Louisiana

A traveling Christian rock/ministry festival "in a box" will hit the New Orleans area Saturday, bringing with it Christian music sensations newsboys and DecembeRadio as well as the recently reunited Sixpence None the Richer, among others.

This weekend’s one-day concert event will be the last in a three-city string of stops for Shoutfest ’08 that has so far featured headlining artists such as Third Day, Relient K and Thousand Foot Krutch.

More than another Christian event or rock concert, however, Shoutfest is touted as a real ministry opportunity for the local church. more >>

Christian relief teams are on the ground and ready to begin distributing food, water and other needed items to Hurricane Gustav victims after the worst of the storm passed.

As of Tuesday, Gustav was reduced to the status of tropical depression with winds of 35 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Heavy rain and possible tornadoes remained threats to the region, but on a brighter note, Southern Louisiana’s levees appeared to have held up against Hurricane Gustav unlike with Katrina in 2005.

But officials warned the some two million Gulf Coast evacuees on Tuesday to not return home until assessments of damage and urgent repairs have been made, according to CNN. more >>

Hurricane Gustav, described as “the mother of all storms,” threatens to wreak havoc on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast with its expected landfall Monday – just one day after Katrina Remembrance Day.

Three years ago, Hurricane Katrina marked its place in U.S. history with its massive destruction of New Orleans. Flood waters submerged 80 percent of the city known for its Mardi Gras festivities and displaced nearly 2 million people from south Louisiana. More than 1,800 lives were lost in total among the Gulf Coast states.

In an effort to not forget the tragedy, churches across the nation held services that incorporated memories of Hurricane Katrina on Sunday. more >>

Hurricane Gustav roared into the Gulf of Mexico just short of Category 5 strength, forecasters said Sunday, but could hit the top of the scale before the end of the day with winds above 155 mph.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the “extremely dangerous” storm weakened slightly over Cuba but was expected to regain strength as it moves over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and toward the U.S. Coast.

More than 1 million Americans made wary by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 took buses, trains, planes and cars as they streamed out of New Orleans and other coastal cities where Katrina had killed about 1,600 people just three years ago. more >>

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed into law last week a measure that would grant teachers and students the freedom to challenge and examine critically the tenets of Darwinism in the classroom.

The so called “Science Education Act,” the latest in a series of academic freedom bills that have swept across as many as six states, cruised through the state legislature with unanimous levels of approval.

Lawmakers said that the new law will help bring an end to allegations that teachers and students who share views contradicting or challenging the tenets of Darwinism in the classroom are marginalized, discriminated, or ostracized. more >>

The Louisiana House of Representatives voted 94-3 Wednesday to pass a bill that would grant teachers and students the freedom to challenge and examine critically the tenets of Darwinism in the classroom.

The measure, which is expected to cruise easily through the upper house, is the latest measure in a series of “Academic Freedom” bills that have swept across several states, including Missouri, Alabama, and Michigan. A similar measure was also under review in Florida earlier this year before stalling in the state’s legislature.

Lawmakers say that the efforts to pass the bills are a response to allegations that teachers and students who share views contradicting or challenging the tenets of Darwinism in the classroom are marginalized, discriminated, or ostracized. more >>