NBA: Brown leads Celtics over Pelicans, Bucks sink Hawks

Jaylen Brown scored 41 points as the Boston Celtics underscored their status as the NBA's form team with a 125-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

The Eastern Conference leaders warmed up for Thursday's crunch clash against Brooklyn with a composed performance to overpower the Pelicans, the third-ranked team in the Western Conference this season.

Brown, averaging just under 27 points per game this season, once again delivered for the Celtics, shooting 15-of-21 from the field with 12 rebounds.

"It's a long season, it's a lot of basketball, day-in, day-out -- you've just got to come in ready to do your job," Brown said after his season-high points tally. "I was able to come out and get something going."

Boston's balanced offense proved too much for New Orleans, with Jayson Tatum also chipping in with 31 points and Malcolm Brogdon adding 20 from the bench. 

Al Horford added 14 points for Boston, who were missing starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III.

C.J. McCollum excelled for New Orleans with 38 points while Naji Marshall added 18 for a Pelicans team missing the injured Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (toe).

Boston lead the Eastern Conference with a 30-12 record heading into Thursday's game against the second-placed Nets.

The third-placed Milwaukee Bucks meanwhile kept up the pursuit of the Eastern Conference leaders with a 114-105 win over the Hawks in Atlanta, Jrue Holiday leading the scoring with 27 points.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was restricted to a season-low seven points but still influenced proceedings with 18 rebounds and 10 assists

Holiday was one of five Milwaukee players in double figures, with Brook Lopez adding 20 points and Bobby Portis and Jevon Carter each scoring 13. Pat Connaughton finished with 10 points.

Milwaukee looked to be in total control early in the second half, jumping into a 24-point third quarter lead and seemingly poised for a routine win. 

However Atlanta chipped away at the Bucks total and eventually grabbed their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter when Bogdan Bogdanovic's pullup jump shot made it 103-101.

Lopez restored the Bucks’ advantage with a three-pointer to make it 104-103 and Milwaukee reasserted their control to close out the win.

Elsewhere Wednesday, Ja Morant returned from a two-game injury absence to score 38 points as the Memphis Grizzlies claimed a 136-129 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

In other games, the Detroit Pistons moved off the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 135-118 blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Saddiq Bey led the scoring for Detroit with 31 points as the Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak to climb above the Charlotte Hornets at the foot of the table.

Agence France-Presse

1 dead, multiple injuries in New Orleans hotel collapse

WASHINGTON - One person died and at least 18 others were injured Saturday when the top floors of a New Orleans hotel that was under construction collapsed, officials said.

The New Orleans fire department received reports at 9:12am local time that the Hard Rock Hotel in downtown New Orleans had collapsed.

One person died at the scene, according to Fire Chief Timothy McConnell, who added that the building is now structurally unstable.

"Another collapse is possible," he told reporters at the construction site.

Firefighters evacuated construction workers inside the hotel after the "upper six to eight" floors collapsed, McConnell said.

Emergency medical services director Emily Nichols said that first responders evaluated 19 people at the scene, 18 of whom were transported to hospitals and are in stable condition.

The last person refused transport.

Three people are still missing, and there are no reports of injury to passers-by.

Due to the hotel's unstable structure, the operation to clear the area is ongoing, according to local Homeland Security office director Collin Arnold.

He asked that people stay away from the area and refrain from using drones for either personal or media purposes to view the damage.

The fire department is working to evacuate nearby buildings, particularly apartment complexes.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Storm Barry now a hurricane ahead of landfall in US

Barry strengthened into a category 1 hurricane on Saturday as it neared the Louisiana coast, US meteorologists said -- prompting millions of residents of the southern US state to hunker down for expected major flooding.

At 10:00 am (1500 GMT), the storm was packing sustained winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour -- just above the minimum to qualify as a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in its latest storm advisory.

The eye of the storm was located about 50 miles from Morgan City, to the west of the state's biggest city New Orleans, and moving at a slow pace of six miles an hour -- meaning that landfall could still be hours away.

But the outside edge of the storm was already punishing the US Gulf Coast with heavy rains. Authorities ramped up evacuations, airlines canceled flights and flood gates were slammed shut.

In Morgan City, the streets were deserted. The Atchafalaya River had flooded its banks, and trees were already blown over in residential areas.

"It's painstakingly slow," government meteorologist Ben Schott told CNN, noting that residents should not be lulled into complacency about facing the storm.

"If you don't have to go anywhere, stay home. Monitor what's going on. Do not put yourself at risk."

With Barry dumping rain across several southern states, federal emergency declarations were issued to help free up resources to address the storm.

Governor John Bel Edwards said New Orleans was well prepared to withstand the storm, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, but urged vigilance by residents across the state, tens of thousands of whom had lost power.

"No one should take this storm lightly," Edwards said on Twitter.

NHC Director Ken Graham warned of the potential for inland flooding: "It's not just a coastal event."

- Watching the Mississippi -

For many, the large storm swirling in the Gulf of Mexico and the potential for large-scale flooding in coastal and river areas has brought with it unpleasant memories of 2005's deadly Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands have packed up and left their homes as floodwaters hit low-lying areas like Plaquemines Parish, where road closures left some communities isolated.

Some nevertheless hunkered down to ride out the storm, despite mandatory evacuation orders.

"We've stayed for some pretty strong storms and we shouldn't have," admitted Keith Delahoussaye, a 60-year-old mechanic, at his trailer home in Port Sulphur.

He was keeping a close eye on the nearby Mississippi River.

"If we see the water rising here, we'll leave," he said.

In New Orleans, residents and business owners were laying down sandbags and boarding up windows while city officials set up shelters for residents.

But local revelers and tourists drank "hurricane" cocktails and sang arm in arm as they walked down Bourbon Street late Friday.

On Saturday, Mayor LaToya Cantrell again urged caution, saying: "A lot of the rain won't happen until after landfall."

- Dangerous conditions -

Louisiana is facing an extraordinarily dangerous confluence of conditions, experts say.

The level of the Mississippi River, already swollen from historic rains and flooding upstream, was at nearly 17 feet (5.2 meters) in New Orleans -- just below flood stage.

River levels are expected to peak at just over 17 feet, according to Saturday's forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

US Senator Bill Cassidy said officials with the Army Corps of Engineers told him they were "confident" that the 20-foot-high levee system protecting New Orleans, a city of 400,000, would hold.

"There's still going to be two to three feet between the top of the levee and the top of the floodwaters," Cassidy told Fox News.

Storm surges of up to six feet are projected, and 10 to 20 inches of rain are forecast.

Mike Yenni, president of Jefferson Parish near New Orleans, said the community had taken the "unprecedented" step of closing hundreds of flood gates, largely due to the high levels of the Mississippi.

Authorities closed highways in several locations along the coast as floodwaters began creeping in.

In St. John's Parish next to New Orleans, some communities were already under two or more feet of water, local television footage showed.

In 2005, Katrina -- the costliest and deadliest hurricane in recent US history -- submerged about 80 percent of New Orleans, causing some 1,800 deaths and more than $150 billion in damage.

The city's main sports arena, the Superdome, was turned into an emergency shelter during Katrina.

The facility was due to host a concert by the Rolling Stones on Sunday, but it was postponed by a day due to Barry.

"We're here with you -- we'll get through this together," the band said in a statement.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Flood hits New Orleans ahead of storm

Terrian Jones reacts as she feels something moving in the water at her feet as she carries Drew and Chance Furlough to their mother on Belfast Street in New Orleans during flooding from a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that dumped heavy rains Wednesday. Tropical Storm Barry is expected to form in the Gulf of Mexico and strengthen to a hurricane by Saturday according to the US National Hurricane Center.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Darren Criss marries longtime girlfriend

Darren Criss is now officially off the market. 

The Filipino-American actor married his longtime girlfriend Mia Swier in New Orleans on Saturday, as reported by People.

The magazine said among the couple’s guests include Criss’ “Glee” co-stars Lea Michele, John Stamos, Chord Overstreet and Harry Shum Jr.

Criss, whose mother is from Cebu, shot to fame after portraying Blaine Anderson on "Glee." He first announced his engagement to Swier in January 2018.

"Mia and I have had seven and a half years of fun, wacky, wonderful, CRAZY adventures together. And I’m happy to announce that we’re kicking those adventures up a notch. We’re goin for it. To boldly go where neither of us have gone before. Engage," he said in the caption of his Instagram post at the time.

Swier attended New York University's Steinhardt School for Media Studies and Television Production and worked for television programs such as "Saturday Night Live," according to her IMDb profile.

Criss recently made headlines for his award-winning performance as Andrew Cunanan, who murdered famed fashion designer Gianni Versace, in the anthology series "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

New Orleans mourns dead, celebrates life on Katrina anniversary

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans remembered the dead and celebrated its painstaking comeback from disaster on Saturday, a decade after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the "Big Easy" leaving devastation and chaos in its wake.

City leaders placed wreaths at a memorial to Katrina's scores of unknown victims, marking the hour that the Category 5 storm struck with catastrophic force, overwhelming the Louisiana port's system of levees.

More than 1,800 people were killed across the US Gulf Coast when Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005. A million people were displaced and the financial toll topped $150 billion.

New Orleans was plunged into a nightmarish scene of death and looting after Katrina barreled her way through and government help was painfully slow to come, something which still rankles in the city.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, at a solemn ceremony attended by about 400 people at Charity Hospital Cemetery in the Mid-City neighborhood, struck a defiant tone.

"New Orleans will be unbowed and unbroken. We're still standing after 10 years," he declared.

"We have risen and we will rise again, but we can only do it if we hold each other up and we don't leave anybody behind."

The memorial to the unclaimed Katrina victims holds the remains of bodies which were never identified or claimed.

"We know that even as New Orleans is rebuilding, there are those who are grieving the deaths of their mothers, their fathers, their sisters. I want those families to know that our thoughts are with them," Governor Bobby Jindal said.

The wreath ceremony gave way to parades, marches and partying, capping a week of remembrance that included a visit from President Barack Obama.

Barbeque smoke and music filled the stifling New Orleans air, as brass bands and revelers celebrated the recovery of a city synonymous with Dixieland jazz and the raucous Mardi Gras.

Gwen Truhill, a local from the Ninth Ward, said: "We've come a long way, but yet still so far to go.

"It's good to see everybody come together and remember what happened, to see that people are still in good spirits. It's still kind of bittersweet."

Neighborhoods and cultural centers are holding parties and parades before former president Bill Clinton speaks at an evening commemoration, with performances by a number of Grammy-winning musicians.

- 'Sea of misery and ruin' -
Some 80 percent of New Orleans was swallowed up by floods which rose as high as 20 feet (six meters) after the low-lying coastal city's poorly built levee system burst from the pressure of a massive storm surge.

The water came up so fast that some people drowned in their homes. Hundreds more were stranded on their rooftops.

The few dry spots in the city descended into anarchy as tens of thousands of increasingly desperate people with little food or clean water waited for help to finally reach them.

"All of us who are old enough to remember will never forget the images of our fellow Americans amid a sea of misery and ruin," former president George W. Bush said in a visit to a New Orleans school Friday.

Bush, who faced intense criticism for his handling of the crisis, said he was moved by the city's determination to "rebuild better than before."

Ten years on, colorful homes on stilts have replaced many of the rotten hulks left behind by the stagnant and effluent-tainted flood waters.

Music and the smell of gumbo -- a spicy stew -- once again waft through the bustling streets of the French Quarter.

The tourism industry is booming once again, with nine million visitors last year and the city has managed to attract a growing number new businesses.

Crime -- while still high -- is improving, with the murder rate hitting a 43-year low in 2014 and the population in city jails down by two-thirds.

- Changing city -
Some of the city's 385,000 residents say its Creole and Afro-Caribbean identity has been altered indelibly by the storm.

A large portion of the population never came back and New Orleans now has 100,000 fewer people than it did before Katrina, and many are newcomers.

The black population has also fallen, from 68 percent of residents in 2000 to 60 percent in 2013, latest census figures show.

But plenty of white New Orleans residents also found the emotional and financial cost of rebuilding to be too high, though their numbers are harder to measure.

"A lot of things have changed, but sometimes change is for the better," city resident Elisianne Coco said.

"It's not the same New Orleans that it was when I was growing up, but as long as they get the best of it, that's all that matters."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

LeBron, Durant lead NBA All-Star poll

Miami Heat forward LeBron James and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant are the top vote-getters from their respective conferences for the 2014 NBA All-Star Game in the latest results announced by the league on Thursday.

James is the overall leader with 854,105 votes. He is followed in the Eastern Conference by forward Paul George (712,808) of the Indiana Pacers and forward Carmelo Anthony (580,795) of the New York Knicks. James' Heat teammate, Dwyane Wade, leads the East's backcourt players with 565,455 votes. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (524,000) is next.

In the Western Conference frontcourt balloting, Durant (850,728) is ahead of Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (408,623) and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (399,357). Durant leads the NBA in scoring this season. The West's backcourt leaders are injured Kobe Bryant (723,031) of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chris Paul (533,647) of the Los Angeles Clippers.

The NBA All-Star Game will be played Feb. 16 in New Orleans.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Uneasy New Orleans braces for Hurricane Isaac

NEW ORLEANS - Isaac was upgraded Tuesday to hurricane status as New Orleans girded for the impact seven years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the "Big Easy" and killed 1,800 people across the US Gulf Coast.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said an Air Force aircraft reported the storm's maximum winds had increased to 75 mph (120 km/hour), just above the threshold for an upgrade to a category one hurricane.

The storm was expected to make landfall later in the day.

US President Barack Obama urged people take the threat seriously, warning of the possibility of major flooding and damage.

"I want to encourage all residents of the Gulf Coast to listen to your local officials and follow their directions, including if they tell you to evacuate," Obama said in a televised statement at the White House.

"Now is not the time to tempt fate. Now is not the time to dismiss official warnings. You need to take this seriously," Obama said.

Obama said he had managed a wide-ranging effort by federal and local governments to make preparations.

His appearance was a reminder of the power of an incumbent president to intervene at politically advantageous moments, as he sought to project an image of strength and competence, just as Republicans met for their National Convention to nominate Mitt Romney as their candidate for the November presidential election.

The US National Hurricane Center said in an earlier advisory that in some Gulf Coast areas -- such as the Mississippi-Alabama border east to Florida -- a hurricane warning has been replaced with a tropical storm warning.

But a full-blown hurricane warning remained in effect for metropolitan New Orleans, a city known as the Big Easy for its jazz and easy-going life-style.

The streets of New Orleans were eerily empty Monday as smatterings of rain and stiff winds forewarned Isaac's arrival.

Most residents had already boarded up their windows and stocked up on essentials as they prepared to either evacuate or hunker down.

But weak though Isaac was forecast to be, the timing of the storm -- set to arrive on the seventh anniversary of Katrina -- had many here on edge.

"It brings back a whole lot of memories," said Melody Barkum, 56, who spent days stranded on a roof without food or water after Katrina struck.

"I'm not afraid," Barkum told AFP. "If I can survive Katrina, I can survive this."

Katrina left behind a devastating sprawl of destruction and death when it hit New Orleans on August 29, 2005, and a bungled response by the Bush administration was a black mark on his second term in office.

Thousands of people were left stranded on the roofs of their houses for days after Katrina's powerful storm surge smashed levees long-warned to be inadequate, flooding 80 percent of the low-lying city.

Those who managed to make it to dry land faced deadly violence and looting as the city descended into chaos and officials failed to even provide water and food -- let alone security and medical aid -- to those suffering in the sweltering heat.

Officials insisted that the billions of dollars spent to reinforce the city's storm levees and pumps will protect the Big Easy from inundation, and Isaac is nowhere near Katrina's strength.

But Isaac will still pack powerful winds expected to knock out power lines and churn up a massive surge of sea water as much as 12 feet (3.7 meters) deep that will roll up across the Gulf Coast.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered in a number of coastal counties in Louisiana and Alabama, where people typically build their homes on stilts.

The slow-moving and massive storm -- which is about 410 miles (670 kilometers) wide -- could dump as much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain and spawn tornadoes, the NHC warned.

Obama, no doubt mindful of the bungled handling of Katrina by his predecessor George W. Bush, on Monday declared a state of emergency in Louisiana, allowing federal funds and aid to flow to local authorities.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent extra staff to two nuclear power plants in Louisiana. They are about 20 and 25 miles from New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who has recommended voluntary evacuations, urged people to prepare for the worst.

"If you are in low-lying areas and are thinking about evacuating, today is the day to do that," he said Monday.

"If you plan on hunkering down at home, today is the day to get supplies. I strongly encourage people not to wait," added Jindal, who stayed away from the weather-delayed Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Those heeding the call included Tammy Edmondson, who looked anxious as she picked through the grocery shelves at a Target store with her daughter.

Edmondson said she left town ahead of Katrina and that it was a month before she could go home.

"We had a lot of damage -- we're still fixing some of it," she told AFP. "That's why I'm starting to panic."

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Brad Pitt stages ''mini-Grammys'' show to help New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- Every time he crosses the Claiborne Avenue bridge heading east across the New Orleans Industrial Canal, actor Brad Pitt gets a lump in his throat.



From that vantage point, he can look down on a section of the city's Lower Ninth Ward that is ground zero for "Make It Right," a home rebuilding initiative Pitt launched to help people whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,500 people and devastated the historic Southern city.

"Each time I come back to New Orleans and drive over that bridge, I get this swell of joy," Pitt told Reuters, his eyes going watery. "It's means a lot to me to watch that neighborhood take shape."

Pitt and his movie star partner, Angelina Jolie, own a house in the city's French Quarter, and they visit the city regularly with their six children.

The actor shares his feelings about the city and its recovery with a few thousand people on Saturday evening, as he and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, a New Orleans native, host the Make It Right Foundation's biggest fundraiser at a New Orleans hotel.

Billed as "A Night to Make It Right," the star-studded, sold-out gala is expected to draw 1,200 guests who paid between $1,000 and $2,500 to attend a dinner prepared by New Orleans celebrity chefs John Besh and Emeril Lagasse, and a concert featuring musical stars Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Seal and Dr. John.

The lineup includes Hollywood luminaries and honorary hosts Sean Penn, Spike Lee, Josh Brolin and Kevin Spacey.

In addition, some 2,000 people have anted up $150 for an "after party" hosted by actor-comedian Aziz Ansari, with musical performances by Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and the Soul Rebels.

Asked if it was difficult to get the big names to journey to New Orleans for the event, Pitt joked, "Even though these people don't like me that much, it really was simple."

Noting that the celebrities traveled from as far away as Paris for the event, Pitt said the turnout was a mark of their regard for New Orleans.

"They carved this time out of their schedule strictly for this event, and came on their own dime," he said. "We have so much incredible talent that wanted to come and support the city - it's going to be like a mini-Grammys show."

Pitt estimated the events and sponsorships would raise $4 million for Make it Right, which aims to build 150 homes in the Lower Ninth Ward and has pulled in about $30 million since its founding four years ago.

NEW AND IMPROVED

Since 2007, 75 homes have sprouted in a 16-block area that was at the epicenter of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. Built to the specifications of architects selected through an international design competition held by Make It Right, all of the homes stand 5 to 8 feet off the ground, on pilings designed to keep the homes dry in the event of another flood.

Multi-angled steel roofs, windows of ultra-strong glass and tough siding materials are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds. Solar panels, rainwater collection systems and maximum air-circulation designs created homes with low utility bills.

The new houses are a sharp contrast to the modest, mostly one-story homes that characterized the neighborhood before Katrina. Many of them stand just yards (meters) away from the spot where an Industrial Canal floodwall ruptured after the storm, putting the neighborhood under several feet of water.

Gloria Mae Guy still talks about how she and her neighbor climbed to a rooftop as the rising water forced them from their homes. "We held on all night until a boat came and they helped us get out," she said.

Guy, 72, is back in the spot where she and her husband raised their five children, but now she lives in a modern, energy-efficient, two-story home, designed and built by Make It Right contractors. "I'm happy to be home, and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Brad Pitt," she said.

Tom Darden, executive director of the Make It Right Foundation, said Pitt made the goal of rebuilding according to standards of sustainable construction clear from the beginning, but equally important was finding ways to reduce construction costs.

"Brad said, 'We're going to build the best house we possibly can build and figure out how to make it affordable,'" Darden said.

It was a tall order, but through several years of studying sustainable building techniques and amassing contractors familiar with the methods, the foundation is gradually bringing its costs down, Darden said.

Darden emphasized that while Make It Right was formed to help low-income residents remain in the neighborhood where generations of their families have lived, the initiative was not about handouts.

Applicants for the Make It Right homes must pass an approvals process that requires showing proof of income and the ability to make payments on a mortgage, along with insurance and maintenance costs.

Another goal is to apply the techniques learned in New Orleans to other areas in need, Darden said, noting that Make It Right had recently begun projects in Newark, New Jersey, and Kansas City, Missouri.

"Brad is our visionary," he said. "I think for him it's largely a social justice issue and he wants to help as many people as he can."

source: interaksyon.com

Impossible-to-stop offense, opportunistic defense power Saints past Lions

NEW ORLEANS—Three observations from watching the New Orleans Saints defeat the Detroit Lions 45-28 in front of a raucous home crowd to advance to the divisional playoff round on the road in San Francisco next week:
The only thing stopping the Saints’ offense at the moment is the Saints’ offense

New Orleans didn’t need to punt once on Saturday night, and the two times it booted the ball away via fumbles, Detroit couldn’t capitalize with much-needed first-half points on either rare occasion.

The Saints, with Sean Payton and Drew Brees, have all three levels of their offense working.

When the Lions played the deep ball well, the Saints simply had their backs hew up yards in the wide open spaces underneath.

"We saw a defense that was very, very patient," coach Sean Payton said. "Sometimes that can be frustrating, but they sat in coverage and periodically would break that shell.

When the Lions were lulled into closing in on the rushing damage of Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and Chris Ivory, Brees’ eyes lit up in seeing easy downfield opportunities to speedsters Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem.

"The big plays in the second half really helped us," Payton said.

As usual, a big factor in opening up both the short and long was uncoverable tight end Jimmy Graham occupying the attention of linebackers and safeties in the middle of the field. The Lions played “pick your poison,” but somehow swallowed every pill as the Saints posted a playoff record 626 yards of total offense.

In the modern pass-happy era, because New Orleans also excels at rushing the ball, we’ve never seen an NFL team move the ball quite like this.

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2012-01-07/saints-beat-lions-drew-brees-matthew-stafford-passing-yards-darren-sproles#ixzz1iqnsBJTJ