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It has been almost four years now since Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf Coastal areas in Louisiana and Mississippi. The tragedy unfolded daily on televisions and radios around the world. Thousands were homeless after first Rita then Katrina slammed into the coast, topping levies and flooding homes. Hurricane Katrina was the costliest storm in US history with estimates of damage over $100 billion dollars. Over 2,000 Americans lost their lives in the catastrophe making Katrina one of the five top deadly storms to ever hit the United States.

Those who lost their homes in Katrina relied on federal aid to house and feed them. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) stepped in and purchased 145,000 trailers at an average cost of just over $18,000 each to provide temporary shelter to those affected- a total cost of $2.7 billion. While the trailers did provide the necessary “roof over the head” for affected families and reduced reliance on mass shelters, there is still debate about whether it was a good use of federal funds.

It is estimated that around 8,400 of the trailers were never used. They remain sitting empty, unable by Congressional law to be used for anything less than a national disaster. Some of the trailers that did provide housing are still in use but over 40,000 of them have become surplus in the past three years and have been sold off at about 40% of their cost.

Was there a better way to provide shelter to those in need after Hurricane Katrina? Most likely. Companies like Wynne Residential Corporate Housing specialize in temporary housing. Under normal circumstances, they provide temporary to long-term housing to business travelers, the military, and those relocating to new locations. The corporate residences are fully furnished and provide a more comfortable and relaxed atmosphere than a hotel room.

Corporate housing exists in almost every major city in the country. FEMA could have booked the displaced into corporate residences in the surrounding cities and states almost immediately after the disaster. The residences are furnished with everything from washers and dryers to cutlery and cookware to linens and towels. The experience for those who had lost everything would have been far better than the cramped and sparse conditions they endured in the trailers.

While the lives of those who lost their homes in Katrina would have been improved had they been put up in corporate residential housing, it likely would have saved FEMA millions of dollars. The agency would not have been left with excess trailers after the event which either have to be sold off or stored. The victims would have been able to cook for themselves therefore the costs of providing prepared food would have been far less.

Like any other federal agency, FEMA should look towards those who provide similar services on a daily basis to provide a solution that works for everyone, including the taxpayers who ultimately have to pay for government excess.

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Kennesaw, Georgia is a town of just over 21,000 residents in Northern Georgia. It is now considered to be a suburb of Atlanta. The town has been named one of the ten best to live in the United States by Family Circle Magazine. But Kennesaw has an active and sometimes brutal past due to its role in the Civil War.

The most famous Civil War event linked to the Kennesaw area is the Great Locomotive Chase, also known as Andrew’s Raid. In 1862, one of the Federal army’s goals was to take Chattanooga, Tennessee to control the water and rail reinforcements to the Confederate forces. Major General Ormsby Mitchel knew that the best way to seize Chattanooga was to cut it off from Atlanta, another major supplies transportation site.

A civilian named James Andrews proposed a plan to damage the rail link between the two cities. Along with another civilian and 22 Union soldier volunteers, Andrews arrived in Marietta on April 11 in civilian clothing. The next morning, a passenger train stopped at Big Shanty (now, Kennesaw) so that the passengers and crew could eat breakfast and take a break.

Andrews and his men hijacked the locomotive with a few cars, including the fuel supply, and headed towards Chattanooga. The goal was to rip up track, cut telegraph lines, and burn covered bridges behind them, thereby making the rail line unusable by the Confederates. Telegraph lines were cut to prevent news of the escapade from reaching Chattanooga.

The conductor of the train, William Fuller, chased after the stolen train, at times on foot, then by handcar, and then by commandeering other locomotives. He picked up Confederate soldiers on the way. When the men came across broken track, they once again resorted to chasing the locomotive on foot.

The train ran out of fuel just a few miles out of Chattanooga and all of Andrews’ men fled on foot. All were captured, including Andrews, and put on trial. Andrews and seven others were found guilty and were hanged in June of 1862. Eight of the raiders escaped from custody and made their way back behind Union lines. The final six were exchanged for Confederate soldiers in 1863.

What is remembered most about the incident in Kennesaw is the daring nature of the plan. The plan itself was never going to work. The rail system at the time was too strong and had too many branches to effective destroy by such a small group. Also, many of the branches were single line only. The Confederates sent orders to all trains to stop in their tracks to halt the progress of the runaway train. This ate up precious time and fuel trying to route around the blockades.

Today, Kennesaw is the site of the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. The locomotive used in the Great Locomotive Chase resides there and visitors can see a piece of history for themselves.

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Country music has been a part of the United States almost since Europeans first set foot in the country. Country music (originally labeled “hillbilly music”) began simply as the common folk music of the South. It was what was heard on front porches, at community gatherings, and what mothers sang quietly to their newborn babies.

In the 1950’s, country music began to garner a following outside of the South. Recording artists like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins created new sounds from traditional music and it caught fire.

Nowhere has country music been more entrenched than Nashville, Tennessee. In the mid-50’s, producers like Owen Bradley and Chet Atkins made Nashville their home and began producing a softer, more melodic style of country music that became known as the “Nashville sound”. Artists like Patsy Cline and Eddie Arnold turned this genre into a multi-million dollar enterprise and new country artists gravitated towards Nashville.

The most famous country institution in the world is located in Nashville. Starting in 1925 as the Nashville Barn Dance, the Grand Ole Opry got its current name in 1935. The Opry was a weekly radio show broadcast locally at first and then nationally when the technology allowed in the mid-1930’s. The show featured country singers and musicians and even included square dancers for the benefit of the live audience. In 1955, the Grand Ole Opry became a television broadcast, reaching audiences in ways it could not do before.

Over time, the Grand Ole Opry has debuted the biggest country recording artists in the United States. Membership in the Opry is offered to those elite who have made a name for themselves in the genre.

Another Nashville institution is the Country Music Hall of Fame, born in 1967. The purpose of the Hall of Fame was to honor those without whom country music would not have been commercially successful. The first three inductees were Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Fred Rose. In 2001, the Hall of Fame opened a new museum in downtown Nashville at a cost of $37 million. The museum’s purpose is to tell the story of country music with videos, tours, and memorabilia.

Nashville will always remain the childhood home of country music. Its recording studios still attract the best of the best and recording artists still create new country sounds in Nashville. It is a popular destination for fans of country music, whether they come for live music, a glimpse of the history surrounding the music, or just to spend time with fellow country music fans. And, as country artists are recording regularly in Nashville, fans may just catch a glimpse of their favorite country star.

Country music has changed and evolved from that original Nashville sound. There are many popular sub-genres of country including country rock and “new country” but the basic Nashville sound is still there. Nashville continues to be the adopted home and birthplace of American country and roots music.

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The Temecula Valley today sports the same rolling hills and beautiful views that it has for thousands of years. The only difference today is that the hills are covered in grapevines as Temecula Valley has become an emerging wine region. Temecula Valley winegrowers have garnered some of the world’s most prestigious awards and tourists flock to the valley to taste the bounty of its harvest.

While the world class wine draws many to the valley, there are many other tourist activities available in Temecula. One of the most famous is the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival held every year in June.

The Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival is a three day event that includes balloon rides, blind tastings, and live music. The Balloon and Wine Festival began in 1983, created by a commercial airline pilot and avid balloonist. The wine element was added in later years to reflect the changing nature of the valley. The festival has grown over the years and has highlighted entertainment acts like the Beach Boys.

The festival has lots to offer for everyone in the family. The Kids Faire provides rides, rock climbing and other activities for children under 14.

The wine and food pairing event is one of the most popular the festival. The pairing includes a four course meal with each course being prepared by a different chef. Each course is accompanied by a different complementary wine. Speakers from the featured wineries present a short dialogue on how the wine was made and why it works well with food being presented. The speakers will also answer questions from the tasters about wine and food pairings in general.

The Balloon Glow event and is undoubtedly the most magical of the entire festival. Balloonists vie for the championship title while the crowd watches. At sunset, the balloonists take flight and all fire up their burners simultaneously. Each balloon becomes a gently glowing orb in the evening sky. The balloonists then make the balloons appear to dance to a musical beat by firing off their burners in rhythm to the music.

The festival also includes a wide variety of food and souvenir vendors. Those who wish to become food vendors should apply early as the positions fill quickly.

If attending the Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival, hotel rooms are available in Temecula itself and there are many camping grounds surrounding the event. Booking in advance is recommended due to the popularity of the festival.

Many visitors to the Temecula Valley schedule their vacations around this popular festival. The opportunity to drift high in the sky and see the incredible vistas of the valley and its grapevines is an experience not to be forgotten. The Temecula Valley is an easy drive from many major centers, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs.

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If you are running a golf tournament, then the usual method of starting is to have each group of golfers wait their turn and begin from the first tee. This means that when the first group is finishing the course, the tenth group to start is just finishing up the ninth hole and still has nine more to go. Depending upon the number of groups in the tournament, this method can take a long time to finish.

Another drawback is that no matter which group of golfers the fans wish to follow , they all congregate at the first hole and the crowd there gradually gets smaller as some fans begin to walk the course following their favorite group. Early in the tournament, this can mean a very large crowd is gathered at the first tee, which can make it difficult to keep everyone in the spectator portion of the course and can make the noise level significantly higher for the first few golf groupings to tee off.

Another method of starting a golf tournament is known as the shotgun start. In a shotgun start , each group of golfers takes their place at a different hole and begins the tournament simultaneously (as long as there are 18 or fewer groups, of course). So group one would start at the first tee, Group two would start at the second tee, and so on.

The shotgun start can reduce the overall time it takes to complete the tournament to the time it takes to golf the eighteen holes. The traditional method takes that same amount of time plus the time it would take to shoot an additional hole for each additional group in the tournament. Remember that in the traditional start, when the first group has finished eighteen holes, the tenth group still has nine more to go.

The shotgun start also allows the spectators to be spread out over the entire course to see their favorite golfers at the start and throughout the tournament instead of forcing all the spectators to begin at a single hole.

One might assume that the term shotgun start got its name from the way the golfers are spread out over the course as the tournament starts the way shotgun pellets might be spread out over the surface of a target. Golf Digest Magazine, however, claims a different origin for the term. They say that back in 1956, the first recorded instance of this type of tournament, the tournament officials needed a way to alert all the groups scattered over the course that it was time to begin. Lacking a starter’s pistol, the noise from a shotgun blast was the agreed upon signal for the start of the tournament.

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Phoenix is considered by many residents and tourists alike to be the perfect American city. The fifth largest city in the United States, Phoenix has a climate desired by many. Although summer temperatures can climb over 110 degrees for an average of 18 days a year, the climate is arid so the heat does not retain uncomfortable humidity. The winters are temperate and perfect for outdoor activities.

The 1.5 million residents of Phoenix live nestled amongst four mountain ranges. The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the cities of Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, Tempe, Peoria, Chandler, and Gilbert. The areas that make up this sprawling region each have different personalities and cultures.

Within the city of Phoenix itself, there are fifteen districts, or urban villages. Entertainment, sports and cultural events are rife in every village, making Phoenix one of the most diverse cultural experiences in the country.

Visiting Phoenix can give one a taste of what the city has to offer but living there provides the rich experience that the city provides.

Phoenix has a growing arts community, with music, museums and fine art at the forefront of its cultural offerings. The Phoenix Metropolitan Opera performs regularly at the Phoenix Symphony Hall. The Heard Museum houses one of the largest collections of Hopi and Navajo artifacts in the world.

Sports play a large role in the everyday lives of Phoenix residents. The Arizona Diamondbacks- 2001 World Series winners- dominate Chase Field. The Cardinals represent the city’s NFL hopes while the Phoenix Suns play in the US Airways Center.

Phoenix is also a city for families. Waterparks throughout the area provide much-needed relief from the summer heat. Big Surf in Tempe is one of the most popular and bills itself as America’s First Waterpark. It offers wave pools, several waterslides and a kiddie waterpark for toddlers.

Phoenix is a great location for university with several schools in the area. The largest is the Arizona State University with four campuses in the area. ASU is one of the largest public universities in the country with over 60,000 students.

Every year, tens of thousands of “snow birds” flock to Phoenix to escape the cold and snow of more northerly climes. Some come as tourists, some stay as part-year residents, and many decide that Phoenix is the perfect permanent home for them. The public transit system is one of the reasons that tip the balance in favor of moving to the city. Between the public bus system and the light rail project, getting around in Phoenix is painless. For those who like to drive, Phoenix is set up on a grid system, with streets running north/south or east/west. Blocks are a mile long each and addresses can be located by simply calculating block lengths.

Phoenix is a vibrant growing city that attracts many different types of residents and tourists. As it grows, the services it offers and the diversity of its population blossoms and makes the city even more attractive.