Newsweek:

March 13, 2006 issue - In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Houston earned a loving moniker among many of the evacuees who sought refuge there: the Big Heart. This, after all, was the city that housed, fed and mended more than 150,000 survivors in a herculean effort that won national acclaim. Houston officials mounted what is believed to be the biggest shelter operation in the country's history, including MASH-like megaclinics that took on problems ranging from emergency care to eyeglass prescriptions.

In cities stretching from Atlanta to San Antonio, good will has often given way to the crude reality of absorbing a traumatized and sometimes destitute population. In Baton Rouge, which added 100,000 people to a pre-Katrina population of 225,000, residents bemoan the loss of the city's small-town feel and worry that trailer-park settlements will become permanent fixtures of blight. In Dallas, the city housing authority began offering rent vouchers to some of its 20,000 evacuees, only to become quickly overwhelmed and fail to pay landlords, prompting a number of eviction notices.

Public services are overwhelmed, city finances are strained and violent crime is on the rise.

Of 189 murders in the six months after the hurricane, 33 involved Katrina evacuees as either suspects or victims, according to Police Chief Harold Hurtt. Initially, the killings resulted from clashes among rival New Orleans gangs, says Hurtt. More recently, they've stemmed from robberies or narcotics, he says. Many cops are struck by the brazenness of the evacuees. "It seems like the face of crime has changed in Houston," said Officer Brandon Brown one night last week as he patrolled the sketchy Fondren area of the city, where many of the arrivals have settled. "It's more tense, more violent." Soon after saying that, he was called to respond to an alleged assault.

The Houston Independent School District has been flooded with 5,800 additional kids, out of 20,000 overall in area schools. That influx has forced it to spend an additional $180,000 per day of its own $1.3 billion annual budget—only a fraction of which may be reimbursed by the federal government—to educate the new students.

From TheNewsTribune.com:

Here’s how Olympia's legislators in the House and Senate voted last week on five bills:

Medical malpractice (House Bill 2292)

By a vote of 82-15 on Tuesday, the House approved a bill that takes a number of approaches to the medical malpractice issue. Among other things, a medical provider’s apology or statement of fault would not be admissible as evidence, there would be time limits for lawsuits to be filed over injuries, and attorneys would be penalized for filing frivolous claims. The Senate passed it 48-0 on Feb. 22, so it awaits the governor’s signature or veto.

Brendan Williams, D-Olympia -- yes

Sam Hunt, D-Olympia -- yes

Prohibiting free tobacco samples (Senate Bill 5048)

By a vote of 73-25 on Friday, the House approved a bill that prohibits the distribution of free samples of tobacco products. The definition of “tobacco product” is revised to specify that it includes cigarettes, cigars, snuff and other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco products regulated by the Department of Revenue.

Williams-- yes

Hunt -- no

Changing the primary election date (Senate Bill 6236)

By a vote of 94-3 on Wednesday, the House approved a bill that would move the primary date from mid-September to the third Tuesday in August. The bill also would move the candidate filing deadline to an earlier date, require overseas and absentee ballots to be mailed sooner and give counties more time to certify primary and special elections. The Senate passed the bill 37-11 on Feb. 1, so it awaits action by the governor.

Williams -- yes

Hunt -- yes

Eliminating the $5 state parks fee (House Bill 2416)

By a vote of 40-5 on Tuesday, the Senate approved a bill that would eliminate the $5 fee charged for accessing state parks. The bill goes back to the House, which passed a different version 94-2 on Feb. 13.

Karen Fraser, D-Olympia -- yes

Subsidizing health insurance for employees of small businesses House Bill 2572

By a vote of 42-5 on Wednesday, the Senate approved a bill that would provide premium subsidies to eligible employees who are employed by a small business as well as tax incentives to small businesses that offer health insurance to their employees.

The bill also would provide subsidies to employees who have Health Savings Account plans, remove Health Savings Account plans from the community rating pool, and loosen state regulations to allow health insurers to offer more affordable health plans. The bill goes back to the House, which passed a different version 57-41 on Feb. 8.

Fraser -- yes

There's an iteresting comment thread on Tribe that relates to our discussion about the merits of Olympia:

Olympia never was mine. But sometimes you get caught up in some of the magic that happens there and you end up with lifelong friends, great memories and eventually a sense that even though you cant go back, it was worth it. Something magic happens. its not about incrowds, or the right coffee, and you probably know that. alot of people in oly dont. Thats why i left. I was there so long that I became old and crusty, and i didnt feel young and exited anymore. I am in portland now, where I was born, and I do excited. Oly is bittersweet to me now. I am glad you are excited- it is wonderful in so many ways.

Even though the plan includes creating a paved area the size of a parking lot for a strip mall, the judge says: "no environmental review for you!" From the Olympian:

OLYMPIA — A Thurston County Superior Court judge Friday upheld a Port of Olympia commission decision that a thorough environmental review is not required to relocate a log export business from Tacoma to Olympia.

Community activists Jerry Parker and Jan Witt, who had appealed the port decision, argued through their attorney that spending $1.7 million on paving a portion of the port’s cargo yard for Weyerhaeuser was significant enough to warrant the need for an environmental impact study.

But Superior Court Judge Gary Tabor said as part of his ruling that the scale of the project “did not change the character or use of the (port) property