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*Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network will receive $61,600 toward its Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts thanks to actor Matthew McConaughey, who earned the amount by auctioning off his 1971 Corvette Stingray on eBay. As previously reported, the Texas-born actor announced that he would auction his beloved automobile with profits earmarked for hurricane relief efforts through Oprah’s charity. The Web site indicated that 72 bids were received, but did not immediately reveal the winning bidder’s identity.
*Dr. Phil headed back to New Orleans this week to film episodes of his daytime talk show, which are scheduled to air in the coming weeks. The TV psychologist, whose real name is Phil McGraw, took his show to New Orleans a year ago when much of the region was still under water following Katrina’s Aug. 29 impact. Dr. Phil was also expected to host a benefit concert last night for first-responders and their families. R&B singer Brian McKnight, jazz pianist Allen Toussaint, comedian Jeff Foxworthy and country music duo Brooks & Dunn were scheduled to perform at the New Orleans Arena. This week, McGraw revisited many of the people and places he saw in the days following the storm.
*New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin announced a number of events Wednesday to mark the storm’s one-year anniversary. A jazz funeral-style parade, including a march starting in the hard hit Lower Ninth Ward, was announced as part of the program. Also planned is a pre-anniversary human chain around the Superdome, where many were trapped for days in unspeakable conditions during the storm. Also, bells are scheduled to ring at 9:38 a.m., when the first levee was breached on Aug. 29.
Many citizens were angered at news of Nagin’s initial plan to have fireworks commemorate the disaster, which killed 1,339 people in the region, according to the National Hurricane Center. Nagin, whose wife, Seletha, is a chair of the city planning committee, said the city had not been the organizer of the fireworks. Still, some residents expressed outrage.
"This man wanted to have a celebration. What are we supposed to celebrate? That we lost everything?" asked jazz station WWOZ disc jockey Bob French, who criticized festive plans and Nagin on his morning show this week. "We should line up that day, get about 10 black caskets or more, put 'em on the street, get about eight or nine jazz bands, and do a funeral," French told Reuters. "If we keep going in the direction we are going in, we will be dead and buried."