by Mary-Devon Dupuy

In case the giant mass of empty land off Canal St. and that really rythmic heavy machinery wasn't reminder enough, the state offered up-close evidence today that $1.1 billion project to build a replacement for the still-standing Charity Hospital is underway. Officials lead the media behind the tall, temporary fences to bare witness to the first pouring of a concrete slab at the Louisiana State University Medical Center.

The author of the Lower Mid-City chronicle, Inside the Footprint, corrects a few falsehoods that have been circulating about the state's proposed replacement for Charity Hospital.

Apparently, Gov. Bobby Jindal wasn't being nice to Sen. David Vitter just because he was in a jovial birthday mood. After being unmoved by arguments against plans for the new state hospital in Lower Mid-City for the three and a half years he's been in office, Jindal said it was worth considering the Senator's alternative Monday. After meeting with Vitter and Mayor Mitch, Jindal told the board overseeing the hospital construction that Vitter's alternative wasn't such a bad idea. Most all, he liked the part of the altnernative that proposed to link up the state hospital with Tulane Medical Center. As Jeffrey over at Library Chronicles wondering, maybe this is what all the parties have been wanting all along.

Last week, forged folk art was outed in court, the principal of St. Augustine High School was removed twice, and, as ever, politicians were preoccupied with hunting feral rodents. As Bobby Jindal turned 40, we were beginning to wonder if the news was finally going over the hill. Luckily, the numbers were lurking behind the news to put things into perspective. Get some numerary therapy by clicking through.

The last Oktoberfest chicken dances wound up months ago, but the Lower Mid-City building that housed the annual celebration of all things German, and the organization that put it on, still stood. Today, Deutches Haus met its certain fate, and yet another community gathering spot was knocked to the ground to make room for a massive new medical center. The German organization that inhabited the building has been out of the building for quite some time and already shown signs of moving on, but the site of a crane sitting over rubble remains a staggering site. To mark the event, the Lower Mid-City chronicling Inside the Footprint turns in a reflection on what place means to our town, and some striking pictures of the demolition.