Blog #47 / The Times Picayune-NO

         The Times Picayune-New Orleans


1) Army Revamps Training Diet: Yogurt In, Soda Out
               At Army camps around the nation the mess is starting to look a lot different from what it used to look like. Whole grains are being substituted for white bread as well as juice and milk dispensers are replacing soda fountains. Color- coded labels lead the way to healthier items and drill sergeants stand to watch over the chow line. Many new soldiers have never thought of keeping a diet plan but now the camp has one for them. The sergeants have found less injuries and higher score on the men's physical fitness tests.


2) Gingerbread House Building Contest
              Ritz-Carlton New Orleans is looking for the best and brightest in Gingerbread house construction for their 2010 contest. The winner doesn't only get bragging rights on the website, but they could find themselves in a kitchen a hotel's restaurant learning techniques from the executive chef. The winner of the contest will also get their own chef's jacket from the hotel and the winning house may be put on display for the holiday weekend. The photos must be uploaded by noon on December 20th, 2010 and the winner will be picked later in the day. The houses should have a New Orleans theme and they will be judged on originality, creativity, and decoration.


3) Wife Receives 10 Years In Slaying 
               A woman named Kendra Talley was claimed guilty as to have taken part in a murder of her husband with her secret lover, Tommy D. Rowell. Kendra supposedly was cheating on her husband with Tommy during the murder. Kendra has been sentenced to prison for ten year because of her participation. Tommy, Kendra's secret lover, however was sentenced a life time in prison for the one who physically shot Kendra's Husband. Thomas Tally, Kendra' s husband was shot to death right outside their home at the age of thirty. The few weeks after the murder were the worse for his family and friends all because of a selfish act.

4) BP Oil Disaster Was Avoidable
                Staff members for the National Oil Spill Commission today found out that the BP disaster was avoidable. If the company and its contractors deployed better management and simply communicated with each other about potential risks that it would continue to be. Working in isolation deprived the partners of having all the information they needed to make key decisions prior to the rig explosion on April 20. Among the communication failures was the failure to disclose to all three companies working on the Macondo well disturbing pressure readings before the blowout. As well as disclosing the news about the problems with the cementing job.

5) December Book Events
                As part of the Photo NOLA festival, the New Orleans Photo Alliance and Octavia Books will host an eight-person book-signing event Friday, 5-7 p.m. The Historic New Orleans Collection Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres St. Featured will be photographers Dave Anderson ("One Block: A New Orleans Neighborhood Rebuilds"); Michelle Bates ("Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity"); Julie Blackmon ("Domestic Vacations"); Jackie Brenner ("Friday Night Grind"); Ashley Merlin ("Statuesque New Orleans"); Sylvia Plachy ("Self Portrait with Cows Going Home"); Mario Tama ("Coming Back: New Orleans Resurgent"); Christopher Porché West ("New Orleans: What Can't Be Lost"); and contributors to "Before (During) After." Keynote speaker Michael Kenna ("Venezia, " "Love in Black and White") will sign several of his books after his presentation from 7 to 9 p.m. Hester Bass will talk about and sign her children's book "The Secret World of Walter Anderson, " winner of the National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Children's Nonfiction, Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Maple Street Book Shop.