[Update 2 at 7 a.m.] And I guess that wasn't true. Police raided the encampment at 4 a.m., so, technically, it wasn't last night.…

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Remembering Coco Robicheaux
12/07/2011

Mark Folse talks to friends of the late Frenchmen Street bluesman and artist by Mark Folse When news of the death of local blues and spiritual icon Coco Robicheaux went viral on the Internet Nov. 25, some said his last words were, "I'm home." Bartender Sara Shaw at the Apple Barrel bar on Frenchmen Street, who attended to him in his last moments, as well as the patrons seated next to him when he collapsed, remember them as "The next round is on me."…

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Crimes of the Heart
12/07/2011

Beth Henley's 1979 Pulitzer Prize-winner, Crimes of the Heart, recently presented by Actors Theatre of New Orleans, is billed as a Southern Gothic farce. The protagonists are the three Magrath sisters from the small town of Hazelhurst, Miss. Lenny Magrath (Taryn Vinet) enters the kitchen of her grandfather's house, places a birthday candle on a cookie and sings "Happy birthday to me." Her celebration is interrupted by cousin Chick Boyle (Amanda Francis), who's upset because the newspapers are reporting that sister Babe Magrath (Greta Trosclair) shot her rich husband Zachary, who is recovering in the hospital.…

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Help for Veterans
12/07/2011

A recent study by LSU Health Sciences Center shows hyperbaric oxygen treatments improved symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in US veterans injured in Iraq. After 30 days of low-dose hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the veterans demonstrated improvements in short-term memory problems, headaches, sleep disruption, cognitive deficits and depression.…

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The Budget, Approved
12/07/2011

The New Orleans City Council unanimously approved a $497 million city operating budget for 2012 last Thursday, Dec. 1 — the legal deadline for adopting a budget. Next year's municipal spending plan is nearly $2 million higher than the one Mayor Mitch Landrieu proposed in October.…

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SACS clears UNO to join UL System
12/07/2011

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges has given final approval for the University of New Orleans to join the University of Louisiana System. That approval came today (Tuesday, Dec. 6) after five months of transition that began when state lawmakers approved the move this past summer.…

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Heaux heaux heaux: It's the Running of the Santas
12/07/2011

We've had Running of the Bulls for a few years now; now comes Running of the Santas to the Warehouse District Dec. 17. It's an event that's taken place in other cities for a few years now, so why not New Orleans?…

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Parents: tonight, is it black metal or Yo Gabba Gabba?
12/07/2011

Obviously, if you're a parent to at least one human being, you're obligated to choose Yo Gabba Gabba! in this very-much-fictional decision. The landmark Nick Jr. series takes its live show to the Mahalia Jackson Theater today (3 p.m. and 6 p.m.), while pioneering Norwegian black metal outfit Mayhem is at The Hangar (8 p.m.).…

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Revving up the Reveillon
12/07/2011

It's increasingly common for cities to host community-wide dining specials to entice visitors and draw locals out to restaurants during seasonal tourism lulls. We have something like this in New Orleans too, though, as usual, things are a bit different here.…

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Judge rules #OccupyNOLA can stay
12/07/2011

Much of the following was reported by Charles Maldonado, on the scene.

Following Occupy NOLA's complaint against Mayor Mitch Landrieu outlining the city's "unconstitutional deprivation of First Amendment activities," U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey this afternoon issued a seven-day temporary restraining order.

The ruling prevents city-enforced eviction and grants protestors 24-hour access to the park, with some restrictions: no weapons, animals, open flames or electrical cords.…

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More from our interview with DA Leon Cannizzaro
12/07/2011

This week's cover story — a Q&A with District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro — focused mostly on his office and "Brady laws," which require prosecutors to turn over any exculpatory evidence to defense attorneys. But we had a couple of interesting digressions along the way, including one about a recent high-profile prosecution, witness safety and contraband controls at Orleans Parish Prison.…

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Income at state parks dries up
12/07/2011

Income at state parks dries up

express-news Copyright 2011 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 12:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Record heat, drought and wildfires have caused the number of visitors to plummet at Texas state parks this year, leading to a critical $4.6 million budget shortfall and forcing state officials to plead for donations.

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Accidental shot wounds man next door
12/07/2011

Accidental shot wounds man next door

express-news Copyright 2011 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 12:51 a.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2011

An instructor at a Jourdanton athletics club was injured Tuesday afternoon when an employee at an adjacent gun shop accidentally discharged a pistol and the bullet traveled through the shared wall of the businesses.

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Wrongful death suit against TxDOT begins
12/07/2011

Wrongful death suit against TxDOT begins

express-news Copyright 2011 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 11:26 p.m., Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Testimony in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Ramiro Reyes began Tuesday with their lawyer blaming the fatal accident that killed Reyes on a Texas Department of Transportation decision to apply a de-icing agent on roads on a December night three years ago. In opening statements, Fidel Rodriguez Jr. told jurors that the case was about “the safety of the public in Bexar County and what happens when that is compromised by ignorance, irresponsibility and indifference.” Reyes, 32, was driving his pickup west on Interstate 10 shortly before 8:30 a.m., six hours after TxDOT poured the magnesium chloride mixture to prevent ice from forming on roads. [...] defense attorney David Strain, in his opening statement, said, “The question is, where is the scientific proof that this (agent) was slicker than water?”

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Fast, coordinated effort is key to saving limbs
12/07/2011

Fast, coordinated effort is key to saving limbs

Express-News Copyright 2011 Express-News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 10:01 a.m., Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Treating patients whose limbs are dying requires fast, coordinated effort, so this summer Christus Santa Rosa inaugurated a formalized limb-salvage program with a multidisciplinary medical team.

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Expert raises estimate of '09 crane toll
12/07/2011

Expert raises estimate of '09 crane toll

express-news Copyright 2011 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 12:49 a.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2011

CORPUS CHRISTI — The biologist whose intimate knowledge of the endangered whooping crane has made him almost a father figure to the flock testified Tuesday that the number of birds that died in the hard winter of 2008-09 was probably higher than the 23 he counted.

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Budget is thin, hope is not
12/07/2011

Budget is thin, hope is not

express-news Copyright 2011 express-news. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Updated 12:44 a.m., Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Time Dollar helps neighbors trade needed services, build community networks in poorest areas. Monday mornings are busy at the San Antonio Time Dollar Community Connections agency. People start lining up outside the small wood-frame house on the West Side for a chance to walk away with a modest box of groceries. At the core of Time Dollar is a system that allows people to donate their “assets or gifts” in exchange for those of others. Baby-sitting and picking up children after school is involved in many of these transactions. Esparza said it teaches people “to use a simple square-foot gardening technique, which uses 20 percent of the space (of a regular garden), 20 percent of the water, 20 percent of the work but still produces 100 percent of the harvest.”

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