Michael Dudley

<p>Outgoing National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield urges adoption of tougher building codes and land use rules to avert "major disaster" in the southeast.</p>

<p>Public libraries are increasingly being called upon to provide disaster services and support for those chronically in need, such as the homeless and seniors, yet their budgets continue to be cut.</p>

<p>In the most recent issue of Orion, James Howard Kunstler restates his prescription for an oil-scarce future: reinvesting in rail and water transportation; re-localized economies; and urban densification.</p>

<p>With federal aid money wasted or tied up in the bureaucracy, and post-Katrina recovery promises left unkept, New Orleans remains an "open wound" and many of its residents are suffering from homelessness and a lack of basic services.</p>

<p>New statistics from the Canadian Urban Transit Association show that larger cities with better, more frequent transit service, and incentives such as universal bus passes for university students, saw major increases in ridership.</p>