|
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Gov. Kathleen Blanco said Monday she wants to temporarily reopen the New Orleans public housing projects that have been closed since Hurricane Katrina, despite federal plans to demolish them.
Hundreds of people protested the demolitions in January. Last week, a federal judge dismissed a claim that the plans discriminated against the projects' black residents, a move that housing authorities said cleared the way to raze the buildings.
Blanco said the projects that can be repaired should be reopened to families who were driven out by Katrina floodwaters — at least until the federal government gets closer to its goal of replacing them with new structures. The projects could help relieve the housing problem in the city and allow displaced residents to return home, she said.
|