New Orleans: Right from the source

On the first anniversary of Katrina's landfall, the news media are filled with stories about New Orleans a year later.

If you want to get it unfiltered, here are a couple of sites: NOLA.com: Everything New Orleans, and Looka!, described by the proprietor as:

Chuck Taggart's weblog, hand-made and updated (almost) daily, focusing on food and drink, music (especially of the roots variety), New Orleans and Louisiana culture, news of the reality-based community, movies, books, sf, public radio, media and culture, travel, Macs, liberal and progressive politics, humor and amusements, reviews, complaints, the author's life and opinions, witty and/or smart-arsed comments and whatever else tickles the author's fancy.

I've been checking in now and then for the last year, and if you love New Orleans, it's well worth a visit. He also has a website The Gumbo Pages:

a personal web site that's gotten out way of hand; a huge, labyrinthine and delightfully overgrown compendium of knowledge about New Orleans and Louisiana cuisine and culture, and lots of other fun and fabulous stuff; dedicated to the enjoyment of great food, drink and music, and to the preservation of New Orleans culture.

Many people still desperately need help, of course. There are many ways to donate. This is one of my favorites, connected to the venerable Tipitina's uptown music club, which helps New Orleans musicians and is about to deliver $500,000 worth of new instruments to Crescent City schools.