Neighborhood craters, beware. At his requisite Katrina anniversary press conference this afternoon, Mayor Mitch attempted to quell the pothole paranoia that has been running rampant since The Storm. Landrieu announced $45 million in new funding for Lower 9th Ward road repairs. He said assessments are completed in 28 other neighborhoods, and more funding is on the way for those, too. But those weren't the only numbers he tossed out.

Like a good andouille, the final U.S. Census numbers for New Orleans tasted just right to Mark VanLandingham. But getting a glimpse of how any sausage has laid waste to many appetites, and VanLandingham is no different. In an op-ed published in today's New York Times titled "Making Murder Count," the Tulane demographer argues that Nagin administration posturing during post-Katrina population estimates by the Census created artificial signs of progress that left us feeling burnt when the actual 2010 numbers came in lower than expected, and more money wasn't available to combat endemic issues like the homicide rate. Read the whole thing here.

FEMA's back, but don't start your grousing just yet. New Orleans favorite federal agency bulldozed its way back into our hearts yesterday, resuming their effort to demolish storm-damaged houses. In all, 900 houses will come down by the feds' own wrecking ball. The city is welcoming the demolitions, as they get to talk more about fighting the blight.

A couple years ago, there was the sense that perhaps the Corps was moving on when crews filled in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (Mr. GO to you and me). The shipping outlet that exacerbated Katrina damage and killed off a lot of wetlands off even before that would finally be relished to bedtime story territory. But there's now a proposal to build a new - albeit smaller - canal to replace the old one. Firmly entrenched in the plan is the Army Corps of Engineers, who, in an unfamiliar development are taking flak from residents of the Lower 9, New Orleans East and St. Bernard. The AP has more.

For the first time since Hurricane Katrina, true blooded Luzyanans will have to come to New Orleans to confirm that they were, in fact, born. The state is reopening its office of vital records today in the CBD's Benson Tower. The office was relocated to Jefferson Parish after the old one flooded. The state leases space from Tom Benson as part of a business deal that will hopefully keep the Saints here long enough to win the rest of the Super Bowls for time eternal. We can only hope they staked out space closer to the top of the tower.