Today, President Bush selects Major General Doug O'Dell USMCR (Retired) to serve as Coordinator of Federal Support for the Recovery and Rebuilding of the GulfCoast. General O'Dell is passionate about the revitalization of the GulfCoast region. He takes over for Donald Powell as Gulf Coast Coordinator.
The Bush administration has sent out a Press Release regarding the new announcement.Bayoubuzz is publishing this release in its entirety:
As Gulf Coast Coordinator, General O'Dell will continue the Administration's efforts to build this region back better than it was before. The President established the position in 2005, as part of his commitment to rebuild and renew this important region. President Bush believes that General O'Dell is the right person to continue this mission. General O'Dell will work effectively with the people on the ground to identify the priority of needs for long-term rebuilding; communicating those realities to decision makers in Washington; and advising the President and his senior leadership on the most effective strategies to support a full and vibrant recovery.
General O'Dell Has Extensive Experience Serving In The GulfCoast Region
General O'Dell has built relationships with State and local leaders during his time in the region. General O'Dell was headquartered in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005, as the commanding General of the 4th Marine Division. General O'Dell employed 2,700 Marines and Sailors and assisted in rescuing and evacuating more than 2,000 civilians, providing more than one million pounds of essential cargo, and restoring basic functions to more than 30 buildings, including churches. Additionally, with the impending landfall of Hurricane Rita, he embarked 1,000 of his Marines on available amphibious shipping and followed the storm's path, thereby allowing his troops to commence relief operations within hours of the storm's passage.
General O'Dell previously resided in New Orleans from 1998 to 2001 while he served as Vice Chief of Staff for Marine Forces Reserve and Assistant Division Commander of the 4th Marine Division. General O'Dell is well regarded in the Gulf Coast Region.
General O'Dell Has Been A Strong Leader In Both The Military Service And Private Sector
In 2007, General O'Dell retired from the U.S. Marine Corps after a distinguished 39-year career, and he retired in 2001 from a successful 27-year business career in investment management. General O'Dell left active duty in 1974 but was activated several times over the course of his military career.
Following 9/11, General O'Dell was assigned the role of Commanding General of the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was newly reorganized for antiterrorism, before being promoted to Commanding General of the entire 4th Marine Division. During his tenure, General O'Dell organized, trained, equipped, and deployed nine battalions, a division advisory group, and numerous supporting elements to combat operations in Iraq.
From 1974 to 2001, General O'Dell led a successful business career as an investment manager. Starting in 1988, General O'Dell served as Regional Vice President for AIM investments. He was named a Partner in 1993 and ultimately retired on September 10, 2001. General O'Dell entered the Marine Corps through the Platoon Leaders Class in March 1968 and completed The Basic School at Quantico.
General O'Dell received his bachelor's degree in history and Latin American studies from RutgersUniversity in 1971.
LRA Board Meeting
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Recovery Authority's (LRA) board of directors will meet Monday, April 21 at 9 a.m. on the campus of the Baton RougeCommunity College.
The LRA board is scheduled to discuss and vote on using $30 million in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funds to create a Statewide Generator Program and transferring funds for the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps (LFRC).
The board will also hear updates from LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater, the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness (GOHSEP) and the Office of Community Development (OCD), the Department of Health and Hospitals and Road Home contractor ICF International.
** All meetings are open to the public. Meeting times and locations subject to change
ICF
Tauheed “Tony” Gul has joined consultant SH&E, an ICF International company. He will be the senior safety manager in the firm’s expanding safety, security, and operations business. ICF International is the company which received the Road Home contract with the Blanco Administration and administered that program.
Mr. Gul most recently served as director of quality assurance and chief inspector for one of the country’s elite business-only air carriers. There he had safety responsibility for transitioning the carrier to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS), using his hallmark approach to compliance through the proactive use of experience-tested system safety principles and risk management processes.
In his new position, Mr. Gul will have the primary responsibility of establishing SH&E’s certification and standardization unit in its safety division. Responding to safety infrastructure needs, this new SH&E service will support Part 121 air carrier applicants and current carriers in their transition to ATOS.
Andy Kopplin
Teach For America today announced the appointment of Andy Kopplin as executive vice president of growth strategy and development and a member of the organization's eight-member operating committee. Kopplin served as chief of staff for two Louisiana governors and as the founding executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority before stepping into his new role at Teach For America, the national corps of top college graduates who teach for two years in underserved schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity for all children. He also failed in his bid for the 6th Congressional District in Louisiana.
As executive vice president of growth strategy and development, Kopplin will lead Teach For America's efforts to fuel its growth by marshalling the resources necessary to reach its key organizational goals. His appointment comes as the organization enters the third year of an ambitious five-year growth plan to bring the total number of corps members from 5,000 this past year to over 7,500 by 2010 and increase the funding base from $110 million annually to nearly $200 million.
"We're thrilled that Andy is leading our expansion and development efforts," said Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America. "Throughout his career, Andy has been a passionate advocate for Teach For America and our mission of ending educational inequity, and his breadth of experience is a tremendous addition to our leadership team."
Kopplin has extensive experience in public service, planning, policy, and management. He served as chief of staff for two consecutive Louisiana governors, Republican M.J. "Mike" Foster, Jr., and Democrat Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. In 2005, Kopplin was tapped to head the newly created Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), the agency charged with leading the state's recovery efforts after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In this role, Kopplin and the LRA developed the strategy and built the bipartisan coalition that more than doubled congressional appropriations for Louisiana's rebuilding, from $13 billion to $28 billion.
As a board member of Teach For America's South Louisiana region throughout the 1990s, Kopplin was integral in the effort to secure financial support from the State of Louisiana, the first state to provide such support to Teach for America. He began his career in 1992 as director of the Louisiana Serve Commission and later became executive director of the Delta Service Corps, which places AmeriCorps members in a variety of organizations in the Louisiana Delta that build houses, tutor school children, and provide services to the elderly. In 1996, he joined Gov. Foster's staff as policy director and six years later, became chief of staff, a role in which Gov. Blanco asked him to continue to serve when she took office in 2004. A graduate of RiceUniversity, Kopplin earned a master's in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard after working for a year for Senator Lloyd Bentsen (TX) and studying history at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania as a Rotary International Goodwill Ambassador. He replaces Kevin Huffman, who recently became Teach For America's executive vice president of public affairs.
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. This year, more than 5,000 corps members are teaching in over 1,000 schools in 26 regions across the country, and more than 12,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity
New Orleans Homes
Celebrate the rebuilding of New Orleans with the Junior League of New Orleans’ 3rd Kitchen Tour for Children's Education!The Kitchen Tour will feature eleven spectacular kitchens located in the rebuilding neighborhoods of MetairieClubGardens and Bellaire, Fairway and Fontainebleau Drives. Join Stafford Tile & Stone, New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles Magazine and other Kitchen Tour sponsors in celebrating the return of local neighborhoods and families.
Individual Tour Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.Contact JLNO headquarters at (504) 891-5845 or visit www.jlno.org.
All proceeds from the event benefit children’s education projects supported by the Junior League of New Orleans, including a partnership with Green and Lafayette Charter Schools, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, KIDsmART’s Plate Project and the Safe Sitter program at Children’s Hospital.
The event takes place Saturday, April 19th from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. starting at 415 Bellaire Drive, New Orleans and ten other spectacular kitchens located in the rebuilding neighborhoods of MetairieClubGardens and Bellaire, Fairway and Fontainebleau Drives. For a full list of homes, please visit www.jlno.org.
Founded in 1924, today the Junior League of New Orleans remains committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving its community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. With a membership of more than 2,100 women, the Junior League of New Orleans has been involved in more than 100 different community projects, contributed more than 4 million dollars to the community, and donated more than 1.5 million hours of volunteer time.
Our money was worth something when it could be exchanged for precious metals. We allowed our government to make our money worth... whatever the hell they want it to be worth. The American people "rolled over" to tyranny long, long ago. There may be a few sparks of resistance to complete control by the big banking interests, but it is naught but a futile gesture on their part. One may as well go tilting at windmills. Written by kpf
on 4/22/2008
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Just to blow the curve and throw the statistics out the window I write. The only statistic that matters is that Income Distribution in the American Empire is equivalent to that of the 1920's, just prior to the Great Depression! Don't worry, Lil' Bush, Felipe Calderon (who stole the Mexican Presidential election) and the Canadian PM are going to save us by augmenting the Power of the Central Bank. The dollar will be scrapped in favor of the Amero! Come on fellows, the North American Union is meeting in secret and there is not one story! So diappointing! Written by Amero's North American Union
on 4/22/2008
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I notice yours is the only post, so you were right "less than a couple", well done Sir. Excellent. Written by kpf
on 4/18/2008
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Polls show that less than a couple of people will buzz over this article today..... Written by ....So when are the writers going to do right?
on 4/18/2008
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