AND THE LAST GRAS???

The advent of Dom Carlone in the Bards of Bohemia led to a behind-the-scenes struggle for control of the krewe.  Because of the ever-increasing costs of parding, the legitimate Captain of Bards and his officers decided to cease marching, even if it meant losing their slot on the Orleans Parish schedule.  However, Mr. Carlone felt that the krewe should parade (especially since he had invested substantially in the krewe the previous season.)  In an unprecedented move, Mr. Carlone privately petitioned at least half of the krewe members to march with him and even obtained a permit to march from the city, claiming himself as the krewe's captain.   This led to a private legal battle the details of which are as yet unknown to your humble Professor.  However, as of the writing of this chapter the Bards of Bohemia were once again under their legal ruling body and Mr. Carlone's Mardi Gras supply enterprise Accent Annex had filed for bankruptcy.
However, the dangers introduced by Mr. Carlone's actions are still with us and may once again threaten Carnival.  Had Mr. Carlone's gambit gone uncontested, or had legal proceedings allowed Mr. Carlone to retain control of the Bards, it would have set down a precedent by which anyone could take control of any krewe, including corporations.  As you know, corporate sponsorship of krewes and parades is strictly forbidden in Orleans Parish.  However, if Mr. Carlone had taken control of Bards, it would have allowed the representatives of any corporation to take control of any krewe or krewes in much the same way; it would have provided a legal loophole for these corporate sponsors to take over a krewe and fill its membership from within the corporations' rosters.  If this were to happen, it would permanently alter Carnival and all of its precepts.

Carnival has now had to face a far more destructive force than any legal precedent could match.  On August 29th, New Orleans was dealt a severe blow by Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane at Pass Christian, Mississippi.  While it was not a direct hit on the city (the majority of Pass Christian was obliterated completely, as was the nearby community of Waveland,) it was sufficiently destructive to close the city down.  Several hotels and older buildings in the downtown area suffered serious damages and at least 4 buildings in the Vieux Carre collapsed. At first, though the damage the day after the hurricane left Louisiana was massive, it was generally accepted that the city had escaped a fatal blow...until the levees at the 17th Street Canal and at the London Canal breached and flooded the city to an extent which has never been seen.  All of St. Bernard Parish was destroyed, including the historical city of Chalmette and the villages of Mereaux and Violet.  The Lower 9th Ward was also decimated, reducing century-old neighborhoods to piles of rubble and debris.  Severe damages were also seen in the neighborhoods of Lakeview, Carrollton, and in Mid-City where the campus of King's College had been located. Damages are estimated to be in the billions.  However, the historic Garden District and the heart of the city, the Vieux Carre escaped relatively unscathed, which provided hope for the nearly 500,000 residents displaced around the country after the disaster. While the details of the aftermath of Katrina will be made available in a separate history section in the coming weeks, it must serve for now to say that neither New Orleans, the Gulf South, or the United States of America has ever encountered a natural disaster of such breadth and scope.    Unfortunately, the hectic hurricane season of 2005 dealt the city another glancing blow when Rita made landfall in the early morning hours of September 24th near Beaumont, Texas.  Again, the city flooded from the levees which had been hastily patched just days before, but this time the damage was relegated to St. Bernard and the Lower 9th Ward, both areas so irretrievably damaged that a second flooding was virtually of no consequence, and actually helped to wash away many of the contaminants from the Katrina floods.