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La. Deaths at 423- Facility Owners ChargedNew death numbers... -------------------- By ADAM NOSSITER, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago
NEW ORLEANS - In a day of reckoning across battered New Orleans, the owners of a nursing home were charged in the deaths of dozens of patients killed by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters, the death toll in Louisiana jumped to 423, and the mayor warned that the city is broke. Mayor C. Ray Nagin said the city was working "feverishly" with banking and federal officials to secure lines of credit through the end of the year, but for now, it is unable to make its next payroll.
Amid the discouraging news, there were also clear signs of progress on many fronts: The New Orleans airport reopened to commercial flights, the port resumed operations, and the mayor said dry sections of the ravaged city — including the French Quarter and the central business district — could be reopened during the daytime as early as Monday, provided the Environmental Protection Agency finds the air is safe.
"We're out of nuclear-crisis mode and into normal, day-to-day crisis mode," Nagin said.
Entergy-New Orleans said it had restored power to 75 percent of the 1.1 million customers that were out at the height of the storm. And Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said most of the military's search and rescue work was complete. ...
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