aemartinez@herald.com


On the third night after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, the phone rang at Bob Dickinson's home in Coco Plum. It was Brad Gair, of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, wanting to know if he could use three luxury cruise liners to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina.

Dickinson, the president and chief executive of Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines, recalls thinking, ''It's the right thing to do.'' And within 48 hours, he agreed to let FEMA use three ships in exchange for $192 million.

Now, two U.S. lawmakers are questioning whether that's too much money.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman, a Democrat from California, has requested a copy of Carnival's contract and documentation supporting its cost from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. Rep. Marilyn N. Musgrave, a Republican from Colorado, said she plans to order a Congressional investigation into the Sept. 2 deal.

The Navy's Military Sealift Command, which negotiated the contract on FEMA's behalf, promised to pay Carnival $192 million for the use of three ships -- the Sensation, Ecstasy and Holiday -- through February. It also agreed to reimburse Carnival $44 million for fuel and other costs.


Regarding Carnival's employee pay: housekeeping gets $1.50 an hour plus tips that often don't materialize. On the PBS series Back to the Floor, one worker complained about this practice. Dickinson's response? "We want that gratuity to be there because we want the staff to be very highly motivated to provide extraordinary service," he maintains. "The process ensures superior service."

No word on whether Dickinson has to pool his superior-service tip from FEMA with the rest of the crew's reportable taxable income.

Recall also that indicted House Speaker Tom DeLay embarrassed the GOP by trying to swing a deal to hold the party's 2004 convention on board the Norwegian Cruise Line's Dawn, to the astonishment of Brigham Young University's college Republicans. Mayor Bloomberg torpedoed that PR nightmare before it could begin.

CNN ends wall-to-wall coverage

It had to end sometime. No more all-Katrina, all-the-time on TV. Only in real life.