Homicides on the rise in New Orleans

[Roon]

NEW ORLEANS - In the last week more Americans have died in New Orleans than in Iraq. Since Dec. 29, there have been eight military deaths. In the Big Easy, there have been 14 murders.

Among the latest victims: Helen Hill, a 36-year-old mother shot in her home in front of her husband and 2-year-old.

"She was just such a wonderful person," says friend Sheri Branch, "the brightest spot of New Orleans to me."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16490563/

[Poll_Blind]

1. New Orleans has always been an extremely violent place. For...

...the entire life of that city, even when it was under the control of the French, it was rife with crime. I grew up there. It's a shame that things are going back to their old ways and, apparently, worse. It's terribly unfortunate. There was a commercial that used to play on the local television stations to keep New Orleanians from littering. It described New Orleans as "A beautiful woman with black dirt under her fingernails."

PB